Established in 2001, Leyline lists a catalogue of successful PR and marketing campaigns spanning almost ten years on behalf of record labels (major and independent), festivals, radio stations, major club nights, venues and artists. As a small but highly skilled company, Leyline Publicity deliver challenging and intelligent PR campaigns across a variety of platforms including; Regional and national press, online and viral marketing, blog engagement and online video placement. In addition, drawing upon years of experience working within the live sector as one of the capitals leading independent promoters, Leyline offers much more than other traditional music PR company's can in terms of facilitating live placements for album launches, tours and festivals including an in depth knowledge of live marketing, promotions and production.

Clients including Xfm, Red Bull, EA Games, Standon Calling, The Holloways, Bent, Hervé, My Toys Like Me, The Glade Festival, Sony Ericsson have chosen Leyline because of our reputation for innovative ideas, meticulous planning and ability to deliver on time and in budget! If you have any PR, marketing or promotional requirements in the near future, please do not hesitate to contact us! Email adrian@leylinepromotions.com or call 020 7575 3285

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DESK SPACE TO RENT IN SHOREDITCH
A bright Shoreditch third floor 4 desk unit, ideal for a start-up. You'll be sharing with 4 other small media enterprises (film, publishing, PR and design). The space comes with four desks, chairs and shelving units and is ready for you to move in today. Office has internet, wifi and is fully air-conditioned. In a very desirable location 5 minutes from Liverpool Street station and 10 minutes from Old Street station. Rent is £250 per desk, per month, including rates and service charge. Please contact  rachel@devenportpr.com

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FILM PRODUCTION STUDIO TO RENT IN SHOREDITCH
A fully equipped film production studio in the heart of Shoreditch. An ideal temporary studio to meet all your freelance and overspill needs, with access to 2 cameras (Z1E and HC1E) with 2 sound kits, an HD edit suite with FCP Studio 2, HD deck, HD monitor and sound station. Full specs available on request. Includes a working space for up to four people. The space with production and post-production equipment is £200 per day, minimum hire of three days; 7 days is charged at 5 days. Discounts available for hire of 4 weeks plus. Please contact jobeda@fairknowledge.co.uk or 07809601366.

GOVERNMENT TO FAST TRACK ANTI-PIRACY PROPOSALS
Who would have thought that after all these years of DRM and litigation and stressing and shouting and ISP baiting, what the music industry needed to combat online piracy was a Mandelson. And I've had one in a cupboard here at CMU HQ all that time, but never thought to use it. I'm now feeling rather silly.

Yes, the government, who once talked tough about P2P file-sharing, and then went a bit fluffy on the subject in its bit 'Digital Britain' report earlier this year, is now upping the anti again in a bid to cut the amount of unlicensed content shared by British web-users, and as a result "technical measures" could be used against persistent copyright infringers sooner rather than later.

As much previously reported, back at the start of 2008 ministers implied they would force internet service providers to start taking proactive steps against those who persistently share unlicensed music and film content on the net, starting with the mailing out of warning letters and, perhaps, ultimately resulting in the sort of account suspensions being introduced in France.

Such was the threat from government that the six biggest UK-based ISPs agreed to enter into a voluntary memorandum of understanding with the record companies, and started sending out warning letters to the customers the record industry believed were the biggest illegal file-sharers.

But then - possibly as a result of some serious lobbying from the net firms - Stevie Carter's 'Digital Britain' report, where those implied measures to force ISPs to act on P2P piracy were expected to be formally stated, said very little about combating file-sharing, except that it was something that should probably happen. There was talk of forcing ISPs to take vague "technical measures" against persistent file-sharers, but not now, rather, in the future, presumably when it would be a Tory communications minister who would become associated with the potential internet disconnections such a policy might result in.

