The latest issue of the Full Pelt Magazine is here, and you can download your copy for free below!
Volume 25 features our cover stars The Mysterines as reveal details of their sophomore album. We also review new albums from The Snuts, Gen and the Degenerates and Blackout Problems, and we review The Zutons live in Norwich!
Our News Report has all the latest music news including live announcements from Liam Gallagher, Kings of Leon, Bullet For My Valentine, Trivium, Alice Cooper, The Pearl Harts, Greta Van Fleet, Royal Blood and Radar Festival!
Plus all the best new releases including Kasabian, Kings of Leon, Paul Weller, Frank Turner, Linkin Park, Sum 41, Daytime TV, Crossfaith, The Cruel Knives, TheCityIsOurs, Between You & Me, Susan Santos, Raven Numan and The Struts!
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist including Major Moment, Caroline Romano and DeadWax!
Our weekly music News Report has evolved into the Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the eighth issue now for free!
Volume eight includes an update from cover stars Skindred, reviews of Rival Sons and Philip Seth Campbell live, album reviews for Skinny Lister, Rival Sons, The Rolling Stones, Chris Shifflet, Blink 182, Within Temptation and a load more!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from YUNGBLUD, IDLES, Alkaline Trio, Lonely The Brave, Lambrini Girls, Black Water County, SCALER, Oakman, Blackout Problems, The Struts, The Cadillac Three, LostAlone, DragonForce, Royal Tusk, Dream State and The Cruel Knives.
Plus new live announcements from As Everything Unfolds, Slam Dunk, Grace Petrie, Black Orchid Empire, Slash, Liam Gallagher, The Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, Punk Rock Factory, When Rivers Meet, Kris Barras Band and LostAlone!
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist with Jarki Monno, headcage and The Klittens!
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
We start off this week with the best tour announcements from the past week and up first is the return to the UK of Rival Sons this Autumn.
The band have announced their long-awaited return to the UK & Europe this autumn taking their two forthcoming new albums, ‘DARKFIGHTER’ and ‘LIGHTBRINGER’ on the road, across Europe for a 30-date run.
‘DARKFIGHTER’ is set to arrive worldwide June 2nd.
Guitarist Scott Holiday comments: “Dear friends on the other side of the pond, DARKFIGHTER is coming for you! AND LIGHTBRINGER is coming for you too! We’re finally able to come back to you and bring you NEW music! Music that has been firmly situated in our hearts. Nothing makes me happier than to think about experiencing these albums together and making them into something entirely new and different every night. Let’s make something symbiotic, alive, that we’ll want to remember forever!”
We move our News Report onwards now to the best new releases of the last week and start with Trophy Eyes.
The group have debuted their new single, ‘What Hurts The Most’, which you can check out above.
The track will feature on newly announced upcoming album, ‘Suicide and Sunshine’, which will be out June 23rd.
“It’s the human experience,” says frontman John Floreani. “What we experience and how we navigate it. The millions of tiny flashes of light that are memories and thoughts and feelings and smells, all those little moments make up a lifetime. They’re beautifully tragic because they don’t mean anything to anyone, and on the scale of everything in the universe don’t mean a damn thing. But it’s so beautiful that they happen in the first place.”
Next up are The View who have released their latest single, ‘Neon Lights’, which you can listen to above.
The song comes from new album, ‘Exorcism of Youth’, which is out August 11th.
Bassist Kieran Webster says, “‘Neon Lights’ intends to hold a mirror up to today’s ultra capitalist society, and the institutions who keep this unfair system in place for their own benefit.”
Gengahr this week shared news that their new album, ‘Red Sun Titans’, will be out June 9th.
Coinciding with the release was new single, ‘In The Moment’, which you can check out above.
Speaking on the single, frontman Felix Bushe says, “‘In The Moment’ reflects upon the necessity to break away from our daily routine and create meaningful memories. As much as sunny days and laughter with friends, ‘In The Moment’ celebrates the late hours without inhibition, where dreams lead and tomorrow lingers.”
There was more new music this week from the fantastic Lottery Winners, as the band continue to prepare for the release of new album, ‘Anxiety Replacement Therapy’, which is out April 28th.
You can listen to their latest track, ‘Burning House’, above!
The Raven Age have debuted their latest single, ‘Serpents Tongue’, which you can check out above.
The track will feature on new album, ‘Blood Omen’, which is due out on July 7th.
