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Any new music would be their first original material since their 2022 self-titled debut album, which propelled them into the mainstream with hits like ‘Chaise Longue’, and earned them various awards, including multiple Grammy and Brit awards, and even more nominations. On the back of this, they embarked on over 200 live shows. These included headline slots, festival appearances at Glastonbury, Coachella, Truck Festival, and shows supporting Harry Styles on various legs of his Love on Tour tour.   Harry Styles covered the group’s ‘Wet Dream’ in the Radio 1 Live Lounge in spring of 2022. His cover went viral, with over 2 million views on TikTok and nearly 14 million on YouTube. Less than a year later, Styles would introduce them to crowds, saying, “It has been the most wonderful, wonderful tour, getting to watch them play every night. They’re one of my favourite bands.”  

@bbcradio1 HARRY STYLES COVERING @WET LEG IN THE LIVE LOUNGE AHHHHHH @HSHQ #harrystyles #livelounge ♬ harry styles covering wet leg in the live lounge – BBC Radio 1

Along with the enigmatic Instagram post, Wet Leg’s website has also undergone a transformation. It now consists of a picture of a small house sat halfway up a hill, and features a pop up overlay reminiscent of the Windows 95 GUI. The dialog box features yet another clue about their upcoming project, reading, “Salutations, lonely heart. You have wandered far, but you are home now. Enter Moisturizer Valley – where the skin never cracks, and the body never withers. Enroll now and learn how to live forever.”

Along with the title, there is also a tab labelled ‘Moisturize’, again with the American spelling, hinting at a name for the project. Stereogum also speculated that the phrase “and learn how to live forever” may be a reference to the Oasis song ‘Live Forever’, and that its inclusion could be hinting at a role in the band’s 2025 reunion tour. 

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Just two days after they teased the new project, the band also announced that they would be visiting the US. They will be playing two shows, one in New York on 31 March, and another In Los Angeles on 8 April. This takes their current upcoming schedule to 20 shows, including appearances at Glastonbury, Radio 1’s Big Weekend, and TRNSMT Festival.

Whatever shape the upcoming project takes, be it a song or an entire album, fans online are excited. One Reddit user said: “Excited about this! Loved their debut album and saw them open for Harry, which they absolutely killed. Can’t wait.” For now, speculation is continuing to swirl as fans desperately try to decipher the various clues that have been left.

During an interview with Chatten, Elton John heaped praise on the band, reflecting on their growth across albums and their electrifying live performances. “For me, you’re the best band out there at the moment,” John said, citing their Glastonbury performance and latest album, Skinty Fia, as proof of the band’s rising reputation. “You seem to have found your feet with this album in such a big way; it’s a brilliant record.”

John, who is renowned for his ability to spot and elevate emerging talent, didn’t hold back in his admiration for the band’s sound and artistic evolution. “I think this album takes you—and I’ve been around for a long time—to a different level, and it’s going to stay around for a long, long time,” John said, adding that the music on Skinty Fia is “really, really, really special.”

This endorsement comes on the heels of a growing recognition for Fontaines D.C., who in 2022 won a similar accolade to John’s recent praise, titled the “Best Band in the World” award at the BandLab NME Awards. Their distinct blend of gritty post-punk and poetic lyricism has made them a standout act, but recent releases have seen the band explore a more spacious and synth-based sound.

However, despite the high praise, the band is currently grappling with a tough break on their North American tour. What was supposed to be the start of a triumphant run of U.S. shows turned into a difficult week when Chatten fell ill just before the tour’s opener in Seattle on September 20. Singer Chatten revealed that he had come down with “some kind of flu,” which had severely impacted his voice, forcing the cancellation of the Seattle show.

Despite the rest and medication, I can now not even speak without pain. It breaks my heart to have to cancel the show tonight in Portland, and tomorrow in Vancouver, two shows I was really looking forward to.

— Fontaines D.C. (@fontainesdublin) September 21, 2024

Initially, fans hoped the illness would pass quickly, but Chatten’s condition worsened, leading to the cancellation of two further shows in Portland (September 21) and Vancouver (September 22). In a heartfelt message shared on social media, Chatten expressed his deep regret over the cancellations, explaining that he was in no condition to perform.

