ANE BRUN has announced details of a UK and Irish tour, part of her first lengthy European outing since the Directions tour of 2016. The dates will follow her first studio album of original material in five years, due for release in the autumn, and the news precedes the release of a brand new single, ‘DON’T RUN AND HIDE’, which will be released by her label, Balloon Ranger Recordings, on February 21, 2020.

As is typical with Brun, who rarely repeats herself, the tour will find her performing with a new configuration of musicians. “I’ve played with three of them – Per Eklund (drums), Martin Hederos (keyboards), Johan Lindström (keyboards, pedal steel, guitars) – a lot,” she elaborates, “but this time we’ll be joined by three new members: Felisia Westberg (bass), Lovisa Samuelsson (cello, percussion)  and Siv Øyunn Kjenstad (drums). I want to keep the energy from the Directions tour and build on it, but also find space for the softer side of me. Plus, of course, there’ll be a couple of covers!”

The years since 2015, when the Stockholm-based Norwegian released When I’m Free – which went Top 5 in both Sweden and her native homeland, as well as earning critical acclaim across the globe – have not been quiet. In 2017, Brun underlined her reputation as a masterful interpreter with an exquisite album of cover versions, Leave Me Breathless, and she’s continued to play occasional band shows promoting both records, as well as more extravagant, ambitious, collaborative concerts. These included around a dozen performances across Scandinavia with a variety of orchestras – the Stockholm shows are immortalised in 2018’s Live at Berdwardhallen – as well as a handful of memorable events devoted to the Leave Me Breathless collection. The latter included a sold-out 2018 show at Oslo’s Spektrum Arena, which was filmed for cinema release. In addition, she was invited to perform at the Nobel Prize Dinner in 2017, and returned to Stockholm’s Berwaldhallen for three shows with the Swedish Radio Choir in 2019.

“It’s been a few amazing years on stage for me,” Brun says. “The orchestral gigs have all been amazing, and I also feel they’ve helped me evolve as a live artist, since I needed to ‘own’ the stage, moving around and even dancing, plus get my message and presence across with a massive orchestra. I also loved working with the Radio Choir, as the voice is the instrument I know the best, and I loved the arrangements. The exceptional atmosphere at the Oslo Leave Me Breathless show will always stay particularly precious in my mind, too.”

Furthermore, Brun has made a number of guest appearances with other acts, including one with Oscar-nominated, Emmy Award-winning composer Dustin O’Halloran (A Winged Victory For The Sullen), with whom she wrote ‘Horizons’, the closing theme for the movie Puzzle, starring Kelley Macdonald. She’s also contributed music to further films and TV shows, including 2018’s Becoming Astrid and 2019’s Hidden. As if this wasn’t enough, following the 2015 UK Top 5 hit (and Dance Chart No. 1) which she co-wrote with Dr. Kucho! & Gregor Salto, ‘Can’t Stop Playing (Makes Me High)’, she’s been co-writing with Grammy Award-winning producer Andrew Beyer, and has also released a number of covers online, not to mention a Christmas song, ‘The First Day of Christmas’, in 2019.

With a voice as rich as her catalog of inspirations, the Nigerian native singer-songwriter and multi-platinum selling recording artist fuses Pop, Afro pop-driven, and soft-soul, taking cues from cross-continental greats– from Fela Kuti to Miriam Makeba; King Sunny Adé to Sade; Tina Turner to Lenny Kravitz. But on Lucid, Asa doesn’t find her voice; she amplifies it. 

With Lucid, the audience travels with her storied songs and sounds, but Asa’s right at home. Here, her emotive range strikes again. Whether it’s piercing through the surface of the soul with “words like dagger” as on “The Beginning” or when she croons with conviction and calmness over steady guitar chords on the soft melancholy of being held hostage in a hard love affair in the album’s opening “Murder In The USA.” Throughout standouts “Femi Mo,” “Good Thing,” and “My Dear” she switches between English, and Yoruba, but the emotion laced in each lyric needs no translation.

