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Hats Off To Estelle

The UK’s multi-award winning artist Estelle is back with ‘Shine’ - her stunning new album, on general release across the UK now. She is the first artist signed to US soul sensation John Legend’s new Homeschool Records label and her new album features collaborations with Wyclef Jean, will.i.am, Swizz Beats, Mark Ronson and Kanye West, as well as a beautiful duet with John Legend. Rashmi Shastri met up with Estelle to talk about the album and her rise to prominence.

ALBUM OF THE MONTH: The Kooks - Konk

After selling two million copies of the marvellous Inside In, Inside Out, indie poster boys The Kooks seem to have succumbed to the curse which has plagued so many musicians. Enjoying huge success and critical acclaim with their debut and becoming festival heroes with their summery anthems, there seemed no end to the band’s reign of the hearts of a nation. Well, not until now at least. Yes folks, it may be a cliche, but the Kooks have fallen foul of second album syndrome.

Girls Aloud: Tangled up in music

Girls Aloud talk about their third album release, Tangled Up, and about the highs and lows of being a celeb

If the tabloids are to be believed, Girls Aloud are an intimidating bunch; bitchy, loud and not afraid of voicing their often controversial views. They like a drink too, as the papers like to point out on a daily basis when they print pictures of the girls falling out of taxis and nightclubs in the wee small hours.

Weather Girl
RIHANNA SHINES

Now confirmed as only the seventh artist to spend 10 weeks at number one in the UK, Rihanna’s rise in the music industry has been pretty rapid

“So much has happened in my life, I feel like I’ve grown five years in a year,” the 19-year-old reveals. And since bursting onto the pop and R&B scene two years ago, the Barbados-born starlet has achieved more than most of her peers.

Out of upstate New York comes the Gym Class Heroes, the five piece hip-hop band that uses live instruments and musicians instead of looped samples and canned beats.

Bloc Party are about to release their second album.

A Weekend In The City, which promises to be an arresting memoir of front man Kele Okereke's experiences of life in London. We caught up with bassist Gordon Moakes on the eve of their massive tour.

The Big O

Omarion’s solo effort aptly titled, 21 shot him straight into the spotlight. Of the album concept he acknowledges, “everyone can relate because it’s a memorable time. It’s a universal topic. It’s a celebration.”

While the number twenty-one is symbolic of the card game Black Jack, it also is representative of the number young people aspire to become and the reflective age that older folks wish they could return to. “The thing is- it’s control. When you reach 21, you’re buying property, you’re setting your life up- it’s a different place. You feel stable mentally. At 18 - 19, you’re so confused. To me, at 21, it was kind of a realisation of who I want to become – just me practicing my morals as a man and getting better in my craft.”

All Smiles
Lily Allen

It all began when Lily Allen signed to Regal records towards the end of last year and, at the same time, started putting tracks up on the internet. Since then she has had a staggering million plus people listen to her music on myspace, whilst her weekly blogs have spread details of her increasingly eventful life across the world.