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  The band, formed in 2012 by Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent in Tunbridge Wells, Kent have produced two EPs and three studio albums with their 2015 ‘Are you satisfied’ reaching number 8 in the UK Albums Chart. After their chart success and strong presence in the British punk scene, the band released their 2024 album ‘Heavy Jelly’ which they toured that year, featuring the song ‘John Wick’ inspired by the 2014 action thriller film series starring Keanu Reeves. The song is said to be written from the perspective of Reeves’ character, with references to the film in lyrics ‘you killed my fucking dog’ and the playful punk hook ‘I’m John Wick bitch’.  The plucky rock duo took to Instagram to request Reeves to feature on the track playing bass for their performance this year at Coachella. This daring performance is unsurprising of the band with how they have redefined live performance, making fun, bold experiences for fans. In their latest performance in Utah, the band proved their down to earth nature with crowd participation which they posted onto Instagram.  

 

 

 

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This nature has strong importance to the band as shown by the political content in their discography with songs like ‘Punk’s dead’ and ‘Act violently’ sharing their anger and frustrations at the world. They discussed in an interview with Louder their thoughts on releasing such songs, stating “We’re not gonna be the band that leads your protest march. What we can do is sing about relatable things.”.

Soft Play have released their new album ‘Heavier Jelly’ today on 18 April– an extended project of the previous album ‘Heavy Jelly’. The album has created a lot of buzz with fans, especially with their song ‘Slushy- feat. Kate Nash’ which had been released previously to full album release. 

The band have shown their process of creating the album with snippets on Instagram, discussing how the song ‘Slushy’ came to be and the involvement of pop icon Kate Nash– singer of the chart topping track ‘Foundations’. 

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The punk duo’s involvement in Coachella will surely be showstopping and fans await eagerly to see the response of Keanu Reeves. To their dismay, the band have not yet heard a response from the actor, but posted a temporary post asking playfully for anyone with a similar appearance to come to the performance instead.

The rising British star, singing on the Mojave stage, gave a charismatic, clean performance, even after telling the audience of her sudden sickness. She told the Coachella crowd “I’m either going to faint or throw up, one of the two is about to happen.” Trying to muster up some moral support, she told the crowd “Guys, tell me I’ve got this,” to a supportive cheer from her fans.

@eyearewoke She’s so real #lolayoung #coachella ♬ Messy – Lola Young

Giving her full honesty, she later said “I feel a bit sick, so if I do throw up, I apologise, please don’t post it on the interweb.” Other clips show the ‘Messy’ singer tapping her throat, drinking water and slightly gagging. Young’s set mainly consisted of tracks from her 2024 album ‘This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway’, but it also included two new songs – an unnamed tune that she announced would be her next single, and another one called ‘Spiders’, which can be heard below.

@michaeldrisko Lola Young is an icon!!!! #lola #lolayoung #coachella #spider @lolayounggg #coachellaweekend1 #coachellaweekend ♬ original sound – Michael Drisko

Her set was highly praised by those who watched it, both in person and at home. She was noted by Rolling Stone as one of the artists who “stole the show” on the first day of Coachella. The Desert Sun also gave kind words to her performance, highlighting the “ferocious pipes” she showed and the “good-natured affect she brought to a show she said she was struggling to get through.”

In the run-up towards her set at Coachella 2025, she spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about her excitement for the festival. “I’m just excited to be there. I’ve never been to Coachella. I wanna experience it, soak in the sun, soak in the people, the other artists. I’m not as excited for myself because I’m just nervous about it, but I’m excited to see everyone else and watch everyone be together.”

@poopculturestan @Charli XCX, @BILLIE EILISH – Guess (Live from Coachella 2025) | #charlixcx #billieeilish #coachella #brat #guess #concert #live ♬ Guess featuring billie eilish – Charli xcx & Billie Eilish

More British pop talent shone through on Saturday’s bill too, with Charli XCX providing an energetic set which featured several special guests, including Troye Sivan, Lorde and Billie Eilish.

Both Lola Young and Charli are set to return on weekend two of Coachella, taking place this weekend on April 18-20. All event details and its lineup schedule can be found here.

The singer of the Bristol band took to the Gobi Stage at Coachella for her first performance at the festival since Portishead’s show in 2008.

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Coming off the back of her critically acclaimed debut solo album, ‘Lives Outgrown’, Gibbons 10-song performance consisted of mostly tracks from that EP, with ‘Glory Box’ and her 2002 collaboration with Rustin Man, ‘Tom The Model’, being the outliers. 

