Garage star Craig David is working on his eighth studio album
HE said he was Born To Do It with his first album in 2000 – and now Craid David has revealed he is working on an eighth.
The garage star was inspired to get back to work by British rapper KSI — who got him on board for his new single Really Love, out today.
In an exclusive joint interview, Craig credited KSI — real name Olajide “JJ” Olatunji — for helping get his creative juices flowing again.
Craig, whose last record, The Time Is Now, landed in 2018, said: “I’ve been recording loads through lockdown. When Really Love came over from JJ, I loved that.
“I’ve been getting other songs together too. I’m drawing as much inspiration as I can, as I want the release to be uplift-ing. I love being around people with energy like JJ.
"It has spurred me on. It’s this that has helped my longevity in the industry. I feel rejuvenated when I meet people with different ideas, and am always learning.
“I’ve learnt so much with JJ. I love to think I can keep singing forever. I hope the fans welcome that.”
Really Love, which also features Digital Farm Animals, is the first single from KSI’s upcoming, untitled second album. He wasted no time putting down tracks after the success of his debut album Dissimulation in May.
But for KSI, who has had three Top Ten hits in the past year, working with Craig was a dream. He said: “Now I say Craig is my best bud — but at the time it went to my head.
“Craig is so dope, one of the nicest guys I’ve met, and that is rare in the industry. I was raised on Seven Days and Fill Me In [Craig’s 2000 chart-topping single]. I can’t have him over to my parents’ house because they’d have a heart attack.”
Now I say Craig is my best bud — but at the time it went to my head.
KSI
KSI added: “I’m a workaholic and my background on YouTube meant I was always creating. There was never rest. So I implemented that in my music. As well as Really Love I have made loads of songs and whittled it down to those I know will last the test of time.”
Craig’s fans won’t be disappointed with his Really Love collab, which he reckons is on a par with some of his biggest hits.
He said: “In terms of how proud I am of it, it sits in the Born To Do It realm. It’s like Rewind to me. It feels really authentic and beautiful.”
A sweet sense of pic 'n' mix
LITTLE Mix lead the list of new releases out today, premiering their latest single Sweet Melody.
Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Aanne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall posed for this snap on the set of the video for the track, which will be on their sixth album Confetti – out in a fortnight.
They are also back on the box tomorrow night with their BBC1 singing competition The Search, although Jade is having to video call in for the first of the live shows after being told she needs to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who has Covid.
It’s not just Little Mix back with new music today though, as Ariana Grande has put out single Positions, the first taste of her sixth album of the same title due on Friday.
Also out today are albums from Bruce Sringsteen, Gorillaz and Russell Watsom. Something for everyone.
It's dinner for Lew
HIS romance with Love Island’s Paige Turley didn’t work out but now Lewis Capaldi has gone for a lookalike.
The Someone You Loved singer went on a date with a blonde beauty called Megan and chatted her up in the only way he knows how – by being self-deprecating.
Lewis said: “I’ve got a forehead that goes on for days. I’ve got just a bang-on-average genitalia. And of course, I am handsome, so handsome, and in shape.”
In a chat to plug Peperami Chicken Bites, he said: “Recently dating’s become a lot harder because people know who I am, so it’s a bit weird to go out to a pub and every two minutes someone is coming up asking for a picture.”
The pitfalls of being the UK’s biggest music act.
Bey is lemon swayed
BEYONCE has taken inspiration from 2016 album Lemonade for her latest Ivy Park X Adidas collection.
The US star posed in coordinated leggings, top and jacket in neon yellow to show off her new line.
Along with these, she put up photos on Instagram of her wearing loads of different outfits from the range in a whole rainbow of colours.
Given everyone seems to have finished albums in lockdown, I hope it won’t be long before she drops new music, too.
Anne has direction
IT looks like a Niall Horan and Anne-Marie collaboration is in the pipeline.
Asked in August if there was one thing she wanted, Anne- Marie said: “A collaboration with Niall.”
And on Wednesday, the pair hit the studio together.
Anne-Marie is busy working on her second album while Niall is writing his third solo record.
Niall will be back on stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall on November 7 for a livestreamed show to raise money for his touring crew who have lost work due to the pandemic.
Aussie resort is A-Lissed off
S the unofficial anthem of Australia goes: “Everybody loves good Neighbours”.
But that’s not the case for residents of a seaside town Down Under who are furious about being overrun by Hollywood stars.
Zac Efron, Natalie Portman, Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Luke Evans and Bridesmaids actress Rose Byrne are among the A-listers who have settled in Byron Bay in the past year – making celebs a more common sight than seagulls in a location roughly the size of Bradford-On-Avon in Wiltshire.
Meanwhile, Avengers star Chris Hemsworth has built an £11million super-mansion in the area and encouraged his actor brother LIAM to buy up a comparatively modest £2.5million gaffe a stone’s throw away.
Nearby residents complained during construction that Chris’s home was spoiling the natural beauty of the area, likening it to a shopping centre, hospital or prison.
The surge in sales is a result of a mass exodus from Hollywood but is hiking up the prices of property in Byron Bay. The area is now the most expensive place to live in the whole of Australia, with an average house price of £588,000 – a whopping 64 per cent increase from just five years ago.
One outraged local revealed “original” residents of the town are fleeing the place, saying: “Byron is not what it used to be and it’s sad. It’s lost its character and is now just full of greedy, fame-hungry people.
“It’s turning into a Australian version of Hollywood and it’s lost all its meaning.”
High School Musical hunk Zac kicked off the influx of stars, slipping into Byron Bay just before Australia closed its borders amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last week, he rented out the entire town cinema for a private screening of Forest Whitaker movie City Of Lies for his 33rd birthday. And it looks like Zac isn’t in a rush to go anywhere after finding love with Aussie waitress Vanessa Valladares, who he met in July.
His arrival was met with surprise across the country, with Aussie stand-up Ed Kavalee complaining: ”Byron was already teetering and now it’s gone. That’s terrible news. Because where one goes, they all follow.”
Just call him N-Oz-tradamus.
Finally, a buzz about Lily
LILY Allen has been moaning for years . . . but finally she’s putting that to good use.
Yesterday the singer unveiled her first ever endorsed sex toy, the Liberty, which she says has “changed her life” – adding that she hopes it will lead to women feeling they can be more open about their sexuality. And after years of rolling my eyes at almost every word Lily utters, finally I completely agree with her.
Unveiling the fancy piece of kit, which intriguingly blasts high pressured air on to ladies’ sensitive spots, Lily said: “Sex toys are still seen as a taboo.
“Female pleasure in itself is a taboo subject. The only way to make subjects no longer taboo is to speak about them openly, frequently and without shame or guilt.”
She adds: “Women shouldn’t be ashamed of their sexuality, and we all deserve to own our pleasure. Hopefully this little toy will help you do that.”
She’s spot on, of course, and a straw poll of my female friends quickly suggested she’s on to her first hit in years with the £89 gadget.
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The ballsiness of the new project, while that’s probably not quite the right turn of phrase, has echoes of her brilliant best – when she used to channel her brashness and attitude to become one of the coolest characters in pop.
I always said Lily was full of hot air… I’m thrilled she’s now found such a good use for it.
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