While Bastille‘s last album, 2019’s Doom Days, told the story of an apocalypse unfolding over a single night of partying, the “Pompeii” outfit’s newest effort feels like a tale of an apocalypse in slow motion.
Give Me the Future, the fourth studio effort from Dan Smith and company, is essentially a sci-fi film in album form, pondering the dangers that technology and virtual reality might have on real life.
In beginning to write the album, Smith tells ABC Audio he and his band mates “looked at escapism through the lens of the future through the lens of technology, and our relationship with technology and what that then says for our relationships with ourselves and other people.”
“I guess as lockdowns and the pandemic progressed, the idea of making this science fiction album emerged with these songs,” he says.
In looking for a sound to match those themes, Bastille decided to “heavily lean into the retro-futuristic,” turning Give Me the Future into the most electronically-driven album of their career, as heard in the opening track, “Distorted Light Beam.”
But in between those electronics, you’ll hear more organic instrumentation in songs including “Thelma + Louise,” “Shut Off the Lights” and “Club 57,” which Smith says represent important moments on the album.
“We wanted to use the sonics of the album, and the arc of the album, to draw you in and pull you out of it,” Smith says. “It opens with ‘Distorted Light Beam,’ which is very direct, very electronic…Then it goes off and we time travel to early ’90s America for ‘Thelma + Louise.'”
He adds, “I guess the whole album is drawing you back-and-forward, in-and-out of your head, in-and-out of the future.”
It’s been a couple of years since Dua Lipa last appeared on CBS’ The Late Show, so on Thursday, she and host Stephen Colbert caught up on some of her latest projects, including her Future Nostalgia tour and her new concierge service, called Service 95.
Like most artists, the “Levitating” singer had to put her Future Nostalgia tour on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but oddly enough, the delay worked to her advantage.
“I feel like I know which songs people like, and the future nostalgia tour really is the future nostalgia tour because it predominantly is the songs from the album, where I think before it would have been bits here and there…now it’s like the first combination, the very best of,” she explains.
One of those hits is “Bold Heart,” her duet with Elton John, which he pitched to her in a Facetime chat — a pinch me moment for Lipa.
“Immediately I was like, ‘you’re joking.’ and said, ‘Of course, I’d love to,'” she recalls. “No, no, you listen to it first and decide,” Elton insisted. “Listen to it and let us know afterwards if you want to do the song.”
“I knew I was. Absolutely,” she continues. It’s a remix of “Rocketman” and “Sacrifice,” she says.
Dua also officially launched Service95, a “global style, culture, and society concierge service created to help the reader make sense of the world,” and she told Colbert the newsletter and website which features articles and features curated by Dua herself, grew out of her obsession for lists.
“I also thought, you know, we can have lots of different thoughts, perspectives, stories, articles that are really interesting that maybe you wouldn’t find as easy,” explains. “I wanted to make activism accessible to people who wanted to get involved.”
The Guns N’ Roses frontman was born on February 6, 1962, 60 years ago Sunday. He moved to Los Angeles in the early ’80s, and in 1985, Guns N’ Roses was formed with Rose on vocals, guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler, now referred to as the band’s classic lineup.
Two years later, GN’R released their debut album, Appetite for Destruction, which spawned hit singles in “Welcome to Jungle,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City,” and went on to become one of the best-selling records of all time.
GN’R followed Appetite with 1988’s GN’R Lies, and then 1991’s Use Your Illusion I and II. By then, drummer Adler had been fired from the group because of his drug use, and the band had earned a bad reputation due to destructive behavior on the road. Stradlin soon left, too.
Guns would release one more album, a covers compilation called “The Spaghetti Incident?”, in 1993, before Slash and McKagan eventually departed the group in 1996 and 1997, respectively.
Rose, the only remaining original member, continued to work on new GN’R music for a new album called Chinese Democracy, which would become one of the most notorious records in history while sitting in development hell for a decade before finally being released in 2008.
As Rose kept touring GN’R without his old band mates, fans wondered whether a reunion was ever possible. Finally, in 2016, Slash and McKagan rejoined for the Not in This Lifetime tour, a reference to Rose’s previous comments regarding a reunion. The run became the third highest-grossing tour of all time.
