Hard to love – but Shirley Manson is terrific: Garbage, at Usher Hall, reviewed
There’s nothing quite like the drama of a prodigal’s return. ‘I’ve been singing in this venue since I was ten…
Camila Cabello’s new album presents an existential threat to songwriting
It is always interesting to observe the ways in which pop stars try to negotiate first growing up, and then…
Does it matter how posh pop stars are?
‘A working class hero is something to be.’ Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer must have missed the conflicted, sardonic edge…
The weird, hypnotic world of Willie Nelson
Many years ago, I wrote a book about Willie Nelson. At its conclusion, I reached for an elegiac, valedictory tone.…
Dense, melancholic, hypnotic: Brighde Chaimbeul, at Summerhall, reviewed
The hip end of the folk spectrum is in rude health right now. Dublin’s mighty Lankum lead the way, but…
Taylor Swift’s new album is exhausting
How to explain the supercharged star power of Taylor Swift? An undeniably gifted artist, Swift’s albums 1989, Folklore and Evermore,…
The mayhem ‘Born Slippy’ provoked felt both poignant and cathartic: Underworld, at Usher Hall, reviewed
On the same night Underworld played the second of two shows at the Usher Hall, next door at the Traverse…
This recreation of Dylan’s Free Trade Hall concert is supremely good
In May 1966, Bob Dylan toured the UK with The Band, minus drummer Levon Helm, and abrasively pulled the plug…
The case against re-recording albums
In 2012, Jeff Lynne released Mr Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra. Except it wasn’t. It was…
New Order’s oldies still sound like the future
The intimate acoustic show can denote many things for an established artist. One is that, in the infamous euphemism coined…
In praise of the Festival Song – the four-minute wonder that can sustain a career for decades
As the sun sets on another too-long summer festival season, let us take a moment to reflect on the Festival…
Invention and irreverence: Lankum, at The Queen’s Hall, reviewed
In a few days, Lankum will most likely win the 2023 Mercury Music Prize for their fourth album False Lankum…
Uneasy listening: Kathryn Joseph, at Summerhall, reviewed
I have always been fascinated by artists who bounce between tonal extremes when performing, particularly the ones who serve their…
The problem with pop-literary collaborations
‘We all secretly want to be rock stars,’ the 2022 Booker Prize-winning author Shehan Karunatilaka said recently. By ‘we’ he…
An album of not terribly happy ballads: Blur’s The Ballad of Darren reviewed
Bands that have hung around, or gone away and come back again, occupy an increasingly sizeable percentage of pop’s bandwidth.…
Still one of the great vocalists: Peter Gabriel, at OVO Hydro Glasgow, reviewed
Most artists begin an arena show with a bang: emerging from the floor, the gods, on a hoist, everything short…
