Q Gold

In 1999, newly-clean from drugs, Kevin Rowland released a revelatory covers album, My Beauty. But embattled by a furore over its sleeve, then defeated by his label’s demise, the Dexys leader withdrew injured from the fray. Now, with its long-awaited reissue imminent, Rowland tells Ted Kessler the story of its genesis and its aftermath.

Caught up in the whirlwind of his ever changing muse… The Modfather’s rare gems.

The Barbadian hit-making superstar is vastly more nuanced than she’s given credit for.

Buried treasure from the Radiohead frontman.

Born from punk, yet anything other than a parochial Year Zero outfit. Here’s their rare gems.

Florence + The Machine released their debut album, Lungs, 10 years ago this July. Since then, Florence Welch has grown into one of music’s most celebrared British stars. But just as her live show reaches new heights, Welch has decided that fundamental change is necessary. Is it the end of the beginning, or the beginning of the end? Ted Kessler finds out.

When Mike Skinner called time on his era-defining rap/production alias The Streets in 2011, the lights went out in him. Ted Kessler meets Skinner to hear about the long, lost journey out of the fog that led him to two brand new albums and a film. “A lot of this time has felt irrational,” he says, “but, looking back on it, it’s been totally rational.”

Her 2011 breakthrough single Video Games is the most voted-for entry in Q’s Songs Of The Decade. But Lana Del Rey’s latest album, Norman Fucking Rockwell, is a strong candidate for album of the decade, too. Ted Kessler is granted an audience in Laurel Canyon to hear how the 2010s belonged to America’s finest modern singer-songwriter.

For 20 years, Liam Gallagher was the renowned singer in Oasis and the greatest frontman of his generation. Then, after two mediocre albums with Beady Eye, he suddenly found himself in crisis, cut adrift with the rest of the mooks on the street. On the eve of an epic new film about Oasis, Ted Kessler meets Liam down the boozer to hear about how he got his life back together “outside of the bubble”, and how he’s now making plans for a dynamic new chapter.

Gaz Coombes spoke with Danny Goffey, then they spoke to Mick Quinn and told Rob Coombes: they were putting a deposit down on Supergrass and taking a lease out on the band for a year of serious gigs, their first since 2010. Niall Doherty meets them to find out if there are plans to move back in permanently yet…

Over the last decade, a disparate group of composers, performers and labels have been designing a modern classical sound that incorporates elements of electronica, dance and even pop. Paul Stokes speaks to Max Richter, one of the genre’s major forces, to investigate a left-field phenomenon that’s colonising the mainstream.

The Vampire Weekend frontman offers up his golden rules for living.

Their last studio album took nearly four years to make, so Doves decided to take a little time off afterwards. A decade later and fully refreshed, the trio welcome Ted Kessler to their Cheshire studio to reveal far more of their comeback plans than they meant to.

This month, the landmark album of the year was released: Now That’s What I Call Music! 100. It’s the latest instalment of the hits series that began in 1983 and has frequently outsold all-comers since. Peter Robinson investigates its genesis and our surprisingly enduring love affair with the compilation album.

Continuing on from our Mark E Smith tribute in the current issue of Q, illustrious fans of The Fall leader remember the music and the man.

As part of our Mark E Smith tribute in the latest issue of Q, we spoke to illustrious fans, friends and former colleagues of The Fall leader. Here, ex-wife and former Fall guitarist Brix Smith Start recalls her time with the Hip Priest.

Mark E Smith formed The Fall as a teenager in 1976 with the explicit goal of tethering primitive music to intelligent lyrics. By 2015, thirty albums and countless band members later, he remained unusually faithful to that mission. But at what cost? In Smith’s last Q interview, Ted Kessler met him in the boozer to find out.

Mark E Smith was the ultimate outlier, a genius contrarian who carved out one of the most singular bodies of work in British music. His sad passing has prompted thousands of heartfelt obituaries. Q’s Simon McEwen revisits The Fall's 32 studio albums and chooses his six favourites.

Brandon Flowers has the perfect rock singer life. And yet behind the façade, everything started to unravel: his group, his music, his wife. Simon Goddard finds him at the dawn of another Killers album, but also at a crossroads, with band members bailing and his family leaving Las Vegas… are The Killers facing the final curtain?

The London quartet toured tirelessly to let the world know about their Mercury-nominated debut album and it caught up with them as they prepared to release their second album. Laura Snapes joined them on the road in the US to find a band trying to slow the sands of time.

He is the Ginger Johnny Cash. The loved, feared and respected Leader Of The Pack. Josh Homme is the badass king of Queens Of The Stone Age. Niall Doherty tracked his motorbike across Los Angeles and his footsteps through London.