In between, Rose fronted AC/DC in 2016 in place of Brian Johnson, who was sidelined due to hearing issues.
This Monday, February 7, Julian Lennon will auction off six one-of-a-kind NFTs focusing on three prized Beatles-related items from his memorabilia collection and three guitars that his late dad, John Lennon, gave him as gifts.
The Fab Four memorabilia depicted in the NFTs are Paul McCartney‘s handwritten studio notes for the recording of “Hey Jude,” a black cape Julian’s father wore in the film Help!, and an Afghan coat John wore in the Magical Mystery Tour special.
Julian tells ABC Audio that to make the NFTs unique, he came up with the idea to animate the images of the items and record narration explaining why each piece is special to him.
He says the “Hey Jude” studio notes are meaningful because McCartney wrote the song to cheer him up when he was a boy at the time that his father and mother were separating.
Julian explains that the Help! cape is significant because he remembers his mother telling him about how she visited his dad during filming in Austria, where they both learned how to ski.
He says the Afghan coat has particular meaning to him because he spent lots of time with John while Magical Mystery Tour was being made. In addition, Julian notes, “I just loved [the] coat, regardless. I thought it was a beautiful, beautiful coat.”
Julian says an important aspect of the auction is that some proceeds will go to his White Feather Foundation, which will help fund the charity’s global work in such areas as clean water, health, education, conservation of life, and protection of indigenous cultures.
Mystery fans who have been searching for a new puzzle to solve will have to put on their thinking caps when Suspicionairs Friday on Apple TV+. The show, which stars Uma Thurman, Noah Emmerich,Kunal Nayyar, Elizabeth Henstridge and more, aims at keeping the audience guessing about a kidnapping and its sociopolitical implications.
Nayyar, best known for playing Raj on The Big Bang Theory, tells ABC Audio the series has a classic feel. “It is a really, really good, big, suspenseful drama. A real, true whodunit,” he says, noting that the audience will be kept questioning “if these characters did it” and “who was responsible.”
Star Tom Rhys Harries echoes Nayyar’s summary and adds, “What the show does well is makes us question, I guess, people in authority. We are, as a people, more suspicious.”
“There’s also a lot of information out there that we can access by just reaching into our pocket and grabbing whatever device you have on you. But then there’s misinformation, there’s facts and lies,” he adds. “And then these are questions that the show is posing to all of us and, you know, asking the audience to engage with, but not necessarily answering them.”
Aside from keeping viewers suspecting everyone on the show, Henstridge, who you might know from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, adds the series is not only about a mystery — it’s an action thriller.
“I just love fight scenes, car chases, massive explosions, and this show has all of that,” she teases.
Suspicion is available now on Apple TV+ with new episodes arriving every Friday.
Jackass Forever hits theaters today.It’s the sixth movie in the bone-breaking MTV franchise, but if its your first time tuning in, have no fear, Steve-O, who stars in the film, provided some insight on what to expect.
“I would describe Jackass to somebody who hasn’t seen it as wholesome in the most surprising way,” he told ABC News. “You know, we do reckless things, irreverent things, but we’re not mean-spirited at all. And the spirit of what we do is so positive that I really feel that it’s wholesome and wonderful. And I think that this is a time when when people need that.”
Johnny Knoxville, who also stars in the action-comedy, added, “I think you need to watch it in the theater because you…don’t want to be on a roller coaster alone. You want to be on a roller coaster with everyone else.”
Jackass Forever reunited Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, and the rest of the gang, which Knoxville equated to getting “a dysfunctional family back together.”
“We’ve been friends for so long and we love each other, and it’s great to get the family back together, a dysfunctional family back together,” he explained. “And even though the guys know they’re going to be put through hell, bless them. They still love it. And I know that I’m going to go through so much and I still love it.”
Part of what they go through in Jackass involves stunts and despite what it looks like, the stars aren’t fearless.
“It’s not about being totally fearless and brave, it’s, you can be totally scared, but you still do it,” Pontius said.
“And that’s what makes it,” added Steve-O. “That’s the definition of courage. It’s not being fearless. It’s fighting through your fear.”
