Indie: Last News

Florence + The Machine have been announced as the next headliners of Øya Festival 2022.The Oslo, Norway festival will return this year from August 9-13, with Gorillaz, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Aurora also set to top the bill.Florence + The Machine have been joined on the Øya bill today (January 26) by Fontaines D.C., Parquet Courts and Porridge Radio.Those acts have all expanded the festival’s growing line-up, which already features the likes of AJ Tracey, Girl In Red, Pa Salieu, Michael Kiwanuka, Yard Act, Princess Nokia and Beabadoobee. The Øya bill is split 50/50 between male and female artists.A post shared by Øyafestivalen (@oyafestivalen)Weekend tickets for Øya Festival 2022 have sold out, but day tickets remain available from here.

Warren Ellis has revealed that he is working on new music with Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval.According to The Line Of Best Fit, a now-deleted tweet by the musician was shared on Sunday (January 23) teasing the collaboration.Ellis reportedly wrote, “Been in the studio working on some new Hope Sandoval tracks. What a voice she has.”Since the tweet’s deletion, there have been no further news about the collaboration from Ellis or Sandoval.

The Decemberists have announced a 16-date North American tour – on which, the band have teased, they’ll perform new material – set to kick off in Bonner, Montana on August 3.The following night (August 4) will see the band play the Washington city of Redmond, before hitting stages everywhere from Troutdale, Oregon to Atlanta, Georgia – with a sole stop in Canada to play Toronto’s Massey Hall – throughout the rest of the month.As the band say in a statement shared with the announcement, The Decemberists will “be applying our rusty fingers, feet, and vocal cords to songs from all across the width and breadth of our catalogue – and, should the muses oblige, we might try a few new ones out as well.”A post shared by The Decemberists (@thedecemberists)Joining the band for all 16 dates will be Irish singer-songwriter Brigid Mae Power, who released latest album ‘Head Above The Water’ in 2020.Tickets for the ‘Arise From The Bunkers’ tour go on sale at 10am local time on Friday (January 28), with a pre-sale running from 12pm ET today (January 26).More details on the pre-sale, as well as the ‘Whole Shebang Super Concert Action Packages’ – which, per The Decemberists’ statement, feature “premium tickets, a two-song pre-show performance, a Q&A with the band, and one-of-a-kind merch” – can be found via the band’s Linktree.Following a two-year touring hiatus, The Decemberists returned to the stage last June, when they played a career-spanning set at the 2021 Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Preceding it was a trio of livestreamed performances celebrating their 20th anniversary, each of which sported a different setlist.

Morrissey has issued a statement in which he’s asked his former Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr to stop mentioning him when giving interviews.In a post on his Morrissey Central website, the controversial singer-songwriter wrote: “This is not a rant or an hysterical bombast. It is a polite and calmly measured request: Would you please stop mentioning my name in your interviews?”“Would you please, instead, discuss your own career, your own unstoppable solo achievements and your own music? If you can, would you please just leave me out of it?”Morrissey continued: “The fact is: you don’t know me.

Blur, Idlewild, Dubstar, Jesus Jones and more, was confirmed to NME by a close friend and collaborator. A cause of death has not yet been revealed.Tributes for Ross have started to pour in on social media, including one from Jesus Jones. “We’re heartbroken at the loss of Andy Ross, one half of the mighty Food Records,” the band wrote on Twitter.

Blossoms have today (January 25) unveiled details of their new album, ‘Ribbon Around The Bomb’ – you can listen to the album’s title track below.It will be the Stockport five-pieces fifth album and is set for release on April 29.Blossoms have today announced their brand-new, fourth studio album Ribbon Around The Bomb, which is set for release on the 29th April.Speaking about the new album and single, the group’s Tom Ogden says: “While on tour in 2019 in Mexico, I visited Frida Kahlo’s house. Looking at her paintings on show, someone had described one of them as being like a ‘ribbon around a bomb’.“I immediately thought that it was a great title for a song and album because of the imagery that it evoked in my mind.

Franz Ferdinand have shared a second brand new track, ‘Curious’, from their forthcoming greatest hits album, ‘Hits To The Head’.After teasing their return back in early November, the Scottish indie veterans released ‘Billy Goodbye’, their first new track in three years – a raucous glam stomper that the band worked on with Stuart Price (Dua Lipa, Madonna, Pet Shop Boys).The only other new track on ‘Hits To The Head’ is ‘Curious’, which frontman Alex Kapranos called “quite a different-sounding song” when speaking to NME in a recent interview.“Sonically, it’s more at the silky dance floor end of what the band is about,” he explained. “That one’s about imagining yourself in a situation at the beginning of a romantic relationship, being part of the magical moments and suddenly being overwhelmed by the sense of what’s to come and wondering how you will be when repetition, routine and the everyday is what your relationship becomes.“Are you still going to love me when the magic has faded?”The track comes alongside a video that sees the band put on their dancing shoes.

