Katie Melua's fifth album suffers from the opposite shortcoming to most female singers: rather than over-emote too flamboyantly, on Secret Symphony she seems emotionally constrained, stifling the songs in politesse.

The ROH's latest 'everyday' tale revolves around a lottery, its star and composer tell Jessica Duchen

The popular Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla died of an apparent heart attack yesterday in Switzerland during a European concert tour. He was 68.

I have the great good fortune of being able to walk to work through one of London's most beautiful parks. And at this time of the year, when the stirrings of spring are visible and tangible, it is a commute that can lift one's spirits, even if you're irritated that your iPhone has run out of battery again and you've just been ripped off by your builder/dentist/dry cleaner and your bank has mysteriously put a stop on your credit card and you can't get through to a human being to explain.

Randy Newman always was old before his time, but on the evidence of this memorable evening, the 68-year-old American finally seems to have reached the age he was born to be.

This Canadian songstress had existed with moderate success on the fringes of the Americana scene for nearly a decade. But last year a rather explosive episode in her private life took the, normally emotionally-charged, singer’s approach to another level and thrust her into the arms - both professionally and personally - of Justin Vernon, the front man of Bon Iver.

“I spent the summer on my back...” What an opening line. But it somehow sets the tone: Annie Clark – aka St Vincent – may be the most sexual guitar player I've ever seen, male or female.

Ian Curtis made his position on consumerism fairly clear when he sang: "I've seen the products and the other world of waste, I've seen the colour of corruption deep within."

Guy Clark writes wistful, grown-up, intimate songs about the lives of the American ghost. His genius is in his eye for detail. And the good news is, he isn't dead: he's 70.

Etta James, the mercurially-talented singer whose career spanned almost six decades, and who was feted as the "matriarch" of R&B music, has passed away after a long battle with leukaemia. She was 73.

The crowd at tonight’s gig, which kicks off Lianne La Havas’ European tour, is probably very pleased that she’s been through a bad relationship.

In 18th-century Poland there were women klezmer musicians who travelled to perform at fairs all over Central Europe. Ethnographer-violinist Strom has researched their repertoire, and this CD contains some of his discoveries.

Evan Dando says he'd always wanted to make an album for $53 ($50 Walkman, $3 tape), and one Sunday night in 1992 or 1993 – he can't remember which – in a hotel room in Bondi, Australia, he did it.

A second album of country covers. And while it may be that Norah Jones does not sing country like a coalminer's daughter, that doesn't mean she can't make country sing.