Speaking on the story behind the song, Bird said: “Burn The Hard Drive was a song I wrote while still in my last relationship. I think my subconscious knew before I did that it was over. But also, that the ending would be where so much more could begin. Working with Mura Masa has been the purest process. When I got emotional hearing it back after the breakup, he helped me finish it and not erase it, fittingly like everything else.”

“I wanted to get something close to the emotions I had been feeling this past 18 months, and when I see me, hand in hand with a ghost, it hits hard“, she added.

As Bird suggests, not only do we end up having to remove people from our physical spaces, but our digital ones too. For the best part of a decade, the internet was always viewed as a place to escape from the real world, but in recent years, it now seems that the real world offers an escape from the internet, especially during the aftermath of a relationship.

The accompanying music video expresses this very sentiment, presenting a world that is half physical and half pixelated, with momentary flashes of Bird, people and places, illustrating how photographs, video and social media are so deeply intertwined in our real lives, just as memories and past moments reappear in certain places that we walk or drive by. A summer picnic playing out on an icy, barren meadow; seeing someone’s silhouette in the corner of a once beloved pub, or holding hands with their ghost on a park bench. Bird posed an emotional question to fans about the video’s concept, asking them: “All those places have a new meaning now. Where’s a place you just can’t go to anymore?!”

Bird begins the video journeying in a car on a blistering, dirt road, looking back at her past self in the rear view mirror. Shot in various locations, she walks alongside the ghost of an ex-lover, watching as they slowly fade away. Expertly and lovingly crafted, the video was directed by Aries Moross, who Bird has previously worked with on her album visuals. The singer spoke on working with Moross in an Instagram post announcing the single, commenting: “Aries Moross has been my hero and favourite collaborator since my debut video ‘Lottery’ (they shot that too!), there’s something that feels amazing about shooting this new era with them. I’m floored by their work and ability to put together the most incredible people on the daily.”

The collaboration between the pair perfectly captures the same sense of longing and sorrow woven into Bird’s lyrics, while also demonstrating the power in being able to detach from these feelings, move on with your life in a healthy way and cherish new people and new memories.

‘Burn The Hard Drive’ is a glimpse into what is perhaps Bird’s most nuanced sound yet, beguiling us as she flits between softer and rockier vocals. Relishing in her signature raspy tone, Bird plays with a sultry, percussive folk melody no longer filled with darkness or yearning, but with acceptance, relief and new beginnings.

‘Burn The Hard Drive’ is out now.

Celebrating over a decade of friendship and sporadic conversations while touring festivals, band members Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett and Ted Dwane reconnected with the iconic producer turned fashion creative last summer during his Something In The Water Festival at Virginia Beach in North America.

After multiple songwriting sessions, the two camps went on to record the song together in New York and Paris. The track also features haunting backing vocals from a talented six-piece choir known as Native Vocalists, whose origins hail from Native American Tribes within the Great Northern Plains.

The uplifting, gospel-inspired track had its debut performance at Paris Fashion Week during Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton Menswear Autumn/Winter 2024 runway show on January 16. The band was joined by Pharrell and the Native Vocalists in a special, one-off live set for all 1,300 attendees.

Proving to be a powerful tool for showcasing new music, the runway performance lies in situ with other live debuts curated by the producer. ‘Joy (Unspeakable)’, a collaboration between Williams and gospel choir Voices of Fire, was performed at his first Paris show last June, followed by a performance of ‘Airplane Tickets’ alongside Swae Lee and Rauw Alejandro at his pre-fall 2024 show in Hong Kong last November.

Although some fans might be surprised by the collaboration with the British trio, this isn’t the first time Williams has teamed up with artists from opposite ends of the spectrum, working with the likes of Daft Punk, Calvin Harris, Beck, and Tame Impala.

Williams has also been informally credited as one of the driving forces behind Maggie Rogers’ career, as seen in a viral video of him listening to and praising her song ‘Alaska’ during a music majors’ workshop and masterclass at The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University (NYU).

