Neal

News

Watch Bob Mortimer reveal if he had a ‘Brat’ summer

Bob Mortimer has revealed whether he had a ‘Brat’ summer in 2024 – check out his endearing response below. The comedian was appearing on Nick Grimshaw’s show on BBC Radio 6 Music on Friday (November 29), promoting his latest book The Hotel Avocado. In a moment captured on the station’s Instagram feed, Grimshaw asked Mortimer whether he had a ‘Brat’ summer, referencing the culture-straddling phenomenon of Charli XCX’s album of the same name and its associated movement that dominated the summer of 2024. “A what?” Mortimer replies. “What on earth does that mean?” Advertisement “I’m 66, Brat?! Like, aggressive? I didn’t have an aggressive summer at all, no,” he added, laughing. “It was very peaceful.” ‘Brat’ was Charli’s sixth studio album and was released in June, drawing from club and rave music and coming with a striking and immediately iconic lime green cover, with pixelated Arial font lowercase wording. Recommended The shade of green became ever-present throughout the summer, with a ‘Brat generator’ tool surfacing online allowing fans to replace the album title with text of their choosing. Charli fans began poring over the album’s lyrics for deeper meanings, while they also began speculation about the fact that it debuted… Read More →

Hit Singles

Jennifer Castle – Camelot

Historically, pop music has often reached into Arthurian legend for a handy metaphor. It is, after all, a symbolist’s paradise – the enchanted vale of Van Morrison’s “Avalon Of The Heart”, for instance, or David Crosby’s Californian hippie dream reflected back as “Guinnevere”. The Moody Blues’ spellbound evocation of Camelot on “Are You Sitting Comfortably?”, perhaps. Or, more literally, Rick Wakeman’s preposterous chainmail folly on ice. THE REVIEW OF 2024, NICK CAVE, ALICE COLTRANE, ELVIS COSTELLO, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, CASSANDRA JENKINS AND MORE STAR IN THE NEW UNCUT – ORDER A COPY HERE! Advertisement This ongoing thread of references in song – from Nat King Cole to Nas, Stevie Nicks to The Streets – tends to follow a pattern. Much like its depictions in literature, TV and film, Camelot is invariably viewed as shorthand for a certain kind of glorious perfection, a mythic crucible of courage and nobility, the embodiment of utopia. Monty Python notwithstanding, of course. By contrast, Jennifer Castle’s Camelot, as mapped on her seventh album, is something altogether more nuanced. Hers is a battleground of opposing tensions, set against the divisive times of the present. There are ambiguities and contradictions, ecstatic visions and crises of faith. And a… Read More →

Hit Singles

Talking Heads – Talking Heads: 77 (Super Deluxe Edition)

“The popular song is a very efficient and effective means of getting across ideas,” declares Talking Heads’ original typewritten ‘Statement Of Intent’, reproduced as part of this reissue package. “Without seeming pretentious, the band would like to think that music and the popular song (as a specific case) has the potential to inspire constructive feelings in the listener. The band hopes that their songs and presentation will inspire confidence in the audience. Words the band would hope can be associated with their ‘image’ are: sincerity, honesty, intensity, substance, integrity and fun.” THE REVIEW OF 2024, NICK CAVE, ALICE COLTRANE, ELVIS COSTELLO, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, CASSANDRA JENKINS AND MORE STAR IN THE NEW UNCUT – ORDER A COPY HERE! Advertisement These don’t sound like the ideals of a blank generation. Even amongst the supposedly iconoclastic denizens of CBGB, there was a widespread fixation with a well-established Stones/Stooges MO of leering, leather-clad hedonism and/or messianic self-destruction (which, as Tina Weymouth noted wearily, tended to come with a side-order of decidedly old-fashioned sexism). Fresh from the progressive Rhode Island School Of Design, Talking Heads surveyed this not-so-radical scene and quickly deduced that if punk really was going to provide some kind of new feeling,… Read More →

