#61 - Sucker Punch 🌞

Happy Sunlighter Sunday! Last week, we published a different newsletter format, and 80% of you seemed to really enjoy it. This week, we have updates from The Rolling Stones, Blink-182, Bad Bunny, and Britney. Let’s rock ‘n roll.

Rating Rationale: If you’ve been following Sunlighter for a while, you’ve probably heard plenty of references about Holly Humberstone being our first artist of the week. Her debut studio album, Paint My Bedroom Black, is finally here and unlike many artists, Holly not only validates her potential from her extended collection, Can You Afford to Lose Me?, but she exceeds it with astounding versatility. From “Superbloodmoon,” which features overdrive guitar and clever harmonization with fellow upcoming artist, d4vd, to “Antichrist” and “Baby Blues”, which incorporates Imogen Heap-like vocoder effects, the variation in sounds as well as tempos (especially in “Flatlining”) will keep you stimulated through the entirety of the album. We also tip our hat to her idol, collaborator, and producer, Rob Milton, for his credits to the shimmering production and poignant lyricism.

The Rolling Stones and Blink-182 are back

This week saw the releases of two highly anticipated rock albums:

Hackney Diamonds by The Rolling Stones. It’s their first album in seven years and only the third time they’ve released music since 2000. Some suggest that it could be their final album, completing their trifecta of LPs in the 21st century and reflecting their commitment towards their blues roots and classic rock. As part of their release, they played a surprise show in NYC alongside Lady Gaga who is featured as a collaborator on their song, “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.” We’ll also leave you with their music video of “Angry,” in which they enlist Sydney Sweeney enjoying a joyride through the streets of Los Angeles.

One More Time… by Blink-182. The history of Blink-182 is inseparable from the emotional reunion project, One More Time…, which shrugs off the previous disputes that led to Tom DeLonge’s exits from the band in both 2005 and 2015. After Tom’s successful battle with cancer in 2021, he rejoined Blink-182 in 2022, which ignited a comeback tour and momentum towards their first album as a trio in 12 years.

Bad Bunny continues to break records, even as a lawsuit against him puts all of reggaeton at risk

Last Friday, Bad Bunny’s release of his most recent 22-track album, Nadie Sade Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, garnered him another Spotify record-breaking feat, this time, the most-streamed album in a single day in 2023. This week, he announced his Most Wanted tour, which kicks off in February of 2024, amidst a genre-wide copyright infringement lawsuit that could put many reggaeton artists in a precarious position.

The lawsuit originated from Steely & Clevie’s 1989 hit, “Fish Market,” in which the duo asserts that their distinctive dembow (a Dominican music genre) rhythm has been copied or sampled by thousands of songs within the contemporary reggaeton genre, including more than three dozen Bad Bunny songs named in the lawsuit.

Britney Spears will release her memoir, The Woman In Me

In two days (October 24th), Britney Spears’ highly-anticipated memoir will be available, but in the meantime, excerpts of the memoir have been released by People magazine detailing her harrowing experiences under conservatorship, an abortion she purportedly had while dating Justin Timberlake, and her reasoning for why she chose to shave her head.

If you’re looking to get the audiobook version, know that while Britney will narrate the intro, the experiences were too difficult for her to recite the whole story. The remainder of the book will be narrated by actress, Michelle Williams.

• 🎲 Ice Dice: Live events ticketing platform, Dice, is expanding to Canada, starting with a launch in Toronto.

• 🎫 Capturing the Moment: Patreon announced this week the acquisition of digital ticketing and events platform, Moment, for an undisclosed amount.

• 🤖 Artificial Sweeteners: Universal Music Group has sued AI unicorn, Anthropic, for alleged copyright infringement as a result of the AI company training their large language model on UMG songs. Separately, UMG is partnering with BandLab’s parent company, SongStarter, to support the ethical use of AI in order to protect artist and songwriter rights. Warner Music Group’s, Spinnin’ Records (an EDM label), is partnering with AI startup, Endel, to create 50 health-focused soundscape albums. Music stem-separation app, Moises, is launching a new tool known as AI Voice Studio, which allows vocalists to clone and license their voices. Finally, music startup, Tape It, is picking up where Apple left off, releasing an AI feature that can automatically detect and reduce noise in their recording app. 

• 🌐 Web3 Updates: Web3 music platform, Vault Music, is launching a music game leveraging the mechanics of fantasy sports. That should be interesting.

• ✂️ Newly Independent: That’s currently Megan Thee Stallion, after finally settling a three-year dispute and splitting with her Houston-based label, 1501 Entertainment.

