Born oceans apart and now based in Prague, Kaan and Mindolé have made the sort of record that feels designed for twilight hours and private reveries. Odd Little Thrills work with atmosphere, certainly, but there is also real finesse in Happy Together, a song that enters quietly and settles in with confidence, carried by a steady beat, soft-focus guitars, and an intimate mood.
The duo describes their transcontinental chemistry as sounding “like faded VHS tapes of half-remembered dreams,” and it is one of those rare self-descriptions that actually rings true. The drum pattern keeps everything gently in motion while the guitars wind around it with a subtle eastern inflection, and the vocals arrive in a hushed, reverberating tone that never overwhelms the arrangement. Happy Together unfurls the quiet power of warmth and restraint.
You can hear traces of Boy Harsher in the ominous pop pull of it all, and a touch of Morcheeba in the unhurried, down-tempo sensuality. There are also moments that call to mind Beth Orton, Moby, Cocteau Twins, and Sarah McLachlan, especially in the softness of the vocal presence and the way the song carries emotion without overselling it.
The red-tinged video deepens that feeling, wrapping the track in a muted glamour that fits it beautifully. Split screens pass like fractured memory, dark visions unfold in the club, and a rush of symbols keeps surfacing and slipping away: flashes of nature, hands clutching a rope, a scene by the lake, a guitar held by a tree, tunnels giving way to huge open landscapes. Watching it feels a bit like being dragged along on tour with the band through a beautifully unsteady fever dream, half-documentary, half-delirium, with every image arriving charged and slightly out of reach.
Watch Happy Together below:
The EP, There Was, There Wasn’t, carries that same duality throughout. The press notes describe “simultaneous, layered timelines travelling together yet apart, like parallel trains,” and in this case, the image fits. The music holds contrasting sensations in delicate balance: closeness and distance, comfort and unease, tenderness and tension. The cool throb of the drum machine, the textured percussion, and the dreamlike drift of the guitars give the songs a feeling of movement through memory, as though past and present are brushing against one another in real time.
This is a track equally at home in a Berlin basement party, in a coffee shop sipping a lavender latte, or stretched out on the couch with a beer and a cigarette. Odd Little Thrills are elegant, alluring, and quietly affecting, a debut that moves with grace and leaves a gentle impression.
Listen to There Was, There Wasn’t, out now via Pity Party Records, below:
Michael Monroe walked onto the stage at the Racket Club in New York City last April with a broken meniscus. Nobody in the crowd would have known.
“On stage, I don’t show my pain,” he tells Robert Cavuto. “So that’s why I was limping.”
The knee had gone at the worst possible time, just before the U.S. tour kicked off. He pushed through it anyway, then kept pushing through a U.K. run that followed. Things got worse during a gig when he put his full weight on it wrong. “I just heard a crunch,” he says. By the end of the year, surgery was unavoidable. He had it done on January 8th, cutting it uncomfortably close to the band’s next run of UK dates.
The injury eventually forced the cancellation of a five-week U.S. tour, a decision that clearly still stings. “I was so upset we had to cancel,” Monroe says. A return is being planned, though no dates are confirmed yet.
None of this slowed down the record. Outer Stellar, released this past February, is Monroe‘s most considered album in years: polished, melodically sharp, and built on a stockpile of material that far exceeded what ended up on the final track listing.
“We had like between 40 and 50 songs to choose from, really,” he says. “It’s just a question of getting the track listing, choosing the songs, and making an entirety that works.”
That process took time, deliberately so. Deadlines came and went. The band, spread across continents with Steve Conte in New York and Monroe based in Finland, doesn’t have the luxury of being in the same room often. When they do get that opportunity, it shows.
Outerstellar is packed with twelve explosive, hard-hitting songs delivered with unmistakable swagger and attitude. Infectious melodies that collide with memorable guitar riffs, creating a modern rock statement rooted in rebellion and grit. You’ll feel the electricity running through you on songs like “Rocking Horse,” “Disconnected,” and “Painless.”
The most productive stretch came at a rented villa outside Helsinki — a residential studio where the full band lived and worked for five days. “We wrote a song per day,” Monroe says. “We lived in the house, and there’s a studio downstairs.” No pressure, no agenda. “What kind of song should we do today?” was about as structured as the conversation got.
Two of the album’s standout tracks came directly from those sessions. “Rocking Horse” was one. The other was “One More Sunrise” — the album’s seven-and-a-half-minute centerpiece, born the day Rich Jones put on Bruce Springsteen‘s “Jungle Land” as a starting point. The working title was “Sauna Land.” “We decided one day… why should every song be three minutes? Let’s just make it as long as it takes,” Monroe says. “And that’s what came out of it.”
