She stunned fans when she revealed that the Christmas song will be released at midnight tonight (in the USA)
And that’s not all.
The All Too Well singer is also releasing a music video which is made entirely from home videos and there’s no doubt it’s going to turn us into blubbering messes.
She jokingly posted a video of her and her cats to share the news.
The 29-year-old spoke to her pets in the witty clip, “I know this is pretty wild but I’ve just written a Christmas song. I feel like it’s weird to wait a year to put it out. So, I don’t know what to do.”
Her three pets completely ignored her so Taylor decided to release the song herself, “When in doubt, ask the itty bitty pretty kitty committee,” she wrote alongside the video.
She added, “When they shun you with silence, ambivalence, and judgmental brush offs … just put the song out anyway.”
We only have mere weeks to go until we hear new music from the Sweet Creature singer.
Speaking about his second album, Harry teased, “It’s all about having sex and feeling sad."
The second album will also feature music about the singer’s love life. Harry said that his breakup from French model Camille Rowe has inspired his new music.
The singer told Rolling Stone, “It’s not like I’ve ever sat and done an interview and said, ‘So I was in a relationship, and this is what happened,’ because, for me, music is where I let that cross over. It’s the only place, strangely, where it feels right to let that cross over.”
The iconic Stevie Nicks, who is a close friend of Harry’s, has already heard some of the album. The Landslide singer said this album is nothing like his debut. It is ‘pure Harry’.
She revealed, “It's not like anything One Direction ever did. It's pure Harry, as Harry would say. He's made a very different record and it's spectacular.”
Stevie Nicks, who is now a close friend of Harry’s, has heard the album.
The Gypsy songstress told The Face magazine "It’s not like anything One Direction ever did. It’s pure Harry, as Harry would say. He’s made a very different record and it’s spectacular.”
Well, well, well; those snakes have officially been BANISHED. That's right…Taylor Swift is back with a phantasmagorial bang.
Her new pastel-themed tune is called ME! and it's a beauty, as well as featuring the great Brendan Urie from Panic! At The Disco.
Rumours are flying that ME! was supposed to actually precede Reputation, but when sh*t went down with the media regarding the Kardashians and Kanye West, she decided to show her dark side first.
Our pal Taylor has been dropping hints for weeks about her latest musical endeavour, and the pastel colours hint at a return to her 1989 roots.
Fresh from her Time100 success, Swift's return show's yet another streak for mastering her personal marketing brand.
The video is adorable, and features a Parisian aesthetic with the pop star even speaking French at one point. Très bien henny. There's also a nod to Mary Poppins in there too, randomly.
The gal loves Easter eggs, and there's plenty of hidden meanings in the Dave Meyers-directed video.
4. This detective discovered a possible feature from the album;
OK, I’m pretty sure this is the Dixie Chicks on the wall. First single is a duet. New theory: the whole album is collabs, next single will feature Dixie Chicks. Maybe album is titled ME! and YOU!, you bring the duet partners. #TaylorSwiftTONIGHTpic.twitter.com/RqODTfos1o
At the moment, Taylor is currently on track to break the record for fastest music video to reach 100 million views on YouTube, after Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next and BTS' Boy With Luv.
It's surpassed 13 million views in just three hours, which is phenomenal.
Without further ado, here's Taylor's new video. Indulge in it, if you haven't already seen it. If you've already seen it, watch it again. It's worth it.
It really is the year of nostalgia; Between the Spice Girls, Westlife and Carrie Bradshaw, it's clearly comeback o'clock.
News recently broke that one of the biggest legends of the early 2000s is making a musical return, with her sophomore album expecting to be released before the end of 2019.
We've all got more than fond memories of tunes such as Gotta Tell You and Always Come Back To Your Love, and soon we'll be hearing brand new music from the versatile singer.
We sat down for a chat with the woman herself, and once our starstruck fever calmed down, we managed to ask her a few questions.
There have been whispers of musical comebacks for many years now, considering her first album Gotta Tell You was released back in 2000 when she was only sixteen-years-old.
While the rest of us were figuring out creative ways to abandon school for a few hours and day-dreaming of Zack Morris from Saved By The Bell, Samantha was making CHUNES.
So why choose now to release her long-awaited album number two? Samantha is a woman of many talents, trying her hand at Masterchef in 2017, as well as appearances in Dancing On Ice and on ITV's Loose Women.
