Mike Patton and the Avett Brothers join forces to create a work of immense beauty.

Rat City Rockers TEE PEE

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

Finding poignancy in the dread and dislocation of modern living, London four-piece DRY CLEANING have garnered admirers including Nick Cave, Grace Jones and Jeff Tweedy. As new album Secret Love refines their nervy post-punk sprechgesang, the band set their sights on new targets. “Art and humour are our main weapon,” they tell Stephen Troussé

Squeeze ’s songwriting duo are back in harness, toting a rock opera they wrote in the ’70s with an all-new album to come. Given their near-constant strife, it’s a miracle. But as they insist, “the thing that always brings us together is the songs…”

From The Bottom Of An Old Grandfather Clock (reissue, 2004) DEAD OCEANS