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Post Malone at Coachella review – chameleonic megastar wows in the desert

The 29-year-old singer travelled through his genre-shifting back catalogue in a charming and energetic 90-minute headliner set

Green Day at Coachella review – fun but muddled set pokes fun at American Idiots

The weekend’s legacy headliner offered some cathartic punk pop rebellion but the awkward setlist lacked coherence and thought

Bon Iver: Sable, Fable review – Justin Vernon’s most easy-going record yet

This companion album to last year’s Sable EP gives those sorrowful songs a soulful lift, with Vernon’s beautiful falsetto vocals to the fore

Valerie June: Owls, Omens and Oracles review – a soul-recharging exercise in radical positivity

The Tennessee singer-songwriter’s joyful new album pushes back against the bleakness of doomscrolling

Pulp: Spike Island review – Jarvis Cocker and co’s joyous second coming

The anthemic lead single from the band’s first album in 24 years casts a wary eye over their peak 90s fame – but also suggests that performing is irresistible

2hollis: Star review – sounds like the internet and bound for stardom

An underground phenomenon since his teenage years, Hollis Frazier-Herndon feels like a male Charli xcx about to take off

Ed Sheeran: Azizam review – a cross-cultural Persian experiment … which sounds incredibly English

After a couple of earthy, rootsy albums, Sheeran emphatically returns to pop with another of his indelible hooks, surrounded by Middle Eastern instrumentation

Black Country, New Road: Forever Howlong review – revamped alt-rockers take a newer, weirder road

After losing their frontman, the band’s third studio album shows how resilient and adaptable they are, with luscious melodies, fantastical lyrics and lots of recorders

Cyndi Lauper review – 80s pop eccentric hasn’t changed a bit

Her farewell tour is a pockmarked history of her roots and wide-ranging influences, full of her trademark elan and vigour

Usher review – glitzy Vegas-style spectacle is completely preposterous and preposterously entertaining

From rollerskating around the stage wearing a union jack suit to feeding cocktail cherries to women in the audience, Usher wears middle age incredibly well

Perfume Genius: Glory review – full of energy and biting nuance

Consummate chronicler of 21st-century sensuality Mike Hadreas returns to his indie roots on a convivial seventh album stalked by death and desire

Yukimi: For You review – sweet solo debut for Little Dragon singer

Yukimi Nagano’s first record without the Swedish synth-pop band is a light but pleasurable affair

Liz Stringer: The Second High review – an intelligent, assured album from a singular musician

All but ignored by the mainstream, Stringer seems unconcerned by wider radio play, with her seventh album for patient and attentive listeners

Lucy Dacus: Forever Is a Feeling review – Boygenius singer turns timidly tasteful

The Virginia songwriter gets lost in understatement on a loved-up album about her relationship with bandmate Julien Baker, shrouding sharp lyrics in shy melodies

Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism tour review – momentous show for a star who contains multitudes

Lipa’s voice is resonant and fit and she holds her own as a dancer; while there are lulls in energy between the show’s acts, they’re forgiven when she brings the hits

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  • LPO/Edward Gardner review – Britten’s pacifist War Requiem lands with a bitterness and snarling irony
  • Hallé/Wong review – MacMillan’s new symphony centres a great concert hall’s birthday celebrations
  • Taylor Swift: The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore review – flashes of humanity and bafflingly vindictive love songs
  • Norma Tanega and Aida Pavletich: Saturday Dancer review – cult pop songwriter’s wonky collaborations
  • Jae Stephens: Audacity review – a thrilling lesson in why more debut albums should go for broke
  • Honegger: Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher album review – faultless recording of an eclectic masterpiece
  • The rise of Dom Dolla: what the DJ’s record-breaking stadium show for 60,000 fans tells us about music today
  • Himari: Debut album review – teenage prodigy’s playing has depth and feeling
  • Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at 80 review – birthday celebration champions bold creativity
  • Gilla Band: Pugnello review – furious originality fuelled by cathartic aggression and absurdist confessions
  • Roomful of Teeth/Kahane review – twisty and tuneful songs with a darkly comic edge
  • Fire in My Mouth review – Wolfe’s multimedia oratorio tells its tragic story with focus and power
  • Bluebeard’s Castle/Oedipus Rex review – gory, gruesome and gripping double bill
  • Karol G review – Colombian chart-topper brings pan-Latin camp and fireworks to New Jersey
  • CBSO/Yamada review – apocalyptic and soul-shaking Mahler opens the season
  • Phaedra Ensemble: The Music of Meredith Monk review – fleeting rough edges amid polished beauty
  • Baka Beyond: Sing the World Awake review – powerful Cameroonian vocals burst through fussy arrangements
  • Empress Of: Dream House review – a tender and openhearted rebirth after wildfires razed her house
  • Exaudi: Pocket Universe album review – virtuoso vocals with a joyfully bonkers bent
  • Opus13: Mendelssohn and Grieg album review – an assured and distinctive debut
  • Beabadoobee: Pylon review – voice of a generation’s surprisingly relatable rampage through rock star rage
  • Charli xcx Music, Fashion, Film tour review – an electrifying and deafening pop evolution
  • Alcina review – Handel’s opera of sex and sorcery comes alive in vivid staging
  • Mishka Rushdie Momen review – unforced elegance and plenty of fireworks
  • David Bowie: The Shel Talmy Recordings review – these unheard 60s tunes are actually pretty flimsy
  • Beck: Ride Lonesome review – stunning end to the heartache trilogy of Sea Change and Morning Phase
  • Mahler Academy Orchestra/Steinaecker review – trailblazing performance that pushes work to the limits
  • Spiritbox review – Canadian metal ranges from gothic and guttural to Auto-Tune pop
  • Last Night of the Proms review – musical chaos ensues in near four-hour finale
  • Céline Dion review – singer’s first live show in years marks a triumphant, emotional return

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