My new album ‘HIT PARADE’ will come to you on SEPTEMBER 8TH. Pre-order the album from my store to access the pre-sale for the headline show at ALEXANDRA PALACE. My new single ’THE UNIVERSE’ is in the world RIGHT NOW and available to stream & save here! https://t.co/GMU1gAwdjG pic.twitter.com/NZbuJI6VZb

— Róisín Murphy (@roisinmurphy) May 17, 2023

The Irish singer-songwriter has also today shared the LP’s lead single, “The Universe“, a breezy, funky and decadently summery ear worm of a song that comes with its own absurdist lyric music video.

Watch the music video for “The Universe” below:

Hit Parade will be Murphy’s sixth solo album to date and will be produced by German DJ and music producer DJ Koze. The two artists have previously worked together on the single “CooCool“, the releasing of which in March 2023 marked Murphy’s signing to Ninja Tune.

Watch the music video for “CooCool” below:

Murphy outlined the collaboration between DJ Koze and herself, saying, “We worked remotely, in different countries sending tracks/ideas back and forth for several years. I always have to approach a new collaboration with openness and a willingness to learn and never more so than with this. 

The singer continued, “The studio in this case was imaginary, in the airspace between Hamburg and London. That meant we were both in a personal, private place when working on the songs. For me that brought out a more intimate approach to the songwriting, I told this album my secrets. For Koze it meant total freedom and absolute focus without the distraction of my presence. He too took a deep dive into himself and I believe that’s why the music is so vibrant and alive. It is just exploding with colour!”

Murphy expanded her views on what the album means to her as she explains, “It’s a joyful record, I’ve never been happier, that is partly down to personal reasons but also in my work I’ve been very fulfilled. For me the record is about love and sensuality but also it’s about music itself and how it’s always been there for me. There are tinges of darkness, of the abyss, as well as all the joy. There’s contemplation of mortality which is meant to serve as reminder to me (and perhaps you the listener) to really live while we can“.

After moving to Manchester from her birthplace of Arklow, Ireland at the age of 12, Murphy entered the music world after joining a post-punk band briefly as a teenager before meeting Mark Brydon at a party in 1994. The couple started dating and formed the electronic dance pop duo Moloko, releasing four albums, the third of which, Things to Make and Do, being their most successful,  reaching number three on the UK Albums Chart and containing their most popular hit, “The Time is Now“.

Watch the music video for “The Time is Now” below:

After the disbandment of Moloko, Murphy released her debut solo album, Ruby Blue, in 2005 to positive critical acclaim, and has gone on to release a further four albums, with her last release, Róisín Machine, coming at the end of 2020.

Pre-order Hit Parade here.

“My new thing is acknowledging the things I’m good at, and I’m good at writing pop songs,” Goulding said in an interview with NME. “I’ve made a classical album, I’ve made electronic music and I regularly give my vocal away to producers like Four Tet. There are so many genres of music that I’ve been lucky to explore but when it comes down to it, I really just love making big pop songs that you hear on the radio.”

Work started on the album when the lockdown restrictions in the UK were lifted. She continued to tell NME that she didn’t “intentionally make an album that people can dance to and forget their worries” but it’s “what we needed to do for ourselves coming out of a really bizarre, surreal time”.

On the day Higher than Heaven was released, an ethereally nocturnal video for the track “Better Man” premiered that sees Goulding singing cast in pulsating red and blue hues. The video follows the two other music videos released for Higher than Heaven. Single “Like a Saviour” received a video in February and the title track “Higher than Heaven” received a video in October of last year.

Watch the video for “Better Man” below:

Originally the album was announced to be released in February but was pushed back as Goulding struggled to find suitable eco-friendly materials for the LP’s physical release. According to the singer’s Instagram post the vinyl is a “100% recycled colour compound which would’ve otherwise been wasted, in a recycled sleeve, and then wrapped in a renewable plant based wrap”.

The Herefordshire-born singer will embark on her tour supporting Higher than Heaven in October later this year. The 12-date tour, will start in Dublin and finish in Berlin in November. In the meantime, Ellie will be performing at sold-out venues across the UK and Europe this spring and summer. For tickets and more information see here.

In March, the singer’s collaboration with Scottish DJ and producer Calvin Harris on the trancey single “Miracles” earned the singer a position at number one on the UK Singles Chart. The song marked the artists’ third time collaborating having worked on 2013’s “I Need Your Love” and 2014’s “Outside” together.

