The month of June is a time to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, and Pandora is kicking off the festivities by highlighting the varied, important, beautiful, and lasting contributions queer artists have made to the world of music, entertainment, and our overall culture.
From talking to LGBTQ+ artists about the role that music played in their personal journey to being out and proud via Artist Audio Messages, to creating playlists that help get you ready for Pride celebrations – this year we are honoring the audio experiences that shape people’s “Ride to Pride.”
THUNDERCLAP: No Echo Premieres “Capsized” Video
THUNDERCLAP’s members are veterans of the Florida punk/underground scene, having collectively played with the likes of Discount, Army Of Ponch, The Draft, Unitas, J.Page, House On Fire, Black Cougar Shock Unit, and others. With this new band, the members meld elements of doom and classic rock into a thick layer of swampy southern groove akin to bands like Torche, Royal Thunder, and Kylesa. Inebriocean was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Ryan Williams at Black Bear Studios in Gainesville and completed with cover art by Ted Lincoln.
SOULY HAD RELEASES NEW TRACK “HILLS,” OUT NOW VIA ISLAND RECORDS
Souly Had, whose music has taken him from aimless college studies to more than 20 million global artist streams releases a new track “Hills” via Island Records. The track will be included on his upcoming debut EP, which will also feature previous releases “Crush” and “Overrated.” Souly Had is a singer/songwriter/producer from Duanesburg, NY (just outside Albany, NY). As a member of the hip-hop collective Entreband, a crew of self-starting, like-minded artists and creatives, he has developed a pop/R&B sound all his own.
Kills Birds have announced their debut LP and have shared the track “Ow”. “This is the first song we wrote where we really embraced ourselves and established the way we all write together— with total abandon, and no regard for what is expected.” explains vocalist Nina Ljeti and guitarist Jacob Loeb. “I started playing the riff. We hit record on an iPhone and then Nina started singing and yelling gibberish in my bedroom. Speaking in tongues and shit. From that point forward, we abandoned any sense of what the song should be. It kind of wrote itself.”
X AMBASSADORS RELEASE NEW SONG & VIDEO “HOLD YOU DOWN” TODAY
“‘Hold You Down’ is a song about devotion,” says X Ambassadors lead singer Sam Harris. “Saying to that one person / those people in your life, ‘no matter what happens, I will always be there for you.’ My brother and I have lived through a lot together over the last 30 years, so I dedicate this one to us.”
KEV DECOR RELEASES NEW TRACK “BACK TO OLD HABITS”
The tropical production blends Caribbean influence with R&B tones and hip-hop elements creating a unique sound that is signature to Kev Decor. On the new release, Kev Decor states, “Back To Old Habits” is the musical representation of temptation and that moment in time that is in-between the things you don’t want to let go but know you have to, eventually. We’ve all gone through that at some point, myself as well!”
Aussie Troubadour Thomas Keating Shares Exhilerating New Single “Toward the Cause” Available Today
Says Thomas: “I wanted to deliver a track that captured the power of fighting back. I am always working on the mix of the right musical balance to emphasize the words in a way I feel best captures the feeling in the lyrics. Toward The Cause is about the mental battles we go through in trying to follow out own path, whatever that might be for me or anyone else. It is possibly the closest I have gotten to realizing my vision creatively, and I am thrilled to be putting this song out.”
Kidsmoke’s unveil perfect single for golden hour cruising [ffo: Real Estate, Wild Nothing]
What a year it’s turning out to be for Kidsmoke! The Welsch band are preparing for their debut LP after a successful US debut at South by Southwest, which caught the attention of Austin label Big Indie. We teamed up with EARMILK earlier this week to share their first single for the label, the driving, dream pop gem “She Takes You Under”.
TRIPPIE REDD RELEASES VIDEO FOR NEW SONG “UNDER ENEMY ARMS”
We had left Trippie Redd in Topanga, the visual from A Love Letter To You 3 (at almost 10 million views) where he was a cult leader. He hadn’t amassed the following he has today and the video for “Under Enemy Arms” shows the scale of the following Trippie has amassed and the power that comes with that. In the narrative he’s turned into a powerful demonic leader. This evolution shows the major transformation Trippie Redd has undertaken with his sound, self, and vision.
Sacri Monti Debuts New Song “Gone From Grace”
San Diego psychedelic heavy rock champions Sacri Monti return with a vengeance on their sophomore LP ‘Waiting Room for the Magic Hour’. Recorded at Audio Design (Earthless) with producer Jordan Andreen (Joy, Arctic), ‘Waiting Room for the Magic Hour’ sees Sacri Monti firing on all cylinders, somersaulting between the spontaneous and the musically calculated. Blues rock, prog rock, proto metal, fusion; it’s all masterfully represented, as brash as it is beautiful. ‘Waiting Room for the Magic Hour’ will see a July 5 release via Tee Pee Records.
Grace Acladna shares seductive new dark-pop single ‘Apnea’ – new EP ‘Phonophobia’ out now
Hounslow, London based producer + singer Grace Acladna is sharing new single ‘Apnea’ – which arrives today alongside her new EP ‘Phonophobia’ – both out today via Hometown Records.
Calboy Shares Wildboy EP, His First New Project Since “Envy Me”
With an effervescent charm that buoys him through life in one of Chicago’s roughest areas, Calboy is a standard-bearer of the city’s new melodic sound. Capitalizing on his immense potential with his strongest work yet, Calboy shares Wildboy, a new ten-track EP. Crafting songs that make the most of his innate sense for strong hooks, the new EP is readymade for rap radio, alternating rip-roaring posse cuts like “Chariot,” featuring Meek Mill, Young Thug, and Lil Durk, heart-wrenching ballads like the previously-released “Unjudge Me” ft. Moneybagg Yo, and the devilish, buzzing single “Caroline,” featuring fellow Chicago riser Polo G (3 million views on YouTube, 2 million Spotify streams).
Calboy’s ‘Envy Me’ Is Only Two Minutes Long and a Wrenching Listen — It’s Still Going to Be a Hit
