This is one of THE great ‘in the room’ music biographies. Rodge presents an unguarded Suede like they’ve never been seen before. Available in daytime and night time covers. Very limited night time cover available exclusively at Resident, Rough Trade and HMV

I’ve had lots of lovely feedback since In Another World was published a fortnight ago. I particularly enjoyed this post, which acknowledges the degree of folly/peril I always understood was inherent to the entire enterprise, while concluding that – hopefully – there was some worth in doing it anyway

OUT TODAY in paperback with exclusive bonus material and exclusive bonus swearing ‘The Tremolo Diaries’ by Justin Currie “The finest music memoir of recent years. Currie reveals himself to be a born prose stylist. He can’t produce a dull sentence” The Independent @delamitri.bsky.social

A great night at Topping & Co in Edinburgh with @graemethomson.bsky.social and @nicolameighan.bsky.social talking talk talk. Thank you to Nicola, Duncan and the team at T&C and everyone who came. ‘In Another World: The Four Seasons of Talk Talk’ is out now

I have been watching the Wedding Present for well over 35 years now and tonight’s set - and line up - at Wychwood Festival was one of the very best. Kennedy. Brassneck. Crawl. Corduroy. Dare. Dalliance. And opening with My Favourite Dress. Incredible.

So the new book is a collection of 54 mini-chapters/essays about various aspects of the Sprouts and their music (and sometimes beyond; there's one about former England captain Bryan Robson). There are also a few typically Tassell quests, including tracking down the most famous motorbike in pop.

available to pre-order on the site now: monorailmusic.com/products/tru... congrats @nigetassell.bsky.social and @newmodernbooks.bsky.social!

Preorders very much open in all the usual places...

Nige is Back! And pop music’s very own Columbo is asking just one more thing….who are these truly gifted kids? A magnificent, loving exploration of a truly unique act and bandleader Let’s change the world with music

Paul McCartney has been releasing albums for 63 years. Which now makes ‘Chaos and Creation in the Backyard’ an album from his mid period

The 8th anniversary of my most favourite celebrity meet and greet

'On Laughing Stock the blues touches aren’t an augmentation; they are the first colour on the mood board. Once we tune in, it’s striking how often the record echoes the vocabulary, the feeling, the form.' In Another World extracted @thewiremagazine.bsky.social www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/b...

Graeme is one of our very finest writers. Skilled, erudite, poetic. There is no one better placed to let light into the windows of this magical and - until now - inscrutable band. ‘In Another World’ will take you back to the records at every turn of the page

THE music book of 2025 is out in paperback in two weeks time. Features new writing from Justin exclusive to this edition @delamitri.bsky.social

Think this might be my album of the year so far. Glorious, clattering avant-psych art pop. Get on it.

@stuartmaconie.bsky.social thanks for the Surf’s Up shout out, Stuart. Hope all is well x

Soupy twist

Nice to see 🔥 reviews of In Another World starting to come in: MOJO (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️), Classic Pop (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) and The Wire ("Genuinely illuminating"). It's out a week today and, as any author will tell you, pre-orders are precious. Signed copies 👇 Rough Trade: tinyurl.com/28v3tda4 Resident: tinyurl.com/mrxrpsuh

This is really good. Well done @sian-superman.bsky.social, Podmasters and @londonrecords.bsky.social youtu.be/Ef26_ihlpkI?...

John Bramwell @iamklootclub.bsky.social in the church at the end of my road on Saturday night. A magnificent songwriter and raconteur

No band on earth looked this cool in 1960. Few bands have looked this cool since: youtu.be/7TwULx_wDiI?... @rockingbob.bsky.social

I wrote two books at the same time. What was I thinking? One is on the Shadows, my first musical love, and the other on another subject close to my heart. Shads out in September, Xmas in October, and you can pre-order here: tr.ee/rSilFTJwfO geni.us/TwelveSongsOfChristmas

BOB STANLEY The Shadows: The Definitive Story *Signed* Hardback Preorder: www.resident-music.com/product/stan... Much more than Cliff Richard’s backing band, The Shadows strode out into the light, laying the foundations for a litany of genres in their wake. @newmodernbooks.bsky.social

We have been discussing this book for about six years. The Shadows were a formative influence on both of our suburban childhoods - Bob in Redhill and me a couple of miles down the road in Horley a few years later. It is the book @rockingbob.bsky.social was born to write Viva Los Shads!

