Wardruna (Einar Selvik center), Courtesy: Kim Ohrling. Einar Selvik was once known as “kvitravn,” which translates from old Norse to “the white raven.” That was back in his days as a drummer in the Norwegian black metal scene. Since the early 2000s, Selvik transitioned from black metal to something…

Songhoy Blues, Courtesy. At one point a decade ago, the members of Malian rock band Songhoy Blues weren’t allowed to play shows. The ban had nothing to do with pandemic shelter-in-place orders and everything with an Islamist group that had taken over northern parts of the country and imposed sharia law,…

Thanks to the new Disney+ film “Clouds,” Zach Sobiech‘s 2012 hit song of the same name is again at the top of streaming charts, seven years after it brought the 17-year-old and his songwriting partner, bandmate and best friend, Sammy Brown, international acclaim just before his death to a…

Nicki Nicole, Courtesy: Pull&Bear. Rising Argentine R&B and pop artist Nicki Nicole has taken the world by storm with her electrifying dance anthems. She broke out with debut single “Music Sessions #13,” with producer Bizarrap, which carried her to the stage of the first-ever Spotify Awards. Now she continues to…

Gaidaa, Courtesy: Segraphy. Just two years ago, Sudanese-born and Netherlands-based R&B singer-songwriter Gaidaa caught the attention of Dutch producer Full Crate with a cover of a Kehlani record. Full Crate would go one to work with her and launch the artist’s career. The 20-year-old is coming off the release of…

Lydia Loveless, Courtesy: Megan Toenyes. After crisscrossing the country in support of her 2016 album, Real, singer-songwriter Lydia Loveless was emotionally and physically spent. By that point, the alt-country artist had followed one critically acclaimed album (2014’s Somewhere Else) with another and toured with the likes of Lucinda Williams…

Rexx Life Raj photographed at the Berkeley Marina on Aug. 18, 2020. Matt Pang/STAFF. Additional photos by Pang and Karen Goldman/STAFF. Singer and rapper Rexx Life Raj has seen the world from quite a few angles in his life. From growing up in Berkeley and Vallejo, to playing offensive line…

Biffy Clyro, Courtesy: Ash Roberts. A Celebration of Endings, the new album from Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro ends with a screamo-prog-metal-funk journey “Cop Syrup,” on which singer-guitarist Simon Neil feverishly and repeatedly declares, “Fuck everyone! Whoo!” It may sound like the retort of someone who’s given up all hope,…

All We Are, Courtesy: Rebecca Hawley. From the Liverpool band’s home inside a 160-year-old decommissioned school near the center of the city, the three members of All We Are—all immigrants to England—have been watching how the last four years have seemed to turn the world from its axis. In…

VINCINT, Courtesy photo. Vincint Cannady was already a rising vocalist and didn’t want or need to compete on Fox’s “The Four” reality singing competition. The Philadelphia native, who blends his powerful pipes with soulful falsettos and huge dance hooks as VINCINT, twice rejected the show’s producers to try out.…