That's it folks, we are done for the day.

Only one more Tuesday before Christmas. Yikes.

Scroll down for The Cure's big 40th plans, Shazam on the move, Morrissey's statement on alleged Kevin Spacey remarks, Lily Allen's new track, Star Wars characters doing MMMbop (no, really) and our penultimate Newbie Tuesday of the year who have THE best song around, according to science itself.

We'll leave you with James Corden's Christmas Carpool Karaoke special, starring Katy Perry, Usher, Bruno Mars, The Foo Fighters, Miley Cyrus, P!nk, Sam Smith, Fifth Harmony, Ed Sheeran and Kelly Clarkson.

Harold Styles is in there too and look what happens with him and the Late Late Show host at around two minutes in.

They don't even wait for the mistletoe...

Image source, Getty Images

They used to be Thee Oh Sees and while they've dropped the Thee, Oh Sees are keeping the fuzz rock bangers coming.

California's most prolific psych rockers have just put out a trippy new animated video to their track Drowned Beast from latest album Orc.

The new out of this world animation comes courtesy of Dr. D. Foothead, T-Wei and Otis Chamberlain.

Frontman John Dwyer said in a statement: "I wrote this song mostly in the studio and it was, in my mind, about the insatiable hunger of mankind, but sort of bent in this weird fantastical way.

"I always love working with Dr. Foothead because his take is always coming from some other world, as is evident in this far out animation."

Check it below.

Any fans of Marc Riley's show will know that this lot are his official favourite band on earth and you can listen again to the 6 Music DJ's manic interview with Dwyer.

DJ Charlsey, remember the name...

He is due to host a new 7-9 show on 1Xtra from Friday 9 February 2018.

He was first signed by Tinie Tempah as his official tour DJ in 2010 and has since toured with Bugzy Malone.

He said: “So happy to be joining the Radio 1Xtra family - can’t wait to be a part of the station that is forward-thinking and is a solid part of the culture.

"Looking forward to bringing my take on what a Friday night should sound like!"

As are we Charlsey, as are we...

Charli's even given you the key so you should be able to figure it out by the time the beat drops.

The new queen of the mixtape is dropping her new one Pop 2 on Friday and Unlock It was given its first official radio runout on Beats 1 last night.

The annoyingly catchy synth-driven track features Korean rapper Jay Park and German singer Kim Petras.

Check it above.

Paul Glynn
Music News LIVE reporter

Image source, ddd

The next big thing is often backed by a legion of already loyal fans, BBC Music Introducing and one or two big name champions.

But how many up and coming acts can claim to have the official backing of science itself?

Well, one, to be precise: The Modern Strangers.

Earlier in the year, Professor Armand Leroi used a wealth of scientific data to predict the BBC Music Introducing song most likely to be a chart hit, for the BBC documentary The Secret Science of Pop.

The Kent disco rockers track Margarita (below) came out on top.

What can't speak, can't lie.

And you all thought that Tenacious D had the best song in the world didn't you? Well there's was just a tribute., external

Watch below and be prepared to have your mind blown.

The Strangers are a five-piece fronted by brothers and best friends Max and Archie Davenport and have been together as a band for just over a year.

At first they thought someone was "pulling our leg" about all this.

Max takes up the story: "The professor came along to our gig and they filmed it all and it was quite mental. We didn't know what it was about completely until we watched it on the TV and were like; 'I hope this is a good thing!'

"It ended up being really cool."

The band, who first caught the attention of BBC Music Introducing Kent's Abbie McCarthy, describe their sound as "disco with a leather jacket on".

What exactly is their secret potential hit-making formula then?

"We wrote it in a day, it's just twelve words repeated. It was an instrumental and my brother said 'why don't you sing over that'. I thought I'll just do a dance topline thing.

"It's really upbeat, instant and the chorus comes straight in. The rest is just a chorus and a riff.

Despite the scientific success with Margarita, Max says the musical lab coats won't be going on anytime soon.

He added: "Margarita was a bit of a happy accident".

"We just go in and try and make songs that sound like what we want to sound like. If it's scientifically proven then that's a bonus!

"We don't sit down and get all the equipment out!

