Music News Page 992

Off from her three-years contract with Caesar's Palace, Celine Dion is set to kick off in a 2008 worldwide tour. The singer will begin her itinerary in Johannesburg, South Africa which also marks her first gig in the country.

The Johannesburg's concert is set at Coca-Cola Dome on February 14. Leaving the town she will then head to the country's capital city Pretoria on February 16 to 17. According to Billboard, the tour will also take her to Durban, Port Elizabeth and winery Somerset West before sending her to European countries like Belgium, France and Switzerland.

Releasing the detail of their new album one by one, indie rock act Athlete has just announced the complete tracklisting. "Beyond the Neighbourhood" contains 11 tracks including first single "Hurricane".

Those making the cut in disorderly list are "In Between 2 States", "Hurricane", "Tokyo", "Airport Disco", "It's Not Your Fault", "The Outsiders", "Flying Over Bus-Stops", "Second Hand Stores", "In The Library", "Best Not To Think About", "This Is What I Sound Like".

Punk band The Starting Line has just finished shooting their music video for "Island". The song is the first single from their new album "Direction" which will be released July 31 via Virgin.

"Island" has been made available for listening on the band's MySpace and PureVolume pages together with title track. "Island" digital download can also be obtained from iTunes music store.

While awards for their 2005 effort "Hillbilly DeLuxe" are still warm, country duo Brooks & Dunn are delivering their next treat. "Cowboy Town" will mark their twelfth studio album that arrives October 2 via Arista Nashville.

Speaking on the sound of the record, Ronnie Dunn told Billboard, "This really is kind of like cowboys meet the Rolling Stones. There's a bunch of fun stuff on there. And it sounds different than anything we've ever done."

Rapper David Banner's new single from his fifth studio album has got its video premiered on Yahoo!. The song titled "Speaker" that was initially named "9mm" is the first single pulled out of "The Greatest Story Ever Told".

"Speaker" is Banner's collaboration with Snoop Dogg, Akon and Lil Wayne who have all appeared on the new video. Both the single and the album's release date are yet to be determined.

Engaging in musical flick "Hairspray" and opening a burger joint restaurant, Queen Latifah doesn't forget her root as a singer with the release of a new album. The rapper is launching her second album under Verve titled "Trav'lin' Light".

Still on the heels of "The Dana Owens Album" that sports jazz vibe, rapper-turned singer Latifah will cover songs associated with Peggy Lee, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn, Mary Wells, Roberta Flack, Phoebe Snow and Etta James among others.

Post-grunge outfit Seether is making their return with a new album that will befall October 23. The South African based band will release "Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces", their first album in two years.

Frontman Shaun Morgan hinted that this piece would promise more variable sound although not much a departure from 2005's "Karma and Effect". Morgan said, "You won't pick this album up and hear German polka music. I think the point was to try and explore the poppier side of the band. Having said that, we explored the heavier side of the band too. It's an album of extremes, or oxymorons, in a way."

Franz Ferdinand will move to a new direction for their upcoming album. The Scottish rock act have been putting "synth-led" materials as a demo within their raw album work.

Drummer Paul Thomson said, "Synth-led, we've gone crazy buying old synths... We played Nashville recently and all the synths short circuited in the heat, we had to play a greatest hits set instead. But everybody was still smiling."

James Blunt's debut album "Back to Bedlam" has just passed Dido's "No Angel" to be the best selling U.K. album in the 21st Century. The CD has sold 3,020,490 copies, four thousand copies more than Dido's 1999 album sale.

As money keeps pouring in, James has been struck with a legal case following the multi-selling album's royalties. Producer Lukas Burton claimed that he has the right to the royalties after he penned six songs within the album. James is now suing back Burton by providing testimony that he was indeed the sole writer.

Australia's very own heavy metal band AC/DC is confirmed having their highly-anticipated album under way. The band whose latest effort was 2000's "Stiff Upper Lip" has begun crystallizing their materials into a record which will be followed by a tour.

"Malcom and Angus (Young) are in the studio," frontman Brian Johnson said at New Jersey's Classic Rock Cares gig. "There's an album in the works, and a tour, too, I think. The boys are working on something special. They don't want to do just another album."

Indie rock act Editors have decided to pull title track as their second single from sophomore set "An End Has a Start". The British band will have it launched on both 7" vinyl CD and digital download on September 3.

The song "An End Has a Start" was originally prepared as the album's first single but then, "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" was released online on June 11 to give early impact. The album itself was released June 25 and had enjoyed #1 post in U.K. Album Chart for one week.

Arctic Monkeys is the predicted frontrunner of 2007 Nationwide Mercury Prize, an award that appreciates best 12 British records in the last 12 months. The only heavy competition running alongside the Sheffield band's "Favourite Worst Nightmare" is Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black".

Of all the 12 nominees, Arctic and Winehouse have been marked by William Hill as favorites to claim the prize, with odds of 4/1. Arctic was last year's winner through "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not" and if they are to win again this year then the band would be the first act to win the prize two times in a row.

When Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" was released in March 2006 and remained at #1 in U.K. Singles chart for nine weeks, everybody thought that it was the ultimate song of the decade. However, it was recently broken by Rihanna's infectious hit "Umbrella" featuring Jay-Z.

"Umbrella" is enjoying its ninth week atop the U.K. chart while maintaining its #1 post in U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart at the same time. The song holds strong to its position despite the big jumpers in the U.K. chart.

After canceling some U.S shows in April, Lily Allen will be back in the country for a short fall tour in compensation. The "Smile" singer will swing to the States starting from September 6 at the prestigious San Diego's House of Blues.

Her U.S. jaunt is preceded by a worldwide tour that will include stops in Australia, Japan, Chile, Argentina and some European countries. R&B singer Kevin Michael will be tapped as the opening act of her U.S. dates.

After premiering her song "I Wonder" in The View, Kellie Pickler will have it performed on ABC's Good Morning show. The second single from the country singer's debut album will be the opening of a two-hour special that is aired July 23.

To be played after Kellie's performance is "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock", a four-day event that was held back on June 7-10. Within the tape, there will be Kellie's performance on first single "Red High Heels" and also by others such as Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Rodney Atkins, Dierks Bentley, Billy Currington and Sara Evans.