Moby has announced his 23rd studio album, Future Quiet, set for release February 20th via BMG, marking a contemplative new chapter in the career of one of electronic music’s most enduring figures. Alongside the announcement, he has shared the album’s lead track: a newly reimagined version of his 1995 song “When It’s Cold I’d Like To Die,” featuring Jacob Lusk of Gabriels.
Spanning eleven tracks, Future Quiet leans into piano minimalism, immersive ambient textures, and select vocal collaborations, positioning stillness as both a creative and emotional counterweight to the volume of contemporary life. The album reflects Moby’s ongoing interest in restraint and atmosphere, expanding on the quieter impulses that have threaded through his catalog while sharpening their intent.
“‘Future Quiet’ is, not surprisingly, quiet,” Moby said in a statement, describing the record as a refuge from a world that “screams at us” through constant noise, screens, and demands. Writing and recording the album, he explained, became an act of retreat — one he hopes listeners can share.
The album opens with the orchestral reworking of “When It’s Cold I’d Like To Die,” a song originally released on Everything Is Wrong and recently rediscovered by a new generation through its use in seasons one and four of Stranger Things. Featuring Lusk’s soaring, gospel-inflected vocal, the new version reframes the track with a sense of grandeur and emotional clarity. The original song has surged to become Moby’s most streamed track, fueled by viral attention and renewed interest ahead of the show’s final season.
Lusk’s involvement came after Moby heard Gabriels on KCRW and, by his own account, “spent weeks tracking him down.” The collaboration anchors Future Quiet’s opening moments with a sense of reverence that sets the tone for the album’s inward gaze.
Beyond the studio, 2026 will see Moby embark on his biggest tour in a decade, including a Coachella appearance and a headline performance at On The Beach Festival in Brighton, U.K., on July 26th. Full tour details are expected soon.
More than three decades into his career, Moby remains a singular presence — an artist whose restless curiosity has taken him from punk basements to rave culture to ambient minimalism, all while maintaining a deep commitment to activism and creative access. With Future Quiet, he appears less interested in reinvention than in preservation: carving out space for reflection, silence, and emotional shelter in an increasingly loud world.
Listen to “When It’s Cold I’d Like To Die” (ft. Jacob Lusk) here and pre-save Future Quiet here.
Mitski has announced her eighth studio album, Nothing’s About to Happen to Me, arriving February 27th via Dead Oceans, and shared its lead single and video, the fuzzed-out rock spiral “Where’s My Phone?” The new project continues the creative through line she established on 2023’s The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, while pushing deeper into narrative-driven territory.
Album Artwork
Supported by a live band and orchestra, Nothing’s About to Happen to Me centers on a reclusive woman living in an unkempt house — a character who exists as a deviant beyond its walls but finds freedom within them. Mitski wrote all of the album’s songs and performed all of its vocals, working once again with longtime collaborator Patrick Hyland, who produced and engineered the record. The album was mastered by Bob Weston, with orchestral arrangements by Drew Erickson recorded at Sunset Sound and TTG Studios.
“Where’s My Phone?” offers an anxious, distorted entry point into the album’s emotional terrain. Built around a looping refrain — “Where did it go // Where’s my phone // Where’d I go” — the song captures a spiraling sense of displacement, pairing raw urgency with a jagged melodic edge. The track arrives alongside an unhinged, darkly playful video directed by Noel Paul, inspired by Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle. In the clip, Mitski plays a paranoid woman defending her sister inside a gothic house as a procession of increasingly absurd intruders sends the story into chaos.
The album features live instrumentation from The Land touring band alongside expanded ensemble arrangements, further blurring the line between intimacy and grandeur. Across its eleven tracks — including “In a Lake,” “Dead Women,” and “Charon’s Obol” — Mitski continues her career-long exploration of isolation, desire, and interior life, now rendered with orchestral weight and theatrical precision.