For all of Ellie Goulding’s UK and Europe dates see below:

30/04/23 – The Queen’s Hall – Edinburgh
01/05 – The Wardrobe – Leeds
02/05 – Hangar 34 – Liverpool
04/05 – PRYZM – Kingston
05/05 – Engine Rooms – Southampton
15/06 – Fornebu Music and Arts Festival – Fornebu
16/06 – Pinkpop – Landgraaf
19/07 – Colours of Ostrava – Ostrava
12/08 – AIG Women’s Open – Walton on the Hill
02/09 – Olympiapark M Nchen – M Nchen
16/10 – 3Olympia Theatre – Dublin
18/10 – Barrowland Ballroom – Glasgow
19/10 – O2 City Hall – Newcastle Upon Tyne
20/10 – Manchester Academy – Manchester
23/10 – O2 Institute – Birmingham
24/10 – Roundhouse – London
27/10 – Bataclan – Paris
30/10 – Tivoli Vredenburg – Utrecht
31/10 – Cique Royal – Brussels
02/11 – Fabrique – Milan
06/11 – E-werk – Cologne
07/11 – Huxleys Neue Welt – Berlin

This latest offering follows Raye teaming up with Kosovar DJ Regard for their dance hit, Secrets. Secrets came out on August 24th and peaked at Number 6 of the Official UK Chart in its first week. Secrets has since become widely popular amongst some of Europe’s best DJs, and has been remixed by the likes of MOTi, HUGEL, Tom Field Consoul Trainin. 

Love of Your Life is a vibrant dance track. The song opens with some simplistic chords via an ethereal organ, that build slowly but surely. Raye tells a story about the whirlwind of emotions that ensue when you fall for someone: “I can be intense, I can be a little obsessed/But I can bet you never think a nightmare/Will ever look better in a dress.”

The track then switches to a funky break down beat, and Rayes’ mighty vocals sour. She sings about her own resistibility “I could make you confused/I could give you something to lose/Imma wake you up in the morning/In the bathroom singing the blues”, enticing the listener.

In accordance with her new release, Raye shared Love of Your Life with her 165,000 YouTube subscribers yesterday. The song’s title glows in an 80s inspired font over Raye’s uplifting, romantic melody. 

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LOVE OF YOUR LIFE OUT NOW

A post shared by RAYE (@raye) on Nov 6, 2020 at 2:05am PST

Raye took to social media to announce the arrival of Love of Your Life. Sharing the song’s striking cover art to Instagram, the post gathered over 15,000 likes and views from excited fans. The post also received some love from fellow artists Jax Jones, Tré Samuels and Joel Corry. 

Love of Your Life is the latest addition to a series of sizzling chart singles that Raye has put out over the course of this year. Raye kicked off 2020 with All Of My Love, in which she enlisted the help of talented British rapper, Young Adz. 

Following All Of My Love, Raye collaborated with Jax Jones on Tequila, and released two solo tracks, the romantic Natalie Don’t, and now, Love of Your Life. These sporadic sonic Easter eggs are thankfully in preparation for Rayes’ upcoming LP, Euphoric Sad Songs, which is due out on November 20th via Polydor records. 

Euphoric Sad Songs will be the first extended play from Raye since her Deezer Sessions (April 21st) and her last solo album, Side Tapes (May 4th 2018). Rayes’ Deezer Sessions can be listened to in full here.

Next year, Raye will perform live for the first time in too long at Sundown Festival. The dance-pop music festival will return to the Norfolk show ground on September 3rd to September 5th, 2021. Other esteemed British artists on the Sundown lineup are Becky Hill, Holy Goof, Fredo and Example. Tickets for Sundown 2021 can be found here.

Love of Your Life is out everywhere now. The tracklisting for Euphoric Sad Songs will go as follows: 

Love Me Again
Change Your Mind
Regardless
Secrets by Regard & Raye
Natalie Don’t
All Dressed Up
Please Don’t Touch
Walk On By
Love of Your Life
Secrets (Original Version)

The group’s website gives a glowing overview of the upcoming record. According to their description, the ‘versatile’ new album was produced with help from Fiona Bevan (who has written for One Direction and Lewis Capaldi), Ina Wroldsen (writer for Britney Spears and Shakira), Karl Twigg (a collaborator on Steps’ first three albums), and a host of fresh contributors. On their new team, the band said: ‘We will never forget the past with Steps, it’s what made us… but we’ve got to look to the future too’.

The British band has called What The Future Holds their ‘most ambitious album to date’. They went on to say: ‘What the Future Holds is the best distillation of Steps so far; an album that shows both a deeper shade of blue and a brighter future… Showcasing the big melodic choruses of [our] top-tier bangers but also bringing back the harmony-laden ballads and some atmospheric mid-tempos’.

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We are SO excited to announce our 2021 #FutureHolds tour! Pre-order our new album What The Future Holds from the Steps Superstore now (link in our bio) for exclusive pre-sale ticket access next Tues Sep 15th. Tickets and VIP experiences on general sale Friday Sep 18th at 10am

A post shared by Steps Official (@officialsteps) on Sep 8, 2020 at 12:01am PDT

Steps are perhaps best known for their late 1990’s dance-pop beginnings, with hit singles such as 5, 6, 7, 8, One For Sorrow, and Tragedy first attracting an international audience. In 1999, the group’s Next Step tour was the biggest-selling UK pop tour to date; they received the ‘Best Selling Live Act’ BRIT award in 2000. However, despite their huge success, the band suffered significant in-group tensions and split the following year. They did not reunite until 2011.

