Cindy Choek

Watch Inhaler work on new music for their second album

Inhaler have confirmed that they’re working on their second album by sharing a behind-the-scenes studio clip – watch below. The Dublin band released their debut full-length effort, ‘It Won’t Always Be Like This’, last July ahead of appearing at a string of festivals and embarking on a UK/Ireland headline tour. READ MORE: Inhaler interview – “You get into a band so you don’t have to grow up” Having wrapped up a run of US dates in late 2021, the group revealed on social media yesterday (February 24) that they’re currently at work on new music. Advertisement “Here’s a little treat from us working on new album material, alongside an instrumental we released on vinyl many moons ago,” Inhaler captioned a video, which shows them recording at Narcissus Studio in London. Shot by photographer Lewis Evans, the one-and-a-half-minute, vintage film-style montage sees the members of the band playing their respective instruments before it fades to black. “America, we’ll be seeing you next week,” Inhaler added above the clip, referring to their upcoming North American tour. Here’s a little treat from us working on new album material, alongside an instrumental we released on vinyl many moons ago. America, we’ll be seeing you… Read More →

24FEBNews

Hercules And Love Affair share new song ‘Grace’ and unveil first album in five years

Hercules And Love Affair have returned with a new single – listen to ‘Grace’ below. Andy Butler’s first Hercules And Love Affair album in five years will be released via BMG. ‘In Amber’ will arrive on June 17 and fans can pre-order the album here. Advertisement Speaking about the new record, Butler said: “Across this record, there are emotional fields I hadn’t ventured into previously with Hercules And Love Affair. “Destruction, rage, loss, but also redemption and journeying towards empowerment are all touchstones on the album. It has taken years to make, but I am happy to put it forward now, at a moment in time where we have all been confronted with such heightened feelings collectively and on an unprecedented scale”. “In dance music, the focus tends to be more on celebration, joy, desire, heartbreak. But rage? Existential contemplation? Not so much…certain emotions seemed to be off limits”. You can listen to the new single ‘Grace’ here: The tracklisting for ‘In Amber’ is as follows: Advertisement ‘Grace’ ‘One’ ‘You’ve Won This War’ ‘Christian Prayers’ ‘Dissociation’ ‘Contempt for You’ ‘Gates of Separation’ ‘Killing His Family’ ‘Who Will Save Us?’ ‘The Eyes of the Father’ ‘Poisonous Storytelling’ ‘Repent’ Butler has reunited… Read More →

24FEBNews

The xx release live performance of Jamie xx’s ‘Stranger In A Room’

The xx have shared a live rendition of Jamie xx‘s ‘Stranger In A Room’ which they performed as a band back in 2016. READ MORE: The xx – ‘I See You’ review The song, which features xx bassist Oliver Sim on vocals, originally appeared on Jamie xx’s 2015 solo album ‘In Colour’. The band performed the track live a handful of times when they were preparing for their 2016 ‘I See You’ tour, and they’ve now decided to officially release one of those versions. Advertisement “You probably know ‘Stranger In A Room’ as a @jamie___xx track with Oliver @hideousbastard on vocals, but we also performed it live, as a band, when we were warming up for the ‘I See You’ Tour in December 2016,” the band wrote today (February 24) in an Instagram post. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The xx (@thexx) The post continued: “We only played it 4 or 5 times, but luckily one of these performances was recorded and we’ve decided to release it. It is available on all platforms today. We hope you enjoy it! More coming soon : ) xx The xx.” You can check out the band’s live rendition of ‘Stranger… Read More →

24FEBNews

Florence Welch on how wanting a family “might not be as simple for me as it is my male counterparts”

Florence Welch of Florence +The Machine has said that wanting a family “might not be as simple” for her “as it is [her] male counterparts.” READ MORE: Florence + The Machine’s new song ‘Light Of Love’ is a powerful warning against the easy way out Welch, who returned with new single ‘King’ this week, made the comment in a statement that accompanied the release. “As an artist, I never actually thought about my gender that much. I just got on with it,” Welch said in the statement. Advertisement She continued: “I was as good as the men and I just went out there and matched them every time. “But now, thinking about being a woman in my thirties and the future, I suddenly feel this tearing of my identity and my desires. To be a performer but also to want a family might not be as simple for me as it is for my male counterparts.” Welch continued: “I had modelled myself almost exclusively on male performers, and for the first time I felt a wall come down between me and my idols as I have to make decisions they did not.” The new song’s lyrics also allude to this when she… Read More →

