• Naturally you’ll want to be starting your weekend off with a serve of The Purge. And naturally, we’re here to bring it to you… an a rather decent serve it is this week, kicking off with ‘Just My Type’, the new single from British boyband The Vamps. Serviced to media and released digitally yesterday, the track is lifted from the boys’ upcoming album ‘Night & Day (Day Edition)’, which is due to drop on July 13.
• ‘Feels Like Home’ is the latest track from UK dance act Sigala (aka Bruce Fielder). With the disco deliciousness of ‘Lullaby’ (with Paloma Faith) still fresh in our minds, this time around he’s teamed up with Fuse ODG, Sean Paul and Kent Jones; the track lifted from Sigala’s upcoming debut album ‘Brighter Days’, due on Friday September 21. The album is also set to feature collaborations with Ella Eyre, Craig David, John Newman and Nile Rogers and Bryn Christopher, whose single (2008’s ‘Smilin’‘) was co-penned by our own Ricki-Lee!
• Speaking of dance music superstars, we’ve also got a new David Guetta single to call our own this week. ‘Your Love’ landed yesterday and is a collaboration with Dutch duo Showtek. The two acts are no stranger to each other, having previously worked together on David’s singles ‘Bad’ (2014) and ‘Sun Goes Down’ (2015).
• Brisbane’s Emma Louise will gift us a new long player in the middle of September. It’s called ‘Lilac Everything; A Project by Emma Louise’ and it’s set to contain ten new songs that Emma penned during a trip to Mexico. They’ve been described by her label as “thoroughly unique”. The first single to be plucked from it is entitled ‘Wish You Well’ and that landed at digital retailers everywhere yesterday. Listen HERE.
• Nina Las Vegas yesterday gave us the first taste of her upcoming EP ‘Lucky Girl’. It’s the title track, a collaboration with labelmate Swick, and represents a slightly different musical direction for the Sydney-based performer. “I’d been putting out really fast, club songs; so in summer I started trying to create slower chord patterns with basic melodies and no drums,” she explains. “I’ve always loved raw, effortless vocals, so it felt natural to add a simple topline.” ‘Lucky Girl’ is out now; the EP of the same name to follow on Friday July 20.
• Dustin Tebbutt’s new single ‘Love Is Blind’ arrived with us yesterday. It’s the first of five releases Dustin’s committed to releasing across the second half of 2018. “‘Love Is Blind’ is a playful song about the lessons people can teach us through love, and how at the end of the day we don’t really have a lot of control over what happens in our lives,” he explains. There’s also a gorgeous music video too. You can check that out HERE.
• Nicki Minaj has a new single out and about; a collaboration with pop princess Ariana Grande. The track is called ‘Bed’ (cover art pictured) and it will join previously released tracks ‘Barbie Tingz’ and ‘Chun-Li’ on Nicki’s forthcoming fourth studio album ‘Queen’, which is locked in for an August 10 release.
• We’re now just two months away from the release of the new album from Death Cab For Cutie. The band has announced that their ninth long player is called ‘Thank You For Today’ and it’s due to land on Friday August 17. Pre-orders for the new LP have gone live, with the addictive lead single ‘Gold Rush’ (listen HERE) available as a grat track.
• The Superjesus will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their acclaimed album ‘Sumo’ by dropping an anniversary edition of it on Friday August 17. It’s set to be reissued on vinyl and on CD; the latter comprising exclusive bonus material from a ‘Live At The Wireless’ set, as well as a new studio cover version of Kylie Minogue’s classic ‘Confide In Me’. “Back in ‘96 we recorded a really heavy version of ‘Confide In Me’, just for our own amusement,” frontwoman Sarah McLeod reveals. “I went to the guys and reminded them of the recording, and went straight home to work up a demo of it. Within a week we were playing it live on the festival stage. I have always been a Kylie fan.” They’ll also celebrate the milestone with a huge national tour that kicks off at Governor Hindmarsh in Adelaide on September 29 and wraps up at the Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns on November 17. Full tour dates available HERE.
• Panic! At The Disco will return to Australia later this year in support of their upcoming album ‘Pray For The Wicked’. General tickets for the tour are on sale from 10am on the same day as said new album is released (this Friday), with shows locked in for Sydney (Qudos Bank Arena on October 06), Adelaide (AEC Theatre on October 09), Brisbane (Riverstage on October 11) and Melbourne (Hisense Arena on October 13).
• Also on their way down under later in the year is 2 Cellos; the Croatian duo (Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser) stopping off in Perth (Riverside Theatre on November 23), Melbourne (Plenary on November 24), Adelaide (AEC Theatre on November 26), Sydney (ICC Theatre on November 28), the Gold Coast (Convention & Exhibition Centre on November 30) and Brisbane (Convention & Exhibition Centre on December 02). General tickets sales are live from 10am local time this Wednesday, June 20.
