CATEGORIES

Anything is (Im)possible

As she joins the Mission: Impossible juggernaut for its seventh instalment, Dead Reckoning Part One, leading lady Hayley Atwell reveals what it's like to learn the art of filmcraft from Tom Cruise and how she is redefining what success means to her

future >>>>20

Across the genre map and around the world, these are the artists who have us most excited about the future of music in 2023 and beyond

JUNGLE VISION

After 10 years on the scene, Tom and McFarland Josh LloydWatson, the UK duo behind dance act Jungle, are displaying a newfound confidence. As they release Volcano their second record from their own label - it's clear that they are feeling free to experiment with collaborators and their creativity is pouring forth

Wild At Heart

How the 'best new band in Britain' earned their title...

SO NOIR SO GOOD

With The Cure’s US dates being hailed as the tour of the summer, Siouxsie cutting an imperiously witchy figure at festivals, everyone from Bauhaus to The Mission still active, various releases including a box set, a slew of books, and newspaper articles, Goth seems destined to outlive all other subcultures. The polymorphously perverse post-punk movement that began in a club in London has since seeped into all corners of modern life, from Batman movies to Billie Eilish – even Eurovision 2023 seemed inundated with goth sonics/imagery. Jeremy Allen casts a kohl eye over its origin story and speaks to goth prime movers.

HIGH FLYING BIRD

As the forbidding figure behind New York post-punk noise provocateurs Swans, Michael Gira spent the bulk of the 80s as the sworn enemy of conventional melody, until new creative partners and an unsatisfactory spell with a major label saw new influences come into play. More recently he has ventured back down that original avant-garde road armed with a bigger, more ambitious sound. “I write because I have to,” he tells

RENAISSANCE MAN

Keyboard supremo Lonnie Liston Smith is one of jazz’s pre-eminent sidemen, playing with Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis. But it was as a leader that he came into his own, trailblazing a style that blended improvisation with soul and funk grooves. Spreading messages of peace and tranquility through positivist lyrics, albums such as Expansions, Visions Of A New World, Reflections Of A Golden Dream, and Renaissance proved crossover hits. Diversions into boogie followed before his renown among the rap generation led to his involvement in Guru’s groundbreaking project, Jazzmatazz. Tempted back into the studio by producers Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, the keyboardist’s first new album in 25 years rekindles the magic of his 70s recordings. He talks Paul Bowler through some of the key albums of his remarkable career.

Divine Intervention

Having conceded that “addiction took years off me” and spent much of the late 20th century in a personal and artistic limbo, Kevin Rowland is now making up for lost time with a revitalised Dexys. As they prepare to release their new album, The Feminine Divine, this soon-to-be-septuagenarian is keen to express an older, wiser worldview and put the finishing touches to a back catalogue he can be proud of. “We haven’t done that much, really,” he tells Rob Hughes.

The Collector

This month: musician/ producer Chasms

CANDID CANDI

The Southern soul, disco and gospel queen tells Ian Shirley about her acclaimed Fame recordings and how real-life pain helped her deliver those heartrending vocals

THUNDER BIRD

While the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal spawned plenty of globe-straddling rock superstars, some of its less high-profile names still made their mark, even if more in influence than record sales. Tyneside terrors Raven were one such pack of unsung heroes, but their reputation has been rightly rehabilitated since their reformation at the turn of the millennium, and as a new album is released they sound revitalised as they come off a triumphant anniversary tour. Murder of crows: Rich Davenport

Dusting Off Angel

ANGEL GUITARIST PUNKY MEADOWS TALKS GEAR, NEW MUSIC AND THE GLAM TITANS' SURPRISE SECOND ACT

WARREN PEACE

WARREN HAYNES and GOV’T MULE return with Peace…Like a River, a sublime example of longform rock ’n’ soul that draws inspiration from John Lennon, the Doors and the multipart masterpieces of Kansas and Queen

BEHIND THE SOLOS: VITO BRATTA

The reclusive guitarist discusses his classic WHITE LION solos, a poignant conversation with EDDIE VAN HALEN and how he wound up using JIMI HENDRIX'S Strat 50

MY PEDALBOARD: JOHN NOTTO

WHAT DIRTY HONEY’S MARSHALL-DIMING SIX-STRINGER SEES WHEN HE LOOKS DOWN

MOMENTS OF TRUTH

SOPHIE LLOYD BREAKS DOWN HER MAIN RIFFS AND SOLO IN \"DO OR DIE\" AND OFFERS SOME USEFUL PLAYING AND PRACTICING TIPS

Buzz Bin Apogee Jam X

AUDIO INTERFACES COME in all shapes and sizes, but when it comes to being lightweight and mobile and having a clean design — combined with boasting the utmost in studio-quality fidelity — it’s hard to beat Apogee’s notable Jam audio interfaces.

Polymorph

FISHMAN FLUENCE TIM HENSON SIGNATURE SERIES AND SCOTT LEPAGE CUSTOM SERIES

Giants Under the Sun

LIFELONG YES GUITARIST STEVE HOWE WEIGHS IN ON THE BAND'S NEW ALBUM AND HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE 1973'S TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS

MELODIC MUSE

STORY TELLING - Describing a chord progression in a solo

IN DEEP

QUADRAPHONIC - How to weave four-part guitar harmonies

The 25 GREATEST BRITISH COMPOSERS of all time

We asked 167 top musicians to vote for the best composing talent to emerge from these fair isles over the centuries. Here are the results...

Adrian Vandenberg

SUFFERING FROM RIFF-WRITER'S BLOCK? TAKE A PAGE FROM THE FORMER WHITESNAKE GUITARIST'S BOOK AND HOP ON A BIKE

Marcin

MEET AN ACOUSTIC MASTER WHO PROBABLY BURNS ABOUT 1,500 CALORIES WITH EACH PERFORMANCE OF BACH'S TOCCATA

Performance Notes

HOW TO PLAY THIS MONTH'S SONGS

STRETCHING THE TRUTH

ON TRUTH KILLER, SEVENDUST'S MENACING (AND GUITAR-PACKED) NEW ALBUM, CLINT LOWERY AND JOHN CONNOLLY PONDER THE MUSICAL QUESTION, \"HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?\"

Wet and Wild

BOSS SDE-3000EVH DUAL DIGITAL DELAY

TALES FROM NERDVILLE

TOOLS OF THE TRADE, PART 5 - The 1959 Blonde Gibson ES-345

LIVE FROM FLAT V

DIMINISHED RETURNS, PART 2  - More on using diminished shapes in a blues solo

INQUIRER KAT DYSON

CATCHING UP WITH THE PRINCE AND CYNDI LAUPER VETERAN