The iconic duo dates back all the way to 2003, where they originally formed a friendship whilst studying in Manchester. The pair put the majority of their time and efforts into their music, with Will Kennard deciding to embrace his passion and drop out of university. Despite focusing the majority of his time and effort on creating music and expanding his passion alongside his musical partner, Saul Milton still managed to achieve his honors degree in English and Humanities.

Since then, the pair have now become prodigies of their musical fields, working with impressive names across the industry, such as Major Lazer, Craig David and SHY FX, as well as producing sounds for icons such as Rihanna, Rita Ora and Dizzie Rascal. Their impressive list of collaborations continues with their newest album release: What Came Before.

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The album is packed with versatile and groovy sounds, with features from celebrated names such as Popcaan, Pip Millett, Unknown T and more. In a recent interview, the duo delved into their collaborative choices for their latest album, and explained why each artist was chosen to be a part of the journey.

They state that Unknown T has “such a unique, brilliant voice” and go on to equate his vocal talents to the likes of an instrument itself. They go on to unpack how they decided to wield his voice as an instrument and fuse it into the song rather than just “peppering the beat with a song, and I think we did something pretty exciting with that”.  They further stated that their collaboration with Pip Millett was inevitable as soon as they heard her track, ‘Running’, featuring Ghetts for the first time. The singer, born and raised in Manchester, further enticed the duo for a collaboration due to their shared connection to the city. Chase and status explained that they spent 6 years of their young adult life there, growing as individuals as well as claiming Manchester as the birthplace of Chase and Status – It seems fitting that the duo decided to collaborate with a successful fellow Mancunian artist for their latest release.

The duo played their first live performance of the new album at the Parklife Festival in Manchester which took place on the 11th and 12th of June, 2022, and they are set to appear at various shows across the UK this summer and links to tickets can be found their official website.    

Parklife brought the energy! #Parklife @Parklifefest #chaseandstatus #whatcamebefore pic.twitter.com/Mu1d2JjJVx

— Chase & Status (@chaseandstatus) June 13, 2022

Pip Millett has already set the tone in 2022 with her first release of the year, “Ride With Me”, followed by her heartfelt single “Downright”, which explores the singers relationship with depression. She has recently announced that she will be collaborating with the iconic electronic duo Chase and Status on their new album What Came Before, set to release on June 10^th.

With the singer teasing that a debut album is in the works via a New Year’s Day post earlier this year, who knows what else she will put out for the rest of the year?

Excited to be a part of this amazing album https://t.co/0lp4Naz7i3

— Pip Millett (@PipMillett) May 17, 2022

Shortly after her mini European tour which ended on May 23rd, Pip Shocked her fans by announcing an official, 9-city European tour. UK fans were quick to dive into the comments section and began to question the singer about her next UK tour, with international fans flooding in with additional suggestions of where she should travel to next.

Fans were left waiting anxiously for almost two weeks before the singer gave any indication of a UK tour, before finally announcing an official UK tour on the 7^th of June, Via Instagram.

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A post shared by Pip Millett (@pipmillett)

With conversations surrounding the long awaited debut album gaining momentum and spreading rapidly, with Pip herself weighing in on the conversation, it positions the newly announced EU and UK tours in a perfectly aligned timeframe, where fans are extremely likely to experience new music from the singer – a whole albums worth potentially.

Tickets for the tour can be accessed through the official website. Fans can also sign up for presale access via the official website, which will start on June 9^th, 10am and general sale tickets will be up for grabs on the following day, June 10^th, at 10am.

In late October of 2021, Kasabian had finally broken their hiatus since their last album For Crying Out Loud, as well as the exit of Tom Meighan, announcing a new single on their official Instagram page. A cryptic loop-video, titled “NEW MUSIC… Available at 00:00 27.10.21″ was posted and kept fans eagerly waiting. Only a day later their single ‘ALYGATYR’ was released, giving new hope for Kasabian fans that the band was indeed back, and stronger than ever.

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After touring across 15 cities around the UK and a short well deserved break- it didn’t take Kasabian much time at all to start sending out more cryptic clues on social media for their fans to crack. On April 6th 2022, a short reel was posted on their main account (Click Here to watch) of 3 of the band members doing push-ups across a studio desk, with hacker-style typography streaming across the screen, paired with what seems like futuristic pipe organ sounds. Fans were quick to assume this meant that they were working on new music, with hopes of a new album.

A few days after the intriguing post, Kasabian announced a European tour, performing in Belgium, Germany (Cologne, Berlin and Munich), The Netherlands and France. Following this announcement, they released their new single ‘SCRIPTVRE’.

