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Listen to an exclusive performance from Bright Eyes at SiriusXM Studios in NYC and a conversation between Conor Oberst and host Jenny Eliscu during a new “SiriusXMU Session.” The full session is available anytime on the SiriusXM app and rebroadcasts throughout the week on SiriusXMU (Ch. 35).

Bright EyesStripped-down set & interviewListen on the App

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“SiriusXMU Sessions” is an exclusive weekly show on SiriusXMU – a 24/7 channel dedicated to new and classic indie – featuring stripped-down performances and conversations with different groundbreaking indie artists. Watch full “SiriusXMU Sessions” anytime on the SiriusXM app here.

See the SiriusXMU schedule and the channel’s hosts here.

The post Bright Eyes Perform New Songs and Cover Ted Hawkins in Stripped-Down Set appeared first on SiriusXM.

Bright Eyes founder Conor Oberst has revealed himself to be one of Creed’s earliest haters. During a recent appearance on Rick Rubin and Malcolm Gladwell’s Broken Record podcast, the singer recalled his attempt at talking his former label out of releasing the oft-maligned band’s early music.

While sitting down with host Justin Richmond, Oberst remembered his days in the emo band Commander Venus during the mid-1990s. For their second album, 1997’s The Uneventful Vacation, the group was signed to Wind-up Records. He built a close relationship with the “eccentric” owners Alan and Diana Meltzer, who played him Creed’s music before it was released.

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“They were sweet, but I remember them showing me Creed before it even came out,” Oberst said (via Exclaim!). “And I was like, ‘You guys — it sounds like a really bad Pearl Jam.'”

Despite his protestations, the Meltzers believed in Creed.

Exclusive: Emmy-winning producer and film exec Ryan Harrington has signed on as an executive producer of Alok, the Oscar-contending short film directed by Alex Hedison that won the Audience Award at NewFest earlier this month.

Harrington, whose credits include Feras Fayyad’s film The Cave and the IDA Award-winning film A Place at the Table, joins Jodie Foster as a fellow EP of Alok, which centers on the gender non-confirming writer, humanist and media personality Alok Vaid-Menon.

For an exclusive look at the documentary, watch the clip below.

“Filmmaker Alex Hedison (she/they) delivers a compelling portrait of her friend, Alok Vaid-Menon (they/them), the internationally acclaimed, non-binary, author, poet, comedian, and public speaker,” notes a release about the film. “This thought-provoking short documentary explores the limitless expression of self, challenges societal norms, and inspires viewers to embrace personal freedom beyond the binaries that divide us.”

Harrington said in a statement,...

Bright Eyes have canceled the remainder of their 2024 tour dates due to singer Conor Oberst’s vocal issues.

Earlier this month, the band — on the road in support of their latest album Five Dice, All Threes — nixed a trio of dates after “warm up shows we played earlier this week resulted in Conor losing his voice.”

The rest of the tour plans remained intact, however, “Over the past week, Conor has undergone multiple tests to determine the cause of his recent vocal problems. It’s come to light that he...

Bright Eyes have been forced to cancel all remaining 2024 tour dates due to frontman Conor Oberst’s ongoing vocal problems.

“Over the past week, Conor has undergone multiple tests to determine the cause of his recent vocal problems,” the band said in a statement released on Friday night. “It’s come to light that he has developed a condition that is exacerbated by excessive singing, requiring both treatment and recuperation. We are confident that with a successful regimen, and continued medical attention, we will be able to return to the road next year.”

Bright Eyes previously canceled shows record release shows in Brooklyn and Omaha celebrating their new album, Five Dice, All Threes, as well as appearance at Chicago’s Riot Fest. The newly impacted shows include dates in Oakland and Los Angeles, a headlining appearance at Las Vegas’ Best Friends Forever Music Festival, and UK/European tour in November.

Bright Eyes are set to release their new album Five Dice, All Threes on Friday, September 20th, and they were planning to celebrate its release with a trio of shows in New York City, Chicago (at Riot Fest), and a hometown concert in Omaha, Nebraska. But after a rough warm-up show in Cleveland earlier this week, the band have canceled all three shows.

