Falling on the same night of the 2024 BRIT awards, Wunderhorse took to the stage last Saturday to rapturous applause. The legendary 700-year-old pub announced the secret set just hours before the group were scheduled to perform, causing fans to scramble to purchase last-minute tickets. Fronted by singer-songwriter Jacob Slater, his distinctive rough and ready vocals and razor-sharp lyricism are hard to shake off. Slater’s gritty on-stage persona is reminiscent of blistering American garage bands, causing him to launch into a series of rage-fuelled outbursts, only to lose him again in a 90s psychedelic fog.

The Hertfordshire-born musician had made the decision to exit his old band Dead Pretties in 2017, a path that would eventually lead him to form his next project Wunderhorse, releasing their debut, critically-acclaimed album ‘Cub‘ in October 2022, a beautiful yet bloodied catalogue of teenage misadventure. The past two years have seen Slater build up a fair amount of mileage, having scored not only glowing album reviews and international recognition, but rather ironically his first ever acting role as Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook in Danny Boyle’s tv miniseries Pistol.

A multifaceted writer and instrumentalist, Slater has also curated his own separate solo project, releasing his first ever record ‘Pinky, I Love You‘ in August 2023, another deeply personal and tender account of youth driven by a rousing, prog-rock sound. On February 5, the band announced they will be performing at Isle of Wight, TRNSMT, Boardmasters and Reading and Leeds festival this summer.

As of last weekend, they also shared they will be headlining Dot To Dot Festival in May alongside Irish electronic duo Jockstrap, and Brighton’s The Great Escape festival accompanied by other major acts such as Faye Webster and SOFTPLAY. Great Escape Fest is known for showcasing the biggest and brightest up and coming artists from around the country, with over 150 acts set to take part in different venues across the city.

Wunderhorse took to Instagram last month to lift the lid on new music, revealing they are currently in the process of recording their sophomore album, simply commenting: “Back on the road in March, new music in tow”. The four-piece will be supporting English singer-songwriter Declan McKenna on his 2024 UK tour this month, kicking things off at Cardiff University’s Student Union on March 23. You can purchase tickets here.

“Re: This Is Why

9.28 – This Is Why

10.2 – Why Is This?

10.6 – Is This Why?”

pic.twitter.com/W4hVAEzWHY

— paramore (@paramore) September 25, 2023

The Tennessee trio didn’t keep fans waiting long, as they announced a companion album to their 6th LP This Is Why, released earlier this year on February 10th, that will feature remixes, reworked and rewritten tracks, as well as some collaborations and an unreleased demo.

Earlier today, Paramore revealed the track list for their upcoming release, which showed a variety of artists taking on a song from the album and making it their own. Artists featuring on Re: This Is Why include UK acts such as Wet Leg, Foals and The xx singer Romy.

Re: This Is Why. The Tracklist.

1. This Is Why (Re: @foals)
2. The News (Re: @thelindalindas)
3. Running Out Of Time (Re: @pandabear)
4. Running Out Of Time (Re: @zanelowe)
5. C’est Comme Ça (Re: @wetlegband)
6. Big Man, Little Dignity (Re: @DOMiAndJDBECK)
7. You First (Re:… pic.twitter.com/flTS59qSH6

— paramore (@paramore) October 4, 2023

The band took to Twitter to share “We’ve long wanted to recognize the connection we have with some of the artists who’ve influenced us as a band and/or who have cited our band as an influence. Re: This Is Why is almost a remix album. Some of the songs have been remixed sort of classically, while others were reworked or rewritten. It’s incredible to hear all our worlds colliding. Out 10/6.”

We’ve long wanted to recognize the connection we have with some of the artists who’ve influenced us as a band and/or who have cited our band as an influence.

Re: This Is Why is almost a remix album. Some of the songs have been remixed sort of classically, while others were… pic.twitter.com/X3BpsFhD7s

— paramore (@paramore) October 2, 2023

Oxford based band Foals, who joined Paramore on their North American tour earlier this year, are taking on the album’s title track. Back in 2022, Paramore front-woman Hayley Williams praised the English band on an episode of her podcast Everything Is Emo, and spoke of their evolution.

Williams stated “I really respect this band’s journey and how they continue to evolve. I think it takes a lot of guts too. I think of every time we’ve gone home to write a new album, or we have an album in the can but haven’t presented it to the world, it’s a really scary feeling. It can be nerve-wracking to present yourself in a new way and essentially, grow in front of the world. Any time a band re-emerges with a new picture, a new frame of mind, I think it’s courageous and cool and I’m really enjoying their evolution.”

