Category: news

NME

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla just had its monthly update released, adding a new building to the player’s Ravensthorpe settlement.

• READ MORE: ‘Tunic’ is already one of the best adventure games of a generation – but the soundtrack makes it unforgettable

The player can now construct an armoury building at Ravensthorpe. This new building will allow the player to display up to five different gear loadouts which will be visible on mannequins in the armoury.

This new building ties in with the new gear loadouts mechanic. Once the player has built the armoury and put their loadouts on display, they will be able to switch between them from the game’s main menu.

This should encourage the player to adopt a more flexible playstyle in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, as they will be able to prepare loadouts in advance and deploy them when an appropriate situation arises. As Ubisoft stated in their patch notes, “Freedom of approach is the name of the game…”.

The armoury can be built after upgrading Ravensthorpe to level three using foreign cargo, which can be obtained from the River Raids mode. The player will begin with two different loadouts and will need to upgrade the armoury in order to unlock the additional loadout slots.

New rewards have also been added to River Raids, including new weapons and armour for Eivor. This synergises well with the new loadout mechanic, the player will be able to bring to take part in River Raids to bring loot back to Ravensthorpe and put it on display to the world.

The update also squashes a plethora of bugs, the full list of which is here. The update can be downloaded now and is 7.8GB on Xbox, 7GB on PC, 1.8GB on PlayStation 5 and 1.4GB on PlayStation 4.

In other news, the developer of ‘Dream Daddy’ is working on a new psychological horror called ‘Homebody’.

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NME

Japanese Breakfast will feature as a musical guest on the Apple TV+ show Helpsters.

• READ MORE: Japanese Breakfast: “This year is about enjoying myself – my number one job is to have fun”

From the makers of Sesame Street, Helpsters is a children’s show about a group of monsters who work together to solve the problems of customers in their shop. The first season launched alongside Apple TV+ in 2019, with the third season set to debut on Friday (May 27).

Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner performs a track with Cody and her friends in the third season. In a clip on Consequence, Zauner sings a track called ‘I Like Fancy Fins’, about how fish have fins in all shapes and sizes.

The new season will feature guests Bradley Cooper, James Monroe Iglehart, Christian Borle, Adrienne Warren and Judy Gold. Other musical guests include Teddy Swims, Blanco Brown and Claud.

Previous guest stars have included Matt Berninger from The National, Jason Mraz and Norah Jones.

Japanese Breakfast made her debut on Saturday Night Live earlier this month, performing two tracks, ‘Be Sweet’ and ‘Paprika’, from her latest album ‘Jubilee’.

Speaking to NME at Coachella last month, the singer-songwriter provided an update on the film adaptation of her 2021 memoir, Crying In H Mart.

“I’m writing the screenplay,” Zauner said. “I finished the first draft and I’m working on revisions right now. I’ve never done this before, so I don’t know what the next steps are! I think I finish the revision and we give it to the studio and see what their revisions are and then I do those and then hopefully they go off and make the movie.”

The post Japanese Breakfast to make guest appearance in ‘Helpsters’ season three appeared first on NME.

NME

Mura Masa has released a brand new track, ‘blessing me’, featuring Pa Salieu and Skilliben – check it out below.

• READ MORE: The Big Read – Mura Masa: “If you’re smart right now, you’re making guitar music”

The song comes alongside news of the musician/producer’s third album, ‘demon time’, which is set to be released on September 16 via Polydor Records and follows 2020’s ‘R.Y.C.’. The LP will also feature previously released tracks ‘2gether’ and ‘bbycakes’ (with Lil Uzi Vert, PinkPantheress and Shygirl).

Originally titled ‘Fun’, ‘demon time’ signals a deeper period of reflection for Masa (real name Alexander Crossan), who penned the album during lockdown, after his European tour was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Identifying the pain and anguish caused by the pandemic, the musician predicted people would need “vicarious, escapist music now. So that’s where this demon time idea came from – how do we soundtrack the 1am to 5am period where you start doing stupid shit that you don’t regret but wouldn’t do again when it emerges again post-lockdown?” You can pre-order the record here.

Stepping into “the hedonistic world” of ‘demon time’, ‘blessing me’ sees Masa dive into “big themes and nuanced subcultures” that make for some thrillingly futuristic pop.

Listen to ‘blessing me’ below:

He has also announced a run of summer tour dates including performances at Glastonbury and All Points East. You can get tickets here and see the full list of dates below.

MAY 2022
27 – Core Festival – Brussels, Belgium

JUNE 2022
03 – Love Saves The Day – Bristol, UK
04 – AVA – Belfast, N.Ireland
09 – Primavera – Porto
12 – Best Kept Secret – Hilvarenbeek
25 – Glastonbury Festival – Somerset, UK

JULY 2022
06 – Mad Cool Festival – Madrid, Spain
22 – Forum – Melbourne, Australia
23 – Enmore – Sydney, Australia
24 – Splendour Festival – Yelgun/Byron
27 – Town Hall (Elemental Nights) – Auckland, New Zealand
31 – Fuji Rocks – Niigata, Japan

AUGUST 2022
05 – Off Festival – Katowice
27 – All Points East – London, UK

In a five-star review of Mura Masa’s last album, ‘R.Y.C.’, NME’s Thomas Smith said at its most it is a “provocative and memorable when its larger-than-life characters and productions become unhinged and combustible with lust for life.

“Yet Mura Masa’s anxious contemplation of modern-living – the highs, the lows, the lies we tell ourselves to make it all better – hits just as hard.”

The post Mura Masa announces new album ‘demon time’ and drops futuristic single ‘blessing me’ appeared first on NME.

NME

Bestival co-founder Rob da Bank is being sued after allegedly failing to repay a £650,000 loan.

Loan provider TicketLine Network Ltd has said it personally loaned Da Bank (real name Robert Gorham) about £1million to keep the festival going, but he then refused to pay back about £650,000, Central London County Court has heard.

The loan was taken out in 2018 to save the festival which nearly didn’t go ahead due to financial struggles.

The company claimed at the time that it would feel more secure loaning out the money personally to Gorham and co-director John Hughes rather than the Bestival company, according to Mixmag.

The on-going case is questioning whether or not Ticketline Network Ltd’s loan was directed to Gorham personally and whether he is responsible for paying back £650,000.

Hughes accepted that the money would have to be repaid, however, Gorham allegedly does not and is fighting the court case.

Gorham alleged that he never agreed to a personal loan and should not have to pay it back. He also told the judge he was not very involved in the financial side of the festival.

“This was a multi-million pound, very busy business, with me driving the customer-facing side and the artists, a whole raft of things in the festival world,” he said.

“The finance and accounting was not my department. I never signed up for a personal loan.”

Bestival was last held in 2018 which saw London Grammar, M.I.A and Grace Jones appearing at the Isle of Wight festival that year.

Bestival’s sister event Camp Bestival has continued to operate over the years in Dorset and this year’s line-up includes Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Rudimental and Sister Sledge. It will be staged over the weekend of July 28-31.

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