Ruthven: Don’t Keep It To Yourself

Released on Jai and AK Paul’s label-meets-collective Paul Institute, Ruthven’s hypnotic “Don’t Keep It To Yourself” is a spacious, slinky and sultry track about pillow talk and secrets—”bedroom feels,” the UK-based singer-songwriter and musician says. Blending elements of future funk, ’80s R&B and more, Ruthven (aka Sean Nelson) effortlessly transitions between delicate falsetto and big, soulful pop vocals.

The Making of Amy Douglas + Joe Goddard’s HARD FEELINGS

We speak with the NYC songstress about her dramatic house/disco collaboration with the Hot Chip member

A seemingly reticent but brilliant British producer, and a bawdy New York songstress, Joe Goddard of Hot Chip and Amy Douglas possess the underpinnings of a legendary pop duo. One is a master of electronic music; the other, a rock and jazz performer and a self-confessed “Brill-Building-nerd-level singer-songwriter.” But these two apparently disparate identities have plenty of overlap (a love of pop music and great songwriting …

First-Ever US Passport Issued With “X” Gender Designation

In order to respect and reflect the “lived reality” for many, the first-ever US passport marked with “X” as the gender has been issued. The new gender designation option will hopefully give non-binary, intersex and gender-nonconforming individuals the opportunity to “live with greater dignity and respect,” says Jessica Stern, US special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights. Colorado navy veteran Dana Zzyym—who has been campaigning for …