Welcome everyone to the final News Report for 2022! We hope that you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy & Healthy New Year! Our action packed News Report will return in January, but before then we have plenty of delicious music news to dissect!
Up for this week, we look at the best tour announcements from the past week and we start with Kiss. The band has revealed that their ‘End of the Road’ World Tour will continue into 2023 with a new UK Tour announced starting in Plymouth and ending up in Glasgow.
This *could be* your last chance to catch the band live! Tickets are here.
Former Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan has revealed a full UK & Ireland Tour for next spring. The tour will showcase upcoming debut album, ‘Put Your Foot Down’, which is out April 28th.
On Friday, Colchester’s Pet Needs played a huge homecoming show which served as the 2nd ‘Fractured Party’. As the show concluded, the band announced the 3rd instalment will take place on December 16th 2023.
We move now on to festival announcements and up first is the return of Brits Week in aid of War Child. February will see bands playing intimate shows across the country with a focus on London.
The Hunna, The Snuts, Sea Girls, Frank Turner and Bob Vylan are amongst those on offer in 2023.
Another event doing a fantastic job in raising money for charity is Teddy Rocks festival in aid of research and direct support for children with cancer.
This year the event hosts Feeder, Jake Bugg, The Amazons, Those Damn Crows, Punk Rock Factory, Kid Kapichi, Dream State, Mason Hill, The Bottom Line and many more.
Penn Fest in Buckinghamshire also unveiled their line-up for next Summer this past week, including headliners Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Bastille.
They’ll be joined by the likes of Johnny Marr, Gaz Coombes, The Skinner Brothers and Embrace.
The final festival news in our News Report this week comes from Firestorm Festival. The event has added Massive Wagons to the top of their Friday bill for 2023.
They join the likes of Royal Republic, The Virginmarys, Mason Hill, Hollowstar, Kris Barras Band, Black Spiders and Scruffy Bear.
Hell Is For Heroes share ‘I Should Never Have Been Here In The First Place’
Hell Is For Heroes – I Should Never Have Been Here In The First Place’
New releases are up next in our News Report as we bring you the first new music from Hell Is For Heroes in 15 years. You can listen to their new single, ‘I Should Never Have Been Here In The First Place’, above.
On the week of her highly anticipated ‘DEADGIRL’ mixtape release fearless Doom Trap artist Mimi Barks has unveiled her new track ‘ASHES’.
Talking about the meaning behind ‘ASHES’, Mimi Barks shares, “Women who posed a threat during the dark ages were accused of being witches, intimidated, burned alive, and sentenced to execution. Today, ever since the Age of Enlightenment, a creative, strong-willed, and self-assured woman still gets burnt to the stake verbally by those led by their own anxieties.”
XL LIFE – ‘Baby Steps’
XL LIFE shared new single ‘Baby Steps’ featuring Bob Vylan!
On working with Vylan for the new single, vocalist Traxx says: “We always felt a kinship with Bob because of his message, his boldness, and his morals, so with this song we took the opportunity to have him on the album and co-sign each other’s work. We will support him to the end.”
Commenting on the relevance of the new single, vocalist Traxx says: “We knew this song had to be made, because we had all been going through some heavy stuff outside of the band. The band has been stop-start/stop-start the whole time, trying to prioritise our health and coming up against some really traumatic circumstances, so this song had to address that. The healing journey. Baby steps. Holding onto the promises.”
Fountain Island – ‘Pretty Little Nightmare’
Pop-punk newcomers Fountain Island reveal their contagious new single, ‘Pretty Little Nightmares’.
The band remark about its creation: “’Pretty Little Nightmares’ explores the bittersweetness of the first time with a loved one, and the realisation that one day it will just be a memory and can never be experienced again. The track takes cues from Blink182’s ‘I Miss You’, with its melancholy gothic tone whilst retaining the youthful pop feel.”
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report, and happy Halloween 🎃!
It’s that time of the year where it’s not just the ghosts and ghouls haunting our News Report but also festival announcements for next Summer!
We start with Suffolk staple Latitude Festival which returns to Henham Park next July. This week saw the organisers reveal Pulp, Paolo Nutini and George Ezra will be headlining in the new year.
They’ll be joined on the bill by the likes of The Kooks, Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, The Big Moon, Lightning Seeds, The Proclaimers and The Beths!
Yes, we have plenty of festival announcements in our News Report this week and next up is Neighbourhood Weekender!
Headlining the event will be Pulp, The Kooks and Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott. They’ll be joined by the likes of The Wombats, Ocean Colour Scene, The Enemy, Self Esteem, Sea Girls and Lottery Winners.
Scotland’s TRNSMT will return to Glasgow Green in July with the reformed Pulp also topping their bill. Also at the top of the line-up will be Sam Fender, The 1975, George Ezra, Kasabian and Royal Blood.
Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott and The Kooks are on this one too, as are Inhaler and others, with many more to come.
Following a successful debut this year, Live At Leeds will once again hold an ‘In The Park’ event at Temple Newsam Park in May.
The line-up includes headliners Two Door Cinema Club plus The Lathums, Everything Everything, The Big Moon, Black Honey, The Beths, Low Hummer and many more.
Speaking about their headline show at Live At Leeds: In The Park, Two Door Cinema Club said: “Excited to say we’ll be coming to Live At Leeds in the park next year for the first time! Yoooooooooooorkshire!”
Everything Everything said: “Always a pleasure to play in Yorkshire, always special to play Leeds, and where better than at this stalwart event? Come and see us Live At Leeds: In The Park!”
