The timing of Rihanna's appointment as a national hero of Barbados, which coincides with the country's transition to independence, could not be more perfect. Not only has she been the country's official ambassador for culture and youth since 2018, but she is also its most renowned citizen and champion. Her Bajan accent has never been […]

In dance music, melody is sometimes seen as something you must tolerate while waiting for the rhythm to return. Take your medication with a pinch of sugar. Samantha Poulter is well aware of the situation. Her excellent Logic1000 creations bounce merrily across genres, yet never fail to provide a captivating melody. Her heart is in […]

The road to Voyage, Abba's last studio album and their first in 40 years, started in August with a post from their gleaming new Twitter account, inviting fans to "join us." Billboards appeared all over London, depicting a solar eclipse and a glitter ball in a sci-fi shape. A week later, a 10-track album and […]

Surya Sen, who spearheaded uprisings against British authority in India during the 1930s, was a crucial role in the country's independence fight. After a century, his namesake – a north London-based musician who prefers anonymity – feels like a radical presence in UK music: a British-Bengali producer/rapper whose bumping and pristinely constructed club music finds […]

Pre-party rituals, trips through the club, and echoes of nightlife that linger until the following day: nights out are a confluence of so many stimuli. Anz, a Manchester-based producer and DJ, incorporates these experiences throughout her work. “I always listen to garage before I go out,” she says at a Manchester pub, observing the amusing […]

Yard Act leader James Smith snarls at his bass player, eking out a funk rhythm, "It's a never-ending cycle of abuse!" “I've got the blues and I can't seem to shake them!” Dark Days is the tune, a sinuous banger in which Smith, spittle-flecked, weaves a bungled arrest, several mink corpses, and the reinvention of […]