MAGIC WANDS : 'Diamond Rain' - brand new single by US dream-pop duo out 14th August 2026 (Metropolis Records)

MAGIC WANDS DIAMOND RAIN new single out 14th August 2026 (Metropolis Records) stream  |  Bandcamp  |  video MAGIC WANDS | live photo by Shahrnaz Nancy Southwick Magic Wands have released a brand new single entitled ‘Diamond Rain’, today (14th August) via Metropolis Records. Long renowned for their dream-pop sound that also incorporates elements of shoegaze, post-punk and goth, the LA-based duo comprised of vocalists/guitarists Dexy and Chris Valentine state that “the song doesn’t have one fixed meaning. To us, it’s about moving toward the light, finding beauty after darkness and allowing people to discover their own meaning within it.” ‘Diamond Rain’ is accompanied by a homemade video, which they explain was created “using old cameras, lights and mirrors to create textures and effects that give it a dreamlike feeling.” MAGIC WANDS | Diamond Rain video ‘Diamond Rain’ is the first track to be lifted from a brand new Magic Wands album due in early 2027 and follows the recent EPs ‘Wishing Well’ STREAM | BANDCAMP and ‘Remixes’ STREAM | BANDCAMP. The first of these featured a collaboration with John Ashton of The Psychedelic Furs entitled 'Sacred Mirrors’, while the latter included reworkings of several songs from the duo’s acclaimed ‘Cascades’ studio album issued in late 2025. A Magic Wands remix of ‘Swoon’ by former Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy was also released as a single in May and can be heard HERE. “Amid the cacophony of today’s world, Magic Wands emerges like a whisper in the wind; a spellbinding blend of sound that feels both familiar and foreign" POST-PUNK “Moody and atmospheric. For maximum effectiveness, listen to it at dusk with a single candle lit ****” SPILL MAGAZINE “Both familiar and quietly bold, a record that walks that razor-thin line between dream-pop and gothic atmosphere. A slow, smoky invocation 4.5/5” CHAIN D.L.K. “Magic Wands are still bending time, painting dreamscapes, and slipping silver threads of moonlight through every riff" MUSIC FIENDS MAGIC WANDS | photo by John Charter Official Site  |  Facebook  |  Instagram

Rising artist Isabel Dumaa unveils “All American”

RISING ARTIST ISABEL DUMAA UNVEILS “ALL AMERICAN”

FURTHER NEW MUSIC IMMINENT

photo credit: Elena Rendina

“strikingly mature indie pop” – Atwood Magazine

“Her voice is romantic and steady, almost careful, even when the subject matter is anything but. There is something in that restraint that makes the emotional impact hit harder, not softer.” – Ones To Watch

“Isabel put herself on the map with infectious pop vibes and masterful storytelling, cementing her as an artist with her own powerful point of view” – Sweety High

“with her debut EP [Just My Nature], she found herself, her sound, and her artistry, all while providing young women with a means of processing their fleeting youth.” – Off the Record

August 14, 2026—Rising singer-songwriter Isabel Dumaa unveils a further taste of new music with “All American”—listen/share HERE.  “‘All American’ is about falling for the idealized version of someone—or someplace—and finding out the hard way what’s hiding beneath the picture-perfect façade,” Dumaa shares.  The single follows “You Don’t Know Me” and news that Dumaa has partnered with Lucille Records/Republic Recordsand WME, starting a new era for the up-and-coming star.  Stay tuned for further new music to come this fall.  Shortly after releasing her much-lauded debut EP, Just My Nature (2024), which included fan favorites “Quarter Life Crisis” and “C’est La Vie,” Dumaa embarked on a European tour supporting Mark Ambor across twelve cities. Later in 2025, she went on to open for Benson Boone, Teddy Swims, and made her festival debut at SummerFest in Milwaukee. Earlier this year, Dumaa supported Sam Smith’s acclaimed residency at the newly refurbished Castro Theater, opening the first six nights in her hometown of San Francisco. Dumaa continues to develop a passionate fanbase on social media with over 800k followers across platforms (having doubled her numbers on both Instagram and TikTok in the past few months) and recently reached a new monthly listener peak on Spotify, surpassing 200k for the first time. Furthermore, Dumaa recently released her rendition of Rose Betts’ “Irish Eyes,” after it quickly went viral with over 10M views on TikTok, while her hit “Quarter Life Crisis” also skyrocketed, having accumulated over 3 million streams and counting on Spotify, and garnering praise from the likes of Ones to Watch, Lyrical Lemonade and more.

