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

Hugely acclaimed Jackson Tennessee born, London based singer-songwriter Lauren Pritchard, whose 2010 debut album “Wasted In Jackson” introduced an artist with a remarkable voice and a song-writing talent to match, has her new single “ Stuck” released on February 28th through Spilt Milk/ Island Records. Lauren has also been confirmed as the headlining act on one of HMV’s Next Big thing tours. Support comes from Gabrielle Alpin and Natalie McColl. The dates are as follows : 2nd Feb – Birmingham Glee Club 3rd Feb – Manchester Day and Night 5th Feb – Glasgow King Tuts 8th Feb – LONDON Borderline - Headline HMV Next Big Thing Festival 9th Feb – Bristol Louisiana Lauren Pritchard was born and raised in Jackson , Tennessee and played piano from an early age. When she reached the age of 16, she headed, alone, to LA where she sang in a band, fell in love, broke up, ran out of money and was on her way back to Jackson, dream in tatters, when one of her close friends, insisted she move in wi...

“Stomp Stomp, I’ve arrived!” struts the opening lyric of Jessie J’s debut single, ‘ Do It Like A Dude’ – a heavy urban-pop tune set to juddering beats and laced with her own brand of ghetto-fabulous, sordid swagger. The instantaneous skank-inducing debut is getting incredible airplay support from the likes of Kiss (B-list), 1Xtra (A-list) and Radio 1. The white hot remix from man-of-the-moment and good pal Labrinth rocketed Jessie J straight to the top of the HypeMachine chart in under 24 hours an impressive 3 months ahead of release. Last year saw Jessie J give a highly applauded performance on the legendary TV show ‘Later.. with Jools Holland’ while the ‘Do it Like a Dude’ video (currently the VIP video across the Box, 4 Music and The Hits) has become an internet phenomenon receiving a staggering 2 million YouTube views in just one week. The unbelievable demand for Jessie J’s live shows has seen her sell out three London dates in as many weeks. The 22-year old, Essex-born songwriter...

Having recently been certified as Nashville’s newest and hottest export, Mona return to the UK (for the third time in six months) to perform a series of live shows that coincide with the release of their first single of 2011. ‘Teenager’ will be released on February 28th through the band’s own imprint Zion Noiz Recordings/Island Records on digital download and limited edition 7-inch. ‘Teenager’ is the soundtrack for a new generation, an angst driven anthem with vintage roots. Passion, obsession, longing and desire are the backdrop to this gigantic juggernaut of a song. “All people have desire and need more than just themselves, you love love but can’t find a love” says frontman Nick Brown on the theme of the song. Mona finished 2010 on a high after appearing on Later...With Jools Holland, being tipped by all key music press including the BBC Sound Poll and being selected for MTV’s Brand New For 2011. This is not to mention ‘Trouble On The Way’ being record of the week on BBC Radio 1. T...

CocknBullKid is poised and ready to take on 2011 and what better way to kick things off than with the massive single ‘Hold On to Your Misery’?   We all know and cherish Miss Anita Blay – from early one off 7”’s exciting the senses, her potential to grow from coolness of the underground to a true pop sensation has always been huge. Now she’s up there with the new crop of truly exciting and talented British girls and boy, has it been worth the wait. Where 2010 was all about the planning, the writing, the studio, the touring (with Marina & Kele just lately to name but a couple), this year holds big things for CocknBullKid. Following ‘One Eye Closed’ which enjoyed superb radio support at R1, 6 Music, XFM, NME and Q, ‘Hold On To Your Misery’ is an out and out smash of a pop song, whilst retaining that distinctive cool and sassy CocknBullKid sound. It’s what Blay calls 'an anti-anthem'. "It's about stopping putting so much value on being happy. When I'm happy, things...

A new PJ Harvey single, The Words That Maketh Murder, will be released digitally by Island Records on 17th January 2011. It will be the first release from Harvey's forthcoming album Let England Shake due out February. Following the digital release on 17th January, The Words That Maketh Murder will be released on 7" vinyl on 7th February 2011 backed with an exclusive track The Guns Called Me Back Again, recorded during the Let England Shake album session. Award-winning war photographer Seamus Murphy has produced a series of short films - containing reportage footage shot around England and performance footage of Harvey - for each song on the album. His film for The Last Living Rose is currently on http://www.pjharvey.net/ Let England Shake, scheduled for release on 14th February, is Harvey's eighth studio album. The record received a 5 star review in the current issue of Q magazine and Mojo writes ‘…of all her many guises – this may be her most powerful… more than ever, P...

Pete Lawrie releases a new single, ‘Fell Into The River’, on the 31st January 2011 through Island Records. It is taken from the debut album, ‘A Little Brighter’ released on the 4th April 2011. The obvious pressure of being a hotly-tipped young artist for the coming year is something that Pete Lawrie hasn’t even considered. Confident and assured, the young Welshman soaks up the pressure and volleys it back in the shape of another soulful pop lament. The success of Pete’s limited edition EP at the tail-end of 2010, with lead-track ‘In The End’ being playlisted at national radio, and press acclaim suggesting that the next twelve months were Pete’s for the taking, has primed the now-London-resident for an exciting 2011. It’s not just these early recordings that have raised his profile so significantly, but a hefty touring schedule which started out at 2010’s festivals (Glastonbury, Isle of Wight, Radio 1’s One Big Weekend, Hop Farm, Belladrum, and Cardiff’s SWN), and has seen Pete perform ...

Taio Cruz who has been dominating the UK and US singles charts with his two No.1 smashes “ Break Your Heart ” and “Dynamite”, joins forces with the undisputed first lady of pop Kylie Minogue on his new single “HIGHER”. The single will be released through 4th & Broadway Records on February 14th. Taio and Kylie recently met at a party in Paris hosted by legendary designer Roberto Cavalli. Both being huge fans of each other’s work, they started talking about doing a song together. Taio had been working on a brand new song called “Higher” and played it to Kylie on his iPhone. Within a matter of minutes they had booked a studio and recorded the track the very next day. This soon to be smash, as well as “ Break Your Heart ” and “Dynamite”, are featured on Taio’s new greatest hits album ”The Rokstarr Collection ”. Following Taio’s staggering US success and due to the fact that his debut album “Departure” was never released Stateside, Universal combined the biggest hits from “Departure”, ...