The Big Read | Page 3 of 14

Fontaines D.C.: “We weren’t really eating and we were burning the candle at both ends”

The Dublin post-punks experienced vertigo after last year’s breakout album ‘Dogrel’. But, says frontman Grian Chatten, they got by with a little help from the Beach Boys

The Strokes: “Journalists kiss your ass to your face and talk shit when they’re writing the article”

The boys are back with an inspired new album and are better friends than ever – though that goodwill doesn’t quite extend to poor old us

The 1975: “I just hope that my honesty is not seen as self-indulgent”

Album four marks the self-described ‘end of an era’ for the band, but – despite some intense self-reflection – motor-mouthed frontman Matty Healy shows no signs of slowing down

Biffy Clyro: “Life can be yours – just don’t let it pass you by”

Frontman Simon Neil explains how the Scottish rockers’ upcoming ninth album accidentally anticipated a massive societal reset

Hayley Williams: “Women’s rage has been such a catalyst for beautiful things”

NME finds the Paramore star on bracingly candid form as she reflects on death, divorce and her fiercely vulnerable solo album ‘Petals For Armor’

Glass Animals: “Everything that made me who I am was taken away by the accident”

A deeply traumatic collision almost paralysed drummer Joe Seaward, but the Oxford band came back from the brink with their autobiographical new album ‘Dreamland’

Jessie Reyez: “Death is a big part of who I am”

She’s toured with Billie Eilish and recorded with Eminem, but success hasn’t diluted the uncompromising R&B star

Laura Marling: “America has become a bit more sinister now that it’s Trump-addled”

How Britain’s most bewitching singer-songwriter’s latest album, ‘Song For Our Daughter’, became a soothing balm for troubled times

Dua Lipa: “If somebody told me not to discuss issues I’m passionate about? I wouldn’t listen”

The pop megastar, whose recent album ‘Future Nostalgia’ is a modern classic, won’t back down from what she believes in

Orville Peck: “Female rappers like Doja Cat have a lot of cowboy energy”

The masked mystery, whose new single ‘Summertime’ exudes hope, bares all on drag queens and Oasis – but says we’ll never know his true identity