Music News

Van Morrison finds listening to music to be "a spiritual experience".
The 69-year-old icon's passion for music came from listening to jazz and blues records shipped over from America when he was a youngster, and said he "absorbed" the tunes because of the strong "energy" they emitted.
He said: "It was some sort of a spiritual experience. I just absorbed it. I reacted later, but I was absorbing it when I was first hearing it ... there was some sort of energy."
During his musical awakening, the 'Brown Eyed Girl' singer said he was influenced by Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly and gospel music, which was introduced to him by his father and ultimately shaped his career.
He explained to The Guardian newspaper: "He had Lead Belly records when I was very young ... He had been in the States before that, and he turned me on to the music with his record collection.
"He used to take me to this record shop every Saturday when I was a kid. Atlantic Records, on the High Street in Belfast. Solly Lipsitz was the guy who ran it. His sister lived in New York and he was importing records from there.
"To me this was normal, being around people who were listening to jazz and blues. I didn't know until later on that that was fairly unique. Apparently. There wasn't any name for these type of people."

Leona Lewis' new album was born out of "a place of frustration".
The 'Fire Under My Feet' singer will release her fifth studio album in September and revealed fans can expect to hear her being "very real" on the collection, which she has openly said was inspired by her previous recording contract with Simon Cowell's label, Syco.
She said: "I think the song with the most revealing lyrics on the album is 'Thunder'. The story behind 'Thunder' definitely has references to my experience with Syco and Simon, and the whole situation I was involved in before. Every lyric is so honest. It's literally very raw, very real. Some of the lyrics did come from a place of frustration because I didn't really know what I was doing for such a long time."
The 30-year-old musician continued to say she is thrilled with the as-yet untitled LP because it has allowed her to express who she is.
She told Digital Spy: "The album is all about empowerment, self-empowerment, building yourself up and not letting people say what you can and can't do.
"With this album I feel like I have total, total ownership.
"I fought very hard for my previous songs on my other albums, and fought very hard for that music, and I'm so proud of it. And this time it's been literally me on my own. I feel like people really get a very real version of me."

Oritsé Williams was "emotional" when JLS broke up.
As a founding member of the 'Beat Again' boyband, the 28-year-old singer found it "difficult" to move on when he, Marvin Humes, Aston Merrygold and JB Gill parted ways in 2013, and famously burst into tears when he spoke about it on 'Alan Carr: Chatty Man'.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, he said: "I was emotional, that's all I can really say. You know, being the founding member, being the person who put the group together, it's always going to be more difficult for you than it is because it's your baby ultimately.
"However it's just like going from school to college, from college to university it becomes a time in your life when you have to move on to that next step and we felt like it was that time so now I'm in that next place."
The 'You Make Me Wanna' hitmaker went on to reveal he and his former JLS bandmates still keep in touch and meet up with each other, and have even introduced their children to each other.
He continued: "I talked to Marvin yesterday on the phone and we were at Marvin's the other day and all the boys were there with all of our kids. You know, it's great, and we have a great time and it's really amazing seeing everyone evolve in what they're doing. It's brilliant."
Oritsé's new single 'Waterline' featuring Pusha T is available to preorder here: http://smarturl.it/Waterline-EP

Muse frontman Matt Bellamy says their new album 'Drones' feels "fresh".
The 36-year-old singer has revealed the band - also made up of drummer Dominic Howard and bass player Chris Wolstenholme - shunned digitally altering the tracks with effects and have "gone back to where [they] started" by opting for a more natural "live" sound.
He said: "We wanted to be that straight three-piece rock band we started off as.
"Producing the last two albums, we spent most of the time in the control room, fiddling around with effects and computers.
"Now we've gone back to where we started, which sounds fresh and from a live point of view, these songs work well because it's just us three jamming them out."
The 'Feeling Good' hitmaker also opened up about working with esteemed producer Robert "Mutt" Lange and confessed the Grammy-winner pushed the band harder than ever before.
He also credits Mutt, 66, with "reinvigorating [their] playing abilities."
Matt - who worked on the album with his bandmates at Mutt's Warehouse Studios in Canada - told The Sun newspaper: "His obsession to detail is phenomenal. It's been a long time since we've worked that hard.
"In fact, I don't think we've ever worked that hard on an album in terms of just playing the songs over and over and him focusing on strange details that we would never think about.
"So many producers nowadays work with technology so that they fix things and they don't push performers that hard.
"But Mutt wanted it all to be very raw and real, so for that reason we had to do lots of takes to get it right. This album has totally reinvigorated our playing abilities."
Muse's seventh studio album 'Drones' will be released this week.

