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

‘We were in danger of running it into the ground’: Brittany Howard on fleeing fame, fighting Trump and the epic return of Alabama Shakes

The soul-rockers achieved worldwide success before surprising everyone by deciding to quit while they were ahead. Now they’re back with a new album railing against the state of contemporary America

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

Loathe: A Stranger to You review – metalcore masters offer stylistic swerves and surprising beauty

Granite-hard riffola collides with balm-like electronics and tinkling jazz piano in a thrilling fourth album of musical metamorphosis

‘I used to do acid on a Wednesday. I don’t have time for that now’: alt-pop star Steve Lacy on his struggles after huge hit Bad Habit

A Grammy nom at 17, a US No 1 ... then silence. With new album Oh Yeah? finally out after four years away, the genre-hopping artist explains the trauma and heartbreak that informed it

Hits don’t lie! Shakira’s 20 best songs, from World Cup anthems to megastar duets – ranked!

As the Colombian pop supremo prepares to perform at Sunday’s final, we rate her greatest work, including gossipy takedowns and lycanthropic lyrics

Nia Archives: Emotional Junglist review – breakbeats and heartbreak combined by a brilliant British one-off

On the Bradford-born producer’s self-assured second album, drum’n’bass rhythms power up angsty odes with shades of Arctic Monkeys, Kate Nash and myriad genres

‘A sublime, breezy confection’: writers on their 2026 songs of the summer

The annual rundown of Guardian writers picking their most played tracks of the season goes from club-ready pop to sunny tech house

Hit Machine review – slick music biz drama strikes too many false notes

Josh Radnor is a music executive whose life is upended by his wayward brother, in a play about masculinity, creativity, appropriation and trauma

Unheard David Bowie songs from 1965 to be released – including ones with Jimmy Page on guitar

Compilation entitled David Bowie: The Shel Talmy Recordings will be released in September, collating material from when he recorded as Davy Jones

James Taylor review – 70s legend’s golden baritone shines best when stripped bare

The AI-style backing videos are terrible and his accomplished band can be overly slick at times, but Taylor’s civility and grace cuts through it all