Saint Etienne

It’s been seven years since their last album, and Saint Etienne have announced their return – the band have made a new single, ‘Tonight’, available to download. You can stream the song below.

The new album is as yet untitled, but the single definitely sounds promising – built on a bed of strings and electronica with an, as usual, irresistible pop hook, it sounds like the melancholic/euphoric pop we’re currently missing from the likes of Robyn and Girls Aloud (it’s produced by Xenomania’s Tim Powell and mixed by Richard X). Welcome back Saint Etienne.

Perfume Genius

We’ve been listening to the new Perfume Genius album, Put Your Back N 2 It, for the last few days and it is stunning, even better than 2010′s heavily praised Learning. ‘Hood’ has already become something of a standout for us, so it’s great to see that Mike Hadreas has released a video for the song – and the first proper Perfume Genius video at that.

The video undercuts the lyrics of the song with a bit of humour – there’s Hadreas in a string vest and some make up alongside gay porn star Arpad Miklos. It’s short, sweet and you can watch it below.

BRIT awards 2012

The nominations for the 2012 BRIT awards were announced today at a fancy do at the Savoy in that London. It was already announced that Ed Sheeran and Jessie J were going to dominate – he’s picked up 4 nominations, she’s got 3, while Emeli Sande has already claimed the Critics Choice Award. Blur will perform on the night and receive the outstanding contribution to music award, so well done them. Bon Iver gets a couple of nods, James Blake and Anna Calvi get one each, and the best international female category is all sorts of amazing.

We’ve got the full list of nominations for you below. Voila:

British Male: James Blake, James Morrison, Noel Gallagher, Professor Green, Ed Sheeran

British Female: Adele, Florence and the Machine, Jessie J, Kate Bush, Laura Marling

British Breakthrough: Anna Calvi, Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sande, Jessie J, The Vaccines

British Group: Arctic Monkeys, Chase And Status, Coldplay, Elbow, Kasabian

British Single: Adele, ‘Someone Like You’; Ed Sheeran, ‘The A Team’; Example, ‘Changed The Way You Kissed Me’; Jessie J, ‘Price Tag’; JLS, ‘She Makes Me Wanna’; Military Wives, ‘Wherever You Are’; Olly Murs/Rizzle Kicks, ‘Heart Skips A Beat’; One Direction, ‘What Makes You Beautiful’; Pixie Lott, ‘All About Tonight’; The Wanted, ‘Glad You Came’

British Album: Adele, 21; Coldplay, Mylo Xyloto; PJ Harvey, Let England Shake; Ed Sheeran, +; Florence and the Machine, Ceremonials

International Male: Aloe Blacc, Bon Iver, Bruno Mars, Ryan Adams, David Guetta

International Female: Beyonce, Bjork, Feist, Lady Gaga, Rihanna

International Group: Fleet Foxes, Foo Fighters, Jay Z/Kanye West, Lady Antebellum, Maroon 5

International Breakthrough: Aloe Blacc, Bon Iver, Foster The People, Lana Del Rey, Nicki Minaj

Nicolas Jaar

Nicolas Jaar‘s debut LP Space Is Only Noise was one of 2011′s most loved albums – it made our own top 10 of the year – and the new material that has been slowly emerging since that album’s release (nearly a year ago now) suggests there’s much more to look forward to. At the tail end of last year we got the quietly impressive ‘Don’t Break My Love’/'Why Didn’t You Save Me’ single and recently another new track – the jazz inflected minimalism of ‘With Just One Glance’ – has made its way onto the blogs. Mildly interesting fact to mull over while you listen to it below: the singer is the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis.

‘With Just One Glance You’ Nicolas Jaar featuring. Scout Larue and Will Epstein 1 by Bullett Media

Amateur Best - Be Happy

A couple of years ago now, Joe Flory was gaining a fair amount of attention as Primary 1 – there was a bit of buzz, a rather good single with Nina Persson of The Cardigans called ‘The Blues’ and rumblings of an album, until… well, not very much. Flory did put out an LP as Primary 1 last year, but it was a digital-only release that seemed more like a desk-clearing exercise rather than a definitive artistic statement.

