Foo Fighters, Charli xcx: Music News Round-Up

Foo Fighters by Elizabeth Miranda

Major tour news for Foo Fighters and new music from Charli xcx brought some of Live4ever’s biggest headlines last week.

Foo Fighters have announced a run of UK and European stadium concerts for the summer of 2026 with IDLES, Inhaler, Royel Otis, Otoboke Beaver, Fat Dog and Die Spitz variously along for the ride.

The UK stop is to take in two nights at Anfield in Liverpool on June 25th and 27th, this following quickly on from news of a North American tour and the brand new single Asking For A Friend last month.

“Since our return to the stage in San Luis Obispo five weeks ago, we have been reminded of why we love and are forever devoted to doing this Foo Fighters thing,” Dave Grohl said.

The War On Drugs, Florence And The Machine, Kings Of Leon and Lorde are just some of the big names confirmed on a typically stacked line-up for Mad Cool 2026.

Foo Fighters, Wolf Alice, Nick Cave, Moby and David Byrne are some more artists due in Madrid between July 8th-11th, this booking the latest in The War On Drugs’ lengthy spell on the road since the release of I Don’t Live Here Anymore in 2021 – touring documented on the Live Drugs Again album a year ago.

“For a band already well known for transforming songs on the road, this left a lot of space to play with once I Don’t Live Here Anymore’s world touring began, and Live Drugs Again duly showcases some of the remarkable growth which they underwent during relentless gigging across America, the UK, Europe and Australia between February 2022-December 2023,” Live4ever’s review reads.

Super Furry Animals will be playing an outdoor UK concert for Bristol Sounds on June 24th next year as part of their 2026 comeback tour.

The band’s impending return to the live stage is coinciding with the 20th anniversary of their Love Kraft album, from which an official visualiser for Rock ’n’ Roll Flu was taken recently.

“It’s a song about one of the very worst hangovers I have ever had,” Gruff Rhys said of it.

Charli XCX by Harley Weir

John Cale features on the new Charli xcx single House, the first taste of the new album written for Emerald Fennel’s forthcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.

“I got a call from Emerald Fennell last Christmas,” Charli has revealed.

“I read the script and immediately felt inspired so Finn Keane and I began working on not just one but many songs that we felt connected to the world she was creating. After being so in the depths of my previous album I was excited to escape into something entirely new, entirely opposite.”

Ellie Goulding worked with Jack Rochon, Kurtis Wells and Livvi Franc when making her return with the new single Destiny.

“Recording this was like a catharsis, it made me feel so much better – like the prize was me all along,” Goulding has said.

“Instead of putting my everything into these men, this song was my first feeling of straight-up escape and empowerment. When I heard the track I was in love with it. The idea of adding the choir and strings at the end was for it to become a triumphant moment of freedom like jumping off a cliff. To me it sounds like surrender.”

Robyn has made her comeback with the new single Dopamine, accompanied by a video directed by Marili Andre with the focus on the endless pursuit of modern life.

“Everyone has a phone where they see their heart rate, and we’re learning how to decode our emotions through the hormones and chemical substances in our bodies,” she’s reflected.

“It’s almost like we don’t even accept that we’re human anymore, like we’re trying to shoot ourselves out of it and explain every single thing – which I think is great, but that’s also why the world is shit, this idea that you can figure out and win life or something.”