Billboard UK
Page: 3
Pink Floyd have scored their first No. 1 LP in over a decade on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart with live album Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII (May 9).
The collection coincides with a digital 4K remastering of the 1972 concert film Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, directed by Adrian Maben, which captures the band’s iconic show at the Roman amphitheatre in the ruins of Pompeii, Italy. The film’s audio was newly mixed by Steven Wilson and released across physical formats and on streaming.
The prog rock icons now have seven chart-toppers on the U.K. charts, Atom Heart Mother (1970), Wish You Were Here (1975), The Final Cut (1983), The Division Bell (1994), Pulse (Live) (1995) and The Endless River (2014). Their magnum opus, Dark Side of the Moon (1973), only hit No. 2. The feat now ties them with Blur, Kasabian, Barbara Streisand, George Michael, Muse, The Prodigy and Paul McCartney (solo) on the all-time list of acts who have landed seven No. 1s.
In its 37th week on the charts, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet rises back up to No. 2, and Ed Sheeran’s +-=÷× (Tour Collection) lifts to No. 3 following the announcement of an upcoming eighth studio album, Play.
On Thursday (May 8), Sheeran shared the music video to nostalgic single “Old Phone,” which saw him revisit formative moments throughout his career as a musician. He also launched a new Instagram page showcasing never-before-seen pictures with musician pals Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and more.
Greatest hits collections by Fleetwood Mac (Don’t Stop, No. 5) and The Weeknd (The Highlights, No. 4) round out the top five. Alex Warren, whose single “Ordinary” is now in its eighth week at No. 1 on the Singles chart, enters the top 10 of the Albums Chart for the first time with debut LP You’ll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1).
In July 2020, on the brink of a major life change, English Teacher’s Lily Fontaine laid down a statement of purpose for the journey that lay ahead. “It is less than three weeks until I move back to Leeds to try and become a rock musician,” she wrote in an edition of indie magazine Come Play With Me. “I hope that if I succeed, a young Black girl might see me and think she can be [successful] too one day.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Having recently graduated from Leeds Conservatoire, where the Colne-raised songwriter met her future bandmates, these were the words of a young woman ready to transform the way she envisioned her life. Within four years, she and the rest of English Teacher would go on to experience a watershed moment at the iconic Abbey Road Studios, where the group scooped the prestigious Mercury Prize last September for its richly charismatic debut album This Could Be Texas.
Trending on Billboard
“We just thought we’d make a band,” said Fontaine during the band’s acceptance speech, lost for words at the magnitude of the accolade. The four-piece thanked the venues and charities that had supported during their early days in Leeds, struggling to find the words to express their gratitude. It was a deeply affecting moment, one that speaks to the tenacity, talent and passion that has fueled them to these heights.
“I can barely think about the [Mercury Prize] night without getting emotional,” says guitarist Lewis Whiting, speaking to Billboard UK via Zoom. “We could barely speak when we won. Maybe we should just keep up our own trend of never having a winners’ speech at the ready!”
Winning the Mercury Prize may have helped English Teacher sail to the forefront of the next wave of British guitar music, but its the uniform strength of their impassioned live show that has made them breakout stars. The band will kick off a summer of touring – including appearances at Glastonbury and Green Man – by topping the bill of Billboard U.K.’s Live experience on May 16. Headlining The Deep End venue, Brighton, as part of The Great Escape 2025, it will be joined by a series of rising artists, including Westside Cowboy, the latter for whom Whiting has recently worked with as a producer.
Following an appearance in the 2021 virtual edition of The Great Escape due to COVID restrictions, English Teacher performed at the weekender the following year in support of its Polyawkward EP. Around this time, the outfit’s quirky, lightly rumbustious songs began to resonate across British press and radio; accessible while containing a marked dose of strangeness, Fontaine’s songwriting – at once emotionally raw and witty – boasted a strong multi-generational appeal.
That EP invited a bigger audience into English Teacher’s world, preceding an inexorable rise. Now, having earned first BRIT Award nomination and bagged Fontaines D.C. support slots this year, Whiting discusses how it feels for the band to be playing to increasingly frenzied crowds while working on “tighter and more focused” new music in the background.
You have a storied history with The Great Escape. Looking back at those earlier gigs, how does it feel to think about the band that you were then?
