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Artist News Release Round-Up Releases
Release round-up: The Smiths, Conor Oberst, Major Lazer and Chet Faker
By Aly Barchi | Published on Thursday 13 February 2014
Rounding up the latest release news…
Let’s get this straight, The Smiths are never ever ever getting back together. It’s never going to happen, like, ever. Still, one thing Moz and co have done is let iTunes remaster and re-release all the LPs and compilations they ever put out (ever) in their time as a band. So that’s ‘The Smiths’, ‘Meat Is Murder’, ‘The Queen Is Dead’ and ‘Strangeways, Here We Come’, plus live collection ‘Rank’, plus comps ‘Hatful Of Hollow’ and ‘The World Won’t Listen’. And all because the aforementioned ‘The Smiths’ is 30 this year.
Having closed the lid on his one-time moniker Bright Eyes in 2011, folk bod Conor Oberst is now due to issue his first solo LP proper. Titled ‘Upside Down Mountain, it’ll come out on Nonesuch on 19 May, bringing with it Oberst’s new single ‘Hundreds Of Ways’. Hear Conor singing with First Aid Kit’s Johanna and Klara Soderberg on the track, which will apparently be released on seven-inch vinyl on 19 Apr, as a Record Store Day special, now:
And guess what, Major Lazer, aka Diplo and associates, is sounding the ‘official announcement’ klaxon on its four-track ‘Apocalypse Soon’ EP. Released 25 Feb via Mad Decent/Because Music, it features Sean Paul, Machel Montano and Mr Fox. And RDX and Moska, who collaborate on a song titled ‘Lose Yourself’ (which plays in part over this ‘Apocalypse Soon’ trail). And, invariably, Pharrell Williams, on the EP’s first-to-air single, ‘Aerosol Can’:
And for anyone curious as to what R&B-pop man Chet Faker (pictured) has done lately, it’s this: his debut LP, ‘Built On Glass’, which is coming out on 14 Apr. It follows the Australia-based partner-of-Flume’s ‘Thinking In Textures’ suite of 2012, and was made on a tight budget in Chet’s Melbourne home studio, which overlooks a meat market.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever worked on a full-length and I felt like hi-fidelity wasn’t something to strive for working in a room on my own. Lyrically, I wanted to explore how my life directly affected my music – that’s the glass, I guess”, he guesses. Find details of his springtime trip to Britain here, and stream the LP’s lead single ‘Talk Is Cheap’ here:
