#28 - Anemonemone🌞

Happy Sunlighter Sunday! This week, big things happened in the realm of music and AI, and Drake alluded to his potential retirement. We're trying a new sequence for our content this week, so drop a comment below to let us know what you think.

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Here's what we have queued up this week:

1. 🌶️ Review of Desire, I Want to Turn Into You by Caroline Polachek.

2. 🔀 Playlist updates: New Skrillex and old school Feist are this week's additions.

3. 💿 Industry updates from GOAT rappers to a surprise Cardi B performance.

4. 🤘 Tours: Guns N' Roses, Caamp, Ozuna, and more.

5. 🎡 Festivals: Roots Picnic and Lollapalooza Stockholm.

6. 🎙️ slenderbodies is our artist of the week.

Chris: Caroline Polachek is at the top of her game right now, and so far, this has to be one of the best albums of the year. The entire album is incredibly diverse and ushers in a high bar for new-era, experimental pop. It’s authentically Caroline, with plenty of clever symbolism, progressiveness, and sensuality. The diaphanous elements of her vocals are interlaced articulately into every song, but intentionally in very different ways, completing the production throughout the album. From “Welcome To My Island,” exhibiting a siren song that draws you in at the beginning of the album, to Sertanejo-sounding “Sunset,” and finally ending with “Billions,” Caroline takes you on a celestial journey you never thought you wanted.

Donya: Sunlighter covered Caroline Polachek back in November because after her Coachella performance, we knew she was an artist to watch–her debut album proves she’s here to stay. The dynamic tracks are backed with eclectic production, complementing her airy vocals and crystal-clear tonality. Throughout the album, I heard bits and pieces of Enya (one of her biggest influences), Lady Gaga, Sara Bareilles, Anna Nalick, and Alanis Morisette. Intrigued? It’s only 45 minutes (I love an efficient album), so give it a listen. “Sunset” is my favorite track, but “Blood and Butter” is a close second because who doesn’t love a bagpipe solo?

The Sunlighter Playlist 🔀

Industry Updates 💿

🧑‍⚖️ Justice was served this week: R. Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a federal child pornography case, in which 19 of those years will be served concurrently with his 30-year sentence of sex trafficking and racketeering. The shooter who fatally shot Nipsey Hussle will be sentenced to at least 60 years in prison. The two organizers of a failed Iowa music festival, Newbo Evolve (headlined by Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson), were sentenced to prison for bank fraud.

🔀 There’s a shuffle occurring in the music industry: Is Drake’s retirement in the near future? He seemed to hint at it during an interview with Lil Yachty. CHVRCHES dropped their first single with Island Records this past week. With Crash being Charli XCX’s final album tied to her contract with Atlantic Records, she recently revealed that she has signed a contract with a new record label. Matt & Kim have started a new project known as PG14. Boosie Badazz cancels his planned joint album with T.I. after alleging T.I. “snitched” on his now deceased cousin. Finally, Belly tweeted that his final three albums with XO (The Weeknd’s record label) will likely be the final three albums of his career.

👀 Here are a few things to look forward to: SZA is planning to drop a deluxe version of SOS with ten additional unreleased songs (yes, 10!). Travis Scott’s highly anticipated return to music via upcoming album, Utopia, is set to drop this summer. It’s the 10th anniversary of Random Access Memories, so Daft Punk is giving their fans an expanded version with 35 minutes of previously unreleased music. Jimin of BTS shared a tracklist of his upcoming solo album, FACE.

📱 AI and Web3 are gaining traction in the music industry: Spotify recently debuted a new “DJ” feature powered by generative AI to provide listeners with more personalized music. Spotify is also in the process of testing NFT token-gated playlists. Stephen Cooper, the previous WMG CEO, is now on the board of web3 NFT platform OneOf, while Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures is looking to raise $200M for AI technologies. TikTok announced Beabadoobee as their next #AltMusic featured artist. Web3 decentralized streaming company. Pre-seed fan engagement company Rivet raises $500k. Finally, a new app, Rewind, is allowing users to more easily explore top songs from past decades.

