British-Spanish artist Lala Hayden today shares her first new music of 2025 in the shape of intoxicating new dance-pop inspired single “rush of love”.

Working with producer Ben Christophers (Bat For Lashes, Françoise Hardy), London/Barcelona-based Lala Hayden’s music draws from the work of strong female voices such as Robyn, Róisín Murphy, Ladyhawke, Self Esteem, Donna Summer, Jessie Ware and Lykke Li.

New single “rush of love” tackles the disillusionment of modern love, where constant overstimulation, unrealistic expectations, and the ease of disengagement hinder genuine connection. Backed by a sparkling synths and a dance-floor ready beat, Lala recalls asking producer Ben Christophers “what would it sound like if Madonna’s Confessions on a Dancefloor met Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love?” upon bringing the song to life, with the help of bassist Armin Metz (Imogen Heap).

Commenting on the song’s lyrical inspiration, Lala said:

“A ‘rush of love’ refers to that hiiiiiigh you get when you’re falling in love with someone. To me it feels like the highest form of dopamine, but I feel like as a society we’ve hit a dopamine overload – there is a numbness and I feel like that feeling is harder and harder to reach because we are so overstimulated. I feel like access to so much information, porn and Hollywood happy endings has worsened the expectation of what love IS, as well as the desire to run away if we encounter trouble. I feel like it’s so easy to label someone as “toxic” and disengage / look for someone else, instead of looking within. This song is about feeling lonely both in love and social groups, where I feel like we only want to talk to each other, instead of listening and asking questions. It is an ode to the complexity of modern love & connection in a digital era.”

Currently adding the finishing touches to a new project due for release this spring, Lala Hayden is an artist revitalised, reinvigorated and ready to take on the world. Releasing her debut EP ‘Girl Becomes’ in the summer of 2023, Lala has taken the time since to finesse her artistry, whilst solidifying herself as a fascinating proposition on the live stage, with key festival slots at Eurosonic, The Great Escape, Liverpool Sound City, Beyond The Music & more.

Alongside her music, Lala created a coaching platform for women in 2023 – with those two worlds colliding within her songwriting. Themes of womanhood, female empowerment; self love and interdependence are explored with passion and purpose, with her lyrics and unique live performances conveying strength and confidence, as she told Vogue – “The goal of my music is to make you walk with your back a little straighter, your chest a little more open and your head a little higher”.

Lala Hayden’s new single “rush of love” is out now. Lala will announce her new project soon.

LIVE DATES

22 May – CloseUp Festival, London (supporting CATTY)

British rock icons Skunk Anansie have released their brand new single ‘An Artist Is An Artist’. Their first new music in almost three years, it finds the acclaimed four-piece at the peak of their powers, and is a witty, provocative, pulsating slice of spiky, new-wave brilliance.

Tackling everything from ageism to our current need for approval in the digital age, ‘An Artist Is An Artist’ somehow seems to hark back to the band’s vitriolic debut single, ‘Little Baby Swastikkka’, in terms of its confrontational quality. It also reaffirms the fact that Skunk Anansie are part of Britain’s proud agit-pop lineage that extends back to The Slits, whilst also conjuring up the wordplay of Ian Dury.

Produced by David Sitek of TV On The Radio fame, known for his production work with Foals, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Santigold, Solange, Weezer and Chelsea Wolfe, ‘An Artist Is An Artist’ is the surprising first taste of what’s to come from the band in 2025. Reinvigorated after a period of introspection, their work with Sitek has seen the band twist and turn, stepping out of their comfort zone and re-shaping themselves into a lean and vital musical machine, ready to take on the world once more.

“His name seemed to be on a lot of records that we liked. But none of the records sounded the same. The records all sounded fresh, but mainly the artists all sounded like themselves,” says Skin of the producer.

“He basically reminded us that the process of making music didn’t need to be that complicated. When you start a band it never is, so it was a good reminder of that, and he got us to strip things right down,” continues guitarist Ace.

Originally based around a trademarked, hulking Skunk riff, the band listened to Sitek as he reduced the tune to its most primal essence. Then, he decided that they needed to add a sax solo. “I fucking hate sax!” grimaces Skin, “then this really cool fucking dude walks in and played sax like I’ve never heard it before, and at that point my mantra became, just trust The Dave.”