Mariah Carey wants to collaborate with herself.
The 'Touch My Body' hitmaker has recorded with artists including Gucci Mane, Busta Rhymes and Jay Z during her career, but said she has no plans to do any more tracks with other acts because there's "no point" anymore.
When asked about who she would like to sing with, she said: "I want to collaborate with me 'cause I've done so many collaborations that after a certain point unless you're really working with a certain calibre of an artist, there's no point. It just becomes, 'Oh, let's throw these two people together,' and that's what I feel is wrong with some of the collaborations that happen today and, dare I say, I helped paved the way for some of these little collaborations that happened today."
The 45-year-old musician recently released her new single 'Infinity' to celebrate her Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace, and revealed she is loving performing the track because her fans already know all of the words.
She told Buzzfeed: "I love performing 'Infinity' in Vegas because to see the people singing along to such a brand-new song -- I just wrote and recorded it three months ago -- it's one of my favourite things. I love performing all the songs, but to sing 'Infinity' after the 18 number ones is pretty cool."

Madonna has revealed Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus will feature in her new music video.
The 56-year-old icon has promised a star-studded clip for her upcoming single 'B***h I'm Madonna', which will feature the "surprise guests", as well as Nicki Minaj, who raps on the track, Rita Ora, and Diplo.
Tagging the stars in an Instagram image, she wrote: "#b***himmadonna video coming soooooooon !! with many surprise guests! Stay tuned.........#rebelhearts (sic)."
The exciting announcement comes just three weeks after it was reported Rita had been shooting scenes in New York with the musician, who released her 13th studio album 'Rebel Heart' in March.
A source said at the time: "It's an incredible coup for Rita to do a vid with Madonna and shows how big she is becoming in the States. They met at showbiz events but had a real connection so Madonna asked her to do it. Rita changed her schedule to be able to do it in an instant."
Other people tagged in the snap include costume designer Arianne Phillips, hair stylist Andy Lecompte and fashion designer Jeremy Scott.
The clip will be the second celebrity-packed music video released this year, after Taylor Swift premiered her 'Bad Blood' short-film featuring Ellie Goulding, Selena Gomez, Cara Delevingne, Lena Dunham, Kendrick Lamar and several other famous faces.

Noel Gallagher claims Oasis will reform if Sir Paul McCartney writes them a single.
The 47-year-old musician has repeatedly rejected claims the Britpop band will reunite, having split up in 2009, but joked he would get back with his former bandmates if the Beatles star penned them a comeback track.
After being told about comments made by the 'Let It Be' singer, who urged for the band to reform, Noel told Yahoo Music: "I did read that, yeah ... tell him if he writes our comeback single, it's on.
"Tell him to write an Oasis track and then we'll talk. I'll just put that out there."
Speaking about the band in a Q&A last month, Sir Paul said: "I don't know if they will ever make up.
"It would be good because I think everyone likes brothers to like each other - and make up. It's a pity because they are very good together. Like many brothers, they are crazy. But it would be nice if they got together."
However, former Oasis manager Alan McGee recently confessed he can't imagine Noel and his brother Liam making up and bringing back the band because they are both so happy with their lives as they are.
He said: "Liam and Noel are the happiest I've seen them in years so for that reason I can't see a reunion happening."

Kelis will cook for fans at London's OnBlackheath Festival.
The 35-year-old singer - whose sixth studio album 'Food' was released last year - is also a certified chef and has been booked to serve up treats to hungry music lovers at the event.
She said: "I love London and can't wait to cook and play at OnBlackheath Festival! I hope everyone comes out for a good time."
The 'Milkshake' hitmaker, who trained as a chef at Le Cordon Bleu cookery school, previously cited British food gurus Nigella Lawson and Gordon Ramsey as her inspirations.
She said: "I like to think of myself as more of a Nigella, she's dope, but I'm probably more of a Gordon. Food allows me to be right, and I love that."
Other acts to perform but not cook at the festival, which takes place on 12 - 13 September, include Elbow, Madness, Manic Street Preachers and Laura Mvula who will all get the opportunity to taste Kelis' culinary delights.
Blackheath Common SE3 will be sprinkled with Chefs from the likes of Hemsley & Hemsley, DJ BBQ, Calagary Anvansion, the Fabulous Baker Brothers and YouTube sensation 'Food Busker' John Quilter.
Tickets for OnBlackheath Festival are available here: www.onblackheath.com

Ellie Goulding has been inspired by Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' video.
The 'Love Me Like You Do' hitmaker played bazooka-wielding fighter Destructa X in the 25-year-old singer's record breaking music video, and said taking part in the action-packed clip has made her want to be "more kicka**" in her own videos.
She said: "It was a fun video to film - that bazooka was pretty heavy.
"It's funny as well because I'm so not like that character. But watch this space, I might be a bit more kicka** in my videos. It's given me a bit of inspiration. I like that whole 'Don't mess with me' vibe."
Last November, the 28-year-old star revealed she is currently working on her third studio album following the success of 'Lights' and 'Halcyon', but hasn't had a problem taking time out of her writing and recording process to make pals with 'Blank Space' singer Taylor, who she is "good friends" with after meeting on a UK talk show.
She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "We met on the Jonathan Ross chat show. We're good friends and we have a similar sense of humour."