Author: Press Room

Put an empty cup in front of anyone who came of tweenage in the 2010s, and chances are they can still clap out “Cups,” that percussive children’s game made famous by Pitch Perfect and ubiquitous by the popular girls in the cafeteria. Those with wholesome adolescent associations will be gagged to hear the beat resurface in “Cups 2 (I Invented Popping P*ssy),” the lead single from Sophie Hunter’s new album, Stereoscope. It’s a tongue-in-cheek provocation that grinds gleefully on the guardrails of seriousness, much like Hunter’s declaration that she—a white woman from Connecticut—“invented throwing ass” and “invented the dancefloor.”Got secondhand…

Earlier this year, Cheekface “broke containment,” as the youths say. The Los Angeles trio had spent seven years self-releasing albums of quirked-up indie rock and amassing a following of “Cheek freaks,” loyal fans who revere their playful hooks and meme-poisoned humor. But in March, after revealing that they had rejected an opportunity to appear in an AT&T commercial due to the company’s contracts with ICE, Cheekface drew a surge of attention for their politics—which, like their lyrics, lean lefty and anti-corporate. Then a clip of their jittery deep cut “I Feel So Weird!” blew up and became a TikTok trend…

I feel like once a week I see an Instagram Reel captioned something like, “Berklee students be like,” showing a musician cheekily pulling off a seemingly impossible feat, fingers fluttering in a hummingbird-winged blur. Drummer/keyboardist combo DOMi & JD BECK embody that winkingly skillful spirit: They bring daredevil swagger to their meticulously refined chops, making jazz fusion at the intersection of conservatory discipline and madcap hijinks. It’s an equal-opportunity approach to virtuosity: Their changes are dense enough for music-theory YouTubers, approachable enough for the flat-white set.NOT TiGHT, DOMi & BECK’s 2022 debut, channeled trad jazz fusion into a whirlwind of…

Sam Fender and Olivia Dean just made history on the UK Billboard charts. “Rein Me In,” their collaborative single from his 2025 album People Watching, clocked its 19th week atop the chart, making it the longest-running No. 1 single ever in the United Kingdom, reports Billboard. They broke a 73-year record for that achievement; Frankie Laine’s hit “I Believe” previously held the title with 18 weeks back in 1953.“Rein Me In” came out with the rest of People Watching in February 2025, but the Dean-featuring version was tacked on in June of that year. It took a long but steady…

Ariana Grande is “taking a step back from visibility” after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour later this month, a representative for the artist told People. As such, the Petal singer will no longer appear in the West End revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s 1984 musical Sunday in the Park With George alongside her former Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey. This news arrives after fans have voiced concern for the singer’s health based on her appearance in public, on tour, and in music videos.“She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily…

Massive Attack have said their entire band were detained and some had their passports confiscated in Singapore after displaying the Palestinian flag on stage. The Bristol group performed at the Star Theatre in the country on Wednesday night (July 29), where they held the flag over their heads from the stage and joined in with audience chants of “Free Palestine”. Two unnamed band members were subsequently issued with “stern warnings” and banned from re-entering Singapore, while authorities said they would not approve any future applications for the group to perform in the country. Now, Massive Attack have given their response to the incident in a statement…

Ariana Grande will “take a step back from visibility” after her ‘Eternal Sunshine’ tour, and has withdrawn from her planned West End debut. The singer is wrapping up the North American leg of her headline tour and will begin a 10-date residency at London’s O2 Arena later this month, with those dates concluding on September 1. After that, her representative has confirmed that she will take a break from public appearances. “Ariana will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the ‘Eternal Sunshine’ tour,” the rep told People. “She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both…

If anyone happened to pass by Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield on Saturday night, it was clear there wasn’t just any event going on. Thousands of fans flooded the area, brimming with excitement as they counted down to see Trueno, Milo J, and J Noa take on Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage. This show had been one of the most anticipated of the summer series: Argentine rappers Trueno is one of the most exciting rising stars in Latin America, selling out massive stadiums across the globe. Milo J, one of Trueno’s peers and collaborators also from Argentina, has won over…

David Byrne joined Anna Calvi on stage in Halifax and Cardiff for performances of their collaborative track ‘Strange Weather’ – see footage below. Calvi served as the support act for both dates on Byrne’s ongoing ‘Who Is The Sky?’ tour, opening for him at the Piece Hall in Halifax on July 18 and at Cardiff Castle on July 26. On both occasions, she invited the former Talking Heads frontman on stage to revive their 2014 cover of ‘Strange Weather’, the song by French-Israeli artist Keren Ann that they recorded for Calvi’s covers EP, also titled ‘Strange Weather‘. “An honour to share the stage with David Byrne last week at The Piece Hall,” Calvi later wrote on Instagram. “It was really…

Massive Attack will not be allowed to perform in Singapore after the band reportedly flew a Palestinian flag and joined the crowd in a “Free Palestine” chant during a July 29 show at the city-state’s State Theater. In a statement shared to Instagram today, August 2, the band said they were “surprised and disappointed” by the authorities’ response, writing: “For our part, we did not imagine that merely holding up the flag of a sovereign state recognized by 157 countries (Palestine) would violate any law.”The decision is tied to Singapore’s policies on public speech, which prohibit publicly displaying foreign national…