new music reviews, news & interviews
Thomas H. Green |
Comparatively speaking, Rotherham appears in the news more than most British towns of an equivalent size. And much of that news is not good. Much of it is representative of poverty, social disenfranchisement, and the ugly face of flag-waving Britain.
Sebastian Scotney |
Last night's BBC Prom was a celebration – of 40 years since the release of Paul Simon’s triumphant album Graceland in August 1986. Before long, the celebration had morphed into a dance-along, with the fully populated arena of the Royal Albert Hall bobbing and swaying, spurred into movement by the stylish choreography of Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
Thomas H. Green
VINYL OF THE MONTHJohn R Miller The Great Unknowing (Rounder)
Image
John R Miller’s youth was…
Ibi Keita
There is something quietly reassuring to me about hearing a record that knows exactly what it wants to be. Wales-born duo Overmono's latest release…
Camp Bestival 2026, Lulworth Castle review - where the daytime magic still outshines everything else
Katie Colombus
A few years ago, Camp Bestival felt like a charming, quietly eccentric affair, fairly small in the best sense, especially set beside the giants of…
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.
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
Liz Thomson
Leaves from a gilded songbook
Ibi Keita
The garage rockers don't do themselves justice on new album
Mark Kidel
Vibrant sounds from jazz and Indian masters
Kieron Tyler
Andy Dragazis’ musical alter-ego offers nods to legendary arranger and producer Charles Stepney
Thomas H. Green
The Canadian country superstar embraces her rhythm'n'blues side
Kieron Tyler
The welcome return of a foundational album of electronic minimalism
Liz Thomson
The Punch Brothers and a new sister: virtuosic
Joe Muggs
Surrealism, social observation and more muscular sound from the Leeds quartet
Kathryn Reilly
A powerful personal outpouring of joy and pain - with a great beat
Jonathan Geddes
The London quartet have taken to playing large venues with ease, as this career-spanning set showed
latest in today
It’s three typical cat-lives since Andrew Lloyd Webber and Trevor Nunn staged TS Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats as a musical.…
Poor Oberon! An opera scorned so long as weird and silly,A mash-up of outlandish tales all chucked in willy-nilly.Now brave Sir Mark (…
Comparatively speaking, Rotherham appears in the news more than most British towns of an equivalent size. And much of that news is not good…
Last night's BBC Prom was a celebration – of 40 years since the release of Paul Simon’s triumphant album Graceland in August 1986. Before…
Spanning a hundred years, the Dulwich Picture Gallery's show of American photography is a twofold delight. Most of the great names are…
VINYL OF THE MONTHJohn R Miller The Great Unknowing (Rounder)
Image
John R Miller’s…
There’s an incendiary one-woman monologue to be had from Christine Lahti’s 2018 book about the misogyny of her upbringing, but The Smile of…
There is something quietly reassuring to me about hearing a record that knows exactly what it wants to be. Wales-born duo Overmono's latest…
Last night’s Prom saw two beloved favourites – Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony – prefaced by a fairly unknown…
Camp Bestival 2026, Lulworth Castle review - where the daytime magic still outshines everything else
A few years ago, Camp Bestival felt like a charming, quietly eccentric affair, fairly small in the best sense, especially set beside the…
Most read
Poor Oberon! An opera scorned so long as weird and silly,A mash-up of outlandish tales all chucked in willy-nilly.Now brave Sir Mark (…
Last night's BBC Prom was a celebration – of 40 years since the release of Paul Simon’s triumphant album Graceland in August 1986. Before…
It’s three typical cat-lives since Andrew Lloyd Webber and Trevor Nunn staged TS Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats as a musical.…
Comparatively speaking, Rotherham appears in the news more than most British towns of an equivalent size. And much of that news is not good…
VINYL OF THE MONTHJohn R Miller The Great Unknowing (Rounder)
Image
John R Miller’s…
Is this the near-future? The premise of Ann Droid is that in place of our over-stretched social services, before long we may find ourselves…
Last night’s Prom saw two beloved favourites – Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony – prefaced by a fairly unknown…
Attending the tale of Sweeney Todd was my introduction to musical theatre. I was in my early 20s and a friend of mine had invited me to the…
At every turn in Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man, references to other stories pop up. There are the murderous sexual shenanigans of The…
One completely joyous moment has eclipsed all my other impressions of this Glyndebourne Entführung revival. By the end of Act 1 of the…