In early May, speculations of a new album were growing exponentially, with Kasabian keeping fans on their toes with more elaborative posts over on their social media accounts. A post titled “Destination Euphoria”, was the final piece preceding the penultimate announcement, which finally arrived on May 6th. The new album The Alchemists Euphoria, is due to arrive on August 5th, which you can pre-order here.

 

 

 

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  A post shared by Kasabian (@kasabianofficial)

If you thought Kasabian releasing two singles, an EU tour and a new album as their grand re-entry into the music world following their tumultuous time in 2020, you were highly mistaken. Their third single, ‘CHEMICALS’, is out now on Spotify and Apple music, and if you thought that was enough, on May 3rd, they announced a UK tour, taking place between October-November, just weeks after their EU tour comes to an end. You can see them perform in Manchester, London, Cardiff or Birmingham. Tickets will go on general sale on June 10th 9:30am on their official website, and you can access the pre-sale taking place on June 8th, 9:30am, if you pre-order the album.

A post shared by Kasabian (@kasabianofficial)

The band has kept under wraps since 2020 and withheld from releasing any new music since their fourth chart topping album, Notes on a Conditional Form. Just earlier today (June 1st), fans had begun to speculate upon the social media accounts of both the 1975’s main Instagram as well as their individual accounts, when they noticed a complete blackout of any previously existing content – teasing us with some kind of announcement, or maybe something as simple as an aesthetic change?

Shortly after the content blackout, the band announced that a new album is indeed on the way through their Instagram and Twitter accounts (as seen below), with fans pointing out that the album will be dropping next month on July 7th, from various posters popping up in the Shoreditch area in London. There are currently very few clues to decipher of what is expected to come, with eagle-eyed fans striving to draw up any information they can about the announcement.

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NEW MUSIC INCOMING pic.twitter.com/YzmUsIhi1O

— The 1975 (@The1975Updates) June 1, 2022

The Instagram post, titled “Your new album. Your new era. Your old friends. The 1975″ reveals that they are ready to re-emerge into a new era, teasing the possibility of a completely new style and approach to their music and aesthetic.

Fans on Twitter have additionally pointed out that singer Lorde has now started following lead singer Matty Healy on Instagram, giving new light to the possibility of a collaboration between the artists. With previous records of the artists highlighting that they share admiration for one another, with Lorde covering their hit song “Somebody Else” at various live shows, and Matty Healy naming Lorde as “one of his favorite artists“ in 2017, this speculation would not seem completely out of reach.

With the confirmed news of a new album, it further questions whether or not the band will receive their fifth chart topping album, ranking themselves alongside acclaimed artists such as Noel Gallagher and Ed Sheeran, with Ed Sheeran currently holding the title of having 5 albums reach number 1 on the official album charts.

In a short documentary-style clip released on her Instagram (which can be seen below), Miraa May reveals that this album would not have been made if it wasn’t for her pregnancy, framing motherhood as the heart of this album. She goes on to state that making music is a way of therapy for her and explains that some of the topics she has unveiled in her lyricism in the Tales of a Miracle, have been withheld from her therapist – potentially positioning the release as one of the most heartfelt, raw, and sincere of 2022 so far.

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In the short clip, Miraa May talks about the importance of creating an album with female only collaborations. With major features from acclaimed singers such as Jorja Smith, Mahalia, Stefflon Don and more, Miraa May also explores the topics of womanhood and female empowerment in Tales of a Miracle, as well as sparking up a conversation surrounding the lack of female led roles within the music industry.

She goes on to make an important and necessary declaration about the roles that women fulfil in the music industry stating that “people don’t accommodate to female artists” and further explains that indeed is an abundance of women working in the industry, but “we just float in the background, we just help and we aid you… everyone’s assistant is a female, yeah cool”. Thus affirming and voicing a need for immediate change within the industry, which we are yet to see.

Miraa May is set to perform in early July at the Wireless festival in London alongside many artists such as J. Cole, A$AP Rocky, Tyler, The Creator, Doja Cat, Bakar, Knucks, Sainte, Snoh AAlegra and many more, as well as performing at the Sundown Festival later in the year in September in Norwich.

Tickets for Wireless 

Tickets for Sundown 

The band responsible for an array of iconic rock songs, such as Can You Feel My Heart, Throne and Maybe, which features Machine Gun Kelly, have been propelled right in the centre of the modern rock world. They have achieved several nominations for various prestigious awards, such as their album Amo, which gained them a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album in 2019, following their previous nomination just two years earlier for NME’s Best live band. They have sold over four million albums to date, maintain an average of over 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and have performed in over 40 countries around the world, making them one of the most successful rock bands to surface out of the UK.

