MUSIC

T. Thomason Releases Joyful Video for "Birdsong"

The Canadian singer released the music video for his new track, a small and powerful meditation on bodies and transformation.

Meghan Tansey Whitton

In an exclusive Popdust premiere, Canadian artist T. Thomason shares the new video for his latest single, "Birdsong."

Keep ReadingShow less
TV

Top 8 Celebrity Lip Sync Battles, Ever

Anne Hathaway really did that.

Twitter Queen Chrissy Teigen

Photo by Kristin Callahan-Shutterstock

If you haven't seen clips of Lip Sync Battle, then you probably haven't been down a YouTube rabbit hole at 3 AM while elbow-deep in a family-sized bag of Cheese Nipz.

If that's the case, good for you, you functional member of society. Now follow me to Wonderland, motherf*cker.

Keep ReadingShow less
Photo by Sq Lim (Unsplash)

We are not worthy of dogs.

They're loving, funny, loyal, and perfectly compatible with our desire to document and post everything on the Internet. In fact, one might argue that the Internet's surplus of dog and cat videos is one of the best things about living in our technologically overloaded 21st century. Their excesses of fluff and wide-eyed, unconditional love are salves for all our human faults.

In honor of #InternationalDogDay, here are seven of the best dog videos of all time.

Keep ReadingShow less
MUSIC

A Brand-New Song, and All the Snippets Lana Del Rey Has Released from "Norman F**king Rockwell"

Fans are calling this the "messiest" Lana era ever. But it also could be the best, judging by the quality of the music. Here's everything we know.

Photo by M. on Unsplash

In January 2019, Lana Del Rey told the world that her sixth album, Norman F**king Rockwell, was complete.

Since then, she's teased dozens of songs and visual clips—but the album's release date remains elusive, infuriating legions of devoted fans.

It's unclear whether the album is still undergoing a prolonged period of revision, if she's decided to scrap the whole thing, or if it's all beyond her control, though it's always hard to know with Del Rey, who has never been one to follow rules. Still, she's certainly given fans a fair amount of teasers to hold them over in the interim. Here's a timeline of every quote, whispered clip, and blurry visual we have so far.

In January 2018, in an interview withPitchfork, Lana mentioned that one of her newest songs was called "Bartender," and described it as "super weird."

Then on February 25, Del Rey uploaded a video that featured her hanging out with Jack Antonoff, prompting later-confirmed suspicion that they were working together on a new project.

On February 28, Del Rey visited the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, where she began writing a song called "Starry Eyed" on ukulele, which she promised to finish and dedicate to the foundation; it's also unclear whether this song will be on the album.

Live in Seacrest Studios with Lana Del Reywww.youtube.com

On March 5, 2018, Del Rey first teased the lyrics of a song called "Happiness is a Butterfly," a lullaby-like sigh of a track that has continued to reappear throughout Norman Fucking Rockwell's forked pathway to release. On March 30, she released a snippet of the song on Instagram, which she later removed and then un-archived.

On June 12, MTV released a list of upcoming albums, which featured an obviously false March 29 release date for Norman Fucking Rockwell.

A few months later, Del Rey teased and then premiered the psychedelic, Leonard-Cohen-quoting "Mariner's Apartment Complex," which was released on September 12.


Lana Del Rey - Mariners Apartment Complexwww.youtube.com

Then on September 18, she released the equally trippy, luxurious "Venice Bitch" on an interview with Zane Lowe for Beats 1. [links] Regarding the song's length, Del Rey said, "I played it for my managers and I was like, 'Yeah, I think this is the single I want to put out.' And they were like, 'It's 10 minutes long. Are you kidding me? It's called 'Venice Bitch.' Like, Why do you do this to us? Can you make a three-minute normal pop song?' I was like, 'Well, end of summer, some people just wanna drive around for 10 minutes [and] get lost in some electric guitar.'"

Lana Del Rey - Venice Bitchwww.youtube.com

In the same Zane Lowe interview, Del Rey also said, "Working with Jack [Antonoff], I was in a little bit of a lighter mood because he was so funny. So the title track is called 'Norman Fucking Rockwell' and it's kind of about this guy who is such a genius artist but he thinks he's the shit and he knows it and he, like, won't shut up talking about it… I just like the title track so much that I was like, 'OK, I definitely want the record to also be called that."