Re: This Is Why will be released this Friday (October 6th).

Reading and Leeds festival is a pair of music festivals that take place annually in UK cities Reading and Leeds. The festival dates back as far as 1955 and is still famous today for being the longest running popular music festival to still exist. Every year on the August bank holiday weekend, Richfield Avenue in central Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds welcome over 100,000 avid music lovers for a weekend jam packed with music’s most current and popular artists.

This year’s festival runs from August 25th to August 27th, and the line up features headlining performances from Sam Fender, Foals, The Killers, The 1975, Billie Eilish and Imagine Dragons. Lewis Capaldi was set to be amongst this crowd, however, in June 2023 the Scottish sensation cancelled all his upcoming performances. Luckily, The 1975 were ready to replace him and perform as Reading and Leeds headliners for the third time in the band’s career.

If you weren’t able to make it to this year’s festival, do not feel like you’ve missed out completely! There is plenty of live coverage for you to get your live music fix this weekend.

BBC One will be broadcasting shows that feature highlights and coverage of two of this year’s headline performances, The Killers and Billie Eilish.

The Killers’ performance will be aired on BBC One on Sunday 27th August starting at 11:40pm. The Grammy nominated band is sure to get the crowd excited with their world famous Indie classics such as “Mr Brightside” and “Somebody Told Me”, as well as performing songs from their latest album Pressure Machine which was released in 2021.

Reading rocked again tonight! pic.twitter.com/SLXAvjN42l

— The Killers (@thekillers) August 26, 2023

Similarly, the BBC is set to air the much anticipated performance of Billie Eilish’s first ever Reading and Leeds headline on Monday 28th August at 11:15pm. The 21 year old has taken the world by storm with hits such as “Bad Guy”, “When the Party’s Over” and “What was I Made For?”, the latter being featured on the Soundtrack for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (2023) movie.

In addition to these two special shows, BBC iPlayer will have 24/7 coverage of Reading and Leeds festival, which can be found here. You will be able to livestream the entire festival for free, and from the comfort of your own home. Also, from Monday 28th August, there will be the opportunity to watch highlights from the weekend and even past performances from previous years, meaning you can catch up on all things Reading and Leeds even after the festival goer’s tents have been taken down.

You can also catch live broadcasts from Reading’s Main Stage East and Main Stage West on BBC Radio 1 throughout the weekend.

For the full line up, click here.

The Met Office have issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms across the North-east of England stretching from Newcastle to the Leeds and Bradford area.

Met Office metrologist Jonathan Vautrey says “There’s a reasonable chance that some showers will pass over Leeds and Reading over the course of the day. Particularly for Leeds, they are within the yellow warning area that we currently have out just because winds are going to be lightest across that north-eastern area of England today. That will mean those showers are slower moving at times, so rainfall is likely to accumulate in specific locations a bit more.”

When talking about both festival sites he also exclaimed that both Reading and Leeds “do have the potential for seeing some lightning and thunder” during the Saturday.

My Vautrey also warns of the possibility of some flooding across Leeds which could cause logistical issues in and out of the festival.

Yorkshire is expected to get he worst of the conditions in particular, with the yellow thunderstorm warning expected to take effect until 8pm.

Yellow weather warning issued

Thunderstorms across eastern parts of England
Saturday 1100 – 2000

Latest info https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs

Stay #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/fxmGDJePa5

— Met Office (@metoffice) August 26, 2023

Attendees at Leeds will be hoping to avoid any thunder and lightning as Sam Fender and Foals are both expected to headline the Saturday night as Reading festival will be headlined by The Killers and The 1975.

For Leeds, the threat of thunder and lightning will only last the Saturday, although the festival is still expected to be exposed to the threat of torrential rain across the entirety of the Sunday with quick heavy downpours expected to merge alongside longer spells of rain.

The Killers and The 1975 headline Leeds festival on the Sunday whilst Billie Eilish and Imagine Dragons headline Reading festival.

Reading is expected to be less at risk for rain on the Sunday, however after some expected sunny spells in the morning, there is some possibility of showers as the day progresses into the evening time.

Temperatures for both Reading and Leeds will fluctuate between 19 degrees during the afternoon and around 11/10 degrees later at night across the entirety of the festival.