Hit Singles

The Beatles: Beatles ’64

“It’s not culture,” says Paul. “It’s having a laugh.” A first look at the new Fabs film… Following on from the Get Back series, The new Beatles collaboration with Disney+ is Beatles 64, which is available from today. A film produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by David Tedeschi, it focuses on the Fabs in February 1964, when they visited the USA for the first time. Most notably, to play on the Ed Sullivan show, which helped spread Beatlemania across the USA. Advertisement Drawing heavily on the footage shot by David and Albert Maysles in New York and on tour, the film contains the Beatles you know, but have possibly never met in such high picture quality. Yes, you’re right, Peter Jackson’s MAL AI team have had a hand in it. Tedeschi’s film also gathers reactions and reflections from people who witnessed the phenomenon at first hand, whether they found it life-changing or (as one young jazz fan describes it) “disgusting”. Here are our Top 10 Fab moments from the film. Press conference Advertisement John is an interestingly recessive presence in the film. At the press conference on arrival in the US, though, he presents the best example of his… Read More →

News

Cynthia Erivo weighs in on fans singing along to ‘Wicked’ in theatres: “We spent this long singing it ourselves”

Cynthia Erivo has weighed in on fans singing along to Wicked in theatres – and she’s given them the thumbs up. READ MORE: Everything we know about ‘Wicked Part Two’ During an interview on NBC’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade broadcast yesterday (November 28), the actress – who plays Elphaba alongside Ariana Grande‘s Galinda – was asked if she thinks it’s okay that fans have been singing along to screenings. “Good. I’m OK with it,” she responded emphatically. “We spent this long singing it ourselves — it’s time for everyone else to join in. It’s wonderful.” Watch the interview below (skip to 1:21 for her answer). [embedded content] Advertisement Since Wicked’s release on November 22, the musical adaptation has breathed new life into the box office with huge takings – earning a combined $270million (£214.6milion) in worldwide ticket sales over its opening weekend. Since then, however, social media users have highlighted how cinemas have applied policies barring audiences from loudly singing along to the film’s songs – separate “sing-a-long” screenings have been organised to help with this. Earlier this week, Dwayne Johnson was the first to transmit his approval to the public: “Sing! You’ve paid your hard earned money for a ticket,… Read More →

News

Rod Stewart hits out at “tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully” Gregg Wallace

Rod Stewart has called Gregg Wallace a “tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully” following allegations of historical misconduct against the TV presenter. Today (November 28), it was announced that Wallace would be stepping down from MasterChef while the allegations are investigated. The show’s production company Banijay UK said a series of complaints were made to the BBC this week by “individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct while working with Gregg Wallace on one of our shows”. It comes after BBC News sent a letter to Wallace’s representatives earlier this week setting out allegations of inappropriate sexual comments by 13 people who worked with him across a range of shows over a 17-year period. Advertisement The company said the 60-year-old, who has been a co-presenter and judge of the popular cooking show since 2005, was “committed to fully cooperating throughout the process”. Wallace’s lawyers also said it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature (via BBC News). Now, Stewart has shared his thoughts in a new Instagram post shared this afternoon. The singer wrote: “So Greg Wallace gets fired from Master Chef. Good riddance Wallace… Recommended “You humiliated my wife when she was on the show, but you had that… Read More →

Hit Singles

Arts council

Art Garfunkel (83) is on the phone singing “Old Friends” to his son, Art Garfunkel Jr (33). “The old men,” he whispers, easing into a gentle croon, “lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sun. You know the little niceties, Junior? One of us sings ‘waiting for the sun’. The other sings ‘waiting for the sunset’…” Art Sr slides into the melody again: “The sounds of the city/ Sifting through trees…” THE REVIEW OF 2024, NICK CAVE, ALICE COLTRANE, ELVIS COSTELLO, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, CASSANDRA JENKINS AND MORE STAR IN THE NEW UNCUT – ORDER A COPY HERE! Advertisement The voice is more seasoned than on Simon & Garfunkel’s 1968 LP, Bookends. Art Sr is singing to illustrate how the words have acquired a new inference on Garfunkel & Garfunkel’s collaborative album, Father And Son. “It’s challenging in the middle-eight,” Art Sr admits. “I won’t go for it now”. “Sharing a park bench quietly,” sings Art Jr, a high tenor coming down the line from Germany, “how terribly strange”. “Easy for you to sing,” says Art Sr. Advertisement It is a disorienting thing, listening to this father and son. The voice that sounds like Art Garfunkel is Junior’s; Art Sr’s singing… Read More →

