KOKO
LONDON
29TH APRIL

Pre-order ‘WE’ from our official U.K. store before Wednesday 20th April 4pm BST to get priority access to pre-sale starting Thursday 21st April 10am BST https://t.co/jozlr1tXdZ pic.twitter.com/TY6uymsQYN

— Arcade Fire (@arcadefire) April 19, 2022

Arcade Fire are currently in the middle of promoting their upcoming album, We. Since March fans of the band have been treated to singles and surprises galore, a lucky few were sent postcards marked from the band simply stating “We missed you” with a little snippet of musical notation from their upcoming singles “Lightning I, II” that would be released shortly afterwards. Since then, the group have aired a handful of new tracks across a couple of shows benefiting the Plus 1 Ukraine relief fund, and a surprise appearance at Coachella last weekend. All of these exciting updates come with the news that one of the band’s core members, Will Butler, amicably left the band. Despite this, the band are seemingly carrying on at full steam. You can pre-order the new album here, or check out the first of the new singles below.

For those unable to attend the show, the entire evening will be streamed live on Twitch on Amazon Music UK’s channel.

The triumphant UK return of Arcade Fire isn’t the only event being put on to reintroduce KOKO to Camden though, DJ Luciano will kick off the KOKO Electronic club night on the first weekend, Central Cee will also play 2 sets on May 1^st (at 4pm and 8pm), then once the opening weekend is over and done the venue will essentially continue along its merry way. Lianne La Havas, Chase and Status, and Pete Doherty are all penned to play within the first month, you can check out the full listings here.

NAO first revealed the news last week in an Instagram post with the caption, “It’s been too long, it’s time to drop new music …. THIS MONTH.” On Sunday 23rd August, just a day before the release, she announced La Havas’ feature, the release date, and confirmed that the song would be premiered as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in the World on BBC Radio 1 (currently covered by Clara Amfo).

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I have something real special for you coming tomorrow with my fav girl @liannelahavas Tune in to @bbcradio1’s hottest record in the world from 7pm (UK) for 1st listen. Track comes out straight after

A post shared by Nao (@this_nao) on Aug 23, 2020 at 9:22am PDT

In the interview, both La Havas and NAO discussed the song and its importance. “It kind of came together during the time of the Black lives matter movement, and obviously both me and Lianne being women of colour and being British as well, it felt like a really important song to release and talk about, empowerment. And especially as women of colour, celebrating ourselves and all we’ve done and how far we’ve come,” NAO explained.

Following on, La Havas said, “I think it’s important all the time to empower black women so I don’t mind that this has come out a little later in the year. I think it’s always a good message to be empowering women.”

Combining both NAO’s self-described ‘wonky funk’ sound and La Havas’ soulful guitar and vocals, the song has resonated with many, gaining 4,000 views on the music video in the first four hours. The video shows colourful, intricate animations and features both artists, to the absolute joy of their fans.

NAO has been creating music professionally and publicly as a singer, songwriter, and producer, since 2014, releasing her debut album ‘For All We Know’ in 2016, and sophomore, ‘Saturn’, in 2018. She has been nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist, Album of the Year at the Mercury Prize, and Best Contemporary Album at the Grammy Awards.

La Havas wrote her first song at age 11, learning guitar when she was 18. Her first solo EP was released in 2011 after she signed with Warner Bros. Records the year before. ‘Lost and Found’ was the name of the EP, and La Havas went on to create another EP and three studio albums. Her debut album ‘Is Your Love Big Enough?’ won iTunes Album of the Year, followed by self-titled work released in 2020.

‘Lianne La Lavas’ was announced back in May, and came along with the release of second single ‘Paper Thin’, which has since gained 3 million streams. This was prefaced by the powerful ‘Bittersweet’, premiered by COLORS earlier this year. Perhaps the most exciting song in terms of creation, ‘Cant’ Fight’ was the third single from the album, co-written and produced with music industry phenomenon Mura Masa, who La Havas has admitted to being a fan of.

Most recently, her cover of Radiohead’s ‘Weird Fishes’ premiered, which is also featured on the album. With La Havas expressing her love for Radiohead and the song, the official music video was shared on 13th July.

