“F–k, I used to not like him,” says British singer-songwriter Jack Garratt, speaking about a past version of himself. “He used to not be very kind to me. We have a much better relationship now.” 

Sitting in a hotel room in Liverpool, Garratt is reflecting on how he’s shown up for himself over the past few years – ever since the pandemic brought his Love, Death, & Dancing Tour to a halt and he battled his own ego and negative self-talk. He explores that journey on his third album Pillars, which arrived in August on independent label Cooking Vinyl (he was previously signed to Island Records). 

Of his first new album since 2020, Garratt believes it to be the most “me-sounding thing” — the majority of which he wrote, produced and mixed himself. Below, he shares how he pulled himself out of a difficult time and killed his egos, while he continues to work on mastering self-love.

“I’m now in a position where I really do have more ownership over my music and over my output,” he says. “I’ve always seen albums as as a stepping stone that I’m landing on and the rest of the map is loading. I’m not thinking about album four or what the next step is. This album is just gonna paint the map a little bit.”

Ahead of releasing Pillars, you signed a new management team and new record deal. What was that process like?

I’m only interested in working with people who want to check their ego at the door and come in, and make something great for a purpose greater than any of us — not to self-aggrandize or overcompliment the artistic process or making a record or anything. It is not the most important work, but it should be when we’re in the room together. When I met with Cooking Vinyl, I felt alignment, choice. It wasn’t a desperate plea from either of us. It was good-intentioned, like-minded people who take their independent roles seriously. I don’t want to be right — I want the right idea to come out of the room. 

Before finding a new team and recording Pillars, you’ve said you were ready to quit music. Album track “Catherine Wheel” changed things for you – tell me what led to that song.

I was going through a breakup, a situationship that destroyed the boat — didn’t just rock it. I went to Los Angeles to stay with my friend Sophia Bush and we did Christmas together. I was still deeply, desperately infatuated with this person, then this thing happened that made me know it was done. It woke me up to their behaviours and needs not necessarily aligning properly, but also my selfishness and people pleasing and how manipulative that is. It was really sobering and I wanted to write. With a lot of songs on the album that deal with that part of my life, the person singing it isn’t a hero. There’s still a lot of toxicity and issues. Some of the things that I’m saying in that song like, “Just use me, because my purpose now is to be used by you,” — I mean, that’s a red flag.  

What inspired the overall sound of Pillars?

I remember listening to “Spitting Off the Edge of the World” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The drums are so self-aware and they just sit in this pocket. They’re so slow, but they’re so loud in the mix. I remember going, “I know that’s the drums I want in the big moments.” The character is just so infectious. I love when you can hear production that’s a storytelling device and just sounds f—ing good. I often forget that’s part of my job.  

Who else inspired you?

For this record, The Waterboys — the storytelling, the lyrics on “The Whole of the Moon”— were a big inspiration for me. Adrienne Lenker — I’m obsessed with her storytelling voice. I’ve really tried to knuckle down with this record that I wanted to be a better songwriter. That was the most important thing — to know I was writing the best stories that I could. 

On Pillars, you explore different kinds of love — romantic, platonic, self-love. Why was that important to you?

I don’t think I will be able to love myself loudly forever. It is cyclical. I’m in a good place at the moment and I’m loving it and holding it rather than worrying about it disappearing. That comes from work, having built that pillar stronger. The album is called Pillars because I spoke to my therapist and said, “I have these pillars to my love — the way I give and receive self-love, romantic love and then platonic or familial love. I think my self-love pillar is so weak that it’s putting pressure on the other two pillars in ways that I’m terrified is gonna make them crumble as well.” So the job became to build the self-love pillar. Make it stronger. Tend to it.  

“Flower Girl Confetti, Hopeful Fidelity Lasts” is a standout track, what was the concept behind it?

Pillars isn’t a concept album, but there is something conceptual throughout the whole thing, which is how I give and receive my love. The first half of the record is about really letting yourself go into something. “Ready! Steady! Go!” is a song that encourages someone to be like, “You and I are feeling something. You either need to let me go fully into the feeling or you need to let me go so that I can do this somewhere else.” And “Two Left Feet” is an encouragement song — “We could really love each other.”

If the first half of the album is more shiny and surface-level, the second half of the album is the grey of it, the depth of it. It’s the second and third layers of ground underneath the fresh lawn. “Flower Girl Confetti” is very much one of those layers of ground where it’s sticky, repetitive, and monotonous. And that lyric, “I waited, waited and it’s over now” embodies the confusion and the self-[flagellation]. It’s like a sister song to “Manifest,” the opening track.

