Music News

Muse's new LP sounds like the band "losing our minds a bit".
The three-piece group - featuring Matthew Bellamy, Dom Howard and Chris Wolstenholme - believes they "lost sight" of what they should be aiming for when they made 2012's 'The 2nd Law', so decided to get "back to basics" with their new album, 'Drones'.
Dom explained: "By our standards, ['Drones'] is back to basics.
"For the first time, the three of us in a room, eyeballing each other again. I think on 'The 2nd Law', producing it ourselves, we spent so much time in the control room that we lost sight of ourselves as a band.
"We wanted to push the boat out on 'Drones'. For that reason, it's very diverse - it's the sound of us being very experimental and losing our minds a bit."
And while they have tackled social issues on the record, frontman Matt confessed his recent split from his fiancée, actress Kate Hudson, has also impacted the album.
He told NME magazine: "Look. We had a great relationship, she's a lovely person, we're better off as friends.
"It's difficult for me to pinpoint anything on the album specifically about that ... except that when someone suddenly finds themselves outside of a relationship, they ponder things, they think over the points in their lives when they think things didn't go the way they expected them to... It's the fact that I reconnected with all the points in my life where I felt alone or outside."

Lorde has hit out at men who "underestimate her skill".
The 18-year-old singer seemed to address the recent news she had parted ways with her manager of seven years, Scott Maclachlan, by berating "men" on Twitter.
In the two tweets, she wrote: "hey, men - do me and yourselves a favour, and don't underestimate my skill
"yes, i'm a young lass, but i'm also making the best decisions for me each day. #stayeducated (sic)."
The 'Royals' hitmaker reportedly split from the manager - who signed her to Universal Music at the age of 11 - a few weeks ago, although no details about the decision to part ways have been revealed, with Scott's company Saiko Management declining to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile Lorde - who released her debut album 'Pure Heroine' in 2013, aged 16 - is currently recording her second album with producer Joel Little, and recently updated her fans on the progress they have made by writing on her Tumblr account.
She wrote: "i took a few months off at the beginning of this year, which was so great - i did a bunch of swimming and driving around and being salty - and now i'm just getting into making the next body of work, which is very exciting and scary but SO VALIDATING (sic)."

Jake Bugg and James Bay have won O2 Silver Clef Awards.
The 'Lightning Bolt' singer, Jake, has been announced as the recipient of the Best Male award at the prestigious ceremony, which will take place in London on 3 July.
Speaking about his win, he said: "It's an honour to be recognized by the country's leading music therapy charity and to join an incredible list of artists who have won O2 Silver Clef Awards over the last 40 years. I am really looking forward to collecting my award at the event in July and finding out more about Nordoff Robbins."
Meanwhile, James - who released his debut album 'Chaos and the Calm' last month - will be crowned the winner of the Jack Daniel's Best Newcomer award, having already picked up the Critics' Choice award at the BRITs in February.
He commented: "2015 has been such an incredible year for me so far. It is such an honour to be recognised by a charity which is so important to the music industry. Nordoff Robbins do incredible work helping to transform lives with music therapy."
It was previously announced that Rita Ora, Mark Ronson, Primal Scream, Iron Maiden and Il Divo would also receive accolades at the 40th year of the ceremony, which has raised more than £8.5 million for music therapy charity Nordorff Robbins since it began.

Haim performed a surprise show at Cannes Film Festival.
The 'Forever' hitmakers - comprised of sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim - sang at Calvin Klein and IFP's Women in Film reception, which honoured actresses including Rachel Weisz, Isabelle Huppert, Mélanie Laurent and Emily Blunt.
The swanky reception was held at a private villa on Monday (18.05.15) and was also attended by 'Nightcrawler' star Jake Gyllenhaal, esteemed filmmaker Harvey Weinstein, and a flurry of models including Joan Smalls, Natalia Vodianova, Doutzen Kroes and Lily Donaldson.
The show comes after the trio announced they are working on their sophomore record, which will follow-up their 2013 debut, 'Days Are Gone'.
The band began recording the LP back in January with the help of producer Ariel Rechtshaid, and insisted last June the album would "come very soon".
They said at the time: "This is the first time we've ever written on the road. We're going home in a month to start recording. I promise record two won't come in six years, it'll come very soon."
Meanwhile, 'Rock DJ' hitmaker Robbie Williams has also been in Cannes, performing at Chopard's Gold bash to guests Uma Thurman, Adriana Lima and Irina Shayk.

Kanye West has apologised for his "grossly over-censored" Billboard Music Awards performance.
The 37-year-old rapper took to the stage with his tracks 'All Day' and 'Black Skinhead' at the annual ceremony in Las Vegas on Sunday (17.05.15) but was met with a negative reaction from TV viewers as the majority of his performance was muted by show-makers due to profanities in the tracks.
A statement released on behalf of the musician reads: "Kanye West was grossly over-censored at the Billboard Music Awards. Non-profane lyrics such as "with my leather black jeans on" were muted for over 30 second intervals. As a result, his voice and performance were seriously misrepresented.
"It is ridiculous that in 2015, unwarranted censorship is something that artists still have to fight against.
"Although West was clearly set up to face elements beyond his control during the live broadcast, he would like to apologize to the television audience who were unable to enjoy the performance the way he envisioned."
Meanwhile, the 'FourFiveSeconds' hitmaker recently revealed he was changing his upcoming record's name from 'So Help Me God' to 'SWISH', but has not yet announced when fans can expect to hear the LP.
He tweeted: "I'm changing my album name to SWISH.
"I might change it again but that's the name now (sic)."

