James Arthur

James Arthur (Jack Alexander)

During several of those shows, Arthur gave fans an early taste of Waste My Tears, performing the previously unreleased song live and prompting thousands of listeners to flood his social media channels asking when they would finally be able to hear the studio version. That wait is now over.

Waste My Tears arrives with an expansive production that gives Arthur room to deliver one of his most emotionally charged vocal performances yet. His trademark gritty soul sits at the heart of the track, while explosive instrumentation and radiant gospel backing vocals build towards a huge, anthemic chorus.

Beneath the scale of the production, however, is a direct and personal message about self-belief. Arthur encourages listeners to recognise their own value, regardless of whatever challenges they may be facing, and to stop allowing people or situations that undermine them to dictate how they see themselves. The accompanying official video carries that emotional intensity into the visual world, reinforcing the song’s themes of individuality, resilience and embracing who you are.

Arthur explains that the song is about knowing your worth, releasing the things that do not deserve your energy and moving forward rather than remaining trapped by the past. At the centre of that message is the lyric Don’t Stop Being Anything But Yourself, which Arthur identifies as one of his favourite lines from the song.

For an artist whose music has frequently connected with audiences through its emotional honesty, Waste My Tears continues that tradition while expanding it into something designed to be shared collectively. The combination of soul vocals, gospel harmonies and a huge chorus gives the track the feel of a live anthem, fittingly reflecting the reaction it receives during Arthur’s recent shows.

The single marks Arthur’s first new solo release since his 2025 album PISCES, continuing a run of commercial success that has established him as one of the UK’s most successful singer-songwriters of his generation. All six of Arthur’s studio albums have reached number three or higher on the UK Albums Chart, including the chart-topping albums Back From The Edge and Bittersweet Love.

His success extends just as strongly to the singles market, with two UK number ones and a further five Top 10 singles to his name. His catalogue includes some of the most recognisable songs of his career, with Impossible, Rewrite The Stars, Naked, Safe Inside, Falling Like The Stars, Lasting Lover, Train Wreck, Can I Be Him, Empty Space, Sun Comes Up, Car’s Outside and Say You Won’t Let Go all achieving Platinum certification in the UK.

In 2023, Arthur’s streaming success was recognised with a BRITs Billion award after his music surpassed one billion UK streams. His reach has since grown considerably further. Arthur has now accumulated more than 20 billion career streams worldwide and has sold 52 million physical records globally, with his music achieving Diamond, Platinum and Gold certifications across multiple international markets, including the UK, US, Europe and Australia.

The scale of that global audience has been matched by an increasingly ambitious live career. His recent European and UK arena tours represent a significant step up in scale, while festival appearances have allowed him to introduce his music to audiences around the world. The response to Waste My Tears during those performances demonstrates the continuing appetite for new material from an artist whose catalogue has already connected with millions of listeners.

Rather than framing self-worth as something dependent on external approval, Waste My Tears places the emphasis firmly on individuality. Its message is simple but delivered with the full force of Arthur’s voice: know your value, protect your energy and do not lose yourself trying to satisfy somebody else. With its combination of soul, gospel and arena-sized songwriting, the track also feels tailor-made for the live environment that has defined so much of Arthur’s 2026.

Evanescence Create A Sanctuary Of Sound, Spectacle And Survival At The O2

Ash @ Scala

Ash @ Scala (Kalpesh Patel)

Three decades later, the song has finally been recovered and completed, with Bittersweet Blue now released as a 7-inch single accompanied by a brand-new video.

The discovery is particularly remarkable given the track’s history. Ash originally wrote the song ahead of the Rockfield 96 recording sessions and performed it while supporting Therapy? at The Point Depot in Dublin in December 1995. By early January 1996, the band had committed the song to tape, but it was subsequently dropped as other material began to take shape and ultimately formed the album that would propel the teenage Northern Irish band to the top of the UK charts.

Yet Bittersweet Blue had already become something of a favourite within the band. So much so that Tim Wheeler would perform it live despite the song not yet having complete lyrics, improvising and developing the words as he went. For years, the track appeared destined to remain part of Ash’s mythology — perhaps existing only on a handful of old tapes and lucky bootlegs. Then the trail went cold.