“We’re heartbroken to announce that our upcoming record release shows have been canceled,” reads the band’s official statement on Instagram. “The warm up shows we played earlier this week resulted in Conor losing his voice and, on the advice of doctors, we’ve made the difficult but sensible decision to prioritize rest and recuperation for the remainder of the month.” The band also writes that they’ll be working hard to reschedule the dates, and that refunds for the shows will be available at the point of purchase.

Bright Eyes announced on Wednesday that they will be canceling their upcoming record release shows due to founder and lead vocalist Conor Oberst losing his voice.

In a statement shared to social media, the band said that they were “heartbroken” over the decision and that “warm up shows we played earlier this week resulted in Conor losing his voice.” They added that on “the advice of doctors, we’ve made the difficult but sensible decision to prioritize rest and recuperation for the remainder of the month.”

The canceled shows included...

Bright Eyes have mapped out a major 2025 North American tour in support of their upcoming new album Five Dice, All Threes. They’ve also shared the album’s second single, “Rainbow Overpass.”

The Conor Oberst-led trio is already set to support the September 20th release of Five Dice, All Threes with a handful of dates in New York, Omaha, and California, including shows at Chicago’s Riot Fest and Las Vegas’ new Best Friends Forever Festival. The run continues with a brief, nine-date European tour in November, followed by Bright Eyes’ North American run in early 2025.

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The North American tour kicks off in Phoenix, Arizona on January 16th and continues through April, hitting cities such as Vancouver, Seattle, Austin, Orlando, Atlanta, Memphis, St. Louis, Cleveland, Toronto, Philadelphia, Louisville, and many more. The tour ends with an April 26th show in west Des Moines, Iowa. See...

Bright Eyes have returned with their first album in four years. Five Dice, All Threes is slated for release on Sept. 20.

Cat Power, the National’s Matt Berninger, and the So So Glos’ Alex Orange Drink join Bright Eyes’ members Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott on their upcoming 10th studio album.

Alongside the album announcement, the band shared the LP’s lead single, “Bells and Whistles,” and music video for the track, which features them rocking on stage, a magical photo booth sprouting show attendees, and a bar fight.

Thanks to the nephew mentioned in “No Lies, Just Love,” Bright Eyes have confirmed they have a new album coming in fall 2024.

On Tuesday (June 18th), the band shared an Instagram video of him saying, “Yeah, we’re taking over. New Bright Eyes album this summer, by the way.” The clip continues with the following text: “Actually, nephew Sam, it’s out this fall.”

So, shout out to Conor Oberst’s nephew for prompting the band to reveal the news. The album confirmation comes after Bright Eyes recently posted studio photos on their Instagram.

Bright Eyes’ last album of original material was 2020’s Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was, but in 2022, they released a series of EPs featuring re-recordings of some of their earliest songs. Later this year, Bright Eyes will make appearances at Riot Fest and Best Friends Festival.

As for Conor Oberst himself, he reunited...

She & Him’s M. Ward, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, and Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis are celebrating the 15th anniversary of their supergroup, Monsters of Folk, and the release of their self-titled album with a new expanded edition featuring five previously-unreleased songs.

Monsters of Folk originally arrived in September 2009, featuring 14 collaborative songs from the group, who began performing together a few years prior. Now, the new expanded edition will include a batch of songs originally recorded during the album’s 2012 sessions, including two — “Disappeared” and “Museum Guard” — which were intended for a since-scrapped sci-fi film based on a screenplay by Oberst. As a preview, “Disappeared” is streaming in full below.

The 15th anniversary edition is due on June 14th via Ato Records, and will be on digital and vinyl formats (pre-orders are ongoing). Also featured on the album are contributions from Centro-matic’s Will Johnson. Check...

On their latest album, American Primitive, the Old 97’s have sandwiched songs about assessing their life choices and serial monogamy with reminders that the world is a doomed and hopeless place and that if you’ve found even a modicum of joy, then that day is a triumph. On the first track, “Falling Down,” they try to frighten you into gratitude via a caustic surf-rock apocalypse built with tremolo electric and strummed acoustic guitars, as frontman Rhett Miller sings, “You’ve got to dance like the world is falling down around you — because it is.

