Music News

Damien Rice is releasing a new album.
The 40-year-old singer's latest offering, 'My Favourite Faded Fantasy', marks his first album in eight years, following on from his shortlist prize-wining 'O' in 2002, which sold two and a half million copies worldwide and his second studio album '9', which was released in 2006.
'My Favourite Faded Fantasy' - which was co-produced by the 'Canonball' hitmaker and Def Jam records founder Rick Rubin - will be released on Monday 3 November and is currently available to pre-order.
Damien said: "Sometimes you have to step away from what you love in order to learn how to love it again.
"I came to Rick mostly based on what I didn't know about him, rather than what I did. For some reason I just had a feeling that I would feel comfortable being open and being me and being vulnerable with Rick."
Meanwhile, Rick, 51, had been a huge fan of the singer since the release of 'O' in 2002.
He said:"He was my favourite new artist at the time. A lot of our work together was to help him see what was so clear to everyone else in the room."
The album's first single 'I Don't Want To Change you' is available to play on Spotify from today (09.09.14).

Kasabian lead the nominations at the Xperia Access Q Awards.
Q magazine has announced the contenders for the sought after accolades at their annual ceremony, which will take place on Wednesday, 22 October 2014.
This year, rock band Kasabian have earned the most nominations, landing themselves nods in four different categories, including Best Track for their song 'Eez-eh' and Best Album for their LP '48:13'.
Kate Bush has also been given recognition following her return to the music scene, picking up the nomination for Best Live Act following her comeback residency at London's Hammersmith Apollo, as well as the highly coveted Best Act In The World Today Award, for which the Arctic Monkeys, Pharrell Williams, Arcade Fire and Kasabian are also in contention.
Jamie xx, Coldplay, Paloma Faith and Elbow, each received a Best Video nomination, while Ed Sheeran is up for the Best Solo Artist award alongside Jake Bugg.
Newcomers, Ella Eyre, Royal Blood and The 1975 have each been nominated for Best New Act Award.
Matt Mason, Senior Editor of Q magazine, said: "It's been a remarkable and fascinating 12 months for music, and these nominations are a measure of that. We've had the surprise and brilliance of Kate Bush's return alongside the excitement and invention delivered by all the nominees in the Best New Act category, presented by Xperia Access.
"From the two-man blast of newcomers Royal Blood to headline performances from Kasabian, Arcade Fire and Arctic Monkeys, there have been constant reminders of rock'n'roll's enduring power to knock our socks off. All the nominated acts have helped make 2014 a brilliant year."

The Xperia Access Q Awards full nominations:

Q Best New Act presented by Xperia Access:
Ella Eyre
Sam Smith
The Fat White Family
Royal Blood
FKA Twigs
The 1975
George Ezra
Hozier
London Grammar
Temples

Q Best Track presented by Absolute Radio:
Paolo Nutini - Iron Sky
Sam Smith - Stay With Me
Lorde - Royals
Kaiser Chiefs - Coming Home
Kasabian - Eez-eh

Q Best Video:
Arctic Monkeys - Arabella
Elbow - New York Morning
Coldplay - Magic
Jamie xx - Sleep Sound
Paloma Faith - Only Love Can Hurt Like This

Q Best Album:
Elbow - The Take Off And Landing Of Everything
Manic Street Preachers - Futurology
Kasabian - 48:13
Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
The Black Keys - Turn Blue

Q Best Live Act presented by The Cavern Club:
Arcade Fire
Arctic Monkeys
Kasabian
Kate Bush
Jack White

Q Best Solo Artist presented by Citroën:
Paolo Nutini
St Vincent
Damon Albarn
Jake Bugg
Ed Sheeran

Q Best Act In The World Today presented by Buster + Punch:
Arctic Monkeys
Pharrell Williams
Arcade Fire
Kasabian
Kate Bush

