Florence + the Machine<\/p>\n
Seventeen years on from the release of her debut single, Florence Welch finds herself in an intriguingly strong position: while most of her early 00s indie peers are forgotten or in reduced circumstances, she is a major influence on pop, from Ethel Cain to the Last Dinner Party to Chappell Roan. Her recent album Everybody Scream<\/a> was a strong restatement of her theatrical approach \u2013 with more light and shade than you might expect \u2013 but it\u2019s on stage that she really comes into her own. DeftonesDeftones \u2026 musically restless. Photograph: Ryan Bakerink\/FilmMagic<\/p>\n Deftones\u2019 reputational shift from nu-metal upstarts to avant rock heroes \u2013 their fandom swelled by a huge gen Z influx \u2013 is fully deserved: they were always more expansive and musically restless than their rap-rock contemporaries, their subsequent development underscored by the fact that their one-time DJ Frank Delgado is now a sort of Brian Eno figure, manipulating the sounds of other members instruments and creating electronic textures. They also still rock, in time-honoured angst-ridden style. Jill Scott \u2013 To Whom This May Concern<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a very long time since neo-soul star Scott released an album: the last was the impressively eclectic Woman, in 2015. Scott has spent the intervening years touring \u2013 including a 20th-anniversary celebration of her multi-platinum debut Who is Jill Scott?: Words And Sounds Vol 1 \u2013 and concentrating on her acting career, cropping up everywhere from US superhero franchise Black Lightning to comedy series The First Wives\u2019 Club, making her belated return to the studio a very welcome event. Charli xcx \u2013 Wuthering Heights<\/p>\n Charli xcx has described her soundtrack to Emerald Fennell\u2019s forthcoming film adaptation of Wuthering Heights as \u201craw, wild, sexual, gothic and British\u201d. Certainly, the first track released from it, the John Cale collaboration House<\/a>, couldn\u2019t have been more different from the sound of her epochal 2024 album Brat<\/a> \u2013 a homage to Cale\u2019s old band the Velvet Underground that also bore the influence of industrial music \u2013 and that, one suspects, might be part of the point. Raye<\/p>\n Under the winningly blunt title This Tour May Contain New Music \u2013 the posters also promise \u201cat least one jazz cover\u201d, \u201ca brass section\u201d, \u201clive strings\u201d and indeed \u201cpotential waffling\u201d \u2013 Raye debuts material from her long-awaited second album. The singles she has released over the last couple of years have ranged from the avant and episodic Genesis to collaborations with Central Cee to the straight-up pop smash Where Is My Husband?, so who knows what that might sound like? Bill Callahan \u2013 My Days of 58<\/p>\n The title of US indie mainstay Callahan\u2019s eighth solo album seems to reference his age when he recorded it \u2013 there\u2019s certainly a note of concern about getting older in the lyrics of the solitary track released from it thus far, The Man I\u2019m Supposed to Be \u2013 with the same band that appeared on his superb 2022 album, Reality. Callahan has called it \u201ca living room record \u2026 not too loud, not otherworldly\u201d, which sounds both mysterious and intriguing. Lily AllenLily Allen \u2026 eye-popping detail. Photograph: Nicky J Sims\/Getty Images for Live Nation<\/p>\n As comebacks go, Lily Allen\u2019s return \u2013 with West End Girl<\/a>, an album that detailed the breakdown of her marriage to actor David Harbour in such forensic, eye-popping detail it seemed to shift the bar for confessional songwriting \u2013 was pretty spectacular, although it\u2019s worth noting that there was more to the album than gossipy revelation: if the songs hadn\u2019t been good, it wouldn\u2019t have had little more than news value. She\u2019ll perform the album in full in these shows. Dave<\/p>\n It says something about Dave\u2019s skill as a rapper and the sheer size and devotion of his following that his third album, The Boy Who Played the Harp \u2013 sombre, musically understated, light on obvious bangers, lyrically self-examining \u2013 wasn\u2019t just a huge critical success, but a massive hit: all 10 of its tracks would have made the Top 20 were it not for chart rules. It will be intriguing to see how it translates on stage, particularly in venues this big. Thundercat<\/p>\n It\u2019s five years since Thundercat last released an album \u2013 It Is What It Is was a stew of psychedelia, funk, soul and jazz shot through with mourning for the loss of his friend, rapper Mac Miller \u2013 although a string of intriguing singles have emerged over the last couple of years, including collaborations with Tame Impala and Remi Wolf, and an impressively slinky cover of Diana Ross\u2019s Upside Down. Whatever he is currently up to, he remains a dependably fabulous live performer. My Bloody Valentine<\/p>\n Robert Smith\u2019s curation of this year\u2019s Teenage Cancer Trust shows has led to a strong lineup \u2013 including Mogwai, Garbage, Manic