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Sabrina Carpenter review – brilliantly bonkers innuendo-stuffed delirium

This 1970s variety show complete with title cards, cheesy voiceover and overt sexiness could be Carry On Carpenter, but the star has more in her arsenal than just kooky camp

Jack White review – rock’n’roll showman makes believers of us all

Touring his 2024 solo album No Name in a barnstorming gig, the former White Stripe plays fast and loose with the truth but is absolutely the real deal

Gracie Abrams review – telling references tied together in a big, bland bow

Her songs recall Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers, so much so it’s hard not to wish you were listening to them instead. Not that that bothers her excitable young fans

Annie Lennox and friends review – a euphoric celebration of female solidarity

In her first performance since 2019, Lennox’s rare charisma makes her the star attraction during a fundraiser that also includes Nadine Shah, Beverley Knight and Celeste

Tokimonsta: Eternal Reverie review – a life-affirming journey through dance music

On her seventh album, delayed by personal tragedy, the US producer calls in collaborators aplenty on a high-energy set interspersed with tender moments

Spiritbox: Tsunami Sea review – cataclysmic throat-shredding with a side serving of soul

The Canadian metal band’s second album is an adventure in songcraft, from boulders of invective to ruminative, poppy grooves

New Order review – classics front and centre, but electronic pop pioneers can still surprise

Among Joy Division anthems and dancefloor classics that conjured the Haçienda’s heyday, the Mancunian icons showed they can still switch it up

Lady Gaga: Mayhem review – a fabulous return to her freaky first principles

After some noteworthy musical and cinematic misfires, Gaga gets back to her core themes of sex, sleaze and celebrity on an album that sounds not retro, but relevant

The Cruel Sea: Straight Into the Sun review – could it be any more Australian?

First new album in 20 years from the band that says who cares what you are supposed to be doing – just do this instead, this is what matters

Lola Young review – soulful Londoner finds magic in the messy

An endearing shambles between songs but a powerfully versatile and emotional singer during them, the TikTok star is cool but relatable all at once

Doves: Constellations for the Lonely review – prog poetry for gloomy days

Impeccable production and propulsive moments led by Jimi Goodwin brighten the Manchester trio’s somewhat lethargic latest

Lisa: Alter Ego review – a focus group-tested attempt at megastar success

The Blackpink singer’s high-energy debut solo album, astutely timed to coincide with her role in The White Lotus, is packed with styles and stars that only highlight her lack of musical identity

Bdrmm: Microtonic review – Hull shoegazers nod towards the dancefloor

The quartet’s increasingly electronica-based textures convey a sense of tension and unease on their third album

Hope Tala: Hope Handwritten review – even-tempered vocal gorgeousness

Tala’s mellow, unsensational debut ruminates on friendship, faith and family over fine, honeyed production but with a tad too much similarity

Panda Bear: Sinister Grift review – Animal Collective star’s bad trip through divorce to the dark side

Noah Lennox’s powerful and adventurous album has plenty of playlistable psych-pop, but then turns introspective: it’s a striking emotional arc

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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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