View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Daniel Caesar (@danielcaesar)

The post videos a deserted landscape with an overlay of soul baring text, in which Caesar shares “I’m trying to write a letter announcing the album, but I want it to be profound and clever. I have this secret desire to think and express a thought that’s never been thought before. But alas.”

The letter goes on to reveal musings on his father’s history, saying “When I was little any time my dad was disappointed in me or felt as though I needed motivation (or he wanted me to understand him, which I didn’t at the time) he would tell me his carefully curated but true origin story. He would tell me of the glory days of the Jamaica tourism industry and how he would sing dinner music at Doctor’s Cave Beach to foreigners from all over the world.”

The video continues with introspective thoughts on family, religion and one’s sense of self. He ends his Instagram letter with “Everything is vanity. Family is everything. Be truthful and forthright in your dealings. Never forget that god is the only eternal measuring stick for morality. I am nothing, but in my flesh I am Spergy’s Son, and in my spirit I am God’s.”.

Sampha’s involvement  in the upcoming album is an exciting new collaboration happening alongside the R&B singer’s recent movements. Sampha recently featured in Oscar Farrell’s latest single ‘Dream Therapy’, a melancholic alt-R&B release from Farrell’s upcoming EP ‘So Far South’. 

Sampha’s last solo studio album was his second, ‘Lahai’, released in 2023. On the record, he spoke to Interview Magazine about his improvisational process, saying

“I’ll take in information and I’ll incubate things. I don’t really plan. The most planning of sessions I’ll do is who’s going to come, the equipment, and what kind of production style I’ll go for, and then I’ll just go with the flow. It’s a lot of improvisation.”

This intuitive electronic soul production will be an exciting feature on Caesar’s gospel-influenced style which will likely appear in his new album.

The project comes after some huge collaborations with Blood Orange on their single ‘The Field’ as well as a production feature on Justin Bieber’s unexpected new album ‘SWAG’. 

Find updates on Caesar’s new album here, and news on Sampha’s solo projects on the artist’s official website.

‘Never Felt Better’ is the latest of singles to preview from ‘Temporary’, following the previous releases, such as ‘Porcupine Tattoo’ (feat. Noah Cyrus and Bill Callahan), ‘Losing You’ (feat. Sampha, Laura Groves, Jah Wobble and Yazz Ahmed) and ‘Swamp Dream #3’ (feat. Clari Freeman-Taylor). 

Accompanied by an official music video, the new single features a visual performance from actress Mela Murder, executing an exuberant choreographed piece under the direction of Kristian Mercado. Vocals from the Florence + The Machine frontwoman and London-based musician Sampha decorate the “transcendent, hymnal piece of music.”s 

Everything Is Recorded will commemorate the upcoming album’s release through two sold-out ‘Temporary:Space’ live shows February 27 & 28, at Anotherland, London. 

In conversation with Zane Lowe on his Apple Music radio show, Russell opened up about the inspiration behind ‘Temporary’, sharing that the album explores the “paradox” between the temporariness and permanency of life. The British producer delved into the legacy of David Bowie as an example, stating that although the artist’s physicality came to end upon his death, the spirit of “what he has done” continues to thrive. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Apple Music (@applemusic)

Producer first, artist second, Everything Is Recorded is collaborative by nature, working with the likes of UK and US-based rappers respectively, Aitch and Ghostface KIllah, on the last LP ‘Friday Forever’ (2020). The project’s Mercury Prize-nominated debut album ‘Everything Is Recorded By Richard Russell’ was released in 2018, featuring vocals from artists such as Peter Gabriel, Giggs and many more. In the upcoming LP, listeners can expect to hear Russell’s experimentalist approach to genres, incorporating folk, soul and soft indie rock into his digital-age sounding music. 

See below for the tracklist for Everything Is Recorded’s ‘Temporary’: 

1. ‘October’
2. ‘My And Me’ (feat. Sampha, Laura Groves, Ricky Washington and Alabaster DePlume)
3. ‘Porcupine Tattoo’ (feat. Noah Cyrus and Bill Callahan)
4. ‘Never Felt Better’ (feat. Sampha and Florence Welsh)
5. ‘Ether’ (feat. Maddy Prior)
6. ‘Losing You’ (feat. Sampha, Laura Groves, Jah Wobble and Yazz Ahmed)
7. ‘Firelight’ (feat. Florence Welch, Berwyn and Alabster DePlume)
8. ‘The Summons’
9. ‘No More Rehearsals’ (feat. Roses Gabor, Jah Woblble, Jack Peñate and Yazz Ahmed)
10. ‘You Were Smiling’ (feat. Samantha Morton)
11. ‘Norm’ (feat. Bill Callahan)
12. ‘Swamp Dream #3’ (feat. Clari Freeman-Taylor)
13. ‘The Meadows’ (feat. Roses Gabor, Kamasi Washington and Rickey Washington)
14. ‘Goodbye (Hell Of A Ride)’ (feat. Nourished By Time)

‘Never Felt Better’ is available for digital purchase and streaming now. Pre-order the upcoming album ‘Temporary’ here. 

