The Guardian2 hours agoSean Paul: ‘A new generation are making dancehall their own’verified_publisherThe Guardian - Ammar KaliaSean Paul is a party-starter. Few artists have a back catalogue better primed for the dancefloor than the multimillion-selling Jamaican artist. This year marks 20 years since his breakout second album, Dutty Rock, took the syncopated, bass-driven genre of dancehall global with hits Get Busy, Like …
The Guardian4 hours agoWilco: Cruel Country review – Jeff Tweedy’s state of the nation addressverified_publisherThe Guardian - Kitty EmpireWith the band Uncle Tupelo, Jeff Tweedy helped invent a strand of rogue Americana known, unsatisfyingly, as alt country. The group he formed afterwards – Wilco – have spent nearly 30 years expanding away from that brief, combining searching songwriting with restless experimentation. But the tumult …
The Guardian16 hours agoHaai: Baby, We’re Ascending review – rich, entrancing ambience from a party-starter starverified_publisherThe Guardian - Shaad D'SouzaOver the past few years, Sydney-born DJ, producer and songwriter Haai – real name Teneil Throssell – has become something of an underground star in her adopted hometown of London. A two-year resident at the Brixton club Phonox, Throssell’s sets are renowned for their frenetic pace and euphoric …
The Guardian21 hours agoThe Frightnrs: Always review – crisp reggae and a labour of loveverified_publisherThe Guardian - Neil SpencerCreating that “difficult second album” becomes a great deal more taxing when the singer on your acclaimed debut tragically dies. Such was the situation facing Brooklyn’s the Frightnrs after 2016’s Nothing More to Say, an album that cannily evoked the late-60s era of Jamaican rocksteady, and whose …
The Guardian23 hours agoHarry Styles: One Night Only review – the model of a modern pop starverified_publisherThe Guardian - Kitty EmpireIt’s inadvisable to project too much on to a hit single. But when cultural historians come to soundbite the post-pandemic moment, the montage on the privatised Channel 4 show will inevitably be soundtracked by As It Was, the No 1 single by Harry Styles. Currently in its seventh week at the top, As …
The Guardian23 hours agoOne to watch: Rachel Chinouririverified_publisherThe Guardian - Damien MorrisAuthenticity is the key battleground for a solo artist in a social media world. You must be your true self at all times – or pretend to be. It’s an invasive expectation, a 24-hour tension between pop’s glossy performativity and life’s messy realities. But perhaps it can work in favour of acts such …
