Rosalía has surprised her fans during these hard times with the release of “Dolerme” or “Hurt Me,” a heartbreaking ballad.
“Dolerme,” showcases Rosalía’s graceful search for balance between her traditional flamenco roots with a modern, pop-infused vibe. A simple acoustic guitar backs the track as she sings “Yo ya no sé for qué no quire dolerme/Acelero pa’ ver si consigo esterllarme/Quiero que lo vea’, no piense’ en detenerme/Asì demuestra’ que has podío’ olvidarme (I don’t know why it doesn’t want to hurt me/ I accelerate to see if I can crash/ I want you to see it and don’t think about stopping me/ So you show that you’ve been able to forget me.”
This definitely a new direction for the Spanish singer, but Rosaliá has proven her range, navigating from flamenco to reggaetón without losing her essence.
The album artwork features a drawing of a sad-faced woman lying on a bed next to a knife and a cat. It exudes a heartbreaking quality that accompanies the song’s tone, and has a certain Picasso Sleeper Near the Shutters aesthetic in blue.
She also included a note to her fans providing them with an update and a message of solidarity to help them through quarantine. Here’s the English translation:
“Many of us are in quarantine and not leaving our homes. I was in quarantine and I lost a bit of time because I decided that I was not going to think about it too much and that instead I was going to put my energy and my heart into doing something for others in my own way. I know what I do as an artist may seem expendable, for some it will be, but for me to be able to make music is good for my mental health. This song is called “Dolerme” and I hope it makes you feel a little better than I did when I made it. Please take care of yourself and take care of everyone you have around, with all my love.”
In January, Rosaliá released her single “Juro que,” which she performed at the 2020 Grammys. She also took home the award that night for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative album for her 2018 album EL MAL QUERER.
Happy Friday! The music world has blessed us with new music from our favorite artists once again. What’s a better way to kick start the weekend then new music? As COVID-19 continues to spread across the nation keeping us at home in self-quarantine, it’s the little things like a new single or new album that continue to lift our spirits during these dark times. Today NAV, Gunna, and Travis Scott have teamed up on a new single, and we have new albums from Dua Lipa, Comethazine, PARTYNEXTDOOR, and Jessie Reyez.
Turks (featuring Travis Scott)- NAV & Gunna
NAV, Gunna, and Travis Scott proved they were the perfect trifecta back in 2018 with track “YOSEMITE,” off LaFlame’s Astroworld. The trio is back today with their new single “Turks,” which had been previewed three times over the past couple of months, but had no official release date. Nav and Gunna decided to drop the Wheezy produced track after they appeared on Instagram live together. The three outline what their successes have brought them over a bouncy beat with melodic flow. It’s unclear yet whether the single will appear on a bigger project such as NAV’s third studio album, but for now we’re grateful to be enjoying the new track.
Future Nostalgia- Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa’s long awaited sophomore album Future Nostalgia, is a dazzling disco and funk-influenced pop masterpiece. Drawing inspiration from 80s and 90s pop-icons like Madonna, Oliva Newton-John, and Mariah Carey, Dua gives us an album with back-to-back dance tracks that are reminiscent of both the future and past, living up to it’s title. Dua Lipa is the pop icon we didn’t know we needed.
Pandemic-Comethazine
Image via Comethazine’s Instagram.
The album’s title is fitting considering the time we’re living in, but Comethazine actually picked the name prior to all the ongoing chaos. After watching the Netflix documentary Pandemic, the rapper felt inspired to write an album based on the end of the world. “I was on tour in Europe in February and started watching the documentary Pandemic in the hotel,” he explained. “It got me thinking about the end of the world and shit. The music I made for this album has that energy and fit perfectly.” Pandemic is a quick listen, with tracks spanning around two minutes. Each track is filled with lots of energy and low key clever bars, that showcase Comethazine at his most fast-paced ever.
PARTYMOBILE- PARTYNEXTDOOR
After years of teasers and multiple pushbacks PARTYNEXTDOOR has finally released his finally anticipated album PARTYMOBILE. This is his first release since his 2017 EP Seven Days.PARTYMOBILE spans 15 tracks, including “Believe It” featuring Rihanna, and the previously released songs “Split Decisions,” “The News,” “Loyal” featuring Drake, and the “Loyal (Remix) with Bad Bunny. “This album was inspired by the experience you get when riding in your car and you’re listening to music by yourself,” he said in a press release. “It is the soundtrack of those late night drives.” It’s an album where PARTYNEXTDOOR showcases his vulnerability, and emphasizes his voice and thoughts on modern love.
BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US- Jessie Reyez
Jessie Reyez’s debut album Before Love Came To Kill Us is finally here, and she’s holding nothing back. She immediately grabs our attention within the first few seconds singing “I should’ve F*cked your friends/It would have been the best revenge.” The album spans 14 tracks and includes features from Eminem and 6lack. The singer digs deep into her emotional core in this LP speaking on everything from heartbreak, to independence, to spearheading her own career and human nature, and even immigration on the track “Imported.”
The Weeknd has finally dropped his highly anticipated album, After Hours, keeping fans up after hours. Pun intended. As the coronavirus forces us all into a period of quarantine, self isolation, and uncertainty, the Weeknd offers a light in what feels like a dark time.
The LP spans 14 tracks and is completely featureless. Abel Tesfaye invites us to take a deeper look into his dark and somewhat paranoid universe, that is of course filled with distortion and drugs. There are also hints throughout of a much more mature and self reflective Abel, which may be due to the fact that he turned 30 last month.
Abel has clearly departed from his Starboy days, as the album is filled with moody records with retro and electronic inspired beats. The album starts off with gentle quieter songs that are synth-heavy. The album’s mood is set with tracks like the haunting “Alone Again,” and “Too Late,” which are filled with ominous keyboards and sinister sub-bass. We then shift into the aching “Hardest to Love,” followed by the slow ballad “Scared to Live,” before transitioning into the autobiographical “Snow Child.”
“Snow Child” and “Faith” are clearly standout tracks on the LP as they perfectly showcase what Abel has always been best at: creating a distorted reality with his muffled vocals. These two tracks along with “Escape From LA,” will leave his House of Balloon era fans very satisfied. The songs feature production from his day-one producer Illangelo, bringing back his 2010 tones.
On “Snow Child,” he makes reference to 2011’s “The Morning,” and 2015’s “Tell Your Friends,” where he used the line “Cali is the mission,” and now flips it to, “Cali was the mission now a n—- leaving.”
Now we’re 25 minutes into the album, and here comes the dance bangers we’ve all been waiting for. “Blinding Lights” and “Heartless” are probably the biggest hits of his career thus far. “In Your Eyes” and “Save your Tears” are filled with infectious 80s synth pop sounds, while “After Hours” house beats will find you dancing around your kitchen alone. Or maybe thats just me.
On “Repeat After Me (Interlude),” Kevin Parker helps Abel mellow things out again. On the Parker produced track, Abel sings delicately and sounds sweet over the layer of synth chords throughout. If you listen closely you can even here a Tame-Impala-like electronic squiggle or two.
The fun ends and the ominous atmosphere returns with the final track “Until I Bleed Out,” and what we presume to be an unhappy ending.
After Hours is clearly Abel’s best work. During this difficult time I’m sure we’ve all been leaning on music to get us through more than ever. The Weeknd offers us a perfect and brief escape from reality with After Hours.
As coronavirus continues to spread around the globe, famous actors, athletes and politicians have begun to test positive for the virus. Celebrities going public with their diagnoses has helped with destigmatization, and has put a face to the virus.
Many celebrities have shared the news of their diagnoses via social media and news conferences, and have been offering frequent updates on their symptoms and conditions.
Here is a complete list of public figures that have tested positive as of the afternoon of March 18.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson
Image via Tom Hank’s Instagram.
Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were the first to go public with their diagnoses. The Academy Award-Winning actor and his wife, went public about their diagnosis in a statement on March 11 while they were in Australia.
“We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches,” Hanks said on his Instagram. “Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers, too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive.”
They have since been released from hospitalization and are in self-isolation in order to avoid spreading the virus to others, and are “taking it one day at a time.”
Idris Elba
This morning I tested positive for Covid 19. I feel ok, I have no symptoms so far but have been isolated since I found out about my possible exposure to the virus. Stay home people and be pragmatic. I will keep you updated on how I’m doing 👊🏾👊🏾 No panic. pic.twitter.com/Lg7HVMZglZ
The actor posted a video on social media on Monday to announce that he had tested positive for coronavirus. “Listen, I’m doing Ok,” he said in the video, alongside his wife Sabrina. “I didn’t have any symptoms,” he added. Elba decided to get tested after he learned he had been in contact with someone who tested positive.
Rachel Matthews
Image via Rachel Matthew’s Instagram.
Actress Rachel Matthews best known as the voice of Honeymaren in Frozen II, shared her diagnosis via Instagram on Monday. The actress has been in quarantine since testing positive. “I’m feeling better,” she said. Matthews has been providing daily updates on her symptoms the past seven days, which have included sore throat, fatigue, shortness of breath, fevers, and loss of appetite.
Kristofer Hivju
Image by Getty Images, via Kristofer Hivju’s Instagram.
