Music

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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Dream Theater has released a new song called “Invisible Monster,” a track off the band’s upcoming album, A View from the Top of the World.

In a statement, guitarist John Petrucci describes “Invisible Monster,” which you can download now via digital outlets, as a “more mid-temp song” about “how anxiety plagues people.”

“It’s like there’s an invisible monster beating you,” he explains. “You don’t see it, but it’s haunting you all of the time.”

“Invisible Monster” is the second song to be released from A View, following “The Alien,” though it’s considered to be the record’s first official single. At six-and-a-half minutes, “Invisible Monster” is the second shortest cut off the album — the closing title track is the longest, at over 20 minutes.

A View from the Top of the World will be released October 22. It’s the follow-up to 2019’s Distance over Time.

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Now that many artists have returned to the road following the lockdowns of 2020, ticket marketplace StubHub is able to once again announce who the most in-demand touring artists are this fall — and which stars fans are most looking forward to seeing in concert in 2022. That would be Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Justin Bieber, respectively.

Based on StubHub ticket sales for concerts this month through December, Harry’s Love on Tour trek is officially the most in-demand tour, garnering more sales than any other artist this fall. By taking first place, he breaks Elton John‘s two-year streak on top.

The second and third most in-demand artists are country star Luke Combs and rock legends The Rolling Stones, respectively.  Machine Gun Kelly, Dave Matthews Band and country superstar Garth Brooks are all in the top 10.

But based on ticket sales for concerts next year, when even more artists will be back on the road, StubHub has declared Elton John to be the most in-demand artist of 2022, when he’ll resume his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, his health permitting.

Also making the top 10 on StubHub’s list of artists fans can’t wait to see next year: Billie Elilish, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Bad Bunny, and Rage Against the Machine.

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Scotty McCreery found more success in his teenage years than most, winning season 10 of American Idol when he was just 17 years old. Even so, now that he is 27 and has a successful career in country music, the North Carolina native knows exactly what he would tell a younger version of himself if he could go back in time.

“I would have probably told myself to be patient and let things happen, and dig into the songwriting aspect of it,” Scotty tells Billboard. “If I could give that advice from a 27-year-old me, to a 17-year-old me I would have taken it — but you have to grow up and you have to live life. I didn’t have a lot of those life experiences that I’m writing about today.”

Scotty just released his latest album, Same Truck. His latest single, “You Time,” is currently sitting at #1 on the charts.

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Britney Spears‘ sons are now at the age that they don’t want their mom posting pics of them on Instagram, but she managed to come up with a sweet Instagram birthday post for them, even without a photo.

The singer posted the quote, “There is nothing stronger than the love between a mother and a son,” and wrote, “My boys’ birthdays were last week … and unfortunately they are growing up and want to do their own things…I have to ask their permission to post them because they are extremely independent little men!!! Anyway we had a small party and the coolest ice cream cakes!!!”

She added of Sean Preston and Jayden James, who are 16 and 15, respectively, “It makes me crazy because they are so tall and geez they are still growing!!! They went to a dance last week and I cried for two days — my babies in a suit !!! It’s crazy!!! And girls get ready cause my boys are so handsome.”

Referring to the quote she posted, Britney continued, “I truly believe this quote which is why I wanted to share it…there’s a lot I can’t share with you all because my kids are very private which I love but I will tell you they are both extremely talented and I’m so incredibly blessed to have these two little men in my life!!!”T

The newly engaged singer concluded, “And if they’re reading this … which I’m pretty sure they’re not … I love you two little devils so much!!!”

Britney shares both boys with her ex husband Kevin Federline.

 

 

 

 

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Garbage has delayed the release date for the band’s upcoming beautifulgarbage 20th anniversary reissue.

Originally due out October 1, the package is now set to arrive November 5 due to “recent vinyl production issues.”

“We apologize for the delay and any disappointment caused but deeply appreciate your patience,” Garbage says.

Following the alt rock hits of 1995’s Garbage and 1998’s Version 2.0, 2001’s beautifulgarbage took a more experimental approach, introducing more electronic and pop elements into the band’s sound. The reissue includes the original album remastered, along with various bonus B-sides, alternate versions and remixes.

Garbage just released a new album called No Gods No Masters in June.

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