Damon Albarn addressed the backlash over his controversial comments about Taylor Swift while performing in LA last night.The Blur and Gorillaz frontman was playing a show at Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall yesterday (January 24) in support of his most recent solo album, ‘The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows’.Ahead of the concert, Albarn participated in an interview with the LA Times where he explained that Swift’s “co-writing” approach was at odds with his “traditionalist” view of songwriting.When journalist Mikael Wood put it to him that Swift was “an excellent songwriter”, Albarn responded: “She doesn’t write her own songs.” He went on to say that co-writing “doesn’t count”.Swift later hit back at the musician, tweeting: “@DamonAlbarn I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this.“I write ALL my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really fucked up to try and discredit my writing.

Yard Act and Years & Years are in a close race for this week’s UK Number One album, with just 400 sales separating them.Last Friday (January 21) saw the rising Leeds band release their debut record ‘The Overload’ as Olly Alexander dropped Years & Years’ third studio effort ‘Night Call’. Both albums were awarded four stars by NME.As the Official Charts Company reports today (January 25), Yard Act are edging closer to securing their first Number One in the UK albums chart on Friday (January 28).Should the group achieve the victory, they would become the first act of 2022 to land at the top spot with their debut full-length.Fewer than 400 sales separate Yard Act and Years & Years in the chart battle as of today.

Wet Leg, Years & Years and James Bay.The ninth consecutive edition of IVW will take place across over 210 independent UK venues between Monday (January 31) and Sunday, February 6. It’ll host more than 485 performances, including live gigs, comedy shows, Q&A sessions, films and documentaries.BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Steve Lamacq will celebrate Independent Venue Week 2022 by presenting a series of one-off shows between January 31 and February 4.It’ll kick off with Franz Ferdinand at PJ Molloys in Dunfermline ahead of Yard Act performing a hometown gig at Belgrave Music Hall in Leeds on February 1.

Bright Eyes, Fleet Foxes and Khruangbin have been announced as the final headliners of End Of The Road Festival 2022.The three artists will all play at the Larmer Tree Gardens festival, which this year will run from September 1-4.The trio join Pixies at the top of the bill, who were confirmed as headliners back in September.The likes of The Magnetic Fields, Yard Act, Black Midi, Aldous Harding, Perfume Genius, Greentea Peng, Kurt Vile & The Violators, The Weather Station, Lucy Dacus, Cassandra Jenkins and Kevin Morby will also perform at End Of The Road 2022 – you can see the line-up so far below.“I’m beyond excited about our 2022 line-up, which features artists we’ve been asking to play since 2006 and includes some of the greatest songwriters of all time in my opinion,” End Of The Road co-founder Simon Taffe said about this year’s festival.“It really feels like this is the summer all festivals have been waiting for, a summer three years in the making for some. We have all been through a lot together and it feels good to be back, and to finally be able to dance with friends and artists from all over the world again.”Tickets for End Of The Road Festival 2022 are on sale now from here.

Blossoms have today (January 24) teased a new music announcement.The Stockport five piece shared a short video clip on Twitter along with details of the drop, which is expected tomorrow (January 25) at 6pm.The video is also soundtracked by a clip of what appears to be new music. You can watch it here:TUESDAY 25TH JANUARY.

Damon Albarn has addressed the fact that Taylor Swift doesn’t write all her own songs, saying that her co-writing approach is at odds with his “traditionalist” view on songwriting.The Blur and Gorillaz frontman, and soloist in his own right, was speaking in a new interview when he highlighted what he argued are “big” differences between acts who write their own songs, such as Billie Eilish, verses those who seek input from others.He told The Los Angeles Times that performing stripped-back sets in promotion of his new album ‘The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows‘, leaves him more exposed than when performing with a full band. “You learn whether the songs are any good or whether they were popular at the time because of the sound and the attitude,” he said.The interviewer picked up on his comment and asked whether many modern acts rely on “sound and the attitude” rather than the timeless quality of their music, to which Albarn replied: “Name me someone who’s not.”After it was suggested to him that Swift is an “excellent songwriter”, he said that she doesn’t write her own songs (the interviewer clarified that co-writing is involved).“That doesn’t count.

Liam Gallagher has hinted that an Oasis deep cut could make a return to his live solo set.Gallagher told a fan on Twitter today (January 24) that he’d like to return ‘I Can See A Liar’ – from 2000’s ‘Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants’ – to his live shows.One of Gallagher’s fans asked: “If you could sing an Oasis song that you haven’t sung in several years, what song would it be?”Gallagher replied: “‘I Can See A Liar’ is tickling my maltesesrs [sic] these days.”The song was performed only handful of times by Oasis, the last time being on The Late Show With David Letterman back in May 2000.I can see a liar is tickling my maltesesrs these days— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) January 24, 2022Last week, Gallagher announced details of a new single called ‘Everything’s Electric’.After teasing some “fucking massive” news on Twitter last week (January 19), the former Oasis frontman confirmed a day later that the track will arrive on February 4. It’ll be the first preview of his third solo album ‘C’mon You Know’, which is out on May 22.

