KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — Famous 2000s Malaysian alternative rock band Disagree has returned with a brand new single in Let’s Do It All Again after being absent from the scene for over a decade. 

The three times Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) winner, currently made up of Zahid (vocal and guitar), Hamka (drums) and Taa (bass), is not just returning with a comeback single but this is just the first step leading into their upcoming full-length album Black & White in Colour. 

Disagree via a surprise press release said that their return is not just built on nostalgia alone but also to ‘complete what was left unfinished’ – referring to their silent departure from the music scene in the early 2010s. 

“We didn’t really get to say goodbye,” Disagree wrote in the press release.  

“Life moved forward, and so did we but somewhere along the way, we left something unfinished. 

“After years of stepping away from music due to life transitions, family commitments, and career priorities, the band quietly went on hiatus, leaving behind a legacy in Malaysia’s alternative rock

scene and a fanbase that never fully let go, until now.”

This is also reflected in Let’s Do It All Again’where the song tells the story of a band that once had everything – drive, connection and loyal audiences– however just to slowly walked away without saying their goodbyes. 

At its core the song is a sincere apology letter to make things right and an invitation to reconnect – It is both nostalgic and forward-looking, a reminder that what appear to be endings can sometimes just be life’s pauses.

The track was recorded across Malaysia and Australia where it was mixed and produced by multiple AIM winner Greg Henderson and mastered by Leon Zervos, a renowned Grammy winner, at Studios 301 in Australia. 

Who were Disagree?

Originally active throughout the early 2000s and early 2010s, Disagree cultivated a strong following with their distinct Malaysian indie progressive rock sound, performed in English. 

Famously known through tracks such as Crumbs, Suicide Note, Scarecrow, Adams, and Osaka, which not only received repeated local radio airtime but also made them a staple act at the annual Rock The World festivals during that era. 

They have also opened for famous international bands such as Hoobastank and The All-American Rejects. 

The band had also received several local awards recognition in their early days including receiving the Most Airplay at Hitz.FM inaugural Malaysian English Top 10 Awards and they have also won three AIM trophies including for Best New Artiste at AIM 12 in 2005, and for Best English Album and Best Album Cover at AIM 17 in 2010. 

Their debut album At The End Of The Day, was also recognised as the fastest selling album in 2005 by Universal Music Malaysia. 

If Disagree once represented the voice of youthful uncertainty and emotional grunge intensity, today they stand for something more reflective: reconnection over recognition, sincerity over perfection and music as a bridge back to the fans and not just to the stage. 

Disagree’s Let’s Do It All Again is now available to stream on all music streaming platforms while the official music video is out now on YouTube.

Audiences were not ready for the amount of emotional damage Jon Bernthal inflicted in one week. He co-wrote and starred in two standalone pieces that came out this week: The Bear’s surprise prequel episode, Gary, and Marvel’s Special Presentation, The Punisher One Last Kill. Interestingly, both stories examine their characters' inner states, making them more relatable rather than giving fans an absolute adventure or heroic moments.

MADRID, May 14 — Real Madrid officially started their electoral process today, after president Florentino Perez announced his decision to call elections, in which he will stand.

There is a 10-day window, until May 23, for the submission of candidacies, Madrid said in a statement.

Among the requirements to be a candidate are having been a club member for 20 years and providing a guarantee of 187 million euros (US$219m), equivalent to 15 per cent of the club’s annual budget, which must be backed by personal assets.

Perez, who was re-elected unopposed in January 2025 for a four-year term, announced at a press conference on Tuesday that he will run again.

Spanish media report Enrique Riquelme, the president of the water and energy group Cox, is considering entering the race.

In a letter published by several outlets in Spain, the renewable energy businessman asked Perez for more time to potentially prepare a candidacy.

”When I ran in the 2000 elections, I didn’t ask for more time; I ran and I won,” said Perez in an interview on television channel La Sexta yesterday. 

If multiple candidates stand the electoral board will announce the date and place of the elections in due course.

If no one else comes forward, Perez, 79, would retain his post, as happened in the 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2025 elections.

The Spanish businessman was first elected as Madrid president in 2000, overseeing the club’s Galactico era, and resigned in 2006.

Since Perez returned in 2009, Madrid have won five Spanish league titles and a remarkable six European cups, among other silverware. — AFP

A number of fantastic ducks lined up in the month of June and I want to talk about all of them, but there isn’t time to do it in one giant post. One duck, however, took the form of appearing at the 14th International Melville Society Conference to speak about my time aboard the Charles W. Morgan eleven years ago. (You can read the comic about that trip here.)

I read Moby-Dick for the first time a handful of years ago and loved it, but I wouldn’t call myself a Melville scholar. However, attending this conference felt like a great chance to scratch the academic itch without, say, going to grad school.

I ended up spending the whole week taking visual notes, which allowed me to drop into a type of weightless, fixated attention that I’ve really missed in my caregiving life. It also helped give me something to do during panels where I felt a little, uh, out of my depth.

When I’m drawing, words just wash over me. I can pluck the ones that resonate in the moment, then step back at the end of the hour and get a picture of what I took away from the talk. I particularly loved the freedom to just wander into panels where I had no idea what the speakers were talking about, only to come away newly-enthused about some niche avenue into Melville’s work.

Time and time again the attendees emphasized how unique this conference is in its warmth and intellectual diversity. I met scientists and art historians and medievalists and printmakers and disability scholars and tall ship sailors and filmmakers and many, many professors. It was a dreamy, albeit intense, four days.

Here are the notes from every talk I attended, all drawn straight to ink during the speakers’ presentations (usually about 20 minutes per person).

The biggest takeaway was that we need embedded cartoonists at all sorts of academic conferences—and the demand is there! People were so thrilled to see this kind of work coming out of the event, and there are lots of journals hungry to publish unusual creative content alongside academic papers.

Something to pursue…eventually. Got a couple things* to wrap up first.

_{*unfathomably vast creative projects}