#97 - Requiem for Autumn 🌞

Romance review, Diddy arrested, Kendrick Lamar to play Super Bowl, remembering Rich Homie Quan, Oasis returns, CMA snubs Beyoncé, Lyte abruptly ends operations, TikTok Music shuts down, indie and electronic music dominate album releases, keshi.

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Rating Rationale: Elton John claims Fontaines D.C. is the best band in the world right now; just as he supported The Last Dinner Party earlier this year, the Rocket Man knows good music when he hears it. The Irish punk band, whose namesake is inspired by The Godfather and their hometown of Dublin City, has been on the scene since 2014, but while on tour with the Arctic Monkeys last year, they worked alongside producer James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, The Last Dinner Party) for the first time to create a fourth studio album that brings a modern twist to the early ‘00s punk era. With grungy production and breathy, monotone, yet bright vocals, the Irishmen met in college and bonded over their shared love of Irish poetry, which naturally transitioned into songwriting. Our favorite tracks include “Favourite,” “In The Modern World,” and “Starburster.”

Electronic

TOKiMONSTA postpones Eternal Reverie and cancels tour, RÜFÜS DU SOL shares Inhale / Exhale release in October, Lane 8 drops Childish 

Due to a family emergency, TOKiMONSTA announced earlier this week that she would be postponing the release of her highly anticipated seventh studio album, Eternal Reverie, and canceling her tour.

Inhale / Exhale, is what RÜFÜS DU SOL are embracing on their first studio album release in three years, which is set to drop on October 11. Lastly, Lane 8 explored his childlike wonder in his latest album release, Childish, which dropped last Friday.

Diddy arrested, Kendrick Lamar will perform Super Bowl LIX, Drake releases three new songs on Finsta, Ye teases Bully, FLO & GloRilla announce debut albums, and hip-hop community mourns Rich Homie Quan, Fat Man Scoop, and Beatkings

Earlier this week, Diddy was indicted by a grand jury and arrested for a number of federal charges, including conspiracy, sex trafficking, and fraud.

Now that the NFL 2024 season is in full swing, Apple Music announced Kendrick Lamar would be the Super Bowl LIX Halftime performer. A few days later, Kendrick released a new song via Instagram. Both Jay-Z and Rihanna issued statements of support after a few controversial takes that Apple “snubbed” Lil Wayne, although no one is more upset than Nicki Minaj...

…except maybe Drake. Recently, Drake released three new tracks via his finsta account titled “Circadian Rhythm,” “SOD,” and “No Face.” Meanwhile, Ye seemed to announce his next solo studio album, Bully, at a show in China, while Sunlighter-favorite FLO and GloRilla announced their respective debut albums, Access All Areas and Glorious, set to release this fall.

In sad news, the hip-hop community has mourned the losses of Rich Homie Quan (whose posthumous album is speculated to be in the works), Fat Man Scoop, and Beatkings over the last month 🕊.

Rock & Metal

Oasis stages historic return, The Cure sets 14th album release date, Måneskin lead vocalist pursues solo project with Labrinth

Oasis’ highly anticipated 2025 reunion tour is expected to generate over $400 million, with fans eagerly awaiting the historic concerts set to begin July 4, 2025. Though the band has confirmed they won’t be playing at any music festivals, such as Glastonbury, speculation continues over which artists might support them on the tour. As expected, the demand for tickets has been overwhelming, leading to the inevitable Ticketmaster crashes. Despite the uproar, Ticketmaster and the ticketing industry have defended their pricing strategies, though a UK government investigation into the platform’s dynamic pricing model is underway. Earlier this month, Liam Gallagher revealed that Oasis has also finished recording a new album, jokingly noting that his brother Noel is "no longer a potato."

