Defected doesn’t do quiet returns.
Why Ireland’s football problem has never really been about football
Every few years, Irish football fans go through the same cycle: hope builds as a young striker starts scoring for a club abroad, then the FAI calls. England sometimes calls too, and England usually wins.
Thirty Years On, Nobody’s Forgotten Blue Boy’s ‘Remember Me’
Some songs announce themselves. Others slip into a record collection sideways. They land on the back half of an EP nobody was watching and take their time becoming unforgettable. “Remember Me” by Blue Boy is the second kind. It turned thirty last month. Even so, it has aged better than almost anything else that came […]
The Only Way Is All Points East: previewing Twenty One Pilots’ UK exclusive
Twenty One Pilots close All Points East at Victoria Park on Sunday 30 August 2026. Better still, it is their only UK show of the year.
Style, Synths and Summer Air: Duran Duran Shine at BST Hyde Park 2026
Sunday’s edition of British Summer Time in Hyde Park delivered one of the standout bills of the festival’s 2026 run, with Duran Duran headlining a lineup stacked with disco royalty and pop theatrics. As the sun dipped behind the trees and the crowd swelled into the tens of thousands, the evening built toward a headline […]
Hit After Hit in Hyde Park: Maroon 5 Bring Pop Precision to BST 2026
Maroon 5’s headline appearance at BST Hyde Park on Friday 3 July 2026 felt like a well‑oiled pop machine finally getting the open‑air London moment their catalogue has been quietly demanding for years. From the moment the band stepped onto the Great Oak Stage, the park shifted from lazy summer afternoon into something closer to […]
Kneecap at Wide Awake 2025: A Riot in Four-Four Time
“This is a festival, not a court date,” joked Móglaí Bap halfway through Kneecap’s headlining set at Wide Awake 2025. The crowd laughed, then roared, then moshed. Welcome to Wide Awake Festival—the south London weekender that’s less about flower crowns and more about unapologetic politics, big basslines, and community in resistance. This year, with legal […]
Dominique Fils-Aimé – Live at the Montréal International Jazz Festival 2024 (Review)
Dominique Fils-Aimé’s latest release isn’t a greatest hits compilation or a standard live album. Live at the Montréal International Jazz Festival 2024 is a radical transformation—a fearless reimagining of her past work that feels more like a reinvention than a revisit. This isn’t a singer retracing her steps; it’s a seasoned artist drawing a new […]
Heilung at O2 Academy Brixton, London (Review)
Heilung don’t just play music – they create a world. From the moment the scent of burning herbs filled the venue and bird calls echoed softly through the space, it was clear this would be something special. The stage looked more like a forest altar than a concert setup, with branches, soft yellow lighting, and […]
Kylie at BST Hyde Park 2024, London (Review)
Kylie’s Hyde Park show was a stunning reminder that she’s far from being a nostalgia act. Just a few years ago, it seemed she might be winding down her career with greatest hits albums, and a Glastonbury Legends slot, but her performance at Hyde Park proved otherwise. Emerging in an electric-red vinyl catsuit, she brought […]