Music News

Stereo Kicks' Jake Sims says talking about One Direction's Zayn Malik is a "touchy" subject for most of the band.
The 'Love Me So' singer thinks it's a "massive" loss that Zayn left 1D but that people should "respect" his decision.
When asked how they felt about Zayn's departure Jake told BANG Showbiz: "It is a touchy subject for quite a lot of people. It's his choice and everyone's got to respect that. It's a massive loss to One Direction because they were amazing as a five. But good luck to them as a four, I am sure they will carry on smashing everything."
Stereo Kicks - who came fourth on the 'X Factor' in 2014 - have said they are focusing on their music and don't pay much attention gossip and everything else going on in the world of pop.
They did however, wish Zayn luck with his solo career, which they think is "amazing".
Jake added: "Good luck to Zayn doing his solo career, It's amazing he is doing that and I am sure he will do well. But we haven't been focused on that we've been focused on our launch for the single."
Stereo Kicks will play a launch party for their single 'Love Me So' on 21 June at London's Shepherds Bush Empire and their debut single 'Love Me So' is out on June 21.

Faith No More's bassist Billy Gould initially thought the band reunited because "someone needs money".
The heavy metal band were adamant they didn't want to reform for years, but after frontman Mike Patton and drummer Mike Bordin attended keyboard player Roddy Botum's wedding, they suddenly changed their minds.
Remembering what he initially thought when he was first told of the plans, the 52-year-old rocker told Metal Hammer magazine: "The first thing that comes to mind with something like that is, 'Someone needs money.' I had a very negative gut feeling about it. But when you're apart you remember the bad things - when you're together, you remember the good things. I found out they were all hanging out, and I thought that was a little weird."
When the band met in 2009 for the first time since 1999, despite his earlier negativity about the idea of a reunion, Billy admitted meeting up with his colleagues over lunch was a "pleasant" experience, something he wasn't expecting.
Talking about their first meeting in years, he said: "I just thought, 'I've got nothing to lose.' It was the first time we'd all been in the same room since 1999. It was much more pleasant than I thought it would be. Being in the room and laughing and telling stories and stuff - it was nice reconnecting."
The band have since released new LP 'Sol Invictus' this month and are set to play at Download music festival in the UK in June.

Paul Weller has threatened to break Noel Gallagher's legs if he reforms Oasis.
Noel previously revealed his close pal told him their friendship would be over and he'd probably "put his windows through" if he reunites the super-group with his brother Liam Gallagher following their split in August 2009.
Weller, 57, has now admitted he told Noel in no uncertain terms what he thought about the rumoured plans and what he'd do to him if it went ahead.
He told The Daily Beast: "I know it went around that I said I'd break Noel Gallagher's legs or whatever if he even considered reforming Oasis, but it's true. It's unseemly. I have no interest in it and I honestly have no idea why anyone would. For me it's always about moving forward."
The musician is also adamant his revered former group The Jam will never get back together.
When quizzed whether he'd ever perform with his ex-bandmates Rick Buckler and Bruce Foxton again, Weller replied: "Not a chance, mate."
Weller also discussed his musical future following the recent release of his 12th solo LP, the critically acclaimed 'Saturns Pattern', and insists he wants to keep experimenting and changing his sound.
He said: "I don't know where I'm going to go. I never really know where I'm going to go or where my music will take me, really. But I'm always trying to find different ways of doing things, just to keep it interesting. I think the really important thing is just to keep an open mind about all of it. There isn't any set way to making music or writing. It's just whatever's in the air at the time.
He added: "The older you get, the more important it is to stay open-minded, I think, and not look at it as a fixed way of doing things. It's whatever works, man. But I love doing it."

Taylor Swift "reached out" to Kendrick Lamar for their 'Bad Blood' collaboration and he had no hesitation in saying yes because he's always been a "fan" of her music.
The American rapper appears on the single version of Taylor's latest track and he agreed to add some lyrics to the song after the 23-year-old pop star contacted him personally.
Talking on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show', Kendrick said: "She reached out. I've always been a fan of hers, and she was a fan of my music and she reached out and we got it done."
The track is the fourth single taken from the 'Shake It Off' hitmaker's '1989' album and the elaborate video, which features models of the moment Karlie Kloss, Gigi Hadid, Lily Aldridge and Cara Delevingne, managed to break Vevo records in the first 24 hours with over 20 million views and shot straight to the top of Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The promo also features cameo appearances from Cindy Crawford, Selena Gomez, Jessica Alba, Ellen Pompeo, Lena Dunham and Mariska Hargitay, while Kendrick also appears in several scenes.
During his appearance on Ellen's show, Kendrick performed 'These Walls' from his current album 'To Pimp A Butterfly'.
The 27-year-old hip hop star was also asked by host Ellen about what it meant to him to be a positive role model for his fans.
He said: "It means everything to me because I know there's a lot of kids in my neighbourhood that are watching TV and saying, 'You know what? I want to be a positive influence just like Kendrick Lamar,' or whoever is out there doing something for the good."

