Ladyhawkemusic.comNME has an interview with Pip Brown, aka New Zealand synth-pop star Ladyhawke, who is getting closer and closer to officially following up her super-tasty 2008 self-titled debut. Anxiety is set for a March 20 release and according to Brown, is synth-free and much more guitar-heavy in the style of ’90s bands like Blur and Pixies; well, at least she’s keeping things retro.

There’s no preview track or advance single yet – “Black, White and Blue” will be released on February 19 – so at the moment, the only taste of Anxiety available is the trailer below, and I dunno, don’t I hear synths in there? Hmm. Oh, and if the trailer doesn’t work in the streaming player thing, click through on it to watch directly on YouTube. There’s also a collaboration with Tim Burgess of The Charlatans entitled “Just One Kiss” that will see the light of day at some point, though it doesn’t appear to be on the official tracklist so maybe it will be a non-album single. NME also talked to Burgess late last year about that tune.

Trailer: Ladyhawke / Anxiety

The new single from Loney Dear’s gorgeous Hall Music is available to both watch and download. Do both.

MP3: Loney Dear – “Loney Blues”
Video: Loney Dear – “Loney Blues”

The Line Of Best Fit has a video session with First Aid Kit as they ramp up to the January 24 release of The Lion’s Roar. They’ll play The Great Hall on April 4.

Having had to cancel their North American tour last Fall, The Boxer Rebellion are trying again and have set a course that includes a May 2 date at The Mod Club, tickets $18.50.

MP3: The Boxer Rebellion – “No Harm”

The Big Takeover talks to Greg Hughes of Still Corners.

Why should you care who Lightships is? Because it’s the solo project of Teenage Fanclub’s Gerard Love. There’s details on the project at the Fannies website and there’s a video for the first single from the debut album Electric Cable, out April 2.

Video: Lightships – “Two Lines”

Artrocker reports that Suede are releasing a live CD/DVD of their reunion show at the Royal Albert Hall last Spring, set for release on the second anniversary of the show on March 24. And while Brett Anderson confirmed to BBC6 that the band are recording new material, he also reiterated his position that unless the new songs are up to snuff, they won’t see the light of day.

Drowned In Sound interviews The Horrors.

Sky Larkin have posted an update on what they’ve been up to lately – hoping for something new in 2012 – and also posted the final video they’ll be releasing from 2010′s Kaleide.

Video: Sky Larkin – “Tiny Heist”

The National Post chats with Milo Cordell of The Big Pink while news.com.au gets some of Robbie Furze’s time.

We knew it was called Valentina and would be arriving in March, but The Wedding Present have finally announced details about the new record, which will be out as of March 20 – just in time for their March 25 visit to The Horseshoe.

Frank YangThe narrative around The Horrors’ second album Primary Colours was a simple one – the band who made Strange House, with the outlandish costumes and stage names, were no more and in their place was a lean, fearsome combo who weren’t part of a shoegaze revival but a shoegaze revitalization. Primary Colours learned from the sound-sculpting lessons of the past and applied them towards creating something familiar yet undeniably fresh. It was a remarkable thing. Their visit in October 2009 in support of Primary Colours confirmed that even if they’d ditched the accoutrements, they’d kept the punk energy and intensity that came with their earlier incarnation in a live setting. And so for their show on Tuesday night in support of their more textured and impressionistic third album Skying, the only real question was how great was it going to be?

There were still surprises to be had, however, including the support act – a trio from Connecticut, of all places, called The Stepkids. Taking the stage dressed completely in white – to match the sheets draped over their gear and the backdrop behind them – they laid into a set of super-’70s psychedelic disco slow jams while trippy projections that seemed culled from episodes of The Electric Company danced overtop. All three were virtuosic players and singers, alternating lead vocals and combining on impeccable three-part falsetto harmonies, and on top of it all the material from their self-titled debut – which was officially released that same day – was more than solid. Initially the old-school Horrors fans in attendance didn’t look impressed, having come to the show to freak out rather than get their freak on, but by the set’s end there were more than a few brightly-dyed heads bobbing up and down with the groove. Which just goes to show – you can’t fight the funk.

