If you plan on seeing the Kills as they wrap up their North American tour, prepare to have your mind blown. On Friday night, Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince proved that two musicians are capable of having more energy than an orchestra. With only two guitars, two mics and a drum machine, the duo tore up Oakland’s Fox Theater – even the most skeptical audience member couldn’t have resisted their charm. Mosshart and Hince have achieved a fair amount of celebrity outside of the band over the past couple of years and, rather than going to their heads, fame and fortune only seem to have transformed the band into a bolder, more sophisticated rock powerhouse.

When I saw the Kills back in 2009, their performance was intoxicating. Already a virtuous fan, my love for the band was solidified by their spectacle of raw, passionate guitar shredding. Though Friday night’s show was comparable in quality, the Kills that took the stage were two very different creatures. In 2009, I saw a self-conscious but lovable and trendy indie band still on the rise. On Friday night, I saw a well-traveled pair of rock stars who couldn’t help but intimidate you with their presence.

The hypnotic drum machine of “No Wow” cued on and the leopard print backdrop behind them began to twinkle and flicker blue and black. Mosshart emerged sporting fluorescent pink hair and a fluttering black peasant top. Her vocals were more audacious than I remembered, even taking on a passionate husk at times. She flipped her bright mane around and danced without a care in the world. She even absent-mindedly spit on the stage a few times. A leather-clad Hince would occasionally come to the front of the stage and strike a few chords, as well, inducing cheers and awes from a sizable group of female admirers.

Part punk, part glam rock, part indescribable awesomeness, the Kills appear to have mastered one hell of an entertaining live show. Though at first the performance seemed a bit choreographed, it wasn’t long before the band got so engrossed in their music and the audience’s good vibes that they cut the act. They even got so into it that, until about two-thirds of the way through the show, Mosshart hadn’t taken a breath or even touched her water bottle.

The Kills took a brief tour back to their underground days with stripped-down versions of some old favorites. These included “No Wow,” “Kissy Kissy” and “Fried My Little Brains.” However, the vast majority of the setlist consisted of tracks off of their newer releases, Midnight Boom and Blood Pressures – these were the ones that garnered the most applause.

Though personally a bigger fan of their earlier works, I was pleasantly surprised by the live versions of these newer releases. In fact, “Tape Song,” “DNA,” “Last Day of Magic” and “Black Balloon” were among the best songs of the night. They shared a cleaner, more polished sound that translated to a richer, more epic live experience. Also notable was a surprise rendition of Marilyn Monroe’s “One Silver Dollar,” which managed to display the pinnacle of Mosshart’s vocals.

As the arena rock feel of their new album might have suggested, the Kills have finally grown up, and their live show confirms that. Both their sound and their performance have grown more complex and refined. This follows suit with many other popular indie rock bands from the early 2000s, such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV on the Radio. While it’s sad to see the youthful angst of the Kills’ earlier years fade away, it’s intriguing to watch them break new ground and claim their position as influential rock legends.

Setlist:

1. No Wow
2. Future Starts Slow
3. Heart is a Beating Drum
4. Kissy Kissy
5. URA Fever
6. DNA
7. Satellite
8. Last Day of Magic
9. Tape Song
10. Baby Says
11. One Silver Dollar (Marilyn Monroe Cover)
12. You Don’t Own the Road
13. Sour Cherry

Justice has just released the cover art for their highly anticipated sophomore effort, Audio, Video, Disco. Though the French electronic duo has made it clear that they are pursuing a new sound on this album, its artwork looks all too familiar. The cover of 2007′s (Cross) featured the sketch of an illuminated cross in front of a dark background, and now Audio, Video, Disco features the real-life version of this.

Audio, Video, Disco is set for release on Oct. 25. In the meantime, check out the official videos for its rock-tinged singles “Civilization” and “Audio, Video, Disco.”

Neon Indian, aka Alan Palomo, has become a cornerstone in the fairly new genre known as “chill-wave.” His debut album Psychic Chasms earned much critical acclaim for its whimsical and distorted take on new wave, but many feared that his sophomore effort would only be more of the same – they couldn’t have been more wrong. Built upon the foundation of Psychic Chasms and infused with more complex melodies, textures and emotions, Era Extraña is instead a brilliant collection of experimental pop ballads. Palomo has traded playfulness for depth and, whether or not it was intentional, he has proved himself to be more than just a screwball with a laptop.

