Chimeo

Maximo Park Apply Some Pressure In Leeds

Over twenty years ago Paul Smith, lead singer with Maximo Park, arrived on stage at Leeds Town Hall wearing a trilby hat and reading a book as the band supported Kaiser Chiefs. The book might have gone; however, the hat, smart suit and stage presence were still intact as the northeast band arrived on stage at the O2 Academy in Leeds.

Poem Of The Week: The Only English Kid By Hannah Lowe

The Only English Kid When the debate got going on ‘Englishness’, I’d pity the only English kid – poor Johnny in his spotless Reeboks and blue Fred Perry.

Albums: Now Yearbook 85-89 - The Final Chapter

The period also saw the arrival of a more sophisticated style of pop that mixed jazz tendencies, as heard in Is It a Crime by Sade, Twilight World by Swing Out Sister, and Blow the House Down by Living in a Box.

Albums: Gorillaz - The Mountain

After celebrating 25 years of animated genre-hopping with anniversary celebrations, Gorillaz could have opted for caution. Instead, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett have made something reflective and quietly ambitious. The album is shaped by personal loss—Albarn's father passed away, as did members of Hewlett’s family—and its emotional core is filtered through Indian musical traditions and spiritual ideas. Albarn’s trip to Varanasi to scatter his father’s ashes hangs over the record, giving it a searching, inward pull.

Albums: Leigh-Anne My Ego Told Me To

Sonically, the record is panoramic. Caribbean rhythms ripple through its foundations, not as aesthetic garnish but as lineage. Her Bajan and Jamaican heritage informs the album’s heartbeat, shaping grooves that lean toward dancehall, reggae, and afrobeats without sacrificing pop precision. There’s warmth in the percussion, elasticity in the basslines, and a looseness that suggests an artist finally exhaling.

Albums: Hilary Duff Luck…Or Something

Where Duff’s early work traded in fairytale optimism, Luck…or Something leans into emotional realism. The production still carries flashes of sunlit, early-2000s pop — buoyant hooks, polished synths, melodies that feel instantly familiar — but there’s a lived-in quality to both the songwriting and her delivery. She sounds grounded. The voice that once narrated teenage longing now moves through marriage, motherhood and self-doubt with steadier footing.

Classical Music: Harbingers Of Exile: Songs From The In-Between

The final word belongs to Korngold's Unvergänglichkeit—Imperishable—a title that feels less like a conclusion than a quiet statement of intent. I would travel to hear these two perform. This is bliss: warm, sensitive, simply delectable, and a wonderful choice of repertoire recorded superbly. As that last song intimates, it is enduring.

Mebrakh Haughton-Johnson – A Rising Star Of The Clarinet

A graduate of both the Royal College of Music and the Juilliard School, Mebrakh Haughton-Johnson is a multi-instrumentalist who, as well as being a talented clarinettist, can also play the flute, oboe and piano. He is performing as part of the Harrogate International Sunday Series on March 1, when he will be joined by award-winning pianist Kumi Matsuo.

Classical Music: Beethoven The Last Three Sonatas

Coming to these works later in life, she writes, the joys and riches presented themselves "with much more vivid colours" than might have been possible in younger, more turbulent years. That same crystalline clarity of intention attended her eventual embrace of the Diabelli Variations in her sixties, and the evidence is all here, on record, to confirm it.

Classical Music: Olivia Belli Daimon

Greek mythology has long exerted a powerful hold on composers, and the Italian pianist and composer Olivia Belli is no exception. Her debut piano concerto, Daimon, takes Homer's Odyssey as its imaginative springboard, and what emerges is a poetic work that blends classical tradition with her own unmistakably personal musical signature.

Iron Maiden Announce EDDFEST A Two-Day Fan Extravaganza At Knebworth Park

Iron Maiden are to headline a specially created festival event at Knebworth Park this year, promising fans what the band are calling "a Maiden World" built around their 50-year career.

Leeds Song Appoints Michael Chance CBE As Chair Designate

Leeds Song has announced the appointment of Michael Chance CBE as a new Trustee and Chair Designate of the charity. Chance will succeed Kathleen Evans BEM as Chair after the 2026 festival comes to a close.

"I Had Everything to Prove": The Flutist Who Overcame Adversity, Returned to the Stage at 46, and Is Now Turning Heads Across the Classical World

Jen Townsend (47), from York, is a musician who has returned to performing after a 25-year break from music. Jen began the flute when she was 7 years old, and it was her life until she was 21. After spending many years working as a midwife and having a family, Jen returned to the flute at age 46 to fulfil her lifelong dream of becoming a flute soloist.

VERVE Dance Company Announces 2026 Tour Featuring Triple Bill Of Bold Contemporary Dance Works

VERVE, the international touring dance company of Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD), is thrilled to announce its 2026 tour featuring a captivating triple bill of contemporary dance works.

Introducing December 10

You might not have heard of December 10 yet, the new boy band formed by music mogul Simon Cowell, who brought to the fore Little Mix, Leona Lewis and One Direction. The new fresh-faced act can, pardon the pun, go in either of two directions; the band may not be a success, or alternatively, they could become widely successful.

