Referencing Tarkovsky and French theory, the Austrian-Iranian singer is writing some of today’s wittiest music – though she’s ‘too pop for the art world, too indie-darling for the mainstream’You wait ages for a brilliant pop...
Read MoreBramham Park, LeedsCharli xcx and Fontaines DC are spellbinding and there’s an awesome array of genres, but the biggest turnouts are for tech house names like Kettama and Josh Baker• Charli xcx, Reading festival review –...
Read MoreReading FestivalThere’s not much time to dig into her deep catalogue of future-facing pop, but she satisfies the hardcore“Time itself is a circle,” as the rock’n’roll philosopher Nietzsche once said, accurately foreshadowing...
Read More(Atlantic)How do you follow up the album that made you a star – and a caricature? In classic Charli style: with a pivot to guitar and a meta masterpiece about the instability of identityAfter a decade spent trailblazing a unique...
Read More(Atlantic)Casting off her Bratty cigarettes and sunglasses, the pop visionary channels the torments of Heathcliff and Cathy and the tumult of the Velvet Underground on her latest captivating pivotIn the catalogues of rock and...
Read MoreEmerald Fennell’s take on Emily Brontë is an emotionally hollow, bodice-ripping misfire that misuses Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi but makes the most of Martin Clunes Emerald Fennell cranks up the campery as she reinvents Emily...
Read MoreRaye, Deftones and Yungblud do UK tours, Jill Scott returns for more neo-soul, and the classical world gears up to celebrate Hungarian composer György Kurtág at 100• More from the 2026 culture previewSeventeen years on from the...
Read MoreIn just two years, Rae has gone from star TikTok dancer to being Grammy-nominated for best new artist. She reflects on her critically acclaimed debut and how she’s learning to reclaim and relinquish controlNo one in pop has had...
Read MoreAs she releases music from her upcoming soundtrack to Wuthering Heights, we count down the best of her frank, futuristic tracksSuch was the extent of fan involvement in the How I’m Feeling Now album that the title of Claws was...
Read MoreOther stagePlaying to a dizzyingly huge crowd, for many this is Saturday’s true headlining set: a bawdy and uncompromising icon playing alone with no frillsFor my money, one of the best pop tours of the 21st century was Kanye...
Read MoreThere are more than 3,000 performances to choose between at this year’s giant pan-genre jamboree. From pop A-listers to underground ones-to-watch, here are our picks‘Not a vintage year,” came the usual grumbles about the...
Read MoreWho are the acts to catch at Worthy Farm this year? Who will do a hush-hush secret set? And why did no one wear trousers there in 1987? Here’s the definitive way to do Glasto from your own homePrepare to put the summer into...
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