Since boygenius took home a few Grammy Awards this February, Phoebe Bridgers has had some down time. This week, she joined Conor Oberst onstage at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles for a couple of songs, reuniting as the duo the two performed as throughout 2019, Better Oblivion Community Center.

There have been a few instances of Bridgers and Oberst getting the band back together since moving on from the project, but the most recent was a virtual performance in 2020 for the Save Our Stages project, making this the first time they’ve performed together in four years.

All taking place during the encore of Oberst’s show, the two brought out Better Oblivion Community Center track “My City” in addition to a duet version of Bright Eyes classic “Lua.” They then closed out the night with “Double Life,” a cut off Oberst’s 2014 solo album.

Right now, Oberst is in...

The folk-pop duo Better Oblivion Community Center, helmed by Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst, made a surprise reunion on Thursday night at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles. The venue has been hosting weekly shows as part of the Conor Oberst and Friends residency since early March. Bridgers’ special appearance at this week’s concert marked their first performance together since 2019.

They released their first album, Better Oblivion Community Center, that same year. Bridgers appeared during the encore of the show to perform the final three songs of the night,...

One week before Alynda Segarra’s father died, he mailed them a package. It was a box of all the music Segarra had sent him over the span of nearly 20 years, ever since they’d left their childhood home in the Bronx to travel the country. Everything they’d recorded, from burned CDs for street and jazz bands they’d played in, to records from Segarra’s own band of more than a decade, Hurray for the Riff Raff, was in there.

“He had absolutely every single thing I’d given him since,...

Keir O'Donnell played Todd Cleary, the weird and dark brother in Wedding Crashers. He was 27 years old when the movie was released, and it remains a memorable role for him. O'Donnell had roles in other movies after Wedding Crashers, including Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show and The Break-Up. He also appeared in TV shows like Sons of Anarchy and Fargo's second season. Wedding Crashers was a successful comedy film, with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as the leading duo. It became one of the highest-grossing comedies at the time, and a sequel script has been finished for a potential Wedding Crashers 2.

One of the highlights of the 19-year-old comedy Wedding Crashers is Todd, Claire and Gloria's spooky brother; however, not many know who the actor behind that role is. 2005 R-rated 2005 comedy stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as the leading duo, and big names Rachel McAdams,...

‘Tis the season for holiday music, and Bright Eyes have contributed to the festivities with a new cover of the John Prine yuletide classic “Christmas in Prison.”

For their rendition of the song, Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott give it a bit of a beefier instrumental, though the spirit of Prine’s original is still very much present — especially since the recording boasts a sample of his voice from 1993’s A John Prine Christmas. (The singer-songwriter died in April 2020 of complications stemming from Covid-19.)

“It is strange to get a chance to share a track with a hero of mine who has passed on,” Oberst said in a statement. “Normally not something I would do. I don’t like holograms. But I have so much love and affection for John as a person and his music. He really changed my life on a lot of levels. When I...

Bright Eyes have released a cover of John Prine’s 1973 song “Christmas in Prison.” The song features a sample from “A John Prine Christmas,” off 1993’s A John Prine Christmas EP. Listen here.

Proceeds from the single will go to Prine’s charity, The Hello In There Foundation, an initiative established by his family to honor his memory. It aims to “offer support for people who are marginalized, discriminated against or, for any reason, are otherwise forgotten.” The single will benefit four beneficiaries of The Hello In There Foundation’s...

Conor Oberst has announced “Conor Oberst and Friends,” a run of 2024 residency shows going down in Los Angeles and New York City.

From March 7th to April 25th, Oberst will perform weekly shows with a rotating cast of bandmates, assembling different setlists that span his vast discography — most notably from his releases with Bright Eyes. And as the “Oberst and Friends” title implies, the shows will also feature an array of special guests.

“I have always believed there’s salvation through music and love,” Oberst says in a press release. “At least for me. It’s gotten me through the worst of things. But I want it to be that way for the people who listen to it, too. I feel I always make an attempt, even when writing what is a pretty depressing number, to sew some silver lining into it. I think the secret to happiness is making...

The So So Glos singer/bassist Alex Zarou Levine has revealed he has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called adenoid cystic carcinoma and started a GoFundMe to help out with medical costs.

