News
January 2026 Issue Is Out Now!
End-of-year special featuring Songlines Music Awards 2025 (the best global music of the year) plus exclusive Kneecap interview, Alice Gerrard, Peggy Seeger, Gloria Estefan and in-depth klezmer essay
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Features
My World: Benjamin Zephaniah
Following the sad news of Benjamin Zephaniah's (1958-2023) death we wanted to publish our interview with the much-loved poet from December 2007 (#48), when we discussed his love of music at length.
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Special Source #1: Salif Keita, Femi Kuti, Youssou N'Dour, Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson
A round-up of new releases that are on the horizon from some of the biggest names in Africa and the US
Features
Mandolin | Musical Instrument Guide (with Alex Vann)
Glenn Kimpton finds out why Alex Vann, of Spiro and Three Cane Whale, traded in his f-hole instrument for a round-hole mandolin
Features
Songbook: ‘A La Loma de Belén’ with Alex Cuba
Andrew Taylor-Dawson celebrates a 100-year-old Afro-Cuban classic that has inspired artistic imaginations across genres, generations and oceans
Features
2025 Preview: Reasons to be Cheerful
A lot is cooking this year. Here are the albums you should be getting excited about, from unknown West Virginian gospel singers and Afrobeat legends to Indigenous Brazilians playing ‘country music’ and soulful Ethiopian sounds
Features
Folk Round-Up: Mountain Winds and Gnarled Yarns
Featuring Anthony Ruby, Christina Alden & Alex Patterson, FolkLaw, Andrew Ferguson and Odette Michell
Features
60 Years of Fania Records
Celebrating 60 years of Fania Records, we ask Daymé Arocena, Silvana Estrada, Roberto Fonseca, iLe, Meridian Brothers, Orquesta Akokán, Nathy Peluso, Ana Tijoux and many others to pick some Fania classics. Introduction by Erin Cobby. Interviews by Russ Slater Johnson
Features
Quickfire: Chuck Prophet
San Francisco-based singer-songwriter with a rock’n’roll heart and plenty of country swagger answers a few Quickfire questions. His latest album, Wake the Dead, sees him embrace cumbia, a genre he fell in love with while recovering from cancer.
Features
Setting the Scene: Ale Hop
Fresh from a scintillating collaboration with Congolese guitarist Titi Bakorta, Peruvian musician and producer Ale Hop discusses her adopted home of Berlin
Features
Exploring the enduring influence of the Carolina Chocolate Drops
Bluegrass, old-time and Americana artists pay tribute to the Carolina Chocolate Drops and their enduring legacy ahead of the group’s reunion this year
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Carolina Chocolate Drops' Grammy-winning 'Genuine Negro Jig' to be reissued for 15th anniversary
Nonesuch Records celebrates the legacy of Genuine Negro Jig with a special anniversary edition featuring nine bonus tracks and, for the first time since 2010, a vinyl pressing of the award-winning album
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First wave of artists announced for Tremor 2026
Tremor returns to São Miguel, Azores on March 24–28, 2026, ready to push its infectious spirit even further.
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Introducing the April 2025 issue of Songlines, featuring Ichiko Aoba
Ichiko Aoba, Abel Selaocoe, Seu Jorge, Andy Irvine, Cambodian rap, the most anticipated albums of 2025, Gurdjieff Ensemble, Alabaster DePlume and much more
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Obituary: Orlando Julius (1943-2022)
Nigerian highlife saxophonist Orlando Julius dies at age 79