“‘Serpents Tongue’ from the off felt like a very special track for us,” says singer Matt James. “It’s that perfect balance between melodic and heaviness. There are so many different styles going on, but they all work and complement each other as a whole.”
Guitarist George Harris continues, “‘Serpents Tongue’ is one of our favourites from the album and we knew it’d be a single straight away. Conceptually, the song is about deceit and lies, how you can only truly trust yourself and the loneliness that comes with that.
“The music video was shot at Revesby Abbey in Lincolnshire, which is an old derelict manor house that was also used to house American fighter pilots during the war. The concept is a play on the title ‘Serpents Tongue’ and is based around the character Medusa. We wanted to create a B-movie horror theme, in a haunted house/Addams Family style and have some fun with it. So that’s where the idea of having other creepy characters like the mummy, werewolf and three eyed man came from. They’re all invited along to a dinner party for the weird and wonderful, Medusa is taking orders from the Raven King and turns the guests to stone.”
Eva Under Fire have shared their version of Black Sabbath classic ‘War Pigs’, which you can check out above.
Frontwoman Eva Marie comments: “This cover pays tribute to yet another legend who has inspired us. My early days of falling in love with rock music included OzzFest and singing along to Black Sabbath on the way to school in the back of my parents minivan so it’s a bit of a full circle moment for me personally. It’s crazy that the lyrics in this song still ring true and are relevant today. Although the lyricism highlights the sad truth about the power hungry evils of the world, I also think it speaks volumes about how timeless this song really is. As a blue collar slave to the grind, I wanna thank Ozzy Osborne andBlack Sabbath for this one. Generations later, we feel heard because of your song”.
XANDRIA unveil video for ‘My Curse Is My Redemption’
XANDRIA – ‘My Curse Is My Redemption’
XANDRIA our next in our News Report with the new video for ‘My Curse Is Redemption’, which you can check out above.
XANDRIA on ‘My Curse Is My Redemption’: “As many of you Xandria fans have named this song as one of your favorites from the new album, we decided to make a video for it – with beautiful pictures underlining the meaning of the lyrics: Music, art, as something that can derive from painful experiences, and then not only heal you, but also others. It is a wonderful gift for us all then.
Another musical colour from the rich palette of our album “The Wonders Still Awaiting”, on which each song has its very own identity and its own atmosphere. This one is symphonic for sure, but also has some straight rock vibes, and a certain 80’s flavour to it. It is melancholic but also has a hopeful twist, in both the music and the lyrics.
We noticed that it is a wonderful song to play live – and we are looking forward to play that song for you on the upcoming tour!”
BLACKGOLD also had new music on offer this week through, ‘Villain’, which you can check out above.
“To villainize someone is to make them out to be the bad guy. This implies that they aren’t necessarily as bad as they’re being described. No matter how hard you try, you’ll always be the Villain someones story.” – Spookz – Vocals
After a phenomenal launch in early 2023 alternative artist paradise fell. has followed this up with their sophomore single titled ‘LOVE STAINED’.
“LOVE STAINED. was the beginning of our journey exposing a generation of forgotten voices. Lyrically this song helped me struggle amongst the midst of a twisted personal divorce. It quickly became a soundboard for me to build the vision of this project into. LOVE STAINED is a generational calling. A statement that in a day and age where instant gratification is so easily accessible, as a society we have become numb, stained by love and have lost touch with what that word really means”. – paradise fell.
Penny Rich – ‘Spirals’
‘Spirals’ is the latest single from Cardiff-based punk trio Penny Rich.
Discussing the meaning behind the track, the band explain: “‘Spirals’ is a song about finding futile solutions to life’s upward and downward spirals from the point of view of someone with underlying perfectionism and OCD. It explores the subconscious reflex of reaching for all-encompassing answers to your problems, be it a fad diet, a new routine, etc. Eventually, these solutions all ultimately fail, leaving you back at the bottom, at the start of the next spiral.
This song is very personal to Ant, who has long suffered with body dysmorphia stemming from underlying perfectionism and OCD. The song reflects the years of both physical and mental yo-yo’ing, leading to the conclusion that treating these underlying causes is the only way to eventually finding freedom from this never-ending cycle.”
Swear Blind – ‘Waster’
Alt-Rock Nottingham natives Swear Blind share their debut single, ‘Waster’.
