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Here are rock and metal songs that feature audio samples from famous speeches that've been given throughout history by politicians, scientists and more. Continue reading…

Clutch Announce New Album ‘Wasted Lands’

Maryland rock institution CLUTCH have announced their fourteenth studio album, Wasted Lands, set for release on 22nd January 2027 via the band’s own Weathermaker Music. An extensive variety of pre-order bundles are available now. The announcement arrives alongside the release of its raucously groovy, riff-driven title track, “Wasted Lands” and accompanying official music video which will be available to watch at 5pm (BST) today.

Got something you want to ask the band? You can find vocalist Neil Fallon in the live chat section answering your questions ahead of the premiere from 4:50pm BST under the OfficialClutch YouTube handle.

Written and recorded at their longtime Frederick, Maryland base, the Doom Saloon, Wasted Lands reunites CLUTCH with producer Machine for the first time since 2015’s Psychic Warfare. The sheer velocity of their creative collaboration can be felt from the first note of the record and is expertly displayed on today’s release title track, “Wasted Lands”. Neil Fallon’s lyrical knack of conjuring characters from a handful of strange, sharply observed details and dropping them into CLUTCH songs with their own vibrant and storied mythologies has long been a defining characteristic of the CLUTCH canon. On “Wasted Lands,” he conjures a creature so malign that H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King are invoked only to make clear that even they could not dream it up. Rumour casts it as a government experiment, a heavenly angel or an omen preparing the ground for the end of days. Nobody knows for certain. The locals call it Neil Patrick Fallon.

Sharing some thoughts on today’s release, vocalist Neil Fallon says:

“The inspiration for the lyrics in Wasted Lands came about when it was brought to my attention that someone had been dragging my name on Facebook (weird, right?). Apparently, I had reneged on a free t-shirt and dinner. I think it was a prize in a pay to play contest. Not to overstate the obvious, but it was a load of horse hockey. Many people tried to explain to this person that it was not me and that they had been hustled. But they simply would not believe it. So I thought, screw it, no half-measures. You want a monster? Let’s give you one.”

Beneath Fallon’s lyrical story-craft, Jean-Paul Gaster, Dan Maines and Tim Sult lock into a classic-CLUTCH, riff-driven groove featuring a very intentional and strategically placed bass-drum hit from Gaster. One he knew would make the live crowd go wild.

He shares:

“There’s a part where Neil says, ‘Vegetable, mineral, man, or beast.’ And I put a bass drum on, ‘man or beast,’ and Machine thought that was kind of weird. He was like, ‘Man, you’re covering up the vocal!’ And I said, ‘No, that bass drum is gonna make the crowd go nuts, I guarantee it.’ And it does, because there’s nothing more exciting than having a big bass drum slam through a PA, and Neil singing a vocal on top of it. I mean, I get goosebumps from that, you know?”

Across Wasted Lands, CLUTCH keep their riff-heavy foundations intact while making room for a sharper melodic streak. Tracks including “Colorado Fuel And Iron,” “Stage Fright” and “Loaf ‘N Jug” build their considerable weight around chord progressions as much as individual riffs. “Beware The Fever” brings banjo onto a CLUTCH record for the first time, using a rough demo played by Fallon and recorded by Gaster during a writing session. Despite several attempts to re-record the performance, nothing quite came close so the original recording is what went on the record.

Fallon’s lyrics open in the rubble of the Georgia Guidestones on “The Drifter Returns” and close beneath an exploding star on “The Message Is Clear.” The route between them runs through Colorado’s Highway 50, abandoned company towns, corporate appetites, creature-feature horror and deep space. 

Speaking on the announcement of their fourteenth studio album, CLUTCH share:

“Exploded monuments, haunted coal towns, robber barons, time cops, a chestburster, fifteen tons of antimatter and a creature called Neil Patrick Fallon. Wasted Lands came from one clear intention: write a great rock record that will make fans go nuts when they hear these songs live, while leaving enough space in the creative process to follow the unexpected turns that keep Clutch exciting to us and our fans after thirty-five years together.”

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The post Clutch Announce New Album ‘Wasted Lands’ appeared first on The Razor's Edge.

