Music News

Britney Spears' new video will be "high-energy".
The 33-year-old singer premiered her new single with Iggy Azalea 'Pretty Girls' online over the weekend, and the star has now teased fans can expect "a lot of dancing" in the song's video, which was shot in Los Angeles last month.
She explained: "This has been the first video I've done in a while where, you know, I came up with the concept and there's a lot of dancing. I got new choreographers to come in and kind of do hip-hop dancing, which I haven't done in a really long time, so the feel of the video is really different and high-energy. My dancers were there, my dancers from my show. There's a club scene, there's a car-wash scene, a couple of different other scenes. We had a lot of fun."
Britney continued to say the track - which the pair will perform at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards later this month prior to its release on 14 June - came to fruition because she was desperate to make a "girl anthem".
She told Z100 radio station: "I saw her video and I was just a huge fan. I was thinking about my next single for my next album and what I was gonna do, and I wanted to do a girl anthem. Something that was very girl empowering and that was kinda funny. I thought a whole take on valley girls and just kind of making fun of that would be fun for us to do. She was really down with it."
And adding to the excitement about her new music, the 'Womanizer' hitmaker revealed she has added 22 dates to her 'Piece Of Me' residency at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, which is now set to end on New Year's Eve (31.12.15).
She wrote on Twitter: "How about new #PieceOfMe dates to go with my new song? Tix go on sale 5/9 at 10am PT! (sic)"

Liam Gallagher is a Blur fan.
Despite a well documented feud between Liam and the 'Song #2' hitmakers, the former Oasis star has hailed 'Lonesome Street' his song of the year.
The Mancunian, 42, took to Twitter to share his admiration for the Londoners' chart-topping track from their LP, 'The Magic Whip'.
He wrote: "Lonesome St by BLUR song of the year LG x (sic)."
The Britpop bands had a bitter rivalry throughout the '90s, and Liam continued the feud in 2012 when he branded the members Damon Albarn, Dave Rowntree, Graham Coxon and Alex James, "pansies".
The 42-year-old told NME back in 2012: "At the time I hated Blur, I thought they were just pansies from London and we were a totally different thing. You might have done certain things, but no-one told me whether I liked someone or not."
And it's not the first rivalry Liam has ended in recent years, as he is believed to have recently made amends with his brother, Noel, sparking rumours of a potential Oasis reunion.
The first sign the brothers had come to an agreement was when Liam tweeted a selfie backstage at his brother's High Flying Birds gig.
The post from March read: "Keeping it in the family...LG x (sic)."

Bjork has described her younger years as a "headf**k".
The 'Army of Me' singer has revealed she feels strange when she listens back to her early albums such as, 'Debut', because it makes her realise she was in a bad state of mind.
She confessed: "Looking back to 'Debut' now, it feels it was like drinking water, but thankfully I've got diaries - and it was a headf**k."
However, the 49-year-old musician insisted she has a "good relationship" with her nine-album back catalogue, even though she appreciates some of the songs could have been improved.
She explained: "I have a good relationship with my old songs. Obviously I can't say that they couldn't have been better. But I did my best at the time, and you can't do any more than that. I also feel that each was very much a child of its time. I have an obligation to be the person of the age I am. At 45, I'm going to do a very different album than when I'm 25."
Although the singer admitted the she was in a bad head-space when she created her early albums, she said each record she makes continues to feel like a "murder mystery" as she attempts to figure out who she is.
She told London's Time Out magazine: "Every single time it's going to be as difficult to solve the murder mystery - like, "Who am I?" There are more hindrances because I'm a woman. Being the sort of topsy-turvy prankster I am, that makes me even more excited about the impossible riddle of that. Not many women singers have documented themselves after 60. How can you do that without pretending you're 25?"

Sam Smith has flown to the US for treatment on his vocal cords.
The 'Stay With Me' hitmaker - who was forced to cancel a string of Australian concerts due to a haemorrhage last week - has jetted back to America where he will see a specialist to aid his recovery after announcing he would miss more gigs in Japan and the Philippines.
He captioned a photograph of himself in a causal striped jumper, jeans and trainers looking out across a bay: "Very upset about Japan and Manilla dates. I've just left Australia and I'm on my way to the states to see a specialist to see what to do from there... This is f***ing horrid."
The Grammy Award-winner recently claimed he hadn't "spoken a word in three days" in a bid to get his voice back.
Writing on his Instagram account, he said: "Just to let all my beautiful fans know, I'm ok. I am insanely relaxed and am somewhere in the middle of Australia with no phone, no laptop and I haven't spoken a word in three days."
After announcing his illness last week, Sam also said he was "deeply, deeply saddened" at having to cancel the remainder of his tour Down Under.
He said: "I have been vocally exhausted for a while now however last night in Sydney I had a small haemorrhage on my vocal chords.
"The doctors have told me I need to fully rest until my vocal chords have healed, otherwise this could become a huge long-term issue. I am so sorry to all who have bought tickets, I truly am."

