British progressive metal musician Grace Hayhurst is gearing up for a milestone moment this spring, announcing her first-ever headline show at London’s iconic Black Heart on March 26th. It’s a well-earned step forward for an artist who has spent the past few years quietly, and fiercely, carving out her own corner of the UK prog scene.

Exeter on a Friday night can be a mixed bag, and this one leaned towards the quieter side — unless you stepped into the Cavern. Outside, clusters of smokers huddled under the streetlights, eyeliner thick and gender‑neutral, swapping pre‑gig predictions. Inside, the venue was its usual self: smoky, dark, and bathed in that unmistakable sleazy red glow that makes the Cavern feel like an underground metal bar lost in time.

Melanie C is entering a new era — and she’s doing it with her gloves up, her chin high, and a beat that refuses to back down. Today she unveils ‘Undefeated Champion’, a soaring, club‑ready anthem that captures the heart of her forthcoming ninth studio album Sweat. It’s Melanie at her most euphoric, her most defiant, and arguably her most fun in years.

There’s something special about the way summer settles over Powderham Castle. The air gets softer, the estuary glows, and the whole estate feels like it’s waiting for music to roll across the grounds. This June, TK Maxx presents Live at Powderham returns for four huge nights — and organisers have just revealed a wave of upgrades designed to make the South West’s biggest outdoor music event smoother, greener, and more accessible than ever.

Brighton’s underground has a habit of spitting out artists who don’t ask politely for space — they carve it out with a grin, a glare, or a guitar. Cello, the classically trained cellist turned post‑punk provocateur, arrives with exactly that energy on her debut single “Vitamins”, released on International Women’s Day 2026. It’s a date loaded with symbolism, but Cello isn’t here to offer empowerment platitudes. She’s here to poke the bruise.

Across a wide‑ranging and candid conversation with Adam Kennedy, Randy Blythe, frontman of LAMB OF GOD reflects on a year that was meant to be quiet but became anything but — from releasing his second book and touring a spoken‑word show to recording Lamb of God’s new album Into Oblivion. He digs into the dual meaning behind the record’s title track, the loss of regional music scenes, and the formative punk influences that still shape his worldview. Blythe revisits the band’s rise from Richmond’s underground to global stages, unpacks the social commentary behind new songs like “Parasocial Christ,” and looks ahead to a packed touring schedule that includes a return to the UK for Bloodstock. It’s a conversation steeped in history, honesty and the restless creative energy that has defined his three decades at the mic.

There’s a particular kind of magic that happens when two artists who’ve admired each other from afar finally collide. All I Did Was Dream Of You, the new single from Beabadoobee featuring The Marías, feels like the moment that long‑imagined creative chemistry finally crystallises — a soft-focus daydream rendered in widescreen.

There’s a particular kind of intimacy that arrives quietly, long before you’ve realised you’ve let someone all the way in. On Tarragon’s new single ‘Tucked In Despair’, Callum Pickard captures that moment with a tenderness that feels both fragile and strangely vast — the sound of someone learning the shape of their own heart in real time.

There’s a particular electricity that follows Millie Manders and The Shutup around the UK — a kind of kinetic, brass‑flecked, punk‑charged weather system that seems to gather force with every tour. And this spring, that storm is rolling straight back into the South West.

With their new album Into Oblivion looming on the horizon, Lamb of God have taken a moment to look inward — and homeward. Their latest single, Blunt Force Blues, is a gritty love letter to Richmond, Virginia, the city that shaped them long before they were packing arenas or racking up Grammy nominations.

Bleachers are back in motion, rolling out their new single “Dirty Wedding Dress” — a track that folds all the band’s familiar heart‑on‑sleeve energy into something raw, romantic, and beautifully frayed at the edges. It lands ahead of their fifth studio album, everyone for ten minutes, due 22 May via Dirty Hit, and follows the shimmering recent single “you and forever.”

Midge Ure has never been the type to sit back and let his legacy do the heavy lifting. For someone who helped define entire eras — from the icy synth drama of Ultravox to the cultural earthquake of Live Aid — reinvention is a habit, and in 2026, he’s stepping into yet another new chapter.

A cold Wednesday night in Torquay shouldn’t feel this electric, but The Foundry was already buzzing long before the first chord rang out. Two full-sized tour buses were parked outside like visiting titans, hinting that this wasn’t just another midweek booking — this was a triple‑hit of rock ’n’ roll delivered by bands who live for the road. Inside, the crowd packed in shoulder‑to‑shoulder, shaking off the workday as Rubikon, Michael Monroe and Buckcherry prepared to turn an ordinary night into something loud, sweaty and unforgettable.

There’s a moment, right at the start of Jakobo, where a saloon‑bar piano clinks into life like someone nudging open a door to a dimly lit room. It’s a tiny gesture, but it tells you everything about where Die Twice are heading. This is a band unafraid of space, mood, or mystery — a four‑piece who understand that tension is often more powerful than noise.

Dead Chic’s debut album always felt like a world you stepped into rather than a record you simply played. Serenades & Damnation arrived in 2024 as a fully formed universe — all widescreen shadows, desert‑heat tension, and that unmistakable blend of grit and elegance the band seem to conjure without breaking a sweat. Now, with a deluxe edition landing on 27 February 2026, they’re not just revisiting that world. They’re widening it, deepening it, and letting a little more of the darkness seep through the cracks.

"Hello, is that Kscope Records? Yes, I'd really love to hear some songs by Mansun - you know...'Being a Girl'? 'Wide Open Space'? Yeah, that's them. But for some reason I don't want to listen to the existing, perfectly fine albums that were released. Do you happen to have some lazy, half-arsed reworkings, maybe done by the lead singer of the band...yeah, a sort of vanity project, I guess...What's that? 'Mansun Retold'?...Sounds absolute cack. It's out now, is it? OK, I'll give it a listen, cheers."

Drug Church will top the bill of Burn It Down Festival this year, as they disembark from a historic run in support of Deftones, and after a huge 2025 playing on tour with Blink-182, Alkaline Trio and Drain. The band has grown a cult-like following after a breathtaking run of impassioned and thumping albums, and their appearance at Burn It Down is a match made in heaven.

There’s a particular kind of magic that happens when an artist on the cusp of something seismic steps onto a stage that feels bigger than the moment itself. That’s the energy brewing around Jacob Alon’s newly announced appearance at TK Maxx presents Live at Powderham, where they’ll join Lewis Capaldi for two summer headline shows that already feel like a dream come true.

Buckle up tight kids and pop a condom on, for it’s time for the 2026 Brit Awards (aka The Brits…aka, a bunch of bands and artists whose record labels have paid through the nose for an award that means jack-shit unless you’re a 14 year old teeny-bopper who lives for Sabrina Carpenter or Olivia Rodrigo). 

Gorillaz have always lived in the space between worlds — between the virtual and the human, the cartoon panel and the global stage, the absurd and the achingly sincere. But with the release of their new album The Mountain and an accompanying eight‑minute animated short, the band’s universe feels more tactile, more soulful, and more defiantly hand‑made than it has in years.