Hardcore Superstar return at full voltage with Halo, a huge, hook-loaded new single that captures the Swedish rock heavyweights at their most combustible. Driven by classic-rock swagger, serrated guitars and a chorus built for mass singalongs, Halo fuses muscle, melody and attitude into a blistering three-and-a-half-minute reminder of why Hardcore Superstar remain one of Sweden’s […]

British blues-rock guitarist and singer Joanne Shaw Taylor has released her new single, “You And Me (Rachel’s Song),” from her upcoming studio album, The Trouble With Love, arriving October 23 via Journeyman Records.

Released alongside an official lyric video, the song is a tribute to Taylor’s longtime friend Rachel and celebrates the lasting bonds of friendship through distance, change, and the passage of time.

“A song for my best friend Rachel,” Taylor shares.

Built around a warm groove and melodic chorus, “You And Me (Rachel’s Song)” finds Taylor reflecting on shared memories and the moments that take on greater meaning as the years pass. The song also looks toward the future, emphasizing the importance of maintaining close relationships despite the changes that life brings.

The single offers another preview of The Trouble With Love, which was produced by Taylor’s longtime collaborator Kevin Shirley. The album explores love in its many forms, incorporating elements of blues, rock, soul, Americana, and pop.

Previous singles include the title track, featuring Joe Bonamassa, and “What Good Is My Love?,” featuring Orianthi. Taylor has also released “Hell Or High Water,” “This Is Who I Am,” “Tired Of Being Right,” and “The Girl That You Loved Before.”

While much of the album focuses on romantic relationships, heartbreak, and personal growth, “You And Me (Rachel’s Song)” explores the enduring love found in friendship.

Taylor will support the album with a fall U.S. headline tour beginning October 28 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The tour will include performances throughout the Southwest, Mountain West, Pacific Northwest, and California.

Select dates will feature Bywater Call, followed by a run of shows with Robert Jon & The Wreck.

The Trouble With Love will be released October 23 via Journeyman Records.

2026 TOUR DATES

October 28 – Albuquerque, NM – KiMo Theatre *
October 29 – Flagstaff, AZ – Orpheum Theater *
October 30 – Phoenix, AZ – Celebrity Theatre *
November 1 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre *
November 3 – Grand Junction, CO – Mesa Theater *
November 5 – Colorado Springs, CO – Phil Long Music Hall *
November 6 – Fort Collins, CO – Aggie Theatre*
November 7 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater *
November 9 – Salt Lake City, UT – The State Room **
November 10 – Boise, ID – The Egyptian Theatre **
November 12 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory **
November 13 – Tacoma, WA – Rialto Theater **
November 15 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater **
November 17 – Grass Valley, CA – The Center for the Arts **
November 19 – Napa, CA – Uptown Theatre Napa **
November 20 – Bakersfield, CA – World Records **
November 21 – Monterey, CA – Golden State Theatre **

* with Bywater Call
** with Robert Jon & The Wreck

The post Joanne Shaw Taylor reveals “You and Me” appeared first on Blues Rock Review.

This track was originally meant to be included on the 'Help!' soundtrack. Continue reading…

Two men stand beside a swing and discuss the morality of progress. If humans decide what makes science moral or immoral, what are we to make of Hiroshima? The exchange comes early in Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 film Solaris and echoes throughout The Ocean’s new album of the same name. There’s a specific kind of irony in one of metal’s proggiest bands making a record suspicious of progress itself.

…

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Like the film, the album Solaris interrogates human ambition on an interplanetary scale, but Germany’s The Ocean links that to the drive behind the European “age of exploration.” When does curiosity become projection, and exploration become domination? Does the ability to take the next step justify taking it?

This isn’t the first time bandleader Robin Staps has looked to the Soviet filmmaker for inspiration. 2013’s Pelagial was tethered to Stalker as it sank through the ever-dimming layers of the sea. Solaris replaces that vertical progression with a pursuit of the horizon. Instead of an inexorable plunge into dark, crushing depths, the new material expands outward, encounters its own sunlit reflection and returns.

The Ocean composed Solaris’ instrumental foundations in 2021 to follow Phanerozoic II, with the concept and lyrics coming later. In the interim, the band underwent a Ship of Theseus moment. Only Staps and longtime bassist Mattias Hägerstrand remained from the studio lineup of 2023’s atmospheric trilogy-closer Holocene. Now a seven-piece, with a total of three guitarists and two new co-vocalists, The Ocean has a renewed collective energy. However rebuilt and augmented, the material still feels unmistakably like The Ocean, a testament to Staps’ songwriting and strong eye for international collaborators. Grimace-inducing, midpaced grooves throughout the record show The Ocean haven’t forgotten their Precambrian roots while more balanced electronic elements and the two distinct new vocalists elevate it.