Classic rock fans have even more to look forward to over the next year: The Cure is finally teasing their long-awaited fourteenth studio album, Songs for a Lost World, launching a secret website and WhatsApp channel to engage fans ahead of its release on November 1. Meanwhile, Interpol is also hard at work on their next album, with drummer Sam Fogarino recovering from surgery and ready to rejoin the creative process. Meanwhile, after much fan speculation, Linkin Park has a new lead vocalist in Emily Armstrong as they prepare for their upcoming tour.

Onto modern rock, Damiano David, lead vocalist of our favorite Italian modern rock band, Måneskin, is working alongside Labrinth on his first solo project. Additionally, The Smile is surprising fans with their second album of the year, set to be released this upcoming Friday.

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Pop

Classic and modern pop artists at work this year, Charli XCX’s bratosphere is alive and well, The Weeknd, Halsey, Chappell Roan, and Jon Bellion tease upcoming albums

Between Stevie Wonder’s surprise arena tour, New Kids on the Block announcing their Vegas residency, and Phil Collins working on new music for the first time on over 20 years, it’s safe to say both classic and modern pop artists are at work this year.

Over the last month, we said goodbye to Sunlighter-favorite Charli XCX’s brat summer, but just as we expected, the 2024 Variety Hitmaker of the Year plans to keep the bratosphere alive and well. While on her joint tour with Troye Sivan, she has plans to release brat and it’s completely different but also still brat on October 11. She’s also reportedly been working on new music with Bon Iver and Danielle Haim–do we think it’s part of the reimagined brat, or something brand new?

We’ve seen a myriad of pop artists give fans tiny glimpses into their new eras. The Weeknd has released two singles from his upcoming project, speculated to be titled Hurry Up Tomorrow. With the help of a few magic tricks, Halsey shared the tracklist for her upcoming album, The Great Impersonator, set to drop on October 25. While battling ticket scalpers and calling out inappropriate fan behavior, Chappell Roan is already writing her next album. Off the heels of a successful (and kind of random?) duet release with Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga announced a companion album to Joker: Folie à Deux with the release of Harlequin. Lastly, after six years of songwriting and producing for other artists (The Album & TORI.), Jon Bellion released “Kid Again,” marking his return as a solo artist.

Indie & Alternative

Bon Iver, Joy Oladokun, Caribou, and mxmtoon to release new albums, Hinds reaches new heights

Bon Iver released a new single titled "S.P.E.Y.S.I.D.E,” from his upcoming SABLE, album release on October 18. Corinne Bailey Rae made her return to the spotlight with her new single "Silvercane." Meanwhile, Hinds are finally having their global breakthrough moment with the release of their latest album, VIVA HINDS–our friends at Chartmetric report a 490.5% increase in Spotify listeners over the last month 🤯

Searows announced their forthcoming EP, Flush. Joy Oladokun announced forthcoming release, Observations from a Crowded Room. For Fleetwood Mac fans, Andrew Bird and Madison Cunningham have teamed up for a cover album featuring songs from the Buckingham Nicks era, while Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast teased a gloomy, guitar-heavy new album. Caribou also announced new album Honey, marking their first album release in four years, while mxmtoon revealed plans for her third studio album titled Liminal Space.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds announced their first North American tour in seven years, much to the excitement of the band (and Peaky Blinders) fans. Soccer Mommy is also preparing for a 2025 tour and has released a new track titled "Driver" to celebrate the upcoming tour dates.

Country & Folk

CMAs shuts out Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER, Shaboozey breaks through with 2 nominations, Post Malone makes Grand Ole Opry debut

The Country Music Awards (CMAs) announced nominations for its 2024 ceremony this week, and the best-selling country album of the year, Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER, is up for…zero nominations. Unfortunately, this is an unsurprising move by the CMAs; the concept of the album was inspired following the way Queen Bey was treated while performing with The Chicks at the 2016 ceremony - note that this video was also removed from the CMA YouTube channel 🙄

The silver lining here is that through COWBOY CARTER, Beyoncé was able to champion young, Black artists like Shaboozey, who did earn two nominations for the song “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which has dominated the charts throughout 2024.

