NEWS
ØYA Festival has confirmed another wave of acts for its already packed 2026 programme, with Lily Allen, TOMORA and Band Of Horses all joining the bill.
The Norwegian event will return to Tøyen Park in Oslo from Wednesday August 12 through to Saturday August 15. Back in October, The Cure were unveiled as the first headline act, while Amyl And The Sniffers were also named among the early additions.
Shortly after, it emerged that Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds would be sharing top billing with The Cure, headlining the festival as part of their European tour plans for 2026.
Further announcements followed in November, when organisers revealed CMAT, Sombr, Underworld and Lambrini Girls. The following month brought another influx of names, including Geese, Blood Orange, Mogwai and several more artists.
As 2026 gets underway, the festival team have now shared another major update to the bill. Lily Allen is among the latest confirmations and will appear on Saturday August 15, where she is set to perform her 2025 record West End Girl from start to finish. The news arrives as the singer prepares for a busy year of festival appearances and headline shows, marking a full scale return following the widely praised album.
Band Of Horses are also set to make their way back to the festival on Friday August 14. Their first ever European festival performance took place at the same site in 2006, and nearly twenty years later they will mark the occasion by playing their debut album Everything All The Time in full.
Also newly added to the bill is TOMORA, the high energy collaboration between Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers and Norwegian pop artist AURORA. The project had already drawn attention after announcing a series of live dates before being formally introduced. Last month, the duo released their first single Ring The Alarm.
Elsewhere in today’s announcement on Thursday January 29 are Marit Larsen, formerly part of global pop duo M2M, along with Norwegian singer songwriter Thomas Dybdahl, stoner rock outfit Slomosa, emerging artist Hannah Storm, Beth McBride which is the solo project of Bethany Forseth Reichberg, Norwegian folk collective Reolô and electronic group Nonne.
Tickets for the festival are available now, with further details and purchasing options accessible online.
Last year’s edition of ØYA Festival featured headline performances from Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Queens Of The Stone Age and Girl In Red. The wider bill also included Fontaines D.C., Kneecap, Wet Leg, Beth Gibbons, Lola Young, Heartworms, Kelly Lee Owens and Khruangbin.
Speaking with NME during the event, festival director Claes Olsen discussed how the team tracks emerging artists who could eventually grow into headline performers. “I like to see bands develop naturally over time,” he said. “There are a few smaller acts right now that I think are genuinely special. People always ask who the next big thing is, but you can never really predict it. When we first started talks with Charli XCX and Chappell Roan last April, headline slots were not even part of the conversation. Things just kept building from there.”
NEWS
There is no question that Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out made a serious impact and continues to hold weight. The project showed that hip hop is not limited by age and proved that a long-awaited return can still land in a major way regardless of the time away.
If you need a reminder, the Virginia duo’s fourth studio album debuted comfortably within the top five of the Hot 200. It secured the number four position and moved an impressive 118,000 units in its first week.
On top of that, it picked up a win at this year’s Grammys, earning Best Rap Performance for “Chains & Whips.” The album also received four additional nominations, including Best Music Video, Rap Album, and Album of the Year.
It is hard to believe the project will officially hit its one year mark this summer on July 11. Even so, Pusha T is making it clear that both supporters and critics should not be overlooking it anytime soon.
While performing at Coachella yesterday, King Push told the crowd that LGSEO still sits at the top, regardless of genre.
He said, “‘Let God Sort Em Out’ is still the album of the motherfckin year. Whole new year, still album of the year,” per Kurrco. “Album of the motherfcking year until we drop again. We don't care who dropping. It don't matter.”
That is a strong statement for obvious reasons, especially considering the recent claims surrounding Push himself.
Over the same weekend, hip hop social media lit up after several alleged reference tracks connected to Quentin Miller and Push began circulating. Three tracks surfaced in total, but one that drew the most attention was an alleged record titled “Real Gon’ Come.” It is said to come from the DAYTONA era, around 2017 to 2018.
The situation gained traction because fans remember the past tension between Drake and Pusha T before Drake’s clash with Kendrick Lamar. During that feud, Pusha accused Drake of using ghostwriters on tracks like “Infrared,” which appears on DAYTONA. On that song, he raps, “The bigger question is how the Russians did it /
It was written like Nas, but it came from Quentin.”
Reactions have been mixed. Some people argue it is not a major issue since Miller’s alleged contributions were limited to hooks. Others point out that the songs were never officially released, so they see no real problem. Meanwhile, critics view it as clear hypocrisy on Pusha T’s part, a perspective that DJ Akademiks has also supported.
