In the magazine May 2024

With Rachel Chinouriri, A.G. Cook, Yannis Philippakis, Wasia Project and more!

It may only be six years since Rachel Chinouriri first emerged with her debut single ‘What Have I Ever Done’, but the singer has already proven herself to be a true creative force within the UK music scene. Now, as she releases her hugely-anticipated debut ‘What A Devastating Turn Of Events’ - an intensely personal examination of her upbringing, family, and current place in the world - we’re thrilled to join the singer on a tour of her hometown haunts and signposts of her youth, alongside a candid and honest chat about about the societal struggles she’s faced along the way, as we welcome Rachel to the cover for the first time.

“I never thought it would be a thing,” she tells us, speaking on the racial profiling her music faced at the start of her career, “but I remember speaking to Shingai [Shoniwa] from Noisettes and I know that she went through the same battles as well, even though she was in a massive indie group. [Back then] they didn’t have social media to speak up about it; they’d just have to hope that the press would give them grace. So when I realised I could use my own platform to get over it, it helped quite a lot.”

Elsewhere, we’re ushered into A. G. Cook’s bonkers reimagining of ‘Britpop’, and delve into the darkness of The Mysterines’ forthcoming new album ‘Afraid Of Tomorrows’. There’s a delve into matters personal and political (spoiler alert: sometimes they’re the same thing) with BIG SPECIAL as they unleash blistering debut ‘POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES’, and we also catch up with Heartstopper’s Will Gao and his sister Olivia Hardy to dig into their increasingly exciting work as Wasia Project. 

We’ve got the deets on the new project from Foals’ Yannis Philippakis, Yannis & the Yaw, and we try to wrangle Fat Dog into telling us how their debut album ‘WOOF.’ might actually sound - a task that’s easier said than done. There’s sneaky peeks of our recent Festival Guide cover chat with SOFT PLAY, and digital In Deep cover with Conan Gray, plus Shaznay Lewis (yes, from All Saints!!) takes us on a trip through her surprisingly Magic Mike-filled dream gig.

Over in our Neu section, we sit down with Kenya Grace following the whirlwind success of Number One smash ‘Strangers’, and turn the spotlight onto Italian genre-splicer Sans Soucis and Ireland’s next great guitar hopes, Cardinals. Plus, it’s a truly bumper month for reviews as we give the official DIY verdict on A-List pop offerings from Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift, the belting newie from former cover star St. Vincent and more, plus live reports from Nia Archives and the long-overdue return of The Kills. 

To get stuck into all of that and more, just click the button below to grab a print copy of our May 2024 mag, order via our online shop or scroll down to check out the digital edition. Happy reading!