In the inaugural edition of a new quarterly column, Patrick Clarke explores the resurgence of folk in left-field, experimental and underground music, speaks to two of the artists questioning diversity in traditional spaces, and rounds up ten essential new releases
All four members of cult stoner quartet The Heads talk to Tristan Bath about their "sloppy magnum opus" Everybody Knows We Got Nowhere (currently riding high in tQ's reissues of the year chart) and how releasing a record is like taking a big shit
Manchester's Queer'd Science are fast establishing themselves as one of the UK's most thrilling and visceral bands, a whiplash whirl of barked vocals, alien-chirp guitars and strobing rhythms. The trio meet Simon Jay Catling to discuss how beneath their harsh exterior lies a message of inclusivity
With their debut album Dying fresh on the shelves yesterday, the Bristol four-piece's Joe Hatt and Adrian Dutt talk to Joe Clay about pushing their abrasive sonics to the limit, putting on gigs in crypts and police cells with their label Howling Owl and why they're hoping their music will have the audience launching cheap booze their way
Pulp are back with their first new album in nearly a quarter of a century; Jarvis Cocker joins us to talk about More, but also outsider art in America, an attic full of wonder in London and revolution versus violence in Sheffield. Words by Darran Anderson. All portraits by Tom Jackson