• Aussie man band Human Nature will release their latest set of covers in August. Entitled ‘Romance Of The Jukebox’, the LP encompasses covers of a selection of classic tracks from the ’60s and ’70s, including The Troggs’ ‘Love Is All Around’, The Monkees’ ‘I’m A Believer’, The Beatles’ ‘All You Need Is Love’ and ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ and the Simon & Garfunkel classic ‘Bridge Over Troubled Waters’. It’s out on Friday August 17.
• Dillon Francis will drop his new album ‘Wut Wut’ in September. It’s the US DJ’s second long player and his first Spanish language studio album and its release has been preceded by the new single ‘Never Let You Go’. “The whole thing started from the Westside EP in 2011,” Dillon explains. “I had just discovered moombahton and began experimenting with Latin styles. For my second album, I wanted to create one cohesive vision, since I now have a better understanding about what that means. Latin music is very close to my heart, and I knew this would be fun.” It’s out on September 28.
• Benny Blanco has stepped out from behind the producer’s console for the first time on a new single called ‘Eastside’. Joining him in the spotlight on the new track, which dropped yesterday, are both Halsey and Khalid. The song dropped on Benny’s own label called ‘Friends Keep Secrets’. Say hello to Benny and his track HERE.
• Legendary singer songwriter Paul Simon will wrap the final leg of his final world tour with the release of his 14th studio album. Entitled ‘In The Blue Light’ (cover pictured above), the album features reworked versions of tracks from some of his classic albums. But don’t expect all the hits; all tracks are less familiar and have appeared on albums dating back to 1973. “This album consists of songs that I thought were almost right, or were odd enough to be overlooked the first time around,” Paul explains. “Re-doing arrangements, harmonic structures, and lyrics that didn’t make their meaning clear, gave me time to clarify in my own head what I wanted to say, or realize what I was thinking and make it more easily understood.” ‘In The Blue Light’ will be released on Friday September 07.
• With his smash hit ‘This Is America’ fresh in our minds and the bite of the Australian winter in full effect, Childish Gambino has gifted us two pockets of sunshine in the form of ‘Summertime Magic’ and ‘Feels Like Summer’. No doubt he’ll be performing these new tracks (and plenty more besides) during his local visit later this year.
• And Hilltop Hoods are back with a new single. The boys’ new track ‘Clark Griswold’ “is a song about becoming a father and taking account of our weaknesses as a result,” they explain. “On a basic level it’s about being a flawed person that’s trying to do better.” Naturally, the single takes its name from the father in the ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’ film series. It’s out now.
• US performer Channel Tres, who’ll be in the country for the Spilt Milk Festival in Canberra later this year, has confirmed headline shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane during his visit. He’ll be performing tracks from his upcoming self-titled EP (due on July 27) at the shows in Melbourne (Howler on November 11), Brisbane (Woolly Mammoth on November 13) and Sydney (Oxford Art Factory on November 18). Frontier members get first access to pre-sales from Tuesday at 11am AEST ahead of general sales, which are live from midday local time on Thursday.
• Aunty Meredith has awoken from her yearly slumber to inform eager festival goers that the dates they need to etch into their diaries for 2018 are December 07, 08 and 09. The yearly festival, now in its 28th year, will once again fill the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre in Victoria with some of the most sought after sounds on the planet. The ticket ballot is now open, but you’ll need to enter it prior to 10:28pm on Monday August 06. All the details at mmf.com.au.
• After confirming dates across the East Coast in recent weeks, the Hotter Than Hell line-up (featuring Spiderbait, Jebediah, Magic Dirt, Bodyjar and Glass Tides) is now confirmed to make its way to Adelaide. The event will rock Coopers Alehouse in Gepps Cross on Saturday February 02. Tickets pre-sales kick off on Wednesday morning before general sales hit the sales desk on Friday.
• World Cup fever has gripped the UK over the past week, with the country’s music buying public throwing their support behind the Three Lions (their national football team). That support has sent the song ‘3 Lions’ rocketing to No.1 on the UK singles chart, displacing George Ezra’s ‘Shotgun’. Drake’s track ‘In My Feelings’ premieres in the No.4 position, with rises to follow for Years & Years, Jonas Blue and Maroon 5. Jess Glynne loses her grip on a top ten berth with ‘I’ll Be There’, which falls from No.7 to No.13. Drake’s ‘Nonstop’ tumbles from No.4 to No.15.
• There’s no moving Drake from the No.1 spot on the UK albums chart, however; his latest album ‘Scorpion’ remains steady in top spot, having debuted there last week. Years & Years’ new album ‘Palo Santo’ has its time in the top five sun, premiering at No.3, just ahead of a No.5 debut for the new Tom Grennan LP ‘Lighting Matches’. Amazingly, Tom’s album is the last to debut in this week’s UK top 50. Florence & The Machine’s ‘High Hopes’ drops slightly from its No.2 debut to No.6.
• To the US now and the new Drake album has made a big impact, resulting in the Canadian superstar’s former No.1 single ‘Nice For What’ reclaiming the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It leaps from No.6 to No.1, but it’s joined in the top five by two more Drake songs… ‘Nonstop’ debuts at No.2 and former No.1 ‘God’s Plan’ re-joins the top five fray, improving from No.9 to No.5. To give you a further idea as to which album might have debuted at No.1 on the Billboard albums chart, check Drake’s continued dominance of the top ten; ‘In My Feelings’ (new at No.6), ‘I’m Upset’ (up from No.26 to No.7), ‘Emotionless’ (new at No.8) and ‘Doesn’t Matter To Me’ with Michael Jackson (new at No.9). So that’s 70% of the US top ten belonging to Drake. He’s not finished with the US chart, however, also occupying positions 13, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 27, 28, 30, 32, 36, 37, 38, 41, 42, 51, 56 and 57.
• It’s no surprise, therefore, to find Drake shining brightly at No.1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with his latest long player; ‘Scorpion’ debuting in the top spot ahead of a No.2 debut for the new Florence & The Machine album ‘High As Hope’. Gorillaz join the top five debut party with their new long player ‘The Now Now’ (No.4). Last week’s No.1 from Panic! At The Disco (‘Pray For The Wicked’) is down to No.9, just ahead of a new entry for the Guns ‘N Roses album ‘Appetite For Destruction’, which comes in at ten on the back of the deluxe repackage.
• And that’s your lot for this Saturday edition of The Purge. But you know we’ll be readying an ARIA Chart Watch for you between now and 5pm, so come back and say ‘hi’ then!
TICKETS PLEASE
MONDAY JULY 16 : A Day On The Green (Yarra Valley)
MONDAY JULY 16 : YG (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane)
TUESDAY JULY 17 : The Waifs (Regionally)
WEDNESDAY JULY 18 : Petit Biscuit (Sydney, Melbourne)
THURSDAY JULY 19 : Channel Tres (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane)
THURSDAY JULY 19 : Scene & Heard Festival (Newcastle)
FRIDAY JULY 20 : Hotter Than Hell (Adelaide)
FRIDAY JULY 20 : Twenty One Pilots (Nationally)
Australia's first stop for pop!