Black Country, New Road are on the cover of Loud And Quiet 139

And so we’ve reached the end of another year, another decade. In January 2020, Loud And Quiet will reach it’s 15-year anniversary. Ridiculous!

Before then though, we have our final issue of 2019, featuring a band we’ve been chomping at the bit to talk to since the very first time we heard them, respecting their decision to bat away all requests for shoots and interviews. Until now. Daniel Dylan-Wray spent a lump of time with Black Country, New Road for this month’s cover – the very first interview with the London band so deftly twisting pop music into shapes of free jazz, post-rock and post-punk.

The rest of issue 139 (in stores Saturday) reads like this:

Our 2019 Albums of The Year – our top 40 albums, voted for by our contributors.

Bambara – an American band exploring the horror of suburbia.

Beverly Glenn-Copeland – the story of a spiritual transgender ambient artist finally recognised for his trailblazing in music and attitudes.

Cartel Madras – the two sisters demanding the greater inclusion of women and queer artists in hip-hop via Goonda rap.

Dan Carey – a long talk with the producer who bossed 2019 hard.

Deep Tan – the London trio in search of weirdness via The Slits and Britney Spears.

Do Nothing – the new dead-pan pop group from Nottingham.

Princess Nokia – the personal achievements of Destiny Frasqueri, told in her own words.

Self Esteem – Rebecca Taylor remembers what it was like to suddenly be fancied at the age of 16 (kind of great and definitely awful).

Albums, books, lives shows and films too.

Order your copy here.

And a big thank you to everyone who has supported Loud And Quiet this year. The artists for giving us the time, the contributors for making the thing possible, the labels and PR for always being so much fun to work with. And of course the readers who’ve given a shit and picked up a copy, ordered one here, taken out a subscription or listened to our podcasts.