RAYE Radiates Reassurance with “This Tour May Contain New Music”

Posted on by joshwurz

RAYE is the exact voice you’d want to represent single women. She’s lived through it all before: sleepless nights, painful yearning, years spent getting over an ex, who could be reduced to a few body parts: just skin and bones and two eyes and no brain. But the South Londoner Rachel Keen, a.k.a RAYE, isn’t writing off dating despite the ailments of the single scene; she’s turning it into a grand, dramatic, symphonic narrative — packaged grandiosely in her sophomore album, This Music May Contain Hope. 

Cred. Ariel Goldberg

Closing out her tour of the same name, RAYE radiated at Los Angeles’ The Greek Theatre in an unsurprisingly sold-out first-night appearance. Preceded by opening acts from her sisters, Amma and Absolutely, the family affair was a lively lesson in 21st-century womanhood. No holds barred, the haute hitmaker waltzed onto the stage in a long trench coat and an umbrella — standing under a cardboard rain cloud — establishing the scene around the album’s opener, “Intro: Girl Under the Grey Cloud,” as a dreary London day, but only briefly. 

We’re then transported back to a 60s-style soundstage, RAYE’s pin-up style on pointe, where the soulful singer stood before us in a red satin dress and signature bob, sided by two back-up singers in the same garb. The drum sequence welcomed in the next song, her hit single, “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND,” the ol’ razzle-dazzle to match. No one could stay seated—especially when the old Hollywood-style background lit up with bold lettering, reading “Beware…The South London Lover Boy.” 

“Girls, stay safe out there/ Best you stay prepared/He’s a South London lover boy,” she forewarns — backed by the energy of the big band. Silencing the crowd was her prolonged, quizzical stare over the lyrics, “He’s not looking for a heart, just your pillow to rest his head.” Perhaps we all stood in solidarity, having found ourselves in similar situations far more times than we care to admit. 

From the start, RAYE set the record straight that she does not recommend reading reviews online — vocalizing that she talks too much during her shows. She was right. After hearing her third or fourth fourth-wall-breaking narratives that carried the show forward in story format, one could argue she didn’t talk quite enough. 

Cred. Ariel Goldberg

That said, the performance was laid out in three parts, beginning with Raye’s Jazz Cabaret. “Cue the door!” she hollers to the stagehands. We are then entered as an audience into an intimate England club, where RAYE brings the story to life. “She goes to the band and asks if she can sing a song,” she cues in third person. “I’m going to describe her love life in a few brief words: dried up rivers,” a laugh rippled through the theater. The band picks up the pace as she takes a seat, breaking into song with the smooth, jazzy neo-soul single “Worth It,” brass, percussion, keys, and strings swaying alongside her. 

If there’s one thing about RAYE, she’ll keep spirits high with zany asides and theatrical expressions, but she isn’t without her serious moments. In the next section, she gently wound down the audience — even dismissing weary souls to the bar for a drink—while she took a seat at the piano for “Ice Cream Man.” An incredibly raw, years-long look into the inconceivable grief caused by sexual assault and harassment, all sat in silence as the song brought her to tears. 

The production was an act that came in many waves, and this part was prolonged in the heavier topics of the album, including heartbreak. RAYE stood solely as she belted the lyrics to “Nightingale Lane,” an ode to her past lover, where she reminisces on kissing beer-stained lips in South London and reflects on the pub, where it all started — and ended. “A bit unoriginal, don’t you think?” she scoffs. 

As a prelude to the melodramatic number, she first stepped onto her soapbox: “I’m going to say maybe 25 percent of us are not looking for love — do you think that’s a fair estimate?” she asked. “So, for the 40 percent of us really excited for someone to walk into our lives and choose us, the lyrics of this song are ‘somebody loved me once, and some day someone will love me again,’” reframing the song as less of a lament and more of a reminder that love isn’t lost. “I’m going to tell that to someone who needs to hear it,” she emphasized. Most of us stayed seated as we came to our own realizations that maybe she was talking to us. 

Cred. Ariel Goldberg

But the vivacious vocalist didn’t leave us in our feels for long. It was only a matter of an outfit change that crescendoed the set into the orchestral section, beginning with the high-streaming “Click Clack Symphony.” While the song features Hans Zimmer, RAYE shook her head, signaling he would not be making an appearance, and he really didn’t need to. Her lyrical stamina and impressive range could carry the entire five-minute ballad, instruments not necessary—but certainly not forgotten. In fact, after each song, Keen made sure to list the names of each musician, never missing an opportunity to praise the people who really do make the art a reality. 

The night, like a movie, continued its ascent, ushering us into the final section: the nightclub. The set shifted into shades of neon, laser lights setting the scene, almost as if we were joining RAYE on one of her iconic nights out in South London. Harking back to the hits that skyrocketed her initially, she spent just mere moments singing breathy lyrics of “Prada” and “Escapism,” with the crowd echoing back, “Just a heartbroken bitch, high heels, six inch/In the back of the nightclub, sippin’ Champagne.” 

The night built to an epic climax. “I’m not a very good liar, so I’m telling you there will be an encore,” she said, lingering in anticipation for the curtains to close. And guess what? There was an encore — a very fitting one at that, with “Joy,” a dance-y, gospel-inspired number, which both of her sisters joined her on stage for. Tying the album’s themes of hope, relentless reassurance, and finding love with a bow, the trifecta sang for everyone in the audience: the 40-percenters in search of the perfect person, those happily partnered up, and even the people who find content in solitude — yes, you, the lucky 25%. 

On that note, we’re not good liars either, so you can trust us when we say RAYE is a radiant force to be reckoned with. This Album May Contain Hope is not only a dazzling record from start to finish, but also translates excellently into an on-stage production with all the bells and whistles—big band, bouncy curls, bare souls, and a bit of joy we could all use against our woes, because according to RAYE, there will, in fact, be happier times ahead.

Bailey Spinn Casts a Darker Spell With New Single “voodoo”

Posted on by nyocum

Bailey Spinn has released her new single “voodoo,” the latest step in the pop-rock artist’s increasingly darker, heavier era. The track is out today, Friday, May 15, following a string of recent singles including “critical,” “homicide,” and “fear of going out.”

We’ve covered Spinn before, notably with track one from her yet to be announced next project, the aforementioned “homicide.” A blistering track produced by Erik Ron (Black Veil Brides, Motionless In White, Godsmack). This one taps Jon Lundin (vocalist and songwriter behind Point North) on production. The chorus is massive, the breakdown in the bridge is killer, and lyrics have us humming it on repeat.

Spinn first broke through as a creator before pivoting into music, building a massive online audience and turning that direct fan relationship into the engine of her career. She mentioned in our interview that her influences included early-2000s female-led rock touchstones like Evanescence, Paramore, and Avril Lavigne as part of her musical DNA, while her 2025 debut album Loser pushed her further into a more mature, emotionally charged sound.

“‘voodoo’ is a hard rock single about ex friends or partners keeping a close eye on you online, and mimicking your style. This song draws inspiration from artists like Paramore, Flyleaf, and Poppy with an eerie feeling. ‘voodoo’ fights back against people who think they have a hold over you.”

— Bailey Spinn

But the rollout “voodoo” also underlines something that streaming numbers alone can’t capture: Spinn knows how to make fans feel like they are part of the world she is building. A few weeks before the single’s release, she sent hand-drawn burned CDs to select outlets and fans — including us at Hit Parader — with the track inside. Ours arrived signed, covered in little doodles, and accompanied by a note. In an era where most music promotion arrives as a link in an inbox, the gesture felt personal, more like a message from an artist to her community than a campaign asset.

That kind of connection has become part of Spinn’s appeal. Her songs lean into heightened feelings like heartbreak, anxiety, obsession, self-protection, but her relationship with fans has always been grounded in access and sincerity. “voodoo” plays into the spooky-romantic side of her aesthetic, but the handmade CDs may say just as much about where she is headed: bigger, darker, and still determined to keep the people who got her here close. And we’re so here for it. Check out the new single below:

New Constellations: Never Too Late To Believe Again

Posted on by joshwurz

It turned out to be the right time for Harlee Case and Josh Smith of New Constellations to believe again, a mindset that has pushed the Portland-based synthwave duo further than they once thought possible. Their debut full-length project, It Comes In Waves, which releases May 15th via Nettwerk Music Group, represents the culmination of years and years of experimentation and, in turn, evolution of Smith’s production combined with Case’s deeply personal yet cathartic lyricism. This moment can’t be overstated in their already successful careers: It Comes In Waves feels like the opening paragraph of a novel you already know you’ll love, a fitting comparison for a band that, while on their debut full-length release, is just getting started, and they aren’t anywhere close to slowing down.

