Michael Cragg
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Journalist and author. Also run @maxopedia10. Email: mcraggfreelance at gmail dot com. My new book about Kylie is out in September 2026 - pre-order link below
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Articles by Michael Cragg
As FKA Twigs Is Announced As The Next Curator Of Meltdown, Revisit Our Profile
The Southbank Centre announced this evening that former 10 Magazine Issue 76 cover star, FKA Twigs, will be the next curator of Meltdown Festival. Since it’s inauguration in 1993, Meltdown has offered a diverse programme of music and arts, previously handing over the reins to the likes of Patti Smith (2005), Chaka Khan (2024) and most recently Harry Styles to curate its multi-day schedule.
Add to playlist: the fizzing fuzz-pop racket of Pushbike and the week’s best new tracks
A rowdy proposition … Pushbike. Photograph: Courtesy of Molly Boniface From Exeter, UK Recommended if you like Boyracer, the Promise Ring, Rites of Spring Up next Little Bastard EP out now It’s tempting to view any half-decent scene as either a magical happening or a simple quirk of geography and timing. In reality, they’re more like monuments to the importance of showing up. For that to continue to happen, you need bands like Pushbike.
Dafydd Owain’s second album wins the 2026 Welsh music prize
Updated Thu, October 8, 2026 at 12:01 PM UTC ‘It’s such a privilege to win’ … Dafydd Owain receives his award at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.Photograph: Welsh Music Prize Singer-songwriter Dafydd Owain has won the 2026 Welsh music prize with his second album Ymarfer Byw. The emotionally charged record, which also won Welsh language album of the year in August, beat albums by the likes of Gruff Rhys, the Royston Club and Art School Girlfriend to the prize of £10,000.
Dafydd Owain’s second album wins the 2026 Welsh music prize Original
Singer-songwriter Dafydd Owain has won the 2026 Welsh music prize with his second album Ymarfer Byw. The emotionally charged record, which also won Welsh language album of the year in August, beat albums by the likes of Gruff Rhys, the Royston Club and Art School Girlfriend to the prize of £10,000. Receiving the award at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on Wednesday, Owain, from Caernarfon, north-west Wales, told the BBC: "It's just amazing, isn't it?
Dafydd Owain’s second album wins the 2026 Welsh music prize
‘It’s such a privilege to win’ … Dafydd Owain receives his award at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. Photograph: Welsh Music Prize Singer-songwriter Dafydd Owain has won the 2026 Welsh music prize with his second album Ymarfer Byw. The emotionally charged record, which also won Welsh language album of the year in August, beat albums by the likes of Gruff Rhys, the Royston Club and Art School Girlfriend to the prize of £10,000.
For Kylie Minogue, 'Spinning Around' marked a long-awaited return to pop music – and the turning point of her career
The Princess of Pop's cultural immortality is now firmly assured, but it wasn't always so. Published by Faber & Faber, Can't Get You Out of My Head by music writer Michael Cragg takes a deep-dive into the life and work of Kylie Minogue, revealing how she redefined both herself and the very nature of pop music at the turn of the millennium.
From 50p gold hot pants to Paul Smith suits: how Kylie Minogue became one of pop’s ultimate chameleons
On 20 December 1989, Kylie Minogue first harnessed the power of fashion. Attending the Australian premiere of her film The Delinquents, she wore a custom sequined noughts-and-crosses minidress by Australian designers Morrissey Edmiston and a cropped blond wig. She also arrived with a new accessory: a rock star boyfriend in the shape of Michael Hutchence from INXS.
Katseye review – petulant hyperpop bops from a girl group in crisis
It takes a certain amount of resilience to be a Katseye fan. Since debuting three years ago via the boot camp meets reality TV show The Debut: Dream Academy, the multinational K-pop hybrid girl band have put their so-called Eyekons through the wringer . Last month alone they lost their second member to a “personal health and wellness” related hiatus, with Sophia joining Manon (who stepped away in more mysterious circumstances back in February) on the sidelines.