There wasn’t a single part of me that thought we’d be anywhere near where we are now as a band. Those early gigs feel like a different lifetime, for sure – a lot has changed since those early appearances at The Great Escape. I remember the 2022 edition of the festival felt like quite a significant kind of turning point for us. At the time, it felt like things had started falling together for us, and we were like, “D–n, people are actually coming to our shows, something is happening here!”
What memories do you have of the festival over the years?
When we first went to The Great Escape, I think there was a collective kind of giddiness among the band. At that point, we’d never properly experienced a festival like that, so we were pretty over the moon with the response we got from the crowds there. We made some friends along the way, including [the band] Sprints, who we are still close with now. A lot of my memories from The Great Escape revolve around bumping into people around Brighton; it often feels like you’re walking past you know every two minutes!
Since you won the Mercury Prize, have you been surprised by anything that’s changed in your life?
Last year was absolutely huge for us, which is something I am still adjusting to. So many elements of our lives have changed: there’s been an extra layer of public attention on us, which we obviously have never experienced before. It all still feels quite alien, but 2024 was one of the best years of my life. Looking back, it feels like something new happened for us each week.
Given that it’s been a pretty mental 12 months, I think as a band, we’ve been making more of a conscious effort to check in and see where everyone’s at [mentally]. All our lives are now so different, more chaotic and busy, so it’s been really important to keep tabs on each others’ well-being – especially as we are on the road far more often.
How has touring extensively impacted your sources of inspiration for writing the next album?
This has definitely been a big thing for us. A lot of the first album was about the idea of home and all of the emotions that come entangled with that. There’s still a lot of the second album to still be written but we’ve all been through so many changes – and so many new experiences gained through travelling and touring – that I feel will definitely feed into the music too. We’re in a very different place to where we were at for the debut.
Has the meaning of some of your older material changed for you over time?
100%, which is actually a really nice feeling. It’s interesting — because I’m not the lyricist for the band, but as we’ve been on tour, I’ve found that my personal meanings of some of the songs have changed quite a bit. “Mastermind Specialism” is one that really stands out, as it’s a song about indecision; when we play it, I find that I start thinking about all the little decisions that have led us up to this point as a band. “Nearly Daffodils” is another one, as it’s about a relationship that could have been, and all the changes you can go through in life in quite quick succession.
Which song have you written that still gives you goosebumps?
“Albert Road” has really taken on a new significance, however – it’s become sadder! Sometimes, in a live setting, it gets me good. It makes me think of home and I end up feeling reflective about our journey so far. There’s definitely been a couple of pivotal moments over the last year, where we have all looked at each other on stage and started welling up.
How did it feel to walk your first major red carpet at The BRIT Awards this year?
The whole experience was so ridiculous and surreal that I found it really entertaining. It was an honour to be f-king nominated for a BRIT in the first place, that was crazy and something I never, ever expected. It was mad, too, seeing all these celebrities walking around. We got chatting to JADE, she’s so sound. We very briefly said hi to Louis Theroux, too; I felt really shy in his presence — as he is so cool, I almost felt like I had no business talking to him!
You recently worked with Westside Cowboy, who will be joining us at Billboard U.K.’s Live experience at The Great Escape. What attracted you to working with them?
I love everything about that band. Sonically, they’re very much on my street and I really like the confidence with which they approach their songwriter. I admire how they don’t overcomplicate things. They’re fans of Big Thief, but I also feel as though there are elements of Lou Reed, Pavement and The Velvet Underground in their music; they write really concise, strong songs, which is super refreshing.
I first met them when they were playing a gig at Soup Kitchen in Manchester. I became a fan immediately and just knew I had to find a way to work with them. They have some brilliant material in the pipeline which really shows off the range of what they can do together as a band.
How does production allow you to use your skills differently?
It’s still an ongoing journey but one that I have really enjoyed. I’ve always been in bands, and I’ve engineered plenty of demos, but I have never really dived into being a producer in my own right until now. It’s something I would love to do more of in the future, and it’s also nice to take a step outside [of being in English Teacher] and build the confidence to forge a different creative outlet for myself. It feels like opening a different part of your brain, it’s very rewarding.
With dozens of live dates in the pipeline, what mindset are you approaching the rest of the year with?
The main aim is to start road-testing some new songs at festivals. We’re deep in writing mode at the moment, it has been non-stop for us. The [creative] process has been great, if a little fragmented; we all don’t really live in the same city anymore, and we are still figuring out what we want some of this album to sound like. Overall, however, I am feeling really positive.