Duffy is planning a "major comeback" for next year.
The 30-year-old 'Mercy' singer is working on new material and wants to "reclaim her place" on the charts next to Adele, who she was compared to when the two emerged and released their debut albums 'Rockferry' and '19' at the same time in 2008.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "Duffy is working on new material with her sights set on a major comeback in 2016. She wants to reclaim her place among the likes of Adele in the music industry."
Duffy is starring in a new film 'Secret Love' and has been writing and singing on the soundtrack too, and is hoping to use the film as a springboard back into the music industry.
Duffy's first album 'Rockferry' was the fourth biggest selling album of 2008 worldwide and earned her a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album and three Brits in 2009, but her second album 'Endlessly' flopped by comparison in 2010, only charting at number nine in the UK, and the Welsh singer hasn't released anything since.
Meanwhile, Adele's second album '21' went on to become the biggest selling musical release for both 2011 and 2012, and had sold 30 million copies worldwide by July 2014. It also won the 2012 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and the BRIT Award for British Album of the Year.

Faith No More don't care if people listen to their new LP because they are making "good s***".
The 'We Care a Lot' hitmakers insist they aren't bothered about the public reaction to their new record 'Sol Invictus' - which is their first in almost two decades - because they are such personal fans of the collection.
When asked whether they think it will be fondly received, frontman Mike Patton said: "I have no idea! Who knows whether they will like it or not? I never wanted to be a 50-year-old guy making music [for] teenagers. I don't think any of us did. But all I can tell you is we're making good s**t. I don't care who listens."
The band - comprised of Mike, keyboardist Roddy Bottum, bassist Billy Gould and drummer Mike Bordin - also spoke about their decision to ditch their record label and go independent for the album, saying it allowed them "freedom" as they could take their time and didn't have to meet any expectations from the music industry.
Speaking to Billboard magazine, Roddy added: "We kept it in-house and behind closed doors. And we were fortunate to be able to keep it as insular as we did because we had no expectations or deadlines. Really, it's a chicken s**t way to do it. But at the same time it allowed us freedom."

Sam Smith's operation on his haemorrhaged vocal cords was a success.
The 'Stay With Me' hitmaker, who was forced to cancel a string of Australian shows last month and put recording his upcoming album on hold, is expected to make a full recovery after undergoing surgery on his vocal cords in Boston last Thursday (14.05.15).
In a statement, Massachusetts General Hospital, which treated the British star, said: "Sam Smith underwent vocal cord microsurgery by Steven Zeitels, MD, to stop recurrent vocal cord haemorrhage (bleeding). This condition is the result of unstable blood vessels in the vocal cord that can rupture and prevent vocal performance.
"Sam came to Boston to consult and undergo corrective voice surgery with Zeitels, the director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Voice Centre. Zeitels, who is also the Eugene B. Casey Professor of Laryngeal Surgery at Harvard Medical School, has pioneered many vocal cord surgery procedures for benign and malignant problems including the use of specialised lasers to stop vocal cord bleeding in singers. He has performed this unique procedure for many vocalists - including Steven Tyler, Lionel Richie, and Adele - allowing them to return to full performance. Similarly, Zeitels expects Sam to make a full recovery from his laser microsurgery."
The 'Lay Me Down' hitmaker, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on Tuesday (19.05.15), recently warned fans he would not be able to speak for three weeks following the procedure.
In a post on Instagram, he wrote: "Enjoying my last day of speaking. After today no speaking for three weeks. So if you see me on the streets sorry if you think I'm a d***head and can't say hello. Also gonna be silent for my birthday. Sounds fun aye? (sic)"

Bobby Womack will feature on Rudimental's new album.
The drum and bass quartet have announced the release of their sophomore record 'We The Generation', and revealed the full tracklisting which includes a collaboration with the soul legend, who recorded vocals for the track shortly before his death last June.
Revealing the news of their new album on Twitter, the band wrote: "After 18 months of hard work we're proud to announce our new album."
The 14-track LP - which will be released on 18 September - also features collaborations with a host of other acts, including a new song with Ella Eyre titled 'Too Cool', which follows up their chart-topping 2013 hit 'Waiting All Night'.
Lianne La Havas features on the tracks 'Needn't Speak' and 'Breath' on the collection, while the four-piece group have teamed up with award-winning singer/songwriter MNEK for 'Common Emotion'.
The 'Feel The Love' hitmakers - comprised of Piers Agget, Amir Amor, Kesi Dryden and DJ Locksmith - have also championed new artists with the record by making several tracks with up-and-coming stars Anne-Marie and Will Heard while on the road around the world.
Speaking about creating the album, they previously said: "We had a studio bus in America, so we made it on an actual bus, a lot of it. We met some amazing singers on the way and we picked up a lot of new inspirations as well, so it's better than the last for us."

The tracklisting to 'We The Generation' is as follows:
1. 'I Will For Love' (feat. Will Heard)
2. 'Never Let You Go' (feat. Foy Vance)
3. 'We The Generation' (feat. Mahalia)
4. 'Love Ain't Just A Word'
5. 'Rumour Mill' (feat. Anne-Marie & Will Heard)
6. 'Common Emotion' (feat. MNEK)
7. 'Go Far' (feat. Will Heard)
8. 'Foreign World' (feat. Anne-Marie)
9. 'Too Cool' (feat. Ella Eyre)
10. 'Bloodstream'
11. 'All That Love'
12. 'Needn't Speak' (feat. Lianne La Havas)
13. 'Lay It All On Me'
14. 'New Day' (feat. Bobby Womack)

Deluxe:
15. 'Treading On Water' (feat. Sinead Harnett & Will Heard)
16. 'Run' (feat. Will Heard)
17. 'Breath' (feat. Lianne La Havas)
18. 'System' (feat. Max Romeo, Earl 16 & Spee)