Music News

Lorde says making her new album is "exciting and scary".
The 18-year-old star has teased details of her highly-anticipated second record - following on from 2013's 'Pure Heroine' - explaining she took some time off from making music but is now hard at work on her next collection.
Writing on her Tumblr blog, she said: "i took a few months off at the beginning of this year, which was so great - i did a bunch of swimming and driving around and being salty - and now i'm just getting into making the next body of work, which is very exciting and scary but SO VALIDATING (sic)."
The 'Royals' singer went on to say she has been inspired by Swedish pop star Robyn while making the record, as she believes her track 'Dancing On My Own' would be the one song she would choose to "send into space, to live on forever".
She said: "this song, to me, is perfect. it's happy and sad, fiery and independent but vulnerable and small, joyous even when a heart is breaking. (sic)"
And the chart-topping star said after listening to the 2010 single, she realised she will never stop making music.
She continued: "i realized i'm going to be in love with music for the rest of my life. it's going to be the most important friendship i'll ever have. i'll never, ever leave it alone, because you can't leave alone something like that (sic)."
Adding further details about the record, Lorde - whose real name is Ella Yelich-O'Connor - said she feels much "calmer" in the studio this time around, and is in no rush to finish the LP.
She wrote: "i feel much calmer, more comfortable in my love of doing this, and its apparent love of me, this time around. so there's that.
"know that i'm taking my time to make the new stuff as good as i can. know that music is still making my heart skip every day. (sic)"

Sam Smith is set to undergo surgery on his vocal chords, leaving him unable to sing for six to eight weeks.
The 'Stay With Me' hitmaker - who had to cancel a string of Australian shows last month due to a haemorrhage on his vocal chords - has taken to his social media accounts to tell his fans he is "upset" that he won't be able to sing for a while.
Alongside a picture on Instagram, he wrote: "Bad news. I have my operation booked for next week, so getting really nervous. But by doing this in 8 weeks time I'm gonna be able to sing like never before so it's worth it. I am so sorry to all. Dreading the next month thou, I can't speak for THREE WEEKS after the op. (sic)"
His Twitter post, which was in the form of a picture read: "Dear all: I am very upset to announce I have been battling to get my vocal chords better the last 10 days but unfortunately they haven't recovered and I am going to need surgery. I am so gutted to be missing all of the shows and events I was meant to be playing at. The doctors say I will be back in 6 to 8 weeks and I can't wait to sing to you all soon. (sic)"
The news comes as the multiple Grammy award-winning artist confirmed he was to fly to America for surgery.
The 23-year-old singer is yet to comment on whether he will be well enough to perform forthcoming scheduled shows, which include sets at Wild Life Festival in June and T in the Park in August.

Guns N' Roses guitarist has slammed the music industry for failing to embrace technology.
Ronald Jay Blumenthal - better known by stage name Ron Bumblefoot - believes the industry is "stupid" because they treat music fans, who share music via Napster, like "criminals".
And the 45-year-old musician - who has played with Guns N' Roses since 2006 - holds record executives responsible for the "mess" that has been left behind since Napster.
He told the Jakarta Informer: "The music industry started to see their customers as their enemies and everybody suffered for it. Congratulations record industry - you've made a mess and you still don't know how to clean it up."
Talking further about the music sharing site he explained the technology used was "amazing" but record companies failed to embrace it for their own good.
He continued: "It's not that Napster changed anything - it's that the stupid music industry didn't see this amazing technology and say, 'My God, we could do so much with this,' and instead tried to destroy it and tried to treat people as criminals.
"What can you do money-wise if a billion people download your songs for free? It could have been the tiniest little subscription - it could have been ads or sponsors. There are a million ways it could have been done and the music industry had a lot of time to figure it out.
"Instead, through their lawyers, they said, 'Go sue that 12-year-old kid,' and they screwed up everything."