Personally, I think I’m going to be more happy with the second album than the first one. They’re still in the early stages, but we’ve had a couple of ideas that we perhaps intended to make work in the past, though they feel a little more refined. For me, that’s what I want to get out of the second album: for the first record, we threw a lot of things at the wall, but I like the idea of these songs being a little tighter and more focused. It’s like a puzzle: when you figure out the way the pieces should fit together, it’s so satisfying. That feeling is what keeps you going.
Sam Fender has teamed up with Adolescence director Phillip Barantini on a video for new single “Little Bit Closer.”
The clip, which was shot in the Lake District in the north west of England, follows Owen Cooper — who played Jamie Miller in the Netflix drama — and a group of friends on a trip to the Lakes, where Cooper’s character contemplates questions of faith.
Lifted from February’s People Watching LP, the track itself sees Fender dive deep into his relationship with religion, depicting the emotional complexities of growing up in the Christian faith.
Fender previously collaborated with Barantini back in 2021, working alongside him and fellow Adolescence star and co-writer Stephen Graham for the video to stirring single “Spit of You.” In a press release, he said, “It’s so great to be working with Phil [Barantini] again, I had no doubt he was the right director for this piece, his video for ‘Spit of You’ was my favorite.
Trending on Billboard
“Phil called to say he’d asked Owen if he’d like to be in the video, and that Owen was keen,” he continued. “I was elated that he could do it after seeing his incredible performance in Adolescence. Alongside Semera Khan [Creative Director] and the rest of the cast and team, they have created something beautiful.”
Barantini added: “To have the opportunity to direct another video for Sam was an immediate yes — an absolute no-brainer for me! Not only is Sam an incredible artist but he’s a beautiful human and a great friend! Also, the opportunity to direct Owen again so soon after Adolescence was an absolute joy!”
Adolescence took the U.K. by storm when it hit screens earlier this year; upon release in March, episode one pulled the largest ever audience for any streaming TV show in the country in a single week. The four-part series, which explores complex issues such as toxic masculinity and the dangers of online radicalization, is set to be made freely accessible to secondary school pupils through a partnership between Netflix and the Into Film+ streaming service.
Speaking to Billboard U.K. in April, Barantini discussed the show’s ongoing impact and the vital discussions it has encouraged in recent months. “I always wanted [Adolescence] to be a conversation starter, or certainly for people to take different things away from it and have their own experience with it,” he said.
“There was definitely that feeling when we were on set,” he continued. “When we screened it to people, the audience were having the same reaction, but I did not think for one second it would be doing what it’s doing and still continues to do.”
Fender, meanwhile, has had a banner year so far. People Watching took the No. 1 spot on the Official Albums Chart upon release with 107,000 units sold across physicals and streaming. He becomes the first British solo artist to surpass 100,000 sales in an opening week since Harry Styles’ Harry’s House in 2022. He then scooped the alternative/rock act going at the BRIT Awards in March, and is now gearing up for a run of U.K. headline stadium shows this summer with dates in London and Newcastle.
After 61 years, The Song is Over for rock titans The Who. On Thursday (May 8) the band announced they’ll play their final run of shows in North America this coming August and September as part of a farewell tour. The announcement was made by guitarist Pete Townshend at a press conference in London with singer Roger Daltrey appearing via video link.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The tour – named after their 1971 song “The Song is Over” – kicks off in Newark, N.J. on Aug. 19 and runs through major cities including New York City, Boston, Toronto, Los Angeles and more. See the full run of shows below. The band has not announced any further shows outside of the U.S. and Canada at this time.
Tickets will be available through The Who Fan Club, beginning May 13. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general sale starting May 16 at 10 a.m. local time. See the full information here.
Trending on Billboard
“Well, all good things must come to an end,” Townshend said in a statement. “It is a poignant time. For me, playing to American audiences and those in Canada has always been incredible.”
“The warmth and engagement of those audiences began back in 1967 with hippies smoking dope, sitting on their blankets and listening deeply and intensely. Music was everywhere. We all felt equal,” he continued. “Today, Roger and I still carry the banner for the late [drummer] Keith Moon and [bassist] John Entwistle and of course, all of our longtime Who fans.”
