The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the more interesting bands in the US’s alternative rock scene throughout the 90’s. Forming in Chicago in 1988 and breaking through with 1993’s ‘Siamese Dream’, Corgan and co. set themselves apart from the pack of American grunge bands with their ambitious approach to songwriting and theatre with ‘Mellon Collie’ in 1995. A 28-track double-album with conceptual elements, diverse instrumentation and Corgan’s iconic nasal vocals, the album brought Smashing Pumpkins seven Grammy nominations. Five singles released from the album, including hits ‘Zero’, ‘Tonight, Tonight’, and ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ which won the Grammy in the Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal category.

Corgan, who wrote the majority of The Smashing Pumpkins’ music, gave ‘Mellon Collie’ a new lease of life in 2025 with its operatic reimagining. Working with Grammy-nominated conductor James Lowe, the music has been re-composed for the full 60-piece orchestra to back Corgan’s vocals. To give it its full title, the show ‘A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness Featuring Billy Corgan’ had a 7 show residency at Chicago’s Lyric Opera House last November.

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It was announced today that the show will be going international this September, starting with two nights at the Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre. From there, it goes to Belgium, France and Spain. Guest vocalists are arranged, with Ed Parks performing in London, Antwerp and Paris, while Madrid’s show has Sydney Mancasola, Zoie Reams, Dominick Valdes Chenes and Dean Murphy. The full list of shows is below.

September:
• 1 – Royal Festival Hall, London
• 2 – Royal Festival Hall, London
• 6 – Queen Elisabeth Hall, Antwerp (two shows)
• 8 – Salle Pleye, Paris
• 9 – Salle Pleye, Paris
• 11 – Palacio Vistalegre, Madrid

A press release describes the shows as looking to “re-imagine and pay homage to the era-defining album of the same name, whilst also expanding the definition and intention of opera”. Corgan, who is now also a popular podcaster and promotes his own wrestling company, posted on social media site X to say he was “so excited that this is finally announced! Thank you to all that have asked and are interested in attending. I guarantee you won’t be sorry if you do…”. He also took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the unique fusion of rock and opera in the concert, writing “opera and rock both tell stories of heightened emotions, and I am excited for both fans of my music and traditional opera fans to hear some truly inspired work; for the balance here is to honor both traditions in a magisterial way.”

Pre-sale tickets for the London shows go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday the 12th of May, at 10am, with general sale commencing at 10am on Thursday the 14th. A 30th anniversary reissue of ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’ released in January this year, with The Smashing Pumpkins also due to drop a 35th anniversary version of debut album ‘Gish’ on the 29th of May on Corgan’s web store.

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The last time the trio played the Brixton Academy was in May 2001, a two-night residency taking place shortly ahead of their second album, ‘Origin of Symmetry.’ Now, the band will take the stage two months ahead of the release of their tenth studio album, ‘The WOW! Transmission.’  The lead single, ‘Be With You’ is out now.

The band’s announcement of the night at Brixton Academy described the gig as a ‘live transmission,’ a phrase that is part of the interstellar concept their upcoming album sports. Described in a press release as taking its name from “one of the most compelling interstellar mysteries of the last century: a powerful 72-second radio burst detected in 1977 originating from the constellation Sagittarius with a bandwidth and intensity that suggested a possible extraterrestrial source. The astronomer who discovered the anomaly famously circled the now-iconic sequence 6EQUJ5 and wrote ‘WOW!’ on the printout beside it – giving the signal its name and cementing its place in scientific and pop-culture lore.”

The band used sci-fi theming in their recent teaser videos, which built up to the album’s announcement on Thursday 19 March. The announcement came in the form of a livestream of a tablet, launched around 33km in the air, flashing the words: “INCOMING TRANSMISSION. NEW ALBUM: ‘THE WOW! SIGNAL’ . 26.JUNE.2026. THE SINGLE ‘BE WITH YOU’ OUT NOW.” The video can be seen here, on the band’s Instagram.

The 10-track album is reported to cover “a mix of cosmic mystery, existential hope, and the exhilarating possibility of contact with something far greater than ourselves.” The 2025 single, ‘Unravelling’ will be included on the album. Released in June of last year, the track was produced by Bring Me the Horizon collaborator Dan Lancaster, who also joined Muse as a live member in 2022.

The latest single, ‘Be With You’ blends a powerful organ introduction with spacey synthesisers and classic chugging guitar riffs. One fan wrote on YouTube, “Muse doesn’t need a genre, they are the genre.” Genre-bending and boundary-pushing for the entirety of their over 30 year career, Muse shows no sign of falling in line with their tenth studio release.