Drew Lawson says: “a certain global event gave us the time to finish a project we’ve been working on for many years and to continue our writing. It gave us a new focus in doing the things that we love doing, plus it gave us a good reason to hang out! We’ve been mates for years so that wasn’t an opportunity we wanted to miss.”
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
We start this week with a handful of festival announcements and one of the line-ups that got a little bigger this week was the above, belonging to Bearded Theory!
Fresh names include Pretenders, Billy Bragg, Jealous Nostril, Witch Fever and more.
They join a packed line-up including Interpol, Primal Scream, Gogol Bordello, Flogging Molly, Gary Numan, Yard Act, The Mysterines, Pigs x7, The Undertones, Beans On Toast, Grace Petrie, Skinny Lister, Millie Manders and the Shutup, Pet Needs and many more.
Also making several line-up additions this week was Suffolk’s Latitude Festival which will see headliners Pulp, Paolo Nutini and George Ezra take to Henham Park in July.
This week has seen James, Yard Act and more join a bill that now includes The Kooks, Paul Heaton + Jacqui Abbott, The Big Moon, Lightning Seeds, The Proclaimers, The Murder Capital, Bob Vylan and many more.
The Boardmasters line-up grew exponentially this week including Lorde joining the already announced Liam Gallagher and Florence + The Machine as a headline act.
The full line-up now includes Cypress Hill, Bob Vylan, Yard Act, Nova Twins, Kid Kapichi, Lottery Winners, Cassyette, Black Honey, Squid and more.
Live At Leeds: In The Park has this week revealed the final acts joining their 2023 line-up set to be headlined by Two Door Cinema Club.
New additions Maximo Park, Kate Nash and Lottery Winners join a bill featuring DMA’s, The Hives, Black Honey, Gengahr, Low Hummer and many more.
Speaking about joining the Live At Leeds: In The Park lineup and Live At Leeds memories of years gone by, Lottery Winners said:
“Live at Leeds is always one of my favourite festival line ups. It’s always crammed with all of my favourite bands, so I’m almost more excited to just go than to play. But I am proper excited to play – might even do a crowd surf.”
Speaking about the final names added to Live At Leeds: In The Park, Festival Promoter Joe Hubbard said:
“Can it be May already? We’re delighted to add even more names to the Live At Leeds: In The Park 2023 lineup – really bringing together an amazing array of names from across Live At Leeds’ history whilst remaining true to that core belief we all have to champion and support the most exciting new names in modern guitar music.
Having the likes of Maximo Park and Kate Nash (who have soundtracked countless memories and influenced a ridiculous amount of artists) alongside the likes of acts like Lottery Winners, James Marriott and Medicine Cabinet really nails what Live At Leeds is all about – and these names joining an already packed bill makes me very excited indeed. All coming together on one day, it’s going to be a special party indeed. We’ll see you there!”
A new festival is coming to Chelmsford as Hideaway Festival reveals its inaugural line-up including headliners Clean Bandit and Bastille.
They’ll be joined by the likes of James Bay, Texas and Jake Bugg.
Speaking about the first ever Hideaway festival, organiser Roy Trickett said: “Everyone on the Hideaway team is so excited to bring this family friendly, boutique Festival to Chelmsford. Headliners have all been hand-selected for their unmissable performances and the venue provides a perfect escape in a central Essex location. We’re very proud to be hosting the first ever music festival in this unique space – and have a few surprises in store for our festival guests!”
We move our News Report on now towards the best live announcements from the past week.
Having already confirmed support acts for their first sold out Wembley Stadium date this summer, Blur have now confirmed they’ll be joined on their second date by Paul Weller and The Selecter.
This summer promises to be a packed full of great live music and this week Placebo added another night to the mix. The band has confirmed that they will play Dreamland in Margate this June.
Tigercub have just announced that their third album, ‘The Perfume of Decay’ will be out on June 2nd. You can listen to their brand new single, ‘Play My Favourite Song’, below.
The also revealed a full UK tour set for this autumn.
Tigercub – ‘Play My Favourite Song’
Speaking on the single, frontman Jamie Hall says, “I realised that without music I am alone, without sounds to occupy my brain intrusive thoughts begin to swirl and unease and sadness rises within me, so play my favourite song because silence makes me feel low.”
The next tour announcement in our News Report comes from the iconic Glenn Hughes, who will be hitting the road this October. The special shows will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of classic Deep Purple album, ‘Burn’.
