Tank and the Bangas have shared a new song, “Nighttime,” from their upcoming album The Last Balloon. The album is set for release May 15 via Verve Forecast, with “Nighttime” featuring David Shaw and Austin Brown.
Tarriona “Tank” Ball described “Nighttime” as “my spacey, reflective record” made with Brown and Shaw. She said the song is about the thoughts and feelings that surface after dark, and noted that the track includes a Kindred the Family Soul sample. Ball also said the appearance from her younger brother makes the song “even more personal.” “Nighttime” follows the previously released The Last Balloon songs “No Invite” and “Move,” the latter of which features Lucky Daye.
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The Last Balloon closes the album trilogy that began with Green Balloon in 2019 and continued with Red Balloon in 2022. Ball said the new title was chosen because she did not want listeners asking when a “Purple Balloon” project would arrive. “It’s the end of the balloons; we’re moving into a new space now,” she said. The album was executive produced by Austin Brown and recorded primarily at The Complex Studios in Los Angeles. Its collaborators include Iman Omari, Tane Runo, Ledisi, and Jelly Joseph.
In 2017, the New Orleans-based band rose to prominence after winning the NPR Music Tiny Desk Contest. Just a few years later, Green Balloon earned the group a Best New Artist nomination at the Grammy Awards. In 2023, Red Balloon received a Grammy nomination for Best Progressive R&B Album. Later this year, Tank and the Bangas have tour dates scheduled in New York City, Boston, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and other cities, with additional performances planned through November.
Mary Peltola speaks to a crowd of supporters for her candidacy for U.S. Senate at a campaign kick off event in Juneau on Jan. 23, 2026 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
The leading challenger to Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan is proposing to eliminate income taxes for Alaskans earning less than $92,000 per year, the state’s median household income.
Democratic candidate Mary Peltola introduced the idea Monday as part of a newly expanded platform of campaign ideas.
Among some of the other ideas: a federally subsidized “Essential Freight Service” for air cargo to small communities, a renewal of the federal Expanded Child Tax Credit, tax credits for renters and child care facilities, and price controls and limits on corporate mergers.
There are relatively few seats in the U.S. Senate that could be won by either a Republican or a Democrat this year. In a recent analysis, NPR dubbed Alaska’s seat the “majority maker.” National Democrats are hoping that Peltola can beat Sullivan and help them take control of the Senate, which currently has a 54-46 Republican edge.
Meanwhile, Sullivan has continued to strengthen a network of connections within the state. He’s already received endorsements from the United Fishermen of Alaska — the state’s largest commercial fishing organization — and last week was endorsed by the ANCSA Regional Association, a group representing the state’s largest Alaska Native corporations.
Both groups represent constituencies that have previously favored Peltola.
Statewide opinion polls have found economic issues are at the top of Alaskans’ minds, and many Alaskans have an extraordinarily pessimistic view of the state’s financial health and their own financial situation.
Many residents believe that any economic improvements won’t trickle down to them, said Matt Larkin, a leading pollster, in a recent interview.
That’s the environment in which Peltola is launching her new economic campaign.
“Affordability — it’s on everyone’s mind,” she said in an interview ahead of the launch.
Peltola, who lives part of the year in rural Alaska, said she believes the high cost of heating fuel and stove fuel has created a crisis.
“I feel like we’re in a dire situation that I have never experienced,” she said, explaining that her monthly fuel bill now exceeds her mortgage.
During a recent visit to St. Mary’s, on the Yukon River in southwest Alaska, she talked to people who are currently paying $10 per gallon for fuel. They’re expecting prices to go up by 40-50%, she said.
If they can’t afford fuel, “that means there’s no electricity, there’s no heat, there’s no gas for hunting and fishing. This is dire. And I, you know, I just think we’ve got to get really serious about how to bring down prices for everyday Alaskans, for everyday households.”
Peltola drew a direct line between the American war on Iran and those high prices. Sullivan has been a staunch supporter of the war. Peltola believes Congress needs to intervene, though she stopped short of outright opposing it.
“There is a need for the War Powers Act. I do not believe that any President should be making these kinds of substantive decisions unilaterally,” she said.
Peltola’s call for an “Essential Freight Service” mirrors her support for Bypass Mail and the Essential Air Service, two existing subsidy programs that support flights to rural Alaska and other parts of rural America.