Icona Pop Release New Album RITUAL Today. North American Tour Starts September 25

ICONA POP RELEASE NEW ALBUM, RITUAL – OUT NOW [ULTRA RECORDS / ICONIC SOUND RECORDINGS]   UNVEIL OFFICIAL VISUALIZER FOR ALBUM FOCUS TRACK  “HURT” - WATCH   FALL U.S. TOUR DATES ON SALE NOW WATCH “HURT”   LISTEN RITUAL (ALBUM) Hurt Ritual (feat. Daya) Dance To This Butterfly Feelings Cooler Yellow Top Mad Love Didn’t Mean It Like That Never Over Foreverness   2026 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES 09/25 – Baby’s All Right – Brooklyn, NY 10/02 – Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL 11/20 – TBA – Las Vegas, NV 11/21 – Moroccan Lounge – Los Angeles, CA     Today, multi-platinum, award-winning duo Icona Pop release their new album, Ritual, out now via Ultra Records/Iconic Sound Recordings. Alongside the album, Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo unveil its deeply personal focus single, “Hurt,” accompanied by a new official visualizer co-directed by Icona Pop and Nicole Walker.   Listen to Ritual HERE and watch the official visualizer for “Hurt” HERE.   A late-night conjuration of emotional electro-pop, Ritual finds Icona Pop at their most emotionally open and creatively confident. Across club-ready rhythms, euphoric synths, bittersweet pop melodies, and raw, vulnerable lyrics, Caroline and Aino explore friendship, reinvention, healing, motherhood, heartbreak, and joy—reclaiming the dancefloor as a space for release, connection, and transformation. At its core, Ritual is an album about ownership. Caroline and Aino are owning who they are now—as mothers, creative partners, entrepreneurs, leaders, sisters, and women. The record channels that evolution into a feminine reclamation, creating space for emotion, catharsis, and transformation while celebrating the friendship that has remained at the center of Icona Pop through it all. “It’s always been us against the world,” says Icona Pop. “But now, it feels like we’ve built a world of our own. We let each other grow; and we want each other to be happy. It’s beautiful to have somebody with you through the hardest times, but also the greatest times. We don’t take it for granted.” The album was born during a transformative chapter for both artists. Caroline and Aino became mothers within days of each other, returned to Sweden after years in Los Angeles, and navigated heartbreak, anxiety, and major changes in their lives. Rather than shy away from those emotions, they built a creative environment where they could lean into them fully.   “The whole journey with Ritual was us being in the studio with people that made us feel safe enough to stay in the uncomfortable and explore,” Icona Pop explains. “We had no rules making this album. All feelings were welcome, and that felt very liberating. That’s why the album sounds so honest. Writing the album became very therapeutic and important to be able to move forward and heal.”   That emotional honesty comes into sharp focus on “Hurt.” Beginning with lonely keys and a fractured vocal loop before building toward a pulsating, bass-heavy release, the song captures the painful moment when heartbreak begins to give way to acceptance.   “We were absolutely crying in the studio,” Caroline remembers. “It’s written from the perspective of letting go and starting to move on. It’s a vulnerable track about the process of saying goodbye. The message is, ‘Even though you hurt me, I’m still alive. I can look back at memories and think they were beautiful. I wonder if you see it the same way. I hope you do’.”   She continues: “‘Hurt’ is not an angry song about revenge. It’s a song about brutal acceptance of being left by the one you love. It hurts, but you’re realizing that you’re going to be fine and you’re letting go. When the song reaches climax at the end, it almost feels like you’re out on the other side dancing with your friends again still hurt—but also happy.”   “Hurt” joins previously released tracks “Yellow Top,” “Ritual” featuring Daya, “Dance To This,” and “Butterfly Feelings,” each revealing a different dimension of the album’s emotional and sonic world. Throughout Ritual, Icona Pop transform deeply personal experiences into expansive, dancefloor-ready pop without sacrificing the emotional honesty at the heart of the record. The album captures the duo at their most authentic—celebrating resilience, friendship, vulnerability, and the freedom found on the dancefloor.   The title track itself distills the album’s philosophy into its simplest form: the small rituals we use to survive, reconnect with ourselves, and move forward.   Ultimately, Ritual is both a celebration of where Icona Pop are now and a reaffirmation of what has always connected them: friendship, movement, and the transformative power of music.   “It’s okay to not be okay, but still go out and dance,” Caroline says. “It’s okay to be where you are right now. Find your rituals, find your friends, and find your energy.” Aino adds, “Go dance, move your body, meet people, hug, kiss, and don’t hide.”   This fall, Icona Pop will bring Ritual to the stage with a run of U.S. headline dates, including shows in Brooklyn, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles, before continuing on to Scandinavia. Tickets are on sale now at Icona Pop’s official tour page. For tickets and additional tour information, visit iconapop.com/tour.   Stay tuned for more exciting news from Icona Pop to be announced soon. Ritual is out now via Ultra Records/Iconic Sound Recordings. Listen HERE. Watch the official visualizer for album focus track “Hurt” HERE.   2026 SCANDINAVIAN TOUR DATES: 10/23 – Pustervik – Göteborg, Sweden 10/24 – Mejeriet – Lund, Sweden 10/30 - Vulkan Arena – Oslo, Norway 11/06 - Arbis Bar & Salong - Norrköping, Sweden 11/07 – Berns – Stockholm, Sweden 11/13 – Pumpehuset – Copenhagen, Denmark