It’d be dishonest to say that the opening of The Horrors’ set didn’t seem a little devoid of occasion, with the band strolling out one by one and kicking into Skying opener “Changing The Rain” without so much as dimming the lights. I can appreciate that they’ve reached a point where their music is strong enough that dressing it up is unnecessary, but a little attention to presentation is always nice, no? As it turned out, they were just doing me a favour in leaving the lights up long enough to get some decent photos. Within a few songs they began to dim and perhaps not coincidentally, the band’s energy levels began to rise and it became clear that this wasn’t just a recital, but a trip – a descent, and one of which the band was in complete control. It was loud and intense but there was no sense of chaos. Instead, their display of power was graceful and elegant and a thing to behold.

The set was divided evenly between Primary Colours and Skying, with lanky frontman Faris Badwan’s limited repertoire of stage moves – either gripping and grimacing into the microphone stand or foot on the monitor, doing the same – more than enough to command the packed house’s attention. It’d have been undivided attention if not for Joshua Hayward proving more and more that he’s as crucial an element in their sound. It’s astonishing that he’s the band’s only guitarist and is able to recreate so many of the records’ textures live and move from atmospheric soundscape to crushing riff at the drop of a hat. And as if to give him his proper due, the set built up to an epic, trance-like finale of Skying centrepiece “Moving Further Away”, which served as a showcase for his talents and brought what had been a rather short set – the main set ran just 45-minutes – to a respectable running length. Not that anyone should have been looking at their watches; that would have meant having to tear your eyes away from the show.

The National Post was also on hand and has a writeup. The Los Angeles Times has an interview with The Stepkids.

Photos: The Horrors, The Stepkids @ Lee’s Palace – September 28, 2011
MP3: The Horrors – “Moving Further Away”
MP3: The Horrors – “Sea Within A Sea”
MP3: The Stepkids – “Legend”
MP3: The Stepkids – “Shadows On Behalf”
Video: The Horrors – “Still Life”
Video: The Horrors – “Whole New Way”
Video: The Horrors – “Mirror’s Image”
Video: The Horrors – “Who Can Say”
Video: The Horrors – “Sea Within A Sea”
Video: The Horrors – “She Is The New Thing”
Video: The Horrors – “Gloves”
Video: The Horrors – “Count In Fives”
Video: The Horrors – “Sheena Is A Parasite”
Video: The Stepkids – “Wonderfox

The Phoenix has an interview with James Blake, who’s at The Phoenix (the venue not the Boston paper) on Friday night. There’s also a piece at Clash.

The Stool Pigeon interviews Veronica Falls, in town at The Mod Club opening for The Drums on October 1 and headlining their own show at Parts & Labour the following night.

Loney Dear has released a new video from Hall Music, out October 4 and followed up with a show at The Drake Underground on November 4.

Video: Loney Dear – “My Heart”

The Skinny talks to We Were Promised Jetpacks about their new record In The Pit Of The Stomach, which is out October 4 and streaming in whole over at Clash.

Stream: We Were Promised Jetpacks / In The Pit Of The Stomach

Drowned In Sound talks to Jim Reid of The Jesus & Mary Chain about their ongoing reissue series, which wraps up next week, and the odds of a new album: not nil, but not great.

BBC talks to Portishead’s Geoff Barrow about their plans for a new record once their North American tour – which includes two nights at the Sound Academy on October 9 and 10 – is done. And The Village Voice talks to him about this long-running relationship with hip-hop.

Pitchfork is streaming another bonus track from the deluxe reissue of Yuck’s debut Yuck, out October 11, and Room 205 has posted the third and final instalment in their video session series with the band.

Stream: Yuck – “Soothe Me”

Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine has a chat with Interview about her forthcoming second album Ceremonials, out November 1.

Noel Gallagher has released a second video from his solo debut Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, out November 7. He’s at Massey Hall on November 7 and 8.

Video: Noel Gallagher – “If I Had A Gun”

Drowned In Sound, The Skinny and MusicOmh talk to Anthony Gonzalez of M83 about their new record Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, out October 18. They’re at Lee’s Palace on November 18.

Belle & Sebastian guitarist Stevie Jackson has released details of his solo debut (I Can’t Get No) Stevie Jackson, which is available now digitally and will be out physically whenever he gets physical copies back from the pressing plant.

MP3: Stevie Jackson – “Man Of God”

Much drama over the past day about Bloc Party and Kele Okereke’s status within it, but it appears to have shaken out that he’s still their singer, they’re still back in the studio and people are still far too easy to get worked up about rumours.

The Quietus, The Daily Star talk to Brett Anderson about matters solo and Suede.

Sleepover Shows has a video session with Frightened Rabbit.

The AV Club salues Nick Cave on the occasion of his birthday with a beginner’s guide to his works.

Michele CivettaYou would be forgiven for assuming that you had Ladytron figured out. It’s all right there in last year’s career-spanning compilation The Best Of Ladytron: 00-10; the Ladytron formula. Thick synths, robotic yet danceable beats and above all, the duelling icy vocals of Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo (though the edge in detachedness usually went to Aroyo on account of her stern Bulgarian accent). It’s a sound that was perfectly in style when that which they called “electroclash” crested in the early part of the century but managed to outstay the band’s peers thanks to their ability to marry fashion with pop songs that had genuine staying power; four albums of sleek, space-age synth-pop is nothing to shake a stick at.

So it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect more of the same from their fifth album, the just-released Gravity The Seducer, and indeed the elements at play are familiar, but something feels fundamentally different this time out. It took a few listens to put a finger on what, but what it sounds like is that Ladytron are sad. Gravity dials back the dancefloor bangers that punctuated previous efforts in favour of crafting a unified atmosphere whose prevailing mood is beautifully melancholic, the synths and beats working more towards a dreampop vibe than a krautrock one. To this end, Marnie gets more lead vocal turns than usual and Aroyo’s contributions are more emotive than usual, and a greater emphasis placed on crafting emotionally resonant melodies. Further, there are no less than three instrumentals out of the album’s twelve, the closing number “Aces High” a reprise of sorts to single and perhaps theme song “Ace Of Hz”, that bridge and tie together the album and contribute to its cinematic feel.

I’m not sure other writeups on the record have picked up on this, or if I’m imagining it, but to these ears Gravity sounds like a band taking advantage of a fresh chapter to reorient themselves creatively – not dramatically, but still enough to be noteworthy and to force the listener to approach it with fresh ears. Or it could just be another Ladytron record, equal parts steely, sexy and stoic, but even if so that’s hardly any bad thing.

The whole of the album is available to stream right now at Pitchfork and Ology has an interview with Daniel Hunt. Ladytron are at The Phoenix on October 5, tickets $20 in advance, but courtesy of Embrace I have two pairs of passes to give away to the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to be Seduced by Gravity” in the subject line and your full name in the body; contest closes at midnight, September 27.

MP3: Ladytron – “White Elephant”
MP3: Ladytron – “Ace Of Hz”
Video: Ladytron – “White Elephant”
Video: Ladytron – “Ace Of Hz”
Stream: Ladytron / Gravity The Seducer

DIY chats with The Subways on the eve of the release of their new album Money And Celebrity, out September 19.

USA Today has a profile and NPR and The Alternate Side sessions with Laura Marling, who is at The Great Hall on September 23 in support of her new album A Creature I Don’t Know; a short film for the album has also just been released.

Video: A Creature I Don’t Know: A Short Film

Room 205 kicks off a session series with Yuck. They’re at The Horseshoe on September 25 and have a deluxe edition of their self-titled debut out October 11.

We Were Promised Jetpacks have unveiled a new video from their forthcoming second album In The Pit Of The Stomach, out October 4.

Video: We Were Promised Jetpacks – “Medicine”

The Quietus has the video for the title track of The Ship’s Piano, out October 17. There’s also a link to sign up for their newsletter and receive an MP3 of the tune. Artrocker has an interview with the former Hefner frontman.

