Music News

Paul Weller's new music "comes from out of space".
The 56-year-old rocker is excited about forthcoming album 'Saturn's Pattern' and thinks the material, particularly the title track, is "pretty original".
He said: "'Saturn's Pattern' just kind of comes from out of space. It's kind of got a little bit of funk in it, but it's music that I haven't possibly heard of - it's pretty original I think.
"There's a few tracks on the album you can't really place, but they're very, very tuneful.
"The sky's the limit for me really, I have no idea where it's going to go."
Despite his years in the music industry, the former Jam frontman doesn't feel "shackled" by the past and enjoys experimenting with his work.
He told NME magazine: "You kind of hit upon the right circumstances or whatever, but I'm always trying to look forwards and see where else this music can go.
"I don't feel in any way shackled to my past at all - I think it's wide open...
"I don't know if I understand people when they get to a certain age and they're just kind of happy with what they know.
"I'm on the lookout for whatever's happening, it still holds my interest."

Markus Feehily empathises with Zayn Malik's wish to lead a normal life.
The former Westlife singer understand why the 22-year-old singer has quit One Direction because it is such a "weird", all-consuming lifestyle.
He said: "I think this is something the One Direction lads can relate to. When you are in a boy band even on your days off, you still might get that call from the record label. It's weird, you live in a bubble and you are never truly off. You are never away from it."
And Markus admits his first days away from the band - who disbanded in 2012 - allowed him the chance to think for himself and make his own plans for the first time in years.
He added to BANG Showbiz: "For me at the end of Westlife I was a bit confused. I needed to come away from all of this and find out what I am able to do by myself and what kind of person I am. I needed to be in my own head ... instead my life was scheduled by someone for 14 years in a record label. I wanted to find out what would I do if nobody told me what to do.
"That is very much what the last few years had been about."
Markus is now launching a solo career and is pleased he has done it alone, rather than relying on the help of Westlife's manager Louis Walsh and record company boss Simon Cowell.
He said: "Even musically I could've used all of my contacts and called up Louis and Simon and said is there any chance you can put me in touch with so and so, I want to write a song with them. But I stepped completely away from all of that. I know it sounds cliché but I wanted to find out who I was, without anyone else. What was I capable of all by myself?"
Markus' new single 'Love Is A Drug' is out on April 19 and his solo LP is due for release later this year.

Charli XCX wants to leave a legacy.
The 'Boom Clap' hitmaker is keen to use her "business mind" to develop an "empire" that doesn't just include her musical talent.
She said: "I have a business mind, I have a real drive - I want to have an empire.
"I want to have more of a legacy, and I think just because I wear what I wear, and am a pop star, doesn't mean I can't have that."
The 22-year-old singer also admitted she enjoys having power and is extremely driven.
She added: "Power gets me off. I always want more than I have."
But Charli has insisted she isn't bothered about being a "picture-perfect pop star" and doesn't worry about pretending to be having a good day for the sake of the paparazzi.
She told Maxim magazine: "I'm not good at being a picture-perfect pop star, happy all the time. If I'm having a bad day, I can't pretend."
Meanwhile, the beauty previously admitted she loves heading out on tour and would gladly sleep in a bin whilst on the road, as long as she was given some champagne.
She said: "On my last tour I took my childhood best friend and I hired another of my best friends as my assistant. I enjoy touring. I'm the opposite of a diva.
"Would I sleep in a bin? As long as I've had some champagne, then probably, yeah."

Danny O'Donoghue rejected Cameron Diaz.
The 'Never Seen Anything Quite Like You' hitmaker was told by the Hollywood star's assistant that the 42-year-old actress was keen on having his number but he refused because he was dating Irma Mali at the time.
He told Sunday World: "We both appeared on The Today Show in New York. Her assistant told me Cameron wanted my number. I had a girlfriend [Irma] at the time so I thought it might be a bit weird to hand my number out.
"So I said no. I would have bitten her hand off if I hadn't been dating someone. I'm kicking myself."
Since their appearance, Cameron has gone on to marry one half of The Madden Brothers, Benji Madden.
Meanwhile, the 34-year-old singer recently admitted he even turned to dating app Tinder to find a potential match but was left unsuccessful when women refused to believe it was actually him.
He said: "I was joking around with being on Tinder... but no one believes it's me. [My dream girl is] probably watching now and thinking 'Oh my God, it was true.'"
Danny's bandmate Mark Sheehan added: "He put his own face on it [account], he was honest and tried to get a date but people didn't believe it was him."

Leona Lewis has signed a deal with Def Jam Recordings.
The 30-year-old singer revealed she is now a part of the label's roster in America by posting a photo of herself wearing a Def Jam jacket on Instagram.
Darcus Beese - the president of Island Records, who signed her in the UK and which Def Jam owns - confirmed the news, revealing the label is planning to be "as ambitious" as they can with her.
Darcus said: (Leona's) voice was enough reason to do the deal. We're going to be as ambitious as we can (with her). She's on Def Jam in America and they are very passionate about the record as well. We are internationally ambitious for the record, but I know that (the work) very much starts here in our own back garden."
Leona left Simon Cowell's Syco record label in June last year, following an apparent dispute over the musical direction of her new material.
Darcus insists Leona has "matured as an artist" and needed to break away from her former 'X Factor' mentor.
Speaking to Music Week magazine, he said: "If the US has some semblance of success, then we can start joining the dots globally. It's important that people feel that Leona has moved on and matured as an artist with something to say. Now it's about making sure that what we have is relevant and exciting to people. That's the foundations of our success going forward."
The 'Run' singer will release her fifth studio album 'I Am' later this year, and the first single taken from the album, 'Fire (Under My Feet)', is due out next month.