Katseye review – petulant hyperpop bops from a girl group in crisis
Updated Fri, September 4, 2026 at 11:53 AM UTC Just the right side of goofy … Katseye at the O2 ArenaPhotograph: PR It takes a certain amount of resilience to be a Katseye fan. Since debuting three years ago via the boot camp meets reality TV show The Debut: Dream Academy, the multinational K-pop hybrid girl band have put their so-called Eyekons through the wringer.
Tyla: A*Pop review – old-school pop superstar transports us back to more carefree times
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Tyla: A*Pop review – old-school pop superstar transports us back to more carefree times
From her penchant for paparazzi-baiting stunts – arriving at a recent London listening party in Y2K cosplay with this second album’s title temporarily tattooed across her lower back – to her music’s outsized mix of sun, sex and sultriness, 24-year-old South African Tyla seems keen to transport us back to more carefree times. On the head-knocking, Christina Milian-esque Mr Nonchalant, for example, she references her belly ring and tells a man she likes his eyes “cuz they match the thong”.
Hits don’t lie! Shakira’s 20 best songs, from World Cup anthems to megastar duets – ranked!
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Hits don’t lie! Shakira’s 20 best songs, from World Cup anthems to megastar duets – ranked!
Of Shakira’s World Cup anthems, it’s the joyfully ludicrous Waka Waka from the 2010 tournament in South Africa that bangs hardest. Featuring Afro-fusion band Freshlyground, the Colombian superstar redraws preened football superstars such as Ronaldo et al as soldiers on a frontline. A keen collaborator across genres, Shakira links up with Brazilian superstar Anitta on the head-knocking Choka Choka.
Baby Rose: Yearnalism review – gloriously cinematic soul from the edge of emotional collapse
Jasmine Rose Wilson doesn’t love lightly. On her third album as Baby Rose, the US soul singer uses her fraying contralto to communicate the peaks and troughs of relationships as if on the brink of emotional collapse. On the slow-moving The Reason, Rose is fully aware she’s “gone off the deep end”, while on the vintage R&B of But, Nvm, she tries her best to convince herself everything’s fine while fleeing the scene.
‘It would be weird not to show the sex’: Kit Connor and Joe Locke on Heartstopper’s queer teen curtain call
In a house near Maidenhead in Berkshire, a group of sweaty teenagers are throwing a party. Vodka bottles line the staircase, snogs are shared on lumpy sofas and gossip is exchanged. The windows are covered with multicoloured fabrics to ward off prying eyes.
Take That review – stadium redux of Circus tour has maximal razzle-dazzle
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Take That review – stadium redux of Circus tour has maximal razzle-dazzle
Take That have never been shy when it comes to repackaging their past. In 2018, they followed two official best-of collections with Odyssey, a Stuart Price-produced curio in which they “re-imagined” their greatest hits. Around the same time, band captain Gary Barlow – now overseeing just two teammates, Mark Owen and Howard Donald – was brutally honest about the band’s standing as a legacy act more focused on ticket sales than streams.
‘People say there are no words, but there are thousands’: Liz Lawrence on making a new kind of grief album after her sister’s death
In the months after her sister’s death, singer-songwriter Liz Lawrence couldn’t even listen to music, let alone play it. “I was very much, ‘That’s in the past and I don’t know what’s going to be asked of me now,’” she says. “I didn’t think about my work. I wasn’t interested.
Towa Bird proves second time’s the charm with sophomore album Gentleman
May 19, 2026 By Michael Cragg By Michael Cragg From opening for Billie Eilish to walking for Miu Miu, Towa Bird has become one of rock’s most magnetic new stars and a queer icon in the making. Now, with Gentleman, she’s arriving with complete confidence. Towa Bird’s sophomore album Gentlemen proves one thing: the second attempt comes with more confidence than the first. Raised on a “diet of dad rock”, the 27-year-old inherited her love of rock music from her father.