24FEBNews

IDLES announce new date for postponed Cardiff arena gig

IDLES have announced a new date for their postponed show at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena. READ MORE: IDLES live in London: Bristol rockers gaze into the broken mirror that is modern Britain The five-piece were due to perform at the venue last Friday (February 18) but the gig was postponed the day before due to the effects of Storm Eunice. “Safety is our number one priority, and with the inability for people to travel we are left with no choice than to not go ahead with the show tomorrow,” IDLES said at the time. “Our team is working on a rescheduled date so please hold on to your tickets. Stay safe.” Advertisement IDLES have now confirmed that they will play at the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff on March 31. The venue also confirmed that all original tickets for the gig will remain valid. View this post on Instagram A post shared by I D L E S (@idlesband) IDLES’ Motorpoint Arena Cardiff gig has now been rescheduled three times. It was originally due to take place on May 12, 2021, but was moved due to ongoing issues with the COVID pandemic. It was then hoped that the gig would finally take place on… Read More →

23FEBNews

Massive Attack and The National to headline Connect Music Festival

Connect Music Festival has announced that Massive Attack, The National and The Chemical Brothers will headline its 2022 event. READ MORE: The National’s Matt Berninger on 10 years of ‘High Violet’: “We wanted to reach everybody” The latest addition to the Scottish festival calendar will take place at Edinburgh’s Royal Highland Centre from August 26–28. Other names on the bill for the rebooted event, which was announced yesterday (February 22), include Mogwai, Little Simz, Self Esteem, Black Country, New Road, Jon Hopkins, Black Coffee, Bonobo, Bombay Bicycle Club, John Grant, LOW, Idlewild and more. Advertisement Massive Attack will take to the Grand Parade Stage on the Friday; The Chemical Brothers will top the bill on the Saturday; and The National will close out proceedings on the Sunday. “We are delighted to be announcing our line-up for Connect today,” said DF Concerts & Events CEO, Geoff Ellis. “For some time now we have been working tirelessly and carefully to curate a captivating line-up for the first edition of our new iteration of Connect and we have been really excited to share it. “While Connect is a brand new festival proposition, it will still retain many qualities from – and the ethos of – its namesake from 2007 and 2008, especially regarding the music, entertainment, food and drink programmes. Ellis added: “We are thrilled to be welcoming the very best in left field talent from grassroots through to award-winning headliners to… Read More →

23FEBNews

George Ezra reschedules upcoming UK shows after getting chicken pox

George Ezra has rescheduled a trio of upcoming UK shows after he contracted chicken pox – see the new dates below. The singer-songwriter was set to preview his upcoming third album ‘Gold Rush Kid’ at shows in London, Manchester and Edinburgh next week. READ MORE: The NME Big Read – Is George Ezra the nicest man in rock’n’roll? “As you can see, I’m pretty under the weather right now with chicken pox,” he wrote on Twitter, “so I’m sorry to say that I’m going to need to move my upcoming shows.” Advertisement In an accompanying video, which shows the extent of his illness, he told fans: “As you can see, I’ve got chicken pox, which I never had as a kid, and it’s miserable. It’s all of the fatigue and fever of the virus, but you also want to scratch at your skin all the time. “What this means is, I can’t perform at the upcoming shows in Manchester, Edinburgh and London, which I’m absolutely gutted about. Recording this video is the last thing that I want to be doing.” He added: “Even on a selfish level, I’ve not performed since 2019 and I was so much looking forward to getting back up… Read More →

