Music

It’s been 20 years since you could say there’s a new album from The Format out, but that’s no longer the case.

The duo of Nate Ruess and Sam Means has released their third studio effort, Boycott Heaven, the long-awaited follow-up to their 2006 sophomore effort, Dog Problems. The outfit went on hiatus in 2008, after which Ruess went on to form the band fun., which then went on hiatus in 2015.

The Format originally planned a reunion tour for 2020, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Shortly thereafter, Ruess learned how to play guitar and invited Means over for a fateful jam session.

“At that point it was literally just for fun,” Means tells ABC Audio. “But over the course of the next few months from there, I think it just kind of turned into something a little bit more real.”

Despite the 20-year gap, Means says he and Ruess’ songwriting relationship picked up where it left off.

“When you find someone who you can write music with, you just develop a bit of a shorthand, and that doesn’t ever really go away,” Means says.  

Boycott Heaven‘s themes touch on everything from religion and current events to relationships and mental health, but overall it reflects the core of what The Format is, as expressed in the lyrics of their 2003 song “On Your Porch”: “My thoughts bounce off of Sam’s guitar.”

“The Format spirit is a thing,” Means says. “I don’t know if we really know what it is exactly. It’s not a formula that we can just capture, it’s just something that tends to happen when we get together.” 

Boycott Heaven is out now. The Format will launch a U.S. tour in March.

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Poppy‘s new album, Empty Hands, is out now. Coming off 2024’s Negative Spaces, which spawned the singles “new way out” and the “cost of giving up,” Empty Hands finds Poppy continuing to push the boundaries of her sound, jumping in between different styles and genres from song to song, and often within the same track.

“I like the album to feel like an emotional roller coaster full of highs and lows and in-betweens,” Poppy tells ABC Audio. “It might mean something different to somebody else, but for me, I like the push and the pull and the up and the down and the sideways.”

One thing that stays consistent throughout Empty Hands is Poppy’s continued use of bodily language — you’ll hear multiple mentions of ribs, lungs, eyes and hands. Even a more metaphorical song like “Bruised Sky” takes on a more physical connotation thanks to the word “bruised.”

“I find myself to be a pretty body aware person,” Poppy says. “I’m interested by the way the body responds to external stresses and stimuli, and viewing it as if I’m laying down and I’m looking at my body from across the room.”

Along with naming the album Empty Hands, a phrase that pops up in its closing title track, Poppy sings the lyric, “My idle hands will let you drown,” on the song “Dying to Forget.”

“I witness a lot of things that I let play out by themselves and I don’t wanna intervene,” Poppy says. “And then some other situations, I decide to intervene when I’m strong and passionate about them.”

Meanwhile, on the grungy “Eat the Hate,” Poppy declares she’ll do just that.

“There’s a lot of noise out there in the world,” she says. “And it shouldn’t be confused for truth and repetition for reality.”

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Alex Warren went from being a TikTok creator to a Grammy-nominated, chart-topping global pop star in a relatively short amount of time. But Alex thinks it wasn’t talent that got him where he is today — it was luck.

“I know everyone says this, but truly, I don’t think I’m [better than anyone],” he told ABC Audio. “I think an audience member could come up and do my job better than I could. And so I have that mindset everywhere I go. I’m no better, not more talented, I just got lucky.”

That’s why, Alex said, he’s able to stay grounded and not go on some kind of ego trip. “I think there’s so many people in my position who would immediately think that they’re better than everyone else and then they start acting like it, which then puts them on a pedestal and whatnot,” he noted. “And, genuinely speaking, I just think I got really lucky and there’s so many talented people in this world.”

He continued, “I know so many talented people who are way better singers, way better songwriters, way better everything that I work with. And I think that’s so important to understand that there’s a huge percent of luck in our job. And there’s also just a huge percentage of, you know, ability.”

However, Alex will allow that he does have one particular skill that he thinks shot him to the top, along with that luck.

“I think I have a great ability to be able to tell a story,” he acknowledged, noting that his particular story — which includes losing both his parents and being homeless for a time — is a “really cool” one that “people like to hear.”

Still, he insisted, “That doesn’t make me better than the average person.” 

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Ella Mai has unveiled the track list for her new album, Do You Still Love Me?, nearly two weeks before its release.

According to a post on Instagram, the project will feature 18 songs, including previously released singles “100,” “Tell Her” and “Little Things.” The titles were listed in sequence, with each song between the slats of the blinds Ella is peeking through.

“i can’t wait for you to take a deeper dive into my world,” Ella captioned the post. “these are my love letters. see you in 2 weeks.”

Do You Still Love Me?, Ella Mai’s third studio album, will be released on Feb. 6.

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Harry Styles has released his new single, “Aperture.”

The track is the first single off his fourth studio album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally., which drops March 6.

“It’s best you know/ What you don’t/ Aperture lets the light in,” he sings over an electronic beat. “We belong together/ It finally appears/ It’s only love.”

Earlier on Thursday, Harry announced his Together, Together tour, featuring 50 shows in seven cities. As of now, New York City is his only stop in the U.S., with 30 dates booked at Madison Square Garden.

Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. follows his third studio album, Harry’s House, which was released in 2022 and featured the songs “As It Was,” “Late Night Talking,” “Music for a Sushi Restaurant” and more.

The new album will have 12 tracks and is executive produced by Kid Harpoon, the musician, producer and songwriter behind Harry’s House, as well as Styles’ 2019 album, Fine Line, and his eponymous debut album, which was released in 2017.

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The members of R.E.M. — Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, Bill Berry and Peter Buck — along with Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, Bonnie Raitt, OK Go and others have signed their names to a new campaign targeting artificial intelligence.

The campaign, Stealing Isn’t Innovation, backed by the Human Artistry Campaign, blasts big-tech companies that use copyrighted works for AI without authorization.

“Artists, writers, and creators of all kinds are banding together with a simple message: Stealing our work is not innovation. It’s not progress. It’s theft – plain and simple,” reads the statement on the campaign’s website. “A better way exists – through licensing deals and partnerships, some AI companies have taken the responsible, ethical route to obtaining the content and materials they wish to use.”

It adds, “It is possible to have it all. We can have advanced, rapidly developing AI and ensure creators’ rights are respected.”

Other musicians supporting the Stealing Isn’t Innovation campaign include MGMT, Cyndi Lauper, Chaka Khan, CAKE, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, The Zombies and Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon.

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RAYE announced on Thursday that she will release her sophomore album, THIS MAY CONTAIN HOPE, on March 27.

The album is artistically set in four “seasons,” with each side of the vinyl being a different season, taking listeners on a journey from darkness and into light.

“Music is medicine, I’ve always said that. I guess I’m in the process of making medicine for myself that I can share with the world,” says RAYE. “I want us all to say to ourselves that it’s going to be all right, and I’m going to have faith in the seeds that I’ve planted beneath the snow. I wanted to create something that is a hug, bed or soft place for that person who needs it.”

The album announcement comes as RAYE was nominated for two BRIT Award nominations this week for her song “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!”

RAYE kicked off her 51-date sold-out arena tour, THIS TOUR MAY CONTAIN NEW MUSIC, on Thursday in Lodz, Poland. She will tour for nearly four months across Europe and the U.K. before heading to North America, where she will eventually be a special guest on Bruno Mars’ The Romantic Tour for 27 shows this summer.

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