• Good morning! And welcome to your Saturday edition of The Purge! We’re kicking our weekend news wrap off this morning with the brand new single for Aussie doyens of dance The Presets. The boys have rolled out a fresh new take on their album track ‘Are You Here?’, which has become a fan favourite in their live sets in recent times. “The song is a psychedelic fever-dream about the impermanence of memory, disintegration of love and the deepest desire to break free from any artificially programmed notions of self,” Kim explains. “We decided to take the album version and flip it to create a brand spanking nu-edit with the help of our long-time studio collaborator Scott Horscroft.” Is out now.
• Still on the dance track and Mashd N Kutcher are back with new music; the duo yesterday popping out their latest club banger ‘I’m Yours’. The Queensland natives’ new single is a collaboration with London-based songwriter Alex Holmes and fellow Queenslander False Rumours. The single is out now.
• Zayn Malik has been peppering us with new music over the past six months or so (‘Entertainer’, ‘Sour Diesel’, ‘Too Much’ and ‘Fingers’ have failed to find favour at Aussie retail), but the former One Direction favourite is undeterred. There’s now another new track called ‘No Candle, No Light’, a collaboration with rapper Nicki Minaj. According to his label Sony, the single is all about the breakdown of a relationship and is one of Nicki’s favourite collaborations. It’s out now.
• UK soul songstress Mahalia will be in Australia for the first time later this year, playing both Falls Festival and Field Day. But she’s also announced that she’ll perform two sideshows (one each in Sydney and Melbourne) while she’s on-ground. Mahalia will play songs from her 2018 EP ‘Seasons’ for audiences at The Lansdowne Hotel in Sydney on Monday January 07 and at the Northcote Social Club in Melbourne on Wednesday January 09. Tickets are on sale from 10am AEDT on Monday, November 19.
• The 2019 Australian Open at Melbourne Park won’t just be about the tennis again next year, with some big name music acts ready and raring to entertain the crowd. Aussie sensation Dean Lewis will play the venue on Monday January 14, British superstars Bastille will play for the AO Live Stage crowd on Thursday January 17, UK sensation Craig David will be in attendance on Friday January 25, while homegrown favourites Angus & Julia Stone will headline womens final day on Saturday January 26. Tennis fans who purchase ground passes or stadium tickets to the 2019 Australian Open have access to the AO Live Stage.
• Hozier has cannily coordinated the release of his new single ‘Movement’ with the announcement that he’ll play headline shows in both Sydney and Melbourne while he’s here for Bluesfest. He’s set to perform a double date at the Sydney Opera House on April 22 and 23 before heading south to Melbourne for a show at the Palais Theatre on April 25. You’ll be able to get your hands on tickets when they hit the sales desk at 9am local time this Friday.
• In addition to her already announced Falls Festival sideshow in Melbourne, Sydney-siders will also have the chance to catch Bishop Briggs in a headline show, with a gig confirmed at the Oxford Art Factory on Friday January 04. She’ll no doubt be playing tracks from her debut long player ‘Church Of Scars’ and maybe even some new material for eager fans. Tickets are on sale now.
• And in Melbourne, with her original show as part of the city’s Zoo Twilights series already sold out, Cat Power has confirmed a second date – on Sunday February 10. Like the gig the previous night, she’ll be supported by Jen Cloher. And tickets are on sale now.
• To the UK singles chart now and there’s no change to the top three this week, with Ariana Grande’s new single ‘Thank U, Next’ holding after debuting in top spot this time last week. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper are going nowhere with their single ‘Shallow’ from the soundtrack to ‘A Star Is Born’, while the ladies of Little Mix also hold with their new single ‘Woman Like Me’. Rita Ora continues to climb with ‘Let You Love Me’ (No.5 to No.4) as does Dave with ‘Funky Friday’ (No.6 to No.5). Halsey’s a bigger winner, however, with her new single ‘Without Me’ charging three places to No.6. Freya Ridings’ ‘Lost Without You’ also hits the top ten, up from No.12 to No.9. Cheryl’s new solo song ‘Love Made Me Do It’ underwhelms on debut at No.19.
• The new Olly Murs album ‘You Know I Know’ becomes his first since his eponymous debut back in 2010 to miss the No.1 spot, debuting this week at No.2. It’s right behind the new album from Muse, ‘Simulation Theory’, which storms the UK top 100 albums chart to premiere at No.1. Beatles’ ‘The Beatles’ is back in the countdown at No.4 (thanks to a repackage), Aled Jones and Russell Watson score a No.8 debut for their collaboration ‘In Harmony’ and there’s a No.9 premiere for the new Imagine Dragons long player ‘Origins’. Not such great news for The Prodigy, however… Their album ‘No Tourists’ was flying high last week after debuting at No.1. Seven days on, that same album is down to No.24.
• Music lovers in the United States have this week said ‘Thank U, Next’ to Maroon 5 and their single ‘Girls Like You’. After seven weeks of dominance atop the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the track has finally given way to a new number one. That number one, as you may have guessed, is the new Ariana Grande single ‘Thank U, Next’, which debuts right there in top spot. Not that Maroon 5 have gone too far, mind you. They’re down to No.2, with Travis Scott’s ‘Sicko Mode’ down to No.3, Marshmello and Bastille’s ‘Happier’ down to No.4 and Juice WRLD’s ‘Lucid Dreams’ down to No.5. But Halsey’s ‘Without Me’ continues its ascension, improving three places to No.6.
• Over on the Billboard 200 albums chart this week, the No.1 spot belongs to hip hop star Metro Boomin and his new long player ‘Not All Heroes Wear Capes’. He’s No.1 on debut ahead of the ‘A Star Is Born’ soundtrack, a big move for the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ soundtrack (No.25 to No.3) and a No.4 debut for TakeOff’s ‘The Last Rocket’. The Queen effect is felt elsewhere in the US top ten this week, with ‘Greatest Hits I, II and III : The Platinum Collection’ rocketing from one end of the top 200 (No.194) to the other (No.9). The new Barbra Streisand album ‘Walls’ has seemingly polarised some, debuting at No.12, Moneybagg Yo’s ‘Reset’ is new at No.13 and Pistol Annies’ ‘Interstate Gospel’ is into the chart mix at No.15, also on debut.
• That’s your look at the charts in the UK and US complete this week. Now we turn our attention to the countdowns here at home and we’ll look at them from 5pm AEDT this afternoon in ARIA Chart Watch, our weekly wrap of the ARIA top 100s. Be there! (And by ‘there’, we mean ‘here’).
TICKETS PLEASE
MONDAY NOVEMBER 19 : Greta Van Fleet (Melbourne)
MONDAY NOVEMBER 19 : Kodaline (Nationally)
MONDAY NOVEMBER 19 : Mahalia (Sydney, Melbourne)
MONDAY NOVEMBER 19 : Kylie Minogue (Nationally)
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23 : Bryan Adams (Nationally)
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23 : Hippo Campus (Nationally)
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23 : Hozier (Sydney, Melbourne)
Australia's first stop for pop!