Tame Impala: Deadbeat review – ‘bush doof’ bangers can’t hide how downbeat Kevin Parker seems to be

The producer combines an uneasy marriage of four-four beats with catchy hooks and candid lyrics suggesting his rise to pop’s upper echelons may have come at a cost

The Last Dinner Party: From the Pyre review – baroque’n’roll band’s speedily released second album is overheated

The London five-piece throw the kitchen sink at these dizzyingly dense songs, often crushing their melodic pleasures in the process

Rumours of My Demise by Evan Dando review – eye-popping tales of drugs and unpredictability

An indie-pop darling details his rise to fame and subsequent public humiliations with appealing frankness

Sam Fender didn’t need his Mercury prize win – but he earned it with his incisive social realism

Maybe they should have given the award to an album that wasn’t already a huge hit – but Fender’s blend of kitchen-sink drama and stadium choruses is expertly done

Without Ace Frehley, Kiss could not have achieved their extraordinary greatness

The guitarist was the most proficient musician in the original lineup and his bludgeoning ‘monster plod’ was central to their sound

Ace Frehley, Kiss lead guitarist and band’s co-founder, dies aged 74

The musician died following injuries suffered during a fall in his recording studio last month

Pop-rock wizard Todd Rundgren: ‘When I met John Lennon, he was a bundle of rags with nothing to say’

As he tours the UK, the musician answers your questions on making Bat Out of Hell with Meat Loaf, squabbles with XTC and the Band, and wiring his studio while high

‘Chuck was breaking beer bottles over his own head’: thrash metal legends Testament on 40 years of mayhem

After their lead singer shed his glam rock spandex, the band became rivals to thrash’s Big Four. Still releasing potent high-octane riffage, they retread their path through cancer scares and jazz detours

Unseen Bohemian Rhapsody verses to feature in Freddie Mercury lyric book

Drafts of other Queen hits and photos from singer’s private archive will also feature in A Life in Lyrics

Robert Farrant obituary

Other lives: Singer and actor who had a hit song in the 1960s under the name Bobby Shafto

‘Almost 30m plays on Spotify!’ When fake bands hit the real-life big time, from Spinal Tap to the Flaming Dildos

How do you invent a convincing fictional band for your play, film or novel? And what happens if they actually top the charts? The creators of Scott Pilgrim, the Commitments, Stereophonic and more reveal all

Taylor Swift announces behind-the-scenes Eras tour docuseries, plus new concert film

The End of an Era will air across six episodes on Disney+, with Swift promising ‘all the stories woven throughout’ record-breaking tour

‘The vocals were on another level’: how Counting Crows made Mr Jones

‘It’s about the night me and my best friend Marty Jones hung out with a flamenco troupe, wishing we were cool musicians too – so we could talk to the girls a little better’

Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition review – fabled album falls short of expectations

Rumours of the existence of E Street versions of Springsteen’s masterpiece have swirled for decades, but the reality doesn’t live up to the hype

John Lodge obituary

Moody Blues bass player, singer and songwriter who played a key part in the group’s successes during the 1960s and 70s