Album: Kokoroko - Tuff Times Never Last

Sophomore album embraces horn-driven grooves and genre-blending experimentation

This second album from London-based septet Kokoroko welcomes you into its warm embrace with the gorgeous, beatific vocal harmonies of “Never Lost” anchored by drummer Ayo Salawu's pulsating backbeat.

Music Reissues Weekly: Beggars Arkive - Gary Numan's 1979 John Peel session

BEGGAR'S ARKIVE Gary Numan's 1979 John Peel session

Saying goodbye to Tubeway Army

Tubeway Army’s “Are ‘Friends’ Electric” hit the top of the UK single’s chart in the last week of June 1979. It stayed there for four weeks. Its parent album, Replicas, lodged itself in the Top 75 for 31 weeks. In April, just as Replicas was out, Tubeway Army began recording demos for the next album: the band which had been assembled for the task debuted on BBC2’s The Old Grey Whistle Test on 22 May.

Album: Wet Leg - moisturizer

A perfectly formed classic that will definitely be on those album of the year lists

War, pestilence, famine, death. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my fill of them all. So what better time to visit the genuinely sunny uplands – the long-anticipated second album from Wet Leg.

My, those seemingly demure, Amish-styled girls have grown (see the demonic cover, replete with scary talons and an unhinged-looking Rhian Teasdale). They’ve officially supplemented the line-up with the three very hairy boys who’ve been playing with them on live shows and everybody’s been involved in the writing. And everything’s turned out very well indeed.

Album: Tami Neilson - Neon Cowgirl

★ TAMI NEILSON - NEON COWGIRL Chiming with America's heartland bars and highways

New Zealand country queen's latest chimes with America's heartland bars and highways

Tami Neilson’s career is long and storied. The short version is that she began with a 1990s Canadian family band (opening for Kitty Wells, aged 10!), moved to New Zealand and became a country star there, then, over the last decade, has been “discovered by" and worked with all manner of US artists, ranging from Ashley McBryde to Willie Nelson. Her latest album is named in honour of the signage on Nashville Broadway, “the patron saint of heartbreak in downtown”, as she puts it.

The Estonian Song and Dance Celebration 2025 review - the mass expression of freedom

THE ESTONIAN SONG AND DANCE CELEBRATION 2025 The mass expression of freedom

Communion, ecstasy, rain and traditional clothing

The branch of the fast-food chain Hesburger in downtown Tallinn shopping centre Solaris is busy. Nothing unusual as it’s located by the entrance to a multi-screen cinema. Double cheeseburgers and fries are going over the counter. Less typically, two-thirds of the people here are wearing traditional Estonian clothing. Men and boys with knee britches. Woman and girls in embroidered outfits with hats.

Album: Mark Stewart - The Fateful Symmetry

The Bristol agit-prop hero on philosophical form on his final album

I met Mark Stewart once. It was on a platform at Clapham Junction, I wouldn’t normally approach a famous person like that, but I felt I had to pay my respects. It turned out he was getting on my train – going down to Dorset to “visit his old Ma” – and we talked on and off down to Southampton. He was hilarious, half scholar and gentleman, half lively uncle at a family function loudly telling old-school “blue” jokes, all in the thickest West Country burr this side of The Wurzels.

First Person: country singer Tami Neilson on the superpower of sisterhood

FIRST PERSON: COUNTRY SINGER TAMI NEILSON On the superpower of sisterhood

The Canadian-born, New Zealand-based artist on how women have empowered her career

I was born Tamara Lee Neilson. I had an Uncle Kenny and an Aunt Dolly (who played guitar and banjo, respectively). I mean, did I really have a choice to become anything but a Country singer?

Album: Gwenno - Utopia

The Welsh musical explorer surveys her life

Stylistically, Utopia wears multiple faces. Opening cut “London 1757” drifts by like a twig floating upon an unhurried stream. Next, “Dancing on Volcanoes” swings, employs a staccato guitar and suggests a late-Sunday afternoon dance floor. The kind of scene embraced by a post-comedown crowd. Further in, “Ghost of You” has a soul ballad edge; Randy Crawford were her background in Broadcast-inclined, indie-experimenta.

Sabrina Carpenter, Hyde Park BST review - a sexy, sparkly, summer phenomenon

★★★★ SABRINA CARPENTER, HYDE PARK BST A sexy, sparkly, summer phenomenon

The Summer of Sabrina continues to shine bright

Has Sabrina Carpenter officially conquered London? A year after bestie and fellow Disney alumni Taylor Swift declared the “Summer of Sabrina” stateside, the army of fans clad in pink cowboy hats, bloomers and kiss transfers streaming into Hyde Park would seem to suggest so.

Album: Olafur Arnalds and Talos - A Dawning

Shimmery, shiny Icelandic-Irish ambience steeped in beauty

Silken ambience is the name of the game on this set from Icelandic composer-producer Olafur Arnalds and dreampop singer Talos, aka Eoin French, who tragically died in August last year, aged 36. Arnalds completed the album after his death.