Brooke Combe said: “Can’t wait for next year to be a part of Live at Leeds. See you all there for a boogie and a sing song 🥰”
Panic Shack said: “We can’t wait to play Live at Leeds in The Park!! Leeds has a special place in our hearts, we spent a few late nights here on our first ever tour with The Wytches. We’re excited to bring back our new and improved dance routine and to just have a bit of a laugh with everyone really!”
Hannah Wilson from Dolores Forever said: “We can’t wait to play Leeds. It’s my home town, so it will be mega special. It will be our first time playing Leeds in 2023 and we want to bring big energy vibes!”
Dan Mawer from Low Hummer said: “We’re chuffed to be a part of Live at Leeds: In The Park! The festival has a brilliant mix of well established names alongside exciting new artists, all taking place in a truly beautiful setting.
We loved attending last year’s event so we’re honoured to get the chance to play it in 2023. It’ll be really rewarding to take part in an event that will emulate the lovely sense of community we witnessed at this year’s festival.”
Speaking about Live At Leeds: In The Park 2023, Festival Promoter Joe Hubbard said:
“After such an incredible first year in 2022, we’re delighted to be returning to Temple Newsam for Live At Leeds: In The Park 2023! Bringing together bonafide festival headliners such as Two Door Cinema Club alongside some of the best in modern indie/alternative music – it’s going to be an unforgettable day and the perfect summer party not only full of singalongs left, right and centre but also loads of opportunities to discover your next favourite artist.
It’s what we do best at Live At Leeds and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back for an even bigger and even better Live At Leeds: In The Park in May. Catch ya down the front!”
Lytham Festival also returns in 2023 and this week organisers shared the line-up including headliners Jamiroquai, George Ezra, Sting, Lionel Ritchie, Motley Crue and Def Leppard.
Also on the bill are the likes of Blondie and Kaiser Chiefs.
The run of festival announcements in our News Report gets a little heavier now with the 5th Anniversary of Stonedead Festival set to host headliners Blue Oyster Cult.
Also playing will be Therapy?, The Answer, King King, Mason Hill and more.
Following a successful inaugural event this year, Firestorm Festival is back in Manchester next year with a line-up including Royal Republic, Kris Barras Band, Black Spiders, The Virginmarys, Hollowstar, Scruffy Bear and many more!
Bowling For Soup frontman Jaret Reddick will bring his new country project to the UK in December with shows announced this week in London and Birmingham.
Hundred Reasons return with new single ‘Glorious Sunset’
Hundred Reasons – ‘Glorious Sunset’
We move our News Report on now to the best new releases from the past week and we start off with the spectacular return of Hundred Reasons.
The band this week announced their first new album in 15 years! ‘Glorious Sunset’ will be released on February 24th, and you can check out the title track above.
Lead singer Colin Doran says of the first writing session; “I came away from that session not just feeling closer to the other guys, having not seen them for some time, but thinking the music was f****** awesome. We all looked at each other and knew it was a go.”
He continues about the single: “When we started writing again it was really important that we did not go back to any material that had been cut previously. It all had to be completely new. We started writing just before Covid and got together sporadically as and when we could to write and demo which was not our usual way. We would normally be in a room together for the most part but this time it was not always possible. Larry and I would write, The Andy and Larry would write and then I would join the session later in the day (I have a day job) but we were all super happy with what was coming out. This was a deal breaker for all as if we were putting out new material it had to be amazing.
Glorious Sunset came about from an instrumental idea from The Andy which was nearly complete minus any vocal ideas. The lyrics for the song completely changed from the demo version to the recorded version as within that space of time my mother passed away after a 4-year battle with cancer. She had gone into remission twice previously and it come back again but this time it would be terminal. The title of the song took on a new meaning as the song talks about being relieved that someone you love is no longer suffering. The sunset refers to the light that many people say they see when they die.
During recording, Larry started playing around with synths and effects that added more to the song but by the time all of the music was recorded, no one in the band knew that the lyrics had changed so it ended up being an emotionally draining session in the studio that day. In all lots of lyrics changed during that time period as it brought on a new perspective which shaped the narrative of the material.”
“This album isn’t something we felt we had to do. We simply arrived at a position where the music was so good that it was something we needed to do.”
Following the release of their latest album, ‘I Don’t Belong Anywhere’, October Drift this week shared the video for ‘Lost Without You’, which you can of course check out above.
Regarding ‘Lost Without You’ frontman Kiran Roy says, “It’s a song about heartbreak and helplessness. Inspired by a long-distance relationship, with my girlfriend living over 400 miles away in Scotland. It’s about missing loved ones and the struggle of being apart.”
Book news closes out our News Report this week as Idlewild have announced details of a new limited edition publication entitled ‘Passing Places’.
Roddy Woomble says:
“Initially, we had an idea of putting something together to commemorate The Remote Part tour dates – a programme or a journal, something fans of the band would love to read and have. It would be made in a similar style to Tom’s beautifully designed journal Gold Flake Paint, somewhere between a magazine, a journal, a novella and a photo book. Something different and personal.
The journal acts almost like a souvenir programme for the 20th Anniversary Remote Part shows, particularly for those who travelled up to Ullapool in September, as primarily that is where the journal is set.
This idea appealed to me enormously, so Tom accompanied the band up to the Highlands for our The Remote Part show in Ullapool, close to where the album was written. As we got chatting on the journey, at the gig and the following day driving around the Highlands, it became clear to both of us that this writing collaboration could be explored in many different ways, not necessarily just about one album.