Flory has now re-emerged as Amateur Best, and it’s already looking like being an altogether more focused affair – his Amatuer Best guise is going to tell the story of James Best, a “sometime London DJ, latent alcoholic and lifelong amateur” through songs and also a comic book, which will accompany the Amateur Best releases. The first single is ‘Be Happy’, due out on 7″ on Double Denim Records on February 13. You can hear it below.

DD010 A1: Amateur Best // Be Happy by Double Denim Records

Xiu Xiu - Always

Xiu Xiu have been making music that manages to be earnest, melodic, poppy, strange and harrowing at once (often all in the space of one song) for ten years now. Ten years! Today, the band announced the next album (their eighth in all) will be called Always – it will commemorate the relationship between the band and their intensely devoted fanbase, intended to encapsulate “the mutual camaraderie with and deep dedication to each person who has internalized Xiu Xiu’s work, tattooed its name on their skin or soul, and throughout the past 10 years made the band a part of their lives”.

In the meantime, the band have made the album’s first single ‘Hi’ available to stream – have a listen below. Longtime fans hoping that Always will find Xiu Xiu tackling their usual subject matter will be pleased to hear that the tracklist includes songs such as ‘Chimney’s Afire (Mickensian Suicide)’ and ‘I Luv Abortion’.

Hi by Xiu Xiu

Dot Rotten

Dot Rotten found himself on the BBC Sound Of 2012 the other week – while he didn’t make the top 5, it was still a fairly big achievement for a grime MC, even in a post-Dizzee and Wiley world. In interviews, he seems refreshingly unconcerned with what his underground peers are going to make of his move overground – and the sheer number of mixtapes he released between 2008 and last year is testament to the work he’s been putting in. He’s just released the video for new single ‘Are You Not Entertained’ and its neither a retreat to his roots nor a Tinie Tempah style crossover – plenty of grime MCs have got lost in the space between the underground and the mainstream, and it’ll be interesting to hear where Dot Rotten’s album lands between those two worlds.

Friendly Fires - Pala

In December, our writers voted Friendly Fires‘ second album Pala into our top 10 albums of the year, and the band have just released a deluxe edition of the record, featuring a selection of extra remixes. The remixes come from Tensnake, Tiga, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Benoit & Sergio, Tim Green, as well as Carl Craig, who contributes an alternate take on ‘Hurting’ that’ll also get a release on limited edition vinyl in February. We’ve got the tracklist of the extra remixes, and you can listen to them below.

1. Hurting (Carl Craig Extended Edit)
2. Hurting (Tensnake Remix)
3. Blue Cassette (Tiga Remix)
4. Hawaiian Air (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix)
5. Hurting (Benoit & Sergio Remix)
6. Live Those Days Tonight (Tim Green Remix)

The-Dream - Roc

A few hours ago, R&B genius The-Dream posted a brand new track to his Radio Killa Records site – ‘Roc’ is available to stream there now and is, hopefully, the first taste of his long-delayed The Love IV: Diary Of A Mad Man. It’s his first new material since he released  a free album under his own name last year – the strong 1977. Head over to the The-Dream’s site to hear the song now.

Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Tim Westwood, he revealed that he’s made around $15 million from writing Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ so far. He also revealed (jokingly, we think) his motivations behind songwriting: “I’m just trying to pay the bills, man. I got child support bills, I got old wives’ bills, I got new wives’ bills. I’m working on my third wife, so I gotta pay those bills.” Fair enough.

Grimes

Claire Boucher, aka Grimes, recently announced that she’s signed to 4AD for the release of her newest album, Visions – and now she’s made a track from the record available to download for free. ‘Genesis’ is the second track we’ve heard from Visions so far, and picks up where her material on her Dark Bloom split EP with D’eon from last year left off. Built on retro synths, touches of R&B and, eventually, propulsive beats, it’s certainly got us excited to hear the rest of the album. You can stream ‘Genesis’ below, and head here to download the mp3.