Strangely, what should have felt uncomfortable sounds utterly natural, and the band’s performance in the multi-coloured lyric video showcases how fresh, vital, current and contemporary they are; a rare feat for a multi-million selling group three decades on from their very first release.

‘An Artist Is An Artist’ will no doubt prove to be one of the highlights of the band’s upcoming European and UK headline tour which kicks off in Portugal on February 28th and continues through Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czechia, Poland, Denmark, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Belgium before ending in the UK with 14 shows.

The full tour dates are as follows:

SKUNK ANANSIE – TOUR 2025
Feb 28th Porto – Coliseu Do Porto Ageas
March 1st Lisbon – Sagres Campo Pequeño
March 3rd Madrid – Sala La Paqui
March 4th Barcelona – Sala Razzmatazz
March 6th Lyon – Le Transbordeur
March 7th Milan – Alcatraz (SOLD OUT)
March 8th Zurich – Xtra (SOLD OUT)
March 10th Munich – Tonhalle (SOLD OUT)
March 11th Vienna – Arena (SOLD OUT)
March 12th Prague – Sasazu Club
March 14th Warsaw – Cos Torwar
March 16th Copenhagen – Vega (SOLD OUT)
March 17th Hamburg – Sporthalle
March 18th Berlin – Columbiahalle
March 19th Stuttgart – LKA Longhorn (SOLD OUT)
March 21st Luxembourg- Den Atelier (SOLD OUT)
March 22nd Amsterdam – Afas Live (SOLD OUT)
March 23rd Cologne – Palladium (VENUE UPGRADED)
March 25th Brussels – Ancienne Belgique (SOLD OUT)
March 26th Paris – L’Olympia
March 28th London – Roundhouse (SOLD OUT)
March 29th London – Roundhouse (SOLD OUT)
March 31st Cardiff – Cardiff University (SOLD OUT)
April 1st Bristol – Bristol Beacon (SOLD OUT)
April 3rd Nottingham – Rock City (SOLD OUT)
April 4th Manchester – O2 Apollo (SOLD OUT)
April 5th Birmingham – O2 Academy Birmingham (SOLD OUT)
April 7th Norwich – The LCR (SOLD OUT)
April 8th Cambridge – Corn Exchange (SOLD OUT)
April 10th Glasgow – O2 Academy Glasgow (SOLD OUT)
April 11th Newcastle – NX Newcastle (SOLD OUT)
April 12th Leeds – O2 Academy Leeds (SOLD OUT)
April 14th Bournemouth – O2 Academy Bournemouth (SOLD OUT)
April 15th Brighton – Brighton Dome (SOLD OUT)
April 16th Guildford – G Live

Tickets are available via www.skunkanansie.com

Pop superstar JADE kicks off 2025 with the release of her highly anticipated song ‘IT girl’.

‘IT girl’ is a bass-heavy, bold, tongue-in-cheek electro pop track. Written by JADE with Cirkut and Lostboy (Charli XCX, Lady Gaga), alongside Lauren Aquilina and J Hart, the sharp lyrics reflect her experiences in the music industry and the often ruthless and complex nature of fame.

The boisterous song has been highly anticipated by fans since it was first teased at the end of the music video for ‘Angel of My Dreams’, with many demanding the full release of the track.

JADE says: “IT girl is the c**nty little sister to ‘Angel of My Dreams’. There’s still so much that people don’t know about me, so I was eager to surprise people and prod the bear a bit. I have to write about my experiences in my own melodramatic way. I’m not going to sugarcoat it.”

JADE finished 2024 by winning the Trailblazer Award at The Rolling Stone UK Awards and appearing on the cover of the magazine. She was also included on many of the end of year ‘Best Of’ lists. ‘Angel Of My Dreams’ was named the No.1 song of 2024 by DIY Magazine and a Top 10 song by The Guardian, DORK, Clash and NME. In addition Dazed named JADE video of the year.

‘Angel Of My Dreams’ has also been a huge commercial success. The track has accumulated over 80 million streams to date, entering the UK Official Singles Chart at No.7, the third highest new entry for a British artist this year. The accompanying video was a No.1 YouTube trending video for 10 days and has had 10 million views. The song remained in the Official UK Singles Chart Top 20 for two months. Since then JADE has dropped two more tracks, ‘Midnight Cowboy’. a sultry, understated bass heavy bop about owning your sexuality and the sleek disco-tinged ‘Fantasy’, complete with a video directed by the iconic David LaChapelle.