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MUSIC
A Special
JB Hi-Fi
Promotion
RECOMMENDED
by
STACK
The Brit-pop icons return with their first album as a
four-piece in more than 15 years! The recordings,
which began during a break in touring in Hong Kong
in 2013, were originally put to one side when the
group returned to their respective lives. However, last
November, guitarist Graham Coxon revisited the tracks
and with the help of long-time Blur
associate Stephen Street (
Parklife
)
and the new LP began to take
shape. Damon Albarn likens the
album to Bowie’s Berlin era, saying
“there’s nothing pastoral about it”.
Sleeping With Sirens have taken to referring to
themselves and their fellow outsiders as ‘Strays’,
a concept immortalised in the song of the same name
on the band’s terrific Epitaph debut. Produced by hit-
maker John Feldman (5 Seconds Of Summer, Panic!
At The Disco),
Madness
is an electric
celebration of all that is SWS and
everything they represent.
It’s a reminder and an exclamation
point as to exactly why so many
consider this band to be the voice
of their generation.
The third full-length outing from the Liverpool
rockers was inspired by frontman Matthew ‘Murph’
Murphy’s experiences of Los Angeles and the idea
of a tumultuous relationship with a fictional woman
from L.A. “That became the main inspiration for
most of the songs, this false world that I’d created
for myself,” he explains.
“The album’s about the envy and
the struggle and the pretence and
the worry and the fear that L.A. –
and every major city in the world
– encompasses.”
On their long-awaited follow-up to 2012’s
The Strange
Case Of...
, Halestorm reach deep within and conjure
up their most engaging and eclectic collection of songs
to date. Pushing their musical boundaries further than
ever before, the Pennsylvania hard rockers have crafted
a set that rises from a whisper to
a scream and back again. “It’s an
invitation to all things Halestorm,”
explains frontwoman Lzzy Hale.
“Lyrically and musically, we
explored everything that makes
us tick.”
The official soundtrack from the latest installment
in the action blockbuster franchise gathers never-
before-available tracks from some of today’s most
electrifying hip hop and R&B artists. Iggy Azalea,
T.I., Young Thug, Flo Rida, Juicy J and Mos Def to
name just a few. What’s more, the
album includes the first-ever album
release of DJ Snake & Lil Jon’s
worldwide smash
Turn Down For
What
. Keep an eye out, too, for
the five electrifying music videos
created specially for the LP.
The Welsh popster’s first new noise since the concept
album
Electra Heart
is a cathartic re-birth in every
way and sees her veer away from the last LP’s stylistic
intentions. A back-to-basics return, the new album
from Marina Diamandis spouts disco grooves, dreamy
vocal hooks and an effervescent
sass, as she frankly dissects her
own foibles and pitfalls. “It’s not
about being ‘pop’ or ‘not’ pop” she
says. “It’s more about feeling the
groove in the music and knowing
there are real musicians playing.”
Blur
The Magic Whip
THE WOMBATS
Glitterbug
Halestorm
Into the Wild Life
various artists
Furious 7: Original Soundtrack
Marina & The Diamonds
Froot
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Sleeping With Sirens
Madness