As drummer Rick McMurray explains, the song resurfaced decades later when the band’s back catalogue was moved to a new home for digitisation. Missing master tapes were discovered, prompting a search that would eventually lead back to the elusive recording. The mystery was finally solved when Wheeler discovered that the original tape had been mislabelled. But recovering the tape was only the beginning.

Ash @ Ipswich Regent Theatre

Ash @ Ipswich Regent Theatre (Emma Shaw)

What remained was far from a finished Ash recording. There was a usable drum take, bass, some rhythm guitars and a scratch vocal — but crucially, there were no finished lyrics. Rather than abandon the track for a second time, the band decided to resurrect it. Wheeler effectively had to reconnect with the teenager who had written and performed the song 30 years earlier, reconstructing the missing lyrics and completing a piece of Ash history that had been sitting unfinished since the 1977 era.

The result is Bittersweet Blue, a genuine sonic time capsule from the period in which Ash were transforming themselves from teenage hopefuls into one of the defining guitar bands of the Britpop era. The accompanying video continues that journey through time. Rather than attempting to recreate the past elsewhere, Ash returned to their formative rehearsal space — the very place where they first played Bittersweet Blue all those years ago.

The setting gives the video an appropriately full-circle quality, connecting the band they were in the mid-1990s with the musicians they have become three decades later. It also gives the space itself a permanent place in the band’s story.

Bittersweet Blue arrives as anticipation builds for the 30th Anniversary Edition of 1977, due for release on 16th October via BMG.

Originally released in 1996, 1977 is the platinum-selling debut that takes Ash from teenage upstarts to Britpop-era icons. Fuelled by breakneck energy, razor-sharp hooks and a succession of instantly recognisable singles, the album includes enduring favourites such as Girl From Mars, Goldfinger, Kung Fu, Oh Yeah, Lose Control and Darkside Lightside. Three decades on, the anniversary collection offers an expansive look back at the era while also adding material that has never previously been available in this form.

The anniversary celebrations will also extend to the stage, with Ash continuing their global 1977 tour throughout 2026. Following dates across Japan, Southeast Asia and Europe, the band return to the UK and Ireland in November and December for a run of shows that includes two London appearances. The tour provides another opportunity to hear the songs that established Ash at the height of the Britpop era, while the rediscovery of Bittersweet Blue adds an entirely new chapter to the story of an album that has already survived three decades.

Ash @ Wembley Arena

Tim Wheeler of Ash @ Wembley Arena (Kalpesh Patel)

For a band whose career has been built around youthful energy, melodic songwriting and an enduring connection with their fans, there is something particularly fitting about Ash reaching back into their teenage years and finding a song they thought had disappeared forever. Thirty years after it was first recorded, Bittersweet Blue is finally getting its moment.

Upcoming UK & Ireland Live Dates:

NOVEMBER
25th – London, Electric Ballroom
26th – Bristol, Electric
28th – Limerick, Spiegeltent
29th – Cork, Cyprus Avenue

DECEMBER
1st – Torquay, Arena
2nd – Southampton, O2 Guildhall
4th – Cardiff, Tramshed
5th – Norwich, UEA
6th – Nottingham, Rock City
8th – Manchester, Albert Hall
9th – Dublin, Olympia
10th – Belfast, Ulster Hall
12th – Newcastle, Northumbria SU
13th – Glasgow, Barrowlands
15th – Birmingham, O2 Institute
16th – Leeds, O2 Academy
17th – London, Roundhouse

Natalie Imbruglia Makes Kingston’s Circuit Her Own At Intimate ‘Algorithm’ Launch

Evanescence @ The O2

Evanescence @ The O2 (Kalpesh Patel)

Instead, Evanescence use their past as a launchpad for their future, with a set that leans heavily — emphatically so — on their sixth studio album, Sanctuary. Twelve of the record’s 13 songs appear across the evening, an unusually bold commitment for a band carrying a catalogue containing songs as culturally entrenched as Bring Me To Life, Going Under and My Immortal. The result is a show that feels less like a victory lap and more like a declaration: Evanescence are not simply preserving what they have built; they are still building.

