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The original Arirang song is a Korean traditional folk song. A symbol of Korean culture and history, ‘Arirang’ for BTS is something of an emotional return to their devoted fans, known widely as ARMY. A group hiatus owing to mandatory military enlistment in South Korea between December 2022 and June 2025, saw the members release their own individual albums. The group reunited following the completion of their service on July 1st 2025 and six months later, on January 1st 2026, ‘Arirang’ was announced.

Notably, each song also includes writing credits for the BTS member’s with leader RM credited for writing on every song. It also includes the writers and producers for each song with notable inclusions from Diplo, Flume and One Republic’s Ryan Tedder.

‘Arirang’ is set to be released on March 20th, almost six years after their last, ‘Be’ which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. ‘Be’ was the groups fifth to debut at number one, which made them to quickest to repeat the feat in the US since the Beatles.

The seven member group made up of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook was formed in 2010 and have become one of Kpop’s greatest exports, becoming the first non-English speaking act to sell out concerts at Wembley. Known for their high energy performances and charm, BTS were consistently awarded the Billboard Music Award for Top Social Artist between 2017 and 2021 and were the first Kpop act to receive both Grammy and Brit Award nominations. They have similarly reached extraordinary heights in Korea, with their seventh album ‘Map of The Soul: 7’ becoming the fourth best-selling album of all time in South Korean and receiving 50 total awards at The MAMA Awards.

BTS are also set to embark on a world tour to support the album, scheduled to begin in April 2026 and continue until March 2027. It is set to be their largest world tour to date with a 360-degree stage set-up to showcase their performance skills. Ahead of the album’s release, BTS are also scheduled to perform for the first time in three years which will be exclusively streamed on Netflix on March 21st which fans eagerly await.

Ray hinted at a full Kinks comeback in 2018 with this never coming to fruition. Ray shared, “Well, it got shelved because of… other issues. But there’s still material there. When I get time.” Speaking on his inspiration for new tracks, Ray said the songs are stemming from “home demos” that he has been recording for around thirty years.

He shared, “We’ve got loads of songs there in pieces. There are about two or three songs I want to finish, and when they’re finished, I’ll put the whole thing together.”

Ray also delved into the feud between the original band members, speaking on the artistic differences between himself, his brother Dave Davies and drummer Mick Avory. He shared, “We’re just different animals. We found ourselves at a very young age being in each other’s faces. And we had to work with it somehow.”

Speaking on his brother Dave, Ray shared that he would need to “persuade [him] to come on too” if a full reunion were to happen. He continued, “You’ve gotta be careful because he’ll run off in one direction and I’ll [run] in mine… He’s like that. He stays in control.”

Ultimately, The Kinks reuniting hinges on the band being able to put together “a show that gives us the credit we deserve,” according to Ray.

In the absence of new music, The Kinks have recently released a new anthology series to celebrate the 60th anniversary of their formation. The anthology, titled The Journey, is a two-part compilation of their favourite moments from their catalogue. In a press release for The Journey, Ray Davies said, “Ask yourself the question, is this journey really necessary? …Yes!”

Dave Davies also shared his excitement, saying “I’m delighted with what I think is an inspiring selection of timeless and magical Kinks music.”

‘The Journey – Part 2′ is OUT NOW The band have handpicked a selection of songs, celebrating 60 years of The Kinks, one of the most influential rock bands ever! Dig into these iconic tracks and take yourself on a journey https://t.co/M6XuedWlXe pic.twitter.com/ixnXuop12g

— The Kinks (@TheKinks) November 17, 2023

Has ‘The Journey – Part 2′ had you dancing around all weekend like Ray and Mick? https://t.co/M6XuedWTMM pic.twitter.com/leHczMqAeR

— The Kinks (@TheKinks) November 20, 2023

Purchase The Journey here.