50 Years Of Punk - Johnny Thunders Is Gonna Burn Out Your Brain!

50 YEARS OF PUNK - JOHNNY THUNDERS IS GONNA BURN OUT YOUR BRAIN!

Los Angeles, California: It’s 50 years since punk rock first arose from the streets of London to mortify great swathes of polite British society.  50 years since The Damned released their debut single, “New Rose,” in October 1976.  And 50 years since Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers stepped out of New York legend, and flew into London to tour with the Sex Pistols. That tour largely fell apart in the aftermath of the Pistols’ profanity-laden live TV interview at the beginning of December, 1976 - up and down the country, outraged councils banned the band from ever setting foot in their local venues, and they meant it as well.  Gigs were canceled, protestors protested… ah, happy days. The Heartbreakers themselves were not heartbroken. Already they had seen and heard enough to know that the UK was the perfect base for operations.  Long before the ill-fated Anarchy tour, the British music press had been documenting their development, even as the American media all but ignored them. The band did return to New York occasionally, though, and one of the greatest live recordings in Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers’ catalog emerged from one such moment, a frantic guest-star packed appearance at the Village Gate in New York City, in August 1977 - right around the same time as Elvis Presley died, and just a couple of days after Johnny Thunders got married. Fiery, frenzied, a non-stop shock of pure punk slash and burn, those Village Gate shows, guitarist Walter Lure recalled, “were truly the peak of the Heartbreakers—particularly the second and third nights. For some reason, none of us had scored before the first show, so we loaded up on Billy [Rath, bassist]’s speed beforehand. We also blew out the PA on the first night. We learned our lesson and doubled our efforts to pick up some junk the next day. “Periodically, or so I’ve heard, different elements of the Village Gate audience would break into their own bellowed response to Presley’s passing, but I can’t say it affected us. We just enjoyed playing for a huge hometown crowd… they must have been educated during the six months we went away.  “They even danced to us there!  Pogo dancing!  We looked out and there they all were, jumping up and down, really up. There’s a live album out that was recorded at the Gate, and it’s really one of our better shows.” Could there be a more trustworthy recommendation? With special guests Robert Gordon and Thunders’ fellow New York Doll Sylvain Sylvain making appearances, LAMF - Live at the Village Gate 1977 is available on both CD in a deluxe mini LP gatefold sleeve, and on gorgeous opaque pink vinyl! Meanwhile, punk’s 50 year celebration charges on, and Cleopatra Records joins the party with a catalog brimming with first wave punk rock giants.  From The Damned to the Dickies, and ex-Runaway Cherie Currie to the Dead Boys;  from The Members and The Vibrators to 999, and The Skids, brilliant new releases and precious archive treasures alike have lit up the shelves, and every month through 2026, Cleopatra Records will be spotlighting a fresh classic from the catalog.  Last time around it was Eater’s tribute to the first months of UK punk. Next month… hmm.  Wait and see.  But this month, we raise a glass to Johnny Thunder’s and the Heartbreakers, not only for what they did back then, but also for the fact that their influence continues to twist minds and corrupt should, and kick out some of the most exciting rock’n’roll of this, or any other era. And look out for some more very special Johnny Thunders/Dolls releases from Cleopatra soon!  CD/VINYL: https://cleorecs.com/products/johnny-thunders-the-heartbreakers-l-a-m-f-live-at-the-village-gate-1977-cd?_pos=11&_sid=3c7d7aed0&_ss=r Track listing 1. Chinese Rocks 2. Pirate Love 3. Get Off The Phone 4. All By Myself 5. Let Go 6. Can’t Keep My Eyes On You 7. Chatterbox 8. One Track Mind 9. Take A Chance With Me 10. Born Too Loose 11. Boppin’ The Blues 12. Do You Love Me 13. I Wanna Be Loved