To promote the album, La Havas held a livestream on 15th July hosted by Roundhouse London, in which she performed a set of her songs from inside the building. Fans bought tickets to the event to gain access, and watched via YouTube.

Not only this, yesterday, 16th July, she chatted to Sean McPherson of The Current on their YouTube channel. The pair discussed the new release, her previous works, and her inspiration. She also took part in a livestream for Amazon Music, and will be joining a few more events today, such as NPR’s listening party.

Lianne La Havas summed up her emotions on this, the release day, in her numerous Tweets, showing how excited she is. Slightly tipsy and very happy, the singer celebrated at midnight last night when her work was finally released, in a hilarious post.

IT’S OUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IN THE WORLDDDDDDDDDDDDD OH MY FUCKING GOODNESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

— Lianne (@liannelahavas) July 16, 2020

La Havas wrote her first song at age 11, learning guitar when she was 18. She started out singing backing vocals on tour for Paloma Faith, before collaborating with Christian Pincheback as a duo. Her first solo EP was released in 2011 after she signed with Warner Bros. Records the year before. ‘Lost and Found’ was the name of the EP, and La Havas went on to create another EP and three studio albums. Her debut album ‘Is Your Love Big Enough?’ won iTunes Album of the Year, and she has since collaborated with many other musicians, performing at gigs and festivals around the world.

Lianne La Havas (born Lianne Barnes) is herself among those fans who have ensured “Weird Fishes” is a staple of Radiohead live setlists, making no bones of her long standing love affair with the track. In an interview feature for Dutch radio station 3FM Gemist, Barnes named “Weird Fishes” as one of five essential tracks that define her musical identity, and she has repeatedly covered the song live throughout her career, most notably using it to close her 2013 Glastonbury performance (embed above).  

But now after what has been the part of a decade-long love affair, Barnes has finally put to tape her own spin on the Radiohead classic. Lulling you into a false sense of familiarity, Barnes’ version mimics Phil Selway’s frantic drum work for all of three seconds before the floor drops out, replacing his driving percussion for a beat that takes its languid cues from hip hop. Gone too are the arpeggiated guitar licks (that lend the original half of its title) in favour of sparse keyboard chords and an infectious bassline groove, that at the three-minute mark give way to a stunning acapella harmony: “I get eaten by the worms/And weird fishes/Picked over by the worms/And weird fishes”.

Barnes revealed in a press release for the song that it had been the first recorded for the new album, “a kind of test song” that had helped shape the direction of her latest record. “I had the most wonderful, nourishing experience recording [Weird Fishes]”, she explained, “that’s where I decided: the rest of the album needs to be like this. It’s got to be my band, and I’ve got to do it in London, whenever people have time”. Listen to the official audio below: 

Set for release via Nonesuch Records on the 17th of July, the description on the label’s website describes the album as spanning the arc of a relationship, citing sonic influences as diverse as Milton Nascimento and Destiny’s Child. “What plays a big role in the album is the idea of the life cycle of plants and nature”, she says, “equating this journey with a seasonal thing that blooms, thrives, goes away, and comes back even stronger”. “Weird Fishes” had been the perfect cover to feature on the album, as well as being the entire record’s conceptual starting block since, as Barnes puts it, “this song is very close to my heart, and in the story of the record, the lyrics express exactly where I was”. 

For obvious reasons you won’t be able to catch Barnes perform the song live this summer, but to promote the release of her new album she will be playing a livestream concert at London’s Roundhouse on the 15th of July. Buy tickets to watch the gig here, and preorder Lianne La Havas through Nonesuch’s website.

La Havas posted a video to announce the news only a few days ago on 4th May. The album will be released on 17th July 2020, with ten tracks including ‘Paper Thin’ and ‘Bittersweet’. Have a look at the full track-list at the end of this post.

I’m so glad I can finally say…MY NEW ALBUM IS COMING 17th JULY 2020
In ALL of the ways!!! I love you I love you I love you I love you ILOVEYOUUUU https://t.co/UiKaMUX3Wj pic.twitter.com/wjic6zetgf

— Lianne La Havas (@liannelahavas) May 4, 2020

Speaking about ‘Paper Thin’, which was also released on 4th May, the artist said “I remember thinking, ‘This is how I want to sound. This is how I sound.’ I love how minimal it is,” in an interview with Zane Lowe of Apple Music for New Music Daily. She also explained how the song came about, writing with drummer Homer Steinweiss. Recorded in just two takes, the song was a simple jam over some chords which La Havas had thought up.