Italian Enrico Tiberi and Lane Shi, who performs solo as Otay:onii and formerly fronted Boston’s Elizabeth Colour Wheel, complement and conflict like blocks of different materials that happen to fit perfectly. Tiberi’s register recalls former vocalist Loïc Rossetti, but the wider range of his screams and growls gives him his own identity on Solaris. Shi’s distinct caterwauls and glissanding melodies give the record technical and emotional depths previously unexplored by The Ocean. She never becomes a novelty or feels relegated to guest vocalist status. Her improvised, one-take wordless exhortation at the end of “Light Pollution” and vitriolic film-quoting verse in standout banger “Belligerence” showcase her extreme range.

Across Solaris, Staps read the accounts of expeditions led by the likes of Vasco da Gama and Magellan, rooting the futuristic story in the earth. The album even opens with the latitude and longitude of the band’s space in Berlin. Those explorers’ ambitions mirrored a familiar artistic drive in Staps. 

“I saw a lot of parallels between these historic explorers and modern artists,” he says. Questions about what force is behind this drive led him back to curiosity. “In English, that is a rather innocent term,” Staps says. “The German word for it is Neugier, and Gier is greed. So it’s like a greed for something new.”

This is mirrored in Staps’ push to play shows outside of the traditional touring circuit: playing squats in Siberia and Chinese livehouses and witnessing folks there interacting with his art in different ways than he was used to. Exploration breeding connection, but not without projection.

“We’re not looking for new worlds; we’re looking for mirrors of the existing worlds, of the things that we already know,” he says, invoking the film and his album.

“Simulacra,” Solaris’ sprawling middle movement, looks this mirror dead in the eye. From Shi’s elegant opening, the 17-minute epic gathers potential energy like a storm and unleashes it with The Ocean’s trademark undulating rhythms. Its tidal push and pull occupies an unpredictable space between complex crush and deft caress. It ends in a haunting duet and acoustic guitar, its vital energy spent.

For Staps, the film’s simulacra point toward a modern, terrestrial quandary. “A lot of our mediated experience these days through news and social media and all of that is dealing with simulacra, essentially with appearances that maybe don’t have a counterpart in reality,” he says.

The Ocean remains the only band that can get postmodern philosophy stuck in your head. Hooks that interrogate colonial ambition and meaning in the age of instant intercontinental communication. Lyrics seemingly alternating between addressing the living ocean on Solaris and the listener. They make you think deeply, but also what you should have said to an ex, before drawing you down endless research rabbit holes about dead white Europeans.

“Light Pollution” mourns our private lives. Beneath its uneven waves lies a concern with what expanding communication networks actually allow us to communicate, and what their constant glare takes away. “If there are no dark corners anymore, then we lose our privacy, and we lose our secret spaces, which are so important,” Staps says.

After diving into the deep end of electronic composition on Holocene, the band has dialed it back on Solaris. That restraint gives the electronic passages a bigger splash, a musical counterpart to the record’s questions about progress. These appear on “Ultima Esperanza,” which makes the pursuit of the horizon sound perilous. The song opens with a Cult of Luna-esque shuffle. Shi’s vocals float over swelling Rhodes piano and Hammond organ like fog at the edge of a map, with Part II offering the record’s most haunting and accusatory duet. The track reads like the diary of a man floating in the ocean at the end of the world, musing on the hope of driftwood as he loses his mind. Tangerine Dream’s Thorsten Quaeschning joins the subsequent “Milk of My Dreams,” unexpectedly taking the Solaris expedition to a club at the end of the world.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with curiosity per se,” Staps says, closing the thematic ouroboros. “But it’s important to be aware of some of the implications that come with it.” Staps and the listener are left with more questions and fewer answers by the end of Solaris. The only certainty is the dawn of The Ocean’s glorious new epoch.

…

Solaris is available now via Pelagic Records.