Happy Mondays have recorded their first song in 20 years with a rainforest tribe in Central America.
While on a trip to Panama to film reality TV series 'Singing In The Rainforest', the 'Step On' hitmakers - Shaun Ryder, Bez and former 'X Factor' star Rowetta - were asked if they'd record a new track by Watch and as they felt inspired by their jungle surroundings they decided to do it.
Now they have they have found their muse the group intend record a new album.
An insider told The Sun newspaper: "Appearing on the reality show has helped bring Shaun, his brother Paul, Bez, Rowetta and the rest of the Happy Mondays closer together. This is the first new song they've recorded as a band in two decades so it wasn't easy but now they have a taste for more. They've started planning a full album partly inspired by the experience."
The original band members - who reformed in 2012 and have toured ever since - put their differences aside to work on the new material, which was inspired by the culture and deep history of the indigenous Embera Drua people of the Upper Chagres River.
This is not the first time the band - who originally split up in 1993 -have explored a new culture to make music.
In their heyday in the 1990s, the band headed to Barbados to make the LP 'Yes Please!' but the sessions, which took place at Eddy Grant's home studio, descended into chaos with Shaun and his brother getting hooked on crack cocaine, Bez injuring himself in a car accident and no vocal parts being recorded because singer Shaun didn't write any lyrics.

Rita Ora admits the last year has been "one of the hardest" of her life.
The 24-year-old singer - who's starred as a judge on the BBC reality TV show 'The Voice', launched her own fashion line and made a cameo appearance in 'Fifty Shades of Grey' over the last 12 months - has confessed to finding the year particularly hard, but insisted she's still living out her childhood "dream".
During a three-minute clip from her recently-recorded video diary, Rita said: "So growing up I always wanted to be where I am today and it's always been my dream, literally every day I wake up, it's my dream.
"So I thought I'd share my world with you, give you a little bit of an insight into my life and see how our days go every day - it's not just pictures and a dress."
The 'How We Do' hitmaker admitted the last 12 months have been marked by some dramatic ups and downs.
Rita shared: "This year has been amazing, it's actually been one of the hardest I've ever faced, good things and bad things.
"I've got to experience amazing things like 'The Voice' and doing my Adidas line and have amazing hit records with people I love."

Will Young has penned a song thanking an "abusive" teacher.
The 36-year-old performer recently released his sixth album '85% Proof' and explained one track, 'Thank You', is about a mean teacher who taught him as a youngster.
He revealed: "There is a song called 'Thank You' which is very much directed towards a teacher at school who was abusive to me and the lyric 'thank you' is actually genuinely thanking that person for giving me the experience because it has made me a better person."
The 'Evergreen' hitmaker - who shot to fame after winning ITV singing competition 'Pop Idol' in 2002 - released his latest LP earlier this month, but explained he chose to take some time out to be an actor after his 2011 album 'Echos' because he gets "frustrated" with the fact he can't play any other characters with his own music.
He told Hunger TV: "I think funnily enough the two things that changed or jettisoned my creativity was doing a film called 'Mrs. Henderson' and then doing 'Cabaret'. They both came at the perfect time - I just needed to be reminded that I can play other roles and explore characters. In pop I get frustrated with the fact that it's always me - I really love being me but I don't find it as liberating as playing a character on stage, because then I can really do what I want. The songs in my pop career have been really liberating, that's the storytelling, but ultimately I'm always me. So I need to have these projects that come along at the right moment to remind me that I can play other people on stage."
Will Young was shot by Rankin for Hunger TV, with his full interview now online: http://www.hungertv.com/feature/the-interview-will-young/

Mötley Crüe are letting fans choose the cities for their final European tour.
The iconic band are currently planning their global 'Final Tour' - on which they have been joined by Alice Cooper - and have launched the #demandthecrue campaign for fans to fight for the rockers to visit their city by using the hashtag on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Following 34 years as a touring group, the band featuring Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Mick Mars and Vince Neil will perform at Sweden Rocks, Novarock in Austria and England's Download Festival this summer along with a string of other European dates, before heading to the US, Canada and Mexico.
The rockers - who have sold more than 80 million albums worldwide during their time together - announced their two-year 'Final Tour' by signing a Cessation of Touring Agreement at a press conference in Los Angeles in January 2014, with their final ever show set to take place on New Year's Eve (31.12.15) at the Staples Center in their hometown of Los Angeles.
The 2014 leg of their farewell tour was one of the year's top grossing tours, with almost a million tickets being sold across a total of 72 cities.
Votes cast in the daily campaign by using the hashtag can be tracked through an interactive map on http://demand.motley.com/

One Direction have promised a "very diverse" and "different" fifth album.
The group - featuring Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson - are currently working on the collection, which will be their first since Zayn Malik left the band in March, and have revealed it could surprise fans as it has a "different" sound.
Niall said: "There's a few different sounds on the album, not all the songs sound the same, like, same vibe.
"They are all kind of different. Couple of different guitars and drums. It's a lot different than what we did before ... but, it's cool."
The 'Night Changes' singers - who released 'Four' last November - continued to say the record features "old school vibes", although Liam backtracked on previous comments saying it sounded like Britpop band Oasis, insisting only one track is similar to music from the 'Wonderwall' hitmakers.
He explained: "There's a lot of old school vibes as well.
"I said before that it was quite Oasis-y but I was thinking about one song that I've been playing ... it's very diverse I think."
And although the band have "no collaborations so far" on the eagerly-anticipated LP, Niall, 21, said they are still hard at work so other artists could feature on the finished product.
He added to ET Online: "It's still in the making so we're not there yet."