With Being Funny In A Foreign Language, The 1975 fuse together the textures and musical ideas of soft-rock hits from three decades ago with modern sensibilities in a way that sounds instantly familiar, yet distinctively of-the-moment. Their fifth studio album was recorded alongside producer Jack Antonoff between London and New York at Electric Lady.
One their new Live at Electric Lady EP, MUNA have shared their rendition of Taylor Swift’s “August.” The Spotify-exclusive EP also includes tracks from their self-titled album, including “Silk Chiffon,” “Anything but Me,” and “Kind of Girl.”
Though Surf Curse have never lost the intense post-punk that can both sedate you and jolt you awake, there’s a newfound tenderness — a “milkiness,” according to the band — that characterizes their new album Magic Hour.
Father John Misty has shared a live EP of reimagined tracks from Chloë and the Next 20th Century. The Spotify exclusive session also includes a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever).”
On her ‘Live at Electric Lady’ EP, Remi Wolf shares her cover of a modern classic: Frank Ocean’s “Pink + White.” Released exclusively on Spotify, the EP also features live renditions of songs from Wolf’s own discography including singles “Sauce” and “Liz.”
“Right now, the joy on the record feels like the greatest form of rebellion,” Rogers, 28, said. It’s a hard-won hope, which — politically, culturally, environmentally — might be the vibe of the moment. The album, she told NYT, is “joy with teeth.”
In honor of the band’s 60th anniversary, Keith Richards stopped by Electric Lady for the second installment of the BBC’s four-part rockuseries, ‘My Life as a Rolling Stone.’
Watch part of the interview, filmed in Studio A, here.
“American Heartbreak” sculpts the entire breadth of human experience, as Bryan stitches together songs of love, loss and life’s fleeting nature with brilliant command.
On Florence Welch’s fifth album, the songs concern devils and angels and life and death, but Dance Fever is more fascinating as a self-interrogation—these are her most personal lyrics, and among her most poignant.
The Spanish superstar’s third album is a showcase for Rosalía’s exceptional range. It aspires to stretch itself out across genres and play with form, and attains exactly what it sets out to achieve.
YEBBA’s “Live At Electric Lady” features tracks from her debut album Dawn, which was released in September of 2021. Arranged and produced by James Francies, the Spotify-exclusive EP features contributions from Questlove, Stro Elliot, Pino Palladino, Charles Myers, and string players Marta Bagratuni, Francesca Dardani, Sally Gorski, and Tia Allen.
Watch YEBBA cover “The Age Of Worry” from John Mayer’s ‘Born and Raised’ album, which was originally recorded in the very same room a decade ago with producer Don Was.
In response to YEBBA’s release of this cover single, John Mayer wrote, “So moved. Thank you for showing what’s been hiding in my own work through your profoundly powerful and soulful take. You are so special I can’t stand/understand it sometimes.”
Once again, Adele transforms her heartbreak into a searching, graceful, and incredibly moving album. But the complexity of her emotions and the nuanced productions make this her most ambitious work to date.
“Bleachers Live At Electric Lady” features a collection of songs from the Jack Antonoff-fronted band including live takes of their Billboard 200-charting album “Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night,” as well as a cover of The Cars’ “Drive”.
Japanese Breakfast’s “Live At Electric Lady” features a cover of Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So” accompanied by Quartet121. The Spotify-exclusive EP also features live renditions of songs from Michelle Zauner’s 2021 album “Jubilee,” including singles “Be Sweet” and “Savage Good Boy.”
Faye Webster is the latest artist to share an installment of Spotify’s ongoing live music series Live at Electric Lady. Her session at the iconic studio features a cover of the Fleet Foxes song “If You Need To, Keep Time on Me,” from 2017’s Crack-Up.
Brandi Carlile’s seventh album, “In These Silent Days,” braves the extremes of Carlile’s songwriting. The album reaffirms her ambitions and polishes them, too.
