FKA Twigs is about to give aspiring dancers the opportunity of a lifetime.

The Gloucestershire singer has announced that she will host a free dance workshop in Baltimore, providing details of the open invitation to dancers to join on Twitter. She stated the only prerequisites for the dancers is to be aged 18 or over and have “intermediate & advanced level” dancing skills. The five-hour workshop will be held on Tuesday the 9th of July from 5pm to 10pm at the Baltimore Lithuanian Hall.

Furthermore, Twigs revealed a select group of dancers from the workshop will be given the opportunity to “perform at [her] Pier 6 show” the following day.

She described the show, which she will play with Travis Scott, as her only headliner for the year in a previous Tweet.

https://twitter.com/FKAtwigs/status/744909573912399872

She shared her enthusiasm about the workshop with her followers in a final Tweet on the subject. “The workshop will be filmed…excited to meet you, share ideas and dance together baltimore!”

While FKA Twigs may be a fantastic dancer in her own right, does she have what it takes to teach the artform to aspiring young performers?

She certainly does according to Stereogum, who reported that FKA Twigs was actually a dance teacher in her past. Since-deleted footage from apparently five years ago was posted on YouTube and showed Twigs teaching a class back when she held a job as a tutor for the London Urban Arts Academy.

She previously had the opportunity to star in and direct a beautifully-choreographed Calvin Klein advertisement that also features a single from 2015’s M3LL155X EP, Good To Love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydl6ouX5Tv4

Image: Instagram

In our interview with Emma Louise, she revealed how she feels it is important to put as much honesty into her music as possible. You can quickly hear that after just a couple of songs of her new album Supercry. Stop and let her teach you a few things about keeping it real and telling people exactly how you feel.

The opening of All We Ask Is Time provides a preview for exactly what you’re going to get from the rest of the album; a stunningly beautiful melody. Though it is a short introduction to Supercry, the simple melody showcases her light voice that sounds as sweet as the chime of a small bell.

As one of the singles ahead of the album, Talk Baby Talk is catchy, a welcome earworm melody. The slow, mellow tone is set by the light crashing of the percussion that keeps the beat constant. She sings as if she is trying to save a relationship, using lyrics like, “oh why can’t we just talk about it?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS_IsefSVkE

The deep and interesting sounds of Underflow coupled with her calm voice do their best to sooth any stress or negative energy that may be distracting your focus. The beautiful story of saying goodbye to a doomed long-distance relationship is brought to life. “I put my white flag in the wind to let my love know I’m giving up,” she sings the words of defeat. Everything Will Be Fine starts with the same soothing melody that sounds like a bed of water. As soon we get to the chorus, however, an uneasy electric haze takes over. Although the lyrics repeat the words, “everything will be fine”, the sound of the music portrays a different message. This was a cool touch when you think about the feelings of worry and unsureness that she is portraying here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-8slnFdqc4

Although the entire album deals with a number of issues that are close to the heart, it’s the final two songs that will raise the need for a tissue box within arm’s reach.

Grace has an amazing piano melody that leads on to some of the most heart-warming lyrics I’ve ever heard. Her angelic voice sings about a woman who seems to mean a lot to her and has been there for her in times of need. “She is my source of grace/ and is everywhere,” are among the gorgeous words that are strung together to tell this beautiful story. It made me think of all the amazing women I’ve had in my life and how much I appreciate their presence in my world.

Although I enjoyed the atmosphere of all the track in this album, the themes used in the final song I Thought I Was A Ship resonated with me the most. The sweet piano returns, given us a light and calming atmosphere. Then, you hear the heartbreaking lyrics. “I thought I was a ship too heavy on the water/ so I threw you overboard.” It makes you remember that it is just as hard to break up with someone and see them move on as it is to be the one that is left broken-hearted.

The realness of the emotion certainly comes through as you travel throughout the full album. If you want to hear something organic and honest, Supercry is worth a few listens, in full.

The only thing better would be hearing them live, which you can do in later on in the year during her tour.

Supercry is available now.

Image: The Courier Mail

It is many people’s first instinct to hide their pain when they’re having a tough time. With the forthcoming release of her new album Supercry, Emma Louise has shown us a healthier way of coping with struggles. “Everything’s new and changing for the first time and you’re just like ‘Shit, everything that I thought was true, isn’t.’”

Her relationship with music started with something as simple as borrowing a guitar from a friend and trying out a few covers. It wasn’t until she started writing her own songs that her musical journey truly began. She was only 16 years old when she began performing in front of other people. “I started playing gigs around Cairns with this musician from Cairns called Terry Doyle and he kind of mentored me and was like ‘Hey man, you can do this for reals!’ And that kind of changed everything for me.”

She continued, “Before I was working with people on the album, before the struggle took off and stuff, it was always just me and the guitar. I never had any of these doubts because it was just so innocent.”

