4 Star Theater and (((folkYEAH))) present:

Omar Velasco Band

Based in Los Angeles, Omar Velasco is an accomplished singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who draws inspiration from a range of artists, including Stevie Wonder, Milton Nascimento, Mercedes Sosa and folk luminaries like Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Silvio Rodriguez.

Omar honors the sounds of the past while conjuring his own eclectic and distinctive blend of multicultural musical flavor.  Born to a Jewish American father and Mexican mother, he proudly represents the richness of his upbringing in his music.  

A captivating performer, Omar has collaborated and toured with acclaimed artists such as Jonathan Wilson, Jim James and My Morning Jacket, Poolside, and Father John Misty.  He has performed on iconic stages such as Red Rocks, Ohana Music Festival, Lobero Theater Santa Barbara, The Fillmore, The Troubadour, and many stages across Europe and the world.  

Omar’s upcoming album, Like the Fruit Falls from the Tree, is a reflection of his journey through heartbreak, loss, and new beginnings. It's a testament to his talent as an artist and his ability to turn life's challenges into something truly beautiful and meaningful. 

Early in 2022, Omar found himself in a whirlwind of major life changes.  Within a matter of months, he saw the birth of his son, the death of his father, and the dissolution of his critically acclaimed band, Amo Amo, all amidst the strains of a global pandemic.  The tumult compelled the singer-songwriter to dive headlong into his art… and look to the trees for answers.

It was a job with a fruit tree care company that triggered his rebirth and reconnected him with his purpose in life and art after ingesting and feeding off of the energy of the fruit-bearing trees.  He was struck by the inherent grace and generosity of these stoic beings, and how they are exemplars of meaningful, interconnected life.  “The purpose of our existence is in what we offer and what fruits we bring to bear,” says Omar.  The songs that then emerged, all within a matter of weeks, felt very much like fruits fallen from a musical tree; freely given and gratefully received.  He then reached out to his longtime friend and collaborator, acclaimed producer Jonathan Wilson, to help translate the songs into a rich, beautiful and nuanced album.

Emerging from the confluence of life’s challenges, Omar Velasco comes ready to share his journey with the world. Like the Fruit Falls from the Tree, his second LP, which drops September 28th, 2023 on Inner Cult Records, is the fruit born from a steadfast faith in the generous, redemptive nature of music and of the creative act. 

Spotify | IG

Clay Finch

(of Mapache)

Interview

DOORS at 7:00PM | MUSIC at 8:00 PM

Growing up in the early 1800s, P.T. Barnum displays a natural talent for publicity and promotion, selling lottery tickets by age 12. After trying his hands at various jobs, P.T. turns to show business to indulge his limitless imagination, rising from nothing to create the Barnum & Bailey circus. Featuring catchy musical numbers, exotic performers and daring acrobatic feats, Barnum's mesmerizing spectacle soon takes the world by storm to become the greatest show on Earth.

CinemaSF is proud to announce that our Saturday & Sunday morning POPCORN PALACE movie screenings at the 4 STAR will be presented FREE OF CHARGE in 2025!

Thanks to an incredibly generous grant we will be showing you fantastic family-friendly movies every weekend at 10:00 AM! Perfect for everything from birthday get-togethers to casual stop-ins, so bring the whole family over to the 4 STAR THEATER for community movies together.

Reservations will be first-come-first-serve when the box office opens thirty minutes before the screening on the day of the show. We look forward to seeing you at the movies!

When Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) becomes ill, his son, William (Billy Crudup), travels to be with him. William has a strained relationship with Edward because his father has always told exaggerated stories about his life, and William thinks he's never really told the truth. Even on his deathbed, Edward recounts fantastical anecdotes. When William, who is a journalist, starts to investigate his father's tales, he begins to understand the man and his penchant for storytelling.

Tunnel Records & Nada Sound present

A TUXEDOMOON ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE

Naked Roommate

Naked Roommate was conceived in 2018 by Amber Sermeńo & Andy Jordan (partners in art & life) as a playful aside from their roles in Oakland's most dearly-departed ensemble, The World. With a handful of twitching insta-sketches, each addled with late-nite D.I.Y. quiver, the duo's side-hustle sprouted in classical easy/cheap fashion [see the demo tape on their Public Nipples imprint for evidence]. As "global" concerns slowed, compatriots Michael Zamora (a superbly slanted multi-instrumentalist late of Bad Bad) and Alejandra Alcala (the region's one true bass supervisor, also of bright lights Blues Lawyer and Preening) joined Sermeńo & Jordan as additional exposed flesh. In full form, Naked Roommate has not only become a must-see, ever-evolving live act, but architects of 'Do The Duvet', one of the most intriguing and inspired recordings to come out of 2020's American subterranea.

Bandcamp | IG

Winston Tong & LX Rudis

"Winston Tong is a San Francisco-based performance artist and singer, acclaimed both for his solo work and his collaborations with experimental music group Tuxedomoon.

Born in San Francisco in 1951, Tong is the son of Chinese parents forced into exile by the Communist revolution. He graduated in theatre from the California Institute of Arts in 1973, and soon established a reputation in the Bay Area with a string of charismatic, left-field performance pieces such as Wild Boys, Eliminations, Frankie and Johnnie and Bound Feet, the latter loosely based on traditional oriental puppet theatre, and recipient of a prestigious Obie award.

In late 1977, Tong met an early incarnation of Tuxedomoon, then comprising Steven Brown, Blaine L. Reininger and Victoria Lowe, after both were invited to perform at a local salon, Chez Dada. Afterwards Tong agreed to perform with Tuxedomoon as and when time allowed, a flexible arrangement that would remain in place until 1985. During this formative period Tong also met Bruce Geduldig, who would take on responsibility for visuals and production design both with Tong and with Tuxedomoon.

Tong released his first record in the spring of 1979. Backed by Tuxedomoon members Brown, Reininger, Peter Principle and Paul Zahl, The Stranger paid homage to the existential classic by Albert Camus, while flipside Love/No Hope offered spiky angst-rock at one with the first two Tuxedomoon EPs, No Tears and Scream With A View. A recording for the Tong/Geduldig short film Wild Boys was also later released commercially.

Tong was absent from the first Tuxedomoon album, Half Mute, but returned to the fold for their second, Desire, released by Ralph Records to great acclaim in 1981. Tong joined the band on their first European tour, and shortly afterwards Tuxedomoon relocated to Europe on a longterm basis, settling first in Rotterdam and later in Brussels. Several albums followed, to which Tong contributed heavily, including Divine, Suite en Sous-Sol and The Ghost Sonata, the latter an ambitious 'opera without words' staged in Italy in the summer of 1982. This tally also includes the classic single Time To Lose, to which Tong contributed lead vocal.

