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Taylor swift
TAS Rights Management*When the Grammy nominations were announced on Nov. 23, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent were listed as album of the year nominees for their role as songwriters on Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour. That raised some eyebrows because those three songwriters weren’t actively involved in the creation of Sour. It’s simply a case that Rodrigo and her producer and frequent collaborator, Daniel Nigro, interpolated an old song of theirs.
The Recording Academy made an update on its site on Sunday (Dec. 5) which indicates that it has withdrawn the nominations for Sour for Swift, Antonoff and St. Vincent (Annie Clark).
Swift and Antonoff are still listed as album of the year nominees for their work on Swift’s evermore. Antonoff also remains a nominee for producer of the year, non-classical. St. Vincent remains a nominee for best alternative music album for Daddy’s Home.
Here’s an Academy statement on the subject: “During the submission process, the Academy received credits from the label for the track ‘deju vu.’ Last week, we received the correct credits from the label that recognize Annie Clark, Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift as songwriters of an interpolation on the track, ‘deja vu.’ In keeping with current Grammy guidelines, as songwriters of an interpolated track, Clark, Antonoff and Swift are not nominees in the album of the year category for Sour. Antonoff and Swift are nominated in the category for Swift’s album, evermore.”
This year, the Academy announced that all songwriters on album of the year nominees will receive nominations. But the Academy is wisely drawing a distinction between songwriters who are actively involved in the creation of a new song and those whose old work was merely interpolated.
“deja vu,” one of the biggest hits on Sour, includes an interpolation of “Cruel Summer,” a song that Swift, Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent co-wrote for Swift’s 2019 album, Lover. Another track on Rodrigo’s album, “1 step forward, 3 steps back,” contains an interpolation of “New Year’s Day,” a song Swift and Antonoff co-wrote for Swift’s 2017 album, reputation. (That one was listed correctly when the label submitted Rodrigo’s entry, according to the Academy.)
This Grammy ruling simplifies things for Swift loyalists who are voting members of the Academy. Previously, Grammy voters who really wanted Swift to win her 12th Grammy had a hard choice to make in album of the year voting. Should they vote for Swift’s album or for Rodrigo’s album, which presumably has a better chance of winning? (Rodrigo has seven nominations this year, compared to just one for Swift.) Now, Swifties in the Academy no longer have to make that tough choice. They will be presumably be voting for Swift.
This is one of several refinements the Academy has made in the nominations list since it was first made public. The nominations list contains thousands of names and data points; some changes and adjustments are inevitable.
Here is an official Academy list of those changes.
NEWS
Placebo have kicked off their 30th anniversary tour by dusting off some tracks for the first time in over 20 years, and also playing new single ‘Helen Keller’ live for the first time.
The new dates come as the band are celebrating the 30 years since they dropped their 1996 debut album. To mark the occasion, they have announced a huge UK and European arena tour, where they have vowed to predominantly play material from their first album and their sophomore record ‘Without You I’m Nothing’.
At the opening night at Krakatoa in Mérignac, France, Brian Molko and co. delivered a stacked 19-song set, which began with ‘Pure Morning’, and immediately went into the first rendition of ‘Come Home’ in 20 years.
Another rarity came straight after, with the first live performance of ‘You Don’t Care About Us’ since 2001, as well as ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ and ‘Allergic (To Thoughts Of Mother Earth)’ which were played for the first time since 2018 and 2014 respectively.
‘Drowning by Numbers’, ‘Bruise Pristine’ and ‘My Sweet Prince’ were all introduced into the setlist for the first time since 2001, ‘Brick Shithouse’ was aired out for the first time since 2003, ‘Scared Of Girls’ was played for the first time since 2010, and both ‘Lady Of The Flowers’ and ‘36 Degrees’ were broken out for the first time in nine years.
The rest of the set was made up of ‘Teenage Angst’, ‘Bionic’, ‘I Know’ and ‘Every You Every Me’, and the band wrapped up the performance with two covers: Depeche Mode’s ‘I Feel You’, and Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’.
It wasn’t until a later show at the Super Bock Arena in Porto, Portugal, that Placebo broke out their new song ‘Helen Keller’ for the first time – playing it 13 songs into the setlist.
Check out more footage from the tour so far below, as well as the setlist from night one.
‘Pure Morning’
‘Come Home’ (First time since 2006)
‘You Don’t Care About Us'(First Time Since 2001)
‘Teenage Angst’
‘Bionic’
‘Without You I’m Nothing” (First Time Since 2018)
‘Allergic (to Thoughts of Mother Earth)” (First Time Since 2014)
‘Drowning by Numbers” (First Time Since 2001)
’36 Degrees” (Alternate Version – First Time Since 2017)
‘I Know’
‘Brick Shithouse’ (First Time Since 2003)
‘Scared of Girls’ (First Time Since 2010)
‘Bruise Pristine” (First Time Since 2001)
‘My Sweet Prince’ (First Time Since 2001)
‘Lady of the Flowers’ (First time since 2017)
‘Nancy Boy’
‘Every You Every Me’
‘I Feel You’ (Depeche Mode cover, live debut)
‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’ (Kate Bush cover)
Placebo dropped the single ‘Helen Keller’ on September 28, and it sees them reach back to ‘H.K. Farewell’, a hidden instrumental from the era of their self-titled 1996 debut. In the track, they retain the eerie keyboard melody from the original, and push it to new dimensions with a heavier, more anguished feeling.
The title refers to the American author, who was also a disability rights advocate and political activist, who became deafblind as a young child and went on to become an internationally renowned writer and campaigner.
As well as the tour, Placebo also celebrated the 30th anniversary of their debut by releasing a reimagined version of the record. For the LP, Molko and Stefan Olsdal returned to the original master tapes and reworked all 10 songs from the 1996 record – describing it as a “director’s cut” that helped them inject the original songs with three decades more experience.
The ongoing tour will reach the UK and Ireland in late November and early December, where they will play Nottingham, Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester, London and Cardiff. See all the dates here and find any remaining tickets here.
Dates will head to Latin America in 2027, beginning in São Paulo on February 20 and running through Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Colombia before wrapping up with shows in Guadalajara and Monterrey in March.
Placebo dropped their last album of new material in 2022, with ‘Never Let Me Go’. That record was given a four-star review by NME, which described it as “a renaissance rock record with an experimental edge”, adding that it found Placebo “inspired and ready for a new era”.
