Chappell Roan and Ezra Collective on BBC Sound of 2025 list https://t.co/cCUFmwZZvg

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) November 21, 2024

BBC’s “Sound of” first begun in 2003 and since has awarded the likes of Lewis Capaldi, Lady Gaga, Adele, PinkPantheress, RAYE, The Weeknd and HAIM. Last year, the title was won by The Last Dinner Party. This year, some eligibility rules were changed in order to fit more artists: previously, artists couldn’t be nominated if they had an album charting at number two or one in the UK, however now artist are eligible unless they have had more than one album charting in the UK top ten.

Here is the full list of nominees:

• Barry Can’t Swim
• Chappell Roan
• Confidence Man
• Doechii
• English Teacher
• Ezra Collective
• Good Neighbours
• KNEECAP
• gee
• Myles Smith
• Pozer

Perhaps the most known on a worldwide level out of the eleven contestants is Chappell Roan. The American singer has in fact taken over the world with a very swift rise to fame after releasing her debut album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess” in 2023. Her songs have gone viral on social media platforms, and she achieved two top 10 songs in UK charts (“Good Luck Babe” and “Hot To Go”) and her album peaked at number one.

While Chappell Roan has become a pop icon in less than a year, another strong contestant is English Teacher, the 2025 Mercury Prize winner. The Mercury Prize is awarded to the best British or Irish album of the year, and English Teacher was surely deserving of this title: their debut album “This Could Be Texas” peaked at number eight in the UK, and their tour around the country was sold out.

With English Teacher, another contestant for the Mercury Prize this year was Barry Can’t Swim. Originally from Scotland, Barry Can’t Swim is a DJ and electronic music producer. His debut album “Where Will We Land?” peaked at 12 on UK charts; furthermore, he will be headlining All Points East 2025 in London. But 2023’s Mercury Prize Winner has also been longlisted for the BBC award: Ezra Collective has recently headlined Wembley Arena and their latest album “Dance Like No One’s Watching” peaked at number seven in the UK.

Overall, this year’s competition for “Sound of 2025” is strong and eclectic, with the only well-known artist around the world being Chappell Roan. The winner will be announced on January 10^th after a top five countdown which will take place in the weeks prior to the announcement of the winner.

The UK dates, which start after the European tour, begin with a massive show at The O2 in London, which will be the bands only show in England. The band’s announcement stated that it “will be their first show in the capital since a sold out performance in 2021 which was live streamed across the world.”

Speaking about their other UK dates, they also said “2023 will see the band hit 3Arena on October 1st for the first time. Speaking of firsts, the band return to Glasgow for the first time in 8 years for a performance at OVO Hydro on October 5th.”

New Order announced the set of shows on Instagram, as seen below, also confirming support from special guests Confidence Man, an Australian indie electro pop band. Confidence Man released their second album last year, Tilt, which NME called “over-the-top pop of the highest order” and gave it a gleaming four star review. It reached number 7 in the Offical UK charts. The band are playing on the New Order tour after their own set of UK dates starting in May.

In other news, the band have had a busy year. They were announced as headliners of the Primavera Sound festival in Madrid and Barcelona, and garnered attention after backing the #LetTheMusicMove campaign. This was after the US Department of Homeland Security announced they would raise touring visa fees by 250 percent for foreign acts, greatly impacting how and even if smaller bands can tour the US. They were one of over 200 artists that came together for the touring campaign. See below:

The band formed in Manchester in 1980, after the disbandment of Joy Division following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis. The remaining members, Bernard Summer, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris, formed New Order. They brought in keyboardist Gillan Gilbert the following year to complete the line up. In 2023, New Order and Joy Division were jointly nominated to be accepted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Their hit song, “Blue Monday“, came out forty years ago in March- a milestone the band celebrated by releasing limited edition merchandise. It became the best-selling independent 12″ single of all time in the UK, despite not being on any album. The song was rereleased in 2008, on the collector’s edition of their second album Power, Corruption & Lies. They posted on Instagram to unveil the collection. See below:

Tickets for all dates go on sale April 14th, at 9.30am. They are available via Ticketmaster here.

Here are the UK tour dates:

29/09/2023 – The O2 – London

05/10 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow

07/10 – First Direct Arena – Leeds

The newly announced dates will see the pair visit Manchester, London, Edinburgh, Bristol, Galway and Dublin between May 3 and June 17, 2022. They’ve also added some more dates in Brighton, Nottingham, Norwich and Cambridge whilst their planned show in Belfast has now been cancelled.

Speaking about the move, the band said “UK/EU news for you! Due to the situation in Australia we’ve had to reschedule to 2022. New dates and a glowed up new year. Our sex drive is unquenchable, and we’re ready to fuck. Some updated venues and some brand new shows, looking at you BRIGHTON, NOTTINGHAM, NORWICH, CAMBRIDGE (these tix are on sale tomorrow!) Unfortunately, we couldn’t replace our Belfast date. Refunds for this show are available via the ticket provider. Buckle up.”

UK/EU! We’ve had to reschedule to 2022. Our sex drive is unquenchable and we’re ready to fuck. Some updated venues and some BRAND NEW SHOWS (but we couldn’t replace our Belfast date). Refunds for this show are avail via the ticket provider. Buckle up. Tix https://t.co/1gDanRmAKS pic.twitter.com/QSwCXf9ad1

— Confidence Man (@confidencemanTM) September 16, 2021

Original tickets will be honoured whilst the new tickets are now on general sale and can be bought here.

Confidence Man first released their debut album, Confident Music For Confident People back in 2018 and in 2020, they dropped their popular single “First Class Bitch”.

Speaking about “First Class Bitch”, the group’s singer/songwriter Janet Planet stated to NME “I’d been thinking about this for a while now… It all started in London, when I saw a pair of socks with the words ‘first class bitch’ embroidered on them, hanging in a shop front window. I suddenly realised, I too was a first class bitch. I rushed back to the penthouse and penned this hit. Ever wondered what you hear when you die? This is it.”

You can see the full list of tour dates below.

Confidence Man Tour Dates:

05/03/22 O2 Ritz – Manchester
05/04 Concorde 2 – Brighton
05/05 O2 Forum – London
05/07 Liquid Room – Edinburgh
05/08 SWG3 – Glasgow
05/10 Rescue Rooms –  Nottingham
05/11 Waterfront –  Norwich
05/12 Junction –  Cambridge
05/13 Marble Factory –  Bristol
06/16 Roisin Dubh –  Galway
06/17 Vicar Street –  Dublin