Spencer Tweedy: Everyday Apostle

Three years after his debut EP, Chicago’s Spencer Tweedy has released Sleep Is My God. This new four-track EP segues from one pithy folk-rock track to another. It’s cohesive, artful and begins with “Everyday Apostle,” our pick from the release. There are traces of Elliott Smith here but altogether it’s refreshingly Tweedy.

Cage the Elephant + Beck: Night Running

Ahead of Beck and Cage the Elephant’s co-headlining tour—and the latter’s upcoming album Social Cues (out 19 April)—”Night Running” offers up groovy afterparty moves. The incredibly prolific Beck co-wrote the dub-reggae tune with the band’s Matt and Brad Shultz—who’d been toying with it for years. Beck sent over his verses in 24 hours. It’s an inspired collaboration and hints at the fun the tour will …

CHAI: Curly Adventure

A jubilant and uplifting tune by Japanese four-piece CHAI, “Curly Adventure” was released a couple of weeks ago and now has a delightful animated video to match. Directed by Sean Solomon, the video is just as pleasant and playful as the song itself—a glorious track in which J-pop meets indie and rock. The song is about freedom and changing mindsets, with a lyric loosely translating …