Hit Singles

I’m New Here – One True Pairing

Tom Fleming looks visibly uncomfortable. Wincing slightly and itching his beard, he looks away from our video call before admitting with a rueful grin: “I’m still feeling a bit guilty about being a singer-songwriter. Do you know what I mean? It’s not something I feel is necessarily a viable art form.” As a magazine that features no shortage of such performers, we’re bound to ask: why ever not? “Well, it’s just the cliche of it. I am, you know, one guy with an acoustic guitar a lot of the time… I don’t want to be seen as another moaning white boy.” THE REVIEW OF 2024, NICK CAVE, ALICE COLTRANE, ELVIS COSTELLO, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, CASSANDRA JENKINS AND MORE STAR IN THE NEW UNCUT – ORDER A COPY HERE! Advertisement Male and caucasian Tom Fleming may be, but moaning would be a criminally simplistic way of describing the compelling sounds he makes on his second solo album under the name One True Pairing. Having risen to prominence as bassist and sometime singer of Cumbrian art-rock mavericks Wild Beasts, Fleming was perhaps always going to feel the urge to resist convention. After the band went their separate ways in 2018, he made a… Read More →

Hit Singles

Phil Manzanera – My Life In Music

For your pleasure, the Roxy Music guitarist reveals his most impactful albums: “It was too exciting for words”… THE REVIEW OF 2024, NICK CAVE, ALICE COLTRANE, ELVIS COSTELLO, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, CASSANDRA JENKINS AND MORE STAR IN THE NEW UNCUT – ORDER A COPY HERE! Advertisement BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB Buena Vista Social Club WORLD CIRCUIT, 1997 Advertisement I started learning guitar in Havana, being taught by my mum. There was no Bert Weedon’s Play In A Day for me, it was bolero and son. I don’t think my parents had heard about babysitters – they’d often take me to the Tropicana Club and the Sans Souci, with people like Rubén González playing piano and Omara Portuondo singing… and the Buena Vista Social Club album has them on it. I was immensely jealous of Ry Cooder in some ways, because I had gone back to Cuba in 1991-92 and started playing with Cuban musicians. And then this came out and I said, ‘Aw, hang on!’ But obviously I was absolutely delighted that we had them for a brief moment before they all died off. ELVIS PRESLEY Elvis’ Golden Records RCA VICTOR, 1958 This was like his greatest hits to date, so… Read More →

Hit Singles

Surviving Grateful Dead members planned to reunite with Phil Lesh for their 60th anniversary

Bobby Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann had planned to reunite with Phil Lesh to mark the Grateful Dead‘s 60th anniversary in 2025. THE REVIEW OF 2024, NICK CAVE, ALICE COLTRANE, ELVIS COSTELLO, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, CASSANDRA JENKINS AND MORE STAR IN THE NEW UNCUT – ORDER A COPY HERE! Advertisement In a joint interview with CBS News’ Anthony Mason, the three surviving members of the Dead revealed they were considering a reunion to celebrate the band’s 60th anniversary next year with Lesh and had scheduled time to rehearse, before his death on October 25. Weir, Kreutzmann and Hart last performed with Lesh at the Fare Thee Well concerts in 2015 celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Dead. “I was hoping that we could play with him again one more time,” Kreutzmann said during the CBS interview, which Lesh was originally due to participate in. “So that, that was my sadness… because I know he wanted to play with us again too.” Advertisement “We were kicking it around,” Weir added. “In fact, we were going to get together and kick some songs around tomorrow.” “I was hoping that we could do it,” Kreutzmann said, with Weir adding, “We were going to… Read More →

News

‘Ted Lasso’ star confirms popular fan theory that it was inspired by ‘The Wizard Of Oz’

