Music News

The Strokes will perform at Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park. The indie band will headline the opening night (18.06.15) of the series of London shows, which will be their first London show in five years, and their only UK festival ap...

Kanye West has named his new album 'So Help Me God'.
The 37-year-old rapper revealed the title of the follow-up to his 2013 'Yeezus' LP on Twitter alongside an image of four lowercase 'm's, connected in a diamond shape, which is a 13th century Monastic symbol of the Virgin Mary, though it is unclear whether this will be the record's artwork.
The album doesn't have an official release date as Kanye recently declared he intends to bring it out as a surprise for 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 record will be 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."
The 'Bound 2' hitmaker - who has 20-month-old daughter North with wife Kim Kardashian West - has previously spoken of how he thinks Christianity is "awesome" because he can "portray God" however he chooses.
He said: "You know, what's awesome about Christianity is that we're allowed to portray God.
"We're allowed to, you know, draw an image of Him, we're allowed to make movies about Him...So that's just what's really awesome about Christianity. That's one of the awesome things."
As well as his new and last album titles, Kanye has previously used religious references on songs 'I Am a God', 'Jesus Walks' and teamed up with Jay Z and Frank Ocean on 'No Church in the Wild'.

Graham Coxon doesn't think wealth has dimmed Blur's appeal.
The 45-year-old musician has returned to the iconic Britpop group to help record their new album 'The Magic Whip' and he insists that despite their fame and fortune, the group has not been creatively corrupted.
He said: "We have never had much interest in singing about lifestyle or aspirations.
"I have no trouble keeping grounded. I know my own bad habits on the guitar."
Coxon also agreed with Noel Gallagher's recent comments regarding modern-day songwriting, which has been characterised as self-pitying and lacking in substance.
He said: "I am kind of with Noel on that. I don't mind a bit of sentimentality, but a lot of it is so commercial now. There needs to be room for beautiful mistakes, that is how the best music gets made."
However, the guitarist conceded that all too often, musical comebacks are uninspired.
Coxon told The Observer newspaper: "Lots of groups come back and it doesn't really set the world alight. Even diehard fans are slightly unenthused. Yet it is a weird idea that simply because you are past a certain age you stop.
"This isn't the 1950s, the era of the teenager, any more. I always think of the old blues men carrying on making music and having children until they are 80. Pop music doesn't have to be a fleeting, age-related thing either."

Taylor Swift learned guitar to get noticed.
The 25-year-old singer took music lessons with Ronnie Cramer in 2002 and he believed she only took up the instrument to set her apart from other aspiring singers.
Ronnie said: "Taylor was a great kid, you could tell she had a talent.
"My brother was her vocal coach from when she was nine years old and before that she was always performing...
"They got me on board because they realised no-one would notice this kid.
"Back then, no young girl played a 12-string guitar and sung - she would be the first."
Ronnie, 48, remembers the 'Shake It Off' hitmaker as a dedicated student who, spurred on by her mother Andrea, was determined to succeed in the music industry.
He said: "Her mum was the boss and she was pushy.
"Taylor was marketed to be the perfectly packaged star - and she was keen.
"She would play all the time - I'd turn up and she'd have the guitar in her hand showing me songs she'd written.
"Her mum was strict with her, but it worked."
Andrea even kept an eye on her daughter's diet after advising her not to be a "fat pop star".
Ronnie recalled: "Andrea came back from Taco Bell and as soon as she came in the kids went running over.
"Taylor was tempted by the Taco Bell but ate a salad instead. I remember her mum once saying, 'Tay, nobody wants to see a fat pop star.' "
For her 20th birthday, Taylor's dad asked Ronnie to send the guitar she learned to play on and the 'Blank Space' star later declared it her "best gift ever".
Ronnie told heat magazine: "For her 20th birthday, her dad Scott asked me to send him the guitar I had taught Taylor on.
"She called me to thank me for sending it. She said, 'It was the best gift I've ever got.' It was so nice of her to call me."

