new music reviews, news & interviews
Thomas H. Green |
Like electronica, metal is an umbrella term that contains multitudes of micro-genres. How do you fancy sludge, blackened crust or funeral doom? And that’s just scraping the surface. One of the more common ones is metalcore, a portmanteau word for the heaviest metal crashing into hardcore punk.
Jonathan Geddes |
Just over 24 hours before Idlewild stepped out at the Kelvingrove Bandstand, the much ballyhooed solar eclipse had proved a damp squib for much of Scotland, with cloudy weather obscuring any views.
Kieron Tyler
The Adverts’ debut single was released by Stiff Records in late April 1977. The top side of the “One Chord Wonders” / “Quick Step” pairing was a dry…
Katie Colombus
A lost weekend is time you can't account for: you come out of it changed, unsure quite how. Phoebe Bridgers, it seems, has been living inside one.…
Liz Thomson
Unlike in Britain, where the bar for entry is more survival than talent, “national treasure” is not a term in such wide currency in America. But…
Help secure the future of arts journalism
In this era of algorithmic recommendation, opaquely sponsored content and AI slop, theartsdesk’s mission to preserve real journalistic and critical values has never been more important.
If you like what you see here, please join us in this mission.
Subscribing to the site will help us in our coming redesign and expansion.
If you do this before the 31st August this will be at our guaranteed founder’s rate:
your subs will never increase again.
Subscribe now for £5 per month.
or yearly for just £40.
Or if you simply want to support us with a one-off donation, you can do so here.
Joe Muggs
A subtle, potent raging against the dying of the light from a low key great
Kieron Tyler
The US singer-songwriter offsets glacial shimmer with a dive into electric-guitar freakiness
Tim Cumming
The genre-crossing musician brings a New Age sheen to his solo piano tribute
Joe Muggs
The London trio add toilet bowls and ugly crying to the hedonistic glamour
Kieron Tyler
New York band’s blend of folk rock and psychedelia grabs attention
Thomas H. Green
Northern indie four-piece offer a vim-laden snapshot of disenfranchised Britain
Sebastian Scotney
Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Laura Mvula shine
Thomas H. Green
The most epic regular record reviews in the galaxy
Ibi Keita
Garage, French House and feeling collide in latest release
Camp Bestival 2026, Lulworth Castle review - where the daytime magic still outshines everything else
Katie Colombus
A creative, inclusive, endlessly imaginative festival for families
Guy Oddy
Prolific Aussie psychedelicists marry dance and prog sounds
Mark Kidel
Fiery crowd-pleasing jazz marred by excess
Ellie Roberts
A soaring fusion of atmospheric melancholy and energetic punk
Kieron Tyler
A hymn to when driving was an end in itself
Kieron Tyler
A breathless half-hour takes in screaming, stop-start song structures and the odd hint of reflectiveness
Guy Oddy
Punk veterans get decidedly trippy
Thomas H. Green
The American singer's eighth album is rife with downtempo ruminations on love
Joe Muggs
A thrilling blast of deep rooted culture and devout belief
Katie Colombus
Two decades on from Patti Smith and the original pink sheep, the anniversary edition proved again that Latitude's real headliners are rarely at the top of the bill
Thomas H. Green
From Korean bluegrass to gigantic Ugandan xylophones, the global diversity of musical life is here
Sebastian Scotney
Tawadros plays with astonishing clarity, resolve and intent
Joe Muggs
A championing, but also perhaps a dilution, of South African innovation
Kieron Tyler
The return of a punk-era landmark of British art rock
Tom Carr
With a danceable rock feel she displays her burgeoning creativity
latest in today
The clue is in the name, I suppose. Revolución diamantina – Glitter revolution – was written in 2023 by Gabriela Ortiz (pictured below) as…
You’re not going to catch Alan Ritchson playing King Lear at Stratford or doing Noël Coward at Chichester, but as an implacable warrior for…
Matt FordePleasance Courtyard ★★★★Matt Forde is one of those comics Fringe-goers can rely to present a well-prepared and funny show, and…
Andrew O’Hagan’s 2020 novel Mayflies had a memorable television treatment in 2022, and a brand new stage adaptation – to which the writer…
So much has vanished from my memory of the time I had a half-season Arena Proms pass back in 1982, but not the performance of Berlioz's…
Like electronica, metal is an umbrella term that contains multitudes of micro-genres. How do you fancy sludge, blackened crust or funeral…
Just over 24 hours before Idlewild stepped out at the Kelvingrove Bandstand, the much ballyhooed solar eclipse had proved a damp squib for…
The Adverts’ debut single was released by Stiff Records in late April 1977. The top side of the “One Chord Wonders” / “Quick Step” pairing…
Ah, Benidorm… sea, sun, sand, sex, sangria and chips. In 5’s new six-part comedy drama, masterminded by Ian Jarvis, the popular Costa…
This is a barrel of fun, an adrenalised, old-school monster movie made with ferocious commitment by It Follows’ David Robert Mitchell.…
Most read
Somewhere in the bowels of the BBC, far away from the overheated stories of serial killers and female mutilation that clamour for the…
If any readers can still remember 2024’s first iteration of Red Eye, they will have an approximate idea of the kind of things they can…
Aptly scheduled for our Great British Heatwave, writer Catherine Shepherd’s eight-part drama whisks us away to a remote Greek island, where…
Location, location, location... a tangible sense of place and local identity can make or break a TV drama, and Under Salt Marsh …
Filmmaker Charlotte Regan has been moving steadily up the creative ladder with music videos, short films and her 2023 feature debut…
The baldness of the titles the writer-director Stefan Golaszewski gives his TV series — Him & Her, Mum, Marriage and now Babies — is a…
Who is the real Grace Jones? This is the central question that drives Sophie Fiennes’s documentary, Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami. After…
If ever there was a piece that epitomised the view that villains are infinitely more fun than heroes, it would be Pierre Choderlos de…
The brainchild of Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee, this is a strange and tortuous tale which defies easy categorisation. There’s plenty of…
When the joyful energy at the final curtain - love briefly triumphant in the power-dominated world of Wagner's Ring - is as insanely high…