Irish heartthrobs Westlife are back on the music scene after enjoying a year off. They return with a great new single from their much anticipated tenth album, Where We Are, which will be released at the end of November.
What About Now marks Westlife’s first single since Us Against the World which reached number 8 in the UK charts in March 2008 and the lads will surely be hoping to find themselves heading back towards the top of the charts with their new release.
The new track sees the boys sticking to what they do best as they bring us another beautiful power ballad. The vocals, as expected, are amazing and the lyrics are great too. My only criticism of this single is that it’s another cover (the original being sung by Daughtry) and while it’s a brilliant song, it would have been nice to see the boys do something new with their first single in over a year. Nevertheless, it will hopefully be a huge hit with fans worldwide.
Look out for track two on the single (You Raise Me Up live at Croke Park) as it’s also a great song and perhaps even better that it’s the live version.
Westlife’s upcoming album, Where We Are, will be available to buy from 30th November.
Lady Gaga – the biggest selling new artist of the year bar none – has announced a major UK arena tour for February-March 2010. The Monster Ball will be her first UK shows of 2010, and the first chance for fans to hear live renditions of new songs from her revamped album, The Fame Monster, due for release on 23 November.
The Monster Ball comprises the following shows:
Thursday 18 February Manchester MEN Arena
Wednesday 24 February Liverpool Arena
Friday 26 February London O2
Monday 1 March Glasgow SECC
Wednesday 3 March Cardiff CIA
Thursday 4 March Newcastle Arena
Friday 5 March Birmingham LG
Sunday 7 March Sheffield Arena
Monday 8 March Nottingham Arena
Tickets go on sale Friday 30 October at 9am and are available from www.aeglive.co.uk or via the 24hr hotline 08444 775775.
The Fame Monster is a two-disc re-package of Lady Gaga’s 4 million-selling debut The Fame. It will feature the entire breakthrough album – including the hit singles Just Dance, Poker Face, Paparazzi and LoveGame – alongside eight entirely new songs, including the new single Bad Romance, which is available to download now.
From the ashes of the phenomenally successful Beautiful South, itself formed from the Housemartins, comes the New Beautiful South, and they tour the UK this November.
After the original band broke up 2 years ago, famously citing “musical similarities”, a number of the band decided to reunite and resurrect the songs and the sounds of this Great British Pop institution by dipping into the Beautiful South songbook as well as writing new material. Find out the November dates from their official website.
Carrying on where they left off Dave Hemingway & Alison Wheeler (Vocals), Dave Stead (Drums), Damon Butcher (Keys), Tony Robinson and Gaz Birtles (Brass) are now joined by Phil Barton (guitar), Karl Brown (Percussion) and Steve Nutter (Bass).
The driving force behind the original band Paul Heaton continues to pursue his solo career.
It seems very easy to be dismissive of The Proclaimers as so many people associate them purely with their big early hits of the 1980s. That’s a shame because if they gave them a chance they would find some great, beautiful and intelligent songs.
This is what The Proclaimers brought to a nearly-packed St. David’s Hall in Cardiff last Wednesday. After a great showing by their impressive support Miles Hunt & Erica Nockalls from The Wonder Stuff, the lads took to the stage and quickly set out their musical stall.
With a huge back catalogue it is really only the die-hard fans who could singalong with all songs but the well-known tracks really got the crowd going, from those 80s classics to their most recent tracks from albums “Life With You” and “Notes and Rhymes”.
If there was one word that I could use to describe the gig it is “joyful”. That’s the feeling that The Proclaimers brought to their audience and have done so for a good few decades already.
“Open Arms” is the latest single by Gary-Go, and to put it bluntly, it’s dull. A generic, ‘down in the dumps’ rock-pop song, consisting of rhetorical questions and… pessimism.
Gary-Go has supported Irish trio The Script, along with Take That on their comeback tour this past summer. You would think, because of such large crowds he has performed to (Take That have a LOT of hardcore fans!), Gary would be rather well-known and would have had a lot of publicity with his recent album in the UK. This doesn’t appear to be the case.