Ed Sheeran "welled up" when a fan proposed to his girlfriend at his show.
The 'Bloodstream' singer was performing his 2014 track 'All of the Stars' at a concert in Austin, Texas last night (06.05.15), when he invited the couple on stage and watched as the man gave a romantic speech to his beloved.
The super fan gushed to his girlfriend: "I'm just thinking out loud here, but y'know I've met a lot of people in my days and to come across someone so amazing, so talented and so beautiful inside and out, I knew there was no way, no way I was going to let her go. I thought to myself, I better grab her and hold on for dear life."
After the man dropped to one knee and she accepted his hand in marriage, the crowd erupted into cheers and Ed returned to congratulate the couple with hugs.
Posting a link to the romantic moment on Twitter following the concert, he wrote: "proposal tonight in austin, i might've welled up, but don't say anything (sic)."
It's not the first time the 24-year-old star - who is currently on tour across north America - has helped someone find love, as he made one teenager's dream come true last year when he accepted a proposal from the terminally ill fan.
The 19-year-old fan, Katie Papworth - who suffered from an aggressive form of brain cancer - presented the singer-songwriter with a painting of a lego house to celebrate his hit of the same name, as well as a ring at his concert in Glasgow, Scotland.
Following the meet and greet, Katie's mum Trish said: "Katie took the picture of the lego house she'd made and gave Ed a ring with an infinity symbol. Ed loved her artwork and asked if he could keep it for his wall.
"When she presented the ring he smiled and said, 'I suppose I should say yes. OK.'"

U2 disguised themselves as buskers in New York.
The Irish rockers surprised commuters as they performed a secret acoustic gig at the city's Grand Central Station for Jimmy Fallon's 'Tonight Show', which will air on Friday (08.05.15).
Passers-by took to Twitter posting videos of the 'Beautiful Day' hitmakers playing, as shocked New Yorkers were treated to the impromptu set.
One tweet read: "@jimmyfallon and @U2 dressed as street musicians at a subway station at 10p on a Monday! #gottaloveNYC (sic)."
While another read: "#U2 at #GrandCentral via @dreyarchives you know. front row at a secret U2 concert in grand central terminal thanks to Jimmy Fallon! #U2 #bono #theedge #jimmyfallon #tonightshow #grandcentral #nyc #livemusic (sic)."
The band were set to appear on Jimmy's show last year but were forced to postpone after frontman Bono suffered a nasty cycling accident, which has left him unable to play guitar.
He told the New York Times newspaper: "It's all numb here, and this is titanium.The shoulder's better, the face is better. But this is the hard bit because I can't play guitar."
U2 are set to kick off the north American leg of their 'Innocence + Experience' tour later this month.

Paul Weller wanted to make a positive record because the world is "so depressing".
The 56-year-old rocker is gearing up for the release of his new album, 'Saturn's Pattern' later this month, and said he wanted to make an LP filled with "joyfulness" because the world is miserable enough.
When asked if he set out to make a positive album, he said: "I don't know if it was deliberate - I think those things come from the subconscious. I did want to make a record that had a joyfulness to it because the world is so f***ed and so depressing."
The former The Jam musician - who has recently been confirmed to play at Glastonbury Festival next month - also explained the name of the collection, admitting he made up the phrase, but later discovered 'Saturn's Pattern' is a real thing.
Speaking about where he got the record's name from, he told Shortlist magazine: "As far as I know - unless there's a subconscious thing or something - I just made it up: I was writing one night, just aimlessly, and the title just rolled off the tongue. But I did find out afterward that there is an actual Saturn's pattern, and it has its own website. And then there's Saturn's Return as well - I've only learnt this from journos. But Saturn's pattern is in the same place only twice in your life from when you were born, at the age of 28 and 56. Which, at the time I wrote the tune last year, was the exact ages of me and my missus."

