Used for thousands of years in Ancient China, Egypt and eventually beyond, as much for sun as rain, and originally for the privileged, they are a ubiquitous object, solitary or shared, but how are they used in song lyrics?

Six famous paintings of revelry and contemplation from the 17th to 20th centuries with contrasting moods, scenes and actions all stimulated readers’ lyrical caption and musical accompaniment. Guest playlister Nicko curates the collection with artful endeavour. Drink it all in…

It may be that tricky area no man’s land, of the in-between, and where beginning’s expectation meets reality. Inspired by last week’s nominations, guest Maki gets straight to the pivot point to celebrate this neglected topical territory

As we suddenly approach 21st June again, it’s time to explore concept and imaginative meaning of life's perceived halfway points, from the solstice to geographical centres to middles, the axis mundi, the half moons, to the half-times …

New album: Sensual, soulful, gentle, intricate fourth release by the French twin sister duo of Naomi and Lisa-Kaindé Diaz, singing in English, French, Spanish and Yoruba, and in this new, self-penned collection, mixing soulful R&B with influences of their Cuban percussionist father, Parisian childhood, and some musically interweaving parallels with Rosalía

New album: “If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth over-doing,” once half-joked Queen’s guitarist Brian May, and as one of Muse’s big muses, the British rock trio take that full galactic maxim to the max in this entertainingly over-the-top 10th LP inspired themes of space and alien life

New album: A mesmerically powerful collection of field recordings and remixes of the Brazilian religious and musical ritual tradition of candomblé, originating in the 19th century among enslaved west Africans who used polyrhythmic drumming and chanting circles to induce possession by spirits

New album: A dazzling debut of diversity and experimentation by the Saudi Arabia-born, Sudan- and London-raised raised Ethiopian–Egyptian artist, producer, and visual creative, who inventively channels her rich musical heritage, with English, Amharic and Arabic lyrics, blending the traditional and modern, and inspired by the diaspora experience

New album: Exquisitely beautiful, vulnerable, raw and sensitively emotional, candid ninth LP in now over three decades by the British singer-songwriter, self-producing again after 2022’s Weather Alive, with a group of highly accomplished, complementary musicians, and lyrical themes of survival and renewal, motherhood and identity, political unease, and deciding to stay - in love, in art, and in the world

Song of the Day: Heartfelt, soaring melody, post-breakup soulful Americana rock-pop by the acclaimed Nashville singer-songwriter, heralding her upcoming new album, Drama out on18 September via Sun Records

Song of the Day: An updated indie-rock style as well as optimistic theme by the post-punk band from York fronted by the articulate presence of James Smith, heralding their new album, You’re Gonna Need a Little Music, out on 17 Jul via Island/Universal

Song of the Day: A catchy, wistful, propulsive take on the classic acoustic American road song with a heartfelt singalong chorus from the project of Brooklyn’s Nate Amos (also one half of Water From Your Eyes), heralding his upcoming new album The Singer In My Band, out on 11 September via Matador Records

Song of the Day: The acclaimed British artist returns with an ethereal, pensive, soaring, orchestral-backed number with swelling string arrangements and pulsing synthesiser signals stretching out into the cosmos: icy, ethereal, and pensive, inspired by NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 space probes that launched in 1977, now still transmitting on the move in interstellar space, the single now out on Partisan Records

Song of the Day: Delicately tuneful indie about approaching confrontation, by the Adelaide, Australian four-piece fronted by Venus O’Broin, are heralding their debut album, Mount Zero, on 17 July via Winspear Records