Alice Merton, courtesy Elias Koehler. Alice Merton never harbored dreams of superstardom. Then, “No Roots” came along and accelerated her music career in unexpected ways. But along with the success and radio airplay, it brought pressure. Fans were suddenly expecting an album, and she only had a handful of…

24kGoldn, courtesy. In the first Tuesday Tracks of 2024, we listen to new music from a local artist, instrumental hip-hop, psychedelia, Brazilian- and Tokyo-inspired house music, and even travel back in time with a tune that’s reminiscent of ’80s pop and ’60s rock. It’s a brand new leap year…

The best albums of 2022 include Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Banks, Sondre Lerche, Ghost, The Black Keys, Alice Merton, Omar Apollo, Coheed and Cambria, Pusha T, Tears for Fears, Nova Twins and Florence and the Machine. After poring over hundreds of our own album reviews and hundreds more albums…

Alice Merton, courtesy. On first glance, it would seem obvious that the sophomore album from singer-songwriter Alice Merton is about a breakup. In fact, it’s about two of them. S.I.D.E.S. Alice Merton Paper Plane/Mom+Pop, Out now On the surface, Merton tries to get to the other side of a…

Alice Merton, courtesy. In the video for “Vertigo,” Alice Merton finds herself trying to escape an grungy industrial underground dystopia, only to find herself ensnared by numerous seedy characters. But while the song shares its name with a classic Hitchcock film, and the video certainly includes noir-ish shadows and…

Clockwise from top left: Deerhoof, Xibalba, Brutus, AWOLNATION with Alice Merton, Soft Plastics and The Seshen. Every week, there’s a plethora of new music at our fingertips. Artists on platforms like Spotify and Bandcamp are plentiful, and the radio offers a steady deluge of new singles, but who has…

Clockwise from top left: Alice Merton, Jenny Hval, Jpegmafia, Jessica Pratt, Kingfish, Kim Petras, Cate Le Bon, Swans, Ty Segall and Bad Wolves. We’ve reached the halfway point of RIFF’s top 50 albums list! It only get harder from here, but we can certainly guarantee a wealth of quality…

Clockwise from top left: Alice Merton, The Midnight Hour (Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge) featuring Loren Odeon, Grace Carter, Louis Prince, Basement Revolver and Harrison Storm. Every week, there’s a plethora of new music at our fingertips. Artists on platforms like Spotify and Bandcamp are plentiful, and the…

Young the Giant perform at the Hearst Greek Theatre in Berkeley on Aug. 15, 2019. Photos: Martin Lacey. BERKELEY — Young the Giant and Fitz and the Tantrums brought their co-headlining tour to the Hearst Greek Theatre Thursday evening; the penultimate performance of a tour that has crisscrossed the…

Alice Merton. Courtesy Paper Plane Records. Alice Merton still gets anxious to the point of nausea before performing. More than a year since the release of snowballing worldwide hit “No Roots,” which quickly reached the top spot on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart, the Berlin-based Anglophile songwriter still faces bouts of…