Throughout the conversation with Case and Smith, themes of creative freedom and lyrical expression emerge as essential to the making of this record, but none shine brighter than the theme that it’s never too late to do what you love and that hope is always around the corner, waiting for you to believe again. New Constellations is the definition of that, this interview shows it, and shows that New Constellations believes in you, too. 

Hit Parader: Just to jump in, your debut record It Comes In Waves comes out May 15th. That’s super exciting, congrats!

Both: Thank you!

HP: With this project being your first full-length release, what creative choices were you able to explore more in depth compared to the singles and other releases in the past?

Josh Smith: Yeah, I think for me, what was big was, I produced all of our music, and for this album we worked in a studio with a close friend of ours. His name was Cam Spies, and it gave me an opportunity to be just a musician in the studio and not running the session necessarily. So I think we got to explore some more musical ideas, just in terms of having someone there to help facilitate some of the ideas. So for me, I’d be like, “Oh, I’m hearing this keyboard part.” But if it was just me and Harlee in our studio, like we normally do, I’d be like, “Ah, it’s so much work to get the keyboard out, plug it in,” that I’d be like, “I’m not even going to bother.” So this was really neat to just be like, “Oh, I’m hearing this keyboard part,” and then by the time I’m finished with that sentence, the keyboard was already plugged in and set up. And he’s like, “All right, go for it.” So I feel like we got to, I personally got to explore some cool musical ideas that were just a lot easier to explore because we had a third person there facilitating a lot of the sessions.

HP: There’s less of a barrier to entry, in a sense.

JS: Yeah. When you’re the one plugging in the cord and pressing play and pressing record and then playing it, it takes a lot out of you. So it was really cool to be able to just be like, “Yeah, let’s do that.” And the same thing with Harlee and I working together too is that he got to do that for both of us. And so we got to toss ideas off of each other and enter a flow state without having to worry about the more technical aspect of the session, and we got to just focus on being creative.

Harlee Case: I feel like because this collection of songs is written over five years, we’ve written hundreds and hundreds of songs and explored so many different genres and ways that we were feeling with no “this is going to be on an album” at all. So when it came down to actually making the album, we had so much to choose from and maybe chose stuff that we wouldn’t have written if we were sitting down and writing an album right now. So I think the time that we had to explore a lot of different genres was really helpful as well.

JS: Absolutely. 

HP: That’s awesome. And with bringing producers like Cameron [Spies], Tyler [Blake] and and Mighty Mike to, in your words, “sprinkle some sugar on the record,” were there any specific moments or songs where they added something to the track that you didn’t imagine previously, but now can’t really envision the song without after?

HC: I bet you we have the same answer, Josh.

JS: I mean, I know one of mine personally is the song “Believe Again” that Tyler worked on. He added these drums. And the first time we heard it, I remember the moment we listened to it for the first time, we were both like, “Whoa.” I wasn’t even sure if I liked it at first. But now every time I listen to it or replay it live, I do the little drum fill he did [air drums], and I can’t imagine that song without it. And I listen to the old demo now and was like, “What was I thinking?” Obviously, those drums he put in, they’re so good, but it’s not something I would have necessarily gone with. What’s cool about that is it unlocks that in our brains now. And so now it’s like, “Oh, I wouldn’t have chosen drums like that, but now that I see someone put those drums on our songs, I’m like, ‘Oh, now I get to do that now.’” Now I know how and where, so it sort of unlocks that opportunity for me too.

HC: And then Mike on “I Disappear” just took out sections so it just has these moments of silence that are so sick. When we’re playing it live, it’s a big theatrical moment now of these pauses, and I just love that part.

JS: It’s like we have that chopped up “wake up,” and so there are parts after the chorus where everything drops out and she’s like, “Wake up.” And it’s just cool that we’re like, “Dang, that two seconds of silence makes the whole song.” And it adds – it’s so weird that a moment of silence can add so much energy live too, but that’s become one of our favorite songs to play live because we can pause and really rock it for a second.

HC: Yeah, it was just wild. I never thought about it like that, that it’s this absence of energy that brings so much energy to the live set, which is so weird.

HP: Super cool. And you mentioned “Believe Again,” and it’s such a wonderful track, and the lyrical content is so pertinent, not just to musicians but a lot of creatives in today’s ecosystem. I’d love to know how your relationship with the song shifted as your life changed since first writing it, and how you want the message to be perceived by people going through some of the same things you were.

HC: That’s actually one of the last songs that were written on the album, and that song was specifically me writing it to myself about 10 years ago, having the bravery to try again. And I think that every time I personally listen to it, I get so much energy to keep trying again and to reinvent myself in new ways and to believe in myself more and just continuously want to push the message to people that you can take breaks. You can completely put down your craft if it’s not the right time for you, but it’s also completely okay to pick up and try again and that it’s never too late. That quote, “never too late to be what you could have been,” I love that so much. And Josh and I put out our first singles of our entire career, our whole lives, at 30 and 33 years old. There would have been a point in time where I thought I was too old to make it as a musician anymore because I should have been something by a younger age or whatever. And I love to get to be an example of that, that it’s not true at all. It’s all up to us when we want to do things, and it’s just never too late.

JS: I think a song like “Believe Again,” what’s cool too about growth and evolution is that it’s never done. So this song is talking about a growth and an achievement that has happened, but that doesn’t mean that we’re done growing and achieving too. So I think a song like “Believe Again” can speak to the ongoing driving and achieving and changing and growing, and not just, “Oh, I got there and I’m done.” It’s like, “Oh, I got there, and that proved to me how much further I’m capable of going.”

HP: Love that. And you also mentioned some of your first singles, and “Hot Blooded” is actually on the track list for the record. When you think of the track today, what parts of its personality or lyricism still resonate with who New Constellations is today after five years of dropping music?

HC: I have a pretty bad habit of nearly all of my songs, all of my things that I write, coming from this hopeful, yearning space. And I recently found footage of me when I was five years old, and I was writing songs like that. So I think that there’s something embedded in me deeply that will always have this desire and push and pull that’s within me. And so I don’t think this song will ever go out of style with just the way that I naturally feel about life. 

HP: And with the topics discussed on “Dandelion” and “I Disappear,” how do you approach vulnerability in lyricism in a way that’s healthy to you and cathartic?

HC: Yeah, I tend to freestyle, and I think that that in itself is a type of therapy because I am allowing everything to come forward. And sometimes there’s stuff in there that I don’t feel should be out in the world or that I want to be repeated a bunch of times, but the majority of the time I feel like it does. I feel like just being really honest with myself about how I’m feeling and allowing myself to just put it all out there is really healthy. And I think too that I really try to reflect on every song, that I’m like, “Am I putting too much blame in someone else’s court?” Because I always like to bring it back to, “I have a part in this. I have a part in the relationships that I’m in.” And so a lot of the editing process for me a lot of times will be, “How can I own my part of whatever I’m saying if it’s including someone else?”

JS: I think what’s great about a lot of this stuff is as personal as it can be, there’s a lot of it that’s universal too. And what we’ve discussed in the past is Harlee writes these super personal songs about super personal moments in her life, and then sometimes those moments pass and you’re like, “Well, I’m not going through that anymore. I’m not that person anymore.” But what is cool about it is that somebody is going through that at all times. And so when you write a song about a situation, even if that’s not a situation you’re struggling with anymore, you having written that song – or her having written that song – helped her process and go through that time. And now people can hear that song, and it can help them process that and go through that time as well. So I think we’re able to continue to sing these emotional, specific songs even once we’re past those moments because we know that it’s helping someone else, potentially, that is going through that at the time.

HP: Music is always a very personal medium of art, and it can always be interpreted in different ways;  I love that viewpoint on it. So just to wrap up, if after listening to the new record the listener had to come away with one takeaway or feeling from either the lyrics or the musicianship, what would you most hope that to be?

