Kurt Vile Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Kurt Vile has paid tribute to his late bandmate Rob Laakso in a lengthy and touching post on Instagram following the latter’s death earlier this month.Laakso, a guitarist and keys player who joined Vile’s The Violators in 2013 as a full-time member, died last week (May 4) from cancer at the age of 44. Rob Laakso is survived by his wife and their two children.Kurt Vile has now uploaded a lengthy post on Instagram, reflecting on his relationship with Laakso.

Kurt Vile has announced a new EP called ‘Back To Moon Beach’ along with a 2024 North American tour.The new project’s first single, ‘Another good year for the roses’, is out now, with the full EP due for release on November 17 via Verve. Pre-order it here.Alongside news of the EP, the US singer-songwriter has announced a string of 2024 North American tour dates, following his UK and European run this summer.The artist will kick off at The Ottobar in Baltimore, Maryland on March 17, 2024, with stops planned for Tennessee, Arkansas, New Orleans and more, before it finishes up at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia on March 29.Support will come from King Kong and Weak Signal on select dates, and tickets go on sale this Friday, October 27 at 10am local time from Vile’s website.Listen to ‘Another good year for the roses’ and watch the video – featuring actors Michael Shannon, Kevin Corrigan, and David Wilke portraying their real-life band Big Daddy in the Sky – below.In a statement shared to social media, Vile noted that the new release is “longer than an ep”, and that he now calls it a now “KV comp”.“The first 6 tracks — which are the ones that fit on a single LP — are new to the world, with one foot in the not-too-distant past and the other with one tiny toe pointing toward the future.

Kurt Vile has covered Charli XCX‘s ‘Constant Repeat’ with his two daughters – check out the cover version below.The cover was shared by Amazon Music to celebrate her winning the Visionary Award at the 2023 Ivor Novello Awards.The song features Vile’s two daughters, 13-year-old Awilda and 10-year-old Delphine, on backing vocals.In a statement, Vile said he became a Charli fan during a London gig on the day he released new album ‘(watch my moves)’ last year.“I played an in-store at Rough Trade East London and her poster covered the entire front door,” he remembered. “I flew home the next morning listening to my newly acquired ‘CRASH’ CD over and over again (through a Discman, naturally!)”“There’s only one Charli and I can’t touch her version, we can only try and pay homage,” he added of his cover.

Kurt Vile’s band The Violators has died at the age of 44.Laakso died from cancer and is survived by his wife and their two children.The guitarist and keys player became a full-time member of The Violators in 2013, replacing The War On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel.He contributed to a majority of Vile’s albums including 2013’s ‘Wakin On A Pretty Daze‘, 2015’s ‘B’lieve I’m Goin Down…’, and 2018’s ‘Bottle It In‘. Laakso most recently worked with Vile on his 2022 album ‘Watch My Moves‘.The musician also played in the shoegaze band Swirlies and the indie rock group Mice Parade.Please support our sweet Doc & his family:https://t.co/DMQhHdq7hC— Swirlies (@swirlies11) May 5, 2023A GoFundMe page has been set up on the Laakso family’s behalf, which you can donate to here.Geri-Martha O’Hara wrote in a tribute on the fundraising page: “I am absolutely shattered to share with you that our beloved Rob passed away quickly and peacefully yesterday afternoon.

Kesha took to Instagram to tease the credits of a new upcoming song, listing Kurt Vile as one of the songwriters.The post showed a screenshot of a text message exchange reading “written by Kesha Sebert, Rick Ruben, Drew Pearson, Shawn Everett, and Kurt Vile.” The message went on to reveal that the song will contain the melody and lyrics from a undisclosed Ramones song.Vile has previously shared that he spent some time writing music for Kesha during the beginning of the pandemic. He revealed that his song ‘Flyin (Like A Fast Train)’ from his album ‘(watch my moves)’ had actually been written for the singer-songwriter.A post shared by Kesha (@iiswhoiis)Since Kesha’s previous album, 2020’s ‘High Road’, she has worked with the likes of Grandson and Travis Barker on collaborations for their records.Last year, the pop icon performed alongside Chevy Metal at the Taylor Hawkins’ tribute concert in London.

