• Welcome to your Saturday edition of The Purge. And welcome to the new Demi Lovato album ‘Tell Me You Love Me’, which was announced on Thursday. The US pop princess delivered her last long player (‘Confident’) in 2015; the new one, helmed by current single ‘Sorry, Not Sorry’, will be released at retailers everywhere on Friday September 29.
• That new Taylor Swift single is here and it’s wasted little time in making itself comfortable in the No.1 spot on the Australian iTunes chart. ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ dropped digitally yesterday at the same time Tay Tay’s just-announced new album ‘Reputation’ went up for pre-order. And the campaign for it will step up a notch this weekend when the video makes its debut at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards.
• Pnau are officially back. Yes, they delivered their hit single ‘Chameleon’ just a couple of months ago, but as of yesterday there are three more Pnau singles to call your own… ‘Control Your Body’, ‘Into The Sky’ and ‘Into The Blue’; the latter featuring a vocal appearance by Vera Blue. But wait… there’s more. There’s a brand new Pnau album waiting in the wings. It’s called ‘Changa’ and it’s coming to a retailer near you on November 10.
• Dua Lipa’s latest single ‘New Rules’ has been given a bit of remix love by a homegrown dancefloor diva. The track, which went to No.1 on the UK singles chart last weekend, has been given a local rework by Alison Wonderland. “I absolutely love this song, in fact I love Dua Lipa’s music,” Alison enthuses. “Her voice is so dope and it was really fun to make this remix. I can’t wait to play it out at shows.” It’s available digitally now.
• Speaking of Aussie remixes, the Major Lazer single ‘Know No Better’ has scored one thanks to new Aussie production team Super Cruel. The single, which features vocals by Travis Scott, Camila Cabello and Quavo, has been given the rework by Super Cruel, which is the new project by Adelaide’s Tigerilla and Sydney’s Porsches. The remix was serviced to Australian media yesterday. Take a listen HERE.
• Rick Price and Jack Jones are teaming their musical powers on a new album called ‘California Dreaming’. Set for release on September 29, the new LP is a “tribute to the west-coast sounds of the ’60s and ’70s” and features covers of well known classics like ‘Blue Bayou’, ‘Monday, Monday’, ‘Light My Fire’ and ‘Desperado’. The title track also serves as the grat track when you pre-order the new LP.
• More new music incoming soon thanks to UK producer Tricky, who’s confirmed that his new LP, his 13th, is called ‘Ununiform’ (cover art pictured) and it’ll land on September 22. It features 13 new tracks in total, including lead single ‘When We Die’, which features the vocals of Martina Topley-Bird.
• Also dropping on September 22 is ‘Gemini’, the new album from US rapper Macklemore. His first solo long player in 12 long years is set to feature vocal collaborations with Kesha, Lil Yachty, Eric Nally and Skylar Grey, who features on the current single ‘Glorious’.
• The new album announcements kept coming; Beck announcing the release of his new long player ‘Colors’ in the middle of October. “‘Colors’ unfolds in an intoxicating rainbow of auditory tricks and treats,” his label EMI tells us of the new LP, which is his first full length release of new music in three years. The album was co-produced by Beck and pop super-producer Greg Kurstin. It’s out on October 13.
• And Morrissey also has a new album on the way. ‘Low In High-School’ is also his first release in three years and sees the legendary performer teaming up with BMG for the very first time. Recorded in France and Italy, the album is set to drop on a number of formats, including a limited edition cassette and coloured vinyl. It’s due to drop on November 17.
• Chicago MC Noname has confirmed a trio of headline shows later this year when she’s in the country for appearances at the Meredith and Fairgrounds Music Festivals. The artist (real name Fatimah Warner) will play The Triffid in Brisbane on December 05, the Metro Theatre in Sydney on December 06 and 170 Russell in Melbourne on December 10. Tickets for all three dates are on sale now.
• The Red Hot Summer Tour (with John Farnham, Daryl Braithwaite, Baby Animals and The Black Sorrows) has grown again. With their first show at Harrigans Drift Inn at Jacobs Well in Queensland now officially sold out and demand for tickets still strong, they’ve added another one… on Sunday February 18. Tickets are on sale now.