Songs like Hot Rain (below) which they performed at their biggest gig to date, supporting the likes of Katy Perry at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Hull.

Had they not turned out to be fronting science's own favourite new band, the incredibly tall Davenport bros might have been male models instead.

But Max doesn't really want to talk about it

"That was a long time ago! I'm basically too tall - me and my brother are six foot six, so it was a very short-lived career.

"Maybe they need people like us in Game of Thrones where there's giants!

"It was fun but not really my cup of tea."

That's not to say they won't look the part when they step out on stage for their big final gig of the year at London's Lexington on Wednesday night (13 December), external.

"I always think the fashion and music go hand in hand. For me if you look at any of the bands I liked at school you'd always try and dress as them.

"If you look at Oasis, the image was as big a thing as the music...the whole world they created."

What new fashions will Modern Strangers fans be copying in the years to come then Max?

"Probably leather jackets and flares!"

Strong.

Read more: Newbie Tuesday #5 Dan Owen.

So on Friday, we're getting ANOTHER version of Ed Sheeran's Perfect - this time with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli (scroll down).

And now, Ed has shared a picture of the two of them together.

"Hope you love it as much as I do," writes Ed "I sing in Italian too which is fun x"

Speriamo sia buono Ed.

Pitchfork

It's by no means a forgone conclusion but Kendrick's chart-topping album DAMN. looks like the one to beat as another end of year list has him at the top of the heap.

This time Pitchfork has him head their list of the top 50 records, external, ahead of SZA and the highest-placed Brit King Krule at number three.

According to the hip music publication the album is "as zealous and purposeful as it is broadly appealing.

"The record is rangy and radio-friendly, sacred and secular, full of evocative scene-setting and risk-taking.

"Kendrick’s more complex ideas get pared down without losing impact, flexed in his most digestible storytelling yet."

Praise indeed.

Yep.

That's about it.

This is what the internet was made for.

Billboard magazine

Pop's favourite vegan Moby is coming back with a new album for 2018.

Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt is due out on 2 March.

Speaking to Billboard, external, Moby said "The punk rocker in me wants to yell at us as a species and say, 'Stop making these terrible choices'.

"But the other part of me who’s maybe aspiring to some enlightenment just wants to try and be understanding and compassionate.”

He last released an album in 2016 as Moby and the Void Pacific Choir.

Read our interview with him.

His remix with Beyonce is currently topping the UK chart (and is due to stay there on Friday, the same goes for his album Divide) and now there's another version of Perfect coming.

Speaking to the Today show in the US, Ed confirmed: "I've got an Italian operatic version with Andrea Bocelli coming out.

"It's just kind of a little present for Christmas. It's a really beautiful video that comes with it."

The new duet will be released this Friday, 15 December.

Until then, here's a short gif of Ed looking menacing in his Christmas jumper, courtesy of Annie Marie.

The pair have just performed a cover of the festive classic Fairytale of New York in the Live Lounge and have, says Radio 1 "nailed it".

Image source, PA

We all love a good band T-shirt.

Some of you may be wearing one now as you read this and therefore may be interested to know that The Yellow Bird Project has just revealed a load of brand new designs from the likes of The Libs, Jimmy Eat World, Birdy, Taking Back Sunday, Mr Scruff and more.

The scheme asks top bands and artists to come up with a new original design and all proceeds raised from the merch go to Trekstock, the UK charity which supports young people with cancer.

Read more, external.

DJ Mr Scruff spoke to 6 Music earlier about his new design (below).

US country-singer Sheryl Crow has shared a new black and white music video featuring her niece Ava, just days ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shootings in Connecticut.

The Dreaming Kind was written in response to the tragedy on 14 December 2012 when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children and six adults - including their teacher - at a school in Newtown, before turning the gun on himself.

The video (above) ends with a message noting all proceeds from the song will go to a charity which strives to protect children from gun violence.

Sheryl's been speaking to the Guardian, external about gun control in the US.

“It’s a horrible feeling for my kids to not even be able to know what happened at Sandy Hook for fear they’ll walk into school and think they’re not in a safe place, or that mom will go to work and there’s a chance she may not come home if there’s somebody in the audience with a gun."

