MAY 2010: BIRMINGHAM, GLASGOW, LONDON, MANCHESTER

TICKETS GO ON SALE Monday 30th NOVEMBER

12 x Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys will be touring the UK in May 2010 as part of her pan European Tour. These shows will be the multi-award winning singer, songwriter, musician, actress and philanthropist’s first in the UK since her critically acclaimed As I Am Tour in 2007.

Alicia Keys’ 2010 UK and Europe tour will follow the release of her highly anticipated fourth studio album, ‘THE ELEMENT OF FREEDOM’, (out on December 14th 2009) and first single, ‘DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING’, (out on November 30th 2009)

‘THE ELEMENT OF FREEDOM’ is the follow up to Keys’ multi-platinum selling 2007 album ‘As I Am’, which featured the Grammy Award winning global smash ‘No One’ as well as hit singles ‘Like You’ll Never See Me Again’, ‘Teenage Love Affair’ and ‘Superwoman’. Alicia describes ‘THE ELEMENT OF FREEDOM’ as a dichotomy of strength and vulnerability: “The music is really strong, and the drums are really aggressive, but my voice is vulnerable and delicate.”. In addition to her long time producer Kerry “Krucial” Brothers, Keys enlists the production talents of Jeff Brasker (Kanye West, Keri Wilson) amongst others on her forthcoming fourth studio album.

Since songwriter, pianist, singer and producer Alicia Keys first exploded onto the music scene in 2001 she has proved that she is more than talented - she is gifted. Alicia Keys is now as much of a global superstar as she is a musician’s musician. She has collaborated with the world’s biggest rapper Jay-Z, written hits for Whitney Houston’s recent comeback album, held her own on stage duetting with everyone from Lou Reed and David Bowie to Chris Martin and Annie Lennox; and has even been dubbed ‘the girl who made Bob Dylan weep’ after being immortalized by him in the title track of his 2007 released album ‘Modern Times’.

Live, Alicia, quite simply stands alone. In the words of The Times: “a combination of razor-sharp musical instincts and consummate showmanship… A supreme musical talent and a personality as bold as the best. Keys has got the lot. (5/5 stars)”

Alicia Tickets for the UK Tour are priced at £35 and £40 (excluding booking fee) and go on general sale on Monday 30th November from www.ticketmaster.co.uk / 08444 775 775 / www.aeglive.co.uk

MAY 2010 UK TOUR DATES:

19th BIRMINGHAM NIA

23rd GLASGOW SECC

25th LONDON THE O2

29th MANCHESTER MEN ARENA

SINGLE ‘DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING’ RELEASED NOVEMBER 30TH 2009

ALBUM ‘THE ELEMENT OF FREEDOM’ RELEASED DECEMBER 14TH 2009

SOLDIER OF LOVE MARKS SADE’S FIRST NEW STUDIO ALBUM SINCE THE MULTI-PLATINUM LOVERS ROCK

The wait is now over. RCA Label Group are pleased to announce the release of SOLDIER OF LOVE, the highly anticipated new body of work from SADE. SOLDIER OF LOVE – which will be released worldwide on February 8, 2010 - is Sade’s first official studio album since the multi-platinum release of Lovers Rock in 2000.

Known for their one of a kind, timeless sound, Sade has enjoyed phenomenal success both internationally and stateside throughout the span of their twenty-five year career. Since the release of their debut album, Diamond Life in 1984 the band have seen all five of their studio albums land in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart selling a total of more than 50 million albums worldwide to date. They’ve been nominated for American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards and have won a Brit Award for Best Album for Diamond Life, three Grammy Awards – first in 1986 for Best New Artist, then in 1994 for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group for “No Ordinary Love”, and again in 2002 for Best Pop Vocal Album with Lovers Rock.

SOLIDER OF LOVE was recorded in England and produced by the band and their longtime collaborator Mike Pela.

WWW.SADE.COM

- Neon Generation Pop/Electronic Goodness!
After a successful summer, touring in the most prestigious festivals; Glastonbury, Underage, V Festival, Leeds and Reading, Soft toy emergency deserve a bit of a break.

Their performance at the BBC Introducing Stage was the most superior of Reading weekend on that stage. Combine catchy pop lead tunes, with keyboard and electronic dance music and you have STE. The Soft Toy’s show influences from bands such as Does It Offend You, Yeah? and Hadouken! Yet sweet and innocent, but feisty! Music for the teenage neon generation, but with the potential to go really far.

The five-piece electro-pop group from Liverpool; Jen (vocals), George (bass), Luciano (synths), Andy (guitar) and Will (drums) are definitely the next band to watch.

Live, this band have a strong performance, Jen delivers clean vocals and the overall sound is almost CD perfect, which is very difficult to find nowadays. You can’t help but dance along to them, STE are enjoyable to watch and a joy to listen to.

The band formed over a year ago and after releasing two singles through Friends Vs Records and gaining support from Radio 1’s Steve Lamacq, BBC 6 Music’s Nemone and Tom Robinson and XFM’s John Kennedy, they are looking forward to releasing new single “Critical” soon.

More information at:
http://www.myspace.com/softtoyemergency

STE are currently on tour:

17 Sept, 22:00, 53 Degrees, Preston
23 Sept, 20:00, Lofi Hill @ The Cavern, Exeter
1 Oct, 20:00, The Swan, Ipswich
2 Oct, 20:00, Inside Out, Darlington
10 Oct, 20:00, We are Rockstars @ The Unit, Southampton
13 Oct, 20:00, Riff Raff @ Swansea Uni, Swansea
15 Oct, 20:00, Heartbreaker @ Start the Bus, Bristol
16 Oct, 20:00, The Box, Crewe
17 Oct, 20:00, Stealth vs. Rescued, Nottingham
22 Oct, 20:00, The Perfect 5th, Taunton
23 Oct, 20:00, Swn Festival, Cardiff
28 Oct, 20:00, Fibbers, York
31 Oct, 21:30, Halloween Party @ o2 Academy (14+), Liverpool
6 Nov, 20:00, Electric City @ The Copper Rooms, Coventry