Speaking of artists championed by Beyoncé, in the days leading up to his first-ever country album, F-1 Trillion, Post Malone made his Grand Ole Opry debut with a little help from friends like Vince Gill, Lainey Wilson, and Brad Paisley. The album debuted at #1 with 250K units sold.

Primer: If you’ve ever turned on a lo-fi playlist while studying, chances are, you’ve probably come across keshi’s music. Representing the Vietnamese diaspora community of Houston, Texas, Casey Luong began his grounded pursuit of music at the age of 13 after being inspired to learn guitar by watching Drake Bell’s character from Drake & Josh. Undoubtedly talented, Casey eventually met his first wall of adversity after flying to Los Angeles for a music competition he subsequently lost, placing him at a crossroads - continue making music or pursue something else? Luckily, with YouTube’s continuous live-stream feature and later anonymous artists like Lofi Girl buttressing the lo-fi trend, Casey maintained his interest in music after discovering low-fidelity production. With a limited, but nurturing support system of friends and family, Casey eventually created a SoundCloud account in 2017 titled, “keshi,” a childhood nickname given to him by his friends. He wrote his first song, submitted it to a Reddit competition, and won, ultimately helping him seed his listener base.

After graduating from The University of Texas, Casey began working full-time as an oncology registered nurse in Houston. He found himself struggling to balance his professional career with his burgeoning music career, and eventually, after a bad day at work, he chose to resign from his RN job. That same week, he signed to Island Records. 

What’s Next: Earlier this month, keshi expectedly released his sophomore album, Requiem, in good timing with his  Requiem World Tour, scheduled to begin next month.

Lyte abruptly ends operations, TikTok Music shuts down, Meta continues UMG partnership, Roblox releases music charts

🎫 The Lyte Shutdown: After launching in 2014 and raising an aggregate of $53 million, a couple of weeks ago, Lyte abruptly shut down, inactivating its website and going dark, leaving many fans unable to access their funds from secondary sales and forcing festivals to take on the monetary burden. This week, Lyte has initiated a sale of its assets and clear its unsecured debts. 

💥 TikTok Ends Music Pursuit: After launching its music streaming service a year ago, TikTok announced that it will shut down its TikTok Music streaming service in November 😮. This comes after a tenuous renegotiation partnership with UMG earlier this year.

👓 A Meta Future: Meta and Universal Music Group announced a multi-year partnership to expand opportunities for UMG artists through Meta’s platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. This comes shortly after the release of a new music feature on Instagram, allowing users to add a song to their profile.

🎮 Roblox Music Charts: Move over Billboard, Roblox is doubling down on music discovery (after partnering with DistroKid last month) by offering music charts on its platform, allowing gamers to discover new music from their gaming experiences.

 🤖 Tackling AI: SoundExchange recently launched a registry allowing rightsholders to permission their recordings for generative AI audio training. GEMA announced that it has developed a new licensing model for AI-generated derivative tracks. UnitedMasters has added AI mastering services through its partnership with RoEx.

💬 Yelp!: The National Independent Venue Association is accusing Yelp over claims of misleading concert ticket listings.

Miley Cyrus and Sony Music sued for “Flowers,” English Teacher wins Mercury Prize, Kesha establishes independent label, Netflix readies Building The Band, Killphonic Rights and Mellomanic raise funding rounds

👨🏻‍⚖️ Major Lawsuits: Several parties, including Miley Cyrus and Sony Music, are being sued for copyright infringement for 2023 hit, “Flowers.” Shaboozey has sued Warner Chappell, the music publishing arm of Warner Music Group, for intentionally thwarting his effort to buy out the remainder of his contract amid the success of “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Finally, Barry Manilow is suing Hipgnosis for $1.5 million in unpaid bonuses (another headache for Blackstone).