But now the very same government has published a new mini-report that amends 'Digital Britain' and says that if "technical measures" are going to be employed against "hardcore copyright pirates" then it should be done now, not later. DigiMin Stephen Timms has announced the change of heart, though it's widely believed it is Business Secretary Peter Mandelson who has brought the anti-filesharing initiative forward, him having recently become very interested in the issue, possibly or possibly not as a result of having lunch with former record industry chief and current film studio owner David Geffen.

Announcing the change of plan, the aforementioned Timms said this: "We've been listening carefully to responses to the consultation this far, and it's become clear there are widespread concerns that the plans as they stand could delay action, impacting unfairly upon rights holders". Quite how the proposed measures to combat piracy would really work - and whether they would ever result in the actual suspension or disconnection of the internet accounts of persistent infringers - isn't very clear, but today's announcement means we should find out more about those measures a lot sooner than originally planned.

Needless to say, representatives of the record industry, who were disappointed by DigiBrit's lacklustre commitments on the P2P issue, have welcomed the latest development. Cross music industry trade body UK Music said: "UK Music is pleased that government is proposing accelerated and proportionate action to meet their stated ambition of reducing illegal file-sharing by 70-80% within two to three years. Throughout this debate, UK Music has voiced concerns that the original time frame of proposed legislation, and particularly the trigger mechanisms that would grant Ofcom reserve powers to implement technical measures, would have failed to meet these ambitions. More than that, these trigger mechanisms would have required our members to take [civil] legal action against individuals - a move the UK music industry has consistently resisted. We look forward to open discussions with Government and other stakeholders in the weeks ahead".

Speaking for the record companies, the boss of the BPI, Geoff Taylor told CMU: "Digital piracy is a serious problem and a real threat to the UK's creative industries. We welcome the government's recognition that this problem needs to be addressed urgently, so today is a step forward that should help the legal digital market to grow for consumers. The solution to the piracy problem must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. We look forward to working with government and ISPs on the details of these proposals to ensure these objectives are met".

Equally needless to say, the Internet Service Providers' Association, who like the idea of ISPs having no role in combating online piracy, responded negatively to Timm's announcement. They told reporters: "ISPA and consumer groups consider disconnection of users to be a disproportionate response, a view that was recently supported by the European Parliament".

So there you go, round one went to the record companies, round two to the ISPs, and now, it seems, round three may be won by the music industry again, thanks to that clever play of a Mandelson.

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JACKO DEATH INVESTIGATION DOCUMENTS RELEASED
While the official coroner's report remains sealed, documents relating to the previously reported search of Michael Jackson's personal doctor Conrad Murray's office have been released, revealing and clarifying some details about the singer's death. In addition to this, an unnamed police source has come forward to tell the Associated Press that the coroner's report has ruled that the singer's death was a homicide, rather than accidental.

In the affidavit (the contents of which have been called into dispute by Murray's lawyer) which originally requested a search warrant to be granted as part of a manslaughter investigation, police detective Orlando Martinez said that Los Angeles Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner, Dr Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran "had reviewed the preliminary toxicology results and his preliminary assessment of Jackson's cause of death was due to lethal levels of propofol".

Regarding Jacko's propofol dependency and its role in the singer's demise, Murray apparently claims that he had been attempting to wean Jackson off the powerful anaesthetic, which the singer referred to as his "milk", prior to his death. The doc says he feared Jackson had become addicted to the drug after a six week course of 50 milligrams per night. He had lowered the dose to 25 milligrams and added sedatives lorazepam and midazolam into the mix on 23 Jun. The next night he cut the propofol altogether, just giving Jackson the two sedatives.

According to the affidavit, on 25 Jun, Murray seemingly provided the singer with 10 milligrams of Valium at around 1.30am, followed by two milligrams of lorazepam around half an hour later, two milligrams of midazolam at around 3am and repeats of both at 5am and 7.30am.

After "repeated demands" from Jackson, who was still failing to sleep properly, Murray administered a 25 milligram dose of propofol via an intravenous drip at 10.40am. Jackson finally fell asleep after this and Murray stayed by his side for around 10 minutes before leaving "to go to the restroom and relieve himself" and make phonecalls. When he returned, Jackson was no longer breathing. Murray attempted CPR, but failed to revive him.

