National Album Day 2023 to pay homage to the ’90s

It’s a three-way race for this week’s Official Number 1 album, with boygenius, Melanie Martinez and DMA’S all hoping to reach the summit on Friday. 

Around 1.7million workers are set to receive a “significant” pay boost when the National Minimum Wage (NLW) increases from Saturday, April 1. The Resolution Foundation said that the 92pence rise to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over is equivalent to a near 10 per cent increase.

EXCLUSIVE: Legendary astronomer and astrophysicist Carl Sagan, who expanded scientific understanding of the universe and helped millions appreciate the wonders of the cosmos, will be the subject of an upcoming documentary feature from National Geographic Documentary Films.

Georgia has announced details of her third album – ‘Euphoric’ is produced by Rostam and its first single is out now.The singer’s follow-up to 2020’s ‘Seeking Thrills’ will arrive on July 28 via Domino, and first single ‘It’s Euphoric’ is out now alongside an official video.“I wanted an adventure!” Georgia said of working with Rostam in a statement about the album. “Being a self-produced musician, it’s easy to get stuck on one thing or in one place.”She called the album a surrender, “to my issues, to my past, to my flaws and to the healing process.”Watch the video for ‘It’s Euphoric’ below. Georgia will play an intimate UK show at London’s Omeara on April 20.

Lana Del Rey is back, and she’s heading for her sixth Number 1 album in the UK.  

A singer has apologised for “butchering” the British national anthem at an England football match on Thursday evening. 

A local trust is celebrating after it received a national award for an innovative approach to sustainable urban drainage in Kinross-shire.

RELEASESEllie Goulding has released new single ‘By The End Of The Night’ from her upcoming fifth studio album ‘Higher Than Heaven’, which is out on 7 Apr. The track gives a “sense of euphoric, sensual escape”, says Goulding, adding that “we need music that uplifts us and makes us feel good”.Rina Sawayama, who is making her feature film debut in ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’, has also contributed a new song to the movie’s soundtrack.

Today, ABBA announce the very special re-issue of their debut album, Ring Ring, to celebrate its 50th anniversary. 

Eurovision 2023 Semi-Final running orders have been revealed – check it out below.The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will take place at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool from May 9-13, with Mae Muller set to represent the UK with ‘I Wrote A Song’.The UK city was announced to stage the contest on behalf of Ukraine, after organisers deemed the country unable to host the event due to the ongoing war with Russia.You can find all the songs that are entered for this year’s competition here.This week, Eurovision shared the running order for the Semi-Final shows, which take place on Tuesday, May 9 and Thursday, May 11.Norway will kick off proceedings for the first Semi-Final, closed out 15 acts later with a performance by Finland. The second event is set to be opened by Denmark, with Australia hitting the stage last.We got #Eurovision2023 Semi-Final running orders ✨➡️ https://t.co/V1tz85qvRD pic.twitter.com/hSjYqudp6j— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) March 22, 2023The Big Five participants – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom, which make the biggest financial contributions to the contest – along with Ukraine, automatically qualify for the Grand Final.Check out the full schedule below.First Semi-Final Eurovision 20231. Norway2. Malta3. Serbia4. Latvia5. Portugal6. Ireland7. Croatia8. Switzerland9. Israel10. Moldova11. Sweden12. Azerbaijan13. Czechia14. Netherlands15. FinlandSecond Semi-Final Eurovision 20231. Denmark2. Armenia3. Romania4. Estonia5. Belgium6. Cyprus7. Iceland8. Greece9. Poland10. Slovenia11. Georgia12. San Marino13. Austria14. Albania15. Lithuania16. AustraliaMeanwhile, Eurovision final 2023 tickets sold out in just 36 minutes.Tickets for all nine shows including the live Grand Final went on sale

The Pigeon Detectives have announced their upcoming album, ‘TV Show’, and revealed a series of record store performances across the UK.Due for release on July 7, the album will be the band’s sixth studio release, following on from 2017’s ‘Broken Glances’. Pre-order the upcoming album here.Produced by Rich Turvey (Blossoms, The Coral, Oscar Lang), ‘TV Show’ will also feature the band’s latest single, ‘Lovers Come And Lovers Go’, which dropped earlier this month.“This album is a celebration of our journey, said bassist Dave Best.

