• It’s your Saturday edition of The Purge and it’s the cover image for the new Mariah Carey album ‘Caution’. Mimi was a little light on the details when news about the album dropped earlier in the week. And the details are still light on, but we now have that cover image (pictured), along with a new track (‘The Distance’ featuring Ty Dolla $ign). The pre-order is available now prior to the album’s release on Friday November 16.
• We’ve got a new piece of music from Troye Sivan for our weekend. ‘Revelation’ is a collaboration between the Perth native and Icelandic superstar Jónsi (of Sigur Rós fame) and is featured on the soundtrack to the upcoming Russell Crowe/Nicole Kidman movie ‘Boy Erased’. It follows the story of a boy named Jared. He’s outed to his parents (played by Crowe and Kidman) at the age of 19 and is forced to attend a conversion therapy session. ‘Revelation’ is out now; the soundtrack is out this Friday.
• Swedish pop darling Zara Larsson is back with a new choon. Famous for her tracks ‘Lush Life’, ‘Ain’t My Fault’ and ‘I Would Like’, along with her MNEK collaboration ‘Never Forget You’ and ‘Symphony’ with Clean Bandit, Zara has dropped ‘Ruin My Life’. The track is the first taste from her forthcoming sophomore album, which is currently due to drop sometime next year.
• Another Swedish starlet armed with new music this week is Tove Styrke. The singer’s rise continues, thanks not only to an appearance on the new Clean Bandit album, due at the end of next month, but also her new single proper ‘Vibe’. “This new song ‘Vibe’ is something I’ve been working on for the past few months,” Tove explains. “It feels like an ending and a new start at the same time. ‘Vibe’ comes from and belongs to the same place as the rest of ‘Sway’, but it’s got a little bit more guitar, a little less lol and a bit more heartbreak.” ‘Vibe’ is out now.
• 16 year old pop sensation Billie Eilish has a new single out too. ‘When The Party’s Over’ dropped in the middle of this week, hot on the heels of last week’s appearance on ‘The Ellen Degeneres Show’, where she performed her chart hit ‘You Should See Me In A Crown’.
• Ahead of his Australian tour commitments, UK singer Calum Scott has announced a new “special edition” of his debut album ‘Only Human’. The new version, due for release on November 30, brings together tracks from the original version, along with four new bonus songs, including his just-released new track ‘No Matter What’ (no, not a cover of the Boyzone single). “‘No Matter What’ is without question the most personal song I have ever written and the one I am most proud of,” Calum explains. “It’s a song born from loneliness, acceptance and the heartbreaking but liberating tale of my coming out experience. What I love about this song is that it isn’t just limited to a story of sexual identity, but about the relationship between parent and child and acceptance as a whole. This song didn’t make my debut album because I simply wasn’t ready at that time to give it to the world.”
• Longing for those long, lazy days of summer? So’s Pete Murray, seemingly. And he’ll traverse this great nation on a national tour early in the new year on his ‘PM3 Summer Sessions’ tour. The run of dates kicks off with a double date at the Wharf Tavern in idyllic Mooloolaba on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. From there, the tour stops on the Gold Coast, in Kingscliff, Coffs Harbour, Laurieton, Shoal Bay, Erina, Batemans Bay, Merimbula, the Mornington Peninsula, Phillip Island, Warrnambool, Geelong, Narrabeen, Newcastle, Miranda and Wollongong. Tickets are on sale now.
• Great news for those who have tickets to the upcoming RNB Fridays Live tour, with the addition of Taio Cruz to the line-up. Taio’s had a huge number of hits, including ‘Hangover’, ‘Break Your Heart’, ‘Dynamite’ and (of course) ‘Higher’ alongside our very own Kylie Minogue. Taio joins the already mammoth line-up, which includes Usher, Trey Songz, T-Pain, Eve, Estelle, Ginuwine, Salt N Pepa and more. The Sydney and Brisbane events are already sold out, but there are still limited tickets available in both Melbourne and Perth.
• Talking of line-up additions… organisers of Newcastle’s This That Festival have confirmed the addition of both The Kite String Tangle and Manu Crooks to the line-up for the November 03 Wickham Park event. They join an already impressive line-up, which includes Amy Shark, Just A Gent, Broods, Thandi Phoenix, The Rubens, Safia, RL Grime, Illy, Allday and many, many more.
• Country music star Troy Cassar-Daley will hit the road next year for an extensive national tour in support of his just-released Greatest Hits package. 2019 proceedings kick off at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre on January 24; the tour then making another 43 stops through to the middle of November, including some festival appearances. Tickets for all dates are on sale now.