Mumford & Sons, Janelle Monáe and The Offspring are among the final raft of artists who have been added to the line-up for Mad Cool 2023.The festival will return to Madrid between July 6-8, with headliners including Robbie Williams, Lizzo, Queens Of The Stone Age, Liam Gallagher, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and more.Mumford & Sons, Janelle Monáe and The Offspring have all been added to the headlining bill for this year, while another 46 new artists have also been added to Mad Cool 2023’s line-up. Elsewhere, Primal Scream, Ava Max, Kevin Morby, Kurt Vile & The Violators, King Princess, STONE, and more have also been confirmed to perform.The festival also boasts a wealth of Spanish talent, including the likes of Dora, Walls, Sia Lua, Ghouljaboy, PETTI, and Ralphie Choo.Nine winners from the festival’s Mad Cool DJ Talent by Vibra Mahou will also perform across the three-day event.

Kurt Vile will be touring the UK and Europe later this year.The tour follows the release of his album, ‘(watch my moves)’, which came out in April of 2022, and includes dates at Black Deer Festival in Kent and London’s Koko. The London show will be Vile’s first gig in the capital since 2019.King Hannah will be opening on select UK dates.

Pavement brought Kurt Vile out on stage in Philadelphia on Wednesday night (October 5) to perform ‘Zurich Is Stained’. Check out footage below.Frontman Stephen Malkmus stepped back to let Vile sing lead vocals while he joined in with his guitar.

The National will return to London on Friday (August 26) to headline All Points East 2022 – check out the full stage and performance times below.It will mark the band’s first show in the city since 2019, where they will be joined by a stellar cast of support acts including Mogwai, Fleet Foxes, Lucy Dacus, Kurt Vile and more.Across seven stages, the day also sees performances from Parcels, Tune-Yards, Perfume Genius and Rae Morris.The performance comes just a few days after The National unveiled their new single ‘Weird Goodbyes’, which features Bon Iver.Speaking in a statement about ‘Weird Goodbyes’, The National’s Matt Berninger said: “It’s about letting go of the past and moving on, then later being overwhelmed by second thoughts.”See the full stage times for The National at All Points East below, and buy your tickets here.Fleet Foxes: 8:00pm – 9:15pm Perfume Genius: 6:20pm – 7:00pm Lucy Dacus: 5:10pm – 5:50pm Valerie June: 4:00pm – 4:40pm Cassandra Jenkins: 3:00pm – 3:30pmNathan Fake: 5:45pm – 6:45pm Plaid: 4:30pm – 5:45pm Afrodeutsche: 3:15pm – 4:30pm Tasha: 2:00pm – 3:15pmParcels: 7:55pm – 8:55pm Public Service Broadcasting: 6:25pm – 7:25pm Balthazar: 5:15pm – 5:55pm DEHD: 4:10pm – 4:45pm Bess Atwell: 3:05 – 3:40pmMoa Moa: 8:10pm – 8:40pm Lewis Ofman: 6:30pm – 7:00pm Jana: 5:15pm – 5:45pm Mid Nite Life: 4:05pm – 4:35pmDWEAMS: 7:30pm – 8:00pm Phoebe Hall: 5:55pm – 6:25pm Honey Mooncie: 4:45pm – 5:15pm The Deep Blue: 3:40pm – 4:05pmRaw Silk: 7:00pm – 8:00pm Demae: 5:50pm – 6:20pm Lynda Dawn: 4:40pm – 5:10pm Lavender: 2:30pm – 3:00pm and 3:30pm – 4:00pmAll Points East 2022 began last weekend (August 19) with Gorillaz supported by IDLES, Turnstile, Yves Tumor, Self Esteem, Femi Kuti, Obongjayar, NewDad, Remi

