The singer-songwriter took to social media to express her frustration, informing her followers she had been hacked and that she would be scrapping the leaked music as a result. In a series of Instagram Stories, the avant-pop artist told fans “Well done, no new music for a while now. Bye.” Her following story reiterated the consequences of the leak, with the words “no new music”.

whoever leaked fka twigs shit will be dealt with TRUST pic.twitter.com/QbFuJ1rfzo

— gigi (@DEARGlGl) October 15, 2023

A third post confirmed the worst, as Twigs shared a screenshot of a text conversation with music producer Sega Bodega that included the caption “back to the drawing board”, implying she was giving up on the leaked project and starting anew. This is bad news for fans who have been eagerly anticipating a new full-length FKA Twigs LP since 2019’s MAGDALENE, the critically-acclaimed record inspired by her breakup with Robert Pattinson.

The unfortunate Instagram update comes only two weeks after the singer previewed new music at Valentino’s Paris Fashion Week show, where she unveiled four unreleased tracks rumoured to appear on an upcoming album. In an exclusive performance titled “Unearth Her”, Twigs accompanied the reveal of Valentino’s latest collection, dancing to songs recorded with longtime collaborator Koreless.

Check out the production below:

FKA Twigs has slowly been teasing new music since the release of her last project CAPRISONGS – a poppy mixtape that featured a host of big names such as The Weeknd and Daniel Caesar. In June 2022, she released the single “Killer” and, months later, revealed previously unheard material in a Calvin Klein’s March 2023 campaign.

Listen to “Killer“:

Meanwhile, the musician is involved in an ongoing legal battle with former boyfriend and actor Shia LaBeouf, who she accused of “relentless abuse”. In a relationship that lasted just over a year, according to The New York Times, Twigs alleged that LaBeouf physically, emotionally, and mentally abused her on several occasions.

This September, it was announced that the trial date had been pushed back to 2024 due to scheduling conflicts between both Twigs and LaBeouf.

The Scottish singer announced in July that she would be releasing some solo music and heading out on tour, however, there was no indication of when we could expect to hear any new music.

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A post shared by Lauren Mayberry (@laurenevemayberry)

The pop band’s lead singer didn’t keep fans waiting for long, as on August 11th , she revealed that her first single “Are You Awake?” would be with us in September.

Over the weekend, Mayberry dropped the highly anticipated single, as well as a music video for the song.

“Are You Awake?” was written by Mayberry and Canadian singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr, who has collaborated on songwriting with other UK artists such as Adele and Niall Horan.

The piano-led ballad is a slight leap from the energetic synth-pop we have come to expect from CHVRCHES, and in a recent press release, Lauren shared that “I was thinking a lot about loneliness and homesickness, and as soon as Tobias started playing the chords, the lyrics and melody came to me really quickly. I finished the song with my friend Matthew Koma, who really understood what I was trying to say.”

“For a long time, I couldn’t imagine doing anything outside of CHVRCHES but I think some things that I needed to write had to be done from purely my own point of view. I never really thought I’d write a piano ballad, or a solo album full stop, so life really is full of surprises. I am really looking forward to this chapter and can’t wait for people to hear more of the music.”

Though Lauren is venturing out on her own, her career with CHVRCHES is far from over. The trio announced last month that in celebration of the 10 year anniversary of their debut album, The Bones Of What You Believe, they would be releasing a re-issue of their 2013 LP on October 13th. The re-issue of the album will include 4 previously unheard tracks, as well as 5 live recordings. The band has given fans a taste of what’s to come by releasing “Manhattan”, one of the unheard songs that didn’t make it onto the album’s original release.

You can listen to “Manhattan” below.

For tickets to Lauren Mayberry’s upcoming tour, click here.

Tour dates:

05/10/2023 – SWG3 TV Studio – Glasgow, UK

06/10 – O2 Academy – Birmingham, UK

08/10 – Academy 2 – Manchester, UK

09/10 – Koko – London, UK

11/10 – Melkweg Oz – Amsterdam, Netherlands

12/10 – Lido – Berlin, Germany

13/10 – Strom – Munich, Germany

15/10 – La Maroquinerie – Paris, France

16/10 – Luxor – Cologne, Germany

17/10 – Rock Cafe – Prague, Czech Republic

19/10 – Flex – Vienna, Austria

21/10 – Bogen F – Zurich, Switzerland

22/10 – Magnolia – Milan, Italy

24/10 – La Nau – Barcelona, Spain

25/10 – Sala Copernico – Madrid, Spain

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A post shared by David Bowie (@davidbowie)

The newly released mix was made available via Parlophone Records and was created by the album’s co-producer Ken Scott. The legendary producer is best known as one of the five engineers who worked closely with the Beatles. Scott generated the new mix at the beginning of the year from existing multi-tracks. The new version of the iconic track was based on the master track which resulted from Bowie’s broadcast recording on Top Of The Pops, with the master having initially been released on the picture disc Starman 7’’, which dropped over ten years ago.