John Newman is always getting mistaken for Sam Smith.
The 'Love Me Again' hitmaker - who often sports a similar slicked back hairstyle to the 'Stay With Me' singer - says people get him confused with the Sam, 22, on a day to day basis.
Speaking to Rickie, Melvin and Charlie on their Kiss FM breakfast show, he said: "I get confused for Sam Smith, like, day in, day out.
"It's bad though. There was a press mess up at one point as well which didn't help, I was doing some press the other day and it was for this photography thing. The guy said he was a huge fan, and I looked down at the floor and he had loads of references of how they wanted to shoot Sam Smith. I said 'you think I'm Sam Smith' and then he walked off."
Host Rickie admitted he also struggled to differentiate between the boys' similar looks when he was introduced to John at the Brit Awards earlier this year.
He said: "I saw you at the Brits red carpet, and the person that brought you to me said 'and here's Sam Smith', that was the first time I'd met you as well."
However, there was no mistaking the 24-year-old singer as he joined Calvin Harris on stage at the DJ's iTunes Festival show at London's The Roundhouse on Sunday night (07.09.14) for a rendition of their brand new track 'Blame'.
The crowd went wild as John stepped out in a white suit jacket and black and showed off his dance moves as Calvin took to the decks.

An 42-track album celebrating the music of Sir Paul McCartney will be released in November.
'The Art of McCartney' will pay homage to the 72-year-old singer's extensive career by featuring new studio covers of his best-loved hits by world renowned artists.
Amongst the host of famous names, Kiss star Alice Cooper has contributed a rendition of the 1973 James Bond theme tune 'Live and Let Die', while music legend Bob Dylan has recorded a version of 'Things We Said Today' - which was written by Sir Paul and his late Beatles band-mate John Lennon.
Def Leppard have covered the 1973 Wings track 'Helen Wheels', which Sir Paul wrote as an ode to his Land Rover, nicknamed "Hell on Wheels."
70s rockband The Cure have also collaborated with Sir Paul's son James on a version of the 1967 hit 'Hello Goodbye', which is the first track to be taken from the album and is already available to download.
Other notable musicians appearing on the tribute include Smokey Robinson, The Pretenders front-woman Chrissie Hynde, Kiss, The Who's Roger Daltrey and blues singer B.B. King.
The Art of McCartney' will be released on November 17.

'The Art Of McCartney' track list:
1. Billy Joel - "Maybe I'm Amazed"
2. Bob Dylan - "Things We Said Today"
3. Heart - "Band on the Run"
4. Steve Miller - "Junior's Farm"
5. Yusuf Islam - "The Long and Winding Road"
6. Harry Connick, Jr. - "My Love"
7. Brian Wilson - "Wanderlust"
8. Corinne Bailey Rae - "Bluebird"
9. Willie Nelson - "Yesterday"
10. Jeff Lynne - "Junk"
11. Barry Gibb - "When I'm 64"
12. Jamie Cullum - "Every Night"
13. Kiss - "Venus and Mars"/"Rock Show"
14. Paul Rodgers - "Let Me Roll It"
15. Roger Daltrey - "Helter Skelter"
16. Def Leppard - "Helen Wheels"
17. The Cure, featuring James McCartney - "Hello Goodbye"
18. Billy Joel - "Live and Let Die"
19. Chrissie Hynde - "Let It Be"
20. Cheap Trick's Robin Zander and Rick Nielsen - "Jet"
21. Joe Elliott - "Hi Hi Hi"
22. Heart - "Letting Go"
23. Steve Miller - "Hey Jude"
24. Owl City - "Listen to What the Man Said"
25. Perry Farrell - "Got to Get You Into My Life"
26. Dion - "Drive My Car"
27. Allen Toussaint - "Lady Madonna"
28. Dr. John - "Let 'Em In"
29. Smokey Robinson - "So Bad"
30. The Airborne Toxic Event - "No More Lonely Nights"
31. Alice Cooper - "Eleanor Rigby"
32. Toots Hibbert with Sly & Robbie - "Come and Get It"
33. B.B. King - "On the Way"
34. Sammy Hagar - "Birthday"

The Art of McCartney Bonus Tracks:
1. Robert Smith - C Moon"
2. Booker T. Jones - "Can't Buy Me Love"
3. Ronnie Spector - "P.S. I Love You"
4. Darlene Love - "All My Loving"
5. Ian McCulloch - "For No One"
6. Peter, Bjorn and John - "Put It There"
7. Wanda Jackson - "Run Devil Run"
8. Alice Cooper - "Smile Away"

Avicii has cancelled all of his upcoming gigs due to health concerns. The 'Wake Me Up' hitmaker has confirmed through his spokesperson Tim Bergling that he's suspended all of his scheduled touring and promotional activities indefinitely. The Swedish ...