This is a great writing project for me, working with an experienced writer like Tom, making something special for Idlewild fans all about an album that means a great deal to me, but also to Tom – a journey from two different perspectives.”
Ahead of their tour supporting Pussy Riot, Brighton’s ĠENN have shared their new single, ‘Rohmeresse’.
On the song, vocalist Leona Farrugia said, “I’ve often felt a pressure running through everyday life: a pressure to be productive whilst being true to oneself. Modern life can be very dissociative and small tasks become a real burden to uphold. I wanted to capture these thoughts through the track, whereby these emotions gradually build to a point of ecstasy.”
MOSKITO – ‘Sweet Fruit’
Following the breath-taking launch of MOSKITO towards the end of 2021, they now return with their brand-new single ‘Sweet Fruit’.
“Sweet Fruits lyrics portray how easy it is to play away in a relationship, with all the distractions in today’s society. It’s unwieldy temptation at the push of a button. Is it too sweet? What a waste it is.” – Front man Jake Rudd.
Pollyanna Blue – ‘Haunted’
Bristol-based alt-rock two-piece Pollyanna Blue reveal their latest single ‘Haunted’.
Speaking of the inspiration for the song, lyricist and vocalist Zoe Collins says, “In this song trauma is depicted as an unforgiving evil spirit that will come at you at night and relentlessly try to tear you down. The impactful delivery of the lyrics harnesses the real range of emotions of someone experiencing immense feelings of emptiness, sadness and anger.
The lyric ‘like a headache’ depicts the side effects of dealing with large and repetitive amounts of trauma and stress to the brain, painting an unpleasant experience for the person being Haunted by their own predicament.”
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
We start this week with the best tour announcements from the last seven days and that begins with more huge stadium shows from Coldplay.
After the success of their ‘Music of the Spheres’ stadium tour this summer, the band have revealed that they will return with multiple shows in both Manchester and Cardiff in 2023!
Another artist with new tour dates to reveal this past week was KT Tunstall. Tunstall will be hitting the road hard early next year along with special guest Andy Burrows.
Tunstall’s new album, ‘NUT’, is out September 9th.
Rounding out the tour announcements in our News Report this week are Himalayas who have revealed that they will head out around the UK later this year.
We move our News Report onwards now to the best new releases from the past week. Arctic Monkeys have announced their long-awaited new album, ‘The Car’, will be out October 21st!
Muse debut video for ‘YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE IT’S HALLOWEEN’
Muse – ‘YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE IT’S HALLOWEEN’
The week saw Muse release new album, ‘WILL OF THE PEOPLE’, on which Matt Bellamy says:
“Will Of The People was created in Los Angeles and London and is influenced by the increasing uncertainty and instability in the world. A pandemic, new wars in Europe, massive protests & riots, an attempted insurrection, Western democracy wavering, rising authoritarianism, wildfires and natural disasters and the destabilization of the global order all informed Will Of The People.
It has been a worrying and scary time for all of us as the Western empire and the natural world, which have cradled us for so long are genuinely threatened. This album is a personal navigation through those fears and preparation for what comes next.”
Muse also debuted the new video for single, ‘YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE IT’S HALLOWEEN’, which you can check out above.
Alien Weaponry debut video for ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’
Alien Weaponry – ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’
We continue our News Report with Alien Weaponry who have shared a video for ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’ taken from their ‘Tangaroa’ album.
“This was an absolute blast to film! ‘Down The Rabbit Hole’ represents the growth I’ve experienced throughout my life and putting to bed demons from the past. The video captures the meaning well – the broken objects representing said demons. It’s the rough times in life that make you who you are, as long as you rise above it.” – Lewis de Jong
Ayron Jones debuted new single, ‘Filthy’, this week which you can listen to above.
“Where I’m from the word ‘Filthy’ is used as the highest compliment in the land. It means that you are so good at what you do and who you are that it should be a sin,” shared Jones. “That’s what was on my mind when I began working on this song. I wanted to celebrate counterculture and promote pride in what means to be considered ‘different.’”
This week saw Eva Under Fire reveal the release dates for their highly anticipated debut album, ‘Love, Drugs & Misery’, which will arrive September 23rd.
Thrilled to be sharing the news, lead singer Eva Marie said, “We’re super excited to finally be releasing our album Love, Drugs & Misery. We can’t wait to show you guys the full scope of what we’ve been working on for so long. It was kind of a wild ride because when we’d completed the record, we were super proud of it, it was some of our best writing to date, and then the world shut down. It’s been long-awaited, much-anticipated, and there’s so much heart and soul in this record. I can’t wait for you guys to experience it with us.”
Recent guests on our ‘Discover’ New Music Podcast guests IOTA returned this week with a new single, ‘Sometimes’.
Speaking about the single, vocalist Jodie Robinson states, “This song was written about a loved one after a freak accident that I witnessed. It really put everything into perspective and threw me into a realm of gratitude with a whole new found respect for having that person in my life. It’s a love letter to this person and a reminder to appreciate what you have before it’s too late.”
‘Never Felt Before’ is the new single from Final Stair who release debut album, ‘Hope’ on September 30th.
The band comments: “ Never Felt Before is about the passionate attraction between two people. It’s about a special moment. You can feel the excitement at first glance. Your hands are starting to sweat and your stomach is tingling. They both have the same overwhelming feelings towards each other that just can’t be described. You’ve just never experienced anything like it.
