STATE OF SOUND

The New Independent Voice of Music

‘I’m going to kill you tonight’: how they wrote Candi Staton’s ‘Young Hearts Run Free’

It began when Candi Staton’s partner threatened to shoot her and ended with a rallying cry for women everywhere.

3 April 2026

HOW THEY WROTE THE SONG

EDITOR’S PICKS

PLAYLIST

‘Mr. Tangerine Man’: The rising tide of protest music against President Trump

From Pussy Riot to Bruce Springsteen, listen to State of Sound’s playlist of the best of an ever-growing canon.

NEWS

Britain's first museum of youth culture opens

The Museum of Youth Culture is to open in Camden, London, on 15 May 2026

THE 1970s COUNTERCULTURE

Rupert Bear with a huge penis: how the Oz magazine obscenity trial inspired the Bookshop Band

The Oz magazine obscenity trial of 1971 sent shockwaves across Britain. 60 years later, The Bookshop Band’s Ben Please tells us how it inspired their new EP.

THE BEATLES

‘Please Please Me’: How the Beatles sang about sex and got away with it

The Beatles could only break America by conforming to its prudish sexual attitudes. But did Lennon and McCartney have the last laugh?

Paul Simon’s greatest solo albums, ranked!

FEATURES

7 ALBUMS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE

28 March 2026

‘Pete Townshend had us running around spinning the speakers’

INTERVIEW

On the release of the Bookshop Bands’ new EP Oz Sucks, Ben Please talks about the creative chaos of working with Pete Townshend.

INTERVIEW

MAKING A MASTERPIECE

‘It took a unique kind of courage’: how Son House beat the odds to make a masterpiece

FEATURE

‘An outpouring of love’: The micro record labels fighting back against AI

THE BIG IDEA

How Taylor Swift can save the music industry

RANKING

Bob Dylan's greatest love songs, ranked!

ALL FEATURES

REVIEWS

NEW RELEASE

The Former Site Of

The New Pornographers

This is a really enjoyable and at points captivating album, if a little beaten down by the world.

27 March 2026
ALL REVIEWS

STATE OF SOUND

The New Independent Voice of Music

Founded by writer David Rea, State of Sound cuts through the noise with incisive music journalism, providing an analogue voice in a digital world. Free of advertising to ensure a frictionless reading experience, we cast an independent eye across a wide range of genres and eras, publishing everything from in-depth essays on legacy artists to informed reviews of the latest releases. SUBSCRIBE HERE

Photo: James Edmond / Alamy Stock Photo

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