29 November 2019

Una Healy has announced her comeback with a stripped down cover of N-Trance’s Set You Free, while original track Wild Grasses will be released on December 26. You can listen to Healy’s cover here. Healy has largely spent her year writing new music in addition to presenting the Saturday morning show on radio station Country Hits, but has now given fans a glimpse of what she’s been working on. The first piece of new music is a cover of 90s club classic Set You Free, which has been slowed down and stripped back. This is done deliberately, with Healy wanting to convey the meaning of the song in her eyes to everyone else – especially at this time of the year. “I stripped the song down completely to bring out the deep emotion behind the song and bring to life what it means to me,” Healy said. “The song reminds me of the unconditional love that surrounds us in all areas of our lives, not necessarily in a romantic sense, but the love of family and friends that keeps us strong through all of life’s adversities. “Leading up to Christmas, it’s a message that I personally need to remind myself and hope everyone can find comfort in”. As for Wild Grasses, the song was written with Eric Brazilian and is seemingly written about staying in touch with people who have departed, with Healy explaining how it was constructed. “I had a melody in my head for weeks and met with Eric and started humming it and the first words just came out and it flowed from there,” Healy added. “It has a real celtic folk sound to it too. It is a very comforting song for anyone who has lost someone close to know that their spirit will always be there with them.”

American act Midland have been forced to postpone their UK tour that was due to start on December 4 following a serious medical emergency relating to the recent birth of lead singer Mark Wystrach’s child. As is to be expected following a personal matter such as this, details are being kept to a total minimum while the band understandably focus on the matter at hand, with Wystrach promising to share information as and when it becomes available. In a statement, the band stated that they are all “incredibly saddened to delay their tour,” however they are “working hard to reschedule for 2020.” Midland were due to play four dates in the UK – the O2 Ritz in Manchester, the O2 Institute in Birmingham, The Leadmill in Sheffield and the iconic Roundhouse in London. It’s worth noting that the tour hasn’t been cancelled and presumably, tickets will still be valid for the rescheduled show as and when they spring up. Refund details will also be released in due course for those who will be unable to attend to new dates. Midland – made up of Wystrach, Jess Carson and Cameron Duddy – were set to return to the UK following a tour earlier on this year, which saw them headline O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London amongst other venues. The group were also nominated for Vocal Group of the Year and New Artist of the Year at the recent CMA Awards, losing out to Old Dominion and Ashley McBryde respectively. Also this year, the trio released their second album ‘Let It Roll’, which hit the shelves on August 23.