“Despite rest and medication, I can now not even speak without pain,” he wrote on X, adding: “It breaks my heart to have to cancel the show tonight in Portland, and tomorrow in Vancouver, two shows I was really looking forward to. But there is just no way of making them work.”

The band’s U.S. tour, which is set to run until October 20 in Philadelphia, includes opening performances by New York indie rockers Been Stellar.

It’s safe to say that Amyl and the Sniffers have an exciting summer planned. The punks, who hail from Australia, were already set to support the revered Foo Fighters in several stadiums across the pond, and now they have added a bunch of headline shows of their own with support coming from the always incredible Lambrini Girls. (announcing their slot, LG simply wrote: “Touring North America this summer supporting @amylandthesniffers yum yum handburger time”).

Amyl and the Sniffers will be joining Dave Grohl and co. at various dates throughout July and August in New York, Boston, Hershey and Los Angeles, and around those shows, you can also catch them everywhere from Detroit to San Diego.

Amyl and the Sniffers are an Australian pub rock and punk rock band based in Melbourne, consisting of vocalist Amy Taylor, drummer Bryce Wilson, guitarist Declan Martens, and bassist Gus Romer. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, their self-titled debut record won the Best Rock Album category.

This caption was taken from The Lambrini Girls Bandcamp: ‘Imagine your nan is in the boot of your car with a croissant in her mouth and hears bikini kill for the first time. That could be you. It will never be us as we are not bikini kill and we are not your nan. We are Lambrini Girls. Bon appetite xoxox’

If you are a fan of fast-paced, female-fronted punk rock, then this US tour is the tour for you.

Check out Amyl and the Sniffers here:

And The Lambrini Girls here:

Amyl And The Sniffers’ full U.S. run looks like this:

July

19 Citi Field – New York, NY (with Foos)
20 White Eagle Hall – Jersey City, NJ
21 Fenway Park – Boston, MA (with Foos)
23 Hersheypark Stadium – Hershey, PA (with Foos)
25 The Majestic Theatre – Detroit, MI
28 Venue TBA – Denver, CO
30 Granada Theater – Lawrence, KS
31 Mercury Ballroom – Louisville, KY

August

1 HI-FI Annex – Indianapolis, IN
3 Asbury Hall – Buffalo, NY
5 Higher Ground – South Burlington, VT
7 Pioneer Courthouse Square – Portland, OR (with Sleater-Kinney)
9 BMO Stadium – Los Angeles, CA (with Foos)
13 The Sound at Del Mar – Del Mar, CA
14 The Fonda Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
15 The Fonda Theatre – Los Angeles, CA

Morrissey was due to play two shows on January 26th and 27th in California, both of which have been cancelled. As well as his North American gigs, Morrissey’s South American tour which would run from the 3rd to the 24th in February has also been cancelled. The tour was intended to span South America, stopping at Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. The singer is to remain in Switzerland under medical supervision until he recovers.

Californian post-punk band, She Wants Revenge, was booked to support Morrissey on the Californian leg of his American tour. The band has since expressed their sadness at Morrissey’s poor health and subsequent cancellation. Taking to Instagram, the band said: “like many of you, though we are frustrated and deeply disappointed, we are not terribly surprised… We all knew this was a possibility, we just hoped it would play out different this time”. 

Although these circumstances are outside of Morrissey’s control, the singer does have a history of last-minute cancellations. In July 2023, Morrissey cancelled the Nottingham leg of his UK and Ireland tour on the day of the performance. This tour was itself announced after he pulled out of a London show scheduled for the same day in July. Later in 2023, Morrissey was scheduled to play in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Bangkok as part of his 40 years of Morrissey tour. These events were also cancelled just days before they were supposed to go ahead. Morrissey’s 40 years of Morrissey tour has faced a slew of abrupt cancellations across the globe.

This latest wave of cancellations only continues Morrissey’s unreliable reputation, leaving the singer’s live career in stasis. In light of Morrissey’s claim that “cancel culture begins at home”, it seems appropriate that the singer has now cancelled himself abroad.