The “Game of Thrones” actor made the announcement that he had tested positive for the virus, along with his family, in an Instagram post on Monday. They have all remained in self-isolation since. “We are in good health-I only have mild symptoms of a cold,” he said. “Together we can fight this virus and avert a crisis at our hospitals.”
Olga Kurylenko
Image via Olga Kurylenko’s Instagram.
Actress Olga Kurylenko is best known for her role in the 2008 James Bond film “Quantum of Solace” and the “Magic City” television series. She posted on Instagram on Sunday to share the news that she had tested positive for the virus. “I’ve actually been ill for almost a week now,” she said. “Fever and fatigue are my main symptoms.” Kurylenko is still unaware of how she contracted the virus.
Kevin Durant
Image via Drake’s Instagram.
On Tuesday, the Brooklyn Nets announced that four of their players had tested positive for coronavirus, but refrained from naming who. Kevin Durant, went on to reveal that he was on of the four that had been infected. “Everyone be careful, take care of yourself and quarantine,” he said. “We’re going to get through this.”
Rapper Drake has reportedly been in self-quarantine since Durant tested positive. The two were seen hanging out last week.
Callum Hudson-Odoi
Image Via Hudson-Odoi’s Instagram.
The Chelsea Football Club player tested positive for the virus, and said on Instagram on Friday that he had recovered, but is still following health guidelines, including isolating himself from others. “I’m feeling good and hope to see you all soon,” he captioned his video.
Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell
Image Via Rudy Gobert’s Instagram.
Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, stars of the Utah Jazz, became the first NBA players to test positive for coronavirus, leading the league to freeze its season. Gobert apologized for making light of the health crisis before his diagnosis. “I was carless and make no excuses,” he said in an Instagram post.
Mitchell told “Good Morning America” that he feels “fine” and has not shown any symptoms. He went on to say that the test was unpleasant and made him cry. In an Instagram post, Mitchell said he hopes that everyone is educating themselves and “realize that they need to behave responsibly both for their own health and for the well-being of those around them.”
Francis Suarez
Image via Francis Suarez’s Instagram.
Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami, has become the first US elected official to test positive for coronavirus. “I feel completely healthy,” Suarez said in a video message. Mayor Suarez will remain in isolation, while governing the city remotely from home.
Suarez like other public figures has been posting daily updates on his condition. He has described a mix of symptoms including congestion, aches and cold sweats. The mayor decided to self-quarantine himself after he had been in close contact with a top advisor to President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, who has also tested positive for the virus.
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau
Image Via Sophie’s Instagram.
The wife of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, has tested positive for coronavirus. In a statement from the Prime Minister’s office on Thursday it said, “She is feeling well, is taking all the recommended precautions and her symptoms remain mild.” Trudeau himself has not shown any symptoms and will remain in self-isolation with his family, and work from home for the next 14 days.
Fiona Apple has been telling her fans that a new album is on the way for months now. Last Fall she teased a 2020 release date, in January she said she’d be ready “in a few months,” and earlier this month fans rejoiced when she finally announced she’d completed the long awaited LP.
Apple opened up in an interview with The New Yorker on Monday (March 16), about her fifth studio album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters. In the expansive profile she reveals that the album’s title came from a line she heard from Gillian Anderson‘s character in the British crime drama, The Fall. Her character, a lead detective, calls for the bolt cutters to unlock the door to a room where a young girl has been tortured. “Really, what it’s about is not being afraid to speak,” she told writer Emily Nussbaum.
The album was recorded at her home studio in Venice Beach over the past few years, with the 13 tracks being described as “raw and unslick” and “percussion heavy.”
The article teases songs like “The Drumset is Gone,” “Ladies,” “On I Go,” and “Newspaper,” which features vocals from her sister Amber on a lyric that goes like “It’s a shame, because you and I didn’t get a witness, we’re the only ones who know!” The title track features harmonizing vocals from supermodel Cara Delevingne.
The track “For Her,” was written shortly after Brett Kavanaugh‘s Supreme Court nomination hearings and features the line, “Good Mornin’!, Good Mornin’! You raped me in the same bed your daughter was born in.”
Apple also recalls her experience quitting cocaine after “one excruciating night” several years ago at Quentin Tarantino‘s house with the director and her then boyfriend Paul Thomas Anderson. “Every addict should just get locked in a private movie theatre with QT and PTA on coke,” she jokes, “and they’ll never want to do it again.”
The album still has no official release date, but we hope we get to enjoy it some time soon. Her 1999 album When the Pawn Hits... will be reissued on vinyl, replacing its original Paul Thomas Anderson-shot cover art. Read the entire New Yorker article here.