Bernard Butler and Roxanne de Bastion have discussed the making of the latter’s recent album ‘You & Me, We Are The Same’ in a new joint video interview – you can watch their chat first on NME below.The former Suede musician produced de Bastion’s second studio album, which arrived back in September.Butler and de Bastion have now sat down to discuss the making of ‘You & Me, We Are The Same’, with their pair recalling in the video how they embarked on their first recording session together while de Bastion’s father was unwell.“That’s what I was dealing with at the time,” she recalled. “I think the openness, musically, came from me being in that situation, and really being grateful and clutching onto that opportunity of ‘we’re making a record now’.

Noel Gallagher has claimed that Harvey Weinstein once stared at his wife Sara MacDonald “throughout” a meal at a Paris restaurant.As the Oasis founder recounted, he and Sara were dining at the same restaurant as the disgraced Hollywood producer a few years ago, and noticed that Weinstein kept staring at her.He told Matt Morgan‘s podcast: “We happened to go for lunch. Harvey Weinstein happened to be sat at quite a big table with loads of similar looking men.“He stared at her throughout this meal.”After initially believing that Weinstein may have been interested in casting Sara in a film, Gallagher then realised what the motive behind the staring may have been.

Miles Kane has revealed that comedian Paul O’Grady offered to do a guest feature on his album for free.O’Grady features on a track on Kane’s new LP ‘Change The Show’, his first new solo album release since 2018’s ‘Coup De Grace’.The single ‘Don’t Let It Get You Down’ features a spoken-word introduction by O’Grady, who quotes his Lily Savage character: “I can’t bloody well understand it, if you want my honest opinion.“It’s got everything: clear diction, beautifully spoken. You know, it’s topical, you know.

Wilco have concluded their Sky Blue Sky festival in Mexico with guest appearances from Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus and Spoon frontman Britt Daniel during their headlining set.The band brought out Malkmus to sing lead vocals on a cover of Pavement’s 1994 single ‘Cut Your Hair’, a song Wilco have covered several times over the years. Daniel, meanwhile, was enlisted on vocals and acoustic guitar during a performance of ‘Kamera’, lifted from Wilco’s 2001 album ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’.

The Wiggles have topped the triple j Hottest 100 chart in Australia with a Tame Impala cover.It was announced this week that the band have come out victorious on Australia’s triple j Hottest 100 of 2021 countdown with their Like A Version cover of the band’s 2012 track ‘Elephant’.The beloved children’s entertainers were the hot favourites to take out the youth broadcaster’s annual listener-voted poll by algorithmic predictor 100 Warm Tunas. It marks the first time a triple j Like A Version cover has ever landed in the top spot.The Wiggles made their debut on the Like A Version cover series in March with the cover, which interpolated lyrics from The Wiggles’ own ‘Fruit Salad’.“If someone had told me back when we released ‘Elephant’ that, in ten years’ time, The Wiggles were gonna cover it and it would get Top 10 Hottest 100, I would’ve told you that you were out of your mind,” Parker told triple j of the news.“I would’ve told you that that’s a ridiculous idea and I wouldn’t have believed you.

Nilüfer Yanya has shared another taster of her upcoming second album – watch the video for the widescreen new track ‘Midnight Sun’ below.‘Midnight Sun’ follows recent track ‘Stabilise’ in previewing her upcoming second album ‘Painless’, which is set to arrive on March 4 via ATO and follows 2019 debut ‘Miss Universe’.“It’s a song about recognising what it feels like to be pushed down but wanting to resist,” Yanya said of ‘Midnight Sun’ in a statement. “I really like the imagery of ‘midnight sun’ as a lyric as it insinuates a light guiding you through darkness.

The Wombats have scored their first UK Number One album with ‘Fix Yourself, Not The World’.The Liverpool trio released their fifth studio effort last Friday (January 14), with the subsequent mid-week chart placing it as the most physically purchased record of the week up to that point.Yesterday (January 21) it was announced that the band had secured the top spot (via the Official Charts Company), appearing above Ed Sheeran‘s ‘=’ (Number Two) and Adele‘s ’30’ (Number Three). The rest of the top five is made up of ‘Dawn FM’ by The Weeknd (Number Four) and ‘Fragments’ by Bonobo (Number Five).Reflecting on their victory in a thread of tweets, Matthew ‘Murph’ Murphy and co.