The announcement arrives amid an already expansive creative era for Mitski. In recent years, she’s seen global success with “My Love Mine All Mine,” collaborated with Florence and the Machine, David Byrne, and Son Lux, and debuted her concert film Mitski: The Land in more than 600 cinemas worldwide. With Nothing’s About to Happen to Me, she appears less interested in escalation than excavation — turning inward to find something stranger, darker, and quietly defiant waiting inside. Pre-order and Pre-Save Nothing’s About to Happen to Me right here.
Genevieve Hannelius is officially stepping into a new creative chapter. The singer-songwriter and actress released her debut EP, Girlhood, today, a six-song project that distills the contradictions, nostalgia, and emotional whiplash of growing up into something soft-edged and sharply felt. Alongside the EP, Hannelius shared a music video for “The Woods,” filmed in her hometown of Maine, where winter landscapes mirror the song’s quiet vulnerability.
Written entirely by Hannelius, Girlhood unfolds like a late-night conversation with a close friend — intimate, conflicted, and self-aware. Across tracks like the dreamy debut single “Reckless,” the pop-rock catharsis of “James,” and the stripped-down title track, she explores the liminal space of her twenties: feeling caught between childhood comfort and adult expectation. The EP draws from influences ranging from early-2000s pop staples to folk and country textures, resulting in a sound that feels both nostalgic and newly personal.
After spending much of her childhood in the public eye, Hannelius took time away from acting to attend college and live more privately — experiences that now anchor her songwriting. That patience pays off on Girlhood, which plays less like a reinvention than a quiet arrival. It’s a debut rooted in lived experience, emotional honesty, and the freedom to be unresolved. Listen to the Girlhood EP here and read along with the truncated interview with G below. The full interview is in Hit Parader #3, now available.
HP: For Girlhood, the title feels very personal. Can you tell us what made the title feel like it represented the EP well? GH: I mean, I think it was a couple of different things. First of all, I am in my mid to late 20s, and I feel like this time period has just been such a huge transition. Just sort of emotionally, and in life in general. And I felt like that was a really relatable concept. I noticed that that’s how my friends were feeling, almost going through like this Saturn Return, and just having a lot of different conflicting emotions come up, you know, realizing that you’re really an adult now, post-college, and also like having this nostalgia for your childhood. I also felt like I played an interesting role in a lot of other people’s childhoods. Like, that’s the biggest thing that people say when they come up to me, is, like, “You’re my childhood! I grew up watching you.” So I think that, like, the girlhood theme showed up in a lot of different ways as I was working on this.
HP: I don’t want to age myself, but I’m one of those kids. I mean, I watched Dog With a Blog before I went to school on the Disney Channel. GH: Well, it’s so funny, because I really feel like the fans watching Disney Channel specifically have a different connection with the actors than I feel like actors that you watch when you’re older in movies, because you do really feel this special, nostalgic connection to them. And I think that’s really cool, because I felt the same way growing up. Even though I was working, I grew up watching, you know, Hannah Montana, or Lizzie McGuire, and I had those same feelings. So I get it.
HP: I want to talk about your kind of growing-up experience. I know that you, as an actor yourself, have had a pretty unique life experience. How do you think that life experience has given you a unique perspective on growing up and girlhood? GH: Well, I definitely spent a lot of my childhood in a, you know, unconventional way, because I was working. So I think, in a lot of ways, that sort of forced me to grow up quicker, and then in other ways, I feel like it actually stunted me socially. I was spending a lot of time with adults on sets, so when I actually ended up, you know, like going to college, I was sort of like, “This is what the kids are doing?” I had to, like, catch up. So, yeah, I think that’s a way that it was unique. But I also really just feel like, no matter what your life circumstances are, everyone goes through those pivotal growing-up moments, and that’s something that we can all kind of relate to.
HP: Absolutely. So, out of all the characters you’ve played, who do you think would most likely relate to Girlhoodand be singing along to the songs on it? GH: [Laughs] That’s a great question. You know, I probably would have to say Avery from Dog With a Blog, because so much of the show, and just the episodes, you know, storyline-wise, were about her growing up. Like, I always have this distinct memory of one of the episodes. She hated being short, and so she was doing everything she could to, like, feel taller. She made this, like, massive haircut, and she was wearing huge heels to school. And obviously, that’s an exaggerated situation, but it is so relatable. I just feel like that concept of feeling insecure about something that, like, you can’t change about yourself, is just such a vulnerable, relatable feeling. So I think she would be singing along, and she would really, she’d really get it. She’d be like, “Yeah, same. I went through that.”
