24 NOVEMBER 2017 / FREE EVERY FRIDAY BEST THE YEAR OF BEST ALBUM OUR LORDE TRACK Hello... I SAY THIS EVERY YEAR, and I always mean it, but this year I really, really mean it – 2017 was a great year for music. So many excellent albums, so many excellent tracks. As ever, we’ve Oh boy, Charli XCX has compiled them controversial done well, very well, lists that will make some in NME’s Tracks of you happy and some of Of The Year p31 you mad. Something that we can hopefully all agree on is that much of the rest of 2017 has been monumentally awful. Donald Trump is exactly the kind of wand we imagined he would be when he became President of America, and our own leader, Theresa May, is a turd that needs flushing down the golden pan of Downing Street. Sadly, chief s**t-kicker Jeremy Corbyn didn’t become PM in June, but don’t think there wasn’t a revolution – it happened, and you were all part of it. One day you’ll be in charge, and the world will be a better place for it. 22 Back to music, and this Review of the year issue week’s cover star basically owned the year. Lorde Albums. Tracks. Films. TV shows. And plenty, released the best album and plenty, plenty more on NME.com. the best track, and in our world exclusive interview she tells us exactly how she did it. The full conversation is on our website, as are the full lists. Have a read, have a listen, 5 37 39 have a debate… MIKE WILLIAMS 19 Things We Like 21 What’s On Your Headphones? Editor-in-Chief 40 Soundtrack Of My Life @itsmikelike EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Mike Williams PA To Editor-in-Chief Lauren Cunningham (Ext 6650) Deputy Editor Tom Howard (Ext 6866) Digital Editor Charlotte Gunn (Ext 6108) Commissioning Editor Dan Stubbs (Ext 6858) Senior News Reporter Andrew Trendell (Ext 6877) News reporters Luke Morgan Britton, Nick Levine, Nick Reilly Senior Staff Writer Leonie Cooper Staff Writers Larry Bartleet, Alex Flood New Music Writer Thomas Smith Creative Director Simon Freeborough Photo Editor Caroline Jeffrey Chief Sub-Editor Melissa Harteam Smith Intern Hannah Mylrea Hemmings With help from Heather Blagden, Morgan Hislop, John Mahood Illustrations Studio Moross 110 SOUTHWARK ST ADVERTISING Managing Director Romano Sidoli Head Of Music Andrew Minnis (Ext 4252) Agency Investment Director Rob Freeman (Ext 86708) LONDON Client Investment Director Sian Roberts (Ext 6778) Brand Manager Matthew Chalkley (Ext 6722) Creative Media Manager Tessa Webb (Ext 2566) SE1 0SU Live & Creative Media Manager Steve Woollett (Ext 2670) Ad Production Manager Barry Skinner (Ext 2538) Head Of Project Management Yasamin Asrari (Ext 3662) TEL 020 3148 + Ext PUBLISHING Production Operations Director Richard Hill (Ext 5422) Production Manager Sue Balch Content Licensing & Brand Partnerships Director Lisa Fenner-Leitão (Ext 5491) Group Managing Director Paul Cheal Time Inc CEO Marcus Rich EDITORIAL COMPLAINTS We work hard to achieve the highest standards of editorial content, and we are committed to complying with the Editors’ Code of Practice (https://www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/cop.html) as enforced by IPSO. If you have a complaint about our editorial content, you can email us at [email protected] or write to Complaints Manager, Time Inc. (UK) Ltd Legal Department, 161 Marsh Wall, London, England E14 9AP. Please provide details of the material you are complaining about and explain your complaint by reference to the Editors’ Code. We will endeavour to acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and we aim to correct substantial errors as soon as possible. © Time Inc. (UK) Ltd Reproduction of any material without permission is strictly forbidden LEGAL STUFF: NME is published weekly by Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, 161 Marsh Wall, London, England E14 9AP. NOT FOR RESALE. All rights reserved and reproduction without permission strictly forbidden. All contributions to NME must be original and not duplicated to other publications. The editor reserves the right to shorten or modify any letter or material submitted. Time Inc. (UK) Ltd or its associated companies reserves the right to reuse any submission, in any format or medium. Printed by Wyndeham Bicester. Origination by Rhapsody. Distributed by IPC Marketforce. © 2017 Time Inc. (UK) Ltd. Subscription rates: one year (49 issues): UK £36; Europe 70 Euros; North America $77; rest of world £50. For subscription enquiries, please call +44 (0) 33 0333 1133 or email [email protected]. COVER PHOTO: DEAN CHALKLEY 3 Our lowest ever prices on PS4 bundles. Game on. PlayStation4Slim500GBBundle PlayStation4Slim1TBBundle £199.99 £229.99 Model:PS4Slim500GBBundlewithFIFA18+GTSport+KnowledgeisPower+ Model: PS4 Slim 1TB Bundle with FIFA 18 + GT Sport+ Knowledge is Power + Fallout 4. Fallout 4. 