‘Did you ever see Dallas from a DC9 at night? Country music has the ability to take the mundane and make it seem magical, to elevate the yearnings of ordinary folk into something Shakespearean. Yes, it can be sentimental, but it’s never schmaltzy.   At its best, it taps into the existential struggles of isolated…

Dylan Jones’s definitive history of the Blitz Kids, Synth-Pop and the Style Press from 1975 to 1985.   Sweet Dreams charts the rise of the New Romantics, a scene that grew out of the remnants of post-punk and developed quickly alongside club culture, ska, electronica, and goth. One of the most creative entrepreneurial periods since…

The captivating, complex and mercurial new novel from the author of Freshwater.   They burned down the market on the day Vivek Oji died. One afternoon, a mother opens her front door to find the length of her son’s body stretched out on the veranda, swaddled in akwete material, his head on her welcome mat….

‘For anyone scratching for lighter days, these songs are for you, these songs are for us.’ Aniefiok Ekpoudom, May 2020.  

Tune in to Dylan Jones’s synth-heavy New Romantics playlist.   “Punk. Soul. New Romantics. Synth pop. What worlds they were. Sweet Dreams is the story of how these worlds and narratives inter- linked, and how they were all undeniably helixed together. The original New Romantic scene revolved around self-expression, being a platform for identity. Today…

Before there was Normal People, there was Conversations With Friends – and we’re pleased to present three playlists by Sally Rooney that inspired the three central characters in this unforgettable book.   Frances is twenty-one years old, cool-headed and observant. A student in Dublin and an aspiring writer, at night she performs spoken word with…

We’re delighted to announce that Mayflies will be published on 3 September 2020 in the UK. Everyone has a Tully Dawson: the friend who defines your life. In the summer of 1986, in a small Scottish town, James and Tully ignite a brilliant friendship based on music, films and the rebel spirit. With school over and…

Here’s an eclectic mix of ‘light’ tracks for the shifting moods of these strange times. ‘Let the music wash over you. Close your eyes and sway…’ Exotika, 1987 Enjoy, Cosey & Chris. May 2020   Musician and artist Cosey Fanni Tutti has continually challenged boundaries and conventions for four decades. As a founding member of the…

The legendary, innovative musician Robert Wyatt and artist and collaborator Alfie Benge have curated their favourite songs for Faber Radio.   This September, we’re proud to publish Side by Side, the collected lyrics, poems, writings and drawings of one of the most enduring creative partnerships of the last half-century. As a founding member of influential English rock…

Samantha Irby introduces her ‘Late 1900s Time Capsule’ ‘Irby may be our great bard of quarantine’ New York Times ‘I keep every CD I’ve ever bought, since high school, in black Case Logic binders hidden in the closet in the sunroom of this house I didn’t grow up in and don’t have a real attachment…

In 1975, Viv Albertine was obsessed with music but it never occurred to her she could be in a band as she couldn’t play an instrument and she’d never seen a girl play electric guitar. A year later, she was the guitarist in the hugely influential all-girl band The Slits, who fearlessly took on the…