22FEBNews

Connect Festival to relaunch in Edinburgh

The organisers of T In The Park and TRNSMT have announced the return of Scotland’s Connect Festival. READ MORE: TRNSMT Festival 2021 review: Glasgow shindig just about finds lift-off The event will take place at the Royal Highland Centre near Edinburgh Airport from August 26-28, with the first acts due to be revealed shortly. Connect Festival was previously held at Inveraray Castle in Argyll in 2007 and 2008, with the line-up over the two years including Beastie Boys, LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip and Primal Scream. Advertisement While this new edition of Connect is not a camping festival, there will be luxury and boutique camping facilities available, including pre-pitched bell tents. There are also four hotels all within walking distance of the festival site. Connect Music Festival ~ 26-28 August 2022. Stay Tuned… https://t.co/ZVj8UkwnJG pic.twitter.com/pvr3hfC3Y0 — Connect Festival (@ConnectFestSCO) November 23, 2021 Geoff Ellis, chief executive of DF Concerts and Events, said: “During initial planning discussions around the relaunch of Connect, we realised that we had to make some changes and to remaster the original festival proposition for today’s audiences.” He added: “One of the biggest considerations we had was around public transport and ensuring the event was accessible to festival goers… Read More →

22FEBNews

Watch Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Kellyoke’ cover of Bleachers’ ‘I Wanna Get Better’

Kelly Clarkson has delivered her take on Bleachers‘ ‘I Wanna Get Better’, performing it live on her daytime TV variety show. READ MORE: Bleachers: “This album is about wanting to hold joy, and not understanding why you can’t” The ‘Kellyoke’ segment of The Kelly Clarkson Show sees Clarkson performing a cover version of a song requested by her audience to open the program. Yesterday’s broadcast (February 21) saw Clarkson take on Bleachers’ 2014 track, which was released as a single and appeared on their debut album ‘Strange Desire’. You can watch her performance below. Advertisement Previous Kellyoke segments have seen Clarkson cover the likes of Sharon Van Etten’s ‘The End Of The World’, Pixies’ ‘Where Is My Mind’, My Chemical Romance’s ‘Welcome To The Black Parade’, Radiohead’s ‘Karma Police’ and more. Elsewhere, Clarkson has reportedly teamed up with Dolly Parton for a “haunting” new version of ‘9 To 5’. Their take on the classic 1980 single is for an upcoming documentary called Still Working 9 To 5. Meanwhile, Bleachers frontman singer, songwriter and producer Jack Antonoff, will be honoured with the Songwriter Award at this year’s BandLab NME Awards on March 2. “Looking at the company of artists who have received this award… Read More →

22FEBHit Singles

The 1st Uncut New Music Playlist Of 2022

Apologies – we’ve been a little preoccupied with putting together something special for our 300th issue next month, hence the lack of new music playlists this year so far. But hopefully this bumper selection makes up for it. Behold, exciting new stuff from Fontaines DC, Aldous Harding, Cowboy Junkies, The Smile and The Weather Station – all of whom you can read about in the current issue of Uncut, in shops now. There are also early sighters for new albums from Kurt Vile, Daniel Rossen, Rolling Blackouts CF and Hannah Peel, who we’ve just been chatting to for the following issue. Plus the raucous return of The Afghan Whigs and a tonne of other great music that’s been helping us through the storms. Welcome, belatedly, to our world… Advertisement FONTAINES DC “I Love You” (Partisan) KURT VILE “Like Exploding Stones” (Verve/Virgin) OUMOU SANGARÉ “Sarama” (World Circuit) THE SMILE “The Smoke” (XL) THE AFGHAN WHIGS “I’ll Make You See God” (Royal Cream/BMG) JO SCHORNIKOW “Visions” (Keeled Scales) Advertisement ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER “The Way It Shatters” (Sub Pop) RUBBER OH “Nothing” (Rocket Recordings) MDOU MOCTAR “Nakanegh Dich” (Matador) CONGOTRONICS INTERNATIONAL “Banza Banza” (Crammed Discs) ALDOUS HARDING “Lawn” (4AD) COWBOY JUNKIES “Five… Read More →