The ‘Shows Of A Lost World’ tour also broke the band’s previous attendance best of 402 000, a record set in 1992 during their Wish tour, with an impressive 547 000 tickets being sold for this year’s tour. And all this, incredibly, despite The Cure’s frontman Robert Smith’s campaign to keep concert ticket prices as low as possible.

Taking to Twitter to vent his obvious frustration at ever-increasing ticket prices in general but Ticketmaster in particular, Smith has previously and successfully obtained a discount on his fans’ behalf for their upcoming US and Canada tour, stating on twitter after the fact, “After further conversation, Ticketmaster have agreed with us that many of the fees being charged are unduly high, and us a gesture of goodwill have offered a $10 per ticket refund to all verified fan accounts for lowest ticket price (‘LTP’) transactions”

1 OF 2: AFTER FURTHER CONVERSATION, TICKETMASTER HAVE AGREED WITH US THAT MANY OF THE FEES BEING CHARGED ARE UNDULY HIGH, AND AS A GESTURE OF GOODWILL HAVE OFFERED A $10 PER TICKET REFUND TO ALL VERIFIED FAN ACCOUNTS FOR LOWEST TICKET PRICE (‘LTP’) TRANSACTIONS…

— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023

Smith had more good news, adding, “And a $5 per ticket refund to all verified fan accounts for all other ticket price transactions, for all Cure shows at all venues; if you already bought a ticket you will get an automatic refund; all tickets on sale tomorrow will incur lower fees“.

Smith, who has had previous in letting his feelings known towards “sickening” high fees tacked on to ticket prices, and his beloved band therefore, we can all surely agree, wholeheartedly deserve these unprecedented levels of success. Three dates at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles alone grossed a staggering $4.9 million (£3.7 million) and sold 50 800 tickets, while three shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden amassed a figure of $4.1 million (£3.1 million), selling 44 300 tickets in the process.

Listen to “Killing An Arab” below:

Formed in 1978, The Cure, with frontman Robert Smith remaining the band’s only constant member, have become mainstays in the UK alternative rock music scene, having made distinct genres such as, originally, post-punk and later, new-wave, gothic rock and pop rock, their very own. The band garnered a significant cult following following the release of their first four albums (Three Imaginary Boys (1979), Seventeen Seconds (1980), Faith (1981), Pornography (1982)) but did not achieve mainstream success until the late 80’s and early 90’s, with Disintegration (1989) and Wish (1992) cementing their place in UK music history for good.

Watch the music video for “Boys Don’t Cry” below:

The six date American tour will follow a packed summer schedule for the space rock outfit which will see them play at a number of European venues along with a fair few festivals, and will see them return to a couple of venues they visited on their previous visit to North America in September of last year (namely, White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, NJ and Union Transfer in Philadelphia, PA).

The announcement came yesterday via the group’s twitter page and will no doubt excite their East coast American fans who will get to see the band again in such a short space of time.

Spiritualized® Live™ US
Local pre-sales from (10AM local time) 05.10.2023 – (10PM local time) 05.11.2023
General on-sale (12PM local time) 05.12.2023 https://t.co/xqiUt3Pqv4 pic.twitter.com/M5rwtBQOXf

— Spiritualized® (@officialSpzd) May 9, 2023

Spiritualized were formed in 1990 by frontman Jason Pierce (J Spaceman) following the disbanding of his previous group, Spacemen 3, after a series of fall outs with former co-frontman Peter Kember (Sonic Boom). Pierce subsequently brought with him to Spiritualized fellow Spacemen 3 members Will Carruthers, Mark Refoy and Jonny Mattock to form the new space rock outfit.

The band released its debut album, Lazer Guided Melodies, in 1992, incorporating more of a shoegaze element along with the distinctive spacey, psychedelic sound of Spacemen 3, and with their next album, Pure Phase (1995) came a slight delve into britpop, all the while maintaining a keen appetite for space rock. Their third album, Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, released in 1997, became their most successful and most well-known release, peaking at number four in the UK Albums Chart and being named NME’s Album of the Year.