“It’s been in the works for a couple of months, so for me I did Manchester Pride last summer, and I was so blown away by the response. As I was onstage I was literally like, why don’t I have any new music to perform? This is stupid, like it’s ridiculous. I’m one of those people who gets in their own way all the time. Even if I think of doing something, I’ll think of 20 reasons not to do it. I thought, ‘No, enough it enough’. I was afraid to do it again. The timing just feels good, and now I’m seeing that everyone is coming back, I thought, ‘What is going on?’ Hang on a second, I was coming back first!”
Damn right she was. Samantha's popularity with a range of audiences and people of all ages has to be noted, but why do so many listeners seem to relate to her?
“That’s a great question, and I don’t really know the answer. It’s just one of those things, a nostalgia thing. I also think because I was so young when I started, a lot of people literally feel, and they have, like they’ve grown up with me. People have even stopped me in the street to say, ‘Oh hey, how are you?’ as if they know me. I’ve been around for a while, I think there’s that kind of connection where people have really gotten behind me, it’s like I’m a cousin of theirs. It’s that kind of thing, it’s brilliant.”
Samantha still returns home to Dublin fairly regularly, and her little daughter Sage calls it her home too. We wondered if she had stayed up to date on Ireland's current homelessness crisis?
“It’s scandalous, it’s absolutely shocking. That’s why I thought this Just Eat campaign was just such a no-brainer. I’d love if they could double what they did last year, which in itself was incredible. Even especially being home at the minute, and it’s so cold, you just think, ‘Oh my God’, it’s not right. There’s a lot of young kids that are homeless, and it’s heartbreaking. Being a mother now myself, it’s just awful. You never know what goes on in someone’s life, it can happen to anybody, you just never know what kind of bad things could come somebody’s way. It can happen to everybody, and everybody should chip in," she says.
She's partnered up with Just Eat this year for their annual National Takeaway Tuesday to raise funds for the Peter McVerry Trust, who do vital work for the homeless. To date, Just Eat customers have generated over €50,000 for the Peter McVerry Trust, enough to move five people out of homelessness and into better futures.
Samantha comments; "This takeaway campaign is perfect, because you can order food on a Tuesday, get a 10 percent discount and chip in 10 percent to 2019’s Just Eat charity of choice, the Peter McVerry Trust. So you’re doing something good."
Does she notice the homelessness which is also prevalent in Los Angeles too, while she's spending her down-time there?
“Again, who am I to talk about anything, but there are definite areas. Santa Monica area and Downtown area, what I find is that a lot of the problems there are mental health. These people should be in facilities, in LA for me I notice, it’s a lot more of that. Whereas here, it’s more people who are getting a bad run of things. It just seems to be different circumstances, I suppose," she emphasises.
Her daughter Sage was born in 2015, with her husband Torray Scales. We're immediately jealous of Sage, because she's already heard some of her mum's new material;
‘Nightmare before Christmas is her thing. We listen to that soundtrack, and I love it as well, so it’s great. Sometimes she said, ‘I wanna hear mummy’s songs’, she approves of the new songs, thankfully. She’s very sweet, but other times she’s like, ‘Ok, back to Disney’, she laughs.
“She says she lives in LA and lives in Dublin, she loves being home. She gets totally spoilt rotten at home. The back and forth is her norm, she doesn’t know any different.”
We couldn't let Samantha go without trying to get the dates for her new music to be released, it had to be done. For the good of mankind. Luckily, she was ready for the question;
“I was hoping to have a date already. I have to have it within the next two weeks, because I want my first release to be latest end of March, early April. So we’re working on it. I’d love to have two singles out by the summer, and the album definitely will be later on in the year, but I’m on it.”
Me: “Calm down, Shane. It’s only January 4th.”
Also me: “Okay, Samantha Mumba and Madonna, it’s 2019–where are the new albums?!?”
One core difference between now and when Samantha started is, of course, the power of social media. She's aware of it as a tool, and this time it's going to connect her even more to her fans;
“That’s what I’m enjoying the most, there’s no random people telling me what I have to do, I’m fully in control of everything. That’s kind of the most exciting part for me. The people I’ve been working with in the States are so creative, they’re really pushing me out of my comfort zone.”
In terms of teasing some collaborations in the pipeline, she's revealed a song with MNEK has been created, and we are SO HERE for it. The artist is known for working with some of pop's biggest names, among them are Dua Lipa and Zara Larsson.
“MNEK I have done work with, yes, I adore him. He’s incredible, he’s so talented. I have done one song with him, and I have my core group of people to work with. I think he’ll actually be in LA again in another couple of weeks, so we’ll do another session there as well. I’d love to bring him in with my people, because I think they’d all mesh really well. I’m excited for what that will bring. He’s such a talent and a joy to work with.”
Is there anyone she's especially got her eye on, in terms of new female talent?
