Stereogum — The snake is eating its tail. On “Hard Times,” the opening track and lead single from their 2017 album After Laughter , Paramore adopted a plastic neon Afropop/new wave vibe seemingly influenced by Talking Heads. Recently, Hayley Williams and friends covered “Burning Down The House” for the forthcoming compilation Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute To Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense. Now, as an extension of the Stop Making Sense festivities, lead Talking Head David Byrne has returned Paramore’s favor by covering “Hard Times.” It sounds like a David Byrne song, but then, it always has. more info

Consequence Of Sound — The trek includes an appearance at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheater alongside Betty Who. Maren Morris Announces “RSVP Redux” 2024 North American Tour [Updated] Paolo Ragusa more info

Stereogum — The 20-year-old rookie Nasir Jones released his debut album Illmatic on April 19, 1994. We can argue all day about the greatest rap album of all time, but Illmatic is usually the first name that will come up in that conversation. Today is the 30th anniversary of Illmatic, and Nas has used that moment to announce something that fans have wanted for a very, very long time: His long-promised collaborative album with DJ Premier is finally happening this year. more info

New York Post — It's "Fortnight" Friday! more info

L.A. Times - Pop & Hiss — Released two hours after "The Tortured Poets Department" on Thursday night, Taylor Swift's second set of new songs contains a handful of highlights. more info

Kings of A&R — Vancouver-based band, Girlfriends and Boyfriends drop their track ‘Lovers in a Dangerous Time‘ which comes off the album Lost in the Noise. The song reminisces about the best of 90s alternative bands like The Church, while also embracing modern contemporaries like Cold Cave and Choir Boy. Our formative years can really be heard on this,” […] more info

New York Post — In essence and ashes, this album is the smoking, stillborn delivery of a doomed love story. more info

New York Post — "The Tortured Poets Department" will be released on April 19. more info