After the release of her first album VS Heart VS Heart, however, something changed. Emma’s self-confidence had dwindled and the people that surrounded her weren’t as supportive as they should have been. A big part of her recovery was taking a break from music. “I did a lot of other things and then came back to music and just came back with a new state of mind.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-8slnFdqc4

She saw writing music as her way to portraying those feelings she had during that difficult time in a raw and honest way.

“I think that’s healing, for me anyway,” she says. “Just to be like, if I’m feeling pain, to be able to justify that pain by writing about it in the most honest form. For me, that’s really rewarding.”

As the songs came to her, she began to create what was to be her second album. “It was all a pretty natural process, like I wasn’t writing for an album,” she said. “I didn’t know when or if I was going to do an album again.” The raw and honest words came before the sweet, stunning melody that sooth the heart as they float through your headphones. “In the studio, we added a lot of the melodies and stuff. They kind of all fell into place.”

She says, however, she doesn’t like to think about the melodies too much. For her, it’s more about the lyrics and the emotions they convey. “I try to write the lyrics that are the most honest and true to me, and then that’s what makes the songs that get on the album. That’s what I resonate with the most.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZnOLAuwC3o

Emma’s creative talents don’t stop there. She also likes to paint and design outfits. “I wouldn’t really classify myself as a painter or a designer because I haven’t done the hard yards, but with music I have really given it everything. My whole life has just been music and these other things are just things I do on the side, but saying that, I love painting and I want to do it more.”

She designed the cover art for Supercry, which you can see below. The story behind the colourful piece begins with her finding a simple box of acrylic paints on the side of a road. After a breakup, the image was born. “A year and a bit later, I was figuring out what I wanted to do for the album cover and that painting came to mind, and it was just crazy what that mean now and then.”

Supercry-ALBUM

As for her interest in fashion, she says just at the beginning stages of designing at the moment, and has designed a lot of her own outfits. For those of you who are going to Splendour In The Grass this year, you’re going to have the opportunity to see something she is currently working on with a tailor. “I really like this new suit that I made. It’s for Splendour, actually!”

After Splendour in the Grass at the end of July, Emma will be setting her sights on a newly announced headline tour, kicking off in October. She also plans to start working on her next album, so hopefully fans can look forward to even more wonderful new music come the end of of 2016.

With so much ahead for her, we can hardly wait to see what the future holds for Emma and the beautiful symbols of pure creativity she will release into the world.

Stay tuned for Supercry, which will be released this week on July 15.

Check out her tour dates below. Find out where you can get tickets here:

Fri, Oct 7th: The Workers Club, Geelong
Sat, Oct 8th: Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Thu, Oct 13th: Street Theatre, Canberra
Fri, Oct 14th: Uni Bar, Woolloongong
Sat, Oct 15th: Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle
Thu, Oct 20th: Miami Marketta, Gold Coast
Fri, Oct 21st: Sol Bar, Maroochydore
Sat, Oct 22nd: The Triffid, Brisbane
Thu, Oct 27th: Adelaide Uni, Adelaide
Fri, Oct 28th: Fly By Night, Fremantle
Sat, Oct 29th: Capitol, Perth
Sun, Oct 30th: Prince Of Wales, Bunbury
Fri, Nov 4th: Metro Theatre, Sydney

Image: The Age

It’s only been three months since the release of her album The Hope Six Demolition Project, but PJ Harvey is back with a new song Guilty.

The previously unreleased track was recording last January at Somerset House at the same time as her album. During this time, Harvey allowed audiences to see her recording process and the hard work artists put into the making of an album, as a kind of interactive art installation. The follow-up to 2011’s Let England Shake, and her ninth overall album, shot up to number one in the UK and number seven on the ARIA charts after its release.

The drums introduce the song to our ears as the beat fades in while low-pitched voice begins to chant. The heavy drums give the song a strong, gritty feel that pounds behind her powerful voice. The track has a troubling sound that thumps its way through the lyrics about the absence of justice and the objection against conflict.

“Drones that come/ Come in the thousands/ But nobody asked us/ If we wanted them,” she sings.

The song was released on YouTube with an image of an artwork by Michelle Hennings, as you can see below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P371Wvtg8zU

Harvey is currently preparing for her recently announced European tour. She will start in August in Norway and will run through until November as she stops in Iceland. She leaves room for a couple of shows in the US. No Australian dates have been announced, but perhaps we can look forward to some in coming months. You can visit her website for more details.

Guilty is available now.

Image: Spin

Jack White is about to take part in a collaboration of a different kind. In a really exciting move, White has been named as one of the 45 members of a new local council that will focus on bridging the gap for gender equality.

At a press conference with Nashville’s mayor Megan Barry, White spoke about the issue in a powerful speech. White spoke about the regulations his record label, and store Third Man Records has put forward in order to ensure that the minimum wage is the same for all his employees, no matter their gender, and encouraged other businesses to do the same.

“It is embarrassing that in 2016 there are any differences in benefits or wages between genders in our society. gender equity is something that should’ve been solved a century ago worldwide, and it is sad that we even need to address it. If the person does the work, the benefits of doing that work, should be equal among all human beings,” he says.

“As owner of the record label third man records, with locations in both Nashville and Detroit, I am proud to say that since 2013 all employees of my record label have had a minimum wage of 15 dollars an hour, regardless of gender.”

He also brought up the importance of paid parental leave for expecting mothers and fathers. He says Third Man Records ensures new mothers are given six months paid parental leave, while fathers can have three.

“Nothing is more important than a new life and new soul being brought into the world, and newborn parents should not have to worry about anything but the health and welfare of their child. If my small company can enact these ideas, than so can McDonalds and General Motors,” he says.

All 45 members of the Nashville Council will be involved in an innovative where they will analyse the gender equality within the Nashville area. They will then deliver “data-informed recommendations and advice to address systemic differences in benefits and opportunities that might be unfairly provided to one gender but not another,” as reported in The Tennessean.

“All human beings on this planet, and in this society that we live in deserve to be treated the same. they deserve to be treated the same in their social lives, and in their financial and business careers as well,” White says.

The speech was posted on his Facebook page for all to see. Read it in full below:

Read more: Artists speak out about sexism in the music industry

Image: Pitchfork

Undoubtedly known as one of rock music’s greatest bassists ever, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers has teamed up with Fender to create his own signature series. The guitar is to be an exact replica of his Shell Pink ’61 Jass Bass, originally a gift from a fan, with a 20-fret “C”-shaped maple neck with a 7.25-inch radius rosewood fingerboard and a 4-bolt neck plate. Flea has also put his individual touch onto the instrument with some little engravings and even including the worn-out details his own one has, such as black marks on the lacquer finish’s faded design.

Flea described the instrument as “magic” and truly the greatest bass [he has] ever played” in a press release.

“Fender embodies everything I love about music and individuality. It reflects the soul of rock, punk, R&B and funk. It’s this bass that pushes me to give more each time I play. The Flea Jazz Bass is a true resurrection and possesses that wave of energy a bass should give you when it’s in your hands,” he continued, obviously excited about the project.

The esteemed artist has used the bass for a variety of musical projects including the band’s latest album The Getaway and 2006’s Stadium Arcadium.

See him photographed with the bass in the images below. Check out Fender’s website for more details.

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Featured Image: Rolling Stone

Images of Flea: Consequence of Sound

Crystal Castles may have lost a member, but the band is still going strong.

They have not only released another single Char, but they have also confirmed that the follow-up to 2012’s III is on its way. Their fourth album Amnesty (I) includes past singles Frail and Concrete, as well as previewed track Femen. Their new single Char is also included as one of the 12-tracks on their upcoming release.

Char shows off the new sound provided by new lead singer Edith Frances, who has replaced Alice Glass as frontwoman. The song lights up in an electronic haze as Frances sings over the top of it in her soft mellow voice. She glides seemingly effortlessly through the song while the percussion and synth mix together to create the sweet dance beat that swirls around inside your headphones, inserting a new song into your head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=188&v=CnqzIYZR1GA

Frances joined Crystal Castles after Alice Glass left the group in 2014. While both Glass and remaining member Ethan Kath shared some harsh words about each other earlier last year, they seem to be moving on with their respective projects.

Here’s the tracklist:
01. Femen
02. Fleece
03. Char
04. Enth
05. Sadist
06. Teach Her How to Hunt
07. Chloroform
08. Frail
09. Concrete
10. Ornament
11. Kept
12. Their Kindness Is Charade

Amnesty (I) will be released on August 19.

Image: Pitchfork

Prince’s long and unbelievably impressive, prolific career was documented by his strong digital presence on a number of websites and social media platforms across the virtual world. While Prince may not have been the biggest fan of anything Internet, putting these archives together is the perfect way to celebrate his legacy in a unique way, allowing his fans to explore his world at the click of a mouse.

Thus, here we have the Prince Online Museum!

“This Museum is an archive of that work and a reminder of everything he accomplished as an independent artist with the support of his vibrant and dedicated online community,” Online Museum Director, Sam Jennings told Billboard.

“The Museum was built by the people who worked directly with Prince on these projects,” he continued.

“We are the originators, we are the experts. It is a labor of love, no money has been exchanged. There will be no downloads sold and no membership fees required. But we do have working versions of almost all of Prince’s official websites.”

Although Prince was opposed to sharing his music online, he was online from the moment computers first become popular in the 1990s. The range of online spaces that have been pulled together stretch as far as his “Prince Interactive” CD-Rom experience from 1994.