When artists better-known for their whimsy than their poeticism take on more introspective subject-matter, one of two things tends to happen: Either, the emotions feel forced and over-dramatized (and the record flops) or the artist breaks new ground and achieves a different kind of fame. On Era Extraña, Palomo has definitely done the latter. Joining the ranks of MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular and Of Montreal’s Hissing Fauna, Era Extraña reminds us that, ironically, some of the best pop music is inspired by heartache or depression.

Though chock-full of twinkly synths and catchy beats, this record is an emotional roller coaster – but those who speak Spanish may have already guessed that from the title. Era Extraña can mean either “strange era” or “she was strange,” already keying listeners into the album’s dark interior. It manages to take on both meanings, as it chronicles a “strange era” of heartache, confusion and girl drama, lots of girl drama. What appear to be different chapters of this era are then separated with short instrumental tracks titled “Heart: Attack,” “Heart: Decay” and “Heart: Release.” Each chapter features its own distinct sound, distinguishing the variety of emotions experienced throughout the album.

Opener “Heart: Attack” kicks off a trio of sweet, romantic track. The first of which, “Polish Girl,” is the closest thing you will find to a Neon Indian dance tune. Its digitized whines and heart-wrenching hooks could easily be mistaken for that of Passion Pit, which goes to show just how far removed from standard “chill-wave” Neon Indian has become. This polished sound is not lost as we move on to “Blindside Kiss” and “Hex Girlfriend.” The level of distortion and tension felt in the music, however, rises exponentially, perhaps indicating an increase in anxiousness and confusion.

Suddenly, the mood shifts with “Heart: Decay,” and the listener is met with haunting murmurs and minor down-tempo synths. If Era Extraña followed a plot, this might be seen as the “all is lost point” – that point in a film when the main character has perceivably failed in his endeavors and given up. The rest of the tracks detail a sort of recovery from this rock bottom. “Fallout” is the most typically “chill-wave” moment on the album, featuring a simple repetitive backbeat and Joy Division-esque monotone vocals. Thus, Palomo makes it clear that he hasn’t completely moved beyond the genre that he arguably created.

The mood remains somewhat numb and stuck in this “chill-wave” funk throughout “Era Extraña” and “Halogen (I Could Be a Shadow).” It isn’t until “Future Sick” that the tempo begins to pick up and a sense of life returns to Palomo’s voice. Though lyrically it suggests a fear of moving on and embracing the future, stylistically we can see that some emotional progress has been made.

Era Extraña finally reaches its creative peak on “Suns Irrupt.”  The second you hear its bright, hypnotic hook, you know something great is about to happen. The anxious distortion and dreary monotone of the “Heart: Decay” chapter are lifted and a full recovery is made. It is by far the most intricate and ground-breaking track on the album, solidifying Neon Indian’s transformation into a laptop music superpower. This explosion of talent is then wrapped up with the brief epilogue “Heart: Release,” a bass-heavy return to the shiny, colorful pop of the record’s opening tracks.

Era Extraña is important, not only because it proves Neon Indian to be more than an intriguing blip in the indie radar, but because it offers a new direction for the future of pop music. It reminds us that glamour and over-production are by no means prerequisites for the genre. Era Extraña is not perfect, and it means not to be. For that reason, it becomes something that anyone can relate to. More importantly, it makes “chill-wave” and laptop music more accessible and opens them up to the mainstream. With so many layers of significance, this record is certain to shake up the music scene.

 ★★★★☆ 

Last week we reported that a new Justice track called “Audio, Video, Disco” had leaked. Now the French electronic juggernauts have released an official video to go with it. “Audio, Video, Disco” is the title track of Justice’s upcoming sophomore album, which is due out on Oct. 25.

As the duo reported in an interview earlier this summer, Audio, Video, Disco will be a more instrumental-based album than 2007′s (Cross). Band member Xavier de Rosnay told Pitchfork, “We played everything on the album ourselves, but it took a long time to make it because we are not good players.”

