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

Jonathan Jeremiah, who’s debut album “A Solitary Man” was recently released to widespread critical acclaim, garnering significant national radio support, releases his new single “Lost“ on September 12th through Island Records. With previous single ‘Heart of Stone’ a top 20 airplay hit and spending an incredible 7 weeks on the ‘A’ list at Radio 2, ‘Lost’ seems destined to build on the incredible support at radio. Following an amazing performance at the North Sea Jazz festival in Holland, Jonathans’ album is currently No.3 in the Dutch charts. A full European tour is now scheduled for October. The Londoner was recently invited by Rumer, a self-declared fan, to open for the Brit nominated singer at her Manchester show and he has just completed a sold out UK tour supporting Katie Melua. The summer sees Jonathan playing a number of shows in Europe including PukelPop in Holland. Jeremiah first came to prominence when he was invited to appear on Later With Jools a full five months before the...

Detroit born Alex Winston has announced news of her next release; the brand new ‘Velvet Elvis’ will be released as part of an EP on September 12th through Island Records. An enigmatic artist, at first glance Alex’s music appears upbeat, but on closer examination, her lyrics reveal subject matters brimming with strange and provoking subjects. ‘Velvet Elvis’ – the EP’s lead track examines the notion of objectum sexuality; where people have fallen in love with objects, often humanising them: “Ma said I ain’t right / Clutching on you all night / But you’re my, you’re my guy / Elvis”… “When I feel your velvet / I can’t help it / You don’t breathe / So you can’t leave me”. Backed by ‘Fire Ant’, another new song from Alex, it beckons at what untold surprises are in store for the multi-instrumentalist’s forthcoming January album. Traces of her motown influences can be felt in the track alongside stunning percussion, eerie harmonies and propelling drums culminating in a wall of sound in the la...

Following on from her multi-million selling, multi-award winning, global smash of a debut album ‘Lungs’, Florence returns with new music and confirms the release date of her forthcoming second album. The, as yet untitled album, was produced in full by Paul Epworth to retain one complete sound. It all magically came together over five weeks in the famous Studio 3 of Abbey Road (where the Beatles recorded ‘Revolver’ and Pink Floyd ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’), after which Florence and Paul decamped to his own London studio to add the finishing touches. What she gives us as an explosive taster here is what, she says, the water gave her: a captivating art-pop vision that’s as much for dancers as it is for dreamers, for ravers as for rockers, for the living as the drowned and dead-and-gone. “It’s a song for the water...” says Florence; “Because in music and art what I’m really interested in are the things that are overwhelming. The ocean seems to me to be nature’s great overwhelmer. When I was ...

Ben Howard releases his new single, ‘Keep Your Head Up’ on the 26th September. It is taken from his forthcoming debut album, ‘Every Kingdom’ on the 3rd October 2011, released through Island Records. Check out the video here Every Kingdom is a record that young  & has been brewing within himself for at least a couple of years. And yet its careful attention to detail, with tight, homespun harmonies and folk-informed arrangements, could only have been fully realised after relentless road-testing of these songs on stages across the UK and Europe. It has been an explosive introduction to a broader audience in 2011 for 24 year old Howard. Having only signed his record deal with Island Records at the beginning of the year, Ben had already accrued a hefty fanbase through sheer hard touring and the word of mouth support that followed. His initial success was predominantly buoyed by the incredibly supportive surf community that nurtured Ben in Devon and Cornwall after pul...

The Drums will return to the UK later this year for a full headline tour in support of their second album, ‘Portamento’, out September 5th through Moshi Moshi / Island Records. For the week of album release, the band plays three intimate, sold out, launch shows in London to preview the new record. New UK headline dates as folllows:  Mon 28-Nov – Birmingham Institute - The Library Tue 29-Nov - Newcastle 02 Academy Wed 30-Nov – Leeds Metropolitan University Sat 03-Dec – Glasgow 02 ABC Sun 04-Dec - Edinburgh Picture House Mon 05-Dec – Cambridge Junction Tue 06-Dec – Portsmouth Pyramids Centre Thu 08-Dec – Bristol 02 Academy Fri 09-Dec – London 02 Shepherds Bush Empire Sat 10-Dec – Manchester - Ritz Artist presale via http://thedrums.com/shows/: Wednesday 17th August General on sale: Friday 19th August (All tickets £13.50 except London £15) Previously announced dates: Mon 05-Sep – London, Hoxton Bar & Kitchen SOLD OUT Tue 06-Sep – London, Lexington...

On 18th April, over five years on from his debut album, Tom Vek returned to the public eye with a brand new single A Chore and news of his highly anticipated second album Leisure Seizure. It ended a huge amount of speculation as to the whereabouts of the enigmatic, London-born artist who disappeared from the public eye after his debut album We Have Sound became a cult classic following it’s 2005 release. Now, following the brilliant critical response to Leisure Seizure and a sold out UK tour, Tom Vek will release new single Aroused. Recorded in his own east London PALLET studios, Aroused is a prime example of Vek’s self-coined ‘beat rock’ – a more controlled, consistent and elaborated version of the unique, raw sound of his debut album. Meanwhile, following a sold out UK tour, Tom Vek has announced more live shows. Vek is set to play the Reading and Leeds Festival and Bestival before headlining a 2000 capacity show at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire on 16th November. Tickets for the O2...

Like a bolt from the blue, The Drums return with their second album, ‘Portamento’ to be released on September 12th through Moshi Moshi / Island Records. ‘Portamento’ - released just over a year since their debut - reveals a band tugging lightly at the boundaries of their sound while still retaining their recognizable sonic signatures. Sweet rushes of melody and brittle synthesizer sheens colliding with wiry Spector-esque guitar lines are still very much present, but singer, Jonny Pierce’s lyrics have assumed a deeper, personal tone and coupled with the band’s own more expansive production, ‘Portamento’ is a more complex, but ultimately more rewarding listen than their debut. Emerging from Brooklyn via Florida in 2010, The Drums initially caught the ear of the indie world with their ‘ Summertime! ’ EP - an escapist collection of beach pop fantasies – which preceded their self-titled debut album, released in June 2010. ‘The Drums’ has gone on to sell 200,000 albums world-wide, reflecting...