Thursday, April 9, 2026
The May 2026 issue of Songlines, featuring Silvana Estrada, is out now!
Silvana Estrada, Buena Vista Social Club, Jorge Drexler, SONICO x Rovira, Essential 10 Highlife Releases, Charif Megarbane, Yiddish Glory, Constantinople, Cocanha and more
The May 2026 issue (#217) of Songlines is out now, with a special Latin focus. For our cover feature, we head to Mexico to meet Silvana Estrada in the house of Chavela Vargas, and hear how she’s learnt to sing through her pain. We look at the enduring legacy of Buena Vista Social Club, thirty years after the album was recorded, hoping to unravel why it became such a cultural phenomenon.
Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler tells us why he decided to return home for his latest album. We find out why Belgian ensemble SONICO are so crazy about tango innovator Eduardo Rovira. Elsewhere, our Beginner's Guide is devoted to Lebanese producer Charif Megarbane, and we celebrate another chapter in the remarkable Yiddish Glory project, which has brought wartime Jewish songs back to life.
We bring you a Fireside Story from Brazilian classical pianist Vitor Araújo, hear from Constantinople, La Muchacha and Cocanha, and journey to Louisiana, US for a Dispatch from Mardi Gras. We ask Ghanaian artists to pick their Essential 10 Highlife releases, Al Di Meola opens up his musical world for My World, and Huw Marc Bennett explores the Welsh love song, 'Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn'.
We also look at the Horsehead Fiddle, reveal the Folk Album of the Year, and hear from Juni Habel, ZENA, Planet Ilunga and Eliza Carthy and all the usual news, listings, reviews and competitions.
Print and digital subscribers will also receive our accompanying Top of the World compilation featuring our pick of the month’s best new music – BCUC, Lucas Santtana, Cocanha, Sam Grassie, Stelios Petrakis and more – as well as five bonus tracks from Silvana Estrada, ZENA, Ali & Charif Megarbane, Constantinople & Ablaye Cissoko and Vitor Araújo & Metropole Orkest.
You can buy the latest issue or subscribe to receive this and future issues delivered to your door as soon as they're published. We also offer digital subscriptions that give you access to every one of our 217 issues from 1999 to 2026… and beyond.