When Natalie Bergman first visited Electric Lady Studios years ago, she said she “fell in love with the studio; the collage work on the walls, the color palette of the rooms, the music that is and was created there.” Bergman returned to Electric Lady to perform six songs from her debut album, “Mercy,” for Spotify’s “Live At Electric Lady” series.
Celebrating Electric Lady’s 51st anniversary, Patti Smith’s Live At Electric Lady EP features renditions of her classics along with covers of Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder.
Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett have released a studio video for their version of the classic Cole Porter standard, “I Get a Kick Out of You,” filmed at Electric Lady.
Her Melodrama follow-up, co-produced with Jack Antonoff, features contributions from Robyn, Phoebe Bridgers, Clairo, and others. Watch Lorde and Antonoff perform the title track on Electric Lady’s rooftop in the midst of a summer storm.
Featuring a number of songs from his recently released album, as well as a selection of notable covers, Jon Batiste’s Live At Electric Lady EP offers an exciting peek inside a world-class studio filled with world-class talent.
Whether it’s the etherealness of “Chinatown” (featuring fellow New Jersey mainstay Bruce Springsteen), the Devo-meets-Talking-Heads quirk in “Stop Making This Hurt” or the ping-ponging guitar and saxophone in “How Dare You Want More,” the album is an ideal representation of Antonoff’s restless creativity.
For the EP series, the participating artists are encouraged to play their own compositions as well as cover songs of artists connected to the studio’s history, including Stevie Wonder, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, David Bowies, and many others.
On “The Off-Season,” Cole offers technical brilliance and a focus on quietly dazzling wordplay, drawing the same meticulousness from his guest artists.
FLOOD Magazine talked to Electric Lady’s Lee Foster about the new site he’s running with the Johnston family to share the late songwriter’s visual art.
The cult singer-songwriter’s posthumous exhibition at Electric Lady Studios—the largest showing of his visual art to date—channels the same weird beauty as his homespun musical universe.
Recording the album “wasn’t cathartic as much as it was therapeutic,” Steve Earle said to The New York Times. “I made the record because I needed to,” reflecting on “J.T.”, a tribute album to his late son.
“As Lee Foster, partner/GM of New York’s iconic Electric Lady Studios, says, ‘There is no replacement for real human interaction and connectiveness in music making.’ Which is why the studio — which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year — quickly established safety protocols that included advance COVID-19 testing, on-site screening, mask mandates and socially distanced sessions.”
Watch the exclusive performance of Bleachers playing “Chinatown” ft Bruce Springsteen and “45” live on the roof at Electric Lady. Both tracks will be featured on Bleachers’ upcoming album, set to release early next year.
Electric Lady 50th Anniversary Merch Capsule featuring Daniel Johnston x Electric Lady tees, Electric Lady Label Bomber & Garage Jackets, Hoodie, and Vintage Design tee and tote bag. AVAILABLE NOW.
“SHORE” retains all the hallmarks of what made Fleet Foxes so great in the first place… a dedication to art that emotionally lifts you off this planet.
Produced by The Neptunes and featuring Ty Dolla $ign, “Hit Different” is a classic SZA sultry jam, perfectly timed to soundtrack the last days of summer.
“Fifty years ago — on Aug. 26, 1970 — Jimi Hendrix opened a psychedelic recording space in Greenwich Village, N.Y. Created by an artist and for artists, Electric Lady Studios broke the mold for what a recording studio could be.”
Taylor Swift’s eighth album, folklore, asserts something that has been true from the start of Swift’s career: Her biggest strength is her storytelling.
The Raconteurs: Live at Electric Lady EP and enhanced album with special behind-the-scenes clips, storylines and more is out now exclusively on Spotify. In celebration of Electric Lady’s 50th anniversary, listen to the EP featuring a cover of The Voidoids “Blank Generation” here. To view the documentary and concert film click here.