She said the exact scope of the freight program still needs to be worked out. Alaska is essentially “six states within a state,” and “and every single region is so unique, and I think it would have to be unique approaches in every region and every community.”
Monday’s announcement is the second significant policy launch by Peltola since she announced in January that she would challenge Sullivan for Senate.
In late March, she announced her support for Congressional term limits, a ban on stock trading by members of Congress and her support for a Constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court case known as Citizens United.
That case allows third-party groups to spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns as long as they do not coordinate with candidates.
Speaking Friday, Peltola said anti-corruption and affordability are complementary issues.
“I think we’re all going to be looking at where the price gouging is and where we can halt corporate greed and inflation,” she said.
Aldean admits that sometimes husband-and-wife duets can be hit or miss. That’s why he set such a high bar for his duet with his wife Brittany. Continue reading…Country Music News – Taste of Country
Aldean admits that sometimes husband-and-wife duets can be hit or miss. That’s why he set such a high bar for his duet with his wife Brittany. Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
If you want to get the biggest chicken-fried steak in Texas (and maybe the entire country), then you need to head right down to the border at Eagle Pass.
With past winners including LeAnn Rimes and Gretchen Wilson, ‘The Masked Singer’ is entering a surprisingly different new era. Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
After the independent release of 1994’s Passion Play, Teena Marie spent much of the decade performing in smaller clubs, nurturing her core fan base. She also began working on a new album, Black Rain, giving occasional updates on her website. She shopped the album to major labels, sold t-shirts with the album’s cover image at performances, and even performed one of the songs in a guest appearance on a TV show. Despite the intense hustle, she did not secure a deal until 2002 when she joined Cash Money Records as the premiere artist on their Classics imprint.
There was a problem, though: Black Rain had leaked to the public during the years she’d spent shopping it. Copies circulated among fans on CD-Rs and cassettes, so when the deal was signed she began re-imagining the album. In October 2003, she cryptically posted “What do you do when the rain has stopped” on her website, signaling that some changes were afoot.
In March of 2004, the long-awaited first single from the re-titled album, La Doña, “Still In Love,” hit the airwaves. Co-produced by Cash Money’s Mannie Fresh, “Still In Love,” which peaked at #23 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart, was based on an Al Green sample, but the lyric and melody were classic Lady T with coy references to Curtis Mayfield, Gamble & Huff, and herself.
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She maintained Passion Play’s romantic fervor with sexy tracks like “Honey Call,” “My Body’s Hungry,” and “I’m On Fire,” and catered to younger listeners with the hip-hop infused “Off The Chain,” and the role-playing “The Mackin’ Game” with MC Lyte and Medusa. She reunited with Rick James on “I Got U,” and duetted with Gerald Levert on “A Rose By Any Other Name,” but it was the jazz, blues, and funk of “Black Rain,” “Baby I’m Yo Fiend,” and “Hit Me Where I Live,” however, that delivered what Teena’s fans loved most. Tunes like “Makaveli Never Lied,” and “Recycle Hate to Love” spoke to her spiritual, political, and cultural concerns: global warming, capitalism, drug abuse, gun violence, and the loss of human connection.
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“They call me La Doña and I sing like a thunder,” she proclaimed in the liner notes’ signature poem, dramatically reclaiming her position in the world of R&B. The album brought her highest placement on the Billboard 200 at #6, a gold certification, and the last Grammy nomination of her career for “Still In Love.”
The early-season dust has settled, but the trade market is already heating up as front offices across the league begin to separate the contenders from the sellers. Here are the latest whispers and trade rumors currently shaping the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline. May 10 The San Francisco Giants could be headed toward a fire sale after a sluggish 16-24 start that has them sitting fourth in the National League West. The Giants are exploring ways to move several major contracts as they look toward the future, according to USA Today. That includes the remaining money owed to Jung Hoo Lee ($85 million), Willy Adames ($161 million), Rafael Devers ($226 million) and Matt Chapman ($125 million). If they are able to unload those contracts, it would mark a dramatic shift toward a long-term rebuild. The San Francisco Giants are expected to make pitcher Robbie Ray their biggest trade chip at the deadline, while several executives told USA Today that the club could also listen to offers for ace Logan Webb.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