HP: I really like the end of the EP, with “The Woods.” It kind of felt like it wrapped a really nice bow on the EP. What was the thought process when ordering the songs and how each song played in? GH: Yeah, we did think about that a lot. We had some of these more pop kind of songs, and then we had a couple, like “Girlhood” and “The Woods” that are a little bit more stripped down and slower ballads. So I just wanted there to be sort of a balance when you were listening through. So it was like, a more upbeat pop one here, something a little more laid back, something brighter – I almost felt like it’s the roller coaster of girlhood emotions that you go through. You know, one day you’re screaming at the top of your lungs, you’re so in love, and then the next day he ghosted you, and you couldn’t be more depressed. And it’s just like, up and down, or at least that’s how I feel my emotions have been in my 20s, so I wanted it to sort of have that feeling.
HP: What was one influence for this album that you think would surprise your fans? GH: Oh, well, I think we actually were listening to a lot of folksy stuff, like Noah Kahan was really having a huge moment at the times we were listening. I love Casey Musgraves, and actually, like this would probably surprise people. I’m a huge country music fan. Dolly Parton is like one of my all time idols, and I listen to a lot of country music, so surprisingly that folksy sort of country sound we were listening to a lot, even though these songs evolved into something sort of different.
HP: Any last message you want to give the girls who are growing up? GH: Oh! To the girls, I would just say, hang in there. We’re all in this together. We’re not alone. I think connection is our most powerful tool that we have through all the ups and downs of growing up and life. So I mean, really just my hope with making the EP was that it would connect with somebody, and, you know, someone could say, “Oh, my God, I feel that way too.” So I hope it resonates with people in that way. But my biggest takeaway, I think, is not being afraid to, like, make mistakes and take them as, you know, learning experiences and just keep trying. Don’t be afraid to be seen trying.
Read the full interview with Genevieve Hannelius in Hit Parader #3.
In this issue of Hit Parader, Grammy-winning producer Zedd reflects on Telos, his most introspective release to date, and his decision to step away from algorithm-driven expectations to create a record meant for deep listening rather than passive consumption. Made for himself first, Telos emerges as a statement of creative autonomy rooted in vulnerability, balance, and long-term intention, even…
YoungBoy Never Broke Again has released his new album Slime Cry today, adding another staggering chapter to a career that has already bent the modern rap timeline out of shape. The project arrives as the Baton Rouge native quietly cements his place in the history books: with 126 RIAA certifications totaling 140.5 million units, YoungBoy now stands as the most certified rapper of all time, trailing only Elvis Presley across all genres.
The numbers underscore just how compressed his rise has been. In less than a decade, YoungBoy has surpassed certification totals that took legacy superstars decades to accumulate, eclipsing the likes of Drake, Kanye West, Eminem, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Rihanna in the process. The RIAA has also recognized him as the most successful rapper of the past decade, citing his record-setting run of Platinum-certified albums between 2015 and 2025 — all achieved before his mid-20s. That dominance has been fueled by an unusually direct relationship with his audience. Largely sidestepping traditional radio and industry pipelines, YoungBoy has built a catalog that translates into obsessive engagement: more than 30 billion global streams, over 16 billion YouTube views, and the most Gold-certified songs in music history. At comparable ages, peers like Drake and Taylor Swift were operating at a fraction of those certification totals, a disparity that highlights just how singular YoungBoy’s output and consumption have been.
The momentum extends beyond streaming. His Make America Slime Again Tour ranks among the highest-grossing hip-hop tours in U.S. history, selling over half a million tickets across 42 dates and grossing upwards of $75 million. With Slime Cry, YoungBoy Never Broke Again isn’t positioning himself as rap’s next great outlier — he’s reinforcing the reality that he’s already operating on a historic scale, rewriting the benchmarks in real time. Watch the trailer below and then listen to Slime Cryhere .
