News Round-Up: Christine And The Queens, #LetTheMusicPlay and more

Christine And The Queens performing at Parklife 2019 in Manchester (Gary Mather for Live4ever)

You’re in the right place if you’ve missed any of the week’s top news stories – here Live4ever’s News Round-Up presents a recap of the biggest and best headlines we featured during the last seven days…

After the February release of the La Vita Nuova EP and short film, Christine And The Queens have shared more new music in the form of Eyes Of A Child, part of the Amazon series Hanna.

The track keeps Héloïse Letissier’s busy lockdown going, one which started back in March with the launch of online streams and which continued last week with her taking over the Le Grand Palais, one of Paris’ many landmarks, to perform the aforementioned EP’s title track for Global Citizen’s Global Goal: Unite For Our Future.

Kele Okereke has released a new song called Melanin which is him, ‘questioning the idea of race and education in Britain’.

“I believe that if we truly want to dismantle the racial division in this country then it starts with the education system,” he says. “We all need to study a syllabus that tells the truth about the reality of Britain’s colonial past, that isn’t just a celebration of the “glory days” but that looks unflinchingly at the horrors this country has perpetrated in the name of empire. For if we are to learn anything from Britain’s past, we need to have an honest and open dialogue with it.”

James Dean Bradfield has confirmed the details of the new album he first previewed last month with the tracks There’ll Come A War and Seeking The Room With The Three Windows.

His second album recorded away from the Manic Street Preachers after 2006’s The Great Western, as previously revealed Even In Exile will explore the life and death of Chilean musician, teacher and political activist Victor Jara through Bradfield’s music and lyrics from Welsh poet and playwright Patrick Jones. It’s been set for release on August 14th.

Andy Crossland / Live4ever

Some of the biggest names in British music have signed an open letter to Oliver Dowden, the UK’s Secretary Of State For Digital, Culture, Media And Sport, calling on his government to better support the live music industry through current lockdown and social distancing measures.

Radiohead, Paul McCartney, Dua Lipa, The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Liam Gallagher, Rita Ora and Dizzee Rascal are just some of the more than 1,400 artists who are supporting #LetTheMusicPlay, highlighting the importance of live music as a pathway to success and longevity in their own careers as organisers predict that, ‘50% of the entire workforce is facing redundancy’, ‘90% of grassroots venues are facing closure’, ‘many operators are facing insolvency and, ‘many festivals will struggle to return next year’

Aminé and slowthai have joined Disclosure on the Lawrence brothers’ new single My High.

“We always wanted to work with rappers, we just didn’t know any and we had no means of contacting them…there’s not a lot of rappers in Reigate,” they say.

Sufjan Stevens has announced the release of his eighth solo album later this year.

The Ascension will follow Carrie & Lowell after a five year wait on September 25th via Asthmatic Kitty Records, while the near-13 minute closer America lead off other new tracks such as Make Me An Offer I Cannot Refuse, Tell Me You Love Me and Goodbye To All That when it and its official video was premiered last Friday, July 3rd.