Lars Ulrich says “there’s nothing cohesive” yet in terms of new Metallica music

 The drummer has given an update on the follow-up to 2016’s ‘Hardwired… To Self-Destruct’

Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich has shared an update on the status of the band’s long-awaited new material.

Speaking in a new interview with Zane Lowe for his Apple Music 1 show, the 57-year-old drummer was asked where the band are at with regards to a follow-up to 2016’s ‘Hardwired… To Self-Destruct’.

“I mean, listen, we haven’t been out of the house for a year and a half, and so it’s very rejuvenating,” Ulrich said. “And the last couple, two, three days, as we’ve played… Played with Miley [Cyrus] yesterday, played with Miley today, you’re kind of getting your groove back, getting your spunk back, getting your confidence back, getting the band back together… but listen, I don’t know….

“I know everybody’s had a different version of obviously the last 18 months. It’s impacted all of us in different ways, but sitting still, as you know, is not my forte. And so, just getting out again and getting amongst it is so fucking re-energising. And the last couple of days, like James [Hetfield] said earlier, celebrating the legacy of [the ‘Metallica’ album] and so on is… It’s kind of cool, but still it’s a little like, “Okay, well what’s about the future?” What about the future? I just get too…”

He continued: “Obviously, ultimately, we like the seesaw element of it, the balance, but still, it’s like, ‘Let’s get on with it. Let’s go play some shows, let’s get on with our fall. Let’s hope that we can get through the next few months without anybody going down, keep our fingers crossed. Let’s be cautious, let’s be respectful of the situation out there.

“And of course there’s new music coming, there’s always new music coming. It keeps us alive, you know that… Listen, I wish I could… I mean, of course there’s new music, but there’s nothing cohesive. There’s not a story, there’s not anything to really back it up yet.”

Back in July, guitarist Kirk Hammett had talked up the new Metallica album’s arrival, saying he hopes it will “cut through the division” in the world.

The band have been working on new music during the coronavirus pandemic, with James Hetfield confirming that the band wrote 10 songs together over Zoom in quarantine.

Last month, it was confirmed that Metallica will headline the first-ever German edition of Download Festival when it takes place in 2022.

The inaugural Download Festival Germany will take place at the motor racing circuit Hockenheimring in the Rhine valley on June 24 next year. Also confirmed for the line-up so far are Nevada band Five Finger Death Punch and Swedish power metal outfit Sabaton
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Swedish House Mafia Named in Pandora Papers for Offshore Company

  by Alexei Barrionuevo / Billboard

Dance trio Swedish House Mafia created an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands -- a well-known tax haven -- where it held the ownership to the band’s name, logo and music tracks, including hits like “Don’t You Worry Child,” according to a report Sunday from Swedish broadcaster SVT.

 The band formed the entity, SHM Holdings Ltd., in 2009 -- the same year they released “Leave the World Behind” with Laidback Luke, which helped launch the group's success -- and kept it operating as late as 2017, SVT reported. The broadcaster’s report was part of Pandora Papers, a leak of 11.9 million documents investigated by more than 600 journalists in 117 countries in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which became public over the weekend.

The entity’s three owners -- Axel Christofer Hedfors, known as Axwell; Sebastian Ingrosso; and Steve Josefsson, who goes by Steve Angello -- set up the entity through another offshore company on the island of Nevis, Marsham LLC, which in turn is controlled by a wealth adviser in Switzerland, SVT reported. Initially, the plan was to name the company Swedish House Mafia Ltd., but officials in the British Virgin Islands wrote that "mafia" was "not acceptable for use in a company name," SVT reported. 

In addition to “Don’t You Worry Child,” the group’s biggest hit, the entity also reportedly contained the rights to “Save the World.”

Music copyrights are easy to move between countries and well-suited for tax planning -- but also for possible tax evasion. Some countries have attracted intellectual property rights with low taxes on royalty income, says Lena Bergkvist, a coordinator of the Swedish Tax Agency dealing with international tax avoidance.

Had the band been trying to allocate copyrights to a corporation on BVI, “you could be trying to put income in a place with low or no tax -- and then get that money to an ultimate beneficial owner with no tax [applied],” Bergkvist tells Billboard. “That is the reason for doing [an entity like] this.”

A spokesperson for Swedish House Mafia confirmed to SVT the existence of the entity but said in an email that the arrangement -- including the collaboration with the wealth adviser -- was terminated in 2013. “[There were] question marks as to whether the construction could be perceived as a way of, so to speak, concealing assets, which could be to the detriment of the SHM brand,” the spokesperson told SVT.

The spokesperson added the company probably never withdrew any money. “The purpose of the company was not to evade tax,” the spokesperson added in the statement to SVT. (A spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment from Billboard.)

At their peak, in 2013, Swedish House Mafia ranked fourth on Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid DJs, earning $25 million. When the band broke up that year, two of its members -- Axwell and Angello -- were living full-time in Los Angeles. Since reuniting in 2018, all three members have been living in Sweden.

The band released two new singles in July, “It Gets Better” and “Lifetime,” and announced plans to release their first studio album, Paradise Again, later this year.