Gary Barlow asked taxi drivers and monitored social media to gauge the success of Take That as a trio.
The singer admits when Jason Orange left the band in 2014 the group was "close" to splitting up, because he had no idea if he, Mark Owen and Howard Donald could make it as a threesome.
Gary decided to ask cab drivers for advice on his dilemma and also took to Twitter to find out what fans thought of the plan.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper in New York at the launch of his 'Finding Neverland' musical, the 'Back For Good' singer said: "I had huge doubts whether it would work as a trio. I was worried and thought, 'This might be the end.' It's the closest we've come to calling it a day. We heavily researched what reaction would be like if we performed as a three. We spent days monitoring social media to get a sense of what fans thought. I even got the views of taxi drivers."
Once he saw the response to a Take That trio was positive, Gary knew they could carry on.
He added: "It was all overwhelmingly positive, so we stayed together."
The 44-year-old musician also needed to know if Mark and Howard were still completely committed to Take That before making their album 'III'.
He added: "It would have been hard to drag an album out if one of us didn't want to do it. But it works as a three and it's exciting."

Bill Wyman is releasing his first solo album in 33 years, despite feeling "too old".
The former Rolling Stones bassist found 60 songs he'd never released before last year, when he was archiving old demos, and got the idea for his fourth solo LP 'Back To Basics'.
He chose three songs that needed reworking and then, together with nine brand new songs, went into his studio to record them.
The album will include collaborations with guitarist Terry Taylor, Guy Fletcher, Graham Broad and Robbie McIntosh, and was co-produced by Andy Wright.
Wyman said: "Initially I thought I'm a bit old for this but then I thought all the old blues musicians played till they dropped so why don't I give it a go."
The 78-year-old quit the Rolling Stones - fronted by Sir Mick Jagger -in 1993 having spent 31 years in the group, and has since gone on to write seven books, as well as become a metal detecting expert with his own brand of metal detector.
Wyman previously said: "I've always been interested in ancient cultures, archaeology, astronomy, photography, art - and as I grew up, I tried to learn more and embellish those things by reading books and documentaries and films. When I was in the band for 30 years, that was very difficult, because I didn't have the opportunity to spend much time doing that."
'Back To Basics will be released on June 22.

Britney Spears called a fan a "f***ing a**hole" while live on stage.
The 33-year-old star was performing her 'Piece of Me' show at her Planet Hollywood Las Vegas residency earlier this week when she's reported to have responded with expletives after someone in the crowd called her a "fat bitch".
A member of the audience has uploaded a clip of the show to their Instagram account on which Britney can be heard swearing after being heckled by a supposed fan, although their comment cannot be heard.
In the video, the 'Toxic' hitmaker can be seen talking to the crowd, who cheer as the music for 'Till The World Ends' begins to play.
However, as she turns her back to the audience someone to the side of the stage is said to have shouted "fat bitch" at her, prompting the blonde beauty to call them out in front of the entire crowd.
While the clip in question sounds like she's saying "f***ing a**hole", some fans have taken to Twitter to argue that she was in fact referring to more than one member of the audience and actually said "f***ing a**holes".
The outburst came after Britney asked the audience if they wanted "one more song", with some concertgoers suggesting she'd heard a negative response.

Kate Nash says the weirdest inspiration she's ever had for a song came from a skeleton in her mother's living room.
The 'Foundations' singer often gets creative ideas from the weirdest experiences but she's unsure why the odd appeals to her.
When asked what the strangest thing is she's taken inspiration from to write a song, Kate told BANG Showbiz: "The skeleton in my mum's living room. Or when I tried to save a frog in the middle of the road in Australia but my band wouldn't let me. "
Kate's last album release was 2013's 'Girl Talk', but the musician has plans to release a new LP this year, but the odd single is a possibility.
She revealed: "I probably won't be releasing an album this year, but I have been writing a lot & have plans to make a record. I will probably release some stand alone singles first."
Kate has tried her hand at acting in recent years and she's keen to take on more roles and her dream would be to work with Quentin Tarantino.
She said: "I love war movies. I'd love to star in a Tarantino action flick. That's the dream. Or a new Muppets movie obviously. Anything Jason Segel writes is amazing."
Kate is involved in this year's VQ Awards, a celebratory event for vocational achievement amongst young people.
It's an event close to her heart as the 27-year-old singer earned a vocational qualification when she left school.
She has offered some great advice for those considering a vocational qualification, saying:: "It's like trying to find the right pair of shoes or a good fitting dress, it doesn't always look good or work first try, just keep trying stuff on ... There's different paths that you might not expect but they can take you to cool places, that's how my life has always gone so far. And if you can't get in the front door, climb in through the window, there's more than one way to get what you want."
The deadline for submissions for the VQ Awards is May 1 and to find out more information and how to enter visit: www.vqday.org.uk/vq-awards