Steve Earle & The Dukes will release a new 10-song album, “Ghosts of West Virginia”, on May 22, marking Earle’s 20th studio album. The project was produced by Earle and engineered by Ray Kennedy at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
“[I’ve] been working for a while to create samples to share. I will start to put them out semi regularly. Today is the first edition – all made at Electric Lady in NYC where I’ve been for while now – all recorded live.” – Jack Antonoff
Run the Jewels unveiled another new bruising track, “Ooh LA LA,” from their upcoming album Run the Jewels 4. The track is centered around a sample taken from Greg Nice’s verse on the 1992 Gang Starr classic, “DWYCK,” while it also features record scratching from DJ Premier. That combo lends the song a distinctly old school vibe, over which El-P and Killer Mike are at their egregious best.
The actor, comedian, and musician Donald Glover has made the first truly outstanding album of the decade, offsetting cultural examinations with moments of sweet levity. 3.15.20 is the glorious payoff of his musical evolution.
After Hours delivers on the most compelling aspects of The Weeknd’s vision; leveraging a self-loathing villain into an irresistible, cinematic narrative with his most satisfying collision of new wave, dream pop, and R&B.
“Electric Lady is saturated in myth. But song by song, Antonoff has written his way in.
Antonoff’s own records now line those hallowed Electric Lady walls, including Lorde’s 2017 pop opus “Melodrama,” St. Vincent’s sleek 2018 “Masseduction” and Lana Del Rey’s recent spectral masterpiece, “Norman F— Rockwell!” — he produced and co-wrote all three.”
To read the full LA Times article, please click here.
Los Angeles-based band MUNA traveled to the legendary Electric Lady Studios in New York City to record two special Spotify Singles, which were released Nov. 13. The trio stripped down their original song “Stayaway,” which was part of their sophomore studio album Saves The World released Sept. 6 this year, and covered Normani’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 33 hit, “Motivation.”
“One of the greatest albums of the decade: It sounds timeless and contemporary; the instrumental interludes and the stylistic and tempo shifts all hang together because of his warm, sincere vocals and fantastic songwriting.” – The Guardian
The new collection for fashion brand Nasty Gal, which supermodel Delevingne showcased at New York’s famed Electric Lady, is inspired by the likes of Cher and Stevie Nicks
Dark, chaotic, unconventional — all descriptions that would make sense for a movie about one of the most infamous and unpredictable villains in comic book history. To give this comic book character human depth, director Todd Phillips brought in Hildur Guðnadóttir who could transform darkness into sensitive musicality.
On her elegant and complex fifth album, Lana Del Rey sings exquisitely of freedom and transformation and the wreckage of being alive. It establishes her as one of America’s greatest living songwriters.
Vampire Weekend’s new Spotify Singles session features two tracks recorded at Electric Lady Studios: a piano-led, rendition of “This Life” and a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A. track “I’m Goin’ Down.”
Springsteen albums are usually grand affairs but he’s never made one that sounds so vast and luxurious throughout. Paired with the down-and-out characters who haunt its mountains and canyons, the purposefully anachronistic arrangements—recalling jukeboxes, FM radios, sepia-toned montages, faded memories—carry an elegiac tone. It’s been a long time since popular music sounded like this, and it ties these characters to an era as much as a place.
Electric Lady Producer Management’s Jonathan Rado: Titanic Rising doesn’t feel blissfully adrift. Instead, it feels like Mering knows exactly where she’s going. You can hear it in the robust string sections of album opener “A Lot’s Gonna Change” and the sturdy backbone-beat of “Andromeda” and the sentiments of “Wild Time,” a patient ambler with a ‘70s soft-rock vibe (including a hint of “Landslide”) and a plainspoken bridge: “Everyone’s broken now,” Mering sings, “And no one knows just how we could have all gotten so far from truth.”
Miley Cyrus has dropped a new EP, She Is Coming. The six-song collection is the first of three EPs planned by the singer and includes pulsating pop single “Mother’s Daughter.”
