Royel Otis has a big 2025 lined up, and starts now with their new song, "moody." The duo joined us in Los Angeles for an Audacy Check In to talk about the new track, what to expect on their upcoming tour, and more.

Earlier this week, Royel Otis announced the meet me in the car tour, that will see the two playing venues and select music festivals across North America including Governors Ball, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Outside Lands. But first, it's "moody" to set things in motion for our Audacy LAUNCH artists.

"We were in the studio with Blake Slatkin and Amy Allen, two very, very talented people," shares Royel Maddell about the making of "moody" during the band's conversation with KROQ's Miles The DJ. "We were just like throwing chords together and stuff, and that's what ended up coming out of it. All in a day's work. It was amazing."

"moody" is part of the next chapter for a band that took Alternative music by storm last year, and according to Roy it's part of a bigger jump for the next LP. "I think it's, I don't know, sonically a bit larger," he says of the upcoming album. "I think there was more thought after playing all the shows live last year. I think there was more thought into like how this song would go if we played it live as opposed to just like how it just sounds on the record. I think there was a bit more thought into that, but other than that, I, I just think it was just whatever came out."

Next month the band starts a run of festival dates, before launching their own headlining tour. After seeing them a few times in Los Angeles, Miles couldn't help but notice the connection that Royel Otis has with fans, already so solid and intense, still early on in their career. "I think we've always taken that so seriously as well," Maddell admits, "like connecting with fans and always trying to make sure they know they're a part of it and a big reason why we're doing what we're doing sort of thing."

That feeling's coming around, and it can only mean one thing. ROLE MODEL is with us for an Audacy Check In at the Hard Rock Hotel New York to talk about his hit, "Sally, When The Wine Runs Out," his upcoming return to the road with Gracie Abrams, and much more.

"It's funny on Wikipedia you are listed as Bedroom Pop," Mike Adam explains. "Do you know what that means?"

"I feel like that was the whole first half of my career, was that word Bedroom Pop," laughs ROLE MODEL. "That was the scene that I feel like I like made my way into when I first started making music under the name ROLE MODEL, and it was like Clairo, Gus Dapperton, Cuco. There was this very cool community of artists that were all kind of in this Bedroom Pop thing and it was just like DIY. Kind of low-fi Pop music."

"Very misleading," he adds, after Mike notes it's not sexy time music. "Also probably like the least sexual music ever."

Turning heartbreak into hits, ROLE MODEL has used his album 'Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye)' to both grief a formative relationship and catapult himself into another artistry atmosphere. His run opening for Gracie Abrams is about to restart as she heads out on the deluxe dates of her sold out tour, which ROLE MODEL will join between festival shows throughout the summer.

"I just like her relationship with her fandom at these shows, and also outside of shows, and how inclusive she makes it," ROLE MODEL says on what he's learned from watching Gracie on tour. "I took mental notes of just how she makes everyone feel seen at her shows, no matter how big the venue is, or how many people there are, she makes everyone feel seen and heard at her shows, and I think that's a very cool thing to take note of for me and my own shows."

After lots of talk about ROLE MODEL's home state of Maine, Adam asks about the folks back home and the moment Mom is most proud of. "She just came on stage in Boston, for my biggest, it was the last show of tour, but it was also happened to be like my biggest headline, and it was like technically a hometown show, and she came on stage for that and we made her Sally at the end of the show," he shares. "I think that was like a very cool moment, not just for her to see of me, it was like a cool thing to have together now."

To hear more from ROLE MODEL check out the full Audacy Check In above.

New music from Mammoth is here, after the band and Wolfgang Van Halen spent the week teasing fans with a countdown across socials. Now we have "The End," another scorching eruption of Rock, featuring furious fretwork and another sky-high solo. Here to talk about it is the man himself for an Audacy Check In with Abe Kanan.

"I had this idea a while back and I felt like maybe it was a little too over the top, but then I came back to it and I thought it would be fun to try and make it into a song," WVH shares about the blistering new song. "It was a fun little process. It's a tough thing to balance where it's like the centerpiece of the song is this sort of soloy thing, but I think the aggressiveness and the over-the-topness of it is sort of what makes it so exciting."

The guitar is all the way in Rock and beyond, with Wolfgang leading the charge in a lot of ways, even if he's reluctant to embrace that role himself. "I think, even in Pop, you see, they have full bands with guitar and everything. It's definitely on its way back for sure, you know, comparatively to where it was say 10 years ago."

Not able to divulge much about Mammoth's upcoming 3rd album, the excitement is obvious when hearing WVH talk about new music. "I'm very excited with the direction that everything's headed in for sure."

For more on his upcoming tour, his time playing with Van Halen, and WVH's message to fans, enjoy the full Audacy Check In with Wolfgang Van Halen above.

R&B breakout star Coco Jones is back for an Audacy Check In, to talk about her new album, 'Why Not More?' and so much more. The GRAMMY-winning singer joins us at the Hard Rock Hotel New York to dive into the making of the album, which is the official debut LP for the "Taste" singer, arriving as a fully-formed force in music with passionate pleas and next-level vocals.

