‘There is an alternative to capitalism’: after addiction and losing a home to LA wildfires, indie rockers Diiv start again

No stranger to rebuilding after disaster, the US band’s frontman Zachary Cole Smith now sees the entire capitalist project as ripe for reinvention, on a surprisingly upbeat new AG Cook-produced album

Throwing Muses frontwoman Kristin Hersh: ‘I was compelled to make music after cracking my skull open’

The alt-rock veteran answers your questions on Buddhist time travel techniques, duetting with Michael Stipe, and her autobiographical new album

Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Weekend review – long-awaited return is a thrilling, daring study in dislocation

After sweeping the Grammys and being scrutinised by the press, Bridgers deploys electronics and unsettling sound design to brilliantly evoke emotional turmoil

‘I put a raging dent in Neil Young’s forehead!’ Tim Pope on his riotous videos for the Cure, Bowie, Queen, Soft Cell and more

He dressed Freddie Mercury as a prawn, got Paul Weller to wear lipstick, locked the Cure in a flooded wardrobe and created a 75ft penis for Hall & Oates. Pope looks back on is wild adventures with titans of music

‘I was so self-assured in my early 20s. Then my frontal lobe hit’: Rachel Chinouriri, every pop star’s favourite UK pop star

​She faced racist bullying as a child – then pigeonholing as an artist. Now following up a hit debut album championed by the A-list, the Croydon singer-songwriter says she finally understands who she really is

Add to playlist: the ramshackle, soulful twang of Twisted Teens and the week’s best new tracks

The New Orleans country-punk duo are on a hot streak, about to release their third album in a year, and the crunchy, literate hooks keep coming

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

​’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

Post your questions for Kristin Hersh, of Throwing Muses and more

The alt-rock icon is preparing to release her latest solo album Sugar on Blackstone, and will answer your questions about her five-decade career

‘More real than anything you’ll see scrolling’: the radical resurgence of UK fanzines, 50 years after punk

Five decades since punk bible Sniffin’ Glue, DIY magazines are in rude, rich health. Their creators talk fandom, community-building and resisting the algorithm

‘Fun, propulsive, full of queer joy’: readers’ favourite albums of 2026 so far, from Muna to Raye and J Cole

After the Guardian’s music critics chose their best of the half-year, we asked you for your picks – from Brian Jackson and Arlo Parks to Maya Hawke, Flea and more

Chris Martin’s lost James Bond theme goes on auction with unheard Coldplay tapes

Acoustic recording of a song titled The World Is Not Enough included in wide-ranging auction featuring formative Coldplay recordings

Haunted hooks and bone-chilling screams: how Chanel Beads became the indie breakout of the year

Tipped by Lorde and Billie Eilish, the New York musician twists sublime folk and chaotic synths into bewitching new shapes

‘Elon Musk is dangerous and crazy. And I kind of used to like him’: Interpol on their political awakening – and making their masterpiece

They were a big 00s buzz band – but looked in danger of fading out. Empowered by fatherhood and anger at war and AI, the New Yorkers explain why they ‘really showed up’ again