Aluna has spoken about branching out from duo AlunaGeorge to work on her own solo music.

The singer formed the group in 2012 with producer George Reid, with who she has released two albums – 2013’s ‘Body Music’ and 2016’s ‘I Remember’.

In April, though, she released her debut solo single ‘Body Pump’ and the singer has now explained her decision to work on her own in a new interview. “People have always asked me if it [going solo] was something I’d thought about, and I always thought they were mad, because what me and George have is so fruitful,” she told The Forty-Five.

She explained, however, that over time there had been “certain musical and lyrical areas that felt awkward to do in a duo, because they were so singularly from my culture and my perspective”.

“I did feel a little bit self-conscious trying to drag George through my own process of self-discovery,” she said. “I wrote a song before we put out the last EP which was about my mum and my grandma, and George is obviously supportive, but it’s just a bit weird, like ‘hey, do you want to finish off this black women’s anthem with me?’”

Aluna confirmed that, despite her working on solo music at the moment, AlunaGeorge “is definitely still going”. “It’s on hiatus rather than being over, basically,” she said.

AlunaGeorge last put out a record with the 2018 EP ‘Champagne Eyes’. Earlier this year, they collaborated on Kito’s single ‘Alone With You’, as well as working on tracks with Far East Movement and Henry, and Sonny Fodera & King Henry.

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Paul McCartney has spoken out about the death of George Floyd, calling for justice for his family and “all those who have died and suffered” because of police brutality.

• Read more: How to support Black Lives Matter and anti-racist organisations if you can’t protest

Floyd died on May 25 while being arrested by police in Minneapolis. Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine-minutes, which, according to an independent autopsy, cut blood and airflow off from his brain, causing mechanical asphyxia.

Chauvin has since been sacked and charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, while the three other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

In a post on Facebook today (June 5), McCartney encouraged his fans to educate themselves about racism and support organisations associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. “As we continue to see the protests and demonstrations across the world, I know many of us want to know just what we can be doing to help,” the Beatle wrote.

“None of us have all the answers and there is no quick fix but we need change. We all need to work together to overcome racism in any form. We need to learn more, listen more, talk more educate ourselves and, above all, take action.”

He continued to recount a time when, in 1964, The Beatles had been scheduled to play in Jacksonville, Louisiana, but found out the audience would be segregated. “It felt wrong,” he said. “We said, ‘We’re not doing that!’ And the concert we did do was to [be] their first non-segregated audience. We then made sure this was in our contract. To us it send like common sense.”

McCartney said he felt “sick and angry” that racism was still an issue almost 60 years later, calling Floyd’s murder “senseless” and a result of “police racism”. “All of us here support and stand alongside all those who are protesting and raising their voices at this time,” he concluded. “I want justice for George Floyd’s family, I want justice for all those who have died and suffered. Saying nothing is not an option.”

The Beatle follows a number of other musicians who have spoken out during the recent Black Lives Matter protests, which have taken place across the US and around the world. Among them, Adele told her fans to “be righteously angered but be focused”, while Killer Mike gave an impassioned speech telling Atlanta residents to “plot, plan, strategise, organise, and mobilise”.

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System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian has questioned whether or not fans listen to their lyrics.

Speaking on the Side Jams With Bryan Reesman podcast, Tankian said after looking at some fan’s comments on social media, he wasn’t sure if fans listened to the true message of the band’s lyrics.

• Read More: “It’s a cry out for justice”: on the scene at London’s Black Lives Matter protest

He said: “When I get people on my socials that are, ‘I love your music, but I don’t wanna hear your political ideas,’ that’s fair enough — if they’re nice enough, it’s fair enough, but sometimes they’re really mean.

“But what I don’t understand, and a lot of other people that follow the music say the same thing. They’re, like, ‘Have you not listened to the fucking words in 20 years? He’s been saying all this stuff through his music all this time. What are you, just dancing to it because it’s groovy? You’re not really getting the message?’”

System Of A Down drummer John Dolmayan last week hailed US President Donald Trump as the “greatest friend to minorities”, following the US president’s controversial response to the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

On Monday (June 1), Trump declared himself a “law and order president” in a press conference, and said that he would mobilise the US military to be deployed against protesters seeking justice over George Floyd’s death.

He also labelled those taking to the streets as “thugs”, adding: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” This tweet was subsequently censored by Twitter, who deemed its message to be in violation of the site’s rules surrounding “glorifying violence”. 

Dolmayan’s comments were at odds with those of frontman Tankian, who had previously claimed that the president’s “time has come”. “Coordinate online and block every street everywhere and force the regime to resign,” he urged the protestors.

“Run Donny run into your bunker,” Tankian wrote. “You may be the first US President to do so out of fear of your own citizens… These protests are not just over race but over institutional injustices beginning with the slave era electoral college that put you in power, K Street lobbying firms, superdelegates of a two party duopolistic Neo-liberal corporatocracy whose day has come.”

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