Sights and Sounds: Robert Smith teams up with CHVRCHES; STYX debuts lyric video for 'Crash of the Crown'; Billie Eilish releases new track

CHVRCHES / Photo Credit: Sebastian Mlynarski & Kevin J Thomson

On Aug. 27, Scottish indie/pop band CHVRCHES will release Screen Violence, their first album since 2018's Love Is Dead. Check out the new official video for the advance track "How Not to Drown" featuring guest Robert Smith of The Cure whose signature vocals are nicely matched with Lauren Mayberry. Listen to the cool track HERE. I caught CHVRCHES at Coachella in April 2019 and they turned in one of my favorite sets of the weekend.

CHVRCHES singer Lauren Mayberry led her Scottish band through
a fantastic set at Coachella on April 14, 2019.
Photo: Rich Fury/Getty Images for Coachella

In addition to the album news, the band unveiled North American tour dates for Fall 2021:

11/09 Houston, TX White Oak Music Hall
11/10 Austin, TX ACL Live
11/11 Austin, TX ACL Live
11/12 Austin, TX ACL Live
11/14 Dallas, TX South Side Ballroom
11/15 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom
11/17 Minneapolis, MN Armory
11/18 Milwaukee, WI The Riverside Theater
11/19 Chicago, IL Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
11/20 Columbus, OH Express Live!
11/22 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE
11/23 Detroit, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre
11/26 New York, NY Terminal 5
11/27 New York, NY Terminal 5
11/30 Washington, DC Anthem
12/01 Boston, MA House of Blues
12/02 New Haven, CT College Street Music Hall
12/03 Philadelphia, PA Franklin Music Hall
12/05 Cincinnati, OH Ovation
12/06 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
12/08 Denver, CO Mission Ballroom
12/09 Boulder, CO Boulder Theater
12/10 Salt Lake City, UT Union
12/11 Las Vegas, NV Brooklyn Bowl
12/13 San Diego, CA Observatory North Park
12/14 San Diego, CA Observatory North Park
12/16 San Francisco, CA Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
12/17 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium

Make sure to check out the great new song "Cash of the Crown" from STYX that was posted today. The song — off the band's 17th album that arrives on June 18 — is the first track from the band to ever feature three lead vocalists (James “JY” Young, Tommy Shaw, and Lawrence Gowan). And the song is a great one; listen to it HERE.

“I’m always looking for the one different thing we can do and still have it be STYX,” Gowan notes in a media release, “and that’s the song I’m most proud of. The beauty of it is that it’s the culmination of all our talents crammed together into one song, ABBEY ROAD-style. I also got to use some gear I never thought I’d have the chance to play on a STYX record like Tommy’s Hammond B3 organ, my Minimoog, and my Mellotron.”

Heavy themes are covered throughout Crash of the Crown, prompting this statement from band leader Tommy Shaw:

“We’ve never been a protest band. We’re more like a gospel caravan trying to send out positive messages wherever we go. In order to share those positive messages, you have to look at what the problems are first to figure out all the ways you can help make sure everything’s going to be alright. That’s a very important part of how we do what we do.”

Styx will hit the road beginning in June 2021 for a tour with Collective Soul, which now also doubles as a promotional outing in support of Crash of the Crown. The dates:

Wed 6/16 St. Augustine, FL St. Augustine Amphitheatre (STYX only)
Fri 6/18 Alpharetta, GA Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Sat 6/19 Southaven, MS Landers Center
Sun 6/20 Brandon, MS Brandon Amphitheatre
Tue 6/22 Louisville, KY Waterfront Park
Thu 6/24 Lincoln, NE Pinewood Bowl Amphitheatre
Fri 6/25 Bonner Springs, KS Providence Medical Center Amphitheatre
Sat 6/26 Camdenton, MO Ozarks Amphitheater
Sun 6/27 Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amphitheatre
Fri 9/24 Las Vegas, NV The Venetian Theatre (STYX only)
Sat 9/25 Las Vegas, NV The Venetian Theatre (STYX only)
Sun 9/26 Las Vegas, NV The Venetian Theatre (STYX only)
Sun 10/24 Helotes, TX John T. Moore’s (STYX only)

Billie Eilish releases new track "Lost Cause" with self-directed official music video   SOPHOMORE ALBUM ‘HAPPIER THAN EVER’ OUT JULY 30 [DARKROOM/INTERSCOPE RECORDS]   NORTH AMERICAN, EUROPEAN AND UNITED KINGDOM ARENA DATES FOR ‘HAPPIER THAN EVER, THE WORLD TOUR’ SOLD OUT

‘LOST CAUSE’ AUDIO | VIDEO   ‘HAPPIER THAN EVER’ PRE-ORDER/ADD/SAVE   ‘YOUR POWER’ AUDIO | VIDEO   Billie Eilish continues to tease her highly anticipated sophomore studio album, Happier Than Ever (Darkroom/Interscope Records), with a new track, ‘Lost Cause,’ along with an official music video, also directed by the seven-time GRAMMY® award-winning, multi-platinum-selling artist. Watch HERE.   ‘Lost Cause’ follows the announcement of her welcomed arena tour, Happier Than Ever, The World Tour, which has since sold out on all dates of the first leg in North America, Europe and the United Kingdom.    The seven-time GRAMMY® Award winning artist and songwriter has also confirmed she will be continuing her work with sustainability partner REVERB for her Happier Than Ever, The World Tour, with the fan-facing Billie Eilish Action Village at each show which will focus on climate action and climate justice, hosting and supporting BIPOC and women-led environmental organizations as well as a comprehensive program via REVERB’s forthcoming Music Climate Revolution campaign. In addition to reducing the tour’s environmental footprint, the initiative will support projects that directly and measurably eliminate greenhouse gases. These collective efforts will make the tour Climate Positive; eliminating significantly more emissions than the tour creates.   2021 has already been quite the year for 19-year-old Eilish whose latest single ‘Your Power’ debuted at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, logging more than 150 Million streams in the first two weeks of release. Earlier this year, she took home two additional GRAMMY Awards; Record of the Year for “everything i wanted,” and Best Song Written For Visual Media for her James Bond song “No Time To Die.” In February, her groundbreaking documentary film, ‘The World’s A Little Blurry’ -- directed by R.J. Cutler -- saw its Apple TV+ global release and received critical praise worldwide. Earlier this month, Billie Eilish made her book debut with BILLIE EILISH, a stunning visual narrative journey through her life. Published by Grand Central Publishing (GCP), the book features hundreds of never-before-seen photos, and captures the essence of Billie inside and out, offering readers personal glimpses into her childhood, her life on tour, and more. Get your copy HERE.   ‘Happier Than Ever’ is out worldwide on July 30.  PRE-ORDER/ADD/SAVE HERE

1. Getting Older 2. I Didn’t Change My Number 3. Billie Bossa Nova 4. my future 5. Oxytocin 6. GOLDWING 7. Lost Cause 8. Halley’s Comet 9. Not My Responsibility 10. OverHeated 11. Everybody Dies 12. Your Power 13. NDA 14. Therefore I Am 15. Happier Than Ever 16. Male Fantasy

Photo credit: Kelia Anne MacCluskey OFFICIAL WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE