Music news

• London Grammar: Truth Is a Beautiful Thing review – drowns in its own despair

  08-06-2017 23:45
  
  (Ministry of Sound)The weapon of sadness will never become outmoded in music. Yet four years after their 2m-selling debut record, If You Wait, the vague, theatrical angst of London Grammar’s sound seems dated. Granted, there are genuinely melancholic emotions running throughout – the group have talked about vocalist Hannah Reid’s severe stage fright and the band’s exhaustion after relentless touring. And lyrically, Reid wrestles with the good and bad, truth and lies, the
  
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• Phoenix: Ti Amo review – kings of cool blow hot and cold

  08-06-2017 23:30
  
  (Atlantic Records)With their artfully tousled haircuts and general air of supreme nonchalance, Versailles electropoppers Phoenix are nothing if not cool. Indeed, it’s an adjective applied to them so often, the band might be tired of hearing it. That belief is strengthened by Phoenix’s sixth album, on which they seem to be goading each other into previously undiscovered realms of naffness. Inspired by an idealised, sun-dappled, “pre-Berlusconi” Italy, it’s a sugar ru
  
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• Katy Perry: Witness review – edgy, new-look Perry keeps melodic flair

  08-06-2017 23:15
  
  (Capitol)Katy Perry has given Twitter meme-makers much material lately. With her new blond crop and stripy get-up on SNL, could she be the time-travelling love child of Wrecking Ball-era Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke? And was her drunk-auntie-at-a-wedding-reception dancing alongside Migos on SNL the cringiest music moment of the year/decade? While her “edgy” new image might not appeal to everyone, K Pez still has a flair for tunes that quickly seep into the collective consciousness &n
  
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• Chuck Berry: Chuck review – instantly recognisable rock'n'roll royalty

  08-06-2017 23:00
  
  Berry’s first album since 1979, released after his death, revisits the riffs and themes he made famous in the 1950s Related: Chuck Berry's life and career in pictures Being released just three months after his death, Chuck Berry’s first album since 1979 includes songs that originate as far back as the 1980s. There are three generations of Berry guitarists and guest appearances from the likes of Nathaniel Rateliff and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello. Perhaps this explains
  
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• Sufjan Stevens, James McAlister, Bryce Dessner and Nico Muhly: Planetarium review – majestic celestial space opera

  08-06-2017 22:45
  
  (4AD)As lofty ideas for concept albums go, outer space is one that continues to fascinate beardy musicians. Techno pioneer Jeff Mills has just released Planets, an electronic-classical record inspired by Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite of the same name. And from the sensitive indie sphere, there is Planetarium, a 17-track exploration of the solar system from Sufjan Stevens and his drummer, James McAlister, the National’s Bryce Dessner and composer Nico Muhly. It manages to balance am
  
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• Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie review – divided we stand

  08-06-2017 22:30
  
  (East West Records)Behold the new Fleetwood Mac album, or at least it was meant to be, before the band tumbled apart after their 2014-2015 reunion gigs (Stevie Nicks floated off diaphanously to tour solo with the Pretenders; Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, however, take part). Oddly, it begins with a 2011 Buckingham album track, Sleeping Around the Corner, him croaking about a girl like he’s reaching for the Benylin, before a cheap synthesiser bass line parps in. Then there’s On With
  
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• Strip That Down (Ft. Quavo)

  08-06-2017 21:14 via mtv.co.uk
  
  Strip That Down (Ft. Quavo)
  
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• No Days Off [Explicit]

  08-06-2017 21:14 via mtv.co.uk
  
  No Days Off
  
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• All Around The World (Ft. Desiigner) [Explicit]

  08-06-2017 21:08 via mtv.co.uk
  
  All Around The World (Ft. Desiigner)
  
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• Gucci On My (Ft. 21 Savage, YG & Migos) [Explicit]

  08-06-2017 21:04 via mtv.co.uk
  
  Gucci On My
  
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• Readers recommend: share songs that say 'love is...'