Here’s a few other things you missed:

• 📋 The GOAT: Earlier this month, Billboard dropped a list of “the greatest rappers of all-time.” Lil Wayne ranked 7th.

• 📅 GloRilla brought out Cardi B to perform “Tomorrow 2” during her NYC show.

• 📈 WMG Q1: A couple of weeks ago, Warner Music Group released their first quarter earnings, illustrating the impact of a challenging macro environment. Total revenue decreased by 8%: Recorded music revenue decreased by 11%, digital revenue decreased by 5% but music publishing revenue actually continued its growth with a 9% increase.

• 🥇 IFPI Awards: IFPI awarded Bad Bunny as the winner of the Global Album Award, Harry Styles for the Global Single Award, and Taylor Swift as the Global Recording Artist of the Year.

Tour Announcements 🤘

• The Jonas Brothers are coming to Broadway for a 5-night residence to play all of their hits, with each night focusing on a different album.

• K-Pop phenomenon, TWICE, are headed for their 5th world tour, Ready to Be, with 17 tour dates from Seoul to Atlanta.

• A cappella group Pentatonix announced North American dates of their world tour, tickets on sale tomorrow at 10am PST.

• Bebe Rexha is promoting her latest album, Better Mistakes, on her Best F*n Night of My Life tour across 19 dates this spring.

• Ozuna kicks off the Vivo 2023 Tour this May in San Diego, CA.

• The Backstreet Boys announce they’re expanding their DNA World Tour to India, making it their first performance there in 13 years.

• YUNGBLUD announces a big show at Eden’s Project in Cornwall, UK this summer, tickets on sale tomorrow at 5pm GMT.

• Boygenius announced two live shows in the UK this summer with special guests MUNA and Ethel Cain.

• Rising Croatian artist, Matroda, is heading on tour this summer across North America and Europe.

• Hunter Hayes is headed on his Red Sky Tour in anticipation of his fifth studio album, which drops April 21.

• Caamp is heading on a North American tour this May through September, continuing to promote their latest album, Lavender Days.

• Feist is going on a 13-stop tour to promote her upcoming album, Multitudes.

• The Revivalists are taking Band Of Horses on tour with them as they plan to promote their upcoming album, Pour It Out Into the Night, which drops June 2.

• Father John Misty & The Head and the Heart are co-headlining a North American tour, which includes a number of festivals and a stop at Red Rocks.

• Neil Young is set to play his first show since 2019 for a philanthropy event at the Greek Theatre in LA.

• Following his new album release this spring, Jelly Roll is going on his Backroad Baptistm Tour this summer.

• Guns N’ Roses is headed on a 2023 Global Tour starting in Tel Aviv, Israel and wrapping in Vancouver, BC.

• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit announce a five-month tour in anticipation of their upcoming album, Weathervanes.

• Braid celebrates 25 years of their Frame & Canvas album with an anniversary album edition and 12 nights on tour.

• Portuguese goth-metal band Moonspell celebrate their 30th anniversary with the American Full Moon 2023 North American Tour, which starts its 22-night stint in Brooklyn, NY.

• Graham Nash, formerly of Crosby Stills and Nash, is headed on tour this spring and summer to promote his upcoming album, Now, which drops on May 19.

• Lead guitarist from Aerosmith, Joe Perry, announces six tour stops this April with his band, The Joe Perry Project, starting in Mashantucket, CT.

• Slowthai announces UK and European tour dates with supporting acts Nia Archives and Sainté.

Festival Announcements 🎡

🧺 The Roots Picnic: Since 2008, The Roots have hosted their annual music festival to celebrate diverse hip-hop music talent from Philadelphia. For their 15th year, they’re expanding the festival to 3 days and bringing Mrs. Lauryn Hill, Diddy, Lil Uzi Vert, GloRilla, Ari Lennox, City Girls, DVSN, and others to the Mann Center at Fairmont Park. The additional day will be reserved for a comedy show headlined by Dave Chappelle.