Both Reading and Leeds are expected to have sunny conditions as many festival goers exit the respective festivals on the Monday, hopefully ensuring for safe conditions and minimal disruption as thousands depart the festival sites.

The project, called Life is Dub, is set to be released as part of 2023’s Record Store Day exclusive releases on 22nd April 2023.

Foals revealed that they’d be teaming up with Dan Carey, founder of record label Speedy Wunderground and renowned producer, having worked with the likes of Fontaines D.C., Wet Leg and Slowthai.

Foals frontman Yanis Philippakis spoke to NME about the “2AM” release, saying, “This is the most interesting version. It’s one of the most full and dubbiest moments of the record. Some tracks are slightly dancier and in a more electronic place while others sound like full, sonic-heavy dubs.”

Philippakis continued, “Because ‘2AM’ is one of the biggest tracks off the record, it’s interesting how he managed to subvert it and have the lyrics take on a different flavour. It’s got more of a darker, late-night swagger than the original.”

“Now it’s 2AM, there are no buses, no streetlights working, and the streets are piled high with trash. I like it. It’s this kind of Knight Rider vibe to it.”

The band have been clear on their vision for the dub reimagining of Life is Yours, telling NME “It’s not like we’re going, ‘Oh, here are some extra tracks’ or, ‘Here’s the record remixed by a bunch of different people’. It’s just taking all of the material that’s there and getting deep with it.”

“It’s like being presented with a photograph of the album and this is the negative that you’ve never seen. It’s a total invert. If ‘Life Is Yours’ is a daytime summer record, full of light with these clean white lines, then this is literally a colour negative. It’s a sweaty and unclean flip of it.”

Foals decided to work with Dan Carey on this project as they believe him to be “an amazing chameleon” in his musical abilities.

Speaking on Carey, Philippakis said, “He’s got a renaissance ability to look at all aspects of music; especially with recording. He’s adaptable and can fit in with whatever an artist requires. He’s working a lot so he’s really in the groove. He never stops and that gives him this incredible rhythm and routine where he’s always on his game. ”

The band hope that they’ll reach a new audience with their new sound, and are keen to get “people into record shops” with their exclusive Record Store Day 2023 release.

Foals are set to headline Reading & Leeds Festival this summer. Purchase tickets here.

Stream Life Is Yours here.

Manchester, see you at Castlefield Bowl tonight. Sadly, both @regrettesband & @wetlegband are unable to join us.@yardactband will be the special guest instead x

5:30pm // Doors
7:30pm // Yard Act
8:45pm // FOALS#LifeIsYours Photo credit: Louise Mason pic.twitter.com/9ff3fHBJck

— FOALS (@foals) June 29, 2022

After a short stint of fans being left in the dark regarding the health and wellbeing of Wet Leg, they quickly took to social media explaining, “Very sad to say we aren’t gonna be able to play the foals show in Manchester tonight cause one of our lovely band has Covid. Have a fun night and see you soon”.

Very sad to say we aren’t gonna be able to play the @foals show in Manchester tonight cause one of our lovely band has Covid. Have a fun night and see you soon

— Wet Leg (@wetlegband) June 29, 2022

The Regrettes then took the same approach and announced to their socials, “awh man sad day. we will not be able to play with foals tonight in manchester due to a few of us testing positive for covid. THIS SUCKS”. An awfully inconvenient coincidence for Foals, but with Yard Act only being a phone call away, many fans seem more than pleased with the decision.

awh man sad day. we will not be able to play with @foals tonight in manchester due to a few of us testing positive for covid. THIS SUCKS

— The Regrettes (@regrettesband) June 29, 2022

Foals are currently in the process of closing up their postponed tour, while tonight’s Manchester date is already sold out, the final show in Leeds’ Millennium Square on July 8^th may still have a few straggling tickets remaining. You can try and bag what you can here. Outside of the tour dates, the group are also hitting up a couple of festivals before calling it quits at the end of August. Glasgow’s TRNSMT festival and Suffolk’s Latitude managed to fit the bill this time around.

Foals’ headline appearance alongside Lewis Capaldi and Snow Patrol at the Obelisk Arena will also see the likes of American breakthrough singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers, mercury prize nominee Little Simz, and Rina Sawayama whose recent collaboration with Charli XCX took fans by storm. The main stage will also see the likes of a few more… let’s say old-school bands, with Manic Street Preachers, Modest Mouse, and Shed Seven all making appearances. It’d be unreasonable to put Lewis Capaldi on a line-up and not include James Arthur, just as any festival of this calibre needs a hit-filled set of bangers from someone like Example. You can look into ticket information here.