The band has made two major releases in 2022 so far, collaborating with Masked Wolf for their single Fallout, as well as Sigrid with Bad Life, which has accumulated almost 6 million streams on Spotify since its release in April earlier this year.

It seems Bring Me The Horizon are set to continue their stride of success through 2022, as they announced their headline tour in 17 different states on the 16th of May 2022, featuring 3 supporting acts, consisting of Siiickbrain, Grandson and Knocked Loose. The tour is set to start at the Louder than Life Festival in Louisville on September 22nd and will come to an end in late October in their final arena show in Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, and they will complete their last live performance in the USA in 2022, at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, which has already sold out.

aMeRicA 2o22 hEaDLiNe tOuR tiCKeTs oN saLE tHiS fRiDAy 10aM L0caL tImE https://t.co/4GVvzXyfJ7@kNoCKeDLoOSe @gRAnDsOn @SiiiCkbRAiN
dESiGn: @ImNoTveRYcHiLL pic.twitter.com/1VOJKnd6Ur

— Bring Me The Horizon (@bmthofficial) May 16, 2022

 

 

With Bring Me The Horizon teasing us with “about 45 new songs” in the works in a recent interview with NME, who’s to say they won’t release at least a few of those 45 records in the works, just before their headline tour in the USA in late September?

Tickets are set to release on May 20th and all information where you can purchase can be found direct on their website.

The Heart Part 5 is the fifth instalment of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘The Heart’ series, which started in 2010, which has now accumulated almost 23 million views on YouTube and over 14 million streams on Spotify since its release just days before he unveiled his album Mr Morale and The Big Steppers on May 13^th, 2022.

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers https://t.co/544YaTY8ys

— Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar) May 13, 2022

The 18-song album presents an individual and unexpected style in every song, with fans instantly taking to Twitter to unleash their thoughts and opinions. Certain songs have been acclaiming more attention than others, with Aunties Diaries being one of them. It anchors on his direct experience with transgender relatives, with conversations on social media both praising and criticising him for his lyricism within the song. The lyrics in Aunties Diaries includes Kendrick Lamar repeating the f-slur: “I said them F-Bombs, I ain’t know any better”, with some fans deeming this inappropriate and unnecessary, in order to have the ability to express the message he wanted to get across. On the other hand, fans have been praising the rapper for expressing his tumultuous journey from adolescence, to understanding the complexity of intersectionality and gender issues with direct links to his family members and the effect it had on them.

Kendrick Lamar dropped Auntie Diaries, a song about trans acceptance & intersectionality, while conservatives across the country are pushing a full on assault on all LGBTQIA+ people & their allies He didn’t have to do this – he’ll probably get shit for it – but he did Powerful. — conure (@conureCC) May 13, 2022

Hours after his album drop, a ‘tour’ button appeared on his website, Oklama.com, where it would take the user to a poster proclaiming “Oklama presents… The Big Steppers tour 2022″ with Baby Keem and Tanna Leone as support acts. The poster ends urging fans to “come help Mr Morale get out of the box”

The Big Steppers Tour https://t.co/LgMFiWPbWT pic.twitter.com/2txiUEwM5g — Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar) May 13, 2022

Kendrick Lamar is set to make his first live performances in June at the Milano Summer Festival and Glastonbury Festival, with the official tour starting in North America, with 38 dates total through July all the way to September. Kendrick will make his way to Europe in October 2022, and is set to make his first UK performance in Glasgow, on November 2nd, with 8 more performances following Glasgow. Tickets are set to release for presale on May 19th through Live Nation, and for general sale on May 20th. Set your reminders now to avoid missing out.

Millett has amassed just under a million monthly listeners on Spotify in just 4 years since her debut. She has been compared to the likes of Amy Winehouse, Lauryn Hill, and Billie Holiday, with her effortless soulful vocals and artistry, she continues to elevate todays RnB sounds with her contemporary and chilled take on the genre. Millett additionally sold out her first UK tour across 8 different venues around the UK shortly after its announcement, with many UK fans missing out on seeing her perform live.

Presenting soulful vocals and heartfelt lyricism in Downright, along with captivating cinematography that features throughout her music video, there is no question as to why Pip Millett continues to exponentially gain momentum in the RnB realm.

The music video for Downright follows a young girl who endures a turbulent time in her life. The combination of the lyrics, sound and cinematography of Downright create an emotive, multi-sensory portrayal of Pip Millet’s individual relationship and understanding of mental health. Millett shared a brief statement via social media, directly speaking about the meaning of Downright to her own experiences, shining light on, and further making an effort to de-stigmatise conversations surrounding mental health. Thus making a powerful statement for mental health awareness month, which takes place throughout the entire month of May. The end of the music video shows Millett herself laying on a leather chaise lounge, visually comparative to being in a therapists office at a session, and as she shares a look of sorrow into the distance, an array of mental health charities appear over the screen, encouraging her fans or anyone struggling with mental health to reach out, talk to someone, and get help.