Olajide William ‘JJ’ Olatunji, known publicly as KSI, is one of YouTube’s biggest stars, a chart-topping music artist, and a professional boxer with a combined social media reach of over 40 million. KSI’s two YouTube channels have amassed over 30 million subscribers and over 6 billion views on YouTube alone. He also possesses the third most-followed music channel in the UK behind Ed Sheeran and One Direction. His album Dissimulation via BMG / RBC Records is the biggest debut studio album of 2020 so far and includes features with AJ Tracey, Tion Wayne, and Offset. He has previously covered The Sunday Times Magazine, The Observer Magazine, and Music Week. 

The Hara - Josh Taylor (lead vocals), Jack Kennedy (drums) and Zack Breen (guitar) - having toured their first headline tour last year & being special guests on X-Factor's Ben Haenow's tour, the boys are back with their new headline tour and brand-new EP. Hailing from the North West, the band are regularly featured on BBC Music Introduces in Lancashire. Their debut single - Only Young - is taken from their forthcoming EP which will be showcased alongside other fan favourites on the new tour!

The Skints are a reggae/dub/punk/reggae fusion band from London, United Kingdom. Since 2008 the band have toured extensively, playing hundreds of shows, supporting bands that include Sublime with Rome, Less Than Jake, The Slackers, Gogol Bordello and Bedouin Soundclash.

Forming in Earlestown in 2017 and grew up together in the shadows of two huge North West neighbours, Manchester and Liverpool, The K’s are proving that things can in fact actually grow in the dark.

After watching a video of The Jam performing ‘In the City’ live at the Circus, vocalist/rhythm guitarist Jamie Boyle and bassist Dexter Baker were inspired to pick up guitars and see what noise they could make themselves.

The K’s were born and soon after drafted in experienced lead guitarist Ryan Breslin following discussions at an after-party they had all attended. A search for the right drummer was on to complete the vision. Almost immediately up stepped Jordan Holden, a young bespoke drum maker who’s energy and precision had heads nodding in approval right from his first rehearsal.

After taking Manchester by storm selling out Jimmys, Deaf Institue, Gorilla and then Academy 2, the band’s first UK tour also resulted in sell outs across the board, finally selling out The O2 Ritz, Manchester in just 3 weeks and then announcing a headline show at the Iconic Manchester Academy 1 for 2020.  

‘If you missed seeing Kate herself, Cloudbusting are the next best thing!’   Simon Mayo, BBC Radio 2

Cloudbusting have been championed by BBC ONE as one of the most authentic tributes in the world. Their passion for Kate’s music has won over sceptical fans everywhere, challenging perceptions of what a tribute band can be and resulting in sell-out performances across the UK.

‘There can only be one Kate Bush’ says vocalist Mandy Watson, who never attempts to mimic Kate on stage. ‘When you sing her music the characters in the songs take over - they are what you become, not Kate. We're just fans, amazed at this opportunity to perform this music we love so much’.

Many of Kate’s original collaborators from stage and studio have been inspired to join the band on stage, including bass player Del Palmer, drummer Preston Heyman and dancer Stewart Avon Arnold, all of whom performed with Kate on her legendary Tour of Life live shows 40 years ago.

Running Up That Hill, Wuthering Heights, Hounds of Love, Babooshka, This Woman’s Work, Wow… Cloudbusting can’t wait to whip up a storm of love for Kate’s music once again in 2020 their new show featuring all the hits you’d expect as well as many songs you wouldn’t! Accompanied by eye-popping visuals that highlight the drama of Kate’s music, a Cloudbusting concert is an event no Kate Bush fan will want to miss. In the words of Kate herself, ‘We’re Cloudbusting, daddy!’

‘I could have been listening to Kate herself!' - Preston Heyman

‘Utterly, surreally brilliant’ - Mick Wall, Classic Rock Magazine

Bursting from the streets to the radio one playlist, picking up plaudits from Clashmusic, Billboard and a number of international music blogs along the way Glass Caves have built a following across the North of England busking from city to city.

Glass Caves fuse agitated rhythms and yo-yoing guitars with vocal harmonies that splinter then soar through their songs. The band draw from a number of classic international influences and put them through a very British filter resulting in a perfectly formed morsels of ballsy alt-rock.