Not everything on the record is that recent. “Pushing Me Back” dates back to the One Man Gang sessions from 2018 — it didn’t fit that album, didn’t fit I Live Too Fast to Die Young either, and finally found its home here. Three other tracks — “Road to Ruin,” “Shinola,” and “Precious” — came from a handful of demo days at a studio in Helsinki run by the band’s guitar roadie Bobby. “We figured it may sound good enough, just get a great mixer,” Monroe says. That mixer turned out to be Dave Draper, a first-time collaborator who’s now firmly in the camp. “He’s my man from now on,” Monroe says.
Lyrically, Monroe has always worked with deliberate openness, avoiding the trap of being too specific, leaving enough room for listeners to bring their own meaning into a song. He traces that instinct back to a fan encounter that stuck with him. A kid once came up to him and explained at length how Monroe‘s track “Always Right,” from his Peace of Mind album, had changed his life, citing specific lines and what they meant to him.
“I was like, OK, whatever. All right. So, yeah, that’s what I meant.” He laughs. “That reconfirmed to me that really you can’t really be too specific. People can take things in completely different ways. It was nothing like I thought of myself. But then I thought, great — it helped this guy.”
“Road to Ruin” gets a closer look in the interview, and it comes with a detail that rewards attentive listeners. The spelling isn’t R-O-A-D — it’s R-O-D-E. Jones‘ idea, a deliberate play that separates it from the Ramones album of the same name. Monroe is visibly pleased that Cavuto caught it. “That was a very important point,” he says.
The track also carries a brief musical nod that Monroe is happy to name. In the half-tempo break before the solo, there’s a moment that echoes Alice Cooper‘s “Hello, Hooray.” “That’s a little homage to Alice,” he says. As it turns out, the album cover has a similar thread running through it. The close-up of Monroe‘s eye — his right eye this time, the left appeared on Sensory Overdrive — pairs with its predecessor to form a complete image across the two gatefolds. It was Jones who pushed for it. Monroe only later realized it unconsciously echoed the gatefold of Alice Cooper‘s Love It to Death, which had hung on his wall as a kid. “Maybe a little subliminal down the road,” he says.
The photo itself was taken by Monroe, through a mirror, on a phone. “The final picture I took,” he says, “it was like maybe a meter, or half a meter.” Not exactly a professional studio shoot, but that’s the point.
The album’s title came from Sammy, the same source behind Sensory Overdrive. “Outer stellar” is slang for something moving at a rapid speed. Even Monroe‘s English manager had to look it up. “I thought, yeah, let’s sleep on it,” Monroe says. “And the next day I thought, yeah, that’s the one.”
On stage in England, the band has been working on three songs from the new record — “Shinola,” “Disconnected,” and “Rocking Horse” — constrained by a one-hour slot on a co-headline run with Buckcherry. A US tour, with more time and more room in the set, would open things up. Monroe is already thinking about “Black Cadillac” and “One More Sunrise.” The latter’s piano part — played by Morgan Fisher of Mott the Hoople on the record — can be adapted for the live setting without much trouble.
When asked to look back on a solo career that stretches from Nights Are So Long in 1987 to now, Monroe doesn’t reach for nostalgia: “I maintain my integrity throughout the years and I’ve evolved and developed and I always just try to get better at what I do while staying real and being authentic and sincere and singing from the heart and never selling my soul or doing anything for the wrong reasons and no compromises for the wrong reasons. So that way, I feel good. I feel like I can look at myself in the mirror with a clear conscience and know I haven’t cheated and stayed true to myself.”
For a full list of upcoming shows and tickets, visit this location– more dates to be announced. To order Outerstellar, go here.
2025 saw Glaswegian altrock trio Anchor Lane have a bit of a quieter year, focusing on writing and recording two excellent singles in “Six Foot, Six Pack, Sigma” and “Follow Me Down” as well as a handful of live shows. However, 2026 has them with their foot to the floor with the release of their … Continue reading Single Review: Anchor Lane – Five Knuckle Shuffle
Our latest single “The Wretch” is out now and streaming everywhere. The final track from The Nothing That Is writing sessions is out now. Bleak, grim, and true to form. When the world keeps getting worse, sometimes the only comfort is watching it burn.
A few years ago, I was lucky enough to speak to the affable and loquacious Jamie Hall of Tigercub about their then-upcoming album, The Perfume of Decay. Now, they’re back with their fourth album, Nets to Catch the Wind, which gave me a chance to check in with him and talk about it, recording at … Continue reading Video Interview: Jamie Hall of Tigercub
Swedish melodic metal powerhouse Tungsten have shared a brand-new single and music video, “The North Will Rise”, featuring a very special guest appearance from Sonata Arctica frontman Tony Kakko. The track is an anthemic “toast to the north,” blending the band’s signature modern heavy metal sound with Kakko’s unmistakable vocal melodies. The collaboration is a … Continue reading Tungsten join forces with Tony Kakko for “The North Will Rise”
Is Stevie Young’s Health Serious Ahead Of AC/DC’s Buenos Aires Shows?
Stevie Young has been hospitalized as a precaution and is undergoing tests, but the band says he is stable, in good spirits, and expected to perform.