In a statement, Murray's lawyer Edward Chernoff said: "Much of what was in the search warrant affidavit is factual. However, unfortunately, much is police theory. Most egregiously, the timeline reported by law enforcement was not obtained through interviews with Dr Murray, as was implied by the affidavit. Dr Murray simply never told investigators that he found Michael Jackson at 11.00am not breathing. He also never said that he waited a mere ten minutes before leaving to make several phone calls. In fact, Dr Murray never said that he left Michael Jackson's room to make phone calls at all".

On the subject of the anonymous claims that Jackson's death had been ruled a homicide, he said: "We will not comment on the 'anonymous' law enforcement source that claims that Michael Jackson's death will be ruled a homicide. Most of the reports by 'anonymous' sources have been proven wrong. We will be happy to address the Coroner's report when it is officially released".

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PIRATE BAY SALE HITS MORE PROBLEMS
When I originally wrote this story at lunchtime, The Pirate Bay was offline, because of a court order issued last week against the internet service provider that connects the rogue BitTorrent tracker to the net. But it seems to be back now.

As much previously reported, content owners are increasingly angry that, despite their big win against the Bay in the combined civil/criminal case against the service and its founders earlier this year, they are yet to receive any money in damages, the service's founders and backer are yet to serve any of the jail time they were handed, and, most importantly, the copyright infringing service is still online.

The most recent legal action by the content owners led to an order being issued by the Stockholm district court against Black Internet ordering them to disconnect TPB from the net. Had they not complied they would have been fined 500,000 kroner. Once Black Internet cut the line, TPB chiefs posted a message vowing to have the service back online within hours, presumably via another net provider. They seemingly succeeded.

Elsewhere in Bay news, there is yet more uncertainty around the sale of the Pirate Bay to Global Gaming Factory, with trading in GGF shares on the Swedish stock market suspended and reports that the company's chairman Magnus Bergman has resigned. That uncertainty isn't really to do with the aforementioned court order (thought the service being offline won't have helped), but more related to reports GGF has failed to raise the cash to go through with the £4.7 million TPB takeover, with some board members and financial backers reportedly nervous of acquiring a website with such a tarnished legacy.

However, the company's CEO Hans Pandeya maintains that everything is fine and everyone should stop worrying, telling the BBC: "The Aktietorget - the Swedish stock market - said they wanted more information on investors, which we said we would release after the acquisition. There are risks and possible lawsuits, and this makes people nervous. None [of the investors] wants to give out their details, otherwise the media will attack them. You are not supposed to buy an illegal site. This is out-of-the-box thinking. Because it is unconventional it is viewed with uncertainty by Swedish culture, even if I don't view it that way. Because of that, [the bankers investigating the sale] want details and 100% assurances, but in business that is not always something you can get".

He added that, although he knew nothing about Bergman's apparently departure, he was expected to step down from the company soon anyway: "We are going to have a shareholder meeting to get a new board and we were doing that because Magnus was going to leave. I have not had any information that he had already left and I met him on Friday and he didn't say anything".

Finally in Bay news, it's looking increasingly less likely that the website's founders will be forced to pay the aforementioned 30 million kronor in damages awarded to the media companies who sued them earlier this year, as the bailiff assigned to get the money has found that the four men have "no attachable assets" in Sweden. It's unclear what this means for GGF's acquisition. If their purchase of The Pirate Bay does go through, the bailiffs may set their sights on the new owners.

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NMPA SUE LYRIC SITES
Ah, litigation against lyric publishing websites, we've not had any of this for a while. The US National Music Publishers Association is suing two web firms - Motive Force and LiveUniverse - over allegations both run websites that make lyrics available without paying any royalties to the people who own them, ie the music publishers.

