The high-art cabaret of Christine and the Queens’ Redcar
At a circus venue in Paris the next evolution in the musician’s theatrical pop shows how real life seeps into…
ByPop music
The Proclaimers are still Britain’s best male rock singers
At a recent gig in Leicester, the duo were just as much a juggernaut as they have always been.
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Has pop reached peak Jack Antonoff?
From the music of Taylor Swift to Lorde, the producer’s sound is inescapable – and too much of even a…
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The Spiceworld generation
Twenty-five years ago, the Spice Girls told Gen X to “move over” – and whispered feminist slogans to nascent millennials.
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How Robbie Williams became the ultimate British pop star
With his swaggering yet self-aware lyrics and rousing melodies, Robbie Williams is the king of laddish, early Noughties pub culture.…
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How Morrissey became irrelevant
At a gig in south London, the singer seemed trapped by nostalgia for his early career – and a terminally…
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Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing “takes advantage” of music fans
Coldplay, Harry Styles and Bruce Springsteen have profited from ticket prices that rise with demand to many times more than…
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The menace of Beatlism
28 February 1964: I refuse to believe the Beatles and their like are what the youth of Britain want.
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Harry Styles and the paradox of male sexuality
Men’s lust is simpler if the man in question doesn’t seem completely straight.
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The book Pete Doherty didn’t write
This “memoir” is essentially a transcript of hours of rambling interviews. Even the Libertines frontman himself thinks it’s “completely shocking”.
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In a fractured world, Glastonbury is a much-needed sanctuary
Festivals are easily romanticised, but alongside the glitter and the dancing they demonstrate how humans might better live together.
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Macca and the Stones? The past has a death grip on our culture
Boomer pop line-ups at Glastonbury and Hyde Park show the hegemony of the nostalgia industry is not going away.
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Will Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul” usher in a new era of dance music?
Anchored by an unstoppable house beat, Beyoncé’s new song is a readymade soundtrack to a big night out.
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Jarvis Cocker’s book Good Pop, Bad Pop reveals the sentimental side he hid in the Nineties
Taking us through the contents of his attic, the Pulp frontman shows there was always more to him than ironic…
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Harry Styles’ new album is a summery, Eighties-infused poolside record
The best songs on Harry’s House feel like a brief tickle of cool air on a warm, lazy day.
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Can Pink Floyd’s song for Ukraine really make a difference?
With benefit songs unlikely to raise money, and social media taking care of awareness, pop records might seem beside the…
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The immaculate pop purism of Charli XCX
On her new album Crash, XCX creates dance tracks that are cool, shiny, precise but still avant-garde.
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Little Mix’s catchy feminist pop is as dynamic as ever, even without Jesy Nelson
On the four new songs that feature on Little Mix’s new greatest hits album, Nelson’s voice isn’t missed.
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On Prioritise Pleasure, Self Esteem turns mainstream pop into an act of rebellion
Rebecca Lucy Taylor’s second solo album teaches us that to be rooted in one’s emotions is a method of survival.
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Tom Jones: “I wanted to be a man, desperately”
How the veteran pop star made a career out of masculinity.
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