Florence Welch claims a stolen cagoule "saved" her life.
The 'Say My Name' singer confessed she had an emotional breakdown following a year-long break away from the music industry, during which she was left heartbroken by the demise of a relationship, but believes a lightweight coat enabled her to bounce back.
Speaking about her recovery, she said she lived "like a monk" and wore the same outfit everyday, which was, "Leggings and this cagoule, which I stole from someone at a New Year's Eve house party. I wore it for a year. It saved my life."
However, the 28-year-old star - who is known for her quirky, vintage style - explained the life-changing effect of the garment, saying it enabled her to become anonymous when cycling between her house and her recording studio, as the outfit was uncharacteristic.
She told the Sunday Times newspaper: "Clothes to me are a way of distracting myself and I had nothing left, I wanted to be identity-less.
"I can always tell I'm getting better because I start coming back to myself."
However, now she has returned to release her third album, 'How Big How Blue How Beautiful', she has ditched the waterproof jacket and is re-assessing her appearance once again.
She said: "As I got more famous, a reaction to that was the eyebrows went bleached, the hair got redder. I wanted to become this fantasy creature. It was good because it kind of protected me. But I've spent a year or two unravelling all that stuff."

Kurt Cobain's demos are set to be released as a new album.
The Nirvana rocker commit suicide at the age of 27 in 1994, but tracks recorded before he died will now be collected to form a new LP, according to the director of the upcoming documentary 'Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck'.
Brett Morgen announced: "We're going to be putting out an amazing album this summer."
Brett continued to say the record - which will be made up of a selection of home recordings - will make you "feel like you're kind of hanging out with Kurt Cobain on a hot summer day in Olympia, Washington as he fiddles about".
The collection emerged when the filmmaker was allowed unrestricted access to videos and cassettes for his documentary and claims to have discovered more than 200 hours worth of unheard music which has contributed to the album.
Among the recordings, Brett explained there are duets with his wife Courtney Love, covers of The Beatles, and even "a lot of silly spoken word stuff and not-silly spoken word stuff," including the tale of how he lost his virginity.
He told Bedford + Bowery: "It's going to really surprise people. Just to be clear, it's not a Nirvana album, it's just Kurt and you're going to hear him do things you never expected to come out of him."

Mick Hucknall has admitted the next Simply Red album "may be the last".
The band will release their 11th studio album 'Big Love' next month to celebrate three decades since their first record, but the band's frontman has admitted it could be the final music anyone hears from the band because he wants to enjoy being "happy" with his family.
He confessed: "I do have the feeling I've reached a sort of end point. I'm very happy in my life, my focus is my family and actually enjoying what I have. I never thought I'd get to this place. I never thought I'd actually ever get to be happy."
The 54-year-old musician believes the latest LP with the group is a "very personal collection of songs," which has been inspired by his marriage to long-term girlfriend Gabriella Wesberry in 2010, their daughter Romy, and his late father, who brought him up single-handedly but passed away six years ago.
He explained: "The idea started out to mark the 30th anniversary of Simply Red but it turned into this very personal collection of songs."
And due to the emotional nature of the tracks, the 'Holding Back the Years' hitmaker confessed is unsure whether he will ever be able to perform them live without breaking down in tears.
Speaking about one specific song 'Dad', he told The Mail on Sunday newspaper: "I don't know how I'm ever going to sing this song live.
"I don't think I could get through it without crying."

The army had to be called when Conor Maynard was mobbed by fans in France.
The 'Turn Around' hitmaker's arrival was greeted by so many female fans, station staff thought they were there as part of a protest and his security team had to call for back up.
He said: "The first time I got properly mobbed, I was in France. There were more than 1,000 girls waiting for me at the station, but we hadn't warned the staff and they thought it was protest. The crowd just went crazy and the army had to be called."
However, the 22-year-old singer still thought it was "amazing" when he found himself surrounded by fans for the first time.
He explained: "It was a gradual thing. The first time I saw a big crowd was when I did the radio tour for the first single. They had to put barriers up outside, which was amazing."
Despite his dedicated fan base, Conor insists he can still pop out for a pint of milk without getting too much hassle.
He told Top of the Pops magazine: "I'm normally alright if I go to the local Sainsbury's, but it rarely happens that I don't get spotted. It's not so easy going to get a pink of milk when girls are chasing you!"

Kanye West has changed the name of his album.
The 'Bound 2' hitmaker previously announced his upcoming LP would be titled 'So Help Me God' but has since decided to change it to 'Swish'.
Writing on Twitter this evening (03.05.15), he said: "I'm changing my album name to SWISH (sic)"
But fans shouldn't get too comfortable with 'SWISH' as the 37-year-old rapper hasn't definitely decided on the name.
He added: "I might change it again but that's the name now (sic)"
Meanwhile, when announcing the previous title of the album, he refused to reveal a release date as he wanted it to be a "surprise" for his fans.
He said: "Release dates are played out. So, the surprise is going to be a surprise. There goes the surprise!"
Kanye also claimed the new LP will provide a "service to the people".
He said: "My last album was a protest of music.
"But this album is just embracing the music, embracing joy and just being a service to the people."
Kanye has already previewed a number of new tracks including 'Only One' and 'All Day', both of which feature Paul McCartney.