When we wrote the song, we didn’t have to think twice. We realized very quickly that this song describes the topic of passion very well, as it rushes forward uncompromisingly from start to finish, is incredibly intense and hardly leaves any time to breathe.”
Northern Captives – ‘Every High’
‘Every High’ is the latest track from Northern Captives.
“Musically we wanted this song to push the dynamics to far extremes. We boiled down our verses to just kick, snare, bass, and vocals to match the intimacy of Cook’s lyrics. We kept drum parts very percussive, staying away from unnecessary ringing crashes allowed us to sonically explore low fi and broken textural sounds which would normally have been lost under cymbals.
We allowed the choruses to explode into a rich and dark sounding textural wall featuring distorted guitars and keys that amplified the desperation in the hook line ‘why must every high come down? Won’t you stay around?’” – Northern Captives
Dohny Jep – ‘Wine And Dine’
Kent-based alternative-rock trio Dohny Jep share new single, ‘Wine And Dine’.
. “Wine and Dine in its purest form is about love. It’s about those first moments of meeting someone new and the adventures that you are about to go on together, but also those first moments of conflict and how you pull together to get through those harder moments,” says vocalist Pete Herbert.
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report! This week is dominated by incredible new releases, so that’s exactly where we begin; and where better to start than with superstars Muse!
This week the band shared their latest single, ‘Kill or Be Killed’, which you can check out above. The single will feature on their upcoming new album, ‘Will of the People’, which is out August 26th!
“‘Kill Or Be Killed’ is MUSE at their heaviest! We wanted to update our hard rock sound on this album and with KOBK we found a modern metal sound featuring double bass drum action and even a death growl. Lyrically the song takes influence from my favourite Paul McCartney song “Live And Let Die”, a dark take on how life’s adversity can sometimes bring out the worst human instincts to survival at any costs.” – Matt Bellamy
Red Hot Chili Peppers announce ‘Return of the Dream Canteen’
Red Hot Chili Peppers surprised fans this week with the revelation that they will be releasing a new studio album this year!
‘Return of the Dream Canteen’, will be available October 14th, and the band had the following to say:
“We went in search of ourselves as the band that we have somehow always been. Just for the fun of it we jammed and learned some old songs. Before long we started the mysterious process of building new songs. A beautiful bit of chemistry meddling that had befriended us hundreds of times along the way. Once we found that slip stream of sound and vision, we just kept mining.
With time turned into an elastic waistband of oversized underwear, we had no reason to stop writing and rocking. It felt like a dream. When all was said and done, our moody love for each other and the magic of music had gifted us with more songs than we knew what to do with. Well we figured it out. 2 double albums released back to back.
The second of which is easily as meaningful as the first or should that be reversed. ‘Return of the Dream Canteen’ is everything we are and ever dreamed of being. It’s packed. Made with the blood of our hearts.”
The iconic Ozzy Osbourne continues to prepare for the release of his latest studio album, ‘Patient Number 9’, which is due for release on September 9th.
This week saw the debut of new single, ‘Degradation Rules’ featuring Tony Iommi, which you can listen to above.
New music was also forthcoming this week from The Murder Capital, who debuted new track, ‘Only Good Things’, which you can listen to above.
Speaking on the new single, frontman James McGovern says,
“This track for us has been an exciting evolution for the band. It’s so bright. It’s so colorful. This is a part of the narrative of the overall record that we feel reaches a real place of inner calm, inner peace but at its core, it’s a love song.
You get a song like this where, the protagonist in this song is quite simply asking – not pleading – just willing to ask their counterpart to rid them of their intrusive thoughts, the devils on their shoulders and to be truly vulnerable. We’re so excited to go to a place like this because perhaps it’s not what is expected of us.
It stood out to me during the creation of this record that it is more about the friends that are still here and celebrating those connections, those relationships and being unafraid of life and it’s many seasons. Where ‘Only Good Things’ stands within the record is at a moment where the sonic and the lyrical narrative especially, are of newfound joy.”
Another band with an album on the way is Dub War who will release ‘Westgate Under Fire’ on August 5th. This week they shared the latest single, ‘Art Of War’, which you can listen to above.
Speaking on the new single, Benji Webbe says, “Mikee “KRUPA” Gregory was reading the book ‘The Art of War’ at the time that I was working on songs for the album, I thought it was a great title and just wrote a lot of words about Newport & Nazis.
Frankie Lodge (mentioned in the lyrics) was a guy with mental difficulties who once sang opera in the subway in Newport. Frankie’s mural features on the back cover of the album as he’s another piece of Newport history.
Spike T Smith really stepped up and brought the magic on the drums on this track.”
More great new music as our News Report continues and we turn now to The Virginmarys. The duo this week debuted new track, ‘You’re A Killer’, which you can listen to above.
VUKOVI also have a new album on the way. ‘NULA’ arrives on October 7th, but this week the duo debuted new single, ‘I EXIST’, which you can check out above.
Finally in our new releases section of our News Report, we have Deux Furieuses.
In a big news week the duo debuted new single, ‘Know The Score’, which you can listen to above, and announced new album, ‘Songs From Planet Earth’, which is out November 11th.
We do have a handful of tour announcements in our News Report this week, so let’s get started!
Japanese genre-blenders Crossfaith have announced the UK & EU leg of their upcoming ‘Atlas Of Faith World Tour‘, celebrating 15 years of the band!
Speaking of the tour, frontman Kenta ‘Ken’ Koie, says, “We just got back from festival run in Europe and had such a great time out there. As promised, we’ll be returning back to UK & Europe and this will be our first headline tour since COVID.
