• We reckon this might be about your last Saturday edition of The Purge for 2016, given most of the labels, indies and publicists were in the process of wrapping things up yesterday. But we’ve still got a bit of info to get through, like Bliss N Eso, who’ve confirmed that their sixth studio album is to be called ‘Off The Grid’ and it’s been penned in for a March 10 release. The band has released the second single from it (‘Friend Like You’) and have completely sold out their upcoming ‘Dopamine’ tour at which fans will be treated to a preview of the new material.
• UK outfit Elbow will release their new album ‘Little Fictions’ on February 03. The band’s seventh studio album, ‘Little Fictions’ was recorded in both Manchester and Scotland and has already been described as “the sound of four people who love what they do and each other”. Lead single ‘Magnificent (She Says)’ is available now.
• Also releasing soon is the new album from Brian Eno. It’s called ‘Reflection’, but the British musician and composer’s latest body of work is coming at us much sooner than Elbows; due on New Year’s Day.
• James Taylor’s upcoming Australian tour just got a little bigger, with the addition of a show in our nation’s capital. It’s the first time ever the legendary performer has played Canberra, but a date is locked in at the Royal Theatre on Wednesday February 15. Tickets are on sale this Monday at 11am local time.
• Billy Bragg will play an intimate show in Adelaide in April. He’ll swing by the South Australian capital for a gig at Fowlers Live on Monday April 24. But it’s for one night only and tickets are on sale now.
• 2017 looks like being a big year for James Reyne; it marks the 30th anniversary of the release of his debut album and he’s decided to celebrate with two live shows confirmed, one each in Sydney and Melbourne. He’ll be playing all the fan favourites from his breakout EP, along with other highlights from his solo journey. Tickets for the April 28 Melbourne (Memo Music Hall) gig and the May 05 Sydney (The Basement) gig are on sale now.
• And it would seem there’s something sneaky going on in the grounds of Sugar Mountain Festival in Melbourne on January 21. Absolut Nights will bring together a line-up of Melbourne DJs and international artists in a super-secret location. All you have to do to get involved is find it.
• There’s just no budging Clean Bandit from the No.1 in the UK this year; their single ‘Rockabye’ is No.1 for a sixth week in a row, holding a couple of big debuts at bay. The first of them is the new Steve Aoki / Louis Tomlinson single ‘Just Hold On’, which the dance god and former One Direction star performed on ‘The X Factor’ last week. It’s new at No.2, preventing the actual ‘X Factor’ winner Matt Terry from premiering any higher than No.3 with his winner’s single ‘When Christmas Comes Around’. From there, it’s The Weeknd and Rag N Bone Man occupying the rest of the top five positions, but Zara Larsson’s ‘I Would Like’ jumps from No.21 to No.12 and that Zayn Malik/Taylor Swift duet ‘I Don’t Wanna Live Forever’ debuts at a surprisingly low No.16. J Cole’s ‘Deja Vu’ debuts at the even No.30. J Cole’s ‘Deja Vu’ debuts at the even No.30.
• Six weeks ago, Alfie Boe and Michael Ball debuted in the No.2 position in the UK with ‘Together’. This week, they’ve finally cracked the No.1 spot, rising from No.2 and swapping places with The Rolling Stones in the process. The rest of the top ten is spookily quiet, with only the No.6 and 7 positions swapping. The week’s highest debut is all the way down at No.21 – J Cole’s ‘4 Your Eyez Only’.
• Once again there’s no movement at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart; Rae Sremmurd still flying high (for week number five) with ‘Black Beatles’. Bruno Mars makes ’24K Magic’ in the No.4 position (up one), while Machine Gun Kelly x Camila Cabello’s ‘Bad Things’ continues its rise up the charts… it’s up a further seven positions this week to sit pretty at No.10. And Mariah Carey’s classic ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ is back into the US top 20, improving from No.23 to No.17.
• While there ain’t much to speak about over on the singles chart, we’ve got a new No.1 Stateside on the Billboard 200 album chart. ‘The Hamilton Mixtape’ premieres in the top spot, displacing The Weeknd’s ‘Starboy’ after just one week. The Rolling Stones find their way into the countdown with ‘Blue & Lonesome’ at No.4 on debut, right ahead of Childish Gambino’s new album ‘Awaken, My Love!’, which premieres at No.5. There’s even a No.9 debut for Grace VanderWaal’s ‘Perfectly Imperfect (EP)’ and Kane Brown’s imaginatively titled ‘Kane Brown’ is new into the countdown at No.10. John Legend’s ‘Darkness And Light’ manages No.14, also on debut.
• Well that’s almost it then! The Purge is done and dusted for your Saturday morning (and it could very well be our last one for the year). BUT we will return at 6pm AEDT for a look at what’s been happening on this week’s ARIA top 100s; ARIA Chart Watch will be live tonight.
TICKETS PLEASE
MONDAY DECEMBER 19 : James Taylor (Canberra)
Australia's first stop for pop!