In a statement released on February 20th, fans were told the news. The statement released on South Korean social media Weverse reads “After open and thoughtful conversations together, we are sharing that Manon will be taking a temporary hiatus from group activities to focus on her health and wellbeing.”

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Katseye was formed on a competition style reality show named Dream Academy in 2023. From 120,000 applications to 20 contestants, following rigorous training Manon alongside the other members Sophia Laforteza, Yoonchae Jeung, Lara Raj, Daniela Avanzini, and Megan Skiendiel were chosen as the members of Katseye. Described as a global girl group, Katseye’s hails members from the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States. Dream Academy, a project backed by Hybe and Geffen records, Katseye includes the first Indian, Filipina, Latina, and Black artists to be signed under HYBE. Katseye sit with KPOP royalty signed to HYBE with the label mates being New Jeans, Enhypen and BTS.

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The group embarked on their first tour; the Beautiful Chaos tour in November 2025, performing 16 shows across north America. Their debut and second singles ‘Debut’ and ‘Touch’ respectively, have together have garnered over 300 million views on Youtube. EP’s ‘SIS (Soft is Strong)’ and ‘Beautiful Chaos’, followed as Katseye once again captured attention with a string of hit singles ‘Gnarly’, ‘Gameboy’ and ‘Gabriela’ . Fans have been assured that despite Manon’s absence, “The group will continue scheduled activities during this time, and we look forward to being together again when the time is right.”

Over the past 18 months, Katseye have been catapulted into stardom and in Google’s “Trending musicians ranking, placed 2nd in 2025. Collaborations and sponsorships with worldwide brands; Coach, Fendi and most famously Gap, have demonstrated Katseye’s impact on global fashion. Their influence on trends made evident as TikTok named Katseye the “Global Artist of the Year” in 2025, with their videos reaching over 30 billion views and were most recently nominated for Best New Artist and Best Pop/Duo Group Performance at the 2026 Grammys. Katseye have been remarked for their high energy performance and catchy songs and have performed at Wango Tango, Lollapalooza and are schedule to perform at Coachella later this year. The group’s most recent public appearance was on the Jimmy Fallon show.

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In the year 2026 the Academy Is… have officially made their long overdue return. A lead single, ‘2005’ has been catapulted into the world. The daydream of a song wraps its arms around fans that have sat idly with the group’s absence for over 20 years. Alongside the intoxicating new song, we have received the announcement of an entire new LP. ‘Almost There’ is set to release on March 27, 2026, the name of the LP itself is a nod to their notorious 2005 debut record ‘Almost Here’.

The band announced their new album on social media, sharing an instagram post featuring a tracklist and a lovingly written statement which read, “Almost Here was the beginning. Almost There is the reflection. It’s about being alive in the moment, checking in with who you thought you’d be, seeing what changed, what stuck, and what still feels like home.”

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The stem-winding new music announcement was accompanied by a tracklist that follows.

1.        Up In The Air

2.        Miracle

3.        2005

4.        Freak Out

5.        Snow Days

6.        100MPH

7.        Floating Through Time (interlude)

8.        L Train

9.        Lost Signals

10.  Lulu Boy

11.  Ten Tears

The release of new music marks the bands first LP since 2008. Their last LP release was ‘Fast Times at Barrington High’ which was home to the hit classic “About a Girl” now amounting almost 50 million streams on Spotify.

The band is aware that not only are they growing as individuals, but their fanbase is changing too, they are not still the bruised knee, wide grinned individuals they once were. Many individuals hold The Academy Is… dear to their hearts, they were the ones drying eyes through the all-too-common harsh adolescent moments that we all encounter.

The band attracted a diverse fanbase in the early years; their lyrics were consistently tugging on the heart strings of young people in a gentle manner. An attraction from an outcasted urban youth followed them for years to come, making their hit ‘Slow Down’ from their debut album rise to stardom.  The groups relatable humanism and imperfect personas made them all the more exciting as shiny new toys for young alternative girls.

Last year, The Academy Is…  embarked on a 20-anniversary tour in celebration of ‘Almost Here’. Tickets rapidly sold out displaying the eager demand for new music from the group. An extension of tour dates was required, and the band continues to play shows up until early 2026.

We simply cannot wait for new music from the richly melodious masterminds. Prepare to break out your converse once more and fall back in love with The Academy Is… in 2026.

Among the cast members is Joe Keery, better known as Djo, his musical alter ego. Djo is Keery’s first solo musical endeavour, prior to Stranger Things he played in a band called Post Animal. Once the success of Stranger Things skyrocketed, Keery rapidly noted that he could no longer perform the same intimate shows with his Post Animal band mates that he once knew, without fans screaming about Steve Harrington in a darkly lit room. Since his Post Animal days, Keery quietly worked on his solo projects and mastering his musical artistry and has since released four albums over his musical career, including a deluxe version of his record ‘The Crux’.

