session

Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso release new album, ‘Free Spirits’

Argentina’s spunkiest duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso have checked themselves into a wellness center for their latest album, “Free Spirits.”

Out Thursday, the LP pushes the limits of the duo’s experimentation, combining unpredictable blends of trap, rock and pop while still maintaining their raunchy sense of humor and musicianship. The 12-track project features collaborations with British musicians Sting and Fred Again, as well as California’s very own Anderson .Paak and Jack Black.

It’s been a busy year for the avant-garde pair, who won their first Grammy in February for their nine-track EP, “Papota.”

At the ceremony, they hinted at a rebrand for the upcoming album; both appearing on the red carpet wearing matching tan robes — a look far less flashy than the custom Versace outfits they wore at the Latin Grammys in November.

“We are trying to heal that velocity that we had in the past year. If you go so fast, you’re going to crash,” Paco Amoroso told Billboard in February. “We are healing ourselves now.”

Following their Tiny Desk performance in Oct. 2024 — which has reached over 27 million views to date — the Buenos Aires singers have etched an unpredictable, kooky path in the crazed music industry, often by criticizing it.

First, their 2025 EP “Papota” humorized their rapid ascent to stardom and poked fun at how artists must dilute their image to fit the mainstream.

Now through their LP “Free Spirits,” they continue to comment on the trope of the burned-out, exhausted artist who through a soul-stripping retreat can find renewal once again.

That purported healing is taking place at “Free Spirits Wellness Center,” a mock-up clinic led by Sting dedicated to advance physiological and cognitive expansion for people working under intense pressure.

In a music video released Wednesday, Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso checked themselves in after taking home five gramophone trophies at the 26th Latin Grammys.

Among the 12-step treatments are skin-changing artotherapy, where patients endure a painful micro-needling session combined with a non-goal-oriented painting session; cryo cerebral rebirth, where the brain regresses to its early developmental stages; and temperature contrast celibation, where they receive an ice bath combined with sexual arousal restrain.

None of these treatments make clear sense — mainly because they aren’t real — but that’s exactly Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso’s point: Fame is all make-believe pandemonium and there is no real recovery from it.

Source link

Blake Snell throws his first bullpen session of spring training

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”>

Unable to ramp up through the first month of spring training because of lingering shoulder soreness, Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell took a step toward readiness Thursday, throwing his first bullpen session.

Two hours before Thursday night’s Cactus League game, Snell threw off the mound in front of a group of reporters and fans at Camelback Ranch. Snell threw 15 pitches — all fastballs — sitting between 87 to 89 mph.

“I feel good,” Snell said after his bullpen. “I was very excited to throw off the mound again and pitch. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while. This being like the first one where I actually could have the catcher down. I was still limited to what I could throw. I was throwing 87 to 89 [mph]. It felt effortless, easy, could command the ball, so [I’m] happy with that. [I’m] just happy to continue to grow and get better.”

The two-time Cy Young Award winner says he’s targeting an April return, and that he’s hoping to get back faster than initially expected.

“I want to pitch in April,” Snell said. “That’s my goal. So, I’ve kind of been the one pushing it, and they’re being more cautious. I think we’re just talking a little back and forth, but I think them seeing me throw a pen today, hopefully that just gives them more confidence to keep it going. I think we won’t really know until I throw a live [batting practice], I think that’s when we’ll really know. How do I recover from that? How do I feel? And then that will be like, ‘OK, let’s get him into games.’ That’s what I would envision. I’m not the front office or Dave, but that’s what I would think.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, however, isn’t ready to give a timetable for Snell’s return.

“I think honestly, to think about when he’s going to come back, we’re just a ways away from even really having that conversation,” Roberts said, noting that six weeks is “the floor” when you also account for a potential rehab assignment.

Thanks to the depth of their pitching staff, the Dodgers can afford to be patient with building up Snell. Right-handers Emmet Sheehan and River Ryan, along with left-hander Justin Wrobleski, are all possibilities for starting assignments early in the season.

“We still need him to pitch, and I know he understands that,” Roberts said of Snell. “But we do have the luxury of trying to err on the side of caution. … We are certainly better when he’s pitching for us, when he’s active.”

Snell, for his part, is thankful to be throwing again without shoulder pain.

“The whole offseason, I mean, every throw kind of hurt,” Snell said. “It was just every throw, I could feel my shoulder. It was just cranky and I couldn’t get it going. And I thought I was doing everything I needed to, and I believe I was, and ultimately, I’m feeling better.”

Source link