(BRIDGEPORT, Conn.) — A Bridgeport, Connecticut, chapter of the NAACP is demanding the Department of Justice investigate the Bridgeport Police Department over the cases of two Black women, Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Lee Rawls, who were both found dead in their homes.
The demand comes after two Bridgeport police detectives assigned to both cases, were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the police department’s internal affairs office.
The detectives were disciplined due to a “lack of sensitivity to the public and failure to follow police policy” in the handling of the two cases, according to a statement from Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim on Jan. 30.
Rawls was found dead and alone in her home on Dec. 12, 2021. The cause and manner of death are still undetermined, according to the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Smith-Fields was found dead in her apartment that same day, shortly after being with a man she had met on a dating app.
The Connecticut chief medical examiner’s office found that Smith-Fields’ cause of death was “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine and alcohol.” The medical examiner ruled the manner of death an “accident.”
The families of Smith-Fields, 23, and Rawls, 53, claim Bridgeport police failed to notify them of the deaths and say they learned of the deaths from others.
During a virtual press conference on Wednesday, Bridgeport NAACP president Rev. D. Stanley Lord recommended new training, revised hiring practices, community input and oversight, and more in order to address criticisms of “insensitivity” and “prejudicial” treatment toward “Blacks and other citizens of color” from the department.
“The operation within the Bridgeport Police Department seems to be a constant disarray and dysfunction,” Lord said.
He added, “Recent actions by uniformed officers and detectives have cast a shadow on the performance of the department publicly and has made clear that there is a great need for diversity in its staff, its leadership, and decision-making practices.”
Lord reported that African Americans make up less than 15% of the Bridgeport Police Department. BPD confirmed the statistic.
However, Black Americans make up 35% of the city’s population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
In a statement to ABC News from the city of Bridgeport, BPD said it “serves its residents and all members of our community regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or religion. Members of the Bridgeport Police Department are hired and promoted based upon a competitive Civil Service exam process.”
The families of Smith-Fields and Rawls have continued to call for proper investigations into their deaths following the mayor’s announcement. The cases have been reassigned and are still under active investigation.
“It is an unacceptable failure if policies were not followed,” Ganim said in his statement. “To the families, friends and all who care about the human decency that should be shown in these situations in this case by members of the Bridgeport Police Department, I am very sorry.”
The Bridgeport police union called the mayor’s decision to place the officers on leave “regrettable.”
“We caution against a rush to judgment until we have all the facts surrounding this case,” said Sgt. Brad Seely, the union president, in a statement obtained by ABC-affiliate WTNH. “We will file grievances over the placement of Dets. Llanos and Cronin on administrative leave to restore them back to full duty status.”
Seely cited staff shortages in calling for the return of the two detectives.
The union also extended “sympathy and sorrow to the families and friends of Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Rawls, whose untimely deaths have brought unimaginable pain.”
(NEW YORK) — For Christmas two years ago, Jessica Harvey Galloway was gifted a home DNA test kit by her parents, mom Jeanine Harvey and her dad, John Harvey, who goes by Mike.
They never expected that the test they used from Ancestry.com would indicate that Jessica was not at all related to Mike, who is of Italian descent.
“We got the results and logged on. There’s Irish, English, German, Welsh, French all these things. And there’s no Italian Sicilian. I mean nothing,” Jessica recalled on “Good Morning America.”
Nearly 30 years ago, the Harveys turned to Dr. Nicholas J. Spirtos, a doctor at Summa Health System’s Akron Campus in Ohio to help them on their journey to becoming parents. With the help of IVF, the couple conceived a daughter.
But according to the family, the DNA test showed Jessica’s biological father was someone else entirely — a complete stranger to the family.
“It revealed a trauma that I never could have imagined. It’s taken every ounce of my power to remain strong for myself and my family as we try to move forward,” Jeanine Harvey told “GMA.”
“Learning that your entire reality isn’t what you believed it to be is hard to explain,” Mike Harvey added. “It’s like waking up in someone else’s life.”
Now, the Harveys are suing Summa Health and Dr. Spirtos, alleging they were the victims of medical malpractice, negligence and a breach of contract, among other claims, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by “GMA.”
The Harveys are being represented by Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise, LLP of Cleveland. One of their lawyers, Adam Wolf, told “GMA,” “You can’t go back in time and change things. All we can do at this point is demand accountability and demand regulation and oversight so that we don’t have more people in the Harvey situation.”