Our mission is to help independent bookshops thrive
You appear to be in the United States ūüáļūüáł Click here to switch to our US website. This title will be released on: 24 Sept 2026 Add to Wishlist Bookshop.org has the highest-rated customer service of any bookshop in the world Description From Ramsey Street to global icon, this is the revelatory exploration of one of the world's most successful pop stars, Kylie Minogue.
Inside Chloe Qisha’s perfect pop world
May 12, 2026 By Michael Cragg By Michael Cragg With sharp songwriting, sexually candid lyrics and a breakout hit that turned her into one of British pop’s most exciting new voices, Chloe Qisha is building her career with wit, humour and absolute creative control. The pop landscape is littered with worn out artists trying desperately to grab people’s attention as millions of songs are chucked online every week.
Mane character energy: part-nag pop provocateur HorsegiirL on burnout, eco tunes and pompous idiot DJs
‘I’m trilingual because I speak English and German – but also neigh. We could have done the interview in horsey.” Welcome to the world of DJ and pop provocateur horsegiirL, AKA Stella Stallion, the Berlin-based half-human, half-horse, whose potent mix of Eurodance, 90s techno, happy hardcore and gabba has polarised the dance music community.
Add to playlist: the sweaty, unvarnished electropop of Punchbag and the week’s best new tracks
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From South London Recommended if you like Charli xcx, Confidence Man, Klaxons Up next UK tour starts 21 April If this was April 2008, Punchbag, AKA south London siblings Clara and Anders Bach, would be headlining an NME tour alongside Alphabeat and Frankmusik, while the Popjustice forum would have hailed them as the new face of “wonky pop”.
By Michael Cragg Verified, Sundus Abdi Verified, Ben Beaumont Thomas Verified, Laura Snapes Verified
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Yahoo News UK
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‘Ring the alarm! Wake up! Be human!’: Aurora and Tom Rowlands on their new dance-pop duo Tomora
Michael Cragg Thu, April 2, 2026 at 7:00 a.m. UTC 8 min read Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Hey boy, hey girl … Tom Rowlands and Aurora, AKA Tomora.Photograph: Clare Park (Photograph: Clare Park) The two members of Tomora are contemplating their forthcoming debut live shows, a slate that includes an attention-grabbing slot at this month’s Coachella festival.
Fainting in front of Michael Jackson and feuding with Monica: inside Brandy’s jaw-dropping memoir
R&B singer Brandy.Photograph: Tony Bowen (Photograph: Tony Bowen) Despite a 30 years-plus discography and a slew of undeniable classics (Sittin’ Up in My Room, The Boy Is Mine, modern R&B blueprint What About Us?) and deep cuts feted by the likes of Solange, Kehlani and Normani, there’s a sense that Brandy, the fan-anointed Vocal Bible, is still underrated.
BTS: Arirang review – the world's biggest pop band return with dumb fun and downright weirdness
The general consensus seems to be that as BTS's commercial stock has gone stratospheric – more than 500m units sold worldwide, including over 104bn streams, making them the bestselling Asian act of all time – the actual music has become more and more irrelevant.
FKA Twigs Is In Her Flow State
Not for the first time, FKA twigs is trying to explain the meaning behind Eusexua. A word of her own creation, it's variously been referred to as a flow state, a sort of nothingness and that moment before a really good orgasm. It's also the title of her excellent, dance-music-exploring third album, released in January 2025, which recently became the proud recipient of the Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album (previous winners include the likes of Beyoncé, Charli xcx and Aphex Twin).
FKA Twigs Is In Her Flow State
Not for the first time, FKA twigs is trying to explain the meaning behind Eusexua. A word of her own creation, it’s variously been referred to as a flow state, a sort of nothingness and that moment before a really good orgasm. It’s also the title of her excellent, dance-music-exploring third album, released in January 2025, which recently became the proud recipient of the Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album (previous winners include the likes of Beyoncé, Charli xcx and Aphex Twin).
