• Welcome to your weekend edition of The Purge, which we’re kicking off this week with the new Cheat Codes single, which features four very familiar ladies. Those ladies, of course, would be the ladies of Little Mix, who’ve contributed vocals on the LA-based trio’s new single, which dropped at digital retailers across the planet yesterday. In the meantime, Little Mix’s label Sony have revealed that the girls are currently hard at work on their fifth album, which is currently slated for release later in the year.
• Katy Perry has confirmed that homegrown dance/pop vixen Starley and international purveyor of pop Zedd will play the support role on the local leg of her ‘Witness’ world tour. Both acts will be in attendance at shows across the country; Katy’s Australian commitment kicking off with a double date at Perth Arena on July 24 and 25. Remaining tickets are on sale now.
• Great news for fans of Tash Sultana, with her new single ‘Salvation’ dropping this week, along with confirmation that she’ll be releasing her debut album ‘Flow State’ on August 31. The long player comprises 13 songs in total (though track one is an intro and track 13 is an outro). Of the new single ‘Salvation’, Tash says, “I wrote this song when I realised I could be better than the things that I’d done in my past that I regret. That I am the creator of my own narrative and can always continue to grow and move forward into being a better person and can always make better decisions, that it’s okay to accept you’ve fucked up from time to time.”
• We’ll soon have a new album from legendary performer Sir Paul McCartney to call our own. Pre-orders for ‘Egypt Station’ are available now, with a double A-side single release (‘I Don’t Know’ and ‘Come On To Me’) available as grat tracks. ‘Egypt Station’ is Sir Paul’s first full album of new music in five years, was predominantly produced by Greg Kurstin and it’ll land at retailers everywhere on Friday September 07.
• Thundamentals shared a new single with us yesterday; ‘I Miss You’ being the first song to be lifted from a forthcoming album which will coincide with the trio’s tenth anniversary. The track is all about losing connection with the ones we love. “You lose touch with reality if you’re just looking at social media,” Jeswon from the band says. “I feel like it’s great to stay connected in the superficial sense and see what your friends are doing, but it’s also kind of toxic. You forget that everyone is going through the ups and the downs. All you’re seeing is the ups.”
• Former Powderfinger guitarist Darren Middleton will release his third solo album ‘Tides’ in September. And we got the first little glimpse into its genetic make-up this week, with its lead single ‘Just Let Me Go’ landing at digital service providers. “I started writing ‘Just Let Me Go’ for a film but decided to hold onto it for myself,” Darren explains. “Basically, it’s a story of falling for someone when you know you shouldn’t. Deep down, you know they are going to hurt you but you can’t help yourself.” ‘Tides’ will arrive on Friday September 21.
• The Spilt Milk Festival will be back in our nation’s capital on Saturday November 17 and they’ve given us some important dates to pop in the diary. Date one is Monday morning at 8am when the team at Triple J announces the official line-up. Date two is Sunday July 01, when tickets will go on sale for Canberran locals. Pre-sale tickets then follow on Tuesday July 03 before general tickets go live from Thursday July 05. Your diary’s now bound to be overflowing.
• Organisers of Newcastle’s This That Festival have confirmed RL Grimes as the first artist featuring on this year’s bill. The This That Festival will return to Newcastle on Saturday November 03 and, with RL Grimes’ name already in the bag, the rest will follow with the full line-up announce on Tuesday. A pre-sale kicks off from 9am this Thursday, with general tickets hitting the sales desk from 9am on Friday June 29.
• Hockey Dad’s upcoming national tour is going gangbusters, with four shows (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth) already sold out. As such, they’ve confirmed second dates at the same venues in all four cities; Melbourne’s Croxton Bandroom on September 06, Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on September 09, Perth’s Rosemount Hotel on September 23 and Brisbane’s The Triffid on October 04. Tickets are on sale now.
• After just one week in the No.1 position on the UK singles chart, Jess Glynne has fallen (to No.4) with her latest single ‘I’ll Be There’. The No.1 chair this week has been occupied by another act no stranger to the UK No.1… Clean Bandit and their single with Demi Lovato, ‘Solo’. It edges from No.2 to No.1, with George Ezra’s ‘Shotgun’ hot on its heels, charging from No.4 to No.2. Anne-Marie’s ‘2002’ and Ariana Grande’s ‘No Tears Left To Cry’ are steady in positions three and five respectively, with the Years & Years track ‘If You’re Over Me’ making the top ten (No.12 to No.8). Our own 5 Seconds Of Summer are also on the up, bulleting from No.22 to No.13 with ‘Youngblood’.
• Speaking of ‘Youngblood’, 5SOS grab the highest debut on the UK albums chart with their album of the same name, but it’s not enough to get their butts into a No.1 spot. That remains the sole domain of the soundtrack to ‘The Greatest Showman’, with George Ezra’s ‘Staying At Tamara’s’ seemingly comfortable at No.2. Beyoncé and Jay Z (aka The Carters) see their surprise new collaboration debut in the No.5 spot, with Johnny Marr’s ‘Call The Comet’ in at No.7. And, after his death last week, XXXTentation’s ‘?’ also re-enters the top ten race, rocketing from No.83 to No.9. His ’17’ re-enters the UK top 100 at No.13. Christina Aguilera’s ‘Liberation’ enters at No.17.
• Last week Post Malone overtook Drake’s ‘Nice For What’ to bask in the No.1 spotlight. This week, Drake repays the favour, overtaking Post Malone’s ‘Psycho’ to retake top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Cardi B is left in the No.2 spot with ‘I Like It’, with Drake’s ‘God’s Plan’ even moving higher again to No.4 (from No.5). Juice WRLD’s ‘Lucid Dreams’ makes its way towards the pointy end of the top 100 (No.9 to No.6), while Ariana Grande’s ‘No Tears Left To Cry’ makes its way into the US top 100 (No.13 to No.9). Kanye West’s ‘Yikes’ plunges from No.8 to No.40 in its second week.
• Dave Matthews Band has another No.1 album on their hands in the US this week; the band’s ninth studio album ‘Come Tomorrow’ their seventh in succession to make No.1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Kids See Ghosts claim No.2 on debut, with a No.3 premiere for Dierks Bentley’s ‘The Mountain’. Post Malone’s down to four and last week’s No.1 (Kanye’s ‘Ye’) is down four to No.5. Sugarland just miss the top ten on debut, with a No.11 entry for their new long player ‘Bigger’. Dance Gavin Dance also score the top 20 love with a No.15 debut for their long player ‘Artificial Selection’.
• Well that’s your lot for this morning, but we shall return at five this afternoon with our regular weekly ARIA Chart Watch, our weekly wrap of the ARIA top 100s!
TICKETS PLEASE
MONDAY JUNE 25 : Brockhampton (Sydney, Melbourne)
MONDAY JUNE 25 : Disco Spectacular (Sydney)
THURSDAY JUNE 28 : Florence & The Machine (Nationally)
FRIDAY JUNE 29 : Bon Jovi (Nationally)
FRIDAY JUNE 29 : This That Festival (Newcastle)
Australia's first stop for pop!