• US rapper Hoodie Allen will play shows on the East Coast in September this year. He’ll be playing “one night only” club shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane during his visit, which is in support of his 2017 album ‘The Hype’. He’s set to play Woolly Mammoth in Brisbane on September 07 before venturing south for shows in Melbourne (Howler on September 08) and Sydney (Oxford Art Factory on September 09). Tickets are on sale at midday on Monday June 18.
• Organisers of the annual Fairgrounds Festival in the southern New South Wales hamlet of Berry have confirmed that the event will be back, bigger, bolder and brighter than ever in late November. Though the line-up won’t arrive until early next month, a limited number of early bird tickets for the November 30/December 01 event are already on sale. Further details are at www.fairgrounds.com.au.
• And also roaring back to life later in the year is Sydney’s Harbourlife Festival. It’s set to take over the Fleet Steps at Mrs Macquaries Point on Saturday November 17, but its line-up is due imminently (this Tuesday at midday, if you must know). A pre-sale kicks off at the same time as the line-up announcement, with general tickets hitting the sales desk from midday AEST on Thursday, June 21.
• And Hiatus Kaiyote have confirmed a one-off show at Melbourne’s Croxton Bandroom. They’ll be on stage on the evening of Friday August 10 to perform their alluring blend of pop, soul, funk and electronica. Tickets are on sale now.
• Jess Glynne does it again on the UK singles chart this week, picking up her third solo No.1 single (seventh including vocal features) with her new single ‘I’ll Be There’. The track shifted from No.5 to No.2 last week, suggesting that time in top spot wasn’t far away. But even Jess could be under challenge next week, with Clean Bandit and Demi Lovato’s single ‘Solo’ on the move from No.6 to No.2. Anne-Marie’s ‘2002’ is steady in position three, with George Ezra’s ‘Shotgun’ up from No.8 to No.4. Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa’s fall from grace is swift; last week’s No.1 plunging to No.7. Tom Walker and Cardi B are into the top ten with a bullet, into positions eight and nine respectively.
• There’s seemingly no slowing down the love for the soundtrack to ‘The Greatest Showman’ in the UK this week. It’s still wedged there in the No.1 position on the UK albums chart, ahead of the George Ezra album ‘Staying At Tamara’s’ (No.3 to No.2). George is followed by a pair of debuts – in positions three and four for Jorja Smith’s ‘Lost And Found’ and ‘The Beach Boys With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’ respectively. Kids See Ghosts’ self-titled set enters the countdown at No.7, right ahead of the new Lily Allen album, which is new at No.8. Kanye’s ‘Ye’ falls from two on debut to No.10. And the Steps live album ‘Party On The Dancefloor’ enters the countdown at No.18.
• Change atop the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this week, with Post Malone’s single ‘Psycho’ making its way into the No.1 spot. It swaps places with Drake’s ‘Nice For What’ (No.1 to No.2). But how long can Post Malone hang onto top spot? He’ll seemingly have a fight on his hands, with Cardi B’s ‘I Like It’ moving up from No.7 to No.3 and the new Maroon 5 single ‘Girls Like You’ rocketing from No.94 to No.4. Kanye West joins the top ten party, with a No.8 debut for ‘Yikes’. But it’s now just the No.8 position Kanye’s occupying this week, with debuts for ‘All Mine’ (No.11), ‘Ghost Town’ (No.16), ‘Wouldn’t Leave’ (No.24), ‘Violent Crimes’ and ‘I Thought About Killing You’ (Nos.27 and 28) and ‘No Mistakes’ (No.36). Could all those debuts combine to bring Kanye a No.1 debut on the Billboard 200 Albums chart?
• In a word, ‘ye’; Kanye claiming the No.1 mantle Stateside this week and in the process dethroning pop prince Shawn Mendes. Shawn’s self-titled set tumbles from No.1 to No.8 in its second week, with Post Malone’s ‘Beerbongs & Bentleys’ steady in position two ahead of a No.3 debut for Ghost’s ‘Prequelle’. Luke Combs’ album ‘This One’s For You’ climbs admirably (No.39 to No.4), with Maroon 5’s ‘Red Bill Blues’ up from No.38 to No.11 thanks to the popularity of that new single ‘Girls Like You’.
• And now that the UK and US charts are out of the way, we’ll turn our attention to the charts here at home. ARIA Chart Watch is our weekly wrap of the ARIA top 100s and it’s live at 5pm this afternoon – and every Saturday afternoon. Best you join us!
TICKETS PLEASE
MONDAY JUNE 18 : Hoodie Allen (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane)
MONDAY JUNE 18 : David Byrne (Nationally)
TUESDAY JUNE 19 : Anthems (Canberra)
WEDNESDAY JUNE 20 : 2 Cellos (Nationally)
THURSDAY JUNE 21 : Harbourlife (Sydney)
FRIDAY JUNE 22 : Panic! At The Disco (Nationally)
Australia's first stop for pop!