• By now you’ll no doubt be aware that the new Florence & The Machine album ‘How Big How Blue How Beautiful’ (cover, left) will be released at the end of May in Australia. The band revealed the cover and title of the LP via their socials late last week, with Universal Music later delivering official lead single ‘What Kind Of Man’ to media and confirming the album’s local release on May 29.
• London outfit Django Django will also release their new album ‘Born Under Saturn’ in May. First single ‘First Light‘ sound like a cross between a throwback to the psychedelic days of the ’60s and more modern electronic beats. Warner Music has confirmed the 13 track LP will drop down under on Friday May 01.
• Not a huge number of new tunes doing the rounds at media this week, but among those that are; Kendrick Lamar’s ‘The Blacker The Berry’, Nyuon’s ‘Your City’, Alesso ftg. Roy English’s ‘Cool’ and the new Banks track ‘You Should Know Where I’m Coming From’. Check our FACEBOOK page tomorrow for our more comprehensive weekly wrap.
• Aussie pop outfit The Chantoozies will play a one-off show in Melbourne next month. The girls will perform a selection of original fan favourites and covers in the surrounds of the Wonderland Spiegeltent for one night only… Saturday March 21. Tickets are on sale now. New music from the girls is on the horizon.
• The Panama Festival, to be held in Tasmania’s Lone Star Valley on March 07 and 08, has now officially sold out. Now in its second year, the two day event will this year feature performances from the likes of Sharon Van Etten, Courtney Barnett, #1 Dads, Bombino.
• The Wombats are heading to Australia for a promotional visit. The British band, who’ll release their new album ‘Glitterbug’ in early April, will be on the ground from February 23 to March 01; their stay including two intimate performances, one each in Sydney and Melbourne.
• Iconic rocker Jimmy Barnes has been announced as the headline act for the forthcoming Red Hot Summer Tour event in the Victorian regional centre of Ballarat. Barnsey joins an already impressive list of local talent, including Hoodoo Gurus, James Reyne, Daryl Braithwaite, Diesel and Boom Crash Opera. The Red Hot Summer Tour touches down at Ballarat’s North Gardens on Saturday March 14.
• Ms Ellie Goulding continues to ride high on this week’s British singles chart with her ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ track ‘Love Me Like You Do’. Hozier’s ‘Take Me To Church’ rises to No.2 ahead of a trio of top ten debuts; DJ Fresh’s new single ‘Gravity’ at No.4, Chris Brown and Tyga’s ‘Ayo’ at No.6 and Charli XCX and Rita Ora’s duet ‘Doing It’ at No.8. The Weeknd’s sultry ‘Earned It’, also from the ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ soundtrack, shifts into the top ten, up from No.18 to No.10.
• And after his success at the Grammy Awards the weekend before last, Sam Smith returns to the top spot on the British albums chart with ‘In The Lonely Hour’. Drake’s new album ‘If You’re Reading This You’re Too Late’ premieres at No.3 and Kodaline are ‘Coming Up For (chart) Air’ at No.4 on debut. Bob Dylan’s ‘Shadows In The Night’, which debuted at No.1 last week, is down to No.9. And three of the four PWL Kylie album repackages make the UK top 100 this week; ‘Kylie’ at No.85, ‘Enjoy Yourself’ at No.94 and ‘Rhythm Of Love’ at No.96. No sign of ‘Let’s Get To It’ at this stage, but give it just a little more time.
Australia's first stop for pop!