The renowned London band seem to be choosing their partnerships wisely, honing in on other artists who share a clear mutual respect for music. In October last year, the group teased unsuspecting fans at the Austin City Limits Music Festival by bringing on surprise guest Noah Kahan to perform a simplified rendition of unreleased track ‘Maybe’, another of what appears to be many impressive features on their upcoming album, their first since ‘Delta’ in 2018.

You can listen to the new single ‘Good People’ here.

Check out the new song below:

Following a period of collaboration with Eddie Vedder, Cat Power and his old band The Frames, Hansard rediscovered the raw power of distorted guitars and group chemistry, a revelation which directly informed the songwriting and recording on his new album. Early last year, when the record was still in the early stages of conception, the singer explained:

“I’m kind of going back to stuff I thought I’d left behind. Big electric guitars. It’s actually more in the area of The Frames. I’ve just missed playing with a band so much over the past two years. It’s still raw as hell right now. It’s all one take, straight band stuff. I was touring with a big band for a long while, but now I’ve gone right back to bass, drums, guitar and piano. And I’m loving it. There’s always that classic irony, where the less people you have, the bigger it can sound – because you’re listening to every note, and every note means something.”

All That Was East Is West Of Me Now, however, only truly began taking shape through a series of word-of-moth gigs Hansard arranged at a small local pub in late 2022. Believing that songs only become what they are in the presence of an audience, the singer took to the stage to present new material and unfinished ideas, which ultimately helped piece the new record together.

In a press release, Hansard elaborates: “I told no one. We set up in the corner and played to the locals, some of whom were only half listening. A collection of farmers and workers, dart players, pool sharks. I played two hours of new songs each week, some songs finished, some half-baked. Through this process I realized what I had and what I had to work on further – which songs landed and which ones were only good in my imagination. It solidified my choices right away. It was as if the album appeared in that bar. And not before.”

While the album sees Hansard reconnect with his musical roots, the title, which the singer says stems from the “sudden realisation that there’s more behind than ahead”, also suggests a lyrically reflective body of work.

Pre-order All That Was East Is West Of Me Now here.

Catch Glen Hansard on tour:

30/10/2023 – The London Palladium – London
31/10 – RNCM Theatre – Manchester
13/12 – Vicar Street – Dublin
15/12 – Leisureland – Galway
16/12 – St. Columb’s Hall – Derry
18/12 – Ulster Hall – Belfast
19/12 – City Hall – Cork

Tickets available here.

The alternative rock outfit, dreamed of and fronted by Kate Stables, who also uses the name This Is the Kit as a musical alias, recorded the album back in December and are now ready to share with the world this LP, their sixth studio album to date.

The record, produced by Welsh musician and producer Gruff Rhys, is laden throughout with the subtle musical intricacy the group have become associated with through previous releases. The single that shares its name with the album perfectly epitomises such subtlety, with the bass floating to the top and the hints of piano lurking behind luscious guitar licks that all blend wonderfully with Stables’ effortlessly invigorating vocal delivery.

Listen to “Careful Of Your Keepers” below:

This Is the Kit was formed by brainchild Kate Stables in 2003, and released their debut album, Krülle Bol, eight years later in 2008. This, along with their second album, Wriggle Out the Restless (2010), failed to attract a significant amount of attention. It wasn’t until the release of their third album, Bashed Out, did the group start receiving praise for their musical output, with this LP widely considered as their breakthrough record.

Listen to “Krülle Bol”, from the group’s debut album, below:

Watch the music video for “Bashed Out“, from the group’s third album of the same name, below:

With the release of the folk rock group’s fourth album came a change in record labels; Moonshine Freeze was released via Rough Trade Records, the label their still with to this day, in 2017 to widespread critical acclaim. This was followed by Off Off On in 2020, marking the group’s fifth collective release.

