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

Mumford & Sons’ fourth album ‘Delta’ is out now on Gentlemen of the Road/Island Records. Watch Mumford & Sons performing Guiding Light on the Graham Norton Show HERE STREAM ‘DELTA’ HERE    -   BUY DELTA HERE ----------------------------- Mumford & Sons Live: 16th November - Dublin, 3 Arena 18th November - Belfast, SSE Arena 20th November - Glasgow, SSE Hydro 21st November - Manchester, Manchester Arena 23rd November - Birmingham, Genting Arena 24th November - Sheffield, Fly DSA Arena 25th November - Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena 27th November - Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena 28th November - Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena 29th November - London, O2 Arena 1st December - Leeds, First Direct Arena 2nd December - Liverpool, Echo Arena 7th December - Philadelphia, Wells Fargo Center 9th December - Boston, TD Garden 10th December - New York, Madison Square Garden 11th December – New York, Madison Square Garden 14th December - Washington DC, Capital One Arena

Produced by Paul Epworth at The Church Studios in London, ‘Delta’ finds the band in sparkling, experimental form. Coupling their penchant for the grandiose and the intimate, the British four-piece paint their sound with a broad range of colours and textures. It’s a record that they are immensely proud of and draws on their own individual and collective experiences over the past two years since the writing and recording process for ‘Delta’ commenced. On Thursday evening, fans connected around the world for a series of special album playback events, where ‘Delta’ was accompanied by visuals curated by, and in partnership with, National Geographic. It was an idea by the band, originally inspired by their own creation process of the album. Mumford & Sons: "While we were recording and mixing Delta, we watched a lot of films on silent including some pretty epic wildlife films by National Geographic -- like a vision-track to our soundtrack. So, we felt it would be a nice idea to

Easy Life have unveiled the video for latest single ‘Nightmares’, which is available now on Island Records. The idiosyncratic Leicester five-piece recently made their TV debut on ‘Later…with Jools Holland’, and continue their sold-out UK tour - featuring an intimate date at London’s Moth Club on November 21st – this week. Directed by Greg Barth (Blink Productions), ’Nightmares’ perfectly captures the confidence, charm and charisma of Easy Life (with the track also receiving a surprise shout-out from Emma Thompson when she was made a Dame this week). Blending hip-hop swing, jazzy horns and the band’s innate ear for pop hooks, ‘Nightmares’ itself originated– says lead-singer, Murray – “with a trumpet sample that we loved from Dionne Warwick’s version of Burt Bacharach’s ‘Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets’. This instantly gave us the feels, and the rest just kind of fell into place.” The result is a positive, uplifting take on a young generation – as the lyrics to ‘Nightm

It’s simple. Really. JamesDavis is a band of three musician siblings who have now come together after separately deciding they needed a way to express the songs that were constantly forming in their heads. Comprised of fraternal twin sisters Jess and Rey along with their brother Auston, their music blends stripped-down soul with heartfelt rock,taking influence from music greats such as: Leon Ware, Curtis Mayfield, Tina Turner, Mary J. Blige, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Kings of Leon & Fleetwood Mac. What has essentially been a private project, James Davis has started performing live with a bare setup. Rey plays guitar and sings, Auston is on keyboards, and vocals & the pads, while Jess offers her voice. Until now JamesDavis has been very much under the radar, an anomaly in today’s musical landscape. They’ve held tightly to their songs, because they know they’re valuable. Now they’re ready, for you with their new EP “Lamplighter”. “SPEEDBOAT” SINGLE OUT NOW -: https

‘Sucker Punch’ cements the Norwegian star Sigrid’s rise to pop prominence. The singer, songwriter and arranger today releases the colossal video to the single, working with acclaimed directors AB/CD/CD to create a confident, spontaneous, authentic pop-tastic visual. The 22-year-old progressive talent says: “The video is a bit mad, and that’s the whole point, as there’s a lot going on in the song. It’s filmed in London and the set design was so good, what a team. I hope people have fun watching it; and dance, sing and laugh. If you’re wondering if you can buy the Sigrid Tacos...we should make that happen!” Sigrid was catapulted into the public consciousness last year with the zeitgeist defining Don’t Kill My Vibe; with the certified-Gold Strangers, A-List record ‘High Five’ and critically lauded RAW EP following. The pop prodigy will now play her biggest sold-out headline to date on 12 November, as she takes on O2 Brixton Academy and tours the UK, as well as being chosen to perform at