• More Victorian shows have been added to the upcoming James Reyne tour. He’s playing the hits of Australian Crawl on his run around the country, which kicks off in Penrith on September 08. But he’s now also confirmed show at the Palms At Crown in Melbourne (October 07), the Corner Hotel in Melbourne (November 05), Shoppingtown Hotel in Doncaster (December 01) and Chelsea Heights Hotel in Chelsea Heights (December 02). Tickets are on sale now.
• Cold Chisel will launch their brand new live album ‘The ‘Last Stand’ Of the Sydney Entertainment Centre : The Live Tapes – Vol 4′ with a show in Hobart in late November. The album is due to land at retailers on Friday November 10, but the band will head to the Tasmanian capital to play a show on the lawns of Wrest Point on Wednesday November 22. A series of pre-sales kicks off at 10am this Wednesday, before general public tickets go live from midday local time on Monday September 04.
• Dua Lipa became the first solo woman in the UK No.1 singles spot for almost two years last week with her new single ‘New Rules’. And we’re thrilled to say that, despite a concerted challenge from Bieber and BloodPop and their new single ‘Friends’, she’s still there this week too! The Biebs and BloodPop premiere at No.2, with Calvin & Co, Pink and a debut for the new Little Mix single ‘Reggaeton Lento (remix)’ making up the rest of the top five. J Balvin and Willy William’s ‘Mi Gente’ is into the top ten as the Caribbean craze slowly takes over world charts (No.12 to No.8), while James Hype’s ‘More Than Friends’ leaps from No.16 to No.10. Not such great news for French Montana’s ‘Unforgettable’ and DJ Khaled’s ‘Wild Thoughts’, however, which both take a tumble; the former from No.3 to No.16 and the latter from No.4 to No.17.
• No change again at the top of the UK albums chart. Ed Sheeran once again ruling the roost with his album ‘÷’. Further down, however, and there’s plenty of top ten action, including a No.3 debut for the new Steven Wilson album ‘To The Bone’ and a No.4 debut for Neck Deep’s ‘The Peace And The Panic’. Continuing the succession of new entries is the new Everything Everything album ‘A Fever Dream’, which enters at No.5. Sherlocks’ ‘Live For The Moment’ premieres at No.6 and Chase & Status score a No.7 debut for their new long player ‘Tribe’.
• At the risk of sounding like a broken record… Luis Fonsi. Daddy Yankee. Justin Bieber. ‘Despacito’. No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. And though DJ Khaled is steady at No.2 with ‘Wild Thoughts’, there’s another big move from Cardi B and her track ‘Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)’. After bulleting from No.14 to No.8 last week, she’s up another five positions to No.3, sending positions three through seven cascading. Pink’s new single ‘What About Us’ is in a big hurry, rocketing from No.82 to No.29, though it’s a long way short of last week’s No.1 peak in Australia on debut.
• Time has not dulled Americans’ interest in pop star Kesha, seemingly. After an absence of five years from the chart, her new album ‘Rainbow’ debuts at No.1 on this week’s Billboard 200 albums chart. It’s her second number one album after her debut ‘Animal’ back in 2010; ‘Rainbow’s release coming five long years after her sophomore album. Albums from Kendrick Lamar, DJ Khaled and Khalid are in positions two through four, while the new Moneybagg Yo album ‘Federal 3X’ premieres at a highly respectable No.5. The new albums from Kesha and Moneybagg Yo are two of only three long players to debut in the top 50 this week!
• And that’s about it for The Purge this Saturday morning. And a big one it was too. Naturally, we’ll be beavering away hard to ensure that your regular weekly ARIA Chart Watch will be live at 6pm on the East Coast tonight! Be here!
TICKETS PLEASE
MONDAY AUGUST 28 : Paul Kelly (Nationally)
MONDAY AUGUST 28 : A Weekend In The Gardens (Melbourne)
TUESDAY AUGUST 29 : Falls Festival (Nationally)
THURSDAY AUGUST 31 : Field Day 2018 (Sydney)
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 01 : The National (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane)
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 01 : Stevie Nicks (Sydney)
Australia's first stop for pop!