• We kick off your Saturday edition of The Purge with the new Chainsmokers single ‘Paris’. Dropping yesterday, the new track has the boys (Alex Pall and Drew Taggart) following up what was a phenomenal year of success with more than five billion streams across the planet and multi-platinum success with their singles here in Australia.
• The Grammy nominees album is back; the 2017 edition of the annual compilation due for release this Friday. It comprises 21 songs showcasing some of the biggest names in the music game including Adele, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, The Chainsmokers, Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato, along with our own Keith Urban and Sia. The 59th Annual Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday February 12 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
• Francois And The Atlas Mountains dropped their new single ‘Grant Dereglement’ yesterday, at the same time confirming that their new album is called ‘Solide Mirage’. The band’s fourth LP has been described as their “most outspoken and deep-rooted work to date”. Look for it at your favourite retailer on Friday March 03.
• Things are going alright for Aussie electro duo Vallis Alps. The band popped tickets for their upcoming national tour on sale yesterday morning, but within an hour, their Melbourne show (at the city’s Corner Hotel) had fully sold out, prompting them to add a second gig on March 23 at the same venue. Tickets for the shows in Brisbane (Wooly Mammoth on March 25), Adelaide (Fat Controller on March 31), Perth (Jack Rabbit Slim’s on April 01) and Sydney (The Metro on April 08) are on sale now.
• LA-based outfit Lany have teamed up with London’s Pumarose for two headline shows in Australia from late next month. Neither of the bands has ever touched down here before, so tickets will be highly sought after. They’re playing the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney on February 28 and Howler in Melbourne the following night. Tickets are on sale now.
• Wait, what? Ed Sheeran debuting at No.1 on the UK singles chart? And Ed Sheeran debuting at No.2 on the UK singles chart? Surely no-one saw that coming this week…? Jokes. It’s ‘Shape Of You’ that claims the top spot, with ‘Castle On The Hill’ taking second place on this week’s UK singles chart as the British superstar makes his 2017 chart intentions entirely clear. Clean Bandit drop from No.1 to No.4 this week, with Rag’N’Bone Man’s ‘Human’ sliding from No.2 to No.3. JP Cooper’s ‘September Song’ is on the rise, however, jumping into the top ten (No.16 to No.7), ahead of our own Starley (‘Call On Me’ up from No.26 to No.8) and Jax Jones & Raye’s ‘You Don’t Know Me’ (No.33 to No.9).
• The albums chart in the UK this week again belongs to Little Mix, with their album ‘Glory Days’ hanging on to the No.1 position for the second successive week in 2017. The new You Me At Six album ‘Night People’ stakes its chart claim on the No.3 position on debut, while George Michael’s ‘Ladies & Gentlemen… The Very Best of George Michael’ improves from No.11 to No.4 and David Bowie’s ‘Legacy’ is up from No.18 to No.5. With his new singles shining brightly atop the singles chart, those who’d yet to do so snapped up Ed Sheeran’s last album ‘x’, sending it soaring from No.47 to No.8. Even ‘+’ rose from No.98 to No.20.
• Rae Sremmurd only got back into the No.1 spot in the US last week with their single ‘Black Beatles’, but they’ve already gone and lost it, with Migos ftg. Lil Uzi Vert edging from No.2 to No.1 with ‘Bad And Boujee’. Maroon 5 are into the top ten with ‘Don’t Wanna Know’ (No.11 to No.7), as are Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello with ‘Bad Things’ (No.12 to No.10). Alessia Cara’s ‘Scars To Your Beautiful’ continues to make its march towards the top ten and, with the movie incoming, Zayn and Taylor Swift make their move with ‘I Don’t Wanna Live Forever’ (No.22 to No.14).
• As happened on the Aussie chart last weekend, the post-festive season slump for those festive season sets is on. Pentatonix were still flying high at No.1 on last week’s Billboard 200 albums chart, but they’ve lost their place in the top 40 entirely this week, slumping to No.41. It’s The Weeknd who’s taken the mantle, edging from No.2 to No.1 with ‘Starboy’ ahead of the ‘Moana’ soundtrack, Bruno Mars, Drake and J Cole. Again, as they did here in Australia last weekend, the soundtracks to both ‘Sing’ and ‘Trolls’ are now shining in the US top ten (Nos.8 and 10 respectively), while the ‘La La Land’ soundtrack rockets from No.52 to No.15.
• You’d have to have balls of steel to bet against Ed Sheeran debuting at Nos.1 and 2 on tonight’s ARIA singles chart. But we’ll find out precisely where they’ve debuted at 6pm on the East Coast, with ARIA Chart Watch, our weekly wrap of the happenings on the ARIA top 100 charts. And that’s it for your Saturday serve of The Purge!
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MONDAY JANUARY 16 : Pete Rock & CL Smooth (Nationally)
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 18 : Roo Panes (Nationally)
Australia's first stop for pop!