The Specials, one of the most electrifying, influential and important bands of all time, release “Encore”, their first new music for 37 years via UMC /Island Records on February 1st. 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the formation of The Specials and the legendary Two-Tone label in Coventry in 1979, and also marks 10 years since the band reformed to play some of the most vital and joyous live shows in recent memory. The 10-song “Encore” was produced by Specials founding members Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter alongside Danish musician/producer Torp Larsen and indeed is the first time Hall, Golding & Panter have recorded new material together since the band’s 1981 No.1 single Ghost Town. The Specials will take to the road in the UK and abroad throughout 2019 in support of the new album. HMV customers can pre-order ‘Encore’ on CD or vinyl before 11.59pm on Monday 29th October 2018 for first access to 2019 UK tour tickets. Fans who have pre-ordered the a

Continuing his global domination, history-making multiplatinum Dallas, TX artist Post Malone touches down in Europe next year for a full-scale headline tour. The superstar will take over arenas throughout Europe as he brings his chart-crushing second full-length beerbongs & bentleys [Republic Records & Island Records] across the pond. Tickets go on sale October 12. Get them here. Post Malone stirs a mix of genres into his own sonic sound that’s both intoxicating and invigorating. His RIAA Platinum certified debut album, Stoney, led the genre-bending Dallas, TX artist to his first Top 10 Billboard 200 and first #1 R&B/Hip-Hop Album while being the “#1 Debut Hip-Hop Artist of 2016”. In 2018, his sophomore album, beerbongs & bentleys, debuted on the Billboard Top 200 at #1 and achieved one the year’s “biggest streaming weeks ever”. Additionally, Post charted nine songs in the Top 20 of the Hot 100, notching “the most songs in the Top 20 of the Hot 10

Last week, Flyte performed to a packed Heath Street Baptist Church, using string quartet accompaniment to reimagine their critically acclaimed debut album ‘The Loved Ones’. Reminiscent of an MTV unplugged session, the night further established their reputation as a remarkable live experience. Having reached the end of seven months of touring, the band took a break on the Isle of Wight, to write and produce two completely new songs. The result was ‘Moon Unit’ - a nod to Frank Zappa’s daughter and an ode to the songs their parents would listen to on cassette during long drives- and ‘Victory Girls’ - a simple, melodic piece, which crosses history both lyrically and stylistically. The two tracks are produced and mixed by longtime friend and collaborator, Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett). Tap link to Listen to Moon Unit and Victory Girl Flyte began to form when Will Taylor (vocals, guitar) and Jon Supran (drums, vocals) started playing together age 11 at their local c

Never the kind of band to act in uncertain haste when it comes to their music, each song off Flyte’s debut album "The Loved Ones" feels like something to relish, to mull over, with a deeper, unfolding resonance. The same goes for their visual identity, and today the London four-piece offer a glimpse into life over the past year and early recording sessions, with the second instalment of ‘Behind Sliding Doors’, created by good friend Balan Evans. Flyte also released the remarkable ‘Faithless’ video earlier this month, directed by Femke Huurdeman and CANADA (Tame Impala, Beck), the only band to work consecutively with the legendary production company. The London four-piece continue their live dexterity with a 14-date Lord Huron tour in January, following their Lemon Twigs support and sold out Scala-headline this year. Watch ‘Behind Sliding Doors Part 2 here’: https://Flyte.lnk.to/Part2FP Flyte separately admit that as early as age ten, a career in music was their only

