Taylor Swift: The Life of a Showgirl review – dull razzle-dazzle from a star who seems frazzled

Far from the Max Martin-assisted pop juggernaut fans expected, this soft-rock paean to domestic bliss is slight on tunes and still seethes with grievance. And the less said about her fiance’s ‘magic wand’, the better

Sigur Rós and the London Contemporary Orchestra review – crashing waves of refined harmony

Perhaps the band that can best justify a mid-career gig with classical backing, the extra heft of the orchestra adds power to the Icelanders’ beautiful crescendos

Lady Gaga review – from skeletons to sexy plague doctors, this is a glorious, ridiculous spectacle

Move over Chappell Roan – Gaga’s eighth world tour is a full-blooded return to OTT camp, with a Nietzschean nemesis and a zombified crowd of fans driven berserk with glee

Doja Cat: Vie review – master pop provocateur splits the difference between sugar and spice

On her fifth album, the Californian tempers the bite of 2023’s Scarlet with glossy, lovestruck sounds – but never loses her instinct for mischief

Various Artists – Pasé Bél Tan: Francophonies and Creolities in Louisiana review – foot-stomping joy

Influenced by jazz and early blues, this collection of largely African American folk music from the 50s to the 80s spans poignant lyricism to full-throated celebration

Geese: Getting Killed review – Cameron Winter and co’s surreal, swaggering spectacular

Opaque but brilliant, the Brooklyn indie-rock band’s fourth album is full of the dread and dark absurdity of our current moment

Olivia Dean: The Art of Loving review – British pop’s biggest new star sheds the neo-soul cliches to really shine

Already dominating the charts and seemingly inspired by 70s LA, this exceptionally well-made record is full of diaristic detail and sweetly understated vocals

Chappell Roan review – pop’s patient princess triumphantly takes the throne in New York

The star claims she wasn’t ‘feeling 100’ for her Queens stadium show but it was hard to see any fatigue as she carried the crowd through her dazzling setlist

Deacon Blue review – Scottish hitmakers are more poignant and potent than ever

Still an arena-filling prospect long after their late-80s heyday, the veteran band bring political bite and pop prowess to a crowd-pleasing set

Busted vs McFly review – millennial ‘rivals’ let the pop-rock punches fly

The boybands go toe-to-toe with their catchy teenage anthems – and after a hefty 90-minute bout of greatest hits McFly just about edge it on points

Post Malone review – megawatt charisma and anthemic hooks from an irresistibly genial outlaw

Though his slick country is more Jon Bon Jovi that Johnny Cash, there’s only one artist who could unite rock, rap and twang with such effortless panache

Joy Crookes: Juniper review – sadness made sublime by streetwise soul and snappy wit

Four years ago, the south Londoner’s star was on the rise with her debut Skin – then she vanished. Now, she’s back with shimmering sounds and cleverly unsentimental lyrics, plus explosive cameos by Vince Staples and Kano

Mark William Lewis: Mark William Lewis review – A24’s first musical signing’s cinematic south London scenes

Haunting harmonica and poetic banality add to the Londoner’s spookily sonorous baritone to create a hypnotically familiar yet ineffably fresh album

Ed Sheeran: Play review – subcontinental sounds and shards of darkness – but still unmistakably him

Despite embracing Indian and Persian sounds, Sheeran’s eighth album goes back to basics after two records of muted melancholy – albeit with some surprising undercurrents

Belinda Carlisle review – gleeful veteran lassoes devoted audience with ageless hits

Rattling through her 80s hits the singer is clearly revelling in the nostalgia – in a showcase that makes her a strong candidate for the Glastonbury legends slot