Gorillaz's Cosmopolitan Wake and the New Indie [Stereo Current]

[00:00] Julian Vance: From Neural Newscast, this is Stereo Current, sound, culture, and the systems that shape them. [00:05] Sloane Rivera: The needle drops, the dust clears, and the frequency finds you. [00:12] Sloane Rivera: Welcome to Stereo Current. I am Sloan Rivera. [00:16] Julian Vance: And I am Julian Vance. It's February 22nd, 2026, and we're coming to you from the warm glow of the analog heart. [00:25] Julian Vance: Sloan, it's been a week of heavy ghosts and very bright futures. [00:30] Sloane Rivera: That's a delicate balance to strike, Julian. [00:33] Sloane Rivera: We're oscillating between the funeral pyres of legends and the first cries of solo reinventers. [00:39] Sloane Rivera: It feels like the industry is shedding its skin in real time. [00:42] Julian Vance: Exactly. We've got the return of Eugene McGinnis, some Mori Cohn sampling disco from Jesse Ware, and a major statement from the Gorilla's Camp that feels less like a record and more like a global wake. [00:55] Sloane Rivera: Um, before we get to the icons, let's talk about the sound of a fever dream, Julian. [01:01] Sloane Rivera: Cameron Picton, formerly of Black Middy, has finally broken his silence. [01:06] Sloane Rivera: He's heading a new collective with the rather cheekily literal name, My New Band Believe. [01:12] Julian Vance: I love the origin story on this one. [01:15] Julian Vance: Apparently, the name came to him while he was battling a sudden illness in a Chinese hotel room, [01:20] Julian Vance: just like ribbons of scrambled text and weird imagery. [01:24] Julian Vance: It's very Picton, turning delirium into art. [01:27] Sloane Rivera: The album is self-titled, Out April 10th on Rough Trade. [01:32] Sloane Rivera: They've dropped a track called Numerology that's actually not even on the standard LP. [01:37] Sloane Rivera: It's this exclusive bonus energy that feels very record store clerk's secret handshake. [01:43] Sloane Rivera: It's erratic, it's brilliant, and it reminds us why that whole South London scene changed the game a few years back. [01:50] Julian Vance: Speaking of changing the game, let's talk about the mountain. [01:55] Julian Vance: Gorillas are back, but this isn't just Damon Albard and Jamie Hewlett playing in their cartoon sandbox. [02:01] Julian Vance: This is a noble send-off. [02:03] Sloane Rivera: Right. Michael Tetter over at SPI called it a hell of a wake. [02:08] Sloane Rivera: They're celebrating collaborators who've passed. [02:10] Sloane Rivera: Mark E. Smith, De La Soule's Trugoy, Bobby Womack, Tony Allen. [02:16] Sloane Rivera: It's heavy on the heart, but Julian, the production sounds absolutely cosmopolitan. [02:21] Julian Vance: It's a world tour in 80 minutes. [02:24] Julian Vance: You've got Bizarap bringing that Argentine EDM energy, and then you have the empty dream machine, [02:30] Julian Vance: which is a wild pairing of Black Thought, Johnny Marr, and Anushka Shankar. [02:35] Julian Vance: It shouldn't work, but Elbarn's utopian streak somehow glues the grief together. [02:41] Sloane Rivera: It's that late period optimism. [02:44] Sloane Rivera: He's nearing 60, and suddenly he's more interested in bridging cultural gaps than being the cynical critic of modern life is rubbish. [02:54] Sloane Rivera: Though I did catch that note about the sweet prince sounding like something you'd buy at a Starbucks. [02:59] Sloane Rivera: A little too polite for the gorillas, maybe. [03:02] Julian Vance: Maybe, but then they drop Damascus with Omar Suleiman and Yassim Bey, and you remember, [03:09] Julian Vance: they can still set the dance floor on fire. [03:11] Julian Vance: It's a record that proves art is the only thing that actually