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Like Jesus Christ Superstar With Depression: Beak> Discuss Their new Album

As they surprise-release their first album in six years, the Bristol trio speak to Alastair Shuttleworth about how ambiguity, a Welsh farmhouse and a departed pet all played a part in their astonishing new music. Cover portrait by Andre Habermann

Reviews

Anastasia Coope
Darning Woman

From New York via the Overlook Hotel, an album of haunted tea dances and lo-fi strumming

A Quietus Interview

The Night Becomes a Great Friend: Arooj Aftab Interviewed

The peerless New York-based Pakistani musician is ready to move past grief and to make some connections, to have some fun, she tells Kat Lister. All portraits by Shreya Dev Dube

Reviews

Verraco
Breathe… Godpseed

Medellín's Verraco makes his debut on the forward-thinking UK label Timedance, showcasing a vision of high-tech techno with a devastating impact

Anniversary

The Hideous Ecstasy Of Fear: Diamond Dogs At 50

Even half a century later, the decadent dystopia of Diamond Dogs is never over, says Matthew Lindsay explains. This feature was originally published in December 2014

Reissue of the Week

Compilation of the Week: Rəhman Məmmədli’s Azerbaijani Gitara Volume 2

Upon the first Western release of his music, Jakub Knera explores the work of a musician whose amazing guitar solos combine east and west traditions

Strange World Of...

The Strange World Of… Gastr del Sol

Ahead of the release of the sublime We Have Dozens Of Titles compilation, Jim O'Rourke and David Grubbs speak to Joe Thompson about ten points of entry into their astounding back catalogue. Portrait by Manfred Rahs

Reviews

Earth Ball
It's Yours

Earth Ball’s new salvo of heavyweight improvisation is both fully aggressive and fully life-affirming, says Bernie Brooks

Album of the Week

Chthonic Resonator: At Fargrounds by Jacken Elswyth

The Shovel Dance Collective member, banjo player and instrument maker draws rich histories from deep in the wood, finds Tom Bolton

Low Culture Essay

Low Culture Essay: Cathi Unsworth on the Magic of Cardiacs’ Tim Smith

In this month's Low Culture Essay, Cathi Unsworth attends a beautiful night in tribute to Tim Smith of Cardiacs, speaking to those who knew, loved and played alongside this "musical Merlin".

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Reviews

NikNak
Ireti

With cyberpunk themes and staticky beats, the turntable experimenter waxes ever more melodic with a cast of collaborators including Grifton Forbes-Amos, Cassie Kinoshi, Agaama, Chisara Agor and SlowPitchSound

Black Sky Thinking

Memorable Songs to the Latest Dance Beat: Pet Shop Boys, Pop and the Irresistible Rise of Electronic Dance Music

From disco to Eurodance, acid house to EDM, and electroclash to new album Nonetheless, Matt Anniss explores Pet Shop Boys' long-held fascination with dancefloor culture, and the way it's shaped them across their career

Reviews

Kee Avil
Spine

The latest from Kee Avil finds the Montréal producer exploring wide open spaces, decorating them with closely-miked field recordings and breathily diaristic recantations, finds Jon Buckland

Anniversary

The Sound of the City: Pet Shop Boys’ West End Girls 40 Years on

Russian history, hip hop, the underbelly of Soho, TS Eliot and James Cagney collided on the dance floor of the Paradise Garage, says Matthew Lindsay, to create one of 1984's perfect singles

Anniversary

The Devil in the Flesh: David Sylvian’s ‘Red Guitar’ at 40

Travis Elborough recalls how the Japan frontman's startling debut solo single ‘Red Guitar’ stood out among the rest of 1980s pop, and how his teenage love of David Sylvian introduced him to worlds beyond his everyday

Reviews

Sisso & Maiko
Singeli Ya Maajabu

Striaght out of Dar Es Salaam, bringing the blistering 200 BPM Technicolor sounds of singeli to the extended Nyege Nyege Tapes family

A Quietus Interview

Playful yet Professional, Nevertheless: a Pet Shop Boys Interview

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe sit down with Luke Turner to discuss how their music stops them feeling trapped, spaghetti hoops, fitting in and why seediness is inspiring

Reviews

Ex-Easter Island Head
Norther

From astute use of simple ideas multiplied comes music with acute beauty, says Jakub Knera

Reviews

Billie Eilish
Hit Me Hard And Soft

New album shows an effortless ability to encompass the discrete worlds of bedroom musician and global arena-sized pop star, says CJ Thorpe-Tracey