  08-06-2017 21:00
  
  Make your nomination in the comments and a reader will pick the best eligible tracks for a playlist next week – you have until Monday 12 June This week we want to know what love is – to the lyricists behind the songs you want to share. If the lyrics include the phrase “love is...” you’re all set – whether or not it speaks of romance, heartbreak, torture or joy.
  You have until 11pm on Monday 12 June to post your nomination and make your justification. RR regula
  
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• Strauss: Metamorphosen, Serenade, etc CD review – Aldeburgh strings are lithe and sophisticated

  08-06-2017 19:45
  
  Aldeburgh Strings/Aldeburgh Winds/Daunert/Daniel(Linn)Metamorphosen can make me seasick in the wrong hands. Written by an 85-year-old Richard Strauss in the months after the second world war, the relentless, swell and tug of the grief-thick harmonies need players who see past the next wave and steer through half an hour of stormy waters. And it really is up to every single player – Strauss wrote 23 solo string parts rather than clumping instruments together, and that makes the skill and ju
  
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• Justin Adams: Ribbons CD review – hypnotic, moody global blend

  08-06-2017 19:45
  
  (Wayward/DJA Records)It has been 16 years since the guitarist and producer Justin Adams released his last solo album, but he can hardly be accused of slacking. A member of Robert Plant’s current band, he has revealed his fascination with Arab and African cultures in an extensive series of collaborations with artists ranging from Juldeh Camara to Seun Kuti, while exploring African-Celtic fusion with Sharon Shannon. Now he uses those global influences in an original set of ambient experiment
  
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• Phoenix: ‘The purity of French identity is an illusion; it’s never existed'

  08-06-2017 19:37
  
  France’s princes of gauzy soft rock are back with a new album Ti Amo. Despite recording amid two years of terror and division, they’ve managed to keep it sunnyEnglish music has been in decline for the best part of two-and-a-half decades, say Phoenix. That is a frank provocation from a French band who have spent 18 years artfully melting into the background. Especially given that we are sitting in a Nashville theatre steeped in country and honky-tonk music heritage, where neither Phoe
  
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• Jonathan Dove: In Damascus, etc CD review – beauty in its restraint

  08-06-2017 19:30
  
  Sacconi Quartet/Padmore/Owen(Signum)“My heart is a black lump of coal,” writes Syrian poet Ali Safar. “My heart is a full stop on a page.” This is an excerpt, translated by Anne-Marie McManus, from Safar’s A Black Cloud in a Leaden White Sky, or Death by Stabs of Sorrow, which describes personal responses to the Syrian war and provides the text of Jonathan Dove’s In Damascus. The beauty of the piece, for tenor and string quartet, is its restraint. It doesn&rsq
  
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• Ahmad Jamal: Marseille CD review – frisky, funny and funky as hell

  08-06-2017 19:30
  
  (Jazz Village/Pias) Miles Davis was, famously, a fan of the pianist Ahmad Jamal, inviting his own pianists – such as Red Garland and Bill Evans – to replicate Jamal’s spacious, hesitant, quietly modernist style. Now aged 87, Jamal is still on top form, his terse, space-filled improvisations punctuated by the trance-like ostinato bass lines of James Cammack and the clattering polyrhythms of drummer Herlin Riley and percussionist Manolo Badrena. This album features three very dif
  
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• EXCLUSIVE! See Little Mix & Their Mums In These New 'Power' Pics

  08-06-2017 19:24
  
  Get another sneak peek of their forthcoming new music video!
  
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• London Grammar: ‘We were hanging by a thread’

  08-06-2017 18:20
  
  Four years ago, London Grammar’s ascent was halted by stage fright, exhaustion and booze. With the release of their second album, Hannah J Davies meets the trio in Paris to talk about doing things differentlyIn July 2014, Hannah Reid was supposed to catch a flight to Australia. She and the other members of chart-topping electropop trio London Grammar were due to headline a festival in New South Wales following a US tour, before heading straight to Japan the next day and then back to the US
  
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• Check Out These Mint Spoilers From The Series Finale Of Geordie Shore Series 14

  08-06-2017 18:18
  
  HOWAY! Do not miss the series FINALE of Geordie Shore: New Radgie Rampage on Tuesday 13th June at 10pm - only on MTV!
  
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• Mexico City: A Cultural Smorgasbord

  08-06-2017 17:45
  
  AKA countless reasons Mexico is cultural af - from
  
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• We Spoke To David Guetta About ‘2U’, Justin Bieber & Victoria’s Secret

  08-06-2017 17:14
  
  "It's the end of a cycle, and the beginning of we don't know what."
  
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• Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria review – Monteverdi's greatness shines

  08-06-2017 17:06
  
  The Grange festival, Northington, Hampshire
  An over-fussy production sometimes rides roughshod over the opera’s subtleties, but a clutch of superb performances carry the eveningIl Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria was first performed in Venice in 1640. It marked Monteverdi’s return to the stage after an absence of more than three decades, and its appearance coincided with a turning point in musical history. Venice had opened the world’s first public opera house three years previ
  
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• Sam Claflin Opens Up About Experiencing Male Body-Shaming: ‘They Were Grabbing My Fat’

  08-06-2017 16:48
  
  The actor isn't holding back when it comes to male body shaming...
  
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• Zara Larsson review – a brilliant blast of Scandipop sugar

  08-06-2017 16:45
  
  Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
  The exuberant Swedish star delivers a peppy string of hook-studded, mood-lifting bangers Zara Larsson isn’t as freshly hatched as she looks. Though her 20th birthday is still six months away, she has sung professionally since she won the Swedish version of Britain’s Got Talent at the age of 10. Having said last year that all she wanted was for people to look at her, she’s got her wish – Larsson is the undisputed superstar of Scandipop,
  
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• Marty McKenna Admits He Wants A Threesome With Megan McKenna And Vicky Pattison - EXCLUSIVE

  08-06-2017 16:40
  
  Ex On The Beach starts 20th June at 10pm only on MTV!
  
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• People Are Losing Their Minds Over This Hack To Keep Make-Up On In The Shower

  08-06-2017 16:38
  
  It's incredible.
  
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• Harry Styles Just Announced A Massive 2018 Arena Tour

  08-06-2017 16:09
  
  Harry has taken to Twitter to reveal he's going on tour for a second time, before he's even started the first.
  
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• Cigarettes After Sex review – noir dreampop could be among 2017's best

  08-06-2017 16:00
  
  Greg Gonzalez lifts the echoey guitars and washes of sound into another league, with amazing vocals and great melodies. Hopefully the lyrics will matureIn an interview Cigarettes After Sex’s frontman Greg Gonzalez gave last year – around the time word-of-mouth had belatedly turned the band’s 2012 debut EP into something of an online phenomenon – he suggested that the greatest praise he had received was from fans who’d told him that his music helped with their sleep
  
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• Benefit Are Launching A Brow And Beauty Drive-Thru To On The Way To Glastonbury

  08-06-2017 15:29
  
  Naturally they're calling it GlastonBrow.
  
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• Phil Collins cancels Royal Albert Hall concerts after bad fall

  08-06-2017 13:46
  
  The singer, who has been performing full live shows for the first time in a decade, has suffered a fall in his London hotel roomPhil Collins has cancelled the last two of his long-awaited comeback concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London this week, after suffering a fall in his hotel room.The musician was taken to hospital after the accident, which left him with “a severe gash on his head close to his eye” that required stitches, according to a statement released to the Guardian.
  
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• Dogs At Polling Stations Is All We Thought It Would Be And More

  08-06-2017 13:44
  
  Best election Twitter trend the world has EVER seen...
  
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• Stephanie Davis Gives A Brutal Review Of 'Absolute Nightmare' Big Brother Star Chanelle McCleary

  08-06-2017 13:39
  
  Yikes.
  