Before that declaration arrives, the evening gets two very different injections of energy. Kristine Flaherty – AKA K.Flay – wastes little time establishing her ability to make the vast arena feel like a club. Scratch and Raw Raw immediately bring a restless physicality, while Tomboys Don’t Cry and Blood In The Cut push the set into a heavier, more abrasive territory. There is a deliberately unruly collision of rock, electronic textures and hip-hop attitude throughout, with Rabbit Hole, Blood Cells and High Enough demonstrating the breadth of an artist who refuses to sit comfortably inside one genre. Ants brings the short, sharp set to a close with the room properly warmed up.

K.Flay with Evanescence @ The O2

K.Flay with Evanescence @ The O2 (Kalpesh Patel)

Then comes Poppy, who operates in an entirely different kind of strange. Opening with have you had enough?, she moves between industrial metal, electronic pop and something altogether more theatrical, with the cost of giving up, Bruised Sky and Scary Mask establishing a set that continually shifts shape. crystallized and vital lean into the heavier side of her sound, while Public Domain and Time Will Tell further underline her refusal to be predictable. A particularly effective V.A.N — her Bad Omens collaboration track — provides another sharp change of direction before If We’re Following the Light and new way out bring her set to a suitably dramatic conclusion.

Poppy with Evanescence @ The O2

Poppy with Evanescence @ The O2 (Kalpesh Patel)

By the time the lights fall for Evanescence, the scale changes completely. The stage erupts into a vast, cinematic environment of towering screens, shifting imagery, moving platforms, smoke, fire, strobes and carefully timed bursts of spectacle. Yet the production never manages to overwhelm the person at its centre. Amy Lee remains the focal point.

Behind the piano, at the microphone or moving across the stage, she possesses the kind of presence that makes an arena feel intimate. Her voice remains the defining instrument of Evanescence, capable of moving from vulnerable restraint to a full-bodied roar without ever sounding like an exercise in vocal gymnastics. Around her, Troy McLawhorn, Tim McCord, Emma Anzai and Will Hunt provide a formidable wall of sound, the five-piece sounding every bit as muscular as the production surrounding them.

And then comes the new material. Sanctuary, the title track, opens the headline set, followed by Tell Me When You’ve Had Enough, Afterlife and Rapture. It is an audacious opening sequence because it asks an audience steeped in the band’s history to immediately embrace the present. They do.

The decision to play all but one of Sanctuary‘s songs gives the evening a very particular identity. Rather than dropping a couple of new tracks between the greatest hits, the Little Rock five-piece effectively build an entire second chapter of their live history around their sixth LP. The songs are not treated as unfamiliar interludes; they are given the same enormous production, conviction and emotional investment as the material that made the band a household name. That makes Sanctuary feel less like an album being promoted and more like the next essential chapter in the Evanescence story. With only How Do I Heal absent, this is emphatically not a band looking backwards. The classics are still here, but they now sit inside a much larger, evolving picture.

When Going Under arrives, the response is predictably enormous. Lithium follows, its melancholy given plenty of space before the evening takes a particularly poignant turn.

“So, believe it or not, this year makes 20 years since our second album, The Open Door,” Lee tells the crowd, sounding almost as surprised by the passage of time as everyone else. To mark that anniversary, Evanescence perform Like You — a song from The Open Door that Lee explains is the one track from the album they had never previously performed live. It is a beautiful choice, and one that gives the anniversary more meaning than simply revisiting the obvious singles. The heavier material then takes over again. Self Destruct and Calm Down hit with punishing force before Call Me When You’re Sober turns the entire arena into a chorus.

When K.Flay returns to the stage for Fight Like A Girl, the chemistry is immediate. The song provides a welcome reminder that this new era of Evanescence is also about collaboration and a willingness to step beyond the band’s established boundaries. Beautiful Lie and Wasted On You follow, but it is Forever Without You that changes the atmosphere most dramatically.

K.Flay with Evanescence @ The O2

K.Flay with Evanescence @ The O2 (Kalpesh Patel)

The Arkanasas-hailing frontwoman moves behind the piano, stripping away much of the machinery around her and allowing the emotional core of the song to take centre stage. Introducing it, she speaks directly to anyone who has found themselves trapped in a damaging relationship. She tells the audience that they are not “bad” or “stupid for loving someone”, but that they do not have to stay. “It is terrifying and impossible, as it may seem, to take that first step out of the door with a bad situation,” she says.