Check out the full setlist below: 

‘Tell Me Who You Are Today’

‘Burden Of Life’

‘Floating On A Moment’

‘Rewind’

‘For Sale’

‘Lost Changes’

‘Tom The Model’

‘Beyond The Sun’

‘Glory Box’

‘Reaching Out’

Gibbons has recently been touring North America to showcase her debut solo EP, which was last year nominated for the Mercury Prize along with the likes of Charli XCX, Nia Archives and English Teacher.

Although Gibbons couldn’t replicate Portishead, after they won the Mercury Prize in 1994 with their debut album ‘Dummy’, just being nominated must’ve been a moment of reflection and full circle with her debut solo album being nominated for the same esteemed award that she won over 30 years ago.

After finishing up at Coachella next weekend, Gibbons will head back to Europe to continue touring her album, including a show at the Roundhouse in London. Tickets for this gig and all her other upcoming shows can be found here.

The Roundhouse show will be one of only two performances in the UK this year for Gibbons, with the other coming on the same weekend at Glastonbury 2025. It will mark Gibbons’ fifth performance at Glasto’, following on from her solo slot on the Acoustic Stage in 2003 and Portishead’s three gigs in 1995, 1998 and 2013.

Glastonbury-goers will be hoping for a similar performance to what the ‘Sour Times’ singer gave to Coachella this weekend. The comments on this ‘Stereogum’ article show just how excited fans are by this upcoming era for Gibbons. 

User ‘beyondless’ said: “My Boyfriend and I were at the Denver show… she did Roads and Glory Box for the encore and I don’t know if I’ve ever heard and participated in such a long standing ovation for any artist I’ve seen previously! Her voice still sounds fantastic and it was a once in a lifetime show. She is truly incredible!”

Gibbons debut album earned a four-star NME review and was named as the 26th Best Album of 2024 in their list. 

Speaking in the review, NME writer Huw Baines said: “She cannily foregrounds the weather-beaten gravitas of her vocal at each turn, its familiarity holding us tight so that, in parallel, she can undercut that feeling of safety by continually pointing out the grains of sand falling into the wrong half of the hourglass.”

Gibbons will perform at the second weekend of Coachella next Saturday where you can catch the live stream on their YouTube. Tickets for her Roundhouse show in June are still available here.

@sophiestgeo WE’RE SO BACK #troyesivan #charlixcx #talktalk #coachella #sweat #fyp @Troye Sivan @Charli XCX ♬ original sound – soph

  From here, XCX brought on a number of acts including Billie Eilish for a remix of their collaborated single ‘Guess’ which recently won Song of The Year at the Brit Awards. Additionally, the single was noted as top song in mxdwn uk’s 2024 roundup. Eilish posted a recording of the performance onto X.   

Billie and @charli_xcx performing “Guess” at Coachella 2025 pic.twitter.com/i5fHkymD7m — billie eilish (@billieeilish) April 13, 2025

Next came a widely anticipated guest feature from fellow alt-pop singer Lorde who was introduced in a killer strut alongside XCX. Fans went crazy for the pair’s iconic dynamic and unforgettable stage presence. 

@danilyonsmusic Nah but the catwalk strut together is iconic @Charli XCX @Lorde @coachella #coachella #coachella2025 #couchella #charlixcx #lorde #girlsoconfusing #live #fyp ♬ original sound – Dani Lyons Music (News)

The two went on to perform a rendition of ‘Girl So Confusing’ together. With the two singer’s legendary status in the alt-pop space, the song’s navigation of relationships between women was a refreshingly real and vulnerable exploration which struck a chord with fans of both artists. The song has achieved one of the highest streams on Spotify from XCX’s collaboration album ‘Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat’ with the song reaching over 130 million listens. After the release of the original ‘brat’ album, the project debuted at number two in UK charts, however the release of her remixed collaboration album pushed it to number one.  After the performance of ‘Girl So Confusing’, XCX proclaimed an oncoming ‘Lorde Summer 2025’, sharing her excitement for the singer’s upcoming releases since her last album ‘Solar Power’ in 2021. Lorde has teased these upcoming tracks on TikTok, with a spirited moody snippet of an unreleased song.     

@lorde

♬ WWT – Lorde
XCX has been making continuous waves in the alt-pop scene, with the tease of a self-starring mockumentary ‘The Moment’, as well as a ‘Party girl Festival’ set to take place in London’s Victoria Park on 14 June and her upcoming self curated LIDO festival this summer

 

 

 

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After this spectacular collaborated festival performance, the singer thanked the audience and the event on Instagram, and fans await what will come next.

The 23rd instalment of the festival will run across two consecutive weekends as it returns to the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, California, on April 12-14 and April 19-21. Those seeking full weekend entry will be able to purchase three-day passes this Friday at 11am PT as part of Coachella’s pre-sale.