Public Service Broadcasting have replaced Low on the line-up for All Points East Festival 2022.The move comes after Low cancelled their forthcoming UK and European shows yesterday (August 15) due to the “recent developments and changes” in Mimi Parker’s cancer treatment.Parker, who formed the band with her husband Alan Sparhawk in 1993, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in December 2020.In a statement posted yesterday, Low said: “Recent developments and changes in treatment have made extensive travel impossible at this time. Our hope is that [Parker] will respond to new treatments and be able to play the shows we have scheduled for the fall, including the Water Is Life festival in Duluth on September 4.“We are very sorry for the inconvenience of ticket shuffling and travel expenses/changes.

The National returning to London for a huge headline slot at All Points East in August, the band have shared exclusive footage of them performing fan favourite ‘I Should Live In Salt’ from their summer 2022 tour. See it first on NME above.The band will headline the festival in the capital’s Victoria Park once again on August 26.

The National have announced the full line-up for their All Points East show in London later this summer, with Parcels, Tune-Yards and more joining the bill.The band will headline Victoria Park on August 26, with the likes of Fleet Foxes, Lucy Dacus, Kurt Vile and more already confirmed to support them.Other APE headline sets across two weekends in August will come from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Tame Impala, Kraftwerk, The Chemical Brothers, Disclosure and Gorillaz.The full bill has now been confirmed for The National’s show, with Parcels and Tune-Yards being joined by Villagers, Valerie June, Balthazar and Dehd.Others also on the line-up include Perfume Genius, Low and Rae Morris.See the full line-up below and pick up tickets here.We are so pleased to be headlining such a brilliant lineup for @allpointseastuk at Victoria Park in London this August. Tickets are on sale now at https://t.co/hkOWVSGvIL pic.twitter.com/SQl2oZsj8Q— The National (@TheNational) June 29, 2022The National returned to touring last month, giving live debuts to three new songs at the tour-opening show in Pamplona, Spain on Saturday, May 28.Footage of those songs – ‘Tropic Morning News (Haversham)’, ‘Grease In Your Hair (Birdie)’, and ‘Bathwater (Mount Auburn)’ – then appeared from a later gig in Paris.In a social media post shared last month (May 26), The National said that they have been working on new material.

NEW YORK -- Kurt Vile says he's always thinking about making catchy music — yet his attempts usually end up sounding fried or sizzled out.It's an apt description of this Philadelphia-based songwriter and guitarist's vibe, amiable and hypnotic, the songs alone seemingly capable of producing a contact high. Vile's new disc, his ninth, marks a professional turning point if not a musical one.After years where Vile was the quintessential indie rock artist, his new “(watch my moves)” is being marketed and distributed by Verve Records, a label best known for its jazz heritage and Jon Batiste's recent Grammy-winning album.“It's not as much of an outlier as people would think,” said Jamie Krentz, the label's chief executive.

Drill star Digga D takes the lead in the race for this week’s UK Number 1 album with Noughty By Nature. 

One of the most anticipated projects of the year, Alex G's new album is a soundtrack for the upcoming horror film We're All Going To The World's Fair. The tracks we've heard so far, "Main Theme" and "End Song," have stayed firmly in the singer-songwriter's wheelhouse, which makes the collaboration even more intriguing.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a move that sounds like a “Who’s on first?” routine, Shira Knishkowy is joining Another Management Company, leaving Spotify after three years to join the company that oversees the careers of such artists as Kurt Vile, Waxahatchee, Stephen Malkmus, Mary Timony, Snail Mail, Mdou Moctar and Horsegirl, as well as High on Fire, Protomartyr, Sheer Mag and others. Knishkowy’s artist-centric role at Spotify and previous multi-year roles at Matador Records, Partisan Records and Big Hassle Media make her a solid fit for her new role as artist manager and director of digital and creative strategy.Another co-founder Rennie Jaffe says, “I have ultimate confidence that Shira will take the relationships, skill-sets and most importantly the instincts she’s developed over the past 10+ years as a leading music publicist to quickly emerge as a world class artist manager.