Tickets for the Brixton Academy show go on sale 10 AM GMT next Friday, 27 March. With pre-sale taking place at the same time on Wednesday 25 March. Fans can access this by preordering ‘The WOW Signal!’ on the band’s official site. Registration for pre-sale closes at 11:59 AM GMT on Tuesday, 24 March.

The full track list of ‘The WOW! Signal’ 

1. The Dark Forest

2. Nightshift Superstar

3. Shimmering Scars

4. Cryogen

5. Be With You

6. Hexagons

7. The Sickness In You and I

8. Unravelling

9. Hush

10. Space Debris

Releases on 26 June 2026.

The Devon three-piece have been busy in the studio since last single ‘Unravelling’ released in 2025, which expanded on their experimental approach to rock music by introducing heavy metal and dark EDM sounds to the mix. Last week’s clip titled ‘Be With You’ was the first taste of new music, depicting frontman Matt Bellamy playing an organ and singing in a dark red church scene. The composition was a rousing, uplifting hymn, leading into a message with a mysterious string of characters that sleuths on the site Reddit identified as a reference to ‘The Wow! Signal’ incident. ‘The Wow! Signal’ was a 1977 event where an unusual radio frequency was detected in the US, and many considered this evidence of extra-terrestrial life.

The suspense built up until 5PM today when the timer they posted on their social media stories was set to elapse. It follows a campaign of cryptic flavour videos revolving around sci-fi themes of alien contact and mysteries in the night sky. 4 days ago a spoken word video captioned “The signs appeared quickly” was uploaded, and 2 days later unnerving video “A light which did not belong” was posted, before last night’s final “Then one night… the sky changed…” video.

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When the timer hit zero on their Youtube stream named ‘The Red Ascent’, the video opened with an aerial shot of a digital screen inscribed with “THE WOW! SIGNAL” being hoisted into the upper atmosphere on a balloon. The screen then displays the message “INCOMING TRANSMISSION. NEW ALBUM: ‘THE WOW! SIGNAL’ . 26.JUNE.2026. THE SINGLE ‘BE WITH YOU’ OUT NOW”

The feed then led into the premiere of ‘Be With You’ and its cinematic music video. After the organ introduction from the initial snippet, the song grows into a bright electronic pop-rock ballad, with luscious synthesiser swells, later adding crunchy guitar and bass riffs. Bellamy’s voice is incredible as ever, and his guitar solo closing the track off brings the piece together as another of Muse’s arena-rock classics, destined for the biggest of stages. The video retains the deep red hue of their previous media, and shows a story of two people who escape the problems of their life by having a paranormal experience together, under an ominous red moon.

‘The Wow! Signal’ releases on the 26th of June, with streaming pre-saving and physical pre-order links already up on Muse’s official website. With the band’s usual approach to announcing tours suddenly, you can expect a stadium run or festival appearances to be announced soon. The full track listing is as follows:

1. The Dark Forest
2. Nightshift Superstar
3. Shimmering Scars
4. Cryogen
5. Be With You
6. Hexagons
7. The Sickness In You & I
8. Unravelling
9. Hush
10. Space Debris

The record will follow on from the success of ‘Supernova’, the bands sophomore album released in 2022, featuring singles like ‘Choose Your Fighter’ and ‘Antagonist’.

The band have recorded the new album in Vermont, USA, with producer Rich Costey, who has worked on classic albums from My Chemical Romance, Muse, Foo Fighters and Deftones.

In a press release, Nova Twins members Amy Love and Georgia South shared some of the concepts behind their new album: “Parasites & Butterflies is about the bridge between chaos and beauty, embracing and accepting both sides. Supernova was about being superhuman in a time when we needed to be. With Parasites & Butterflies, we wanted to showcase something deeply human: how vulnerability can be as empowering as it is revealing in its honesty. By playing with opposites, light and shade, you can feel a contrast throughout the album. You’ll find songs that make you want to dance, cry, self-reflect, or even escape. Life is a constant balancing act, but the thrill of the unknown is what makes us feel truly alive.”

Alongside the announcement of ‘Parasites & Butterflies’, the band have dropped another song to be featured on the release, titled ‘Soprano’. The track blends alt-rock/metal elements with hip-hop production and pop hooks.

