56 h. ago Perfume Genius: Glory review – full of energy and biting nuance

(Matador)Consummate chronicler of 21st-century sensuality Mike Hadreas returns to his indie roots on a convivial seventh album stalked by death and desireDeath stalks the seventh studio album by feted US singer-songwriter Perfume Genius, nom de plume of Mike Hadreas – but stealthily, not so you’d recognise its presence at first. Here are 11 tracks that sound very much alive – songs that hum with universal emotion and queer carnality, everyday anxieties and high drama, from an artist whose struggles have formed the basis of a compelling body of work. Glory adds heft to it.Vivid with guitars, the album’s twin opening tracks bring the peripatetic Hadreas crashing back to indie rock after long spells in art pop, and orchestral and electronic environs. His last album, the dub-inflected Ugly Season (2022), originally accompanied a 2019 dance piece. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Youth Music launches Rescue the Roots campaign to save grassroots projects: ‘The time for action is now’

New campaign launches as Ed Sheeran calls for urgent government funding of music education in the UK

Events

6 d. ago Bastille’s Dan Smith hits out at ‘galling’ ticket touts as band announce new arena tour

Band are making a donation towards Youth Music’s Rescue the Roots campaign while the government continues to try and stamp out unfair ticketing practices

Events

1 week ago Bastille announce huge UK arena tour for 2025 including Manchester AO Arena date

Bastille will play nine dates across the UK this November including a Manchester show

Politics

1 week ago Bastille UK Tour: indie pop act announce nine dates in support of Rescue The Roots campaign

The tour is set to be the band’s only series of live performances in 2025

Events

3 w. ago Sasami: Blood on the Silver Screen review – a quirky move to the mainstream

(Domino)The US artist segues from industrial metal to radio-friendly pop most memorable for its vividly relatable lyricsSasami Ashworth’s gentle indie rock debut, Sasami (2019), felt reasonably familiar to fans of her previous band, Cherry Glazerr; the bracingly industrial metal of 2022’s Squeeze less so. Now the California musician has moved into sprightly, shiny pop for her third solo album, picking over matters of the heart. And the groin – apparently, Lana Del Rey-alike Nothing But a Sad Face On is about Eve’s mixed emotions after being “banished from the Garden of Eden for fucking a snake”. Don’t fret if you can’t recall that precise bible story; Ashworth has plenty more relatable tales of compromised, messy modern-day dating.Pop may not always come naturally to her. Most of Ashworth’s choruses linger on the ear no longer than a lost ladybird, and the deft Taylor Swift via Grimes-sounding production can’t conceal a dearth of durable material. But Slugger is surefooted, summery ...

Events

3 w. ago Oasis reunion tour 2025: Dates, support, gig run time, stadium map, can you still get tickets and everything you need to know about Cardiff gig

Oasis are kicking off their reunion tour in Cardiff and here is everything you need to know

Politics