This photo of Richard Dawson sat in a field in Newcastle with a bunch of cows says more about his new album 2020 than you might think. A similar shot – taken by Jonangelo Molinari – is on the front of issue 137 of the magazine, in stores from this weekend and available to order here.

Dawson’s state-of-the-nation address is echoed through this month’s issue, which may or may not span Britain’s exit from the EU. It’s not looking great though, is it?

Luke Cartledge’s Environment column talks about the destructive blame game played by climate change deniers; Fergal Kinney’s conversation with author Nathalie Olah discusses the decline and co-opting of working class voices in the mainstream media, as documented in her new book, Steal As Much As You Can.

A lot of the new music this month is dark too: Natalie Sharp’s new performance art project BodyVice is literally about chronic pain, made with MRI scanners and hospital reports; Bristol live EBM band Scalping combine industrialism with obscene imagery; William Doyle‘s first proper solo album is built around the relatable strangeness and melancholy of suburbia.

But there are also chances to dance (London/Manchester live dance trio PVA), and escape through Sprechgesang Irish post-punk from an ex-Dior employee (Sinead O’Brien) and mellow Irish hip-hop from an artist who nearly drowned for a video (Kojaque).

I spoke with Steve Davis about what he was doing when he was 16 (he was playing snooker), and Daniel Dylan Wray has written something quite incredible – an A-Z of the cult psych and noise bands on the infamous Nurse With Wound list.

Plus 32 album reviews – including Kim Gordon, Danny Brown, Floating Points, Anna Meredith, Lightning Bolt, Girl Band, Clipping and Angel Olsen – a live report from End of The Road festival, 1 book review and 1 film review.

Order a copy here.

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