Spectrum
Tears, relief and a room full of love greet Beth Gibbons’ stage return
The Portishead singer’s first solo album has been years in the making. At its first live outing in Paris, she shares the rapture.
- by Michael Dwyer
Latest
This coming-of-age novel features strikingly precise characterisation
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases including a swashbuckling tale of a woman pirate and a deep dive into the symphony beneath the waves.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
Bob Dylan, Socrates and a speaking sky: this thrilling book has it all
Poet Anne Carson pairs words and drawings in a celebration of beauty and absurdity.
- by Philippa Hawker
★★★★★
Review
Martin Freeman is back in the best, most intense police drama in years
Created and written by former police officer Tony Schumacher, The Responder returns for another compelling – if anxiety-inducing – season.
- by Kylie Northover
From disco hits to space: The return of Sarah Brightman
The world’s best-selling soprano makes her return to the stage for the first time in 34 years in Sunset Boulevard.
- by Lenny Ann Low
Worried you’ll nod off during this eight-hour show? You won’t be alone
Just as in real life, REST happens between 9pm and 5am. Audiences can even wear their PJs.
- by John Bailey
A clever novel that isn’t afraid to poke fun at itself
Kaveh Akbar’s book Martyr! is a delight because it manages to embrace seriousness and irreverence, darkness and light.
- by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen
How a new generation embraced the complex sounds of the ’70s
Fifty years since peak prog, streaming has resurrected what punks tried to bury.
- by Michael Dwyer
This Australian psychological thriller examines death penalty with a horrific twist
Our reviewers cast their eyes over recent fiction and non-fiction releases, including an engaging account of the seven Cleopatras and Geoffrey Robertson’s crisply argued case for prosecuting Putin.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
★★★★ ½
Review
Colin From Accounts returns for an excellent second season of hilarity and chaos
Two weeks on from the end of season one, Ashley and Gordon are determined to get back the mutt that brought them together. It’s easier said than done.
- by Karl Quinn
This retelling of Huckleberry Finn is a masterful satire of race
Percival Everett tells the story of Mark Twain’s classic from the point of view of Jim, the runaway slave who befriends Huck.
- by Declan Fry