The bands debut Happiness entered the UK album charts at number 4 with over 25,000 sales making Hurts the UK’s fastest selling new band of 2010. They have now sold over 500,000 albums worldwide and in the UK, the album has been officially certified Gold.

Throughout Europe, Hurts also earned 14 top 10 iTunes positions including number one’s in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Finland and Luxembourg, and the album is now gold in the UK, Germany Russia, and Switzerland and Platinum in Poland.

Better Than Love was released as the bands first major single in May last year and has fast become a live favourite. Stated by Hurts as “dance music for depression”, Better Than Love is an upbeat yet dark single which will be released as a Double A Side alongside Illuminated. In stark contrast to Better Than Love, Illuminated is a slow and soft song that leads into a dramatic, emotive chorus.

Hurts – Better Than Love

Their single Wonderful Life has already had over 14 million online plays and in Europe has had great success with a number 1 airplay record in 5 countries to date including Germany, where the single has now sold over 400,000 copies and is certified Gold. Their success has also been matched in Poland where ‘Wonderful Life’ is also a Gold selling single.

Hurts ended 2010 with a bang after winning awards both in the UK and internationally. In Germany, they scooped the prestigious award for ‘Best International Newcomer’ at the Bambi’s (the German BAFTAs) and in the UK, The Sun awarded them the award for ‘Best Bizarre Session of 2010’. They also recently won the award for ‘Best New Band’ at the NME Awards and are nominated for Best International Newcomer at the Echo Awards in Germany next week.

Hurts are currently on a sell-out European tour following their sold out shows in the UK in February. They will be performing their first ever US show at Coachella next month followed by tour dates across Asia, before heading home for a busy summer of festival performances including V Festival, Isle of Wight, T in the Park, Oxegen and Dot To Dot.

The double A side single Illuminated/ Better Than Love is released by Hurts on May 2nd

3OH!3 London prizes & signings

To celebrate the arrival of 3OH!3 in the UK and coinciding with the release of their latest single My First Kiss (Ft. Ke$ha), the band have announced a Twitter hunt which will take place on Sunday July 11th.

Hints and clues will be Tweeted from the band’s account - http://twitter.com/3OH3, there will be physical locations to visit in London where prizes including gig tickets, t-shirts and deluxe album box sets will be up for grabs.  The overall winner will get to take three friends to the bands Kings College show on Tuesday 13 July and will also meet the band!

My First Kiss, out this week, is taken from the band’s highly anticipated new album, ‘Streets Of Gold’. The album is set for release on Monday 19th July 2010 through Photo Finish / Asylum Records and features the smash hit singles Starstrukk featuring Katy Perry and Don’t Trust Me as well as 13 brand new sure fire smashes.

And for 3OH!3 fans in London on July 12th, the band will be signing copies of their new single and also their exclusively designed t-shirts at the HMV store on Oxford Street from 6pm.

As an added treat 5 pairs of tickets for the band’s Kings College London SOLD OUT show on Tuesday 13th July 2010 are up for grabs. The 5 fans dressed in the best gold outfits at the signing will win a pair of tickets each.

3OH!3 Live Dates July 2010:

Friday 9            T IN THE PARK FESTIVAL
Saturday 10       OXEGEN FESTIVAL
Tuesday 13       LONDON           KINGS COLLEGE STUDENT UNION

3OH!3

As busy as ever 3OH!3 have announced the release of their next single My First Kiss, a collaboration with rude girl Ke$ha as pay back for their part on her recent single Blah Blah Blah.

My First Kiss is released on July 5th, kicking off an exciting couple of weeks for the boys who will be appearing at T In The Park and Oxegen Festivals and a one off date at London’s Kings College Student Union before the release of their brand new album Streets Of Gold on July 19th.

The forthcoming album will include the massive hit single ‘Starstrukk’ which features their friend Katy Perry.  The track debuted at number three in the UK and stayed in the top ten for ten weeks it has so far sold a staggering 490,000 copies in the UK.  Also on the album is ‘Don’t Trust Me’, a constant fixture on the airwaves the track has sold over 115,000 copies since its release in the UK whilst in the US it’s sold over 2.7 million!

The official video to accompany the new single My First Kiss has just been released and you can watch it here:

3OH!3 feat Ke$ha – My First Kiss

The single My First Kiss is released on July 5th through Photo Finish/Asylum Records

The album Streets of Gold is released on July 19th

3OH!3 will be performing live at the following UK venues:

JULY
Friday 9         T IN THE PARK FESTIVAL
Saturday 10      OXEGEN FESTIVAL
Tuesday 13       LONDON KINGS COLLEGE STUDENT UNION

The second Brixton Academy date will be a late show, starting at 9pm and through until 3am, featuring sets from DJ’s Rob Da Bank, Hot Chip, The Glimmers and Moscow. There will also be live support acts, yet to be confirmed. Tickets for this second Brixton date are on sale for a very reasonable £23.50.
The band have also added an additional date on the tour, they will visit Bournemouth Academy on October 21st. Tickets for the shows will be priced at £20 (except London where the 2nd show will be £23.50) and are available for general sale via www.gigsandtours.com (for the English dates) & www.seetickets.com (for the Scottish dates).

Franz Ferdinand have barely stopped working since the January 2009 release of their third album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand on Domino Records. A short Spring UK tour culminating in a sold out show at the Hammersmith Apollo was followed by a US tour including a slot at the Coachella Festival.

They are currently on the UK and Europe festival circuit, featuring performances at Glastonbury, T in the Park and Spain’s Benicassim. They will also headline the Fuji Festival in Japan this month.

Franz Ferdinand UK tour October 2009

11th                Aberdeen                              Music Hall – SOLD OUT

12th                Dundee                                Caird Hall

13th                Inverness                             Ironworks – SOLD OUT

15th                Newcastle                             Academy – SOLD OUT

16th                Sheffield                             Academy

17th                Manchester                            Apollo

19th                Wolverhampton                         Civic Hall

20th                Leeds                                 Academy

21st                Bournemouth                           Academy

23rd                London                                Brixton Academy – SOLD OUT

24th                London                                Brixton Academy

Having already attracted the likes of Blur, Kings of Leon, The Killers and Snow Patrol to headline the event at Balado Kinross-shire, organisers have since confirmed some new additions to the bill.

Lily Allen who is currently enjoying enormous success with her second album, has agreed to play at the festival along with Franz Ferdinand as the latest new recruits to T in the Park. Among others in a monster list are Keane, Bloc Party, The Script,  Paulo Nutini, The Ting Tings, Maximo Park and The Manic Street Preachers.

Not normally one to go for bands reforming, I have to admit that the chance to see Blur together again will be interesting  but other ‘reformers’ maybe worth a look  at T in the Park will be James and The Specials.

That is some line-up and small wonder that the first batch of 45,000 tickets is already sold. Fear not as 40,000 more will be on sale from Friday 27th February. Tickets also available from Viagogo.

T in the Park takes place at Balado, Kinross-shire from July 10th to 12th.