Sophia Deboick
07 July 2022
Meet Romania’s maneliști maestro
Salem is the King of Manele – the Middle Eastern-flavoured Romanian pop music descended from Roma folk music. But, some of his material divides audiences
Read the full article30 June 2022
Magic from the Dark Ages: the new sound of old Europe
Heilung's ancient-sounding music has slotted neatly into pop culture’s current enthusiasm for a bloody and merciless northern European past
Read the full article23 June 2022
Bars beyond bars: how music is changing ex-prisoners’ lives
A record label representing talented musicians with experience of going through the criminal justice system is helping them to make a career out of music
Read the full article16 June 2022
When Bowie traced time
A new edition of the closest we got to a David Bowie autobiography lifts a little of the on-stage mask
Read the full article09 June 2022
The modern Marseillaise: the album that has redefined the geography of a city
Quartiers nord is Marseille rapper Alonzo's most affectionate tribute to his hometown yet
Read the full article02 June 2022
When one Door closes: Jim Morrison in his own hand
A new boxed set provides a rare insight into the life and mind of one of the most popular cultural icons of the 20th century during what were to be his final days
Read the full article26 May 2022
Meet Armenia’s political genie, Serj Tankian
The frontman of the Armenian-American metal band had a sour reaction to the Eurovision results, calling for Armenia to leave the song contest behind in the future
Read the full article19 May 2022
Red wine, black metal: Norway’s unlikeliest vintner
The frontman of one of Norway's most notorious death metal bands has now turned his hand to Riesling
Read the full article12 May 2022
Turkish rap on trial
Dutch-Turkish rapper Murda is not the first artist from Turkey’s contemporary rap scene to face the censure of the authorities
Read the full article05 May 2022
Sisters of resistance: inside Ukraine’s bold and unapologetic music culture
This year's Tallinn Music Week has been a showcase for some of the besieged country's most defiant music acts
Read the full article28 April 2022
Time up for Rammstein?
If the kings of the Neue Deutsche Härte are calling it a day Germany will lose one of its most paradoxically valuable assets
Read the full article21 April 2022
Songs of drink and drums: Gabriel Ferrandini’s journey into the self
New album Hair of the Dog captures something of our primitive selves who looked for expression of our hopes, desires and search for new beginnings through the sound of a beat
Read the full article07 April 2022
Songs of everyday magic: Efterklang go back to basics
Deprived of the opportunity of having collaborators in the studio, the Danish experimental electronic chamber pop band have self-produced their new album
Read the full article31 March 2022
Avicii finds museum peace
A new museum dedicated to the Swedish dance star has more in common with its earnest predecessors than at first seems the case
Read the full article31 March 2022
The Hallyday spirit: when a French legend finally rocked Britain
The Johnny Hallyday who took the Albert Hall stage one night 10 years ago was the culmination of 50 years of myth-making
Read the full article24 March 2022
Ballads and Baudelaire: the Elevation of Susanna
The Norwegian singer's new album is an undeniably dreamlike, immersive experience
Read the full article17 March 2022
Head and the clouds: Murray Head, a prophet abroad
Largely forgotten in his own country, Murray Head remains an adoptive hero in France
Read the full article10 March 2022
How Will Young found his way
Designed to produce ephemeral pop stars, Pop Idol produced some acts who have kicked against expectations
Read the full article03 March 2022
Collab queen goes it alone: MØ’s new modus operandi
A chart star alongside the likes of Iggy Azalea and Justin Bieber, Karen Marie Ørsted, aka MØ, is now striking out on her own
Read the full article24 February 2022
VanWyck and the longing for belonging
The Dutch alt-folk act is making music for the rootless
Read the full article17 February 2022
Sally Shapiro: Italo disco goes to Ikea
A duo from Sweden are providing an escapist look back to the past of European pop
Read the full article10 February 2022
Scorpions: European rock’s true survivors
The band who soundtracked the fall of the Berlin Wall are back with a post-Covid anthem
Read the full article03 February 2022
The faith and the fury: how anti-blasphemists targeted a death metal star
One of Poland's most fascinating contemporary figures, Darski is leading the charge against the country's restrictive blasphemy laws
Read the full article03 February 2022
Masterchef: The original professional
As Gordon Ramsay recreates his ground-breaking Savoy Hotel restaurant, SOPHIA DEBOICK savours the life of Auguste Escoffier
Read the full article27 January 2022
Blast from the past: Nash Albert gets back to where he once belonged
A new album sees a Georgian pioneer reunite with band members from a formative period of his career
Read the full article20 January 2022
Songs of fire and ice
Goodnight Louisa's album Human Danger shows how time spent in an alien landscape can provoke the deepest personal reflections
Read the full article13 January 2022
Richard Dawson and Circle are the Finnished article
A collaboration between avant-folk musician Richard Dawson and his long-time heroes Circle is as original as you might expect
Read the full article06 January 2022
Where the carols are still being rolled out
SOPHIA DEBOICK on the traditional songs of celebration continuing to be sung across Europe
Read the full article16 December 2021
Meet the Angèle on top of the charts this Christmas
Intelligent, genuine and in control, Brussels has sprouted the future of European pop as we approach 2022.
Read the full article09 December 2021
Malta has given the world 8000 years of Island records
Still, after 8000 years, Maltese music is centred around cultural eclecticism and originality.
Read the full article02 December 2021
Centuries later, Danish music is bringing Swedish witchcraft to life
Volbeat's Lasses Birgitta tells the story of a woman, who became one of many, executed for witchcraft in the Swedish island of Öland, over 450 years ago.
Read the full article25 November 2021
It’s, sadly, time for European music tours to have their swansong
Ultravox sung about Vienna, Freddie Mercury duetted with Montserrat Caballe on Barcelona and The Stranglers told us all roads lead to Rome but Suede's Europe is Our Playground couldn't be more wrong today
Read the full article