Spanning twelve tracks and coming in at just under 32 minutes, the band’s sixth studio LP boasts all the ingredients of a classic punk record: short but sweet, The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons doesn’t muck about or take itself too seriously, prioritising raw energy over flashy embellishments. This back-to-basics approach is where The Hives’ appeal lies; never ones to shy away from the more wacky aspects of rock, the group have always exhibited a fun-loving attitude their audiences find irresistible.

Listen to “Bogus Operandi“:

The new album, however, comes at a loss: Randy Fitzsimmons, the band’s mysterious fictional mentor and sole songwriter, has apparently died. This new development in the self-scribed Hives backstory sees the limelight-shunning Fitzsimmons helping out beyond the grave, providing the remaining members with demo tapes, fresh suits and a title for the new record.

In honour of his memory, and to celebrate the release of The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons, The Hives recently performed a ceremonial gig at London’s Rough Trade East – the iconic independent  record shop and live music venue that has been hosting legendary shows since its 2007 opening – where they gave their sixth member a proper send-off. 

In true Hives fashion, the band pulled up outside the store in a customised hearse – complete with coffin and decorative flowers – in order to pay their respects to a man they claim to owe their entire discography to, before taking to the Rough Trade stage and bashing out their classic concoction of rock and roll swagger. The group then bid their final farewells in similar fashion at Banquet Records a day later. 

Check out The Hive’s unusual Rough Trade East entrance below:

@the.hives chat is this real? have they died? #thehives #thedeathofrandyfitzsimmons #rock #funeral ♬ original sound – monkemanpoo

The Hives first crashed onto the scene during the short-lived garage rock revival of the early 2000s, which saw rough-and-ready guitar bands such as The Strokes, The White Stripes and The Libertines achieve mainstream success with a gritty, punk-inspired sound. By the time The Hives had landed their first major hit with “Hate To Say I Told You So”, the group had been going for eight years.

Since then, they have sold out stadiums and shared stages with everyone from AC/DC to The Rolling Stones. Spin dubbed The Hives “the best live band on the planet” and Howlin’ Pelle, their lead singer, “one of the greatest frontmen in rock”, while the BBC described them as “a force of nature”.
The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons marks the long-awaited return for a group that has most recently been making waves as the frenetic support act for Arctic Monkeys on their European arena tour.

Next year, The Hives take their own show to 12 cities across the UK and Ireland.
See below for dates:

27/03/2024 – Leeds Academy – Leeds
28/03 – City Hall – Newcastle
29/03 – Rock City – Nottingham
30/03 – The Halls – Wolverhampton
01/04 – Barrowland – Glasgow
02/04 – O2 Academy – Bristol
03/04 – Brighton Dome – Brighton
05/04 – Great Hall – Cardiff
06/04 – Manchester Academy – Manchester
08/04 – Olympia – Dublin
10/04 – The LCR – Norwich
13/04 – Eventim Apollo – London

Get tickets here.

Listen to The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons here.

The band announced a new album and new shows, writing, “You can listen to our new album in full right now on our cool new website peaceforeverever.co.uk.”

Catering to their dedicated fans, Peace announced that “The record will be commercially released later this year but for now this is how we’re going to share our music with the people that it means a lot to.”

Their comeback now sees the band return as a duo, with ex-members Doug Castle and Dom Boyce having “taken a different flight path and are soaring across different skies. But all with monstrously good vibes.”

Original members Harry and Sam Koisser are set to continue developing Peace’s musical journey. The pair wrote, “We are not replacing them and Peace is entering a new era in an extremely meaningful way.”

the musical artist professionally known as PEACE needs YOU to be a part of live shows scheduled for 2023. pic.twitter.com/Fgby7d1ueQ

— PEACE (@PEACE4EVEREVER) April 3, 2023

Peace announced 2 shows to mark their return and are set to perform in Birmingham and London to kickstart their new era. The duo wrote, “These shows mark the explosion of a newer universe. A 2nd big bang.”   Addressing their fans via social media again, they also wrote, “Thank you for accompanying us. We are in the unknownness. Exotic outlands filled with lots of gracious things. No beasts. No unimaginable horrors. Let’s go baby.”