The Last Dinner Party were first formed in Hackney, London, in 2021 after their friendship circles collided during fresher’s week at university. Known for their Antoinette-style corsets, white Renaissance gowns and tumultuous lyrics, the group appear to have grown a loyal, underground fanbase overnight.

Seemingly the lovechild of Bram Stoker and Angela Carter, Abigail Morris is their unflinching lead vocalist, accompanied by the brilliant Georgia Davies (bass), Lizzie Mayland (guitar), Aurora Nishevci (keys), and Emily Roberts (lead guitar).

Snapped up by Island Records in 2022, the band went on to release their debut single ‘Nothing Matters’ in April of last year, followed by a second single ‘Sinner’ in June, and ‘My Lady of Mercy’ last October, all of which were produced by James Ford, known for his work with The Last Shadow Puppets, Arctic Monkeys, Blur and Gorillaz.

Despite such a slender discography, the band have expertly woven a coded folklore of feminist magic realism that has deeply resonated with their fans, offering up an irresistible concoction of sex, revenge and religion at its core.

The quintet is set to take the stage on Saturday 13 and Saturday 20; however, this isn’t their first rodeo across the Atlantic. The group are expected to attract an eclectic crowd of music lovers following their first North American tour last autumn, alongside an impressive string of shows with Irish folk singer Hozier, and a bucket list of support act positions previously secured with Florence + The Machine, The Rolling Stones and none other than Lana herself.

The band took to Instagram to make the announcement, while also hinting at future shows in the U.S. later this year.

From writhing theatrics on sticky pub floors to signing with one of the world’s most iconic record labels, it appears The Last Dinner Party won’t be the only British rising talent making a name for themselves across the pond this spring. They’ll be joined by the likes of Mercury Prize runner-up Olivia Dean, The Japanese House and electronic music project Jungle.

The festival also will feature a long-awaited reunion of Gwen Stefani-fronted No Doubt, as well as major performances by Blur, Deftones and breakout rapper Ice Spice.

Crowned as BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2024 and Brit Award Rising Star winners at the end of last year, they are proving to go from strength to strength, riding a goldrush of critical acclaim from every corner of the industry.

In the face of all of the airbrushed glamour and looming controversies from the festival over the past two years, we can’t wait to see what The Last Dinner Party have up their sleeve.

“Followed by the thirst…”

Europe / United Kingdom 2024. Tickets on sale
Monday at 11am GMT / 12pm CET at https://t.co/JMn594oAoc pic.twitter.com/NZ5dW6WDVj

— Knocked Loose (@knockedloose) December 8, 2023

Back in June, the five-piece released two singles from their double-single EP Upon Loss, produced by Drew Fulk (also known as WZRD BLD). Upon Loss marks the band’s first new release since their 2021 EP, A Tear In The Fabric Of Life. You can listen to the singles “Deep In The Willow” and “Everything Is Quiet Now” below.

Knocked Loose frontman Bryan Garris caught up with NME earlier this year at Reading and Leeds Festival, where the singer shared his thoughts and feelings about his band going viral at California’s famous annual festival Coachella. Garris said: “It was awesome, we didn’t know what to expect going into that. We were very excited for it but definitely had the feeling that it could have not gone well. But we were just excited to be there and excited to say that we did it.

“Then on top of that, it went so well and it’s been an exciting thing for us — we’ll still be riding off that excitement for the rest of the year. We’re very very fortunate that we were able to be a part of that.”

The 30-year-old also hinted that there may be some new music coming our way, as he teased: “I can’t give too much away, but we are working, we are working very hard — That’s all I can say. Whatever comes next will be heavy.”

Tickets for Knocked Loose’s 2024 UK and European tour are on sale now. You can purchase your tickets for next year’s shows here.

Tour dates:

15/02/2024 – Elysee Montmartre – Paris
16/02 – Patronat – Haarlem
18/02 – Kamienna12 – Krakow
19/02 – Lucerna Music Bar – Prague
20/02 – Simm City – Vienna
22/02 – Live club – Milan
23/02 – Dynamo – Zurich
25/02 – Batschkapp – Frankfurt
26/02 – Live Music Hall – Cologne
27/02 – Grosse Freiheit 36 – Hamburg
28/02 – Huxxleys – Berlin
29/02 – Conne Island – Leipzig
02/03 – Trix – Antwerp
04/03 – O2 Institute – Birmingham
05/03 – SWG3 – Glasgow
06/03 – O2 Ritz – Manchester
07/03 – SWX – Bristol
09/03 – Project House – Leeds
10/03 – O2 Forum – London

it is the most beautiful album of 2023

— Four Tet (@FourTet) May 2, 2023

The duo kept the LP under wraps until yesterday (3^rd May) when electronic musician Four Tet comically revealed on Instagram with a faraway image of a post-it note that the album, Secret Life, would be released on his label Text Records. According to Kieran Hebden (aka Four Tet) “it is the most beautiful album of 2023”. The album will be available on physical release as CDs and vinyl as Fred showcased on his Instagram.

