Today marks the release of Samia’s debut album, The Baby. She celebrated its impending release earlier this week with the final teaser from the record, “Tiptych.” This is a song that Samia herself calls “a pretty blatant cry for help and an opportunity to confess my fear of being misunderstood.” So it’s no wonder that the video for The Baby-standout is about a relationship with a ventriloquist dummy. Communication seems nearly impossible in the codependent relationship at the core of the video, directed by Samia’s longtime friend Fred Hechinger. The Samia of “Triptych” embraces and teases her helpless partner at whim. Her conflicting emotions match the dichotomy of the song, a peaceful, indie rock track belied by taunting, aggressive sentiments. Somehow even though we’ve yet to release her debut, it’s accurate to say this is classic Samia.

“I wrote ‘Triptych’ sobbing in a green room in Denver,” she shares. “I’d just read the story of Francis Bacon and his lover/muse, George Dyer, whose chaotic lifestyle served as Bacon’s artistic inspiration. George Dyer overdosed in the bathroom of a hotel room paid for by Bacon, who famously painted a triptych of his lover’s final moments. I had just been through a pretty tough breakup and felt I might be purposefully getting myself into dicey situations to justify my big feelings and write about them.”

It’s a fitting song to celebrate the release of, The Baby, available here. The album is a big, soaring, ambitious collection of bouncey indie folk, artful pop and bouyant rock. Contemporary ideals about romantice (“Is There Something in the Movies?”) or supposed parallels between fitness and happiness (“Fit N Full”), tying each to her own personal experiences. The insightful wordplay showcases the voice of an emerging lyricist with their pulse on the modern condition. 

While these songs explore Samia’s fear of being alone, they were lovingly brought to life with the help of her community. Many of her tourmates eventually became collaborators as she prioritized working with old friends and kindred spirits. Early demos of The Baby were workshopped with members of the band Active Bird Community, and the album was produced by Jake Luppen, Nathan Stocker & Caleb Hinz, the former two best known as members of indie-pop rebels Hippo Campus. Along with studio whiz Lars Stalfors (Foster the People, Soccer Mommy), Samia assembled a seemingly disparate crew, stretching from Los Angeles to Minnesota to New York, connected only by her trust and vision. 

Incredibly excited to announce that dad sports is now part of the Grand Jury roster. As soon as we caught wind of the Ottawa three-piece we fell in love. They’ve quickly made a name for themselves on the back of a series of self-produced singles and a wistful brand of hazy, windswept dream pop. It’s like if a band on Flying Nun soundtracked some long lost Nora Ephron film. Heavy on the nostalgia and the melody, but sharp edges in clear focus, somehow pulling off a kind of chilly warmth. We could spend another hour or so attempting to describe it, but we’ll spare you that.

This morning our friends over at the FADER announced the signing and premiered a music video for “name & place.” The clip, which FADER calls “its own tactile daydream,” was directed by Noah Keckler. And while the young filmmaker might not be aiming for Nora Ephron with this one, he certainly hits a nostalgia-soaked 90s sweet spot. The visual is the perfect compliment to the song’s intention.

About “name & place,” frontman Miguel Plante says, “you know that feeling when you’re looking out of a car window, and it’s dark out, and everything is just really beautiful and you feel like you’re in a coming of age movie? We tried to make this song exactly that.”

We’re so very excited for what comes next!

Finally! The debut solo album from Jake Luppen – yes, our very own Baby Boys & Hippo Campus Jake Luppen – is upon us. The project & the record are both called Lupin. The first single, “May,” is out today alongside a music video directed by the incredibly talented Adam Fuchs, who you might know from his work at Adult Swim. You can catch it above. 

 “I had been clinging to the past in my relationship at the time, grappling with the realization that our young expectations of what our future should look like might not actually work out,” says Jake, explaining the song. “Or rather shouldn’t work out. This song focuses on coming to terms with that.”