The Tickets are live . https://t.co/EdthRfpsmn . The website is up. Thank you for accompanying us. We are in the unknownness. Exotic outlands filled with lots of gracious things. No beasts. No unimaginable horrors. Let’s go baby. Enjoy the music. Share and find meaning. PEACE X pic.twitter.com/8YQSq9ILmV — PEACE (@PEACE4EVEREVER) April 5, 2023

This year marks the 10 year anniversary of the Peace’s critically acclaimed debut album, In Love, reaching No.16 in the UK Albums Chart.

Following In Love and their 2015 album release, Happy People, Peace vanished for 3 years before releasing Kindness Is The New Rock and Roll. Speaking to Far Out Magazine about their break, frontman Harry Koisser said, “It was a slow process coming back and doing shows, all of our equipment was broken, we bought a new guitar that didn’t work. It was fairly intuitive.”

Koisser shared that “some kind of fucked up shit” was involved in delaying their comeback, and the band ultimately went on hiatus from 2018 until now.

hello pic.twitter.com/DkMsf1nv5J

— PEACE (@PEACE4EVEREVER) April 1, 2023

Teasing their comeback, the band also shared a snippet on Twitter, marking their first return to social media since 2020.  

pic.twitter.com/XubTR3bfml — PEACE (@PEACE4EVEREVER) March 21, 2023

Tickets for Peace’s comeback shows are on sale here.

31/05/2023 – The Mill – Birmingham

01/06/2023 – The Colour Factory – London

The news comes after the band shared a somewhat cryptic video on their social media. The video was an 11-second clip with what resembles an iPhone screen with a floral background displaying the date “Thursday 4 November” and time “18:09”. Then the title “Wake Me Up” pops up just as the phone’s alarm goes off, with the date “4/11” appearing beneath the “Snooze” button.

#WakeMeUp pic.twitter.com/ZcIflEaKKG

— FOALS (@foals) October 27, 2021

Now the Oxford band has confirmed that their new single is as was previously suggested “Wake Me Up” and it is set to drop on Thursday, November 4. They also shared a 15-second snippet on their social media of the song and invited fans to pre-save it ahead of the release date.

Pre-save our brand new song WAKE ME UP now! Out everywhere next Thursday 4th November.

Set yr alarms https://t.co/Eb4cSE1x8K#WakeMeUp pic.twitter.com/RiJj0zCSA3

— FOALS (@foals) October 28, 2021

This new material comes off the back of the aforementioned departure of their keyboardist Edwin Congreave last month. In a statement on the band’s social media at the time, the musician told fans he’d heard the new album in which this song will feature stating “it is of course brilliant”.

The latest album will be a follow-up to their 2019 sister albums Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost: Part One and Part Two.

Speaking to NME a couple of months ago the band’s frontman Yannis Philippakis explained: “We can see what the record is, and the future looks fantastic. We’ve been working away and writing all year. We’re just in the last stages of it and it’s feeling like a more optimistic record than the last two. It’ll be a more physical record. We’re really excited to have a record that’s almost ready, but not quite.”

Foals are also due to hit the road next April and you can see their dates below.

Foals Tour dates:

04/21/22 Usher Hall – Edinburgh
04/23 Utilita Arena – Birmingham
04/29 Olympia – London
04/30 Olympia – London
05/01 Olympia – London
05/02 Olympia – London
05/05 Empress Ballroom – Blackpool
05/06 Empress Ballroom – Blackpool
05/08 O2 Academy Brixton – London
06/29 Castlefield Bowl – Manchester
07/08 Millennium Square – Leeds

Collins announced his retirement in 2011, after nerve damage left him unable to play the drums, but revealed last year he planned to go on tour.