YEBBA, who hails from West Memphis, Arkansas and has roots in gospel, delivers a classic disco diva turn on “Don’t Leave Me Lonely,” pushing her vocals over Ronson’s infectious production, which expertly mixes dance drums and synth stabs with clever string flourishes.
Discussing the process of creating “Cellophane,” executive produced by Noah Goldstein, FKA twigs said in a statement, “throughout my life I’ve practiced my way to being the best I could be, it didn’t work this time. I had to tear down every process I’d ever relied on. go deeper. rebuild. start again.”
Recorded at the famed Electric Lady Studios in NYC’s Greenwich Village – Electric Lady Sessions is a double album live collection featuring classic LCD Soundsystem songs, three covers, and newer material from the band’s # 1 album from 2018, American Dream.
Matt Shultz could make it through only one take. The lead singer of the Kentucky rock band Cage the Elephant was recently in the studio recording “Goodbye,” a John Lennon-inspired ballad Shultz wrote for his wife as their seven-year relationship was ending. Shultz delivered it lying on the studio floor. Afterward, he walked out and canceled the next two weeks of work.
“Filmed on November 19th at the historic Electric Lady, the clip shows Yorke playing “Bloom” as a simple blues. With just his bare voice (“So why does this still hurt?/Don’t blow your mind with why”), his jazzy piano chords, and some light feedback burbling in the background, you can hear the heart of the song more clearly than ever. It’s a gorgeous act of reinterpretation, the kind of performance that can make you rethink your entire understanding of a song.”
Following their performance on ‘Saturday Night Live’ last weekend, Miley Cyrus, Mark Ronson and Sean Lennon celebrate the season with a heartfelt update of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” All three unite again in Vevo’s exclusive performance of the holiday classic, shot at the iconic Electric Lady in New York City.
“Fifty years ago, Jimi Hendrix used some of the proceeds from his new stardom to buy a defunct rock club in New York’s West Village and transform it into a psychedelic studio playground.”
Thom Yorke sits down at Electric Lady Studios to perform the track “Open Again” from his Suspiria soundtrack. Yorke preformed three other tracks which you can listen to here.
It takes a village to promote an album, and on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Mariah Carey has at least 10 people with her when she arrives at Electric Lady Studios in New York. There is a makeup person and a hair person, a manager and publicists, a lawyer and what might be a bodyguard, and an entire other group of people who are hard to place. Mariah is tall in high-heeled black boots and perfectly done up, with hair as straight as I’ve ever seen hair be, two hoop earrings that shimmer from her ears, and a megawatt smile. Everyone is in good spirits, like a winning sports team in the locker room at halftime
Arctic Monkeys released their latest album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, back in May. Since then, they’ve covered Elvis Costello, the White Stripes, and the Strokes. Today, they share a cover of English singer-songwriter Stephen Fretwell’s “-” from his 2004 album Magpie for Spotify Singles. Their version is called “–” which they recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York.
LCD Soundsystem covered the Chic standard “I Want Your Love” as part of a Spotify Singles session released on Wednesday. The group recorded the session at New York City’s Electric Lady Studios. In addition to the medley of “Home” and “I Want Your Love,” they also cut a version of “Tonite,” the second single from 2017’s American Dream.
Next month, the latest volume in the exhaustive David Bowie box set collection is being released. Loving The Alien (1983-1988) contains all of his studio and live albums from that period, plus a new production of the 1987 album Never Let Me Down, his final solo album of the ’80s. The 2018 version of the album was recorded by producer Mario McNulty at Electric Lady Studios in NYC with some longtime Bowie collaborators, plus string arrangements by Nico Muhly and a guest appearance from Laurie Anderson.
“There are fewer than 10 other studios in Electric Lady’s league, and it’s hard to imagine anything but a brand-new studio rivaling the energy of Electric Lady. The output of only the last three years makes it hard to think of another single location involved in a similar level of work.”