Daltrey added, “Every musician’s dream in the early 60’s was to make it big in the U.S. charts. For the Who, that dream came true in 1967 and our lives were changed forever. The warmth of the American audiences over the years have been inspirational to me, and reflect the feeling I remember getting after hearing the first rock records coming across the radio. Musical freedom! Rock gave us a feeling of generational rebellion.”
“To me, America has always been great. The cultural differences had a huge impact on me, this was the land of the possible,” Daltrey continued. “It’s not easy to end the big part of my life that touring with The Who has been. Thanks for being there for us and look forward to seeing you one last time.”
Daltery, Townshend and Entwistle first performed live together as The Detours in 1962, and officially became The Who in 1964, with drummer Moon completing the classic lineup in May of that year. They toured primarily in the U.K. and Europe and first hit the U.S. in 1967 to support their third LP The Who Sell Out.
Their hell-raising tours continued with the releases of rock operas Tommy (1969) and Quadrophenia (1973). Their 1970 live collection Live at Leeds is widely considered one of the defining live rock albums of its era.
This isn’t the first time that The Who have announced a ‘farewell tour.’ In 1982 the band played a final run of shows in the U.K. and North America and immortalised the show with live album Who’s Last. They reunited for short performances at Live Aid in 1985 and 1988, and a year later in 1989, the group reunited for a 50-show tour.
In 2015, The Who’s 50th anniversary tour was dubbed as a “long goodbye” by Daltrey and saw them play 70 shows in Europe, North America and Asia. Between 2019 and 2021, the band toured their 2019 album WHO, their first in 13 years.
The news follows a recent concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall which saw longtime drummer Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr, sacked from the group for his performance. After a brief period of uncertainty, Starkey was reinstated with Townshend saying, “There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily.
The Who ‘The Song is Over’ North American Tour Dates
Aug. 19 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
Aug. 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
Aug. 23 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall
Aug. 26 – Boston, MA @ Fenway Park
Aug. 28 – Wantagh, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
Aug. 30 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Sept. 2 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
Sept. 4 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
Sept. 7 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
Sept. 17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
Sept. 19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
Sept. 21 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
Sept. 23 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
Sept. 25 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
Sept. 28 – Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
Marking his first solo release in two years, Stormzy has returned with a new freestyle entitled “Sorry Rach!” – listen to the track below.
The Croydon rapper has not released an album since the soulful This Is What I Mean sailed straight to the top of the U.K.’s Official Album Charts in November 2022. In the interim period, he has worked on collaborations with a series of major artists, including Chase & Status (“Backbone”) RAYE (“The Weekend”) and Shawn Mendes and Jacob Collier (“Witness Me”), among others.
In March, Stormzy – born Michael Ebenazer Owuo Junior – picked up a BRIT Award in the fan-voted hip hop/grime/rap act category, beating the likes of Central Cee and Little Simz to the prize. The win followed the criticism he received online for teaming up with McDonald’s earlier this year on a promotional Stormzy meal, a controversy which he addresses on “Sorry Rach!” “I heard they wanna hang me out to dry for a nugget meal,” he raps. “The world might never love your way again but my mother will.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The McDonald’s backlash began to spread after some of the 31-year-old’s social media followers pointed out that the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement had previously initiated a global boycott of the fast food chain for their support of Israeli forces in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Trending on Billboard
Prior to the collaboration, Stormzy had been vocal in his support for Palestine. In January 2024, he performed alongside acts such as Clairo and Mustafa at an event called Artists For Aid in New Jersey to help raise funds for the ongoing crisis in Gaza. In recent months, meanwhile, the rapper appeared to remove an Instagram post from October 2023 that called for a “Free Palestine.”
Speaking on the latter incident in February this year, Stormzy clarified: “I didn’t archive the post where I came out in support of Palestine for any reason outside of me archiving loads of IG posts last year. In that post, I spoke about #FreePalestine, oppression and injustice and my stance on this has not changed.”
In the same statement, he continued to speak on the reaction to his McDonald’s partnership, adding: “The brands I work with can’t tell me what to do and don’t tell me what to do otherwise I wouldn’t work with them. I do my own research on all brands I work with, gather my own information, form my own opinion and come to my own conclusion before doing business.”
“Sorry Rach!” was followed by a second track, “Hold Me Down,” Wednesday evening (May 7). A poignant ballad that reflects on life in the public eye, the latter arrived with a live performance video.