22FEBNews

10 Years Of KCON: How The Convention Became An International Hub For K-pop

Welcome to New Retro Week, a celebration of the biggest artists, hits, and cultural moments that made 2012 a seminal year in pop. MTV News is looking back to see what lies ahead: These essays showcase how today’s blueprint was laid a decade ago. Step into our time machine. By Lai Frances For two days in July 2019, New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and Madison Square Garden were simultaneously filled for the first time with the rapturous electric thumps of South Korean pop music. About 55,000 fans flocked to the venues to kick off the year’s stateside trek of KCON, the first-of-its-kind Korean culture festival that serves as a convention by day and a concert by night, to connect with friends and bask in the light of their favorite K-pop stars and influencers. For five years prior, the annual convention had made the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, its East Coast home. The majorly upgraded locales meant attendees no longer had to worry about a summer heat wave while waiting in line for a spot on the concert floor, join a dance workshop in the sun, or sample the sumptuous spicy-sweet flavors of bibimbap. The spaces allowed… Read More →

22FEBNews

The Chemical Brothers and Jamie xx to headline new Bristol festival Forwards

The Chemical Brothers and Jamie xx have been announced as the headliners of the inaugural edition of the new Bristol festival, Forwards. Forwards will take place on Clifton Downs in Bristol from September 3-4, with 60,000 people expected to attend over two days. READ MORE: 20 festivals to look forward to in 2022 Jamie xx will headline the opening night of the festival on September 3, with the day also set to feature performances by the likes of Little Simz, Khruangbin, Fred again.., Floating Points and Shygirl. Advertisement The Chemical Brothers will close Forwards 2022 on September 4, with their headline slot following sets by the likes of Róisín Murphy, Caribou, Sleaford Mods, Kae Tempest and Self Esteem. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Forwards Bristol (@forwardsbristol) More names are set to be added to the line-up soon. You can find out more information and tickets, which go on general sale on Friday (February 25), for Forwards 2022 here. As well as live music, Forwards is aiming to “challenge what metropolitan festivals can be today and how they can do good, from the inside out”. The festival will feature an area called ‘The Information’: “a space for… Read More →

22FEBNews

IU on turning 30: “It was the first time in a while that I’d felt excited”

South Korean vocalist and industry veteran IU has opened up about how it feels like to be reaching her thirties. READ MORE: BIBI: “I have a long-ass plan to be a superstar and then die in my own bedroom” The South Korean singer-songwriter recently spoke to Marie Claire Korea, where she discussed entering her thirties and how her age has and continues to influence her musical direction. In Korea, newborns are considered a year old at birth. IU was born in 1993, thus making her 30 by Korean reckoning in 2022. IU shared that she had felt quite differently about ringing in the new year, in comparison to the recent few years. “In the second half of my 20s, I felt a bit of lethargy and malaise,” she admitted, as translated by Soompi. Advertisement “So [when she was counting down to 2022], it was the first time in a while that I’d felt excited,” IU added. “I wasn’t thinking of anything in particular, but when they started the countdown, I suddenly felt excitement blossoming in my chest.” The singer noted that it “felt so good” that it gave her a sudden sense of “confidence” that she could achieve anything in… Read More →

21FEBNews

Slash says more new Guns N’ Roses music is coming

Slash has revealed that there is more new music from Guns N’ Roses on the way soon – and some fresh tracks could arrive before they begin their next stint of shows. The band released two new singles last year in ‘Absurd’ and ‘Hard Skool’, with both tracks stemming from the sessions for the infamous ‘Chinese Democracy’ album. The guitarist has explained that those tracks weren’t the only pieces of new material the band had been planning to release. “There is new material coming — everybody’s always asking,” Slash told Consequence of Sound. “I would imagine that there will be one or two songs that come out around the time that we hit the road in June.” Advertisement Speaking about playing and touring with GN’R – and frontman Axl Rose – again, he added: “It’s been great. We got back together and it was really sort of like one of those huge question marks, and it was only to do the Coachella festivals, really. And it just snowballed into this tour that’s really been sort of going ever since then. Slash and Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses. CREDIT: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images “But we’ve had a blast doing it, and I’m… Read More →

