27 h. ago ‘Our peers have come and gone. We’re still here’: Wolf Alice on ambition, ageing and why they’ve left Labour behind

They were the chart-topping, Corbyn-supporting band taking potshots at the Tories – so why do they sound so jaded about politics? As they gear up for album four, the alt-rockers explain their journey to self-discoveryPaper tablecloths, blazing sun, spitting grill, plastic chairs, dishes of tzatziki, an expectant cat sidling up to diners: we could be in Greece. “It’s like a holiday,” marvels guitarist Joff Oddie, sipping an enormous iced coffee. But Wolf Alice are not on a Mediterranean jaunt – they’re at a restaurant on an industrial estate in Seven Sisters, north London, a few doors down from the studios where they wrote their upcoming fourth album The Clearing and its chart-topping predecessor, Blue Weekend. “We used to call this street Anchovy Mile,” reminisces front woman Ellie Rowsell. “Because it smelled like fish.” That might be the tip round the corner or, thinks bassist Theo Ellis, a nearby brewery (“something to do with filtering through fish scales”). Either way, such an ...

Politics

27 h. ago ‘Our peers have come and gone. We’re still here’: Wolf Alice on ambition, ageing and why new bands are struggling

They were the chart-topping, Corbyn-supporting band taking potshots at the Tories – so why do they sound so jaded about politics? As they gear up for album four, the alt-rockers explain their journey to self-discoveryPaper tablecloths, blazing sun, spitting grill, plastic chairs, dishes of tzatziki, an expectant cat sidling up to diners: we could be in Greece. “It’s like a holiday,” marvels guitarist Joff Oddie, sipping an enormous iced coffee. But Wolf Alice are not on a Mediterranean jaunt – they’re at a restaurant on an industrial estate in Seven Sisters, north London, a few doors down from the studios where they wrote their upcoming fourth album The Clearing and its chart-topping predecessor, Blue Weekend. “We used to call this street Anchovy Mile,” reminisces front woman Ellie Rowsell. “Because it smelled like fish.” That might be the tip round the corner or, thinks bassist Theo Ellis, a nearby brewery (“something to do with filtering through fish scales”). Either way, such an ...

Politics

2 d. ago ABBA sound engineer Michael B Tretow tragically dies at the age of 80 as band issues tearful tribute to 'fantastic inspirer and joy

The musician was a prominent figure in a Swedish music for decades, and worked closely with the band during their 70s heyday.

Events

2 w. ago Eurovision legend who won for UK leaves surprising amount in will after death

Martin Lee, who won Eurovision in 1976 with his band Brotherhood of Man, sadly died last year aged 77 and has left his estate to his wife Sandra Stevens, who also sang in the band

Events

3 w. ago Welsh rock star Mike Peters loses cancer battle and dies aged 66

Welsh rock star and frontman of The Alarm has died aged 66, his band has confirmed.

Events

3 w. ago Mike Peters dead aged 66: Frontman of Welsh band The Alarm who performed with Bob Dylan and U2 dies after blood cancer battle

Mike Peters, frontman of Welsh rock band The Alarm, has died from blood cancer aged 66, a spokesman for the charity he co-founded has announced.

Events

4 w. ago Men of a Certain Age by Kate Mossman review – close encounters with charismatic male rockers

A journalist’s bracingly honest account of interviews with musicians from Brian May to Shaun RyderWhen the journalist Kate Mossman was a child, she developed an obsession with the rock band Queen. Mossman came of age in the 1990s, but the irony and snark of that decade left her cold. Instead, she lived for the “middle-aged musicians from the 80s in jacket and jeans, and for the open-hearted, non-cynical pop times that had come before”. Watching Queen’s posthumous single These Are the Days of Our Lives on Top of the Pops in 1991, she “felt something within myself ignite”. Though she was captivated by the strange longing of a monochrome Freddie Mercury, who had died weeks earlier, it was drummer Roger Taylor who became the focus of her obsession. On the mantelpiece of her childhood home sat a holy relic: a beer glass he had drunk from during a solo gig. Twenty years later, while on her way to interview Taylor and Queen guitarist Brian May for a magazine profile, Mossman confesses...

Politics