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This new album is Headie One’s first solo record in three years, and follows ‘Too Loyal for My Own Good’, released in 2021. Since then, he has released two albums in collaboration with other artists, ‘No Borders: European Compilation Project’ with artists such as Gazo, Luciano, Shiva, and Hamza, alongside ‘STRENGTH TO STRENGTH’, which he produced with K-trap.

Recently, Headie One released a sneak peek of the upcoming album, as he released ‘Tipsy’, featuring Aitch. So far, he has also released three other songs from his new album, including: ‘Martin’s Sofa’, ‘I Still Know Better’, and ‘Cry No More’ featuring Stormzy and Tay Keith. The anticipation for his new album is consistently rising, as he also released a music video for ‘Tipsy’, which you can watch below.

In addition to his new album, he also recently announced a European and his first ever Australian tour, that will take him to Gold Coast, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Manchester, Dublin, Glasgow, London, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Paris, Antwerp, Cologne, Frankfert, Munich, Berlin, and Zurich this October and November, and next February and March. You can find tickets here.

His new album, is set to be an exciting one, as his 2020 album, ‘EDNA’, made history as it was the first drill album to top the UK charts, leaving the possibilities for his new album endless. The success of his music has lead to Headie One being considered a pioneer of UK drill music, and he is part of OFB, that stands for Original Farmer Boys and is a group made up of prominent drill artists from Tottenham, such as Bandokay, and Double Lz.

When talking to NME about his new album, he assured fans that “it’s the last one but it’s not the last one you know?”, so they can rest assured that the album’s name does not reflect the end of his career. He also told NME that “this album is about the place we come from, the negative things that happened and that are still in effect today so I’m giving a lot of home truths in this one”, exciting fans with the intimacy of his new album, which you can pre-order here. If you pre-order the album by 4pm on the 26th June, then you will have the opportunity to enter a competition to watch Headie One from backstage at Glastonbury Festival on Friday 28th June with a plus one.

Her additional European dates come hot on the heels of her extremely successful tour across the United States and Europe, and her sold out show at the Royal Albert Hall in London earlier this month. Now she is continuing her tour in Europe, and the presale for her new dates begins Tuesday 25th June at 10am, and general onsale begins Friday 28th June at 10am, and you can find tickets here.

The tour is in support of her most recent album ‘All Born Screaming’ that was released in April earlier this year. The eponymous, fan-loved track features Cate Le Bon, whose name is a tribute to Duran Duran’s frontman Simon Le Bon. St Vincent’s new ten track album follows her last album ‘The Nowhere Inn’, released in 2021, and ‘Daddy’s Home’, which was also released in 2021.

Since her debut album in 2007 with ‘Marry Me’, St Vincent has become a much loved character of the orchestral indie-pop genre, and she has been listed among the best guitarists of the 21st century by multiple publications, including Rolling Stone, who placed her 26th in their ranking, above Eric Clapton, Neil Young and Brian May.

Before her adventure into the world as a solo artist, St Vincent was a member of the Polyphronic Spree, a coral rock band from Dallas, however she left in 2006 and formed her own band after being a member of Sufjan Stevens’ touring band. She then continued to grow to fame as a solo artist, and in 2009 made ‘Rosyln’ with Bon Iver for Twilight New Moon.

Across her discography, she delves into a range of genres and emotions and is renown as a musical shapeshifter, as ‘Marry Me’ embodies orchestral indie-pop, and in 2017 with ‘Masseduction’, she moved on to glam rock, before including 70s psychedelic rock in her 2021 album ‘Daddy’s Home’.

Fans can watch her eclectic performance this Autumn as she traverses across the USA and Europe, telling NME that she’s “gonna f**k ‘em up”. If you’re wondering what to expect, then you can watch the video below of St Vincent performing at her sold out show at the Royal Albert Hall.

In recent years, the band have undergone a huge transformation, as they changed their name from ‘Slaves’ to ‘SOFT PLAY’ in 2022 as they wanted to abandon the connotations that followed their previous name, and HEAVY JELLY is the first album they will release under this new name. Their new album is suggested to accommodate this change as it includes nu-metal influences. The two piece have taken to social media to express their excitement, saying that they are “proud fathers”. You can read more about their new album on mxdwn here.

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Their new album adds to their excitement for this year, as they have numerous performances lined up at festivals such as Glastonbury, Y Not, Truck festival, Tramlines, Boardmasters, Bludfest, and Victorious festival, alongside their own tour. Additionally, they are supporting Robbie Williams on Saturday 6th July at his sold out headline show at the annual BST Hyde Park. They are joining Seal, Gaz Coombes, Kate Nash, and Shaun Ryder’s Black Grape.