Sweden is traditionally known as a high-tax country but eliminated its wealth tax in 2008. The Pandora Papers contains information about some 200 Swedish offshore entities involving politicians, business leaders and entertainers, Bergkvist says she had been told. The leaked documents span a period from the early 1970s to 2020.

 

 

 

David Lee Roth says he’ll retire after final concerts in Las Vegas: “I’m throwing in the shoes”

 NME / Matt Doria

Roth says his backing band for the shows will be the final iteration of Van Halen’s original lineup

David Lee Roth has announced his imminent retirement, 49 years after he first kicked off his storied career in music.

In lieu of the traditional ‘farewell tour’ that most rock ’n’ roll greats embark on, Roth will instead close out his tenure with five shows at Las Vegas’ House Of Blues. The first two will go down on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, respectively, with the remaining three taking place on Wednesday, January 5, Friday 7 and Saturday 8, 2022.

Tickets for all five shows – dubbed ‘David Lee Roth Rocks Vegas’ – are on sale as of today (October 2) from the House Of Blues’ website. In addition to regular general admission and allocated seats, the venue is offering three bundles ranging from $450 to $700.

Roth shared the news of his retirement in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, wherein the former Van Halen vocalist said: “I am throwing in the shoes. I’m retiring. This is the first, and only, official announcement… You’ve got the news. Share it with the world.”

It comes almost a year after the death of legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen, who passed away from a stroke on October 6, 2020. Roth noted that he’d recently been thinking about his late bandmate, and was “encouraged and compelled to really come to grips with how short time is, and my time is probably even shorter”.

He continued: “I thought I might have been the first [to die], frankly… ‘Hey Ed, objects in the rear-view mirror are probably me.’ And my doctors, my handlers, compelled me to really address that every time I go onstage, I endanger that future.”

Commenting on his forthcoming Vegas dates, Roth said he was anticipating an explosive swansong to his five-decade career. He said: “I know that when I am in the audience, whether you come out with a ukulele or a marching band, all I ask you give me everything you’ve got to give. That’s what I did for the last 50 years.”

Roth also pointed out that his backing band for the shows would be the final iteration of Van Halen’s original lineup, which also features Eddie’s brother Alex Van Halen – who Roth said he speaks with “two or three times a day”, noting that they “laugh like pirates” – on drums.

“I’ve got a band that is doing what Al and I used to call a ‘block’, [which] means 75 rehearsals for one show,” he said. “We are bringing it in classic [Van Halen] style. Alex and I are the only version, that was his message. There is no other variation. There is no torch being passed. There is no other side to this coin. This is classic, in-your-face Van Halen.”

Closing out what may go on to be his final interview, Roth said: “I’ve given you all I’ve got to give. It’s been an amazing, great run, no regrets, nothing to say about anybody. I’ll miss you all. Stay frosty.”

Last month, Roth said he turned down an offer to support Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard on tour, reportedly saying: “I don’t open for bands that I influenced.”

He also fired back at Gene Simmons after the KISS bassist insulted him in a recent interview, flipping Simmons off in a post shared to Instagram. Simmons eventually apologised to Roth, attributing the incident to his “stream of consciousness” talking style. In a subsequent interview, he said: “I don’t mean to hurt people’s feelings, and every once in a while, diarrhoea of the mouth comes out.”

Back in June, Roth released the solo track ‘Giddy-Up’, a country-rock jam originally issued to accompany his interactive graphic novel, The Roth Project.

 

Taylor Swift’s re-recorded version of ‘Red’ is arriving a week earlier than planned

has revealed that her re-recorded version of ‘Red’ will be arriving a week earlier than originally planned.

The re-recording of the pop star’s 2012 album, which will “be the first time you hear all 30 songs that were meant to go” on the original album, is set to feature collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers, Ed Sheeran and more. It was scheduled to be released on November.

However, today (September 30), Swift took to social media to announce that the updated version of ‘Red’ will now arrive seven days earlier on November 12.

“Got some news that I think you’re gonna like,” she tweeted. “My version of Red will be out a week earlier than scheduled (including the 4 disc vinyl) on November 12th ! Can’t wait to celebrate the 13th with you and our new/old autumn heartbreak album.”

Swift is remaking all her albums up to 2017’s ‘Reputation’ after the rights to the records were sold by her former record label without her permission.

Earlier this month, she shared ‘Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)’, taken from the upcoming re-recording of her 2014 album, ‘1989’.

In April the singer-songwriter shared the re-recorded version of her second album, 2008’s ‘Fearless’ – titled ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version’) – as well as a previously unheard collaboration with Maren Morris called ‘You All Over Me’.

Addressing the process of laying down ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Swift said that she “tried to create a ‘same but better’ version” of the album.

It’s not yet known what order Swift will continue to re-record and re-release her albums in.

Meanwhile, Dionne Warwick has revealed her aims to collaborate with Swift, saying she is planning on approaching the pop star.

Warwick was speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) premiere of her new documentary Don’t Make Me Over.