Music News

Leona Lewis' new album is extremely emotional.
The 30-year-old singer has gone through upheaval in her personal and professional life - including changing record companies - since shooting to fame after winning 'The X Factor' in 2006 and says her new album 'I Am' reflects this.
Speaking on chat show 'Lorraine', she said: "The new album is from the heart and I put all my emotions out there and I've written a lot about what's been going on in the past two years with me, so it's a very empowering tone in the whole record.
"I've experienced a lot and gone through a lot and I've been able to write with some of the most top, amazing singers.
"The past 10 years have gone by in a flash. Also because so many things have happened, I feel like I've experienced so much in that time."
Leona also revealed that she enjoyed having the freedom to write what she wanted when she was in between record labels, after leaving Simon Cowell's label, Syco and signing with Island Records.
She explained: "I'm really happy, I wrote most of the album with one person and then a few other amazing writers contributed as well so really when I started making the album I went out on my own and because I had stepped away from my label and was kind of in between, thinking what I should do and where I should go next and I started writing and this album just quickly came together."

Grace Jones has slammed pop stars including Miley Cyrus, Beyonce Knowles and Nicki Minaj for imitating her.
The 67-year-old singer blasted a number of today's stars calling them "middle of the road" performers on the "way to nowhere".
In an excerpt from her new autobiography 'I'll Never Write My Memoirs', released via Time Out, she said: "They dress up as though they are challenging the status quo, but by now, wearing those clothes, pulling those faces, revealing those tattoos and breasts, singing to those fractured, spastic, melting beats - that is the status quo.
"You are not off the beaten track, pushing through the thorny undergrowth, finding treasure no one has come across before. You are in the middle of the road. You are really in Vegas wearing the sparkly full-length gown singing to people who are paying to see you but are not really paying attention. If that is what you want, fine, but it's a road to nowhere."
Calling out the stars for trying to be like her, she said: "Trends come along and people say, 'Follow that trend'. There's a lot of that around at the moment: 'Be like Sasha Fierce (Beyonce). Be like Miley Cyrus. Be like Rihanna. Be like Lady Gaga. Be like Rita Ora and Sia. Be like Madonna.' I cannot be like them - except to the extent that they are already being like me.
"I have been so copied by those people who have made fortunes that people assume I am that rich. But I did things for the excitement, the dare, the fact that it was new, not for the money, and too many times I was the first, not the beneficiary."
"The problem with... the Nicki Minajs and Mileys is that they reach their goal very quickly. There is no long-term vision, and they forget that once you get into that whirlpool then you have to fight the system that solidifies around you in order to keep being the outsider you claim you represent."

Take That closed the 'Wear the Rose Live' event with a greatest hits set at The O2 in London on Thursday night (09.09.15).
The three-piece band thrilled the 20,000 strong crowd of rugby and music fans - which included the likes of McFly's Harry Judd, Richard Hammond, Jodie Kidd and Vanessa White from The Saturdays - with a career-spanning performance put on in support of England's rugby team as they enter the World Cup later this month.
Mark Owen belted out fan favourite 'Shine' as the band's opener, backed by bandmates Gary Barlow and Howard Donald and accompanied by a 48-piece orchestra.
Next Gary lent his vocals to 'Patience', followed by 'These Days' and a few back catalogue hits like 'Rule The World' and 'Back for Good'.
Rugby's favourite songstress, soprano Laura Wright, sang a moving rendition of the hymn 'Jerusalem', prior to the boy band's show closing set and Ella Eyre buoyed the arena with two separate appearances on stage.
She sang 'Together' and later the official England Rugby anthem, 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'.
Compere Vernon Kay introduced the England squad and coaches throughout the evening and urged the crowd to "make them giants" and tweet their support with the hashtag #WearTheRose.
Vernon said: "Rugby has become the epitome of what sports stands for. Supporting the England Rugby Team is what #WearTheRose is all about, it could mean putting a flag in your window of your front room, putting a flag on top of your chimney staff. Or changing your Facebook page. No matter who you are, what you're trying to achieve. Having someone in your corner, showing their support towards you makes a massive, massive difference."
England kick off against Fiji at Twickenham in the Rugby World Cup on September 19.