JS: Harlee and I talk about wanting to inspire people and inspire hope a lot, but we don’t necessarily want to tell people where to spend that hope. So my hope for our record would be that if someone listened to it, they would feel an inspiration or hope to then get to use however they feel like they need to use it in those moments. But I would just want someone to feel better or something afterwards, energized in some way. But I don’t want to tell them how they should be feeling. I just want them to be feeling something.

HC: Yeah. And I mean, being an artist is so special because I get to feel so understood in writing these songs and then get to hear how people felt understood. And so I hope that the lyrics and the music can help them to understand themselves more and be like, “Oh my gosh, that is straight out of my own brain. I couldn’t put the words to it, and that’s exactly how I feel.” And sometimes music has helped me so much in those ways to even move through challenging feelings. Sometimes putting a name to it is the first thing to being able to release it. And so yeah, I hope that people can understand themselves more and relate to themselves and us more and have faith for the future and hope for the future for themselves. The last song we wrote on the album, “Edge of the World”; I really hope that a lot of people really love that song because I feel like there’s something really powerful about seeing the world as your playground and being able to receive the goodness of: we’re having a really hard time, but there’s also a lot of beautiful things to come.

New Constellations’ debut album It Comes In Waves is out now.

You Will Fall in Love With Isabel Van Gelder

Posted on by joshwurz

Mark my words, Dutch singer/songwriter Isabel Van Gelder will be on the cover of Hit Parader within the next two years. True, I am the editor, and the insanely likable Van Gelder has become a friend through our frequent interviews, so I might seem biased. But when you have two different major industry figures/label presidents tell you how badly they wanted to sign her after she joins the storied history of Columbia Records alongside Rosalia, Harry Styles, and more, you know the hype is legitimate. 

Van Gelder, who is already a fast-rising star in her home country and throughout Europe with a run of sold-out shows over the last six months or so, began her rise to the top of the U.S. music scene last week with her debut Columbia single, “I Don’t Want To Fall in Love Again.” It is, oddly, yet another song of heartbreak for Van Gelder, whose quick ascension on social media began with the achingly gorgeous song, “Die For You.” I say oddly because when you talk to Van Gelder, she is constantly laughing, smiling, jovial, and in great spirits.

“I don’t know why that is. I have some slightly happier songs coming,” she says. “Well, not really, actually. If I think about it, maybe the music feels happier, but the lyrics are still pretty sad.”

Cred. Sony Music

While she is normally very carefree and happy writing these sad songs, this one did come out of the struggle of trying to balance a relationship and a burgeoning music career. As she explains the origins of the single, like so many great songs, from “Sweet Caroline” to “The Harder They Come,” this one came out of the ether, the universe, wherever songs come from. 

“Usually when I write a song, I already have a concept in mind, or I’ve kind of thought about it for a little while. But in this case, I was in the studio. I wrote it with Jake Gosling, and we were in the studio together. The session wasn’t necessarily going super smoothly from my end as well. I didn’t really feel inspired, and I was having a hard time coming up with something to write about,” she says. “We had a great day. He’s lovely and amazing and very talented. But we were just hanging out and talking, and I was beating myself up about the fact that I wasn’t feeling very inspired. There was a lot happening, but it wasn’t great for my relationship, being gone all the time. So, I was struggling with that already, and then at some point I just said, ‘Hey, maybe I should stand behind the mic and just come up with something, just do something, if it’s bad, it doesn’t matter. But let’s freestyle a little bit, so I did.’ I think that was probably the last hour and a half of the session, and we didn’t really have a melody or a concept. And I stood behind the mic, and I just freestyled and talked gibberish and came up with some melodies. Those were immediately the melodies of the song, of the verse, and the chorus. They just fell out. And I didn’t know if they were any good, but Jake was like, ‘No, this is good.’ Then, in like 10 or 15 minutes, I wrote all the lyrics, and the song was there. Actually, when I made it in the studio with him, I thought, ‘I’m not sure if it’s any good and I’ll probably have to go back to it and change some things.’ But I never ended up changing anything; that’s pretty much what the song is. I don’t know where it came from. It just happened.”

Like almost every artist, Van Gelder says songs coming to her like a thunderbolt is all too familiar to her. “In my experience personally, I do feel like the songs that I think are my best songs happen very quickly. And I think when you’re truly inspired, or you’re in this kind of flow state, sometimes you don’t really even know what’s happening, and it just happens. This song was definitely one of those moments,” she says. “I walked out of the studio, and I wasn’t even sure. I had to listen back to what we actually just made? And then I was like, ‘Hey, this is actually good.’”

For Van Gelder, signing with Columbia, which has also been home to legends such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Barbara Streisand, Miles Davis, and more, is the beginning of a new chapter she can’t wait to experience.

Cred. Sony Music

“It’s really exciting. All of this happening is obviously a dream come true. And if you had told me a year ago, I would not have ever thought that I’d be where I am right now, even though it’s still the start of everything. I’m very excited, and at the same time, I’m very eager, and I feel even more driven to work 10 times as hard, because I feel like having a deal right now only creates more opportunity in a way,” she says. “I just want to work as hard as I can and do everything I can to make this happen, of course. And I want to be back in the States as soon as I can.”

That will hopefully come for her before the end of this year. And while she is waiting to get back here, there is a lot of new music on the way, as well as visuals for audiences to get to know her better.

“I can’t say yet if it’s going to be either an EP or an album. But there’s definitely going to be some more heartbreaking lyrics on there. A big part of it is done already. We also have some more upbeat music coming. And it’s going to be a little bit more conceptual, I think visually, than the things I’ve done so far because I’m very excited to have this create this cohesive body of work that really has a concept, and then visually, I want it to be recognizable,” she says. “Those are all things that I’m working on; I’m making many mood boards for right now, and a music video, hopefully, if everything works out. But definitely, I have to say there’s going to be a lot more heartbreak on there.”

While Van Gelder might be setting up for a future run at the title “queen of heartbreak” musically, she is, again, far from that in her everyday life, as she proves with her tastes like YUNGBLUD and Bo Burnham.  “I feel like somebody that I’ve been following for a long time, and I think he does the sickest shows, is Yungblud. I’d love to see and crowd surf to one of his shows. I feel like it’s crazy and so much energy and just would be really fun,” she says. “I love Bo Burnham. I just think he’s so smart. Also, I just think he’s really funny. And then he’s a fantastic singer, like a musician really. And I loved his special that he made during COVID with all the songs. I just thought it was genius. Like the music is genius. I love him. And I think it’s really funny. He’s just my type of guy.”

You likely will not see crowd surfing at one of her shows, but between the tears, the songs might induce her to promise a lot of fun. “We’re definitely playing some upbeat songs, and I talk a lot. I tell a lot of stories. It feels pretty spontaneous. I think you really do get a feeling of who I am as a person. And I think that’s what I really want people to take away from coming to shows that they feel like they know me a little bit better,” she says.

At only 23, despite what her song suggests, Van Gelder is also far too optimistic to give up on love. “Knowing myself, I fall in love so fast, and I love love. So, I’m sure I’ll fall in love again,” she says laughing. 

My Chemical Romance Rev Up the Killjoys Again With Danger Days Deluxe Reissue

Posted on by nyocum

My Chemical Romance are heading back into the desert.

The band has announced Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Deluxe Edition), an expanded reissue of their neon-blasted 2010 fourth album, due July 10, 2026 via Reprise Records. The new edition will feature remastered versions of the original album’s 12 tracks, newly reimagined artwork, and nine bonus cuts — many of which are arriving on vinyl and most streaming services for the first time.

To kick off the rollout, MCR have released “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) (Recorded For BBC Radio 1),” a 2010 live version of the album’s gasoline-slick lead single. It joins a bonus-track lineup that includes “Zero Percent,” “We Don’t Need Another Song About California,” “F.T.W.W.W,” “Mastaa of Ravenkroft,” “Black Dragon Fighting Society,” a BBC Radio 1 version of Pulp’s “Common People,” and live iTunes Festival 2011 takes of “SING” and “The Kids From Yesterday.”