500GB hard drive, 8GB GDDR5 memory, Blu-ray drive. Product support 1TB hard drive, 8GB GDDR5 memory, Blu-ray drive. Product support £2.99 (console £2.49 (console only). only). Ricardo Sales Advisor Playstation Pro White Bundle £299.99 We’ll help pick the right one for you Model: PS Pro Solus White Bundle with GT Sport + Call of Duty: WWII + Fallout 4. 4K Ultra HD graphics, HDR technology, 1TB hard drive, Blu-ray drive. Product support £2.99 (console only). Website offers and prices may vary. All offers subject to availability. DSG Retail Ltd., 1 Portal Way, Acton, London, W3 6RS. Registered in England. No. 504877. WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT THIS WEEK THE KILLS Black Rooster EP Uncompromising duo The Kills first blew minds in 2002 GORILLAZ with this brilliant debut EP, Humanz (picture disc) a serious sign of intent. First-ever picture disc release Why so special? The already of Gorillaz’s latest album. ferocious release is getting As if their vivid, guest-packed fiercer, as it’s pressed on pop wasn’t interactive enough, hot-red vinyl. now you can witness Noodle spinning on a turntable. Why so special? It’s one of the year’s best albums, and this is the most eye-catching format it’s been released on. AT THE DRIVE IN Diamanté EP ATDI fans waited 17 years for new material. Then came this The s**t-hottest YEAR’S cOMEBACK aLBUM ‘IN•TER A•LI•A’, aND nOW tHERE aRE tHREE more fresh tracks. ‘Point Of Black Friday Demarkation’, ‘Amid Ethics’ and ‘Despondent At High Noon’ were all recorded in Hamburg records earlier this year. Why so special? All. New. On November 24, the Material. good people at Record Store Day will be getting TORI AMOS stuck into the Black Native Invader Russia DANGER MOUSE Friday celebrations and Four-track snapshot of Amos’ FEAT. RUN THE putting out these drool- album ‘Native Invader’. The JEWELS AND worthy vinyl rarities labels are in Russian, and it’s BIG BOI pressed on orange vinyl. Chase Me Head to recordstoreday.co. Why so special? It’s a unique Standout from the killer Baby uk/home to find a shop collector’s item for Amosheads. Driver soundtrack. Producer WORDS: JAMIE MILTON JAMIE WORDS: near you Danger Mouse teams up with firebreathing rap duo Run The Jewels, and ex-Outkast star Big Boi gets involved for good measure. There are explicit, clean and a cappella versions. Why so special? It’s limited to IGGY POP 2,000 copies, so your best New Values chance of nabbing one is via The punk pioneer’s 1979 fourth a high-speed chase. album, released in blue-black swirl vinyl, with a gatefold cover. Why so special? It comes with a 24cm x 24cm poster, so you can have a giant topless Iggy on your wall. And it’s part of Friday Music’s ‘audiophile’ series, so it’ll sound suuuper good. 5 Dua Lipa won Best New Artist at the VO5 NME Awards 2017 SHARON OSBOURNE Dropped an F-bomb on The X Factor #VO5NMEAWARDS2018 . The show’s best moment for years. Vote WILL FERRELL vote Belatedly found out about Mark Wahlberg’s third nipple. Kinda like an early vote Christmas present. And do it now now now, for the VO5 NME Awards 2018 MORRISSEY These are the categories Defended Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein, became the least BEST BRITISH BAND BEST FILM BEST FESTIVAL acceptable he’s ever been. SUPPORTED BY SUPPORTED BY HEADLINER BEST SMALL BEST INTERNATIONAL BEST INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL BAND SOLO ARTIST SUPPORTED BY VILLAIN OF BEST NEW ARTIST THE YEAR BEST BRITISH BEST ALBUM HERO OF PLASTIC SOLO ARTIST THE YEAR Outed on Blue Planet II as SUPPORTEDORT D BY BEST LIVE BAND a destroyer of oceans and WORST BAND the stuff in them. It’s bad BEST VIDEO s**t and you don’t need it. BEST COLLABORATION BEST REISSUE SUPPORTEDORT D BY BEST FESTIVAL BEST MUSIC FILM BEST TV SERIES BEST TRACK BEST BOOK SUPPORTED BY MUSIC MOMENT OF THE YEAR BEST MIXTAPE TO VOTE, AND FOR A CHANCE TO WIN TWO TICKETS: GO TO NME.COM/AWARDS PHOTOS: DEAN CHALKLEY, REX FEATURES, BBC, GETTY IMAGES 6 RIP Lil Peep The rapper died, aged 21, on November 15 WHEN HE DIED ON V Magazine. “They all say the November 15 at the age of 21, same,” he told The Times. “That Lil Peep’s potential and I’m edgy.” popularity were in the “Of course it’s as much ascendant – as they had been about image as music,” he for years. Just prior to the continued, “but you could say release of his debut album the same about rock stars of ‘Come Over When You’re the past. They were characters. Sober, Pt. 1’, the rapper said David Bowie is my biggest David Bowie was his “biggest inspiration.