Indie: Last News

Gorillaz formed, saying that he had hoped to launch his own “cartoon band”.The reclusive singer-songwriter was the only constant member of Felt, who released 10 studio albums between 1982 and 1989. However, he doesn’t appear on the group’s penultimate LP ‘Train Above The City’ (1988).Lawrence went on to launch glam-rock-inspired outfit Denim (they dropped two albums in the 1990s) before forming Mozart Estate (fka Go-Kart Mozart) in ’99.Despite having never achieved commercial success, Lawrence counts Jarvis Cocker and Charlie Brooker as some of his famous fans (Demin bagged a support slot with Pulp in the mid-’90s).During a new interview with The Guardian, Lawrence spoke about Denim’s initial decision to not play gigs as he believed “live music was over” at that time.

Yard Act have spoken to NME about what this year’s shortlist for the Mercury Prize 2022 says about guitar music – as well as plans for their next album and working with Elton John.The Yorkshire band were speaking to NME from the London launch event for the prize yesterday (Wednesday July 27), where their acclaimed debut album ‘The Overload‘ was named as one of the Albums Of The Year alongside albums by the likes of Sam Fender, Nova Twins, Harry Styles, Little Simz, Self Esteem and more.They were in attendance without frontman James Smith, “because of the trains,” said guitarist Sam Shjipstone, adding: “support the strikes.”Asked what the Mercury Prize shortlist says about music in 2022, Shjipstone replied: “There’s quite a lot of guitar music on it, which is quite weird. People are finally realising that the guitar is the greatest instrument ever made!”Bassist Ryan Needham added: “There’s quite a lot of rage and unrest lyrically across the whole thing, which is nice to see.

Phoebe Bridgers‘ recent London show featured a surprise cameo from The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, who joined the singer-songwriter during her closer ‘I Know The End’.Bridgers performed at the O2 Academy Brixton last night (July 26), as part of her UK and European ‘Reunion Tour’. As is customary for Bridgers’ shows, her main set closer was the final song on her 2020 album ‘Punisher’, ‘I Know The End’.During the section of the song with prolonged screaming, support act Sloppy Jane returned to the stage to join in – accompanied by Healy, who was watching the show from side-stage.

Dry Cleaning have today unveiled a new single, ‘Anna Calls From The Arctic’ – check it out below.Dry Cleaning recently headlined the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of Meltdown, airing new single ‘Don’t Press Me’ as part of their set. The song was the first taster of their upcoming second album ‘Stumpwork’, which will arrive on October 21 and follow their 2021 debut album ‘New Long Leg’.That latter record entered the UK charts at Number Four and landed on many album of the year lists.Now, the next single from the upcoming project has been shared and you can listen to it here.Speaking about the new track, the band said: “The lyrics were partly inspired by phone calls with a friend who was living and working in the Arctic.“The song developed from a keyboard, bass and clarinet jam.

The 1975 have announced their next single, ‘Happiness’.The Manchester group returned earlier this month with the track ‘Part Of The Band’, which served as the first taste of their fifth album ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’ (out October 14 via Dirty Hit).Now, some fans have spotted new posters in London that confirm that ‘Happiness’ will arrive next Wednesday (August 3).It comes after frontman Matty Healy recently shared a black-and-white image of himself in the studio with the upcoming song’s title appearing as the caption. You can check out both photos below.A post shared by Matty (@trumanblack)In a four-star review, NME said that The 1975 were “unafraid to rip up their own rule book” with their latest single.It added: “If ‘Part Of The Band’ is anything to go by, Healy and co.