Several music sites later reported that these singles were "fan singles" and would not be on the actual album, though Del Rey has not confirmed this speculation.

Then on October 4, Del Rey posted an extended video of "How to Disappear," which she later deleted and subsequently unarchived.

On October 12, Del Rey posted a clip of her singing a song called "Cinnamon" on Instagram, which she later deleted and then reposted as well.

In response, a fan Instagram account posted a 2017 quote from an interview withPitchforkwhere Lana stated, "I had some people in my life that made me a worse person. I was not sure if I could step out of that box of familiarity, which was having a lot of people around me who had a lot of problems and feeling like that was home base. Because it's all I know. I spent my whole life reasoning with crazy people. I felt like everyone deserved a chance, but they don't. Sometimes you just have to step away without saying anything."

Del Rey commented on the post, "the quote [from Pitchfork] is a perfect quote to go along with cinnamon [sic]. Some people don't deserve a chance."

On October 30, Del Rey performed "How to Disappear" and "Venice Bitch" at an Apple special event in Brooklyn, a show that was widely praised by fans including CEO Tim Cook.

Lana Del Rey - How to Disappear and Venice Bitch Live at Apple Event 2018www.youtube.com

She also released the full audio for "How to Disappear."

On December 5, she officially announced the album's title at Jack Antonoff's concert for the Ally Foundation and performed two country songs which she announced would not be on the new album.

Lana Del Rey - Hey Blue Baby [Live at Ally Coalition Talent Show]www.youtube.com


Lana Del Rey and Jack Antonoff - Ally Coalition Talent Show “I Must Be Stupid For Feeling So Happy"www.youtube.com

On January 1, 2019, Del Rey posted a video of her singing along to a song called "In Your Car," featuring the lyrics "In your car / I'm a star / and I'm burning through you."

The next day, she posted the audio for her song "Hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have — but I have it."

Lana Del Rey - hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - but i have itwww.youtube.com

Producer Jack Antonoff tweeted his support, advising fans to "listen at night alone."

Then on January 11, 2019, she released an extended clip of a video for "Happiness is a Butterfly," which used the same visuals she had previously released alongside teasers for "Mariner's Apartment Complex" and "Venice Bitch." The video, relatively dreary and mellow compared to Del Rey's earlier work, featured Ashley Rodriguez and Alexandria Kaye and was directed by Lana Del Rey's sister Chuck Grant.

On March 23, 2019, Del Rey performed "Mariner's Apartment Complex" live for the first time in New Orleans, taking to an onstage swing and thanking the audience for "indulging [her] little folk sensibility" in the process.

Lana Del Rey @ Buku 2019 (Mariners Apartment Complex, Video Games, High by the Beach)www.youtube.com

Most recently, on April 3, 2019, Del Rey posted a snippet of a song that fans have named "You Don't Ever Have To." Some fans speculated that it's a part of "In Your Car," but this remains unknown.

In the midst of it all, she also released a Gucci ad with Jared Leto and has been teasing a book of her poetry, periodically releasing haikus and typewritten pages and even putting out a call for indie bookstores who might want to sell it. When asked about the price, Del Rey said that the book will cost $1, because "my words are priceless."

It's anyone's guess as to when Norman F**king Rockwell will drop, but Del Rey has always been adept at draping all of her work in auras of mystery. She's a master of contrasts, always throwing critics for a loop by combining kitsch and rawness, strength and vulnerability, apathy and passion. She's also always been great at making us wonder about the extent to which her appearance and art have been meticulously manufactured.

Maybe she's leaving a paper trail of sorts that resembles her own fractured consciousness. Maybe she's painting our schizophrenic reality, one defined by upheaval and exponential technological innovation. Or maybe she's just a free spirit whose artistic vision "gets messy" when it comes in contact with reality, as a friend once said.

Regardless, judging by the quality of the fragments that we do have, when the album finally does appear, it'll have been worth the wait.


Eden Arielle Gordon is a writer and musician from New York City. Find her on Twitter @edenarielmusic.


POP⚡DUST | Read More...

Beyoncé Walks Out of Reebok Pitch Meeting, Citing Lack of Diversity

Every Time Jameela Jamil Has Taken Down the Kardashians' Toxic Diet Culture

Six Songs About Fluid Sexuality More Outrageous Than Ariana's or Billie Eilish's

TV Reviews

"The Masked Singer" Is America's Favorite Joke

With 10 million viewers tuning in, this Donnie Darko nightmare of a singing competition has claimed the ratings' top spot.