A year after their 2012 comeback album was released and touring concluded, the band announced that they were ‘taking a break’, but not splitting. Their first post-hiatus album, 2017’s Tears On The Dancefloor, drew much greater critical and commercial success. Clash Magazine said the record was ‘Tremendous fun… packed to the rafters with absolute bangers’. The album entered the UK charts at number two (behind Ed Sheeran), and its 22-date supporting tour saw a massive turnout of enthusiastic fans.

2020’s What The Future Holds is set to be a nostalgic yet forward-thinking addition to Steps’ discography, and its 14-date UK tour is likely to be among the most anticipated of 2021. You can pre-order the new album, concert tickets, and VIP packages here. Steps’ UK tour dates are as follows:

November 2021

02/11/21 – FlyDSA Arena – Sheffield
03/11 – Motorpoint Arena – Nottingham
05/11 – Resorts World Arena – Birmingham
08/11 – Utilita Arena – Newcastle
11/11 – AO Arena – Manchester
13/11 – P&J Live – Aberdeen
15/11 – SSE Arena – Belfast
18/11 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool
19/11 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
22/11 – The SSE Hydro – Glasgow
25/11 – The Brighton Centre – Brighton
26/11 – The O2 – London
29/11 – Motorpoint Arena – Cardiff

December 2021

01/12/21 Bournemouth International Centre – Bournemouth

Lasting Lover is currently claiming the #1 spot on the UK Songs Top Entries List on iTunes. The new track has knocked Midnight Sun, the new Miley Cyrus song, off of the top spot.

As the title suggests, Lasting Lover celebrates the strength of enduring love. Famed for his raspy, raw vocals, James Arthur sings of being overtaken by your love for another. Arthur croons wistful lyrics such as “I don’t know why I can’t quite/Get you out my sight/You’re always just behind/You’re stored across my mind” that encapsulates this feeling perfectly. 

Bubbling with high energy, Sigala’s bright, pop-house production serves as the song’s upbeat backing track. Meanwhile, Arthur sings romantic lyrics about surrendering yourself to the swept-away feeling of new love, and hoping the feeling lasts: “Take my heart and run away/She said, “I’ve been looking for a lasting lover”

Lasting Lover is made for the dancefloor. Like many of Sigala’s hits, including recent track Heaven On My Mind with Becky Hill, Lasting Lover is a breath of fresh air that will have the listener moving in no time.

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Lasting Lover with @jamesarthur23 is #1 on uk iTunes! Thanks so much to everyone for the incredible support already! Hopefully the love for this tune is lasting… wheyyyyyok thanks bye x

A post shared by Sigala (@sigalamusic) on Sep 5, 2020 at 7:42am PDT

James Arthur premiered Lasting Lover and its accompanying lyric video to his 5m subscribers via his official YouTube channel on Friday. Featuring idyllic ocean animations, the romantic lyrics to Lasting Lover roll Garnering over 129,000 views, Lasting Lover is an instant hit. 

Lasting Lover is a creative fusion between some of the best of British. As well as the unlikely but seamless collaboration between Sigala and Arthur, Lasting Love is penned by none other than love song guru Lewis Capaldi, and samples 2000s banger Time To Pretend by MGMT.  

 

 

 

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Lasting Lover coming Friday @sigalamusic A post shared by James Arthur (@jamesarthur23) on Aug 31, 2020 at 9:22am PDT

Before Sigala turned the track into a polished pop banger, Lasting Lover was originally created as an acoustic song. Sigala chatted about working with both Capaldi and Arthur in a recent interview with Hits Radio, explaining that “The song came from Lewis. It was amazing. It came to me as a ballad, just like an acoustic song with just guitar and his voice on it. 

Sigala elaborated on how the track came to be, explaining that “I worked on it a bit and I got in touch with James from there just to see if he wanted to sing it. It’s really cool to have him involved.” Sigala confirmed that the two have since become fast friends: “We worked across Zoom for a long time and finally met on the set of the music video. Luckily, we got on just as well in real life.”

Sigala, real name Bruce Fielder, took to social media in celebration of Lasting Lover reaching iTunes #1. Sharing a screenshot of the coveted chart list to Instagram, Sigala thanked his fans for the glowing reception to Lasting Lover, writing in the punny caption: “Thanks so much to everyone for the incredible support already! Hopefully, the love for this tune is lasting!”. It certainly seems that way, as the post received over 1,800 likes and comments!

Lasting Lover is out everywhere now.