I know that you guys have been waiting for it just like us so we are very excited to celebrate our 15th anniversary with all of you! We will play new songs and older songs as well, make sure to follow our discography and get sweaty with us! See you in the pit!”
Our final live announcement in our News Report this week, with no noteworthy festival updates, comes from Beans On Toast. The singer will return to the Clapham Grand next June.
Northern indie-pop artist Ellur returns with her new single ‘Close To You’.
Speaking on the single Ellur says, “’Close To You’ is a song about rejection and coping with it. I decided, last year, I wanted to write more songs that were about me and my relationship with myself. I think this process birthed some of my favourite lyrics I’ve ever written.”
3REE – ‘Demons’
Australian pop punk duo 3REE have teamed up with fellow Aussie and emo rapper Yung Gwopp for their brand new single ‘Demons’.
Speaking about the inspiration for the track 3REE drummer Sean Tighe says, “This song came to me in a dream, after a nightmare I had. I woke up in the middle of the night with the lyrics and melodies still distinctly in my mind. I immediately put it all down in a voice note and sent it to Mitch. It was that powerful.”
Continuing vocalist and guitarist Mitch Volcan says, “Sean sent me the voice memo and I quickly went to the studio with the verse he sent me and the chorus just came to me all in one go. It’s definitely from a dark place but it’s also the realest thing we’ve ever written.”
About the collaboration Yung Gwopp says, “When the boys sent me ‘Demons’ I was instantly a fan. I just knew I had to throw a verse down.”
Elessar – ‘GOLD’
Pop-Rock trio Elessar present their foot stomping new single ‘GOLD’.
“I wrote GOLD at a time when the entire world had been locked up, it’s about the good vibes only with friends who have inevitably moved on to their next stages in life, kids, marriage, houses. And how the pandemic lockdown made us realise how much we took our friends for granted. I’d have given it all up to go back to that one weekend when money and inhibitions weren’t an issue.” – Front man Ricky Powell.
Pale Waves reveal UK Tour, debut new single and announce new album
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report, and it has been as huge news week for fans of Pale Waves!
This week saw the band announce a new UK Tour to take place in November. The run of dates will include a huge show at the O2 Brixton Academy in London.
That isn’t it though, as the band also announced that they will be releasing their third album, ‘Unwanted’, this August.
They also debuted the first single from the album, ‘Lies’, which you can check out below.
“‘Lies’ is about someone who built up my trust and destroyed it like a wrecking ball,” says frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie. “it caused some real trust issues, but fortunately for me that person is no longer in my life. Once you do me wrong you’re gone!”
Pale Waves have been on a personal and artistic journey since the release of their debut album ‘My Mind Makes Noises’ in 2018. These experiences have begun to inform their songs in recent years and are what jump to the fore on ‘Unwanted’.
“It was really the only thing this album could be called,” says Baron-Gracie, now 27. “It’s bold and unapologetic, and that’s what the Pale Waves community is about. We don’t need to fit a perfect mould, we don’t need to apologise for being ourselves, and we won’t change for anyone. That acceptance is what connects us.”
Five Finger Death Punch announce new album ‘Afterlife’
Five Finger Death Punch – ‘IOU’
We move our News Report onwards now on to the new releases from this past week, and we start with Five Finger Death Punch.
The metal icons this week revealed that their new album, ‘Afterlife’, will be released on August 19th. In announcing the album, the band also debuted new track, ‘IOU’, which you can check out above.
“AFTERLIFE was hands down my favorite record to make.” says 5FDP guitarist Zoltan Bathory and continues: “It is our ninth album so at this point, we have legions of loyal fans, and our signature sound is more than established. It became its own island, our ground zero we operate from and we can always come back to. So when we started this record, there was an excitement of impending musical adventures, we knew we could step away as far as we wanted to, there was a freedom of truly “anything goes.”
This resulted in an album that is way more diverse than our previous ones, while it feels more unified, because there is a framework of overarching stories in Ivan’s lyrics and interconnecting musical motifs between songs. It was not planned as a concept album, but we were so hyper-focused on painting a complete picture, it somehow feels like one… We are very proud of it and are just as impatient as the fans waiting for the release, can’t wait to share it.”
The HU also had new music to present this week as the band debuted new track, ‘This Is Mongol’. You can listen to the track above, which comes ahead of their highly anticipated sophomore album due this summer.
Speaking about the video, singer and tumur hhuur player Jaya said, “We shot in the Mojave Desert, Nevada and the environment reminded us of Gobi Desert in Mongolia. We enjoyed shooting the video, which happened during our tour and gave us a little break to reminisce about home. The song perfectly matched the environment we made the video in. It was one of the best memories we created as a band and it was special because our producer Dashka was with us to oversee the whole process.”
BERRIES announce debut album, and release new single ‘
BERRIES – ‘We Are Machines’
Finally, we close out this section of our News Report with the fantastic news that BERRIES will release their debut album, ‘How We Function’ on July 8th.
This week also saw the band debut their latest track, ‘We Are Machines’, which you can listen to above.
As always we conclude our News Report with the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist over on Spotify.
The Lounge Society – ‘Blood Money’
The Lounge Society have announced that their debut album, ‘Tired of Liberty’, will arrive August 29th. This week they debuted new track ‘Blood Money’.
The band comments: “Blood Money is a reaction to the culture of greed that’s seeping into the corridors of power across the world. It’s a reminder that ultimately, we all suffer at the hands of self-serving elites, and it’s our personal perspective on the effects of dirty politics on the everyday lives of ourselves and people we know.
