Features
A Conversation with Fatoumata Diawara
Kayleigh Watson hears how the Malian musician has maintained strength and positivity throughout her 15 years in music, celebrating her homeland while never being afraid to speak out against injustice
Kayleigh Watson hears how the Malian musician has maintained strength and positivity throughout her 15 years in music, celebrating her homeland while never being afraid to speak out against injustice
Russ Slater Johnson talks to Jonny Greenwood and Shye Ben Tzur about Sufi poetry, embracing sonic change and the tensions of making music at a time of political crises
Freya Parr visits Brìghde Chaimbeul and the Scottish Ensemble on the Isle of Skye to hear how one unyielding note serves as the cornerstone to intricate musical structures
Fatoumata Diawara, Jonny Greenwood & Shye Ben Tzur, Brìghde Chaimbeul, Raül Refree, Bizimungu Dieudonne, ODD OKODDO, Summer Festival Guide 2026, Alté, Bakithi Kumalo and more
Mexican Institute of Sound and Meridian Brothers tell Charis McGowan about their Beck-featuring ode to 70s Mexican cumbia, Ruido Tovar
Harmonica-and-percussion duo Stevens & Pound tell Julian May about their distinctive take on the English classicism of Holst and Vaughan Williams
Lucia Gadau meets Rostam to learn how the former Vampire Weekend man is leaning into his Iranian heritage
Inside the issue…
Fatoumata Diawara
A conversation with the Malian singer on 15 years in music, freedom and speaking out
Jonny Greenwood & Shye Ben Tzur
The pair reunite with the Rajasthan Express on Ranjha, the long-awaited follow-up to Junun
Alté
Inside the Nigerian music scene whose refusal to belong has reshaped Lagos’ music scene
Brìghde Chaimbeul
The Scottish smallpiper on bringing the rich drones of her instrument to wider audiences
Raül Refree
Beginner’s Guide to the Catalan producer who has worked with everyone from Rosalía to Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo
Bizimungu Dieudonne
How a lost Rwandan album survived a genocide – and finally found its audience
ODD OKODDO
The Kenyan-German trio reinventing Luo dodo tradition
Bakithi Kumalo
We hear from the South African bassist, 40 years on from Graceland
Summer Festival Guide 2026
Our pick of the season’s best world music festivals
Essential 10 Drinking Songs
Raising a glass to classic odes of imbibing and inebriation from around the world
Ben Wheatley’s My World
The English director opens up his musical world
‘Duncan and Brady’
Paul Slade traces the murder ballad that became a civil rights anthem
Plus
Maryam Saleh · Rostam · Ibrahim Maalouf · Stevens & Pound · Mexican Institute of Sound & Meridian Brothers · Shabnam Parvaresh · Tremor · Manchester Folk Festival · Babani Records · Bishi
Find out more >
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