The Weekly Wrap | 21/06/2024
The Weekly Wrap is a look at the biggest stories in music collected in one place for your reading ease.
Queen To Sell Catalogue To Sony Music for £1 Billion
Queen is set to become the latest group to sell their music catalogue after agreeing to a deal with Sony Music worth a reported £1 billion (around AU$1.9 billion). The news comes after Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan both sold their back catalogues for hundreds of millions earlier this year.
According to Variety, two sources confirmed the deal was almost signed off on and that it does not include revenue earned by the band from touring, with Brian May and Roger Taylor continuing to perform live with singer Adam Lambert. Another party was also said to be interested in acquiring Queen’s music but wouldn’t bid more than $900 million.
The complicated deal includes royalties for recorded music rights in the US and Canada, which were previously owned by Disney. Queen’s distribution deal with Universal will switch over to Sony once it expires in the coming years.
Coldplay Announce New Album, Share First Single
Love them or hate them, Coldplay is one of the biggest bands in the world. The Chris Martin indie pop quartet have dominated the charts for close to three decades, so when a band of that magnitude announces a new album, people generally take note.
Moon Music is Coldplay’s tenth album set for release on October 4. Produced by Swedish hitmaker Max Martin (Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry), the record’s first single ‘feelslikeimfallinginlove’, was first premiered by the band at Budapest’s Puskás Aréna last Sunday (June 16). It’s exactly what you would expect from the UK lads. Coldplay fans will dig it, everyone else will hate it.
Looking to do their bit for the environment, Coldplay has tried their darnest to make the physical release of Moon Safari as sustainable as possible. As reported by NME, each vinyl copy will be made up of nine recycled PET-plastic bottles, which is said to provide an 85% reduction in CO2 emissions when compared to your normal 140g vinyl.
The CD versions of the album will be first released on ‘EcoCD’, which is a disc made from 90% recycled polycarbonate and “sourced from post-consumer waste streams.”
Coldplay tours Australia this October and November. You can pre-order Moon Music here.
Queenscliff Music Festival Announces 2024 Lineup
Having already announced Michael Franti & Spearhead as its headliner, Queenscliff Music Festival has unveiled the rest of the 2024 bill.
Joining Franti and Co are Marlon Williams, Xavier Rudd, Kasey Chambers, Bob Log III, The Bures Band, Cash Savage & The Last Drinks, Fools, Grace Cummings, Jack Botts, The Meltdown, Queenie, Rob Edwards and The Stamps. The Wiggles Sound System is also making a special appearance at the festival to keep the kids (and adults) entertained.
Queenscliff Music Festival has a real family-friendly vibe and is one of the more relaxed events on the festival calendar. It also helps the festival grounds are close to the beach so you can spend a few hours getting a tan or taking a dip before enjoying the tunes with a few bevs well into the evening.
Early bird tickets for Queenscliff Music Festival are on sale now via qmf.net.au.
Kendrick Lamar Performs ‘Not Like Us’ Five Times At LA Concert
Kendrick Lamar cemented his position as a West Coast great with his sold out ‘The Pop Out": Ken & Friends’ concert at LA’s Kia Forum on Wednesday (June 19).
The nearly four-hour celebration of the West featured Lamar playing all his big hits (‘Alright’, ‘HUMBLE’, ‘Swimming Pools (Drank)’, ‘King Kunta’), collaborating live on stage with Dr. Dre, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul and performing the Drake diss ‘Not Like Us’ not once, not twice, but five times! The hate is real.
Before taking the stage DJ HED and DJ Mustard both performed sets, with Mustard joined by Tyler, the Creator, YG, Ty Dolla $ign, Steve Lacy, and more.
The concert was simultaneously live-streamed on Amazon Prime Video and Twitch and has been called a victory lap for Lamar and the West Coast.
No Wave Pioneer James Chance Passes Away
Influential No Wave figure James Chance passed away at 71 this week. The singer-saxophonist who played with the Contortions and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks died earlier this year after a long battle with illness.
According to a GoFundMe set up by his brother David Siegfried, Chance “passed away peacefully” after suffering a “years-long debilitating illness.”
Born James Siegfried in Milwaukee, Chance studied piano at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music before moving to New York in the 70s and becoming a major part of the No Wave scene.
He first found fame with James Chance and the Contortions and then the Teenage Jesus and the Jerks before going into semi-retirement in the 80s. He returned in the 90s, collaborating with Blondie and reforming the Contortions for several live shows.
Known for his aggressive onstage antics, Chance was well-respected in the scene and is best remembered for his contribution to the seminal Brian Eno-produced 1978 compilation, No New York.
Donations can still be made to the GoFundMe page for those who want to help cover the funeral costs.
Stevie Nicks Confirms Fleetwood Mac Are Done
In news that won’t surprise anyone, Stevie Nicks has confirmed the end of Fleetwood Mac.
Following the death of Christine McVie in 2022, several members of the band, including Nicks, said there is little chance of the band going on after the tragedy.
The end of Fleetwood Mac is now official after Nicks told music magazine Mojo “Without Christine [McVie], no can do.”
Nicks also discussed her falling out with Lindsey Buckingham who left Fleetwood in 2018 and has been dealing with his own health issues. If the two managed to break bread, Nicks believes Buckingham would struggle to “do the kind of touring that Fleetwood Mac does, where you go out for a year and a half. It’s so demanding.”
Fleetwood Mac fans will have to console themselves by watching concert footage of the band on YouTube or streaming their albums online.
Tones & I Releases New Single ‘Dance With Me’
Gearing up for her upcoming Australian tour, Tones & I has shared more new music in the form of ‘Dance With Me’.
Not to be confused with Dizzie Rascal’s 2008 monster hit ‘Dance Wiv Me’, Tones & I’s newbie is another taste of her forthcoming sophomore album, Beautifully Ordinary.
Despite being an upbeat pop song with an 80s edge, lyrically ‘Dance With Me’ is a little depressing, addressing a failed relationship.
“The chorus symbolises waiting in the past for someone that’s moved on emotionally, the ‘dancing’ represents your happiest moment with someone and staying in the moment in a last desperate effort to reconnect with them,” she says. “It’s a lonely song but sounds happy.”
As for the album, Beautifully Ordinary is co-produced by Tones & I and contains the already released singles ‘Wonderful’, ‘I Get High’ and ‘Dreaming’.
“Each song is a different story, meant for its own moment,” she said in a statement about the album. “Some songs have been inspired by the same life experience, but through a different perspective. Mostly the album presents itself as whatever the listener takes from it.”
Beautifully Ordinary is set for release on Friday, August 2. You can pre-order/pre-save the album here. Tickets for Tones & I’s Adelaide performance are available via Ticketek.
Friday Five
You love music. We love music. Here are five songs we can’t get enough of this week.
1. Thee Sacred Souls – ‘Lucid Girl’
2. Kate Nash – ‘Ray’
3. Gut Health – ‘Separate States‘
4. Pongo – ‘Katana’
5. Burial – ‘Phoneglow’