This week Blood Red Shoes revealed that they will be playing a run of club shows including a date at the famous 100 Club in London.
The band said: “We decided it ain’t right that we’ve never played the 100 Club in London. So we booked it! And then it spiralled and we turned it into a 25 date tour of smaller punk venues, in 9 different countries”.
The final tour announcement in our News Report this week comes from Pet Needs who will be out and about playing acoustically over the next couple of months.
Our News Report heads now across to the best new releases from the past week and we begin with Blind Channel.
Following the release last year of their ‘Lifestyles of the Sick & Dangerous’ album, Finland’s Blind Channel are kicking off 2023 with their new standalone single ‘FLATLINE’.
“This is the beginning of the next chapter of our career,”say the band.“Flatline is Blind Channel on steroids. We captured the energy of last year’s 130 shows into one song and threw it to a Berlin rave. The song was written with songwriting duo Blyne and it’s one of the heaviest tracks we’ve ever made. This is pretty unique from scratch. If you’re sick and tired of ups and downs, this song might help you.”
Next up in our News Report are Canadians Softcult, who this week shared their latest single, ‘Love Song’, which you can check out above. The single comes ahead of new EP, ‘see you in the dark’, which is out on March 24th.
“This is an anxious love song,” Mercedes explains. “It’s about loving someone so intensely that you find yourself in constant fear of losing them. Sometimes love and happiness can feel like these unattainable things that are too good to be true. Once we’ve finally found something our hearts have been yearning for, it’s hard to shake the thought that we will inevitably have to let it go. But these gnawing thoughts can get in the way of us allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, or enjoying our relationships for fear that they won’t last.”
On the video Mercedes says, “We wanted the video to tell the story in a different way, focussing more on getting carried away with our own imaginations when it comes to falling in love. We filmed in a small legion hall and tried to make the ambiance a little depressing and mundane. Our main character is an elderly man who’s sort of given up hope. He’s there having a beer alone while everyone else is playing bingo. When he lays eyes on Gina, his co-star, he gets lost in fantasy, imagining not only the love they might have together but the type of person he could be if he had love in his life.”
Alternative Horror Rock band ANGER PARTY are back with their sophomore single ‘Had Enough’!
“Everyday we wake up and have the same conversations, with the same people, on the same subjects, with no purpose or profound effect on our lives. We create a state of perpetual monotony and anxiety, while wearing masks to hide our every emotion. All this is done to make prying onlookers think that everything is fine. ‘Had Enough’ reflects on the deepest, darkest ways to break this cycle and exercise our true feelings on the world. It shows our desire to remove the mask, wipe away the make-up and reveal our true fears, frustrations, aggressions and vulnerability” –Lead Vocalist, Ashley Wilson
Militarie Gun – ‘Do It Faster’
Los Angeles’ Militarie Gun share a thrilling new single in ‘Do It Faster’.
Speaking about the song, vocalist Ian Shelton states: “It is about my overall impatience with life. The agonising wait for things to materialise… so before resigning to do it myself, I’m imploring the world to just move faster.”
De’Lour – ‘No One
South Wales based band De’Lour share their staggering new single ‘No One’.
“No One was one of the first songs we wrote together as a band in a room and not remotely. We got together at the first opportunity we could when lockdown was lifted in 2020. When we wrote No One, we wanted to express our thoughts on society’s lack of self reflection. We all worry about what everyone else thinks of us, but when you boil it down, no one is paying attention, no one really cares. People are only really concerned with what’s going on in their world, inside their own heads. So we wanted to express the feeling that we shouldn’t care about what other people think, we should just go for it if it’s what we want or what we think is best.” – De’lour
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
We start this week by running through the best festival announcements made over the past week and up first we have Kendal Calling.
Topping the bill this year will be Kasabian, Royal Blood, Blossoms and Nile Rodgers & Chic! They are joined by the likes of Kaiser Chiefs, Frank Turner, Circa Waves, The Enemy, KT Tunstall and The Amazons.
Also across the weekend will be The Hunna, The Murder Capital, Vistas, We Are Scientists, Lottery Winners, Black Honey, Newton Faulkner, October Drift, Jack Valero and many more!
Glasgow’s TRNSMT has added some fifty new acts to the bill for this year’s festival. The events features headliners Pulp, Sam Fender, The 1975, George Ezra, Kasabian and Royal Blood.