Listen to “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” below:

Spiritualized have since become space rock pioneers and have amassed a huge cult following, and have released a total of nine studio albums, the latest of which, Everything Was Beautiful, was released in April 2022 on Fat Possum Records. The group’s current lineup consists of Jason Pierce (vocals, guitar), John Coxon (guitar, keyboard), Doggen Foster (guitar), James Stelfox (bass), Kevin Bales (drums) and Tom Edwards (keyboards).

See below for the US tour dates:

06/11/2023 – White Eagle Hall – New Jersey, NJ
07/11 – Asbury Hall – Buffalo, NY
08/11 – Basilica Hudson – Hudson, NY
09/11 – Mr Smalls Theatre – Millvale, PA
11/11 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA
12/11 – Webster Hall – New York, NY

You can purchase tour tickets from May 12th here.

The ‘Ban Bob Vylan’ tour, which was supposed to commence on May 12th in Boston and was set to span both the USA and Canada, and would have seen the all-female grunge/sludge/punk New York outfit Jigsaw Youth accompany them, would have been the duo’s first tour outside of the UK.

Unfortunately the America & Canada tour has been pulled due to visa issues. These things happen, it’s incredibly frustrating but there is nothing we can do at the moment. Apologies to everyone that bought tickets to see us out there with @jigsawyouthband hopefully see you soon.

— Bob Vylan (@BobbyVylan) May 2, 2023

Sadly though, Bob Vylan become yet another victim of the ever-increasingly difficult US visa processing system. Already a long, complicated and expensive process (that perhaps holds a political bias against certain acts, particularly in this case given Bob Vylan’s politically charged lyrics are at the forefront of their music), getting into the US as a non-US musician will very soon be even tougher with the announcement earlier this year that the US Department of Homeland Security plans to increase the cost of a special music visa by 250%, with the “P” visa jumping from £375 per person to a staggering £1317 per person.

The #LetTheMusicMove campaign, initially started by the Music Managers Forum and the Featured Artists Coalition in order to combat increasing tour costs due to post-brexit visa costs, has now shifted its attention to the ugly US visa price hike, with groups such as New Order, Idles and Primal Scream, to name a few, voicing their disdain for the proposed changes.

Fresh off the back of a hugely successful 2022, in which their second album, Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life, was released and capped off with winning the first ever Best Alternative Music Act award at the MOBOs in December, Bob Vylan would have undoubtedly been looking to continue their proliferating momentum with this unprecedented North American tour, introducing their wholly unique style, which incorporates hard-hitting social and political commentary with the merging of grime rap with punk rock, to the American and Canadian masses for the first time.

Watch the music video for “We Live Here” below:

While the British response to the rise of Bob Vylan in the very recent past has been a spectacularly positive one (drawing huge crowds at festivals they play and seeing their second album slot straight in to number 18 in the UK Albums Chart upon its release), the reaction from across the pond is largely yet to witnessed.

Given Afro-punk’s popularity in North America, however, with bands such as Bad Brains and Rage Against the Machine achieving success in the aforementioned alternative genre, Bob Vylan will surely be welcomed with open arms in the punk community stateside when they are eventually allowed to play there, particularly given how some of Bob Vylan’s favourite topics (police brutality, racism and income inequality) will no doubt resonate well with those who believe that said issues are strongly present in Canadian and, perhaps more so, American society.

He wrote on his Instagram page “It seems completely hypocritical of me to advocate discussion on mental health and write songs about it if I don’t take the time to look after my own mental health, I’ve neglected myself for over a year now and haven’t dealt with things that have deeply affected me. It’s impossible to do this work on myself while on the road, and it’s exhausting feigning happiness and wellness for the sake of business.”

He then continued to say that he was “eternally overwhelmed by the love and support of our fans and hate to let you down, but the state of my wellbeing is starting to affect everything I do, including my performances [and] I refuse to go out there and not give it my all EVERY time, as you all deserve nothing less.” You can view the post below.

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Fender has always advocated for mental health awareness in his music. He also spoke to NME in 2018 about the mental health struggles tackled in his single, “Dead Boys”. He stated “I remember specifically for me as a kid growing up or as a young teenager if I ever cried or got upset in front of anybody, I would be so humiliated,” he said. “I’d be so angry with myself for being upset and then it would just become this catch 22 situation.”