The tour for their new album begins in October 15th in Brighton, and takes them across the UK to Cardiff, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, Nottingham, Norwich, and London. Tickets are on sale now, with some dates already sold out. You can find any remaining tickets for the highly demanded tour here.

So far this year, they have been building up the release of their new album and released four singles at the beginning of June, ‘Everything and Nothing’, ‘Act Violently’, ‘Mirror Muscles’, and ‘Punk’s Dead’, all of which will be found on their new 11 track album, which you can pre-order in all formats here.

Since the duo’s formation in 2012 on a residential street in Stoke-on-Trent, they have been on an extremely wild journey, with Isaac, the vocalist and drummer, having personal issues in 2019, leading to their tour for their last album ‘Acts Of Fear And Love’, being cancelled. Their situation then worsened as Laurie’s partner passed away from cancer in 2020, resulting in their almost five year hiatus. However, it was the iconic Blur that reunited the pair as an opportunity to support Blur arose, and the duo began talking, and, despite not getting the gig, started making music together again, and HEAVY JELLY is the product of this journey the two have been on both together and individually. The two are now stronger than ever, calling themselves “brothers” when talking to Kerrang!.

The collaborative performance came during Swift’s highly anticipated and adored surprise song section of the show, and followed a mashup of ‘thanK you aIMee’ and ‘Mean’, which Swift prefaced by saying, “Every time someone talks sh*t, it makes me work even harder”. You can watch the mashup below.

Williams and Swift met in 2009 at an afterparty after the Grammy’s, and have been life long friends ever since. This guest appearance is not the first time Williams and Swift have performed together, as Williams joined the stage in 2011 at Taylor Swift’s Speak Now tour in London. Thirteen years later, in the same location, they performed together again, and the performance saw Williams wearing a purple, Speak Now inspired dress, alongside lyric writing on her arm, mirroring their past performance and the album. You can watch the performance below.

The collaboration was emotional for both parties, as Swift paused mid song to embrace the moment, and saying “I love you so much” to Williams, and that “I can’t believe she’s ever talked to me once”, with Williams replying, “You’re my longest music friend. Thank you. I love you.”, making this performance a memorable moment of friendship for not only the fans but for Williams and Swift themselves too.

Paramore have been opening for Swift since the beginning of the European leg of the Eras tour, that began in Paris on May 9th, and does not finish until the 20th August. They play a nine song set, that includes some of their greatest hits such as ‘Still Into You’, ‘The Only Exception’ and ‘This Is Why’, however they also include their own surprise songs, and recently performed a cover of ‘Burning Down The House’ by Talking Heads. Before the tour began, NME spoke to Williams who said she was “so ready to be tour-mates” again, and expressed her respect for how “specific and colourful Taylor’s words get without ever losing the universal thread.”.

So far, the two of the three nights Swift is spending at Wembley this month have shaped up to be exciting and star-studded, with her performance on Saturday 22nd being attended by celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Greta Gerwig, Hugh Grant, and her partner Travis Kelce. The night before was equally as exciting, with none other than the Royal Family being in attendance, alongside the feature of what Prince Williams has described as his best “dad dancing”.

Following Swift’s performance on Sunday 23rd June, she moves on to Dublin, and does not return to London until the 15th August, when she will perform for five nights, marking the end of the European Eras tour.

The new song and album moves away from their typical rock genre, and embraces a new, experimental, post-punk style, performed in sprechgesang mode. It contains their true Suede traits, but introduces a new option and genre for the Britpop band. Fans captured the performance of the unreleased song, which you can watch below.

Their performance of ‘Antidepressants’ has been extremely well received by fans, with listeners taking to X to express their excitement for the band’s new sound alongside their eagerness for the release.

Dear X, Suede’s new song Antidepressants! I like it!

— childchild (@childchild) June 23, 2024

The five piece were headlining the Big Top Stage on the Saturday of this year’s festival, and attracted a huge crowd, alongside stirring anticipation for the band’s new album and era. This year’s festival held a star studded lineup, with performances throughout the day from Pet Shop Boys, Blossoms, and Keane. The Sunday lineup does not disappoint either, with sets from the iconic rock band Greenday, alongside Simple Minds and Zara Larsson.

