As Brighton & Hove Pride celebrates its 35th anniversary, this year's Power of Love theme brings together world-class artists, community voices and a reminder that Pride remains as vital as ever. Thirty-five years on, Brighton & Hove Pride has become far more than a date in the summer calendar. It is one of the UK's biggest celebrations of LGBTQIA+ life, bringing together thousands of people for a weekend of music, community and activism. While this year's line-up is one of i

WORDS MAISIE JANE DANIELS "Tell me you'll still want the best for me, straight from your heart and not for your ego." It's a lyric that arrives almost immediately on Thru The Lines, and from that very first line, Pell isn't interested in skimming the surface. Teaming up with New York lyricist Kota the Friend, the New Orlans multi-faceted artist delivers a captivating collaboration that effortlessly blends hip-hop, bounce and electronic influences into something that feels as

WORDS MAISIE JANE DANIELS There's a certain kind of confidence that arrives the moment a woman stops asking for permission. Not permission to take up space. Not permission to be ambitious. Not permission to be loud, powerful, complicated or fully herself. And that's exactly the energy running through Akosia's new EP, Eat The Night. Bold, honest, empowering and delivered with more than a little tongue-in-cheek attitude, the six-track project feels like a declaration from an ar

WORDS MAISIE JANE DANIELS Every summer needs its soundtrack. The songs that spill out of car windows, soundtrack rooftop evenings and somehow find their way onto every playlist worth saving. At a time when the world feels particularly hot and heavy, Tone Stith arrives with exactly the kind of release we need right now. Bold, vibrant and impossible to sit still through, THE EDGE is a ten-track reminder that music can still be an escape. The New Jersey artist, singer, songwrite

WORDS MAISIE JANE DANIELS I remember watching Sliding Doors as a teenager and becoming mildly obsessed with the idea that a single moment could alter the entire course of a life. More than twenty years later, living in London, I still find myself thinking about it whenever I narrowly make it through Tube doors before they close. One second earlier, one second later. A different train. A different conversation. A different life. It's an existential rabbit hole that's easy to

WORDS MAISIE JANE DANIELS There are moments in life where the truth is standing directly in front of you, yet your mind refuses to accept it. That suspended state (somewhere between knowing and believing) forms the foundation of Surely They Won't, the latest release from London-based pianist, producer and vocalist patch_t41b, the musical project of Laurie Erskine. Formed on instinct rather than intention, the track feels less like a composition and more like a moment that was

WORDS MAISIE JANE DANIELS The year is 2034. Or at least, that’s where GENER8ION want you to think you’ve arrived when LOVE & TEARS begins. From the opening seconds, there’s a sense that you’ve stepped outside of time entirely - dropped into a parallel world where sound, image, and memory are no longer separate things, but part of the same unfolding experience. It doesn’t behave like a traditional album. It feels closer to a transmission. A film you don’t just watch, but move

WORDS MAISIE JANE DANIELS With its 20th anniversary edition officially sold out, End Of The Road Festival returns to Larmer Tree Gardens from 3-6 September with another impeccably curated lineup spanning indie icons, underground innovators, and some of the most exciting emerging artists on the planet. Headlined by Pulp, CMAT and Mac DeMarco (alongside a still-to-be-announced Secret Headliner) this year's programme proves once again why End Of The Road remains one of the UK's

RM47 deepen their genre-bending rave universe with ‘CYBER [REBOOT]’, a high-voltage deluxe expansion blending UKG, R&B and electronic release culture into a fully immersive world. There’s a particular pressure building in culture right now - one that feels like overstimulation, fragmentation, and constant digital noise colliding at once. In response, club culture has quietly re-emerged not just as escapism, but as something closer to release therapy. A space to switch off the

Swedish artist Venus Anon speaks to F Word about pushing genre boundaries, creative evolution, and the emotional weight behind her latest single, gentle. Raised on Sweden’s west coast with influences ranging from Googoosh to Timbaland, Venus Anon pulls from a wide spectrum of sounds, blending elements of alternative R&B, experimental pop, indie, and electronic music into something that feels deeply personal and difficult to categorise. That unpredictability has become central

Toronto R&B artist Haley Smalls returns with sleek new single Don’t Touch, continuing to blend vulnerability, confidence, and emotional honesty into her signature independent sound. Toronto-based R&B artist Haley Smalls returns with her first release of the year, Don’t Touch, a sleek and emotionally charged single that continues to showcase the honesty and confidence that have defined her artistry. Blending smooth production with Haley’s signature vocal style, Don’t Touch fee

New York-based artist Michael Stolar transforms heartbreak, humour, and early-2000s pop-rock nostalgia into a debut album that feels both emotionally chaotic and sharply self-aware. Heartbreak has always been one of pop music’s favourite subjects, but on What’s Life Without a Little Heartbreak?, New York-based artist Michael Stolar approaches it with humour, honesty, and a refreshing lack of self-seriousness. Across his debut album, Stolar captures the emotional highs and low