The first Tong solo album appeared in early 1983 through chic Belgian indie Les Disques du Crépuscule. In its original form, Like the Others was a handsome cassette and book package, featuring a series of impressionistic monologues with spare musical backing by Tuxedomoon. The title track also appeared as a single in France, while an expanded CD edition later added an improvised live track, Last Words at the Scaffold, on which Tong is backed by members of Tuxedomoon and Cabaret Voltaire. At the same time Tong continued to reprise theatrical performances such as Frankie and Johnnie.

At the beginning of 1983 Reininger quit Tuxedomoon for a solo career. Although he would return in 1987, this loss slowed band activity for the next two years. Tong sang lead on an interim single, Soma, but elected to devote more time and energy to a collaboration with Belgian singer Niki Mono: "two voices of opposite sex from opposite ends of the earth." The pair made their live debut at the Plan K venue in Brussels in November 1983, and in January 1984 recorded a nine-song demo, after which Crépuscule signed the project for an album.

At this time the label attracted backing from Island Records, and in April Tong and Mono traveled to London to record the first single. Produced by Alan Rankine (The Associates) and Dave Formula (Magazine), Theoretical China featured a stellar cast of guest musicians including Jah Wobble, Simon Topping (A Certain Ratio) and Stephen Morris (New Order), although despite the exceptional pedigree of the supporting players this polished funk track didn't quite gel as a killer dancefloor cut.

At the end of April 1984 Tong and Mono flew to Tokyo for a string of live dates with The Durutti Column and Mikado. During this trip the pair recorded The Hunger, a haunting sixteen minute track on which several Japanese musicians guest, including Atsuo Suzuki and Satoshi Kadakura. The Hunger numbers among Tong's finest works, and light years from his witty update of The Twelve Days of Christmas, recorded for a Crépuscule Christmas album.

Theoretical China appeared on Crépuscule in November 1984, backed by The Hunger on 12-inch format, credited to Tong alone. After Mono departed the project, recording of the album continued with Persian-born singer Sussan Deyhim on backing vocals and Alan Rankine handling all production, arrangements, keyboards and sequencing. It's worth noting that a number of earlier Tong/Mono songs were dropped for the album, including To You, Incubo, Zimbabwe and Dream Assassins, although the latter was recorded.

The album swallowed up a good deal of time and money, and in tandem Tong undertook an altogether different musical project, Miserere (Mercy), the soundtrack to a modern ballet based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Commissioned by choreographer Pierre Droulers, Tong and Deyhim's remarkable music was recorded exclusively acappella. Feared lost for many years, the masters were eventually located and released by LTM in 2003.

Winston Tong's first album proper eventually appeared in October 1985 as Theoretically Chinese. It's an album of smooth electronic dance pop, sounding expansive and expensive, and a million miles from the angsty art-rock for which Tuxedomoon were renowned. Lush ballad Reports From the Heart made for an elegant second single, while Big Brother and a cover of Broken English by Marianne Faithfull hit the spot as sophisticated disco, and were remixed for single release in Italy. The album sold relatively well in Europe, although Crépuscule must surely have regretted the fact that Tong did not tour to support it, and had donated his most memorable solo song, In A Manner of Speaking, to Tuxedomoon.

In A Manner of Speaking proved a highlight of the Tuxedomoon album Holy Wars, released by Crammed in April 1985, and would later be covered by Martin Gore of Depeche Mode on the EP Counterfeit, and in 2004 by French lounge/bossa project Nouvelle Vague. Tong assisted Tuxedomoon with the launch of Holy Wars, but was gone by the summer of 1985, devoting his time to the completion of his solo album, and performances of Miserere in Paris and elsewhere. Since Tong had also become unavailable to Crépuscule by the time Theoretically Chinese appeared, the media had to make do with a special Interview 12-inch, itself highly collectable today.

Towards the end of 1985 Tong returned to the States, hoping to take a role in Bernardo Bertolucci's epic movie The Last Emperor, and David Hwang's Butterfly on Broadway. Sadly there have been no more solo records, although Tong has continued to perform new shows such as Rasputin, Isadora and Mao and the humouresque Winston Tong Sings Duke Ellington, from which Prelude to a Kiss was extracted, and recorded for a Ralph Records 'jazz' compilation in 1990. In 2005 he again performed with Tuxedomoon in San Francisco, and in 2010 returned to Brussels for a one-off concert at Plan K.

Today Winston Tong is alive and well and living in San Francisco, and flattered that In a Manner of Speaking has become a something of a standard, appearing in countless films, ads and television dramas the world over." ~ James Nice

A former member of San Francisco’s Units [and several other art/punk groups,] Lx Rudis is a multi talented artist in musical, performance, and visual arts. He is renowned for his work with analog synthesizers and has achieved significant recognition for his collaborative works with other performance artists as well as his solo synthesizer works. In his collaboration with Winston Tong and Donovan Drummond, his phenomenal synth performances provide the ideal complement to Winston’s extraordinary voice and Donovan Drummond’s light and media show.

Best known for his work in video game development, he was a member of development teams for the Atari Lynx, the Atari Jaguar and Leapfrog’s ‘Leapster’ handheld device. He appears in the credits of over 40 video games in roles ranging from Sound Design to Executive Producer. He has also remained active in experimental and improvised music, working both as solo artist and within groups. He and Winston Tong have been collaborating for more than a decade, primarily in live performance of contemporary art songs.

Website

Tropisphere

Tropisphere is a cinematic synth combo infused by the sound of dark wave soundtracks and sub-tropical electronics. Crash landing somewhere in the hell-scape of a John Carpenter film and the early San Francisco school of experimental synth punk from the 1980s — they find most of their inspiration on midnight drives through the Bay Area backroads listening to their favorite music, enjoying esoteric underground films and uncovering the history of their analog predecessors.

