Chimeo

Albums: Little Miss Twain Shania Twain

Perhaps the biggest surprise arrives with Faded Blue Jeans, featuring Josh Homme. It's an unlikely pairing that somehow makes complete sense, with Homme's gravelly vocals adding a rugged edge to a song that blurs the boundaries between country, blues and rock. Their chemistry is effortless, and the result is one of the album's most memorable collaborations

Albums: Amy Shark Soft Pop

Amy Shark has always excelled at turning life's awkward, painful and complicated moments into memorable songs, but soft pop feels different. Stripped back and refreshingly uncomplicated, this is an album that places her voice and innermost thoughts front and centre, allowing the emotion to do the heavy lifting. The production rarely gets in the way, creating the feeling that you're sitting with Shark as she quietly unpacks her experiences without fear, shame or pretence.

Follow Your Gut, Don't Rush, Don't Compromise: Shawn Colvin On 30 Years Of A Few Small Repairs

Over the course of more than three decades, Shawn Colvin has established herself as one of America's most captivating performers and revered storytellers.

A Year At Portsmouth

Thirty years is no small tenure, and Regent Records' latest instalment in its cathedral series chooses to mark David Price's three decades at the helm of music at Portsmouth Cathedral with a disc that feels less like a retrospective and more like a tide turning full circle. As is the way with this series, the selection draws from the choir's repertoire across the liturgical year, and the result is a recording of genuine freshness — one that rewards repeated listening rather than exhausting itself on a single pass.

Rich Pickings And Rueful Choices: Lisa Jewell On Building Harrogate's Biggest Festival Yet

Fresh from a morning of interviews and still buzzing between events, this year's Festival Programming Chair, Lisa Jewell, talks to Andrew Palmer at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival about omissions, instinct, and the coercive-control novel taking shape for 2027. The deckchairs are out on the lawn of the Old Swan Hotel, the sun is doing exactly wha…

Classical Music: Martha Argerich: A- Z Schumann - Tchaikovsky

Martha Argerich is nothing less than the High Priestess of the Piano, and this release marks a fitting way to celebrate her 85th birthday: a complete digital collection of her recordings for Deutsche Grammophon and Philips, spanning 65 years, from 1961 to the present day. Her solo recordings, though relatively few, are each a gem — from Chopin to Ravel, Bach to Schumann — but it is her partnerships with the great artists of her generation that have defined her legacy: Claudio Abbado, Nelson Freire, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky and Daniel Barenboim are among them.

A Stunning Conclusion: Romeo and Juliet Brings The Curtain Down On Ripon Theatre Festival 2026

Andrew Palmer, Group Editor, on how The Duke's Theatre Company concluded this year's festival at Ripon Racecourse with a Romeo and Juliet that showcased wit, precision, and considerable heart – a fitting finale!

National Lottery Funding Boost For Bradford Heritage

Over £400,000 of National Lottery Heritage Fund investment has been made to empower the communities of Bradford to celebrate their heritage following the year as UK City of Culture 2025, and ensure that its cultural legacy will continue to thrive We are thrilled to continue our commitment to Bradford as a City of Culture.

Robbie Williams To Headline Lytham Festival 2027

ternational pop megastar Robbie Williams is heading to the North West in 2027 to headline the region’s largest live music festival. The 18 time BRIT Award winning pop giant will headline Lancashire’s Lytham Festival on Saturday July 3 – his only headlining show in mainland UK next summer.

Yorkshire Music Charity To Merge With National Young Talent Fund

A North Yorkshire-based music charity is joining forces with national charity Future Talent to provide increased support for young musicians in Yorkshire and the North East.

Elly Griffiths Crowned Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year For The Frozen People

Sussex novelist Elly Griffiths has won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2026 — the most coveted prize in British and Irish crime writing — for The Frozen People, a genre-bending mystery that sends a modern-day cold case detective back to the ice-bound streets of Victorian London.

Opera North To Perform At Bradford’s Darley Street Market

Opera North’s bitesize version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute comes to Bradford’s Darley Street Market this August, offering a fairy tale opera for all the family. Mini Magic Flute packs fun, fantasy and enchanting music into a 40-minute story, making it perfect for all ages to experience their first taste of opera. A prince is in search of a princess, but will they ever find each other?

Marching To A New Drum: What Do People Want For The Arts Under The New-Look Government?