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• Readers recommend playlist: songs influenced by dub

  08-06-2017 13:00
  
  An eclectic, global set of tunes that have dub at their heart – Killing Joke, Warpaint and even the Pretenders make this week’s reader-curated list
  Here is this week’s playlist of songs picked by a reader from your suggestions after last week’s callout. Read more about how our weekly Readers recommend series works at the end of the piece.We start with the familiar: the Pretenders’ Private Life. Howls of dismay are probably emanating from all points. Grace Jones&rsqu
  
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• Justin Bieber Teases New David Guetta Collab Track With A Little Help From Victoria’s Secret Models

  08-06-2017 12:47
  
  The singer has surprised everyone with a brand new song coming out tomorrow.
  
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• Geordie Shore Spoiler Video: Chloe Ferry Is Raging After Marty McKenna Bangs Ex Sarah Goodhart

  08-06-2017 12:24
  
  DON’T MISS Geordie Shore: New Radgie Rampage, airing Tuesday night at 10pm - only on MTV!
  
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• The New Trailer For Disney Pixar's Coco Will Give You Chills

  08-06-2017 12:09
  
  Take a trip to the afterlife in this new trailer.
  
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• Big Brother 2017: Chanelle McCleary Reveals Shocking Details Of Her Brazilian Butt Lift Surgery

  08-06-2017 12:07
  
  Ouch.
  
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• Geordie Shore’s Zahida Allen Responds After 'Horrendous’ Fight With Abbie Holborn Over Necking On With Scotty T - EXCLUSIVE

  08-06-2017 12:00
  
  Geordie Shore continues at 10pm Tuesdays only on MTV!
  
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• Liam Payne Just Threw Some Very Confusing Shade At Zayn Malik

  08-06-2017 11:43
  
  Or maybe he didn't. We literally can't work this one out.
  
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• Ariana Grande Is ‘Thinking Of Our Angels’ As She Resumes Her Tour In Paris

  08-06-2017 11:36
  
  The singer cancelled a number of dates following the Manchester attack.
  
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• Love Island 2017: Dom And Montana Call It Quits While Two New Lads Enter The Villa

  08-06-2017 10:57
  
  And the girls are WELL excited...
  
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• Ariana Grande resumes world tour following Manchester terror attack

  08-06-2017 10:37
  
  The singer, who hosted hugely popular benefit show for the victims of the arena attack last weekend, said she was ‘grateful to be back’After postponing her tour in the wake of the terror attack at her Manchester concert on 22 May, Ariana Grande has returned to the stage in Paris.The US pop star resumed her Dangerous Woman tour at the city’s AccorHotels Arena, writing afterwards on Instagram, “Merci, Paris ♡ Je t’aime Grateful to be back”. Continue readin
  
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• Marnie Simpson Blasts Stephanie Davis Over Lewis Bloor Relationship Diss

  08-06-2017 10:36
  
  Major beef with a side of even more beef.
  
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• Harry Styles Wearing A Feminist T-Shirt Is Everything We Want From Life Today

  08-06-2017 10:01
  
  Plus he has glasses now. GLASSES.
  
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• Selena Gomez Defends 13 Reasons Why Over Criticisms Of Its Portrayal Of Teen Suicide

  08-06-2017 09:32
  
  "I feel like if this is what we are going to talk about, we might as well do it in a way that's going to be honest"
  
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• You say you want a sexual revolution: why 1967 is the year pop came out

  08-06-2017 07:00
  
  Fifty years ago, homosexuality was decriminalised – and pop was never the same again. From Dusty and Motown to Mick Jagger and the Kinks, here are the songs, scenes, clubs and clothes that liberated BritainIn one of his very last acts as Beatles manager, Brian Epstein signed a contract for the group to represent Britain in the Our World global satellite television event, broadcasting the band to an estimated 400 million people in 25 countries. So on 27 July 1967, the day that male homosexu
  
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