Growing up listening to 90s R&B and hip-hop, Lois recalls bopping to Snoop Dog as one of her first memories of listening to music as a toddler. But from the age of five she moved onto something a bit more dexterous – playing classical piano. It when then she knew she had an affinity with music.
Image: Lois Rae/Instagram
“Music is a universal language that everyone can understand,” Lois told Audio. “It has the power to make you feel every emotion.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I love the way it brings people from all walks of life together and allows people to express themselves however they want, when words alone simply aren’t enough.”
She’s right – nothing quite compares to the way music can make you feel. It’s a lifeline for so many people, even more so in lockdown.
ADVERTISEMENT
Lois’s love affair with music has grown ever since touching that piano for the first time. But although she’s moved away from Snoop Dogg and classical piano (not something you usually hear in the same sentence), Lois has taken her music down a pop route these days – and it suits her well.
Now, she takes inspiration from strong, independent female role models with powerful voices, like R&B icons Alicia Keys, J.Lo and Ashanti. But Lois explains how she often finds inspiration in everyday life too. Things as simple as looking out the window at the Manchester skyline, trying new food or meeting somebody new she says can spark ideas. Spoken like a true creative.
But over the last year, Lois has been no stranger to the effects of the pandemic on the music industry. Of course, that hasn’t stopped her though. Whilst finding ways of adapting, she’s still grown as an artist. “COVID-19 has decimated parts of our industry. But seeing how people have diversified has been inspiring and made me proud to be a musician,” she said.
ADVERTISEMENT
“The virus has shone a light on the versatility, creativity and fighting spirit that the music industry possesses, against all odds. I truly think Manchester has led the way.
“Personally speaking, it’s meant I haven’t been able to gig live. But it has definitely made me push myself to be more inventive in other areas such as with social media. I have a whole home studio set up now too and it’s also given me time to write more which is something I love doing.”
Lois’s latest song, ‘THAT’S ME’, shares the same liberating attitude as her R&B predecessors. It’s a tribute to her independence and her own relationship with herself.
“‘THAT’S ME’ is all about not relying on anyone else for your own self-confidence and success,” she said.
“Right now, a lot of people aren’t feeling their best. So, I wanted to release something uplifting and empowering to remind people how important it is to love and celebrate themselves and their successes. I want THAT’S ME to make people feel confident and capable of anything.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I’m really excited for my first big body of work to finally be out there for the world to enjoy. I can’t wait to engage and connect with everyone who hears my music too!”
Whilst Lois Rae’s debut EP is out this March, her new single THAT’S ME is out on all platforms from today. Go and support your girl.
Audio
Neil Young pulls out of ‘corporate controlled’ Glastonbury Festival
Danny Jones
Music icon Neil Young has pulled out of Glastonbury Festival 2025 after claiming it has lost its identity and is now under “corporate” control.
The 79-year-old singer-songwriter, widely considered one of the greatest and most influential to have ever lived, was due to play the festival as one of the legends named on this year’s lineup.
However, despite lots of excitement around the veteran being given the nod over others from what has largely been seen as a pop-leaning pool (at least according to the detractors) in recent years, Young has now decided to drop out of the festival.
Neil Young’s latest ‘NYA Times Contrarian’ post explains the decision to drop out of Glastonbury.Neil Young in 2023 Credit: Screenshot (via Neil Young website)/Per Ole Hagen (via Flickr)
“The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all-time favourite outdoor gigs”, it reads. “We were told that BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in.”
For context, the BBC has been partnered with Glasto since way back in 1997 and Neil Young has already headlined the festival back in 2009, so this shouldn’t exactly come as a surprise.
“It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being. Thanks for coming to us the last time!”, he continues. “We will not be playing Glastonbury on this tour because it is a corporate turn-off, and not for me like it used to be.”
The message concludes with him hoping to catch fans at other venues and a simple “LOVE Neil – Be well”, but the tenor of the somewhat abrupt update is that the ever-opinionated and long-celebrated protest song-writer clearly believes the BBC‘s influence over the festival has now grown too strong.
Known not only as ‘Shakey’ and the ‘Godfather of Grunge’ but as one of the pioneering anti-establishment figures of a generation, the Canadian was previously in the headlines for demanding Spotify remove his music after taking issue with Joe Rogan’s anti-vax messaging on his show.
All that to say, the solo artist co-founding member of supergroup, Buffalo Springfield, is no stranger to taking on big business and companies if he feels he has good reason. Meanwhile, Rod Stewart will be performing in the coveted ‘Legends’ headliner slot at teatime on Sunday, 29 June.
Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts are looking set for a European tour this summer but if he’s taking on corporations and concerts under umbrella control, it seems unlikely we’ll see him at too many festivals or the likes of Co-op Live.
The better question is: do you agree – has Glastonbury Festival become too corporate and sanitised, or do you think it still upholds the same core values it had when it first popped up on Worthy Farm in 1970?
Featured Images — Ross Belot (via Flickr)/The Manc Group
Audio
Popular Manchester city centre club forced to close on New Year’s Eve due to flooding
Daisy Jackson
The heavy rain that hit Manchester on New Year’s Eve has caused flooding across the region, including the city centre.
One city centre venue had to close early on one of the biggest nights out of the year as water rushed into its basement.
In a statement shared today, Joshua Brooks shared that it had to close its New Year’s Eve party prematurely ‘to ensure everyone’s wellbeing’.
The popular city centre club had moved revellers upstairs to its clubhouse, rather than its basement, but ultimately feared the ‘unknowns regarding electrical safety’ and shut down early.
Luckily, party-goers were able to ring in the new year before the venue shut at around 2am.
Joshua Brooks shared: “Unfortunately, in the early hours of New Year’s Eve, we had to make the difficult decision to close the club prematurely due to unexpected flooding in our basement. The heavy rainfall in the Pennine mountains caused the River Medlock and several tributaries to overflow, impacting multiple venues along the riverbank, including ours.
“Our top priorities are always the safety of our ravers and the preservation of our equipment. As water levels continued to rise, we considered moving the party to the clubhouse upstairs. However, there were too many unknowns regarding electrical safety, so we ultimately decided to shut down the event around 2 AM, just under two hours before the end of the night, to ensure everyone’s well-being.
“We understand the inconvenience and disappointment this has caused you and sincerely apologise for disrupting your New Year’s Eve celebrations.
“Our warm-up DJs were absolutely smashing it, and Alan Fitzpatrick was playing great until the moment we had to close.
“While this type of incident is rare and hasn’t happened in years, there is always a risk due to our location. We want to assure you that we are taking this matter seriously and exploring all options to minimise the chances of this happening again.
“Thank you for your understanding and continued support.”
Luckily, Joshua Brooks hasn’t been left with any lasting damage to its main bar area, and is set to go ahead with its New Year’s Day party this evening.
Hannah Starkie -
29th January 2021 
