Another busy month in music and it's as expected after last months first ever two part series of Music News. Let's see what February has for us...

CHARLOTTE OC NEW MUSIC VIDEO "IF MY HOUSE WAS BURNING"
I only had one question after watching this video here - "WHERE IS YOUR DEBUT ALBUM PLEASE?!" Over the past couple years, Charlotte OC has put out a myriad of fabulous singles and even some EPs but I'm gonna need a full length to accompany these sometime soon. 


BRIGHT CITY NEW MUSIC VIDEO "COLOUR"
Bright City are a collective a talented people based in St. Peter's Church, Brighton. Find out more about the project and the talent involved here, but before that, give their new video a watch here. This is just the first single and you can already tell that this album is going to be brilliant. The production is great and the vocals on this song alone... well! Listen out for Lydia McAllister's (Wayward Daughter) vocals on the album too.


ALBOMBS
As per, there are a bunch of new and exciting albums on the horizon for the coming months. To name a few - Slaves, DIIV, Ghostpoet, Jamie T (new EP), Kanye West, Django Django, The Maccabees, Everything Everything, Florence + The Machine, Wondaland Records and Blur (first in 16 years!) and I'm sure more. 2015, you're spoiling us!


BLUR NEW SINGLE "GO OUT" 
Speaking of Blur releasing a new album, here's the first new single to go along with it! Although it's not mind-blowing in anyway it is however very catchy. I right now that is the perfect way to keep people interested in their comeback. I'm glad to finally have them back... April never seemed so far away!


JIDENNA NEW MUSIC VIDEO "CLASSIC MAN"
Again, having mentioned Wondaland (Janelle Monae's new star studded record label) releasing an EP - Eephus - later this year, I'd better mention the new single/music video that one of her artists, Jidenna, has just put out! So much sass and so much flare, this track is BIG and I suspect that this upcoming EP will be ever bigger.


MNEK NEW MUSIC VIDEO "THE RHYTHM"
I haven't really heard much from MNEK recently if I'm honest, well until now. This song just reminded me of how talented he is! Another huge hit; I expect to be hearing this track played everywhere for quite some time. Let 'the rhythm' get to you here.


JACK Ü FEAT. MISSY ELLIOTT REMIX "TAKE Ü THERE"
After her Superbowl performance with Katy Perry everybody has been waiting to hear Missy Elliott's first comeback track after all of these years. Well, technically we're still waiting, but not without this cool remix with Jack Ü (Diplo and Skrillex). Check it out here. It's clear she still has bars and with the help of Timbaland and Magoo, this should be a comeback you'll remember clearly.


TURBOWOLF NEW SINGLE "NINE LIVES"
Turbowolf continuing to impress me with their riffy goodness. I have to admit that this isn't my favourite single that they've put out to date but it still packs a punch and even more so live. They're touring in April so if you like this track here get along to one of the dates - it'll be big.


WHILE SHE SLEEPS NEW SINGLE "OUR LEGACY"
Okay While She Sleeps, no more singles now until the full album please! I don't want to lose all my excitement on all these singles before I heard the full thing. However, this is a banger! I actually feel like Brainwashed might be better than This Is The Six. Have a listen to the new one here. Roll on the 23rd of March!


EVERYTHING EVERYTHING NEW MUSIC VIDEO "DISTANT PAST"
It is so good to have Everything Everything back! This track has got a little bit of an old school disco vibe about it. It's super catchy and I love this video - very engaging. I look forward to hearing more from them before the release of Get To Heaven on the 15th of June. Give the new video a watch here.


SPIRIT CLUB NEW MUSIC VIDEO "DUSTER"
So, if you haven't already heard, Spirit Club are a new band featuring WAVVES' Nathan Williams. As well as announcing the release of their debut LP - Still Life (listen to the awesome title track here), they've also put out this corker of a track and accompanied it with a music video - awesome! Check out the eery new video/single here.


STATE CHAMPS NEW MUSIC VIDEO "IF I'M LUCKY"
Another band that I've been looking out for since seeing them live here. State Champs actually have a habit of just making me smile. When it comes to pop punk supporting labels, Pure Noise and No Sleep are both fighting for my attention. Well, here's one point to Pure Noise for this very sweet single/video.


TORO Y MOI NEW MUSIC VIDEO "EMPTY NESTERS"
Well, I'd say there was no better time for me to start listening to Toro Y Moi because this new single and video have definitely grabbed my interest. This is really, feel good summer time music! I can't wait to listen to this and watch this video here in a few months when the weather is nice. The new record drops on the 7th of April... good timing.


HEEMS AND DEV HYNES NEW SINGLE "HOME"

WHAT. A. NIGHT. WOW! Still can hardly believe that I got to see Only Rivals, Candy Hearts, State Champs, The Story So Far and New Found Glory all in one night, with my own eyeballs! Either way, before I get carried away, here's my verdict on the performances of the night...

If you like pop punk/rock music and you haven't yet checked out Only Rivals get on it. I hadn't heard any of their music before coming to the show but they were really good. It was nice to see a band that are each evidently such different characters, come together and play some collectively awesome music. The lead singer was a little hard on himself, shaking his head a couple of times after he'd slightly miss a note but, he kept it all together. Solid opener.

Next up Candy Hearts. I've been waiting to see this band for about a year now and the time finally came. I have to say I was a little surprised to be honest. I was surprised at how "cute" they were. The lead singer was just adorable, and I guess I was just expecting something a little more gritty. Once I'd focused though, I thought that at times they sounded a bit like a female fronted Blink-182. I liked their song "All The Ways You Let Me Down" and speaking to Mariel after the show - she is super sweet, definitely check them out - talented bunch of cool people.

Before the show started, I'd seen a bunch of State Champs shirts bopping around in the crowd so I figured that theirs would be a pretty energetic set to say the least. They were on 100% from beginning to end. The first crowd surfers of the night and honestly, first real movement of the night - the crowd just went mad for them. I definitely need to check out all of their music properly because to put it briefly they were on point. I swear, some of the best things seem to come from Pure Noise Records. Derek was super courteous on stage, praising every band individually and he was equally as courteous in person. Genuinely cool band.

Now, the band that I personally was probably most excited for - The Story So Far. I was so sure that by the end of their set I wouldn't have a voice left. Every time I see them perform live the crowd just seems like if they don't scream every one of Parker's lyrics at the top of their lungs whilst pointing their fingers at the stage then they might die. So I did exactly that and it was brilliant. Circle pits and crowd surfers galore. They slayed. There really wasn't time to come up for air. This is a band that I really want to see around for a long, long time to come.

Finally for the stars of the show, the glorious rockers that put together this fantastic spectacle - New Found Glory. It's rare that I'm watching a band and I stop mid-show and think how lucky I am to be seeing them. They were awesome! You know in cheesy movies when they play those montages of important events happening and things happen in slow motion and the camera zooms in on people's joy filled, elated faces - this happened in my mind several times during the set. It was surreal. I'm definitely more of an old school NFG fan but after this show it would seem that I need to purchase their new record - Resurrection. When they played songs like "Kiss Me" and "My Friends Over You" I just lost it. The crowd was considerably older than I'd imagined but I think in those moments everyone felt like a teenager again. Grown men pushing to the front, crowd surfing and generally fanning out. It was just an amazing vibe. Whoever was able to make it out to one of these shows, count yourselves lucky. Pop punk is most certainly not dead.

Overall Rating - 9/10


Here are some pictures from the night...