“I just discovered her and I’m obsessed, it’s Donna Missal from the US. She’s incredible, I love her."
Samantha is 36-years-old, and time has only given her even more glamour, wisdom and thick-skin for the tough music industry.
Her new album is set to encompass that sense of maturity;
My new music is pop R’N’B, it’s current to where I am, I’m a grown woman who’s lived a life. I have a lot of things to say. I’m just expressing them, and hopefully other women will relate to it."
Samantha is the newest 2019 mood; let her reign begin anew.
We all crave new Beyoncé music every day, because without her collection of life-altering tunes, where would we be? God knows.
Mysterious music was leaked online the other day on iTunes, totally unauthorised.
The musical goddess has been known to randomly drop albums, ever since 2016's iconic Lemonade release, but this seemed a little too random…fans quickly realised it was old music though:
so I almost passed out until I realized it’s old music…so who is releasing Beyoncé’s old music as Queen Carter on iTunes?? I WANNA FIGHT pic.twitter.com/ZvsqffJpUf
The old recordings were released under the name Queen Carter, and iTunes somehow allowed it to be uploaded until fans pointed out the strange mistake.
The albums Back Up, Rewind and Have Your Way appeared on Apple Music and Spotify, and was comprised of demos, unreleased tracks and demo songs by Queen Bey, which were removed a few hours later.
Songs such as After All Is Said and Done, a duet with Marc Nelson from 1999, Hollywood with Jay-Z from his 2006 album Kingdom Come, and another song from Austin Powers called Hey Goldmember.
A Missy Elliot collaboration from the rapper's second album was also on the tracklist, as well as Keep Giving Your Love to Me from Bad Boys II, and Control, a stand-alone song.
Omg, someone is using the name “Queen Carter” & dropping albums w/ Beyoncé’s old songs, it’d be ashame if they released an album called Koolaid and put all of the Lemonade album on Apple Music and Spotify… pic.twitter.com/zloI1DzmWE
Beyoncé has dropped her last three albums as surprises, her 2013 self-titled project, Lemonade, and Everything is Love by The Carters.
We'll take ANYTHING she graciously offers, but unreleased songs without her authorisation is damn wrong, let the Queen have control over her own music.
Grammy-nominated R&B singer SZA was also victim to this same mysterious hacking, with old music being uploaded to iTunes under the name Sister Solana (her real name is Solana Rowe).
SZA addressed the album of old demo tracks being released on streaming services on her Instagram, calling the project "random scratches from 2015" and claimed that the songs are "def not new new!"
Ariana Grande’s powerful and unique break-up hit thank u, next has been on loop in the SHEmazing office so it’s safe to say we’re excited about the music video.
The One Last Time singer has been teasing fans with behind-the-scenes and exclusive snaps from the music video for her latest hit and we are so ready for it.
The singer is set to pay tribute to some of the most iconic movies of every gals life, including 13 Going on 30, Bring It On, Legally Blonde and Mean Girls.
Ariana took to Instagram last night to give fans a glimpse of her channeling her inner Regina George.
The singer shared three photos from the scene and fans completely lost it. In one of the shots, the singer is hiding behind her very own burn book that has ‘thank u, next’ on the cover.
In another snap, Ariana is lying on the bed with her burn book open. Fans were quick to spot the name Sean written inside a love heart in the book, which is a nod to her ex-boyfriend Big Sean.
We are itching to see the video for thank u, next and it looks like we may not have long to wait.
In case you don't remember Aaron Carter (brother of Nick), he was essentially the 90s embodied; a teen singing heartthrob with questionable blonde hair who sang about candy.
Yes, he's the young boy who sang I Want Candy, and yet continued to have a career.
He's still performing nowadays with a new album, but he frequently serves clapbacks to his online haters through his Twitter account, and this time it was all about adolescent male singers.
According to Carter, he "paved the way" for Justin Bieber's fame, and was never given any credit for it. Hmm, I know we have some thoughts on this matter.
Listen man. I can’t sit here & just not say anything to that, I’ve been in this industry before he was born. I’ve had harder times and always bounce back. No I’m not Justin Bieber I’m Aaron Carter. I’m also in construction I paved the way. These kids have NEVER paid me homage. https://t.co/Qe86BI22Pq
Seems a little self-absorbed to us, but what was even more surprising was Justin Bieber's response.
Seeing as Carter, now 30, claimed that singers such as Jesse McCartney and J.Biebs never "gave him homage", you'd think they'd be annoyed at this comment, but Bieber actually backed him up on this.
Justin tweeted: "Aaron Carter, I had your album when I was little. And bumped the song Aaron's Party. I was like 7, if you need a hype man i got you." Well, colour us surpised.
