Four-minute wonder
As the sun sets on another too-long summer festival season, let us take a moment to reflect on the Festival…
Strange folk
In a few days, Lankum will most likely win the 2023 Mercury Music Prize for their fourth album False Lankum…
Uneasy listening
I have always been fascinated by artists who bounce between tonal extremes when performing, particularly the ones who serve their…
Brought to book
‘We all secretly want to be rock stars,’ the 2022 Booker Prize-winning author Shehan Karunatilaka said recently. By ‘we’ he…
Heaven knows they’re miserable now
Bands that have hung around, or gone away and come back again, occupy an increasingly sizeable percentage of pop’s bandwidth.…
Dream team
Most artists begin an arena show with a bang: emerging from the floor, the gods, on a hoist, everything short…
A tale of two troubadours
There are artists you go to see expecting to be challenged, surprised, even let down. And there are artists you…
Nepo daddies
Rob Grant releases his debut album, Lost at Sea, this week. A 69-year-old millionaire and former ad man, furniture exec…
Hoists, HD and horses
Scheduling open-air concerts in mid-May in northern Europe is a triumph of hope over experience. I last spent time with…
Sad-face emoji
Whether by accident or design, the mathematical theme of Ed Sheeran’s previous album titles (+, ×, ÷ and = respectively)…
Americana Coldplay
Once upon a time, rock bands wished for nothing more than to look as though they posed a clear and…
The borrowers
I’m not a natural lender. I’m a reasonably soft touch when it comes to money, but regarding the important things…
Less than the sum of their parts
Recently in these pages, ruminating on the ghastly Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I wrote that music does not…
Feelgood fury
There are several reasons why Young Fathers currently feel like the most exciting live band in Britain, but for now…
TikTok pop star
Even before albums became bloated, thanks to the largesse offered by CDs and streaming, most contained filler: those so-so songs…
Rocky horror show
There is footage on the internet of Robert Smith, lead singer in the Cure, being interviewed on the occasion of…
New life on old bones
Folk is the Schiphol of Scottish music. Eventually, every curious traveller passes through. From arena rockers to rappers, traditional music…
Lounge-funk for vampires
There’s a case to be made for John Cale being the most daring ex-member of the Velvet Underground. Lou Reed…
Hit and myth
I’m generally not a fan of New Year’s resolutions, but one occurred to me recently as the younger members of…
…and cold
It’s unlikely that Irving Berlin was pondering the energy price cap when he composed the seasonal standard ‘I’ve Got My…
Drift, bloom and sway
Plus: it’s quite clear that MUNA are going to be huge What is it with Icelanders and mushrooms? Just weeks…
To B or not to B
Paul Weller releasing a collection of solo B-sides is cause for mild celebration. After all, the Jam were one of…
Something special
A reliable metric for measuring pop success is hard to find these days, as Michael Hann noted in these pages…
Elvis on the Eurostar
It would be easy to be a little dismissive of George Ezra. A wholesome late twentysomething hailing from the rock…