Sam Smith is featured on this year's 'FIFA 16' soundtrack.
The British solo star's collaboration with Disclosure 'Omen' is among the tracks chosen for the annual football game's latest incarnation.
Sam - who this week was announced to have recorded the theme song for upcoming James Bond film 'SPECTRE', entitled 'Writing's on the Wall' - is joined on the game by host of the world's top artists including Years & Years, Icona Pop, Kygo, Beck, Bastille and John Newman as well as musicians from around the world.
And from today (10.09.15) fans of the EA Sports title can enjoy a sampling of the game's hot new soundtrack through the official FIFA Spotify profile.
Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Marketing at EA, said: "'FIFA' has traditionally been gaming's foremost international showcase for new artists of every genre. With 'FIFA 16', we've once again created a soundtrack that will enable millions of fans worldwide to discover new music. Artists from Norway, Portugal, Columbia, the UK, Brazil and America do more than just enhance a great game. FIFA 16 represents globalised music that reflects our worldwide players."
When 'FIFA 16' hits stores in the UK and Ireland on September 24, fans can listen to the complete soundtrack including more than 40 tracks from artists around the world. The full soundtrack list is below.
The game will be available on Origin for PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360 PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3.

'FIFA 16' full tracklisting:

All Tvvins - Darkest Ocean
April Towers - A Little Bit Of Fear
Atlas Genius - Stockholm
AURORA - Conqueror
Baiana System - Playsom
Baio - Sister Of Pearl
BANNERS - Shine A Light
Bastille - Hangin'
Beck - Dreams
Bomba Estereo - Soy Yo
BØRNS - Fool
Coasts - Tonight
Disclosure - Omen feat. Sam Smith
Durante - Slow Burn feat. Chuck Ellis
Everything Everything - Distant Past
Foals - Mountain At My Gates
Gin Wigmore - New Rush
Icona Pop - Emergency
Jax Jones - Yeah Yeah Yeah
John Newman - Tiring Game feat. Charlie Wilson
Kaleo - Way Down We Go
Kygo - ID
Louis The Child - It's Strange feat. K. Flay
Miami Horror - All It Ever Was
No Wyld - Let Me Know
Nothing But Thieves - Trip Switch
Parade Of Lights - Feeling Electric
RAC - Back Of The Car feat. Nate Henricks
Raury - Crystal Express
Seinabo Sey - Pretend
Skylar Grey feat. X Ambassadors - Cannonball
Slaptop - Walls
Speelburg - Lay It Right
Swim Deep - One Great Song And I Could Change The World
The Royal Concept - Smile
The Very Best - Makes A King feat. Jutty Taylor
Tiggs Da Author - Run
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Can't Keep Checking My Phone
X-Wife - Movin' Up
Years & Years - Gold (FIFA Edit)
Zibra 'Goodbye Mondays

Noel Gallagher wants to record the James Bond theme.
The former Oasis star admitted he would jump at the chance to write and perform the title song to a movie in the spy franchise but doesn't think he would be asked because he's not famous enough.
Speaking to NME after it was revealed that Sam Smith has written the theme to 'SPECTRE', he said: "If I was asked. F***ing too right. I'd record a Bond theme in a heartbeat. But they usually want people who are famous in America, don't they? I'm only famous in Manchester. And bits of south London."
Meanwhile, Sam, 24, revealed he wrote the new James Bond theme in just 20 minutes.
The 23-year-old singer was thrilled to be asked to write the official song for 'SPECTRE', the latest movie in the 007 franchise, and said keeping his involvement under wraps was a "top secret mission of my own".
Speaking to DJ Nick Grimshaw on BBC Radio 1 about the song, entitled 'Writing's On The Wall', Sam said: "I'm so relieved to actually talk about this, this has been a top secret mission of my own.
"I got called into the office with (producer) Barbara Broccoli and (director) Sam Mendes and they gave me the script, I read the script ... they said, 'Have a go at the song.'
"It's the quickest I've ever written a song - it took 20 minutes - and they loved it. I love the song so much."
Smith co-wrote the track with Grammy Award winner Jimmy Napes and is the first British male solo artist to record the Bond theme since Tom Jones' 'Thunderball' in 1965.