oktehya (fka TEHYA) Releases a changeable feast EP Via Neon Gold / Futures ✦ today

oktehya (fka TEHYA) RELEASES a changeable feast EP  VIA NEON GOLD / FUTURES TODAY HERE SEE HER INTIMATE @ART VIDEO INTERVIEW FEATURE HERE

Today, The Pacific Northwest's exciting rising star oktehya (fka TEHYA) releases the 5-track a changeable feast EP via Neon Gold Records / Futures ✦, along with the focus track “complicated.” Instantly step inside her creative process via this candid video interview from @ART, which offers a rare, unfiltered glimpse into the mind behind the work. About a changeable feast, she says: “The throughline of this project didn’t really come together until after the songs were chosen. It was an interesting process uncovering the overarching message and meaning behind the project. I realized that this E.P reflects my internal growth and understanding of self through the lens of relationships of all kinds. There’s a lot to be defined in ourselves by the way we connect, attract, attach to, and treat others” About “Complicated,” she added: “Complicated is a song about being attracted to someone you shouldn’t be. The palpable tension between two people keeping an unspoken secret." Last month, she released "4L," a song about toxic-adjacent, all-consuming loyalty. Besides creating her own new music, oktehya can be found in a starring role in Love Spells’ video for his latest song “Keep It To Yourself”. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, oktehya was shaped by music from birth; her father is a local legend funk drummer, and she forged herself a fiercely self-made path, as well. She left home at 16, found her people in Seattle's Capitol Hill underground rap scene, and taught herself Pro Tools and FL Studio by sitting in on sessions until someone handed her the keys. She plays guitar, keys, and drums. She writes 100% of her own toplines and lyrics. She is, in the most literal sense, self-made. Earlier, she released “catch//release” which is one of the most quietly devastating pieces of songwriting in recent memory, and it arrives wrapped in the kind of effortless, genre-fluid production that makes oktehya genuinely unlike anyone else working right now. "oooo you hooked me good / am I doing this right? / looked straight in its eyes / now I'm too attached too attached to / catch and release" She is also, for context, already a Neon Gold Records artist, the label that launched Charli XCX, Tove Lo, MARINA, and Christine and the Queens. She has graced the cover of NME. She has landed on the cover of Spotify's Fresh Finds. Earlier releases include the acclaimed "the patriot" a song that began as a meditation on Indigenous visibility and became, in the current climate, something far larger, and earlier songs such as "spoons for sweets," and "trap door." a changeable feast is the further opening of her new era.  oktehya - a changeable feast EP tracklist: 01. catch//release 02. buckwild 03. the patriot 04. 4L 05. complicated https://www.instagram.com/oktehya/ https://neon.gold/ https://futures.music/