Our NEW EP is out today!! “Home Soon” everybody!! AND with it a new single Gamma Rays!! Give it a listen or ten and let us know what’s your fave!! Big love, cassia x

➡️ https://t.co/dmXOGdRVEZ pic.twitter.com/dLHFgD5l3Y

— Cassia (@wearecassia) February 9, 2024

Cassia is composed of vocalist Rob Ellis, bassist Lou Cotterill, and drummer Jacob Leff. Collectively, the group have cited World Music as a shared inspiration, with frontman Ellis saying: “Speaking personally I think the thing that interests me the most is the unpredictability of the music. It’s cool knowing that there’s an endless vat of unexplored approaches ideas out there to take influence from.” Having spent part of his childhood in Zambia, lead singer Ellis was exposed to West African music and has brought this mastery into Cassia’s sound. Their Home Soon… EP was constructed all over the world, taking influence from every corner of the globe. The band commented on their recent writing style, claiming: “we felt that gave us a new lease of life creatively.”

Moreover, when asked about the EP in general, the band said: “Summed up the EP is based around life cycles. I feel that l always struggle to cope with chapters drawing to a natural close because it forces me to change what is comfortable, it is just a natural response of mine and so these songs act as an outlet for me, some tracks reminded me of the positive outcomes that come off the back of change, whilst some songs were jotted down during a painful switch of reality.”

In honour of the release of their new EP, Cassia will be performing a one off intimate show in London this March. For more information and tickets, click here.

We have a NEW EP dropping 9th Feb!It’s called ‘Home Soon’ and you can now preorder it on vinyl as well as new merch! we’re also doing a one off intimate show in LONDON!! General sale is Monday but you can grab one early with a vinyl + ticket bundle

➡️ https://t.co/e97u4bet1H pic.twitter.com/RwIQqi4REO

— Cassia (@wearecassia) November 10, 2023

Tour dates:

04/03/2024 – Omeara – London
14/03 – Flux FM Bergfest – Berlin
04/11 – New Century – Manchester
05/11 – HERE At Outernet – London
06/11 – HERE At Outernet – London

The advert, as well as two posters that featured Kendall Jenner for the same brand, received complaints that the imagery was “offensive and irresponsible, because they objectified women; and” was “inappropriate for display in an untargeted medium.”  Whilst the ASA concluded that the posters featuring Kendall Jenner were found to be within regulatory standards since she is covered to a degree that the ASA considers “no more than mildly sexual”, the ASA deemed the poster featuring FKA Twigs to be “overtly sexual and… not suitable for display in an untargeted medium.”

The key contention held by the ASA is that Barnett’s poster relies upon nudity to draw the viewer’s attention instead of the advertised clothing. In this regard, the ASA ruled that the poster “used nudity and centred on FKA Twig’s physical features rather than the clothing, to the extent that it presented her as a stereotypical sexual object”.

Despite a response from Calvin Klein that argued that the “Images were not vulgar and were of two confident and empowered women who had chosen to identify with the Calvin Klein brand”, the ASA ruled that the advertisement “must not appear again in the form complained of”.

In response to the ASA, FKA Twigs took to Instagram to say: “I do not see the ‘stereotypical sexual object’ that they have labelled me.” She added “in light of reviewing other campaigns past and current of this nature, I can’t help but feel there are some double standards here.” What makes this ruling especially contentious, to many online, is the use of male models in equally suggestive marketing, receiving no criticism.

Although the ASA may have a technical case for pulling the FKA Twigs poster, it is hard to ignore that the singer openly endorses the poster and feels that she was able to “express myself exactly how I wanted to”. FKA Twigs cited women of colour like “Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt and Grace Jones” who pushed boundaries in art and performance as inspiration for her work. Within this context, FKA Twigs’ feature has been deemed by many online to be entirely uncontroversial, with American indie-rock artists Mattiel commenting: “I see discipline in this photo. Many many years of discipline and thoughtful caretaking of the self.” 

Following analysis by the Official Charts Company – whose data additionally revealed that more than one billion of the singer-songwriter’s streams had been garnered in the last 12 months – Sheeran was presented with the prestigious award by Rizzle Kicks member Jordan Stephens on behalf of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

The Suffolk superstar, who claimed his trophy in a record store, was quick to express gratitude to fans in an Instagram video, saying: “Thank you so much for all the streams. It’s a pleasure, I love being British.”

Later on, he added in a statement: “It’s wonderful to receive the first-ever BRIT Billion Award in the UK for 10 billion streams. I want say a big thank you to my fans. None of this is possible without you guys.”

Meanwhile, BPI Chief Executive Dr. Jo Twist applauded the singer for his new milestone:

“We congratulate Ed Sheeran and his team on this landmark achievement. Ed may represent the pinnacle of streaming success, but he is also among the thousands of artists who are being streamed in the tens and hundreds of millions in the UK each year and who are thriving thanks to streaming and label support. We look forward to honouring many more artists, including future talent, with a BRIT Billion award.”

Sheeran, who in June was named the UK’s most-played artist for the sixth time in eight years, has dominated the charts throughout most of his career – with all six of his studio albums peaking at number one. The seven-time Brit Award winner has made Official Charts history countless times, breaking records including becoming the first British solo artist to claim a full year at No.1.

