On my radar: Louis Theroux’s cultural highlights
The journalist and broadcaster on his love of musicals, a troubling TV comedy and the irresistible rhythms of Afrobeats
Faith, Hope and Carnage by Nick Cave and Seán O’Hagan review – heartfelt conversations
The Australian singer-songwriter is candid and charismatic in these in-depth discussions about art, music, life and loss
Nick Drake by Richard Morton Jack review – genius remembered
Access to family papers sheds new light on the troubled singer-songwriter
‘I want to be part of the rebirth’: the artists bringing creation out of Beirut’s chaos
Decades of civil war and economic meltdowns left Lebanon’s people struggling for hope – but the country’s creatives are fighting back
Nick Drake: The Life by Richard Morton Jack review – folk’s fragile man of mystery
This definitive study of the venerated singer-songwriter, who died at 26, examines his alarming unravelling and short life of artistic torment
On my radar: Milly Alcock’s cultural highlights
The Australian star of House of the Dragon and Upright on her favourite podcast, an immersive art experience and a novel of ugly emotions
I was writing a book about Rachmaninov in exile when my own world changed for ever
In lockdown, the Observer’s classical music critic began work on a book about the Russian composer’s later years. Then war, and events in her own life, began to reshape the narrative
On my radar: Arlo Parks’s cultural highlights
The Mercury prize-winning musician on an inspirational rapper, a Nobel laureate’s views of Paris, where to find chillies and a Red Hot Chili Pepper
Pete Brown – the final interview: ‘Music gives you a focus, you can see a goal ahead’
A jazz poet and countercultural hero who wrote lyrics for Cream, Brown died last week aged 82. In this interview at sessions last month for his final LP, he explained why he was making art until the end
‘It’s an opportunity to pull back the curtain’: the rock’n’roll novel is back – from a female perspective
Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles’ tale of a one-hit wonder is the latest in a new wave of music novels written by women
Pete Brown, countercultural poet, singer and Cream lyricist, dies aged 82
British poet who wrote lyrics for Sunshine of Your Love, White Room and many more also had acclaimed solo career
Johnny Cash lyrics to be collected in book for first time
Johnny Cash: The Life in Lyrics will include rare and never-before-seen visual material alongside stories and commentary
People power: music, film, books and more about the madness and wisdom of crowds
From Dickens’s depiction of the Gordon riots to Alessia Cara drifting around a party, our critics select culture about the seething masses
On my radar: Ari Aster’s cultural highlights
The Hereditary and Midsommar film-maker on the genius of Daniel Clowes’s Eightball, a haunting Iranian drama and the revelatory writing of Édouard Levé
Sorry, Swifties: BTS revealed as authors of mystery book that intrigued the internet
Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS will be out on 9 July, ending feverish speculation that the previously untitled book was a Taylor Swift memoir