News

Scottish indie-rock superstars Travis remain one of the biggest selling British bands of the last thirty years thanks, in large part, to their 1999 smash hit album The Man Who, which spent nine weeks at the top of the UK albums chart, sold over three million copies, and spawned the songs Why Does It Always Rain On Me?, Turn, Writing To Reach You, and Driftwood: songs that remain on jukeboxes and playlists up and down the country. More than that, they’ve passed into wider British culture, as recognisable as anything by the venerated greats of UK music.

Chicago-born, LA-based Alexander Glantz – known as Alexander 23 – is generating a heck of a lot of interest. Signed to Interscope Records, the singer, songwriter and multiinstrumentalist spent the majority of 2019 on the road, including spots opening for Alec Benjamin.

With three hugely well-received LPs already under her belt (The Heart, The Body, and The Soul), excitement and anticipation are already growing for the debut album of singer-songwriter Starling, To Be Alive, though no release date has been set yet. In the meantime, the album’s lead single No Leader dropped this week and gave us all a peak at what we can expect from this rising star.

Amy Macdonald is one of the most successful international touring artists to emerge from Scotland, with over 12 million records sold, and accumulation of over 200 million Spotify streams. Her breakthrough was in 2007 with her debut album ‘This Is The Life,’ which reached number 1 in four countries, including the UK. The eponymous single from the album became her most successful, having reached number one in six different countries. 

Dagny Norvoll Sandvik, known as Dagny, grew up in a musical family in Tromso, Norway. After moving to London in her early twenties, she was propelled to fame with her single Backbeat, which was used on the TV show Grey’s Anatomy and launched her on the path being one of Norway’s biggest stars, with over 450 million streams and a host of sold out tours to her name.

Irish singer-songwriter Gavin James has played shows with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Niall Horan, and amassed over a billion streams globally. In 2013 and 2016, he won the Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year award, and both his debut album, 2016’s Bitter Pill and it’s follow-up Only Ticket Home, reached the top five of the Irish albums chart. Now James is back with a hotly-anticipated new six-track EP, Boxes.

The ballad is a classic Demi venture — the young singer showcases her vulnerabilities whilst making room for self-empowerment and courage.

Rock icon, and bona fide legend of music, Eddie Van Halen, has died aged just 65. After a lengthy battle with cancer, Van Halen passed away in California, with his wife, Janie, brother, Alex and son, Wolfgang at his bedside. The devastating announcement first came to social media by Wolfgang Van Halen, in a heartbreaking and touching tribute, describing Eddie as “the best father I could ever ask for.”

Irish singer-songwriter Flynn has recently found himself featured on many key Spotify playlists, accelerated by his involvement in Lost Frequencies track ‘Recognise’ (over 40 million streams). Now with his latest track ‘B-Side' generating 300K+ streams in only a few weeks, and the likes of Niall Horan sharing his previous track 'One Of Us', it seems he's setting great foundations for the future.

On their latest album, 2020, Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Bon Jovi deliver their most powerful work yet. Jon Bon Jovi joins host Steve Baltin on today’s episode of People Have The Power to discuss the writing of the band’s brilliant new album, the iconic protest song he used as the benchmark for new songs like “American Reckoning” and “Lower The Flag”, and his friendship with Sir Paul McCartney.

US rap / hip hop artist Rockwelz has dropped his latest single, the catchy “Just Dance.” Featuring singer / dancer Osa, the track embraces those feelgood vibes and will have you eager to hit the dance floor.

Los Angeles singer-songwriter Jesse Jo Stark has plenty of rock and roll pedigree. She’s the daughter of Richard and Laurie Stark, the couple behind Chrome Hearts, the fashion, fragrance and jewellery label that is an L.A. institution and has dressed all manner of celebrities over the decades, from Jay-Z to Mick Jagger. If that wasn’t enough, her godmother is none other than Cher.

Right now, the world needs Fleet Foxes more than ever. The American indie-folk outfit fronted by Robin Pecknold specialise in delivering shiny, shimmery laidback songs that take your cares away. The perfect antidote, then, to all this 2020 nonsense.

Believe it or not, Song To A Refugee – the new album from Nashville-based country singer-songwriter Diana Jones – owes its existence to Oscar-winning British actress Emma Thompson. It’s a sorrowful and powerful record that addresses the plight of those crossing the US-Mexico border, but without the film star who has appeared in films including Love Actually, The Remains Of The Day, Sense and Sensibility, and the Harry Potter series, it might not have even been created.

As a nineteen-year-old in 2003, Katie Melua released her debut album, Call Off The Search. It reached number one in the UK albums chart and sold a staggering 1.8 million copies in its first five months of release. The followup, Piece By Piece, has sold more than four million copies. By 2006, she had become the highest-selling female artist in the UK and Europe. Her rise was absolutely meteoric.

Make no mistake, this is a hotly anticipated debut offering. Pillow Queens, the Dublin four-piece with the risqué name who formed in 2016 and almost overnight won a legion of fans with their debut EP Calm Girls, have already wracked up sold-out tours across the UK and Ireland and played alongside the likes of IDLES, Pussy Riot, and American Football.

Royal Blood’s long-awaited return is finally here as the Brighton rock duo have released their first new music since their 2017 album How Did We Get So Dark. Ahead of the arrival of their third studio album, the band dropped new single Trouble’s Coming this week.

Founded in 2009 by lead vocalist Matthew Bonazzoli and piano and keyboard player Patrick Thompson, The Bonazzoli Band had never recorded a covers album before Under Cover, their fifth LP and their first since 2019’s Torqued.

Los Angeles' KiNG MALA touches on themes of lust, recklessness and femininity in her work. Her last single, Sugarblind, was a swaggering track that gained widespread acclaim from the likes of Live Nation's Ones to Watch, Earmilk and American Songwriter to name a few. Fans will be glad to hear that her new single, If I Try To Find You, picks up where its predecessor left off.

London-based singer-songwriter Imogen Mahdavi only released her debut single Doormat Darling last year, but since then she’s been on a steady upward trajectory. She has starred in a lead role in the hit UK nationwide play Dressed, which she also penned the music for, while her track Crowd Of Thoughts, a soulful, ghostly number produced by Grammy Winner Eddie Serafica (Hamzaa, James Bay, Buddy Guy), won her even more fans and rave reviews from a host of publications. Now she’s back with new single Some Things Are Best Oversaid.