For us it’s a song that completely captures this record and us as a band. It feels like the perfect development from our previous releases to our debut album and exactly how this record should be introduced. The balance of driving guitar riffs and the groove of the drums and bass is sort of a snapshot of the album. We’d never claim to be a purely dance based band and we’d never claim to be a purely guitar riff-based band because it’s the combination of the two which excites us.
On Blood Money it felt like in the studio we took our sound to a different level. We approached the album recording in a totally fresh way to how we have recorded in the past and we got exactly what we wanted.
We had good friends & Speedy label mates of ours Anouska (Honeyglaze) and Jojo (Heartworms) do some extra vocals in the chorus, and it really elevated it and gave it an almost operatic feel which was amazing to see develop in the studio.”
Call to the Faithful – ‘The Problem’
Fierce UK Rockers Call to the Faithful return with their first offering of 2022, ‘The Problem’.
The band says: “The Problem is biographical account of the miserable situation so many of us find ourselves in, unable to break free of living paycheck to paycheck while being continuously belittled by a generation so detached from modern struggles that they provide useless solutions like “simply work harder” and “don’t waste your money at Starbucks”.
smallmint – ‘The Dark’
Northern Ireland stalwart’s smallmint have unveiled their new single, ‘The Dark’, plucked from debut LP ‘where we all end up in the end’.
Speaking of the album’s production, Cameron-Braithwaite says:
“We wanted the album to feel natural and to actually sound like a band playing live in a room, which is exactly how it was recorded. It was important for us to keep that space and energy in the recordings — no need for overproduction or too many overdubs, so that the arrangement of the music and the emotion within the lyrics could speak for themselves.”
Welcome to another edition of our weekly music News Report, where we roundup the best music news from the past week. We start this week with the latest festival announcements including the above from Reading & Leeds Festivals.
The dual event this week added a load of new acts for August including Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Black Honey, DMA’s, All Time Low, cleopatrick, Tigercub, Kid Kapichi, Witch Fever, The Blinders and Crawlers!
They join the likes of already announced Arctic Monkeys, Bring Me The Horizon, Rage Against The Machine, Wolf Alice, Fontaines D.C., Enter Shikari and Pale Waves.
Festivals across the country continue to reveal their line-ups for this year, and this past week saw Hardwick Festival unveil theirs.
Headlining the event will be Stereophonics and The Specials. They’ll be joined by Jake Bugg, Seasick Steve, The Proclaimers, Lottery Winners, Rats, Twister and more.
Firestorm Rock Festival will take place in Manchester this August, and this week saw the event reveal a packed line-up.
Performing over the weekend will be Wayward Sons, Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons, Those Damn Crows, Stone Broken, King King, The Treatment, Inglorious, Mason Hill, Florence Black, Bad Touch, Revival Black, The Hot Damn and many more!
Another lengthy arena tour announced this week comes from Kaiser Chiefs, who will be joined on the ‘All Together’ UK Tour by both The Fratellis and The Sherlocks.
The Struts announced this week that they’ll be heading back to the UK for ‘The Homecoming Tour’ this July.
Lead singer Luke Spiller comments, “We are bursting with excitement to be coming back to our home country to see you all once more. It’s been far too long and we are more than ready to make up for lost time. Can’t wait to make some more amazing memories with you all!”
Rock icon Corey Taylor this week announced details of three solo UK dates this October. Taylor will play London, Hull and Swansea with support from Cherry Bombs.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs this week announced their return to the UK with three shows this June. Support comes variously from English Teacher, Dry Cleaning, Porridge Radio and Anika!
The latest music releases now in our News Report. Rock behemoths Muse this week announced details of their new album, ‘Will Of The People’.
The album will be released on August 26th, and is preceded by new single, ‘Compliance’, which you can check out above.
Speaking of the album the band explain, “Will Of The People was created in Los Angeles and London and is influenced by the increasing uncertainty and instability in the world. A pandemic, new wars in Europe, massive protests & riots, an attempted insurrection, Western democracy wavering, rising authoritarianism, wildfires and natural disasters and the destabilization of the global order all informed Will Of The People. It has been a worrying and scary time for all of us as the Western empire and the natural world, which have cradled us for so long are genuinely threatened. This album is a personal navigation through those fears and preparation for what comes next.”
Our News Report is drawing to a close, but we aren’t done yet! The Virginmarys kick started their new era this past week with the release of their new single, ‘The Meds’, which you can watch above.
There was also new music this week from British rock icons Skunk Anansie who debuted new track, ‘Can’t Take You Anywhere’.
Discussing the song Skin explains, “This track is a double-edged sword. We all have that one friend that we love but is a total embarrassment to us, a mate that has no off button and no filter. So if they aren’t losing their phone/keys/coat, they’re saying some stuff that will defo get you cancelled by all your other mates. This song is about how polarised the world is now, and how careful you need to be. It’s about dealing with the new world order of friendship, as never before have I had great long term friends develop completely opposing views to mine. It’s about having to navigate and understand people, keeping the love and respect but also standing firm in your opinions.”
Peaness are preparing to release their debut album ‘World Full of Worry’ on May 6th. Check our their single, ‘Worry’, on our playlist!
‘TV PERSONALITY’ – BAIT
As their debut album edges into sight, BAIT are back with the electrifying new single: ‘TV Personality’.
Of the track Michael Webster says: “The pandemic locked us away and forced us to live life through a screen. We each became a TV personality, broadcasting from the rabbit hole for work, study & play.”