Never the kind of band to act in uncertain haste when it comes to their music, each song off Flyte's debut album The Loved Ones feels like something to relish, to mull over, with a deeper, unfolding resonance. The same goes for their visual identity, and following the release of their critically lauded debut album, Flyte reveal the 'Faithless' video, a remarkable collaboration with Femke Huurdeman and CANADA (Tame Impala, Beck), the only band to work consecutively with the legendary production company. Flyte have also spent the last month supporting Lemon Twigs on tour, concluding at Kentish Town Forum, and will play at Communions Christmas Party at Notting Hill Arts Club on December 3, as well as supporting Lord Huron on their European tour early next year.   "It felt great to go back and work with Canada for a second time. We knew the 'Holy Mountain' and 'Paris, Texas' references were going to lead to something grandiose, and the director Femke&#

In the past nine months Sigrid has gone from unknown to one of the most exceptional breakout artists of 2017. Sigrid’s rise has been unrivalled; from releasing her acclaimed debut Don’t Kill My Vibe EP, which has amassed over 100M global streams - to playing Hoxton Kitchen, two sold-out Scala’s and announcing a Shepherds Bush Empire headline all in less than a year. Now Sigrid releases the mighty ‘Strangers’, produced by Martin Sjolie, the dream pairing behind ‘Don’t Kill My Vibe’. With lyrics of steel, meandering melodies and stark honesty, ‘ Strangers ’ embodies the natural, sincere talent Sigrid has become renowned for. At only 21-years-old, the Norwegian pop sensation also gives her vocals to the epic action adventure Justice League, with a powerful, haunting take on Leonard Cohen’s ‘ Everybody Knows ’, available now. From the tiny town of Ålesund in Norway, which sits at the entrance of a UNESCO-protected fjord surrounded by sea and mountains, Sigrid has been quietly creating

Never the kind of band to act in uncertain haste when it comes to their music, each song off Flyte's debut album The Loved Ones feels like something to relish, to mull over, with a deeper, unfolding resonance. In the school of Grizzly Bear, Alt J, and Fleet Foxes, Flyte have used their four voices to guide their sound, avoiding crashing cymbals and layers of electric guitars in favour of a more carefully constructed approach. The Loved Ones is the result of years of enlightenment and friendship. "The Loved Ones is for the thoughtful listener. Like a book you can open and read from start to finish. An album you would listen to on headphones on the bus to school, that is yours and no one else's," says lead singer Will Taylor. Today Flyte release their exceptional debut 10-Track LP, and to celebrate their album release, the four-piece reveal the first instalment of 'Behind Sliding Doors', which documents early sessions in the studio, from the perspective of p

In December 2016, a man and his rescue dog drove out to Joshua Tree in the Southern California Desert. Armed with a guitar and “a shitty 10-year-old laptop,” the genre-spanning maverick spent two weeks screaming into a microphone at two in the morning and bleeding over his guitar strings in between walking his dog under the cool, arid night sky and barely sleeping at the “weird house” he rented. That man was Mondo Cozmo (the dog just goes by Cozmo, you can hear his input on the raucous ‘Come With Me’). They left the desert with the artist’s 2017 full-length debut, ‘Plastic Soul’ in tow. ‘Plastic Soul’ is a genuinely unique, impassioned collection of ten songs. It has to be one of the most intriguing, exciting and impressive debuts to be released this year. Having already been tipped by Sunday Times Culture as a ‘Breaking Act’ and with every track released to date being named a ‘Best New Track’ in NME, as well as support from BBC Radio 1 and Radio X, this year looks set to belong

Today Flyte reveal the remarkable video for 'Cathy Come Home', produced by legendary collective CANADA (Tame Impala, El Guincho) and directed by rising filmmaker Femke Huurdeman. A discovery of coming of age nostalgia and cinematic delicacy, the song takes its name from the 1966 BBC play directed by Ken Loach. "To us, being English is all about that undercurrent of sadness" says lead singer Will Taylor, "It's what's inspired the whole record. Cathy Come Home is about parents dealing with an empty nest, struggling to let their children out into the world". Cathy Come Home is lifted from Flyte's debut record – The Loved Ones – the title announced today and set for release on August 25 on Island Records, with pre-order available now . WATCH CATHY COME HOME HERE: https://youtu.be/KEvhSUT-toI In the school of Grizzly Bear, Alt J, and Fleet Foxes, Flyte have used their four voices to guide their sound, avoiding crashing cymbals and layers of ele