a- ha releases the official video for ‘You Have What It Takes’ from their upcoming ‘True North’ album

STREAM HERE
WATCH THE OFFICIAL VIDEO HERE

 

[October 6th, 2022] a-ha return to share their new single ‘You Have What It Takes’, which acts as the latest taster for their forthcoming album True North, which is released on October 21st, 2022.

 

‘You Have What It Takes’ follows recent single ‘I’m In’ and begins a new era for a-ha as they approach their forthcoming album. Their first collection of new songs since 2015’s Cast In Steel is more than a straightforward album, it is also a film capturing the band recording the songs during 2021 in Bodø, the Norwegian city located 90km above the Arctic Circle. “With every album we tweak it, to see if there’s a different way to go about it,” explains Paul. TheTrue North film was screened to audiences this week in over 400 cinemas across 29 countriesand will be available for rental and purchase from 21 October 2022.

 

The beautiful ‘You Have What It Takes’ fees like a-ha at their most vulnerable, with its intricate guitar strings and Morten’s unmistakable vocal. It’s an echo of hope, healing and recovery, uplifting the listener with the line “Don’t be afraid to fail or fall, everyone carries a weight. We learn to walk before we crawl, so do this for all of our sakes. You have what it takes.” The significance of the lyrics resonates globally and feel like strength and comfort against the current backdrop of such unprecedented times.

 

a-ha’s Magne Furoholmen explains, “'Oh, this world, like a wounded bird…’ 

We live in increasingly confusing and volatile times, and there are things we often forget to express enough - to each other, to our children, our loved ones, our friends, and the generation growing up. If we want changes for the better, it starts with people who care enough to stand up for their idealsand for the rest of us to support them. I have great hope for the future when I see the courage and conviction of the young. They have it, and so do you. YOU have what it takes!”

 

With what is their 11th studio album and also a very immediate document of its creation, a-ha have entered a new world. “First, we had the idea to record a studio session live,” says Paul. “Then, to film a studio session. That grew into more of a production with the Norwegian orchestra, the Arctic Philharmonic, who we have collaborated with.” It's all there in the film.

 

In the True North film, a-ha perform and record with the orchestra. Also caught on camera in the landscape around Bodø, Magne, Morten and Paul discuss True North. In recurring vignettes, actors portray life in the north. The multidimensional film describes a narrative arc embodying the spirit of the new songs, showing how all of us are connected to the environment. Long-time a-ha collaborator Stian Andersen is the director. “True North is a letter from a-ha, from the Arctic Circle, a poem from the far north of Norway with new music,” says Magne.

 

The songs on the record are imbued with a sense of place and a deep connection with how we interact with the environment. For the first time, a-ha show us where they are from, who they are, and how the connection between the two is unbreakable. It’s no wonder that True North is a-ha at their most revealing - never before has the spirit of a-ha been so exposed.

 

Balances are struck – between the fresh approach and the qualities inherent to a-ha, between the songs themselves and the overarching concept of True North. ‘You Have What It Takes’' continues this thrilling new chapter for band and nothing encapsulates it better.

 

www.ahatruenorth.com

 

  • The True North album is issued on 21 October 2022. Editions include jewel-case CD; recycled black heavy weight and recycled coloured vinyl’s; various bundles; limited deluxe edition (including a high quality hardcover book including 40 pages, the two recycled black heavy weight vinyl’s in sleeves, the “True North” CD in a cardboard wallet and last but not least, a USB card featuring the “True North” film by Stian Andersen); digital audio long-play for download and streaming. Pre-order is available at ahatruenorth.com, where you can sign up for further information

 

Pre-Order ‘True North’
https://a-ha.lnk.to/TrueNorth

 

 Source: Sony Music Philippines

Woman Writer of the Year 2022

Thank you @ukiyotopublishinghouse for making me your Nonfiction Woman Writer of the Year! It is an honor to be recognized for my book, #imovedforward. It makes me happy that my first ever writing recognition is an international award! 🏆 Please continue supporting me by buying my books on Google Play and via this link. 📕 NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS!⚡️ #authorlife

P-Pop girl group KAIA pivot towards a more R&B-driven sound in new single “Dalawa”

The subdued, laid-back track explores unrequited romance with reassuring sweetness

P-Pop girl group KAIA explores a more R&B-leaning direction in their new single “Dalawa,” released under Sony Music Entertainment.

Standing out in sublime contrast with their previous releases, the five-member act’s smooth jam alludes to the idea of expressing infatuation in the most reassuring, youthful way.

