albums
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…
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.…
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,…
Can everyone please shut up about Maria Callas?
Rupert Christiansen on the cult of Callas
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…
The best new album I’ve heard this year: Being Dead’s When Horses Would Run reviewed
Grade: A– The point of a sudden, abrupt change in the time signature and instrumentation of a song is to…
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.…
Let’s hear it for the lesser-spotted nepo daddy
Rob Grant releases his debut album, Lost at Sea, this week. A 69-year-old millionaire and former ad man, furniture exec…
In praise of goths – the most enduring of pop subcultures
Michael Hann on the most enduring of pop subcultures
Heartfelt but bland: Ed Sheeran’s – (Subtract) reviewed
Whether by accident or design, the mathematical theme of Ed Sheeran’s previous album titles (+, ×, ÷ and = respectively)…
In defence of country-pop
Sam Kriss on why country-pop is the most modern music there is
As good, and inventive, as modern rock music gets: Black Midi's Hellfire reviewed
Grade: A+ The difficult question with Black Midi was always: are you listening to them in order to admire them,…
An intense slab of religiosity: Nick Cave's Seven Psalms reviewed
Grade: B There has always been a seriousness and intelligence about Nick Cave quite at odds with that which usually…
Humour, sweetness and sincerity: Father John Misty's Chloë and the Next Twentieth Century reviewed
Grade: A– In which Josh Tillman reimagines the whole back catalogue of 20th-century American pop music (except for rock), tilting…
