While You Were Away: Beyoncé’s New LP, New Music From HEALTH, PVRIS, FEVER 333, And More
Before we go on a much-needed vacation, we’ve got one more edition of While You Were Away to tie you over. This week we’re talking about Beyoncé’s new album, the latest tracks from HEALTH, FEVER 333, PVRIS, and more.
FEVER 333 drop new single ‘Ready Rock’
FEVER 333 are back with their new single “Ready Rock,” taken from their as-yet-untitled new album, which arrives later this year via Century Media.
“With this month (February) being Black History Month, ‘Ready Rock’ pays homage to black artists of the past that unequivocally built rock n’ roll into what it is today,” a press release states. “Fever bring light to the lineage of iconic rock sounds and sonics that have often gone uncredited to their proper black creators, with the assertion, Rock Music is Black Music.”
“Ready Rock” is the follow up to the previously released single “$wing.” Listen to the song below.
HEALTH share cover of Deftones’ ‘Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)’
HEALTH have shared their take on Deftones‘ “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” as part of the Spotify Singles series. The noise rockers transform the song into a synthpop romper but keep the sensual mood intact thanks to Jake Duzsik’s breathy vocals.
Though the song is only available via Spotify, it arrived the day before the physical release of HEALTH’s latest album RAT WARS. Pick up a copy on CD, vinyl, and cassette here.
Listen to the song below.
Beyoncé announces new album ‘Act II’
Beyoncé has announced her new album Act II, which arrives on March 29th via Columbia Records. As a preview, she shared the first two singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.” Stream them below.
The follow up to 2022’s RENAISSANCE seems to be the singer’s take on country music after she previously celebrated 1970s Black dance club culture in Act I of a planned trilogy.
The singer teased the album in her Super Bowl commercial for Verizon, which ended with her saying “Okay, they ready. Drop the new music.”
PVRIS unveils new single featuring Tommy Genesis and Alice Longyu-Gao
PVRIS has teamed up with Tommy Genesis and Alice Longyu-Gao for new genre-blending song “Burn the Witch.”
“At its core, I just wanted to make a fun project full of some bad bitches in music that I love and create a space where we can express whatever we want and get to experiment sonically,” says Lyndsey Gunnulfsen. “I didn’t want to be overly precious about it, I just want to have fun and free flow!”
She continues: “It should be noted that while there are already so many iconic and incredible female producers, writers, engineers etc. out there – I’m no trailblazer here – there is nowhere near the amount that there should be. This isn’t even something to debate, go look at the statistics.
“I think I’ve truly been in hundreds of writing/producing sessions at this point in my career and I can recall less than 20 of those that were with female writers and around 10 that were with female producers. From labels and publishers to management, there is so little advocacy to get artists into rooms with women in general. It’s even rarer to see the same advocacy towards connecting and putting only women in a room together, especially without it being made into a commodity, ‘special event’ or task to check off. These collaborations should be happening organically regardless of who is watching.
Stream the song below.
Tours on sale this week
The Mars Volta recently announced a string of US dates leading up to their June 14th appearance at Bonnaroo. The brief run starts June 6th in Des Moines, Iowa, and wraps up June 13th in Columbus, Ohio. See all the details here.
BABYMETAL and Dethklok are joining forces once again for two special “BABYKLOK” shows in San Francisco this April. The concerts will take place at The Masonic on April 24th and 25th with DragonForce opening the first night and Nekrogoblikon opening the second night. Find tickets here.
AC/DC recently announced a massive European headline tour for this summer. The “POWER UP” tour starts May 17th in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and runs through August 17th with a show in Dublin, Ireland. See all the dates here.
Vampire Weekend will embark on a North American tour in support of their upcoming album Only God Was Above. The tour kicks off on June 6th in Houston, Texas, and wraps up October 17th in Austin, Texas. Tickets go on sale Friday, February 23rd at 10 AM local time.
