Connect with us

Music

Brian Eno delivers climate warning on new track, ‘There Were Bells’

Published

on

Brian Eno has today (July 28) previewed his upcoming new album with a new single, ‘There Were Bells’ – check it out below.

Eno’s 22nd studio album, ‘FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE’, will be released on October 14 and can be pre-ordered here.

The 10 track record was made at his studio in West London and according to a press release, Eno sings vocals on the majority of tracks for the first time on an album since 2005’s ‘Another Day On Earth.’

Today’s single release was written by Eno for a performance by him and his brother Roger at a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Acropolis, in August 2021. Eno recalled how it was 45 degrees in Athens on the day of the concert with wildfires raging just outside the city – something that prompted his introductory comment:”I thought, here we are at the birthplace of Western civilisation, probably witnessing the end of it.”

‘There Were Bells’ is described as proving “a poignant reminder of the current climate emergency, a theme that is explored throughout the album.”

You can listen to the new track here:

‘FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE’ Tracklist:
‘Who Gives a Thought’
‘We Let It In’
‘Icarus or Blériot’
‘Garden of Stars’
‘Inclusion’
‘There Were Bells’
‘Sherry’
‘I’m Hardly Me’
‘These Small Noises’
‘Making Gardens Out of Silence’ [this will appear on the LP and digital version of the album and not the CD]

Speaking about the new album, Eno said: “Like everybody else – except, apparently, most of the governments of the world – I’ve been thinking about our narrowing, precarious future, and this music grew out of those thoughts.

“Perhaps it’s more accurate to say I’ve been feeling about it…and the music grew out of the feelings. Those of us who share those feelings are aware that the world is changing at a super-rapid rate, and that large parts of it are disappearing forever…hence the album title.

“These aren’t propaganda songs to tell you what to believe and how to act. Instead they’re my own exploration of my own feelings. The hope is that they will invite you, the listener, to share those experiences and explorations.

“It took me a long time to embrace the idea that we artists are actually feelings-merchants. Feelings are subjective. Science avoids them because they’re hard to quantify and compare. But ‘feelings’ are the beginnings of thoughts, and the long term attendants of them too. Feelings are the whole body reacting,  often before the conscious brain has got into gear, and often with a wide lens that encompasses more than the brain is consciously aware of.

“Art is where we start to become acquainted with those feelings, where we notice them and learn from them – learn what we like and don’t like – and from there they start to turn into actionable thoughts. Children learn through play; adults play through Art. Art gives you the space to ‘have’ feelings, but it comes with an off-switch: you can shut the book or leave the gallery. Art is a safe place to experience feelings – joyous ones and difficult ones. Sometimes those feelings are about things we long for, sometimes they’re about things we might want to avoid.

“I’m more and more convinced that our only hope of saving our planet is if we begin to have different feelings about it: perhaps if we became re-enchanted by the amazing improbability of life; perhaps if we suffered regret and even shame at what we’ve already lost; perhaps if we felt exhilarated by the challenges we face and what might yet become possible. Briefly, we need to fall in love again, but this time with Nature, with Civilisation and with our hopes for the future.”

Brian Eno CREDIT: Cecily Eno

Last year, Eno spoke out about Coldplay and The 1975‘s efforts to tackle climate change, while calling for “a revolution” in the wider music industry’s approach.

Appearing as a guest on the second season of Fay Milton’s Sounds Like A Plan podcast, which focuses on how the music community is confronting the climate crisis, he spoke about launching Earth Percent, “a charity providing a simple way for the music industry to support the most impactful organisations addressing the climate emergency”.

“We’ve got quite a few people on board already,” Eno explained, “either actually on board or with a commitment to join us. We’re not talking only to artists; we’re talking to agents, promoters, managers, record companies, publishing companies, legal and so on.”

He continued: “We’re saying to all of them, ‘We’re all part of this business together, and you’re as an important part of it as anyone else. Why don’t you join us?’

“We’re trying to make it the cause of the music business, really, to say, ‘Let’s have a revolution’,” Eno said, adding that he hopes the model would then spread to other industries.

Earlier this year, ENO also released an exclusive collaboration with former R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe on Earth Day to help raise awareness of climate change. 

Music

Daryl Hall to support Billy Joel at this year’s BST Hyde Park

Published

on

Daryl Hall is set to perform at the 2023 BST Hyde Park festival later this summer, as a special guest headliner Billy Joel.

The Hall & Oates singer will join the singer-songwriter onstage for his live appearance at the London Festival, which is set to take place on July 7. Tickets are available now.

As previously announced, BLACKPINK will make their UK festival debut headlining their own day at British Summer Time, as well as Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band playing two nights, alongside headline appearances from Guns N’ Roses, Take That and P!nk, supported by Gwen Stefani.

Daryl Hall. Credit: Scott Legato/Getty Images

Alongside his guest appearance with Joel, Hall is also set to perform at a newly-announced headline show in London. Taking place at Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo on July 9, the show will see the singer perform alongside his House Band and special guest, Todd Rundgren. Tickets go on sale at 10 am this Friday – available here.