Elsewhere, Stormzy will be performing a short run of European festival shows this summer, with appearances booked for Norway’s Palmesus, Roskilde in Denmark, and Dour Festival in Belgium. Further information and tickets can be found on his official website.
The late One Direction singer Liam Payne left behind money, property and possessions worth more than £24m ($32m) with no known will when he died last year, official records have shown.
Girls Aloud vocalist Cheryl Tweedy, his former partner and mother of his eight-year-old son, Bear, is legally responsible for Payne’s fortune after being named an administrator for his estate. The pair were in a relationship between 2016 and 2018 but did not marry. U.K. rules of intestacy state that a person’s spouse, and then any children they have, are first claim to the estate.
Court documents also show that music industry lawyer Richard Mark Bray has also been given administrator duties. According to the Letters of Administration, the gross value of Payne’s estate amounts to £28,594,888 ($37,956,568). With the deduction of debts and expenses, the figure comes to approximately £24,279,728 ($32,222,598).
Trending on Billboard
Last year (Oct. 16), Payne died at age 31 after falling from a third-floor room at the Casa Sur hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Toxicology tests revealed that before his death, the musician had traces of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in his body. His cause of death was “polytrauma” from multiple injuries and internal and external bleeding, a postmortem found.
At the BRIT Awards in March, Payne was remembered with a video montage showing a clip from his time on The X Factor and then with One Direction, who won seven gongs at the music awards before they went on hiatus in 2015.
Throughout the mid-2010s, the band became one of the most successful pop acts of all time. Comprising Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan, One Direction notched four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, six top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and billions of streams alongside four sold-out world tours.
After the group parted ways, Payne launched his solo career in 2017 with the Quavo-assisted “Strip That Down,” which peaked at No. 10 on the Hot 100 and No. 3 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart. His debut album, LP1, arrived in December 2019.
The U.K.’s Mercury Prize is planning a major shake-up for 2025’s ceremony with a new location and date.
The 2025 ceremony will take place in Newcastle, England, at the city’s Utilita Arena; it will be the first time that the awards have ever taken place outside of London. The event will take place on Oct. 16 at the 15,800-capacity venue, a month later than its traditional spot in mid-September.
The Mercury Prize was first held in 1992 and is annually awarded to what its judging panel deems the best album by an act from the United Kingdom or Ireland. Primal Scream’s Screamadelica was the event’s first winner, and in the subsequent years, it was collected by a number of huge acts such as Pulp (1995), PJ Harvey (2001, 2011), Arctic Monkeys (2006), The xx (2010), Dave (2019) and more. The most recent winners were Leeds indie band English Teacher, who scooped the prize with debut album This Could Be Texas in 2024.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The event has traditionally been held at London’s Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith with an array of performances from the shortlisted artists. 2024’s event, however, was relatively pared back and did not feature a public ceremony or performances; the winner was announced at the capital’s Abbey Road Studios. In 2022, the ceremony was postponed just hours before the event was due to take place due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Trending on Billboard
The Mercury Prize will partner with Newcastle City Council and The North East Combined Authority to host the event, and tickets will be available to the general public via AXS.
Albums released between July 13, 2024 and Aug. 29, 2025 (inclusive), will be considered eligible for entry, with submissions due to open on June 4 and close on June 25. The 12-strong shortlist will be announced on Sept. 10 and selected by a panel of industry figures; 2024’s judging committee included Billboard U.K.’s Sophie Williams.
The award show will be broadcast across BBC Music, and a number of fringe events will take place around the event in conjunction with Newcastle’s Generator music festival. A press release says that the award show will feature live performances from “many of the 12 shortlisted artists” prior to the winner being announced.
It’s the latest awards event to favor hosting its ceremony in the north east of England, following on from the 2025 MOBOs (Music of Black Origin), which also took place at the Utilita Arena back in February. The city’s Mayor Kim McGuinness said, “Bringing the Mercury Prize to the north east is yet another fantastic accolade that builds on our proud cultural history and strengthens our reputation as a region of culture.”
“The success of artists like Sam Fender shows what is possible for young musicians in our region and hosting the Mercury Prize in the north east gives us the opportunity to showcase our homegrown talent.”
