Friday 30 May 2025

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Q: Which Isle of Wight-formed duo are headlining Wilderness this year?

To be in with a chance of winning send the correct answer to this question to competitions@independent.co.uk Good luck! Entrants must be 18 or over, a UK resident (no shipping of prizes overseas) and only one entry per person is permitted. Answers must be received by 23.59 Monday 9 June. The winner will be contacted via email by Friday 13 June and the winner will be the first valid entry picked at random. No cash alternative. Usual terms apply see: independent.co.uk/rules

A super quick blast through things ahead of Mighty Hoopla Festival this weekend (woohoo!). There's new music from Lorde ("Man of the Year"), Addison Rae ("Fame is a Gun"), Haim ("Take Me Back") and Olivia Dean ("Nice to Each Other"). Love them all. I'd also been waiting for Yungblud to put out "Zombie" which is my favourite from his forthcoming album, Idols. It's a really  spectacular vocal performance, maybe his best to date, and the song itself is especially poignant (about watching someone you love fade away). There's a stunning video starring Florence Pugh out later today, too. 

Other new music I love this week: Thom Yorke's "Dialing In" (so brilliantly creepy), and the debut album from Scottish artist Jacob Alon, which is one of the best opening salvos from a new artist in recent memory. Gorgeous compositions, as finely spun as spiders' webs, with Alon's voice and deft, personal songwriting at the centre of each one. Go listen. 

Last round: "special" by strongboi, the new album by Garbage (give Kate Hutchinson's wonderful interview with the legend Shirley Manson a read tomorrow), and "No Love" by Matt Berninger. My lovely friend Lucy May Walker has put out a new single "I Moved to the Beach", basically the anthem for all the millennials (hi) who upped sticks and headed for the coast. And once again I'm up at the crack of dawn to review the new Miley Cyrus album, so you'll have my thoughts on that later today. 

FINALLY, Sam Ryder popped into the Music Box studio to record a pared-back version of his new single, "OH OK", as well as the B side, "Armour". Check it out.

Have a fab weekend everyone, hopefully I'll see some of you at Mighty Hoopla Festival! x

Written by Roisin O'Connor

John Cooper Clarke has revealed how collaborating with Arctic Monkeys changed his life "to an incalculable degree".

The performance poet, 76, who is nicknamed "the Bard of Salford", was speaking at the 2025 Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, which has partnered with The Independent for the second year running.

Clarke grew to prominence as a "punk poet" throughout the Seventies and toured with bands including the Sex Pistols, Joy Division and The Clash.

His work then went on to reach a new audience when his poem "Evidently Chickentown" featured in the closing scene of a 2007 episode of HBO drama The Sopranos, from the show's final season.

Clarke also found a new generation of fans when Arctic Monkeys set his poem "I Wanna Be Yours" to music on their fifth album, AM.

FULL STORY.

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Spotlight on... Yuneki

Hello! Tell me about yourself

Hey! I'm Yuneki, I write and sing songs mostly about my feelings. Writing and music are the only things I'm passionate about really, being able to express myself through words feels like a need and a way I understand myself.

What are your inspirations and influences?

Well, growing up I listened to a lot of pop and soul, Beyoncé, Lauryn hill, Amy Winehouse, Lady gaga. I think women with big personalities who are unashamedly vulnerable have always really inspired me. It's really important to me that things I write are honest, almost all of the songs I make come from things that actually happen in my life.

What else do you have lined up for 2025?

I'm releasing more music this year which I'm super excited about. I feel really proud of all of it and it all feels very me. I'll have a headline show in London in September when my second EP is released.

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