In his embracement of the digital space, he added many other digital experiences to his catalogue including TheDawn.com in 1996, CrystalBallCD.com in 1997, 1800NewFunk.com and Love4OneAnother.com in 1999, NPGOnlineLtd.com in 2000, NPG Music Club v1in 2001, four version of NPGMusicClub.com that existed between 2001 and 2006, 3121.com in 2006 and 2007, Lotusflow3r.com in 2009 and finally 20PR1NC3.com and 3rdEyeGirl.com in 2013. These are all included in the museum.

You can see the wonders of the museum here.

While you’re at it, check out all of the wonderful tributes to Prince at the 2016 BET Awards.

Image: Pitchfork

There have been many tributes to honour the devastating deaths of 49 innocent victims who were shot and killed at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

There is, however, another one on the way in the form of a song.

Jennifer Lopez is joining forces with the creator of the multi-Tony award winning hip hop musical Lin-Manuel Miranda to create a new track for those victims of the Orlando shooting.

The track is called Love Make the World Go Round, which is fitting when you recall what was said in Miranda’s acceptance speech at the Tony Awards as he honoured the victims in his own way:

“When senseless acts of tragedy remind us

That nothing here is promised, not one day

This show is proof that history remembers

We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger

We rise and fall and light from dying embers

Remembrances that hope and love lasts long

And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love

Cannot be killed or swept aside”

From what we gathered from a video both Miranda and Lopez shared on Twitter, Miranda will be rapping on the track as Lopez sings above the upbeat melody.

Miranda raps through a paragraph of powerful lyrics in which the theme of love is depicted with great strength in the face of hate and tragedy:

“What we got is love even when the sinners hate us

We cannot let them diminish or intimidate us

We sing out, we got the rhythm and the true on our side

We cut through the divide and we do it with pride

A generation of innovators enabled to patiently wait for change ’cause change is what they’ve been afraid of the malevolence can wait

Raise a level of debate, celebrate, elevate.”

When Lopez takes over, she sings with just as much strength. The empowering lyrics pull focus from the beat inviting you to get up and dance. “We’re not staying inside today // they’re not taking our pride away.”

https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/749996290847670272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The money raised from the track will go to help Proyecto Somos Orlando, an initiative by the Hispanic Foundation. A passage from their website explains what the charity has set out to do, saying that they will focus on improving mental health services for people of different cultural backgrounds and help to care for the communities in times of emergency and crisis.

A release date for the track is still to be confirmed.

Image: Rolling Stone

Legendary songstress and the multi-talented Erykah Badu has broken her long-held silence on Kendrick Lamar’s mention of her in his and Kanye West’s No More Parties In LA, finally responding to the speculation of a Twitter user.

Lamar, in a guest spot on the 2015 smash hit, spits the line “Um, well cutie, I like your bougie bootie/Come Erykah Badu me/Hell, let’s make a movie”. The song was one of the standout tracks in West’s latest album The Life Of Pablo. Seems like quite innocuous wordplay on a record full of even more controversial lines, nevertheless Lamar’s name drop prompted rumours of a secret romance between himself and Badu.

You can listen out for the lyric in question below:

Lyric website Genius makes a tenuous attempt at connecting some of the dots in their annotation of the lyric, surmising Kendrick may be referencing Badu’s romantic connection to a string of other famous rap artists (Andre 3000, Jay Electronica and Common) as well as her acting career for the line about making a movie, though they stop short of suggesting the pair may be an item.

Badu says her and Lamar’s lone interaction was at the 2013 BET Awards when they performed together, and that there was nothing romantic at all between them. Tweeting a picture of her and Lamar holding hands on stage, she stated that there has not been any contact between them since. “Kendrick aint called me since y’all made up some shit about us being in the trailer makin out so he missed his award,” she wrote, flatly denying the rumour.

“Sound check, performance, photo opps, ghost. He was super shy,” she said when asked what happened.

This explanation, however, wasn’t enough for one user, who still clung to the belief that Badu was lying and used the lyric as their ‘evidence’. “Lies… why do Kendrick say “come and Erykah Badu me, well let’s make a movie” on No more parties in LA. y’all fucked,” they wrote.

Badu provided a classy response. She addressed the issue loudly and clearly, with the kind of sheer confidence she’s forged one of the brightest careers in hip-hop and RnB behind. “Let me educate u real fast lil mama. It’s not always betwixxx the thighs .. Sometimes it’s between the ears,” she Tweeted, following up with a sun emoji when they replied saying that they had learnt their lesson.

https://twitter.com/fatbellybella/status/749923481291067392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The lesson in question here is don’t cross Erykah Badu without sufficient evidence to back yourself up.

Image: Vulture