In the first week of 2026, Annie and Nick have different thoughts about the new A$AP Rocky single, Gen Z are discovering Prince thanks to Stranger Things, and EsDeeKid has told The Chainsmokers exactly what he thinks of their 4 Raws remix. Elsewhere, Stormzy has used social media to express his thoughts about...social media and revealed how he's grown as an artist and as a person. Plus, Jill Scott is finally back with new music, vinyl is expensive, and Annie and Nick get sidetracked by hedgehogs.

Get in touch with Annie and Nick! If you’re over 16 WhatsApp 079700 82700 or email [email protected]

HOMEWORK: Watch Prince performing “Purple Rain” at 2007’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, and listen to Mandy, Indiana’s “Cursive”

SONGS

FAUZIA – The Way

Mandy, Indiana – URGH

Mandy, Indiana – Magazine

Mandy, Indiana – Cursive

A$AP Rocky – Punk Rocky

JADE – Angel of My Dreams

Jill Scott – Beautiful People

Jill Scott - Exclusively

Prince – Purple Rain

Prince – When Doves Cry

Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)

America - A Horse With No Name

EsDeeKid, Timothée Chalamet - 4 Raws

Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World

ALBUMS

A$AP Rocky – Don't Be Dumb

Jill Scott - To Whom This May Concern,

Jill Scott - Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1

Bob Marley and the Wailers – Exodus

Arctic Monkeys – AM

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra – Promises

FKA twigs – Eusexua

What does 2026 have in store for the music industry? Annie and Nick look ahead to expected releases, rumoured returning artists, and an exciting list of confirmed festival line ups. Plus, BBC Music Correspondent Mark Savage joins them to share his expert predictions about which artists to look out for this year, and what music trends we can expect. Get in touch with Annie and Nick! If you’re over 16 WhatsApp 079700 82700 or email [email protected]

Annie and Nick review the standout moments from the past 12 months. From the Oasis tour to Lily Allen’s culture shifting album release, 2025 has been a major year for UK artists, and who could forget the impact of moments such as: an awkward secret being revealed at a Coldplay concert, Katy Perry going to space, and CMAT playing Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage for the first time. Plus, Annie and Nick attempt the impossible task of choosing just one album and song of the year each.

Get in touch with Annie and Nick! If you’re over 16 WhatsApp 079700 82700 or email [email protected]

SONGS

Taylor Swift – So High School

PinkPantheress – Illegal

HAIM – Relationships

Lola Young – Messy

Cameron Winter - Nausicaä (Love Will Be Revealed)

ELIZA – Anyone Else

Ave Maria

Jacon Alon – Liquid Gold 25

CMAT – The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station

Blood Orange - Mind Loaded

ALBUMS

Patti Smith – Horses

Björk – Cornucopia

Mavis Staples – Sad and Beautiful World

Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving

Taylor Swift – The Life of a Showgirl

Charli XCX – brat

Lily Allen – West End Girl

Rosalía - LUX

CMAT – Euro-Country

Cameron Winter – Heavy Metal

Dave - The Boy Who Played the Harp

Blood Orange – Essex Honey

Geese – Getting Killed

Chronixx - Exile

Zadie Smith and Beth Ditto join Annie and Nick for the annual Sidetracked Christmas gathering, recorded at an Irish pub in North London.

They share nostalgia, gossip and gifts, and decide what makes a song a Christmas song – declaring which ones are truly the greatest. Plus, Annie, Nick, Zadie and Beth choose their musical highlights of the year.

Get in touch with Annie and Nick! If you’re over 16 WhatsApp 079700 82700 or email [email protected]

SONGS

Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You

Judy Garland – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Darling Love – Winter Wonderland

Labi Siffre – Bless the Telephone

Pulp – Common People

Lola Young – Messy

Herman’s Hermits - I'm Henry the VIII, I Am

Dolly Parton – Hard Candy Christmas

ALBUMS

Blood Orange – Essex Honey

Rosalía - LUX

Mavis Staples – Sad And Beautiful World

Pulp - More

Van Morrison - Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast

Marcel Dadi – Dadi’s Folk

Ray Conniff – We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra - Christmas With Bert Kaempfert

T.S. Eliot – The Poems of T.S. Eliot

After successfully challenging Ticketmaster over the price of resold tickets on the platform, Olivia Dean has inspired Annie and Nick to ask: should more artists stand up for their fans? Also in Olivia Dean news, she and Lola Young are the only UK artists to make it into Spotify’s Top 10 UK Song or Artist lists for 2025. Yes, Wrapped is out but does anyone care about other people’s listening habits?