Uncover your GM24 line-up!

A mighty welcome to your four headliners – the luminous @bigthiefmusic, Mercury-winning @sampha, the transcendental @Jon_Hopkins_, post-punk heroes @sleafordmods & plenty more besides!

Big love, GM pic.twitter.com/eEVIsofCSS

— Green Man (@GreenManFest) March 1, 2024

Other notable acts performing at Green Man this year include prolific cult-heroes Osees, art-rock collective Black Country, New Road, alternative rock group Bar Italia, Scottish shoegaze heavyweights The Jesus and Mary Chain and singer-songwriter Arlo Parks. Also coming to the Brecon Beacons in August are New York alternative rock outfit Blonde Redhead, experimental rock favourites Fat White Family, Kate Stables’ Indie rock band This Is the Kit, jazz quintet Ezra Collective and exciting folk-punk newcomers The New Eves.

Set to return to Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, Wales, the festival is scheduled to run from 15-18 August 2024, and will, for these four days, be home to not only a fantastic variety of live music but also an array of other entertainment, including literature, film, science, theatre and comedy. The grounds are divided into ten areas to accommodate this, ensuring that festival-goers will never experience a dull moment.

Sleaford Mods, the highly influential post-punk/punk-rap duo comprised of vocalist Jason Williamson and DJ Andrew Fearn, will return to Green Man festival for the first time since 2017, and arrive now as a headline act following their incredible success in recent years.

Listen to “Jobseeker” by Sleaford Mods below:

Also headlining this year’s event, and also returning to Green Man as a headliner following a performance in a past year, is New York-based indie folk group Big Thief. Since playing the festival in 2019, Big Thief have added two critically acclaimed albums to their total of five, combining profound, masterful lyrics with incisive and blissful folk instrumentation in the process.

Listen to “Spud Infinity” by Big Thief below:

The third headliner is English musician and producer Jon Hopkins, who’s combining of electronic music with contemporary classical music, resulting in transcendent musical beauty, will sure to have a spellbinding effect come August. The last, but certainly not least, headliner comes in the form of  neo soul and alternative R&B star Sampha, who will bring his unique musical prowess to the Brecon Beacons for all to witness.

Tickets are, unfortunately, now sold out, but you can sign up for resale tickets here.

Beginning Monday, October 2nd, BBC Radio 1 hosts Rickie, Melvin and Charlie will air a new Live Lounge every Monday to Thursday throughout the month. Each performance will take place at 12pm. The Radio 1 trio announced the details of the new live lounge month, along with the line-up on air during their morning show on September 5.

Rickie, Melvin and Charlie are the new hosts of Radio 1’s iconic Live Lounge (Monday – Thursday, 10.30am – 1pm)!

Big up @RickieHW @Melvinodoom & @charliehedges. We know you’ll smash it! pic.twitter.com/0xze7rtyHW

— BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra & Asian Network Press Office (@BBCRadio1PR) April 20, 2021

  Yungblud shared a post on Twitter. He said “just wait you see what we got planned”

just wait till you see what we got planned@bbcradio1 #liveloungemonth pic.twitter.com/NlAjB3cNuv

— YUNGBLUD is a lowlife (@yungblud) September 5, 2023

Radio 1’s Live Lounge will be graced with the presence of some of the world’s most popular artists, performing both their own musical pieces as well as unexpected covers. We will have the pleasure of Olivia Dean’s performance, whose album Messy has been nominated for a Mercury Prize Award 2023.

Listeners of Radio 1 and BBC Sounds can tune in live to all performances from Live Lounge Month. They will also be able to view the performances on-demand on Radio 1’s BBC iPlayer and YouTube channels.

Olivia Rodrigo, whose new album GUTS  launches September 8, visited London and popped into the Radio 1 studio with host Melvin Odoom to make a very hot announcement. Melvin spoke to Olivia and said, “We are so excited to have you here today, because the real reason you’re in the studio right now is because you have a massive announcement, right?”

Olivia made here live lounge performance official and told the Radio 1 listeners in retort to Melvin “I’m so excited to announce, “I’m going to be kicking off Radio 1’s live lounge month 2023 and it’s going to be October. I’m very excited, I’m filming it in LA, and it’s going to be a ball.”