Formed in 2023 and comprising 3/7’s of local psychedelic cumbia band Ritmos Tropicosmos and members of many experimental projects, vocalist and synth player Eli Reyes carves out a story, etched in blood and flowers with a voice as sweet as it is evil and pulverizing. Jake Rodriguez lays down a bed of synth tones that can warp your mind from the inside out and moody beats that will get your head banging; leaving the last nail in the coffin for Bobby Cosmos to drive on home with his super-phased bass lines, mechanical drums and cerebral synth melodies. Together, they bring an arsenal of industrial rhythms, mind altering noise and melodic texture to the fold — somewhere in the vein of synth pioneers such as Kraftwerk or Tangerine Dream...at other times, echoing those many waves of aforementioned Frisko Freaks.

plus DJ Josh Cheon (Dark Entries)

DOORS at 7:00PM | MUSIC at 8:00 PM

Growing up in the early 1800s, P.T. Barnum displays a natural talent for publicity and promotion, selling lottery tickets by age 12. After trying his hands at various jobs, P.T. turns to show business to indulge his limitless imagination, rising from nothing to create the Barnum & Bailey circus. Featuring catchy musical numbers, exotic performers and daring acrobatic feats, Barnum's mesmerizing spectacle soon takes the world by storm to become the greatest show on Earth.

CinemaSF is proud to announce that our Saturday & Sunday morning POPCORN PALACE movie screenings at the 4 STAR will be presented FREE OF CHARGE in 2025!

Thanks to an incredibly generous grant we will be showing you fantastic family-friendly movies every weekend at 10:00 AM! Perfect for everything from birthday get-togethers to casual stop-ins, so bring the whole family over to the 4 STAR THEATER for community movies together.

Reservations will be first-come-first-serve when the box office opens thirty minutes before the screening on the day of the show. We look forward to seeing you at the movies!

When Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) becomes ill, his son, William (Billy Crudup), travels to be with him. William has a strained relationship with Edward because his father has always told exaggerated stories about his life, and William thinks he's never really told the truth. Even on his deathbed, Edward recounts fantastical anecdotes. When William, who is a journalist, starts to investigate his father's tales, he begins to understand the man and his penchant for storytelling.

BLACK ROSE MANSION

Following the popularity of our screening of Black Lizard last Pride, Media Meltdown Movie Madhouse takes a look this year at the film’s spiritual successor, Black Rose Mansion!  Reuniting director Kinji Fukusaku (The Green Slime, Battle Royale) and drag acting legend Akihiro Miwa, this film is dripping in gothic melodrama, surreal twisted love affairs, lush fashion, and sumptuous performances. Miwa moves from playing a criminal mastermind in Black Lizard to a woman who seemingly drives men mad with desire from her unearthly beauty. The lurid decadence is to die for! So get your affairs in order before entering the… Black Rose Mansion! 

MEDIA MELTDOWN MOVIE MADHOUSE

Gender jesters Piranha Psychotronica and Kafka  X bring you a new experience in cinematic depravity… Media Meltdown Movie Madhouse! Prepare yourself to enter into a world of face-flaying  forgotten and forsaken films… Made-for-TV, Direct-to-Video, VCR games, underground cinema,  and more wiley weirdness than your minds can handle! In a world dominated by AI, CGI, mega streaming platforms, and cinematic universes, Media Meltdown celebrates the amateur, the low-budget, the handmade, the experimental, and the weird! Commit yourself every 3rd Sunday to … MEDIA MELTDOWN MOVIE MADHOUSE!

Join 48 Hills Summer Camp founder Joe Talbot and Bay Area Movies’ Jason Moore for a one-of-a-kind matinee at the 4-Star Theater — a live, curated tour through 100 years of San Francisco on film. From breakneck chase scenes to unforgettable character actors, from fog-drenched backstreets to overlooked neighborhoods, this compilation will dive headfirst into our cinematic past and draw local connections seldom explored. Part cinematic mixtape, part local history lesson, this is a chance for students and cinephiles alike to trace San Francisco’s filmic lineage — and imagine what stories are still waiting to be told.

This workshop is part of the program for the 48 Hills, 24 Frames Summer Camp, where over three weeks this summer (June 16 - July 3), participants join director Joe Talbot and the creative minds behind THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO for a masterclass in how to make a great San Francisco movie. This program gives you a chance to become a student yourself for one morning, in this special workshop led by two incredible hosts.

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco present:

Georgia O’Keeffe: the Brightness of Light is a feature documentary film exploring the life and art of the most important American woman artist of the 20th century. Known as the “Mother of American Modernism,” O’Keeffe exploded on the New York art scene in the 1920s with her paintings of flowers, bones, and the beauty of nature. Nude photographs of O’Keeffe taken by her lover, Alfred Stieglitz, shocked the public and contributed to the perception that her paintings were sexually charged. In the 1970s, O’Keeffe, famously isolated in the New Mexico desert, emerged as an iconic role model for second wave feminists. From Academy Award-winning director Paul Wagner, the film features music by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, narration by Hugh Dancy, and Claire Danes as the Voice of Georgia O’Keeffe.

Q&A with filmmakers Paul & Ellen Wagner to follow the film, hosted by FAMSF Associate Curator Isabella Lores-Chavez.

The lives of Julio and Tenoch, like those of 17-year old boys everywhere, are ruled by raging hormones, intense friendships, and a headlong rush into adulthood. Over the course of a summer, the two best friends, while living out a carefree cross-country escapade with a gorgeous older woman, also find connection with each other, themselves and the world around them.

Marlin (Albert Brooks), a clown fish, is overly cautious with his son, Nemo (Alexander Gould), who has a foreshortened fin. When Nemo swims too close to the surface to prove himself, he is caught by a diver, and horrified Marlin must set out to find him. A blue reef fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) -- who has a really short memory -- joins Marlin and complicates the encounters with sharks, jellyfish, and a host of ocean dangers. Meanwhile, Nemo plots his escape from a dentist's fish tank.

Marlin (Albert Brooks), a clown fish, is overly cautious with his son, Nemo (Alexander Gould), who has a foreshortened fin. When Nemo swims too close to the surface to prove himself, he is caught by a diver, and horrified Marlin must set out to find him. A blue reef fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) -- who has a really short memory -- joins Marlin and complicates the encounters with sharks, jellyfish, and a host of ocean dangers. Meanwhile, Nemo plots his escape from a dentist's fish tank.

CinemaSF is proud to announce that our Saturday & Sunday morning POPCORN PALACE movie screenings at the 4 STAR will be presented FREE OF CHARGE in 2025!

Thanks to an incredibly generous grant we will be showing you fantastic family-friendly movies every weekend at 10:00 AM! Perfect for everything from birthday get-togethers to casual stop-ins, so bring the whole family over to the 4 STAR THEATER for community movies together.

Reservations will be first-come-first-serve when the box office opens thirty minutes before the screening on the day of the show. We look forward to seeing you at the movies!