The musicians revealed on social media that “for the last couple of weeks” a radio station called secretlife.fm has been playing “different versions” of the album at 10 pm BST each evening. The 11-track final and main version of the ambient album debuted on NTS Radio last night (3^rd May).

Fred Again.. took to Instagram to express his excitement over the project and his love for Eno writing: “I absolutely love Brian. So much. Ive been so lucky to have him as my friend and mentor since I was 16. And the older I get the more I appreciate how rare and wonderful his mind is.” He continued to say: “Making this was I think the most therapeutic experience ive had in music. ill explain a bit more why when I understand it a bit better I think?”.

In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Eno reciprocated Fred’s praises saying, “I think of Fred as my mentor as well in that I Iearned so much about contemporary music from watching him work. When I first worked with Fred I could see he was brilliant. It was very clear he’s a very sensitive and good artist. But I didn’t really understand what he was doing. It took me quite a while to think, ‘Oh my gosh, this is really a new idea about how you can make music.’”

Watch the full interview below:

Both artists dropped records in October last year, Fred Again.. releasing the future garage album Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022) and Brian Eno releasing the ambient pop album FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE.

Fred Again.., Four Tet, and Skrillex teamed up to close out Coachella weekend two last month replacing Frank Ocean as headliners. Ocean cancelled his performance after sustaining injuries in his left leg.

Commencing the tour in mid-July, Mac will play in LA (his first tour show since 2022) before playing three consecutive dates at Webster Hall in New York. He will then travel to Paris to play at Cabaret Sauvage for three shows and end the tour with a three-date residency at Hackney Empire, London.

Sharing the announcement on his Facebook Mac wrote that the tour “Should be nice, should be different, hopefully, it will be special. Hope to see you there”.

Mac dropped his fifth studio album Five Easy Hot Dogs on the 20^th January. Though, unlike his previous albums, it’s comprised of instrumental numbers Mac’s laidback and mellow signature style is still present. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

In true chilled-out drifter attitude, Mac had no set plan when recording the record instead taking inspiration from his time on the road. “The plan was to start driving north, and not go home to Los Angeles until I was done with a record,” said Mac in a press release. “Kind of like being on tour, except there weren’t any shows, and I’d just be burning money.”

He expanded to say that the people he met shaped the album: “Some places I stayed longer in than others, some of them I knew from the past, others not so much.  I tried to keep things busy all the time. If I didn’t know what was up in a city, I’d just walk around ‘til someone recognized me and go from there. I met a lot of interesting people this way, and had a bunch of cool experiences.”

Watch the accompanying visuals to the album below:

The slacker-rock icon is adored by Gen Z for his viral TikTok hits such as “Heart to Heart” and “Chamber of Reflection”. MacBriare Samuel Lanyon DeMarco first began recording as a solo artist in 2011 after moving to Montreal. His second album, Salad Days, peaked at number 30 on the US Billboard 200 and 90 on the UK Album Charts and from there, Mac’s fame has only risen.

Last weekend was a busy time for Mac with the singer clambering onto the Coachella stage not once but twice to the surprise and delight of attendees. The Garden brought out the singer to add their chaotic performance on the 14^th April. DeMarco and iconic bassist and vocalist Thundercat also joined the Jazz duo DOMi and JD BECK on the same day.

For tickets and more information on Mac DeMarco’s tour see here.

See below for all Europe and UK dates:

24/07/23 – Cabaret Sauvage – Paris
25/07/23 – Cabaret Sauvage – Paris
26/07/23 – Cabaret Sauvage – Paris
30/07 – Hackney Empire – London
31/07 – Hackney Empire – London
01/08 – Hackney Empire – London

The singer will be performing two intimate shows in New York – one in Queens and one in Brooklyn – later this month. He will make his debut UK performance in London on the 9^th May at Here at Outernet and will return the following evening for a second show.

As ever with the tricksy musician, getting your hands on tickets is not as simple as just purchasing them. Tickets to the dates are exclusively accessible through a ballot on his cyber maze of a website. Fans need to register by 10 am BST on the 3^rd May for London shows to be in with a chance of winning tickets and only a maximum of two tickets are available per person. The winners will be announced the following day. For the link to the artist’s website (and tickets) see here.

