Music News

Carl Barat wants a career like Damon Albarn.
The former Dirty Pretty Things frontman has launched a new band, The Jackals, and is currently preparing for a Libertines reunion show in London's Hyde Park later this summer, but sees no reason why his various projects can't co-exist.
He told NME magazine: "I'd rather take a leaf out of Damon's book. He's done a Blur reunion, he does Gorillaz, he does things that are genuine to him. If he bankrolls do that by doing the other thing, fine.
"I could go on tour tomorrow with The Libertines and that would be fun and games, we could write a new album, but it wouldn't take away from the fact that I've found people I really connect with. I want a future with these guys."
Carl recruited his new bandmates via open auditions in February and was determined not to let their dynamic be spoiled with "ego".
He said: "The thing I was watching out for was too tasty an ego. My biggest intention was for it to be the boys' band, not just me making an identikit of previous bands.
"The boys have all got something we can take further without punching each other in the f***ing face."

Eliza Doolittle has been in Miami writing new music.
The 'Big When I Was Little' singer, who decided to jet off to America for a writing trip, is working on the follow-up to her 2013 record 'In Your Hands' and has been inspired by being in the sun.
Eliza told BANG Showbiz: "[I've been] writing lots and lots, at home and on trips, like Miami now.
"I'm not sure what and when I'll be releasing [anything] exactly but I'm very excited about new music."
Asked what inspires her when it comes to writing, she said: "I'm inspired all the time by interesting people, conversations, films, books, and sometimes just my own heart and guts. I'm always writing things down in my notepad or in my phone. I guess there's always a little pressure but pressure can be great. As long as it's positive I always try to put good pressure on myself to be my best."
Meanwhile, the 26-year-old star appears in Malibu's new Best Summer Ever video with MTV presenter Lilah Parsons and best friends Jessica Napier and Violetta Thalia, speaking about her summer memories and when she first experienced heart ache while on holiday.
In the promo, she told the girls: "I remember fancying a break dancer in the club, and I got heartbroken for one of the first times, if not the first time, because he kissed me and then three hours later on the same night in the club he was kissing someone else."
Talking about her plans for this summer and the festival season, she also told BANG Showbiz: "I'm gonna be working hard to get new music but i'm still hoping to squeeze a little summer holiday in somehow!
"I'm playing a couple of my own [festivals] and a couple with Disclosure this summer. At Glastonbury I'm definitely gonna be a punter as well as performing. It all depends on the time I'm playing though ... nothing can get in the way of a good show!"
To watch Malibu's Best Summer Ever video, visit www.youtube.com/MalibuRum and visit www.MalibuBestSummerEver.co.uk for more information.

Jack White admits he "almost never" speaks to his former bandmate Meg White.
The ex-White Stripes singer, whose band called it a day in 2011, has since forged his own successful solo career and claims hardly anybody he knows speaks to drummer Meg since the band split.
He told Rolling Stone magazine: "I don't think anyone talks to Meg. She's always been a hermit. When we lived in Detroit, I'd have to drive over to her house if I wanted to talk to her, so now it's almost never."
Talking about how Meg's personality came to affect the pair's relationship, Jack explained: "She's one of those people who won't high five me when I get the touchdown. "She viewed me that way of, 'Oh, big deal, you did it, so what?' Almost every single moment of the White Stripes was like that. We'd be working in the studio and something amazing would happen, I'm like, 'Damn, we just broke into a new world right there!' And Meg's sitting in silence.
"I remember hearing Ringo Starr say, 'I always felt sorry for Elvis, because in The Beatles we had each other to talk about what it felt like. Elvis was by himself.'
"I was like, 'Shit, try being in a two-piece where the other person doesn't talk!'"
But despite their differences, he praised Meg's talent and stage presence and how the pair worked together to become a successful duo selling millions of records, having formed the band in 1997.
He said: "I would often look at her onstage and say, 'I can't believe she's up there.' I don't think she understood how important she was to the band, and to me and to music. She was the antithesis of a modern drummer. So childlike and incredible and inspiring. All the not-talking didn't matter, because onstage, nothing I do will top that."
Jack's new album, 'Lazaretto', will be released on June 9.