Suede’s new album will be their first since ‘Autofiction’, however in the past two years they have released deluxe editions of albums such as ‘Autofiction’, which included the loved but unreleased song ‘The Sadness In You, The Sadness In Me’, and ‘Bloodsports’, which was released earlier this year and included eight new songs, such as ‘Nothing Can Stop Us’, ‘No Holding Back’, and ‘What Violet Says’. However, fans are still being left in anticipation as the band has not yet confirmed when the new album will be released, and ‘Antidepressants’ is yet to reach any streaming platforms. So far, there is very little information known about their new album apart from the fact that it is “much more experimental”, which Mat Osman, Suede’s bassist, told NME in 2022.

There is hope for more information and new music as the band embark on their co-headline UK and Ireland tour with the Manic Street Preachers. The two iconic 90s rock bands are travelling to Cardiff, Manchester, London, Leeds, Edinburgh, Margate, and Dublin, and you can find any remaining tickets for their tour here. Following the tour, Suede will then perform at Heritage Live on August 1st. This huge outdoor show in Essex will see performances from Suede, Johnny Marr from The Smiths, and Nadine Shah, you can find tickets here.

Since reforming after a performance for the Teenage Cancer Trust Foundation in 2010, after being broken up since 2003, the band have seen lots of popularity, as fans loved ‘Bloodsports’, their first album after reforming, and loved ‘Nightsports’ even more, which is unsurprising considering Bowie labelled them as a future “institution” that deserved recognition from the Royal Family.

The book is being released on June 28th via Long Moon Farther, and you can pre-order it here. The band are only releasing 200 copies of the book, and the first 100 will be a special signed copy.

Nicky Wire, a member of the band, took to social media and thanked Valerie Phillips who has found these images that had long been deemed lost, and has captured the “ragged glory of Manic Street Preachers and more importantly captured our little bit of history”.

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The time in which the photographs were taken, was when the band were rocketing through the charts and breaking through into mainstream music, and when they released their first album ‘Generation Terrorists’ that featured hit songs such as ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ and ‘You Love Us’.

Whilst being a rock band, that helped to define the sound of the 90s, the band are also extremely proud of their Welsh roots, and during the 1990s, they played a key part of the Welsh Cool Cymru cultural movement that helped to bring Welsh culture, such as the Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics and independent Welsh films to mainstream culture. The band were pioneers of this era for Welsh music, and made it just as iconic as Britpop. The Manics formed in 1986 in the Welsh town of Blackwood at school in 1986, and from there found immense success.

Phillips, the photographer for the new book, was with the band for an extended period of time, spanning over twenty months, and her photos were loved by the band, and by fans, with her images being used for their album cover of ‘Send Away The Tigers’ in 2007. Phillips told NME how she was “asked to get a train to a small town in Wales to take pictures of Manic Street Preachers” and how from there, their “starting-out all-consuming little worlds… collided”.

Over thirty years on, the band are still finding success and are soon to start their UK and Ireland tour, that begins on June 28th in Llangollen, in the band’s home country, and takes them across the UK, with performances in Cardiff, Manchester, and London and any remaining tickets can be found here. Later this year, the now three piece are performing at BBC Radio 2 in the Park in Preston, and you can find tickets here.

Despite giving birth to her daughter in the past few months, Waterhouse is not slowing down, and has also released a North America tour in support of her new album. Her tour begins shortly after the release of the album, and has support from Bully and Debbi Dawson.

The new mother and partner of Twilight actor Robert Pattinson, has noted the impact that motherhood has had on her and her music, particularly through her new single. ‘Supersad’ personifies Waterhouse’s exhaustion after caring for a newborn whilst simultaneously working on her career that has propelled in recent years, particularly after her song ‘Good Looking’ became popular on Tiktok.

So far this year, the 32 year old has been non-stop releasing singles, gaining her immense popularity and leading to a notable set at Coachella earlier this year, at which she sang the iconic Oasis song ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’. Her latest single, ‘Supersad’ has been a hit amongst fans, and joins ‘Faded’, ‘My Fun’, ‘OMG’ and ‘To Love’ on her new album.

On social media, Waterhouse has displayed her excitement alongside the album cover art, saying it “feels surreal to finally be able to bring this world to you that I’ve been living in for the past year”. The album cover holds an ethereal theme, and its name is inspired by the uniquely named cannabilistic spider, which is colloquially known as ‘sparklemuffin’, which Suki Waterhouse on Tiktok said she decided during a “manic episode” as it felt “hilarious, ridiculous, and wonderful”, which she told Subpop.

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When speaking to NME about her new album, Waterhouse said that she channelled her previous experience at V Festival in the early 2000s, saying “I really want to see her and know her again”, naming this album as part of her “bed rot era”.