In 1998, the neo soul movement was near its peak when a collective of like-minded artists came together at Electric Lady to push the wave even higher. They called themselves the Soulquarians, and before the decade ended they’d help birth some of the modern era’s greatest recordings.
Spotify, in partnership with Berklee College of Music and Electric Lady Studios, has announced that it will be launching the Equal (EQL) Studio Residency Program for emerging female producers and engineers.
The program, which will begin on Oct. 1, will offer residencies in three different cities: New York, Nashville and London. During these paid six-month residencies, one participant in each city will work hands-on in a professional studio environment and gain access to invaluable networking and mentoring opportunities to further their career.
The Soulquarians didn’t set out to revolutionize the pulse of modern jazz. Maybe it’s an overstatement to imply that they did. But there can be no doubt that the slouchy, loose-jointed, atmospherically humid funk that they alchemized in the studio — specifically, Electric Lady Studios, in Greenwich Village — had a reach well beyond the scope of neo-soul, the inexact genre coalescing around them. A considerable number of young jazz artists were paying close attention to what they were doing, at any rate. A few even got in on the ground floor.
For a handful of years straddling the turn of the century, the Soulquarians treated Electric Lady as a clubhouse — a perpetual hang unburdened by the usual ticking clock of the recording studio.
Born from David Bowie’s desire to re-record the 1987 LP that he called “a bitter disappointment,” the seeds of this new reimagining were first sown in 2008 when Bowie asked producer/engineer @mariojmcnulty to remix the track ‘Time Will Crawl’ and record new drums with longtime drummer Sterling Campbell along with strings at Electric Lady Studios. The track was issued on the iSelect compilation to much acclaim and, in the notes for that record, David remarked ‘Oh, to redo the rest of that album.’ ⚡️ In early January of this year, McNulty and musicians again entered New York’s Electric Lady Studios to fulfill Bowie’s wish to remake “Never Let Me Down,” which now features a guest appearance by Laurie Anderson on “Shining Star (Makin’ My Love).” The 2018 reworking also boasts “newly ‘remixed’ artwork reflecting the album’s subject matter and features unseen images from the original cover photographic session from the archive of Greg Gorman. ⚡️ We love and miss you, David ⚡️
“The most undersold part of Stevie’s legacy may be the collaboration with two producers, Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil, and the pair’s massive synthesizer, TONTO (The Original New Timbral Orchestra).”
“With an instrument like TONTO you can’t write a line ahead of time, because until you get the sound up, you don’t know how it’s going to react with the other sounds. Everything was done sort of jazz fashion, it was all head arrangements… sometimes some of the lines would be suggested. That horn line [from “Superstition] I was singing it… and then Stevie started playing it. That was how we worked.”
But deep within the distinctly uncool area that produced the Valley Girl stereotype, Foxygen multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Rado slowly began to leave his mark on the overall sound of 2010s indie rock, one tape recording at a time. Now, only four years after he bought a compressor and used it completely wrong throughout the entirety of Foxygen’s …And Star Power — he had heard that Todd Rundgren used to press all of the buttons in at the same time — Rado has become one of the most in-demand producers in his genre, pumping out acclaimed records from Father John Misty, The Lemon Twigs, Whitney, Alex Cameron and more, most of which hail from his Woodland Hills garage.
“ALBUM DONE,” Rocky tweeted on Sunday night, along with the album’s cover art. While there isn’t a confirmed release date as of yet (he could be dropping it right now as you read this), residents have pointed out that Testing billboards have already appeared in New York.
To mark the fortieth anniversary of Horses, her 1975 debut album, Smith recorded a new live version of it at New York’s Electric Lady Studios before an in-studio audience and then hit the road to perform the album in full for packed theaters around the world. Director Steven Sebring, who worked with Smith and company on his debut documentary, 2008’s Patti Smith: Dream of Life, joined their caravan, and Horses: Patti Smithand Her Band hovers over a two-night stand in January 2016 at the Wiltern in Los Angeles.