Soft Play – FKA Slaves – share new single ‘Punk’s Dead’ and announce surprise Reading & Leeds sets

If you experienced your teenage years in the 90s, chances are you knew of, or were into the music of Chris Leng, Giles Kristian, Jamie Browne and Richard Micallef, aka former boyband, Upside Down. Alongside Britpop, the 1990s was the decade of the boyband, and the era produced other major stars like Take That, Boyzone, Backstreet Boys and Five.

Metric have shared their new single ‘Who Would You Be For Me’ and announced a handful of intimate UK and EU gigs.‘Who Would You Be For Me’ is the third single Metric – comprised of frontwoman Emily Haines, guitarist James Shaw, bassist Joshua Winstead and drummer Joules Scott-Key – have released from their forthcoming album ‘Formentera II’. It follows ‘Nothing Is Perfect‘ and ‘Just This Once‘.Speaking of the track in a press release, Haines said: “‘Who Would You Be For Me’ is a throwback lullaby set in NYC in 2002.

CMAT has released her latest single ‘Stay For Something’ – listen to the song below.Taken off her upcoming album ‘CrazyMad, For Me’ (out October 13), the single is accompanied by a music video which sees CMAT frolicking around a lush castle in a bright neon outfit.“It’s basically just about questioning why I stayed / suffered in a bad relationship for as long as i [sic] did,” said CMAT (real name Ciara Alice-Mary Thompson) of the track. “Trying to desperately find some kind of meaning in the mess and then being embarrassed when i remember the good parts.“It’s not very lyrical or poetic, it’s just a lot of emotion and energy – this song, to me, sounds like going for a run at 1am with your headphones on full blast, screaming through the streets in order to get away from your problems.

Vince Clarke – songwriter for bands including Erasure, Yazoo and Depeche Mode – has announced details of his first solo album, ‘Songs Of Silence’. Check out the lead single below.Set for release on November 17 via Mute, the upcoming instrumental album sees the Ivor Novello-winning songwriter explore the limitless possibilities of Eurorack – a modular synthesiser format famed for its addictive and limitless configurations.It also allows Clarke to explore the premise of musical genres, and create a more experimental record than with his countless chart-topping releases, and develop “a 10-track lyric-less album of uncategorisable ambient beauty”, according to a press release.Check out the lead single ‘The Lamentations Of Jeremiah’ below, which comes with a visual accompaniment directed by Turkish-born NY-based portrait photographer Ebru Yildiz.“I could have gone on forever, I could have not stopped,” Clarke said, explaining his use of Eurorack when creating new material for the album.“I was enjoying the process so much and wasn’t thinking about anyone else hearing it.

David Walliams was surrounded by friends and family as he celebrated his 52nd birthday in style.

Nicki Minaj has shared a her emotional new single ‘Last Time I Saw You’, set to feature on her next album ‘Pink Friday 2’. Check it out below.In June, the Queens rapper revealed that she will be soon dropping her fifth studio album ‘Pink Friday 2’, the sequel to her Grammy-nominated debut album ‘Pink Friday’ – confirming that the album will be out this winter.The track is more toned-down compared to most of Minaj’s output.

Britain's Got Talent semi-finalist Cammy Barnes sent shivers down the spines of passers by in Glasgow on Thursday afternoon with a surprise performance of his new single. The Scots star gave an emotional rendition of Bonnie's Song on the steps of the Royal Concert Hall, supported by the award-winning Rock Choir.

Slowdive have released new single ‘alife’ and announced a UK and European tour for 2024 – find all the details below and purchase tickets for the UK shows here.The hazy new song is the final preview of the shoegaze band’s new album ‘Everything Is Alive’, which is out Friday (September 1) via Dead Oceans.Alongside the single announcement, Slowdive have announced a new string of UK and European dates for January 2024, which will see them kick off the run at Paradiso in Amsterdam on January 16, 2024.From there, they’ll perform shows in Paris, Oslo, Berlin, Munich and more, before starting their UK run at Dome, Brighton on February 14. Following stops in cities including Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow and more – along with a show at London’s Eventim Apollo on February 17 – they’ll wrap up at Manchester’s Academy on February 27.We are also very pleased to announce our UK and European tour in 2024.

Kylie Minogue has released ‘Tension’ – the latest single to be taken from her highly-anticipated new album. Check it out below.The 55-year-old pop icon first teased the track yesterday (August 30), when she took to social media to announce to fans that the song would be arriving today.

Andrew Cushin has shared his latest single ‘Just Like You’d Want Me To’ from his forthcoming LP ‘Waiting For The Rain’. Check it out below.‘Just Like You’d Want Me To’ is the sixth single to be released from Cushin’s debut album following ‘It’s Coming Round Again‘, ‘4.5%’, ‘You’ll Be Free’, ‘Dream For A Moment’ and ‘Wor Flags‘.

Eurovision star Netta has announced her debut album and shared a new single ‘Wonderful & Great’. Check it out below.The new track marks the Israeli singer’s second English single.