“Dalawa is a song that tells a story familiar to many: catching unrequited feelings for someone close to you,” describes the eclectic pop quintet. “While it veers away from the upbeat, dance-pop tunes that we’ve been dishing out since our debut, this particular material sticks to our strengths as a girl group.”

Brimming with 2000s-indebted R&B melodies and whimsical beats, “Dalawa” embraces stylistic adventurousness with effortlessness that doesn’t overwhelm the vocals. The track is written and produced by Jayson Franz, who brings a mellow yet groovy direction to the Filipino group’s sound.

“I wanted a different approach for KAIA this time around, but I made sure to take into consideration their individual and collective personalities,” shares Franz. “I’ve added some string instruments and other sonic elements to help elevate the arrangements. But more importantly, the groove that I was trying to achieve was leaning towards Y2K R&B: simple, yet melodically interesting.”

According to Franz, KAIA was also heavily involved with the demo recording, making sure to relay their own inputs on vocal arrangements and the overall vibe of the song. “One of the memorable moments during the recording of the track was the first run of every member of KAIA,” adds Franz. “It was that moment when everyone knew that the song was really made for them. Each one of them has an own personality or taste in terms of the delivery of their lines.”

KAIA’s “Dalawa” is out now on all digital music platforms worldwide via Sony Music Entertainment.

Source: Nyou

ADB PLANS $14 BILLION TO EASE FOOD CRISIS, PROMOTE LONG-TERM FOOD SECURITY IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (27 September 2022)—The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today announced plans to provide at least $14 billion over 2022–2025 in a comprehensive program of support to ease a worsening food crisis in Asia and the Pacific, and improve long-term food security by strengthening food systems against the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss. The assistance expands ADB’s already significant support for food security in the region, where nearly 1.1 billion people lack healthy diets due to poverty and food prices which have soared to record highs this year. The funding will be channeled through existing and new projects in sectors including farm inputs, food production and distribution, social protection, irrigation, and water resources management, as well as projects leveraging nature-based solutions. ADB will continue to invest in other activities which contribute to food security such as energy transition, transport, access to rural finance, environmental management, health, and education. “This is a timely and urgently needed response to a crisis that is leaving too many poor families in Asia hungry and in deeper poverty,” said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa, in remarks at ADB’s 55thAnnual Meeting. “We need to act now, before the impacts of climate change worsen and further erode the region’s hard-won development gains. Our support will be targeted, integrated, and impactful to help vulnerable people, particularly vulnerable women, in the near-term, while bolstering food systems to reduce the impact of emerging and future food security risks. ”The Russian invasion of Ukraine has disrupted supplies of food staples and fertilizer, straining a global food system already weakened by climate change impacts, pandemic-related supply shocks, and unsustainable farming practices. Asia and the Pacific is vulnerable to food shocks, as some of its countries depend on imported staples and fertilizer. Even before the invasion of Ukraine, nutritious food was unaffordable for significant portions of the population in many ADB low-income member countries. As well as supporting vulnerable people, ADB’s food security assistance will promote open trade, improve small holder farm production and livelihoods, ease shortages of fertilizer and promote its efficient use or organic alternatives, support investments in food production and distribution, enhance nutrition, and boost climate resilience through integrated and nature-based solutions. A key focus will be to protect the region’s natural environment from climate change impacts and biodiversity loss, which have degraded soils, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.

.“An important part of our long-term approach is to safeguard natural resources and support farmers and agribusinesses which produce and distribute much of the region’s food, and to promote open trade to ensure it reaches consumers efficiently,” said Mr. Asakawa. Assistance under the program will start this year and continue through 2025. It will be drawn from across ADB’s sovereign and private sector operations, and seek to leverage an additional $5billion in private sector cofinancing for food security. ADB will apply lessons learned from supporting its members during the global food crisis in 2007–2008 and through the implementation of its food security operational plan the following year. Since then, ADB has provided $2 billion in annual investments in food security. In 2018,ADB identified food security as a key operational priority. ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

Source: ADB

Drag Playhouse PH honors Beyonce’s Renaissance with culture-defining themed show


The Category is… A night of a thousand Beyoncé.

Drag Playhouse Philippines recently celebrated the music of Beyoncé through a thematic show that further highlights the megastar’s enormous contribution to queer pop culture.

Aptly titled HOUSE 628 LIVE: THE RENAISSANCE BALL, the event provided an outlet for the queens of Drag Playhouse Philippines to express themselves freely without judgment, while sashaying to Beyoncé’s club-thumping 2022 album, Renaissance, and classic hits.