• 🌀 Hypnotized: Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a pioneer in the long-term investment strategy of purchasing music catalogs, is starting to see its thesis falter. Not only did the company cancel its interim dividend, but its investors have also been pushing back on the company’s plan to sell certain catalogs as their stock price recently fell to record lows.

• 🌎 Universal Music: UMG has had a busy week. Earlier in the week, they announced a sweeping “alliance” with BMG to support the physical distribution of vinyl and CDs for BMG-signed artists. Additionally, in a move that directly challenges Epidemic Sounds, UMG launched Universal Music for Creators, a new subscription music licensing service that allows content creators to utilize claim-free music and sound effects for their short-form videos. Finally, in Tokyo, UMG launched a new retail store supporting music superfans by providing fan experiences and product launches.

• 🤫 Golden Silence: Wale’s silence has been broken with his return to music after signing to a new home record label, Def Jam Recordings.

• 💰 Securing the Bag: AI-music startup, Riffusion, raised a seed round of $4M led by Greycroft and South Park Commons while adding The Chainsmokers as advisors.

Drake dominates charts with 13th number one album

📈 Drake moves back into familiar chart territory with For All The Dogs, gaining another #1 album with seven singles in the Top 10 (a tie with Michael Jackson’s record) and all 23 songs in the top 50 of the Billboard 100. Junior H reaches new heights on the Billboard 200, putting the world on notice that his style of “trap corrido” is gaining momentum.

Sigrid

Primer: This rising Norwegian pop singer-songwriter has enough potential to hit you like a sucker punch. Inspired by the likes of Norwegian female artists that came before her (Astrid S, AURORA, Dagny), Sigrid is another groundbreaking artist from Norway who’s making prominent waves in pop music, with 2.9 million listeners on Spotify.

Genre: Pop

Influences: Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Adele, Coldplay, Nirvana, Grimes

Current Label: Island Records

What’s Next: After playing a number of festivals this year (Øyafestivalen, The Big Feastival) Sigrid is currently on a 22-date club tour across Norway where she’s preparing for the release of her upcoming EP, The Hype, due October 27th. Sigrid says the four-track format is sufficient to conceptualize her perfectionist mindset when it comes to the many facets of her songwriting, story, and sound. You can listen to the first two tracks here.

Here’s what you missed, and here’s what’s coming up:

⏪ Out Last Week: The jazzy collaboration you didn’t know you needed with beabadoobee and our Sunlighter favorite, Laufey. Balming Tiger said January Never Dies on their latest EP. City Girls released their third studio album. 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne say no “Presha.” Gucci Mane released Breath of Fresh Air. The Chainsmokers are back to their original sound with Summertime Friends. Restless Road says this isn’t their Last Rodeo. Another Sunlighter favorite, Griff, gave fans a peek into her upcoming album with vert1go vol. 1. Poolside gives fans a disco daydream when they Blame It All On Love.

⏩ Here are album releases to look out for this week: 

1. Barbara Streisand, Evergreens

2. Black Pumas, Chronicles Of A Diamond

3. Duran Duran, Danse Macabre

4. Flyte, Flyte

5. Hot Mulligan, Hot Mulligan Lofi

6. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, The Silver Cord

7. James Blunt, Who We Used To Be

8. Mariah the Scientist, To Be Eaten Alive

9. Nirvana, In Utero | Bonus Tracks & B-sides

10. Sigrid, The Hype

11. Taking Back Sunday, 152

12. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version)

🚶‍ Show Announcements: Omar Apollo is playing a sold-out acoustic show on November 3 in NYC. Portugal. The Man will be playing a series of tour stops in the US & Canada from November 3-19. Mariah Carey celebrates the holiday season with 13 shows from November 15-December 17. Kid Cudi is set to perform live at Complex Con in Long Beach, CA between November 18-19.

We’re currently developing ideas for a more comprehensive music calendar so you can make the most of upcoming releases and tour updates every week. Stay tuned 👀

The Merch Table

• 🙅🏻‍♀️ Don’t Kill My Vibe: Our artist of the week has Patagonia-inspired tees in anticipation of her upcoming EP, The Hype.

• 🎀 Pink Friday Hype: They’ve restocked once now, so be on the lookout for more signed copies of the upcoming Pink Friday 2 drop from Nicki Minaj.

• 👟 Adidas x KoRn: The collaboration collection is set to drop on October 27th.

Featured Playlist

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See ya next Sunday 😎

Chris and Donya