Kimberley Walsh says her new song 'The Road' was a breath of fresh air.
The Girls Aloud star has teamed up with Alistair Griffin on a new duet which she believes was better suited to her theatrical style of singing than her former girl band pop anthems.
She exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "It's a different sound to anything I've done before, which was nice. It's a great song to sing, it's a little bit more theatrical than Girls Aloud songs. It was more suited to me, it was a change."
However, Kimberley - who is expecting her first child with her long-term partner Justin Scott - had a tough time shooting the music video in the freezing Yorkshire countryside since she was nursing a broken wrist.
She laughed: "It could have been easier circumstances, it looks nice but it actually was cold, we were in the middle of nowhere. The wrist was not healed, but I managed to get them to take the cast off for the video.
"So I had to be really careful, walking around like I had a broken wing and supporting it whenever I could!"
The 'Biology' hitmaker sustained her injury when she took a tumble and tried to protect the baby at all costs.
Kimberley explained: "I fell on a mat that didn't have any rubber and because I'm pregnant I just panicked and tried to protect the baby, so I took my whole weight on my wrist. It's one of those things, it's almost back to normal now."
The track is the official anthem for Yorkshire's Grand Depart - The Tour De France and Kimberley is looking forward to getting into the sporting spirit this summer.
She added: "I'm not a keen cyclist myself but I will be following the Grand Depart especially since it's going through my hometown of Yorkshire. And the fact that its here is a big thing. I think I'll get into the spirit of it all!"
'The Road' will be released on June 30 through Elbow Grease Records. The video for the single can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=DagQili02Qk. Alistair releases his new album 'From Nowhere' on July 7.

Nile Rodgers has revealed he wants to record with Prince.
The Chic star will be touring with 'Purple Rain' singer this year and he is hoping to get in the studio with Prince and lay down some tracks.
Speaking at the Ivor Novello Awards in London on Thursday (22.05.14), he said: "This year I've been concentrating on my new album and I'm on tour with Prince a lot ... we always play together. I've been in the studio in close proximity to Prince and we've jammed together live but this year, after we've played together, we'll see what happens.
"I don't know about making an album (with him), although we do both work really quickly."
Nile - who was honoured with the Special International Award for his incredible career at the ceremony, a prize handed to him by his friend Johnny Marr - also revealed he is set to work with Duran Duran again.
The 61-year-old guitarist performed with the band's singer Simon Le Bon and George Clinton at the International Music Summit's Legends Dinner in Ibiza on Wednesday night (21.05.14) where he was guest of honour and on the flight to the UK afterwards Nile and Simon discussed plans for their collaboration along with producer Mark Ronson.
The 'Good Times' hitmaker - who first worked with Duran Duran in 1984 on a remix of their hit single 'The Reflex' and then on their 1986 album 'Notorious' - said: "On the plane Simon and I talked about working together and we're trying to figure out how our schedules can line-up so I can work on some of the Duran Duran stuff. I do know, according to what Simon said to me, that they're going work around my schedule which is amazing. I adore Duran Duran.
"I gave Mark Ronson his first Walkman and he started bouncing on one foot and then the other and then started becoming a producer. "Can you imagine me and Mark in the same room as Duran Duran? That's going to be cool. The love is going to be insane."

London Grammar have been told by Coldplay to always have a rest when the strain of being in a band gets to them.
The trip-hop trio recently opened for the super-group on their US shows and the young musicians took the opportunity to pick frontman Chris Martin's brain for tips to stay sane in the music industry.
Speaking at the Ivor Novello Awards in London on Thursday (22.05.14), singer Hannah Reid said: "Coldplay really liked our album, so much that they asked us to support them in LA, which we just did, we just came back from there. That was a pretty amazing experience.
"We got a chance to hang with them a little bit, Chris told us you should respect the chemistry within your band and stressed how important that is and when you know you're getting tired take days off, which has been good advice so far."
Hannah and her bandmates Dan Rothman and Dot Major were honoured at the prestigious ceremony with the prize for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for their track 'Strong'.
The group have enjoyed critical acclaim for their debut album 'If You Wait' and praise from their pop peers.
Vocalist Hannah is in demand to work with other artists but she insists her loyalty is with her "boys" in London Grammar.
When asked if she's interested in doing some collaborations, the 24-year-old singer said: "I'm definitely not. London Grammar will always be my priority and I think that as a singer in a band you have to make that decision early on how you're going to approach that ... these two are my boys."

