Grammy-nominated artist, songwriter, and philosophical thinker Protoje takes his message to the streets of downtown Kingston, Jamaica, on his new video for ‘Not Another Word’. On the call-to-action anthem (out now via In.Digg.Nation Collective/Easy Star Records) he recruited fellow Jamaican comrades Agent Sasco (Assassin) and Lila Iké.

‘Not Another Word’ is Protoje’s first new material since his Grammy-nominated album A Matter Of Time. On this visually-stunning guerilla street rally (directed by RD Studios), the trio bands together to address hypocrisies and encourage people to take responsibility for their actions.

“It was important to me that we touched on everyday scenes that aren’t uncommon to see when we take a look at happenings in Jamaica. I wanted the video to be grounded in our everyday reality. The video director, Ruption, really understood the vision and came up with the idea to capture a lot of the scenes using a ‘God’s Eye’ point of view. It was a vibe,” Protoje says about the visual.

Seattle pop punk trio Dude York recently announced their new album, Falling, is due July 26 via Hardly Art. The band are sharing new single and video ‘Box’. Vocalist Peter Richards says the song is about adolescent disappointment and the emotional solipsism that can follow. Of the video, Richards says the band “reached out to friends in the Seattle arts community and [dancer] Samie Detzer, [choreographer] Alice Ghosti, [director] Jared Caldwell, and the Washington Ensemble Theater answered with resounding support.”

“There are two ways things can fall,” says Dude York’s Claire England. “They can fall and be ruined, or they can fall gently like a feather and be fine.” On Falling, their second full-length for Hardly Art, the trio explores that sentiment—evoked by the broken cake on the album cover and the soft confetti on the inside sleeve—through impossibly catchy and emotive songs that investigate the ways you can fall in and out of relationships, and sometimes fall back together.

Recorded at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco with producer Patrick Brown, Falling finds Dude York sounding bigger and more fully-realised than ever with hits that would feel perfectly at home sandwiched between Jimmy Eat World and Third Eye Blind in early 2000s alt-rock radio rotation, while somehow still sounding utterly their own. Peter Richards (guitar) and England (bass) share equal songwriting and lead vocal duties on this record, a significant change from their previous album, 2017’s Sincerely, on which England fronted only two songs. The duality of their songwriting and vocals compliment each other emotionally and sonically, with Andrew Hall’s harmonies and driving drums providing their own unique character in each song. The collaboration is clear—each part is carefully crafted, with Richards’ guitar adding texture to the verses and then soaring into the particularly special kind of guitar solos that make you want to sing along.

The delightfully melodramatic ‘Box’ sounds like a lost gem from the NYC early aughts post-punk revival, with Richards’ deep, emotive voice singing playful nods to The Killers and Dashboard Confessional while sneaking in lines of a fallout that cut deep—“Now on your own/There’s no one left for you to hide from behind your phone”—before soaring into The Cure-like chorus “I’ll never love again.”

 ‘Falling’ tracklist:

1. Longest Time

2. Box (video)

3. I’m the 1 4 U

4. Should’ve

5. Only Wish

6. Unexpected

7. How It Goes

8. Falling (video)

9. Doesn’t Matter

10. Let Down

11. :15

12. Making Sense

13. DGAFAF (I know what’s real)