Table of contents for No. 1374 in Music Week

Mind over matter It has, sadly, not been a difficult trend to spot lately. Sam Fender. Arlo Parks. Wet Leg. Shawn Mendes… What we've seen is a spate of artists postponing or cancelling shows in order to prioritise their mental and physical health. The words used to break the news may have differed, but the sentiment largely remained the same. “I am broken and I really need to step out, go home and take care of myself,” said Parks. “I've neglected myself for over a year now and haven't dealt with things that have deeply affected me,” offered Fender, meanwhile. “It is impossible to do this work on myself while on the road and it's exhausting feigning happiness and wellness for the sake of the business.” None of this is…

“You could say Dice is Spotijy for live – it's about discovery”PHIL HUTCHEON, DICE Launched in London in 2014, live discovery platform Dice now has more than 400 members of staff around the world. Here, chief executive Phil Hutcheon talks global expansion, pioneering paperless tickets and late-night texts from Kanye West… A year ago you raised $122 million in funding – how was that deployed to help Dice grow? “We're experienced in allocating capital, so we knew what we needed to do. First of all it was geographic expansion, so going into the US properly. If you look at our New York office from May 2021 compared to now we've gone from four or five people to 75. Launching in Germany was a big step for us, and then just…

Of all the possible places to celebrate reaching No.1 with your debut single, a speedboat ride is surely up there with the best. And that's precisely how it happened for Eliza Rose who, 24 hours after her indelible club track B.O.T.A (Baddest Of Them All) topped the charts, found herself nursing a champagne hangover and zipping across the waves off the coast of Croatia before playing a boat party. “It felt very rock'n'roll, I can't lie,” begins the East London-born DJ, talking to Music Week at her kitchen table. “I flew straight to Croatia to play Dimensions Festival with barely any sleep and, because I arrived late, the boat I was playing on had already set off, so they had to get a little speedboat to go after it. I…

THIS MONTH'S HOTTEST BRAND NEW ACT JOCKSTRAP The London duo whose unpredictable sound stops you in your tracks… KEY TRACK: Glasgow LABEL: Rough Trade MANAGEMENT: Cherish Kaya, Katy Partridge INSTAGRAM: @jockstrap_music Your music moves between jazz, dubstep and cinematic strings… How did your sound emerge? Taylor Skye [producer, multi-instrumentalist]: “It emerged from us being interested in so many different types of music! However, by even saying ‘different types of music’, that's putting music into boxes. We don't really see things that way. We just wanted to see music as sound and make whatever sort of thing we wanted!” What do you want to communicate lyrically? Georgia Ellery [vocalist, strings]: “The lyrics for most of the songs start as poems. I write when I have to process something emotionally difficult, or…

Starting from humble beginnings in 1996 to become one of music's most highly coveted cultural events, the MOBO Awards has celebrated, elevated and championed the best in Black music and culture for a quarter of a century, playing host to global icons and flying the flag for homegrown heroes. From Sade choosing to exclusively perform on our stage and So Solid Crew's classic show in 2001, to being the only European event to host the Marley and Jackson families when we posthumously honoured Bob Marley and Michael Jackson respectively, MOBO has been synonymous with unforgettable moments. We have picked 25 of those stories to celebrate here. While many will associate the MOBO Awards with glitz and glamour, the journey to this point has not been a smooth or easy ride.…

01 FLOWER POWER ELIZA ROSE & INTERPLANETARY CRIMINAL B.O.T.A (Baddest Of Them All) (Warner Records/One House) SALES: 225,705 After an impressive ascent at the end of the summer, B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All) reached No. 1 in September and held the top spot for a fortnight. Assisted by a beat from Manchester producer Interplanetary Criminal, Eliza Rose secured the first chart-topper by a female DJ since Sonique's It Feels So Good in 2000, and the track's impact is part of a noticeable chart trend for dance music (see p6) during 2022. Consistent streaming means that it was – narrowly – the biggest single of last month. It's a second consecutive monthly chart-topper for Warner Records, who headed the August rundown with LF System. The label also has club tune Big City…

UNITED KINGDOM Elton John & Britney Spears Hold Me Closer Song Creations: 89,000 Initially previewed on TikTok before its official release. Hold Me Closer – by Britney Spears and Elton John – is a contemporary version of his 1971 classic Tiny Dancer. The teaser was a hit with the TikTok community, with fans using the track as an opportunity to welcome Britney back to the music world and celebrate her first song since 2016. Following its release on TikTok, Hold Me Closer entered the Official Singles Chart at No.3 and reached No.1 on the singles sales chart, with 8,957 digital downloads. “This has been a month of incredible global collaborations, from Elton John and Britney Spears' pop hit to David Guetta and Bebe Rexha's dance anthem, said David Mogendorff, head…

Your essential primer for the month ahead “During a time when the world needs hope, donee music is shining through”Wez Sounders, Defected Dance music execs have spoken to Music Week about their ambitions to build on the streaming boom. Exclusive analysis of Official Charts Company data has revealed the growing power of dance music by big name acts and new talent like LF System and Eliza Rose. The genre has been boosted by the return of live events at clubs and festivals during 2022 following Covid restrictions. “It's great that you've got loads of DSP playlists for dance music and specialist radio shows, which are all brilliant at shining a spotlight on the music,” said Anton Powers, A&R manager at Warner Records and KISS DJ. “But you can't beat that…