Aaron carter i had your album when I was little. And bumped the song Aaron’s party. I was like 7. if you need a hype man I got you.
Their conversation continued in a pretty friendly manner, and maybe Carter had a point.
He never reached the level of success which Justin Bieber achieved, but did he begin the era of teenage boys singing absolute bops to teenage girls?
No bro it’s all good. No hype needed fr people just come at me sideways and I’m just doing my best I’ve also been a big supporter of you since your start. I also stood in line to watch your movie man. It’s all LøVë ps your music insipired my new stuff. So there’s that. https://t.co/x1Twhzgyak
There's no doubt that late 1990s teen singer Jesse McCartney was influenced by Aaron Carter too, I mean the Beautiful Soul singer literally resembles his twin.
What do you think, was Aaron Carter just being a slightly bitter lemon that he never got the same attention, or did he pave the way for The Biebs?
We, for one, are glad this didn't turn into a spat.
Deleting every trace of themselves on social media has become a popular way to promote new music for artists – it has worked for Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Ed Sheeran in the past.
Now Cheryl Tweedy has followed suit, after the British pop star and former X-Factor judge deleted every single photo for her Instagram account, which has 3.7 followers.
She also changed her bio to read '#LoveMadeMeDoIt.'
It's time to welcome back the thick black eyeliner of the 2000s and rock out to Skateboi and Complicated.
Why are we getting you so nostalgic I hear you cry?
Well, Avril Lavigne has just announced the release of a new album and it's given us an excuse to binge on those classic oldies.
Taking to her website, the queen of punk stated that its a "new era" for her music.
She was pumped to reveal that her first single is called “Head Above Water”, and it will be here on September 19. – IT'S SO SOON!
Avril fans have been waiting for five years for new music, as the singer in her statement detailed her battle with Lyme disease.
Our gal has used her struggle with her health to inspire this new music and WE CAN'T WAIT.
"I was able to turn that fight into music I’m really proud of. I wrote songs in my bed and on the couch and recorded there mostly as well. Words and lyrics that were so true to my experience came pouring out of me effortlessly," she wrote.
We can all admit we’ve all had that moment where we had a good, long cry whilst listening to one of Adele’s songs. There have been many rainy mornings where we dramatically wept to Someone Like You, and plenty of nights out where we sang Hello into a wine bottle. Adele’s music has been the soundtrack to many women’s lives for years.
We have been huge fans of the Grammy winner since she released her first album 19 all the way back in 2008.
It’s been a decade since the Water Under The Bridge singer stormed the charts with her first album, but there’s no stopping Adele just yet.
Rumour has it the singer is set to release a brand new album in 2019.
According to reports, the Chasing Pavements songstress has been in talks with Sony about working on a new album.
It is understood that Adele is hoping to head to the studio later this summer, where she will write a wave of chart-topping hits.
A source shared: “She’s back in the UK and intends to write here. A number of studio musicians have been approached to work with her and she’s already penned some of the songs.”
The new album is rumoured to be released next Christmas. We are beyond excited. If anyone needs us we’ll be singing along to Make You Feel My Love for the foreseeable future.
If there's one feeling that's overwhelmed me for the past seven-or-odd months since the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations brought legions of powerful men tumbling down, it's exhaustion.
I've found myself tired not because I'm sad about celebrated male heroes crumbling; there are plenty of wonderful women ready to stand in their place. No, it is exhausting because, as singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer puts it so well, it's 'so ridiculously awful'.
However, her song 'Mr Weinstein Will See You Now' gave me a new feeling. It's hard to capture, but something about the swelling storm of strings and her voice mixing with that of Welsh artist Jasmine Power sparked a sense of catharsis within me.
Palmer and Power tackle the subject of sexual assault head-on, opting for a brutally frank title rather than the working name 'The Hotel Room'. The 42-year-old artist contacted Rose McGowan, who accused Weinstein of rape, and the actress gave them her blessing to call the track 'Mr Weinstein Will See You Now'.
Speaking with Palmer, I asked her if she planned on getting in touch with any of the other women who have spoken out against Weinstein.
"I would love to connect with some of those women and to share the song with them. I don't know any of them apart from Rose," she said.
While the musician would like to reach out to those affected, she is also cautious about doing so over social media as 'It can start looking like really crass self-promotion doing stuff like that'.
Palmer was sensitive of the fact that this isn't necessarily her narrative when she and Power sat down to write the song, but it is also frustratingly an experience all-too universal for women.
