Album Review: Night Call by Years & Years

Viola Beach‘s self-titled debut album is being released on vinyl for the very first time this week.The nine-track record first arrived in July 2016 after the Warrington four-piece (Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe and Jack Dakin) and their manager, Craig Tarry, were tragically killed in a road accident in Sweden that February.A coloured picture disc vinyl version of ‘Viola Beach’ is now set to come out this Friday (February 11) to mark the fifth anniversary of the album’s initial release. You can pre-order it from here.“This poignant vinyl edition release has been welcomed by the families as a fitting celebration of what the bandmates and their manager did best together, make and perform wonderful music,” an official description reads.The rainbow picture disc pays homage to the colourful umbrella that Viola Beach were once photographed with, which later became symbolic of them in the wake of their tragic accident six years ago.The special LP will be released by Fuller Beans Records, the label set up by Kris, River, Tom, Jack and their manager Craig.

Loch Leven NNR in Kinross-shire is a safe bet to see a range of migratory birds but recently efforts have been made to encourage a rare duck to stick around and breed.

Chris Willman Music WriterMitski Miyawaki’s rise through the indie rock ranks is the stuff of envy, even if she herself seems to be of two minds as to whether it should be. The 31-year-old’s most recent albums, 2016’s “Puberty 2” and 2018’s “Be the Cowboy,” earned spots on countless best-of lists, millions of streams, and TikTok meme-ification, thanks to an enthralling ability to locate unexpected wild emotions in gentle moments and deliver them in poetic yet memorable hooks.

Many Voices Speak – aka Swedish musician Matilda Mård – has announced that she will release her second album, ‘Gestures’, in April. New single, ‘Seat For Sadness’, is out now.“The verse of this song kind of came to me all at once”, she says of the single. “Then it took quite a long time until I got the rest of the song out of me”.“I lived in Berlin at the time and rented a piano room at a music school, and most of the hours spent in there I was searching for the rest of the song”, she continues.

Emilio Mayorga Barcelona-based Nanouk Films and Funicular Films and Spanish pubcaster TVE are partnering to produce “This is Not Sweden,” a dark comedy half hour which marks the first Spanish show to be presented at the Göteborg’s Festival’s TV Drama Vision.Set in the idyllic Vallvidrera, a suburb in the foothills of the Collserola mountains surrounding Barcelona, the six-part series explores parenting and other family-related issues by focusing on a young couple ­– Mariana and Samuel – who has just moved there and wants to raise their children in contact with nature.“This is Not Sweden” is created by actor-director Aina Clotet, a Malaga Fest best actress winner for “Someone’s Daughter” and by producer Sergi Cameron. Clotet will direct along with Coll, who won a best new director Goya for “Three Days with the Family.” “‘This is Not Sweden’s’ international appeal has always been a key objective for Aina, Marta and myself.

K.J. Yossman SkyShowtime, the joint streaming venture between Comcast and ViacomCBS, has received full regulatory approval.It will launch in Europe later this year.

David Letterman is back on ! The 74-year-old comedian appeared on Tuesday's episode of the show he originated 40 years ago to the day, and told its current host, Seth Meyers, about what he felt leading up to the 1982 premiere.«What was I consumed by? Paralytic fear,» Letterman quipped, before explaining that his worry about the premiere was due to his failed NBC morning show, , which lasted for just weeks in 1980. «We had blown up the NBC daytime schedule a year previously. We had a show, a lot of us had a show, that we thought was just great,» Letterman explained. «It was on for 90 minutes live, nine to 10:30 a.m.

Swedish pop auteur Robyn has confirmed that she is currently working on her next album, due for release sometime this year. 

Hadestown, abruptly quitting New York for Vermont ahead of the birth of her second child in early 2020 not only gave her the space to reconnect with herself, it gifted the spark that would allow her to deliver the self-titled Anaïs Mitchell (★★★☆☆), her first album of original material in almost a decade.If you’re familiar with the colorful stories and characters of Hadestown, Mitchell’s prowess as a songwriter and storyteller needs no introduction. For all that Mitchell makes of her desire to tell her story, what really stands out in Anaïs Mitchell is not so much the stories themselves, but the way she pulls out moments in time and pins down the ephemeral feelings that accompany them.

Katy Perry has appeared on Saturday Night Live – watch her performance below.The episode, which was hosted by actor Willem Dafoe, marked Perry’s fourth time performing on the late night sketch show, after appearances in 2010, 2013 and 2017.Perry performed ‘When I’m Gone’, her recent electro-pop collaboration with Swedish DJ Alesso.Perry also brought audiences a taste of her recent Vegas residency to SNL, in a performance that saw her backed by a bunch of dancing, phallic-like toadstools who waved at fans and told them to “eat me” during the show.Perry later returned to perform ballad, ‘Never Really Over’, this time alone on stage.You can watch both performances below:Perry’s Las Vegas residency kicked off on December 29, taking over The Theatre at Resorts World resort/casino until mid-March. The opening night of the over-the-top show saw Perry roll out a 16-foot-tall toilet, ride a giant snail and more.Speaking about the production to GMA, Perry said: “A lot of my shows have been figuratively larger than life.

Years & Years have scored their second UK Number One album with new LP ‘Night Call’.Olly Alexander‘s new record, which arrived last week (January 21), debuted at the top spot with 75 per cent of its total coming from physical copies.“I’m just really, really proud. Everybody who got this album and streamed it – I can’t believe it, thank you so, so, so much! We got Number 1 baby!!” the pop star said upon receiving news of his achievement.‘Night Call’ marks the third Top Five album for Years & Years, who began life as a three-piece.

Years & Years’ Night Call becomes Olly Alexander’s second UK Number 1 album today, triumphing after a hard-fought week-long chart battle.

The Kooks have announced their sixth album ’10 Tracks To Echo In The Dark’ by sharing new EP ‘Connection –  Echo in the Dark Part 1’. Check out everything below, along with our interview with singer Luke Pritchard.Work on the album started in Berlin with local producer Tobias Kuhn before the pandemic, and features collaborations with German duo Milky Chance and Swedish EDM musician Neikid. Although the album was finished with Tobias in London, the European flavour was a deliberate response to the continuing problems for British musicians after Brexit.’10 Tracks To Echo In The Dark’ is the first album The Kooks have made since Luke got married to singer-songwriter Ellie Rose and the couple became parents to son Julian, who is now 10 weeks old.

Naman Ramachandran The Walt Disney Company’s streamer Disney Plus has confirmed a summer 2022 launch across Europe, Africa and West Asia in 42 countries and 11 new territories. New countries for the service include South Africa, Turkey, Poland and the United Arab Emirates.The countries that the streamer will launch in include Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Oman, Palestine Territories, Poland, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vatican City and Yemen.