Inkcarceration had a record-breaking year in 2025, with 90,000 fans. Now, they are returning to the famed Ohio State Reformatory this July to top that.
2026 Return
The Pollstar 2025 Global Festival of the Year Nominee, Inkcarceration, is one of the most unique festival approaches out there. Everything your parents warned you about: tattoos, bands, haunted attractions, and more, all take place at the historic prison, which was once the filming site for Shawshank Redemption.
This year, the festival, produced by Danny Wimmer Presents and Reinkarceration LLC, will take place from Friday, July 17, through Sunday, July 19. Tickets are available now! More information is provided below.
“We are excited to welcome Inkcarceration back to the historic Ohio State Reformatory for another incredible year. This festival has earned its reputation as one of the most unique and sought-after events in the world, blending music, tattoo artistry, and culture in a setting unlike any other,” said Dan Smith, Associate Director, The Ohio State Reformatory. “Inkcarceration continues to attract fans from across the globe, and the 2026 lineup promises to deliver an unforgettable experience. The Ohio State Reformatory is proud to serve as the backdrop for this extraordinary celebration.”
Official Inkcarceration Lineup Poster
Official Lineup
Opening day brings Disturbed, Papa Roach, Cypress Hill, and Hollywood Undead on as headliners. The following day will feature Bad Omens, Gojira, The Used, and Sleeping with Sirens before Limp Bizkit, A Day To Remember, Motionless in White, and Ice Nine Kills wrap up the festival on Sunday.
“We’re fired up to welcome Limp Bizkit back to Inkcarceration. Their recent South American stadium run has sent social media into overdrive, and we’re proud to be part of their global takeover once again. Having Bad Omens headlining a DWP festival for the first time brings a whole new level of energy to the weekend, and adding Disturbed to this lineup makes it an absolute powerhouse for our fans,” said DWP Founder Danny Wimmer.
2026 is bringing many special appearances, including hometown/state shows from Starset, Sanguisugabogg, Night Rider, Miss May I, Wolves At The Gate, and ENMY. Sleeping with Sirens will be celebrating 15 years of Let’s Cheers To This, while Alien Ant Farm celebrates 25 years of ANThology. Several bands are reuniting on the Inkcarceration stage, including Get Scared, The Crimson Agenda, and Rev Theory.
The full lineup is as follows: Limp Bizkit, Disturbed, Bad Omens, Gojira, Papa Roach, A Day To Remember, Motionless in White, Ice Nine Kills, Cypress Hill, The Used, Lorna Shore, Sleeping with Sirens, Hollywood Undead, Poppy, Starset, Machine Head, Tech N9ne, Jinjer, Hatebreed, Sleep Theory, Fit For A King, Get Scared, Memphis May Fire, Rev Theory, Jutes, LANDMVRKS, Dying Wish, Sanguisugabogg, Lacuna Coil, Escape The Fate, Alien Ant Farm, Miss May I, Caskets, PeelingFlesh, Spite, Point North, Norma Jean, Silent Planet, Born of Osiris, Nevertel, Left To Suffer, Thousand Below, 156/Silence, Archers, Static Dress, Ded, If Not For Me, Wolves At The Gate, Fox Lake, Earshot, King 810, Silly Goose, Guilt Trip, Cane Hill, Entheos, Versus Me, Snuffed On Sight, The Crimson Armada, Synestia, Corpse Pile, Heavy//Hitter, ENMY, Night Rider, Filth, Jeffrey Nothing, Vicar Blood and Killstreak.
Beyond The Music
There are plenty of attractions aside from the music during the festival. Over 100 tattoo artists will be stationed inside the Ohio State Reformatory for the annual Monster Energy Tattoo X. Also within the prison walls are haunted attractions, self-guided tours, and the infamous Blood Prison (Ohio’s terrifying haunted house experience). Festival goers craving a more intense encounter have the option to purchase the Touch Pass, which allows the scare actors to make contact with them.
Passes
Tickets for three-day passes, single-day general admission, and VIP are available now for as low as $1 down on layaway with over six months to pay in full.