“Almost immediately following The So So Glos sold-out show at Bowery Ballroom, I began to experience the same sinus issues that had led to emergency surgery the week prior. After a series of tests, I found out that I have a cancerous tumor,” Levine wrote in a lengthy note on Instagram, before touching on his lifelong battle with the rare metabolic disorder homocystinuria. “Navigating health is something I have all too much experience with. My whole life I’ve been guided down hospital hallways, held by rebel music. What’s gotten me this far is the endless desire to create. This cancer is rare & the treatment outcome is uncertain, but I’m 100% committed to using...

Grian Chatten, lead singer of the Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C., has announced the release of his debut solo album Chaos for the Fly, due out June 30th on Partisan Records. Chatten also shared “Fairlies,” which you can listen to below.

The announcement comes just one week after Chatten released his plucky, acoustic-driven debut single “The Score.” Meanwhile, “Fairlies” gives off Conor Oberst-type energy — vocally subdued and monotone, and instrumentally going back and forth between strongly struck chords, and accented sweeps of violin and tambourines. Watch the music video, animated by Callum Scott-Dyson, below.

According to a press release for the debut, Chatten said he wrote the track in the midst of “intense heat” in Spain and LA before the band went on tour. “It was a quick write, and I believe I celebrated each line with a beer,” he joked.

Chatten will be hitting the road with the rest of Fontaines D.

The Consequence Podcast Network is excited to announce the newest edition to our roster of shows: The Spark Parade, debuting Wednesday, April 19th.

Hosted by Adam Unze (The Opus), The Spark Parade explores creativity in all its forms by asking musicians, artists, comedians, and other creators to share the single cultural work that has most inspired them. Whether it’s a song, a movie, a stand-up special, a painting, or a poem, we all have something that sparks a desire to produce our own original works. On The Spark Parade, guests reveal that unique piece of art that ignites within them to fire of creation.

“The Spark Parade gives my guests a chance to break out of the traditional interview structure and have a conversation about the art and culture that’s most important to them” Unze says. “It also allows them to promote their current projects through the lens...

Welcome To Our weekly rundown of the best new music — featuring big singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more. This week, J-Hope teams up with J. Cole, Boygenius release another great song from their upcoming album, Kali Uchis unfurls a sweet slow jam, and De La Soul finally hit the streams.

J-Hope feat. J. Cole “On the Street” (YouTube)

Boygenius, “Not Strong Enough” (YouTube)

Kali Uchis, “Love Between …” (YouTube)

SG5, “Firetruck” (YouTube)

Nicki Minaj, “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” (YouTube)

Young Nudy feat. Key Glock, “Pot Roast” (YouTube)

Young Scooter feat.

Conor Oberst has reunited with his longtime pals The So So Glos. The Bright Eyes frontman features on “Everywhere Is War,” the new single out now from the Brooklyn rockers.

Rather than the garagey, surfy punk by which The So So Glos made their name, “Everywhere Is War” is a poppier number primarily backed with a spunky piano riff. It’s difficult to even recognize Oberst’s trademark constantly-on-the-verge-of-tears vocals, too, as it’s been doused in T-Pain levels of Auto-Tune. Soon enough, though, the track has you humming along.

But despite its sunny exterior, “Everywhere Is War” has a much darker meaning, its title paying homage to Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie’s 1963 address to the Un (which also served as the basis for Bob Marley’s song “War”).

“The cover, shot by Bill Biggart, documents a rioter in Northern Ireland in 1989,” The So So Glos said of the song on Instagram.

Eight years ago, Conor Oberst’s Desaparecidos played the sweatiest, rowdiest show ever at Brooklyn’s Shea Stadium with the local punk bank the So So Glos. It was a simpler time in some respects; Obama was president, the DIY scene in New York was thriving, and no one batted an eye at attending a show so packed to the gills that folks were watching through the window on the rickety fire escape balcony. Nearly 10 years — two presidents, one pandemic, and the death of Shea Stadium — later, Oberst and the...

It’s been more than 30 years since the Pogues kicked the shit out of Christmas with their sleazy holiday classic, “Fairytale of New York.” Now, former member Peter Richard “Spider” Stacy has teamed up with New York punk stalwarts the So So Glos for a new tongue-in-cheek Christmas carol: “This Could Be Christmas.”