How has your journey to self-love and acceptance changed your creative process?

With this record, I’m actively doing parts work, just trying to enjoy the present moment and surrender everything else. I suffer from anxiety, which focuses you so much on your past and uses it as an excuse as to why you should overthink your future. My job is to just quiet those parts. That’s why a lot of the songs on the record feel so isolated, so singular, because I’m just trying to exist in the present moment. Like “Big of Me (Flight the Bee),” that opening verse came out of my mouth already written. The rest of the song was just a dissection of that present thought. That exists on “Shaftesbury Avenue,” “Two Left Feet,” “Catherine Wheel.” There’s other songs on the album that are repetitive mantras.  

You made a vision board for this album. What was on that? 

I wrote maybe over 20-25 songs for this album. I didn’t know who I was, who was singing them, what the story was or anything. I had this title and was looking at these songs like, “Is it three albums? Is it three pillars? Is it this mammoth work?” My friend Lapsley [and I] just sat in my studio and listened to a bunch of them. She was like, “Have you made a vision board yet?” She showed me the one that she was making for her album, and I was immediately like, “This is so inspiring.” I made a Google Slideshow that night with photographs and artwork. It was a creative vomiting of what this world [was going to] be. I took that to [photographer] Wolf James. She was like, “It’s amazing. It’s all Dalí and surrealism.” I would have never seen that. 

“Joy is an act of resistance” was a phrase that used to come up a lot for you. What idea or sentiment is front of mind now? 

I ask the listener, “Please play loud in service of joy.” There is too much about this industry and this job that encourages joyless spaces. Having a campaign exist entirely on Instagram, a campaign that entirely exists around servicing streaming services, is joyless. And I need the joy. I have for so long punished myself and not allowed myself access to it, and this is me taking that back and reclaiming it. I lost myself and I couldn’t see the wood for the trees and I almost quit. But in making this album, I have found the joy in the job. It’s in the people. Of course, it scratches the ego a bit, but the joy that I’m watching people experience because of this record allows me to access joy as well.

Raise a glass, Swifties. Another version of Taylor Swift‘s The Life of a Showgirl has bubbled up to the surface.

At 4 p.m. ET on Monday (Aug. 25), the pop superstar unveiled yet another limited-quantity vinyl variant of her upcoming 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, this time called the “Tiny Bubbles in Champagne” edition. Featuring an exclusive alternate album cover, the new iteration’s front shows Swift surrounded by red feathers while modeling a bejeweled star headpiece.

The “Tiny Bubbles in Champagne” edition marks Swift’s third total vinyl variant for the Oct. 3-slated project, not counting the fact that each one has been available in two different colored discs (the latest comes in “Under Bright Lights Pearlescent” and “Red Lipstick & Lace”). Just like with Swift’s past two vinyl drops, the new one became available for pre-order on her website after time ran out on a cryptic online countdown that went live hours prior.

Also similar to last week’s now-unavailable Showgirl variants — the “Shiny Bug Edition” and the “Baby, That’s Show Business Edition” — these latest discs come with exclusive photos and poetry, and they are only available for 48 hours while supplies last.

Monday’s unveiling marks just the latest exciting development in Swift’s Showgirl rollout, which officially kicked into gear on Aug. 12, when she announced the project’s existence in a teaser clip for her guest appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights podcast. When the full episode dropped a day later, the 14-time Grammy winner shared the album’s main cover, tracklist, release date and sole feature (Sabrina Carpenter, who appears on the title track).

Swift also emphasized at the time that Max Martin, Shellback and herself are the only producers who were involved in making the 12 tracks on Showgirl — which she described on New Heights as being “bangers.” “[The album is] a lot more upbeat, and it’s a lot more fun pop excitement,” she added on the show. “My main goals were melodies that were so infectious, you’re almost angry at it.”

The Life of a Showgirl will mark Swift’s first full-length since 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department, which spent 17 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The album, along with the “Tiny Bubbles in Champagne” edition, are available to purchase on the musician’s online store.

Spotify is diving even deeper into the Fan Life with a follow-up to the launch in April of its multi-media campaign putting a spotlight on the unique rituals, styles and celebrations of fandoms of some of the world’s most popular performers.

The second go-round, launching on Tuesday (Aug. 26) shines the light on real-life fans of Bad Bunny, Charli xcx, Lil Uzi Vert, Rezz, Sleep Token, Megan Moroney and Pitbull as they celebrate their favorite artists in their own unique fashion.

