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One Liners: BPI, Musicians’ Union, Beverley Knight, more
By Andy Malt and Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 17 April 2020
COVID-19 SUPPORT INTIATIVES
The UK divisions of all three major labels, plus independents Cherry Red and Demon Music Group, The BRIT Awards, Amazon Music and collecting society PPL – via record industry trade group BPI – have donated £1.25 million to Help Musicians’ Coronavirus Financial Hardship Fund. A further £250,000 is being donated to other initiatives that are supporting artists during the COVID-19 crisis. “The music community always comes together when called upon, and we hope this further contribution drawn from all parts of the industry will help to sustain artists in need through this very difficult time”, says BPI boss Geoff Taylor.
The Musicians’ Union has launched an online auction to raise money for its COVID-19 hardship fund, with contributions from the likes of Garbage, Jay Rayner and the author Philip Pullman.
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RELEASES
Celebrities cutting together clips of themselves singing a song while on lockdown hasn’t proven very popular so far. Maybe this new version of Bill Withers’ ‘Lean On Me’ in aid of the NHS, fronted by Beverley Knight, can turn things around though.
Also raising money for NHS charities is this new home-recorded version of McFly‘s ‘Its All About You’. The “you” being frontline health workers see – it’s all about them now, say McFly. And quite right too.
Sam Smith and Demi Lovato have released new collaboration ‘I’m Ready’.
Florence And The Machine have released new track ‘Light Of Love’, an outtake from their last album. Florence Welch has said that her royalties from the song will be donated to the Intensive Care Society.
Bob Dylan has released new single ‘I Contain Multitudes’. The track follows his first new release for eight years, ‘Murder Most Foul’, which, despite being seventeen minutes long, became his first ever US number one single earlier this month.
Kelly Rowland has released new single ‘Coffee’.
Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck have released a cover of John Lennon’s ‘Isolation’. “We weren’t expecting to release it so soon but given all the hard days and true ‘isolation’ that people are going through in these challenging times, we decided now might be the right time to let you all hear it”, says Beck. “You’ll be hearing more from Johnny and me in a little while but until then we hope you find some comfort and solidarity in our take on this Lennon classic”.
Kelly Clarkson has released new single ‘I Dare You’. “We hope everyone out there connects with this message and chooses love instead of fear”, she says. “I dare you”.
Hayley Williams has released new single ‘Why We Ever’. “I was at the lowest point I’d been in some time”, she says of writing the song. “My sadness shows. Now I look back and credit this night as being the beginning of a new season of my life, where I hold myself accountable for learning to love better”.
Trivium have released new single ‘Amongst The Shadows And The Stones’. “The inspiration for the song started when a war history website that I follow posted a story of a soldier visiting the graves of his fallen comrades and he described it as walking ‘amongst the shadows and the stones'”, says guitarist Corey Beaulieu.
Playboi Carti has released new single ‘@ Meh’.
Austra has released new single ‘Mountain Baby’, featuring Cecile Believe. Her new album, ‘Hirudin’, is out on 1 May.
Car Seat Headrest have released new single ‘Hollywood’. New album ‘Making A Door Less Open’ is out on 1 May.
Erland Cooper has released new track ‘Peedie Breeks’. It’s taken from new album ‘Hether Blether’, out on 29 May.
Minais B has released new single ‘Ceremony’. New album ‘Quiet Bloom’ is out next week.
Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