In the same press release, the two rockers gave some context to the track: “Soprano is a celebration of the power of women, especially when we unite. The industry often pits women against each other, and women’s voices are silenced worldwide. But we are still shouting from the rooftops! This song aims to empower, encourage connection, and promote friendship, spreading ‘boss energy’ and lifting each other up.”

The band have also announced a 2025 European and UK tour to accompany their new album. The tour will commence in September, starting out in the Netherlands. They will finish the tour in October with six dates in the UK, scheduling their final stop at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town. All tour dates can be found on the groups website, here.

Nova Twins have recently been confirmed to be playing at Glastonbury 2025, on a bill featuring some big names in rock and metal such as Deftones, Biffy Clyro, Weezer and Bob Vylan. You can see our writeup on the lineup so far here.

Moonlight Academy is a four-piece band featuring Ryan on vocals and rhythm guitar, Conor on lead guitar and backing vocals, Stef on bass, and Curtis on drums. They take inspiration from artists such as The Killers, Kings of Leon, Sam Fender, and Catfish and The Bottlemen.

The new EP, ‘Above The Sky’, explores themes of loss, love, and cherishing moments with those close to us. The band said: “[Above The Sky] means a huge amount, it was written about losing someone close to you but appreciating those who are still around. We really hope it connects with you…

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“It was actually one of the earliest Moonlight songs ever written while we were still figuring out the sound. Ryan had been listening to a lot of Britpop and this song was written by the sea in the south of France. There is a lot of reflecting in this song about love, life, and grief.”

 

 

 

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The EP includes earlier singles like ‘Unbroken’ and ‘Deeper’, which collectively offer a fuller understanding of the band’s sonic growth​. John Kennedy from Radio X said: “’Unbroken’ is an example of excellent songwriting that gets you on the dance floor jumping up and down.” The single ‘Golden‘ has the most Spotify streams so far with 8 377 listens. The EP consisting of four tracks is in line with the band’s alternative/classic-rock genre but the title track ‘Above The Sky‘ is verging on a more acoustic sound.

Thanks so so much for the kind words @JohnKennedy! We really love your show!pic.twitter.com/YTanZ0BUxv

— Moonlight Academy (@Moonlightacdmy) August 20, 2024

Moonlight Academy are only at the beginning of their journey but have already had success touring around the UK with more shows to be announced in 2025.

“We’ve got big plans to get around the country this year, equipped with many more songs recorded, locked and loaded and ready to go. We’re hoping these new songs cement our name as one of the most exciting emerging indie rock bands out there and gets us on some of your favourite festival stages in 2025.” The up-and-coming band said for Poseur magazine.

For more information about their upcoming events or merchandise, you can explore their Instagram and website.

The band spoke of the foreboding message of the song in a post on Instagram accompanying the song’s release, saying: “Deep Dark Waters is influenced by the writings of Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi. It contains a warning from history. Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.”

The band drums up a sense of foreboding in the tune, channelling elements of classic horror movie soundtracks and joins them together with singer Bobby Gillespie’s eerie, detached vocals. The single begins with a sparse arrangement, with distorted, reverberating pedal notes on the low end while shrill strings tremolos bring tension to the atmosphere. The soundscape slowly fills up with dissonant ornamentation from horn-like backing vocals and fluttering synths. You can hear the full track below.

Ahead of the release of the group’s 12th album Come Ahead on November 8, Primal Scream have already released the album’s lead single ‘Love Insurrection’, which is in many ways the opposite of ‘Deep Dark Waters’, being characterised by Stereogum as  a “utopian lead single, a funky, string-laden dance track.” The lead single does, however, allow peaks through to some dark undertones, with Gillespie seemingly exhorting the world for a “new direction”, showing that the lyrical themes and sound of the band’s latest material call back to their 200 album XTRMNTR, a politically charged, industrial rock statement.

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Formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Gillespie and Jim Beattie, Primal Scream have grown into veterans of the UK alternative rock scene. Initially part of the mid-1980s indie pop wave, the band soon evolved, embracing psychedelic and garage rock influences. Their breakthrough came with the 1991 album Screamadelica, a genre-defying work that fused rock, dance, and electronic music, earning them the first-ever Mercury Prize. The band’s line-up has seen changes over the years, with Gillespie remaining the constant driving force.

Come Ahead will be the band’s first studio output since 2016’s Chaosmosis, which, in a tone quite unlike the sneak-peaks we’ve got of Come Ahead, was described by Pitchfork as “keeping pace with 21st-century pop” and demonstrating Primal Scream’s “savvy for keeping themselves current.”