In a recent appearance on Shaun Keaveny’s podcast The Line-Up, ironically reported by the NME, the Foals frontman recounts his lack of memory of his awards speech and a rather awkward encounter he had later in the evening with The Cure’s legendary lead singer Robert Smith: “We were at the NME Awards, which is famously sloppy, and I think that I’d quit smoking, and I was drinking quickly, you know. I was really putting them away. And I get kind of nervous at those things anyway, like I think probably most people do. But, you know, I didn’t feel at ease.” Philippakis continued: “I got battered, basically got super drunk, and then we did win something. We went up there and I gave an interview that I think has been sort of scorched like it’s been taken out. There was video, but and I didn’t remember this until the next day, but I was like I was dancing in it and saying all sorts of stuff, but the thing I remember was looking at like some of my bandmates faces and like, you know, I was performing for the for the interview and for the interview and for the camera and then looking over and just kind of getting these mortified looks. But it was mid flow, you know, no one could stop me… I was just charged and I was going, and then we had to do a photo right after. So we’re backstage there where they were doing all the stuff, and Robert Smith’s there and he’s doing photos, and I’m refusing to leave the room in order to get a photo of Robert Smith. And I just remember one point, Edwin [Congreave, ex-Foals keyboardist], who has now left the band, being like, ‘please don’t embarrass me in front of Robert Smith. Please don’t embarrass me.’ I’m like, ‘I’m gonna get us a photo. Robert Smith!” 

He concluded: “So we did manage to get a photo with Robert Smith, but it wasn’t good. And then the next day I woke up and did not remember the interview at all – or the photo! And somebody in the band had to be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I remember. You were showing off and dancing around’. So yeah, it was all in all pretty bad. And I saw and apologised to Robert Smith recently.”

We feel for you Yannis.

Whilst “2am” was released as a single back in February, “2001” met fresh ears for the first time and it’s safe to say fans were elated. The latest sound seems far funkier, more joyous and bubbly. However, still retaining the calculated razor-sharp Foals groove. Take a look at the fan captured performances from the gig below:

_d4nstagramhttps://t.co/8mQSd1bbtu pic.twitter.com/TK2bsLUbXh

— Foals Worldwide(@FoalsWorldwide) April 21, 2022

The tracks played at last night’s gig are pulled from their forthcoming album Life Is Yours which will drop on the 17^th of June 2022. Their seventh in a long line of spectacular records. In a statement to announce the release, the oxford trio said; “while we were writing in the throes of last winter, we wanted to find a new way to express ourselves. We wanted to refocus and do something that shared a DNA throughout the songs: a physicality, a danceability, an ode to nights out. Big big love, Yannis, Jack and jimmy”

See the rest of the tracklist down below:

1.“Life Is Yours”
2. “Wake Me Up”
3. “2am”
4. “2001”
5. “(summer sky)”
6. “Flutter”
7. “Looking High”
8. “Under The Radar”
9. “Crest Of The Wave”
10. “The Sound”
11. “Wild Green”

Life Is Yours is available to pre-order here on vinyl, CD & cassette along with a new merch line and a very limited number of signed album bundles.

Tickets for their upcoming tour can be found here and the dates for which can be found down below (along with their confirmed festival appearances):

Tour Dates;
21/04/2022 – Usher Hall, Edinburgh, UK
23/04 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham, UK
25/04– Bonus Arena, Hull, UK
26/04– O2 City Hall, Newcastle, UK
27/04 – Centre, Brighton, UK
29/04 – Olympia, London, UK
30/04 – Olympia, London, UK
01/05 – Olympia, London, UK
02/05– Olympia, London, UK
05/05 – Empress Ballroom, Blackpool, UK
06/05 – Empress Ballroom, Blackpool, UK
08/05 – O2 Academy Brixton, London, UK
29/05 – Radio 1’s Big Weekend, Coventry, UK
22–26/06 – Glastonbury Festival, UK
27/06 – Fairview Park, Dublin, UK
29/06 – Sounds of the City, Castlefield Bowl, Manchester, UK
8/07 – Sounds of the City, Millennium Square, Leeds, UK
9/07– TRSNMT, Glasgow, UK
23/07 – Latitude Festival, Suffolk, UK

Your first @cinchuk presents Latitude 2022 announcement is finally here!

