11 h. ago David Bowie’s daughter paves her own way with debut album release

With very little promotion or advertisement, David Bowie’s daughter has stepped into her own musical spotlight and released her debut album Xandri

Politics

3 d. ago Pop star Jade felt ‘weight lifted off her shoulders’ as she reached major milestone

Former Little Mix singer says she wants her new album to sound like she’s ‘finding herself again’

Politics

3 d. ago ‘This weird dream just keeps going!’ Wet Leg on overnight success, sexual epiphanies and facing fears

The UK indie-rockers won two Grammys for their debut album. Ahead of their second, they explain how they protected one another amid sudden fame – and how queer love and Davina McCall inspired themWet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale looks like a pop star from a different era. She walks into a bar in east London wearing a giant, floor-length pale-pink padded coat. She has bleached eyebrows, dip-dyed hair, drawn-on freckles and jewels stuck to her nails and teeth. For a moment, Top of the Pops could be on primetime TV and a copy of Smash Hits in my bag. But then Wet Leg’s story always did feel anachronistic. In 2021, they managed what indie bands don’t often manage any more and became an overnight success. That June, they released their first single, Chaise Longue, a deadpan, perfectly simple and cheerfully daft megahit; they conquered the US and Japan, toured arenas and topped the album charts with their scathing, self-titled debut, scoring two Brit awards and two Grammys.They were still touring...

Politics

4 d. ago Black Country, New Road: Forever Howlong review | Alexis Petridis's album of the week

(Ninja Tune)After losing their frontman, the band’s third studio album shows how resilient and adaptable they are, with luscious melodies, fantastical lyrics and lots of recordersThe last time Black Country, New Road released a studio album, in 2022, it was accompanied by a strange feeling. Their debut the previous year had reached No 4 in the UK charts, and Ants from Up There was an even greater breakthrough, the sound of the UK septet pulling confidently away from the serried ranks of sprechgesang-heavy alt-rock bands who proliferated in the late 2010s. But there was an elegiac feeling around its release: Black Country, New Road’s frontman, Isaac Wood, had announced his departure four days prior. The others had resolved to continue without him, but given how distinctive Wood’s declarative, ruminating vocals were, many thought the band’s future was uncertain at best.That proved to be an underestimation. Instead of touring Ants from Up There, the remaining members stopped playing an...

Politics

6 d. ago ‘I feel as though I’ve been in chains’: the bittersweet life of lovers rock legend Mari’ Pierre

The British-Guyanese singer topped the reggae chart with 1978’s Walk Away, but despite work with Robert Plant and others, she’s rarely returned to the studio. This interview might change that In December 1978, Marie Pierre was at No 1 in the UK reggae chart with the lovers rock classic Walk Away, a beautiful tearstained lament on a troubled relationship. Her 1979 debut album Love Affair, powered by another enduring scene song in Choose Me, remained one of Trojan’s best-selling albums well into the 1980s; Pierre, with her crystalline multi-octave voice, seemed destined to follow her contemporary, Silly Games singer Janet Kay, into mainstream pop-reggae success.But in the 46 years since, Pierre has never released another album. A career that promised so much has – despite TV work and successful backing singing gigs with Robert Plant, Donna Summer and Chaka Khan – been one of frustration and thwarted ambition. Misfortune, mistrust and mistreatment, personal and professional, have sidel...

Politics

6 d. ago ‘It was like a freight train hit us’: How Justin Bieber changed the world (really)

Screaming girls. Puppy-love songs. That haircut. As the Canadian superstar’s debut album turns 15 – the same age he was when he became internationally inescapable – Mark Beaumont takes a look at his fast rise and often overlooked legacy

Events

7 d. ago Zadie Smith on the magic of Tracy Chapman: ‘She didn’t just look like us – she was singing our songs’

The novelist was just 12 when the ex-busker stunned a mammoth crowd at the Free Nelson Mandela concert – and sent everyone racing to Woolworths for her astonishing debut album. Its simple, honest, perfect songs of protest have mesmerised the writer ever sinceOn 11 June 1988, I was 12 and sitting with my family watching the Free Nelson Mandela Concert on TV. As a clan, we were old hands at trying to free Mandela, having done our fair share of marching and boycotting over the years, and this concert felt like the culmination of all that. There was a lot of excitement in the room: we squeezed on to the sofa and opened the windows wide. (If the wind’s blowing in the right direction, you can hear a Wembley audience roar from Willesden.)Many world-famous musicians played that day. Most of them I don’t remember, but one I will never forget: Tracy Chapman. I think a lot of people feel that way, though when you rewatch the footage you realise what she was up against at the time. Nobody cheer...