I’ve come to the conclusion this may be due to such negativity he portrays in his songs. With lyrics such as “lost without a trace”, “Open Arms” is not a song you would choose to listen to if you were feeling blue!
However, despite being quite a ‘gloomy’ track, I have to admit, it’s catchy. When the chorus kicks in, optimism shows – You’ll be thankful to know! The self-taught multi-instrumentalist has to be given some credit as there doesn’t seem to be many artists these days who write and produce their own music. Good on you Gary.
Strikingly individual, twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid have over the years enjoyed huge success across the globe as the emotional honesty, political fire, wit and sing-along raucousness of their songs and their extensive touring has enlightened and entertained fans new and old.
The Proclaimers have carved out a niche for themselves in the netherworld where pop, folk, new wave and punk collide. In the process they have enjoyed Gold and Platinum singles and albums in UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The boys are currently in the middle of the UK leg of their tour, MusicRiot will be at their Cardiff gig and a review will be available soon after.
Get all the dates of their tour from: http://www.theproclaimersofficial.co.uk
The Melbourne-born foursome prove through their forceful ten track album, they lack nothing in ambition. “Conditions”, including the acclaimed singles “Science of Fear” and the song which stuck in festival-goers heads this summer, “Sweet Disposition”, most definitely does the indie-pop musicians justice. Producer Jim Abbiss, who has worked with the likes of award-winning Arctic Monkeys and Adele, is sure to be proud.
With glowing reviews from bloggers worldwide, as well as having BBC’s Zane Lowe as a fan, The Temper Trap are well on their way to UK domination. Energetic Dougie, Lorenzo, Toby and Jonathan have undoubtedly plucked a few heart strings with harmoniously strong tracks such as “Love Lost” and “Fools”. Contrasting the emotionally-driven songs on the album are musically intense “Fader” and catchy “Rest”, which are guaranteed to leave you singing at the top of your voice.
With The Temper Trap’s popularity swiftly rising, an amazing turn-out and atmosphere at this year’s festival season, not forgetting a UK tour which commenced this September, the ‘Ozzy lads’ appear to have a lot on their plates. Maybe take a leaf out of your own book boys – “Soldier On”! A must listen.
I suppose it was kind of unlikely that Michael Jackson would be allowed to rest in peace, even by members of his own family. So here we go with a low-brow MJ-themed talent show…
Jackson 5 legend Jermaine Jackson is to be one of the judges on brand new BBC Three entertainment series “Move Like Michael Jackson”.
Celebrating the greatest pop icon of our time, this six-part dance series will see a nationwide search to find Britain’s most talented and original dancers who can demonstrate they have the spirit, showmanship and technical ability of the great man.
Back in the studio, Jermaine and the rest of the panel will be seeing who can put their true versatility and ingenuity to the test as they perform to classic Michael Jackson tracks.
Aimed at finding dancers who best embody the spirit of Michael Jackson on stage, the show will include competitors from all backgrounds, individuals and group performances.
Thursday night at the Relentless Garage in Highbury and three bands on the bill. The venue is perfect for this kind of gig; wherever you stand you’ve got a pretty good view of the stage and the live sound is spot-on.
First band on are Zeroscape who appear to have invented the new genre of Canadian reggae metal. They hit the stage like a whirlwind and don’t ease up until the end of the set. An opening set when the audience are fanatical about the headliners can be incredibly difficult, but Zeroscape win them over by being incredibly energetic and incredibly good. Their version of the Bob Marley classic “Get Up, Stand Up” has to be heard to be believed. A great set which looks difficult to follow.
Second on the bill are Symphony Cult, who are a bit of a puzzle. Their intro music is too long and overblown, which isn’t a good omen for the set. Sound problems through the first 2 songs mean that the lead vocal is lost, which is a pity because Charlotte Lubbock has a fabulous voice. They don’t win the audience over in the same way as Zeroscape because they don’t adopt the same all-out approach to the gig. The band have been together for less than 2 years and may still be looking for the right direction; the band play very well and they have a charismatic and gifted singer but there’s definitely something missing.
Which brings us to INME, who are touring to promote their fourth album “Herald Moth”. Read more