The album is coming October 9th. And, friends, this is a truly inspired record, filled with songs of self-doubt, self-discovery and genuinely some of the coolest sounds we’ve ever heard — we didn’t even know gothic funk could be a thing until we heard these demos. Lupin was produced by Jake & longtime collaborator BJ Burton, who you’ll recognize for his work on the past two Hippo Campus albums, but also the new Charli XCX, Low, and more. Art for this one is courtesy of the very talented David Kramer with photos from friends old and new, namely Brit O’Brien and Graham Tolbert, like the one below.

You can pre-order a 12” now in a limited first pressing on red vinyl over in the GJ shop, or get a copy on white vinyl exclusively at Minneapolis indie retailers like Electric Fetus & Down In The Valley. Both runs are limited to 300 pieces. 

Today Jordana unveils the Something To Say EP, the first in a two-part series that finds the Kansas songwriter expanding her sound into brave new territory. Just a few days ago, she teased us with “Forgetter,” the bittersweet EP closer.  An ode to self-reflection and personal growth, “Forgetter” is an indie-pop tune that draws on the more gentle elements of Jordana’s debut LP, Classical Notions Of Happiness. But, as with all of her new material, the song takes a more lush route to get there courtesy of rising NYC staple MELVV. Accompanied by a beautifully stark black and white animated video directed by Tess Lafia (@_tess_lafia_) and animated by  Lily Lin (@itslily.lin), Jordana says “Forgetter is a song about self reflection. It’s about the times I’ve let people down in relationships and the unhealthy ways I’ve coped with my own shortcomings.”

With the release of Something To Say, fans are treated to the unreleased material that rounds out the 6-song release: the taut pop of Guaranteed, the overpowering beat of “Hitman,” and the spindly indie grunge of “Far Away From You.” 

The second installment in the EP series, To You, can’t come soon enough. Luckily, it will follow this fall. And we couldn’t be more excited for you to hear it. 

Today you can hear two new songs from Samia’s forthcoming debut, The Baby. The double single pairs the wistful yet buoyant “Big Wheel” against the stark, lowlit heartbeat of “Stellate.” While it showcases two distinct sounds from the album, the songs are bridged together by the twin themes of internal and external conflict. 

“’Big Wheel’ is about avoiding conflict at any cost,” Samia shares. “I wrote it after a few hours of laying in bed imagining hypothetical conversations with people that I was too scared to have in real life. It’s a passive confession of harbored resentments buried in a laundry list of gratitude.“

On “Stellate”, she further struggles with confrontation and how such fears lead to a power imbalance between herself and her partner. “‘Stellate’ and ‘Big Wheel’ are both love letters to people/parts of my life I had trouble confronting conversationally,” she shares. “‘Stellate’ is a note to myself trying to make sense of old traumas and ‘Big Wheel’ is a plea to the people around me, but releasing them together feels like closing a chapter.”

The accompanying video for “Big Wheel,” directed by her drummer Noah Rauchwerk, presents another imbalance, this time between the IRL & URL world, as 3D avatars of Samia begin to spill out into an unsuspecting reality. It wasn’t until the video was underway that Rauchwerk stumbled over a second layer of meaning specific to the moment: “The combination of the nostalgic and joyous home videos with the unsettling 3D models says something to me about how Covid has forced us into our phones and the digital world even more,” says the director. “There’s this huge collective feeling from the loss of human interaction and most of the things that previously brought us so much joy and purpose. Watching shows online and listening to records is great, but nothing compares to sweating at a show with all your friends and screaming the words, or playing on tour with the people you love. Those experiences bring an overwhelming feeling of presence and life that we have all been missing.”

The Baby is coming August 28th, and is available for pre-order in our shop.

Elliot Moss today shared his hypnotic new single “I Heard” alongside its cinematic video. Filmed over six days during quarantine in Moss’ New York home, the making of the clip was a remarkable feat: director Matt Genesis supervised the entire shoot from Minne3apolis over video calls, controlling the cameras by remote control, and Moss—with an assist from his father—handling all the gear onsite. The impressive result is a painstakingly crafted, surrealist look at life inside. 