Originally released on November 22, 2010, Danger Days marked one of the boldest left turns in My Chemical Romance’s catalog: a high-concept, post-apocalyptic California rock opera that swapped some of The Black Parade’s funeral-march grandeur for laser guns, outlaw mythology, glam-punk color, and a radio transmission from the end of the world. Produced by the band with Rob Cavallo, the album debuted in the Top 10 in the U.S. and topped Billboard’s Rock and Alternative Albums charts, according to the band’s announcement.

The reissue also arrives with a fresh victory lap: Danger Days, “SING,” and “Na Na Na” have all now been certified Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA, giving the band’s most polarizing major-era album a belated commercial coronation.

The deluxe package will be released digitally and physically in several formats, including multiple 2LP configurations — picture disc, zoetrope, and color vinyl variants — along with 2CD and cassette editions. My Chemical Romance’s official store is already listing several deluxe formats, including exclusive zoetrope vinyl, picture disc vinyl, pink starburst vinyl, and an alternate-cover 2CD edition. Those editions can be found here.

The timing is hardly accidental. Next month, MCR launch the UK and European leg of The Black Parade 2026 tour, including three nights at Wembley Stadium, before bringing the run to North America in August. The U.S. dates include a stop at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on August 13 and a massive Los Angeles finale at the Hollywood Bowl, where the venue currently lists five MCR shows between October 21 and October 31. Tickets and dates can be found here.

For a band that has spent the past several years turning its own mythology into stadium-scale ritual, Danger Days suddenly looks less like the strange outlier and more like the blueprint: loud colors, doomed heroes, comic-book stakes, and a world burning beautifully in the background.

oskar med k’s Meteoric Rise: and Why He’s Not Slowing Down

Posted on by joshwurz

The Norwegian chill house phenom oskar med k has had what could only be described as a meteoric 2025, and there isn’t a single sign that he’s slowing down. Cementing his place in electronic music’s most promising new voices, oskar’s debut full length project feel captures the emotion of his rise, the creative momentum that drives it, and a clear vision of the music he’s most passionate about making. Across our discussion, it is clearly apparent that he isn’t chasing trends or momentum: he’s continuing to build an artistic identity meant to last that’s grounded in fantastic music and pure authenticity.

Hit Parader: To start, you’ve had a heck of a 2025, where you went from 40 thousand to 11 million monthly listeners in less than a year from ‘Make Me Feel”. What was the biggest thing you learned about yourself as an artist that you didn’t really see before that rise?

oskar med k: That’s a great question. I haven’t really thought about it too much. I think I just managed to shape my sound a bit more and care less about what others think. I was very concerned about that in the beginning;  how will other people react to this, and this? I don’t really care about that anymore.

HP: That’s awesome. While you were grinding out all the music for ten years producing, what do you think is one value or aspect of your career from your earlier years that you want to hold on to as you keep growing?

omk: I think just having fun with it, to be honest, that’s the most important thing.

HP: Out of curiosity, when did the tracks really come to life for you; both in where you made them or just the headspace you were in when you were creating?

Credit: Nicole Palmlund

omk: Kind of all depends on the song. It just kind of happened on the way. I’ve been working on that for a long time. 

HP: You said in a previous interview that you ‘lived with [the songs] for a while’. What do you think is one track off the record that’s changed meaning for you personally after revisiting it, after having it in the bank for a while?

omk: Yeah, I don’t think I’ve seen anything in a different light. More like I’ve made a song and I get stuck on it or tired of it. Then when I revisit it, I work some more on it, and it changes in some ways. 

HP: Sometimes the best thing to do to fall in love with a track again is just not listen to it for a while. 

omk: Agreed. You’ll find it again.

HP: How long do you think you were making individual tracks before you realized that you were putting together a group of works instead of singles?

omk: For a long time. I don’t think we started thinking about doing an album until sometime this fall. I think then I had lots of songs ready already.

HP: If someone could only listen to one track off the new record to get a real feel for who you are as a producer today, what do you think you’d pitch them?

omk: Probably ‘Make Me Feel’, but I would tell them to check out every song [laughs].

HP: That’s a fair answer [laughs]. Just to wrap up, what are you most excited for the rest of this year?

omk: Just travel, be on tour, and to release more music.

oskar med k’s album feel is out now via 7cult.

Diary Of An Almost Popstar: What I Learned From The Grammy Hall of Fame Gala

Posted on by joshwurz

To celebrate LEGACY is a breath of fresh air in the current state of the music industry. With changing algorithms, sporadic moments of 15 minutes of fame, a continuous scroll of “pops new it girl,” it’s great to be reminded that art and what an artist has to say truly does craft an undeniable cultural impact. 

The Grammy Museum and Recording Academy threw the third Annual Grammy Hall of Fame Gala to remind us all of timeless recordings on May 8, 2026, at The Beverly Hilton. 

The Grammys is music’s biggest night, but the Grammy Hall of Fame Gala highlights award-winning artists and sounds that have stood the test of time. 

I walked into the marble halls of The Beverly Hilton like a romcom heroine after the makeover scene. The Devil may wear Prada, but a rising popstar is renting blossom yellow Ronny Kobo, Oscar de la Renta gold dangle earrings, and other blinged bobbles. Anything to help promote the newest single. 

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – MAY 08: Heather LaRose attends the GRAMMY Hall of Fame Gala 2026 at The Beverly Hilton on May 08, 2026 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

While I was in my little loaner Lexus, I got the final master for “How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days.” I was blasting it through the speakers on the drive from Santa Monica to Beverly Hills. It’s a song I wrote inspired by my chaotic romantic experiences and my refusal to shrink myself down for a man, because if he’s not the one, you can lose a guy in 10 days. How I styled my red-carpet look was to pay homage to Kate Hudson’s famous yellow dress. 

As an upcoming pop artist and songwriter, the landscape right now is changing at a velocity that we haven’t seen before. With a lot of the industry focused on social media, I, along with other artists at my level, am constantly getting fed what trends to tap into, what sounds to emulate, and what aesthetic to utilize. The whiplash a girl can get from the suspected next big thing! 

When everyone is fighting for a spot to be relevant, it reminds me that I want to be timeless. And that’s what the records getting honored tonight are: TIMELESS. 

As a returning attendee, I ran into some familiar faces, Linda Duncombe (On the board of The Grammy Museum, SAG AFTRA), Joshua Curtis Friedman (writer/director), along with Elijah Grae (producer/guitarist) and Sali Krazy (manager).  After taking a few turns on the red carpet, I ran into the stunning Isabel Marie, who would later be performing her rendition of “No Me Queda Mas” from Selena’s Amor Prohibido. She and I both popped over to The Lounge Booth after the carpet. 

Once I wrapped the photos and press room, it was over to hobnobbing during the cocktail hour. This year, it was in a lush outdoor garden setting. 

After connecting with some of the academy members and meeting friends of friends, we were guided through a series of chimes to the main ballroom. Sparkling lights in every direction draw a spotlight to the grand honor of the evening. 

As I was getting settled, The Soul Stirrers opened the night with a performance of “Jesus Gave Me Water,” inviting the audience to clap along with the harmonizing male vocalists. My table, along with the room, erupted into song. Proving in practice the ageless melody and how gospel music is meant to be sung with a choir. With the entire ballroom being industry folk, you couldn’t ask for better voices or a more on-time clap. 

The list of the 2026 inductees was as eclectic as the group of people I was with at Table 37. A manager of a performing vocalist, Forbes journalist, blockchain entertainment investor, and iHeart Radio reporter. Like a singles table at a wedding, we went around introducing ourselves and giving each other little vignettes of our lives. 

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – MAY 08: <> onstage during the GRAMMY Hall of Fame Gala 2026 at The Beverly Hilton on May 08, 2026 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

In my life, I’ve had a multitude of influences, but one of the performances reframed the way that I perform. The music school I attended in high school is owned by Charlie Lagond, one of the saxophonists of George Clinton and heavily involved in the Funkadelic Family. During my most formative years of performance, I’ve watched playback of Funkadelic, Erykah Badu, Bootsy Collins, and Michael “Clip” Payne. I had to take notes on stage presence, audience connection, and costume choices. It was such a full circle moment to see George Clinton and Erykah Badu joined onstage by Blackbyrd McKnight to perform “Maggot Brain/Can You Get To That,” in celebration of the album Maggot Brain.