His very first solo project was released in 2019 named, ‘Twenty Twenty’ and despite not reaching mainstream chart success, Djo had amounted a cult like online following, some fans even not drawing the connection that the same Steve Harrington that struts around in a sailor’s costume is the musically talented artist that we have all grown to love.

Keery’s music faced never before seen levels in popularity during early 2024. The artist’s album ‘Decide’ seemingly became an overnight hit however there is one track that held the torch. ‘End Of Beginning’ was heard everywhere, and this specific victory lap started with a Tiktok virality that no one could have predicted.

The song surged in 2024, hitting number 11 on the US Billboard hot 100 and number 4 on the UK charts. The songs popularity is no surprise as it discusses themes that many individuals relate to. Typically interpreted as a song about revisiting a formative time and place from your past, it is riddled with nostalgia and fond memories. Kerry himself stated that he wrote the track about leaving Chicago for Los Angeles once he landed his Stranger Things role.

Due to the success and sheer demand of the recent release of the final season of Stranger Things, many fans have reignited their love for Djo as an artist and are reminded of truly how spell-bounding his musical abilities are. As of January 5, 2026, ‘End Of Beginning’ is now number one globally, knocking down Taylor Swift’s, ‘The Fate Of Ophelia’. Almost two years on the song is still only growing in popularity now amounting close to two billion streams on Spotify alone. All this time later fans are still rediscovering and streaming this song, it is no doubt bound to be a nostalgic classic in years to come.

It goes without saying that Keery’s otherworldly success as an artist will continue to progress in years to come, and rightfully so! His musical talent has gone unnoticed for far too long.

The special edition release has been dubbed the ‘OJ Jumping Inside’ edition, a nod to the opening track of the show stopping album, Ego Death At A Bachelorette party. Always one to hide meaning in every part of her artistic journey, the liquified decision is a playful metaphor for fans to have and to hold forever.

Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party was officially released on August 28 2025. Initially only released as cryptic individual stand alone tracks on Williams’ website. The well received singles were then compiled into one record with an added bonus track in the late summer of 2025.

The incredible album has now received four well deserved Grammy nominations. In celebration of its release various worldwide ‘Ego Nite’ listening parties occurred. Hundreds of Williams’ fans piled into small venues across the globe to celebrate her new musical venture. In the UK alone 19 venues held their very own Ego Nite’s and each one was filled with enthusiastic energy. The fans simply could not wait to celebrate such a beautiful album.

Williams has been progressively growing as an independent artist after cutting ties with Atlantic records. Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party has received brilliant reviews from fans and critics alike. Williams was also named artist of the year by Alternative Press Magazine. It is safe to say she has had a brilliant year.

The new limited-edition vinyl has been solely produced by UK based label, Bad World and is being sold purely on a pre-order basis. It is only available to order during a four-day period which is set to conclude December 15, 2025 so make sure to grab one as soon as possible.

Due to the fact the record is only available via ore order its scheduled shipment is expected to be from February 6 2026 despite the late shipment it provides fans with something to look forward to in the new year.

The exclusive vinyl is priced at 65 GBP and features two liquid filled LP’s, a gatefold jacket featuring the album’s artwork, and a bonus fold out poster for dedicated fans to plaster in their bedrooms.

Williams’ is leaning into the rise of physical media; more and more people are rejecting traditional streaming services. By producing such exclusive records, she is benefiting those who enjoy amounting their own huge musical collections. The record is simply a collectors dream and nightmare all wrapped into one, its limited allowance is going to result in a war between fans to get their hands on their very own copy.

Williams is simply the artist that keeps on giving, whenever someone looks at their orange fillies vinyl circling on their record player they are reminded they have supported the right person. Grab your very own before they are gone!

The event saw attendees like Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the Culture, Media, and Sport Select Committee; Sophie Jones, Chief Strategy Officer at the BPI; Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe, former Minister for Intellectual Property; and Gary McClarnan, CEO of Sparklestreet Projects. The overwhelming goal was to examine the dual nature of the UK’s music scene, and the precarious situation the industry continues to find itself in whilst dealing with new challenges like AI, economic uncertainty, and weakened venue infrastructure.

The discussion opened with an emphasis on the continuing resilience of the creative sector, marked by Dame Caroline Dinenage. She emphasised the fact that in 2023, the UK music industry experienced a sixteen percent growth, pumping billions into the national economy. However, she was keen to highlight that with the exponential growth comes many subsidiary challenges; one in particular is the strain placed on grassroots venues.Smaller, independent venues and labels, caught in the wake of financial strain post-pandemic. Dinenage said, “We cannot afford complacency,” emphasising the government’s engagement remains completely vital if the UK is to hold its position at the front of cultural production, at the head of an increasingly competitive global market.