The National will be releasing a new single, ‘Eucalyptus’, tomorrow (March 22).The track is set to the third single, after ‘New Order T-Shirt’ and ‘Tropic Morning News’, to be taken from the band’s upcoming album ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’. The album is scheduled to drop on April 28 via 4AD and will feature collaborations with Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens. ‘Eucalyptus’ might sound familiar to The National superfans, as the band previously played the song live last year on tour — check out footage below.Several other new songs have debuted in the same way, including ‘Tropic Morning News (Haversham)’ and Bon Iver collaboration ‘Weird Goodbyes’, as well as other as yet unreleased songs such as ‘Grease In Your Hair (Birdie)’, and ‘Bathwater (Mount Auburn)’.Speaking to NME about new music last year, The National’s guitarist Bryce Dessner said: “What I can say is that we’re at a high watermark in terms of our creativity as a band.

Bruce Springsteen, Jose Feliciano and Gladys Knight will be among the recipients of the US National Medal Of Arts later today, in recognition of their work to make the arts in the States just so bloody great. President Joe Biden will do the official badge pinning and probably say well done and all that.“The National Medal Of Arts recipients have helped to define and enrich our nation’s cultural legacy through their life long passionate commitment”, says National Endowment For The Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson.

The British Film Institute (BFI) today announced that it will grant $44m (£36.6m) in cash awards over three years to support fiction feature films as part of its new National Lottery Filmmaking Fund.

Jungle have been announced as the latest headliners for this year’s All Points East festival in London.The funk and soul/dance duo – comprising Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland – are set to deliver a UK exclusive performance in Victoria Park on Saturday, August 26.Also featured on the line-up for that day are Erykah Badu, Folamour, BADBADNOTGOOD, 070 Shake, Tobe Nwigwe, Charlotte Day Wilson, Lil Silva, Ragz Originale and Pretty Girl. Organisers promise that “many more” acts are to added in the coming months.Tickets go on general sale at 10am GMT next Tuesday (March 21) – you’ll be able to purchase yours here.

Sub Focus has announced details of new album ‘Evolve’, which will be released soon via EMI Records.The London-based electronic music producer third album will host 14 tracks with guest spots from the likes of CamelPhat, Gene Farris and LOWES. Sub Focus – real name Nick Douwma – will also include his UK Top 30 single ‘Ready To Fly’ on the record.“Having grown up in the ’90s, I was inspired to channel elements of my musical evolution over the course of this album,” said Douwma.

Kate Middleton and Prince William head outside of Westminster Abbey following the Commonwealth Day Service on Monday (March 13) in London, England.

Wigan band, The Lathums, have secured a second UK number one in the Official Charts with their album 'From Nothing To A Little Bit More'.

The Lathums have landed their second UK Number One with their new album ‘From Nothing To A Little Bit More’.The Wigan band released ‘From Nothing To A Little Bit More’ on March 3 via Island Records (delayed from a planned February release), and they have officially reached the Number One slot today (March 10).Their debut ‘How Beautiful Life Can Be’ previously debuted at Number One in the UK albums chart in 2021, beating Drake and more to achieve the accolade. This time round, they beat Slowthai and his third studio album ‘UGLY’ in a photo finish, by only 700 chart units.Speaking to OfficialCharts.com, The Lathums said: “Hello loves! This is a group effort, but it’s mostly come from [the fans]. We write the songs, but they wouldn’t have the place that they have in the world without you lot.

The Lathums secure their second Official Number 1 album with Nothing to a Little Bit More, in a photo finish against rapper slowthai.