One of the first albums I ever received was a gift from my mom after Norah Jones won Best New Artist at the Grammys. Seeing her honored with the Ray Charles Architect of Sound Award was another full-circle moment. Come Away with Me is a celebratory album in my parents’ house. She brought her emotionally raw phrasing, like what I’ve always heard on “Come Away With Me,” to Ray’s “Seven Spanish Angels,” which Charles originally performed with Willie Nelson, and “Hallelujah, I Love You So.” The performance was timeless and intimate in a way that only Norah Jones can. 

Great music doesn’t just capture an emotion; it encapsulates the human life experience. It becomes the sentiment of the times. From across the decades, and one song, “Trouble in Mind” by Bertha “Chippie” Hill is exactly a century old. As someone who is woven together by pop music, I love celebrating songs that are the bedrock of pop. A blues song being added to the Hall of Fame 100 years after its release is such an important addition. 

As a lifelong fan of Heart, I saw them live for the first time with my parents at the Jones Beach Theater in 2019, and the vocal power of Ann Wilson is a sound and sight to behold. That vocal performance, along with the high kick, cements that female rock stars are ageless. The entire room was on the edge of their seats for the trilogy performance of “Magic Man,” “Dreamboat Annie,” and “Crazy On You.” 

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – MAY 08: Janet Jackson accepts an award onstage during the GRAMMY Hall of Fame Gala 2026 at The Beverly Hilton on May 08, 2026 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

A very rare appearance by Janet Jackson was made celebrating her highly influential, groundbreaking 1989 album Rhythm Nation 1814, “still resonates on a deep and profound level,” Jackson said, “It’s an ongoing force that fights bigotry and promotes understanding. It cannot be stopped. It’s simply too strong and too positive. Rhythm Nation is a movement of people of all reaches and backgrounds seeking to give and receive love free of judgment. As we celebrate tonight, let’s remember that it transcends all borders, nationalities, and faiths.”

One of my favorite quotes was from Lucinda Williams, whose inducted record Car Wheels On A Gravel Road paved the way for the genre we now know as Americana, “my music fell in the cracks between country and rock… which later became known as Americana. Don’t worry if your music falls into the cracks, that’s where it’s supposed to be.”

A recurring theme I was taking away from watching the performances of the night was the honesty in the records. Each artist was so steadfast in their truth. Truth paves the way for legacy. I want to be an artist who is so committed to learning who she is and examining myself with unhindered vulnerability. Sometimes, being an artist on the rise, you’re so in the trenches you can’t see the end of the road. Living in LA when you’re renting a house, renting a car, damn, I even rented my dress. The idea of object permanence seems like something so intangible. And sure, there’s no guarantee that your music is going to get the prestige of The Grammy Hall of Fame, but I fully believe there’s so much you can learn from the greats on becoming an unmovable force within the music industry. 

Complete list of 2026 Grammy Hall of Fame Inducted Recordings

All Eyez On Me, 2Pac

Amor Prohibido, Selena

Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, Lucinda Williams

Dreamboat Annie, Heart

“Jesus Gave Me Water,” The Soul Stirrers

Journey In Satchidananda, Alice Coltrane

Maggot Brain, Funkadelic

OK Computer –Radiohead

“Orange Blossom Special,” The Rouse Brothers

Paid In Full, Eric B. & Rakim

Pink Moon, Nick Drake

Rhythm Nation 1814, Janet Jackson

“Trouble In Mind,” Bertha “Chippie” Hill

You’ll Sing A Song and I’ll Sing A Song, Ella Jenkins

Old Soul Haley Reinhart On Her ‘Promise’

Posted on by joshwurz

Being such an in-demand guest vocalist, Haley Reinhart doesn’t get to release new music as frequently as she would like. However, when you are a self-proclaimed “old soul” who grew up on classic rock, are you going to say no when the likes of The Doors’ Robby Krieger, Jeff Goldblum, and Red Clay Strays invite you to jam with them or go on the road with them?

For Reinhart, the answer is, of course, not. She has way too much fun playing with her heroes turned friends and admirers of hers. Because she is always in such high demand, it is a big deal for her fans when she finds the time to step fully into the spotlight and put her own music first, as she is doing now with the release of her new single, the gorgeous love song, “Promise.”

A beautiful straight-ahead ballad she co-wrote with her fiancé, Drew Dolan, the song is a promise of love, not just romantically, but to all living things, including pets, as Reinhart shows in the fun video co-starring her dog, Pepper. Hit Parader spoke at length with Reinhart about the song and much more.

Hit Parader: What did you sing at your sister’s wedding?


Haley Reinhart: I got to do “Moon River” with my dad for her hubby’s first dance with his mom. I also did “Can’t Help Falling in Love” naturally with my fiancé on piano. So, it was very family-oriented. I was also going to do a Beatles song, but I’m glad we’re saving it since “If I Fell” I want to use for me and my dad’s song since we’ve always played it together. So, I’m excited for that in the future.


HP: You didn’t do “Promise” though?


HR: No, we almost did, but she asked us, and I was like, “Oh, I might save it for mine.” At the end of the day, it would have been sweet, but truly, I just wanted to be everything I could for her, so I was maid of honor, and I just had a lot of tasks, and it was beautiful. I was so honored to have that role for her, so she kind of wanted it, but I was like, “Let’s just have this night, and like we’ll make it about me and my ‘Promise’ down the line at my wedding, that’s fine.”


HP: When you’re in your 20s, I’m sure you’ve had this experience as well. You have all these amazing moments that you think are just going to happen again and again because you have no perspective. Do you feel like you appreciate something like your sister’s wedding so much more, being there, singing at it, and doing all this? Because again, when you’re 22, you just don’t really have the perspective to understand that these kinds of special nights don’t happen all the time.

Photo by Max Thompson


HR: Yeah, I totally hear what you’re saying. And I felt I’m just a super sensitive, empathic, very nostalgic girl. So even in my past, let’s say in my 20s or for one example performing with Slash and Miles Kennedy at Muhammad Ali’s 70th birthday at the MGM like there was that was the most one of the most star-studded nights where I just turned over my shoulder and there’s Chris Cornell and there’s Lenny Kravitz and Snoop standing next to me putting their arms over me, it was one of those nights. I’ve not really ever been the type to let it just roll past me. I get emotional, man. In those kinds of moments, I’ve always been the type of person who sees the future in the moment. I think that’s called “pre-nostalgia.” I’m not quite positive, but I feel already emotional knowing how monumental this moment is to me and that I need to be hyper vigilant, aware, present in the moment because it won’t be like this again. I’ve always been weird like that and missed things before they were gone. That’s just my weirdness.


HP: For your sister’s wedding, then, were you able to be in the moment and enjoy the experience?


HR: Yeah, I cried my ass off, but I was certainly present. Yeah, I think I found the balance at this stage of my life. So, I was able to fully enjoy it. And I think I’m going to remember it so vividly. It was such a classic wedding anyway, a day that we had waited for so long. There were so many Beatles in the lineup for us because we’re such Beatles freaks. It’s just so many precious moments.


HP: Obvious question, how much is “Promise” indicative of the rest of the album?


HR: Yeah, I think it’ll stick out on the record. But I’m already in the works of having some sister songs, as I like to call them. So that it has a pairing at least with another tune that is in the same vein. I always try to do that if it feels natural and right for me. I think there will definitely be something similar, but “Promise” will still probably stick out as truly the follow-up to “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” but an original take this time. I’m really excited to hopefully have it be another hit that’s a part of people’s love stories and their weddings, and their pets. Everybody loves their animals, so I just wanted this song to really speak to the full capacity of love and every angle of it.


HP: I love that your dog is in the video as well.


HR: Yes, she’s the starlet. We were up on that mountain somewhere in Woodland Hills freezing our tails off together, and we’re just like shivering trying to look normal, but she’s a little model girl. I love Pepper, and we love the red healer that we used to have; she passed away, and now we have our blue healer. The cattle dogs are just the best, so I’m so happy that she gets to be a part of the single and I get to showcase my love and devotion for her.


HP: You said she’s the starlet. But I also like your little Marilyn homage as well.