They are joined by Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, The View, The Kooks, Pale Waves, Hot Milk, Hamish Hawk, The Wombats, Nothing But Thieves, The Enemy, The Amazons, Bob Vylan, Dream Wife, Lauran Hibberd and many more.
Rock returns to Mote Park in Maidstone with the newly minted Maid of Stone taking place in July. The first headline act to be revealed are rockers Airbourne.
Joining the Aussies on the bill will be Skindred, The Hunna, Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons, Kris Barras Band, Elles Bailey, Florence Black, Bad Touch, Black Spiders and more.
Wales is also able to attract rocks finest with Steelhouse Festival leading the way. This week the festival announced that Black Stone Cherry will be topping the bill alongside already announced Saturday headliners Airbourne.
They are joined over the weekend by the likes of The Answer, Blues Pills, Kris Barras Band, Florence Black, When Rivers Meet, The Cruel Knives and Dead Man’s Whiskey!
Another rock event getting bigger this week was Slam Dunk Festival who have added more bands to an already packed bill. Probably a good thing then that they’ve also broken down the stage splits.
Added to the event were PVRIS, Sueco, Millie Manders and many more. They join the likes of Enter Shikari, The Offspring, Billy Talent, Bowling For Soup, Yellowcard,Creeper and far too many others to mention!
Live At Leeds: In The Park has added The Hives, DMA’s, gengahr and more to an already packed line up headlined by Two Door Cinema Club.
They join amongst others, The Big Moon, Black Honey, The Beths, Skinny Living, Deadletter, Ellur, Low Hummer and Opus Kink.
Speaking about their appearance at Live At Leeds: In The Park 2023, The Hives’ frontman Pelle Almqvist said: “Some festival names just have a ring to them don’t they? Live At Leeds. It sounds like some upper echelon rock shit and if this year’s edition wasn’t before, now it is. The Hives are very proud and happy to join this upper echelon. They are coming for your money and dignity and in exchange they will deliver however long a show you will let them of life-affirming record-breaking rock ’ ‘ roll music. If you have never seen them before. imagine a rock show but to the 3rd power. Too much of everything. If you have seen them before, you know you will have to again.”
Skinny Living said: “Live At Leeds is one of our favourite festivals in the UK! The line up is always top class, so to be able to play the main stage as a local band this year is a proper moment for us and our people.”
Looking ahead, Festival Promoter Joe Hubbard said: “It may be chilly outside, but we’re already incredibly excited about returning to Temple Newsam for an unforgettable summer festival celebration – with even more favourites and new faces joining the party at Live At Leeds: In The Park this year.
DMA’s and The Hives may just be some of the best festival bands going right now, and having phenomena like Cavetown and Crawlers join the party is truly special. At Live At Leeds, we always look to bring unmissable live titans together with fans’ next favourite bands – and this year’s In The Park is the perfect example of that. All coming together on one day at Temple Newsam, there’s nothing quite like it – and we can’t wait to see everyone this May!”
Following a run of new solo singles, iconic guitarist Chris Shiflett this week revealed a run of UK dates this March including a tour finale at Scala in London.
Our News Report continues with news that Pierce The Veil will be in the UK next April. The band will play a number of large venues finishing up at Alexandra Palace in London.
Next in our News Report is the latest single from Willie J Healey featuring Jamie T. Listen to ‘Thank You’ above now.
The track comes from forthcoming album, ‘Bunny’, which is out August 25th.
Willie comments on the new single: “I was tired and flat and didn’t know what to make & then my friend Jamie said ay willie I’ve got this drum machine it might inspire you.. I picked it up and wrote ‘Thank You’ the next day, it was my way of thanking Jamie for being a good friend. I dedicate it to anyone trying to do their own thing.”
Mimi Barks concludes this portion of our News Report with the new video for her track, ‘SAW’, which you can watch above!
The track features on their recently released mixtape, ‘DEADGIRL’.
Barks had the following to say, “SAW, the third song on the DEADGIRL Mixtape, marks the resistance, rage, and anger I experienced while seeking my identity and self-worth on an emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental level.”
She continues to mention – “Working independently on set with a micro team—just me, and my videographer, and his camera—it takes me back to my roots. No crew, no lights, and no screenplay. It’s raw, industrial and dirty – with the walls of the derelict buildings captured in the music video reflecting the wrath and backlash of my internal war.”
