Music Features

When Inez Carrasquillo got a call asking her to work at Lollapalooza, she thought the festival needed her as a security guard. “I’m 6-foot-1 and 250 pounds, so I assumed that’s what they needed,” she says with a laugh. But no, Chappell Roan wanted the professional strongwoman onstage. “I was …

One group after another, they’ve been congregating over Zoom in support of Kamala Harris‘ presidential run: Women, men, Swifties, “White Dudes,” Bob Dylan fans. So why not “Deadheads for Kamala”? Although it sounds like a conservative talk-radio wisecrack, such a confab will take place on Aug. 13, in the hopes …

Sooraj Cherukat didn’t see a career in music as part of his five-year plan — or any plan. Though born in Kerala, India, Cherukat’s family moved constantly, country to country, until settling in Houston, where Cherukat spent his most formative years. Raised by devoted parents who were accustomed to a …

Working on her third album, Charm, Claire Cottrill had one goal. “This is my third album, and people know me a little bit better, but fuck, they still don’t know,” says Cottrill, 25, who performs as Clairo. “It takes so many records to really understand someone’s choices.“ Working with co-producer …

Meshell Ndegeocello, like many people, would rather not turn on her camera during Zoom calls. “I want to hear you,” she says. “I enjoy my hearing apparatus. The eyes will fool you.” It’s for this reason that, during a recent conversation from her home in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Ndegeocello’s only …

Welcome to ourweekly rundownofthe best new music — featuring big new singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more.This week,Charli XCX teams up with Billie Eilish,Father John Misty previews a “greatish” hits album, and A$AP Rocky, Maren Morris and Khalid return. Check out the songs below, including a Spotify …

The first and last thing you hear on Milo J’s new album 166 is Argentine musical icon Charly García. The album opens with the father of Argentinian rock declaring, “We need to prohibit autotune. Thank you very much,” sampled from comments he made at the 2018 Gardel Awards. The cameo …

Only a few rare songs ever turn into pop classics. But this one turned into a classic twice. “Killing Me Softly with His Song” has one of the longest, weirdest stories in pop history. In the 1970s, it hit Number One as a lush soft-soul hit for the smoothed-out R&B …

For a guy who didn’t live in Nashville and bucked every Music Row norm he could, Toby Keith sure was loved by the country music community. That was apparent on Monday night at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, where A-listers like Eric Church, Jelly Roll, Luke Bryan, Lainey Wilson, and Keith’s fellow …

Farewell to the great Martin Phillipps, the New Zealand indie-rock pioneer of the Chills. He was one of the most brilliant songwriters of his era, with a string of Eighties and Nineties guitar classics: “Pink Frost,” “I Love My Leather Jacket,” “Heavenly Pop Hit,” “The Great Escape,” so many more. …