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Slaven Vlasic / Getty Images for Sports Illustrated Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Speak Through—Not to—the Media
Whether landing magazine covers or making political statements, stars are avoiding the scrutiny of traditional interviews.
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Haley Adair / Symphony for a Broken Orchestra … How To Build an Orchestra From Broken Instruments
The collection of misfit horns and damaged violins being played to draw attention to shortages in public funding for arts education
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Joel Ryan / AP U2's Political, Unstoppable, Grating Cheerfulness
Songs of Experience, the band’s 14th album, offers unsolicited therapy to the nation.
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Carlo Allegri / Reuters The Pierced Piety of Russell Simmons
The hip-hop mogul’s public righteousness pushed two women to tell stories of his alleged mistreatment of them in the ’90s.
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Santiago Felipe / One Little Indian Björk's Distant, Motherly Feminist Utopia
The experimentalist pairs airy flutes with harsh electronica in her latest album, as she explores how music and love intertwine.
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AP The Delights of Parsing the Beatles' Most Nonsensical Song
Released 50 years ago, “I Am the Walrus” is endlessly analyzable, and yet somehow analysis-proof.
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Bettmann / Getty The Dark and Divisive History of America’s Thanksgiving Hymn
How a beloved song with origins in 16th-century Europe captures both a holiday’s spirit of unity and a country’s legacy of exclusion
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Amy Harris / AP Mavis Staples's Revolution of Compassion
If All I Was Was Black, the soul legend’s third album with Jeff Tweedy, is a world-wise call for empathy and change.
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First Access Remembering Lil Peep
The rapper—who died at the age of 21—fused hip-hop, emo, and a magnetic persona that earned him legions of fans in a short time.
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Julie Jacobson / AP The Lust in the Heart of Rolling Stone
The editor Jann Wenner has been accused of trading work for sex—as a new book describes his “jovial sexual harassment” and other forms of self-gratification.
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Big Machine Recods The Old Taylor Swift Is Hiding Within Reputation
The singer’s hugely anticipated new album nestles moments of lovelorn bliss among chaos, noise, and trend chasing.
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Chris Pizzello / AP The CMA Awards Address Las Vegas, Lightly
The country-music ceremony mostly focused on uplift, unity, and maintaining the status quo in the face of tragedy.
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Universal The Pitfalls of Taylor Swift's Anti-PR Campaign
A cease-and-desist letter to a blogger earned rebuke from the ACLU and attention to the star’s white-supremacist following.
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The Atlantic The Powerful Tune That Drives ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’
A melody can carry an undeniable purpose even before it gets paired with a lyric.
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Noel Vasquez / Getty Images Fever Ray's Eerie Halloween Synthpop
Karin Dreijer of The Knife’s first solo album in eight years offers bustling, bizarre dance music about sex dreams and nightmares.
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Arthur Mola / AP Kelly Clarkson's Retro, Uplifting Dream of Unity
The singer’s soul-influenced new album comes at a time when the notion of an idol for all of America seems quixotic.
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Universal / Corbis / VCG via Getty Images Fats Domino: Remembering a Rock and Roll Pioneer
The pianist and singer, who died at 89, was one of the few remaining links to the era when jazz, blues, boogie, and R&B were melding to form a new genre.
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Showtime George Michael, Through George Michael's Eyes
The late singer’s autobiographical documentary conveys a man in charge of his own narrative—and reticent to reveal all.
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John Salangsang / AP 'Gorgeous' Doubles Down on Taylor Swift's New Attitude
Her bubbly new Reputation track confirms that she’s trying on an edgier persona with a familiar musical swerve.
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Ngamihi Photography Can a Thrash Metal Band Help Save the Maori Language?
Indigenous tongues around the world are under threat—and modern musicians are trying to keep them alive.