Careful of Your Keepers will therefore be the group’s sixth studio album, and lead vocalist, guitarist and banjoist Stables seems in no mood to be slowing down any time soon. The rest of the band consists of Rozi Plain on bass and vocals, Neil Smith on guitar, and Jamie Whitby-Coles on drums.

You can get your copy of Careful of Your Keepers here.

See below for This Is the Kit tour dates:

10/06/2023 – Rough Trade East – London
12/06 – Pryzm – Kingston Upon Thames
16/06 – Black Deer Festival – Eridge Park, Tunbridge Wells
18/08 – Rough Trade – Bristol
16/07 – Folk By The Oak 2023 – Hatfield House, Hatfield
27/07 – Warwick Folk Festival 2023 – Castle Park, Warwick
28/07 – Deer Shed Festival 2023 – Baldersby Park, Thirsk

Purchase tickets for the live shows here.

Syd Barrett Estate launches the Official Syd Barrett YouTube channelhttps://t.co/4utqmCEdlZ
Syd Barrett Music Limited and the Syd Barrett estate are launching a dedicated Syd Barrett YouTube channel. pic.twitter.com/U6FFXZY03j

— Syd Barrett-Official (@TheSydBarrett) May 9, 2023

The channel will feature songs from Barrett’s solo career post Pink-Floyd, and will be accompanied by animated music videos created by Swedish animator Alex Teglbjaerg.

Taken from a press release, Peter Barrett, on behalf of the Barrett Family, explains, “There isn’t all that much filmed Syd Barrett out there. You’ve seen already seen most of the material and the few bits that pop up are quickly placed in the public domain. We want to take his quirky and poetic lyrics and translate them into images”.

Teglbjaerg, on his contribution to the project, added, “I try to take the listener into a Syd Barrett dream of sorts. Syd was a craftsman when it came to writing intriguing lyrics for his songs. Many times utilising cut-up techniques. That’s what I am attempting to do as well. I take what we take for granted, Syd in a room with painted floorboards and find a way to discover more. Not just zoom in, I try to immerse the viewer in that room by using collages and elements from multiple sources. But in the end, the focus is not on the visuals themselves. It lies in Syd’s music and lyrics”.

Watch the animated music video for “Dark Globe” below:

Barrett co-founded psychedelic and progressive rock band Pink Floyd in 1965 with Roger Walters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright, and was initially the main creative force, both lyrically and musically, driving the band forward. Regularly performing at London venue the UFO Club, the group quickly amassed a growing fan base, and released their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, in August 1967. The album was well-received and reached number six in the UK Albums Chart.

Despite the early success, however, Barrett’s relationship with the band grew worse; his ever-increasing use of LSD distanced himself from the band and by the time the group’s second album, A Saucerful of Secrets, was released the following year, Barrett had been asked to leave. His last contribution to the band’s discography was the single “Jugband Blues“, the only song Barrett had written on the new LP, and a hauntingly self-aware portrait of Barrett being left behind by his bandmates.

Watch the 1967 promo video for “Jugband Blues” below:

Barrett subsequently embarked on a brief solo career, releasing the single “Octopus” in November 1969, the only single he ended up releasing, and followed this two months later with the album The Madcap Laughs (1970). The album was produced with the help of Pink Floyd members David Gilmour and Roger Waters, with Richard Wright helping produce his second, and final, album, Barrett (1970).

Syd Barrett’s genius has influenced and inspired a plethora of artists over the years and this new youtube channel dedicated to his music will undoubtedly prove a poignant tribute to said genius.

Our new single #Trying is OUT NOW!

“I feel like trying is what we spend most of our lives doing really. Just trying our best. Trying to be better, to make things work. This was definitely written at a time where I was nearly tried out” https://t.co/ZuvX8U87V9 pic.twitter.com/pou404zMKL

— The Staves (@thestaves) September 10, 2020

The Album was released last month with the help of producer John Congleton and received great reviews. In an interview with NME Milly said: “We’d gone into hibernation for about a year after we lost our mum, and didn’t really know who we were or what we were doing anymore. He was the right person at the right time to swoop in like a little whirlwind or energy”. Then Jess added: “He gave us a lot of reassurance, too. We’d been self-producing everything up to that point, but we needed someone to come in and bring new energy. He’d warned us, saying he works really quickly, but that was exactly what we needed”. 