“We wrote this Christmas song during a time of isolation and total uncertainty,” So So Glos frontman Alex Levine tells Rolling Stone. “It illustrates the disconnect between holiday cheer and a darker reality.”

The Glos met the...

End Of The Road is a festival that keeps its promises. The cultured leftfield shindig – where croquet tournaments break out in forest glades and peacocks roam the trimmed lawns of Dorset’s Larmer Tree Gardens, unbothered by the experimental folk, rock, rap and electronic tomfoolery floating across the site – has been promising a weekend headlined by indie giants Pixies and Bright Eyes since 2020. Covid scuppered that event, and post-pandemic travel issues forced the 2021 bill to become more UK-based. But this year, Eotr puts its music where its mouth is at last, with plenty more curveballs thrown in to keep this crowd of discerning alternative music fans pleasingly off-balance.

The opening Thursday night bill is a brain-rattling case in point. On the main Woods Stage, LA’s Sudan Archives sets out to invent jig-hop, interspersing psychosexual ambient raps with ruined snippets of Irish folk played on the fiddle she brandishes throughout.

The third volume of the massive, ambitious, and unique project, For the Birds — in which hundreds of artists created new recordings inspired by birdsongs — has arrived today, July 29, with music from artists like the Beastie Boys’ AdRock and Wild Belle singer-songwriter Natalie Bergman.

AdRock’s contribution “Pasadena Parrots” clocks in at just under a minute and begins with some screeching and squawking that gives way to a rush of hardcore guitars peppered with some laser-like synths. Bergman, meanwhile, has turned in a sweet and charming tune, “The Little Bird,” that...

Bright Eyes pulled out all the stops to deliver a full-band performance of “Dance and Sing” Wednesday on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. The track comes off the group’s 2020 album Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was, which Rolling Stone said reminds listeners why frontman Conor Oberst “was one of the best singer-songwriters of the 2000s.”

Oberst, alongside longtime Bright Eyes members Nate Walcott and Mike Mogis, were backed by a large group of musicians, including a full strings section and horn players, for the performance.

Charli Xcx, Jeezy, Billy Corgan, and more share some words of wisdom in the new trailer for the upcoming Spotify podcast interview series, Best Advice, which will premiere May 6th.

The show will be hosted by Kim Taylor Bennett, who says in the trailer that the show will present candid conversations with artists as they discuss “all the twists and turns their careers have taken, and all the best advice they’ve received along the way.”

The clip opens with a snippet of Jeezy talking about getting checked early on...

You know the striking cover for Phoebe Bridgers’ Punisher? The photo was taken by Swedish photographer/musician Olof Grind when the duo embarked on a 24-hour road trip into the California desert. Now, Bridgers has returned the favor, contributing to “Mountain Crystals,” Grind’s new single released as Luminous Kid.

The queer indie-pop musician dropped a self-directed video to pair with the track, which features two lovers basking in red light. Bridgers’ spoken word comes in at just over three minutes: “I see your love from across an ocean of obstacles surrounding my brain,...

At Sunday night’s Grammy Awards, the late John Prine won two trophies for his final recording, “I Remember Everything,” which Brandi Carlile performed during the telecast’s “In Memoriam” segment. Carlile’s studio recording of “I Remember Everything” is out now and will appear on the upcoming tribute album Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine, Vol 2.

A gentle acoustic rendering featuring nothing more than voice and guitar, Carlile’s recording retains the arresting power of her Grammys performance. With simple strummed and fingerpicked patterns to maintain the rhythm,...

The Recording Academy announced the full list of nominees for the 63rd annual Grammy Awards on Tuesday, November 24th, and as always the Best New Artist category boasts a compelling mix of budding stars, critical favorites, and a couple of sleeper hits.

The biggest name on this year’s list is undeniably Megan Thee Stallion, and the only other artist up for the award who scored a bona fide pop hit in 2020 is Doja Cat. Indie darlings on differing ends of the musical spectrum, singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers and DJ-producer Kaytranada,...

Bright Eyes have dropped a somber cover of Vic Chestnutt’s “Flirted With You All My Life.”

The rendition opens with mournful pedal steel and piano, as opposed to the original version’s drum intro. “I’ve flirted with you all my life/Even kissed you once or twice,” Conor Oberst sings. “And to this day I swear it was nice/But clearly I was not ready.”