Sophie Jones, of the BPI, commented on the effects of digital saturation and how it continues to drastically alter the landscape.Every day on average, 120,000 new tracks are uploaded onto Spotify, placing UK artists in the most saturated, overly competitive music market to date.Jones also points out that the rapid advancements of AI technology continue to undermine artists’ rights and intellectual property.“It is vital we get the balance right between innovation and protection,” she commented, underscoring IP as the cornerstone of investment in the cultural economy.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe set a tone of a similar sentiment, talking about how intellectual property constitutes the “beating heart of the creative industries”. She reminded many attendees that behind every release is a team of hardworking professionals, spanning marketing teams to legal publishers, and each worker needs to have their rights reaffirmed as a means of ensuring the sustainability of that creative ecosystem.

The representative for working musicians, Gary McClarnan, acted as a spokesman for artists who form the foundation of the sector, yet are often the last to see the benefits of such. He called for the governing policies that seek to provide better support to emerging and mid-tier artists to be continued, things like targeted tax incentives, VAT reductions, and direct investment into the live music scene.

These questions prompt larger conversations on touring logistics, secondary ticketing, and venue closures. Dinenage reaffirmed that the Select Committee’s ongoing review that Select Committee’s ongoing review into VAT relief for grassroots venues, while McClarnan suggested that a similar approach to ticketing could channel revenue more fairly.

Closing the discussion, Tom Kiehl referenced UK Music’s Hometown Glory report, which highlights how local scenes fuel national growth. For attendees, the message was clear: while the UK’s music economy remains a world leader, sustained collaboration between government, industry, and artists will be essential to keep the stage lights on.

GMVs staged over 162,000 events in 2024, contributing £526 million to the economy, yet they effectively subsidised live music by £162 million while operating on razor-thin margins. A concerning 43.8% of venues reported losses in the past year, with emergency response cases rising by 19%, meaning nearly a quarter of venues face the threat of permanent closure. The report underscores the urgent need for enhanced financial support and stronger protections to safeguard the sector’s future.

The following graphic from the report illustrates the different percentages for reasons for closure of these small independent venues:

In the UK live music sector, the primary touring circuit consists of locations that host more than two-thirds of national grassroots tours, typically encompassing major cities such as London, Manchester, and Birmingham. Meanwhile, the secondary circuit includes venues in smaller cities and towns that host at least one-third of national tours, playing a crucial role in supporting emerging artists and local audiences.

The report highlights a dramatic shift in the scale of UK tours over the last three decades. In 1994, the average tour comprised 22 stops; by 2024, this number had dwindled to just 11. Cities such as Leicester, Edinburgh, and Wolverhampton have disappeared from the circuit, leaving large swathes of the country—particularly in Wales and Scotland—without convenient access to live music or the nurturing environments that GMVs provide for aspiring artists.

Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust, commented on the findings: “The 2024 Annual Report recognizes that after 10 years of work by MVT, a very broad consensus has been built among politicians, industry, artists, and the public that grassroots music venues must be protected, supported, encouraged, and nurtured. […] Venues, despite all the very welcome good intentions and acknowledgements they are receiving for their vital work, are still closing, still under extreme and totally unnecessary financial pressures, still failing to be recognised, as everyone agrees they should and must be, when government designs policy, taxation, and legislation. It isn’t good enough to keep saying how much we all value them, we’ve got to practically do something about it. We need action, not words.”

The report makes it clear that without decisive action, the UK’s grassroots music scene could face an irreversible decline, stripping communities of vital cultural hubs and emerging artists of essential opportunities.

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At the time of the trial, Jamaican police claimed in a testimony that they saw a text on Kartel’s phone stating that Williams’ body had been turned to “mincemeat.” His body was never recovered.

During his time in prison, Kartel and the co-accused Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John, maintained their innocence. Kartel appealed to courts in Jamaica before taking his case to the Privy Counsel in London which serves as the highest court of appeal in Jamaica and other commonwealth countries.

In March, a UK-based Privy Council overturned the conviction after finding evidence of jury misconduct as attempted bribery occurred during the initial trial. The decision for whether or not to hold a retrial was left to the Court of Appeal in Jamaica.

On the 31^st of July the court ruled that a retrial was not required and Kartel was released from prison on that same Wednesday.

"Mi a tell di yute dem stay out of f$@!%&!" – Words of warning from entertainer Vybz Kartel as he took his first steps into freedom in Kingston on Wednesday afternoon. The DJ, who was in custody for 13 years, was freed of a murder charge earlier today. #GLNRToday pic.twitter.com/qdVchRBCGC

— Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner) July 31, 2024

In an article by Rolling Stones back in 2016, they commented on Kartel’s “mischievous public persona,” stating that “few have captured [the dancehall] audience  – or offended the sensibilities of its detractors – as consistently and thoroughly as Kartel.”

