4 d. ago ‘Performing is not some gigantic thing – it’s just me breathing’: Obongjayar on the journey from shyness to stardom

Ahead of the release of his spectacular second album, the Nigerian singer speaks of his recent songwriting epiphany and how he learned to best express his political rageRight before he began work on his second album, someone told Obongjayar it was time to “start writing songs”. “I remember being really pissed,” laughs the artist, whose real name is Steven Umoh – though, in person, he goes by “OB”. “Like, what the fuck? What do you think I’ve been doing this whole time?”The incredulity seems fair. The 32-year-old Nigerian singer has been releasing work for more than a decade, running the gamut of genres from hip-hop to Afrobeat to experimental electronics to spoken word, alt-rock and soul. It has made him something of a critics’ darling, but if you’re not familiar with his solo music (his debut album, 2022’s Some Nights I Dream of Doors, was stunning), odds are you’ve heard his lithe, gravelly inflections on Richard Russell’s Everything Is Recorded project, or warming up UK rap star ...

Politics

6 d. ago Gregory Porter: ‘My worst job? Shovelling exterminated rats’

The singer on a precious photograph of his mother, losing his brother and the wonders of cooking with butterBorn in California, Gregory Porter, 53, released his Grammy-nominated debut album, Water, in 2010. He went on to receive best jazz vocal album Grammys for Liquid Spirit in 2014 and Take Me to the Alley in 2017. He sang for Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee and was the first celebrity to sing a lullaby on CBeebies Bedtime Stories. Next week, he begins a UK tour. He is married with two children and lives in California.What is your greatest fear? Immunity to cruelty. Continue reading...

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6 d. ago Tunde Adebimpe: Thee Black Boltz review – a sparkling solo debut

(Sub Pop)The TV on the Radio frontman’s sharp pop instincts kick in on a multifaceted synth-punk-funk set born out of deep personal lossYou would not know, on first listen, that this effervescent debut solo album by the sometime frontman of TV on the Radio was steeped in grief. Tunde Adebimpe’s sister died during the pandemic when these songs were taking hesitant shape in an LA studio that Adebimpe, now a successful actor, shares with multi-instrumentalist and co-producer Wilder Zoby.Those difficult feelings – and others, about living in “a time of tenderness and rage” – became snaggle-toothed synth-punk cuts and bouncy synth-pop sounds. On Drop, there’s beat-boxing; on The Most, a Sleng Teng reggae riddim ambush; while on Somebody New, you can hear a punk-funk echo of New Order. Only ILY, a finger-picked folk song addressed to his sister, breaks character, adding “balladeer” to Adebimpe’s varied CV (former stop-motion animator, illustrator). “How’d you get so low?” asks God Knows, ...

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7 d. ago Self Esteem debuts new album ‘A Complicated Woman’ at London theatrical show – watch

Self Esteem debuts new album ‘A Complicated Woman’ at London theatrical show – watch  Dork | Down With Boring

Culture

1 week ago David Bowie's daughter Lexi Jones insists she's 'not a copy' of him following release of debut album

The 24-year-old was just 15 when the Ziggy Stardust musician passed away

Politics

1 week ago David Bowie's daughter Lexi Jones insists she's 'not a copy' of her famous father in defiant message as she releases debut album

The late singer's only daughter Lexi, 24, real name Alexandria Zahra Jones, has teased her new music on her Instagram throughout last week.

Politics

1 week ago David Bowie’s daughter Lexi Jones launches new album with defiant message to haters

Lexi Jones proved she'd inherited her father's aptitude for music this week with the release of her debut album, but despite the milestone she has shared her frustration at being compared to the music icon

Politics

1 week ago The Kooks' Luke Pritchard reveals what really happened with THAT Arctic Monkeys feud and claims many 00s rockstars FAKED their seemingly wild lives to look cool

Led by singer and songwriter Luke, now 40, the band's 2006 debut album Inside In/Inside Out flung them into the public consciousness, going three times platinum.

Politics

2 w. ago London, Paris, Barcelona, and More Will Witness Mumford & Sons’ New Rushmere Concert: Tourists Take Note

London, Paris, Barcelona, and More Will Witness Mumford & Sons’ New Rushmere Concert: Tourists Take Note  Travel And Tour World

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2 w. 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

2 w. ago Decline of nightclubs feeding demand for festivals – event organiser

James Ralls, founder of the Victorious Festival, says regional events are booming.

Politics

2 w. ago Mumford and Sons’ first album in seven years debuts at number one on UK charts

The fifth studio record, released on March 28, is now the group’s third album to reach number one, according to the Official Charts Company.

Politics

2 w. 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 w. 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...

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3 w. 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

3 w. 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

3 w. 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

3 w. 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

3 w. 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

4 w. ago Mumford & Sons stick to the same format on their latest album, Rushmere

On their first album in seven years, the British band keep to familiar territories of Ye Olde England and the dusty Americana that suits their holy-rolling emotional tone

Politics