In the mood for it

Inside the US singer-songwriter’s path from early DIY explorations to modern country-folk force

To quote Madonna’s 2005 global smash Hung Up, “Time goes by so slowly”, and no-one is more aware of that sentiment at the moment than the Queen Of Pop’s devoted fanbase as they eagerly await her new a

In 1976, the revolutionary singer-songwriter LAURA NYRO returned from self-imposed exile. But her comeback confounded expectations, shifting away from the impassioned intimacies of her early albums to embrace more radical perspectives. Fifty years on, Nyro’s collaborators revisit her striking second act. “She was a hip American from the Bronx,” one friend and producer tells Rob Hughes. “But her soul was old.”

From Laurel Canyon to Chiswick High Road, from Rancho De La Luna to a warehouse in Tottenham, many of your favourite artists have been hard at work crafting the soundtrack of 2026. Over the next 10 pages, we bring you the inside track on forthcoming albums by STEVIE NICKS , COURTNEY BARNETT , ALABAMA SHAKES , THE ROLLING STONES , BILL CALLAHAN , BUZZCOCKS , LANA DEL REY , SUNN O))) , ROBERT PLANT , IRON & WINE and many more. “It’s a really special time for music…”

London Shepherd’s Bush Empire

H.e.a.t frontman Kenny Leckremo on the records, artists and gigs that are of lasting significance to him.