Kurt Vile has dropped a pensive new single, ‘Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone)’, which sees the indie artist deliver a reflective croon over whispering guitars.Released overnight (March 24), Vile comes to grips with himself in the track’s accompanying music video, as, through the course of the laid-back groove, he skateboards through the titular town’s streets, experiencing some intense hallucinations in nearby woodsWatch the scenic video – directed by Drew Saracco – below:From the forthcoming album ‘(watch my moves)’, the Philadelphia-based singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer has dropped two other singles – ‘Hey Like A Child’ which was released earlier this month and ‘Like Exploding Stones’ which dropped in February, coinciding with the album’s announcement.The ninth studio effort – and follow-up to 2018’s ‘Bottle It In’ – is set for release on April 15 via Verve Records, marking the artist’s debut with the label. Recorded largely at OKV Central, Vile’s home studio in the Mount Airy suburb of Philadelphia, he said in a statement of the self-produced record: “When Waylon Jennings became an outlaw country artist, he liked to record at Hillbilly Central, which was Tompall Glaser’s studio.

Horsegirl have announced their debut studio album ‘Versions Of Modern Performance’ – listen to the lead single ‘Anti-glory’ below.The Chicago trio, who appeared in this year’s NME 100 list, will release their first record on June 3 via Matador. You can pre-order/pre-save it here.Arriving today (March 10), the entrancing first taste of Horsegirl’s upcoming 12-track LP calls on listeners to “Dance/ Dance/ Dance/ Dance/ With me” over punky electric guitar lines.‘Anti-glory’ is accompanied by an Erin Vassilopoulous-directed, split-screen official video, which sees the band performing the song in a minimal studio space. You can watch the visuals here:“We wrote ‘Anti-glory ‘almost by accident while messing around with an old song during rehearsal,” Horsegirl explained in a joint statement.“The song fell into place immediately, and looking back, we have no idea how we wrote it.

Kurt Vile's ninth solo studio LP, (watch my moves), is due out April 15 via Verve. He announced the album last month and shared its lead single, "Like Exploding Stones." He's now released "Hey Like a Child," the record's second offering.

Kurt Vile has shared a woozy new song called ‘Hey Like A Child’ – listen to it below.It’s Vile’s second recent single following on from ‘Like Exploding Stones’, taken from his  upcoming new album ‘watch my moves’.It’s Vile’s first album in four years and will see him make his Verve Records debut when it arrives on April 15.The record features collaborations from the likes of James Stewart, Cate Le Bon and Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa.You can listen to Vile’s latest single here:Speaking about his new album to NME recently, Vile said: “My albums always progress from one to the next just by me getting older physically and spiritually. I think my last record [2018’s ‘Bottle It In’] was pretty epic, and on this one I’ve had even more time to make it.“I’ve got the energy of a new label, and I don’t feel as much in a rush. I recorded more than enough songs and then just put all the best ones on this album, so it’s perfect.”Talking about howl lockdown affected his songwriting for the album, Vile said: “In the early times [of the pandemic], honestly I was relieved in a selfish way,” he said.

Girlpool are in album mode, preparing to rellease their fourth studio LP, Forgiveness, on April 29 via ANTI-. They dropped its first single — the breezy, dream-folk "Faultline" — in December, and a follow-up — the club-adjacent, dance-pop "Lie Love Lullaby" — last month. Now they've shared a third offering, "Dragging My Life Into a Dream," along with a music video.

Dallas Good, singer and guitarist for Canadian rock band The Sadies, died earlier this week, according to the band’s Facebook page. He was 48 and passed while under a doctor’s care for a coronary illness discovered earlier this week, according to reports.

Kurt Vile, Neil Young, Neko Case and more. Their final single, ‘Message to Belial’, was released last month, and produced by Arcade Fire‘s Richard Reed Parry. Listen to that above.It’s with unfathomable sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Dallas on Thursday, February 17th.