The new video demonstrates their effort to perform traditional instruments, following the band in the studio while they record all of the instruments live. Check out the video for “Audio, Video, Disco” here.

The award-winning French electronic group Justice has just dropped another single from their upcoming album Audio, Video, Disco. The sophomore release’s first single “Civilization” debuted earlier this summer, and now fans can delight in its title track.

“Audio, Video, Disco” is a more minimalist track than the metal-tinged “Civilization,” but it is just as rock-oriented - It seems Justice is trying to go beyond their signature distorted dance tunes. The duo has confirmed that Audio, Video, Disco includes more instrumental recordings, making it more of a rock album.

Look for Audio, Video, Disco in stores on Oct. 25, and listen to the new single here.

For those of you anxiously anticipating Surfer Blood’s next release, here’s a brief preview of their upcoming Tarot Classics EP. The beach bum rockers have returned with a power-pop ballad called “Miranda.”

This new single offers a familiar and whimsical sound, featuring the same soaring guitar solos and pristine vocals that we heard on their debut album Astro Coast. Check out “Miranda” here and look for Tarot Classics in stores on Oct. 25.

Actress/singer Charlotte Gainsbourg recently announced that she would be returning to the music scene with a new EP called Terrible Angels. She has also just confirmed that a full-length follow-up to her debut album IRM will be released later this year, under the title of Stage Whisper. Terrible Angels will include seven original tracks produced by frequent-collaborator Beck, and Stage Whisper will be a collection of live and unreleased recordings.

Both albums aren’t due out until November 7, but Gainsbourg has offered fans a taste of what they can expect. Earlier this week, she released the official video for the title track of Terrible Angels, and now she is giving away an unreleased track off of Stage Whisper called “White Telephone” to anyone who subscribes to Courrier International. Listen to “White Telephone” here.

As we reported earlier, Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O is currently working on what she calls a “psycho opera,” as part of Vice and Intel’s Creators Project. O has just announced more details about the show, which will be premiering at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn from Oct.12-22. Little information has been revealed about the plot, but we now know that it will be titled Stop the Virgens.

“I have a pretty good idea of what the psycho opera is about but I wouldn’t dare try and put it into my clumsy words,” she said in a press release. “I’m hoping to create an original live experience, it should feel like a psychedelic ride laced with catharsis. There is emotional cost to our narrative so we’re aiming to engage the audience, this piece isn’t aiming to be all about spectacle or abstraction though there is good helping of both in the production. “

Stop the Virgens was co-created by O and design director KK Barrett, and it will be directed by renowned playwright Adam Rapp. Christian Joy, the designer behind O’s flashy YYY’s outfits, will be in charge of costumes. O has also confirmed that YYY’s guitarist Nick Zinner and Sam Spiegel (brother of Spike Jonze and member of the band N.A.S.A.) will act as music directors.

A star-studded musical lineup is already coming together for this “psycho opera.” So far, YYY’s drummer Brian Chase, actress Lili Taylor, keyboardist Money Mark and members of the Greenhornes and Raconteurs are billed to perform. Other contributing artists have yet to be announced.

Last year, Vampire Weekend was sued by Ann Kirsten Kennis, the model portrayed on the cover of their sophomore album Contra. Photo District News reports that Kennis has finally reached a settlement with the band and their label XL Records, and that the case has officially been dismissed. The amount of money that she received is currently undisclosed.

Though Kennis is no longer involved, Vampire Weekend remains in court with Tod Brody, the photographer who sold them the photo license. Both the band and the label have filed a counter-suit against Brody, asking him to pay for all liability in the Kennis case. They claim that Brody forged a model release before selling the photo license to them for $5,000. It is unknown how Brody obtained the original photograph, which was a Polaroid shot in the 1980s.

Vampire Weekend and XL Records appear to be doing well in this second case, as Brody’s attorneys reportedly left him to defend himself, due to a lack of cooperation.

Yesterday morning, Kanye West and Jay-Z sought to top their already rampant press attention with a surprise for their fans. Without warning, the two rappers opened a pop-up shop located at 201 Mulberry Street to sell copies of their collaboration album “Watch the Throne.” The scene was reportedly dead until around noon when word began spreading through news and social media sites. Fans camped out until the doors opened around 1 p.m.