Carrie Underwood is planning her next headline tour.
The 2005 'American Idol' winner gave birth to her first child six-month-old son, Isaiah Michael Fisher and is already working out her return to the live scene very soon to promote her first LP in three years 'Storyteller', which will be released next month on October 23.
She told Nashville's BIG 98 FM: "We're working out the details right now -- tour routing and figuring out who's going to come out with us and all that stuff. It takes a lot of love and a lot of planning. I feel like within the next couple of months, we should be announcing everything. We'll just put it out there!"
The news comes as the country singer was announced her new album and revealed she had written a song about her son who she had with her ice hockey player husband Mike Fisher.
Asked if it would feature on her LP, she teased: "I'd be very willing to put money that it will be on there."
And the Grammy-award-winning star was also announced for the Apple Music Festival where she will return to the UK to headline London's Roundhouse on 21 September.
Talking about the "unique" concert, she said: "Playing in the UK is always such a thrill! I'm really looking forward to heading back and being a part of such an amazing line-up at Apple Music Festival. What a unique concert experience, not only for the fans at the Roundhouse, but also for fans across the globe who can stream it live!"

Ansel Elgort's new career as a DJ was inspired by Skrillex and Avicii.
The 21-year-old actor - who has starred in movies including 'The Fault in our Stars' and 'Divergent' - has signed a deal with Island Records and has been performing under his DJ alter-ego Ansolo.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Ansel said: "I heard some of the really early Avicii stuff and the really early Skrillex remixes before he had released his EP. Just like his remix of La Roux's 'Going in for the Kill'. I thought it was so cool.
"The whole thing... it's more than just writing and performing. It's engineering and producing. It's magical. It's something on your computer you can do all by yourself. It's the same thing as piano and voice, but now you have tracks that are 70 channels. With a piano, everyone's heard what a piano sounds like, but with dance music, every month there's a new track with a sound that everyone's like, 'What is that sound? How did he do it?'"
Ansel also revealed he signed with Island Records because they were interested in his music that other labels weren't.
He said: "I went to a few different labels and was playing everyone my music, and Island was really interested in stuff I didn't think labels would be interested in. I played them some tracks and said, 'These are more poppy. These are more clubby. These are more radio-friendly.' The ones that were more radio-friendly, they were like, 'No, we've heard this before. We want the different ones. We want the special records.'"

Voting has opened for the Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards 2015.
Nominations have been announced for the prestigious awards, with the results being unveiled at a star-studded ceremony at the Roundhouse in Camden, London on Wednesday 11 November.
Siân Llewellyn, Editor of Classic Rock, said: "What a great 12 months it's been for high-voltage rock'n'roll. And what a year for us to return to the Roll Of Honour's spiritual home at London's Roundhouse after celebrating its tenth anniversary in Hollywood.
"With fantastic new bands to celebrate and brilliant albums to consider it was trickier than ever to nail down our nomination shortlist. Put simply, it means that the Classic Rock Awards will be another brilliant evening of rock'n'roll celebration!"
Five of the categories are public-voted with bands like the Foo Fighters, AC/DC, Rush and Halestorm receiving multiple nominations.
For Band Of The Year, some of the world's biggest stadium acts received a nomination including AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac, Foo Fighters and The Who.
The evening will be hosted by wrestler and frontman of the rock band Fozzy, Chris Jericho.
To vote, visit www.classicrockmagazine.com/awards. The ceremony will take place at the Roundhouse in London on Wednesday 11 November.

Nicole Scherzinger will release new music next year.
The 37-year-old singer denied reports she has been dropped by her record label RCA but admitted she has signed with another company and hopes to have a new record out next year.
She told the Huffington Post: "I've got a new deal coming out. It was reported all this year that I was dropped and I actually wasn't dropped.
"I was signing a new deal with another label. We're still working on the contract, which I am unable to speak too much about.
"I'm really excited about this project and new music that I'm putting together, and which will be released next year."
Meanwhile, it was recently claimed that Nicole and her former Pussycat Dolls bandmates are planning a reunion, five years after they split.
The band ended in 2010 following a feud linked to Nicole's desire to make it big as a solo star, but since her latest release 'On the Rocks' failed to chart, the girls are planning on putting the past behind them and reforming.
A source close to the ladies revealed: "The band are in talks about reuniting soon and they are trying to see if they can get all of the girls together to do it.
"The fall-outs and bitching from back in the day are all water under the bridge now."
Nicole is apparently in talks with former members Kimberly Wyatt, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta and Melody Thornton and is keen to make amends.
The source told The Sun newspaper: "Nicole has seen most of the girls on and off over the years and she's ready to get back together.
"Rather than trying to patch up their differences, it's more about working out how to get everyone in the studio and see what it will actually sound like."