TL;DR
Stevie Young hospitalized in Buenos Aires
Situation described as precautionary with ongoing tests
Reportedly stable and in good spirits
AC/DC still scheduled to perform March 23, 27, and 31
No cancellations announced at this time
News like this doesn’t stay quiet for long—especially when it involves a band of this scale.
Reuters reports that AC/DC guitarist Stevie Young has been admitted to a hospital in Buenos Aires just days before the band is set to take the stage in Argentina.
What Led To The Hospitalization
The band confirmed that Young was admitted “out of an abundance of caution,” with doctors running a full set of tests.
At this point, there’s no indication of a specific condition being disclosed publicly.
What matters right now is the tone coming from the camp—measured, controlled, and not signaling panic.
What The Band Is Saying Right Now
According to the official update, Stevie Young is:
In good spirits
Stable
Focused on returning to the stage
There has been no shift in tour scheduling, which tells you everything about how the situation is currently being handled behind the scenes.
He was admitted as a precaution and is undergoing medical testing.
Is Stevie Young okay?
Yes. He is reported to be stable and in good spirits.
Are AC/DC’s Buenos Aires shows cancelled?
No. All scheduled dates remain in place.
When are the Buenos Aires shows?
March 23, March 27, and March 31.
AC/DC Band Bio
AC/DC formed in 1973 and became one of the most successful rock acts in history, driven by the signature guitar work of Angus Young and the late Malcolm Young. The band’s high-voltage sound continues to define arena rock decades into their career.
Shinedown guitarist Zach Myers has opened up about why the band quietly pulled the plug on pre-show meet-and-greets — and it has nothing to do with not caring about the fans. If anything, it’s the opposite.
Speaking on the Beardo & Weirdo podcast, hosted by Five Finger Death Punch bassist Chris Kael and comedian Craig Gass, Myers was asked whether it blows his mind that Shinedown‘s music carries the same deep emotional weight for fans as his own musical heroes did for him growing up. His answer got unexpectedly honest.
“Yes. But it also at times doesn’t feel real, because it’s true,” he said (via Blabbermouth). “Your music does mean as much to you as Bruce Springsteen meant to me, or U2 meant to me, or Stevie Ray Vaughan, or whatever. But when it’s you, it’s hard to… I get a lot of imposter syndrome, so it’s hard to go, ‘Oh.’ Like when people say, ‘Dude, your song saved my life,’ the computer just stops working for me.”
Myers went on to explain that those moments — the ones that hit the hardest — are exactly why meet-and-greets became unsustainable. Unlike the quick photo-line format many bands use, Shinedown did things differently. He and singer Brent Smith would work one end of the room while bassist Eric Bass and drummer Barry Kerch took the other, spending a genuine five minutes with each person.
“We’ve toured with bands — they do 150 people in 30 minutes,” Myers said. “It took us 90 minutes to do 40 people.”
The weight of those conversations eventually became too much to carry into a show. Myers described fans sharing devastating personal stories — a seven-year-old boy lost to cancer — and finding himself unable to switch off the emotional response once he hit the stage: “‘Man, I’ve got a seven-year-old boy. He died of cancer.’ And I’m, like, under my shirt, texting my wife, like, ‘Take our kid to the hospital right now.’ She’s, like, ‘What? He’s on the trampoline.’ I’m, like, ‘He might have cancer.’ And God bless those people, and I want our songs to help them.”
“I am man enough to admit I don’t have the emotional barricade to not walk on stage with that,” he continued. “By the end of it — I think [it was] 2019 when we stopped doing meet-and-greets — I walked out of 11, just walked out. Because I was literally, like, I would start to tear up. And you go to the guy next to you, and he’s, like, ‘Dude, [I’ve] seen you guys 25 times, bro. Stoked to be here.’ And you’re, like, ‘Sorry, man. I can’t turn this off. I’m gonna think about this kid for a year.’”
He’s clear that stepping away from the format wasn’t about putting up walls — it changed the nature of fan encounters for the better. “When you meet people out on the street, it becomes more real,” Myers said. “It’s not this formulative thing, the construct of a meet-and-greet. It’s, like, they get to see the real you.”
Shinedown‘s eighth studio album, Ei8ht, arrives 05/29 via Atlantic Records. The band has also announced the “Dance, Kid, Dance Act II” world tour — 54 dates across 11 countries — with support from Coheed And Cambria, Black Stone Cherry, From Ashes To New, DJ Rock Feed, and Those Damn Crows on various legs.
German alternative metal project Lantlos has dropped “Oxygen”, the final advance single from the upcoming sixth studio album, Nowhere in Between Forever. Slated for release on 3rd April 2026 via Prophecy Productions, the track marks the last stop before the full record arrives. You can pre-order the album now. Mastermind Markus Skye describes “Oxygen” as … Continue reading Lantlos unveil “Oxygen” as final taste of new album
