So who likes “first looks” at things? This week brought them to the internet in bulk. In a nutshell: Quentin Tarantino unveiled a (somewhat controversial) peek at Once Upon a Time In Hollywood; HBO proved that yes, the Deadwood movie we’ve dreamed about for years will indeed be seen by …

Sara Bareilles has shared another new song ahead of the release of her upcoming album Amidst the Chaos, out April 5. Her latest track, “Saint Honesty,” is a moody, pensive number that features atmospheric instrumentals along the singer’s emotive croon. The song, which has a dreamy vibe, was produced by …

Leela James is one of the few southern soul singers who can still achieve a hit today. Her most recent example, “Don’t Want You Back,” is an exercise in classic form — a handsome, raspy “good riddance” with a guitar that studiously recreates the sound of Hi Records. But the …

Rhiannon Giddens, whose collaborative project Our Native Daughters released its debut album in February, continues her exploration of world music with the May 3rd release of There Is No Other, an album recorded in Dublin with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi and produced by Joe Henry. The title (stylized as there …

WASHINGTON — Robert Mueller‘s Russia investigation had been up and running for just two months when the special counsel set his sights on Michael Cohen, the self-described consigliere and (former) brash personal lawyer to President Trump. According to newly released court documents, the special counsel’s office first got a search …

Jake Owen‘s carefree “Drink All Day,” Sara Evans‘s cover of a Fleetwood Mac classic and more new songs to hear this week. Danny Burns, “North Country” Backed by Mindy Smith, Sam Bush and ChessBoxer, Irish songwriter Danny Burns nods to his homeland with “North Country,” a moody folk song about …

Chelsea Clinton was attending a New York City memorial for the victims of the Mosque shooting in New Zealand when a college student came up to her and criticized Clinton for remarks she made on Twitter a few weeks earlier directed at Muslim Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). Omar had been …

Reba McEntire sends up a warning about a woman who’s on a mission to drink away her heartbreak in the newly released song “Storm in a Shot Glass.” The track will appear on McEntire’s forthcoming new album Stronger Than the Truth. “She’s up on the barstool, out drinkin’ like a …

Idris Elba‘s new Netflix comedy Turn Up Charlie seems less a TV show than a checklist of things Elba wanted to do on camera. In the series (it debuts March 15th; I watched six of the eight episodes), which Elba co-created with Gary Reich, he plays Charlie, a Nineties one-hit …

The first episode of HBO’s new documentary, The Case Against Adnan Syed, premiered this past Sunday, once again bringing the murder conviction of the Baltimore man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend back into the headlines. Syed, the subject of the popular 2014 podcast, “Serial,” is currently serving a life sentence …