Street Preachers, Wolf Alice and Nil\u00fcfer Yanya \u2013 but the pick might be this show, which brings My Bloody Valentine\u2019s beautiful\/deafening approach to live performance to the Royal Albert Hall \u2013 a noticeably smaller venue than they have been playing of late \u2013 with a special \u201cstripped down\u201d set by Chvrches as support. Nicki Minaj \u2013 Pink Friday 3Nicki Minaj \u2026 pivot away from pop. Photograph: Jamie McCarthy\/Getty Images for Live Nation<\/p>\n Pink Friday 3 started life as an expanded edition of Minaj\u2019s chart-topping and critically acclaimed 2023 album Pink Friday 2<\/a>, before the rapper reconsidered, announcing the songs \u201ctoo good \u2026 too iconic\u201d to be consigned to the status of extra tracks on a deluxe set. So a new album it is: you have to hope it continues its predecessor\u2019s pivot away from pop towards fierce, dark hip-hop, something Minaj is exceptionally good at. Yungblud<\/p>\n A jaunt around the UK\u2019s arenas that had something of the victory lap about it, given that Dominic Harrison had a very good 2025: two No 1 albums \u2013 one the Britpop-influenced Idols, the other a collaboration with Aerosmith \u2013 three Grammy nominations, another edition of his own one-day festival Bludfest, and a show-stealing turn at what turned out to be Ozzy Osbourne\u2019s final show, July\u2019s Back to the Beginning gig, which seemed to win him an entirely new audience, considerably older than his usual gen Z fans. Olivia Dean<\/p>\n Were it not for the complexities of chart rules, Olivia Dean\u2019s Man I Need would have been No 1 for months (it was certainly the UK\u2019s most-streamed track for weeks on end): evidence of how her second album, The Art of Loving, catapulted her into pop\u2019s Premier League, the sole UK artist to make that leap in recent years. Live, she is an appealingly understated and relatable performer, albeit one blessed with an amazing voice and a succession of great pop-soul tracks. Rosal\u00eda<\/p>\n In a world in which pop music is supposed to cleave to the middle ground and present cautious listeners with more of the same, there\u2019s something hugely buoying about the success of Rosalia\u2019s album Lux: a global Top 10 hit that sounds nothing like the Spanish star\u2019s previous work, but has managed to provoke a debate about whether or not its contents constitute classical music. Helmed by a striking live performer, its transition to the stage should be a treat. Intriguing \u2026 James Hetfield, left, and Kirk Hammett of Metallica. Photograph: Jeff Hahne\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Metallica spent 2025 touring North America with their M72 show, an intriguing approach to playing live for the umpteenth time in their career. They play stadiums in the round: those prepared to stump up the requisite dosh can get \u201csnake pit\u201d tickets that allow you to stand in the centre of the vast circular stage. In London, they are playing two shows, and promise completely different sets at each, as well as different support acts. Ariana Grande<\/p>\n You couldn\u2019t describe Ariana Grande\u2019s arrival in the UK as a tour, exactly: she\u2019s only playing London, although she is doing a fairly eye-popping run of 10 nights at the O2 Arena, testament to the continued appeal of her music despite a shift in emphasis towards acting in recent years. The dates come two years after the release of her R&B and trap-infused post-divorce opus Eternal Sunshine, the album she is ostensibly promoting, which was among the most-streamed albums globally in 2024. Classical music and operaThe Makropulos Affair<\/p>\n Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra\u2019s semi-staged Jan\u00e1\u010dek has become one of January\u2019s most eagerly anticipated treats. If Katie Mitchell\u2019s November staging for the Royal Ballet and Opera left you bemused, here is a chance to focus on the music, with Marlis Petersen making a rare UK appearance as the 300-year-old heroine, Emilia. The Great Wave<\/p>\n An ambitious and groundbreaking cross-cultural collaboration between Scotland and Japan brings the world premiere of Dai Fujikura and Harry Ross\u2019s opera about artist Katsushika Hokusai and his woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa to Scottish Opera. Stuart Stratford conducts the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, which will be enhanced with a Japanese shakuhachi-flute. Kurt\u00e1g at 100Exquisitely detailed music \u2026 Gy\u00f6rgy Kurt\u00e1g in Budapest, 2016. Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The Hungarian composer Gy\u00f6rgy Kurt\u00e1g is 100 in February; tributes to the avant garde master and his exquisitely detailed and concentrated music feature in different seasons across the UK. Pianist V\u00edkingur \u00d3lafsson and cellist Istv\u00e1n V\u00e1rdai join the Philharmonia for a concert at the South Bank that places Kurt\u00e1g\u2019s music alongside Bach and Schumann. In Birmingham, the CBSO and BCMG unite for a journey, compered by musicologist Paul Griffiths, into the composer\u2019s life and music, while in April, Thomas Ad\u00e8s conducts the Hall\u00e9 in a programme that includes his own Lieux retrouv\u00e9s alongside Kurt\u00e1g\u2019s Double Concerto. Siegfried<\/p>\n Barrie Kosky and Antonio Pappano\u2019s acclaimed Ring Cycle, with the despoliation of the natural world at its heart, continues with the third in Wagner\u2019s tetralogy. Andreas Schager makes his Royal Opera debut as the brutish hero grappling with magic swords, cursed rings and a Valkyrie in a ring of fire. Christopher Maltman<\/a> returns as the Wanderer, and Elisabet Strid<\/a> as Br\u00fcnnhilde. Aurora Orchestra: The Rite by Heart<\/p>\n The orchestra\u2019s brilliant exploration of Stravinsky\u2019s Rite of Spring, blending music, dance and storytelling, won five-star reviews at 2023\u2019s Proms<\/a> \u2013 and the Grand Prix at the Golden Prague<\/a> international television festival. The ever-innovative group are reviving it for the Southbank Centre\u2019s 75th birthday celebrations, or you can catch it at Snape Maltings. The Flying Dutchman<\/p>\n Fast-rising Welsh director Jack Furness makes his debut with his home company and tackles his first Wagner opera with this new staging that then travels to Plymouth, Birmingham and Milton Keynes. Simon Bailey is the cursed hero, Emma Bell his Senta and Tom\u00e1\u0161 Hanus conducts. Abel Selaocoe\u2019s Mohopolo\/Ancestral Memory WeekendAbel Selaocoe and Bantu Ensemble on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury festival 2025. Photograph: Alicia Canter\/The Guardian<\/p>\n The charismatic and engaging South African cellist celebrates the music of his homeland with a mini festival that aims to showcases the depth and diversity of South Africa\u2019s musical landscape. Over four concerts, workshops and other informal events the music ranges from traditional Zulu music, Afro-psychedelic future pop, Afro-rave, amapiano and contemporary jazz. Wigmore Hall 125th anniversary festival<\/p>\n The intimate chamber music venue celebrates 125 years in world-class style with a two-week festival of 24 concerts (many broadcast on Radio 3) boasting a starry lineup of international performers. Highlights include soprano Lise Davidsen\u2019s all-Schubert recital, pianists Igor Levit, Yunchan Lim and Alexandre Kantorow, Stockhausen\u2019s Stimmung with London Voices, and Ian Bostridge and Piotr Anderszewski performing Schumann\u2019s Dichterliebe. Angel\u2019s Bone<\/p>\n Chinese-American composer Du Yun won the 2017 Pulitzer prize for Music for her opera Angel\u2019s Bone. The jury hailed it as a bold work \u201cthat integrates \u2026 a wide range of styles into a harrowing allegory for human trafficking in the modern world.\u201d The BBC Philharmonic and English National Opera, in their first fully staged production in Manchester, give the UK premiere at the Aviva Studios in May. L\u2019Orfeo<\/p>\n The South African multidisciplinary artist, film-maker and director William Kentridge journeys to the very origins of opera to take on Monteverdi\u2019s L\u2019Orfeo in what will surely be a fascinating exploration of love, loss, reconciliation and the politics of power.
UK tour begins <\/a>6<\/a> February<\/a> at the SSE Arena, Belfast<\/p>\n
UK tour begins 12<\/a> February<\/a> at the BP Pulse Live, Birmingham<\/p>\n
Released 13 February<\/p>\n
Released 13 February<\/p>\n
UK tour begins 17<\/a> February<\/a> at Manchester Co-op Live<\/p>\n
Released 27 February<\/p>\n
UK tour begins <\/a>2 March<\/a> at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall<\/p>\n
UK tour begins 4 March<\/a> at OVO Hydro, Glasgow<\/p>\n
UK tour begins 25 March<\/a> at O2 Academy Brixton, London<\/p>\n
27 March at Royal Albert Hall<\/a>, London<\/p>\n
Released 27 March<\/p>\n
UK tour begins <\/a>11 April<\/a> at Sheffield Utilita Arena<\/p>\n
UK tour begins 22<\/a> <\/a>April<\/a> at OVO Hydro, Glasgow<\/p>\n
On 5 and 6 May, London O2 Arena<\/a><\/p>\n
UK tour begins on 25 June at Glasgow Hampden Park<\/a><\/p>\n
15<\/a> August until <\/a>1 Septembe<\/a>r, London O2 Arena<\/p>\n
13 and 15 January<\/a>, Barbican, London<\/p>\n
12 and 14 February at Theatre Royal, Glasgow<\/a>; 19 and 21 February at Festival theatre, Edinburgh<\/a><\/p>\n
12 February at CBSO Centre, Birmingham<\/a>; 1 March at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London<\/a>; 23 April at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester<\/a><\/p>\n
17 March to 6 April, Royal Opera House<\/a>, London<\/p>\n
11 April, Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh<\/a>; and 16 April, Royal Festival Hall, London<\/a><\/p>\n
Touring 16 April<\/a> to 15 May<\/a>, starting at Wales Millennium Centre<\/p>\n
23 to 26 April, Barbican, London<\/a><\/p>\n
25 May to 7 June, Wigmore Hall, London<\/a><\/p>\n
May (dates TBC), Aviva Studios, Manchester<\/a><\/p>\n
14 June to 25 July, at Glyndebourne, Sussex<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florence + the Machine Seventeen years on from the release of her debut single, Florence Welch finds herself…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-344312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}