📈 Artist Development: SoundCloud has revealed its new global artist development program, which has previously supported artists such as Kenya Grace, Shaboozey, Teezo Touchdown, and Barry Can’t Swim. Separately, the Featured Artists Coalition and Amazon Music have partnered to provide ten artists with £8,000 grants through the Step Up Fund.

👩🏻‍🏫 English Teacher: Good grammar, good consequences. Post-punk band, English Teacher, is the latest winner of the Mercury Prize for the top album in the UK + Ireland, beating out Charli XCX 🤔, The Last Dinner Party, and Nia Archives.

🤝 Label Partnerships: Kesha recently launched her independent label, Kesha Records, in partnership with Crush Music and Warner Music Group. Snoop Dogg and Death Row Records (now owned by Snoop) have agreed to a full-catalog publishing deal with Reservoir Media. Jennie, formerly of BLACKPINK, has signed a solo deal with Columbia Records. South Asian music label, Myst Music, is partnering with Sony Music’s distribution subsidiary, The Orchard. Finally, Beggars Group, an indie label holding company, is partnering with Recreational Music to license its music for personalized video game play

💰 Securing the Bag: Music publishing and royalty services company, Killphonic Rights, received a $3 million investment from Stilwell Creative Capital to expand its artist management services. We Are Giant rebranded as Mellomanic and raised an additional $6 million. Superfan streaming platform, Mixcloud, acquired live booking platform, Encore. Miris raised a $26 million seed round 👀 to support spatial audio computing and delivery. Ampollo, a musician collaboration platform, raised £2.3 million to launch its app allowing users to separate stems from tracks, remix songs, and share their new music creations. Superfan spaces app, FanCircles, has raised $2 million in funding to continue building its platform allowing artists to launch apps geared at generating exclusive content for their fans.

🎞️ Video Killed the Radio Star: Netflix’s upcoming pop group reality competition show, Building The Band (perhaps an homage to MTV’s Making The Band), revealed its judges which include Kelly Rowland, Liam Payne, and Nicole Scherzinger. Elton John’s documentary, Never Too Late, will be premiering on Disney+ on December 13th. Finally, Shailene Woodley will be starring in an upcoming biopic of Janis Joplin while KJ Apa will be starring as Bradley Nowell of Sublime

🌐 Web3 Updates: Decentralized music streaming platform, Audius, is fully rolling out its direct artist payments feature to all artists on the platform, noting that 10% of each payment will be captured for the community treasury. Audius competitor, Tune.fm, has raised another $50 million in new funding from Global Emerging Markets.

📚 Catalogs: Julia Michaels has sold most of her publishing and recording catalog to Jonas Group.

Indie and electronic albums take center stage, Jamie xx releases first album in 9 years

Fred again.., ten days |  Rex Orange County, The Alexander Technique | Hinds, Viva Hinds | Toro y Moi, Hole Erth | HONNE, OUCH | The Dare, What’s Wrong With New York? | Danielle Bradbery, Danielle | BOYNEXTDOOR, 19.99 | LL Cool J, THE FORCE

Dayglow, Dayglow | Suki Waterhouse, Memoir of a Sparklemuffin | keshi, Requiem | Miranda Lambert, Postcards from Texas | Nilüfer Yanya, My Method Actor | Babyface Ray, The Kid That Did | Snow Patrol, The Forest Is the Path

Jamie xx, In Waves | Cher, Forever Fan | Hippo Campus, Flood | Katy Perry, 143 | Keith Urban, HIGH | Nelly Furtado, 7 | Bright Eyes, Five Dice, All Threes | Amy Shark, Sunday Sadness | Mason Ramsey, I’ll See You in My Dreams

BAYNK, SENESCENCE | SOPHIE, SOPHIE | Tommy Richman, COYOTE | Lady Gaga, Harlequin | Lane 8, Childish | Clozee + LSDREAM, LSZEE | Pale Waves, Smitten | Mustafa, Dunya

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See ya in October 😎

Donya and Chris

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