Last year, Elton John performed at the event as part of his ongoing Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, as well as The Rolling Stones, who returned to the event for two sold-out shows and paid an emotional tribute to late drummer, Charlie Watts.

Adele, Eagles and Pearl Jam also appeared as part of the line-up, as well as Duran Duran, who treated the London crowd to a run of their greatest hits.

Duran Duran at BST Hyde Park 2022
Duran Duran at BST Hyde Park. Credit: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

Last year, Daryl Hall also confirmed that he was once asked to sing for Van Halen – as a potential replacement for frontman David Lee Roth.

“I knew those guys really well,” he said. “David [Lee Roth] had just left the band, and Eddie [Van Halen] asked me, ‘Do you wanna join Van Halen, man?’

He continued: “He was half-joking, but I think he was serious. I really do believe he was serious, and I took it seriously. I said, ‘Man, I think not. I think I’ve got my own shit going on.’”

Continue Reading

Music

Radiohead to release new material in “next couple of years”

Published

on

Radiohead‘s drummer Philip Selway has said that the band will release new material “of some sort” in the “next couple of years”.

  • READ MORE: Radiohead’s ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ – The Biggest Talking Points

In January, Selway said that he and his bandmates would be meeting up early this year to start putting things in motion. “We’re going to get together at the start of [2023], and I’m sure we’re going to start looking at other ideas for what comes next,” he said.

Now, the drummer has told Prog Magazine [via MusicNews]: “We’re always talking about stuff. But in terms of an actual kind of collective project, beyond the ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac’ stuff that we’ve been doing [2021’s ‘Kid AMnesia’ reissue project and interactive exhibition], it’s kind of further down the line for us when that will happen. We’re talking about that, but at the moment everybody’s doing their own thing.

“When the pandemic happened, we’d always planned to take a veer off from Radiohead around that, so we could get on with other stuff. But that just meant that those other projects kind of grew, so we’re allowing time for all of those projects to go where they need to. But yeah, we’ll get together soon and in the next couple of years there will be something there, of some sort.”

Philip Selway. CREDIT: Phil Sharp.

Radiohead’s last album was 2016’s ‘A Moon Shaped Pool‘.

Elsewhere, the drummer, who recently released his second solo album under his own name, ‘Strange Dance’, revealed that he’s already working on its follow-up.

Asked if the next record is taking shape, he said: “It is, actually. You get to the end of one project and can’t see beyond that for a little while, but it’s led by the ideas that you’ve got coming as well. To do a solo record you need songs and they are starting to happen a bit more now. So yeah, I would love to.

“When I first started doing the solo stuff, I was just thinking of it as a trilogy of records and didn’t really project beyond that.

“I certainly didn’t think I’d end up doing soundtrack work or any of the other stuff. And in some ways, I guess ‘Strange Dance’ feels as though it’s completing that initial cycle. And it feels wonderful to be at that point.”

Phil Selway and Thom Yorke of Radiohead (Photo by Andy Sheppard/Redferns via Getty Images)
:Phil Selway and Thom Yorke of Radiohead (Photo by Andy Sheppard/Redferns via Getty Images)

Last summer, Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien discussed the band’s future, saying: “It might happen, but the other thing is… it might not. And does that matter?

“There’s no Radiohead at the moment,” he added. “There’s a truth to what we do, so we’re not going to be one of those bands that gets together for the big payday.”

In other news, a mash-up of tracks by Ice Spice, PinkPantheress and Radiohead has gone viral after being shared on Twitter.

Continue Reading

Music

iKON’s Bobby drops music video for moody new solo track ‘Cherry Blossom’

Published

on

iKON’s Bobby has released a new solo song titled ‘Cherry Blossom’ and its music video.

Today (March 20), the K-pop idol unveiled the music video for ‘Cherry Blossom’, a track from his upcoming single album ’S.i.R’. The project, which will feature the title track ‘Drowning’, will be released tomorrow (March 21) at 6pm KST.

In the ‘Cherry Blossom’ music video, Bobby wakes up in a dim bedroom, before getting up to sing and dance to the upbeat new track as he is haunted by memories of the past. The idol grows more sullen towards the end of the visual, eventually returning to his bed in the darkness.

You were more beautiful than cherry blossoms / You lasted longer than cherry blossoms / Like cherry blossoms, you took spring away with you / More cherry than cherry blossoms, you more than cherry blossoms,” he sings in the chorus.

‘Cherry Blossom’ marks Bobby’s first solo release since he and his iKON bandmates left longtime agency YG Entertainment in December 2022. All six members of the boyband have since signed with 143 Entertainment, and will reportedly release a new album this April.

Earlier this month, iKON announced that they would soon be embarking on their ‘Take Off’ world tour, which will take place from May to September. The group will be touring East and Southeast Asia, Europe and North America as part of the tour.

Continue Reading

Trending