Topics of the June issue
Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher returns from troubled times with his best solo album to date. A conversation about astrology and spring fever, sunken worlds and new hopes
By Birgit Fuss
The Secret History of Britpop
How the sound of a late-for-all generation inspired by the innocent peruse of pop history became a nostalgic sell-out
By Robert Rotifer
Christine And The Queens
With a pop opera, Christine And The Queens breaks through space and time – and builds a cathedral of music. a conversation
By Jan Jekal
Rufus Wainwright
Family, companions, defeats and triumphs: At almost fifty, Rufus Wainwright remembers his musical roots
By Maik Bruggemeyer
Sparks
After a successful film musical and a documentary, Russell and Ron Mael aka Sparks are experiencing a third spring
By Juergen Ziemer
decade of freedom
What were the consequences of the fatwa imposed on Salman Rushdie in 1989? And what does that have to do with heavy metal? A preprint from “No Limit. The Nineties”
By Jens Balzer
the mix
Water From Your Eyes
Rachel Brown and Nate Amos from Brooklyn make anti-pop that is both anarchic and rigidly structured – and they ask the important questions
By Jan Jekal
Arlo Parks
Her debut two years ago was celebrated – now the English songwriter is expanding her sound
By Brittany Spanos
cowboy junkies
After 35 years, singer Margo Timmins and the legendary Cowboy Junkies have finally emancipated themselves from the record companies
By Joerg Feyer
Q&A: Ben Folds
The brilliant pianist on the craft of songwriting, dealing with conspiracy theories and his time in Sydney
By Max Gosche
Bob Dylan
The soundtrack to Bob Dylan’s mysterious concert film “Shadow Kingdom” will be released in early June
By Maik Bruggemeyer
HISTORY: The Police
40 years ago, The Police’s final album, Synchronicity, featured the hit “Every Breath You Take”
By Arne Willander
PLUS
Jason Isbell, Baby Rose, The Saxophones, Yes, Palila and more
Reviews
MUSIC
News from Baxter Dury and 79 other reviews
RS GUIDE: Calexico
Jörg Feyer on the work of the Americana desert foxes
FILM, SERIES & LITERATURE
“All The Beauty And The Bloodshed” and 18 other reviews
Playlist: New Noises in June
Lucinda Williams and Rodney Crowell return with wonderful late works, Ben Folds hasn’t lost his humor and Lloyd Cole refines his synthpop vision. Our playlist in June
Lucinda Williams “Stolen Moments”
After turbulent years – Williams suffered a stroke in 2020 – the songwriter has again recorded an album with her own pieces. “Stolen Moments” shows her at the height of her country rock art.
Ben Fold’s “Exhausting Lover”
What at first glance seems like a rock ‘n’ roll cliché box turns out to be one of the funniest songs on Folds’ new record, “What Matters Most”: Sex as an exhausting endeavor.
Bill Pritchard “Wind”
One result of the corona pandemic and lockdown is the collaboration between British songwriter Bill Pritchard and Canadian poet Patrick Woodcock. Crooner folk pop meets sinister poetry.
Palila “Try To Fail Again”
Absolutely in love with detail, but by no means drunk with nostalgia, the Hamburg band Palila around singer and songwriter Matthias Schwettmann has dedicated itself to the indie rock sound of the 90s and early noughties.
Rodney CrowellEverything At Once
A duet with Jeff Tweedy, who also produced Crowell’s new record, The Chicago Sessions. The country-rock master and the Wilco boss pair surprisingly well in this poppy commentary on a sensory-overwhelmed world.
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit “Death Wish”
On his new album, “Weathervanes”, Jason Isbell demonstrates once again that his old band Drive-By Truckers can’t hold a candle to him. “Death Wish” is red-hot, abysmal Americana.
Lloyd Cole “Warm By The Fire”
That Lloyd Cole has a passion for krautrock and ambient is nothing new. That this influence merges with his pop music in a somnambulistic way, which can be heard on the album “On Pain”, on the other hand.