Ron Howard, Emma Rice, Neil Tennant and more on Liza Minnelli: 'She holidayed in my Cornish bungalow'
Ron Howard: ‘She taught me card tricks aged seven' I first met Liza in 1963 when I was playing Eddie in a movie called The Courtship of Eddie's Father. I was seven years old and I got this choice role, which was directed by the great Vincent Minnelli. There were no other kids on this movie, so I had a welfare worker who was also the studio teacher, and I was alone in my little second-grade classroom. But one day, Vincent introduced me to his daughter, who he said was just going to hang around.
Interviews by Michael Cragg Wed, March 11, 2026 at 5:00 a.m. UTC 10 min read Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. ‘So small and so charismatic, like an absolute glamour bomb’ … Liza Minnelli in 1973.Photograph: Bettmann/Bettmann Archive (Photograph: Bettmann/Bettmann Archive) Ron Howard: ‘She taught me card tricks aged seven’ I first met Liza in 1963 when I was playing Eddie in a movie called The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.
Harry Styles review – Netflix concert is a communal love-in with some big pop moments
Michael Cragg As 2026's first big pop moment, everything around Harry Styles' new album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally feels suitably blockbuster. At last weekend's Brit awards , Styles premiered the record's lead single, Aperture, alongside a troupe of dancers and an expensive-sounding choir, while Friday's “one night only” de facto album launch party takes place in a 20,000 capacity arena.
‘Fame is the worst thing for us as human beings’: Naomi Scott on scream queens, Disney princesses and finding her own voice
Naomi Scott … ‘Some people want to mould me into different things’Photograph: Jérémie Levy (Photograph: Jérémie Levy) When Naomi Scott was 27 she had what she refers to now as a “quarter-life crisis”. She had been working as an actor since she was a teenager, swapping bit parts in adverts for plum roles in high-profile Disney TV shows and big-budget Hollywood blockbusters including Aladdin (she played Princess Jasmine) and Elizabeth Banks’s Charlie’s Angels remake.
‘It launched a million fantasies’: the greatest ever TV romances
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Seth and Summer in The OC As TV romances go, it’s not the most original. Nerdy teen boy finally gets the queen bee he’s loved since they still had baby teeth – and off we pop on a four-season cycle of dramatic breakups and grand-gesture-fuelled reunions. Yet through all of the faintly ridiculous plotlines, their romance is anchored by that most elusive of on-screen tricks: actual, palpable chemistry.
By Lucinda Everett, Chitra Ramaswamy, Hollie Richardson Verified, Michael Hogan, Michael Cragg Verified, Ann Lee Verified, Sarah Dempster, Jack Seale Verified, Lucy Knight Verified, Alexi Duggins Verified, Phil Harrison, Sasha Mistlin, Kate Abbott Verified
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Yahoo News UK
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Harry Styles: Aperture review – a joyous, quietly radical track made for hugging strangers on a dancefloor
Now the proud owner of six Brits, three Grammys and seven UK Top 10 singles, it's fair to say Harry Styles has elegantly sidestepped the potholes that pepper the route from ex-boyband member to solo superstar. His well-earned confidence means that rather than fill the gap between 2022's Harry's House and last week's announcement of his fourth album – the confusingly-titled Kiss All the Time.
Sébastien Tellier: ‘I thought I'd be famous after Eurovision - but nobody noticed'
A few years ago, a stranger stole Sébastien Tellier's identity. The impostor – sporting the musician's trademark sunglasses and beard – posed as the Frenchman at fancy parties, nabbed free clothes from Chanel (Tellier used to be an ambassador for the brand), and even held meetings with bosses from Hollywood studios (Tellier has dabbled in soundtrack work).
Blue: Reflections review – a clunky rehash of their Y2K boyband heyday
‘Blue's in the house / Oh it's party time!” muse the fortysomething man-band on Souls of the Underground, the penultimate song on this seventh album, and the fourth since their 2011 reunion. The British four-piece are keen to take us back to their early 00s heyday, a time of Met bar table service, where the ladies have “a little prosecco” and the guys have a “nice cold beer”.