⚒️ Lollapalooza Stockholm: Each year after the weekend of Midsommar celebrations, Stockholm embraces the now internationally-expanded music festival traditions of Lollapalooza, which originally premiered in Phoenix but is better known for its association with the city of Chicago. This year, Lollapalooza Stockholm is welcoming Travis Scott, Kygo, Lizzo, Zara Larsson, Mumford & Sons, and Lil Nas X as the headliners of the 3-day festival.

Artist of the Week: slenderbodies🎙️

“Obsessed with guitar and falsetto” is how this week’s artist characterizes themselves, and it’s the perfect way to encapsulate their sound. We discovered them in a Spotify playlist rabbit hole during lockdown in 2020, and to this day, they remain a reliable source of chill vibes.

Punk Rock Forever

slenderbodies is a California-native duo consisting of Aram “Max” Vehuni and Benji Barsocchini. Both picked up the guitar at age 12 and spent time playing in punk rock bands. During their teenage years, Max began learning production software and making beats in his bedroom while Ben used the guitar as a vessel to learn songwriting.

They both attended UC Santa Cruz, where they quickly became friends as they bonded on all things music, including their love for Death Cab for Cutie, Sigur Rós, Radiohead, and Green Day. Soon after, Max built a makeshift studio in his dorm room, where he would record musicians around the university, which helped him gain production experience across a plethora of genres and vocals.

slenderbodies comes to life

After two years, Max decided to drop out of college to fully dedicate his time to pursuing music while Benji stayed and enrolled in UC Santa Cruz’s music program. The two friends stayed in touch via Facebook Messenger, where they sent music recordings back and forth. When Max approached Benji with the idea of becoming a duo, largely based on the niche foundation of falsetto vocals and guitar, it was a no-brainer for Benji. Upon Benji’s graduation, they moved to Los Angeles and attended songwriting and production sessions for almost a year. They had no intention of ever performing live as their primary goal was to fine tune what they call their “creative haven” and publish music for their friends and family.

Within 6-7 weeks, the duo had written all eight tracks on their debut record, sotto voce, which they released on Spotify. Neither of them paid much attention to the streaming numbers until one of their tracks was featured on Spotify’s Fresh Finds playlist.

Ten months later, the duo released their next album, fabulist, which featured their most popular track to date, “anemone.” The album caught the attention of Mura Masa, who asked them to play a show with them (this was their first live show other than a Sofarsounds performance in a living room). Since then, they’ve toured with PVRIS, Milky Chance, Passion Pit, and Louis the Child.

Musical Inspiration

The duo draws inspiration from many areas of their lives, but notably, their soraya EP reflects on all of the important women who inspired them to rise above their creative self-doubt and break norms of toxic masculinity by embracing vulnerability through their music. The duo’s next album, komorebi is one they describe as wholly nature-driven, alluding to the forests on the Northern California coast as a representation of them as a duo. The album is loosely translated into a Japanese phrase meaning “sunlight streaming through the trees in nature,” which remained a guiding light for them to stay thankful, humble, and grounded as they created the album. After being courted by multiple labels, the duo ultimately signed with Avant Garden (a subsidiary of Island Records) before dropping the album.

The COVID lockdown compelled them to push the limits they’d set for themselves through their previous releases, including breaking free of their niche guitar and falsetto. Their third album, are we? in May 2021 was the first to include additional instruments and outside collaborators as they toyed with the idea of diving deeper into pop music. Their most recent album, simple shapes, was released in 2022, and it continues to embrace that mentality as the duo included a new drummer, Zachary Hurd, into their “creative haven.”

Listen here, it’s perfect for literally any mood:

Wrap Up 👏

We're closing the newsletter this week with Stormzy spitting truth and serving up inspiration as you head into a new week:

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See ya next Sunday 😎

Chris and Donya