• Also hitting the road early in the new year is Perth outfit The Faim. They kick their run of tour dates off at Amplifier in Perth on January 11, also stopping in at Vision Studios in Perth (January 12), Enigma Bar in Adelaide (January 17), Wrangler Studios in Melbourne (January 18), the Gasometer Hotel in Melbourne (also on January 18), The Lair in Sydney (January 19) and The Milk Factory in Brisbane on January 20. They then hot foot it to the other side of the world for an extensive European tour. Tickets are on sale now.
• If you love a little rock every now and then, you’ll no doubt be aware that the Good Thing Festival is headed our way soon. But a number of the big name acts who’ll be appearing have confirmed sideshows while they’re here. The Offspring, for example, will play a one-off show at Adelaide’s Thebarton Theatre on December 05. All Time Low will play the Coolangatta Hotel on Tuesday December 11, Dropkick Murphys are also headed to Adelaide (HQ on December 10), while The Used with play Canberra’s ANU on December 11. Tickets for these and more sideshows are on sale now.
• Last week, Calvin Harris and Sam Smith were dethroned from the No.1 spot on the UK singles chart after a five week run by rappers Dave, Fredo and their single ‘Funky Friday’. But, seems as though ‘Funky Friday’ doesn’t have the staying power it needs… ‘Promises’ returns to the top spot for its sixth week at No.1. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper are up two spots to a new peak of No.4 with ‘Shallow’, as ‘A Star Is Born’ starts impacting at cinemas across the planet. A nice debut for the ladies of Little Mix; the UK public welcoming their new single ‘Woman Like Me’ to the top 100 countdown with a No.5 debut. Kodak Black’s ‘Zeze’ just misses the top ten on debut (No.11); so too Bad Bunny’s ‘MIA’ (No.13).
• She might not have quite made it to No.1 with her latest single ‘All I Am’, but UK dance diva Jess Glynne does make it to top spot with her sophomore album ‘Always In Between’. It debuts there this week as one of only two new entries in the UK top ten and knocks off the ‘A Star Is Born’ soundtrack in the process. Rick Wakeman’s ‘Piano Odyssey’ is the other new entry in this week’s UK top ten (No.7). But though there are only two new entries in the top ten, there are five more between No.11 and No.20; Elvis Costello & The Imposters’ ‘Look Now’ (No.14), Quavo’s ‘Quavo Huncho’ (No.16), John Grant’s ‘Love Is Magic’ (No.17), Ella Mai’s self-titled LP (No.18) and David Bowie’s ‘Loving The Alien : 1983-1988’ (No.19).
• It’s week number four at No.1 for the Maroon 5 single ‘Girls Like You’ on this week’s UK top 100. Last week it was Lil Wayne and Kendrick Lamar attacking with their new single ‘Mona Lisa’ (a No.2 debut), but that’s down to No.23 in week two, allowing Juice WRLD’s ‘Lucid Dreams’ to retake No.2. Lil Baby and Gunna have one of two big movers into the top ten this week, bulleting from No.25 to No.4 with ‘Drip Too Hard’. The other is the Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper single ‘Shallow’, which rockets from No.28 to No.5. Even Marshmello and Bastille’s ‘Happier’ is up into the top ten this week (No.13 to No.8).
• Now that the movie has dropped into cinemas across the planet, there’s plenty of love in the room for the soundtrack of ‘A Star Is Born’, which premieres at No.1 on the Billboard 100 albums chart. It manages to beat out a strong new Twenty One Pilots album (‘Trench’), which settles for a No.2 debut. Last week’s No.1 (Lil Wayne’s ‘Tha Carter V’) is down to No.3, just ahead of a parade of four more new entries in this week’s Billboard top ten; Lil Baby & Gunna’s ‘Drip Harder’ (the album) at No.4, Eric Church’s ‘Desperate Man’ at No.5, Steve Perry’s ‘Traces’ at No.6 and For King & Country’s ‘Burn The Ships’ at No.7.
• With the UK and US charts now wrapped, you’ll no doubt be looking forward to taking a look at the charts back home. We’ll have that information to you at 5pm AEDT with our regular weekly ARIA Chart Watch. See you then!
TICKETS PLEASE
MONDAY OCTOBER 22 : Eminem (Nationally)
MONDAY OCTOBER 22 : Florida Georgia Line (Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns)
MONDAY OCTOBER 22 : Salt N Pepa (Canberra, Darwin)
TUESDAY OCTOBER 23 : Anne-Marie (Nationally)
FRIDAY OCTOBER 26 : Slash ftg. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators (Nationally)
Australia's first stop for pop!