Ciara says 2014 will be her "best year yet".
The 'Goodies' singer recently announced she is engaged to producer and rapper Future and is also pregnant and she can't wait for all the changes in her life.
She told Us Weekly magazine: "This will be the best year yet. I'm doing things I've looked forward to my whole life; building a family, walking down the aisle and sealing the deal with my true love."
Ciara added Future - real name Nayvadius Cash- has been very supportive the whole way through her pregnancy so far.
She added: "[He] has been the sweetest partner. He's been to every doctor's visit and held my hand the whole way. [And] I've been stealing his jeans!"
The couple plan to marry later this year and Ciara is heavily involved in planning the big day.
She has said: "I think I'll be part bridezilla, I'm not going to lie. But I want to be a happy one. I still want it to be a fun process, but I want the dress to be perfect, I want the cake to be perfect, I want the food to be perfect. We're both looking forward to it."

Ariana Grande has defended showing "more and more skin".
The pint-sized pop star has hit back at criticism she's giving into music industry pressure to strip down on stage and in her latest videos, and insists it is solely her decision to dress more provocatively.
She told Attitude magazine: "I've seen people online saying, 'It's so sad she's becoming a product of this industry - she's wearing shorter and shorter skirts and showing more and more skin.' I'm like, 'Yeah, because I want to.'
"Believe me, if I don't want to do something I will not do it, and I say that with every ounce of passion in my body.
"I'm a very flexible person but if I feel like you want me to compromise my views or myself as an artist, you can go f**k yourself."
While the Break Free singer is happy to evolve her style, Ariana - who first found fame on Nickelodeon children's shows 'Victorious' and 'Sam and Cat' - insists she won't alienate her younger fan base.
The 21-year-old star explained: "I've wanted to do this forever and I'm not going to jeopardise it by allowing someone else to take control. When I'm ready to progress naturally, I will. That's something I've been careful about my whole career because I don't want to do something that will shock or upset my younger fans. They're the ones who've been with me since the beginning."

Professor Green refuses to change his musical style to sell records.
The 30-year-old rapper won't give into the latest trends in a bid to boost sales of his upcoming album 'Growing Up in Public' as he doesn't want to alienate his fans who have supported him throughout his career.
He told the Daily Star newspaper: "A lot of people change their sound to sell records - you know who I'm talking about - but they just alienate their fan base because pop fans are way more fickle. The key is that I've never been scared of melody, I didn't come out on a trend."
The 'Lullaby' rapper survived a near-fatal car accident last year and got married to former 'Made in Chelsea' star Millie Mackintosh, so he feels the title of his third record is appropriate.
Green explained: "I came up with the title before all of that crazy stuff happened, so in a way it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. It has given me a lot of stuff to talk about."
The 'Read All About It' hitmaker has also added a new string to his bow by singing on the album after crooner Robbie Williams backed out of a proposed collaboration.
He added: "The track with Robbie ended up with me singing the chorus, which is a nice result ... It's good to push myself like that."

Calvin Harris has been named the highest paid DJ in the world after earning $66 million in 12 months.
The 30-year-old Scot scooped the title for the second consecutive year after topping Forbes' Electronic Cash Kings list with his huge $66 million (£39.8 million) earnings in the past 12 months, $20 million more than he earned to reach the summit last year.
Putting his success partly down to luck, the modest music mixer told Forbes: "The rise of dance music has been astronomical in the last three years. I happened to be in the right place at the right time."
Calvin - who has recently split from singer Rita Ora - beat off competition from the likes of David Guetta, who was second on the list with $30 million earnings in the past 12 months.
Tiesto was narrowly behind in third with $28 million after recently ditching his Ibiza residency.
Explaining his decision, he said: "I've been going there for the last 10 years, it felt there was nothing special. And then I got the offer to play in Las Vegas ... They made me a great proposal, not just the money but also what they're going to do there, the biggest club in the world."
Avicii tied with Tiesto in joint third place, while the top five was completed by Steve Aoki, son of Benihana founder Rocky Aoki, thanks to his $23 million earnings.

Forbes' Electronic Cash Kings list of top five highest paid DJs:

1. Calvin Harris ($66 million)
2. David Guetta ($30 million)
3. Tiesto ($28 million)
3. Avicii ($28 million)
5. Steve Aoki ($23 million)