Ariana Grande review – glittering hits and powerhouse vocals in stunning return to stage
The pop star’s first tour in seven years brought the house down with emotive ballads and clubby bangers delivered with saucy wit
Olivia Rodrigo: You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love review – who’s she singing about? Who cares when the songs are this good
Gossips have rushed to the lyrics for details about her personal life, but the rest of us can just get on with luxuriating in Rodrigo’s funny, Cure-infused craft
Lola Young review – buoyant, brilliant return from British pop’s great oversharer
The Messy hitmaker is back after taking time away from live performance, and this charming, relatable set shows why she is such a gen Z icon
Kelsey Lu: So Help Me God review – strange, graceful songs drifting from pop’s edgelands
Aided by Jack Antonoff, Kim Gordon, Sampha and more, the cello-playing singer-songwriter’s abstracted yet tuneful second album is worth the seven year wait
St Vincent review – majestic orchestral transformations of jagged art-pop
The mercurial artist reworked her catalog with technical mastery – and playful dance moves – accompanied by the Boston Pops orchestra
Taylor Swift: I Knew It, I Knew You review – giddy up! Song for Toy Story cowgirl Jessie is Swift’s best in years
Full of handcrafted care and the rootsy soul of her country origins, this gently elated song is a reminder of what fans love about Swift … and the film series
Zoh Amba: Eyes Full review – raw, rugged country rock also has real tenderness
Better known as a formidable free jazz saxophonist, these thrashing songs about the artist’s Tennessee childhood home share a similar genre-pushing intensity
Gintė Preisaitė: Instruments of Forgetting and the Singing Bone review – atmospheric, unsettling ambience
From birdsong to pool balls, this Lithuanian musician – a graduate of Copenhagen’s buzzy Rhythmic Music Conservatory – mixes beguiling found sounds into left-field pop and modern classical
Lizzo: Bitch review – a spirited star who just can’t rediscover her groove
After scrapping an album and starting anew, Lizzo still sounds lost amid these weak genre-hopping songs. Perhaps the zeitgeist has simply left her behind
Saint Levant review – Palestinian pop star makes Australian debut to an ecstatic, sold-out crowd
Even slight hand gestures elicit screams from his rapturous fans, at a show that brings politics to the party – and ends with a cameo from his father
Take That review – stadium redux of Circus tour has maximal razzle-dazzle
Elephants, clowns, aerialists hanging by their hair … the Big Top concept doesn’t let up at this hugely enjoyable outing for a boy band with hits to spare
Violet Grohl: Be Sweet to Me review – alt-rock arriviste aces the part
The daughter of Foo Fighters’ Dave does a serviceable line in 90s throwback sounds, though the nostalgia is too reverent
Iceage: For Love of Grace & the Hereafter review – Danish punks ace sixth stellar album on the trot
The quintet add shoegaze, country and 50s rock’n’roll to their core indie-punk sound, resulting in songs that offset lyrical bleakness with gleeful, uplifting music
Sugar review – Bob Mould’s reunited band still in a sweet spot between noise and melody
After three unlikely Top 10 albums in the 90s, the trio are back – and on the basis of this rapid-fire set, you hope they’ll stick around
Paul McCartney: The Boys of Dungeon Lane review – at 83, his gift for melody still astounds
From nostalgic returns to his Liverpool childhood to a crazed Glastonbury fantasia, these are songs written with real purpose and a master’s finesse