“When we launched the first Fan Life campaign a few months back, we knew we’d tapped into something real when fans were literally ripping the ads off walls to take them home,” says Spotify’s vice president of marketing and partnerships Marc Hazan about the second stage of a campaign that launched in April with billboards celebrating the rituals of seven global fandoms for Chappell Roan, Doechii, Oasis, Olivia Rodrigo, Rosalía, SEVENTEEN and Turnstile.

“That’s the energy we wanted to build on. The whole idea has always been for fans to see themselves in what we create, and with this second launch, we wanted to take it even further,” adds Hazan. “These seven films go deep into fandom in its rawest form… We didn’t want to just show fandom, we wanted people to feel it – the sweat, the sound, the inside jokes. Every detail is real: the clothes came from fans’ closets, the music was what they actually love, and the energy came from the fans who live this every day. At Spotify, we’re not just observers, we’re fans too. This campaign is our love letter to the communities that make music culture so powerful.”

The accompany films tell the rich story of that fandom, from a pair of giddy Charli xcx fans doubling-up on a city bike festooned with pink balloons laughing their way through a sunrise ride cued to “party 4 u,” to a group of female Pitbull diehards rocking out to their favorite rapper on a city bus while dressed in Mr. Worldwide drag featuring bald caps, black suits and drawn-on goatees.

There are also films showing Lil Uzi Vert followers just losing it in a sweaty mosh pit, two Rezz fanatics doing last minute make-up touch-ups in a club bathroom, goth-y Sleep Token devotees solemnly spraying painting pink flamingos black, Megan Moroney besties singing along to “Tennessee Orange” in the car and a sweet mini glimpse of a man dancing with his abuela in the kitchen to Bad Bunny’s “Baile Inolvidable.”

The campaign will begin to roll out this week on Spotify’s socials, as well as on billboards and in subway stations around the world. The Fan Life campaign will also feature local artist fandoms that connect with regional audiences around the world, including followers of Italian rapper Kid Yugi, French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura, U.K. rapper/singer PinkPantheress, Brazilian vocalist Pabllo Vittar and Mexican indie pop band Latin Mafia, among others.

Watch the Fan Life videos below.

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Addison Rae and Lucky Brand are bringing back the 2000s full force with the launch of their collaborative ultra low-rise jeans with the goal of turning low-rise skeptics into believers.

The “Fame Is a Gun” singer is known for her love of a Y2K silhouette. She’s documented her love of low-rise in music videos for tracks such as “Headphones On” and within her personal style journey as seen via social media. The star has also been known to reference iconic low-rise looks on legends such as Britney Spears from time to time.

Addison Rae x Lucky Brand Ultra Low Rise Addison Flare in Bare <br>

$129

Buy Now at lucky brand

Low-rise light wash jeans.

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All this to say that the notion of her creating an ultra low-rise style with help from Lucky Brand was a no-brainer. Rae’s denim creation, aptly titled the Addison Flair, is currently available on Lucky Brand’s website, retailing for $129. The low-rise jean comes in two colorways: Bare, a light wash, and Hidden, a deep indigo hue. No matter the colorway, sizing options range from 34 to 35.

The collaboration all began when Rae set out to find the perfect low-rise jeans. The singer was gifted a pair of low-rise Lucky Brand jeans hailing from the brand’s archives. What followed was a collaborative pursuit fueled by a love of low-rise denim, scrutinizing over fit and flair, and thus, the Addison Flair was born. As you’d expect, the denim is slim-fitted, sits super low on the hips and features a flared hemline that perfectly pairs with boots. Special touches of Rae’s can be spotted throughout the revamped denim via collectible back patches, hang tags and the brand’s signature “Lucky You” fly label.

Addison Rae x Lucky Brand Ultra Low Rise Addison Flare in Hidden

$129

Buy Now at lucky brand

Low-rise dark wash jeans.

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While not everyone is on board for the low-rise trend, these jeans are sure to convert a few haters into lovers. Both washes are extremely versatile, and the sizing options are vast, allowing everyone to try their hand at the polarizing trend. To style, we’d likely opt for something simple, letting the fit of the jeans speak for themselves. Think cropped white baby tees and chunky moto boots — something that screams Americana.

“Addison brings a magnetic confidence and cultural relevance that aligns perfectly with Lucky Brand’s rebellious spirit,” Stefani Fleurant, executive vice president of sports and lifestyle marketing at Authentic Brands Group, the company that owns Lucky Brand, said in a statement. “This collaboration is a celebration of self-expression and nostalgia, with a modern twist that speaks to a new generation of Lucky fans.”