Ted Lasso star and co-writer Brett Goldstein has confirmed a popular fan theory that the Apple TV+ series was inspired by The Wizard Of Oz. READ MORE: ‘Wicked’ review: hit musical makes gravity-defying leap to the big screen Three years ago, fans began noticing that season two of Ted Lasso contained similarities to The Wizard of Oz. Since then, fans have theorised that the entire show is a modern retelling of the L. Frank Baum classic. One major point of this theory hinges on the fact that the titular character hails from Kansas. Since then, fans have been seeking for official clarification that their theories were true, and it now seems like they’ve got their confirmation. ‘Ted Lasso’ season three. CREDIT: Apple TV+ Advertisement Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Goldstein – who plays retired football player Roy Kent in the series – revealed: “Oh yeah, there’s loads and loads of The Wizard of Oz in Ted Lasso.” He went on to explain, pointing at several easter eggs throughout the series: “The pinball machine is the one that’s always ‘Ted has to go home. There’s no place like home.’ And then, there’s no place like Richmond F.C. Yes, that’s all Wizard of Oz.” Goldstein… Read More →

News

RAYE, The Prodigy, London Grammar, Nelly Furtado lead Boardmasters 2025 line-up

Boardmasters have revealed the line-up for their 2025 edition – and it’s led by RAYE, The Prodigy, London Grammar, and Nelly Furtado. See the full line-up below. READ MORE: These are the best gigs to see this month The Newquay festival, set to return on August 6-10, 2025, revealed the first wave of acts set to perform, with “hundreds more” to be revealed in due time. Alongside the headliners are Maribou State, Wet Leg, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Rizzle Kicks, and Natasha Bedingfield, among others. The latter three acts are billed as “afternoon special guests”. NME Radar artist Luvcat will also perform. Presale tickets will be released on Thursday (November 28) at 10am UK time, with general tickets released on Friday same time. Click here to secure a spot for the presale. Advertisement The news comes after a controversial 2024 edition, where a “massive” crowd surge at this year’s version of the festival had “left a small number of attendees injured”, with a DJ set cancelled as a result. The festival later confirmed that seven festivalgoers had to be taken to hospital and the council launched a formal investigation into what happened. It was described by police at the time as an… Read More →

News

Original ‘Suits’ star “never regretted” leaving: “The only reason to say was money”

Suits star Patrick J. Adams has opened up on his exit from the hit legal drama – see what he had to say about why he’s “never regretted leaving” below. Adams had led the series from seasons one as protagonist Michael Ross opposite co-lead Gabriel Macht’s Harvey Specter, but left at the end of season seven due to personal reasons. The show would go on to continue for two more seasons before coming to an end in 2019. Speaking to Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner On Me podcast, revealed more about his exit from the series. Adams explained that he was going through a dark period and was dealing with depression and a drinking problem. Patrick J. Adams. Credit: Lionel Hahn/Getty Images Advertisement “I wasn’t taking good care of my mental health and I was drinking too much [at] the end of season seven,” Adams said to Ferguson. “I was in a zone of living a pretty unexamined life. Pretty miserable [and] I would say, pretty depressed. I didn’t have the tools to deal with that depression beyond just spending money and drinking too much, and not really knowing how to talk about it.” He continued: “I would numb myself [to]… Read More →

News

Khalid responds to “frustrating” allegations and emotional fallout after being outed as gay online

Khalid has responded to “frustrating” allegations after being outed as gay on social media. The Grammy-nominated R&B singer came out as gay earlier this week following a series of posts from X user Hugo Almonte, who took to the platform to outline his alleged experiences of being offered drugs by “one of your favourite gay R&B singers”, who “tried to set me up and lie that I broke into his house”. He later posted a photo of himself with Khalid. Responding to the claims, Khalid posted an emoji of the LGBTQ+ rainbow flag and wrote: “There yall go, next topic please lol”. A later reply to a fan further confirmed that he was coming out as gay, stating: “I am! And that’s okay”. Advertisement In another post, he added: “I got outted and the world still continues to turn. Let’s get this straight (lmao) I am not ashamed of my sexuality! In reality it ain’t nobodies business! But I am okay with me.” I got outted and the world still continues to turn. Let’s get this straight (lmao) I am not ashamed of my sexuality! In reality it ain’t nobodies business! But I am okay with me 🖤 love yall —… Read More →