Kartel’s popularity among dancehall music is undeniable and can be seen through his popular singles which include Fever and Romping Shop (ft. Spice). He is most well known, perhaps, for his collaboration with Major Lazer to make the single Pon De Floor which was heavily sampled in Beyonce’s Run the World (Girls). Kartel has also collaborated with other hip hop and R&B artists such as Unknown T, Rhianna, Jay-Z, and Digga D.

Drake has also commented on Kartel in the past, stating that he is “one of my biggest inspirations and one of my favourite artists. You want to talk about a guy that is coming out of somewhere or who is coming out of a place that has their own thing, their own culture and absolutely just taking over to becoming the one person to idolise.”

Many may be wondering what will be next for Vybez Kartel now that he has been released. One need not wonder long, however, as mere hours after his release Kartel dropped First Week Out, a 12-track mixtape pulling together projects he had made during his time in prison.

Given the immediacy of the mixtape’s release, one can only assume that more projects can be expected from Kartel.

The three girls who were fatally stabbed have been identified as Alice Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, the youngest at just 6. Five of the eight other children injured remain in hospital in critical condition alongside the two adults that were stabbed while attempting to save the children.

The Merseyside Police have charged a 17-year-old who currently faces three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. He is due to appear in court later on Thursday.

Mere hours after the stabbing occurred there was a series of violent outbursts and protests around the town in response to the incident. Far right protestors clashed with the police as a string of misinformation led them to believe that the stabbing was carried out by an immigrant. Five men were arrested in connection to the riots.

Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer condemned the “thuggery” of the riots, stating that the protesters “hijacked” the community’s grief.

The mother of Alice Aguiar posted a heartbreaking tribute to her daughter on Facebook, according to the Liverpool echo. The tribute read: “Princess Alice. In this moment of great pain my soul hurts, my body hurts, my mind hurts. I have a lump in my throat. You were just an innocent child, a happy smiley girl with a bright life ahead of you which a despicable human being took away from you, without pity, for no reason.

Since Monday when the attack occurred, Taylor Swift fans have raised over £275,000 through their online fundraiser in an attempt to provide support to the bereaved families.

Taylor Swift has responded to the incident through a story shared in her Instagram:

Numerous figureheads have responded to the stabbing, including King Charles who made a statement shared on the Royal Family official Social media: “My wife and I have been profoundly shocked to hear of the utterly horrific incident in Southport.” In addition, both the Prince and Princess of Wales shared their condolences on X following the incident.

The band originally coined the name Frank but revised it in 2020. According to Last.FM Radio, Fontaine explained that “we all really liked our English teachers in school. I think we all had crushes on them.”

The band blend together many elements to create their sound, including angular post-punk sounds, dream pop, and indie electronic sounds of the synth. The World’s Biggest Paving Slab was their first single and has amassed over 2 millions streams on Spotify. The song was produced by Marta Salgoni, who worked with artists such as Björk, Black Midi, and Animal Collective.

In discussing the origins of The World’s Biggest Paving Slab, Fontaine described the experience of growing up around Pendle, and how witnessing the social, economic and political issues shaped her and her music. She explained;

This song tackles delusions of grandeur and inferiority from the perspective of a small town’s local celebrities.

The song was published a day after Flontaine made a public plea to create more opportunities for UK bands outside of London following the downscaling of the BBC’s regional Introducing shows.

The World’s Biggest Paving Slab is part of their album This Could Be Texas for which they received the Mercury nomination on the 25th of July. In response to the news of the nomination, the band announced they would be performing a free concert in Leeds at the Brundenell Social Club, Burley from 19:00 on Wednesday, allocating tickets on a first come first serve basis.

This venue holds significance for the band as aside from being located in their home town it is not the first time they have played there. In October of 2023 they performed a sold-out show, so returning with the new nomination under their belt is something of a victory lap for the band.

For more ticket information on the event, see here. 

Nominated alongside them were other Leeds artists including Corinne Bailey, producer Nia Archives, Charlie XCX, and The Last Dinner Party.

This concert will precede the bands extensive tour which is set to kick off on the the 2^nd of October and take them across the continental US and throughout Europe and the United Kingdom, finishing on the 21^st of November 2024 in Bristol.

English Teacher’s music boasts a unique sound with lyrics full of rich ideas that range throughout many epochs, drawing on Victorian literature, local history, and even YouTube channels. These cross-generational references and sound reminiscent of the punk era makes their music appealing to a wide range of listeners, which will hopefully stand them in good stead in securing the Mercury Prize.