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FEATURES

STATE OF SOUND

ARCHIVE

THE REMAKING OF NICK DRAKE: Is the complex artist finally stepping out from behind the ‘doomed genius’?

The new box set The Making of Five Leaves Left illuminates a focused and forthright artist at his genesis, and further undermines the idea he was an isolated, haunted romantic.

25 October 2025

Black and white photo of a young man with curly hair leaning against a brick wall, wearing a dark blazer and a light shirt, with hands in his pockets, looking to the side.

THE ANATOMY OF A SONG

A very British take on an American Odyssey: David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ revisited

David Bowie’s first great song appeared to undermine the ideals of NASA’s moon landings, but it said much more about David Bowie’s ‘inner space’ at the end of the 1960s.

Sex, porn star names and teenage violence: the story of punk's origins in the 1950s

As punk celebrates its 50th anniversary, David Rea explores its tangled origins in 1950s rock 'n' roll: its sexually suggestive lyrics, dirty guitar sound and a very British version of Elvis Presley.

MUSEUM OF YOUTH CULTURE

A short history of youth culture in 10 iconic photos: punks, mods, ravers & more!

The Museum of Youth Culture’s extensive collection includes countless iconic photographs, amassed over three decades of archive building. Celebrating mods, punks, breakdancers, ravers and everyone in between, these images capture the vibrancy of youth cultures across the decades.

FROM THE ARCHIVE

‘Outside is America’: Was U2’s biggest failure one of music’s great Icarus moments, or the sound of a band blazing their own trail?

U2’s Rattle and Hum was one of the most savagely mauled albums of the 1980s. But for David Rea, aged fifteen in the year of its release, it was an exhilarating widescreen road movie through America.

7 March 2026

‘I don’t care if it’s out of tune’: Neil Young’s Tonight’s the Night in the age of machines

In an era of confected studio production, Neil Young recorded Tonight’s the Night, one of the rawest and most desolate albums ever made. David Rea explores the live recording philosophy behind the masterpiece and how it might soon be seen as the AI revolution takes hold.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

‘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.

MAKING A MASTERPIECE

‘Like a long dead ghost trying to make contact’: how Wilco made Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Involving Cold War spy recordings, drug addiction and music industry landmarks, Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot has been called a fable and a masterpiece. David Rea does a deep dive into the plots and subplots which created the band’s greatest album.

The 10 greatest alt-country albums, reviewed and ranked!

Alt-country has always given the polished twang of mainstream country a roughened edge, drawing from the countercultural snarl of punk, the kooky charms of indie pop, rockabilly, bluegrass or Southern rock. Here is our ranking of the greatest alt-country albums, from No. 10 to No. 1.

Image: James Lee / Unsplash

16 May 2026

STATE OF SOUND

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Photo: Bob Dylan; credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy

INTERVIEWS

STATE OF SOUND

ARCHIVE

INTERVIEW

Sleaford Mods: 7 songs that changed my life

Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson on the importance of vulnerability, his love of Ian Brown's voice and why Kneecap will never outshine the Sex Pistols.

6 December 2025

Male singer with a beard and short hair passionately singing into a microphone on stage, wearing a dark blue t-shirt with a constellation pattern, with stage lights in the background.

‘There are many Bob Dylans but there's only one Lou Reed’: Emma Swift on her album of Lou Reed covers

In 2020, Emma Swift’s album of Bob Dylan covers, Blonde on the Tracks, brought her widespread acclaim and a new audience. Currently in the midst of making an album of Lou Reed covers, she talks to State of Sound about searching for the real Lou Reed, and what it was like trying on his leather pants.

Rupert Bear with an enormous penis: how the Oz magazine obscenity trial inspired The Bookshop Band’s new EP

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.

REVIEWS

STATE OF SOUND

ARCHIVE

ALBUM REVIEW

Castle Park

Graham Coxon

Exploring adolescent romance and the passing of time, the album teems with Coxon’s familiar pop charms and is one of the strongest entries into his solo discography.

27 June 2026

NEW RELEASE

John Lennon Love (Meditation Mixes)

ALBUM REVIEW

The Demise of Planet X

Sleaford Mods

ALBUM REVIEW

The Former Site Of

The New Pornographers

ALBUM REVIEW

Wasted on Youth

The Molotovs

ALBUM REVIEW

All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade

Of Monsters and Men