The lives of Julio and Tenoch, like those of 17-year old boys everywhere, are ruled by raging hormones, intense friendships, and a headlong rush into adulthood. Over the course of a summer, the two best friends, while living out a carefree cross-country escapade with a gorgeous older woman, also find connection with each other, themselves and the world around them.

Galine & Pulgaboy present:

DISCO DYSTOPIA

with drag performances from

Piranha, Kafka, Dot Comme, & Girlfriend with Cookie

featuring DJs Galine Modmoiselle, Rixmantis, & Eddie

and vendors Little Russ Thompson Crafts & more

Doors & DJs at 8:00 PM | Drag Performances at 9:00 PM | Costume Contest at 10:00 PM

Marlin (Albert Brooks), a clown fish, is overly cautious with his son, Nemo (Alexander Gould), who has a foreshortened fin. When Nemo swims too close to the surface to prove himself, he is caught by a diver, and horrified Marlin must set out to find him. A blue reef fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) -- who has a really short memory -- joins Marlin and complicates the encounters with sharks, jellyfish, and a host of ocean dangers. Meanwhile, Nemo plots his escape from a dentist's fish tank.

CinemaSF is proud to announce that our Saturday & Sunday morning POPCORN PALACE movie screenings at the 4 STAR will be presented FREE OF CHARGE in 2025!

Thanks to an incredibly generous grant we will be showing you fantastic family-friendly movies every weekend at 10:00 AM! Perfect for everything from birthday get-togethers to casual stop-ins, so bring the whole family over to the 4 STAR THEATER for community movies together.

Reservations will be first-come-first-serve when the box office opens thirty minutes before the screening on the day of the show. We look forward to seeing you at the movies!

The lives of Julio and Tenoch, like those of 17-year old boys everywhere, are ruled by raging hormones, intense friendships, and a headlong rush into adulthood. Over the course of a summer, the two best friends, while living out a carefree cross-country escapade with a gorgeous older woman, also find connection with each other, themselves and the world around them.

Throwin’ Bo’s presents:

Squirrel Flower

Less than an hour south of Chicago, along the shores of Lake Michigan, sits the Indiana Dunes, a protected expanse of shoreline recently designated a National Park. When Ella Williams first visited the Dunes, she was awed by the juxtaposition of its natural splendor within the surrounding industrial corridor of Northwest Indiana. “Every time I go there, it changes my life,” she says, without a hint of hyperbole.“You stand in the marshlands and to your left is a steel factory belching fire and to your right is a nuclear power plant.” Across the water, Chicago waits, its glistening towers made possible by the same steel forged here. For as long as she’s been making music, Ella Williams’ songs have been products of the environments they’re written in, born out of the same world they so vividly hold a mirror to. This environment is where her magnetic new album, Tomorrow’s Fire, lives. 

The music Williams makes as Squirrel Flower has always communicated a strong sense of place. Her self-released debut EP, 2015’s early winter songs from middle america, was written during her first year living in Iowa, where the winter months make those of her hometown, Boston, seem quaint by comparison. Since that first offering, Squirrel Flower has amassed a fanbase beyond the Boston DIY scene and released two more EPs and two full-lengths. The most recent, Planet (i), was laden with climate anxiety, while the subsequent Planet EP marked an important turning point in Williams’ prolific career; the collection of demos was the first self-produced material she’d released in some time. With a renewed confidence as a producer, she helmed Tomorrow’s Fire at Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville alongside storied engineer Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Indigo de Souza, Snail Mail). Williams and Farrar tracked many of the instruments, building the songs together during the first week, and then assembled a studio band that included Matt McCaughan (Bon Iver), Seth Kauffman (Angel Olsen band), Jake Lenderman (aka MJ Lenderman), and Dave Hartley (The War on Drugs) lending their contributions. 

Before Tomorrow’s Fire, Squirrel Flower might’ve been labeled something like “indie folk,” but this is a rock record, made to be played loud. As if to signal this shift, the album opens with the soaring “i don’t use a trashcan,” a re-imagining of the first ever Squirrel Flower song. Williams returns to her past to demonstrate her growth as an artist and to nod to those early shows, when her voice, looped and minimalistic, had the power to silence a room. Lead singles “Full Time Job” and “When a Plant is Dying,” narrate the universal desperation that comes with living as an artist and pushing up against a world where that’s a challenging thing to be. The frustration in Williams’ lyrics is echoed by the music’s uninhibited, ferocious production. “There must be more to life/ Than being on time,” she sings on the latter’s towering chorus. Lyrics like that one are fated to become anthemic, and Tomorrow’s Fire overflows with them. “Doing my best is a full time job/ But it doesn’t pay the rent” Williams sings on “Full Time Job” over careening feedback, her steady delivery imposing order over a song that is, at its heart, about a loss of control. 

Williams cites artists like Jason Molina, Tom Waits, and Springsteen as fonts of inspiration for Tomorrow’s Fire, musicians who knew how to write into the mind of a stranger, who could tell you the story of a life in under four minutes. “The songs I write are not always autobiographical, but they’re always true,” Williams says. Nowhere is Springsteen heard more clearly than on “Alley Light,” an electrifying song narrated from the perspective of a down-on-his-luck guy whose car is fated to die any day now and whose girl just wants to escape. There’s a vintage sheen to it, but “Alley Light” captures the very familiar feelings of loss that come with living in a 21st century city, where you blink and the storefronts change. Williams notes, "It’s about a man in me, or a man who I love, or even a man who is a stranger to me." 

The album glides effortlessly over emotional states of being, lightness and heaviness. “Intheskatepark,” written in the summer of 2019, four years later sounds like a dispatch from a bygone world. The scuzzy pop production nods to Guided By Voices, as Williams sings about crushing under summer sunshine. “I had a light,” Williams repeats mournfully on “Stick,” her voice at once aching and powerful, a sense of rage fermenting as the song goes on, until it explodes in the second half. “This song is about not wanting to compromise, just being at the end of your rope,” Williams says. “Stick” harnesses that exasperation and turns it into a battle cry for anyone who is exhausted but feels like they’re not working hard enough, who had to get a job they hate to make rent, who lost their light and can’t seem to find it again. 

Tomorrow’s Fire might sound like the title of an apocalypse album, but it’s not. Tomorrow’s Fire references the title of a novel Williams’ great-grandfather Jay wrote about a troubadour, named for a line by the Medieval French poet Rutebeuf, a troubadour himself: “Tomorrow’s hopes provide my dinner/ Tomorrow’s fire must warm tonight.” Centuries on, the quote spoke to Williams, who describes the fire as a tool to wield in the face of nihilism. Tomorrow’s Fire is what we take solace in, what we know will make us feel okay in the morning, how we light the path we're walking on. 

