Angela Perley hasn’t changed her sound, but she definitely feels a new sense of freedom on 4:30, the Ohio singer-songwriter’s first album outside of her band the Howlin’ Moons. Perly’s video for the rocking track “Let Go” is premiering exclusively via Billboard today (July 30).
Shawn Colvin’s new video for “Ricochet in Time” is a time trip for the veteran singer-songwriter. The song, which Billboard premieres the video for exclusively below, is from the upcoming 30th-anniversary acoustic version of her Grammy Award-winning debut album Steady On.
Turning Old Testament tales into contemporary parables is no easy feat, and the duo Joanie & Matt — releasing its sophomore album, Sterling, on July 19 — take the concept in a particularly provocative direction with the title track, whose video premieres exclusively below.
“Sterling” was inspired by the story of Tamar, who was raped by her half-brother Amnon in 2 Samuel. Joanie & Matt’s song, sung from Tamar’s viewpoint rather than the Bible’s third-person, is #MeToo timely, sung from the perspective of both a woman and a victim — a voice that’s not at all found in the Bible and other ancient religious texts.
Joslyn Hampton is certainly an animated performer when she fronts the Lexington, Ky., R&B troupe Joslyn & the Sweet Compression. And now, thanks to the video for the group’s new song “What Did You Think Was Gonna Happen,” premiering exclusively below, Hampton is literally animated.
“My first reaction was, ‘Oh, this is cool.’ Then I did a double-take and went, ‘Wow, this IS kind of interesting to look at someone else’s perception or interpretation of me as a cartoon’,” Hampton tells Billboard. “I thought it was an interesting little character, pretty neat. It’s a very fun video.”
The right collaborator proved key in bringing about the first new Drivin N Cryin album in a decade — Live the Love Beautiful, whose “Step By Step” video (animated by DJ Edwards) is premiering exclusively below.
DNC hasn’t been entirely idle during that time on the recording front; The group did release four EPs and a remastered, retitled edition of its self-titled 1997 album during the interim since 2009’s The Great American Bubble Factory. But frontman Kevn Kinney tells Billboard the idea of another full-length was daunting. “It’s crazy, because I can do a five-song EP in four days, three days, but for some reason it takes me months to make those four more songs that turn it into an album,” Kinney notes with a laugh. “I really loved the EP thing, and I was trying to wrap my head around making an album again. It’s crazy, but that’s why you have a producer — and luckily I did not have to produce this one.”
Rebecca Mimiaga certainly isn’t the only musician, or person for that matter, who has ambivalent feelings about social media. But in her guise as Louiza she has forum to vent — which is exactly what the eclectic San Francisco-area singer-songwriter does on “Alone,” premiering exclusively below from the upcoming Louiza sophomore album Swim At Night.