Three albums in, and Split Dogs are hitting their stride. If we’re being picky though, ‘strut’ would be a far better verb for the kind of energy that they’re putting out: a dirty cocktail of garage punk and the big-haired charisma of seventies stadium superstars. ‘Nice N Rough’ is the kind of record that makes you feel like a rockstar, capable of achieving anything at high speed, not limited to kicking out the jams, grafting a wall and taking a shot while riding a motorbike. It’s an intoxicating release that marks the point where we all really need to be taking Split Dogs a lot more seriously. 

As an initial salvo, ‘Suffer’ set the bar high. It’s clear from the opening chords that they’re setting their sights a lot higher than before and manifesting their next big venue. This is a band ready to ‘Be Somebody’, and their opener feels like a Stonesy call to arms. There’s so much big riff energy sparking through this record, whether it’s turbo-charged earworm ‘Breaker’ or the so-simple-it-burns garage hooks of ‘Speed Demon’. We love this side of Harry Martinez’s vocals too; when she really gets to wail like there’s a smoke machine behind her and a big fan in front blowing her hair back. It’s when she gets her punk sneer on that we really get hooked. She can do a Johnny Rotten impression like no other (sorry, Frank Carter!) and when we get the full force of her condescension and snap on a track like ‘Born Too Loose’, the hype surrounding Split Dogs suddenly makes more sense. 

It’s the ultimate “complisult” to say “every song sounds the same.” That’s the sign of a band with a distinct sound, and we could all rattle off a list of bands who’ve made their mark by doing just that. Luckily, while yes, every single song does sound really similar, ‘Nice N’ Rough’ is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it release. Unless you’re really tracking each song, the whole thing speeds past like a flaming tourbus and you’re left with a distinct aural crater after it lands. We don’t really need to be focusing on the homogeneity of their sound, we just need to let the whole thing smack into us at force and enjoy the sensation. Think of it as a half hour experience rather than a tracklist to pour over: that’s the spirit that they’re channelling. In fact, they’ve captured the live experience so well, that we can see it as a show in the headphones that you can just lose yourself in and come out feeling awesome about yourself.

“Sparks are flying out, there’s gonna be a power out,” Martinez screams on closer ‘Power Out’, and that’s the perfect summary of ‘Nice N’ Rough’. It’s got so much power that it could practically blow up a stereo, and the lights are going to be switching off on anyone who doubted the flightpath that Split Dogs are zooming through. Turn ‘Nice N’ Rough’ up seriously loud and load yourself up with the feeling that you’re going to ‘Be Somebody’ by the end of an album that practically crackles with garage electricity.

Kate Allvey

Following the acclaimed success of their 2024 debut No Hill For A Climber, Neal Morse & The Resonance return with their highly anticipated second studio album, River of Light, a powerful and deeply personal progressive rock journey, set for release on November 27th, 2026.

To mark the announcement, the band are launching the video for the first single ‘Walk On Water’, and you can watch it now here:

When Neal Morse first announced Neal Morse & The Resonance in 2024, fans and critics were surprised to see the celebrated prog rock visionary collaborating with a group of exceptionally talented yet relatively unknown musicians. The resulting album, No Hill For A Climber, was met with overwhelming praise, showcasing a fresh creative chemistry that resonated strongly with audiences worldwide.

Now, just two years later, the band continues that journey with River of Light, an album that expands upon the musical and spiritual foundations established by its predecessor.

Reflecting on the project, Morse explains:
“Following the success of No Hill For A Climber and some really great live shows in the summer of 2025, we knew that we wanted to make more music together. We started kicking around ideas in October 2025 and ended up spending much more time on this record. At one point it looked like it might become a double album because we had so many ideas. Eventually, we trimmed it down to a single album, and I think it works great.”

At its core, River of Light is a concept album centered on a spiritual journey, a theme familiar to Morse’s longtime fans. This time, however, the inspiration comes from the often-overlooked biblical figure Terah, the father of Abraham.
“Terah signifies someone who begins a journey with God but gets tired and allows sadness and resignation to keep them from going all the way,” says Morse. “However, his son completes the journey.”

Musically, River of Light represents a true collaborative effort. While Morse remains the band’s creative anchor, the album highlights the significant contributions of guitarist Andre Madatian and vocalist Jonny Bisaha, whose influences bring a fresh energy and perspective to the material.

“On this album, you can really hear what these guys have brought to the table,” Morse says. “Partly because of their ages, they’re influenced by bands like Rush and 90s rock, which I think is really cool. We had so many ideas that simply fitting everything together and creating the right flow became a challenge in itself.”