Of the band’s current darker, brooding sound and prophetic lyrical sentiments about world affairs on Come Ahead, Gillespie said in a press release: “I’m very excited about this album in a way that you would be making your first record. If there was an overall theme to Come Ahead it might be one of conflict, whether inner or outer. The title is a Glaswegian term. If someone threatens to fight you, you say, “come ahead!” It’s redolent of the indomitable spirit of the Glaswegian, and the album itself shares that aggressive attitude and confidence. They have a word for this up there, gallus. Come Ahead’s quite a cheeky title too.”

‘Writing Out A List Of All The Names Of God’ sees the band combine the heavy, punchy, distorted guitar and drum sound of IDLES with a vocal delivery reminiscent of that of Yard Act by singer Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe, albeit slightly more aggressive. The Jungle-inspired drumming along with the tortured commentary encapsulates the unique and exciting sound of the band well. The single was recorded in Beckview Studios in Scarborough with producer Rob Slater. According to a press release the lyrics of the track were in part inspired “by a desperate and hopeless desire to retain the memories you hold closest to you in your declining years.”

The Leeds group will be starting a new era as they have signed with Big Scary Monsters. This follows the release of their Debut album ‘Thoughtless Cruelty’ in 2022 among a number of EPs, the post-punk outfit will be hoping to go on the big things under their new label.

They have sold out a number of headline dates across the UK over the last couple of years and are set to take the stage at this year’s ArcTanGent festival in Bristol later this month. You can buy tickets for the festival here.

Speaking on their new track Vinehill-Cliffe said: “I think the recorded version might actually be the first time we successfully played the whole thing through.”

He continued: “It’s a diss track, in response to another diss track – noise rock as a genre needs more diss tracks, I feel (see The Jesus Lizard – Mouth Breather). It’s also loosely based on something I saw pinned up in my grandpa’s study one of the final times I visited before he moved to a nursing home, he had handwritten a list of different names used to refer to God, I guess because he had become so forgetful and this was something he specifically didn’t want to forget.”

The full list of Thank’s live shows for 2024 is below:

07/08 – ArcTanGent Festival – Bristol, UK
16/10 – New Cross Inn – London, UK
17/10 – Les Vieux de la Vieille – Reims, FR
18/10 – Waldmeister – Solingen, DE
19/10 – Magasin 4 – Brussels, BE
04/11 – Yes – Manchester, UK (w/Cherubs)

The front man, Noah Sebastian, announced on social media that he is suffering from “what can only be described as extreme burnout”, resulting in the need to take a break mentally from producing and touring. Unfortunately, this means cancelling their overseas shows, including one huge show that was due to take place with BABYMETAL in Toulouse, France and a performance at Download festival. Download festival have shown their support on social media, saying “All the love from the Download family”, however fans have quickly taken to their comment section asking who will be the replacement.

Whilst this may seem to be a disappointment for fans, Sebastian has ensured that there has been “heavy consideration” and that this decision is in the “best interest of my health and wellbeing, and of the long term sustainability for Bad Omens”, reassuring fans that the band will soon be back and better than before. He explained that whilst “the album cycle the last several years has been gratifying and rewarding”, it has also pushed him to “the limits” of his “mental bandwidth”, creating the need for this moratorium.

The alternative rock band are committing to their performances in the US later this summer at Inkcarceration festival, and are still exciting fans with the release of their newest album ‘CONCRETE JUNGLE (THE OST)’, that is being released May 31st, ensuring fans can still celebrate the band in some way.

Baroness will be touring with their 6th studio album Stone which they released in September 2023 but had been in the works since 2020 lockdown, they told Metalsucks. This is the band’s first album in four years, produced independently in an AirB&B on the mountain edge of Pennsylvania which the group converted into studio. The band’s choice to forgo the coloured codification of the 2023 album’s name signified to fans a subtle but declaritive divergence away from their previous sound. This tour will be the first time some fans have heard the group live since the album’s release.

Graveyard will be alongside the group promoting their new album 6 which also hit the shelves September of last year. On their Instagram @graveyardmusic, the band described the upcoming tour as ‘a journey of sonic explorations beyond the pale.’ urging that ‘Europe will never be the same!’ Writer and reviewer Essi Berelian from Louder Mazagine called the album ‘a masterclass in psychedelic light and shade'; this will be a show you don’t want to miss.

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You can listen to the lead single from 6, ‘Twice’ on Nuclear Blast Record’s youtube channel, below.

