Rosalía: Lux review – a demanding, distinctive clash of classical and chaos that couldn’t be by anyone else
Rosalía’s Berghain is a thunderous goth-pop hit – but is it opera?
January 2025
‘Audiences can smell fakeness a mile away’: the creative directors behind pop’s biggest stars
Whether making rabbits for Chappell Roan or dangling Pink upside down, these professionals build entire worlds for pop’s A-listers. They explain their singular craft
September 2024
Alexis Petridis's album of the week
Mustafa: Dunya review – poet’s songwriting is a little too beautiful for its own good
The multitalented Canadian renders his subtle songs in tasteful autumnal shades – but could have benefitted from more head-turning numbers such as Gaza Is Calling
November 2023
Seascape: the state of our oceans
Björk turns up the volume in attack on industrial salmon farming in open pens
‘I always wanted to be David Attenborough’: Björk on protecting salmon, going on strike and magical mushrooms
October 2023
Seascape: the state of our oceans
‘Can we save the wild salmon of Iceland?’: Björk releases ‘lost’ song to fight fish farming
Björk and Rosalía team up to campaign against industrial fish farming
May 2023
Fans are fretting about Beyoncé tour ‘spoilers’ – but live music thrives on gossip and excitement
Laura Snapes
As the star kicks off her Renaissance dates, fans are battening down the hatches and avoiding coverage until she hits their city. Why have gigs become the equivalent of a Marvel plotline?
March 2023
YouTuber recreates Rosalía show after singer’s tour skips Peru – and sells out
Ioanis Patsias plays pop star himself, replicating performance down to costume changes and dance numbers for 3,500 in Lima
January 2023
Screen and heard: is TikTok changing the way pop stars perform?
From Lorde to Rosalía, today’s biggest stars deliver shows that seem precision-engineered for social media. We speak to the people behind the scenes
December 2022
We do it grande: how 2022 became the year of the big statement album
From Kendrick Lamar to Beyoncé and Arctic Monkeys, artists lent into opulence and maximalism this year, inviting listeners to escape – and asserting their disregard for pop’s rules
Best music 2022
The 50 best albums of 2022: No 5 – Rosalía: Motomami
An experimental album that draws on so many contradictory styles might embarrass a lesser artist – but her third LP showed the Spanish singer has the pop smarts to pull it off
Observer critics' review of 2022
Music: Kitty Empire’s 10 best albums of 2022
Rosalía review – pop’s fearless queen conjures a kaleidoscopic paradise
‘Female energy has an erotic superiority’: Spanish pop superstar Rosalía on bomb threats, backlash and breaking tradition
August 2022
‘People love to feel part of the process’: how the TikTok teaser turbo-charged the song of the summer race
By teasing fans with new song snippets, artists such as Rosalía are minting hits before the finished single is even out – but will this viral power fade once the industry catches on?
June 2022
Best culture of 2022 so far
The best albums of 2022 so far
From yacht-rock atmospherics to portraits of disaffected Britain, here are our picks of the best LPs from the first half of the year
March 2022
Rosalía: Motomami review – energy and heartbreak from a first-class voice
The Spanish singer’s third album delivers gem after gem, as flamenco rhythms rub shoulders with sassy party flexes
December 2021
The Guide newsletter
The Guide #15: all the films, TV and music to get excited about in 2022
In this week’s newsletter: from Kendrick Lamar’s return to a Game of Thrones spin-off, there’s something coming for everyone
