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  • The Lumineers Preview Fifth Studio Album, ‘Automatic,’ With Rollicking ‘Same Old Song’ Single

The Lumineers Preview Fifth Studio Album, ‘Automatic,’ With Rollicking ‘Same Old Song’ Single

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Alt-folk duo The Lumineers have announced that the release date for their upcoming fifth studio album, Automatic, which is due out on February 14 on Dualtone. The Denver group comprised of singer/guitarist Wesley Schultz and drummer Jeremiah Fraites previewed their follow-up to 2022’s Brightside on Tuesday (Jan. 7) with the LP’s rollicking first single, “Same Old Song.”

“Hey Mama would you pay my rent/ Would you let me crash in your basement/ ‘Cause anyone of us could make it big or could end up dead on the pavement/ And if i was to die/ If the plane went down and you survived,” Schultz sings over Fraites’ insistent, metronomic beat.

The track then soars to a yearning, aching peak on the chorus, on which Schultz keens, “Same old song/ We sing the same old song/ We sing the same old, same old song.” The song’s release was accompanied by a video directed by filmmaker Anaïs LaRocca (Hundred Waters), in which the pair perform it on a soundstage backed by evocative VHS-like videos echoing the lyrics.

In a statement announcing the album, Schultz said it marks 20 years of his songwriting partnership with Fraites. “The album explores some of the absurdities of the modern world, like the increasingly blurry line between what’s real and what’s not, and the variety of ways we numb ourselves while trying to combat both boredom and overstimulation,” he said, noting that the LP was recorded in “less than a month.”

The statement adds that the album will find the duo “traveling new sonic and thematic terrain with their most raw and personal collection thus far.” It notes that it was recorded with Woodstock, NY-based producer/songwriter/ keyboardist David Baron, who “outfitted Woodstock’s Utopia studio like the legendary Abbey Road facility, installing both vintage and cutting-edge gear,” where the pair performed the song “as a unit, leaving fewer opportunities to fix mistakes, or refine the sound.”

To capture that live magic, they outfitted the studio with two sets of drums, three pianos and an array of amps, guitars and vocal mics, “allowing the musicians to pivot and capture as much as possible with minimal delay.”

The Lumineers are slated to kick off the tour in support of the album on Saturday (Jan. 11) with a gig at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA at the iHeartRadio ALTer EGO show, followed by their own headlining gig at the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, ON on February 16.

Watch the “Same Old Song” video and check out the Automatic track list below.

Automatic track list:

  1. “Same Old Song”
  2. “Asshole”
  3. “Strings”
  4. “Automatic”
  5. “You’re All I’ve Got”
  6. “Plasticine”
  7. “Ativan”
  8. “Keys on the Table”
  9. “Better Day”
  10. “Sunflowers”
  11. “So Long”
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  • T.O.P opens up about ‘Squid Game’ role being a “daunting proposition”

T.O.P opens up about ‘Squid Game’ role being a “daunting proposition”

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Actor and former Big Bang member T.O.P has opened up about his recent role in the second season of Netflix’s Squid Game.

On January 15, T.O.P spoke to South Korean media for the first time in years to discuss his recent return to the public eye as Thanos in season two of Squid Game. The 37-year-old rapper and actor was previously absent from the public eye due to previous backlash over his 2017 conviction for marijuana use.

In an article published by The Korea Times, T.O.P shared that “the offer to play Thanos was a daunting proposition” for him. In Squid Game, Thanos is a rapper who joins the games after falling victim to a cryptocurrency scam. The character is also portrayed as a drug user, which contributes to his eccentric behaviour.

“The character mirrored my past, reflecting aspects I’d rather keep hidden,” he said. “The fear of being pigeonholed into one role made me hesitate. But destiny seemed to be pulling me in this direction.”

“For almost 10 years, I felt no one looked at me, but director Hwang Dong-hyuk reached out to me first,” T.O.P revealed. “The trust [and] the belief he had in me gave me the courage to take this on. As an actor, it is my duty to repay the trust. Excelling in my performance is another assignment in my life.”

The musician and actor also reflected on his thirties so far, calling it a “lost time” where he lived largely isolated from society. “I just kept working on music in the dark,” he shared, adding that “music was the only place where I could breathe”.

In early-2017, during his military service, T.O.P came under investigation and later tested positive for marijuana after the Seoul Metropolitan Police was informed of his use of the drug. In the ensuing trial, the rapper admitted to using the drug at his home in October 2016, prior to his enlistment.

T.O.P later received a 10-month jail sentence with a two-year suspension. In 2022, he and fellow Big Bang members G-Dragon, Taeyang and Daesung released the single ‘Still Life’. The rapper later announced his withdrawal from the group in 2023.

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