We’ve got an unforgettable weekend planned for you at Henham
Park! Full details here (https://t.co/NKGTzCYnvQ)#cinchxlatitude pic.twitter.com/K6o0rT6R99

— Latitude Festival (@LatitudeFest) March 1, 2022

So far, the organizers have not revealed any information on the days each artist will perform, but I imagine all of the relevant information will come as we near the on-sale date. To get on top of all of the relevant information you can sign up here. Until then, however, we have been given the stage splits. Alongside our headliners, the Obelisk Arena (which I will refer to as the main stage) will also see the likes of American breakthrough singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers, mercury prize nominee Little Simz, and Rina Sawayama whose recent collaboration with Charli XCX took fans by storm. The main stage will also see the likes of a few more… let’s say old-school bands, with Manic Street Preachers, Modest Mouse, and Shed Seven all making appearances. It’d be unreasonable to put Lewis Capaldi on a lineup and not include James Arthur, just as any festival of this calibre needs a hit-filled set of bangers from someone like Example.

Next, we see the BBC Sounds Stage and its slightly different approach to selecting the tunes. With headlining slots by the one and only Phoebe Bridgers, dance-duo Groove Armada bring their mesmerizing energy to the tent, and Fontaines D.C. will be taking their new record Skinty Fia for a spin soon after its April release date. Appearances from Kae Tempest, Cavetown, Maximo Park, Porridge Radio, and a significant chunk of others should provide for most people with even a mild interest in music.

The Sunrise Arena will feature the likes of Let’s Eat Grandma, cktrl, and KEG to possibly introduce you to your favourite new band of the year, the Comedy tent is proud to announce its first headliner as Russel Howard; with additional appearances from The Horne Section, Rosy Jones, and David O’Doherty to name a few. And, according to the festival itself, “It wouldn’t be Latitude without an eclectic range of names from the worlds of dance, poetry, podcasts and more.”  So expect a whole host of other talks, events, meetings, and activities over the course of the weekend.

EXTRA UK DATES! We’ve added Hull, Newcastle & Brighton to our 2022 tour.

Grab yr presale tickets on Wednesday at 9a GMT https://t.co/QrCMEKIdQH

Photo credit: Sam Neill pic.twitter.com/uAOVO424My

— FOALS (@foals) November 8, 2021

Watch the band’s video for their latest single “Wake Me Up” here

Foals are an English Rock Band from Oxford that was formed in 2005, Yannis Philippakis (Lead vocalist and lead guitarist), Jack Bevan (Drummer and percussionist) and Jimmy Smith (Rhythm guitarist) make up the band’s current lineup. The band have released seven albums to date and their 2008 debut album Antidotes was notably certified gold. The band’s last album Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2 was released in March 2019 and earned the band their first UK number one album. The band also won a Brit Award for Best Group, a Q Award for best album, an NME Award for Best Live Act and the album was also nominated for the Mercury Prize.

Upon rescheduling their Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2 tour for the third time the band expressed their delight and said “This definitely feels like a case of third time lucky” The tour will see the band who are considered to be one of the best live UK acts and the 2013 Best Live Act Q Award winners return to the stage. Rescheduling the tour has not been without issues for the band as they have experienced difficulty with the London Olympia dates due to capacity issues.

The band previously said “The venue has had its capacity reduced due to new building works on site and the only way we can make the shows work is for the planned three concerts to become four: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Friday being the extra date” Following the group’s new single release there is speculation that they are set to announce a 2022 album. However, the band have not yet provided details of a new album or details of a release date. The band have however shared news of writing new material and have been recording the CCTV Sessions of their 2013 album Holy Fire

The band’s rescheduled 2022 tour will kick off in Edinburgh on April 20th and tickets go on sale on November 10th at 09.00 am for the group’s added tour dates.

See the tour dates for the Foals Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2 2022 UK Tour below and buy tickets here

20/04/22 Usher Hall- Edinburgh
21/04 Usher Hall- Edinburgh
23/04 Utilita Arena- Birmingham
25/04 Hull Bonus Arena- Hull (Added date).
26/04 O2 City Hall- Newcastle (Added date).
27/04 Brighton Centre- Brighton (Added date).
29/04 London Olympia
30/04 London Olympia
01/05 London Olympia
02/05 London Olympia
05/05 Empress Ballroom- Blackpool
06/05 Empress Ballroom- Blackpool
08/05 O2 Brixton Academy- London
29/06 Castlefield Bowl- Manchester
08/07 Millennium Square- Leeds