Blue Note Jazz Club has confirmed that plans to open a new venue in London, England will proceed following the granting of a late license by the local council. The 350-capacity venue will be the first Blue Note Jazz Club to be established in the U.K. and is slated for an early 2026 opening.
The news follows reports of opposition by the Metropolitan Police Service and local residents. In February a Licensing Sub-Committee Report from the City of Westminster outlined a number of objections from the local police enforcement, who objected to the venue’s opening on the grounds it would undermine the licensing objective of “prevention of crime and disorder”.
The move was criticised by a number of local musicians and industry figures, with claims that the council was stifling the capital’s nightlife scene. The venue was initially granted a license that would see the club close at 11:30 p.m., but Steven Bensusan – president of Blue Note Entertainment Group and son of the original Blue Note Cafe founder Danny Bensusan – told Sky News that the opening of its planned European flagship venue may not be viable without a late license. “If they’re not giving us a late license, I can’t imagine how they would be supportive of other smaller venues, which are important for the ecosystem in general.”
Trending on Billboard
However the Westminster City Council has since reversed its opposition and said that the “venue management have engaged extensively with local people to improve their application and address the concerns that were raised by the police.”
The venue will be based in the basement of the St Martins Lane hotel in Covent Garden in central London. The license will allow the club to open until 1 a.m. on Monday to Saturday, to midnight on Sundays.
The Blue Note Jazz Club will host two performance spaces: a main room with 250 person capacity, alongside a secondary 100 person capacity space. The venue will host a full-service kitchen and beverage menu and will be open for dinner throughout the week.
The new venue will continue the expansion of Blue Note Jazz Clubs internationally. The original club in New York City was opened in 1981, and new venues have since opened in Milan, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Stevie Wonder, Tony Bennett, Ezra Collective and more have all performed at the club and its sister institutions.
Steven Bensusan, president of Blue Note Entertainment Group said in a statement, “We’re excited to be coming to London and grateful to Westminster Council for recognising what Blue Note can bring to the city’s nightlife. As we prepare to open in early 2026, we’re looking forward to bringing world-class jazz and a deep cultural legacy to one of the greatest music cities in the world.”
Loyle Carner shared two new songs on Tuesday (May 6) from his upcoming album hopefully !, due for release on June 20 (Island EMI). “about time” and “lyin” are the third and fourth songs to be released as singles from the record following “all i need” and “in my mind,” which were released in April.
Both tracks were inspired by his role as a father, with “about time” – the LP’s closing track – featuring a snippet of Carner speaking with his young son, and “lyin” being informed by the changes in his life since having children.
The recent Billboard U.K. cover star recently announced a world tour that kicks off in October and runs through the U.K. and Europe, Australia and North America into 2026; his four shows at London’s historic O2 Brixton Academy in London sold out instantly. On June 27, he will headline Glastonbury’s Other Stage alongside Charli XCX and The Prodigy; headliners on the Pyramid Stage are The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo.
Trending on Billboard
Speaking to Billboard U.K., Carner discussed the new indie influences on the record such as Fontaines D.C., Mkgee and Big Thief, as well as forming his own band for the recording sessions. “I loved the anonymity of being in a band,” he shared. “I wanted to be around when the magic is happening and to not just be sent a beat after all the fun parts had already happened. I wanted to move away from the words being all that I can contribute.”
He added, “As a rapper, the insecurity is that I don’t have any musical talent or whatever, so I’m like, ‘F–k, I better fill every gap so people know that I was there, too.’ But now I don’t mind people hearing a song and I’m barely on it, because I’m so across from everything else [in the creative process].”
Carner’s new album, hopefully !, will be his fourth and his first since 2022. Carner’s debut Yesterday’s Gone (2017) was nominated for the Mercury Prize; Not Waving But Drowning (2019) landed at No. 3 on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart; hugo (2022) landed a second Mercury Prize nomination and saw the Londoner headline the 35,000-capacity All Points East Festival in the capital.
