Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.A swansong for The Weeknd?Will 2025 mark the end of The Weeknd? Not Abel Tesfaye, of course, but his musical alter ego, the nihilistic pleasure-seeker whose sweet voice lights up dark behaviour in some of the most successful songs of the last decade. The Canadian has hinted at doing a Ziggy Stardust and killing off his persona, who stares from his forthcoming album’s cover with tearful eyes. Hurry Up Tomorrow is the last chapter of a trilogy following 2020’s After Hours and 2022’s Dawn FM. The advance singles are deftly crooned tales of hip-hop hedonism and erotic obsession. There are worse ways to go.Central Cee bridges the gapThere’s a YouTube video showing Central Cee freestyling about the differences between UK and US rap slang on an LA radio show. Jaws drop in the thousands of comments below the video (“OMG he literally educated us in UK slangs while dropping bars”). “They think I’m the one that can bridge the gap,” the west Londoner raps at one point. The boast is true: he’s the best bet to be the first UK rapper to make his name in the hard-to-impress US market. His debut studio album Can’t Rush Greatness is out on January 24, trailed as a coming-of-age story about struggle and triumph.A new album from the ‘Geordie Springsteen’Sam Fender’s music is big in heart and sound. It has commandeered the biggest stages too. The “Geordie Springsteen”, as the North Shields singer-songwriter has been dubbed, sold out a December arena tour of UK and Ireland in less than an hour. Stadium dates follow in the summer, including three homecoming shows in Newcastle, and he’s among the bookies’ favourites to headline Glastonbury. Meanwhile, his third album, People Watching, arrives on February 21. Following 2021’s autobiographical Seventeen Going Under, it is billed as chronicling other people’s lives. One of his heroes features on it: not Springsteen, but The War on Drugs’ Adam Granduciel.An electronic throwback for Lady Gaga Lady Gaga’s recent album of jazz standards, inspired by her role in Joker: Folie à Deux, was collateral damage of the film’s flop: it barely scraped into the US top 20. But, like the irrepressible belt that has become increasingly central to her vocal armoury, Gaga can’t be kept down. She has had a big hit with “Die with a Smile”, her old-school pop-soul duet with Bruno Mars, all open arms and gleaming teeth. Now comes a foretaste of an album due in February, currently known only as LG7. Its advance single is “Disease”, a stompy electronic throwback to the Gaga of Born This Way. Which of her musical guises will predominate? Perhaps all of them: the singer describes her forthcoming album as “chaotic” and “genre-bending”.Noel and Liam, together againOasis are getting ready to taxi down the runway. Soon that familiar jumbo-jet roar will start up, topped by a nasal whine, as the likes of “Supersonic” blast across the sky once again. Our captains for the flight are reconciled brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, hopefully no longer tussling over the controls in the cockpit of Britpop’s flagship craft. Their reunion tour starts in Cardiff in July and will head to the Americas and Australia. “Yep it’s already finished,” Liam has tweeted about a rumoured new album, which he later retracted as a joke. Fasten your seatbelts, check the exits. Cigarettes don’t have to be extinguished.The laureates of longing promise a tourThe Cure, laureates of melancholy and longing, have broken a 16-year recording gap in majestic style with their album Songs of a Lost World. Robert Smith marked its arrival by announcing his intention to start a world tour in autumn 2025, although no dates have been set. First he wants to release another album, which he says is “virtually finished”. Apparently there’s a third one in the works too. It being The Cure, all this busily resumed life is accompanied by a premonition of its extinction. Smith wants to release records and play gigs until the 50th anniversary of the band’s debut album in 2029, after which, in his words: “That’s it, that really is it.”Coldplay smash the Wembley recordTake that, Take That. Back to the bleachers, Taylor Swift. Both acts’ joint-record run of eight consecutive nights at Wembley Stadium will be broken in August and September by those inclusive avatars of goodwill, Coldplay. Chris Martin and his band mates are bringing their Music of the Spheres World Tour to the 90,000-capacity venue for a staggering 10 gigs in a row in support of latest album Moon Music. The tour is the first by a band to gross more than $1bn.An album each for pop’s golden coupleIt has been six years since A$AP Rocky’s last album and eight years since Rihanna’s. The star wattage emanating from pop’s golden couple does not light up new music — although that may be about to change. A$AP Rocky has a much-delayed album on the way, Don’t Be Dumb, due to land at an unspecified date. Meanwhile, Rihanna’s long-awaited return to action seems to be gathering pace. She said in June that she was “starting over” work on her ninth album. Informed conjecture — all right, gossip — points to 2025 as her comeback year, with rumours of a tour too.Lana Del Rey’s country roads“We’re going country. It’s happening,” Lana Del Rey announced at an awards ceremony in January. But Lasso, her projected country album with producer Jack Antonoff, hasn’t happened. Supposedly due for release this autumn, a rejig appears to have taken place amid a glut of Nashville-influenced albums by other big stars. Speaking in August, Lana promised that it won’t be “a heavy departure” from her previous albums. Then, in November, she announced a new title, The Right Person Will Stay, and a release date of May 21. The no-longer Lasso appears to have been lassoed back into her usual soundworld. Can Coachella get its mojo back?The usual big hitters have been announced for Coachella, with headliners Lady Gaga, Green Day, Travis Scott and Post Malone. But the bottom line is attracting more attention than the names at the top of the bill. The influencer-crammed festival failed to sell out before its opening weekend in 2024. Can it recover in 2025? Meanwhile, its rival for world’s-biggest-festival, Glastonbury, sold out next year’s tickets in 35 minutes, despite not revealing its headliners. One name has been announced, however: Rod Stewart will occupy the “legends” slot on Sunday afternoon. At 79, Sir Rod assures us that he is “more than able to take the stage again to pleasure and titillate my friends at Glastonbury ”. Coachella could do with some of that too.Find out about our latest stories first — follow FTWeekend on Instagram and X, and subscribe to our podcast Life and Art wherever you listen