Collins told the Guardian: “It’s going to be a romp through my songs that people love”, but said it would be unlikely that he would play the drums and will just be singing. His son, Nicholas will be joining him on tour, playing the drums instead.

He also told the newspaper: “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to play the way I used to, something happened one night on that last Genesis tour and after that point, it never came back. I tried heavier sticks, I tried to use bigger cymbals, I just couldn’t get any power. It’s a bit of a mystery why it happened but I’m 65 and I’ve been playing since I was five years old.”

Collins achieved more UK top 40 singles than any other artist of the 1980s, with hit singles including ‘In the Air Tonight’ and ‘Against all Odds’. Between 1983 and 1990, Collins managed three UK and seven US number-one singles in his solo career.

“I thought I would retire quietly,” Collins told the BBC. “But thanks to the fans, my family and support from some extraordinary artists I have rediscovered my passion for music and performing.

“I changed my mind. I’m living with my young kids and they want me to go out on the road, do some new things, and there’s no reason why not.”

He has named his tour ‘Not Dead Yet’, a hint to his struggles with alcoholism following divorce from his third wife in 2008.

Tickets for his London shows will go on sale on October 21, with pre-sale tickets for O2 customers being released tomorrow (Tuesday 18). The prices range from £61-£191. Details of dates are below.

04/06 – 09/06 – Royal Albert Hall – London
11/06 – 12/06 – Lanxess Arena – Cologne
18/06 – 19/06 – Accor Hotels Arena – Paris

Performing as surprise guests at record label Sonic Catherdral’s 10th anniversary celebrations, the band performed a 13 song set including the first live performance of their cover of former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett’s ‘Golden Hair’.

This was also the first opportunity to see live performances of tracks such as ‘Crazy For You’ and ‘Blue Skied an’ Clear’ from their last album, 1995’s ‘Pygmalion’. After kicking off with their eponymous song, the 5-piece outfit are bringing back their brand of music for a young audience who may finally get the opportunity to tick the elusive band off of their must-see lists.

Tonight (Monday 19th) they’ll be performing at London’s Village Underground for what was originally scheduled as their comeback gig.

Here’s the full set-list from last night’s surprise gig;

Slowdive
Avalyn
Catch the Breeze
Crazy for You
(LIve premiere)
Machine Gun
40 Days
Blue Skied an’ Clear
(Live premiere)
Souvlaki Space Station
When the Sun Hits
Morningrise
She Calls
Golden Hair (Syd Barrett cover)
Encore:
Alison

Catch Slowdive at one of the date on their reunion world tour;

05/19 – London, UK @ The Village Underground
05/29 – Nimes, FR @ This Is Not a Love Song
05/30 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
06/06 – Porto, PT @ Optimus Primavera Sound
06/07 – Paris, FR @ Villette Sonique
06/08 – Leipzig, DE @ Wave-Gotik-Treffen
06/21 – Hilvarenbeek, NL @ The Best Kept Secret Festival
07/10-12 – Keflavik, IC @ ATP Iceland
07/16 – Padova, IT @ Rada Festival
07/18 – Suffolk, UK @ Latitude Festival
07/20 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
07/23 – Taipei, TW @ The Wall
07/25 – Niigata, JP @ Fuji Rock Festival
07/28 – Hong Kong @ Rotunda 3
07/31 – Sinagpore @ The Ground Theatre
08/01-03 – Katowice, PL @ OFF Festival
08/07-09 – Goteborg, SE @ Way Out West Festival
08/08-10 – Helsinki, FI @ Flow Festival
08/09 – Oslo, NO @ Oya Festival
08/14 – Hasselt, PL @ BE Pukkelpop
08/15 – St. Malo, FR @ La Route du Rock Festival
08/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ FYF Fest
08/29-31 – Stradbally, IE @ Electric Picnic
09/09 – Geneva, CH @ La Batie