“‘I Heard’ is about being trapped by the idea of happiness. That there’s always something better for you, but you don’t know how to get it. Or can’t get it right now,” explains Moss. “I thought the song was done and we even had a video in the works. But as quarantine started up, being physically trapped squeezed out the last of the idea, sort of the final straw. Something about longing for the things that I didn’t realize were making me happy helped me to recalibrate what life might feel like when it returns to normal.”

Genesis details further: “We wanted to figure out a way to make this to the best of our abilities, not just the best for the circumstance. It wouldn’t have been as creatively fulfilling if we didn’t approach the project in the way that we did. That meant mailing a serious amount of gear, learning new skills, and not letting a problem get in the way of our enthusiasm. I think one of the most impressive aspects was how Elliot and his father stepped up and learned new skills on the fly in order to make this happen. We had to fully develop every shot and articulate every detail in order to get the result we were looking for. This meant 120-plus storyboards and taking photos of every frame beforehand so we could problem solve and get on the same page.”

After a lengthy hiatus between the release of 2017’s Boomerang and A Change In Diet, Elliot has remained incredibly busy throughout 2020.  The new single & video follow both ACID and the Live Blackbox Recordings, released earlier this year. Expect even more new music later this fall.

One of the more (un?)surprising things about Twin Peaks is that they’re at their best when they’re being spontaneous. Sweet ’17 Singles turned into one of their most inspired collection of songs, and it was recorded off the cuff in disparate sessions throughout a calendar year. The new EP, Side A, shares a similar feeling of spontaneity, written and partially recorded in quarantine throughout the first half of 2020. It is, without question, one of the most potent distillations of what makes Twin Peaks such an unflappably great band: four songs, four different songwriters, four distinct sonic directions, that somehow manage to pack more punch when consumed together. There’s the hi-wire rock ‘n’ roll of Clay’s opener “What’s The Matter,” the pensive, gauzy, sax-adorned comedown of Jack’s “Whistle in the Wind (End of Everything),” the timeless, Harrison-esque guitar blissout of Colin’s “Any More Than You Want,” and the krautrock vision quest of Cadien’s EP-closer “Above/Below.” All the while, Connor’s work behind the kit grounds each tune exactly where it needs to be on Side A’s course. Look, we’re the label, but when we say this is peak Twin Peaks, we’re not making it up.

Today the whole EP is available to hear everywhere. As we mentioned before, 10″s are coming in the fall (available for pre-order here). But to celebrate the digital release, the boys enlisted longtime collaborators Weird Life Films to memorialize “Whistle in the Wind” with a music video.

“I came to writing this song around the same time my girlfriend had tested positive for the antibody test, meaning we had seemingly both contracted the virus early in quarantine,” says bassist Jack Dolan. “I remember having a false sense of security because of that, hopeful in what it meant for us. Are we safe now? Did we really just live through and survive something like this? Is life normal for us now? That brief moment ended up preceding so much more than we could’ve expected and this ‘impenetrable’ feeling I had then has since faded. It’s about coming to terms with a ‘new’ normal. The vulnerability it takes to stand up for the people around us, the soul searching and perspective it takes to honestly make sense of the current moment that will continue to  evolve with or without you. It’s about breaking free from the safety of your own comfort zone and being honest with yourself about where you stand right now. We all need to take care of ourselves and each other more than ever, just don’t give up on the moment.”

And, not to be distracted from the moment at hand, the band has also pledged to donate 100% of profits on their Blotter L/S tee to Brave Space Alliance, a Black and Trans led LGBTQ Center on the south side of Chicago. The move is part of their recently-launched monthly initiative to direct all profits from a specific item in their online store to a new NPO worth supporting in their community and beyond. We’re proud of the music, but even more proud of the humans in this band. Please support if you’re able.