Taking Back Sunday have announced details of a new album ‘152’, and shared the single ‘S’old’. Check it out below.The upcoming LP will be the eighth album from the New York rock veterans, and their first full-length LP in seven years, following on from 2016’s ‘Tidal Wave’.Produced by Tushar Apte (Demi Lovato, Nicki Minaj) and mixed by Neal Avron (Twenty One Pilots, Bleachers), the album gets its name from the section of road in North Carolin, where the band and their friends would meet up as teenagers.

Jedward have been spotted at this year’s edition of Reading & Leeds, catching up with Soft Play and campaigning against climate change.The Irish duo – brothers John and Edward Grimes – are most famous for their appearance on talent show X Factor back in 2009, where they donned the group name Jedward and caught the nation’s eye with their signature bleach-blonde quiffs.Now, 14 years after they first came into the spotlight, the siblings have been spotted at Leeds festival, where they raised awareness for climate change, held a performance and caught up with some famous faces.“I just think climate is important,” Edward said while taking part in some environmental discussions at the festival site (via BBC). “Sometimes people feel like they don’t know everything about everything but it’s about just educating yourself and moving forward.”Identical twin brother John agreed, adding: “All you’ve got to do is be a tryer.”According to reports, dozens of punters queued up to meet the singing duo, after the brothers performed on the Climate Live: Bus Stage.

Bad Bunny and Kendall Jenner are definitely enjoying their new vacation. The Puerto Rican singer documented some of the best moments of his recent getaway, including one with the model, while they went on an adventure together.HOW KENDALL JENNER AND BAD BUNNY’S ROMANCE HAS ‘GROWN STRONGER’ AGAINST ALL ODDSBAD BUNNY AND AL PACINO WORKING TOGETHER ON A SPECIAL PROJECT IN NEW YORK CITYThe fan-favorite musician broke the internet after posting a series of steamy photos on Instagram Stories.

Robbie Williams reunited onstage with his former Take That bandmate Mark Owen on Saturday (August 26) for the first time in 12 years.The singer was performing at Sandringham House in Norfolk when he introduced his “oldest friend from the band” and brought out Owen for a rendition of their 2008 single ‘Greatest Day’.The pair embraced on-stage and lead a singalong from the crowd for portions of the track. “Mr Mark Owen, everybody,” Williams said after their performance, adding: “I love my boys.”Watch fan-shot footage of the performance below.The singer is also performing a second night at Sandringham Estate today (August 27), with the venue marking the final stop on his 2023 ‘XXV’ European tour, celebrating 25 years of his solo career.Elsewhere, the singer recently made an unlikely appearance on Soft Play’s (formerly known as Slaves) new song ‘Punk’s Dead’.Speaking to Jack Saunders on BBC Radio 1, Soft Play said that Williams was a fan of the band and wanted to collaborate in some way, which resulted in his surprise guest feature.In other news from the singer, Williams recently said that he wants to recruit Radiohead for a cover of ‘It’s Raining Men’.A post shared by Robbie Williams (@robbiewilliams)He told The Sun‘s ‘Bizarre’ column: “I want to do a cover of ‘It’s Raining Men’ but I want Radiohead to do a backing track for me.“But they have not got back to me.

Legendary pop star Robbie Williams reunited with his former Take That bandmate Mark Owen for the first time in 12 years on stage. Robbie, 49, was in the middle of performing at the Sandringham House in Norfolk when he brought out special guest Mark, 49, in front of the 20,000 fans.The pair performed Take That tune Greatest Day together in the grounds of the royal residence which had been turned into an eco-friendly concert for the night on Saturday.

Ashnikko is set to play a secret set at Reading Festival 2023 today (August 25) – get all the details below.On the day the pop star releases their debut album ‘WEEDKILLER’, they will play the Festival Republic Stage at Reading at 4pm.It’s not yet clear whether a set at Leeds later in the weekend will follow.Reviewing Ashnikko’s debut album, NME said: “The North Carolinian could have made a killing shilling vague platitudes over punky trap instrumentals, as she did on her previous mixtape, 2021’s ‘Daredevil’.

New Justin Timberlake music is on the way!

The Snuts have shared a new single called ‘Dreams’ – you can listen to it below.Following on from ‘Gloria’, the sun-kissed indie anthem marks the second release from the West Lothian band since their 2022 studio album ‘Burn The Empire’.“‘Dreams’ is a feel-good track, which celebrates the feeling of punching way above your weight, when life feels almost too good to be true,” explained frontman Jack Cochrane in a statement.Produced by Cochrane and Scotty Anderson, the upbeat tune sees The Snuts reunite with ‘W.L.’ collaborator Tony Hoffer (Beck, Depeche Mode, Phoenix) on mixing duties. The group have played the single at some of their recent live shows.Listen to ‘Dreams’ on YouTube below, or via your desired streaming platform here.According to a press release, The Snuts are currently in the studio working on their third full-length album.

Burna Boy has enlisted Dave on his latest single, ‘Cheat On Me’ – taken from his upcoming seventh album ‘I Told Them’ – and announced details of an intimate London show.The ‘African Giant’ has teamed up with the Streatham rapper before on the latter’s smash hit ‘Location’ from his 2019 Mercury Prize-winning debut ‘PSYCHODRAMA’. The track currently has over 456 million plays on Spotify and is one of Dave’s most popular tracks.