21FEBNews

David Crosby says he’s unimpressed by Joe Rogan and criticises streamers for “ripping” acts off

David Crosby has called Joe Rogan “not real impressive” amid detailing in a new interview his reasons for pulling all his music off of Spotify. READ MORE: Swift vs Albarn, Morrissey vs Marr and Young vs Spotify: dissecting pop’s Beef Week Earlier this month, the member of the disbanded folk supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (which when completed by Neil Young were known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) joined his former bandmates in support of Young’s demand that his music be erased from Spotify. Young took particular aim at controversial podcaster Joe Rogan – a prominent skeptic of the COVID vaccine who has a $100million exclusivity contract with Spotify – pointing out widespread misinformation shared through his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. Advertisement “We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify’s Joe Rogan podcast,” Crosby, who also performs solo, said along with the group in a joint statement via his social media. pic.twitter.com/yyhHTQi7fm — David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) February 2, 2022 Now, in an interview with Stereogum, Crosby has expanded on his decision to shun Spotify and remove his music from the platform. He also made it clear that he takes issue with all… Read More →

21FEBNews

Porridge Radio announce new album and share ‘Back To The Radio’

Porridge Radio have announced details of their third album ‘Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky’ and shared its first single ‘Back To The Radio’. READ MORE: Porridge Radio: “I’ve always known that we’re the best band in the world” The band have also confirmed their biggest-ever UK headline tour alongside a series of intimate in-store shows around the record’s release. ‘Back To The Radio’ was written by frontperson Dana Margolin ahead of the release of the group’s acclaimed 2020 album ‘Every Bad’, a time when she felt like “a lot of things were coming that I wasn’t sure I knew how to handle”. Advertisement “The song grew out of a feeling of intense loneliness and being unprepared for what everybody was promising me was about to happen – and a strong desire to escape without knowing what I wanted to escape to,” she said in a press release. “To me, there’s a huge feeling of catharsis in this song, of letting go and letting it sweep you away.” The song comes with a video directed by Margolin’s sister Ella and finds the singer waking up in a room where papier-mâché furniture is slowly being removed one by one. Later,… Read More →

21FEBNews

‘jeen-yuhs’ directors denied Kanye demands: “It’s not good for the filmmaking”

The directors of the new Kanye West documentary jeen-yuhs have opened up about denying the rapper and producer’s demands to have a say in the editing process. The new three-part Netflix film event released its first part last week, with the series following the star’s music career and rise to fame. READ MORE: First look: ‘jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy’ review – the awakening of Mr West West – who is now legally known as Ye – previously demanded that he “must get final edit and approval” on the documentary so that he can “be in charge of [his]own image”. Advertisement Directors Clarence ‘Coodie’ Simmons and Chike Ozah have now spoken on denying the rapper’s request, noting that it is “not best for the filmmaking”. “For us, as filmmakers, the name of our company is Creative Control, so, there are just certain rules in documentary filmmaking for it to be authentic,” Ozah told Business Insider. “And for it to resonate, people need to see certain things. “So sometimes it’s just not best for the filmmaking for the subject, who the film is largely about, to have control over the direction the story goes in.” However, he went on to note: “But,… Read More →

21FEBNews

XXXTentacion’s ‘?’ passes Drake’s ‘Scorpion’ to become Spotify’s most streamed hip-hop album in history

XXXTentacion‘s 2018 album ‘?’ has become the most streamed hip-hop album in Spotify history, surpassing Drake’s 2018 LP, ‘Scorpion’. READ MORE: XXXTentacion’s death has sparked debate about art, abuse and the media Chart Data reported that as of last November, ‘Scorpion’ was ahead of ‘?’ by nearly one billion streams. XXXTentacion’s second studio album has since reached 7.884billion plays on the platform, with Drake currently sitting at 7.883bn. ‘?’ was released in March 2018, giving the rapper his first Number One on the Billboard 200 albums chart. His track ‘Sad!’ topped the US singles chart a week on from his death, which made him the first artist to earn a posthumous number one single as a lead artist in the US since Notorious B.I.G. in 1997 with ‘Mo Money Mo Problems’. Advertisement The rapper, whose real name was Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, was shot and killed at a motorcycle dealership in Broward County, Florida on June 18, 2018. He was 20 years old. The news from Chart Data comes four years after his death. XXXTENTACION's '?' is now the #1 most streamed hip-hop album in Spotify history, surpassing Drake's 'Scorpion'. — chart data (@chartdata) February 17, 2022 XXXTentacion’s estate continued to release… Read More →