Video: Darren Hayman – “The Ship’s Piano”

That a new Florence & The Machine record was coming this Fall was already a matter of fact; now Exclaim has the final missing details, specifically that it will be called Ceremonials and be out on October 31 in the UK, presumably but not guaranteed to be out in North America the following day. Update: And a new song from the album is up to stream.

Stream: Florence & The Machine – “Shake It Out”

Spin chats with Noel Gallagher about going solo. His Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds is out November 7 and he plays Massey Hall on November 7 and 8.

Noah & The Whale have released a new video from Last Night On Earth. They’re at The Phoenix on November 8.

Video: Noah & The Whale – “Waiting For My Chance To Come”

The Guardian has premiered the new video from Summer Camp, a clip which was available to pledge supporters of their debut Welcome To Condale a few months ago but is now up for all to see. It’s out in North America on November 8.

Video: Summer Camp – “Better Off Without You”

Interview does their thing with The Kooks; their new album Junk Of The Heart is out now and they’re at The Sound Academy on November 23. The Sun also has an interview and they’ve also released a video for the album’s title track.

Video: The Kooks – “Junk Of The Heart”

New Anna Calvi video, y’all. She’s at Lee’s Palace on December 8.

Video: Anna Calvi – “Suzanne & I”

Pitchfork reports that The Big Pink are back with a new single and video in advance of the release of album number two Future This in January of next year.

Video: The Big Pink – “Stay Gold”

DIY has words – pleasant words, mind – with Peggy Sue.

Rolling Stone and The San Francisco Examiner talk to Patrick Wolf about his brief, acoustic solo US tour. He’s planning a full band excursion over here in 2012 when Lupercalia is released domestically.

DIY has an interview with Slow Club.

The Joy Formidable takes some time out to chat with DIY.

Artrocker interviews The Vaccines.

BBC6 checks in with Jimi Goodwin to see what he’s doing with Doves on hiatus – some soundtrack work and a solo record.

Brett Anderson discusses Suede regrets with The Guardian.

NME reports that Primal Scream are aiming to have a new album out sometime in 2012.

Kate Bush has turned rumour into fact and announced a November 21 release for her new studio album 50 Words For Snow, her first in six years and second in the last 17.

Robin SilasThrowback-style pop is nothing new – sounding old is really kind of the point – but there’s something special in the way English quartet Veronica Falls goes about it. It’s like they’ve got a foot in 1970′s New York, with no small amount of Velvet Underground goodness in the mix as well as echoes of their followers and the other in swinging 1960′s London with the irresistible catchiness of the British invasion. Taken together and you’ve got a brew that’s buoyant, yet somehow sinister and wholly memorable.

Their set was one of my highlights of SXSW this year, so I’m excited that they’re going to be undertaking a Fall tour in support of their self-titled debut which is out September 20 in North America. Somewhat less excited that said dates are in support of The Drums, whom I’m mostly indifferent to, but I’ll still likely be at their show at The Mod Club on October 1.

BrooklynVegan has some details about the record and full tour dates and a new song from the album was just made available to stream this week, to go along with a couple preview MP3s which have already been circulating.

Stream: Veronica Falls – “Bad Feeling”
MP3: Veronica Falls – “Come On Over”
MP3: Veronica Falls – “Found Love In A Graveyard”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Come On Over”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Beachy Head”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Found Love In A Graveyard”

Also notable in the support department – English folk singer Alessi’s Ark will be opening up for English folk singer Laura Marling at The Great Hall on September 23. Her new record Time Travel is out September 27 in the US but available to stream at her Facebook now.

MP3: Alessi’s Ark – “The Robot”
Stream: Alessi’s Ark / Time Travel

Stereogum talks influences with Yuck. Some is exactly what you’d expect, some not. Yuck play The Horseshoe on September 25.

DIY and Contact Music talk with Still Corners about their full-length debut Creatures Of An Hour, due out October 11. They play The Drake Underground on October 25.