Fans can pre-order her 18 track album here, and you can find tickets for her North America tour here. Alternatively, UK fans can watch Suki Waterhouse perform at All Points East Festival Sunday 18th August, where she is supporting Mitski. She will be accompanied by a whole host of performances from exciting artists such as Beabadoobee, Men I Trust, Ethel Cain, TV Girl and Sir Chloe. You can find tickets here and see the full lineup below.

 

 

 

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He is clearly very serious about this, and has created a new website dedicated to finding the perfect male artists to create his dream. Auditions are set to begin in Newcastle on the 4th July, and after that will move on to Liverpool, Dublin and London. Cowell has expressed his belief that “Every generation deserves a megastar boyband and I don’t think there has been one to have the success of One Direction in over 14 years.” leading to this desperate attempt to expand the British music industry and move away from the focus on solo artists, and instead embrace a boyband. This campaign carries a “high degree of risk” but Cowell believes that “nothing beats the fun of being in a group, touring the world and performing for thousands.”

However, even Cowell’s hope is limited, as he has also discussed the high probability of a successful solo career branching from this venture for a megastar boyband, and in his pitch noted the success of Harry Styles after the disbandment of One Direction.

Whilst Simon Cowell has a clear eye for success, proven through the omnipresence of One Direction, even after their split back in 2015, however his last few attempts have been less successful. His last X-factor winners, Rak-Su, had a short lived success after reaching number 2 in the UK charts with their debut single “I’m Feeling You”, but their fame quickly fizzled afterwards. Nonetheless, he has high hopes that on his trek around the UK he will find exactly what he’s looking for, and that Britain will soon be treated to another musical success.

The iconic Italian tenor will be joined by a range of performers, including none other than the infamous music producer Hans Zimmer, who is known for creating the loved filmscores of movies such as Dune, The Lion King and The Dark Knight. Zimmer is one of the three artists who will be joining Bocelli on stage for what is seeming to be an incredible performance. Alongside Zimmer, the R&B singer Seal will be appearing alongside Bocelli. The ‘Kiss from a Rose’ singer is known for his soulful voice and iconic hits from the 1990s and 2000s. Another huge artist performing with Bocelli is Zucchero, the Italian singer songwriter, known as the “father of the Italian blues”. However these are not the only three special appearances set to take place, as a further eight artists are schedule to appear with Bocelli including: Nadine Sierra, Isabel Leonard, Loren Allred, Andrea Griminelli, Russandra Panfili, Luca Micheletti, and Joaquina.

Supporting Bocelli throughout the day includes his own son Matteo Bocelli, who will be performing his own exclusive set. Additionally, Bocelli’s daughter, Virginia Bocelli, at only twelve years old, will be performing alongside her father at some point during his set.

Bocelli’s huge concert will mark the first time that BST Hyde Park have organised a classical performance as a headline for their legendary festival, and any remaining tickets can be found here.

The announcement of Bocelli’s support has left many attendees desperate and in anticipation for further notifications for the full support lineup of other artists, with support acts for singers such as Stevie Nicks and Kylie Minogue still left to be announced.

The three day festival, ‘Radio 2 in the park’, has been taking place since 2011, and each year creates quite a stir, with huge acts taking to the stage each year. Until 2023, it was held in London’s Hyde Park, however now takes place in a different location each year as part of the BBC’s Across the UK plan, with last year’s show taking place in Victoria Park in Leicester.

Recently, Zoe Ball announced the exciting weekend’s initial lineup on her show. So far, the organisers are catering for all audiences, with the main stage on the Saturday being graced by a performance of the iconic Sting, alongside performances from nostalgic artists such as: Sugababes, Snow Patrol, Kim Wilde, Travis, and Craig David.  The Sunday does not disappoint either, with Manic Street Preachers, Sister Sledge and Paul Heaton stirring up audiences. The performance from Sting on the Saturday is set to be like no other, as he takes his new dynamic trio to the stage to perform his own songs, alongside Police classics.

The people of Preston are also clearly excited for this event, with Chief Executive at Preston City Council, Adrian Phillips, telling the BBC, “We’re looking forward to welcoming thousands of people to Radio 2 in the Park, as well as our favourite presenters, who we love to listen to day in, day out. It promises to be the biggest live event Lancashire has seen in many years, and everyone can’t wait to enjoy what promises to be a fantastic weekend of live music in the city.”

Tickets will go on sale at 8:15am 4th June, with each festival day ticket sold separately, priced at £59, excluding ticket fees. Tickets for Radio 2’s pre-party, are priced at £30, also excluding ticket fees. All tickets can be accessed here.