News

Former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin files criminal complaint against HYBE’s PR executives

Ex-ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin has officially filed a criminal complaint against K-pop company HYBE’s public relations executives. On November 26, Min Hee-jin’s representatives shared that the former ADOR CEO had filed a criminal complaint with Seoul’s Yongsan Police Station accusing two HYBE executives of breach of duties regarding ADOR girl group NewJeans. According to Yonhap News Agency, the executives named in the complaint are HYBE’s Chief Communications Officer Park Tae-hee and a PR director only identified as Cho. They are part of the agency’s public relations team, which reportedly handles communications and promotional activities for the artists under the agency’s sublabels, including girl group NewJeans. Min’s representatives claimed in a statement that Park and Cho “not only failed to fulfil their obligations but caused significant damage to NewJeans and ADOR by downplaying the group’s achievements”. They added that they hope “appropriate criminal penalties are imposed”. Advertisement This is the latest in a months-long feud between Min and HYBE, which was first made public in April this year after the agency launched an investigation over a suspicion that Min was attempting to take control of ADOR. The then-CEO soon followed up with statements and press conferences accusing HYBE of “undermining” NewJeans’… Read More →

News

Truck 2025: Kasabian, Courteeners, Bloc Party, Nothing But Thieves lead stacked line-up

Truck Festival has announced its first wave of names for its 2025 edition, with four huge headline names locked in. The festival will return to Oxfordshire’s Hill Farm from July 24 to 27, and will be headlined by Kasabian, Courteeners, Bloc Party and Nothing But Thieves, the latter of which in a UK festival exclusive. Tickets will go on a pre-sale from 6pm on Thursday (November 28), while general sale will begin at 10am on Friday (November 29). Weekend tickets begin at £150 and you can find yours here. Truck Festival 2025 poster. CREDIT: Press Advertisement Other acts confirmed for the weekend include The Last Dinner Party, Blossoms, Franz Ferdinand, CMAT, Sports Team, Fat Dog, Maximo Park, Lambrini Girls, Moonchild Sanelly, Wunderhorse and Alfie Templeman. Natasha Bedingfield has also been confirmed as a special guest. Festival-goers will also be able to catch sets by The Reytons, Hard Life, Lime Garden, Corella, Only The Poets, Luvcat, Chloe Slater, Daydreamers, Cardinals, Esme Emerson, Polly Money, Seb Lowe, Home Counties, Scouting For Girls and The Guest List. Festival manager Lily Brimble and Head of Marketing Sam Harris have said about the 2025 event: “We are incredibly excited to reveal what we’ve been working… Read More →

News

Russell Crowe was to be resurrected in Nick Cave’s cancelled ‘Gladiator’ sequel

Russell Crowe was meant to reprise his role in Nick Cave‘s cancelled Gladiator sequel, director Ridley Scott has revealed. READ MORE: ‘Gladiator 2’ review: back to Rome for Paul Mescal’s Colosseum-sized sequel In the 2000 epic, Crowe portrayed Maximus, a Roman general turned brave Colosseum fighter who expires at the end of the film. However, according to Ridley Scott, Crowe wanted to be brought back for a planned sequel, which was at the time being penned by musician Nick Cave. Scott recalled to PEOPLE: “Russell and I had a go at it around 18 years ago. I had Nick Cave writing the script and I kept saying [to Russell], ‘But you’re dead.’ And he said, ‘I know I’m dead. And I want to come back from the dead.’” Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix at the ‘Gladiator’ premiere. Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc Advertisement Scott then said that Cave’s workaround for resurrecting Crowe’s Maximus was through “a portal”: “The only way of doing it was to go to another battle and through a dying warrior, he comes back into the spirit of the warrior. So that’s his portal.” However, Crowe reportedly rebuked the idea because it would mean a different actor will be… Read More →

