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

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 foray into some of the ico

Following on from their latest high-octane track ‘Put a Record on’ which highlights their vibrant get-up-and-go attitude towards life, fuelled by good vibes music comes the official remixes from two of the hottest UKG bassline DJ/producers, Sammy Virji and Bushbaby. “Loved working on this remix, putting a 2-step spin on it. Noisy are a really unique and talented band and ready for big things” – Sammy Virji “Sammy and Bushbaby are two of our favourite DJs, having them remix our track was such a buzz” - Noisy Listen to both ‘Put a Record On’ Remixes here> Earlier this year the trio, supported and loved by BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders, 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. This paved way to a great deal of opportunities including an invitation to perform at the prestigious Abbey Road studios this month for the Barclaycard Share the S

NOISY release the official video for ‘Put A Record On’, following BBC Radio 1 Jack Saunders midnight drop and a performance at the prestigious Abbey Road studios for the Barclaycard Share the Stage Series alongside artists such as Lewis Capaldi, Easy Life, Mabel and Celeste. Model Miki Davies stars in the high-octane video for ‘ Put A Record On ’, recorded during lockdown in their home studio in Worthing, highlighting their vibrant get-up-and-go attitude towards life, fuelled by good vibes music even when it seems like the world is against them. “We went on a different direction for this video and decided to not be in it ourselves. We worked with an amazing woman called Miki and our aim was to capture the feeling of the relief music can have on someone’s life, despite any ups and downs, you can always lose yourself in a song” – Says Cody   Watch Put A Record on here> Watch the Barclaycard performance here> Listen to ‘Put a Record On’ here > Earlier this year, th

Today Sports Team's debut album 'Deep Down Happy' is announced as one of the 2020 Hyundai Mercury Prize 'Albums of the Year'. The prestigious accolade celebrates and promotes the best of British music, recognising artistic achievement across a range of contemporary music genres. The shortlist was chosen by an independent judging panel and was revealed this morning on Lauren Laverne's show on BBC Radio 6 Music. The news comes after Sports Team released their critically acclaimed debut album 'Deep Down Happy' on 5 June and achieved number #2 in the Official Album Charts, which holds the highest first week sales for a debut album by a British band in four years, and is the fourth highest selling debut of 2020. The band also became the biggest seller of the week, leading on physical sales (10K), digital downloads, and scoring the biggest vinyl sales of a debut record by a British artist in 2020, with a #1 on the Official Vinyl Chart. The six piece also

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

Sports Team announce their biggest UK tour to date, with the band back on the road doing what they do best next Spring and headlining O2 Academy Brixton on 29 April 2021. The tour went on general sale on Friday 26th June 9am BST. The past week has been a career defining moment for the six-piece, achieving number #2 in the Official Album Charts with critically acclaimed debut Deep Down Happy, which holds the highest first week sales for a debut album by a British band in four years. The band also became the biggest seller of the week, leading on physical sales (10K), digital downloads, and scoring the biggest vinyl sales of a debut record by a British artist in 2020, with a #1 on the Official Vinyl Chart. Sports Team also share the animated video for ‘Long Hot Summer’, the video created by animator Daniel Jamie Williams, which documents a playful journey through a kid’s dream.   Tap here to watch Long Hot Summer   Tap here to listen to ‘Deep Down Happy’ UK TOUR 2

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 Fillmore o

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 makeshift

SPORTS TEAM WILL RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM ‘DEEP DOWN HAPPY’ ON 19 JUNE 2020 NEWS FOLLOWS OPEN LETTER TO FANS AMIDST CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC ALBUM IN-STORE TOUR RESCHEDULED FOR JU NE In a way it seems fitting that we’re trying to release our debut in the midst of a once in a generation global pandemic. We’ve tried as hard as we can to keep everything on track. But on a lot of sound advice, and to take pressure off all the people helping us deliver the album — we’ve taken the call to reschedule the record to June 19, and live shows, until June. Playing for you lot means everything to us, and we’ll be back doing it as soon as we safely can. All tickets and pre-orders will remain valid. Keep buying music by the artists you love; it means the world. We’re seeing out the foreseeable in a studio in the West Country, getting onto new music. If you want to write to us, we’ll try and reply to every letter we get. Address here: PROPAGATION HOUSE, EAST LODGE, NOR

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

Fresh from performing his new single ‘Stay Awake’ on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and being named Apple’s global Up Next Artist earlier this week, Dean Lewis today releases his highly anticipated debut album A Place We Knew. The Australian singer songwriter is also set to play his biggest UK headline tour next month, adding a second Shepherds Bush Empire headline on 16 April and regional shows due to popular demand. Dean Lewis catapulted into the UK top 15 with the Platinum selling “Be Alright”, racking up 350M global Spotify streams, before dropping the stunning new single “7 Minutes”. Bittersweet memories of past romance is the thread that runs through the 12-track debut LP, “All the songs were written through relationships I’d been in and houses I used to live in and hotel rooms,” says Lewis. A trip to the UK in 2016 saw Lewis team up with producers Edd Holloway and Nick Atkinson at The Barn studio in North London, a partnership that not only led to ‘Waves’ , 4 x Platinum ARIA singl

Today Sigrid announces her biggest headline tour to date commencing in November 2019, performing at London’s Eventim Apollo and 3Arena in Dublin, alongside huge regional venues. The Norwegian pop star is set to release her highly anticipated debut album Sucker Punch on 8 March, and continues her A-List record success with the defiant single ‘Don’t Feel Like Crying’, which Sigrid performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night. Fans can get priority access for tickets on the pre-order link below, and tickets go on general sale on 1 March. The 22-year-old’s epic songs are tales of the unexpected; fearless musical collages and shout-outs to human resilience, starting at the piano in Norway, “There’s a certain grace to heartache”, says Sigrid, “A sort of…epic grace! I like good, heartfelt pop songs,” which is the foundation of Sigrid’s extraordinary debut Sucker Punch. Sigrid’s rebellious pop was catapulted into the public consciousness with the zeitgeist defining ‘Don’t

Today Sigrid announces her highly anticipated debut albumSucker Punch, set for release on 1 March 2019 on Island Records. The Norwegian pop star’s experience over the last year has been the backdrop for her debut record. From writing at the piano of the stunning Ocean Sound Recordings in her hometown of Alesund, to winning the BBC Sound of 2018, Sigrid’s epic songs are tales of the unexpected; fearless musical collages and shout-outs to human resilience. “I figured out early on that it’s gonna be difficult for me to try and be anything other than who I am. I always said if I’m gonna do this it’s easiest to be myself and look like myself, where I can recognise myself,” Says Sigrid. Sigrid’s defiant pop was catapulted into the public consciousness last year with the zeitgeist defining ‘Don’t Kill My Vibe’; the certified-Gold ‘Strangers’, A-List record ‘High Five’, critically lauded RAW EP and new single ‘Sucker Punch’. The pop prodigy has also been chosen to perform at the Royal Va