Prince: Manic Monday

While it’s fairly common pop knowledge that Prince wrote “Manic Monday”—which ended up being a breakout tune for The Bangles—almost nobody (except the band) had heard his 1984 demo, until now. Along with archival footage of Prince rehearsing for his Purple Rain tour (which occurred the same year he wrote “Manic Monday,” and countless other songs), the original version has been released—some 35 years later. …

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Captivating electronic work from Flume, a track with 100+ featured vocals, a poignant debut and more new music

Bat For Lashes: Kids In The Dark From her new album Lost Girls—the follow-up to 2016’s The Bride—comes  “Kids in the Dark” by Bat For Lashes (aka Natasha Khan). Immediately recognizable as Khan’s mesmerizing, haunting style of dream-pop, “Kids in the Dark” is luminous, and ’80s-inflected. The record (out 6 September on AWAL Recordings) is said to be inspired by and an homage to Los …

Erykah Badu + James Poyser: Tempted (Squeeze Cover)

Created for Record Store Day, The Roots’ James Poyser and Erykah Badu’s cover of Squeeze’s 1981 classic “Tempted” is a soulful, jazzy and breezy rendition. The arrangement—which includes sparkling percussion and backing musicians including Derrick Hodge, Ali Jackson and Mike Feingold—is layered and lush. Badu’s seemingly effortless vocals are also backed by Thundercat. The record is available in a limited release of 3,500 and is …