Luke Combs review – regular Joe megastar brings the arena-sized party home
Despite his humble persona, the highest-selling country artist of all time has the vocal firepower and heavyweight hits to deliver two hours of crowd-pleasin’ pyrotechnics
Shania Twain’s honest playlist: ‘If Dancing Queen comes on, you rush out’
The country-pop superstar loves Abba and secretly listens to Lloyd Webber, but which British heartthrob’s single gets her out of bed in the morning?
‘I know what it’s like to be vulnerable’: musician This Is Lorelei AKA Nate Amos on addiction and finding peace
The singer-songwriter and Water from Your Eyes guitarist was unstoppably prolific, despite a growing dependence on substances. Now sober, he reflects on his new album and the songs that helped him turn his life round
The Strokes: Reality Awaits review – a perfect marriage of mayhem and melody on their best album in years
Allying the crackpot strangeness of Julian Casablancas’ side projects with his band’s gift for pop minimalism, the New Yorkers are on playful, joyous form
Tyla: A*Pop review – old-school pop superstar transports us back to more carefree times
The South African singer reflects on love’s highs and lows on her second album, nimbly flipping between moods but with her voice always holding attention
‘It’s more than backcombing a beehive!’ How tribute acts got massive – and put the live music scene back in the black
Versions of Amy Winehouse and hundreds of other musicians are generating millions for beleaguered UK venues. But what is the emotional toll for the imitators, and are they pushing out original artists?
Charli xcx: Music, Fashion, Film review – slippery search into selfhood that hits just as hard as Brat
How do you follow up the album that made you a star – and a caricature? In classic Charli style: with a pivot to guitar and a meta masterpiece about the instability of identity
’Ian Curtis didn’t have a chance’: the Durutti Column on departed friends, Factory Records and fun with Morrissey
As they release their first album in 16 years, the Vini Reilly-fronted band answer your questions on sandpaper record sleeves, having Harry Styles as a fan and inventing a new style of guitar music
‘My life’s work was being delightful. That really hurt me’: breakout Americana star Brennan Wedl on freeing herself through song
With her roots stretching from the Catholic church to riot grrrl, the US singer-songwriter explains how sobriety and self-analysis powered her classic new Waxahatchee-produced album
How a boy’s own song about eastern rosellas went viral and was covered by Ben Lee
Miles Phillips’ hit has been viewed 1.5m times and played on the radio. The seven-year-old was inspired after feeding birds and realising one ‘main bird stood out’
Pass the pit diapers! Why are fans wetting themselves to stand front row at concerts?
Olivia Rodrigo, Noah Kahan and Morgan Wallen have all dealt with audience effluence in recent weeks – but that’s only one part of a fearsome subculture that has built up around fandom, endurance and ‘getting barrier’
‘His chords are like sheets of diamond ice’: the beguiling psych-folk of late cult songwriter Ed Askew
The late songwriter released around 50 records, writing gay love songs and effortless folk songs from folk’s fringes. Fans including Bill Callahan explain his singular brilliance
Shania Twain: Little Miss Twain review – rootsy revival strays from the dirt track to the middle of the road
The country legend’s seventh album revisits her troubled early life but plays it safe with zany humour and fluffy songs about young love
Amy Shark, stripped back: ‘Everyone thinks being famous is amazing, and it’s not. It’s quite ugly’
Ten years after Adore sparked a major-label bidding war, the Gold Coast singer’s fourth album ditches the pop production and the drums – and delivers the best work of her career
Bruno Mars review – half seedy club, half church service as diminutive singer answers fans’ prayers
Mars sings every line like it’s his big solo in a show that leans more on his stage presence than pyro and pageantry