Evanescence @ The O2

Evanescence @ The O2 (Kalpesh Patel)

It is one of the night’s most affecting moments because Lee does not present the song simply as a performance. She turns it into an act of solidarity. For an artist whose music has always dealt in emotional extremes, there is something particularly powerful about seeing that connection between performer and audience become so direct.

Then the arena explodes again. Bring Me To Life is, inevitably, colossal. The opening notes are enough to trigger an almost physical reaction from the crowd amid a growing sea of phones raised to film every second, and Lee rides the song’s familiar peaks with the same authority she has brought to the new material. Imaginary follows, before Better Without You and About Us drive the set forward.

Evanescence @ The O2

Evanescence @ The O2 (Kalpesh Patel)

Then comes one of the night’s biggest surprises. Poppy appears alongside Lee for collaboration track End Of You, but this time there is another unexpected presence: Courtney LaPlante of Spiritbox. The three voices converge on the song together, making this the first time the trio have performed it live as one. It is an extraordinary collision of three distinctive vocal personalities, and the moment feels completely at home within a show that has spent the evening refusing to be confined by its own history. Lee makes sure to acknowledge both guests, praising Poppy as an “amazing, amazing, amazing” friend of the band before the arena erupts once again.

Courtney LaPlante & Poppy with Evanescence @ The O2

Courtney LaPlante & Poppy with Evanescence @ The O2 (Kalpesh Patel)

The final stretch is emotionally devastating. Who Will You Follow brings the evening back to Sanctuary, proving once more that the new material has earned its place alongside the classics. Then My Immortal arrives and the enormous arena suddenly feels remarkably small. Thousands of phone lights rise into the darkness.

Lee stands before them, taking in the sight, before encouraging the audience to hold their lights aloft. For a song that has lived in the public consciousness for more than two decades, it still possesses the ability to stop the room in its tracks. There is no attempt to manufacture the moment. Lee simply lets the song breathe.

Before the final song, she takes time to thank the people who make the whole operation possible — the crew, whom she jokes “never sleep”, and her bandmates Tim McCord, Troy McLawhorn, Will Hunt and Emma Anzai. Most importantly, she thanks the audience. She talks about the last 24 years of returning to the UK, about the light and life the fans have given back to the band, and about how they have shared “your best, your pain, your loss”.

Because Evanescence are no longer simply the band who made the songs that defined their earliest years. They are now a band able to look back at The Open Door with affection, revisit My Immortal without being trapped by it, and still devote the overwhelming majority of a headline set to a brand-new album. That is what makes the Sanctuary tour so compelling. It is not a museum piece. It is not an exercise in nostalgia. It is a living catalogue.

And when Wide Open Heart brings the night to its conclusion, the title Sanctuary suddenly seems to mean more than an album, a song or a tour. For these fans and for the band themselves, it represents a place they have spent 24 years building together — somewhere to return to, somewhere to scream, grieve, celebrate and, ultimately, feel understood. At The O2, Evanescence do not simply provide shelter from the world. They make the entire arena feel like home.

Live review and photography of Evanescence @ The O2, London by Kalpesh Patel on 13th September 2026.

Violet Grohl Brings Raw Intimacy To Camden’s Barfly For Second London Night

The Molotovs @ King's Cross Summer Sounds, London - 2026.08.13 - © Pauline Di Silvestro

The Molotovs @ King's Cross Summer Sounds, London - 2026.08.13 - © Pauline Di Silvestro

The first single, Urbia, arrives today and provides an immediate indication that The Molotovs aren’t content simply to repeat the formula that brought them their debut success. Recorded at the legendary Konk Studios in North London and produced by Tony Hoffer, the track introduces a more expansive and adventurous side to the band’s sound while retaining the raw energy that has become central to their live performances.

Hoffer brings an impressive production history to the project, having previously worked with artists including Beck, The Kooks, M83 and Belle and Sebastian. His involvement at Konk — the studio founded by The Kinks — gives Urbia an appropriate setting as The Molotovs continue to develop their own take on British guitar music.