Students with a valid .edu email address are offered a special single-day GA pass for only $125. Information is available here! DWP has also partnered with GOVX yet again to offer specially priced passes to military, nurses, firefighters, and police officers who can verify their eligibility here.
All tickets include a charity fee for the DWP Foundation, which gives back to local and national charities.
A fully immersive experience is available via several camping options. Campers will gain access to the exclusive Thursday Night Campground Party. Car, Tent, and RV campers are all welcome.
Hot Topic still had metal gates the last time The Academy Is… released a brand new album. Now, after 18 years, they are set to release Almost There in March, and have revealed a first taste of the album with “2005.”
Almost There Album Artwork
Almost There
Over two decades ago, The Academy Is… released their debut album, Almost Here, and shaped an entire underground era. What followed was extensive touring and two more acclaimed albums. Fast Times at Barrington High was released via Fueled By Ramen on August 18, 2008. Since then, the world has been void of a new The Academy Is… album.
The band stepped away in 2011, then returned in 2015 for Riot Fest. However, their shared creativity didn’t fully revive until years later. When it returned, Almost There was born. “We want to write from where we actually are now,” Guitarist Mike Carden explains. “Our audience is growing with us. They’re dealing with the same real-life changes, the same celebrations, the same setbacks.”
While their 2005 debut focused on leaving home, their upcoming LP is where they find their way back.“Almost Here was the beginning. Almost There is the reflection,” Vocalist William Beckett says. “It’s about checking in with who you thought you’d be twenty years later, seeing what changed, what stuck, and what still feels like home.”
Almost There continues the essence and energy of their early work with a more mature and expanded approach, unafraid to slow down at times. It is an experience both familiar and brand new for fans who have patiently awaited their return.
We’re almost there! The album is set to release on March 27, 2026, via I Surrender Records. Pre-save/Pre-Order it now!
2005
The Academy Is… has shared a taste of their comeback album with the breezy track “2005.” The groovy yet gentle instrumental frames Beckett’s emotionally direct vocal approach and reflective lyrics, creating an atmosphere full of nostalgia.
Alongside the single is a music video, directed by Tyler Common. In it, the band is depicted playing among cool-toned purples, blues, greens, and nature imagery created by a projector.
20th Anniversary Tour
Fans’ suspicions of the band’s return were confirmed last year with the announcement of their Almost Here 20th Anniversary Tour. It was completed by high-energy sets filled with songs that shaped the mid-2000s. With overwhelming positive responses and many shows selling out immediately, a second leg has been added.
The tour begins on April 10 in Buffalo, New York, before traveling the United States and Canada with dates in Nashville, Atlanta, Seattle, and more. It will commence on May 9, in San Diego, California at The Observatory North Park. Tickets and information are available here!
ALMOST HERE 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR 2026
APRIL
10 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom 11 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall 15 – Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theatre 16 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl Nashville 18 – Tampa, FL – The Ritz Ybor 19 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues Orlando 24 – Austin, TX – Emo’s 25 – Dallas, TX – The Echo 26 – Houston, TX – House of Blues Houston
MAY
1 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater 2 – Seattle, WA – Showbox at The Market 7 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades 8 – Berkeley, CA – The UC Theatre 9 – San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park
The Academy Is… appears in our “What Does Punk Mean To You?” article in Issue #1 of Hit Parader:
YUNGBLUD is bringing the rock star back to rock. At just 27, the British firebrand stunned 45,000 fans and the world at Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell show with a jaw-dropping, emotional cover of “Changes.” Critics and legends alike are calling it one of the greatest live performances of the past 25 years. In a genre starved…
Some 57-year-olds might spend the anniversary of their 1969 birth cashing in on a free desert at Olive Garden or sharing a low-key bottle of Pinot with friends and family. But Dave Grohl and his band of 31 years, the Foo Fighters, celebrated the singer’s birthday in 22 songs across more than two sweaty, uplifting hours. “This is some loose-ass rock ‘n’ roll” Grohl shouted. “We don’t play to computers!”