Jordana turned heads earlier this spring with the re-release of her acclaimed debut LP Classical Notions of Happiness. Today — only a week after the Kansas-based songwriter’s 20th birthday — she’s turning more with the announcement of a two-part EP series that stretches throughout the rest of 2020. The first installment, Something To Say, is coming July 31st, and is heralded today by new single & music video, “Big”. The second installment will follow this fall. Both collections, produced by “Crunch” collaborator and rising NYC staple MELVV, find Jordana embracing a newfound, heavier sound and experimenting in ways she only began to hint at on the new material that found its way onto the repackaged Classical Notions. 

“Big is written about my experience of entering a state of pure confidence. It describes the fearlessness that I’ve taken on to reach this point,” says Jordana. The music video, directed by Ethan Nelson, and recently shot overnight on the empty streets of New York City, captures that same sense of possibility and overflowing aplomb. 

A month ago Jordana briefly returned with the stand-alone single “I’ll Take It Boring.” That track now opens the EP. Expect one more taste from the EP, the soaring indie pop of its closer “Forgetter,” before its late July release. That’s the art up above. Tracklist below. Pre-save here.

01 I’ll Take It Boring
02 Guaranteed
03 Hitman
04 Big
05 Far Away From You
06 Forgetter

Today Elliot Moss has released A Change In Diet – Live Blackbox Recordings, a visual and audio reimagining of his recent album A Change In Diet. The collection was documented in the Blackbox at the State University of New York at t Purchase, and features sweeping string arrangements courtesy of Alba S Toreemocha, renditions of songs from behind a grand piano, and a full compliment of musicians helping Elliot bring A Change In Diet to life in a striking new way.

‘The arrangements are bigger, and bolder,” says Moss. “And the instrumentation involves my entire musical family. I am so honored to share my original vision bolstered by those that I love,” explains Moss. “This version of ‘Barricade’ is accompanied by a string arrangement I wrote with my friend Alba. It stands taller, and more confidently, and effortlessly contains the emotions that inspired the tune. More so for me than the original. Because it contains the enthusiasm and power of the musicians who inspire me.”

It’s been a long time coming. But today Samia finally announces her debut album, The Baby. It’s due August 28th. It includes the previous-released “Is There Something in The Movies,” along with the single “Fit N Full,” which just arrived this morning. Deceptively bright, “Fit N Full” explores the long-purported relationship between a person’s physical fitness and their happiness. The narrator, “hollow and amazing,” sings of diets and lifestyles with no worries about their potential side effects; instead, she resigns herself to the listener’s desires: “If you want/ I can take it off.” The video, directed by Martin MacPherson, plays further into this empty exhibition, a camcorder following Samia as she stretches on the beach or exercises next to a pool. Watch below. 

Starting today, you can pre-order the LP on three different limited edition colors. There’s only a few hundred of each. Get the album on BONE VINYL, available alongside an exclusive tee-shirt inspired by the “Fit N Full” music video over on Samia’s webstore. Get the album on BABY PINK VINYL over in the Vinyl Me, Please shop (it’ll be up in about an hour, in case the link isn’t working yet!). Get the album on LIGHT BLUE vinyl at your local record store — while supplies last, participating shops will also pair a limited edition The Baby tote with your copy of the album. Perfect for curbside pickup. Search for your local record store here, and ask them to make sure that they’re carrying the record & tote for you. And, finally, in a nod to her hometown record store –Rough Trade NYC– you can get SIGNED COPIES of the Light Blue LP along with The Baby tote via the Rough Trade online store right here.

But enough about pre-orders. Let’s talk about the music?

While these songs explore Samia’s fear of being alone, they were lovingly brought to life with the help of her community. Many of her tourmates eventually became collaborators as she prioritized working with old friends and kindred spirits. Early demos of The Baby were workshopped with members of the band Active Bird Community, and the album was produced by Jake Luppen, Nathan Stocker & Caleb Hinz, AKA our very own Baby Boys. Along with studio whiz Lars Stalfors (whose work you’ve heard on records from Foster the People & Soccer Mommy), Samia assembled a seemingly disparate crew, stretching from Los Angeles to Minnesota to New York, connected only by her trust and vision. And boy did it pay off. 

We couldn’t be more proud that this record has our logo on it. And we absolutely can’t wait for you to hear it.

More soon.