Closing track "Finally Rain" speaks to the ambiguity of being a young person staring down climate catastrophe. The last verse is an homage to Williams’ relationship with her loved ones — ‘We won’t grow up.’  A stark realization, but also a manifesto. To be resolutely committed to a life of not ‘growing up,’ not losing our wonder while we’re still here. 

Bandcamp | IG

Free Range

the project of Chicago-based musician Sofia Jensen (they/she), announces their second album Lost & Found, out March 28th via Mick Music, and unveils its lead single “Hardly.” Lost & Found follows their sharp 2023 debut, Practice, which “confront[ed] and reflect[ed] on youthful confusion and alienation, and the feelings that inspired them” (Chicago Reader). Lost & Found is about the logical next step of trying to feel like an adult. Much of the album stems from the experiences of 21-year-old Jensen, who formed Free Range when they were 15, moving out from their parents’ house and expanding their world in the Chicago music scene. Amid these changes, Jensen experienced feelings common in one’s early twenties but pervasive throughout adulthood: striving for connection even when you’re surrounded by people, and struggling to be emotionally open.

“I have a pretty easy time being honest lyrically and in music, and it feels like such an avenue for me to just express,” Jensen says. “But in my daily life, I’m a pretty private person and have a hard time telling people exactly how I feel…Being truly vulnerable with other people is a lot harder than you think.” Lost & Found is filled with nuanced, mature reflections on how tough forthrightness can be. 

Lead single “Hardly” is a full-on overdriven electric guitar barn-burner about what it feels like to really lean on someone, and how that can lead to an uneven and slightly dysfunctional relationship. Jensen sings “I hardly notice when I measure you / against me / but I could tell when you were pulling me through / the darkness in this room / cause all I wanted was just someone to look to / you hardly notice when I glance at you.” It also navigates the role that broken communication plays in a relationship where two people do care about each other, but can’t seem to find themselves on the same page. 

Jensen demoed most of Lost & Found in October 2023 in Silsbee, Texas, where producer Tommy Read, his sister Hannah Read (Lomelda), and Eric Adams (Acre Memos) helped Jensen whittle down 50 songs to a batch of 15. Jensen returned to Texas in January 2024 to record with the full Free Range band: bassist Bailey Minzenberger, drummer Jack Henry, and new member Andy Krull on pedal steel. 

Bandcamp | IG

DOORS at 7:00PM | MUSIC at 8:00 PM

Lai (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and his boyfriend, Ho (Leslie Cheung), arrive in Argentina from Hong Kong, seeking a better life. Their highly contentious relationship turns abusive and results in numerous break-ups and reconciliations. When Lai befriends another man, Chang (Chen Chang), he sees the futility of continuing with the promiscuous Ho. Chang, however, is on his own personal journey and, ultimately, both Lai and Ho find themselves far from home and desperately lonely.

Lai (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and his boyfriend, Ho (Leslie Cheung), arrive in Argentina from Hong Kong, seeking a better life. Their highly contentious relationship turns abusive and results in numerous break-ups and reconciliations. When Lai befriends another man, Chang (Chen Chang), he sees the futility of continuing with the promiscuous Ho. Chang, however, is on his own personal journey and, ultimately, both Lai and Ho find themselves far from home and desperately lonely.

A past his prime photographer heads out on a road trip across the American Southwest to recapture the magic and success of his previous work. Instead, he finds himself thrust into the dark and chaotic underbelly of America and unwittingly drags his wife and a shady private detective down into this nightmare world with him.

In Disney's beguiling animated romp, rebellious 16-year-old mermaid Ariel (Ron Clements) is fascinated with life on land. On one of her visits to the surface, which are forbidden by her controlling father, King Triton, she falls for a human prince.

CinemaSF is proud to announce that our Saturday & Sunday morning POPCORN PALACE movie screenings at the 4 STAR will be presented FREE OF CHARGE in 2025!

Thanks to an incredibly generous grant we will be showing you fantastic family-friendly movies every weekend at 10:00 AM! Perfect for everything from birthday get-togethers to casual stop-ins, so bring the whole family over to the 4 STAR THEATER for community movies together.

Reservations will be first-come-first-serve when the box office opens thirty minutes before the screening on the day of the show. We look forward to seeing you at the movies!

Made just a few years after the death of Francisco Franco, this cult film epitomized La Movida Madrileña, the creative and hedonistic response to almost forty years of fascism that challenged the rules of government and religion and pushed the boundaries of sexuality. The story originated from a raunchy comic that Almodóvar wrote for the underground zine El Vibora called "General Erections" that satirized Spain’s 1977 general election, and indeed, the erection contest sequence is one of the high points of the film. (Watch for a memorable cameo by Almodóvar as M.C.)

As the founding film of a countercultural movement and indicative of Almodóvar’s cinema to come, Pepi, Luci, Bom more than makes up for its flaws. But the real joy of of the film comes from watching the delightfully deviant threesome (Carmen Maura, Olvido Gara, and Eva Siva) who demonstrate that when women get together they can become more self-assured, terrorize men, and find new meaning in life. They do things with impunity that most women can only dream about (Grow their own marijuana plants! Plot revenge against a rapist policeman! Play in a punk band! Pee on each other!) and they act on their own volition instead of conforming to any expectations of proper female behavior. Pepi is the standout, who is so adorable in her transgressiveness that one can’t help but root for her. (Her brilliant feminist inventions, from a doll that menstruates to “slut” panties that transform fart odors into perfume, also deserve V.C. funding from Judy Chicago and John Waters.) One can easily see how the character of Pepi morphs into Pepa of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and how Maura became Almodóvar’s paradigmatic female lead. But Pepi, Luci, Bom is an ensemble effort, and together, these ladies are some of Almodóvar’s nastiest women to grace the screen. —Screen Slate

Bart & the Bedazzled

Bart Davenport might be a multitude of things, depending on whom you ask. He’s been a mod, a blues singer, and a softrock troubadour. He’s an eclectic singer songwriter with the timeless voice of a real crooner. He lives and creates music in Los Angeles. Smooth and yet curiously pointed, his work transports us to an imagined past or present filled with romantic odes and enigmatic characters. Davenport’s stories are often a reflection of now, taking place in a fantasy world but conveying personal and universal truths. Returning to acoustic guitars and 60s baroque pop tones, Davenport recently tracked twelve new songs in his home studio. The resulting ‘Episodes’ marks his eighth proper album.

