Posts by Louise Brailey (@lou_brailey)

Montreux Jazz Festival 2023: Big names and a culture of creativity on the banks of Lake Geneva

Various venues, Montreux 30 June

Into the woods with PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey: musician, poet and iconoclast. A new album, the first in seven years, captures a moment of creative renewal as she explores the ambiguities of worlds both real and imagined. Crack’s Editor-in-Chief, Louise Brailey, learns more

Rina Sawayama

Hold the Girl Dirty Hit

Intonal Festival 2022: A sanctuary for experimental sounds

Malmö, Sweden 20 April

Kylie: Let’s dance through all our fears

As Kylie Minogue shrugs off her legend status and enters a new disco phase, the pop icon is committed to staying curious

Eris Drew and Octo Octa © Kasia Zacharko

Inside The Crack Magazine Archives, our new book celebrating 10 years of photography

In this extract, editor Louise Brailey writes about the significance of her favourite image

Flow Festival 2019: Esoteric acts outshine the A-listers in Finland

Helsinki, Finland 9 August

Sounds of the Russian underground – Selected by Philipp Gorbachev

The Russian-born DJ and producer explores freedom – creative and otherwise – in post-Soviet Russia

The Black Madonna and Derrick Carter at Oasis 2018

Oasis Festival 2018: The Marrakech festival marries high-end luxe with an ear for the underground

Fellah Hotel, Marrakech 14 September
Jimothy Lacoste © Jon Bronxl

Ortigia Sound System 2018: Blissed out sonics under a blood moon

Isola di Ortigia, Sicily 25 July
Queer Icons

7 Artists on Their Unsung Queer Icons

In celebration of the UK’s ongoing Pride Season, we asked some of our favourite artists to shout out their unsung queer icons, from Victoria Ruiz to Christine McCharen-Tran, Lotic and more

Grace Jones

Grace Jones – Mixed by Barbie Bertisch

To celebrate Grace Jones’ birthday, we tapped The Lot’s Barbie Bertisch to create a tribute mix that delves deep into the icon’s back catalogue

© Camilla Rehnstrand

Malmö’s Intonal Festival dissolves boundaries between avant-garde and club

Malmö, Sweden 25 April

6 Artists on Their Favourite Abba Songs

‘Dancing Queen’? ‘The Day Before You Came’? ‘Eagle’? Jarvis Cocker, DJ Harvey, John Grant and more explore Abba’s lasting legacy and choose their best-loved Abba track

© Ninja Hanna

Fever Ray: Bite Back

Since 2009’s debut LP, the freedoms Dreijer fiercely protects have come under threat. Following a period of queer exploration, the progressive glow of Fever Ray is brighter than ever

Brave! Factory Festival review

Brave! Factory Festival harnesses the energy of Kiev’s underground

METROBUD, Kiev 23 August
Lana Del Rey Brixton Academy

Lana Del Rey’s first London show in four years is a masterclass in understatement

Brixton Academy 24 July

Lana Del Rey

Lust For Life Polydor / Interscope

Steffi

fabric94 fabric
Aphex Twin in The Barn © Andrew Whitton

Parties and politics at Field Day 2017

Victoria Park 3 June
First Hate at Spot Festival

Taking the temperature of Scandinavian music at Spot Festival 2017

Various venues, Aarhus 5 May