Last Saturday (the 15^th April) the California dessert hosted a historic event with the mysterious and flighty singer making his debut live performance at Coachella festival much to the millennial crowd and former MySpace users’ delight.

jai paul
coachella
first ever performance pic.twitter.com/y1vFCS055T

— Brownies & Lemonade (@TeamBandL) April 16, 2023

The first live performance from Jai Paul will remain shrouded in mystery for those not in attendance as it was not officially live-streamed by the festival, unlike other acts on the line-up. Thankfully, fan-recorded footage of the concert is circulating the internet. Jai was joined on stage by his brother A.K. Paul who played guitar for the performance.

The artist shared a message on Reddit ahead of the concert for his cult fans writing, “this weekend I’m gonna be playing my first ever live show and Im not gonna lie I am absolutely shitting it”. He added, “Hopefully it’s all gonna be worth it”.

Yoo it’s Jai
by u/aat_naabat in jaipaul

Jai Paul will also be performing next weekend for the second weekend of Coachella.

See below for the setlist for his debut performance:

“Higher Res”
“He”
“Crush” (Jennifer Page Cover)
“100,000”
“So Long”
“Chix”
“All Night”
“Do You Love Her Now”
“Jasmine”
“BTSTU”
“St8 Outta Mumbai”

The musician from Rayners Lane, London first gained notoriety in 2007 when his demo “BTSTU”, which Paul had posted on his MySpace, began receiving attention on music blogs. This led to the singer being signed to XL Recordings, international press coverage, extensive radio play, and the song being sampled by both Drake and Beyoncé. His second 2012 demo “Jasmine (demo)” received similar acclaim. However, after his aborted debut album Bait Ones was leaked by an unknown source in 2013 Paul took a hiatus from music struggling to deal with the rumours of his own responsibility for the leak.

In 2016, Jai returned to the public eye launching the record label Paul Institute alongside his brother. His leaked LP was officially released under the title Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones) in 2019 with a new double single “Do You Love Her Now / He” as the B-side to the album.

See below for Jai Paul’s London dates:

09/05/23 – Here at Outernet – London
10/05 – Here at Outernet – London

“Whenever I Want”, which was released on the 3^rd April, is Mura Masa’s first material released as an independent artist since his 2015 debut EP Someday Somewhere. The track was released on Mura Masa’s new label Pond Recordings. The artist from Guernsey wrote on his Twitter that the single is the “first of a new series of records” and that it is the start of a “new era” for him.

new music tomorrow. Love u x pic.twitter.com/hNxpNMRyeH

— xander (@mura_masa_) April 2, 2023

The song samples vocals from the beginning of American hip hop collective Outsidaz’s track “Macosa” featuring rapper Eminem and sets it to a scatty jungle beat.

Sending the viewer on a nauseatingly dizzy trip, the music video features a 360-degree rotating camera rig and stars fans of the artist spinning in a warm-lit liminal rave setting. The video was shot by London-based directors known as the Reids, brothers Ed and Will, who have previously worked with brands such as Nike, Adidas, Converse, Stone Island, Dazed Magazine, i-D Magazine, and Hypebeast.

Watch the video for “Whenever I Want” below:

Mura Masa, aka Alexander Crossan, takes his alias from the legendary Japanese swordsman Sengo Muramasa. He first started making electronic music using Ableton Live at 16 and later uploaded it to Soundcloud where it was picked up by BBC Radio 1 DJs. His self-titled debut LP was nominated Best Recording Package and Best Dance/Electronic Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards in 2018 and he took home the award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical the following year for his remix of Haim’s track “Walking Away“.

One of Crossan’s best-known tracks is 2016’s “Love$ick” featuring American rapper A$AP Rocky which skyrocketed to number one on the Spotify Viral charts in both the UK and the US. Recently, the artist achieved huge success with the single “Boy’s a Liar pt. 2” he co-produced for Pinkpantheress and Ice Spice, which peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Known for his collaborations, Crossan’s discography is crammed with a variety of other stars such as Charli XCX, Nile Rodgers, Christine and the Queens, Damon Albarn, Slowthai, Clario, Lil Uzi Vert, Shygirl, Ariana Grande, and Stormzy. For his LP demon time, he collaborated with Lil Uzi, Shygirl, & PinkPatheress on his cover of “Baby Cakes”  and with Pa Salieu & Skillbeng on his single “Blessing Me”.

Mura Masa also announced he’ll be playing two dates in California this month in between his performances at the Coachella weekends.