The Big Read
Page 7
The 50 best albums of 2021
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
Willow: “Humans have never been good at accepting that people are different”
Ahead of her intimate London show, Willow Smith tells NME about speaking out for her generation, her real rock credentials – and becoming a superstar in her own right
Halsey: “I’ve always been driven to reinvent myself and reinvent my genre”
A relentless, trailblazing streak has long made the US star stand out from the crowd - and now they'll collect the Innovation Award at the BandLab NME Awards 2022
Courtney Barnett: “I was trying to retrain my brain to not get hung up on certain things and to see the beauty in those moments”
The Melbourne songwriter trades wordplay for vulnerability and minimalism on her third album ‘Things Take Time, Take Time’. She talks to NME about her new outlook, #MeToo and the Australian government’s “lack of respect” for a music industry struggling in the pandemic
Summer Walker: “I’m a vulnerable, open person. I’m really emotional and shit”
Although the R&B star’s chart-topping new album ‘Still Over It’ showcases unparalleled candour, the Atlanta native wants to remain an enigmatic and uncompromising creator
IDLES: “I wanted to be more than what we were becoming”
After killing off a “caricature” of themselves, the Bristol band’s fourth album ‘CRAWLER’, and a long-overdue US tour, sees the band aim to become a new beast entirely
Swedish House Mafia: “Dance music is freedom – that’s our language”
Returning with their first proper album ‘Paradise Again’, the dance giants talk to NME about brotherhood, the dark side of EDM, and doing this for the love, never the money
Bad Boy Chiller Crew: “We’re not a proper boyband. There’s nothing normal about us”
With their music and comedy empire set to expand with an upcoming reality TV show, NME meets the party-starting Bradford boys on the road at their first-ever tour
Parcels: “It’s almost a running joke for Australians to bring their problems everywhere they go around the globe”
The Berlin-via-Byron Bay band dig deep and continue their restless search for home on breathtaking new album ‘Day/Night’
Elton John: “I’m not interested in the past – not even Elton John’s past”
After all these years, the forward-thinking superstar is still outstanding
Coldplay: “This is our period of having no fear”
Inspired by space, hard rock and, erm, emojis, Chris and co.’s ninth album ‘Music Of The Spheres’ is the sound of a band fearlessly entering a whole new orbit
Snail Mail: “It’s awesome seeing lots of women and queer people in music”
How Lindsey Jordan found solace in a like-minded music community and, with new album ‘Valentine’, penned a love letter to living on your own terms