HR: Oh, thanks. You’re so good, Steve. Yeah, I just wanted to have another element of the studio. I’m so happy I got to do it there because I was really recording. So, what you’re seeing in the video is actually the takes that I’m doing for the most part at Larrabee Studios. That’s Manny Marroquin’s amazing studio attached to his awesome restaurant, Verse, where they do so many amazing live performances all the time. It felt very special. I wanted to add that classic feel, a la Marilyn Monroe, and just give a little bit of a nod with that dress.


HP: You have always been an old soul?


HR: Yeah, it just resonates with my soul so much. I’ve lived vicariously through my parents and their music my whole life. I obviously really do attribute that to growing up watching their bands perform all this music and just being hooked. My mom’s doing Grace Slick and Janis [Joplin] since I was just a baby going to these clubs, so I was just completely hooked from day one on this music. There’s so much feeling and emotion that just blasts through and crackles through those speakers; you cannot replicate that. I would hope and imagine it’s going to be put up on an even higher pedestal for artists and young people alike to just want to dive into even further and just be inspired by it. I’m inspired by it. I’ve taken as many tips as I can through those artists to remain as authentic as possible and as raw as possible, and to just put the paintbrush down after so long and not perfect every little thing. I’m a Virgo, I’d love to perfect every little thing, but it’s just not the way that rock and roll or soul music or jazz, any of it, should be at its core. It should just be true and real with feeling.


HP: Talk about the writing of “Promise” with Drew.


HR: Drew and I honestly did feel like we were channeling something that was just completely coming through us because we were also writing from afar. We’ve tried to write together in the same room, and we have so many fragments of material, but it took us to have more of a deadline in a way, and him being five hours north and me being on the road and then here back in L.A. to write it over the phone together and send each other bits of information. So, it’s this complete morphed duet of a writing experience, but we did it remotely, and I think it’s so cool. I think that we have found that we unlock something within our own partnership of writing now, where it’s just taught us an even cooler way to communicate, even though we’re not in the same room. So, if we could do that, I’m like, “Okay, I think we’ve got something here because it just came flowing out from both sides.” I hope we can just continue to do that over and over again.

Haley’s new song “Promise” is out now, via Reinhart Records

Coachella’s Rowdy Sister: Stagecoach Festival Reviewed

Posted on by joshwurz

The cowboy-boots-sporting, rowdy sister of fellow Goldenvoice desert festival Coachella, Stagecoach has long been the toast of the country music live experience, set apart by what Stacy Vee, Executive Vice President at Goldenvoice/AEG, who has been booking the festival since 2015, calls a “California sound.” Stagecoach is known for its immersive three-day experience and genre-spanning spunk, with this year marking nearly 20 years of the evolving festival, the 2026 lineup dancing between worlds of country, Americana, rock ‘n roll, EDM, and rap music. 

Photo by Faith Nguyen

On day one, I found myself in the Toyota Music Den for Noah Cyrus, an artist that reflects that Stagecoach soft-borders ethos, having found her way to country music via a few genre detours. Impressed by her surprise guest performance with Midland last year for a glimmering performance of “Put The Hurt On Me” at the Mane Stage, I knew I couldn’t miss her set this year. In 2025, I’d heard rumblings of Cyrus’ intention to pivot to country music, but it was her beaming smile and tangible joy on stage with Midland that made me believe it. Her gentle, Southern belle tone buoyed the track in such a way that I even preferred it over the trio’s studio version, and to see her make her bona fide Stagecoach debut with a soaring set all her own Friday evening of the festival, with such sincerity and unmistakable gratitude, made clear just how dedicated she is to making her mark as a country artist.

After missing Counting Crows’ set (Yes, I’m still heartbroken I wasn’t able to sha-la-la-la live among my fellow “Mr. Jones” devotees), I found respite at the Mustang Stage for The Red Clay Strays. Singer Brandon Coleman dresses like, sounds like, and even holds his axe: a custom, 1950s cigar box-inspired guitar, like a time traveler. I’ve never before seen a singer with such unshakable, ‘holy-spirit’ self-assuredness, to the point that his crowd commentary between songs felt not unlike a sermon. Coleman is a vocal advocate for mental health, and shortly before performing a fiery, choral version of “Devil In My Ear,” he offered a message of hope, reminding the audience that support is never far. Apart from the band’s indisputable ability to spellbind musically, I found myself most struck by the endearing contrast that such an old-fashioned appearing singer has such modern empathy.

Photo by Faith Nguyen

By far and away, the most electric moment of day one was the end of Dan + Shay’s Palomino Stage performance, where simply teasing the beginning of “Tequila” ignited the crowd into the loudest call-and-response of the weekend. Fans were transfixed, at Dan + Shay’s will, and it was obvious that the two of them were just as electrified as the crowd in one of those rare moments where an artist and an audience enter symmetry, allowing for the mystic to materialize in the space between them.

Despite the high winds lifting relentless dirt and hay in the air on day two, it all fell away for me during Teddy Swims’ evening set at the Mane Stage. As a ‘70s and ‘80s zealot, Teddy bringing out David Lee Roth to duet “Jump” by Van Halen was a major highlight for me (especially considering Roth’s signature rockstar outfit, as if no time had passed since 1983). Teddy closed his set with his mega hit “Lose Control,” his timeless, rich tone reverberating with the winds, somehow sweeter live than on record.

Goldenvoice is known for its unparalleled skill in curating festivals, made most clear by their remarkably intentional marketing that extends beyond pre-promotion. Stagecoach, in particular, has a lengthy history of booking acts in relation to their upcoming releases and tours, allowing the festival itself to uplift an artist. During Charles Wesley Godwin’s
set, shortly after he brought out Willow Avalon, he announced that he had a new single coming out soon, called “Better That Way,” featuring Luke Combs. Godwin then revealed that the Stagecoach festival speakers were playing the studio version all weekend, despite it being unreleased.

Photo by Nathan Zucker

Similarly, later in the night, Gavin Adcock introduced his upcoming single “Wannabe” by triumphantly announcing to the crowd, “There’s no better place to play a song live for the first time than Stagecoach!”

Both moves by both artists drive listenership, interest, and presaves in a way that Godwin and Adcock would otherwise not have had, had Stagecoach not coordinated booking with their releases. In both cases, Stagecoach was the only place on earth you could hear either unreleased song that day. It’s strategic, marketing-arm moves like this that set Goldenvoice and Stagecoach apart, and keep the festivals and their chosen artists growing, year after year.

In the history of Stagecoach, the festival had never been forced to evacuate until Saturday night. At Gavin Adcock’s set, the band had just blazed through the first-ever live performance of “Wannabe,” when suddenly his mic was cut off. Adcock and Co. attempted to go on, but soon the screens were taken over by emergency notices, and beers and food were being thrown on stage like a disgruntled crowd reception in the ‘70s. It felt like I’d stepped back in time again.

However, the swiftness with which Goldenvoice worked to keep attendees safe was anything but vintage. The festival managed to fully evacuate for about two hours, reopen, and, sunshine woman, headliner Lainey Wilson, still performed, as did late-night star Pitbull — I remember thinking what an impressive turnaround; unprecedented and unheard of at this scale.

As the sun set on day three, Third Eye Blind took the Mustang Stage. Following a boisterous live version of “Jumper,” the band fell quiet as they transitioned to the next song; guitarist Kryz Reid playing a stray, quick, two-chord, all-too-familiar combo. Excitedly having recognized the chords, immediately I turned to my friends, yelling, “ARE THEY ABOUT TO PLAY ‘HEROES’ BY DAVID BOWIE?!” My volume garnering the attention of strangers, all of them soon facing me instead of the band. When Third Eye Blind indeed started playing “Heroes,” all stared in disbelief, many clapping and throwing a thumbs up my way. Now, one of my favorite live Bowie covers, singer Stephan Jenkins’ own reverence for the Starman peaked when he adoringly belted “and we kissed, as though nothing could fall,” covered in golden desert afterglow.