A native of Oakland, California, Bart Davenport’s roots are in the 90s garage and blues scenes. His first band, The Loved Ones performed a rawkus style of r&b, opening for the likes of Junior Wells and John Lee Hooker. In the 00s, Davenport went solo, embracing a quieter indie esthetic. Kings of Convenience singer, Erlend Øye, has called him the “best one-guy-and-guitar performer there is.” Touring alone often makes pragmatic sense, and Davenport’s solo performances are in some ways his purest. Still, his studio recordings often reflect his taste for collaboration and ensemble band arrangements.

Released in 2002, Bart’s self-titled solo debut was an indie pop layer cake filled with drums, organs, and vocal harmonies. He quickly followed that in 2003 with the Laurel Canyon styled ‘Game Preserve’ on Antenna Farm Records. Next came ‘Maroon Cocoon’ in 2005, a carefully honed lo/hi-fi record. In 2007, a funk inspired side project called Honeycut released ‘The Day I Turned To Glass’ on Quannum Projects. Their tune, ‘Exodus Honey,’ was featured on an iMac ad campaign as well as the installation disc for Mac OS Leopard and Snow Leopard. Bart Davenport returned in 2008 with his fourth solo album, ‘Palaces.’ Featuring production help from psychedelic main man Kelley Stoltz, the album would be referred to by Sylvie Simmons of MOJO as “a fine example of San Fran’s vinyl and thrift shop culture, turning stuff people throw out into something new.”

Between 2010 and 2011, Davenport released three European records and spent much of his time touring the continent. There was a covers album, ‘Searching For Bart Davenport’ (Tapete, Germany), and two from side projects; ‘With All Due Respect’ by Incarnations (Lovemonk, Spain) and ‘Comedians’ by Honeycut (Discograph, France). In 2012, Bart Davenport’s ‘Someone2Dance’ b/w ‘Cheap Words’ saw the return of longtime compatriot Sam Flax as Producer. The Flax production opened a new chapter in the Davenport saga, with synthesizers reminiscent of 80s new wave. Following that, Davenport relocated to Los Angeles, where he gathered together the band that would eventually record ‘Physical World,’ released in March 2014 to some critical acclaim. Indeed, Pitchfork described it as “sophisticated and cheap-sounding at once, it’s likable within five seconds of hitting your ears.”

By 2018 the LA lineup featuring Jessica Espeleta (bass), Andres Renteria (drums), and Wayne Faler (lead guitar) were working under the band name, ‘Bart & The Bedazzled.’ They recorded a follow-up album titled ‘Blue Motel’ produced by Aaron M. Olson, whose signature sounds give the album a darker, cinematic atmosphere. The group reconvened in 2021 for their most collaborative effort to date, a danceable pair of electro world pop singles. Produced by Nic Hessler (Catwalk), ‘People Person’ and ‘Cardboard Man’ (featuring Earth Girl Helen Brown) are scheduled for release in 2022 on Lovemonk. Meanwhile, Davenport’s 2022 solo album ‘Episodes’ (Tapete) features avant-baroque string arrangements from violist Dina Maccabee along with an array of acoustic sounds, 12-string riffs, and an overall return to 60s pop and indie lo-fi esthetics.

Bandcamp | IG

Ryli

(Record Release Show)

Ryli is the latest project from Yea-Ming Chen (Yea-Ming and The Rumours) and Rob Good (The Goods). Joined by the propulsive rhythm section of Luke Robbins (ex-Latitude, RE Seraphin) on bass and Ian McBrayer (ex-Sonny and The Sunsets, ex-Healing Potpourri) on drums, the band pairs Chen’s intimate songwriting and dulcet vocal stylings with Good’s effervescent arrangements, replete with sparkling guitars and dreamy harmonies.

Initially brought together by Dandy Boy Records to record a Cleaners From Venus cover, Chen and Good quickly bonded over their mutual appreciation of classic pop songs and formed an immediate musical kinship. Inspired by their spontaneous connection, the pair ended up writing an original song during the session. Soon after, they were joined by Robbins and McBrayer, and Ryli was officially born.

Their debut single “I Think I Need You Around” b/w “When I Fall” is a succinct distillation of their unique indie pop sound. A-side “I Think I Need You Around” is kinetic jangle rock with gentle vocals reminiscent of Camera Obscura. A good old-fashioned tale of lust and longing, it’s lifted by bright guitar arpeggios and desperate harmonies. “When I Fall,” on the other hand, is a woozy, Spector-esque ballad, capturing that late-night feeling of uncertainty as you trudge home after last call.

Taking their moniker from the first initial of each member, Ryli doesn’t overthink their presentation, instead focusing on crafting endearing melodies. And this single - two perfect pop songs clocking in at a breezy six minutes - wastes no time in establishing their substance-over-style approach. 

Bandcamp | IG

Mister Baby

Mister Baby is Katiana Mashikian. If Kati’s not making 4-track cassette recordings, she’s playing bass and singing in San Francisco’s April Magazine, (the live band for) Glenn Donaldson’s The Reds, Pinks, & Purples, and more recently, the one-off Flowertown livestream. She’s really at the core of the SF indie/pop scene.

Bandcamp | IG

DOORS at 7:00PM | MUSIC at 8:00 PM

In Disney's beguiling animated romp, rebellious 16-year-old mermaid Ariel (Ron Clements) is fascinated with life on land. On one of her visits to the surface, which are forbidden by her controlling father, King Triton, she falls for a human prince.

CinemaSF is proud to announce that our Saturday & Sunday morning POPCORN PALACE movie screenings at the 4 STAR will be presented FREE OF CHARGE in 2025!

Thanks to an incredibly generous grant we will be showing you fantastic family-friendly movies every weekend at 10:00 AM! Perfect for everything from birthday get-togethers to casual stop-ins, so bring the whole family over to the 4 STAR THEATER for community movies together.

Reservations will be first-come-first-serve when the box office opens thirty minutes before the screening on the day of the show. We look forward to seeing you at the movies!

