Your weekly music news. by Audrey Vann Welcome back to Pop Loser! This week, the Queer/Pride Festival lineup dropped, the Cass Elliot biopic was cast, and I have one special request from God (spoiler alert: it involves The Traitors ). I’ll also share two new songs that I’m currently obsessed with, and in a new segment, Questions from the Cutting Room Floor, Grammy-winning opera singer J’Nai Bridges shares her go-to karaoke songs. This Week in Music The lineup for Queer/Bar’s Queer/Pride Festival has dropped with highlights like It-Girl Keke Palmer, Southern hip-hop queen JT (of City Girls), house music heavy Honey Dijon, TV personality/pop diva Erika Jayne, NYC rapper Junglepussy, and (oh my god!) reality TV legend/DJ Tiffany Pollard. Kurt Cobain’s death continues to be investigated, 32 years later. After spending three days looking “exhaustively” at crime scene materials, an unofficial private sector team of forensic scientists claims to have found contradicting evidence to the official autopsy verdict, which ruled Cobain’s death a self-inflicted gunshot. The team claims that there was organ damage that “doesn’t happen in a shotgun death,” along with questions about the location of the shotgun shell and the unsullied nature of his hands. Following these claims, a spokesperson for the King County Medical Examiner’s Office responded, saying that they are standing by the initial autopsy ruling. Mama has been Cas(s)t. A Cass Elliot biopic is officially in the works, starring Baby Reindeer breakout actress Jessica Gunning, who will portray the Queen of Laurel Canyon and Mamas the Papas vocalist. The film will be adapted from the memoir My Mama, Cass, written by the singer’s only child, Owen Elliot-Kugell. RIP Billy Steinberg. On Tuesday morning, the songwriter behind pop hits like Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” Madonna’s “Like A Virgin,” and countless others died at the age of 75. It was also announced that founding member/drummer of Irish punk band the Pogues Andrew “the Clobberer” Ranken died last Tuesday at the age of 72. On Sunday, Georgia indie rock band Manchester Orchestra shared that their drummer, Tim Very, had died at just 42. “We’ve all been dreading sharing this news as we are all still in absolute disbelief,” writes the band. No cause of death has been reported. God, if you’re real, prove it to me by making this happen. Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher shared on X/Twitter last week that he’s “been asked” to compete on the next season of The Traitors. This is bananas, and I am so here for it. Actually, can we get both Liam and Noel in the castle, please!? Like this, but don't want to have to remember it exists? Subscribe to Pop Loser.  Questions from the Cutting Room Floor with J’Nai Bridges Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Grammy-winning opera singer J’Nai Bridges about her technique, inspirations, and upcoming performance in Carmen for The Stranger’s forthcoming print edition. Since there were so many fun questions that didn’t make it into the final edit, enjoy the newest segment, Questions from the Cutting Room Floor, for a sneak peek of the interview. The Seattle Opera’s Carmen plays at McCaw Hall, May 2–17. What is your favorite song to sing in Carmen? Oh, my gosh. Honestly, I love singing her first aria, the Habanera (“L'amour est un oiseau rebelle"). I have to admit, though, it's always a little bit frightening, because it's the first thing I sing and it's so well known. There is so much pressure, but I just try to make it my own thing. I love singing it because everybody knows it. Who is your favorite singer, opera or otherwise? I mean, I have to say Whitney Houston for non-opera. She could never do any wrong with that voice—she could have been an opera singer, as far as I'm concerned. Her range was just so large and seamless. Also, she puts feeling and passion into every single word. I listen to her for inspiration almost every day.  For opera, it’s Leontyne Price. For me, she is voice—the color, the ease, the power, and the agility. Do you ever sing karaoke? What is your go-to song? I actually love karaoke. I never sing opera, obviously. I like to sing Toni Braxton’s “Un-Break My Heart.” It's low, and it goes high, and it's really in my range. I also like to sing fun things like TLC’s “No Scrubs” and Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back.” Did you know Pop Loser is a newsletter? Get it in your email every week.  Music Events Worth Your Hard-Earned Money This Week: 2/11–17 Benefit for the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network with Tres Leches, Coral Grief, Black Ends, Flesh Produce, Clutz Feb 19, Baba Yaga, 7 pm, 21+ Cat Power: The Greatest Tour 20th Anniversary Feb 20, Paramount Theatre, 8 pm, all ages King Sheim, Buddy Wynkoop, Russian Blue Feb 20, Barboza, 6:30 pm, 21+ Whitney Ballen, Small Paul, Don Piano Feb 20, Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+ Lola Kirke, Sabine McCalla Feb 21, Fremont Abbey, 8 pm, all ages The Seattle Opera: Fellow Travellers Feb 21–Mar 1, McCaw Hall, times vary, all ages Bitchin Bajas, Geologist Feb 22, Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+ Joan Shelley, Nathan Salsburg Feb 22, Ballard Homestead, 7:30 pm, all ages Suzanne Vega: Flying with Angels Tour Feb 22, Neptune Theatre, 7:30 pm, all ages Glitterer, Graham Hunt, Prize Horse Feb 23, Black Lodge, 7 pm, all ages Want to see these recs a day earlier? Subscribe to Pop Loser here! The Songs That Keep Me Up at Night “While Feather Hawk Deer Hunter” by Lana Del Rey Whoopsie-daisy, yoo-hoo, I love this song. We all thought Lana’s highly anticipated tenth album, Stove, would be a full-on country album, but if this first single gives any insight, it’s looking like it’ll be orchestral, cinematic, and witchy (one YouTube commenter called the track “There’s a Coven Under Ocean Blvd”). I heard it for the first time only two hours ago and have already listened to it 10 times. It’s catchy, intriguing, and features Lana-isms like “I got a nicotine patch for the summer / Yeah, I'm a ghost, doesn't mean I feel nothin' / Put it on my ass, no tan lines, summer / I love my daddy, of course we're still together.” Listen to it. Then listen to it again. “Keepsake” by Ana Roxanne Experimental ambient artist and singer Ana Roxanne has announced her first album in six years, Poem 1, out May 1. The album’s first single, “Keepsake,” is a dreamy piano ballad that showcases her vocals with angelic clarity, a big shift from her sound collage/instrumental style on her previous album, Because of a Flower. I can’t wait to see the rest of the album reveal itself. Pop Loser is a Stranger newsletter that comes out every Wednesday. Subscribe here! ...read more read less