Music News

The Darkness' bassist Frankie Poullain thinks their new LP 'Last of Our Kind' is their "heaviest" and "best" record.
The 48-year-old rocker admitted the album has "surpassed" their other albums in his eyes because there is so much energy and emotion in the music.
He said: "The new album came out two weeks ago and apart from 'Permission To Land', it's surpassed that, It's our best record. It's a different thing it's very emotive. Sonically it is our heaviest album and probably most emotional. There is sadness in there and there is silliness as well."
The star was speaking at Download Festival where they surprised guests on Sunday (14.06.15) by performing on The Maverick Stage, with Frankie saying the tented venue was "bulging", much to their delight.
The set included classics such as 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love', 'Growing On Me' and new track 'Open Fire', with the band - also featuring Justin and Dan Hawkins and Rufus Tiger Taylor - wowing the crowds with their outfits and staging.
Speaking to Mike James of 'The Mike James Rock Show', he added: "Entering from the crowd, we've always wanted to do that. We had a Viking with shields waiting. Justin had a very 1970s-esque electric blue satin suit with very high-waisted trousers with flares as well."

Ronan Keating is working on a new "pop folk" solo album.
The 38-year-old singer has revealed he's currently writing his 10th studio album and has compared his new sound to artists such as Damien Rice and John Mayer.
Speaking about the record, he exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "(It sounds like) Glen Hansard and Damien Rice and Ray LaMontagne, John Mayer. It's got a more organic kind of pop folk feel, singer/songwriter-y feel to the songs."
The Boyzone star - who recently revealed he will marry his fiancee Storm Uechtritz later this summer - has been working on the forthcoming collection with singer/songwriter Greg Alexander, with whom he wrote his hit single 'Life is a Rollercoaster', but insisted fans shouldn't expect "that sort of stuff" to feature on the LP.
He said: "I just got back from New York where I was with Greg Alexander, who wrote 'Life is a Rollercoaster'. The songs don't have that feel, I know when I say Greg Alexander people will say, 'Oh! 'Rollercoaster'!' but there's nothing like that on the album. It won't have that sort of stuff."
Instead, the father-of-three - who is hosting the breakfast show on Magic FM all week - said the record will have a "pop folk feel", as he was inspired by the genre while appearing in the West End musical, 'Once', earlier this year.
He explained: "I mean, I was working on the show 'Once' over the winter and that very much influenced me as a guitar player and as a songwriter, so there's a much more kind of pop folk feel to these songs."
Ronan Keating has joined Magic Radio to present their 'Magic in the Morning Breakfast Show' from 15 - 19 June.

Boy George will join Mark Ronson on stage at Glastonbury.
The 'Culture Club' singer will perform his 2010 collaboration 'Somebody to Love Me' with the famous producer for the first time at the annual festival, with Mark admitting he is "really excited" for the show.
The 'Uptown Funk' hitmaker said: "I've put together this band so I'm really excited.
"And we've got Boy George so it's the first time we've been able to do 'Somebody to Love Me'."
The 39-year-old producer also revealed he begged for his set to be moved from the Saturday night to Friday so he clashes with Foo Fighters, because he believed no one would want to see him if he was on at the same time as Saturday's headliner, Kanye West.
He revealed: "We were originally meant to play on Saturday, but you just can't be on at the same time as Kanye, so I was like, 'Please move us!'"
Meanwhile, Mark - who wed model Joséphine de La Baume in 2011 - has also revealed he is working on a new album.
Speaking to Jo Whiley for Radio Times magazine: "I don't know if I'm supposed to say any of this, but yeah, why not? I guess I put so much into this album, it's really important to me to try not to short-change any part of it.
"I don't want anything sort of half-baked, because I've done that in the past and been really disappointed with myself."

Lindsay Lohan will feature on Duran Duran's new album.
The 'Mean Girls' actress, who released her debut record 'Speak' in 2004, has recorded with the band for their 14th LP, 'Paper Gods', alongside other artists including Kiesza, Janelle Monae and Mr Hudson.
Rumours the 28-year-old star would feature on the album emerged in December when she posted a photo of herself with the band online, and it's now been announced their collaboration will feature on the record, which will be released worldwide on September 11 2015.
The band - featuring Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and John and Roger Taylor - last released 'All You Need Is Now' in 2010, and the group said they set out to beat it with this LP by letting themselves be influenced by their favourite records.
Describing 'Paper Gods', keyboardist Nick said: "We found a whole new level of inspiration on this album."
Lead singer Simon added: "I judge what we release by my favourite albums - 'Horses', 'Harvest', 'Let It Bleed', 'Blue', 'Transformer', 'Aladdin Sane'. Those are classic albums. The only rule is it's got to be music you can live with for the rest of your life."
The forthcoming LP will also feature Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson and former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante who said it hails back to "early Duran".
He explained: "It really goes back to that strange early Duran mix: the hard-edged pop, coexisting with this dark, weird, experimental side."

Take That are to receive the key to The O2.
The trio, comprised of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen, are to be presented with the accolade after reaching 21 performances at the central London venue - a record first established by Prince in 2007.
The band said: "We've loved each and every performance at The O2 and this run of ten nights has been particularly special. We're delighted that so many people have had the chance to see us and this award is for each and every one of them. Thanks to everyone involved in making our performances what they are and of course to The O2 team for the key to the venue, it means a lot. "
The 'Relight My Fire' hitmakers - who released their seventh studio album 'III', their first since Jason Orange left the band, last year - completed eight sell-out shows at the iconic arena in 2008, and have since racked up a staggering 21 performances in total thanks to a New Year's Eve show, a Jingle Bell Ball performance, two appearances at the BRIT Awards, and their recent run of 10 shows, which will end with their 22nd gig on Friday (19.06.15).
The key, which was designed using the band's latest album artwork, will now be housed on the walk to the arena's stage.