Bluey Live: Puppets, Pandemonium And Pure Joy For The Whole Pack

From the moment we booked our tickets, my five-year-old had been on countdown for weeks to see Bluey live on stage. Each morning brought another excited reminder of how many sleeps were left—and when the big day finally arrived at The Regent Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent, it absolutely lived up to expectations. My child remained completely captivated from beginning to end.

Acclaimed Clarinettist Mebrakh Haughton-Johnson Heads To Harrogate

Rising British clarinet star, Mebrakh Haughton-Johnson, heads to North Yorkshire next month when he performs the latest concert in the Harrogate International Sunday Series. Mebrakh, a graduate of both the Royal College of Music and the Juilliard School, will perform along with award-winning pianist Kumi Matsuo at the Old Swan Hotel on 1st March.

Rising Filmmaking Talent Honoured At The Eduqas Moving Image Awards

Talented film and media students from across the UK have been celebrated at the 12th annual Moving Image Awards ceremony held at the British Film Institute in London. Launched in 2014 in partnership with the British Film Institute, the Moving Image Awards celebrate outstanding moving image work by students studying Eduqas Film and Media qualifications.

Ellie Sax Announces Halifax Hometown Show

Born and brought up in Halifax, Ellie Sax is now one of the world’s favourite dance music saxophonists, and she’s heading home to recreate ‘the best summer you’ve ever had’ with a special night at TK Maxx presents Live At The Piece Hall on Friday June 26.

Francis Dunnery- Calling All The Shots In Rawentstall

Francis Dunnery is a man of many talents: musician, storyteller, astrologist, and charity organiser. He is probably best known for being the frontman, guitarist, and main songwriter in the band It Bites, whose biggest hit, Calling All the Heroes, is still played on the radio today, forty years after the song was released.

Jane Gregory Bursaries open for inspiring writers’ day at Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival 2026

Rebecca Philipson, author of ‘How to Get Away With Murder’ and Creative Thursday attendee: “I took part in Creative Thursday in 2023 and 2024. I was still drafting ‘How to Get Away With Murder’ and the workshops were incredibly helpful.

Poem Of The Week: Ends By Matthew Sweeney (1952-2018)

Ends At my end of the earth the Atlantic began. On good days trawlers were flecks far out, at night the green waves were luminous. Gulls were the birds that gobbled my crusts and the air in my bedroom was salty. For two weeks once a whale decayed on the pale beach while no one swam. It was gelignite that cleared the air. The uses of village carpenters were many.

Britpop Icon Dave Rowntree To Appear At Pocklington Arts Centre

For the first time ever, Dave Rowntree, best known as the drummer for Britpop legends Blur, is hitting the road to share the unheard stories behind the band’s formative years. Music lovers can catch him live at Pocklington Arts Centre on Thursday 21 May, where he’ll be offering an intimate behind-the-scenes look at Blur’s journey to global success.

Madama Butterfly Takes Flight As Kent Says Goodbye

As Puccini basked in the glory of La Boheme and Tosca – two of the most popular and successful works ever written for the operatic stage – little did he know that his next work, Madama Butterfly, would premier to howls of derision.

Tomorrow Belongs To YorkLight's Joyful Annie

They say to never work with children or animals…well, YorkLight’s production of Annie proved that it is perfectly possible! Annie is a heartwarming musical about a brave and cheerful orphan girl who lives in a strict orphanage run by the mean Miss Hannigan.

Kaiser Chiefs Bring The Beat Back To Bradford

Back in 2014 when the idea was first mooted of bringing the former Odeon cinema building back into use as an entertainment venue by the visionaries whose dream of realising their mission seemed a long way in the distance, Yorkshire band Kaiser Chiefs were one of the first major acts to give their approval to the scheme. “We've played a lot of great old theatre venues.

Character-Led: Nathan Carter On Papal Performances, Robbie Williams' Hitmaker And Why Country Fans Are The Most Loyal

Blending country charm with an Irish heart, Nathan Carter has become one of the most enduring and beloved figures in modern country music, building a career defined by versatility, determination and a fiercely loyal fan base. Known for his ability to seamlessly merge pop, Irish folk and traditional country sounds, Carter has carved out a unique space in the genre.

Classical Music: Vienna New Year's Concert 2026

There's much to savour on this album, which marks the debut appearance of Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, leading the Vienna Philharmonic in the legendary New Year's Concert. This annual jamboree of festive Viennese waltzes, polkas and marches, broadcast from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein, is a tradition that perhaps benefits from the occasional refresh of its familiar formula, and Nézet-Séguin has risen admirably to that challenge.

Classical Music Alfvén and Rautavaara Orchestral Works

Neither composer enjoys the recognition they merit in British concert halls, but Järvi makes an eloquent case for both. The Gothenburg Symphony plays with conviction and considerable beauty in tone throughout. Warmly recommended.

Grimes Of Passion

Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes has been 'revived' by Opera North. It's an ironic choice of words for this much-loved Phyllida Lloyd production, as the opera includes the tragic deaths of two young apprentice fishermen and a suicide at sea - all of whom might have benefited from some revivification.