A statement on Bowie’s website has given the following description outlining the importance of the performance and recording, “David Bowie’s performance of STARMAN on Top Of The Pops is undoubtedly one of the most essential pieces of music television ever broadcast. It has influenced generations of musicians, artists and writers who saw it at the time and countless others who have since seen it over the decades, from bootleg VHS copies to YouTube clips.”

Although taken off the air in 2006, Top Of The Pops has remained an important institution within British music and has been responsible for the success of many artists since its first broadcast in 1964. According to rules outlined by the Musicians Union. In order to appear on the TV show artists would have to re-record their song and then perform the vocals live over the newly recorded track. Due to these rules, Scott had multiple tracks available to use and was able to utilise both aspects of the process.

The new mix consists of the backing vocals recorded for the show’s purpose and the lead vocals taken from the track featured on the album. As per the show’s request, the backing vocals were recorded at Trident Studios, one of London’s most beloved recording facilities located in SoHo. Keen-eared music fans will spot the Adhoc ab-lib within the mix, Bowie can be heard singing “Hey Brown Crow”.

The re-worked mix of “Starman” is not the only celebratory nod to the influential album’s 50th anniversary, to commemorate the release of The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars the album will also be made available as a special edition. As from Friday 17th June 2022, the album will be available to purchase as a limited edition 50th anniversary half-speed mastered LP and picture disc, the LP will not only hold great collector value but will also include the re-worked master and a reproduction of the promotional poster.

Bowie’s powerful talent is not only evident in his enduring legacy but can also be seen within his influence seen in other musicians, Tim Burgess is one of such artists and chose to celebrate the musical landmark in a virtual fashion. The English singer and frontman for The Charlatans held a very special listening party today via Twitter, Burgess has given the following description of the event, “I’m really excited to be hosting a Ziggy Stardust Listening Party on the 50th anniversary of the album’s release. Fans from all around the world can take part and we’ve enlisted a few friends to help us out too.”

Details concerning Burgess’ listening party can be found here.

Click here to stream/buy/listen to “Starman (Top Of The Pops Version 2022)“

You can watch the lyric video for the song below:

The remastered edition of that album will include nine extra previously unrelated tracks called ‘Lost & Found:Rarities‘. They all have been recorded during the same time as the original album but left out from the release. 

Mick Jagger commented on the LP: “It’s a funny album. It’s not an album where you can say we went into ‘X’ studio, we spent six months and this is the album. It’s just tracks that got recorded any time from 1972 to 1981. It wasn’t really an album. It was all over the place“.

“It doesn’t have a kind of center. … But for all of that sprawl, the material shows you were constantly writing and recording – and you never threw anything away that might have some use later on” he continues.

“Some are cover versions like ‘Troubles A’Comin.’ But we never finished it. It didn’t have proper vocals or finished guitar solos. But I know how to do this now. You find a track that’s got a groove, and if there’s an idea, you run with the idea and make some fun with it, do some extra things. It comes alive a bit more“.

Guitarist Ron Wood added: “that was an era when Mick was into those cover versions. In his own way, he was paying respect to the Chi-Lites and the Temptations. … And it’s been there, that respect for the blues and soul, ever since I can remember hanging out with the Stones“.

A few weeks ago The Rolling Stones shared a video for “Living In The Heart Of Love” dedicated to their late drummer Charlie Watts, who passed away a month ago (24th August). The song is another one of the previously unreleased tracks from the Tattoo You era and will feature in the re-edition of the album.

Touching video for the track shows montage clips of the band from 1981, featuring late Watts mixed with two actresses Marguerite Thiam and Nailia Harzoune enjoying a night with friends, clubbing, dancing and kissing. The clip ends with ‘Charlie is my Darling‘ which was The Rollings Stones’ concert film title from 1966. You can watch it below:

The Rollings Stones kicked off their US tour without Charlie Watts who shared the stage with the group for six decades. Their tribute show started with an empty stage with only a drum beat and images of Watts. Jagger said from the stage: “This is our first ever tour we’ve ever done without him. We’ll miss Charlie so much, on and off the stage“. Watts has been replaced by drummer Steve Jordan, who performed with Richard’s music side project X-Pensive Winos. 

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Jagger added: “Charlie was the heartbeat for the band, and also a very steady personality. He was not to be perturbed. He was a very reliable person, wasn’t a diva — that’s the last thing you want in a drummer“. 

The Rolling Stones continues with their US Autumn Tour. More info about the dates and tickets can be found in the mxdwn article here.