survives the finality of death. [03:17] Sloane Rivera: Julian, while we're on the subject of reinvention... [03:20] Sloane Rivera: And Julia Cumming of Sunflower Bean has officially stepped out on her own. [03:25] Sloane Rivera: Her debut solo album, Julia, is landing April 24th via Partisan. [03:30] Sloane Rivera: The first single, My Life is already making waves, partly because the video was directed [03:35] Sloane Rivera: by none other than Edgar Wright. [03:37] Julian Vance: Wait, what? [03:39] Julian Vance: Sloan, it's such a liberation track. [03:41] Julian Vance: She's calling it the ultimate anti-cool album. [03:45] Julian Vance: She's leaning into that joyous space for the misfits. [03:48] Julian Vance: Recorded it in LA with Chris Cody and Brian Robert Jones. [03:51] Julian Vance: Even Nick Zinner from the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah's popped in. [03:54] Sloane Rivera: It's a far cry from the guitar-heavy grit of Sunflower Bean. [03:59] Sloane Rivera: She's citing Carol King and Brian Wilson. [04:03] Sloane Rivera: It's refined, but it's got that rebellious middle school girl who doesn't fit in energy. [04:09] Sloane Rivera: I think it's going to be one of the definitive releases of the spring. [04:13] Julian Vance: If we're talking about spring anthems, we have to mention Jesse Ware. [04:17] Julian Vance: She just shared Ride from her upcoming album Super Bloom. [04:21] Julian Vance: It's a disco western. [04:23] Julian Vance: She's literally interpolating Ennio Morricone's theme from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. [04:28] Sloane Rivera: It's cheeky, Julian. [04:29] Sloane Rivera: Cinematic and powerful. [04:32] Sloane Rivera: She's been sitting on this since 2024 when she first played it at Glastonbury. [04:36] Sloane Rivera: Pairing the desert whistle of a spaghetti western with a four-on-the-floor beat [04:41] Sloane Rivera: It's exactly the kind of high-concept escapism we need right now. [04:46] Julian Vance: It feels like she's digging deeper. [04:48] Julian Vance: She's moved past just the pop star drag and is exploring the fear of losing the love she's found. [04:54] Julian Vance: It's textured. [04:56] Julian Vance: It's got that Stuart Price polish, but with a very human heart. [04:59] Sloane Rivera: Um, let's take a sharp turn into the avant-garde. [05:04] Sloane Rivera: Have you seen the new Fur Trapper video? [05:06] Sloane Rivera: Yeah. [05:06] Sloane Rivera: Lisa Riffle has released Rot for Spite, and the visuals are this haunting claymation universe created by her sister, Carla Riffle. [05:19] Sloane Rivera: It's very Havisham-esque. [05:21] Julian Vance: That's surprising. [05:23] Julian Vance: It's Baroque art pop at its most twisted. [05:26] Julian Vance: The track sounds like it's being played by a coin-operated mechanism. [05:30] Julian Vance: It's wickedly ornate. [05:32] Julian Vance: Right. [05:32] Julian Vance: Lisa is exploring the psychology of being slighted, how misanthropy can become a self-built cell. [05:39] Julian Vance: It's not exactly radio-friendly in the traditional sense, but it is absolutely magnetic. [05:45] Sloane Rivera: It's that fringe territory. [05:47] Sloane Rivera: If you miss the Dresden dolls or the legendary pink dots, this is your new obsession. [05:53] Sloane Rivera: And speaking of magnetic, the Los Angeles virtuoso, Bebe, just released two moons with London producer Paul Elliott. [06:03] Sloane Rivera: It's a lunar New Year celebration that bridges 2,500 years of tradition with analog sins. [06:11] Julian Vance: The way she uses the gujang and gucci against those tactile lo-fi rhythms, it's a unified ecosystem. [06:19] Julian Vance: Gaoshan Electronica is a standout for me. [06:22] Julian Vance: It's lively