The musician then added “It’s that attitude that stops men from talking and stops men from being like able to turn to each other. Me and my mates are very, very close. We all talk about our problems – especially as we’ve got older. But I  don’t think a lot of people have that. Men just need to be open and not emasculate one another.”

As well as the US shows, the Geordie musician said that UK record store dates will be cancelled for the time being, but that “hopefully we can work something out for those ticket holders, you’ll hear from us soon.”

Fender said he will “come back stronger” and mentioned his excitement for the Australian leg of his tour in late November, as well as the St James’ Park shows he’s set to play in 2023. The details and tickets for those dates can be found, here. He also recently announced details of his Live From Finsbury Park album, which will be released on December 9.

We’re delighted to announce that we will be playing a series of shows in the United States of America later this year. We will be playing with our friends @bmblackmidi on a selection of dates. This will be accompanied by our own headline show in New York City at @boweryballroom. pic.twitter.com/BPsXuQ3Bxu

— BlackCountry,NewRoad (@BCNRband) June 7, 2022

Now when I say ‘finally’ I may be exaggerating the scale a little. Black Country, New Road (who for convenience sake I’ll call BC,NR) released their debut For The First Time in February 2021, then in less than a year their sophomore LP Ants From Up There was released – unfortunately, it came just a week or 2 after lead vocalist and founding member Isaac Woods announced his departure. So, it really hasn’t been too long in the making. But actual timescale aside, it’s been an eventful journey. Woods’ leaving gave the band no choice but to cancel the US tour they had planned at the time, and – because of the band’s decision to only play new music after the departure – neither of the albums released so far actually got to be played there. A lot has happened.

One thing to keep in mind, however, Woods’ departure was not one of malice or disrespect. The group have all openly condoned the reasoning behind it, and has chosen to look at it as the beginning of a new phase in the band’s history. Things change, members come and go, and the jazz-ensemble-esque nature of the band means that this may even suit them. The decision to fill a whole set with entirely new music fits in with the enigmatic history of the band; never let them know your next move. You can listen to one of the new tracks, recorded by a fan from one of the last UK dates, below.

BC,NR touring with black midi does mean that it’d be rude not to bring up a bit of an undiscovered gem in the post-punk world. The Windmill in Brixton is famous for its work with undiscovered, unsigned, and generally underground artists. It gave a platform to so many bands we take for granted today – BC,NR, black midi, and Squid should be more than enough examples – and as a part of the venue’s Christmas livestreams, Black Midi, New Road was born. See below.

In an online statement via Twitter, John Dawkins (a representative of Grennan’s management) said; “Tom is currently in hospital being assessed by doctors for his injuries which included a ruptured ear, torn eardrum and issue with his previously fractured jaw. Despite this Tom is in good spirits but needs to temporarily recuperate whilst doctors assess his ability to continue his touring.”

STATEMENT pic.twitter.com/Zwm3p6ebMx

— Tom Grennan (@Tom_Grennan) April 21, 2022

With all that has happened, Grennan has made the time to speak out after the attack and let the fans know that he fully intends to return to his tour ASAP. Addressing his followers directly, Grennan stated in a heartfelt message; “You lot are my main priority and I don’t wanna let anybody down and I don’t wanna cancel this US tour” “The [last] 24 hours has been crazy; it’s been madness, to be honest with you. But I thought I’d come on here and let you know what actually went on.” He went on to confirm that he has in fact suffered a ruptured eardrum and a concussion after being knocked out, luckily his jaw was not damaged during the attack.

The Bedford born singer has claimed he is following up on the incident, stating; “I’ve filed the police report, the NYPD were great. Just wrong place, wrong time.” Remaining stoical in light of these events, he later said; “The show must go on and I’m gonna do all that I can to get to Boston and do the tour and see you lot. Thank you so much, it’s been incredible to see much people are showing love and support. I’m all good, promise you, I’m all good.” You can watch his video announcement down below:

A message from Tom pic.twitter.com/GAnsBLNvQW

— Tom Grennan (@Tom_Grennan) April 22, 2022

The current tour is in support of his second studio album titled; Evering Road which arrived on the 12^th of March 2021. The record was debuted at number 1 in the UK album chart, his first chart- topping release to date.