She faced racist bullying as a child – then pigeonholing as an artist. Now following up a hit debut album championed by the A-list, the Croydon singer-songwriter says she finally understands who she really isIn October 2017,...
Read MoreThey were a big 00s buzz band – but looked in danger of fading out. Empowered by fatherhood and anger at war and AI, the New Yorkers explain why they ‘really showed up’ againSuits. Gnomic poetry. Moody, insistent riffs. It used...
Read MoreInspired in part by Zohran Mamdani’s NY mayorship, Rostam Batmanglij’s gorgeous new album fuses Americana with sounds of the Middle East. So why isn’t his mum happy?The first song Rostam Batmanglij ever learned to play on guitar...
Read More‘Its release seemed timely as the Tories had just left office. But then Diana died and all cheerful songs were taken straight off the radio. Boom! It disappeared’John Lennon once said that everything he wrote was two songs in...
Read MoreForty years on from the release of their Victorialand album, we rank the Scottish band’s 20 best tracks, from goth beginnings to weightless masterpiecesAt first, Cocteau Twins gave every impression of being a goth band: check...
Read More(Dead Oceans)Whether retreating from fame or heartbreak, the US musician writes gorgeous songs about the appeal of disconnection, flecked with horror and humourLast month, Mitski released Where’s My Phone?, the first single from...
Read MoreMy group, Swim Deep, plays to crowds of hundreds across the UK – but in China, we play to tens of thousands. And we’re not the only onesWhen I joined the band Swim Deep 13 years ago, my dreams were much like those of any young...
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 MoreAfter grief brought Dev Hynes home, he reconsidered the county that shaped him. The result is a masterful new album – made with a little help from Lorde and Zadie SmithDevonté Hynes is telling me how he came to be living back in...
Read MoreThe all-girl trio gave punk a playful spin and drew admirers in Paul Weller and Captain Sensible – but, singer Debsey Wykes recalls, faced confusion for being out of step with era’s noise and angerAt 19 years old, Debsey Wykes...
Read MoreWitty, foul-mouthed, camp and punky, it was the 00s answer to slick superclubs and the rock patriarchy. As its rough, raw sound returns, the scene’s eyeliner-ed heroes, from Peaches to Jonny Slut, relive its excessesJonny Melton...
Read MoreNoel Gallagher named a song after it, Marc Almond practically moved in and the Killers had a bathtub reserved for puking in – but was it rock’n’roll, or just a bit tragic?In the early 2000s, a member of the New York dance-punk...
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