Alabama Shakes: Over My Head (Live at Capitol Studio A)

Alabama Shakes indeed shook things up with their sophomore album Sound & Color, which shows the southern rock band’s eagerness to experiment—to great success. In this live rendition of “Over My Head” a barefoot Brittany Howard lays down the guitar and puts her entire body and soul into the sparsely arranged song, which she’s called her favorite off the album in interviews. It stays quiet …

Janelle Monáe: Hell You Talmbout

Janelle Monáe—a day after leading a Black Lives Matter march in Philadelphia—has released a new version of “Hell You Talmbout“—a bonus track from her most recent album The Electric Lady. A heartbreaking and powerful protest song, it is six minutes of military-style tattoo percussion with chants of “Say his/her name!” as the performers list victims of police brutality. Monáe—along with Deep Cotton, George 2.0, St …

Love Ssega: Minds

One of the founders of the electronic-meets-classical outfit Clean Bandit—who left to pursue his PhD in laser sensing—British-Ugandan singer Love Ssega returns to the music scene with the single “Minds.” From an upcoming EP (due to release in October) of the same name, “Minds” blends elements of funk, disco and pop together for something that’s bubbly and summery—with Love Ssega bouncing between spoken word, rap …