• We couldn’t resist kicking off the Saturday edition of The Purge with the gorgeous cover image for the new Jonas Blue single. The track is called ‘Mama’ and it features the smooth sounds of Australia’s own William Singe on guest vocals. You may recall Jonas Blue from his No.1 four times platinum cover of Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ and his top ten follow-up ‘Perfect Strangers’.
• Haim are certainly keeping their promises. The trio have revealed their new single ‘Want You Back’ this week, ahead of the release of their new album ‘Something To Tell You’ on July 07. The band will be in Australia in July as part of the Splendour In The Grass line-up and will also perform a sold out show at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney on July 20.
• Montaigne’s vocals have popped up on a new single called ‘Feel That’ from Tasmanian producer Akouo. “It’s a rare occurrence to have a chance to work with people who are rich in artistic ability but also have a strong passion for the entire creative process from start to finish,” Akouo said in a statement. “True to the nature of art, the lyrics came to Montaigne very quickly and naturally, but it took months to wrap them carefully into this cosy blanket of sound that we both love.” It’s out now.
• Keith Urban notched up a pretty amazing chart record last week; his album ‘RipCord’ spending its 51st consecutive week in the top 30 on the ARIA albums chart. If he’s still there as of 6pm tonight, he’ll have notched up an impressive one year within the top 30, no doubt cause for celebration for both Keith and his team at label EMI. The latter tells us that ‘RipCord’ was the second biggest selling album in Australia last year, behind Adele’s monster ’25’.
• Radiohead will reissue their classic 1997 album ‘OK Computer’ late next month. ‘OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017’ will feature a fully remastered edition of the original album, along with b-sides and three songs that have never before been releases; ‘I Promise’, ‘Life’ and ‘Man Of War’. A special box set edition will also be produced (albeit in limited numbers), comprising vinyls, artworks, a sketchbook and cassette. Yes, a cassette. Click HERE for more information and look for the rerelease in-store on June 23.
• Krafty Kuts have teamed up with Dynamite MC for their latest single ‘Boom Bangin’. It’s the third single lifted from their upcoming album ‘All 4 Corners’, which is due to land at retailers on May 19.
• Thought tickets to LCD Soundsystem’s upcoming Melbourne show had sold out? Think again. Frontier Touring has released a limited number of production tickets for the July 26 gig, but you’ll have to hurry as they’ll shift fast. As a matter of fact, by the time you’re reading this, they may have already gone!
• He’s been adding plenty of shows to his 2018 tour, but it’s not just extra shows Bruno Mars and his team have been delivering this week. They’ve also confirmed that US pop starlet Dua Lipa will perform the support role at each show. Dua’s debut album is out on June 02.
• And you may have missed this week’s announcement, but ARIA has confirmed that streaming figures will be incorporated into the albums chart as of next weekend. Albums will still need to blast through 35,000 and 70,000 unit sales to achieve gold and platinum certifications respectively. The specific measurements are a little convoluted (see HERE), but essentially one unit will be equivalent to 175 streams of an album.
• DJ Khaled makes quite the impact on the UK singles chart this week, premiering at No.1 on debut with his new single ‘I’m The One’. Yes, it features Chance The Rapper. Yes, it features Lil Wayne and Quavo. But it’ll no doubt be the superstar clout of Justin Bieber that got it there. As a matter of fact, Justin appears in two songs in this week’s UK top five; Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s ‘Despacito’ also thundering towards the top (No.22 to No.4). Those moves leave Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson with the No.2 position and Ed Sheeran to mop up positions three and five (with ‘Shape Of You’ and ‘Galway Girl’ respectively).
• Despite a long history and plenty of support in their homeland, Gorillaz haven’t done quite enough to knock Ed Sheeran from his No.1 perch on the UK album chart. ‘÷’ is still king of the chart heap, though Gorillaz do debut in the No.2 position with their new long player ‘Humanz’. Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Steps and Kendrick Lamar maintain top five positions at three, four and five respectively. The Cranberries score the week’s second highest debut; ‘Something Else’ into the countdown at No.18.
• It’s taken him 15 long weeks, but US superstar Bruno Mars has finally captured the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States with his latest single ‘That’s What I Like’. The track surges from No.3 into the No.1 position this week, overtaking Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Humble’ (No.1 to No.3) and Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’ (steady at No.2) in the process. The remix of ‘Despacito’, by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee and featuring the vocals of Justin Bieber, bullets from No.9 to No.4 with Future’s ‘Mask Off’ making up the top five. Kygo and Selena Gomez are into the top ten with ‘It Ain’t Me’ (No.13 to No.10).
• Though he may have relinquished top spot on the Billboard singles chart, Kendrick Lamar is still shining bright in the No.1 spot on the Billboard 200 album chart with his new album ‘Damn’. Drake (‘More Life’) and Ed Sheeran (‘÷’) both improve one positions – to Nos2 and 3 respectively – while Incubus premiere highest this week at No.4. The ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy : Awesome Mix Vol.2’ in new at No.8, while new albums from Barry Manilow, Brad Paisley and blackbear just miss the top 10.
• That’s it for this week’s Saturday edition of The Purge, but we’ll be back at 6pm tonight with our weekly wrap of the top 100s here at home in our ARIA Chart Watch.
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