Listen to Ed Sheeran’s most recent number one single, “Eyes Closed“, below:

He currently holds three of the 10 most-streamed songs of all time with “Shape Of You” in second place, “Perfect” at number three and “Bad Habits” claiming the ninth spot. As the recipient of the Gold BRIT Billion Award, Sheeran joins an exclusive club of similarly high-achieving acts including ABBA, Whitney Houston and most recently, Billie Eilish.

Last week, the songwriter released his latest studio effort, Autumn Variations, his second record this year following May’s chart-topping release Subtract. 

Listen to Autumn Variations here.

She said: “Seventeen to me is a child. You’re in school. You have no autonomy most of the time. If a schoolteacher is coming onto you, that’s an abuse of power. But I didn’t realize until I was his age.”  

Rina, who admitted to attending sex and relationship therapy in her thirties, said that these experiences influenced the track “Your Age” from her 2022 album, Hold The Girl.  

Listen to “Your Age”, below.

She continued: “I remember distinctly how uncomfortable that made me, but I didn’t put the two and two together. And it was through this very intense form of therapy, which I feel so lucky to be able to have access to, that I was able to come to terms with that, and it completely broke my whole world apart.”  

The singer, who was nominated for best new artist at the 2023 Brit Awards, added that whilst writing the album was one of the most difficult things, the reception has been incredible. She said: “It makes me so happy when I see especially like women or femmes in the audience connecting to it because I haven’t talked about this in specifics. I’ve just said it’s about a period in my life when I was younger, but I know the truth and when I look out to the audience, and I see femmes or women connecting to it, I’m like maybe you know what I’m talking about, maybe you’re feeling it right now.”  

Whilst Rina does not have a direction for her third album, she is ready to close this chapter. “I would love a day where I can just write a song that’s just about love or sex”, the popstar added.  

Hold The Girl is the sophomore album by British popstar Rina Sawayama. The album, which follows up from her self-titled record, includes hits such as “This Hell”, “Catch Me in the Air”, and “Hold The Girl.” The 2022 album achieved great commercial success and debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Across the pond, the record debuted at number 166 on the US Billboard 200.  

The 2022 album received positive responses from critics, in which Hannah Mylrea from NME called it “The best British pop album of the year.”  

At the end of the interview Healy says “Do me a favour – stop messing around, that’s my public service announcement for today […] And you can leave that in, that’s what Oasis needs to hear”. This statement surfaced after the singer was queried about what he was most proud of in the band. His response was a passionate earnesty, expressing his appreciation toward the relationship between the band members and the, so called, “unwritten rules” amongst them. The unspoken support they have for each other, as well as an acknowledgement of who they are as well as how each individual operates. Especially “as men”, working in such a reckless environment, crowded with high egos, power, money, etc. “I’m proud of us as men” he states, “Because we’ve mediated tensions by being very tactile, very open and very silly”. 

Following the latter, he uses Oasis as an example to prove such point. He can’t fathom being in the “coolest band in the world, still to this day” and throwing it all away over a fall out with your sibling. He points out their immature behaviour; “I can deal with them dressing like they’re in their 20’s, but not acting like they’re in their 20’s“, and the tragic fact that, a band with some of the best albums of all time, are not getting back together because of an insignificant disagreement.

Oasis officially split up in 2009 after cancelling a headline show at Rock en Seine Festival. Many insights, sources and rumours claim a selection of different causes for the break up, all concluding to a general disagreement between the two Gallaghers. Liam claimed in a Jonathan Ross interview that he was too “rock and roll” but would be happy to make amendments with his brother. Not too dissimilar to Liam’s statement, Noel retreated the separation to a downward spiral of his brothers reckless attitude toward the job. However, even though he’s made it clear throughout the years, there being no point in rekindling the band, he admitted he could “never say never” in an interview with BBC Radio Manchester this January.

Maybe a miracle could give light to the two brothers and offer, not only the desperate fans, but themselves an opportunity to not leave the band in such a sour halt. Matty Healy’s words have been accounted for and the public couldn’t agree more.

Click here for The 1975 tour tickets.

The 1975 UK Tour Dates:

09/07/2023 – TRNSMT Festival – Glasgow

Nao continued to explain Antidote by stating that the song is a perfect description of how I feel about my daughter. Love usually feels like a concept, sometimes invisible, but with her it’s so tangible because she’s right there. I’m so obsessed with her that if she wasn’t around me, I wouldn’t be OK, I guess that’s what antidote is, a cure, a loving cure to the things that ail me. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nao (@this_nao)

Nao’s most recent record was released in 2018 called Saturn. She released two singles before the album was dropped which had some success in the UK and US, the singles were called Another Lifetime and Make It Out Alive. Saturn was nominated for Album of the Year in 2019 for the Mercury Prize and recently received the nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020.

Nao has also experienced previous success through collaborations with other artists, including the American 6lack and more recently with Lianne La Havas on the track Woman, now Adekunle has been added. In 2015 when she was first beginning her musical career she was featured on Disclosure’s album, Caracal which went #1 the year it was released.

She was also one of the co-writers on Stormzy’s first studio breakout album Gang Signs and Prayer, skyrocketed her to acclaim in the R&B/ Hip Hop universe.She went on to receive Brit Award nominations and many other critically acclaimed honours in the years before her second studio release. In 2019 NAO went on tour in the UK and US briefly to promote her album Saturn and newest collaborative singles.