Nick Cannon at the America's Got Talent Judges Photocall

Photo by Kathy Hutchins (Shutterstock)

Every contestant on The Masked Singer is a cross between a Vegas showgirl and the monster under your childhood bed.

Keep ReadingShow less
FILM & TV

RECAP | The Voice Comes Back for Its 15th Season

Our favorite bickering Voice veterans Blake Shelton and Adam Levine are joined by Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson

It's hard to believe that The Voice is on its 15th season, but here we are.

The two hour season premiere boasted all of our favorite parts of the show — playful banter between the judges, tear-jerking sob stories by contestants, and of course, an epic episode finale with the revered four chair turn.

The episode starts off with a longer title sequence — a playful short that feature the judges as superheros being called for their jobs. We find Kelly Clarkson on tour, Jennifer Hudson in the studio, Blake Shelton on a porch, and finally, Adam Levine driving around in a vintage car. After that, we get a round-up of key events this season with an obvious emotional undertone of "chasing your dreams."

First up, we have Sarah Grace, a 15-year-old with synesthesia from Houston who loves the blues — she sang "Ball and Chain" by Janis Joplin and turned the first chair of the evening by Clarkson. Shelton and Hudson followed after, but Levine did not. After a scene of seemingly forced banter between the judges that was longer than the actual performance, Sarah Grace picked Clarkson.

We were also introduced to the "fifth judge," country singer Kelsea Ballerini, who will host The Comeback Stage — an online show that picks six artists that don't make it past the blind auditions to compete for a spot in the finals.

Next up, we have Tyshawn Colquitt from Cincinnati — he owns Pound4Sound with his mom, a business in which he delivers pound cake with a song. The 23-year-old sang "Like I Can" by Sam Smith and caught the eye of both Hudson and Shelton. In the end, he picked Hudson and gifted pound cake to all the judges.

After Colquitt left, Tyke James from Laie, Hawaii took the stage — the 17-year-old, laid back surfer dude sang "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran and signed with Levine, the only judge that turned. James was also met by weird, flirty remarks from Clarkson and Hudson.

Ayanna Joni, a 29-year-old from Yonkers, was the first no-turn contestant of the night. Joni had a career on the rise, but when pregnant with her daughter at 18, decided to focus on her child instead. The former girl group singer performed "Sorry Not Sorry" by Demi Lovato and was the first contestant chosen for The Comeback Stage.

Mercedes Ferreira-Dias already competed once last season — the 17-year-old from Miami came back to sing "She Used To Be Mine" by Sara Bareilles and turned both Shelton and Clarkson. In the end, she picked Shelton, but seemed to be under some pressure to.

We're then introduced to "blocks" — the practice that one judge can prohibit a contestant from choosing another one.

Next up is Radha, a 19-year-old from Jersey City who does live performances and music videos in her free time. She sings "Mamma Knows Best" by Jessie J and turns Levine first, who blocks Hudson even though she turns, and also Shelton. In the end, she picks Levine — but she tells us that she would've picked Hudson, which seems like the judges are playing with the dreams of these contestants.

In the second half, country singer Kameron Marlowe sings "One Number Away" by Luke Combs and turned both Clarkson and obviously, Shelton. In the end she picks Shelton, but Clarkson gets the next country singer, Mikele Buck who sang "She Used To Be Mine" by Brooks & Dunn.

Sam Hastings was the second no-turn of the evening, singing "Angela" by The Lumineers. Patrique Fortson then came on and performed "Get Here" by Oleta Adams and turned both Levine and Hudson. Having sang gospel since he was seven, Fortson picked Hudson.

The last spectacle of the night was 13 year old Kennedy Holmes who sang "Turning Tables" by Adele. Of course, she gets all four chairs turned and the audience has a field day watching the judges fight over her. In the end, Hudson plays the "get on stage and sing with the contestant" trick and gets Holmes on her team.

The Blind Auditions will continue tonight on NBC and you can watch this episode on their website.


Amber Wang is a freelancer for Popdust, Gearbrain and various other sites. She is also a student at NYU, a photographer and a marketing intern.


POP⚡DUST | Read More ...

Philadelphia Flyers Welcome a New Orange Mascot

Suge Knight Pleads No Contest to Manslaughter

PlayStation to Release Mini Version of Original Model