Plus, Jorja Smith’s team are seeking royalties from an AI track which many people believed to be hers, Björk is using proceeds from a song she made with Rosalía and Sega Bodega to take the Icelandic state to court, and the Reading/Leeds line up is one of its best ever.

Get in touch with Annie and Nick! If you’re over 16, WhatsApp on 07970082700 or email [email protected]

SONGS

Alex Warren - Ordinary

Gracie Abrams - That’s So True

Lola Young - Messy

Chappell Roan – Pink Pony Club

Billie Eilish - BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Ravyn Lenae – Love Me Not

sombr - back to friends

Gigi Perez – Sailor Song

Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - Die With A Smile

Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe!

Björk, Sega Bodega, Rosalía - Oral

HAVEN – I Run

ALBUMS

Cameron Winter – Heavy Metal

F.S.Blumm & Nils Frahm – Handling

Sabrina Carpenter – Short n’Sweet

Alex Warren - You'll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1)

KPop Demon Hunters Cast - KPop Demon Hunters (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film)

Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving

Charli XCX – brat

Fontaines D.C. - Romance

Sega Bodega – I Created The Universe So That Life Could Create a Language So Complex, Just To Say How Much I Love You

ANNIE'S DINGLE LIST:

Michael D. Higgins

Dove Ellis

Dermot Kennedy

Sorcha Richardson

Chalk

The Scratch

Is Timothée Chalamet secretly a Scouse drill rapper named EsDeeKid? Annie and Nick investigate this conspiracy and all available evidence for and against it. Elsewhere, Beyoncé has let herself be seen in public, which can only mean one thing: something is about to be announced. Plus, Charli XCX has analysed the realities of being a pop star in a recent essay, which raises the question: is the life of a popstar inherently stupid?

And Annie and Nick pay tribute to two music greats, Gary “Mani” Mounfield and Jimmy Cliff, and discuss how songs can allow artists to live forever.

Get in touch with Annie and Nick! If you’re over 16, WhatsApp on 07970082700 or email [email protected]

SONGS

JT – Girls Gone Wild

Shygirl/JT/Sega Botega – Slime

Oasis – Live Forever

Jimmy Cliff – You Can Get It If You Really Want

Jimmy Cliff – Wonderful World, Beautiful People

Jimmy Cliff – I Can See Clearly Now

Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come

Charli XCX – Von dutch

Rosalía - Berghain

ALBUMS

Rosalía - LUX

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska

Beyoncé - Renaissance

Beyoncé - Cowboy Carter

The GQ journalist who investigated whether Timothée is EsDeeKid is Josiah Gogarty.

After an eye-opening survey by Live Nation, Annie and Nick discuss why more people would choose to go to a concert rather than have sex – and whether the both of those things belong in the same category. Otherwise this week, Nick attended a fashion show with Beth Ditto, and spotted a familiar face on the catwalk; and Annie was mesmerised by a Mulatu Astatke show.

Plus, Lorde played the O2 and two listeners have strong opinions about it, CMAT is making people cry at her gigs, and BBC Introducing has been criticised for playing an “AI Artist”

And Billie Eilish is taking on Elon Musk for not giving away his riches, but before they can decide who’s winning this feud, Annie and Nick need to work out how many billions are in a trillion.