Instead of getting gifts, Grohl and co. gave them: the show benefited Hope United (Hope The Mission x LA Mission), an org working to eliminate poverty, hunger, and homelessness. Grohl’s own onstage celebrations included several swigs from a Jägermeister bottle, a birthday cake with fake candles… and the vociferous love of thousands in attendance. Lots of young-middle-aged dads with teens and tweens in tow and a requisite amount of geezers and millennials were treated to the Foos on a revolving stage in the middle of the venue. Sans any stage frills or furbelows, Grohl’s energy translated even when his back was to a portion of the arena. “I know you want the full-frontal,” the shaggy, gum-chewing frontman joked.
Festivities kicked off with “My Hero,” dedicated to guitarist (and former Nirvana bandmate and Germs bandmember) Pat Smear, who offered up birthday wishes via video, his injured, booted leg visible. Smear’s guitar duties were ably handled by Jason Falkner, an L.A. stalwart who is a guitar veteran of Jellyfish, Beck, St. Vincent, and seven of his own solo albums.
The rest of the band were O.G. Foos, with the exception of drummer Ilan Rubin, who joined the band in 2025, replacing beloved drum veteran Josh Freese, who had himself succeeded the late Taylor Hawkins in 2023. Playing behind a singer who is also a revered and stellar drummer and replacing the seemingly irrepressible Hawkins is a tall order. Rubin definitely rose to the occasion, a powerhouse player, his hard-hitting bashing delivered with a creative and finessed sensibility.
Fans hoping for super-star guest cameos—Slash, Paul Stanley, Lemmy, Trombone Shorty and David Lee Roth, among others, showed up at the same venue for Grohl’s 2015 birthday show—were disappointed. But there was nothing disappointing in the band’s locked-in performance, energy, or passion, with Grohl as the seemingly tireless flashpoint, even as he joked about his age.
Befitting a radio-friendly superstar rock band, the gig was essentially a greatest-hits show, touching on the best and most popular songs across 11 albums from 1995 to 2023. Solos—of the guitar and drum sort—were welcome and not indulgent. “All My Life,” “Times Like These” and “The Pretender” showcased the band’s signature ferocity, a bashing, ferocious dynamism with singalong choruses.
The meaning of songs like “Times Like These” change with the times; the “it’s times like these you learn to live again…it’s times like these time and time again,” speak as much to the cyclical nature of love as it does the state of the world, for a timeless appeal. The 1995 tune “This is a Call,” the band’s first-ever single, is a chills-inducing musical emancipator, followed by the dark, thundering gallop of “No Son Of Mine,” featuring a quick “Ace of Spades” riff with Grohl shouting out Lemmy, Motorhead a clear influence on the tune. That zeal was quickly tempered by “Under You,” with Grohl performing solo on an electric guitar, noting, “I think the last time we played here was for the [2022] Taylor Hawkins Tribute show.” As suits the times, the song was received with a sea of phone-flashlights-as-lighters.
The death of seemingly irrepressible Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022 was the first awful thrust into an unwanted spotlight for Grohl, who stayed largely out of the public eye for a while and only recently started to reemerge.
Although Grohl’s birthday bash was less star-studded than many in the audience seemed to expect or hope, the ambassador for rock ‘n’ roll proved worthy of the title. If “Aurora” and a scant few of the more than nearly two dozen cuts were humdrum in a set full of bangers, the Foo Fighters give arena rock a good name. Even the man of the hour seemed to sense the shift, reigniting the crowd with “time to start screaming balls,” after a gentler aural interlude.
Ultimately, Grohl leaves it all on stage. Following the encore of “Everlong,” he ran manically energetic laps around the stage, his band eventually straggling behind their exuberant leader. Grohl exhorted the crowd: “scream like you’re a 57-year-old having the time of your life!” And even the jaded teens with their nerd-dads obliged.
J. Cole has officially set the clock on The Fall-Off. After years of anticipation and speculation, the rapper confirmed that his next album will arrive on Feb. 6, sharing the news on Wednesday (Jan. 14) alongside a moody teaser trailer.
