Founder rate ends 9th September.

We’re rebuilding theartsdesk to secure the future of real arts journalism. Be part of it by subscribing: if you do it now, the founders’ rate of just £40 yearly is yours FOR LIFE!

SUBSCRIBE NOW 

new music reviews, news & interviews
Joe Muggs |

On first impressions, London vocal trio FLO’s music can seem very familiar. Their sound has always been that of American R&B rooted heavily in the 00s – before EDM throb and then hazy, narcotic atmospheres started to dominate it – with vocal acrobatics and rich harmonies front and centre.

Kieron Tyler |

Although the sound quality is slightly boxy, the opening track on CBGB’s 1985 is a treat. “Gardens” is on a line between first-album Rain Parade and Unhalfbricking-era Fairport Convention, it’s hard to tell from this live album whether Rochester, New York’s Absolute Grey – grey, not gray – caught the attention of their subdued-seeming Manhattan audience four decades ago while playing NYC’s prime roots-level venue.

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…
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…
Thomas H. Green
VINYL OF THE MONTHJohn R Miller The Great Unknowing (Rounder) Image John R Miller’s youth was…

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.

Ibi Keita
Garage, French House and feeling collide in latest release
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
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

latest in today

On first impressions, London vocal trio FLO’s music can seem very familiar. Their sound has always been that of American R&B rooted…
 Water Colour ★★★★Milly Sweeney’s powerful two-hander comes to one of the Fringe’s highest-profile venues bearing prestigious awards…
Although the sound quality is slightly boxy, the opening track on CBGB’s 1985 is a treat. “Gardens” is on a line between first-album Rain…
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.…
Director Charlie McDowell's The Summer Book is a beautiful, somewhat wistful film that follows the residents of a tiny Finnish island (…
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…

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…