‘ALL OUT’ – THE NATIVE
Rising Plymouth band The Native have just signed with This Feeling Records, and will soon support Bastille in arenas across the UK.
Check out their single, ‘All Out’, on our playlist!
A year ago, back at a time when live music was just a distant memory, Ricky Warwick delivered his stunning solo album, ‘When Life Was Hard and Fast’. The album featured highly on our 2021 Album of the Year list but since then Warwick has been unable to tour the album.
That is until now, as with restrictions withdrawn Warwick and his band The Fighting Hearts are able to hit the road once again and tonight they find themselves at The Waterfront Studio in Norwich.
THE HOWLING TIDES
First on stage this evening are young rockers The Howling Tides who make the most of their time with a splendid performance. The four-piece get the crowd engaged early on with the likes of ‘White Crow’ and ‘Crack My Soul’.
THE VIRGINMARYS
They are followed by the criminally underrated The Virginmarys who are emerging from the pandemic as a two-piece. Having witnessed the band live many times, I was interested to see how this new dynamic would work and whether they’d maintain their power.
Thankfully that power is still there, as is a new layer of ferocity as the band plough through a setlist featuring many new songs. These new songs offer great promise, whilst older favourites such as ‘Running For My Life’ and ‘Just A Ride’ remind of just how good this band are.
RICKY WARWICK & THE FIGHTING HEARTS
It’s not long thereafter that Eminem’s iconic ‘Lose Yourself’ blasts out and Ricky Warwick and The Fighting Hearts grace the stage. They burst straight into life with ‘Gunslinger’, ‘Over the Edge’ and ‘The Road to Damascus Street’ riling the audience up.
As if fronting The Almighty, Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders wasn’t enough, Warwick has also established a successful solo career over the years. This was punctuated last year with the release of ‘When Life Was Hard and Fast’. Tonight’s show is a mixture of each aspect of this unlikely career, including the likes of ‘Jailbreak’ and ‘Finest Hour’ from “the day job” as Warwick terms it.
Whilst these big hitters a natural highlights, it’s telling that the true highlights come from ‘When Life Was Hard and Fast’ including the title track, ‘You’re My Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and ‘Still Alive’. This just goes to show that at this stage of his career Warwick is perhaps tunnelling his experiences into producing his best work.
It helps tonight that he is backed by a tight band that helps bring his visions to life. There are a good number of The Almighty tracks in the set tonight and it’s ‘Free ‘n’ Easy’ that brings the evening to a close; a thoroughly enjoyable evening of the hard rock majesty that we’ve missed these past couple of years.
Every week we roundup the best music news from the past week in our News Report. To stay up to date with the biggest news be sure to follow us on our social channels:
It has been announced that Download Festival will take place this year after all. That’s right rockers will grace the hallowed grounds of Donington Park, but just the 10,000 of them. The pilot event will test the viability of music festivals this summer – not much riding on it then!!
Attendees will be able to mosh freely inside the event, but will need to take negative tests prior to and after the festival. Tickets will be available here.
Headline acts for the event will be Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Enter Shikari and Bullet For My Valentine. They will be joined by the likes of Boston Manor, Holding Absence, Hot Milk, Creeper, Stone Broken, Twin Atlantic, Yonaka, A, Wargasm, Frank Turner, Skindred, The Wildhearts, Massive Wagons and Lonely The Brave!
Following a lengthy delay in announcing their line-up, Latitude Festival is finally on track to go ahead. This week organisers revealed the festival will be headlined by the likes of Wolf Alice, The Chemical Brothers, Bastille, Bombay Bicycle Club, Rudimental and Bill Bailey.
Also on tap are acts such as Kaiser Chiefs, Fontaines D.C., Dream Wife, Shame, Squid, Willie J Healey and Tim Burgess. There will also be lots more from the worlds of comedy, arts and literature.
Arboretum Sunsets is set to grace Nottingham Arboretum this summer. Last year our Gig of the Year saw Frank Turner grace the Arboretum and this year will see live music return to the park.
The line-up of shows includes Beans On Toast, Ferocious Dog, Grace Petrie, Lucy Spraggan, The Futureheads, Turin Breaks and many more.
A little tour news now as we continue our News Report. Bowling For Soup have added some extra shows to their tour with Lit and The Dollyrots. The seaside tour will now head inland to Glasgow, Birmingham and London.
Kasabian have announced their return to action with an intimate tour of the UK. The lengthy run will finish up at Brixton Academy in November. Tickets will be available here.
The Virginmarys set for the road
The Virginmarys will be hitting the road later this year for their first shows since confirming their intentions to continue as a two-piece going forward.
After some typical Creeper teasing the band has this week released a new single, ‘Midnight’. More than that though, the band has also announced a brand new EP! ‘American Noir’ will arrive July 30th and you can pre-order your copy here.
We roundup the best music news from the past week!
Every week we roundup the best music news from the past week in our News Report. To stay up to date with the biggest news be sure to follow us on our social channels:
We once again start this week’s edition of the News Report with a slew of festival announcements.
Up first is Oxfordshire’s Truck Festival. The event has unveiled a huge line-up for 23-25 July 2021. Headlining the event will be Bombay Bicycle Club, The Kooks and Royal Blood!
That’s not all though as the top of the bill also features big sets from Blossoms, Fontaines D.C., DMA’s, IDLES, Pale Waves, Sports Team and The Pigeon Detectives.
There are also many more amazing acts set to grace the event including The Snuts, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Black Honey, Vistas, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Lauran Hibberd and The Mysterines.
