new music reviews, news & interviews
Thomas H. Green |

VINYL OF THE MONTH

Ed O’Brien Blue Morpho (Transgressive)

Thomas H. Green |

Judging from her second album, young country singer Willow Avalon has kissed her fair share of frogs. She doesn’t let them off the hook. Rather, she stamps all over them with a vivacious ferocity that makes for entertaining songs.

Kieron Tyler
“Keys to Your Heart,” the only single by Joe Strummer’s pre-Clash band The 101’ers, was released on 27 June 1976 – 50 years ago this week.Fantastic…
Joe Muggs
Muse are one of the best advertisements in the world for silliness. When the Devon trio came along in the late Nineties, they found a niche for…
caspar.gomez
Sweating in my lair, there’s no trip to the mecca this year. If the festival was on, I'd be there right now, but it’s a fallow year and Glastonbury…

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

Cathi Unsworth
As her collection of music by goth divas appears, the writer reveals the appeal of the dark side
Kieron Tyler
Intriguing second album from Los Angeles musical auteur
Kieron Tyler
Box-set tribute to the idiosyncratic - frequently fantastic - London R&B band
Tim Cumming
Reflective, poetic, instinctive songs of renewal and resilience
Thomas H. Green
Snappy, there-and-gone set fired out of Montreal
Jonathan Geddes
Crowd shows warmth toward the Londoner, back touring after mental health break
Joe Muggs
Detroit techno, avant-classical discord and visionary sci-fi in dark disharmony
Ibi Keita
A warm, nostalgic celebration of home and family
Ellie Roberts
The star’s 12-night residency is off to an impressive start
Thomas H. Green
The Changingman of pop performs a long set that lives up to the nickname
Erin Lewis
Personal detail seasons universal themes as Rodrigo charts an unravelling love affair
Kieron Tyler
New edition of the album capturing ‘possibly the most powerful human sound ever recorded’
Sebastian Scotney
A brilliant musician disappoints
Thomas H. Green
The rain just about stays away as Eighties synth perennials stick to the hits
Thomas H. Green
Genial strummings and spaciness as an underheard master drifts off
Liz Thomson
Rufus Wainwright's final tribute to Judy Garland
Guy Oddy
US garage rockers climb back in the ring with gusto
Joe Muggs
World-bestriding Australian house DJ hits all the right notes, albeit maybe too consistently
Miranda Heggie
A sensational send off for one of the city's last industrial spaces
Mark Kidel
The master of the Arabic-tinged quarter-tone trumpet in party mode
Guy Oddy
Independent Country’s shindig takes on a grey Saturday and wins out
Jonathan Geddes
Yorkshire sextet were exciting at times, but not consistently so
Kieron Tyler
Overdue - albeit digital-only - return of the former Servants lynchpin’s 2002 solo album
Bedouine
On her new album, the musician follows her Armenian heritage to its roots

the future of arts journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing! 

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

latest in today

We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts…
One sometimes finds oneself wondering whether Harlan Coben is an author or a set of AI procedures designed to manufacture plots of…
Language is a weapon in the RSC’s vigorous adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac ­– we feel viscerally that wordplay is just one letter away…
VINYL OF THE MONTHEd O’Brien Blue Morpho (Transgressive) Image The last thing…
Terrorists are monsters. Or so we are told – pure evil. Well, it makes a good story. Even if it isn’t completely true. Actually, most…
Judging from her second album, young country singer Willow Avalon has kissed her fair share of frogs. She doesn’t let them off the hook.…
Modesty is the last refuge of fantasy franchises once too big to fail. Much like The Mandalorian and Grogu and Captain America: Brave New…
“Keys to Your Heart,” the only single by Joe Strummer’s pre-Clash band The 101’ers, was released on 27 June 1976 – 50 years ago this week.…
You might think the spy thriller is a genre which has been worn out and abused to death, but this second series of The Agency is here to…
The Royal Northern College of Music put four of its brightest hopes on show in last night’s big end-of-year concert at the Bridgewater Hall…

Most read

The Royal Northern College of Music put four of its brightest hopes on show in last night’s big end-of-year concert at the Bridgewater Hall…
“The problem is that you’ve been told and not told.” While Ishiguro and his discerning fans would never indulge in anything so crass as…
Modesty is the last refuge of fantasy franchises once too big to fail. Much like The Mandalorian and Grogu and Captain America: Brave New…
VINYL OF THE MONTHEd O’Brien Blue Morpho (Transgressive) Image The last thing…
Kicking off with an epic eight-and-a-half-minute-long tribute to New Jersey’s Palisades amusement Park and a lament to forgotten…
Mieko Kawakami sits firmly amongst the Japanese literati for her sharp and pensive depictions of life in contemporary Japan. Since the…
What exactly do we expect when a drama opens with the declaration, “This is a true story”? The Scandalous Lady W, based on Hallie Rubenhold…
Chinese-American director Bing Liu’s first feature – his Minding the Gap, a wonderful documentary about himself and his skateboarding…
Director Joseph Kosinski's second film feels dispiritingly like his first, the bastion of excitement and originality that is TRON: Legacy.…
For many years Paul Weller had a conflicted relationship with the oldest parts of his back catalogue. It was rare to hear more than one of…