THE PURGE #115

• Ahead of the release of his debut solo record ‘Mind Of Mine’ this Friday, Zayn has dropped another new grat track from it. Fans of the former One Directioner who pre-ordered the album can now get their hands on BeFoUr (cover image pictured above), but it’s not the second official single; that honour going to the recently-released grat track ‘Like I Would’. The song is already off to a cracking start here, becoming the No.1 most added song to Australian radio this week.
• Speaking of new singles, the latest from Canadian R&B star The Weeknd is ‘Acquainted’ and it’s now rolling at Aussie radio. It comes off the back of a succession of hit singles, including the platinum top 20 hit ‘Earned It’, the top five triple platinum smash ‘The Hills’, the four times platinum top five monster ‘Can’t Feel My Face’ and the recent top 20 platinum-selling hit ‘Earned It’.
• Big news for fans of Aussie boyband In Stereo, with confirmation this week that they’ll release their debut EP on April 01. Though further information on the EP (including its all-important title) is still unavailable at this stage, it’s set to feature six new tracks, presumably including recent single ‘Honest’. The boys will be hard at work on a national tour from early next month, along with appearances on the Amplify Live roster.

• It’s been a busy week for British starlet Shura, who has not only just revealed a Four Tet remix of her latest single ‘Touch’ (HERE), but she’s confirmed the forthcoming release of her highly anticipated debut album ‘Nothing’s Real’ in early July. The LP, written and recorded in her bedroom in Shepherd’s Bush in the UK, features a total of 13 songs, covering a range of subjects and styles. It’s available for pre-order now ahead of its release on Friday July 08.
• Aussie songstress Sinead Burgess is back with new music in the form of her latest single ‘Outlaw’. “I wrote this song about being so immersed in an electrifying love that you know is wrong for you in every way. When all logical signs point to waking away but you can’t. You become magnetized, partners in crime,” she says of the new track, which forms part of her ‘Wolf’ EP, released yesterday.
• Three years on from her debut album ‘The Hurting Scene’, Hunter Valley singer songwriter Melody Pool will release her sophomore album ‘Deep Dark Savage Heart’ on April 29. The 11 track release is preceded by lead single ‘Love, She Loves Me’, which is out now. To celebrate the album’s release, Melody will hit the road throughout May for shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Newcastle and Maitland, with tickets for all shows on sale now.

• The Rubens tour is selling quite well. In fact, the team at Frontier Touring tells us that the biggest tour in the band’s history is on track to sell out. In Brisbane, they’ve already sold out their over 18s gig at The Tivoli on Saturday June 11, so they’ve decided to add an all ages event the previous night at Eatons Hill Hotel. Tickets are on sale from noon local time on Monday March 21.
• Universal Music starlet Vera Blue will play a trio of intimate shows on the East Coast in the middle of May. In celebration of the release of her ‘Fingertips’ EP on Friday May 13, Vera will play Melbourne’s Shebeen Bandroom on May 19, Brisbane’s Black Bear Lodge on May 20 and Sydney’s Plan B Small Club on May 21. Tickets for all shows are on sale from 9am on Tuesday March 22.
• And Melbourne performer Héloise will play a handful of East Coast shows in April in support of her about-to-be-released sophomore album ‘Nothin’ But The Bones’. The tour kicks off in Newcastle on April 01, prior to shuttling through Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, two shows in Melbourne, Hobart and, finally, two shows in Launceston on April 21 and 22 respectively. Tickets are on sale now.

• Great news for US singer Mike Posner this week, with his latest single ‘I Took A Pill In Ibiza’ connecting with UK audiences enough for them to send it all the way to No.1 on their singles chart, replacing Lukas Graham’s ‘7 Years’. Zara Larsson’s ‘Lush Life’ is up to No.3, while the new Fifth Harmony single ‘Work From Home’ sails into the top ten countdown; up from No.11 to No.4. Shawn Mendes is back in the top ten with ‘Stitches’ and the new Ariana Grande single ‘Dangerous Woman’ enters the UK countdown at No.17.
• Over on the UK albums chart, it’s Adele who maintains the lead for a second successive week with ’25’, followed by Justin Bieber and Jess Glynne, Bowie, Coldplay and The 1975 in what’s a relatively settled week. The only new entry in the top ten is from Killswitch Engage (‘Incarnate’), which is new at No.10. Brian Fallon, Alessia Cara and Jeff Buckley make it into the countdown, but in the teens (Nos.13, 14 and 16 respectively).

• Rihanna and Drake and their single ‘Work’ make it four weeks in the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, with Bieber, Twenty One Pilots and Flo Rida all steady in positions two, three and four. Danish outfit Lukas Graham (look for our interview with the band’s frontman coming up on the site this week) bullet from No.9 to No.5 with ‘7 Years’ and the new Meghan Trainor single might have said ‘No’ to the top ten in its first week, but a No.11 debut is still totally decent. Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Piece By Piece’, which debuted at No.8 last week, is 12 places down to No.20.
• And on the Billboard 200 Album chart this week, it’s Kendrick Lamar who rules the roost with ‘Untitled. Unmastered’. He debuts in the No.1 spot, ahead of Adele’s ’25’ and Rihanna’s ‘Anti’, with 2 Chainz’ ‘ColleGrove’ following in the No.4 position, the only other top ten debut this week. Last week’s No.1 (The 1975’s ‘I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It’) plunges to No.26 in week two, but there are premieres in positions 12, 13, 14, 17 and 19 for Granger Smith, Ray LaMontagne, Newsboys, Ninja Sex Party and Loretta Lynn respectively.
• Now that you’ve had your fix of the charts from both the UK and the US, the information about the charts back here at home is just eight short hours away. Yes, Chart Watch is live again from 6pm AEDT, with everything you need to know about big movements, debuts, new accreditations and more!

TICKETS PLEASE
MONDAY MARCH 21 : The Rubens (Brisbane)
TUESDAY MARCH 22 : Vera Blue (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane)
WEDNESDAY MARCH 23 : Mat McHugh (Cairns)
WEDNESDAY MARCH 23 : The Temper Trap (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane)

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