Aside from high-profile Drag Performances of OV Cunt, Marina Summers, Prince, and Eva Le Queen—three of them currently getting valuable airtime at Drag Race Philippines, the drag show also hosted friendly battles in several categories namely Drag Face, where contestants showcase exceptional makeup skills by serving mug on the runway; Drag Runway, where contestants exhibit head-to-toe fierceness during their runway walk; and Lip Sync Challenge,  where they pull their most creative tricks in synchronizing their lips to a prerecorded track.

A special drag performance featuring Viñas DeLuxe added more star power to an already eventful night as she performed a medley of Beyoncé’s hits, with House OfMizrahi Philippines, a local chapter of the Voguing community, joining in some of the performances. A purely Beyoncé-themed DJ set tucked in between the program segments also hyped the crowd, prompting them to sing and dance along to the Homecoming Queen’s iconic bops from the late ‘90s to the present.

Marina Summers, a fan-favorite and frontrunner at this year’s Drag Race Philippines, expressed how Beyoncé shaped her youth. “Her work has been an inspiration for a lot of queer artists, and personally, I’ve always loved performing to her songs. And ever since the Renaissancealbum came out, just like Queen B herself, my creative path has been challenged to be more innovative and unique.”

Another Drag Race Philippines favorite and drag icon, Eva Le Queen, spoke adoration for Beyonce, pointing out how her music is a gift to the world. “Beyonce has always been an icon and inspiration to the community. Her strong and alpha energy resonated so much to a lot of us Drag Queens who are essentially the face and frontliners of the equality movement for the community. Her music, her soul, her POWER has allowed me to live my life in my own terms and take Eva Le Queen to greater heights. Being a female, POC and be THE QUEEN B is a permission for all of us to be the best that we can be.”

Like Summers and Eva Le Queen, fellow Drag Race Philippines contestant and queen extraordinaire PRINCE, considers Beyoncé as an important figure in influencing her drag persona. She also considers Renaissance as an envelope-pushing record that deserves its place in the pantheon of pop music greats. “It’s totally different from her past records. Most songs were sampled from classic disco hits but somehow Beyoncé made it sound fresh and that’s what makes it great.”

OV CUNT, another royalty in the contemporary drag scene, also showered Beyonce praises, particularly her new album Renaissance, for empowering listeners to be unapologetically, themselves. “It has awoken parts of the colorful history of our community, whether it’s intentional or not. It gave the world possibly new names of icons that may or might not be forgotten by the past. The mention of houses from ball culture, the use of Moi Renee’s Miss Honey in the Pure/Honey—it gives you every opportunity to reference every icon that contributed to our community today.”

Watch the video for the roundup of HOUSE 628 LIVE: THE RENAISSANCE BALL, Category is: A Night of a Thousand Beyoncé.

Listen to This Is Beyoncé playlist here.

Source: Nyou

Lil Nas X teams up with League Of Legends for Worlds Championship anthem STAR WALKIN’

The release of the song comes with an animated visual highlighting the iconic landmarks of San Francisco City

Fresh off back-to-back sold out shows at NYC’s Radio City Music Hall, multiplatinum recording artist and the new President of League of Legends, Lil Nas X, has joined forces with LoL Esports to unveil his new single and this year’s highly-anticipated Worlds Championship anthem, “STAR WALKIN’ (League of Legends Worlds Anthem).“

 

The song arrives alongside an animated official video that highlights iconic landmarks in San Francisco, the destination city for the World Final, and League of Legends pros past and present. The environment transforms as the pros move throughout the city, showcasing the sport’s iconic place in culture and the mastery of each pro as they leave their mark on the world. An easter egg can be found through almost every shot, from regional league flair to giant Champions-turned-mechs to fun facts about the pros of LoL Esports. Lil NasX will take the stage with an unforgettable live performance at the Worlds Opening Ceremony presented by Mastercard leading into the World Final at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, November 5.

 

Lil Nas X is currently on his sold out Long Live Montero world tour, with Chicago Sun-Times noting “Lil Nas X comes across as an icon in the making,” adding that the show is a “multi-sensory feast” that “comes off like a big Vegas residency.” The one-of-a-kind show is making its way across North America with additional stops in Europe this fall. For dates and more information, visit longlivemontero.com.

 

Last week, Lil Nas X expressed enthusiasm when he came onboard as the new President of League of Legends.

 

“I felt like it was time for me to try something new. I’ve left my mark on pop culture in so many ways, and now it’s time to take on the world of gaming. I will be the greatest President, of League of Legends, of all time. Also, I’m going to make the best Worlds anthem of all time and put on the biggest, coolest, sexiest Worlds in the history of all Worlds!”

Follow Lil Nas X:
Twitter // Instagram // TikTok
 

Source: Nyou