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End of the Road review – from industrial rackets to pristine folk, festivals don’t get more varied or vital

Full of warmth despite the rain, highs include Mexico City experimentalists Titanic and Vermont songwriter Lily Seabird’s gorgeously open-hearted voice

Gorillaz review – after 25 years, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s cartoon band are still riveting and relevant

Dressed like a vicar, Albarn leads his band – joined by a choir, a string quartet, De La Soul and more – in renewing Demon Days’ downbeat drama

AG Cook review – the hyperpop auteur delivers a thrilling Brooklyn show

Brooklyn Paramount, New YorkThe super-producer, whose big name collaborators include Charli xcx and Beyoncé, goes maximalist for a euphoric, high-energy Friday-night triumph

Addison Rae review – pop’s newest A-lister has the stagecraft of a veteran

Once a viral TikTok dancer, Rae has only performed live a handful of times, but is remarkably assured as her voice glides across pounding club-ready beats

Sabrina Carpenter: Man’s Best Friend review – smut and stunning craft from pop’s best in show

​The controversy-courting star is in perfect alignment with producer Jack Antonoff, on detailed and utterly delightful tracks that make her previous hit album seem rudimentary in comparison

Cmat: Euro-Country review – deeply relatable, gloriously catchy Celtic pop from a true one-off

Who else could combine soul, yodelling, Jamie Oliver and Calpol into such charming songs about the messy modern psyche? Only Europe’s best new breakout star

Nova Twins: Parasites & Butterflies review – fearless rock duo balance anthems and introspection

Trailblazers Amy Love and Georgia South push the boundaries of their trademark hybrid rock sound while confronting mental health and naysayers

Blood Orange: Essex Honey review – an exquisitely eclectic portrait of grief

Gorgeous melodies ground Dev Hynes’s questing fifth album, via dancefloor rhythms, indie pop and languorous funk – and cameos from Lorde and Zadie Smith

Will Smith review – post-slap tour has shoutalongs, self-help sermons and a touch of David Brent

His most recent album may have tanked but it works better played live, and Smith is endearing as he continues to get jiggy with it

Krankenhaus review – Lake District castle has the antithesis to boring corporate music festivals

Featuring steam train trips and guided walks between the bands, organisers Sea Power have made something special in this dung-scented corner of the north

Reading and Leeds festival review – Chappell Roan slays and Bring Me the Horizon power the circle pits

Thousands of post-GCSE teens join acts from pop-poet Antony Szmierek to rap megastar Travis Scott, before Hozier blazes and Wunderhorse go off like a rocket

Nourished By Time: The Passionate Ones review – committed, full-hearted post-R&B

Marcus Brown’s second album makes a plea for big feelings in earthy vocals, rolling breakbeats and a contender for song of the summer

Bleak Squad: Strange Love review – Australia’s newest supergroup sound like they’ve been together for years

Four music greats – Mick Harvey, Mick Turner, Adalita and Marty Brown – have created a genuine collaboration that leaves room for all their talents

Coldplay review – after 12m tickets sold, this tour is still a mindblowing spectacle

They may be as cloyingly earnest as ever, but even amid an overwhelming production full of fireworks and lovehearts, Chris Martin and co are in total control

Green Man festival review – Kneecap and CMAT lead the charge in a utopian Welsh idyll

Progressive, independent and more sonically diverse than ever, the Brecon Beacons festival offered sterling sets from MJ Lenderman to Mike, Jasmine.4.t to Joshua Idehen

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  • Rebecca Clarke: The Complete Songs album review – rich, radiant performances bring a forgotten voice to life
  • The Mountain Goats: Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan review – shipwreck songs from a master storyteller
  • Sara Ajnnak and the Ciderhouse Rebellion: Landscapes of the Spirit, Parts 1-4 review – elemental power, eerie beauty
  • Martin Fröst: BACH album review – silkily eloquent clarinettist brings freshness and fun
  • Sir John Rutter’s Birthday Celebration review – niche national treasure celebrates 80 in magnificent style
  • Paul Kelly: Seventy review – reflections on ageing from a musician bigger than ever
  • Hatchie: Liquorice review – dizzying dreampop with welcome flashes of depravity
  • Danny Brown: Stardust review – hyperpop-rap powered up with post-rehab positivity
  • The Makropulos Case review: Ausrine Stundyte is magnetic in exhilarating – and funny – Janáček staging
  • Radiohead review – bards of the apocalypse return for a brutal bacchanal
  • Aimard/Benjamin review – concentrated musical thought and pianistic imagination
  • Smyth’s Der Wald and Respighi’s Lucrezia review – Wagner’s spirit presides over double bill
  • Ravyn Lenae review – art-school dreamer at ease with her own melancholy
  • Rosalía: Lux review – a demanding, distinctive clash of classical and chaos that couldn’t be by anyone else
  • Hallé/Shields/Adams: John Adams festival review – dynamism that could generate electricity
  • Dead Man Walking review – searing honesty and humanity in ENO’s staging of Heggie’s compelling opera
  • The Railway Children review – Turnage reimagines classic story in a lively family opera
  • Alpha Maid: Is This a Queue review – Mica Levi collaborator pairs scuffed production with superb songwriting
  • Snocaps: Snocaps review – Katie and Allison Crutchfield reunite with a little help from MJ Lenderman
  • Strauss, Dvořák and Glazunov album review – packs a dramatic punch
  • Florence + the Machine: Everybody Scream review – alt-rock survivor surveys her kingdom with swagger
  • Walton: Cello Concerto, Symphony No 1, Scapino album review – positively snaps, crackles and pops
  • Anna von Hausswolff: Iconoclasts review – exhilarating, euphoric goth songcraft
  • Julius Eastman: A Power Greater Than review – Davóne Tines celebrates the maverick musician
  • Sananda Maitreya review – the former Terence Trent D’Arby returns in astonishing vocal form
  • Harvest Rock 2025 review – the Strokes, Jelly Roll and the War on Drugs save Adelaide festival after a slippery start
  • Gillian Welch and David Rawlings review – perfectly paired talents at the peak of their powers
  • Dave: The Boy Who Played the Harp review – ​it’s clearer than ever what a stunningly skilled rapper he is
  • Mohinder Kaur Bhamra: Punjabi Disco review – rediscovery of an 80s trailblazer
  • Jennifer Walton: Daughters review – a stylish and painful debut

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