Every genre, every era, every week
emailed direct to you
Music news, bold reviews and unexpected extras emailed direct to you
Music
-
Her forthcoming solo album is a love letter to formative years of queer clubbing and 00s Euro-dance, as the singer swaps black clothes and bleak moods for Technicolor euphoria -
This week we’ve got a bittersweet slice of electropop, a festive TikTok banger, and a glimmering soulful belter
-
3 out of 5 stars.
Alexis Petridis's album of the week Miley Cyrus: Plastic Hearts – too plastic, but has heart
3 out of 5 stars.From floaty synth ballads to punky 80s pop, this album’s middling material doesn’t adequately serve this unusual star
-
4 out of 5 stars.
Contemporary album of the month Brandee Younger and Dezron Douglas: Force Majeure – perfect marriage of harp and bass
4 out of 5 stars.The couple combine forces on a jazzy chamber album full of harmonic intelligence and symbiosis -
Two auctions this week will sell off items from Liam Gallagher, Nick Cave and more, to benefit venues and roadies whose livelihoods have been destroyed by Covid-19
-
Look back on our complete countdown of the greatest UK No 1s, from the Beatles to Baby D, and So Solid Crew to Suzi Quatro
-
Thirty-six years on, their debut single still pulses with beguiling ambiguity – a heady rush of lust, naivety, disco and opaque references to Lenin -
The remarkable, dark power of this song, with its harrowing wail of a chorus, plunges you straight back into the anger, violence and despair of the early 80s -
The Fab Four’s 1963 hit is an explosion of exuberance that made “yeah yeah yeah” the fanfare for a culture on the brink of irreversible change
-
He’s no stranger to controversy, but few doubt the talent of Tyron Frampton, AKA Slowthai. He talks about his new album and paying tribute to the NHS -
Hailed by Dave Grohl as the future of rock’n’roll, Doncaster’s Dominic Harrison reflects on being a punk, ditching Disney and being led by Amy Winehouse -
The former teen star on why she’s not jealous of her more famous sister, and the strain that legal battles have placed on the Spears family -
With no contracts and cheap releases from the likes of Fugazi and Minor Threat, Ian MacKaye and comrades rejected booze, drugs and riches to give US punk a conscience. They look back on 40 years of righteous noise
Best music reviews
-
5 out of 5 stars.
Megan Thee Stallion Good News – galloping into greatness
5 out of 5 stars.With easy flow, hard barbs and a magnetic persona, the rapper casts herself as the successor to hip-hop’s old-school heroes -
4 out of 5 stars.
Alexis Petridis's album of the week Cabaret Voltaire: Shadow of Fear – a fittingly dystopian fantasy from Sheffield's industrial pioneers
4 out of 5 stars.The first Cabaret Voltaire album in more than two decades feels oddly of the moment, their grim presentiments about disinformation, curfews and crackdowns fulfilled -
Obituaries
-
Innovative technician described as a ‘sonic genius’ by long-time collaborator Quincy Jones also worked with Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Diana Ross and others -
The musician, who died on Saturday, gave the Oils’ music an unexpected sweetness, but his warmth and humour was the glue that kept them together -
His melodically brilliant powerpop chafed against the 90s indie scene – but the singer, who has died of bowel cancer, should also be remembered for songs made after his band’s fame -
Other lives: An inspirational teacher who was a leading light of modernist music
-
As Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches turns 30, revisit our feature on the moment that indie and rave collided and a seismic party began
sleevenotesemail
By genre
-
The pop-metallers’ frontman Oli Sykes has gone from ‘school punching bag’ to chart-topping star – but coronavirus brought back his childhood anxieties
-
Her forthcoming solo album is a love letter to formative years of queer clubbing and 00s Euro-dance, as the singer swaps black clothes and bleak moods for Technicolor euphoria
-
Singer’s demand follows absence of the Weeknd in all categories of the 2021 awards despite huge success this year and dismay at exclusion of Lil Uzi Vert
-
Other Music fuelled New York’s 00s indie boom, boasting Vampire Weekend and Animal Collective among its fans. Then it closed. A new documentary tells the story of the store’s tragic demise – and its ‘terrifying’ staff
-
4 out of 5 stars.
Experimental music Flohio: No Panic No Pain review – rapper leaves no mould unbroken
4 out of 5 stars.The south London rapper broadens and deepens her emotional range, while continuing to select unexpected production partners -
3 out of 5 stars.
The singer’s Top of the Pops-style online show was full of charm despite its – often star-studded – shortcomings
You may have missed
-
The capital’s Latin American immigrant communities are growing, and with them comes a new hybrid music – but will it be silenced by gentrification and narrow-mindedness? -
A new documentary examines the life of a SoundCloud star turned convicted criminal and a culture that makes us ‘all complicit’ in the rise of dangerous attention-seekers -
A prodigious talent, the young cellist was rewarded with a Deutsche Grammophon contract and toured all over Europe. Why has the ‘German Du Pré’ been forgotten today? A new documentary explores her life and legacy
-
Contrary to their dismissive framing as manufactured robots, South Korea’s BTS use social media, documentary and storytelling to make themselves into profoundly human stars -
Giorgio Moroder: ‘The lyrics were written by a guy who came to fix my Ferrari. It won me my third Oscar’ -
A new jukebox musical of Carrà’s songs caps a 60-year career for a cultural icon who revolutionised Italian entertainment – and gave women agency in the bedroom
Most viewed
Endless summer Why sunny, out-of-season albums are in this winter