Since we last connected with Coco in the Audacy Sound Space, the singer has been hard at work on her debut album, which is now officially out in the world. "I think for me I just wanted to be more decisive this time," Jones reveals to DJ Buck about her process.

"I was still figuring myself out with my EP, and you know, EPs are lower stakes. You don't really have any expectations and I was kind of just learning how it goes being signed again. Like that's my first time being signed as an adult, so I was really learning how it goes, and now I feel like I kind of know a little bit more. I know a little bit more about myself, and so I wanted to speak up more on things that were really important to me."

Jones has found the material for her debut simply by living, finding inspiration in the conversations and situations she finds herself in. "I think I pull from real life. I mean, my friends and what we talk about, the things that we're all going through, relationships and life, and learning ourselves," she shares. "It's such a relatable place in life that I try to take real life conversations and turn them into songs."

Coco also shared with us a few of her favorites from the new album, including "Keep It Quiet," and the Britney Spears-sampling "Taste," which has already taken off and become a favorite for fans as well. "I love it because it was scary to do, and I feel like the best things are the things that you're scared to do," she says of the song. "You know they teach you a lot."

"I'm excited for people to listen to this album because I kind of treated my EP like first date vibes," Coco continues. "Like you're not going too hard, you're not showing all of yourself, but you're trying to make a good impression, and then when you start to get to know somebody more, your real self slip out. I think my album is like when you're starting to get somebody to know them more, like the real self is slipping out and I'm still going to show more and more as I get comfortable and as I learn more, but definitely dive deeper into some of my emotions with this album."

At the risk of stirring controversy, DJ Buck also asked Coco Jones for her Mount Rushmore of female R&B singers. "You know you always gonna say people and then people gonna be mad at who you didn't say," smiles Jones. "I'm thinking I'm gonna think Mount Rushmore of women who inspired my art and my album."

"I would say of course Beyoncé. I would say Jazmine Sullivan. I would say SZA. I would say Rihanna."

To hear more from Coco Jones on the making of her debut album, how she handles life in the public eye, and navigating social media, check out the full Audacy Check In above.

We've seen Zara Larsson do a lot, but we've never seen the Pop star get "ugly like this," as she lets it rip on her new single, "Pretty Ugly."

Zara is back in the building with us at the Hard Rock Hotel New York to talk about the new song, and her upcoming spot on Tate McRae's Miss Possessive Tour later this year during an all new Audacy Check In with host Mike Adam.

Larsson blasted back on to the scene last week with "Pretty Ugly," and she's having fun with the muddy video and mischievous marketing. "It was just me wanting to be a little, I don't know if silly is the right word, but I'm not a very serious person," Zara shares. "I think this song has an element of fun to it. And, I spend a lot of time online. I am just a part of the internet culture. I love what happened to 'Symphony.' I just I have a lot of screen time. So, we did a Coachella billboard, which was like a bit cheeky and fun. Just the imagery of fun and not taking myself too serious. I feel like it's the vibe."

The fun of "Pretty Ugly" is a preview of Larsson's upcoming project, but according to the singer it only tells part of the story. "I feel like I have so much to say and I have a lot of personality that has been hard to repackage into a song, but with this making of this album, I just was hanging out with a small group of people, And they really get me."

"So it's like hanging out with friends. It's fun, it's upbeat, it's exciting... but then there's also the side of me that's vulnerable, sometimes scared of things, has a lot of ambition, feeling like I'm working hard but I'm being let down, or feel like, stuff that I really don't really talk about openly."

It all adds up to a new chapter for Zara, one that she can't wait to take on the road with Tate McRae. "It will be a lot of energy and a lot more dancing, hopefully."

"She worked so hard," she says of her upcoming tourmate, Tate McRae. "And I'm really excited to get to know her, get to see her show every night because she's so young... [but] like she's giving me mature."

"I'm also really loving that she seemed to really find her own thing, and I love that she has incorporated more dancing because I feel like she didn't really do that before, at least not like live, and no one can do it like her."

To hear much more from Zara Larsson, check out the full Audacy Check In above.

Sammy Hagar is getting by with some help from his friends, both on stage and in his dreams. The Red Rocker joins us for an Audacy Check In to talk about his new song, "Encore, Thank You, Goodnight." which he says was inspired by a dream about Eddie Van Halen.

"When I woke up from this dream with Eddie, we were in the middle of writing a song and I was singing this melody, so it was so fresh," Sammy shares with Audacy's Remy Maxwell. "And I'm going, 'man!' I woke up, I sang that into my iPhone. My wife's sitting there pulling covers over her head. I got my guitar out, I got my notepad. [It's] one of them things where nobody wants to hear about dreams. You wake up and say, 'honey, I had this weird dream.' You dream and you start trying to tell her, she goes, 'I don't wanna hear about your dream right now. It's too f***ing crazy. It doesn't make any sense.' I'm going, 'yeah, I know.' So nobody wants to hear about your dreams. So I was reluctant."

Hagar finally found the nerve and said, "f*** it, I'm gonna play this for Joe."