Get in touch with Annie and Nick! If you’re over 16, WhatsApp on 07970082700 or email [email protected]

SONGS

Mark Morrison – Return of the Mack

Mulatu Astatke - Tezeta

Rosalía- Berghain

Robyn – Dopamine

Charli XCX – Chains of Love

Hercules & Love Affair – Someone Else is Calling

ALBUMS

Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu Plays Mulatu

Rosalía - LUX

Lily Allen - West End Girl

The world reacts to Rosalía's new album and Annie and Nick debate whether there’s room for Berghain in the night club. Plus, the Grammy nominations have been announced, and rap music has fallen off the US charts prompting the question; do genres ever die? Elsewhere, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducts new legends, Nick hears a song that inspires him to film a roundabout, and we discover the unlikely record that got Annie into DJing. Plus, is Charlie XCX’s new track suitable for early morning? Get in touch with Annie and Nick! If you’re over 16, WhatsApp on 07970082700 or email [email protected] SONGS

Samantha Fu – Discotheque

De La Soul – Buhloone Mindstate

Blood Orange – Mind Loaded

Joey Negro – Risky Biznizz

Rosalía - Magnolia, Mio Cristo and La Perla

Leon Thomas – Mutt

Charlie XCX and John Cale – This House

Handel – Messiah ALBUMS

Rosalía - Lux

Blood Orange – Essex Honey

Annie and Nick follow the reaction of two major album releases this week from Dave and Lily Allen, with one breaking chart records and the other breaking the internet. They also look ahead to the much-anticipated album release from Rosalía, which left Nick wanting to see a chiropractor and make a ‘classical bangers’ playlist. Elsewhere, the pair discuss Erykah Badu’s mysterious messaging, Billie Eilish challenges billionaires, and the pair ponder some Grammy nomination predictions. Get in touch with Annie and Nick! If you’re over 16, WhatsApp on 07970082700 or email [email protected] SONGS

Inflatable Boy Clams - Skeletons

Jenny Beth – Savages

Dave feat. Kano – Chapter 16

Dave feat. James Blake – Selfish

Rosalía feat. Björk and Yves Tumor – Berghain

Krzysztof Penderecki - Symphony No. 3. ALBUMS

Lily Allen – West End Girl

Dave – The Boy Who Played Harp

What’s scarier: being haunted by ghosts, or promoting an album? It’s a Halloween special with Florence Welch.

As she prepares to release her new record, Everybody Scream, Florence reveals the supernatural elements that inspired her. Plus, swapping playlists with Ethel Cain and Abigail Morris, using fear as a muse; and Annie and Nick reminisce about partying with Florence in the early days of all their careers.

Florence Welch’s Halloween Music Recommendations:

ØXN - The Trees, They Do Grow High

ØXN - Cruel Mother

Lingua Ignota – DO YOU DOUBT ME TRAITOR

Anna Von Hausswolff –Theatre of Nature

Hilary Woods - Acts of Light

PJ Harvey - White Chalk

Swans - It's Coming and It’s Real

Judee Sill

Storefront Church

Other Albums Mentioned:

Florence and the Machine – Everybody Scream

Florence and the Machine – Lungs

Florence and the Machine – Dance Fever

The Cure – Songs of a Lost World

Ethel Cain – Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You

The Last Dinner Party – From the Pyre

Other Songs Mentioned:

The Cure – Friday I’m In Love

Kendrick Lamar – Reincarnated

Kesha – Supernatural

In a busy week for new music announcements, Annie and Nick look back and ahead. First though, Nick needs to talk about his newfound passion: Sumo Wrestling. Elsewhere, Rosalía and Dave have announced new music, and Lily Allen is dropping an album on Friday - which Annie and Nick have had a sneak preview of. In other news: what made this year’s Mercury Prize so much better than previous years? And of course, the sad news of D’Angelo’s death has allowed the world to pay tribute to his immense influence; Annie and Nick discuss their love for his music.

Get in touch with Annie and Nick! If you’re over 16, WhatsApp on 07970082700 or email [email protected]

SONGS

Lily Allen – West End Girl

D’Angelo - Playa Playa

D’Angelo - Untitled (How Does It Feel)

Lauryn Hill & D’Angelo - Nothing Even Matters

ALBUMS

Dave – The Boy Who Played The Harp

Lily Allen – West End Girl

Rosalía - LUX

Sam Fender – People Watching

D’Angelo - Brown Sugar

D’Angelo - Voodoo

D’Angelo - Black Messiah