In October 59 people were killed and many more injured in a mass shooting at a Las Vegas country music festival.

Noisey

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, fans of the eccentric Canadian singer-songwriter were treated to a live-stream of almost a full album's worth of new tunes via Instagram this weekend.

The whole thing was captured and uploaded to YouTube by fan McGby128, external, who took the liberty of naming the new tracks himself, with holding titles such as So What, I Drink and Drive and Schmoopy boy.

Well, if he's gone to all that effort...

As well as new tunes,he set includes demos of One More Love Song and For The First Time from DeMarco's last album This Old Dog.

Never a dull moment with the Mac.

Watch/listen to the full stream, external.

That's the grime star of course, not the former Manchester United footballer.

Lily is back with another new track Trigger Bang, which sees her reminiscing about the pains of such first world problems as growing up famous and being "attracted to danger".

Earlier this summer, another new track called Family Man was leaked online and Lily reportedly confirmed to super-producer Mark Ronson that she's working on the follow-up to 2014 album Sheezus.

You can find Trigger Bang now at all your favourite streaming sites but be warned that Giggs is pulling no punches on his rap.

By that we mean he uses some potentially offensive language.

Image source, Getty Images

A fortnight after telling fans at a show in Chicago that he would never give another print interview, Morrissey has again claimed he was misquoted by a German newspaper which said he defended alleged sexual predator Kevin Spacey.

Der Spiegel quoted the singer as saying “It doesn’t quite ring true to me, and it seems to me like he’s been unnecessarily attacked."

Now, in a post on Facebook the embattled former Smith frontman, who has been attacked by other artists over his views, has claimed he has been denied access to the "unchopped, un-fiddled-with audio” of his interview.

"Would I support Kevin Spacey’s private proclivities? No, never," he wrote.

"Would I ever again speak to print media? No, never.”

We have reached out to Der Spiegel for a statement.

Image source, Shazam

That's apparently the value of finding out what that song is you can't quite put your finger on...

Apple has confirmed to Techcrunch, external it has acquired the music recognition app Shazam, with the technology website saying the deal will go through for around $400m (£300m).

Shazam, a UK company founded in 1999, allows people to use their smartphone or computer to identify and buy music through a snippet of sound.

Apple said, in a statement to the tech publication: “Apple Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing a passion for music discovery and delivering great music experiences to our users.

Image source, Shazam

We hope their exciting plans involve the app recognizing songs you sing badly into your phone. That doesn't work currently and believe us, we've tried.

Shazam, which says it has more than 100 million monthly users, makes most of its revenue from commissions paid on referrals to Apple's iTunes Store.

The deal will help the Apple Music service gain ground on Spotify, by making it easier for users to find songs and add them to playlists.

From music discovery to augmented reality advertising, read more about exactly why the US company is spending so much on the music app.

Image source, Getty Images

Life begins at 40 and, with that in mind The Cure will celebrate their landmark anniversary this summer with a load of other indie icons in London's Hyde Park.

Joining the indie goth kings for their British Summer Time gig on Saturday 7 July will be Interpol, Goldfrapp, Ride, Editors, Slowdive and The Twighlight Sad.

Plenty of shoegazing in that field then. And eye-liner - don't forget that whatever you do,

Robert Smith and co will join the likes of Roger Waters, Eric Clapton, Michael Buble and Bruno Mars in heading up the BST gigs for 2018.

It will be the band's only European show of the year.

Tickets go on sale on Friday...I'm in love.

Hello again peeps and welcome back to Music News LIVE.

We're finally starting to feel a little bit festive now having had our Christmas do, where there were some pretty wild karaoke scenes we can tell you.

Stormzy is getting in the mood too, alongside MTV EMA presenter girlfriend Maya Jama at Idris Elba's own Christmas party (if those walls could talk).

Ours was equally as glamorous but it's back to work today where we'll tell you about The Cure's epic-looking 40th anniversary gig plans, Morrissey tries to clear up his views on Kevin Spacey and Donald Trump and we'll have new music from Lily Allen - featuring Giggs - and a another new one from Charli XCX.

Later on we'll introduce you to our penultimate Newbie Tuesday of the year as we think you might just like them.