NMPA president David Israelite told reporters: "These sites are profiting on the backs of songwriters. It is unfortunate that copyright holders must so frequently divert energies to protect their rights to license and distribute their works. However, the demand for music prompts a seemingly endless stream of illegal business models".

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SLIPKNOT DRUMMER HOSPITALISED
Slipknot were forced to cancel their headline appearance at the Pain in The Grass festival in Seattle on Saturday night after drummer Joey Jordison was hospitalised.

Exact details of what was wrong with him have not been released, but a statement on the band's website read: "Tonight's show in Seattle was cancelled as Joey Jordison was taken to the hospital for health reasons. No further shows will be cancelled".

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RAZORLIGHT ROADIE FALLS OUT OF SPEEDING BUS
Razorlight nearly missed their set at V Festival at the weekend when one of their roadies fell out of their tour bus, while travelling on a motorway.

Frontman Johnny Borrell told Absolute Radio: "I didn't personally have a drama but in Razorlight, well we did have a big drama, because one of our roadies got dead pissed. He was on the bus, and he sort of fell out the door of the bus when it was moving along at 70 miles an hour. I think maybe when he got on the bus, it wasn't moving and he was already pissed, and sort of thought, all right I'll get up and go and take a piss around the corner or something".

Amazingly, the man escaped serious injury but was taken to hospital, where he is said to be recovering.

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PENNYWISE FRONTMAN QUITS
Frontman of much-loved US punkers Pennywise, Jim Lindberg, has announced that he has left the band after 21 years. He is now working on a documentary based on his book, 'Punk Rock Dad: No Rules, Just Real Life', as well as a solo album. The band plan to continue without him.

Lindberg said: "After 20 years, nine albums and thousands of shows around the world, my time in Pennywise has come to an end. Being the singer for this band has been an amazing experience, and along the way we made some of the best fans anyone could ask for. There are few things that made me more proud than seeing people at our shows singing our songs, and it's your support and encouragement that's kept me going this long. I would sincerely like to thank everyone who helped us along the way and wish everyone in the Pennywise family the best of luck and continued success".

The remaining members of the band issued a statement via their MySpace page saying: "Pennywise has long stood behind the motto that you should always follow your heart and pursue what makes you happy, and we wish Jim the best of luck in his new ventures, whatever they may be. Pennywise has become a way of life for a lot of people, and has definitely become a way of life for us. As the three remaining members of Pennywise, we feel that we are not done delivering our message to our fans".

They continue: "The band has always been about moving forward in life no matter what obstacles stand in front of you. We will begin our search for a new singer immediately. We will continue to tour the world and we are looking forward to writing new music. We've had a lot of good times and survived the hard times thanks to the undying support of our fans. We're looking forward to what the future may bring".

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ROADRUNNER SIGN KISS
Kiss have signed to Roadrunner Records' Loud & Proud subsidiary for the UK & Europe release of their new album, 'Sonic Boom' - which features their first new material for eleven years and the first studio album with guitarist Tommy Thayer. They join Tommy Lee's band Methods Of Mayhem, who were also recently tempted back into the studio by Loud & Proud.

Speaking about the new album, Gene Simmons told CMU: "'Sonic Boom' may be the best new record we've done since 'Destroyer'. It is 'Rock And Roll Over' meets 'Love Gun'".

Paul Stanley added: "'Sonic Boom' is the perfect title for what we're creating - it's earthshaking and deafening!"

The album will be available as a single disc and also as a three-disc set, featuring new recordings of some of the band's greatest hits, and a live DVD of a gig in Argentina from the band's recent South American tour.

The album will be released on 5 Oct.

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KEANE ASK GALLAGHER TO PRODUCE NEXT ALBUM
Keane frontman Tom Chaplin has said he would like Noel Gallagher to produce the band's next album. That's the same Noel Gallagher who once said: "No matter what direction Keane take, they'll still be shit".