BBC Radio 1, invites listeners to test their expertise, in what they say is their “Ultimate Live Lounge Quiz.” Preparing listeners for an extravaganza of bejewelled performances for this coming October.

Below you can see the full line-up list for the Live Lounge Month 2023.

Artist Performance Date’s

Olivia Rodrigo –  Mon 2nd October
Troye Sivan  – Tues 3rd October
Jorja Smith  – Weds 4th October
Madison Beer  – Thurs 5th October
Declan McKenna –  Mon 9th October
Leigh-Anne –  Tues 10th October
Royal Blood –  Weds 11th October
Dominic Fike – Thurs 12th October
Holly Humberstone – Tues 17th October
YUNGBLUD – Weds 18th October
Becky Hill – Thurs 19th October
Usher – Mon 23rd October
Jax Jones – Weds 25th October
Doja Cat – Thurs 26th October

‘Everybody’s Coming to my House’ is a preview to the singer’s upcoming album American Utopia, which will drop later this year, and will mark Byrne’s first solo LP in 14 years, and 2004’s Grow Backwards. This groove-heavy track also credits fellow icon Brian Eno as a co-writer.

Eno is not the only guest contributor on American Utopia, with TTY, Jack Penate, and Mercury Prize winner Sampha also appearing on the album.

A small # of east coast shows! We’ll be doing some new songs, & many others that will, I assume, be familiar. I’m excited. This is the most ambitious show I’ve done since the shows that were filmed for Stop Making Sense, so fingers crossed. Info @ https://t.co/B8YgcnekRv pic.twitter.com/ehQ41X1MyD

— DavidByrne.com (@DBtodomundo) December 12, 2017

Accompanying the album’s announcement was an extensive tour of North and South America, which Byrne proclaimed via the Tweet above to be his ‘most ambitious’ dates since the heady days of Stop Making Sense in the 1980s.

Back in December, Byrne went into more depth about what the upcoming live dates would involve, telling the Brooklyn Vegan about his desire to use mobile instruments. “With everyone mobile, I realized the stage could be completely clear. If we could have the monitors in our ears, the amps off-stage and the lights up high, then we had the possibility of a completely empty space,” he explained, before continuing to describe how his stage set “takes color beautifully. Not only does it take color, one can cast shadows.”

Byrne has also issued a statement about American Utopia, attempting to clarify the seriousness of the LP’s title.

”

Is this meant ironically? Is it a joke? Do I mean this seriously? In what way? Am I referring to the past or the future? Is it personal or political?

These songs don’t describe an imaginary or possibly impossible place but rather attempt to depict the world we live in now. Many of us, I suspect, are not satisfied with that world—the world we have made for ourselves. We look around and we ask ourselves—well, does it have to be like this? Is there another way? These songs are about that looking and that asking.

This album is indirectly about those aspirational impulses. Sometimes to describe is to reveal, to see other possibilities. To ask a question is to begin the process of looking for an answer. To be descriptive is also to be prescriptive, in a way. The act of asking is a big step. The songs are sincere—the title is not ironic. The title refers not to a specific utopia, but rather to our longing, frustration, aspirations, fears, and hopes regarding what could be possible, what else is possible. The description, the discontent and the desire—I have a feeling that is what these songs touch on.

I have no prescriptions or surefire answers, but I sense that I am not the only one looking and asking, wondering and still holding onto some tiny bit of hope, unwilling to succumb entirely to despair or cynicism.”

The annual awards ceremony was held at London’s Eventim Apollo, to celebrate the best of British and Irish music form the last 12 months, with votes being cast by a panel of experts, tastemakers, as well as fellow artists.

Sampha won from a full shortlist that included Alt-J, Blossoms, Dinosaur, Ed Sheeran, Glass Animals, J Hus, Kate Tempest, Loyle Carner, Stormzy, The Big Moon and The xx to pick up the £25,000 prize. The award was announced by actor and DJ Idris Elba.

Upon accepting the award, the singer quickly thanked his parents, saying “I’d like to dedicate this award to my parents,” he said. “They came over from Sierra Leone and just wanted to give us the best life possible.”The ceremony saw all nominated acts- aside from Ed Sheeran- take tot he stage, as well as Skepta, who won last year for his album Konnichiwa.

The panel had the longest deliberation to decide a winner in the history of the award, before settling on the SBTRKT and Drake collaborator as their victor. New judges on the panel this year included Marcus Mumford from Mumford and Sons, Lianne La Havas, Ella Eyre, and DJ and broadcaster MistaJam. Jamie Cullum and Jessie Ware also featured on the panel alongside broadcaster Clara Amfo and Jeff Smith, Head of Music at BBC 6 Music and Radio 2.