SWAMP DOGG GETS HIS POOL PAINTED is a wildly entertaining and fittingly unconventional documentary about convention-defying singer, songwriter and record producer Jerry Williams, aka Swamp Dogg, one of the great cult figures of 20th-century American music whose singular voice and ideas have shaped the history not merely of soul music, but of country, hip-hop and a dozen other genres. In the film, the titular artist and his “bachelor pad of aging musicians”, including the charming Guitar Shorty and lovably quirky Moogstar, navigate the tumultuous music industry, transform their home into an artistic playground and invite fellow musicians like Jenny Lewis and John Prine and superfans Mike Judge, Johnny Knoxville and Tom Kenny to play in their unique musical sandbox…and paint Swamp Dogg’s pool. Bursting with infectious personality and stoner energy, SWAMP DOGG GETS HIS POOL PAINTED is a music documentary unlike any other.

Made just a few years after the death of Francisco Franco, this cult film epitomized La Movida Madrileña, the creative and hedonistic response to almost forty years of fascism that challenged the rules of government and religion and pushed the boundaries of sexuality. The story originated from a raunchy comic that Almodóvar wrote for the underground zine El Vibora called "General Erections" that satirized Spain’s 1977 general election, and indeed, the erection contest sequence is one of the high points of the film. (Watch for a memorable cameo by Almodóvar as M.C.)

As the founding film of a countercultural movement and indicative of Almodóvar’s cinema to come, Pepi, Luci, Bom more than makes up for its flaws. But the real joy of of the film comes from watching the delightfully deviant threesome (Carmen Maura, Olvido Gara, and Eva Siva) who demonstrate that when women get together they can become more self-assured, terrorize men, and find new meaning in life. They do things with impunity that most women can only dream about (Grow their own marijuana plants! Plot revenge against a rapist policeman! Play in a punk band! Pee on each other!) and they act on their own volition instead of conforming to any expectations of proper female behavior. Pepi is the standout, who is so adorable in her transgressiveness that one can’t help but root for her. (Her brilliant feminist inventions, from a doll that menstruates to “slut” panties that transform fart odors into perfume, also deserve V.C. funding from Judy Chicago and John Waters.) One can easily see how the character of Pepi morphs into Pepa of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and how Maura became Almodóvar’s paradigmatic female lead. But Pepi, Luci, Bom is an ensemble effort, and together, these ladies are some of Almodóvar’s nastiest women to grace the screen. —Screen Slate

Nada Sound and Tunnel Records Present

Adam Miller

Adam Miller is the founder of the acclaimed electronic pop group Chromatics, as well as one of the band’s primary songwriters, lyricists, and visual artists. In 2022 Miller released an album of instrumental ambient guitar meditations titled Gateway, and began performing live both as a solo artist and with his project Inner Magic. 

2023 saw the release of Miller’s Illusion Pool EP which contained collaborations with Lol Tolhurst of The Cure and Hannah Lew of Cold Beat.

In 2025 Miller reunited with his former Chromatics bandmates Ruth Radelet and Nat Walker to craft songs for the soundtrack of the video game Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.

Over the course of his career in music, Miller’s songs have been used in a variety of film, television, fashion shows, and sporting events including Twin Peaks, Mr. Robot, Riverdale, American Horror Stories, Chanel, Gucci, Jil Sander, & the NBA.

Bandcamp | IG

Jeff Schroeder

Jeff Schroeder is a musician living in Los Angeles, CA. From 2007 to 2023, Jeff was a member of the Smashing Pumpkins. During this period, Jeff performed on numerous recordings and traveled the world performing live with the band. In October 2023, Jeff left the Smashing Pumpkins to pursue a solo career. He released his first album, Metanoia, in August of 2024. Metanoia is a solo ambient guitar album and explores the themes of loss, fragmentation and spiritual transformation.

Website | IG

Loveshadow

Bay Area DIY pop duo Loveshadow join up with Dark Entries to release II, their sophomore LP. Anya Prisk and Izaak Schlossman met in Oakland in 2016, bonded over their love of ‘80s sounds and immediately began building their musical world with lush synths, funky basslines, and irresistible hooks. The past is always in their palette, but Loveshadow’s nostalgia doesn’t trace to any single locus; it’s more like a cloud, and it’s through this haze that they breathe new life into the music they love. Their debut album was released in 2021 on Music from Memory to acclaim. II presents a more subtle and refined statement from the band – laser-focused on the vaporous expanse. Album opener “Last Room” saunters with the confidence of Sade, while “Earthen Track” feels like Kate Bush covering a forgotten city pop anthem. The album is largely focused on club-friendly material, but mellower pieces like “Winter’s Door” and “Mirage” are sophisticated stand-outs that would make Ryuchi Sakamoto proud. Italo funk groover “Power Melts Away” closes out the album by upping the energy into fist-pumping territory. Anya’s lyrics on II use the unreality of dreams as a lens to examine the realities of change and personal growth; illusions made material. Loveshadow elegantly smear the lines between past and present, pop and avant, immanent and transcendent.

Bandcamp | IG

DJ Silver Raven | Visuals by Camera Oscura (Bobby Cosmos)

DOORS at 7:00PM | MUSIC at 8:00 PM

Thomas Dollbaum

Thomas Dollbaum is a musician and songwriter from Tampa, Florida. In 2015, Dollbaum began attending University of New Orleans for his masters in poetry—while in the city, he began writing the songs that eventually became Wellswood, his debut album. Since its release in 2022 by Fat Possum subsidiary Big Legal Mess (AllMusic said he “paints the bleakest pictures with a knowing grin, delivering lyrics of rough-living characters and their grim stories as gorgeous, softly glowing Americana”), Dollbaum has toured heavily, sharing stages with folks like Damien Jurardo, Dougie Poole, and Superwolves.

Bandcamp | IG

11111angels

Bandcamp | Website

Additional local support TBA.

DOORS at 7:00PM | MUSIC at 8:00 PM

Sharpie Smile

Sharpie Smile is the new band of Cole Berliner and Dylan Hadley who previously had the band Kamikaze Palm Tree.

As life long friends and collaborators, they’re taking an entirely new approach- using the same energy and style they had for KPT with a new pop outfit under Sharpie Smile. They are releasing their debut album in June 2025, coming out under Drag City.

Bandcamp | IG

Local support TBA

DOORS at 7:00PM | MUSIC at 8:00 PM

Dad Bod

Dad Bod is an indie alternative band based in Salt Lake City, Utah, made up of four members. The group began with three brothers—Michael, Marcus, and Matthew Marinos—and later expanded with the addition of Russ Allphin.

Drawing inspiration from artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Elliott Smith, and Big Thief, Dad Bod blends nostalgic sounds with a raw, modern indie energy. They’ve released an EP and two full-length albums, most recently Loop de Loop Miracle Ministries Lords of Glory, released in 2024.