Chaplin told The Daily Star: "I often wonder if Noel is almost resisting the truth that Keane and Oasis are alike in a lot of respects. I think we share a lot of fans. We are both bands of the people. People love coming to a Keane show and an Oasis show because there's a directness to the songs and people come together in a very communal way. It would be great for Noel to produce us - I offer the olive branch. We're huge fans. Whenever I go abroad people ask me what is so great about British music - and it's that there's room for everybody".

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CUOMO DISCUSSES NEW WEEZER ALBUM
When Weezer announced that their new album would be called 'Raditude', the internet became alight with literally some people asking why. Now frontman Rivers Cuomo has explained the album was given that name's because he let someone from the US version of 'The Office' come up with it.

Cuomo revealed that actor Rainn Wilson was responsible for the title, telling Spin: "He has a super-rock persona. When it came time to find a title for the Weezer album, I asked him what he thought the ultimate album title would be, and he said 'Raditude'".

Two songs from the album have so far appeared online, 'I'm Your Daddy' and 'The Girl Got Hot'. They've received a somewhat lukewarm reception. Cuomo described the album, and those two tracks, thus: "The sound of 'Raditude' is fun, high energy pop rock. 'I'm Your Daddy' has an up vibe with the same heavy Weezer guitar riff but with a little electro influence. And 'The Girl Got Hot' - that's kind of a witty party jam".

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SEASICK STEVE ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM
Seasick Steve has announced that he will release his new album, 'Man From Another Time', on 19 Oct via Atlantic.

The album was recorded entirely on analogue equipment and a variety of instruments, including guitars made by Steve himself (I'm using the term guitar loosely, one of them is a plank of wood with a string nailed to it). Everything was played by Steve himself, aside from the drums, which were handled by Dan Magnusson.

Says Steve: "I hope by making records like this, that it'll make people want to hear music that's recorded without the use of digital equipment, and that people's ears can get a little rest from all that shit. But if not, at least it was nice for me. Me and computers do not see eye to eye".

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MAJOR LAZER TO MAKE LONDON LIVE DEBUT
Major Lazer will play his first headline London show at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen on 8 Sep, which will be interesting, given that he's a fictional 80s cartoon character. The men behind the project, Switch and Diplo, will be on hand to make sure everything runs smoothly though.

New single, 'Keep Going Louder', will be released on 7 Sep.

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FRIENDLY FIRES ANNOUNCE HMV APPEARANCE
Friendly Fires will perform live and sign stuff in HMV's Oxford Street store on 2 Sep at 6pm. They will be promoting the deluxe edition of their eponymous debut album, which is released next Monday.

Anyone wanting to get in will need to get down to the store from 9am the day of the appearance to get a wristband. And it'll be one wristband per customer, in order to ensure that the queue is unnecessarily large.

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IAN BROWN TOUR DATES
Ian Brown will be touring the UK in November and December to promote his latest solo album, ''My Way', which is released on 28 Sep via Fiction. Tickets go on sale at 9.30am on Thursday.

Tour dates:

29 Nov: Leicester, De Montfort Hall
30 Nov: Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
1 Dec: Ipswich, Regent
3 Dec: Bournemouth, O2 Academy
4 Dec: London, Brixton Academy
5 Dec: London, Brixton Academy
7 Dec: Cambridge, Corn Exchange
8 Dec: Sheffield, O2 Academy
10 Dec: Leeds, O2 Academy
11 Dec: Leeds, O2 Academy
12 Dec: Liverpool, University
14 Dec: Newcastle, City Hall
15 Dec: Edinburgh, Picture House
16 Dec: Glasgow, O2 Academy
18 Dec: Birmingham, O2 Academy
19 Dec: Manchester, MEN Arena

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LAMACQ PRESENTS FINAL RADIO 1 SHOW
Steve Lamacq presented his final show on BBC Radio 1 last night, after sixteen years with the station. In the last edition of 'In New Music We Trust', he told listeners to "keep the faith" before playing 'Keep The Faith' by The Neutronics.