West and Jay-Z have not made appearances at the store so far, but there are still plenty of treats for fans to indulge in. The storefront is wrapped in gold, modeled after the cover of “Watch the Throne,” and the notorious Maybach that was featured in the Spike Jonze video for “Otis” is displayed inside. The car has been stripped down so that fans can get a good look at the interior and the engine. The car is expected to go up for auction soon; the proceeds will be donated to fight famine in East Africa.

New Yorkers, be sure to check out the store before it closes! It will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow.

A major Sony distribution warehouse in London was burnt down this morning during the city’s persisting riots. The music industry could be suffering insurmountable losses, as the three-story warehouse was both Sony DADC’s largest UK distribution center and the headquarters for PIAS UK. PIAS is the main distributor for over 150 independent labels, including Sub Pop, Matador, 4AD and Sunday Best.

The warehouse contained the entirety of PIAS’s inventory. The affected labels fear that they have lost all of their stock in the fire. The extent of the damages has not yet been confirmed, but many have expressed their concern through Twitter and Facebook.  PIAS’s head of digital marketing Darren Hemmings tweeted, “We know DADC was destroyed and are waiting to confirm exactly how badly this has affected Pias.” PIAS has also released an official statement, saying:

There was a fire last night at the SonyDADC warehouse which services the physical distribution for PIAS in the UK and Ireland. PIAS is working closely with SonyDADC who are implementing their emergency plans. PIAS’s UK offices in London and all other areas of our business are unaffected. More information will be communicated shortly to all our labels and partners.

The riots began on August 6 in Tottenham, after a 29-year-old man was shot and killed by police during his arrest, and has resulted in much destruction and upheaval. No one could have predicted that it would have such powerful effects on the music industry.

The Del Mar Race Track, mecca for young urban professionals and middle-aged equestrians, is probably the last place one would expect to see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Yet, their show on Friday night saw a surprisingly large turnout of fans and curious gamblers, fresh from a day at the horse races. As bassist and singer Robert Levon Been pointed out on stage, “I don’t know what horses have to do with our band, but you seem to get it.”And, indeed, they did.

Leather-clad twenty-somethings and gray-haired rockers alike descended upon the appropriately Jack Daniel’s-sponsored stage, ready to enjoy a night of distorted bass and blues. Cheers erupted as BRMC emerged at sunset, and without a word they took to a long string of hits. A dim spotlight fell upon Been, as he began to sing “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo.” The smooth and catchy jam was a perfect warm-up for the louder, harder tracks to come.

The trio, consisting of Been, singer and guitarist Peter Hayes and fairly new drummer Leah Shapiro, exuded cool. Sporting all black, lots of leather and dark shades, they all but disappeared into the stage’s backdrop. This, along with their nonchalant attitude and the drowning strobe lights, left them as enigmatic props cranking out consistently high quality tunes. Such an air of mystery can be intriguing, but in this case it was only frustrating.

It felt as if BRMC was simply going through the motions without making an effort to wow or even to entertain their audience. That is not to say that their performance was bad. They demonstrated their talent as musicians, but they failed to go above and beyond the routine.

Granted, this show was part of the race track’s summer concert series, which is free with a six dollar admission ticket to the races, and BRMC isn’t actually on tour to promote an album right now. That’s not much motivation to put your heart out on the stage. But considering that other big name bands like The Flaming Lips and Weezer have put on phenomenal race track shows in previous years, one would expect a more passionate performance from BRMC.

Lack of enthusiasm aside, their performance was just fine. Lasting about two hours, it took an in-depth survey of the band’s six-album discography with a strong focus on their more recent albums. I was surprised that they didn’t play much off of their most critically-acclaimed album Howl. (Perhaps they were still trying to market their 2010 release Beat the Devil’s Tattoo.)  Fans didn’t seem to mind though – they each sang along to most of the tracks performed, regardless of the release date.