Mercury Prize have been sharing their excitement over being shortlisted for the prestigious award.This morning (July 26), the Mercury Prize – in partnership with mobility app FREE NOW – confirmed that Harry Styles‘ ‘Harry’s House’, Little Simz‘ ‘Sometimes I Might be Introvert’, Sam Fender‘s ‘Seventeen Going Under’, Wet Leg‘s self-titled LP and Yard Act‘s ‘The Overload’ are among the 12 records in the running for the annual Album Of The Year statue.The rest of the list is made up of Self Esteem (‘Prioritise Pleasure’), Joy Crookes (‘Skin’), Kojey Radical (‘Reason To Smile’), Nova Twins (‘Supernova’), Fergus McCreadie (‘Forest Floor’), Gwenno (‘Tresor’) and Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler (‘For All Our Days That Tear The Heart’).The winner will be announced during an event at London’s Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith on September 8.Reacting to the nod on Twitter, Wet Leg – aka Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers – wrote: “We’re so freakin lucky that we got to make the album that we made. These past couple of years have been full of surprises and unexpected adventures.“Here’s perhaps one of our fave surprises so far…Our debut album has been shortlisted for a @MercuryPrize!?”Elsewhere, Sam Fender said he was “so chuffed” that ‘Seventeen Going Under’ (NME‘s album of the year 2021) had made the Mercurys list.

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis have shared their full list of dates for a tour of their native Australia, in support of their collaborative 2021 album ‘Carnage’.News of the tour first arrived back in February, when Cave wrote about returning to Australia at the end of 2022 in a Red Hand Files letter. The following month the duo announced two dates at the remote Victorian location of Hanging Rock with Courtney Barnett.A full list of ‘Carnage’ tour dates were to follow, but the announcement was postponed following the tragic death of Cave’s son, Jethro.

Sam Fender has announced a headline Australian tour for November 2022, in support of his second studio album ‘Seventeen Going Under’.The tour, announced today (July 26), is Fender’s first to the continent in over three years. He was last in Australia as part of the Splendour In The Grass festival, performing there as well as at select headlining dates.

Jarvis Cocker has confirmed that Pulp will return for reunion shows next year.The Pulp singer and solo artist told fans at a Guardian-hosted talk and Q&A for his new memoir Good Pop, Bad Pop that the band will regroup for 2023.It follows a 15-second clip shared by Cocker on Instagram last week in which the words “What exactly do you do for an encore?” appeared on screen. The line is from the title track of Pulp’s 1998 album ‘This Is Hardcore’, which hits its 25th anniversary milestone next year.The move prompted fans to speculate that a reunion was on the cards.

Bandsintown with data collected from 1,106 music fans. The study also found that 34 per cent of respondents had plans to attend a show alone in the next 12 months.“Going to a show solo is the ultimate level of fandom,” Fabrice Sergent, co-founder and managing partner of Bandsintown, told NME.

Sylvan Esso have shared details of their fourth studio album, ‘No Rules Sandy’.In addition to the album announcement, the duo have released new song ‘Didn’t Care’, which traces the emotional journey from a humble meeting to life-changing love.The band made an appearance at the Newport Folk Festival yesterday (July 24) where they debuted the new album by performing it in its entirety.Speaking of the new record, vocalist Amelia Meath said that it “feels like who we actually are. It just feels like us.

Amazonica has spoken of her experience supporting The Libertines at Wembley Arena this weekend, as well as sharing some exclusive behind-the-scenes photos.The DJ, solo artist and longtime friend of the band was invited to join the band when they celebrated 20 years of their seminal debut album ‘Up The Bracket’ at the iconic London venue this weekend – where the likes of The Cribs were also performing as special guests, and Jamie T even made a surprise appearance.“You know those people who you may not see for years but when you do see each other it’s as if no time has passed?” Amazonica told NME. “You like the same stuff, you understand each other intrinsically and you just love hanging out with them.

The National have debuted a new song at this year’s Newport Folk Festival – check out the moment below.The new song is called ‘Space Invaders (Threaded Gold)’ and comes after the band performed three other new songs in Spain back in May. At that gig, the National aired ‘Tropic Morning News (Haversham)’, ‘Grease In Your Hair (Birdie)’, and ‘Bathwater (Mount Auburn)’.Check out the latest new song below:In a social media post shared in May, The National revealed that they have been working on new material. “Rehearsals are underway,” they wrote on Instagram.