Before playing the song, he said: "When I was finally given the push by Radio 1, I was planning to finish my last ever programme with a particular song by this band - I didn't forget", adding that his time with the station had been "a wonderful opportunity to try and subvert pop music from within".

Lamacq will continue to present shows on Radio 2 and 6Music.

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NME TO PUBLISH BEATLES SPECIAL
That there NME has announced it will release a special Beatles edition to coincide with the release of re-mastered versions of the Beatles albums, which in turn coincides with the much hyped launch of the Beatles 'Rock Star' game.

The special issue of the music mag will come with thirteen different covers, one for each of the 12 albums being re-released, and one celebrating the 'Magical Mystery Tour' album (the latter limited to just 1000 copies). Inside all albums will be reappraised, plus there'll be an exclusive interview with Paul McCartney. If NME bosses are interested in licensing CMU's 'Ringo Says Fuck Off' column to fill the special edition out, we're open to discussion.

The special NME, and the re-mastered albums, and the Rock Star game, are all out on 9 Sep, and will be backed up by special programmes on NME Radio. Confirming the plans, NME publishing director Paul Cheal told CMU: "This is a unique celebration of the world's favourite band by the world's longest-running weekly music magazine - the cover artwork featured on the 13 special issues of NME is quite simply stunning".

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TOTAL ROCK WORLD ALBUM CHART
It's this week's Total Rock World Album Chart, as counted down on Total Rock last weekend - www.totalrock.com. New entries and re-entries marked with a *.

1. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown (Warner Bros)
2. Daughtry - Leave This Town (Sony/RCA)
3. Nickelback - Dark Horse (Warner/Roadrunner)
4. Billy Talent - III (Warner/Atlantic)
5. Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage (Warner/Roadrunner)
6. Chickenfoot - Chickenfoot (Edel)
7. Shinedown - The Sound Of Madness (Warner/Atlantic)
8. Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings (Warner/Roadrunner)
9. Theory Of A Deadman - Scars & Souvenirs (Warner/Roadrunner)
10. AC/DC - Black Ice (Sony Music)
11. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Best Of (Fantasy)*
12. Rise Against - Appeal To Reason (Universal/Geffen)
13. Bruce Springsteen - Greatest Hits (Sony Music)
14. Devildriver - Pray For Villains (Warner/Roadrunner)
15. Alexisonfire - Old Crows/Young Cardinals (Warner/Roadrunner)
16. The Mars Volta - Octahedron (Universal)
17. Guns N Roses - Greatest Hits (Universal/Geffen)
18. Metallica - Death Magnetic (Universal/Mercury)*
17. August Burns Red - Constellations (Hassle)
19. Incubus - Monuments & Melodies (Sony Music)
20. Kid Rock - Rock - N Roll Jesus (Warner/Atlantic)

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GET TOLD WHERE TO GO BY BOB DYLAN
Bob Dylan could soon become the latest celebrity to record one of those voices on sat nav systems that you switch on for a maximum of five minutes before the repetition gets too annoying.

Speaking on his BBC 6Music show on Sunday evening, Dylan said: "I am talking to a couple of car companies about being the voice of their GPS system. I think it would be good if you are looking for directions and hear my voice saying something like: left at the next street, no a right - you know what? Just go straight. I probably shouldn't do it because which ever way I go I always end up at one place Lonely Avenue".

See, it's already annoying and he hasn't done it yet.

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BELLAMY PANIC BUYS FOR WORLD'S END
Muse frontman Matt Bellamy has told Q that while researching conspiracy theories for lyrics on the band's new album, 'The Resistance', he started taking them all a bit too seriously, rushing out to buy 50 tins of beans and an axe.

He said: "I read somewhere a seven-day blockade and the UK would run out of oil. Another seven days and we'd run out of food. That's why I bought the beans. The axe would chop firewood".

He continued: "I've been through periods where I've felt quite paranoid. But I also believe in the power of people to change things. There is a romance to fighting back against malevolent interests. The last album was dark and angry. This one is all about resisting the corporate-ocracy".

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