For Matt Cartlidge, the song became a clear indication of where the second album should head almost as soon as he began writing it: “When I wrote it, it just immediately felt like something different and was steering in the direction that I wanted to go for this next album. I really wanted to shake it up.”

Years of relentless touring have also broadened the band’s musical horizons. With hundreds of performances behind them, The Molotovs have had the opportunity to absorb influences from the countless venues, towns and audiences they’ve encountered along the way. “My influences have also broadened, the more we played,” Matt explains. “When we went into the studio, I’d only recently written it so it was all pretty fresh – it’s got a real energy.”

The Molotovs @ King's Cross Summer Sounds, London - 2026.08.13 - © Pauline Di Silvestro

The Molotovs @ King's Cross Summer Sounds, London - 2026.08.13 - © Pauline Di Silvestro

That energy is matched by the song’s arrangement. Urbia builds around a huge chorus in which Matt and Issey’s voices combine, opening up the track after its darker, more driving verses. “It really blossoms,” says Issey. “It’s quite moody and driving, quite industrial, and then you get to the chorus that kind of opens up. It’s sweet.”

The title Urbia is inspired by the places The Molotovs have encountered during their time on the road. The duo have spent years travelling around Britain and beyond, with the live circuit becoming as important to their development as the recording studio.

In just five years, they have played close to 700 shows, an astonishing schedule for a band whose members are still only 18 and 20. That experience has helped transform The Molotovs from young musicians busking on the streets into a highly accomplished live act capable of commanding increasingly large stages.

Their rapid progression reached a major milestone earlier this year when Wasted On Youth entered the UK album chart at No.3. The debut record’s arrival followed an extraordinary 12 months in which the siblings had moved from street performances to national attention, including a memorable television appearance and an arena support run with Yungblud.

Yet Wasted On Youth was never simply about celebrating youthful rebellion. Across the record, The Molotovs challenge the idea of a generation defined by apathy and uncertainty, instead pushing messages of individuality, optimism and engagement. Songs such as More More More More capture the band’s restless live energy, while Today’s Gonna Be Our Day carries a more overtly socially conscious message. That combination of attitude, melody and urgency has helped establish the siblings as part of a new generation of British guitar bands determined to make rock music feel relevant to their own era. Welcome To Urbia now offers an opportunity to build on those foundations.

The album announcement comes as The Molotovs begin their headline Welcome To Urbia UK tour, taking them around the country throughout September before heading to Belfast and Dublin in October. The run opens in Cardiff on 3rd September before moving through Nottingham, Brighton, Glasgow, Newcastle, Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham. The tour then reaches London for two consecutive nights at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town on 25th and 26th September. The final UK & Ireland dates take place at Limelight 2 in Belfast on 2nd October and The Button Factory in Dublin on 3rd October.

The band will also continue their rapid ascent with support dates alongside Razorlight later in the year, including a major appearance at OVO Arena Wembley on 4th December. For The Molotovs, the journey from busking on the streets to a Top 3 debut and arena stages has happened at remarkable speed, but the band’s story has been built on a far more traditional foundation: getting out there and playing. That commitment to the road remains at the heart of their identity. Urbia takes the places, people and experiences accumulated through those years of touring and turns them into a new starting point.

The Molotovs

The Molotovs (Oliver Bromidge)

If Wasted On Youth established The Molotovs as one of the most energetic new guitar acts in the UK, Welcome To Urbia looks set to test just how far that momentum can carry them. With a new album already on the horizon and the duo continuing to rack up shows, Matt and Issey Cartlidge are entering their next phase with the same restless ambition that has taken them from street corners to chart success — only now, the stages are getting considerably bigger.

Welcome To Urbia is released on 9th April 2027 via Marshall Records.