Fleetwood Mac star Christine McVie says the band are open to headlining Glastonbury in the future.
The 70-year-old singer yesterday (22.05.14) confirmed that she had rejoined the band as she accepted her Lifetime Achievement gong at the Ivor Novello Awards in London, and she later confessed that she'd be more than happy to headline the festival in Somerset, if it's founder provided her with some waterproofs.
She told the Daily Star newspaper: "If Michael Eavis provides the wellies I'll be there."
The 'Go Your Own Way' hitmakers had been one of the acts rumoured to be headlining the music event before it was announced that heavy metal band Metallica had filled the final spot.
Christine first left the group, which includes bandmates Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, 16-years ago but, after performing with them at the O2 Arena in London last September, Mick announced in January that she'd be returning.
The singer has now revealed that they are working on new material for an album and are preparing for their upcoming world tour.
Speaking at the Ivor Novellos, she said: "I would like to announce that I have re-joined Fleetwood Mac and we're in the process of writing a new album for next year.
She added to the Daily Star newspaper: "We are making new music right now. It's half done, then the world tour starts in September."

Arctic Monkeys wanted Prince to join them at their London gigs this weekend.
The 'Do I Wanna Know?' hitmakers want some special guests at their massive shows in Hyde Park, and though the 'Purple Rain' hitmaker was at the top of their wish list, they didn't ask him as they knew he wouldn't accept their request.
Bassist Nick O'Malley said: "We were talking about bringing Prince in to do the high backing vocals - they'd probably be low backing vocals for him anyway.
"But we've never met him and I doubt he'd be up for that. For the size of the show though, you really should do something."
The group admits they could have headlined such big gigs - which will see them perform to 50,000 people over the course of the weekend - earlier in their career, but think they will give a better performance because of the way their latest album, 'AM', has connected with fans.
Frontman Alex Turner added to NME magazine: "Probably in terms of selling tickets, we could have done something like this before but we weren't as on fire then as we are now.
"We couldn't do what we're doing now without that record. Had we done it before, I think it would have, in some way, still have been based on the first album and its success. To some extent, everything is built on that, but now, it's the new record most people want to hear."

Alastair Griffin thinks pregnant Kimberley Walsh was a "soldier" on the video set for their new single.
The 36-year-old singer - who duets with the Girls Aloud star on his new track 'The Road' - was impressed when the heavily pregnant singer turned up for a promo shoot on a Yorkshire hillside with a broken wrist.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "The brilliant thing about her is it was all work from the outset and she was going to work right through to the live performances, video, the lot. All credit to her for that.
"There we were on a cold hillside in Yorkshire, she was pregnant and she had a broken wrist at the time. I think she just tripped when she was at home and fell over, she was incredibly laid back about the whole thing. It was just cold. She was a little bit cold. I was cold. She soldiered on."
Despite her injuries, Alistair credited the 'Biology' singer for bringing "glamour" to the shoot.
He said: "It was great working with someone like Kimberley. She's done a lot ... Girls Aloud, Strictly Come Dancing, [she's] a public figure and she brings a bit of glamour and magic dust to the whole record.
He added: "She's been cool to work with. We had great fun when we did the video. She was vary laid back about the whole thing."
'The Road' - which will be released next month - has been chosen as the official anthem to Yorkshire's 'Grand Depart - The Tour De France' and Alistair revealed Yorkshire-born Kimberley was top of the list of possible collaborators for the track.
He said: "I always had it as being a duet in mind, with a girl, and we wanted someone, a singer from Yorkshire, and Kimberley was top of the list.
"I'm waiting for the call from Cheryl but Kimberley has always been my favourite."
'The Road' will be released on June 30 through Elbow Grease Records. The video for the single can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=DagQili02Qk.
Alistair releases new album 'From Nowhere' on July 7.