Focus Music Notes. "Out of the Blues". Popular music through the decades

Multi-award-winning Billboard chart topper Sean Paul is heating up 2022 with his eighth full-length album Scorcha out NOW via Island Records. The sixteen-track album sees the global icon serving up his classic infectious sound and party-starting rhythms, just in time for the summer. In traditional Sean Paul fashion, the album boasts features from legendary artists across genres including focus track "Light My Fire" featuring Gwen Stefani and Shenseea. The unexpected pairing of vocals from pop icon Gwen Stefani and Jamaican dancehall stronghold Shenseea is a testament to Paul's supreme ability to produce global hits. Complete with an unshakable chorus that hears Stefani sing "baby won't you light my fire," "Light My Fire" is primed to be this summer's biggest anthem! The new album also includes previously released songs "Scorcha," "Only Fanz" (ft. Ty Dolla Sign), "Dynamite" (ft. Sia), "How We Do It" (ft....

The Specials who enjoyed a triumphant 2019 with the release of the critically acclaimed “Encore”, their first ever number 1 album, coming 40 years after they exploded onto the music scene and launched the 2 Tone movement, make a very timely return with the release of their brand new album “Protest Songs – 1924 -2012”. Released on 1st October through their new label Island Records, the album features twelve singular takes on specially chosen protest songs across an almost 100-year span and shows The Specials still care, are still protesting and still pissed off! You can also catch the Specials on tour across the UK, full dates below. The Specials emerged in the late 1970s as the multiracial flagship of the 2 Tone movement, and sang of racism, unemployment and injustice making a very clear political statement every time they stepped on stage. It's fitting, then, that in 2021, at a time when the world is riven with social, racial and political unrest, that the Specials have made thi...

To celebrate the easing of lockdown measures, Britain’s most rambunctious band Sports Team release a special, limited edition B-sides & Rarities Vinyl, Plant Test, available only at Independent retailers in the UK. Independent retail has been at the heart of Sports Team’s output, having had the biggest vinyl sales for a debut British artist in 2020, and number 1 on official vinyl chart week of release. The six piece have also announced their rescheduled tour dates, and will bring the dizzying chaos of their live show to Manchester Academy, SWG3, Rock City, University Stylus, Whelans, SWX, and culminate at O2 Academy Brixton on 25 November 2021, for many nights to remember. See below for the full list of the “Red Hot Rock Show” dates and festival performances.  It will be the band’s first time performing songs from their debut, which battled it out with global superstar Lady Gaga for the number #1 spot in the UK charts last June. It was a chart race which broke Twitter; from fas...

THE WEEKND ANNOUNCES HIS RETURN TO THE GLOBAL STAGE WITH AFTER HOURS WORLD TOUR AHEAD OF ‘THE HIGHLIGHTS’ ALBUM & HEADLINING SUPER BOWL PERFORMANCE The 104-date global tour will kick off on January 14th in Vancouver at Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena with stops in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Paris, Berlin and more, before wrapping November 16th in London at The O2. The Weeknd’s FULL Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime ShowWATCH HERE The worldwide tour announcement comes just days ahead of the multi-platinum singer’s headlining Super Bowl performance, and also includes a handful of rescheduled dates shifting from 2021 to be a part of the After Hours World Tour in 2022. With the addition of 39 new tour dates, The Weeknd will also release  The Highlights  on Friday, February 5th.  The Highlights  is a way to present some of The Weeknd’s most notable works in one place.  While this isn’t a “Greatest Hits” album it does provide a new listener a rich for...

Live streaming today, Bank Holiday Monday, 31st August, 1Xtra's Jeremiah Asiamah & Island Records join forces to bring you a day of dancehall & DJ sets, to help celebrate what would have been.   With artists including reggae royalty Skip Marley, Queen of Afrobeats Tiwa Savage and the original dancehall Superstar Sean Paul performing, it's set to be a day of pure vibes and the next best thing to being on the streets of West London this weekend. Live streamed from 1-7pm on Jeremiahasiamah.com the carnival spirit will be alive and kicking in your living room, back yard or garden.Scroll down for schedule; DATE: MONDAY 31ST AUGUST 1-7PM ---------------- LIVE STREAM LINK: Jeremiahasiamah.com 👀👀👀 SCHEDULE: 1:00PM - Welcome by Jeremiah Asiamah LIVE 1:05PM - DJ Nate LIVE 1:45 PM - DJ Larni + PA From IQ LIVE 2:30 PM: - Kenny Allstar + PA From Afro B LIVE 3:15 PM: - DeeJay Why LIVE 3:45 PM - House Gospel Choir LIVE 4;00 PM: - Sef Kombo LIVE 4:30 PM: ...