It’s a real life tour! @TheO2 priority tickets & pre sale tickets are available now!

General Sale begins Friday 9am. #GoodWoman #Live pic.twitter.com/DEaCYo1Dwq — The Staves (@thestaves) March 3, 2021

Pre- Sale tickets are available now and general sale begins Friday 5th of March.

See full tour dates below:

23/09/2021 – Brangwyn Hall, Swansea
24/09 – Junction, Cambridge
25/09 – Quarterhouse, Folkestone
28/09 – O2 Institute 1, Birmingham
29/09 – Grand Central Hall, Liverpool
30/09 – SWG3, Glasgow
02/10 – Queen’s Hall
04/10 – Stylus, Leeds
05/10 – Wylam Brewery, Newcastle
06/10 – Rock City, Nottingham
07/10 – Albert Hall, Manchester
09/10 – St George’s Church, Brighton
11/10 – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
12/10 – O2 Academy, Bristol

Derived from the words ‘apathy’ and ‘allopathic’, ‘Alapathy’ uses lyrics such as “Validate my fervency/To be so bound never looked so free/Allopathic remedies for now”. Describing her experience trying to let go of her thoughts using ‘allopathic remedies’, the artist uses enigmatic wordplay as is typical of her writing style, combining folk and rock music to tell her story; one which many relate to.

View this post on Instagram

my second album BREACH comes out on September 18th and you can listen to the first single Alapathy now – link upstairs. my parents like it and I hope you will too Artwork @nicoleloucaides

A post shared by Fenne Lily (@fennelily) on Jun 23, 2020 at 6:01am PDT

The music video, directed by Benjamin Brook, was also released, receiving almost 6,000 views. Given Lily’s Instagram caption when announcing the video, it seems that it was filmed while social distancing due to the coronavirus: “Directed by @benbro.ok and other masked folk.” The video timelessly shows Fenne Lily riding her bike around Bristol, out into forest and countryside, ending by running nude through a field.

‘BREACH’, the album for which ‘Alapathy’ was written, will be released later this year and will consist of thirteen tracks. The album contains themes of loneliness; as Lily explained in a press release, it “deals largely with loneliness, and trying to work out the difference between being alone and being lonely.”

She also described her journey from her first album ‘On Hold’ to now, saying, “I realised that I am comfortable in myself, and I don’t need to fixate on relationships to make myself feel like I have something to talk about.”

‘On Hold’ came out in 2018, just two years after she began playing her music in venues around Bristol. Now signed to Dead Oceans record label, Lily has already shared two singles this year - ‘Hypochondriac’ and ‘To Be A Woman Pt. 2′.

Find the full track-list for ‘BREACH’ below.

1. To Be A Woman Pt.1
2. Alapathy
3. Berlin
4. Elliot
5. I, Nietzche
6. Birthday
7. Blood Moon
8. Solipsism
9. I Used To Hate My Body But Now I Just Hate You
10. 98
11. Someone Else’s Trees
12. Moody Ghost
13. Laundry and Jet Lag

Fresh from a summer that saw them gig all over London and play with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Kasabian at Hard Rock Calling, the folk rock trio are now ready to unleash their debut E.P, Dusty Road. At a time when folk rock is at it’s most sought after for decades, the band have timed it to perfection, and following the recent news that Mumford and Sons are set to take a break from music, Hunter And The Bear could be the heirs to their throne atop the kingdom of British folk rock. Tracks full of raw emotion, enough energy to make the duracell bunny look like a lazy stop out and a DIY ethic to put other bands to shame, Hunter And The Bear have the exact hand needed to make sure 2014 builds on the groundwork they set this year.