Downright

Cc: @blackmindsmatt @blackmindsuk @MindCharity @LullabyTrust @theCALMzone pic.twitter.com/CPXN46U0em

— Pip Millett (@PipMillett) May 6, 2022

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The new release features various collaborations with established and uprising UK artists such as, Stormzy, Sainte, Youngs Teflon, SL, Shaé Universe, Ragz Originale, M1llionz and Lex Amor. The 13-track album follows the success of previously released hit singles that feature on the album; “Leon the Professional”, “Nice & Good”, “Alpha House”, “Hide & Seek” as well as previously beloved “Los Pollos Hermanos” released in March 2021.  

The rapper initially made his mark on the UK rap and Hip-Hop scene in 2016 with his debut single “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. Since then, Knucks has continued to rise amongst the most successful UK Rap and Hip-Hop artists, with GQ Magazine deeming him one of  “the most progressive British rappers of our time”. Besides his latest musical output of Alpha House, he has appeared on Kojey Radical’s new album Reason to Smile released on March 4th, 2022, and is set to headline at the Wireless festival in July 2022. His ability to imbue the traditional forms of Rap and Hip-Hop music making, alongside a piano and jazz infused melodic twang, sets his music apart from the rest of the current UK music scene. Fans have been eagerly waiting on the arrival of Alpha Place for weeks since the initial announcement on March 18th, and without a full 24 hours passing since its release, they have taken to Twitter to unpack their thoughts and opinions.

the Knucks album is everything you think it will be and more by the way — tiffany calver (@tiffanycalver) May 5, 2022

*manifests*

Knucks getting
Top 3 in the
UK Official Charts

— Mimi The Music Blogger (@mdaixo) May 5, 2022

 

It is no wonder that Knucks has established an extremely supportive and loyal fanbase over the last 6 years of his exponential career, that have so far, evidently been overwhelmingly stimulated and satisfied by the melodic craftsmanship and masterful lyricism of Alpha Place. It seems that the entirety of his UK fans will wait anxiously over the coming weeks to see if Alpha Place will indeed make the official UK charts.

Lamar announced his album, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, on April 18^th by replying to a tweet from a fan, which declared that Kendrick has officially retired.

https://t.co/YVE5bZOBL2 https://t.co/UywGGKExb1

— Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar) April 18, 2022

Since the iconic tweet, fans have been overwhelmed with the news, with endless conversations and memes being manufactured, surrounding the mysterious nature of Kendrick’s new album announcement.The website, Oklama.com takes anyone who clicks onto the link to a minimalist page, with files filled with cryptic information about what could be expected of the album, alongside an official release statement.

Kendrick’s fans have been quick to draw parallels to one of the files at Oklama to be reminiscent of Lamar’s childhood hero, Michael Jordan, and his iconic announcement of his return to the Chicago Bulls on March 18^th, 1995. Kendrick Lamar is known to masterfully craft art through his lyricism and through that, he manages to keep his fans engaged, even during his extended periods of musical silence. Lamar’s music ensures that even the most die-hard of fans and critics struggle to instantly decrypt and identify the meanings behind his lyrics. Therefore, does coinciding his announcement of his highly anticipated album to be on the same date as childhood hero Michael Jordan’s iconic return, give us an indication that this album will entail references to his love for the sport and basketballer, perhaps? Or maybe an insight into his childhood? Maybe this is a mere nod to beloved basketballer and nothing more – we all wait eagerly for May 13^th to find out.

Fans continued to attempt to decipher any clues of what is to be expected from the album, with the little information Kendrick and his label have released.  However, on May 3^rd, 15 days after the initial announcement, Kendrick silently released a picture on Oklama, without announcing this new file on the website on any of his social media accounts, holding two CD’s and a book, with the book titled Mr Morale and the Big Steppers, and the CD’s titled ‘Morale, master copy’ and the other ‘Steppers, master copy’ in marker pen.

See image below:

pic.twitter.com/drVtjTIEYs

— Elliott Wilson (@ElliottWilson) May 3, 2022

Fans have been speculating an album release since September 2021, where Lamar met with ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) and it has finally, officially been announced. However, in light of this new information added onto Oklama, the only source of factual information declared by Kendrick, can we expect his 5 year hiatus to end with a double album… alongside a book?

There’s no denying that this new teaser has us all anxiously waiting for another clue of what’s to come before the final release on May 13^th.