The band has played major festivals like the Twilight Concert Series and Kilby Block Party, and has toured extensively across the U.S. and parts of Canada, building a loyal and growing fanbase.

Currently, Dad Bod is in the studio recording a new EP and preparing for a late summer/early fall tour in support of the upcoming release.

Spotify | IG

Local support TBA

DOORS at 7:00PM | MUSIC at 8:00 PM

Throwin’ Bo’s presents:

Sean Nicholas Savage

Sean Nicholas Savage is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and musical playwright. He has been described by Emilie Friedlander in an article for The Fader as "a singer-songwriter, madcap philosopher, and all-around scene-pillar in the particular freak-flag-flying sector of the Canadian music community"

Bandcamp | IG

Support TBA

DOORS at 7:00PM | MUSIC at 8:00 PM

Eleni Drake

British/Greek singer, songwriter and producer Eleni Drake’s hauntingly beautiful sound is at once refreshing and timeless, uplifting and introspective, inspired by a deep love of music that spans from Mazzy Star and Adrienne Lenker to Mac Miller and Cleo Sol. With over 40 million streams to date and still only just getting going, 2025 promises to be Eleni’s biggest year yet with her most personal and profound music on the way.

Eleni’s celebrated 2024 EP, 'Above Deep Water'; her first release on new label MNRK, having self-released her previous projects, picking up a devoted following in the process. She’s earned fans along the way at tastemakers including The Line Of Best Fit, Consequence, The Independent, The Arts Desk, CLASH, La Blogotheque and Wonderland, and last year took her intimate live set to The Great Escape and SXSW festivals.

“Opaque R&B elements intermingle with touches of jazz, with Drake utilising warming, analogue tones throughout. A soft, supple piece of songwriting... “ - CLASH MAGAZINE

“The British singer-songwriter has successfully captured the beachy, cosmic energy the record’s name seems to indicate” - CONSEQUENCE

“A compulsive set of songs laced in spacey twang... there’s a touch of David Lynch about its zonk-blues melancholia” - THE ARTS DESK

Bandcamp | IG

Support TBA

DOORS at 7:00PM | MUSIC at 8:00 PM

Throwin’ Bo’s presents:

Modern Nature

When Modern Nature toured their last album, 2023’s No Fixed Point In Space, it became apparent to Jack Cooper – the band’s main creative force – that they were already pulling away from the free, open-ended approach they had spent five years working towards; almost as if the music had become so abstract and elasticated, it now had to snap back towards something more structured. As they found themselves naturally locking into more fixed grooves, he realised a new direction had been set. Their new album – The Heat Warps – is the triumphant manifestation of where that new direction took them.

In the aftermath, Cooper’s songwriting, which had become increasingly impressionistic, found a new focus and the idea of making an album that followed a similar path to the last two increasingly seemed somewhat obtuse. The purpose was to forge a radical change. The core trio of him, Jim Wallis (drums) and Jeff Tobias (bass guitar) were augmented by a new guitarist – Tara Cunningham.

Modern Nature’s recent records have reflected an insular life. Cooper had moved out to the countryside in 2021 and had, in his words, been “hibernating” while he started a family. He felt this new band was a symbol for his reawakening and the perfect vessel for him to continue to explore themes that he’s sung about with Modern Nature – collectivism, our relationship with the natural world, the weight of consciousness – but with more directness and purpose. The key was the new dual guitar sound.

“I’ve always been drawn to bands where two guitarists work as a unit to move around and colour the rhythm section,” explains Cooper. “I’d been listening to the demos Television did with Brian Eno in the day and then that night I played with Tara for the first time at an improvised music show. We have a very similar approach to the guitar and that extends to the way we sing, so it gives the music an interesting balance.

“What we do is mirrored; a symmetry on either side of what Jim and Jeff are doing in the rhythm section. We’ve played with lots of amazing musicians who continue to orbit around what we do, but Tara joining the band felt like finding the other side to the square. Previous records have been performed by upwards of fifteen people but it was apparent the four of us could achieve something more powerful and more direct.”

In the time Modern Nature has been a band, the world has undoubtedly changed. The words Cooper had been writing previously were somewhat ambiguous but it had started to feel like he was sitting on the fence and that was something he needed to address.

“Every day we’re confronted with a confusing and scary world,” he says. “Making music and creating things can sometimes feel flippant or unnecessary, but my own world view was defined and influenced by art and artists who weren’t afraid to highlight and offer solutions: Public Enemy, The Smiths, and a wider American counterculture.”

“The community we’ve built our life around – artists, musicians and the people who gravitate to these things as way of communicating – are struggling to reconcile how they fit into an increasingly cruel world. This album, the themes and the lyrics are directed towards them because I think there are still reasons to be optimistic. There are amazing things happening all around us and it’s up to communities like ours to double down on the things we believe in. It feels as if being part of a group like Modern Nature and making an album that’s open, optimistic and ambitious is in itself part of the solution.”

As the new band started to play together more, the energy, excitement and telepathy between them gained momentum and it became clear they needed to make a record that captured that. They locked into a process where they booked a couple of shows, directly followed by four days in the studio. They’d spend two weeks living in each other’s pockets – a very condensed rush of creativity.

For all that the new album wrestles with the grimmer realities of 2025, The Heat Warps is ultimately not a record entirely consumed by anxieties. Its frequently beautiful sounds offer consolation and a wide-eyed optimism amid all the upheaval. Nowhere is that more apparent than on the transcendent album closer, Totality. As Cooper explains: “It was fascinating spending time in America as the country geared up for the 2024 solar eclipse. Everywhere I went, people were talking about the eclipse and for a few days it really seemed to capture the public’s imagination.

“The day of the eclipse I was driving through New Mexico and we stopped by the side of the road with hundreds of other people gazing up to the heavens. It felt exciting to be part of something that clearly resonated with people on such a profound level. It’s a fitting album closer and somewhere in there is a philosophy; a romantic nihilism.”

And at its heart, right there is the core of Modern Nature’s appeal. Never more so than on this new record.

Website | IG

Brigid Dawson & The Mothers Network

Tip-top of our osmosis list is the first quiver of tunes from Brigid Dawson and her newly minted Mothers Network: wise warnings dyed in dark hues, knotted and hard-won torch songs from the edge of a turbulent sea, bittersweet balladry spun in defense against evils familiar and unknown.

Bandcamp

DOORS at 7:00PM | MUSIC at 8:00 PM