Robyn: Sexistential review – pop doyenne returns with emotional grenades and a new philosophy

After 2018’s meditative Honey, the Swedish star returns to her trademark skin-tingling electro bangers – but this time she’s unpicking her trademark fixation on romantic love

Raye: This Music May Contain Hope review – a wildly ambitious epic of unbridled self-expression

Almost overstuffed with musical ideas, the singer’s second studio album can be self-indulgent and messy, but it’s a heartfelt and exuberant grand statement from an artist determined to go her own way

FKA twigs review – an Olympian display of pop prowess

The British artist’s brilliantly ambitious first arena show is a breathtaking showcase of her artistic range, with pole dancing, vogue battles and sword fighting

Geese review – all hail the new saviours of rock’n’roll

Switching from convulsive rhythmic thrills to shimmering introspection, the Brooklyn indie-rockers’ music defies expectations and is viscerally of the moment

BTS: Arirang review – the world’s biggest pop band return with dumb fun and downright weirdness

Ending a hiatus that began in 2022, the septet recapture a distinctiveness that had been threatening to ebb away

Grace Ives: Girlfriend review – bedroom-pop auteur goes widescreen for a gorgeous sobriety epic

The New Yorker’s third album leaves behind her DIY origins to channel cult pop classics by Lorde and Sky Ferreira

Underscores: U review – ultra-imaginative auteur has pop’s most brilliant brain

Performing, writing and producing everything herself, April Grey pares back her hyperpop electronics for an LP in thrall to 90s pop-R&B, with songs that big stars would die for

James Blake: Trying Times review – platitudes about politics and Kanye can’t detract from an excellent album

Amid the stylistic shifts of Blake’s seventh record come samples of Dusty Springfield and Dizzee Rascal: gripping distractions from some preachy sentiments

The Black Crowes: A Pound of Feathers review – pathos and profanity elevate peerless rock’n’roll pastiche

​With Keef-style riffs and full-blooded commitment to the bit, resurgent brothers Chris and Rich Robinson​ resurrect​ the rocker lifestyle of eras past

Golden Plains 2026 review – Basement Jaxx turn a regional farm into a surreal and heaving club

With standout sets from Cut Copy, Marlon Williams and Water From Your Eyes, the cult favourite Victorian music festival has become the hottest ticket in town

Echo and the Bunnymen review – Ian McCulloch leaves it to the crowd to sing these timelessly great songs

The frontman struggled to get through most of the band’s choruses but that left space for Will Sergeant’s glorious psychedelic shapes and a supportive sing along

Harry Styles review – Netflix concert is a communal love-in with some big pop moments

Recorded for the streaming giant, this performance wrestles songs from the star’s new album into more interesting shapes

Morrissey: Make-Up Is a Lie review – nostalgic, sentimental and dull, he is a shadow of what he once was

Dodgy conspiracy theories are thankfully kept to one track, but the rest is not much better, lacking insight even when Morrissey returns to his specialist subjects

Waterbaby: Memory Be a Blade review – stellar singer-songwriter pieces post-breakup life back together

The Stockholm musician’s debut album is a fascinating character study with improvised lyrics and a light, pretty sound that belies its emotional depth

Mitski review – pop meets performance art in a masterful spectacle

The Shed, New York CityAt a six-night residency, the singer creates an immersive world filled with wry humor and big emotions