_{It’s always great to find ‘new’ (or at least new to me) bands and this week an excellent discovery was Australia band Lillye. American label Eclipse Records have announced that they’d signed the band and that they’d be releasing their debut album in May. Along with the press release I received there was a link to a video for the track “Who I’m Meant To Be” from the band’s self-titled and self-released EP from 2014. After a visit to iTunes, this track is included on the Friday NI Rocks Show this week.}

_{The full press release can be read below -}

_{I’ve been a fan of Canadian band Kobra and the Lotus for a number of years and it was great to see them play Belfast for the first time last November. In 2017 they released “Prevail I”, the first part of what initially was planned as a double-album, through Napalm Records. I recorded an interview with vocalist Kobra Paige last August to talk about the new album and more - http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews/3178-ni-rocks-interview-with-kobra-paige-from-kobra-and-the-lotus.html}

_{This month Napalm have announced the release date for “Prevail II” and revealed the artwork and track listing. See the full press release below –}

_{The PR material for the new Rick Springfield album “The Snake King”, which was released via Frontiers Music on 26th January, advised you to more or less expect the unexpected! Even fore-warned I was caught rather unexpected by the new album. Following on from his previous album “Rocket Science”, I was anticipating something even more country inspired, but instead Springfield has gone down the blues route. The really unexpected delight however is the lyrical content – “Jessie’s Girl” it isn’t! Personally, I love the direction he has taken – others may not be so pleased! I included the track “The Devil That You Know” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 2nd February.}