James Blake: Trying Times review – platitudes about politics and Kanye can’t detract from an excellent album

Amid the stylistic shifts of Blake’s seventh record come samples of Dusty Springfield and Dizzee Rascal: gripping distractions from some preachy sentiments

‘Villages are burned, animals slaughtered. We have to let the world know what’s happening’: Tinariwen and Imarhan fight for Tuareg music

Tinariwen went from Saharan weddings to Grammy-winning acclaim – but violence has forced the desert blues masters into exile. Now, a new generation is stepping in to help

Morrissey cancels Valencia concert after being left in ‘catatonic state’ by city noise

After latest concert cancellation, singer also describes Valencia hotel as ‘indescribable hell’ that will require ‘one year to recover’ from

How do these grab you, darlin’? Nancy Sinatra’s 20 best songs – ranked!

Sixty years after the release of her debut album, Boots, we celebrate her finest tracks – from Bond themes to LSD anthems

The Black Crowes: A Pound of Feathers review – pathos and profanity elevate peerless rock’n’roll pastiche

​With Keef-style riffs and full-blooded commitment to the bit, resurgent brothers Chris and Rich Robinson​ resurrect​ the rocker lifestyle of eras past

Jack Osbourne names baby daughter Ozzy to honour late father

TV star announces birth of Ozzy Matilda Osbourne on social media, alongside image of cuddly bat

Bruce Springsteen, Kate Moss and Johnny Depp to appear on all-star Shane MacGowan tribute album

Irish artists, British indie legends and US stars such as Tom Waits also contribute, with Springsteen writing essay about the ‘bottomless humanity’ of the late Pogues frontman

The unbelievable life of Leo Sayer! The songs, the sex, being swindled – and a spooky phone call from Elvis

He lit up the 1970s with a string of hits, before falling out of the public eye. But was any man ever more connected? He discusses extraordinary encounters with Muhammad Ali and Keith Moon – and why he stormed out of Celebrity Big Brother

Ron Howard, Emma Rice, Neil Tennant and more on Liza Minnelli: ‘She holidayed in my Cornish bungalow’

The showbiz legend has spent her whole life in the spotlight. As she turns 80, her friends and collaborators share their stories from Hollywood singalongs to acid house raves

Country Joe McDonald obituary

US singer and songwriter best known for his 1969 Woodstock performance of his anti-war I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag

Boston frontman Tommy DeCarlo dies aged 60

The singer joined the band in 2007, touring with them and providing lead vocals on their last album, Life, Love & Hope

Sex with Scorsese, beef with Sondheim … and inventing the moonwalk? The wildest moments in Liza Minnelli’s memoir

From Peter Sellers dressing like a Nazi, to having to manage her mother Judy Garland’s addiction, jaws will drop at Minnelli’s anecdotes

‘A lot of late 70s bands wore grey. But we were determined to have fun’: the return of the mega-influential Swell Maps after 46 years

Championed by the BBC’s John Peel and signed to Rough Trade, the band were punk when that meant DIY, psychedelia and prog as well as screaming chords. What’s more, they loved Pink Floyd …

Seven of the best music festivals to visit by train from the UK

From jazz in Rotterdam and hip-hop in Paris to brass bands on the beach in Blackpool, the Guardian’s music editor chooses the best European festivals that can be reached by rail

Womadelaide 2026: Grace Jones embraces the compulsion for dancing in the dark times

No matter the music, no matter the mood, the festival crowd moved and moved – in a celebration embodied by the liberated, messy and sexual stylings of the 77-year-old headliner