The understated power of Charlotte Day Wilson
Her cool style only makes her music more emotionally powerful, especially live.
ByPop music
Quincy Jones’s gift to music
The venerated producer, who has died at the age of 91, brought a jazz sensibility to pop.
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How Kraftwerk’s Autobahn remade pop
Half a century ago, the art-rock band introduced the world to the vocoder. Their sound – and pop music –…
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Against child stardom
As another former teen idol’s story ends in tragedy, we must ask: should we let children become famous?
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Self Esteem: “I’ve been maturing my disgust at societal norms”
Rebecca Lucy Taylor’s hit record Prioritise Pleasure was a loud rejection of the status quo. Her next album is “a…
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The media is damaging public life by “sanewashing” Donald Trump
Should we avoid reporting reality simply because it isn’t new? Plus: unease at the Observer and the tragic death of…
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Liam Payne was a victim of the pop pin-up machine
The dream that One Direction represented now seems an obvious nightmare.
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Colin Greenwood’s tour diary: checking in with Radiohead and suiting up for Nick Cave
The bassist on becoming a Bad Seed, reconvening with old friends, and how life on the road has changed.
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Charli XCX should let Brat summer die
It was exhilarating for a while, but there is power in knowing a moment has passed.
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Chappell Roan’s war on fandom
Like her peer Charli XCX, the pop star of the moment wants to free artists from a “creepy” culture of…
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Florence + the Machine at the Proms: a thrilling two hours of pure emotion
This imaginative orchestral reworking of her debut album Lungs was part film score, part pop song, and totally euphoric.
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The Sabrina Carpenter effect
The pop star has hit the mainstream thanks to a playful sense of humour that brings her smart, elliptical songs…
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Why terror targets Taylor Swift fans
On a street in Vienna, the star’s fans are building a sanctuary in defiance against the threat of terror and…
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Donald Trump is Brat
The meme has transcended culture and taken over politics. Why has everyone misunderstood it?
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At Hyde Park, Stevie Nicks is a powerful presence
The Fleetwood Mac singer is 76 years old – but she doesn’t sound it.
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The young prole rebels of Dexys Midnight Runners
Denied an audience with frontman Kevin Rowland, the author Nige Tassell asks the band’s army of musicians to tell its…
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Rediscovering the bright lights
An old album and a Pet Shop Boys gig remind me of music’s power to refresh memories and forge new…
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The Born in the USA fallacy
Forty years ago Bruce Springsteen’s bleak portrait of America’s discarded working class was miscast as a patriotic anthem.
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How Take That helped me embrace middle age
Seeing Gary, Howard and Mark perform in Manchester revealed how friendships, freedom and fun evolve through life.
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Pet Shop Boys: “Labour could do with an infusion of idealism”
The pop duo on Keir Starmer, the royals, Marvel and the word “queer”.
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