@charli_xcx Why have I only just discovered Crocs? (Charli XCX, artist) Monday, September 5 @ClashRobin Wouldn't “Truss” her to run a BATH let alone a COUNTRY tbh. Bit of political humour for you there, folks. (Robin Murray, Clash) Monday, September 5 @missbarton Last night I dreamed that the cost of living grew so great that M&S prawns with marie rose dipping sauce went up to £9.42 (Laura Barton, Guardian) Monday, September 26 @Chriswareing ‘Hi mate, just got your out of office to say you’re on a family holiday with your wife and kids so thought I'd give you a call’ – yours sincerely, the music industry (Chris Wareing, SJM) Friday, September 2 @MickJagger For my whole life Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II has always been there. In my childhood I can recall…

STORMZY Mel Made Me Do It (0207 Def Jam) Released alongside an immediately iconic 10-minute video featuring Dave, Little Simz and avast cast of Black British talent, Stormzy's first solo single in almost three years cements his status as a living legend. ‘I've been the GOAT for so long I guess it's not exciting when I win… So of course they don't like me, I'm the king,’ he says, on a track that very much backs up his point. Stormz/s back, and we can't wait for whatever's next. Contact: Rachel Campbell rachel@wired-pr.co.uk RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS Eddie (Warner Records) Red Hot Chili Peppers’ new single Eddie is an energetic tribute to late rock legend Eddie Van Halen. It sets the stage for the release of the US band's second album…

DONNA SUMMER I FEEL LOVE The world's greatest songs. By the people who made them. Donna Summer and I had first started working together around 1974. She'd come to Munich – where Giorgio Moroder [producer and co-writer] and I lived at the time – with the musical Hair. There were quite a few American singers in Munich at the time for that reason. One day I wrote a song and I asked her to sing the vocal so I could send it off as a demo. A publisher friend of mine had heard the song and said he wanted to release it as it was, without doing anything with it, with Donna singing it. She'd been through a few bad deals so she was a bit circumspect about agreeing, but…

@oliwelchi23 How did you forge a path into the world of dance music? “My career in music started during my first year at university. I had been running parties in Bristol and wanted to fill my summer with as much music work experience as I could. I approached Simon [Dunmore, founder] at a Defected event in Shoreditch and within a few days I was working at the Defected Store. The following summer, I moved to Ibiza for the season, running marketing and artist liaison for Defected on the island. That set me up for a marketing job at Motion in Bristol while I finished my time at uni, before eventually landing a job in the Defected A&R team once I'd completed my studies. Those early years set a great foundation.”…

MICA MILLAR HEAVEN KNOWS Mica Millar's voice literally stopped me in my tracks. If this was Aretha Franklin, we would be talking about a classic album. It's soul, it's jazz, and it's blues. From the opening track of this year's debut album Heaven Knows to the closing track, it's a musical masterpiece. Her voice commands your attention; at times you feel like she's whispering her life story into your ear. The songs connect and you can relate to all the themes, so this is an album that should be played start to finish. I've had labels, publishers and agents knocking on my door, reminding me of when Gregory Porter broke on Jazz FM. The album was entirely self-written, arranged and produced. It has real authenticity to its production, yet it…

“When I look back, my biggest achievements won't be stadium shows, they'll be bringing through brilliant women”KELLY CHAPPEL Look,” begins Kelly Chappel. “When I was a little Geordie girl growing up, I didn't think I'd make it to London, let alone Los Angeles. When I think about the winding road I've travelled to get to where I am, it does seem a million miles from where I've come from.” Los Angeles is where the executive is now, just three weeks into a new job as Live Nation's EVP of global artist development and global tour promoter. “I've always done artist development and there's nothing like finding an artist at the start of their career and working with them until they are at stadium level,” she says, settling in for a…

I'm now reasonably certain that Music Week contacts me to write these columns only at the most perilous times. The monthly email requesting copy seems to coincide on such a regular basis with another crisis, the latest example of political turmoil or glimpse at an unknown future, that I'm actually starting to view its arrival in my inbox as the signal of some sort of forthcoming apocalypse. This month's column is being written in the wake of Liz Truss’ confirmation as Prime Minister, heralding the start of the fourth administration of the last seven years and the third charged with trying to unravel the result of the Brexit referendum and its negative impacts on our sector. Truss has nominated the 10th Secretary Of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport…

OFFICIAL AMERICANA TOP 20 ALBUMS OFFICIAL HIP-HOP & R&B TOP 20 ALBUMS OFFICIAL CLASSICAL ARTIST TOP 20 ALBUMS OFFICIAL JAZZ TOP 20 ALBUMS OFFICIAL COUNTRY ARTIST TOP 20 ALBUMS OFFICIAL FOLK TOP 20 ALBUMS OFFICIAL DANCE TOP 20 ALBUMS OFFICIAL ROCK & METAL TOP 20 ALBUMS…

Andy Varley, founder and CEO, Insanity Group Insanity Group founder Andy Varley was earmarked for greatness at a young age, winning a Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award at just 17. As his company turns 25, he looks back on the firm's evolution, talks Craig David and Zane Lowe, and remembers the one that got away… I was basically 25 for the first 10 years of my career… “When I started Insanity Group, in the days when I had hair and didn't have a grey beard, I'd walk into gigs as a baby-faced 17-year-old and everyone would be like, ‘Oh God, I thought you were much older.’ I had no idea how to run a business, but I was always super-instinctive. I trusted my gut and followed my heart. There…