Events

8 d. ago Geri Halliwell Horner drops biggest hint yet all five Spice Girls will reunite

Geri Horner has admitted that she is open to getting back together with her Spice Girls co-stars with speculation they are set to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut album Spice

Politics

8 d. ago Sex Pistols star once confessed to stealing from David Bowie: ‘He thought it was funny’

‘I was like the Phantom of Hammersmith Odeon,’ musician said

Events

9 d. ago Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones: ‘I like to fart in front of people. You can tell if someone’s cool from their reaction’

The punk guitarist on the ideal length of gigs, stealing from David Bowie’s trucks and dealing with an ornery Jerry Lee LewisIs it true you nicked some of your early equipment from David Bowie’s trucks outside the Hammersmith Odeon at the last Ziggy Stardust show, in 1973?There’s definitely some truth in that. It wasn’t outside in trucks though – it was on the stage! They played two nights, and after the first night they left all the gear up, because they were playing there the next night. I knew the Hammersmith Odeon like the back of my hand, I used to bunk in there all the time. I was like the Phantom of Hammersmith Odeon.The Sex Pistols are touring Australia 5 -11 April; see here for dates. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Chris Brown announces 20th anniversary tour with special guests and return of fan

The Breezy Bowl XX stadium tour will celebrate 20 years since the release of the controversial singer’s self-titled debut album

Politics

1 week ago David Bowie's childhood home in Bromley — where he moved aged six — for sale for £450k

Bowie moved into the two-bedroom house from Brixton in 1953 and lived there for a year

Economics

1 week ago David Bowie’s old south London home is on the market for £500,000

David Bowie’s old south London home is on the market for £500,000  Time Out London

Economics

1 week ago Kevan Staples dead: Rough Trade star and David Bowie support act dies as bandmate pays tribute

Rough Trade star and David Bowie support act, Kevan Staples, has died at the age of 74 co-creator Carole Pope revealed in a touching online message

Events

1 week ago David Bowie fan? Musician's former Bromley home for sale for £449,500

Bowie moved into the house in 1953, aged six, and lived there for a year

Economics

2 w. ago Tiffany Pollard in Celebrity Big Brother return – nine years after 'David's dead'

Tiffany Pollard is said to be in line for a dramatic return to the Celebrity Big Brother fold nine years after she mistakenly broke down following the death of David Bowie

Events

2 w. ago Raisa K: Affectionately review | Safi Bugel's experimental album of the month

(15 Love)Of a piece with the off-kilter pop of Astrid Sonne and Tirzah, Raisa K builds a striking debut out of hazy melodies, unaffected vocals and observations of everyday loveIn recent years, there’s been a real appetite for a certain strain of hazy, quietly off-kilter pop made by classically trained musicians who favour a more DIY approach. Think Astrid Sonne, ML Buch or Tirzah, all of whom have put out records that are simultaneously cosy and jarring. Affectionately, the debut album by Raisa K, has a similar blueprint: simple melodies, unaffected vocals and scrappy production.The formula makes sense: K is a longstanding member of the pop-not-pop group Good Sad Happy Bad, and the record enlists some of the key players from that world: bandmates Marc Pell and Mica Levi (also Tirzah’s producer) plus friend and collaborator Coby Sey. Here K takes the lead, exploring the mundanity of love, trust and tension with unembellished candour. The lyrics are unshowy – the kind of nonchalant s...

Politics

2 w. ago Artist Peter Sedgley, founder of Space Studios, dies aged 94

The London-born artist was known for his kinetic and optical art.

Events

2 w. ago Steve Reich: ‘We all wish art could counter the direction of US politics. But it can’t’

Now 88, the minimalist composer has reissued his life’s work. He answers your questions about Bowie, the Grateful Dead, spirituality – and his complicated friendship with Philip GlassWhy does minimalist music consist of so much repetition? Correllisflute The word “minimalist” was invented by Michael Nyman when he was more of a music critic than a composer, but the kind of music that I and people like me deal with has changes on a much smaller scale than people are used to hearing. The number of repetitions is the nature of the music. On my early pieces, such as It’s Gonna Rain or Piano Phase, everything moves so slowly. Some people will say: “To hell with it, I’m not listening to that,” but those who do experience a different kind of listening.Not only was David Bowie influenced by your work during his Berlin era, but also your Clapping Music is sampled on the hypnotic James Murphy remix of Bowie’s Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix). What do you recall of your conversations with B...

Politics

2 w. ago Anastacia on her debut 25 years ago: ‘I wasn’t feminine enough. I wasn’t white enough or Black enough’

On the anniversary of her hit debut album, the Noughties icon sits down with Hannah Ewens to talk celebrity impressions, baby Botox – and why she’ll tap out ‘gracefully’ when the time comes

Events