Upcoming UK & Ireland Live Dates:

SEPTEMBER
3rd – Cardiff, Tamshed
4th – Nottingham, Palais
5th – Brighton, Chalk
10th – Glasgow, TV Studio
11th – Newcastle, Digital
12th – Sheffield, Foundry
17th – Leeds, Beckett SU
18th – Liverpool, Arts Club
19th – Manchester, Academy 2
24th – Birmingham, O2 Academy 2
25th – London, O2 Forum, Kentish Town
26th – London, O2 Forum, Kentish Town

OCTOBER
2nd – Belfast, Limelight 2
3rd – Dublin, Ireland, The Button Factory

The Molotovs Leave Fans Wanting More, More, More At King’s Cross Summer Sounds 2026

K.Flay @ Electric Brixton

K.Flay @ Electric Brixton (Kalpesh Patel)

“Ants is about the destructive nature of power,” K.Flay explains. “It’s an expression of the disillusionment I feel when I look out at the world right now, when I see what corporations and governments and billionaires are doing. It’s also an expression of my own sense of culpability.”

That personal element becomes central to the song’s concept. As K.Flay puts it, “Because I wear boots. I kill ants.” The observation provides a deliberately everyday counterpoint to the enormous forces she is considering, raising questions about where responsibility begins and ends — and how people themselves participate in systems of power, destruction and consumption. “There are levels to this power, this loss,” she adds. “And as humans, we all have to decide — whether consciously or not — how much we’re willing to destroy.”

Ants arrives as K.Flay prepares to return to the UK for a major run of arena shows with Evanescence and Poppy. The four-date tour takes in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and London, bringing K.Flay’s eclectic fusion of alternative rock, hip-hop, electronic music and indie pop to some of the UK’s biggest stages. The tour also provides an opportunity to see K.Flay on a much smaller scale, with the artist set to play a rare intimate headline show at London’s Barfly on Monday 14th September.

For an artist whose career has taken her from underground experimentation to international touring and GRAMMY® recognition, the Barfly appearance represents a particularly intimate opportunity to experience her music.

K.Flay has built her reputation on refusing to remain within conventional genre boundaries. Her music combines the aggression and immediacy of rock with hip-hop flows, electronic production and sharply observed songwriting, creating a sound that can shift dramatically from one release to the next while retaining her distinctive identity.

Her breakthrough came with 2016 single Blood In The Cut, a visceral collision of rock, electronics and rap that propelled her into the mainstream and earned two GRAMMY® nominations, including Best Rock Song. The track helped establish K.Flay as an artist capable of occupying the space between alternative and electronic music without comfortably belonging to either.

K.Flay @ Electric Brixton

K.Flay @ Electric Brixton (Kalpesh Patel)

Her catalogue stretches back further, however, beginning with Life As A Dog in 2014 before Every Where Is Some Where arrived in 2017 and Solutions followed in 2019. She subsequently explored a more fragmented and expansive approach across 2022’s Inside Voices / Outside Voices, before releasing Mono in 2023.

Mono was shaped by a profound personal upheaval. In late 2022, K.Flay experienced sudden sensorineural hearing loss, leaving her completely deaf in her right ear. Rather than allowing the experience to halt her creative work, she incorporated the dramatic change into the process of making music, adapting the way she wrote and produced while learning to work with hearing in only one ear. The resulting album became an exploration of disorientation, identity and adaptation, demonstrating the same willingness to transform difficult experiences into creative material that now informs Ants.

Her collaborative history further underlines the breadth of her musical interests. Over the course of her career, K.Flay has worked with artists including Tom Morello, Mike Shinoda, Imagine Dragons, grandson, Louis The Child and Vic Fuentes, moving freely between alternative rock, hip-hop, electronic and pop environments.

With Ants, she once again turns that hybrid approach towards something more pointed. The track’s central metaphor may be deceptively simple, but its questions are considerably larger: who holds power, how that power is exercised, and what responsibility ordinary people bear for the consequences of their own actions.

K.Flay @ Electric Brixton

K.Flay @ Electric Brixton (Kalpesh Patel)

The single arrives as K.Flay enters another busy chapter of her career, with her September UK appearances offering two very different ways to experience her live show — from arena-scale performances alongside Evanescence and Poppy to the considerably more intimate surroundings of the Barfly.

Upcoming UK Live Dates:

SEPTEMBER – With Evanescence & Poppy
8th – Leeds, First Direct Arena
10th – Manchester, Co-op Live
11th – Birmingham, Utilita Arena
13th – London, The O2

SEPTEMBER – Headline show
14th – London, The Barfly

K.Flay Slays At Electric Brixton