Pallbearer will supporting the groups on all non-festival dates with their fifth full length album Mind Burns Alive, which comes out on this Friday May 17th. Described on the Nuclear Blast Records website as ‘poetic and blistering… a meditation on isolation, trauma and mental breakdown,’ fans are speaking with fervour about the upcoming record as well as the band’s debut appearance in Dublin, Ireland after over 12 years of touring.

Baroness has gone through a myriad of line up changes since the group’s establishment in 2003 with the 4 original members having grown up together in Virginia. This tour will be the second that lead guitarist Gina Gleason has worked on since replacing Peter Adams in 2017. Of course we will see long term members Nick Jost and Sebastian Thompson on stage too along with John Baizley who has been a constant for Baroness since its formation.

The groups will be playing a cumulative 20 events across Europe and the UK including shows in Belfast and Glasgow. Baroness will also be playing a number of festivals throughout the summer including the 10th annual ArcTanGent in August which will take place at Fernhill Farm near Bristol.

For a comprehensive list of all the UK and European dates, see the poster below. Baroness are also offering VIP tickets for those that want an extra-special experience which includes a intimate three-song acoustic set before the official show as well as signed pieces of merchandise. Tickets go on sale on the 17th of May at 10am GMT and you can get them here.

Tour dates 2024 Baroness and Graveyard

This LP, announced back on November 29 with the release of the record’s lead single “Jamcod”, will be the band’s latest release since 2017 and will be followed swiftly by a UK and European tour, commencing with two dates at the Albert Hall in Manchester on March 22 and 23 respectively, and ending at Den Atelier in Luxembourg on April 25.

Listen to “Chemical Animal” below:

“People should expect a Jesus and Mary Chain record, and that’s certainly what Glasgow Eyes is,” Jim Reid said in a statement. “Our creative approach is remarkably the same as it was in 1984, just hit the studio and see what happens. We went in with a bunch of songs and let it take its course. There are no rules, you just do whatever it takes. And there’s a telepathy there—we are those weird not-quite twins that finish each other’s sentences.”

The Jesus And Mary Chain, founded in 1983 in East Kilbride by brothers Jim and William Reid, who are responsible for the majority of the songwriting, are the source of inspiration behind the band’s sound, and remain the group’s only ever-present members. The pair enlisted Douglas Hart on bass and Murray Dalglish on drums, who was soon replaced by Primal Scream’s Bobbie Gillespie, and released their debut single “Upside Down” in 1984, which was soon followed by their critically acclaimed debut album Psychocandy the following year, an LP that firmly established the group’s popularity in the up-and-coming UK shoegaze scene and brought with it the much-loved fan favourite “Just Like Honey“.

Watch the music video for “Just Like Honey” below:

Their second album, Darklands, proved to be the band’s most successful, reaching number five on the UK Albums Chart. Four more albums followed before The Jesus And Mary Chain disbanded in 1999, with both brothers starting different, yet ultimately unsuccessful, music projects. The band then reunited in 2007 and released their first material in ten years with the single “All Things Must Pass,” before releasing their seventh studio album, Damage And Joy, in 2017.

The current line-up consists of the Reid brothers, of course, along with bassist Mark Crozer, guitarist Scott Von Ryper and drummer Justin Welch.

See below for upcoming The Jesus And Mary Chain tour dates:

22/03/2024 – Albert Hall – Manchester
23/03- Albert Hall – Manchester
25/03 – 3Olympia – Dublin
26/03 – Limelight 1 – Belfast
27/03 – Usher Hall – Edinburgh
29/03 – Roundhouse – London
30/03 – Roundhouse – London
02/04 – Amager Bio – Copenhagen
03/04 – Pustervik – Gothenburg
05/04 – Rockefeller – Oslo
06/04 – Munich Brewery – Stockholm
07/04 – Plan B. – Malmo
09/04 – Markthalle – Hamburg
11/04 – Huxleys – Berlin
12/04 – Live Music Hall – Cologne
13/04 – Elysée Montmartre – Paris
15/04 – L’Usine – Geneva
16/04 – Salzhaus – Winterthur
17/04 – Alcatraz – Milan
19/04 – Donaufestival – Krems
20/04 – Halle O2 – Heidelberg
21/04 – Roadburn Festival – Tilburg
23/04 – AB – Brussels
24/04 – Paard – Den Haag
25/04 – Den Atelier – Luxembourg

Tickets for these shows are available to purchase here.