The band’s most blues-heavy songs like “Ain’t No Easy Way” and “Fault Line” translated the best live, with passionate vocals and a soaring harmonica. “Shuffle Your Feet” was another crowd favorite, though it required two tries. Earlier in the set they attempted to play it, only to pause about 20 seconds in and move to a different song without much of an explanation as to why. Unfortunately, the audience had shrunk significantly by the time they got around to playing the entire song.

In fact, the audience diminished rather suddenly about half way through the set. BRMC unwisely chose to play most of their harder, upbeat songs first, leaving the last hour of their set dedicated to more down-tempo tracks. As a result, the audience – many of whom had been inebriated since four in the afternoon and were probably exhausted – grew impatient and more than half of the people had left by the end of the show.

BRMC played a solid set. The audience enjoyed themselves. And yet, despite the high volume of fans in attendance, there was a serious disconnect between the two groups. Based on their set list and their lack of performance energy, it seems the band either expected a bunch of wasted gamblers who didn’t actually know their music or a group of serious fans who were going to patiently sit through each song, as if they were at the symphony.

While I’m sure they attracted a bit of both types, the vast majority of the audience appeared to be fans who wanted to have some fun and experience BRMC firsthand. The performance that they got was instead comparable to a live recording – flawless in musical quality, but otherwise uninspiring and impersonal.

Erin Donaldson, Contributor

Since his last full-length album was released in 2009, Bassnectar, also known as Lorin Ashton, has blown up. The dubstep producer was already huge, but after two years of non-stop touring and a convenient surge in the popularity of dubstep music, he has gained an even larger following. Fans have been tied over with two killer EPs and a slew of remixes in the meantime, but now a new LP called Divergent Spectrum has finally been released.

Divergent Spectrum features a few remixes that were released as free downloads earlier this year, as well as a collection of original tracks. According to Ashton, the album is meant to be eclectic but also to flow in the same way that the tracks at his shows do. He explains, “I wanted to create a collection of music that reflects my diverse tastes, but also I wanted to explore the energetic balance between heaviness and weightlessness, between beauty and aggression, tension and release.”

The album’s single “Above and Beyond” is temporarily being offered as a free download here at Bassnectar’s official website.  Divergent Spectrum is also available for free streaming here. For a taste of the album, listen to the Bassnectar remix of Ellie Goulding’s “Lights” below.

An unlikely collaboration, DJs Erol Alkan and Boys Noize have teamed up with Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker to cover Leonard Cohen. Cohen’s  ”Avalanche” is now transformed into “Avalanche (Terminal Velocity),” a haunting electro track.  Swelling violins and acoustic guitar are replaced with powerful organs and slow-building synthesizers. The lyrics are now spoken instead of sung, as if Jarvis is reading a story aloud.

“Avalanche (Terminal Velocity)” bares little resemblance to the original song, but it does manage to maintain its dark melancholia. Cohen even stated in a press release that he approved of the new take on his song. With that in mind, give both versions a listen below and compare.

Erol Alkan, Boys Noize and Jarvis Cocker – Avalanche (Terminal Velocity)

Avalanche – Leonard Cohen

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Strokes’ debut album Is This It?, Stereogum has released a tribute album and titled it Stroked, A Tribute to ‘Is This It?’. Stroked is a collection of indie covers of each track off of the original album, featuring the likes of Peter, Bjorn &John, The Morning Benders and Real Estate.

There are also a few unexpected appearances, such as the ones by electro-pop songstress Computer Magic and Das Racist rapper Heems. If anything, this demonstrates just how influential Is This It? has been across a variety of genres.

Check out the track list below and download Stroked for free here from Stereogum.

1. Peter Bjorn & John – “Is This It”
2. Chelsea Wolfe – “The Modern Age”
3. Frankie Rose – “Soma”
4. Real Estate –  ”Barely Legal”
5. Wise Blood – “Someday”
6. Austra – “Alone, Together”
7. The Morning Benders – “Last Nite”
8. Owen Pallett – “Hard to Explain”
9. Heems – “New York City Cops”
10. Deradoorian – “Trying Your Luck”
11. Computer Magic – “Take It Or Leave It”

Colin Meloy has taken his storytelling abilities to the next level and penned a series of young adult novels. The Decemberists frontman is well-known for his sea shanties and adventure-packed lyricism in songs like “The Legionnaire’s Lament” and “The Mariner’s Revenge Song,” so this doesn’t come as much of a surprise. The series is called the Wildwood Chronicles and it also features illustrations by Meloy’s wife Carson Ellis.