A new Zayn Malik track has leaked online.
The 22-year-old singer - who quit One Direction three months ago - teamed up with rapper MIC Righteous for a cover of Rae Sremmurd's 'No Type' and within hours of the audio being made public, the song was embroiled in controversy when Zayn's friend and collaborator Naughty Boy claimed the track was unfinished and had been stolen.
He tweeted: "Just wait for the real one... you won't be disappointed.
"That had nothing to do with me or Zayn, something was stolen from the hard drive that had nothing to do with the rapper involved.(sic)"
However, Righteous hit back and insisted he hadn't "stolen" the track.
He replied: "Why r u like this.. 'The real one' ur just gona take my verse off and put krept and konans back on.
"Tell the truth shah. We recorded them bars in ur studio months ago. .. Bout 'stolen hard drive'.(sic)
"LOL NB just denied me like peter denied jesus, an to think we been mates for yrs. guess thats what not being in control of ur own music does (sic)"
The song was taken down but Righteous later reuploaded it, insisting he doesn't have to "keep the label happy" and was making the song public for Zayn's sake as he isn't allowed to release music for two years.
He explained: "F--k stepping on egg shells cos i wanna keep the label happy.. I ain't signed i can do me...Zayn wants the tune out, he ask me to be on the song, shah [naughtyboy] told me that his label wont let him release any music for the next two yrs.. So you know what i did? I did it for him, for you. And at the end of the day they cant say no to me, i work for the people not the industry.(sic)"
Shortly after Zayn quit One Direction, Naughty Boy released a solo demo from the singer called 'I Won't Mind', but it was taken down soon afterwards following a backlash.

Oritsé Williams' solo career is a chance to "get a lot off [his] chest".
The 28-year-old singer - who is releasing a new single under the moniker OWS - has insisted his new sound will be very different to that of his former boyband JLS, who broke up in 2013, as he is now able to be himself while the 'You Make Me Wanna' hitmakers were more about "manufacturing music for a specific demographic".
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, he said: "This time around, obviously with me doing my solo stuff, I'm just getting a lot off my chest. It's music that I love. Not really manufacturing music for a specific demographic or audience. I'm just making music that I love and I get to write about what I want and get a lot of it off my chest in my music. I'm able to be creative with different things for example like getting to write my first video. I've never done that before during my time with JLS so I'm getting to be creative on all levels that I want to be creative on."
The 'Waterline' singer - who nearly always wore a hat when performing with JLS - went on to talk about how the video for his new single 'Waterline' represents his departure from the boyband.
He explained: "There's a lot of deep things in short residual snippets [in the video]. You know it goes through talking about things like childbirth to stereotypes and religion, race, sexuality to the start of one era and the end of another. My hat falling into the sea is the end of one era and that's my time with the group and stepping forward into the sea is me pushing forward as OWS."
'Waterline' featuring Pusha T is available to purchase now: http://smarturl.it/Waterline-EP

Motley Crüe promised it was not "goodbye" as they took to the stage at Download Festival.
The legendary rock band played their last ever slot at the festival in front of a crowd full of festival-goers who had battled through the mud to take their places near the main stage.
Addressing the excited crowd, frontman Vince Neil said: "We've been together almost 35 years. 1981, we were four f***ing teenagers walking the streets of Hollywood, California saying, 'Let's make some f***ing music man.'
"So we did and that's why we are here. And I'll tell you, it's not saying goodbye. Tonight is a celebration of Motley Crüe music."
And celebrate they did with a 14 song setlist and a unique performance, which included dancing girls, drummer Tommy Lee playing in a fire pit in the shape of a pentagon and Nikki Sixx's flame throwing guitar.
The 'All Bad Things Must End' rockers also paid tribute to the Sex Pistols and Gary Glitter and even opened their set with the soundtrack from 'The Sound Of Music'.
The group ended their fantastic performance with a rather emotional rendition of 'Home Sweet Home', with Tommy Lee retiring to the piano.
Sounding close to tears, Vince added, for the last time: "Good night Download and God bless."
Other rock legends performing at the festival included Billy Idol, Myles Kennedy & Slash as well as, more controversially, Muse.
When the 'Drones' hitmakers were announced as headliners for the heavy metal festival alongside Kiss and Slipknot, fans rushed to complained they didn't quite fit the bill.
However, they pulled out all the stops as if they had something to prove, with pyrotechnics, fireworks and even throwing out bouncy balls into the crowd.
They played their heaviest set to date, treating fans to both old and new tracks including some from their latest LP 'Drones' and classics such as 'Time Is Running Out' and 'Plug In Baby'.

Corey Taylor is "happy" Slipknot are on the same page and all talking again.
The frontman of the heavy metal band - who last played Donington Park in 2013 - was really emotional as he took to the main stage at the Download Festival on Friday night (12.06.15).
Speaking to Download.co.uk, Corey said: "Download is like home for me and it has been for the past 10 years now. Coming back you have to look at what you've done before and go we are not going to even out. Let's see how far we can go and reach the peaks in the valleys.
"It feels like this band is on the same level as each other for the first time again. We're all on the same page again, we are all talking again."
In the two years since they last performed at the festival, drummer and co-founder Joey Jordison was fired from the group because they "just weren't able to work anymore" and five years ago, the band had suffered a massive loss when bassist Paul Gray passed away.
Their set included some of their classics - 'Before I Forget', 'Duality' and 'Wait and Bleed' - and behind his mask, Corey appeared overwhelmed to be sharing the stage with his band members - who include bass player Alessandro Venturella and drummer Jay Weinburg - once again.
He added: "We're are honoured, we're happy and ecstatic to be a part of the history of Download."