Tickets are SOLD OUT, however you can join the waiting list here.
Whilst we are of course hopeful that we will safely be able to return to live music this summer, it’s not yet guaranteed. One festival that has chosen to move to 2022 is Bearded Theory.
In doing so they have revealed that the event will be headlined by Placebo, Patti Smith and The Flaming Lips. The event promises to be one not to miss and you can grab your tickets here.
Red Rooster reveals full line-up
Suffolk’s Red Rooster Festival is another event still looking to go ahead. The festival will take place over the weekend of 27-29 August and will feature sets from Richard Hawley, Jade Bird, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, Emily Barker, The Urban Voodoo Machine and many more.
Ghost Road Fest is set to take place on the 6th and 7th November. Day one will takeover Kolis in London and the final day will emanate from Belgrave Music Hall in Leeds.
This week, the organisers revealed the full line-up for the event with a stunning line-up including The Virginmarys, Bang Bang Romeo, The Pearl Harts, Salvation Jayne and Moses.
Get Together festival will take place this August from Sheffield Uni Students’ Union. The two day event has just announced a great line-up featuring Black Honey, Dream Wife, Tim Burgess, Willie J Healey, The Mysterines, The Ninth Wave, Self Esteem and The Orielles.
Our News Report now moves onto our tour news section with the announcement from The Offspring that they will be hitting UK arenas this November!
The massive tour will be the biggest shows from the band in a long time, and they are made even bigger by the addition of The Hives as special guests.
This is a guaranteed good time, so guarantee your ticket here.
Lauran Hibberd announces the Goober Tour
The fantastic Lauran Hibberd has unveiled a run of dates around the UK. The Goober Tour hits this October and finishes at OMEARA in London on October 13th.
Now our News Report turns to new music releases. Up first is the return of Twenty One Pilots. This week saw the duo unveil their latest single ‘Shy Away’.
In a big news week for their fans, it was also announced that a new album, ‘Scaled And Icy’ is due on May 21st. You can pre-order your copy here.
Finally, it was revealed that the band will play a special livestream event on the same day. Tickets are available here.
The iconic Gary Numan is gearing up for the release of his new album, ‘Intruder’, on May 21st. This week Numan debuted the latest single, ‘Saints and Liars’, which you can view above.
We finish our News Report with the news that Dave Grohl will be releasing a collection of memories of a life lived loud! ‘The Storyteller – Tales of Life and Music’ will arrive October 5th.
We roundup the best music news from the past week!
Every week we roundup the best music news from the past week in our News Report. To stay up to date with the biggest news be sure to follow us on our social channels:
Wolf Alice prepare to launch third album campaign?
Wolf Alice returning?
We have plenty of news to get through this week, and we start with a tease! Are Wolf Alice preparing to release their hotly anticipated third album? The band has this week teased social media with a number of posts. Fans are encouraged to sign-up for their mailing list here.
The date teased for more information on ‘The Last Man On Earth’ is this Wednesday (24th). Keep an eye on our social media, and be sure to check our next News Report for that information!
Myles Kennedy unveils second solo album ‘The Ides Of March’
Myles Kennedy – ‘In Stride’
We have all struggled with boredom during the various pandemic lockdowns. You can imagine Myles Kennedy would be particularly perturbed given his high work ethic. Kennedy is usually found fronting Alter Bridge or Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. During any downtime he also has a successful solo career to focus on!
It should be no surprise to anyone therefore that Kennedy this week announced the upcoming release of his second solo album! ‘The Ides Of March’ is set for release on May 14th, and has been preceded by the single ‘In Stride’.
Another famous band leader returning with new music is Linkin Park icon Mike Shinoda. ‘Happy Endings’ featuring the talents of both iann dior and UPSAHL is out now here.
Papa Roach unveil Danny Worsnop featuring ‘Broken As Me’
Papa Roach – ‘Broken As Me’
Next up, as we stick with iconic bands from the early noughties, we get to Papa Roach. The band are preparing for the March 19th release of their second greatest hits record. ‘Greatest Hits Vol. 2: The Better Noise Years’ focuses on tracks from between 2010 and 2020. You can pre-order your copy here.
With the release day creeping up, the band this week unveiled a new version of ‘Broken As Me’ featuring Asking Alexandria frontman Danny Worsnop. You can check the single out here.
Whilst we have the attention of fans of early noughties rock and metal… how about some Andrew W.K.! The enigmatic musician returned this week with a fantastic new single ‘Babalon’. Check out the track here.
Black Honey unveil video for ‘Disinfect’
Black Honey – ‘Disinfect’
This week has also seen new music arrive from some fantastic newer acts. One such act is the incredible Black Honey who continue to build anticipation for their second album ‘Written & Directed’. That album finally arrives on March 19th, pre-order your copy here.
We really hope that live music is able to safely return later this year. Giving us something to look forward to is Ghost Road Fest. The event will take place across two days in London and Leeds.
The London line-up this week saw the addition of the amazing The Pearl Harts. With the London line-up also featuring the incredible The Virginmarys, this is one not to miss. Pick up your tickets here.
MarthaGunn announce livestream event
MarthaGunn livestream poster
Until live music can return, we are making do with livestreams. Tonight (Sunday 21st) the brilliant MarthaGunn will be playing a full band livestream on their Instagram page here.
Rockers Massive Wagons are another band that have this week announced details of a special livestream event. Taking place on March 20th, the band have promised a new single, request songs and prizes. To pick up your ticket head over here.
