Kate Solomon

Flo’s second album, Therapy at the Club, follows the emotional arc of a night out shaped by romantic disappointment rather than euphoric release. The review praises the British R&B trio’s vocal chemistry, lyrical confidence and willingness to make stylistic detours, highlighting tracks such as “Pose,” “Remedied” and “Floating.” However, its 16 mostly mid-paced songs make the album drag, and the restrained energy conflicts with its club-oriented premise.

Extreme competition for front-row concert positions has contributed to fans enduring long queues, restricting hydration and, in some cases, using diapers or urinating in crowds to avoid losing their place. The trend has been amplified by expensive VIP tickets, social media status and artists’ interactive shows. Fan-run numbering and queue systems can create community but also encourage hierarchy, conflict and unfairness, prompting some artists and venues to introduce randomised entry, wristbands, no-barrier formats and camping bans. Despite the unpleasant incidents, many fans still view the barrier experience as worthwhile for the intimacy, friendships and memorable footage it provides.

Bruno Mars’s first Wembley Stadium show on his six-night 2026 run combines nightclub and church-inspired visuals with a traditional proscenium-stage production. The performance relies heavily on Mars’s powerful voice and charismatic showmanship rather than elaborate staging, though the reviewer finds his all-out vocal delivery repetitive and his gendered stage banter dated. Anderson .Paak’s appearance adds variety, while “Locked Out of Heaven” is identified as the concert’s high point. Overall, the show is enjoyable but falls short of its promise to be unforgettable.

BTS’s first UK concert in seven years is portrayed as an exuberant, highly polished spectacle that overcomes the cynicism surrounding the K-pop industry. The group moves from hard rap and explosive staging to relaxed, communal performances and softer pop, showcasing striking versatility. Their return follows each member’s completion of compulsory military service and coincides with the Arirang album and world tour. The overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from 62,000 fans underscores the group’s powerful bond with its audience.

Gianna’s music is praised for reviving polished early-2000s boho-pop through acoustic guitars, trip-hop rhythms and influences ranging from Nelly Furtado and Corinne Bailey Rae to Madonna and Balkan folk music. Her debut EP, Behind the Wings, is presented as a convincing case for reassessing coffee-shop pop. The article also recommends new tracks by Nia Archives, deBasement and Nikki Nair, Downtown Boys, Brennan Wedl and Waxahatchee, Empress Of, Lee “Scratch” Perry with Mouse on Mars, and Khun Narin Electric Phin Band, highlighting their energetic, emotionally resonant and stylistically distinctive qualities.

Guardian writers explain why songs that are not conventionally romantic—including abrasive noise, breakup anthems, sarcastic anti-love songs and songs about nuclear destruction—have become meaningful through personal memories. Their accounts connect music with early romance, long-term partnerships, unrequited desire, heartbreak and imagined future love, showing how shared listening and emotional associations can outweigh a song’s literal lyrics or genre.

Haute & Freddy, the Los Angeles duo Michelle Buzz and Lance Shipp, revive maximalist mid-1980s British synth-pop with theatrical Regency-inspired visuals and emotionally extravagant songs. Their single “Dance the Pain Away” is praised as an exuberant sad-pop anthem, while their songwriting backgrounds include work for Katy Perry, Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears and Calvin Harris. The piece also recommends new tracks by artists including Wendy Eisenberg, Remember Sports, Asake and Wizkid, Charlotte Plank, James Welsh, Durand Jones and the Indications, and Joshua Chiquimia Crampton.

The Guardian’s writers highlight seven overlooked five-star releases from 2025. Annahstasia’s Tether is praised for its intimate songwriting and vocal force; Valentina Magaletti and YPY’s Kansai Bruises for exhilarating percussion and electronics; Madison Cunningham’s Ace for its stormy account of love, divorce and rebirth; and Sarz’s Protect Sarz at All Costs for its ambitious blend of Afrobeats, amapiano, hip-hop, R&B and electronic music. Daniel Avery’s Tremor is celebrated as brooding, industrial and genre-defying, while Anthony Naples’s Scanners is recognized for the producer’s continued artistic growth. The selection concludes with Radu Lupu: The Unreleased Recordings, a six-disc archival set showcasing vivid performances by the late Romanian pianist.

The writer explains why Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring is her preferred feel-good film and an essential autumn rewatch. Its clear moral conflict, idealistic fellowship and lovingly crafted Middle-earth setting provide comfort despite the story’s violence, loss and peril. The film is also tied to an unsettling but enduring Christmas tradition formed after the writer’s parents separated, making its emotional reassurance especially powerful.

Céline Dessberg’s music blends Mongolian heritage, French nostalgia, the yatga, Buddhist influences and old-Hollywood vocal styles. Her track “Chintamani,” the B-side to 2025 single “Selenge,” is highlighted as a standout for its waltz rhythm, vivid natural imagery and warm, wide-eyed vocals. The piece also recommends new tracks by Sudan Archives, Water From Your Eyes, Olof Dreijer, Pile, They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Sam Prekop and Molly Nilsson.