As the UK welcomes a new Prime Minister, the country’s culture sector prepares for a period of change. In the eyes of the public, support for the arts continues to remain a top priority, with the number of people who think the arts deserve more government support reaching an all-time high, two years on from the General Election.

No Town Of Culture Title, But Ripon Already Knows What It's Worth

Ripon's theatre festival has earned more than applause — it has earned investment writes Andrew Palmer, Group Editor Somewhere between the deckchairs on the Market Place and this Friday's season finale — the Duke's Theatre Company's touring Romeo & Juliet at Ripon Racecourse, still to come — it has become clear that this year's Ripon Theatre Festival is no…

The Car Man

Loosely based on the James M Cain classic novel The Postman Always Rings Twice and not to be confused with Bizet’s opera Carmen, although the music is well-known, in Matthew Bourne’s ballet The Car Man’ the familiar 19th Century Spanish cigarette factory becomes a greasy 1950s garage diner in the American Midwest, and it is here where the dreams and passions of a sma…

One Voice Choir To Sing For Supper With A Soul Food Festival

Audience donations of tinned and dried food will be accepted as admission to special charity concert taking please this weekend Saturday 25th July as part of the MET programme of entertainment which launched in Preston this weekend. The One Voice Choir, a Preston based group, is inviting local music lovers to enjoy an evening of live entertainment while helping families in need this summer.

From Croy Village Hall To Nashville: Jamie Rafferty On The EP That Ticks Every Box

A village hall in North Lanarkshire is not where careers in Nashville are supposed to begin. Jamie Rafferty's did anyway.

Much-Loved Slingsby Gin Becomes New Festivals’ Partner

Harrogate International Festivals has announced a new partnership with the much-loved Slingsby Gin. The Harrogate-based gin brand, which supported the Festivals’ recent 60th anniversary Chairman’s Reception, has become its official gin partner. Chris and Asma Williams took over ownership of Slingsby in March, restoring the brand’s online shop after a period of transition.

All That Jazz - Jazz à Juan Festival

The annual Jazz à Juan Festival, held under the pines at Pinède Gould in Juan-les-Pins, might not be the largest jazz festival in Europe in terms of capacity – what the festival lacks in size is compensated by the stature and reputation Jazz à Juan holds within the jazz community.

The Graveyard Shift: The Dacre Dilemma By Rebecca Tope

This novel opens in the Henderson household, the everyday ‘chitchat’ establishing the ‘cosy’ genre. Who knew that a small florist’s business in the Lake District could be so busy, but Simmy is rushed off her feet. Husband, Christopher, is just as busy at his auction house in Keswick and between them, they juggle the care of their only son, Robin, who is two.

Poem Of The Week: Marky By Ian Duhig

Marky Is minic do bhris béal duine a shrón. - Irish proverb Watching this cormorant on the Wharfe hold open its wings to the admiring sun, I recall Marky Malone on his stag night removing his silk suit jacket very slowly to show off his Bullworker pecs to us and the man he'd picked out to fight - who smartly coshed him across his beak and swanned out of the silent public bar…

Classical Music: Thème varié

There is a particular pleasure in returning to a recording again and again as a reviewer and finding that it yields something new each time, while one thing remains constant. With this latest Chandos disc from Elena Urioste and Tom Poster, that constant is the sheer beauty of the playing: the balance between soloist and accompanist is judged to perfection, and the engineers have done what Chandos so often manages, capturing the sound with such transparency that the listener seems to be eavesdropping on the duo rather than hearing a recording at all. It is sublime, moving and endlessly captivating.

Albums: The Rolling Stones - Foreign Tongues

If that is the case, the band’s 25th studio album is a fine one to end with, coming with a huge dose of blues, rock, attitude and the unmistakable vocals of Mick Jagger; even at the age of 82, he can still rock with swagger and style.

Experimenting Versus Imagination

After the amazing response to the recent children's art competition, I didn't envy the judges’ job of picking a few winners and runners-up. There was an array of styles and mediums from ages four to eighteen. I wanted to show the world all the talented artists, but it would take a whole newspaper to include everyone.

Fast - Furious And Fabulous

As the lights go down in Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s Ice Arena, there’s an air of excitement and anticipation. The pulsating sound of the drums and chants gets louder, and the excitement builds to fever pitch.

December 10, Wulfrun Hall

Despite a shaky start, Simon Cowell's December 10 seems to be finally making headway. With the assumption that a Netflix series would propel them to instant international success and huge chart acclaim, they appear to have fallen very far short of those anticipations.