Clash talks to Dev Hynes of Blood Orange. His Coastal Grooves arrives August 30.

The Guardian interviews Faris Badwan and Rachel Zeffira of Cat’s Eyes about music and home decor.

The Quietus, Tourdates UK and DIY get re-acquainted with the no-longer-on-hiatus-at-least-for-the-moment Electrelane. They also recently recorded a Black Cab Session.

Producer Paul Epworth reports that the new Florence & The Machine record is finished – details and quotes at NME.

Spin has a video of Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison performing a cover of current tourmates Death Cab For Cutie.

Spinner discusses the art of war with PJ Harvey.

Drowned In Sound and Sunshine Coast Daily check in with Mogwai.

Brett Anderson tells XFM that Suede will indeed be going back into the studio to record new material, but will only be releasing it if it’s worthwhile. All that after he’s done promoting his new solo record Black Rainbows, out September 26. He’s just released a video from said record.

Video: Brett Anderson – “Brittle Heart”

Proving that post-Oasis bickering and name-calling need not be a strictly family affair, Beady Eye guitarist Andy Bell offered up some choice thoughts about former boss Noel Gallagher and his version of how their former band ended to Japan Times.

Consequence Of Sound reports that the Inni video teaser that Sigur Ros posted to their website last week is a live film recorded by director Vincent Morriset at a series of London shows in 2009 that will make its debut at the Venice Film Festival at the end of the month. So no, not a new album but maybe there’ll be an accompanying soundtrack…? Update: The Audio Perv reports the soundtrack will be a double-disc set plus film DVD out in November. Sweet.

Trailer: Sigur Ros: Inni

Currently celebrating their fifteenth anniversary, Pitchfork talks to Bjork about her last decade and a half. Her new album Biophilia is out September 27. Update: Pitchfork also has the album art for Biophilia. It’s very Bjork.

Australia’s Howling Bells will be back with their third album The Loudest Engine on September 12; they’ve released a video for the first single.

Video: Howling Bells – “Into The Sky”

Empire Of The Sun’s Luke Steele confirms to NME that creative partner Nick Littlemore is back in the fold and together they’re working on a new album. Empire Of The Sun play Toronto’s Echo Beach on September 13.

The Naked & Famous have released another new video from Passive Me, Aggressive You; they play The Phoenix on October 6.

Video: The Naked & Famous – “The Sun”

Jean-Baptiste MondinoThanks to the fact that the United Kingdom exists five hours into the future, I woke up yesterday morning just in time to see the short list for this year’s Mercury Prize – awarded annually to the best album in the UK and Ireland – commandeer my Twitter feed for a short while. The process by which the shortlist and winner is selected isn’t entirely clear to me – it’s not as transparent as Canada’s Polaris Prize – but in a way that mysteriousness makes it more interesting.

Even though the “how” isn’t clear, a few years of Mercury-spotting has made the “what” pretty easy to peg, at least in a manner of speaking. History shows that about half the list is the cream of the Brit-indie pop/rock crop and the other half is pulled from all manner of other genres, from jazz to pop to hip-hop to what have you and the net result is eleven or twelve – interesting there’s no fixed size to the short list – albums that offer a good amount of grist for the conversational mill. The dozen records competing for the prize are:

Adele / 21 / Video: “Rolling In The Deep”
James Blake / James Blake / MP3: “To Care (Like You)”
Anna Calvi / Anna Calvi / MP3: “Blackout”
Elbow / build a rocket boys! / MP3: “Open Arms”
Everything Everything / Man Alive / Video: “Final Form”
Ghostpoet / Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam / Video: “Cash And Carry Me Home”
PJ Harvey / Let England Shake / MP3: “Written On The Forehead”
Katy B / On A Mission / Video: “Carry Me Home”
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins / Diamond Mine / Video: “Bubble”
Metronomy / The English Riviera / Video: “The Look”
Gwilym Simcock / Good Days at Schloss Elmau
Tinie Tempah / Disc-Overy / Video: “‘Til I’m Gone”

