Premiere: “Second Nature” by Thin Lear

Dejected puppets and daydreams in this music video made with Moscow-based artist FaceHeads

New Queens-based band Thin Lear, headed by Matt Longo, requested the talents of Renaissance man FaceHeads (aka Moscow-based artist Dmitry Kopytin) to create visuals for their song “Second Nature.” The carefully produced light classic rock tune is assembled from “half-thoughts and the repetition of words that keep changing their meaning, to replicate the way memories are constantly taking on different meaning,” Longo tells CH. Leaving …

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Junior Boys mesmerize, Big Freedia goes melodic and a Sufjan Stevens demo in this week's musical round-up

Sufjan Stevens: Chicago (Demo) More than a decade after the release of Illinois, an album that would embed the name Sufjan Stevens into the brains of indie music fans, the multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter has revealed an official demo version of “Chicago,” the LP’s most successful track. More than a throwback to a wildly popular song that came to represent the early 2000s for some, the demo …

Premiere: “Marionettes” by Daphne Guinness

The masked muse gets darkly personal in this song and video production

British-Irish fashion muse Daphne Guinness (of the Irish dry stout family), known for appearing in heel-less hoof shoes and haute couture pieces, does her bravest public act yet with the release of her first-ever album Optimist in Black, arriving later this May. Singing has been something that’s been kept close and personal, ever since giving up her spot at London’s music academy Guildhall. Decades later, …