and effervescent. [06:23] Julian Vance: It doesn't feel like a fusion gimmick. [06:25] Julian Vance: It feels like... [06:26] Julian Vance: The instruments were always meant to live together in this cinematic ambient space. [06:31] Sloane Rivera: It's the sound of ancient heritage meeting modern technology, without losing its soul. [06:37] Sloane Rivera: A rare feat. [06:39] Julian Vance: Sloan, we have to talk about the creative handbrake. [06:42] Julian Vance: There's a fascinating and polarizing discussion happening over at ANR Factory about universal [06:48] Julian Vance: basic income in the UK music industry. [06:51] Sloane Rivera: Amelia Vandergaskis, it's a biting take on the hustle culture that's suffocating artists. [06:57] Sloane Rivera: She argues that the UK music scene is running on adrenaline and overdrafts, and that UBI could be the thing that finally lets musicians breathe. [07:06] Julian Vance: The argument is that security breeds participation, not idleness. [07:11] Julian Vance: It's a direct challenge to the myth that people won't work if they have a basic floor. [07:15] Julian Vance: For musicians who already work obscene hours for free, it would mean they could tour without calculating if petrol money means skipping a meal. [07:24] Sloane Rivera: It's about who gets to tell stories. [07:27] Sloane Rivera: Right now, the pipeline is filtered by class. [07:30] Sloane Rivera: If you don't have family money or a safety net, you're squeezed out by rent and zero-hour contracts. [07:35] Sloane Rivera: tracks, UBI would flatten those edges. [07:39] Sloane Rivera: It's a radical idea, especially in a political climate that treats handouts like a dirty [07:44] Sloane Rivera: word. [07:45] Sloane Rivera: But maybe it's the only way to save the soul of the scene from the algorithmic creep [07:51] Sloane Rivera: of AI. [07:51] Julian Vance: It's a conversation we need to have before the ground shifts completely. [07:56] Julian Vance: Security shouldn't be a luxury for the creative class. [08:00] Sloane Rivera: Before we sign off, a few quick rotations you shouldn't miss. [08:03] Sloane Rivera: Eugene McGinnis is back with Icarus. [08:07] Sloane Rivera: It's his first real move since leaving Domino years ago. [08:10] Sloane Rivera: It's got this trademark smirk, glossy confidence, and a tape groove. [08:14] Sloane Rivera: He's comparing his career trajectory to the myth, but with a wink. [08:18] Julian Vance: And check out Two Fly Guys by Realism. [08:21] Julian Vance: She's the first Filipino rap artist in the U.S. [08:24] Julian Vance: And this track is a soul-rich hip-hop meditation. [08:27] Julian Vance: Very woozy guitars, very kicked-back bars. [08:31] Julian Vance: It's short... [08:32] Julian Vance: sweet, and deeply intimate. [08:34] Sloane Rivera: And South End on Seas, the trusted, just dropped spin. [08:38] Sloane Rivera: It's a rush of jangly guitars and sun-soaked indie pop, [08:42] Sloane Rivera: pure festival energy for when the weather finally catches up to our moods. [08:46] Julian Vance: The scene is alive, Sloan, whether it's coming from a Chinese hotel room or a clayamation studio, [08:53] Julian Vance: the signal is strong. [08:54] Sloane Rivera: It always is if you know where to listen. [08:57] Sloane Rivera: That's our show for today. I'm Sloan Rivera. [08:59] Julian Vance: And I'm Julian Vance. Keep your records clean and your mind open. We'll see you tomorrow on Stereocurrent. [09:06] Julian Vance: Neural Newscast is AI-assisted, human-reviewed. View our AI transparency policy at neuralnewscast.com. [09:13] Julian Vance: Check us out at stereocurrent.neuralnewscast.com. [09:16] Julian Vance: This has been Stereocurrent on Neural Newscast. Sound, culture, and the systems that shape them.