Our 2026 listening resolutions: from Radiohead to Kendrick Lamar, critics try to get into music they’ve never liked
Michael Cragg, Jason Okundaye, Chal Ravens, Safi Bugel and Shaad D'Souza Thu, January 1, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. UTC 12 min read Clockwise from top left: Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Kendrick Lamar and Diamanda Galás.Composite: Guardian Design; Michael Putland; Paul Harris; Aaron Rapoport; Christopher Polk/Getty Images ‘I had dismissed Joni Mitchell as an acquired taste’ The first time I heard Joni Mitchell, in 1997, she was looped across the chorus of Janet Jackson’s single Got ’Til It’s Gone.
The 50 best albums of 2025: No 1 - Rosalía: Lux
Michael Cragg Fri, December 19, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. UTC 4 min read Sense of wonderment … RosalíaPhotograph: Publicity image On paper, Lux reads more like a particularly tricky bonus round on University Challenge than the new album by a pop artist whose previous single was a collaboration with Lisa from Blackpink.
What rhymes with la la la, la la la la la? Kevin Killian, the poet obsessed with Kylie Minogue
Pop laureate … Kevin Killian in 1988. Photograph: Bromberger Hoover Photography/Getty Images Kevin Killian was obsessed with stars. Not in a metaphysical sense, like the grand lineage of poets that went before him, but the celebrity kind. Some were A-listers – he kept a vast database on Julia Roberts – and some more obscure.
Russell Tovey on pride, sexual power and politics: ‘The Green party slogan – make hope normal again – is what we need’
‘I try to be as honest and authentic as I can be’ … Russell Tovey. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian Russell Tovey’s best characters often seem to have it all together, typically as a barrier to further interrogation. Take his recent projects: in surreal BBC sitcom Juice, Tovey plays Guy, a buttoned-up therapist with a seemingly perfect life, hobbled by an aversion to recklessness.
Nicole Scherzinger review – raunchy gags and dazzling stylistic zigzags
Drenched in diamonds … Nicole Scherzinger in concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Photograph: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock As an impatient slow-clap echoes around west London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall – the star is running 45 minutes late – a seemingly nonplussed Nicole Scherzinger suddenly appears in spotlight, drenched in sparkly diamonds.
Busted vs McFly review - millenial ‘rivals’ let the pop-rock punches fly
Michael Cragg Sun, September 21, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. UTC 2 min read The last time Busted and McFly shared a stage a decade ago they were conjoined as McBusted, an unholy union that resulted in two arena tours and an album.
Mawaan Rizwan on clowning around, winning Baftas and the surreal new series of Juice: ‘If it’s not your show, cool, don’t watch it’
Michael Cragg Sun, September 14, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. UTC 9 min read I don’t know if I’ve even really celebrated it to be honest, man.” Sitting in a north London bar on a boiling hot evening, resplendent in a matching silk shirt and shorts combo, Mawaan Rizwan is contemplating his life post-Bafta.
Here & Now review – Steps supermarket musical is a sweep of bangers, bops and ballads
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‘Just being who we are is political’: disco trio Say She She on impressing Nile Rodgers and making bold protest songs
Say She She’s origin story is so perfectly New York it could have been lifted from a more racially diverse episode of Lena Dunham’s Girls. It involves a “gnarly” eight-floor apartment block on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a rooftop party turned sing-off and a debut show at Brooklyn’s coolest bar. So it’s mildly disappointing to discover that only one member of the trio still calls the Big Apple home.
Here & Now review – Steps supermarket musical is a sweep of bangers, bops and ballads
Microsoft Cares About Your Privacy Microsoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
Like Dinnerladies, with Zumba class energy … Rebecca Lock, centre, as Caz in Here & Now.Photograph: Pamela Raith Under a stark spotlight a woman sings an ode to her stillborn son who was “born sleeping” 13 years previously. “You are only a heartbeat away,” she sings.
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