The brief clip, underscored by reflective narration on the cyclical nature of fame, offers little in the way of musical detail but signals a thematic continuation of Cole’s recent, inward-looking work. The Fall-Off marks his first full-length album since 2021’s The Off-Season, following last year’s surprise Might Delete Later mixtape.
Along with the teaser, Cole directed fans to a newly launched website where a vinyl pre-order for the album is already live. The listing describes a highly limited “Stealth Edition,” billed as the first and only pressing of the album in its initial form. According to the description, the vinyl was produced under “full-scale, around-the-clock security” across multiple facilities in North America, designed to prevent leaks of both the music and artwork ahead of release.
While Cole has remained characteristically tight-lipped about collaborators and track details, the rollout signals a carefully controlled final stretch toward one of the most anticipated releases of his career. With The Fall-Off now officially dated, the long wait appears to be nearing its end. Watch the trailer below:
When thinking of the EDM sphere, no name has been more quintessential to the modern foundation and evolution of UK house music than Chris Lake. From starting his career working on his craft solely on a laptop, while simultaneously working for the Royal Mail service, to headline slots at the largest festivals in the world, his growth was never linear or conformed, rather it stemmed from one thing: pure unwavered passion and determination. This passion for making music that he loves to make is most apparent on his debut genre-bending full-length record, 20 years in the making, Chemistry. Sitting down with Hit Parader after Chemistry cemented his determination to creative evolution, and his remix of The Chemical Brothers track “Galvanize” receiving a GRAMMY nomination, we talked about everything from the production of the record, the sociolinguistics of genre names, the GRAMMY organization in regards to electronic music, and everything in between.
Hit Parader: Zooming out a bit, how has this year felt overall? What have you been most immersed in creatively or personally? Chris Lake: It’s been a busy one. The year’s really been dominated and kind of worked around my album. I released my album called Chemistry, and, yeah, it’s a big deal [laughs]. There’s a lot of work, a lot of preparation, a lot of planning and implementation. For me in particular, me and my team chose to self-release. Self-release(ing) doesn’t obviously mean just me alone, going “Click!” and everything happens. I had to build a team. The team was quite big and extensive, but it’s a lot of work to make sure the left hand knows what the right hand is doing. That’s part of the challenge and part of the reward. That really has dominated not just this year, but the last two years, planning to actually release this album, and then everything else really fitted around it. Including the shows, there were a lot of shows, other releases. There were other songs that I did that weren’t on the Chemistry project, remixes, loads of stuff. It’s been an intense year. If you actually meet my team, one year has passed, but on their face, twenty years have passed [laughs], but they’re smiling. I think? [laughs]
HP: It’s good to be doing more than less, right? CL: Listen, I’m very fortunate to have been doing this for a long time and enjoying every minute of it. I feel like I still have the attitude of a fifteen-year-old that was learning how to use a synthesizer, making beats, and just trying to make something cool. I still feel like the same person, just with a little bit more experience. So it’s nice. It keeps me young even though I don’t look it.
HP: That’s awesome. How did releasing the full length project rather than singles alter the production process, and how did releasing an album allow for more experimentation? CL: Predominantly in my career, I’ve done singles; that’s been my main focus. That still gives me loads of freedom. I just try to make a banger, something fun that will grab people’s attention, my attention, really. The difference with the album was, it’s difficult to explain what’s different. Obviously, you have the consideration of how each song relates to each other, how the body of work feels together. There are mix considerations that change how you approach the mix of one song; you’re thinking about mixes in relation to the other fourteen tracks, there are fifteen on the album, and that’s one consideration. But whilst it is a consideration, it’s not the main thing that drives every decision. The main part of that album for me was just a representation; I don’t even think this is actually going to make much sense or be that important to anyone, but I had a small vision of how I wanted to grow as an artist. I had a vision of what energy I wanted to put into my approach to making the music, and it’s only small changes, but it made a profound difference to me. The album felt like a bit of an experimentation with my own technique in the studio. Thinking back to where I started and where I am now, it’s left me feeling like a more complete producer and songwriter, songmaker. Not that that would mean anything to anyone else; it’s a deeply personal thing for me. That was what I wanted to do.