Photo by Julian Bajsel

As of this weekend, Post Malone is now, deservedly, the first-ever artist to headline both Coachella and Stagecoach. Those who know little about his career might see his country transition as a surprise or cash-grab to go after trends, but Austin Post from Texas has dreamt of a career in country since he was posting Bob Dylan covers on YouTube at age 17. His successful pivot from rap to country with such resplendence is not achieved without his stellar band, who expertly reimagine his earlier hits like “Rockstar” and “Circles” for country-leaning live shows; the former transforming completely to rock ‘n roll by way of menacing electric guitar work (courtesy of guitarist Justin Richards), bolstering the chorus. Halfway through his set, shivering underneath a kind stranger’s jacket, I was awed as Post Malone honored late country icon Toby Keith with “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” a choice that brought many attendees around me to tears. If there were any doubt in a sea of pure country fans of a ‘rapper’ on stage, in that moment, Post Malone proved himself true (red, white, and) blue.

As Goldenvoice/AEG Executive Vice President Stacy Vee has said, Stagecoach is about the people. From the crowd itself, full of people that actually say “excuse me” as they pass, and strangers who would offer a shivering girl their jacket, to the way the festival is booked and marketed, where lesser-known acts are given a chance, believed in, and later go on to return, playing the Mane Stage — their aim is true, and masterfully attained, even in chaos.

A Conversation With Jena Malone And Cannons’ Michelle Joy

Posted on by nyocum

Acclaimed actress/musician Jena Malone and Cannons frontwoman Michelle Joy were mutual fans of each other who followed each other on social media. However, the two, who both live in L.A., had never connected until Hit Parader brought them together for this fascinating conversation.

At the time of this interview, both have superb new albums on the way. Malone releasing Flowers for Men (out this Friday), her first music in over a decade, while Cannons was on the eave of unveiling the sterling Everything Glows (released March 27). Though different in sound and style – Flowers being folkier and more experimental leaning, and Everything having a fantastical 70s vibe reminiscent of Earth, Wind and Fire’s classic hit “Fantasy” – both possess a deep healing quality in these troubling times.

Hit Parader just turned the recorder on and let the two of them talk for over an hour. This is the result.

Photographer: Kristin Burns

Studio: OneOnOne

Digital Tech: Alicia Frew

Hair: Coco Alexander

Makeup: Gregory Arlt

Michelle Joy: So, you’re releasing a new album?

Jena Malone: In May.

Michelle: And you haven’t released music in quite some time? How long has that been?

Jena: Since I became a mom, which was 2016. So, I guess the last record I released was in 2014. Then we released a live something in 2015. It’s been an interesting recalibration of learning how to delegate time and shift time. Prior to having a child, I used to just sit in front of my computer and burn for weeks on music, writing, songs and collaborations. It would be three weeks later, I’d be like, “Oh, I guess I’ll leave my house now.” It’s been interesting trying to figure out how to schedule that spontaneity, that creative flow.

Michelle: How have you done that? Because I can’t imagine at this point, but I feel in my future soon, I hope to be able to start a family. And I don’t know how I’m going to tackle that space (chuckles).

Jena: Yeah. I don’t know how any woman tackles it. I find it to still be such a conundrum of like lack of support, lack of care and lack of real cheerleading. Everyone’s like, “Oh, it’s okay, hey, you don’t have to do everything.” Parenting is the most punk rock form of artistry you’ll ever engage in. It’s so wildly creative and no one talks about how many different things you have to create out of nothing spontaneously. Then also following someone else’s path, of predicting needs and whims and understandings. I feel like what I allow is like a little bit of writing time at the end of the day and whether it’s really angry or full of loss or lust or whatever it is that as a woman you’re containing at that moment I feel like as long as I allow myself to be like, “I’m so proud of the creation that we created today, whether it be like a Lego village that modeled a new form of democracy or whatever we’re doing.” I try to write poems and journal about it, which allows me a space to have some form of reflection and writing instead of just doing nothing and I think that’s where this new record came from. But I’m a weirdo. I don’t know how you are as a songwriter, but I’m constantly singing into my phone, different ideas and melodies and stuff like that. Do you have a similar process?

Michelle: Yeah, I’m always singing. I have a notes app, but my problem is that I don’t title. So, I’ll go through randomly, if I am sent a bunch of demos and I’m struggling for a melody, or I know I recorded something I really wanted to fit to music and I’ll sift through there and take a bunch of notes all day. If I just hear someone say a word or a phrase that really sticks with me, my notes app is crazy (laughs).

Jena: It’s such a sweet space because it’s always on us. We can do it in the car. So, all of the songs on the new record were while I was breast-feeding, crawling into a little closet while my son was sleeping, at the pick-up line at elementary school waiting in the car. It was all of those in-between moments. I went back and was like, “Okay, there are songs here that deserve to have attention.”

Michelle: How long did this album take to write?

Jena: We started last summer and then we pretty much finished last summer, 2025. But then all the finishing tiny little touches and mixes and things we pretty much finished in December.

Michelle: I watched the trailer video, which was so beautiful. I was listening to the words and was curious, writing from for this specific single or the album, what does this represent to you? Is that you or a different version of you that you are speaking to?

Jena: In “Create Your Name”? I think it’s both. I think a lot of this album, because I became single again when my son was one and it was a really interesting and heart-opening educational time of re-examining past patterns of things that had really failed me in the past. And I think because I was given an opportunity to see it from a new lens or a new perspective, it was really easy for me to be like, “Oh, wow, this is limerence, this is codependence, this is narcissism.” And I just wanted to do things differently. So, I started studying a lot of different intimacy styles and relationship styles and studying polyamory and relationship anarchy and was like a novice again in what my heart was wanting. So, I think a lot of the record became me navigating being a student at dating again but trying to push it in a more sacred way. If I had to redo it and was starting out again at 16, what books would I have wanted to be put in front of me and what would I want my elders to say to me? So, “Create Your Name” was talking about this divine lust and want that has nothing to do with sex sometimes. It’s more than just wanting a person’s body; it’s really wanting their spirit and wanting to collaborate with their mind. It was also at a time where I was discovering more of my sexuality. I came out as pansexual. I thought, “There are just not enough songs about like women thirsting after other women.” I wanted to at least have a space where the reveal is not talking about a man. But I’m so glad you liked it. That’s so sweet. I was actually looking through your trailer for the new record. What’s the title of the record, by the way?

Michelle: Everything Glows. It’s not a track, but it’s the idea behind the album as a whole. Once we finish the album, all of the songs revealed the title of the album, which is usually how it works for me, at least.

Jena: I loved the lore of your band where Craigslist was involved. What I wasn’t able to garner from just researching your band and the history was what you were doing musically before you put that Craigslist ad up.

Michelle: Originally, I grew up in Florida and spent enough time there to get to the point where I was like, “I need something new. I need to grow. I need to go somewhere new.” I had never spent time in Los Angeles, but I had been through some really intense things like growing up. My dad passed away. Both my parents had dealt with illness. My mom is better now, but my dad passed away. I just felt like I needed a fresh start in my life because everything was so heavy. So, I moved to Los Angeles, and one of my friends that lived out here was this sound designer for films. He taught me how to use Pro Tools. I remember going to see The Knife.

Jena: I love The Knife.

Michelle: Cool, I saw them and I was just so inspired by their music and electronic music and what you could do with a computer and a keyboard. So, I just started making my own songs on first GarageBand, then Ableton and Pro Tools and recording and not sharing them with anyone for a long time until I decided that I wanted to I guess grow with musicians because I felt like I didn’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know if this is good or bad. I have no perspective on what I’m doing because I’m doing because I haven’t shared it with anyone. So, I went to Craigslist because I didn’t know anyone out here to start a band with and I didn’t want to dive into this world on my own. It’s been like twelve years now since. And you started in a band as well? The Shoe, is that where you started?

Jena: I started in a really similar way to you. Being interested in music but not being educated in it necessarily. I grew up really poor, so college was never really on my radar. I love being a parent now where you realize giving them music lessons and things can really influence and help build skill sets that will only flourish in the future. But I always sung. I was constantly freestyling as a little kid and mostly everyone was like, “Okay could you please stop, it’s not for you.”

Michelle: (Laughing) I’m the same way.

Jena: It’s so interesting now having a child, as you see the things that they can’t help themselves but do. Whether it be good or bad or societally acceptable or a career choice it’s so beautiful to see those kinds of births. I love hearing that story of you had a friend and he taught you Pro Tools. I feel like that’s how young artists are able to bloom without mentors and free community that is not paid for and not gate kept. It really does hinder the flow of new emerging songwriters and storytellers to be able to emerge in their own way.

