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“What am I to build, if my hands are broken, if I’m not the chosen one?” sings Steven McKellar of Civil Twilight on “Story of An Immigrant”, over a lush, dynamic beat that evokes the sounds of his native South Africa while steeped in the band’s everevolving present. The foursome (Steven, his brother and guitarist Andrew, drummer Richard Wouters and Kevin Dailey on keys and guitar) are living proof of what happens when you stop worrying about being the chosen one and make music built on both the roots that grew you and the love that keeps you thriving every day. Civil Twilight’s songs embrace every corner of human emotion, balancing delicate, poetic lyrics with sweeping arrangements that touch all the senses: a phrase to make you think; a rolling drumbeat you can feel in your bones; a guitar vamp as illustrative as a picture; a shimmer of keys whose light can nearly be seen and heard. Produced by Ben H. Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Bombay Bicycle Club, Cut Copy), their third record on Wind-Up is built on this vibrancy, on the permanent dust of a Cape Town youth; on the connection that unites them all as brothers beyond blood and on their new home in America where they pull from the innate, thriving musicianship of Nashville, where they live. When you listen to Civil Twilight, from their self-titled debut, to 2012’s widely lauded Holy Weather to now, it’s easy to understand why the band has topped five million YouTube views and reached historic success with film and television syncs – because it’s music you can’t shake, that translates experience into moments and creates melodies that become imbedded deep under the skin. We’re all immigrants, in some way, and Civil Twilight’s singing our national anthem.

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The Strokes ‘The New Abnormal’ Available 4.10.20 Pre-Order Now https://smarturl.it/TheNewAbnormal

Musically, the multiplatinum GRAMMY® Award-nominated trio of Southern California sisters Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim trace a winding path through genres and musical eras—similar to how Ventura Boulevard paves its way through a myriad of Los Angeles suburbs and neighborhoods. Since 2012, the group have made a mark on their own terms with eclectic songcraft in the studio and electrifying performances on stages worldwide. With five career GRAMMY® nominations to date, they became the first all-female band nominated for “Best Rock Album” with 2025’s I quit, and previously made history as the first all-female rock group nominated for “Album of the Year” for 2020’s critically acclaimed Women In Music Pt. III. Prior, they released the gold-certified Days Are Gone [2013] and Something To Tell You [2017]. Over the course of a decade, they have also notched two #1 debuts on the UK Albums Chart and two Top 10 entries on the Billboard 200. Haim’s highly anticipated fourth studio album, I quit, was released in June 2025. The deluxe version of the album features three new songs, including “Tie you down” with Bon Iver.

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