River of Light will be available as a Limited 2CD Digipak (featuring a second disc of instrumentals), Standard CD Jewelcase & Digital Album.

Pre-order now here: https://nealmorse.lnk.to/RiverofLight-Album

The full track-listing is as follows:
1. Opening (River Of Light)
2. The Sorrow
3. The Ashes
4. The Movement
5. The Time (To Be Timeless)
6. The Second Movement
7. The Calling
8. Walk on Water
9. Shine Until Tomorrow
10. Haran (The Place Between)
11. Cascading Skies
12. River of Light

The post Neal Morse & The Resonance continue the journey with ‘River of Light’ – Launch new single ‘Walk On Water’ appeared first on The Prog Report.

After a few years of relative inactivity, Phoebe Bridgers is back to full-on media blitz mode. Her excellent album Lost Weekend finally came out last month. She’s on an arena tour that continues with the no-phones policy of her pre-release secret gigs. And this weekend, she’s on movie screens across the world, making her proper feature film debut opposite Robert Pattinson in Lance Oppenheim’s much-anticipated Chris Hansen movie Primetime. Since Primetime opens today, Bridgers’ song for the soundtrack is out now, too.

The post Phoebe Bridgers Shares <em>Primetime</em> Song “On Video,” Boygenius Reunite In Brooklyn appeared first on Stereogum.

It’s something we’ve seen time and time again over the last few years: a massively successful band venturing into cinemas with a movie that’s part concert film, part documentary. Everyone from Ghost to Pulp has given it a go, and while it’s often gratifying seeing such stars unload their hits on the big screen, the behind-the-scenes looks sometimes lack. Like autobiographies with glaring omissions, these self-produced reflections give subjects the chance to downplay difficult truths.

This is why it was so interesting when Linkin Park announced their intention to wade into the genre. Arguably the biggest nu metal act of all time, their 2000 debut Hybrid Theory having defined a generation, their story has become one of resilience following frontman Chester Bennington’s suicide in 2017. They reformed in 2024, with new vocalist Emily Armstrong and drummer/producer Colin Brittain, then endured the scrutiny of Armstrong’s past ties to Scientology to (quite quickly) reach the mountaintop for the second time in their careers. In the last two years, they’ve topped charts with the From Zero album, put on their biggest-ever gig at Wembley Stadium and become the first band with a female singer to headline Download.

Directed by turntablist/co-founder Joe Hahn, it would have been easy for Unshatter to focus solely on the positives: the fact that the six-piece are back on top of the musical world, and how big and passionate the crowd was when they played São Paulo’s Allianz Parque stadium on their reunion tour. But Hahn, a proven director with 2014 feature-length thriller Mall under his belt, tells a gripping, heart-rending story.

Within 10 minutes, the members open up about the impact of Bennington’s death, how it sent them hurtling in disparate directions. They later admit their heartache after longtime drummer Rob Bourdon refused to return, and singer/guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda reveals his complex feelings over guitarist Brad Delson’s initial reluctance to get involved.

Hahn also shares studio footage that captures difficult talks about the band’s future (should it be called Linkin Park anymore?) and offers intriguing easter eggs, such as Shinoda’s early demo for comeback single The Emptiness Machine. The sole elephant in the room is the backlash towards Armstrong’s history with Scientology: a knotted, possibly dangerous topic, given the church’s power and reach.

The São Paulo live footage is less prevalent here than in other recent rock-docs, but it’s integrated brilliantly. The highlight is watching Armstrong record Heavy Is The Crown in the studio, then the jumpcut to her screaming it before 55,000 people. Discussions of how she’ll handle Bennington’s parts are followed by the rap metal barbs of Bleed It Out, which evidences what the other members say about her filling the old singer’s shoes without being a carbon copy.

Ending with archival video of Shinoda and Bennington together onstage, Unshatter is reverent without falling into hagiography. The anguish of losing a friend and bandmate, and the emotional minefield of continuing afterwards, is never shied away from. Even the most obsessive fan will see new things – and probably gain extra respect for how Linkin Park have scaled nu metal’s peak all over again.

Unshatter hits cinemas on Tuesday, September 30, via Trafalgar. The soundtrack is out now via Warner.