Blondshell will release her self-titled debut album arrives April 7th and is preceded by new single, ‘Joiner’.
Describing the new single, Blondshell explains, “I was listening to a lot of Britpop when I wrote this song. A lot of those bands like The Verve, Pulp, Suede, and Blur channelled dark subject matter, drugs, and all this dirty stuff, but with a fun acoustic guitar under it. I was listening to The Replacements, too. That’s what this song was inspired by sonically. I wanted it to feel like you’re watching HBO, where even though it’s heavy, it’s still a good time.”
BLACKGOLD – ‘Boogeyman’
Masked Misfits BLACKGOLD are back at it again with new single ‘Boogeyman’!
The band comment, “‘Boogeyman’ is about that person that haunts your dreams. They have full control over you within your subconscious and it feels like you can’t escape.”
Riyah – ‘Perfect’
Riyah is ready to unleash her first single ‘Perfect’, showcasing what is to come from her hands and lungs.
She comments, “I’m excited to see this new chapter roll out with this new EP. I’ve spent almost two years figuring out which way to go, and these songs might feel like baby steps to some, but for me it’s gigantic leap into my passion”
Download Festival reveals 20th Anniversary line-up
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
We start this week with festival announcements and where else could we start other than the monster 20th Anniversary line-up announcement from Download Festival!
Extended to four days this year the event will feature two unique headline sets from Metallica, the return of Donington icons Slipknot and a well deserved top billing for Bring Me The Horizon.
Other big slots are taken by the likes of Alexisonfire, Architects, The Distillers, Disturbed, Evanescence, Ghost, I Prevail, Parkway Drive, Pendulum, Placebo, Simple Plan, Ville Valo and Within Temptation.
It doesn’t stop there and also playing will be the likes of The Blackout, Fever 333, Kid Kapichi, Nova Twins, Seether and Witch Fever.
Welsh rock fans are in for a treat when Airbourne bring the party on Saturday night at next years Steelhouse Festival!
The Aussies will headline the event which also features The Answer, Blues Pills, Kris Barras Band, Florence Black, The Cruel Knives, Austin Gold and more, with plenty more to be announced.
Crystal Palace Bowl in London will once again host South Facing festival next summer and this week Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and more were amongst the first acts revealed.
Peter Gabriel announces first EU tour in nearly a decade!
We stay with the live side of things next as our News Report moves onto the best tour announcements from the past week!
Peter Gabriel has revealed his first European tour in nearly a decade including UK dates in Birmingham, London, Glasgow and Manchester.
Gabriel said of the tour: “It’s been a while and I am now surrounded by a whole lot of new songs and am excited to be taking them out on the road for a spin. Look forward to seeing you out there.”
Primal Scream & Happy Mondays to team up in Margate
We continue our News Report with news that Saturday 5th August will see Dreamland in Margate taken over be a co-headline show from Primal Scream and Happy Mondays.
In celebration of their 40th Anniversary, James have announced a new UK ‘James Lasted’ Tour complete with 22-piece orchestra and gospel choir!
Tim Booth says “There are a number of great bands who have been around for 40. But to get here and to be having the best time of our lives. To be part of a supportive loving family that still has something to say and new ways to say it. To be turned on by every gig and song. To fall in love over and over again, Groundhog Day, with our bandmates and audience. Damn. That’s time well spent.
We should have recorded the orchestra tour first time round, as many of you have reminded us. Well, we’ve done it now. And here comes the tour. The Orchestra and Gospel singers expand our palette, heighten the tenderness, heighten the celebration and, despite their numbers, somehow leave us feeling more naked and raw. It will be different, probably each night, because we are James and Joe knows how to dance with us. And because you are different, each night. Please leave your phones behind, come and play in the moment.”
Jim Glennie says “Has it really been 40 years? In some ways it feels like yesterday and in others, many lifetimes. I’ve lived a blessed existence, being in a band I’m supremely proud of with musicians that would grace any stage. A family of brothers and sisters, willing to support each other musically and emotionally. We are bloody minded and independent to the core. Uniquely challenging, always pushing ourselves into the new and taking risks collectively and individually, looking for transcendence. With love, trust, and acceptance we grow. Somewhere in a parallel universe, James are the biggest band on the planet. Here’s to another 40 years.”
Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris will once again be taking British Lion on the road in the UK next January. Joining them for these shows will be Coney Hatch and Airforce.
Steve Harris comments, “We’re excited to be touring the UK again especially as we’ll be visiting many places we’ve not had a chance to play before. It’s fantastic that we’ve got long-time friends Coney Hatch coming over from Canada to join us. We had great fun when they were our special guests on the British Lion Canadian shows in 2018. And we’re happy to have our old mates Airforce back out on the road with us too. Everyone is really looking forward to this tour and we can’t wait to see everyone.”
Rockers Dirty Honey have announced a UK/EU Tour taking place early next year.
Prior to the tour, in January 2023, the band are set to release a brand new, re-recorded version of album track ‘Heartbreaker’.
“Some songs really come to life after they’ve been performed a bunch of times. You can really see an audience react to a line being sung a certain way or a riff grooving that you didn’t think of while recording in the studio. Over time we realized the song took on a new life on the road in both North America and Europe and we wanted to capture that energy….” – Marc Labelle, vocalist of Dirty Honey, talking about Heartbreaker 2.0
We move our News Report on now to the best new releases from the past week and we begin with Skindred!
The group this week announced new album, ‘Smile’, will be released August 4th. The band also shared new single, ‘GIMME THAT BOOM’, which you can check out above.
The track is based on a frustrating encounter lead singer Benji Webbe had with an overfamiliar fan.
“I was out shopping one day and I could hear someone building up asking me for a picture,” Webbe recalls. “The person didn’t care who I was with or what I was doing – they just wanted their picture. In this day and age, people want you and they expect to get you on tap, constantly giving you that ‘boom’ so they can get their Instagram Likes up. It’s important to remember that people can’t give you that ‘boom’ all the time. People think because they follow you on social media, they own you.”
Ahead of their UK Tour next month, The Dead Daisies have released new single, ‘Born To Fly’, which you can listen to above.
“Doug & I got together in New York earlier in the year and worked on a riff that I had written previously. Doug had a chorus that just fitted, we messed around with the melody and came up with the name ‘Born To Fly’. This is a straight-up rock song. For me it’s literal, I was born to fly. However we’re all born to fly in our own way.” – David Lowy
This week saw REWS share new single, ‘The World That Left You Behind’, which you can check out above.
“Ah! I’m ecstatic about finally releasing this song!! It’s got so much energy, riff’s for days and a great message!! I wrote it with a great friend of mine from NI, Cahir O’Doherty (New Pagans). It is a song that journey’s through how we can support those people in our lives who get carried away with negative thoughts and feel utterly lost and alone. Hopefully the song will provide a nice audio net for people to fall into at times of need, so they know they aren’t alone!” – Shauna
Dissonants have shared their huge new single ‘Grave Mind’.
‘Lyrically, Grave Mind is more conceptual than our previous work. I wrote the track from the viewpoint of someone on their deathbed looking back on their life and wondering if, now that it’s over and coming to a close, they can be happy and at peace. For this track we wanted to draw less from our own experiences and look at concepts such as mortality and happiness, and how one can affect the other’. – Frontman Benjie Allen.
M(h)aol – ‘Asking For It’
M(h)aol will release debut album, ‘Attachment Styles’ on February 3rd. This week they shared new single, ‘Asking For It’.
On the track singer Róisín said, “I wrote it initially in 2016 then revisited it in 2020. I was shocked by how much internalised victim blaming there was in the lyrics. I rewrote it, then we recorded it and it was released to raise money for Women’s Aid in 2021. The album version is a lot angrier than the 2021 one and almost satirical insofar as it’s highlighting how ludicrous the notion of anyone ‘asking for it’ is.”
Chasing Kites – ‘Shiver’
Bath-based indie-rock four-piece Chasing Kites return with their fourth single ‘Shiver’.
Speaking about the writing process, vocalist and lyricist Matt Donnelly explains, ‘’Shiver came together extremely quickly. I’d had the lyrics lying around for a very long time and felt they fit perfectly with the sonic side of the track when the melody was written. As we built on the skeleton of the song, our aim was to take us back into the realms of indie rock through powerful injections of energy in the choruses, while maintaining our commercial sound throughout.’’
Watch Episode 21 of our ‘Discover’ New Music Podcast with guests Dissonants
‘Discover’ New Music Podcast – Episode 21 – Dissonants