Travis frontman Fran Healy has revealed that he was the victim of an attempted carjacking outside his studio in Los Angeles.The Scottish musician, who now lives in Los Angeles, recounted the tale on Twitter today (July 25): “Almost got carjacked inside the parking facility of my studio. Man! That was close. Huge guy tried to pull me out my car window.

Joni Mitchell surprised the crowd at Newport Folk Festival over the weekend when she joined Brandi Carlile on stage for two songs.Fans were treated to a rare performance from the music legend when she appeared during Carlile’s set on Sunday (July 24). Together, the pair sang Mitchell’s classics ‘Both Sides Now’ and ‘A Case Of You’, released in 1966 and 1971, respectively.

Blossoms covered The Human League‘s classic single ‘Don’t You Want Me’ during their headline set at Truck Festival earlier this week – check out the footage below.The Stockport band topped the bill at the four-day Oxfordshire event on Thursday night (July 21).Towards the end of their 18-track set, Blossoms treated the crowd to their own spin on the 1981 anthem ‘Don’t You Want Me’ and have since shared footage of the cover on Instagram.

Jamie T joined The Libertines on stage at London’s Wembley Arena last night – check out the moment below.Jamie came on for the last song of the set, The Libertines’ ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’ after the band had delivered a career-spanning set earlier in the evening.

Foxing fan has become an internet sensation after he climbed the ceiling at the outfit’s recent Ohio show.The “iconic” moment occurred at Cleveland’s Grog Shop on Monday (July 19), in the midst of the outfit’s North American tour with Greet Death and Home Is Where.However, as seen in fan-shot footage below, it wasn’t just the attendee’s mounting the ceiling that caught people’s attention. The ardent fan proceeded to scuttle along ceiling gear from the middle of the room to end up hovering over the stage.This picture doesn’t quite capture the insanity of the moment.

Marcus Mumford has announced a North American headline tour for 2022 – tickets will be available from here.The Mumford & Sons frontman will hit the road stateside this autumn in support of his debut solo album ‘(Self-Titled)’, which is due to arrive on September 16 via Island (pre-order here).The tour is set to kick off in Boulder, Colorado on September 19 ahead of further shows in Denver, Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles throughout the rest of that month. In early October, Mumford will resume the stint in Ventura, California.He’ll then make stop-offs in cities such as Austin, Dallas, Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, Portland, New York and Boston.

Franz Ferdinand‘s Alex Kapranos has shared details of a new six-part radio series.In August, Kapranos will join Absolute Radio to host a new series that will run every Sunday night at 10pm from August 7. The show will also see the singer being joined by special guests including Johnny Marr.A statement about the show said: “Alex will be bringing his encyclopedic knowledge of and eclectic taste in music to his own show, as well as anecdotes from over 20 years at the top of the UK indie music scene and insight from across the music world.“Alongside this you can expect the musician to be joined by a range of guests including Johnny Marr, The Cribs and Los Bitchos.”Speaking about the new show, Kapranos said: “I’m happy to say that Absolute Radio have invited me in to take over on Sunday nights, play songs I love, and have a bit of a chat with musicians I like.

Foals have created their own one-of-a-kind bike in aid of the Mental Health Foundation – find all the details on how to win it below.The Oxford band’s drummer and avid cyclist Jack Bevan joined forces with top UK cycle manufacturer Brompton to create the “Foals-themed” bike, which was handbuilt in London.“Using Brompton’s renowned folding C Line frame as a basis, Jack customised the design using his own choice of additional components, including a Brookes Cambium saddle as well as the stylish, high-performance tan wall tyres provided by Schwalbe,” an official listing reads.“It was then completed with a detailed visual design which adapts elements from the ‘Life Is Yours’ album aesthetic to adorn the bike in a way that’s utterly distinctive.”To be in with a chance of winning the bike, fans are required to enter a Crowdfunder raffle for either £5 (one ticket), £10 (three tickets) or £20 (eight tickets). You can buy yours here until August 25.All money raised will go to the Mental Health Foundation.