Spending lockdown in their home studio in Worthing, it seemed only fitting for NOISY to take over the seaside town to film their latest video for new single ‘Where’s Your Head?’. The high-octane song is appropriate now, as it dives into the importance of looking after your mates through hard times.   Earlier this year, the trio headlined a sold-out Camden Assembly, following the release of their debut EP ‘Press Space To Play’, which featured single ‘Bring The Drums Back’, an ode to homegrown dance styles in the UK. The band look forward to performing live again and join YungBlud on his Spring UK tour, with their first date confirmed on March 17th 2021 at O2 Forum Kentish Town. “'Where’s Your Head?’ is a song about looking after your mates and trying to understand what they’re going through if they’re having a hard time. It’s about living for Friday night, but remembering to check in on your mates on Saturday morning. With the subject being quite close to home we wanted to...

Singer, songwriter and producer Jeremy Zucker debuts the video for his latest single, “not ur friend,”  The video is directed by Hayley Bowman and edited by Jeremy alongside Stefan Kohli. “not ur friend,” which was co-written in collaboration with Max Martin’s MXM team and produced by Zucker, is taken from his highly anticipated debut album, love is not dying, out later this spring. Of the inspiration behind the video, Jeremy says, “We really just wanted to make a fun, lighthearted video, which is something I don’t get the opportunity to do often. We experimented with new colors and aesthetics to give it a different feeling and look. Given the sentiment of the song, it felt like the right time to take a bit of a different approach to the video too.” This summer, Zucker will embark on his North American and European “love is not dying” Tour, which includes stops at New York’s Terminal 5 on June 18th, Los Angeles’ The Novo on July 17th, two stops at San Francisco’s The Fillmo...

Just before we self-isolated, NOISY took over the launderette at the Barbican, filming their latest video ‘Oi (ATM)’, a track which scraps with money matters talk, and cements NOISY’s high-octane energy and explosive sonic, in a spinning, nostalgic visual.   Earlier this month, the trio from Worthing headlined a sold-out Camden Assembly to fan frenzy, which followed the release of their debut EP ‘Press Space To Play’, featuring single ‘Bring The Drums Back,’ an ode to homegrown dance styles in the UK. The band are holed up in their studio in Worthing doing what they do best and creating for the foreseeable, but look forward to re-arranged live dates at Truck Festival, 110 Above, Neighbourhood and Liverpool Sound City. Dates below. Comprised of singer/rapper Cody, guitarist Connor and producer Spencer, the band is the culmination of several years of hanging out at skateparks. They’ve been Noisy for the past year and a half, an 18-month period that’s seen them build a makesh...

Late last year, Noisy released their first ever singles ‘So What,’ and ‘Do It Like That’, which introduced a plucky, high octane British band who take the spin-the-bottle sensibility of the playlist generation, and make explosive, no boundary music. Today the trio from Worthing break dry Jan and release their debut EP ‘Press Space To Play’, featuring new single ‘Bring The Drums Back,’ an ode to homegrown dance styles in the UK. Noisy also announce their first headline show at Camden Assembly on 11 March, before an extensive run of live dates including Annie Mac Presents, Live at Leeds, The Great Escape & Neighbourhood festival. “Everyone at some point in their lives has gone out on a Friday and made a mistake… Got way too drunk and started on your mate, pulled a roll through and gone to work on no sleep, sent a text that you’ll definitely regret in the morning... Bring The Drums Back is about doing all these things. It’s about our generation. Making mistakes and thinking fuc...

Today Norwegian pop sensation Sigrid releases the first new music since her critically acclaimed debut album Sucker Punch, writing original song ‘Home To You’ for the motion picture The Aeronauts, starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones.  Directed by Tom Harper, the film shines a light on feminist and pioneer Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) – the daredevil balloon pilot who teams up with ground-breaking meteorologist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) – to advance human knowledge and fly higher than anyone in history.  The sentiment of the importance of ‘home’ resonates with the 23-year-old BBC Sound of 2018 winner, from the tiny coastal town of Alesund in Norway, who has travelled the world and become one of the biggest breakout pop star of the last few years. Following a 5-week American tour, Sigrid is back in the UK next month to begin her biggest headline run to date: playing Ireland’s 3Arena on 22 November to London’s Eventim Apollo on 4 December. Tap link List...