James Blake last night won the Mercury Music Prize 2013 for his superb second album ‘Overgrown’. He collected the £20,000 prize and the coveted winner’s trophy at The Roundhouse, where the awards were held. The judges described his album as “late night music for the digital age. An inventive, poignant and poetic record of great beauty”.
‘Elvis Costello: Mystery Dance’ is the first-ever documentary portrait of one of the greatest musicians and songwriters of our time. Directed by award winning documentary maker Mark Kidel, the hour long version will be shown on BBC4 Friday 8th November at 9pm, with the feature-length version on Saturday 9th November at 11.50pm.
Laura Mvula was one of the big winners at the 2013 MOBO Awards, walking away with two trophies – ‘Best Female Act’ and ‘Best RnB / Soul Act’. UMP Signing FUSE ODG also walked away with a gong, winning ‘Best African Act’.
UMP songwriter Steve Booker has co-written six of the tracks on John Newman’s debut album ‘Tribute’ – which has entered the UK album charts at No. 1.
Steve’s credits include the international hit ‘Love Me Again’ – which topped the charts in the UK and went Top 10 in several other countries including Australia and Germany. Metrophonic songwriters Alex Smith and Sam Preston also co-wrote a track on the album, 'Goodnight, Goodbye’.
Steve Booker’s songs have to date sold in excess of 30 million records.
Eliza Doolittle releases her second album ‘In Your Hands today’ on Parlophone Records. The first single from the album was the sunny ‘Big When I Was Little’, followed by the bold, uplifting ‘Let It Rain’ released today as the album’s second single.
Glasser (Cameron Mesirow) releases her second full length album today ‘Interiors’ on True Panther Sounds. The central themes of the album are love, anxiety and the tension between interior and exterior space. “I thought a lot about the physical impositions in my life, and about the fluid emotional boundaries in my relationships,” Glasser says. “There's no limit to what can be said about these structures. I can’t help but live and work in them, exploring their many folds.”
Following on from their multi-Platinum selling ‘No More Idols’, which spawned 7 A-list Radio 1 singles, Chase and Status release their third album ‘Brand New Machine’ today. The second single from the new album ‘Count On Me’ - featuring an uplifting old school piano riff topped by emotive vocals from Moko - entered the UK singles chart at No. 5.
Haim's debut album ‘Days Are Gone’ (Polydor Records) - has shot straight to the top of the UK album charts the week of release. As well as including previous singles and live favourites ‘Forever’ ‘Don’t Save Me’, 'Falling’ and most recent single ‘The Wire’ – the album features four brand new songs that have yet to be aired on stage.
In the last five years Sub Focus has risen through the ranks of the underground drum & bass scene to become a major player in electronic music. Today sees the release of his second solo album ‘Torus’ – an LP which further cements his reputation as an artist who successfully manages to walk the line between the commercial and the credible.
Chvrches release their debut album ‘The Bones of What You Believe’ today. The much anticipated debut follows an amazing year for the band, who came in the top five of the BBC Sound of 2013 poll, sold out headline tours in the UK and US, and supported Depeche Mode. They have been described as “very much the sound of now” (The Guardian) and “effortless and close to sublime” (NME).