new music reviews, news & interviews
Thomas H. Green |
The Last Dinner Party’s second album, From the Pyre, is one of this year’s most enjoyable. Its lead single, “This is the Killer Speaking”, is a belter that’ll be around for years.
Kieron Tyler |
Axis: Bold As Love, the second album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, was released in the UK during the first week of December 1967. In America, it came out in January 1968. Now, it is the subject of a multi-disc box set titled Bold As Love.
Jonathan Geddes
When Yard Act headlined the O2 Academy in Glasgow back in 2023, they might have thought returning there as a support act would indicate a career that…
peter.quinn
Named after and dedicated to his wife, filmmaker and director Shiraz Fradi, Tunisian vocalist and oud maestro Dhafer Youssef's first album as leader…
Guy Oddy
Even people who are unfamiliar with Kneecap’s sharp but raucous music may well be aware of the legal issues that have beset the Irish-English…
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
Jonathan Geddes
The five-piece delivered a pummelling set that was at times overwhelming
Tim Cumming
McMurray is joined by Don Was and R&B singer Kem
Thomas H. Green
Remembering one of reggae's breakout stars, in a full 2012 interview
Liz Thomson
Forever Rufus
Kieron Tyler
Smart new editions of the two albums by the late-Sixties American harmony pop outfit
Guy Oddy
Punk really isn’t dead
Tim Cumming
Jazz meets world music at these four contrasting nights across the capital’s annual jazz celebration
Tim Cumming
The north African griot and her band release long awaited third album
johncarvill
Seven CD set tracks Thin Lizzy's evolution from good to great
Guy Oddy
Michael League’s jazzers reconnect with old friends
Guy Oddy
Bleeps and beats nostalgia more than tops expectations
mark.kidel
A master-class in male vulnerability
Kieron Tyler
Dreaminess and frostiness from the Gallic singer-songwriter
Sebastian Scotney
Barbra Streisand's son as singer and songwriter
Kieron Tyler
The hit-free early Eighties electropop duo which should have ignited the charts
Kieron Tyler
The Baltic state confirms that music is integral to its fabric
Guy Oddy
Dystopian uneasy listening that is far from the mainstream
joe.muggs
A particularly British torch song tradition hits some grandiose highs
Tim Cumming
One of their best-sounding classic LPs comes with live sets, rare film and dodgy studio jams
Thomas H. Green
The most extensive, wide-ranging record reviews in the galaxy
Tim Cumming
Two brilliant voices fill the Royal Albert Hall
joe.muggs
Young composer and esoteric veteran achieve alchemical reaction in endless reverberations
Katie Colombus
Two hours of backwards-somersaults and British accents in a confetti-drenched spectacle
the future of arts journalism
You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!
We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d
And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.
latest in today
We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts…
Puck is an assassin in a tutu and Theseus is a murderous thug. In Headlong's deliciously macabre dramatisation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream…
The Last Dinner Party’s second album, From the Pyre, is one of this year’s most enjoyable. Its lead single, “This is the Killer Speaking”,…
Axis: Bold As Love, the second album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, was released in the UK during the first week of December 1967. In…
Whoever thought of creating an exhibition comparing the brilliance of JMW Turner with that of John Constable deserves a medal – maybe Tate…
Having given us Peter Jackson’s monster documentary series The Beatles: Get Back four years ago, Disney have returned to the Moptop well to…
Spies are basically actors. They create fake personas in order to achieve their ends. But the difference is that they do this 24/7. All the…
When Yard Act headlined the O2 Academy in Glasgow back in 2023, they might have thought returning there as a support act would indicate a…
You have to admire Samantha Fernando’s concept of the “To Do” list. Hers has one item: “Do Less”. That’s the subtitle of one section of the…
Since 1981 Ryedale Festival has presented a mouthwatering array of concerts in picturesque churches and glorious stately homes in North…
Most read
Over the past few years, the National Theatre has specialised in trilogies. End is the final play in both playwright David Eldridge’s…
The Last Dinner Party’s second album, From the Pyre, is one of this year’s most enjoyable. Its lead single, “This is the Killer Speaking”,…
Since 1981 Ryedale Festival has presented a mouthwatering array of concerts in picturesque churches and glorious stately homes in North…
Puck is an assassin in a tutu and Theseus is a murderous thug. In Headlong's deliciously macabre dramatisation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream…
Tense with horror and the sticky darkness of the Argentinian night, Mariana Enriquez’s writing is rich and occult. Her epic novel, Our…
The battle of the Scrooges is fast becoming an unofficial London theatrical tradition, as – for the third year – audiences must…
The famous count could not have a more theatrical pedigree if he tried. The great actor-manager Henry Irving – tall, preternaturally thin,…
Even top conductors can have difficulty with Elgar’s late romantic suppleness. Vasily Petrenko of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and…
Having given us Peter Jackson’s monster documentary series The Beatles: Get Back four years ago, Disney have returned to the Moptop well to…
Among the artists Aly Spaltro, the 23-year-old who makes music as Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, calls to mind is Laura Marling. The whispery…