Michelle: And helps that confidence because it’s just like you said, being like, “I don’t know how to step into this world…”

Jena: But you want to try. And I love that you went, and you were making all these songs and learning as far as you could learn. I did the same thing where I just started growing. I started filming stuff when I was like 15 and as soon as I got into iMovie I realized, “Oh, I need sound and a score for this.” So, I opened up GarageBand and started playing and I never went back to video. I’ve been playing music since then. It’s been so fun because I think it’s also allowed me a space to take risks that acting hadn’t really offered me. It’s so structured. With music I love that I could be a four-year-old girl, I could be a leaf, I could be a man telling a story.

Michelle: That’s so cool.

Jena: Yeah, it was really fun. And I never would have done it without technology. It’s so interesting thinking about kids these days with TikTok, which is an amazing editing platform, and what SoundCloud offers. The small realm of having GarageBand and iMovie was enough to set me on a 20-year journey. I do think tech is such a beautiful thing to gift for free to emerging artists, but with mentors.

Michelle: I need teachers because I grew up and now looking back, I see why everything happened the way that it did happen. But I did wish that I took music lessons and learned how to play piano. Now I’m catching up. So, making all this music with my band over the past decade or so, we’ve reached a point where it was actually my worst nightmare to get on stage and sing in front of however many tens of thousands of people that we do, because I was the person that would sit in the back of the class and I wouldn’t raise my hand and I didn’t like attention or lights on me or anything. I found music; I liked writing. I liked singing like you. I couldn’t help it. It’s a relaxing thing for me. I feel like there’s a release that I get when I’m in my studio trying to write a song. And even if I didn’t share it with the world, I would still use my voice properly. I need to protect my instrument. I need to learn about it. So, this whole year I’ve actually been taking vocal lessons and going through the technical aspect. We toured for almost four years straight and I burnt myself out completely. And since I never took vocal lessons before stepping on stage, I didn’t know how to use my instrument properly. So, it was like, “I hope I hit these notes tonight. I hope I’m protecting my voice properly.” Now I’m finally catching up on like the technical stuff and trying to learn music theory and stuff. Very backwards experience (laughs).

Jena: I think learn it as it comes. It’s so cool that you’re doing this. When did you finish
writing your record?

Michelle: I think in August or September we finished. How do I shorten this story? I had a really intense year. Our song “Fire for You” blew up during COVID. Then we were asked to play literally right when COVID ended. It was the first festival, Lollapalooza. And we’d play main stage. I told you this was like my worst nightmare to get up on stage in front of a whole bunch of people. I’d only played shows in small venues in Los Angeles before that. But we did and since that moment, we toured for four years straight. When I got home from our last tour over a year ago, I was completely burnt out. I reached a point where I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I had no friends or anyone in my life that had done this job in the way that I had done it. I had no one to ask questions, especially as a woman because I was the only woman in the whole experience. So, I reached this point where I thought I was depressed because I couldn’t think positively. I couldn’t even breathe, honestly. I was out of breath, exhausted, and thought I was depressed, I saw a psychiatrist. They told me to get my blood work done. I found I was super anemic. Anemia can present itself as severe depression. So, I went through this in the worst shape ever, physically and mentally. I got my surgery in March. But I had been writing. I still went to the studio in January, February and March, I took a break. And then after I healed up a little bit, I just went hard with the album. It reflects this journey of me learning about what I need, paying attention to what my body is saying, connecting to my inner self and listening to my needs, which I had never done before. I’d been in survival mode; I guess is what it is. It’s cool to look back at this album and see how much transformation and growth has occurred over the past year. Because writing for me is, like I said, a therapeutic cathartic thing. I almost get scared that it’s so personal to me and so reflective of exactly what’s going on in my life that it makes me feel vulnerable and have a strange desire to have a separation from me and this person that’s going on stage and performing. I have a hard time separating that. Sometimes I think that’s fine, people want something raw and real and relatable. But sometimes I wish I had more of a separation because I feel like I’m sharing my diary and letting everyone read it. I’m still not used to that. This is all still new for me.

Jena: I really want to commend you for the work that you did this year because it’s so hard in the machine of industry to step back and advocate for yourself and learn how to become an ally to your journey. It’s one of the hardest journeys that any musician, artist, painter. Anyone that gets pushed into the machine, which is beautiful. The machine is a mechanism, it amplifies. But giving so much and not making receiving celebratory is so hard. So, I’m just so happy that you did that. Then to bring it back to what you were saying about vulnerability, it’s a muscle. It’s not something that people inherit; it’s not something you’re really good at. Some people might have a little bit more of the muscle work depending on how they were raised. The more you step into vulnerability the more you can receive from being vulnerable. A lot of people don’t take the risk to step into vulnerability, so it feels like too much giving. They’re not in the space of being able to receive. It’s like why does one song go cray and why does another song, you’ve only had one fan ever mention it or something? It’s because we’re all hungry for real experiences and vulnerability and when it hits us it we are able to give back, but it’s really hard to receive that when you’re not constantly practicing vulnerability. So I think the journey of taking time for yourself and then writing through that and then picking up a mic and being able to transmute it, I think potentially, and it’s just a hunch, hopefully we can check in when you’re on the tour. But I think that these songs might be tiny little torch songs of reminders to be like, “I’m not eating that. I’m going to say no to that. Not going to take that night flight.” They can burn brightly for you to be reminders you have the power to control your own story and how you navigate, you know. It’s just really commendable. I think it’s so hard, particularly as a woman in that space. I wish we all had more mentors and people to talk to because it is really rare. When I was younger, going to the Golden Globes at 15 or something who was I going to talk to about that? And if you don’t, you eat it. You swallow it and press it down.

Michelle: And you hope you’re doing everything properly. I have a voice in my head that existed forever and is very harsh. It’s gone away a lot this year after advocating for myself.

Jena: Isn’t that amazing? That there are other voices get to emerge.

Michelle: Yeah, it’s quieted itself because I didn’t have the support I needed. So, during the time where I didn’t even have oxygen going to my brain and I was depressed I knew I needed to revamp everything. This year I have a whole new management team. I have like four managers. I have new people at the label. Everything has been moved into a place that makes me feel safe and excited about this job. This album, entitling it Everything Glows, is because no matter what I have been through, there’s always a lesson to be learned in it. And there’s a light that comes from that. One of the first songs on the album, and one of the first songs we wrote, was called “These Nights.” That was me in that space where I felt like I was losing my soul or like it was being eaten up and there was nothing left when I came home.

Jena: I love that song by the way, that was one of them that I circled.

Michelle: Thank you. It’s cool to see that with music, at least when I’m in an awful place, I can go to my computer and start writing and singing and beauty can come from awful moments.

Jena: I love that.

Michelle: The title of your project, Flowers for Men. I just wanted to know what
that means to you and what kind of flowers are they.

Jena: The flower is a symbol of celebration of grief and the embodiment of holding space for someone whilst it’s also a celebration for a growth space; flowers for a job promotion, for a wedding, for a sickness. It’s all kinds of people wanting to hold space for a growth space. I think that this record, as I was saying, was me traversing a lot of my own reclamation of a feminine divine, of how to be a woman, how to be a mother, and also how to receive and give love in a new radical way that I had never really allowed myself to perceive or put into action or allowed myself to be clumsy and a student at. And I found that there was so much space in the masculine. Sometimes I feel more masculine, sometimes I feel more feminine, sometimes I feel bodiless, and just like an ever-flowing channel of energy. When I look into the masculine parts of myself, they’re often the ones that need the most healing. And the feminine parts are the ones that need more space and more celebration. So, it’s flowers for men as in yes, the gender of sex, the identity, but also flowers for the masculine for the feminine. But that was a little too clumsy to say.

Michelle: I feel like that’s really cool to think about. And I can relate to feeling like clearly having my parts of myself that feel very masculine, feminine and also completely bodiless.

Jena: This is so fun. I can’t wait. I can’t wait to come to a show.

Michelle: Our next hometown show is going to be at the Hollywood Bowl in July. You’re invited.