Brandon Flowers says The Killers will make another album because their last offering "wasn't good enough".
The frontman - who is set to release his solo album 'The Desired Effect' on May 18 - is keen for the 'Mr Brightside' hitmakers to make a new record as he believes they let themselves down with 'Battle Born' which was released in September 2012.
He said: "Once [the band] all get on the same page, it'll work. I need to persuade them to like the same things as I do."
The 33-year-old singer also went on to deny claims he had called his bandmates Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci Jr "lazy".
He told NME: "Did I say lazy? I tell you, recently Dave has really shown a new interest in being the guitar player for The Killers. I don't know if he saw [the quote]. I hope I didn't upset him."
However, The Killers' drummer Ronnie isn't sure another album is in the pipeline for the BRIT Award winners.
He said: "I don't fear the end of The Killers - if it's over, it's over. We scratch those [creative] itches [with side-projects]. I get a good feeling knowing Brandon is out there doing that too.
"I hope the other two do it. It gets weird sometimes when we starting talking about our s**t with the other two."

Beverley Knight and Nile Rodgers have led tributes to Hot Chocolate frontman Errol Brown.
The 'Shoulda Woulda Coulda' hitmaker was among the first celebrities to share her sorrow on Twitter shortly after learning of the 71-year-old singer's death at his home in the Bahamas on Wednesday (06.05.15) after a long battle with liver cancer.
She tweeted: "I am so gutted. Errol Brown was such a charismatic performer."
Former Suede member Bernard Butler wrote: "Ah goodbye Errol Brown. Always reminds me of the congas thru the wahwah under the desk, Mickie Most and @RAK_Studios @nigelgod (sic)"
Chic singer Nile also took to the social media site to remember the late star, who had a string of hits with his band throughout the 1970s and '80s, with tracks such as 'You Sexy Thing', 'Every 1's a Winner' and 'So You Win Again' charting in over 50 countries.
The 62-year-old performer tweeted: "We had some good times back in the day. #ErrolBrown RIP"
Drummer Jon Atkinson, who toured with the singer more than 10 years ago, wrote: "Really sad to hear of the passing of Errol Brown. I toured with him in 2003/4..he was an absolute star.A really lovely guy and amazing voice (sic)."
Chris Evans revealed he is planning to dedicate a portion of his radio show to Errol later today (07.05.15), while choreographer Arlene Phillips fondly remembered the singer's unique voice, writing: "RIP Errol Brown, such a lovely and talented man with a voice of velvet."
The musician's manager Phil Dale confirmed his death in a statement, adding: "Errol was a gentle man and was a personal friend of mine who will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him. His greatest legacy is that his music will live on."
The singer, who is survived by his wife Ginette and two daughters Colette and Leonie, was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to popular music for the United Kingdom in 2003, and later went on to receive an Ivor Novello Award for outstanding contributions to British music the following year.

Joss Stone has announced she is releasing a new album.
The 28-year-old singer's seventh studio album 'Water For Your Soul' is ready to go and Joss has claimed it is a departure from the sound of her last LP 'The Soul Sessions Vol.2', and will have more of a reggae vibe, having worked with Damian Marley in Sir Mick Jagger's super-group 'Superheavy'.
Joss said: "(The new album) is really a combination of all the things I like. I've always loved reggae and Damian gave me the confidence to go through that door."
The first single to be taken from the album is 'The Answer', which was co-written with Dennis Bovell, who the 'Super Duper Love' hitmaker described as "a great person to work with".
Speaking about the reggae musician's qualities and influence on the record, Joss said: "He's like a reggae encyclopaedia. And he can really sing. His pitch and range is massive. He's funny too, a great person to work with."
Joss went on to confess that the theme of the album is about moving on with life, and "shaking off all the crap".
She said: "If there is a theme to the album, it springs out of conversations, arguments, ideas about ways of living in the world. It's about shaking off all the crap and getting up and realising that hey you're alive today, so move on."
'Water For Your Soul' will be released on July 17.