"It's a really empowering moment to be a female artist right now, especially when it feels like I managed to capture something and put words and music to something that's really hard to put words and music to. Like, writing about this stuff is so weird," she explained.
"Cause it's not my exact story, but at the same time it's kind of all of our stories. So trying to figure out how to not usurp somebody else's truth while also saying something really real and important is a tricky tightrope to walk, but I feel like we managed to do it with the song."
She and Power crafted the song when the sexual harassment and abuse allegations were 'just hitting fever pitch' in the media, so it feels fitting that the single was released this week, when Weinstein was arrested and charged with rape and sexual misconduct.
It's been a long seven months since his accusers were first given a platform in October 2017 (and not to mention longer for the women who have lived with such trauma for years), and I asked Palmer how she dealt with the exhaustion of it all, of reckoning with rape culture in the headlines day in and day out.
When she spoke I honestly couldn't ever imagine her being exhausted a day in her life; every time she says 'fucking' the word punches the air like a boxer delivering a knockout right hook.
"I think it is exhausting, but it's also… it's critical. It's exhausting because it's so ridiculously awful. It's exhausting because it is happening everywhere to women all the time. It's exhausting because it actually is exhausting to be a woman in this culture constantly dealing with a system that's stacked against us," she told me. "So the fact that it's exhausting to deal with isn't surprising.
"Racism is also really exhausting because it's fucking everywhere and it's inescapable. But part of what we have to deal with is the exhaustion of how gigantic the mountain looks as we stand at the bottom trying to climb it. It's just part and parcel of tackling some gigantic thousands of years old systemic shitty system."
And as far as reckoning with the beast that is sexism and racism and every other -ism that keeps us down, the cabaret musician says that we need an array of approaches.
"It's important that we have different tools and ways of dealing with and approaching and discussing and coping with this stuff. You know, we can't all just be hanging out on Facebook chatting about feminism. That's important sometimes, but it's not going to fix the problem. Political action is also important but it's not the only way to address this," she says.
"Making art about it is really important but it's also not the only thing that's going to fix it. What's going to fix it is an all-hands-on-deck, every possible tool, every possible angle, relentless approach… and also the self-care and the self-knowledge to know that it's not your fucking job to spend all day fighting the patriarchy. It's going to be there when you get back."
Palmer, who is also one-half of the Dresden Dolls, says that we have to 'be a human being about it' and stay in touch with our humanity and sense of humour, 'otherwise you can get lost in the struggle'.
One of those ways of coping, art, has been made much securer for Palmer now that she relies on crowdfunding for her music. Her fans can pledge to her on Patreon so that 'I can make whatever art I want and not worry about whether or not I can sell it to somebody'.
The singer describes herself as 'a complete pariah' in the music business because of her slightly unorthodox approach.
"There's a part of me that really likes that, because in my teenage way I can thumb my nose at everyone and go 'Na na na na, I don't have to play by your rules'," the artist says.
She acknowledges, though, that she may miss out on some opportunities that more conventional artists enjoy.
"Every artist, you know, every indie artist, has to cope with the paradox of wanting to maintain control and maintain their composure and maintain their integrity while still getting your shit out there so people can find out about you," she shared.
"And it's… it's weird. I like what I've created. You know, I've created a real family and a community of people who are tuned into my writing and my process and my channel."
The crowdfunding platform has opened up her ability to collaborate with artists like Power, since she knows that no matter what they'll be getting a paycheck.
"Because I have an automatic budget to work with these people and it's a risk-free endeavour to sit down in the room with any songwriter and say, 'You know, the worst thing that's going to happen is we're going to get paid to write a bad song. It'll be embarrassing, but we won't not get paid'. It's pretty wonderful," she says.
As well, knowing she already made her profit enabled her to donate digital proceeds from the song to Times Up.
Her social concern extends beyond the #MeToo movement, to include, of course, the referendum on the Eighth Amendment. I interviewed the singer before the overwhelming Repeal vote, and her support for the Yes side was evident.
She said that the number of women internationally who have been sharing their stories 'really lit a fire under my own ass'.
"I have been much more frank in my songwriting, I've been much more frank at my shows about the abortions that I've had, multiple abortions that I've had, the fact that I've had a miscarriage. I've been talking about this stuff on stage, in part inspired by the other women who are egging me on and inspiring me to say 'Fuck it. I don't have anything to lose by telling the truth and we have everything to gain'," Palmer said.
She added, "I just have really strong feelings about choice and I think women have to have it. It's such a key component in unlocking the shackles of the patriarchy."
Amanda Palmer is playing at the National Concert Hall tomorrow night, and you can be sure that she 'will not be able to shut up' about Repeal.