Brandon Flowers doesn't want to "embarrass himself" with his new album.
The Killers frontman has been working on his second solo LP and felt it was important to have a more grown-up sound that reflected his life.
He said: "I'm 33 years old and I have three sons, I've got to try to commit to myself and no embarrass myself.
"A lot of these songs could be about a man and his wife. I'm coming up on 10 years of marriage, and it's not a cakewalk."
Brandon has been listening to solo albums of other frontmen and women and thinks he is too much of a "pop tart" to create a record like The Strokes' Julian Casablancas did with The Voidz.
He said: "I don't know if I have that in me. It's like David Bowie doing 'Tin Machine' or something like that. I just can't. I'm too much of a pop tart."
The singer's first solo effort, 'Flamingo', was criticised for sounding a lot like a Killers record, so this time round he has worked with producer Ariel Rechtshaid and given him "some freedom" to play with his sound.
He told NME magazine: "I'm so much a part of that Killers sound, so for me to move away from it, I had to give Ariel some freedom, a little bit more slack on the rope.
"A lot of times it worked, and when it didn't, I was able to have a strong enough hold on things to pull the rope and get it where I need to get it."

Chris Martin has been writing "love songs" for Gwyneth Paltrow.
The Coldplay frontman separated from his wife of nine years last March but insiders say he has been working hard to win her back and he even spent Valentine's Day (14.02.15) with the 'Iron Man 3' actress, not his current on/off girlfriend Jennifer Lawrence.
A source said: "Chris never wanted to separate. He's always wanted a reunion and has been jumping through hoops to make it happen in the last year, including doing 'homework' by reading stacks of self-help books suggested by Gwyneth to 'actualise' himself.
"He's written her love songs and has put his relationship with Jen on hold more than once.
And it seems Gwyneth - who has children Apple, 10, and Moses, eight, with Chris - is softening towards the idea of getting back together.
The source added: "Gwyneth has always made it clear there's a hope that they could get back together. They even decided to postpone the official divorce indefinitely, but it's only in the last few weeks she's seemed keen to be a couple again.
"It was at her suggestion they spent Valentine's Day together. Neither of them gave much weight to the occasion itself but she obviously felt it would be a nice gesture for the kids and it looks like she's testing the waters for a full-blown reunion. They seem closer than ever right now."
Despite hoping for a reunion with Gwyneth, the 'Fix You' hitmaker is still dating Jennifer, but insiders insist their romance isn't serious.
The source told Grazia magazine: "Chris has made it clear to Jen that Gwyneth and his family are his priority and they're keeping things casual while it works itself out.
"Now Chris is expected to celebrate his birthday on March 2 with Gwyneth too."

Damon Albarn found writing 'The Magic Whip' "a really great process".
The Blur frontman and guitarist Graham Coxon took a different approach to crafting the songs for their new record - their first LP in 12 years - and though they are happy with the result, the 'Parklife' singer isn't sure they could do it again.
Graham said: "It's always been my job to glean what i can from what Damon is saying and put it through a guitar."
Damon added: "And then once that happens I've got to go back and finish it. If he's interpreted a word or a sound, it kind of helps finish the words. Basically it's been a really great process this time round. I've never made a record in this way.
"On this occasion it's worked really well for us. Whether we could repeat it again? Who knows? Probably not."
The group will perform at London's Hyde Park for their fourth time this summer and though they want to play as much of their new album as possible during the gig, fan favourites won't be forgotten.
Damon told NME magazine: "We've got quite a few new songs that we wouldn't want to not play in a big field like that. There'll be an element of editing the new material to work in context with the old material."

Damon Albarn only went to the BRIT Awards so his daughter could meet Taylor Swift.
The 46-year-old musician was nominated in the British Male Solo Artist category at the ceremony on Wednesday (25.02.15), but admitted he had no interest in attending the event himself and only came to please his 15-year-old daughter, Missy, who is a huge fan of the 'Shake It Off' singer.
When asked if he was excited for the evening, he said: "Not really, no. I'm here because my teenage daughter and her friend want to meet Taylor Swift."
The 25-year-old superstar performed her hit 'Blank Space' at the event and took home the trophy for Best International Female, but Damon, who released his debut solo album 'Everyday Robots' last year, was pessimistic about his own chances because his competitors Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Paolo Nutini and George Ezra are all so much younger than himself.
Speaking to Imperial College TV shortly before the beginning of the ceremony, he said: "I'm nominated but I'm in a category where everyone is 25 years younger than me so I don't stand a chance now."

Lawson, Kate Tempest and Shamir have been added to The Great Escape festival line-up. The 'Standing in the Dark' hitmakers are just one of 100 acts announced to play at the three-day metropolitan festival in Brighton in May, as well as the Mercury Pri...