London Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Black And Blue UMC/POLYDOR

Fifty years on from their explosive debut single “New Rose”, THE DAMNED have evolved from punk pioneers to national treasures. But as a new album pays tribute to Brian James, their fallen co-founder, bandmates Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible and Rat Scabies – along with sundry eyewitnesses and ne’erdo-wells – recall the volatile beginnings, creative vision and incorrigible spirit of The Damned’s groundbreaking first act. “It was CID, villains and the Captain in a nurse’s outfit,” hears Peter Watts

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…”

Rat City Rockers TEE PEE

For a band who’ve spent the last months playing to thousands in North American venues, it could have felt uneasily sobering to pull up outside Berlin’s Columbia Theater. Just a couple of years short o