A guide to 30 UK festivals taking place between April and August 2025, aimed at readers who missed Glastonbury or still want to book a major event. The recommendations span metal, rock, pop, hip-hop, electronic music, jazz, experimental sounds and family entertainment, with festivals ranging from large events such as Download, BST Hyde Park, TRNSMT, Reading and Leeds and Creamfields to smaller boutique and specialist gatherings. The guide highlights notable performers, distinctive settings and themes, including family programming at Latitude, Camp Bestival and Deer Shed, while noting that Balter Festival is closing after its 2025 edition.

Nova Twins members Amy Love and Georgia South discuss the pressures of touring, their experiences as Black women in a predominantly white and male heavy-music scene, and the skepticism they face over their musicianship. Their new album, Parasites & Butterflies, deliberately uses no synths, relying on guitar, bass and effects pedals. The duo also describe campaigning for greater recognition of Black rock artists through the MOBO Awards and launching a music-education scholarship, while arguing that rock deserves more mainstream exposure.

Jake Shears, Babydaddy and Del Marquis are reuniting Scissor Sisters as a trio to mark the 20th anniversary of the band's debut album, following a lockdown livestream that rekindled their connection with fans and their own back catalogue. They recall emerging from New York's electroclash and queer club scene, finding a particularly receptive audience in the UK while facing cultural conservatism and backlash in the United States. The band became major British pop stars with albums including Scissor Sisters and Ta-Dah, but years of relentless touring and commercial success left them burned out, prompting their 2012–13 hiatus. Ana Matronic and Paddy Boom will not join the reunion, although the remaining members say there is no bad blood. The trio have no firm plans for new music but remain open to continuing beyond the anniversary shows.

Guardian music writers share personal discoveries of older or overlooked recordings encountered during 2024. Their selections range from Charles Aznavour’s bilingual chanson and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s ecstatic qawwali to Teresa Teng’s Chinese pop, Bobbi Humphrey’s jazz-funk, Paramore, Little Annie, Mike Francis, Robert Palmer, Cher’s disco albums, Buffy Sainte-Marie’s powerful Neil Young cover and Pat Metheny’s minimalist Dream Box. The pieces emphasize how rediscovered music can connect personal memories, cultural identities and emotional states while bringing renewed attention to neglected artists and recordings.

Boybands can provide girls with an early, emotionally formative experience of romantic love and an appealing alternative to the misogyny and discomfort of adolescence. Drawing on the author's memories of Take That and the reaction to One Direction's hiatus, the piece argues that Liam Payne's death brings a deeper, more traditional grief: fans mourn both a person they genuinely loved and the loss of One Direction and their younger selves.

Chappell Roan describes the psychological strain of her rapid rise from cult musician to global pop star, including severe depression, intrusive fans, stalking fears and frustration with celebrity culture. She traces her artistic identity to queer self-discovery, drag culture and songs such as “Pink Pony Club,” while crediting collaborator Daniel Nigro with helping shape her flamboyant pop sound. Roan celebrates the freedom and community of her live shows, supports local drag artists, LGBTQ+ rights and aid for Palestine, but declines to endorse Kamala Harris and criticizes both sides of US politics. Despite planning time away to recover and write, she says fame also gives her greater creative and personal power.

Florence Welch revisits Florence + the Machine’s 2009 debut album Lungs at London’s Royal Albert Hall during Prom 69, performing Jules Buckley’s expansive orchestral reworkings with his orchestra. The arrangements bring fresh theatrical and emotional dimensions to songs including “Girl With One Eye,” “My Boy Builds Coffins,” “Rabbit Heart” and “Dog Days Are Over.” Welch’s commanding, tender voice remains the centrepiece, driving the concert through repeated crescendos to an ecstatic and memorable conclusion.

Australian dance-pop group Confidence Man discuss their chaotic, theatrical live shows and forthcoming third album, 3am (La La La). Created while partying in their east London studio, the record combines sugary Eurodance and 1990s rave optimism with a darker, seedy warehouse-party atmosphere. Janet Planet and Sugar Bones describe their choreography, elaborate stage ambitions and plans for the November tour, while reflecting on the band’s growing festival following and commitment to giving audiences an exuberant night out.

Take That’s This Life tour is criticized for its confusing, retrofuturist staging and uneven packaging, but the trio’s catalogue of hits remains highly effective. Performances of “A Million Love Songs,” “Back for Good,” “Shine,” “The Flood” and “Never Forget” generate considerable warmth and energy, while the members’ solo moments add variety. Despite the theatrical cheese and incomplete history of the band, the concert demonstrates Take That’s lasting emotional and nostalgic power.

Set designers Katie Spencer and Sarah Greenwood explain how they recreated Amy Winehouse’s childhood bedroom, Camden flats and final home for Back to Black. Rather than reproducing every detail literally, they interpreted the emotional essence of each space, using clutter, handwritten materials, analogue objects, Winehouse’s AMI jukebox and a Smeg fridge to express her ambitions, vulnerabilities and changing circumstances. The unfinished final house was designed to convey a sense of promise and unease, underscoring the tragedy of Winehouse’s death and the life she never got to build there.