21-05-26 ‘In Another World: The Four Seasons of Talk Talk’ by @graemethomson.bsky.social "Genuinely illuminating ... with all the depth of detail such 'world building' entails” @thewiremagazine.bsky.social Out in two weeks

Tomorrow, Leytonstone Last few tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1986457635...

Bowie at the Light Room. One of the great oversights of the Bowie legacy management is the constant blind eyed turned towards Absolute Beginners. Wasn’t part of an ‘era’ and not on any studio album so can’t be easily positioned or contextually re-examined. And yet….nailed on solid gold Top 5 Bowie

Turned 53 in my sleep. Final Boss stage complete.

Anyone in the wellness ‘industry’ might want to take cover

TIMOR MORTIS: HOW WE LIVE WITH DEATH by RICHARD COKER 30-07-26 tr.ee/dpSV_TkoJn Richard delves into the historical, biological, psychological and moral complexities of death, examining how our understanding of death has evolved through the lens of both his personal and public health expertise

RATE THIS BOOK: HOW STAR RATINGS TOOK OVER THE WORLD by BENJI WILSON 02-07-26 Benji unpicks the history, psychology and impact of star ratings and asks what has this reliance on something so reductive done to our ability to assess things for ourselves? ‘⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️’ Ian Hislop tr.ee/HQrHYvpZUp

New Modern, co-run by Pete Selby, is set to launch a new upmarket narrative non-fiction imprint, New Modern Arcade, a year on from its launch 👇 #BookSky

NEWS!

Many thanks to @willhodgkinson.bsky.social for his great piece on @stevemasonofficial.bsky.social in yesterday’s Sunday Times @thebetaband.com

An edited extract from 'In Another World' features in the new issue of @uncutmagazine.bsky.social, focusing on the recording of Spirit Of Eden. The magazine is out now and the book is published 4 weeks today, on May 21st, by @newmodernbooks.bsky.social

A proper honour to edit this one. An uncompromising, singular mind. Funny too.

Steve’s story is everything you would expect from such a gifted, uncompromising songwriter, artist and conceptualist, but it is also so much more. All Beta-related madness is here but prepare to go deeper and darker into the mind of one of our true originals.

Happy Record Store to all other Our Price Class of 1991 alumni. Where 35 years ago, there still existed sections for Sound Effects, Rockabilly and Dance Band

One of the all time great #1 singles. Features half of Led Zeppelin. youtu.be/eTn1exjSR9g?...

With thanks to @roughtrade1976.bsky.social @resident-music.com and Toppings See you there x

Outrageously good writing www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Record Collector ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mojo ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Classic Pop “(A) hugely enjoyable journey. Failure Is Always An Option succeeds in being painfully honest, hilarious and frankly uplifting” Record Collector OUT NEXT WEEK @stevemasonofficial.bsky.social @thebetaband.com

I love ‘Shrinking’ on Apple but remain constantly distracted by the framed copy of Syd Barrett’s difficult second album on Jason Segel’s wall

No. 4 in the Sunday Times Bestsellers chart for Stay Alive by Scott Rowley who is our guest on 7 May. Congrats to Scott and @newmodernbooks.bsky.social Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1986457635...

✊

The New Modern selection Tastier than chocolate @alexlarman.bsky.social @scottrowley.bsky.social

Noel Coward’s diary, 4th July 1965

His solid gold masterpiece. Never bettered.

Absolutely delighted to announce that ‘Stay Alive’ by @scottrowley.bsky.social will be a Sunday Times Bestseller this weekend. A huge congrats to Scott and massive thanks to everyone who has bought or supported the book. What a way to honour and celebrate Stuart’s memory