Kitty Empire
Kitty Empire is the Observer's pop critic. She has written for NME and occasionally crops up on Radio 4, 5Live, BBC 6Music, and has appeared on BBC2's The Culture Show and Newsnight Review. @kittyempire666
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The voice of will.i.am’s new wearable tech device proves more engaging than his largely witless songs
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With a hit album, a sellout tour and no sign of the tunes running out, James continue to live the indie-rock dream
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The singer formerly known as Antony Hegarty’s debut as Anohni exploits muscular electronica to tackle the tragedies of our age
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Black female endurance and pragmatism are celebrated with warmth, anger and wit on this astounding visual album
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Cultural commentators and artists who grew up with Prince’s music explain what he meant to them and what made him unique
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Jeff Lynne’s massed musicians play all the hits with total precision and zero spontaneity. After 46 years, you long for ELO to blow a fuse…
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Katy B’s latest is a patchy affair, drawing in a diverse array of collaborators
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The Brooklyn psychedelic folk outfit throw a brass section and other surprises into their impressive ninth album
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These songs, documenting Harvey’s travels in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Washington DC, can be a little too detached
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Muse are meaty and precise at London’s O2. But there’s one thing missing from this Drones show…
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The 21-year-old Londoner ditches her old folk sound on a swaggering second album that’s all drama and despair
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Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe are on vintage 90s form
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The Weeknd’s woozy influence shows on this low-lit solo debut with unexpected depths
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The 20-year-old indie-rock misfit summons the spirit of Jeff Buckley and Thurston Moore on his second studio album
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Alexander McCall Smith gives us a lion tamer, Sophie Thompson a zoo keeper, and Lucy Worsley medieval sex and violence…
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Héloïse Letissier’s strikingly original dance-art-pop adds up to a terrific Gallic-tinged treat
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After 2015’s viral hit Here, debut album Know-It-All has a hard job living up to expectations
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The Observer’s pop critic picks the highlights of the next couple of months
Catfish and the Bottlemen: The Ride review – no messing