Listen to his two new songs below:
Loyle Carner ‘hopefully !’ World Tour Dates
Oct. 7 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Annexet
Oct. 8 – Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene
Oct. 10 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ AFS Live
Oct. 11 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ AFAS Live
Oct. 13 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ KB Hallen
Oct. 15 – Berlin, Germany @ UFO im Velrodrom
Oct. 16 – Hamburg, Germany @ Sporthalle
Oct. 18 – Munich, Germany @ Zenith
Oct. 19 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Halle 622
Oct. 21 – Frankfurt, Germany @ Jahrhunderthalle
Oct. 22 – Cologne, Germany @ Palladium
Oct. 24 – Paris, France @ Zenith
Oct. 25 – Brussels, Belgium @ Forest National
Nov. 2 – London, England @ O2 Academy Brixton
Nov. 3 – London, England @ O2 Academy Brixton
Nov. 4 – London, England @ O2 Academy Brixton
Nov. 5 – London, England @ O2 Academy Brixton
Nov. 7 – Cardiff, Wales @ Utilita Arena
Nov. 9 – Dublin, Ireland @ 3Arena
Nov. 12 – Glasgow, Scotland @ O2 Academy
Nov. 13 – Glasgow, Scotland @ O2 Academy
Nov. 14 – Glasgow, Scotland @ O2 Academy
Nov. 18 – Newcastle, England @ O2 City Hall
Nov. 19 – Newcastle, England @ O2 City Hall
Nov. 20 – Birmingham, England @ O2 Academy
Nov. 21 – Birmingham, England @ O2 Academy
Nov. 23 – Manchester, England @ O2 Victoria Warehouse
Nov. 24 – Manchester, England @ O2 Victoria Warehouse
Nov. 25 – Manchester, England @ O2 Victoria Warehouse
Dec. 2 – Brisbane, Australia @ Fortitude Music Hall
Dec. 4 – Sydney, Australia @ Sydney Opera House Forecourt
Dec. 6 – Melbourne, Australia @ Sidney Myer Music Bowl
Dec. 9 – Perth, Australia @ Metro City
Feb. 19, 2026 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Feb. 21, 2026 – Toronto, ON @ History
Feb. 22, 2026 – Montreal, QC @ Beanfield Theatre
Feb. 24, 2026 – Boston, MA @ Royale
Feb. 26, 2026 – Washington, DC @ The Fillmore
Feb. 27, 2026 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount
March 3, 2026 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
May 3, 2026 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo
British rocker Yungblud announced on Tuesday (May 6) that his new album, Idols, will be released on June 20, and confirmed that it is the first part of an upcoming double LP; the second part of the collection is yet to be announced.
The release is the artist born Dominic Harrison’s fourth album under the Yungblud moniker, and is described by the Doncaster-born musician as “a love letter to self-reclamation … to rock music … [and] to life in all it’s f–king madness.”
In an accompanying statement, Yungblud said that the record explores the theme of hero-worship. “We turn to others for an identity before turning to ourselves. Self-belief, self-reclamation, self-evolution and change. As we grow up, we lose our belief in magic and mystery. We begin to rationalize everything; our cage walls build up.”
Trending on Billboard
The LP was recorded in Leeds, England, near his hometown of Doncaster in Yorkshire, and he said in the press release that he “wanted to make a project that didn’t focus on singles or anything else except feeling and world-building,” and described the project as having “no limitations.”
That much was obvious with its lead single and album opener “Hello Heaven, Hello,” a nine-minute mini-rock opera and latest single “Lovesick Lullaby.” The record was produced by close collaborator Matt Schwartz, Bob Bradley and touring guitarist Adam Warrington.
Yungblud’s past two records — Weird! (2020) and Yungblud (2022) — both hit No. 1 on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart, with the latter giving him a career high of No. 45 on the Billboard 200. Idols is his first record on Island Records (U.K.) and Capitol Records (U.S.) following his previous home of Geffen/Interscope.
Speaking to Billboard U.K. in August, he shared details on the label move. “It’s a new phase in my life and these labels are so classic, and this new album feels like it belongs on prestigious labels like that,” he said. “The last few months have been a lot more creatively fruitful and inspiring. I really had a choice about staying in the comfort zone or do I want to go to different places and experiment.”
Following its inaugural edition in 2024, his Bludfest event will return on June 21 in Milton Keynes, England, and features appearances from Yungblud, Chase Atlantic, Rachel Chinouriri and more.
See the Idols tracklist and his album announcement on Instagram below:
“Hello Heaven, Hello”
“Idols Pt I”
“Lovesick Lullaby”
“Zombie”
“The Greatest Parade”
“Change”
“Monday Murder”
“Ghosts”
“Fire”
“War”
“Idols Pt II”
“Supermoon”