Guitarist Joe Satriani and Hagar had just toured together, playing Van Halen classics across 34 cities. "He studied Eddie inside and out, he said, 'hey, I got this, man.'"

Performing with VH alum Michael Anthony, Satriani, and legendary drummer Kenny Aronoff, Hagar is newly signed to Big Machine Rock and ready to reveal the track to fans. "It's just such a heartfelt thing from me to him," admits Sammy. "I just wrote exactly what I dreamt and exactly what I felt and, that's so personal. It's one of the most personal songs I've ever written in my life.”

"I'm humbled by this band and being in Van Halen, I wasn't humbled at that time, you know, I was a platinum solo artist selling out arenas all over the world. So I wasn't as humbled joining Van Halen as I, looking back, as I could have been. But now I'm humbled by it because Eddie Van Halen's one of the greatest rock musicians that ever lived," says Sammy. "I'm more impressed with this guy every day in my life, and I will always be inspired by his musical abilities and his musical uniqueness."

"I tell you, the better I get and the more knowledge I get at my craft, I always go back to Eddie and go, 'wow.' He was already there. Every time I come to a new conclusion, a new height, I go, 'oh wow, Eddie knew this,' and it's amazing how great that guy. and unique that guy really was."

To hear much more from Sammy Hagar on his upcoming Stagecoach performance and Vegas residency, check out the full Audacy Check In above.

Halestorm has shared the first preview of their upcoming, sixth studio album with the big and bold single, "Darkness Always Wins," and frontwoman Lzzy Hale is here to talk about the making of the band's next chapter, and more.

During an Audacy Check In with Abe Kanan, the "Back From The Dead" singer details the recording process of the new LP, which serves as a return to the roots of the Pennsylvania band. "This whole album, it's kind of like this long road back to the beginning almost," Hale reveals. "When we were recording it with Dave Cobb in Savannah, Georgia, it felt like we were back in my parents basement. We were in this house, unsupervised, just the four of us with all the equipment we could ever want, everything ready to go, no distractions, no girlfriends, no wives, no friends."

"We'd wake up in this house like around 11AM every day, and just start on whatever got us excited, and then Dave Cobb would kind of come in around 1PM and like throw a wrench in the works somewhere. Like, 'oh I love that, let's go there,' you know? His ADHD works very well with our ADHD, so that worked out."

The lead look at the album, "Darkness Always Wins," was the first song the band wrote in Cobb's studio, and kicked off the process of recording from scratch with the producer. "We were setting up the computer so we can show him some songs, and he's like, 'oh no we're not doing any of that.'"

Rather than sifting through previously recorded riffs and stems, Halestorm wrote the song from the ground up. "So we're getting all of these takes of the inception of the song," Lzzy shares. "Usually when we do a Halestorm record, we write the songs and everybody decides on what their favorite songs are, and then we go in the studio for a month and bang it out. This was the complete opposite. We're like, 'we don't have a plan, we don't know what we want to write about,' so we were just kind of letting the music tell us what to do, versus the other way around."

You can hear much more from Lzzy Hale of Halestorm on the band's upcoming tour plans, excitement to play at Black Sabbath's final show, her Instagram rebirth, and more above.

Everything is coming up Ne-Yo. Between stops on the 'For My Fans Tour' with Mary J. Blige, the GRAMMY winner joined Shelley Wade in the Audacy Sound Space at the Hard Rock Hotel New York to discuss touring with a fellow R&B icon, all that relationships talk, a few key career moments, and so much more.

"I am fantastic. I'm better than fantastic. I'm in a great, great space," he shares. "Things are going great in my career. Things are going great in my love life. My kids are healthy and smart, and bad as hell, but healthy and smart. Two out of three ain't bad. Yeah man things are good."

Of course in addition to being a constant force across the music landscape for the past 20 years, Ne-Yo has also become a hot topic thanks to his love life and his “pyramid” of girlfriends. Which is fine for Ne-Yo, as long as they stay for the music.

"I don't even so much mind anymore what gets you in the room. It's what keeps you in the room,” he explains. “You know if my personal life is what made you Google my name, and then you Google my name and then you get the music, that's fine. I don't even care. As long as you get to the important part."

Currently a part of the 'For My Fans Tour' with Mary J. Blige and Mario, Ne-Yo says it's like being with family. "Mary has always been just one of those real, like grassroots true-to-life people, you know. Mind you she has all of the makings of a diva, you know what I mean," he jokes. "Like you know if she walked in here and she had women throwing roses at her feet as she walked it'd be completely valid. It's like, 'all right well I mean it's Mary that's fine, it's Mary of course,' but she's also the kind of person that's gonna ask if you ate today, will get up and get you a glass of water if you need one, like she's just real people and she genuinely cares about people."

"Mario, same situation," adds Ne-Yo. "Dare I say, we damn started our careers together, because writing that song for him is kind of what got me the attention that got me my Def Jam deal, and then of course that song being one of his biggest kind of catapulted him to where he wound up."

"Just being able to share the stage with people that you genuinely respect, it's a beautiful thing."

To hear much more from Ne-Yo, listen to his full Audacy Check In above.