Thank you @AppleMusic for making me the cover of #newmusicdaily. Listen to my new single “Paper Thin” https://t.co/wJfWCYIhaC pic.twitter.com/ENOTKMr7es

— Lianne La Havas (@liannelahavas) May 4, 2020

Prior to the release of ‘Paper Thin’, there was ‘Bittersweet’, a song which has gained 4 million plays on Spotify and is a hit with fans. La Havas spoke to Genius about the single and the album, saying that “in the context of the whole album, it’s kind of the overview of reconnecting with yourself and realising that you may have to change something dramatically in your life to make yourself happier and to get more fulfilment from your life.” She also performed an acoustic version and explained the lyrics in detail.

Currently isolating in London, the singer is still working and staying in touch with fans the best she can. Recently, she took part in NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert from home, gaining 300,000 views on their YouTube channel with the first performance of ‘Paper Thin’ along with a few other songs. La Havas was supposed to be playing live at various shows and festivals this year, many of which have been cancelled, and some of which are awaiting confirmation. Stay updated on her website.

La Havas wrote her first song at age 11, learning guitar when she was 18. She started out singing backing vocals on tour for Paloma Faith, before collaborating with Christian Pincheback as a duo. Her first solo EP was released in 2011 after she signed with Warner Bros. Records the year before. ‘Lost and Found’ was the name of the EP, and La Havas went on to create another EP and two studio albums. Her debut album ‘Is Your Love Big Enough?’ won iTunes Album of the Year, and she has since collaborated with many other musicians, performing at gigs and festivals around the world.

The full track-list for ‘Lianne La Havas’ is as follows:

1. Bittersweet
2. Read My Mind
3. Green Papaya
4. Can’t Fight
5. Paper Thin
6. Weird Fishes
7. Please Don’t Make Me Cry
8. Seven Times
9. Courage
10. Sour Flower

This is the first new music the artist has released in five years, since her previous 2015 album ‘Blood’. Already at 70,000 Spotify streams, La Havas balances belting choruses and sweet sounding verses with a soul-inspired track. ‘Bittersweet’ premiered as Annie Mac’s ‘Hottest Record’ on BBC Radio 1, and was featured on the COLORS YouTube Channel as a live performance from the singer.

Having taken a break from music, La Havas spoke about coming back to it, saying in a press release “I’d forgotten how much I love singing. I’ve tapped into the best and worst parts of me and while I didn’t expect this to be the direction of my new music, it’s my reality and it’s driven by emotion.” There is no information yet regarding any further releases, though fans are hopeful that this is the first song from a potential new album.

Luckily, however, fans can be assured that they can watch Lianne La Havas perform live over the coming months. She will first appear at London’s Barbican tonight (28^th February) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jules Buckley, before performing for Annie Mac Presents at The Moth Club in London on 4^thMarch. Another big show for the artist is Pitchfork Music Festival on 8^th May. The full dates for this year so far are listed below – find tickets on the official Lianne La Havas website.

28/02/2020 – Barbican – London, UK
04/03 – The Moth Club – London, UK (SOLD OUT)
31/03 – The Roxy Theatre – West Hollywood, CA, US (SOLD OUT)
08/05 – Pitchfork Music Festival – Berlin, GER
02/07 – Rock Werchter – Rotselaar, BE
08/08 – Boardmasters Festival – Cornwall, UK

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My new single “Bittersweet” is out tomorrow I love you very much

A post shared by Lianne (@liannelahavas) on Feb 24, 2020 at 11:42am PST

La Havas wrote her first song at age 11, learning guitar when she was 18. She started out singing backing vocals on tour for Paloma Faith, before collaborating with Christian Pincheback as a duo. Her first solo EP was released in 2011 after she signed with Warner Bros. Records the year before. ‘Lost and Found’ was the name of the EP, and La Havas went on to create another EP and two studio albums. Her debut album ‘Is Your Love Big Enough?’ won iTunes Album of the Year, and she has since collaborated with many other musicians, performing at gigs and festivals around the world.