The book is set to be published by HarperCollins on August 30. The plot appears to be centered around nature and fantasy, as it will follow a young girl’s adventure into a mystical forest in Portland. Read the book’s description as it appears on the website below:

Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary. At least until her brother is abducted by a murder of crows and taken to the Impassable Wilderness, a dense, tangled forest on the edge of Portland. No one’s ever gone in—or at least returned to tell of it.

So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval—a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater, as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.

The first four chapters of Book One of the Wildwood Chroniclescan now be downloaded for free here at the book’s official website.

Karen O continues to take her Yeah Yeah Yeahs fame to the next level. She has worked on film soundtracks and dabbled in unexpected collaborations, but no one could have predicted her next project – a “psycho opera.” The Creators Project, a multimedia collaboration between Intel and Vice, just announced that Karen O and playwright Adam Rapp will be debuting an opera at the Project’s New York Festival. They described it as a “psycho opera” and “an assault on the tragic joys of youth.”

The Creators Project designed the acclaimed visuals and stage sets at Coachella this year, kicking off a series of festivals in Lyon, Sao Paulo, Seoul and Beijing. New York will be their final festival, taking place on October 13-16. The opera is set to premiere at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn at this time. Little information has been released about this enigmatic production, so far. But the combination of Karen O’s flare for the dramatics and the Creators Project’s groundbreaking set design is sure to offer an exciting and visually-striking show.

To get a better sense of what the Creators Project does, watch this video of their set design for Animal Collective at Coachella this year.

Stephen Malkmus seeks radio play for the first time since his Pavement era. It’s a little difficult to take the prince of indie seriously in this endeavor, but that’s okay – he doesn’t seem to be taking it very seriously either. Malkmus and Matador Records are now holding a contest to see who can come up with the most creative word to replace “blowjob,” in order to make his latest single more appropriate for the radio.

In the new Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks single “Senator,” Malkmus sings “I know what the senator wants/ What the senator wants is a blowjob.” The winner of the contest will win a 7″ single of the band performing “Senator” with their new replacement word on one side and the original track on the other. Matador will then submit the edited single to various radio stations for airplay.

Think you have the best replacement word for “blowjob?” Enter the contest at WhatDoesTheSenatorWant.com. The deadline to enter is August 23 and the winner will be announced on September 15. Listen to the original version of “Senator” below and start brainstorming!

Lady Gaga further demonstrates just how influential she has become in the music industry by gifting a song to Cher. The pop veteran recently tweeted, “Just walked in from studio ! I Finished 1st track on new cd &……..’GAGA ‘ ‘ YOU ARE THE GREATEST THING TO ME. ‘” This is referring to her new track “The Greatest Thing,” which was written by Gaga and her frequent producer/co-writer RedOne. The two had originally written it for Gaga, but they have instead decided to give it to Cher.

The song’s inspirational subject-matter and heavily Auto-Tuned vocals fit Cher like a glove, and she appears to be very pleased with Gaga’s work. In another tweet, she said, “It’s not a duet ! Who knows ? I Did Hold her “Meat Purse” haha! One can wish! It’s one of her songs & she & Redone gave it to me 4 my cd !” You know you’re famous when Cher is that excited to be working with you.

Check out Gaga’s original demo recording of “The Greatest Thing” below.

Up and coming producer Gramatik released his new album Beatz & Pieces, Vol. 1 today. This is his first release on Pretty Lights Music, an independent label owned by Pretty Lights’ own Derek Vincent Smith. Gramatik demonstrates a similar style to Smith, blending funk, soul and hip-hop samples with glitch mixing. However, the Slovenian artist is first and foremost a hip-hop producer.

Beatz & Pieces, Vol. 1 is an eclectic and largely instrumental collection of  hip-hop beats. It features live instruments and dabbles in unexpected genres, from blues to world music. The album may be downloaded for free with an optional donation at the PLM website, and you can listen to Gramatik’s new single “So Much for Love” below.