Kurt Vile is a creature of habit. Since leaving The War On Drugs nearly 15 years ago, he's stuck to his guns, releasing album after album of long, rambling songs that manage — against all logic — to stay interesting throughout. Today, he's dropped another such track, the seven-and-a-half minute "Like Exploding Stones," along with a cinematic video.

Kurt Vile has shared psychedelic visuals for his new single ‘Like Exploding Stones’, as well as announcing details of his next studio album ‘(watch my moves)’. Check it out below, along with our interview with Vile.Released on April 14, ‘watch my moves’ will be Vile’s first album since signing to the legendary jazz label Verve Records in 2021. The record was made over a long stretch of time between his newly-constructed home studio OKV Central in his native Philadelphia, and sessions in Los Angeles with long time collaborator Rob Schnapf.“My albums always progress from one to the next just by me getting older physically and spiritually,” Vile told NME of the 15 track LP.

DEALSKurt Vile has signed a new record deal with Universal’s Verve label, after previously working with indies Matador and Mexican Summer. “Simply put, he’s one of my favourite artists and songwriters of any era and he makes timeless records”, says Verve EVP Jamie Krents.

Kurt Vile has announced that he’s signed with legendary jazz label Verve Records.According to Billboard, the musician, who has previously released his music via independent record labels including Mexican Summer and Matador, will release his first album for Verve Records next year.“I’ve admired the Verve logo on the back (and front!) of many a Velvet Underground album since my teens,” Vile said in a statement.

Parker Millsap, "Be Here Instead” (Okrahoma Records/Thirty Tigers)Parker Millsap begins his new album ready to roll, playfully exploring the flexible verb on a song titled “Rolling."Equally elastic is Millsap's musical approach throughout “Be Here Instead,” his first album in three years and a departure for the Oklahoma-born singer-songwriter.

Dinosaur Jr. have released a new single, ‘Garden’ – you can listen to it below.The song is their latest from their upcoming new album, ‘Sweep It Into Space’, their twelfth studio album, which is set for release on April 30 via Jagjaguwar.Back in February, the group shared the first single from the album, ‘I Ran Away’ featuring Kurt Vile.

Dinosaur Jr. have announced their 12th studio album and shared its lead single, ‘I Ran Away’ featuring Kurt Vile.‘I Ran Away’, released Tuesday (February 23), is the first new music from the band in almost five years.

Third Side Music has signed Shakey Graves to a worldwide administration deal, it was announced Thursday (April 9).The deal covers Shaky Graves’ entire back catalog (with the exception of his 2014 album And The War Came), and all future releases.Third Side’s roster also includes SOFI TUKKER, Courtney Barnett, Flying Lotus, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Blonde Redhead and Kurt Vile. BMG has struck a global publishing deal with UK producer, DJ and songwriter 220 Kid, it was announced March 26.

Covering Sia, Nick Cave, Midnight Oil, Gotye and more

What a cover

Stephen Malkmus has shared the music video for his new single “Shadowbanned.” The Jan Lankisch-directed video features cameos from Kim Gordon, Mac DeMarco, Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, Mary Lattimore, Conor Oberst and Jason Schwartzman, who performs “Shadowbanned” as a cartoon Malkmus. Check it out below.

Psych rock band Sore Eros have announced a self-titled album. The nine-song record is out January 10 via Feeding Tube. The War on Drugs’ Adam Granduciel engineered and produced Sore Eros, which also features Kurt Vile and Daniel Oxenberg. Below, check out the Sore Eros tracklist and album cover.

Kurt Vile has announced a solo tour (i.e., without his backing band, the Violators). According to a press release, it’s Vile’s first U.S. solo tour in 10 years. Joining Vile on tour are Cate Le Bon, Stephen Black, and Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa. Check out the tour poster below. Get tickets here. (Pitchfork may earn a commission from purchases made through affiliate links on our site.)