21FEBNews

Here’s My Number: How Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ Dialed In A Moment In Pop

Welcome to New Retro Week, a celebration of the biggest artists, hits, and cultural moments that made 2012 a seminal year in pop. MTV News is looking back to see what lies ahead: These essays showcase how today’s blueprint was laid a decade ago. Step into our time machine. By Ilana Kaplan Ten years ago, pop music underwent a pivotal shift. While glossy hooks dominated artists’ repertoires, so did alternative stylings, which helped usher in a gamut of subgenres and made critics and fans alike redefine the pop ethos. The release of Red prompted Taylor Swift’s evolution from diaristic songwriting to sticky, larger-than-life radio hits produced by Max Martin, while Lana Del Rey’s cinematic sadcore and woozy vocals were equally captivating. The experimentation on Frank Ocean’s groundbreaking release Channel Orange, an album brimming with pop, R&B, and classic-rock references, has echoed throughout today’s pop singers. And then there was Carly Rae Jepsen, a British Columbian singer-songwriter who had been cutting her teeth across the border after a stint on Canadian Idol. After placing third on the competition series, Jepsen released her inaugural album Tug of War in 2008 — a stripped-down project that preceded her bubblegum-pop career. But it wouldn’t… Read More →

21FEBNews

Bring Me The Horizon reduced emissions by 38 per cent on recent arena tour

Bring Me The Horizon‘s recent ‘Post Human’ arena tour succeeded in reducing carbon emissions by 38 per cent, emphasising that such changes to touring are possible. READ MORE: Bring Me The Horizon live in London: a spectacular cyber-punk circus Taking place from September 20-26, the tour saw the band take a more sustainable approach to touring, the results of which have now been detailed in a report by AGF. According to the report, the reductions were achieved by using renewable fuel for trucks, plant-based meals, food waste reduction and energy efficient equipment. The tour also banned plastic bottles, relying on back of house and tour bus water coolers, which resulted in the prevention of 3322 plastic bottles being used. Advertisement The band invested in making recommended changes, while Raw Power Management, United Talent Agency (UTA), Promoter Kilimanjaro, and The O2 (the venue for the London leg of the tour) shared the cost of sustainability implementation advice and tour impact audit. Matt Ash of Raw Power Management said: “Working with an artist in BMTH and a tour production team that was fully behind the approach to sustainable touring was something that we absolutely endorsed and are keen to implement on all… Read More →

21FEBNews

Jay-Z confirmed to feature on new Pusha T album

Pusha T has confirmed that Jay-Z will make an appearance on his upcoming album, the title of which is yet to be revealed. READ MORE: Pusha T on making “the album of the year” ‘Daytona’ and playing ping pong with Damon Albarn Featuring as a guest on the Millions Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, the Clipse rapper spoke about the new album, plus the Kanye West and 88-Keys produced ‘Diet Coke‘ which was released earlier this month. The single marked the rapper’s first for the year, hinting at more music to come. In the new interview, Pusha discusses his early start in hip-hop, beefing with Drake, his love for Virgil Abloh and what to expect from his return. Advertisement When speaking about previous collaborations, including ‘Drug Dealers Anonymous‘ with Jay-Z, the rapper said “I got three songs with him now”, elaborating that one of the three is “something for the new album”. “I don’t know if I was supposed to say that,” he goes on to say, before adding “he got busy”, referring to Jay-Z’s work on the track. Watch the clip below (via HipHop-N-More). View this post on Instagram A post shared by HipHop-N-More (@hiphopnmore) Last month, Pusha discussed the forthcoming… Read More →