Hit Singles

Pentangle announce vinyl box set

Pentangle‘s six studio albums released between 1968 and 1972 are being collected in a vinyl box set for the first time. THE REVIEW OF 2024, NICK CAVE, ALICE COLTRANE, ELVIS COSTELLO, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, CASSANDRA JENKINS AND MORE STAR IN THE NEW UNCUT – ORDER A COPY HERE! Advertisement Released by Svart Records on April 16, 2025, Pentangle: The Albums: 1968-1972 rounds up the five albums released on Transatlantic alongside Solomon’s Seal, released by Reprise and the final album with the original line-up: guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, alongside bassist Danny Thompson, drummer Terry Cox and singer Jacqui McShee. This 14 LP boxset includes of bonus material featuring 22 recordings which are previously unreleased on vinyl. Says McShee, “I am honoured to see our work as Pentangle celebrated with this special vinyl boxset release. The collection represents a journey through a significant chapter in music history – one in which we sought to experiment and explore each other’s talents and just enjoy making music together. Advertisement “Each song and album hold a special place in my heart, not only for the music itself but for the incredible memories and experiences that we shared as a band. I hope this release… Read More →

News

Kate Nash defends her ‘Butts For Tour Buses’ OnlyFans campaign: “Women being in control of their bodies is vital”

Kate Nash has defended her ‘Butts For Tour Buses’ OnlyFans campaign, arguing that it is vital that women are “in control of their bodies”. Earlier this week, the ‘Foundations’ singer announced that she had started an account on the online subscription service as a way of raising money for her UK and European tour, which kicked off on Thursday (November 21). Explaining her decision, she said: “Whilst touring is the best job EVER it is currently technically what you might call a passion project for a lot of artists in 2024.” She went on to state that while ticket prices are rising, most touring musicians are “struggling to be able to afford to actually play shows”. Advertisement Kate Nash Butts 4 Tour Buses campaign poster. Credit: PRESS “Costs of travel, accommodation, food, promotion & employees have also gone up in price but musicians are not seeing changes in their gig fees to help pay for all these rising costs,” she added. “So this Christmas I’m asking that buy either a piece of my merch or my arse on my new ONLYFANS account katenyash87 to support me paying great wages & putting on a high quality show as I will not… Read More →

News

Sean Ono Lennon says he started making music to “fill the void” after John Lennon’s death

Sean Ono Lennon has revealed that he started making music in order to “fill the void” left by the death of his father, John Lennon. The musician and producer was born in 1975 to the former Beatles icon and the artist Yoko Ono, and was only five years old when his father was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in 1980. In a new interview with People, Lennon has shared a personal insight into how the tragedy affected him and how music became an outlet for his creativity. “I never played music because I was good at it,” he explained. “I lost my father and I didn’t know how to fill that void. Learning how to play his songs on guitar was a way to process the loss with an activity that made me feel connected to him.” Advertisement Sean Ono Lennon and John Lennon. Credits: Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images and Chris Walter/WireImage “When you’ve lost a parent, things like that motivate you – because you’re trying to find them. Making music always made me feel like I was getting to know him better.” Lennon has released a number of solo records, including this year’s ‘Asterisms’, and in… Read More →

News

Heaven nightclub shares update after being shut down by police: “There is a lot to be considered and addressed”

Heaven nightclub have issued an update a week after being shut down by police, saying “there is a lot to be considered and addressed”. The famous LGBTQIA+ venue, which is based in Charing Cross in Central London, had its alcohol licence suspended for 28 days by Westminster Police on November 15 on the grounds of public safety. The move came after a woman was allegedly raped “in the vicinity of the venue” by a member of Heaven’s security staff on November 1. The police statement continued that other staff then “allegedly ignored her efforts to report the attack”. A member of security staff has since been arrested and charged with rape, and is currently on remand in prison. Advertisement Now, a week after being forced to close, the venue has posted an update on their Instagram page. “A woman has suffered in an appalling & horrific way & my thoughts are with her, and her friends & family who are supporting her,” the message reads. “Even the thought that a member of security could walk a vulnerable person away from Heaven in the way alleged is sickening.” “There is a lot to be considered & addressed leading up to the… Read More →