“We are aware of an allegation that has been made claiming in 1991 a patient was artificially inseminated with the semen from a person who is not her husband,” Summa Health said in a statement to “GMA.” “We take this allegation seriously and understand the impact this has on the family. At this point, we have not met with the family or conducted testing of our own. Given the very limited information that we have and the amount of time that has passed, it remains our hope that the attorneys representing the family will work with us to make that next step a priority.”
As for Jessica, who said she has always been passionate about her genealogy and father’s Italian heritage, she hopes to move past the shocking news.
“My priority going forward is focusing on my family, regardless of DNA or blood,” she said.
(ATLANTA) — Gregory McMichael, the retired Georgia police officer convicted in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, informed a federal court Thursday evening that he has withdrawn his plans to plead guilty to federal hate crime charges connected to Arbery’s death after a federal judge this week rejected the terms of a plea agreement reached with the Justice Department.
Counsel for McMichael, the father of Travis McMichael, who shot Arbery in February 2020 three times at close range, informed U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Wood in a filing that they are now ready for him to stand trial on the federal hate crimes charges next week.
It is still not clear whether Travis McMichael similarly plans to withdraw his plans to plead guilty after the hearing earlier this week when Wood said she could not accept the terms of the plea agreement reached between the DOJ and the McMichaels, which would have constrained her ability to determine their sentence.
Wood told the men she wanted an answer by Friday.
If Travis McMichael also decides to withdraw his pleas, they will go to trial next week with their co-defendant William “Roddie” Bryan, who was not offered the same plea deal.
Gregory McMichael, 66, a retired Georgia police officer and his 36-year-old son were convicted of state murder charges last year along with Bryan, 52, and were all sentenced to life in prison, the McMichaels without the possibility of parole.
Friday’s decision by the McMichaels comes just days after Wood rejected a plea deal in which federal prosecutors guaranteed the men would be able to serve the first 30 years of confinement in federal prison.
During a hearing on Monday in U.S. District Court in Brunswick, Georgia, Wood said she felt “uncomfortable” approving a plea deal that locked her into giving the McMichaels a three-decade sentence in a federal penitentiary. She noted that the case was in its early stages and said, “I can’t say that 360 months is the precise, fair sentence in this case.”
Wood’s decision came on the heels of Arbery’s parents, Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery, giving impassioned statements in court. They asked the judge to deny the men their wish to go to federal prison, which is safer and better funded than most state prisons, according to legal experts.
“Granting these men their preferred conditions of confinement would defeat me,” Cooper-Jones told Wood. “It gives them one last chance to spit in my face after murdering my son.”
At Monday’s hearing, assistant U.S. attorney Tara Lyons said Travis and Gregory McMichael agreed to plead guilty to count one of a multi-count indictment alleging they interfered with Arbery’s right to enjoy the use of a public road he was jogging on “because of Arbery’s race and color.” Lyons said the agreement called for other charges to be dismissed, including attempted kidnapping and discharging a firearm during a violent crime.
The agreement also called for the McMichaels to waive their right to appeal in both the federal and state cases.
Arbery, 25, was fatally shot on Feb. 23, 2020, after the McMichaels saw him jogging in their Satilla Shores neighborhood near Brunswick, Georgia. They said they assumed Arbery was a burglar, armed themselves and chased him in their pickup truck. The McMichaels’ neighbor, Bryan, joined the pursuit, blocking the victim’s escape path with his truck.
Bryan also used his cellphone to record Travis McMichael fatally shooting Arbery with a shotgun, video that became integral to their state murder convictions.
The Wombats will be livestreaming their upcoming sold-out show in Los Angeles.
The virtual festivities kick off February 25 at 7:55 p.m. PT via the streaming platform Veeps. For ticket info, visit TheWombatsOfficial.Veeps.com.
The LA show is the final date on The Wombats’ ongoing U.S. headlining tour in support of their new album Fix Yourself, Not the World, which dropped in January. It debuted at the top of the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart, giving the U.K. trio their first number-one record in their home country.
Fix Yourself, Not the World features The Wombats’ current single, “If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming with You.”