I can only speak to first-hand experience with about half the list, but it’s not unreasonable to think that the winning album will be amongst that subset. Indeed, many have already narrowed it down to a two-artist race between Adele and PJ Harvey, and if it’s down to those two I’d give the edge to Polly Jean if for no other reason than last year’s XX win was the eminently obvious choice. I don’t necessarily see them doing that again. And while I’d have no problem with either, both of their records being massive achievements by a number of standards, I’d be pretty happy to see Anna Calvi sneak up the middle to take it. I do love her self-titled debut and am sad that her appearance at Osheaga next week will not come with a stop down the 401. Perhaps a Mercury win would encourage her to do another North American tour and give me the opportunity to finally see her live. I also continue to love Elbow’s latest but think the odds of them winning for two albums in a row are pretty slim – they don’t have the underdog card to play anymore.

In any case, the winner will be announced on September 6.

Washington City Paper talks to Wild Beasts, whose Smother seems to be the consensus surprising omission from this year’s short list. They also do a couple video sessions for WNYC and The Fader and will be at The Mod Club on September 29.

Spin talks to Daniel Blumberg and The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel to Max Bloom, both of Yuck.

Emmy The Great talks to Clash about her personal grassroots campaign against News International.

Interview and The Sydney Morning Herald talk to Patrick Wolf about his new record Lupercalia while The Independent finds out how he and Patti Smith became friends.

JAM has a feature on White Lies, in town at The Phoenix on August 3.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Beady Eye.

The Grid is starting rumours that Noel Gallagher will be in town for a show the week his solo debut Noel Gallagher and the High Flying Birds is released in North America, which is to say November 8. Bookie’s not one to just make stuff up, so keep an eye out. Also, in conversation with The List, Gallagher says he takes no joy in Beady Eye’s failure to tear up the charts.

The Guardian talks to Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow of Portishead, who have two shows at The Sound Academy on October 9 and 10; word is the first night is sold out and the second not too far behind.

Artrocker chats with Tim Burgess of The Charlatans.

eMusic talks reunions and reissues with Brett Anderson and Mat Osman of Suede.

According to The Guardian, the New Order split is about as final and acrimonious as you imagined it to be.

French dance-pop veterans Tahiti 80 are back with a new record in The Past, The Present & The Possible and a tour which brings them to The Horseshoe on September 22, tickets $13.50 in advance.

MP3: Tahiti 80 – “Keys To The City”

M83 has finally revealed specifics on and an MP3 from their next album, which will be a double-set entitled Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. Pitchfork has details on the record, which will be out on October 18. M83 plays Lee’s Palace on November 18, tickets $20 in advance.

MP3: M83 – “Midnight City”

DIY has a profile of I Break Horses, whose debut Hearts is out August 15.

Spinner talks to Lykke Li.

Adult Swim is giving away a new song from The Tallest Man On Earth. Just because, I guess.

MP3: The Tallest Man On Earth – “Weather Of A Killing Kind”

In a perfect world, this would be an item about a new Jens Lekman album and world tour including a local date. But it’s not a perfect world so instead, it’s an item about a new EP entitled An Argument With Myself, due out September 20, and a US tour that doesn’t cross the border. The Secretly Canadian press release consists of an interview with Jens.

Stereogum has the first MP3 from the new Loney Dear record, entitled Hall Music and out on October 4. There’s also rumours/promises of North American dates in November.

Labrador Records, purveyors of the finest in Swedish pop, have put out a free label sampler entitled Stockholm Belongs To Us which collects tracks from all their active roster. Needless to say, it’s wonderful.

Consequence Of Sound and Pitchfork both have more details on Bjork’s Biophilia project, the album of which will be out September 27 and the app of which was released today – The Guardian takes it for a spin.

And speaking of Bjork, guess who’s going to Iceland Airwaves this October? Lots of people. Me amongst them. It’s unlikely I’ll be able to swing tickets to Bjork’s Reykjavík Concert Hall shows, but hey. Iceland!