“I had the pleasure of seeing Vic perform many times over the years and from a young age,” Oberst said of Chestnutt, who...

Dolores Diaz and the Standby Club — a country covers band formed by Conor Oberst — is releasing a new live album, Live at O’Leavers, featuring recordings from two of the five gigs they’ve played.

The record is set to arrive December 11th via 15 Passenger, and in anticipation, Dolores Diaz and the Standby Club shared their takes on Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” and the Loretta Lynn classic, “Don’t Come Home a-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind).” While Oberst sings lead on “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,...

Phoebe Bridgers, who released one of the year’s best albums, the exquisite Punisher, back in June, was the guest on a recent episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast. She talked about her songwriting methods, the making of the album, and much more. Some highlights follow; to hear the entire interview, press play below, or download and subscribe on iTunes or Spotify.

She whisper-sings all of her song sketches into her phone’s voice memos app. “One time, my neighbor shouted through my open window, ‘shut the fuck up!

Bright Eyes have released a new song, “Miracle of Life,” to benefit Planned Parenthood. Along with the members of Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nathaniel Walcott), the song features contributions from Phoebe Bridgers, Jon Theodore, and Flea.

In partnership with the 7-Inches for Planned Parenthood Collective, Bright Eyes released the track exclusively to Bandcamp, with all proceeds from sales ($1), streaming, and syncs going directly to Planned Parenthood. The song will be made available on all streaming platforms on October 28th.

“This song should not exist in 2020 America,” frontman Conor Oberst stated.

Bright Eyes performed four songs — including three from their first album in nearly a decade — on the latest installment of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series.

The trio recorded their set with Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis performing at Arc Studios in Omaha, Nebraska, while Nate Walcott appeared at the Los Angeles studio, Lucy’s Meat Market, with Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond providing back-up vocals.

Bright Eyes opened the performance with the three songs from Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was: “Mariana Trench,” “Pan and Broom” and “Persona Non Grata.

Phoebe Bridgers swapped out her skeleton suit for a blazer in a performance for NPR’s Tiny Desk series.

With the ongoing pandemic, artists have been performing at home instead of at NPR, but Bridgers’ segment takes place “in” the Oval Office. Standing in front of the green screen, she’s flanked by her bandmates — drummer Marshall Vore and guitarist Harrison Whitford — who appear as Secret Service agents.

Playing on acoustic guitar, Bridgers tore through three highlights from her new album, Punisher: “Kyoto,” “Moon Song” and the epic closing track,...

A few years ago, Conor Oberst was attending a Christmas party at Nate Walcott’s home in Los Angeles when he told his Bright Eyes bandmate he had an idea. “It kind of just came out of my mouth,” Oberst, 40, recalls: “’Let’s do it. Let’s make a record.’”

To Walcott, the decision to end the band’s unofficial hiatus of nearly a decade felt organic. “It wasn’t like I was standing in the kitchen and dropped a pound cake,” the 42-year-old musician cracks. “Schedules were aligning. Also,...

About 20 years ago, Conor Oberst, the singer-songwriter who fronts Bright Eyes, sheepishly warbled his way out of Omaha to become an emo heartthrob and a baroque-folk New Dylan. But Oberst was never one for sitting still artistically, and he ping-ponged throughout the aughts, from synth–rock to punk to rustic folk, moving to New York and then Mexico, finally going on indefinite hiatus altogether after 2011’s The People’s Key.

Flash-forward a decade, and artists from Lana Del Rey to Phoebe Bridgers owe some debt to his bleeding-heart Bush-era sadcore.

Christian Lee Hutson recorded so many versions of his new album, Beginners, that the day before it was finally released last month, the singer-songwriter joked with his friends about a dark possibility: “There’s still time to record it one more time.”

Hutson, 29, first began work on his new plaintive folk collection in 2014, back when he was still touring the country as an aspiring retro-country singer, performing Gram Parsons and George Jones covers at an endless string of what he now refers to as “fucking spaghetti restaurants.”

Today, Hutson is...

