MUSIC NEWS FOR THE MIDLANDS

Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis has claimed that the band won't mind if they don't win the Barclaycard Mercury Prize next week.

According to the Daily Star, the singer insisted that simply being nominated for the award was a privilege.

He said: "If we do win I'm gonna spend it on a no-expense-spared holiday to the Caribbean, which would be awesome.

"It's probably not the right attitude to have but I don't really care about winning as I think the nomination is kind of winning in its own right."

Err...no it isn't. EB.

The 29-year-old Gossip singer, who broke up with her long-term partner Freddie after nine years together in January, admits she and her new girlfriend Kristen have discussed starting a family in the future and she is already planning to seek medical advice as soon as her new clothing line for UK plus-size retailer Evans is released.

She said: "I want to do it when I'm 37. But I do want to go to the doctor in the next year and start taking it really seriously.

"Once these clothing lines are out I can take space and think about the baby."

Beth admits she was close to Kristin, who is also her assistant, before ending her relationship with transgender Freddie, but insists she never cheated on her former partner.

She told Britain's Marie Claire magazine: "It was something that I kept hidden deep inside of me. But everyone knew. Even people are parties and clubs would be like, 'When are they going to get together?' There was always a little guilt inside of me because I felt I was cheating, but I never cheated. We never did anything.

Our immediate thought was that music-news.com had missed out the word 'JELLY' in their headline. EB.

Morrissey described the treatment of animals in China as "absolutely horrific", referring to recent news stories about animals in Chinese circuses and zoos. He told interviewer Simon Armitage: "Did you see the thing on the news about their treatment of animals and animal welfare? Absolutely horrific. You can't help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies."

Armitage said Morrissey was typically and deliberately provocative throughout the interview. "I thought at the time it was a dangerous thing to say into a tape recorder. He must have known it would make waves, he's not daft," he said. "But he's provocative and theatrical, and it was one of dozens of dramatic pronouncements. I'm not an apologist for that kind of remark, and couldn't ignore it. But clearly, when it comes to animal rights and animal welfare, he's absolutely unshakable in his beliefs. In his view, if you treat an animal badly, you are less than human. I think that was his point."

Morrissey said in a statement tonight: "If anyone has seen the horrific and unwatchable footage of the Chinese cat and dog trade – animals skinned alive - then they could not possibly argue in favour of China as a caring nation. There are no animal protection laws in China and this results in the worst animal abuse and cruelty on the planet. It is indefensible."

First Of The Gang To Stir-Fry? Probs not. EB.

Bruno Mars has been busy racking up an impressive catalogue of features including Billionaire with Travie McCoy, B.o.B.'s Nothing on You and Cee-Lo's recent hit Forget You.

He joined Newsbeat for a chat about his inspiration, along with a substantial full English breakfast, but he admits that British food isn't the only thing he's a fan of.

"I've been telling everyone this side of London I love the Arctic Monkeys. I'd love to just get in with them and see what happens," he told Newsbeat.

"I can just tell listening to their music, I feel like we have the same influences.

"I mean their music doesn't sound anything like mine but I just love the aggression, and - what's the best word? - the viciousness sometimes.

"The dude's a great singer, I love his voice."

Lovely stuff. Who are you? EB.

New York's current darlings The Drums are staggered that their debut album has become so popular... for a record that started out as a mere bedroom project.

Speaking to Xfm at last weekend's Leeds Festival, singer Jonathan Pierce said: "This is the first time we've ever played festivals, as we've only been a band for a year and a half. It's turned out to be a really great experience. Just going all over the world and seeing kids excited about what we're doing. It's really surreal for us.

"We're just really doing it for ourselves, not thinking anyone else would even hear it. Even getting to the level of putting it out was remarkable. It was a record we did on our own in our bedroom. We started the band out of kind of being bored... bored with life. We are still bored, that's the problem."

The only things we get up to in the bedroom are sleeping and sexual err...actually...just sleeping really. Sh*t. EB.

Tenessee indie-rockers Kings Of Leon have revealed that Radioactive will be their first single from forthcoming fifth studio album Come Around Sundown.

The new single will be released on October 11th with the accompanying video premiering on the bands official website (www.kingsofleon.com) on September 8th. The band's eagerly awaited new album Come Around Sundown has been slated for release on October 18th and as with all previous albums, the UK version will come with its own unique artwork (pictured).

Fans can expect the new 13-track album to be released on download, vinyl and CD format, with two CDs being made available in the form of a standard version and a deluxe version. The deluxe version of the album is set to include several live songs taken from the band's sell-out headline show at London's Hyde Park on June 30th, a show that saw Kings of Leon play to a staggering 60,000 fans.

But has that tree been checked for pigeons? EB.