Quick Hits: Cee Lo, Mariah Carey, Muse, Linkin Park, Rolling Stones, Green Day, Wiz Khalifa, Regina Spektor, Flobots, Lily Rose Cooper
August 2, 2012
Cee Lo Green is named Chief Creative Officer of Primary Wave Music. The singer and Voice coach will be closely involved with Primary Wave, the management, marketing and music publishing company he signed with in 2010. Primary Wave Founder/CEO Larry Mestel commented that Cee Lo will be more of a "true partner" than a client with the company. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Mestel added, "We've formed this incredible personal bond in two years, and Cee Lo is very excited and participatory in our business, so we wanted to do it in a bigger way and give him a piece of the company."
Mariah Carey announces that her first new single in more than two years, "Triumphant (Get 'Em)" (featuring Rick Ross and Meek Mill), has been sent to radio today (August 2). As a special treat for fans, www.MariahCarey.com will begin streaming the new single at 3:45 p.m. EST. The track will be available for download from iTunes on Tuesday, August 7. Carey tweeted about the song, writing: "I wrote TRIUMPHANT when I was going through a difficult time & it helped me get through it. When u hear it, pay attention 2 the lyrics #WIN." The song is the first single from the singer's 14th studio album, whose release will be announced in the months ahead.
Muse
Muse have delayed the release of their new album The 2nd Law to October 2 (and October 1 in the UK), as well as announcing that "Madness" will be the lead single from the record. The song will be released worldwide on Monday, August 20.
Linkin Park has shot a video for their song "Castle Of Glass," which will be featured in the upcoming video game Medal of Honor Warfighter. "Castle Of Glass" is a fitting choice to be included in the game, which explores the personal side of war, including the lives of the soldiers fighting it and the many sacrifices they make. "This album tends to be a little more of a personal record, compared to the last record, which I guess I would say was a little more political. And this song is an example of that; the lyrics can have multiple meanings, be it a soldier's story [or] an individual at home, dealing with a personal relationship," vocalist Mike Shinoda told MTV News. "[And the video] is really mostly narrative; and it's kind of the story of the families and the soldiers that this game is based on."
HBO will air a new documentary about The Rolling Stones this fall to celebrate the band's 50th anniversary. HBO programming president Michael Lombardo told journalists on Wednesday that the documentary, which has no title yet, was being directed by Brett Morgan. "This is all done as part of the band's 50th anniversary. This documentary has the full involvement of the four current band members, Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ron, as well as the former band members Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor," Lombardo said, according to Reuters. "We'll follow the band from their early club days through their arrival as the greatest band in the world."
Green Day will release a box set compiling all their studio albums. Simply called The Studio Albums 1990-2009, it will be a Best Buy exclusive and released on September 4 in advance of the trio's new album, ˇUno!, which is due out September 25.
In a new Q&A with Rolling Stone, Wiz Khalifa discusses his upcoming album O.N.I.F.C., saying that musically, he "just wanted to keep it wide open and not do anything forced or anything that took too much thought, but just go as natural as possible. I really keyed in on my influences that made me wanna rap and do music. And I just try to recreate those feelings." He added, "There's a lot of songs that are less obvious hits but they're gonna stick with you and you're gonna love them and in time they're gonna be big songs because they have no choice but to [be]. I think that's what music needs. That's what I grew up on and that's what we trying to bring." Khalifa's new album is due out September 18.
Regina Spektor has announced a new leg of North American touring this fall, in support of her latest release, What We Saw From The Cheap Seats. The new round of dates begin in Baltimore on October 2, and wrap up in Miami on November 17.
Flobots have announced a national tour surrounding the release of their newest album, The Circle In The Square, due on August 28. Kicking off on September 14 in Missoula, MT, the tour sees the band playing cities across the U.S. throughout September and October before returning to their hometown of Denver, CO to close out the run on November 3. The new album was written, recorded and produced entirely by the band themselves, and touches on some political issues. "Our agenda is to create music that is true to who we are as people and that includes our experiences, our communities and our world," explains emcee/vocalist Jonny 5. "When you have friends who are personally affected by marriage discrimination or immigration policy, it makes you want to say something about these issues."
Lily Allen has changed her name to Lily Rose Cooper, and she is heading back into the studio to continue recording songs that she has written over the past few months. "'It's great to work at my own pace, with no commitments other than to make music. I'm excited to be heading back into the studio," Allen stated. There is no release date set for Allen's new music, but anything she releases in the future will appear under her married name of Lily Rose Cooper.