When director David Dobkin brought the 2005 comedy “Wedding Crashers” to the marketing team at New Line Cinema, he didn’t get the reception he thought he would. Marketing head Russell Schwartz thought that Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson’s characters were too misogynistic, since their main aim seemed to be crashing weddings to look for girls.

Dobkin pushed back. He saw it a different way: The pair loved weddings and were the life of the party. When the film came out on July 15, 2000, “Wedding Crashers” became the first R-rated comedy to break $200 million at the domestic box office.

“Wedding Crashers” follows Jeremy Grey and John Beckwith — played by Vaughn and Wilson, respectively — two divorce attorneys who spend their free time sneaking into weddings in hopes of meeting eligible women. When they see that the Secretary of the Treasury Cleary (Christopher Walken) is celebrating his son’s marriage, the two crash...

Bright Eyes shared a live studio performance of their newest track, “Mariana Trench,” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Monday.

With some Covid-19 restrictions easing, it looked as if Bright Eyes and the rest of their backing band were able to gather for the performance in the same studio space (while still staying six feet apart). That togetherness lent their rendition of “Mariana Trench” a compelling immediacy, as frontman Conor Oberst delivered a gripping vocal performance over the song’s percolating groove, which eventually opens up with a flourish of horns.

After releasing several new singles over the last few months, Bright Eyes have announced a new album, Down in the Weeds Where the World Once Was, out August 21st via Dead Oceans.

The trio previewed the announcement with a stunning new track, “Mariana Trench,” featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea on bass and drummer Jon Theodore from Queens of the Stone Age. “Well they’d better save some space for me/In that growing cottage industry,” Conor Oberst sings. “Where selfishness is currency/People spend more than they make.”

Accompanied...

The biting emo-folk of Phoebe Bridgers’ 2017 Stranger in the Alps established the singer-songwriter as a woeful wisecracker. Bridgers was a millennial Warren Zevon who, even if she sang about sexting instead of heroin withdrawal, shared the shrewd Seventies songwriter’s penchant for fictionalizing their own death and chronicling perpetual L.A. decay. “Nothing’s changed,” as Bridgers put it dimly on her debut, “L.A.’s all right.”

Like Zevon, Bridgers also emerged with an uncanny knack for pop songcraft and classic American songbook melody, a dexterity she spent the...

Phoebe Bridgers discusses Jeff Buckley, meeting Eeyore at DisneyIand, and singing My Chemical Romance at karaoke in the latest installment of Rolling Stone’s The First Time.

Bridgers kicks off by citing the first time she stood up for herself: decking an older kid with a dodgeball in middle school. The person would pick on Bridgers and hit her in the head too hard. “Aggression that only prepubescent boys have,” she noted. She finally got a chance to retaliate when his back was turned. “Right in the basketball shorts,” she said,...

Being Phoebe Bridgers is a pretty sweet gig. “I fucking love my life,” says the 25-year-old Californian. “My mom occasionally gets, ‘Are you related to Phoebe Bridgers?’ She fucking eats it up. And then she’ll be like, ‘I promised this couple that you would play their prom,’ and I’m like, ‘Mom! No!'”

Bridgers has become one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of recent years by writing bleak, introspective songs grounded in twentysomething realness — she’s the folk rocker most likely to make you cry a little as you brew your morning coffee.

Bright Eyes have shared a new song, “One and Done,” from their upcoming new album, which is expected to be released later this year via Dead Oceans.

The track feels like an exhausted, but stoic accounting of a crumbling world. An atmospheric rhythm section — featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea on bass — holds together a mix of lonesome guitars and chamber-pop strings, while Conor Oberst sings: “Around here we’ve been wondering what tomorrow’s going to sing/On the final field recording from the loud Anthropocene.” Other contributors...

Phoebe Bridgers sang the 1975’s early hit “Girls” for a virtual tribute concert hosted by The Face Magazine. Clairo, Gracie Abrams, Clairo and Rina Sawayama are also covering tracks across the band’s first three albums just ahead of their fourth album Notes on a Conditional Form.

Bridgers keeps her self-shot cover short, stripping down the lush indie-pop tune into a tender ballad. The other covers have included “Sex” performed by Pale Waves, Beabadoobee’s interpretation of “Milk” and Rina Sawayama’s thrilling take on “Love It If We Made It.