Dusty Road seems destined to make people sit up and take notice. Consisting of four tracks that each have their individual qualities to set them aside from each other, the only complaint is that it is only four songs. Opener and lead single Forest On The Hill is three minutes of punchy acoustic goodness, with the husky vocals giving the track some strength while harmonies in the background make for a soothing, gentle start to the record. Second track The North is more of a sombre affair, with beautiful flowing strings adding another dimension to their already versatile collection. Lead singer Will’s southern drawl-esque vocals act as the ideal voice to capture the story, which makes you want to jump on a horse and head straight for the sun.

Title track Dusty Road is the most melodic song on the E.P, with a soft opening minute and a half featuring some docile acoustic quality before the foot tapping instrumental chorus kicks in, giving a full blooded folk sentiment about the song as the strings make a triumphant return and close the song emphatically. Closing tune Taliesin is a more up tempo affair, with a joyful feeling a constant throughout to keep a cheesy grin a permanent fixture before a huge ending with gang vocals.”You are not alone, brothers we will roll”. Alone they are not, and brothers they are. It’s not so much a roll Hunter And The Bear are currently on, more of a full steam ahead that will see the group take 2014 by storm. Dusty Road comes out on 28th October.

The record, which comes after their debut Fossils And Other Phantoms and 2011’s follow up Acrobats is set to take the band even further in their quest to let the world hear their innovative, drum heavy and euphoric tracks. In the two years since Acrobats was released, the group have toured North America twice and toured Europe countless times, in support of Jack White, Wild Flag and more, as well as release an album full of covers, Peggy Sue Play The Songs Of Scorpio Rising. Now they are back and ready to unleash a new barrage of tracks set to blow you off your feet.

The first single to surface from the album is Idle, a gospel-tinged song about “being unemployed and incurably thoughtful”, in the band’s own words. “The opening and closing parts are a kind of troubled gospel song – a prayer for purpose in the knowledge that the purpose will probably not be a ‘good’ one. It’s about impatience and distractions and thinking about things too much. And of course it’s about a boy.” While the song writing might come from all different angles, one constant is the pounding, tribal like drums and intricate riffs underneath a melody designed to sweep you away.

Choir Of Echoes is released on January 27th via Wichita recordings, which there will be an album release party in St Pancras Old Church, London. Tickets go on sale to fans of their Facebook page at 9am tomorrow, while they go on general sale this Friday at 9am. You can check out the first single from the album, Idle, below.

They have said that they will be taking a “considerable amount of time off” having finished up their American tour with a show in Kansas on Friday (September 20th). In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine the band said they were looking forward to having some much deserved time off. Keyboard player Ben Lovett revealed “There won’t be any Mumford & Sons activities for the foreseeable future following Friday’s show.”

Having shot to fame in late 2009 following the release of debut album Sigh No More which spawned the massive singles Little Lion Man and The Cave, it seemed as if everyone in the country had been drawn under their spell, combining catchy indie melodies with simple folk rock jingles. Babel followed in 2012, giving the quartet a number one record in both the UK and US, as well as a grammy award for best album. They then embarked on a huge world tour, including a headline slot at the prestigious Glastonbury festival earlier this year.

When asked about how much time they were planning on taking off, Lovett replied, “We have no idea. We just know we’re going to take a considerable amount of time off and just go back to hanging out and having no commitments or pressure or anything like that. It feels like the last week of school right now, before school holiday when you’re in high school. The atmosphere on the road is one of… I think everyone’s excited about being free of schedules.”

It isn’t clear what each member will be doing during their time off as well, not revealing whether they would be taking part in a new musical adventure. Lovett said “We’re just going to rest up. I don’t think we’ve had actually much time in the process to be with other people and living a life outside of the band. I think that’s what’s in place at the moment, to do very little – especially when it comes to Mumford & Sons.”