Part of that process was changing the way I started writing songs by being even more open to collaboration. I’ve never had a problem with collaboration, but leading with it, involving specific items of songs, whether it be a guitarist or whatever, rather than always trying to get the best person working on that sound and trying to do that from the start to make everything more collaborative. There were a lot of people involved in writing these songs, so what ended up happening was that the experience was both a learning curve for me, but I also had fantastic days, weeks, and months working with great, talented people. Looking back, I loved making it, putting it together, conceptualizing it. Then right afterwards, I loved releasing it and figuring out how to put it out to the world, which is the stage that normally would be handed over to the big corporation [laughs]. I got to enjoy every moment of it.
HP: That’s amazing. And with the production process, these days it’s so much easier to just grab a Splice loop and put a guitar on there. It’s cool that you outsourced the musicians and put a human touch to the loops, in a sense. CL: There’s benefits to being around the scene a long time. I want to make my own sounds, don’t get me wrong. I’m not against Splice; I think it’s a fantastic tool. At the end of the day, it’s an extension of what’s been available for as long as I’ve been making music. It’s one collection of many many sound libraries that makes it easier for people. But it’s so good, so quick, and so accessible that it’s easily exploitable. It’s the same as writing an essay. You can type in a prompt and get it written out for you. It will be fine, but depending on the application, it’s not necessarily going to be as good as coming directly from here [points to his head].
Read the full interview with Chris Lake in Issue 3 of Hit Parader:
In this issue of Hit Parader, Grammy-winning producer Zedd reflects on Telos, his most introspective release to date, and his decision to step away from algorithm-driven expectations to create a record meant for deep listening rather than passive consumption. Made for himself first, Telos emerges as a statement of creative autonomy rooted in vulnerability, balance, and long-term intention, even…
Following an extremely eventful 2025, the rock legend is stepping into 2026 with a collection of never-before-seen content with Jack White Collected Lyrics and Selected Writing Volume 1 via Third Man and other US booksellers.
A Year Full Of Jack White
2025 was a monumental year for Jack White. The White Stripes were officially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on November 8, cementing their legacy. White shared a taste of his poetry with the world as he accepted the honor. In his speech, he included an original poem written for Meg White. The playback is now available to stream on Disney+. A three-hour special, which includes highlights from the ceremony, aired on New Year’s Day on ABC and is now available on Hulu.
November also brought a Detroit Lions’ NFL Thanksgiving Halftime Show headlined by White. Eminem appeared as a featured guest for a mashup of “Hello Operator” and “Till I Collapse.” They concluded with the renowned “Seven Nation Army” for the hometown audience. A new EP, which captures the entirety of the performance, is available now.
White’s most recent album, No Name, also received a Grammy Nomination in 2025 for Best Rock Album. This marked his 34th solo career nomination and 46th nomination overall, including 16 total wins.
Collected Lyrics and Selected Writing
Now, white is entering 2026 with another bold move. A book filled with his poems, writings, lyrics, exclusive photos, and more is available now in the US and set to become available in the UK on February 2. Get it here! White’s assorted writing covers music, art, politics, and more. The lyrics were compiled from both his solo recordings and his acclaimed time with The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, and more. The book was edited by Third Man Records co-founder and White’s longtime friend Ben Blackwell, who takes readers behind the scenes with his personal insight into White’s life and creative process.
Alongside White’s original work and essays written by Blackwell are essays by Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-nominated poet Adrian Matejka. Award-winning, Detroit-based filmmaker and writer dream hampton also steps in to analyze White’s life and work. Adrian Matejka explores and analyzes White’s unique use of words, while dream hampton, in an essay entitled “It Sure Must Be Rough on Rats: Jack White’s Sermon from the Forgotten Pews of Southwest Detroit,” approaches White’s work as a fellow Detroiter, writing, “Detroit has long known how to sing its sorrow into something sacred. Jack just keeps showing up with the amplifier.”
Jack White Collected Lyrics and Selected Writing Volume 1 is available now and available for purchase here. Preview it here!
