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Picks of the week

I want to feel extremes – but I’m not as self-destructive now

Perfume Genius

I want to feel extremes – but I’m not as self-destructive now

With a new album next month, the singer-songwriter opens up about accepting life, anticipating grief and grieving when a snake killed his beloved dog

The reader interview
10cc’s Graham Gouldman: ‘Every West Indian person I’ve spoken to loves Dreadlock Holiday – but I wouldn’t write certain lines now’

‘You have to get behind the song’
Singer Sam Amidon on fronting Bon Iver, schooling Paul Mescal and the new folk revival

‘The hair, the voice, the casual cruelty – they nailed it!’
Bob Dylan experts rate A Complete Unknown

Reviews

Alexis Petridis's album of the week
Central Cee: Can’t Rush Greatness – conflict and contradiction underpin justly confident rap debut

Central Cee: Can’t Rush Greatness – conflict and contradiction underpin justly confident rap debut

Experimental album of the month
Davis Galvin: Prism – shape-shifting soundscapes for the horticulturally minded

Wardruna
Birna – numbing Norse nature-metal better suited to Netflix scores

Single review
Tina Turner: Hot for You Baby – she’s in fine voice, but this lost 1984 song is no classic

Teddy Swims
I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2) – retro soul with a retro lyrical attitude

Spotlight

The gig economy
Ticket inflation is getting worse, so where does all the money go?

Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and the Gallaghers’ ill-fated dabble with dynamic pricing have put the spotlight on how much we’re willing to pay for live music. But, on the other side of the equation, the costs can be exorbitant and the risks are eye-watering

Classical

Album review
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons – Pioro’s ‘ode to the imagination’ of Vivaldi has interest but also indulgence

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons – Pioro’s ‘ode to the imagination’ of Vivaldi has interest but also indulgence

Album review
Smetana: Má Vlast; Symphonic Works – bristles with energy and vivid intent

Smetana: Má Vlast; Symphonic Works – bristles with energy and vivid intent

Live review
Orchestra of Futurist Noise Intoners/Ensemble Klang – anarchic energy

Orchestra of Futurist Noise Intoners/Ensemble Klang – anarchic energy

You may have missed

Wendy Ide's film of the week
A Complete Unknown – Timothée Chalamet radiates charisma in evocative Dylan biopic

James Mangold’s handsome portrait of the enigmatic singer’s stratospheric early career boasts a barnstorming lead performance yet often slips into heavy-handedness

This much I know
Nils Frahm: ‘Using a chainsaw gave me strength in my fingers for piano’

The composer, 42, talks about his musical upbringing, passion for dish-washing, insistence on being modern and fear of not being loved

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
With music, we give ourselves up. It’s when we’re allowed to be ourselves

Revered American musician Will Oldham on recording his new album with some of Nashville’s finest, helping Johnny Cash sing I See a Darkness, and his dismay at US politics

Live music this week

Lloyd Cole
Still causing a gentle commotion

Madison Cunningham
Complex new tunes from a folk singer with a knack for a twist

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