THEIR debut record Inside In/Inside Out soundtracked the end of my A-Levels, with hits like Naive, Ooh La and You Don’t Love Me still among my favourite songs ever.
So I am thrilled to reveal that The Kooks are preparing to make a huge comeback next month, with a brand new album which I am told harks back to their early sound.
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My insiders tell me that Luke Pritchard and his bandmates Hugh Harris and Alexis Nunez, will also play live dates across the UK.
“The Kooks are back and their new album is electric,” my mole explained.
“They have gone back to their breakthrough sound and have come up with some nailed-on hits.
“When they went into the studio, they had no expectations and were just having fun.
“But they’ve come out with a brilliant album.
“Some of the tracks are really reminiscent of the songs from their early records.
“And they can’t wait for their fans to hear them.”
Last month, The Kooks teamed up with LovelyTheBand for a new tune called Jeanie, which went viral on TikTok.
And it’s thanks to the very same platform that they’ve begun to reach a whole new audience.
My insider added: “The band has started to pick up a new, young, female fanbase thanks to TikTok and streaming.
“It’s opened their music up to a wider audience, so they think the new record will land at exactly the right time.
“They have been selling out shows in the US and their gigs in the UK, when they finally get announced, will also be massive.”
The Kooks are massive Down Under and have a string of dates in February and March across Australia and New Zealand.
They then head to Europe for gigs in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany from April.
The band will then be back in Britain with slots booked at the Reading and Leeds Festival in August and with more dates to follow across the country.
This new album will be The Kooks’ seventh.
And while their 2022 record, 10 Tracks To Echo In The Dark, admittedly didn’t do too well in the charts, I’ve got high hopes for this next offering.
And the fact that it’s set to be announced during the most depressing month of the year gives us all something to look forward to…
RiRi’s a furry spirit
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Rihanna put on her explorer’s hat as she channelled her inner Davy Crockett.
She wore a furry headpiece just like that of the American folk hero, during an evening out in New York, where the temperature has been plunging.
The Work singer spent Christmas in the US with her partner A$AP Rocky and their two sons and she has been using the streets of the Big Apple as her catwalk ever since.
But she is looking good after a slightly more chilled out year than others.
That said, Rihanna hasn’t been seen at any recording studios lately, so it looks like her music hiatus will continue well into 2025.
January 2026 will mark a decade since her last album Anti was released, so perhaps we’re better off suspending any hope of a new release until then.
Tim teases Bob sequel?
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He is bringing Bob Dylan to the big screen in his biopic A Complete Unknown, and now Timothee Chalamet reckons it could the first of several chapters in the star’s life story.
The American actor has suggested there could be a second and third movie to cover later parts of the veteran singer-songwriter’s career, given this one ends 60 years ago.
He explained: “The movie covers 1961 to 1965 as that was the era.
“That was part one.
“We could do part two and three.
“It depends how people react.
“The film ends in 1965, but he had a motorcycle accident and he needed a break.”
Given all of the hard work he put in to perfecting the role, I can see why Timothee would be eager to reprise it.
On striving for perfection playing the music legend, he said: “We did 11 or 12 takes sometimes of the music stuff.
“It felt dignified to bring life to Bob Dylan.
“One of the greatest artists of our times.
“I get to be the voice of Bob Dylan and that is the greatest honour of my life.
“This is the movie I am the most proud of in my career and I want to hit every verse.
“We worked our tail off on it and Bob Dylan deserves to get this attention.”
Timothee even spent five years learning the guitar and the harmonica for the film, which comes out on January 17, so could an album be next?
Speaking on the Nardwuar The Human Serviette podcast, he teased: “What is going to happen next?
“Well, I am a better acoustic guitar player than I am on the electric, but maybe one day I will be one of those actors who puts out a very self-indulgent album.”
ANNE-MARIE shared this photo with her baby after admitting she has had the “hardest year”.
She welcomed her first child, a daughter, in February but had a stressful time after her husband, rapper Slowthai, was accused of rape, which he was cleared of this month.
In a message to her fans on Instagram, Anne-Marie, right, wrote: “2024 the most beautiful yet hardest year of our lives. God really tryina see how strong I am hahaha . . .
“I have SO MUCH for you in the new year that you’ll probably be sick of me (please don’t be). Have the best break if you can and see you soon.”
Ed counts on no1
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Ed Sheeran is on course to end the year on a high with his eighth No1 album.
His compilation record +=÷x Tour Collection has been high on the charts since it came out in September but now an extended live version has helped propel sales.
It is now in the lead to become the first No1 album of 2025, just ahead of Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet.
Ed scored his first chart topper with his debut album Plus in 2011 and most recently went to No1 last year with Autumn Variations.
His Mathematics world tour will finally come to an end in 2025, and he is also set to release a new album.
Rita’s in time for new year
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Rita Ora wrapped up warm in New York as she prepared to welcome in 2025.
She wore leather boots and a tartan scarf as she arrived at rehearsals for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest, which will be broadcast live from Times Square.
Rita will host the show tonight while Carrie Underwood, Jonas Brothers, TLC, Lenny Kravitz and Sophie Ellis-Bextor will also be performing.
But fear not, Sophie will still be shimmying into 2025 on BBC One from 11.30pm with her own concert on this side of the Atlantic too, after recording it earlier this month.
Tony’s back to Stay – with new music
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EAST 17 frontman Tony Mortimer wants some more chart success in 2025.
After re-releasing the group’s 1994 Christmas No1 Stay Another Day – with music therapy charity Nordoff-Robbins – Tony has big plans to release new music.
Appearing on the XS Noize Podcast, he said: “I love writing music.
“I’m getting back into music, more than I have been in a long time.
“I have thought about doing it recently, for the first time in a decade.
“I don’t know what direction it would go in.
“What would I write about?
“My lawnmower is broken and it’s run out of petrol.
“I’ve got a lot of experience with music now, that I could do something different.
“I probably wouldn’t work with a record company again, where they are so controlling over you and your music.
“At the end of the day it has to represent you.
“Sometimes you can get a record company that says, ‘Well, actually, it’s representing the record company’ and you think, ‘I just don’t need that.’
“I’ve got loads of ideas on my phone, because that’s how my brain works.
“I am in the process of doing up my studio, I’ve not done that for ten years.
“So I’m going to have a new music studio soon.
“So we’ll see what happens.”
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Brooke Candy has revealed how she gave a future star a tattoo.
The singer, who has worked with Charli XCX and Lizzo over the years, met rising star Gracie Abrams while working part-time in a tattoo shop.
Speaking about Gracie, who has just spent five weeks at No1 with her single That’s So True, Brooke said: “She came in during the pandemic and she was talking to me about her music and then I gave her this little red star on her arm with a little happy face.
“When she blew up on Insta, I was like, oh wow.”
SZA cut by hols
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SZA’s plans to release more songs were dashed by her team enjoying the Christmas holidays.
Less than a fortnight after dropping SOS Deluxe: Lana – the long-awaited extended version of her 2022 album SOS, featuring 14 new tracks – SZA has said there will be more material next week.
She wrote on X: “Just got word all updated mixes and new songs will be added Jan 6 – when the label comes back from holiday.”