Music

In a letter to fans, Sam Smith reveals that they’ve got new music in the pipeline, and that they’ve learned some valuable lessons from the events of the past year and a half.

“It feels like a life time has gone by since I’ve seen you and I really want you to know I miss you all desperately,” Sam writes, adding, “Over the past 18 months, I honestly didn’t know who I was without you.”

They continue, “I’m writing from California where I’ve been busy writing and working on new music for a few weeks. It’s the first time I’ve been outside of the U.K. since the beginning of 2020, and while it feels strange…it feels massively exciting to be creating something new again. I can’t wait for you to hear the magic that’s happening.”

The “Dancing with a Stranger” star declares, “I’m learning for the first time ever to TAKE MY TIME and that new approach is SO exciting. [2020’s] Love Goes [album] was a time of change in my life, both personally and professionally. I want this next album to celebrate where I ended up after Love Goes. I want it to celebrate my strength and will forever be grateful for your patience and support.”

Sam then notes that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated hardships, “We have all GROWN. No matter what has happened, we are all two years older, wiser and more experienced in this weird and wonderful thing called life.” 

They add, “I’ve ceased trying to gain control of the things that we just can’t…life is still going to do whatever the hell it wants. And our only real job in this is to survive, to help others survive too and to try keep smiling while we do it.”

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Alt-J has announced a new album called The Dream.

The fourth studio effort from the “Left Hand Free” outfit is set to arrive February 11, 2022. It’s the follow-up to 2017’s Relaxer.

You can check out the lead single from The Dream, titled “U&ME,” now via digital outlets.

Alt-J will be supporting The Dream next year on a tour with Portugal. the Man. The outing will kick off February 25 in Pittsburgh, and will conclude April 17 in Toronto.

Tickets will go on sale next Friday, October 1, at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit AltJandPTM.com.

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#FreeBritney is becoming closer to reality than you might think, the singer’s lawyer says.

According to documents obtained by ABC News, Mathew Rosengart told a judge on Wednesday that he expects that Britney’s conservatorship, which has been in place for 13 years, to be “completely and inevitably” ended by the fall.  It’s something that the singer asked for earlier this year in comments in a Los Angeles court.

The lawyer made those statements in a court filing in which he also stated that his priority is having Britney’s father, Jamie Spears, removed as conservator.  Rosengart has asked Judge Brenda Penny to replace him by September 29 with someone else on a “temporary” basis.

The urgency is apparently due to Britney’s recent engagement to her boyfriend, Sam Asghari. It seems that Britney needs a prenup before she and Sam can tie the knot, and that would require the involvement of her conservator.  Rosengart argues that, given the fact that Britney and her dad aren’t exactly on good terms — she previously stated that he should be “in jail” — Mr. Spears’ involvement would be unhelpful in getting that done.

Earlier this month, Jamie himself asked the court to end the conservatorship, and on Wednesday, Rosengart said that since Mr. Spears “fully consents” to this step, he’s going to file a motion to terminate it once Britney’s dad is removed.

In addition, Rosengart said he wants to depose Jamie in connection with his accusations that the elder Spears had abused his position while in control over his daughter’s finances, and also wants an evidentiary hearing.  Mr. Spears has denied any wrongdoing.

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A Los Angeles judge has ordered Dr. Dre to fork over an additional $1.5 million in legal fees to his ex-wife, Nicole Young, in their ongoing divorce battle.

The judge estimated that Nicole’s reasonable legal fees in the case through July 2 should total $3 million, plus costs, according to documents obtained by the New York Post.  Those additional charges include $1 million toward the balance of her fees, and another $550,000 in costs associated with the case.

Young and her lawyers had previously claimed fees in the case were close to $4 million.  The court papers reflect that Young is being represented by celebrity attorney Samantha Spector, whose legal tab can cost up to $1,100 per hour.

Dre, born Andre Romelle Young, had been previously ordered to pay Nicole $293,306 in monthly temporary spousal support, as well as household security, insurance, gardening, taxes, repairs and maintenance costs, retroactive to September 1, 2020.  That comes to a grand total of $3,812,987 over the past year, the judge estimated in the ruling.

The seven-time Grammy winner and Beats mogul was ordered to pay Young roughly $300,000 a month in spousal support in July.

Dre, 56, and Young, 51, wed in 1996. They share two children: Truice, 24, and 20-year-old Truly.

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Original Foals keyboardist Edwin Congreave has left the band.

The U.K. outfit announced the news in an Instagram post Wednesday, revealing that their performance at the All Points East festival in August marked their final show with Congreave.

“After 15 years of sweet music making and surfing the globe together [Congreave’s] decided to hang up his musical boots to pursue other avenues of life,” the post reads. “It’s been a wild ride. We wish him all the best and thank him for everything, our friendship endures.”

As Congreave himself shares, those other avenues include “beginning a postgraduate degree in economics at Cambridge.”

“I hope in the next couple of years to join others in technical efforts to mitigate the imminent climate catastrophe,” he adds.

Congreave has played on every one of Foals’ albums. His departure follows that of founding bassist Walter Gervers, who left the group in 2018.

Foals’ most recent album is their 2019 two-part opus Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost. They’re currently “writing music as a three piece.”

 

 

 

 

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Elton John and Charlie Puth have unveiled their duet “After All,” which will appear on Elton’s upcoming all-star album of collaborations, The Lockdown Sessions.

The two musicians met in March of 2020 at an L.A. restaurant and since Elton was already a fan of Charlie’s, they started chatting and discovered that they were neighbors.  So Charlie invited Elton over and they wrote and recorded “After All,” which was the first track either of them completed during lockdown.

“Charlie is an amazing musician; we just hit it off. He’s become a friend and a friend of the family,” says Elton. “Our children love him and he loves them. Everyone we’ve worked with on The Lockdown Sessions I’ve really gotten closer to them, it’s quite amazing.”

“I played electric piano and actually wrote the song all the way through and then Charlie wrote the lyrics pretty quickly,” he adds. “He’s incredibly quick, Charlie. We just had an amazing chemistry in the studio.”

Charlie, who says he’s been a fan of Elton his “entire life,” adds, “It is truly incredible how the melodies and chords seem to come to him instantly whenever he sits down at the piano…He is world class and the true definition of a musical genius. Being a part of his musical journey is a dream come true.”

This weekend, Elton and Charlie will both be performing in Paris during the Global Citizen Live event, which will span seven continents and feature more than 50 artists over 24 hours. You can watch it on ABC TV and ABC News Live.

On Sunday, Charlie and Elton will go live on their TikTok pages to chat about the collaboration.

 

 

 

 

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Carly Pearce has found an unlikely, and perhaps unfortunate, connection with Kacey Musgraves.

While plenty of fans are clinging to Carly’s story of recovering from a devastating break-up in her 29: Written in Stone album, Carly is finding inspiration from Kacey, in Kacey’s just-released star-crossed record, released after Kacey and Ruston Kelly ended their marriage.

“They filed for divorce right after I did, so I understood what she was going through,” Carly tells Country Now. “We’re very similar in age, and we have a very similar approach as far as how we approach writing songs. I was excited to have an album come out that I could listen to and probably feel not alone musically.”

Carly also enjoyed the film that accompanied star-crossed, and experiencing how Kacey approached her own heartache.

“I think I watched it five times in a row,” Carly says. “I was just blown away by how two artists going through similar situations had such different approaches visually and musically.”

Carly added of Kacey, “I’m obsessed with everything that she’s doing right now.”

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