Anniversary

Fit At 20: The Streets’ A Grand Don’t Come For Free Revisited

As Mike Skinner’s bestselling hip hop concept album celebrates its twentieth birthday, Fergal Kinney looks at how the Birmingham rapper plotted a commercial crossover moment that changed British music enduringly

Reviews

Wu-Lu
Learning To Swim On Empty

South London's Wu-Lu releases first EP since debut LOGGERHEAD and retreats even further into his interior life, while pessimism and optimism are locked in fierce battle, says Arusa Qureshi

Anniversary

Unnatural Blues: How Moby’s Play Predicted The Collapse Of The Music Industry

25 years after it was first released we should now regard Moby's Play as the first album of the 21st Century, says Ed Gillet. This article was first published on 13 May 2019

Reissue of the Week

Reissue of the Week: Fantômas’ The Director’s Cut

The already brilliant and nerve-shredding cinematic soundscapes of Mike Patton's Fantômas now make much more sense two decades later, says Jeremy Allen

Low Culture Podcast

Low Culture Podcast: Sprigs Of Time (78s From The EMI Archive)

This week we celebrate the new Quietus with a compilation released right back when we started, and that inspired a lot of what the site became.

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Album of the Week

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Like Jesus Christ Superstar With Depression: Beak> Discuss Their new Album

Anastasia Coope Darning Woman

The Night Becomes a Great Friend: Arooj Aftab Interviewed

Verraco Breathe… Godpseed

The Hideous Ecstasy Of Fear: Diamond Dogs At 50

Compilation of the Week: Rəhman Məmmədli’s Azerbaijani Gitara Volume 2

The Strange World Of… Gastr del Sol

Earth Ball It's Yours

Chthonic Resonator: At Fargrounds by Jacken Elswyth

Low Culture Essay: Cathi Unsworth on the Magic of Cardiacs’ Tim Smith

NikNak Ireti

Memorable Songs to the Latest Dance Beat: Pet Shop Boys, Pop and the Irresistible Rise of Electronic Dance Music

Kee Avil Spine

The Sound of the City: Pet Shop Boys’ West End Girls 40 Years on

The Devil in the Flesh: David Sylvian’s ‘Red Guitar’ at 40

Sisso & Maiko Singeli Ya Maajabu

Playful yet Professional, Nevertheless: a Pet Shop Boys Interview

Ex-Easter Island Head Norther

Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft

Fit At 20: The Streets’ A Grand Don’t Come For Free Revisited

Wu-Lu Learning To Swim On Empty

Unnatural Blues: How Moby’s Play Predicted The Collapse Of The Music Industry

Reissue of the Week: Fantômas’ The Director’s Cut

Low Culture Podcast: Sprigs Of Time (78s From The EMI Archive)

Album of the Week: Beth Gibbons’ Lives Outgrown

How the Music Industry is in a New Age of Arrogance

Columnfortably Numb: Psych Rock For May Reviewed By JR Moores

Sonic Debris: Tony Njoku’s Favourite Music

Gordan Gordan

Straight Hedge! Noel Gardner Reviews Punk & HC For May

Sham 91: Benjamin Myers on his Teenage Punk Band Sour Face

Elaine Mitchener Solo Throat

Most Popular

No Repeats: Tunde Adebimpe’s Favourite Albums

50 Years On: Hawkwind’s Warrior On The Edge Of Time Revisited

Everything is Permitted: Alamut by Laibach

Reissue of the Week: Butthole Surfers Live At The Leather Fly

God Tier: Tyler Hyde of Black Country, New Road’s Favourite Albums

Music as a Weapon: The Sonic Power of The Raincoats

Thicker Than Water: Richard Dawson’s Favourite Films

Mclusky The world is still here and so are we

Music of the Month: The Best Albums and Tracks of April 2025

Radical Traditional: Folk Music for Spring, by Patrick Clarke

Like Choosing A Lover: Viv Albertine’s Favourite Albums

Three Album Run: How Rock Music Never Bettered AC/DC’s Powerage, Highway To Hell & Back In Black

Beauty and Sadness: Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast’s Favourite Albums

Don’t Miss The Quietus Digest

Help Support The Quietus in 2025

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The Quietus Digest

Anastasia Coope
Darning Woman

Verraco
Breathe… Godpseed

Earth Ball
It's Yours

NikNak
Ireti

Kee Avil
Spine

Sisso & Maiko
Singeli Ya Maajabu

Ex-Easter Island Head
Norther

Billie Eilish
Hit Me Hard And Soft

Wu-Lu
Learning To Swim On Empty

Gordan
Gordan

Elaine Mitchener
Solo Throat

Mclusky
The world is still here and so are we