What NME's Features and Interviews Focus On

Updated

NME's features and interviews focus on the creative process behind new work, turning points in artists' careers, and the industry and live-scene context around them. The site's own section labels and story excerpts show this range clearly: its Features section sits alongside Album Reviews, Gig Reviews and Exclusive Interviews, and the featured pieces move between musicians, filmmakers and a game composer. If you want background on how a record or project was made rather than a straight review, this is the part of NME to read.

The core focus: how the work got made

The strongest pattern in NME's feature coverage is the making-of angle. Pieces are framed around the decisions, struggles and changes in direction that produced a new release.

  • A feature on Remi Wolf's album Mud describes it as a "sonic sidestep" and quotes the artist on the fear of "trying something new" — the story is the choice to change sound, not just the album's merits.
  • A feature on the new book about the UK '00s indie scene revisits that era through the people who were there, with a quote about the feeling of missing out: "If you weren't out, you felt like you were missing out."
  • A piece on Hayley Kiyoko follows her "fight to enter her film director era" and her insistence on "calling the shots" — a career-transition story rather than a release announcement.

The common thread is a single question: what did it take to get this made? That makes these pieces useful as context before or after reading a review.

Interviews reach beyond music

NME's interview subjects are not limited to recording artists. The page evidence shows interviews with people working across film, games and music:

Interviewee Area What the interview covers
Shoji Meguro Video games The Metaphor: ReFantazio composer on wanting to "keep surprising you"
Hayley Kiyoko Film and music Moving into directing and retaining creative control
Brandon Flowers Music A "blind-ranking" of five Killers songs, including where "Mr Brightside" lands
Johnny Marr Music A blind-ranking of five of his own songs, including Smiths classics

The blind-ranking format is worth noting: it is a lighter interview device that produces artist commentary on their own catalogue, and NME uses it with both Flowers and Marr. If you are looking for an artist's own ranking of their work rather than a critic's, these are the pieces to find.

Live scene and industry context

NME's features frequently tie coverage to specific events and scenes rather than treating releases in isolation. Examples from the page include:

  • A round-up of "NME's top 10 shows from Beyond The Music 2026," which reports on a music industry event through its live performances.
  • A feature on Brooklyn experimenters Grumpy, framed around "tearing down expectations of gender and genre" — a scene-and-identity story.
  • A piece on "Piss: a punk band unflinching about the brutal toll of misogyny," which connects the band's subject matter to a wider issue.

This event- and scene-anchored approach means features often double as a record of what is happening in a particular music community at a particular moment.

Where features sit relative to reviews

NME separates its formats, and knowing the difference helps you find what you need:

  • Album Reviews — critical assessment of a release, such as the Chrissi debut I Hate You Don't Leave Me !, described as "a layered look at love, loss and self-doubt."
  • Gig Reviews — assessment of live shows, such as The Strokes in London or BIGBANG in London.
  • Features — longer background and access pieces, including artist interviews and scene reporting.
  • Exclusive Interviews — a distinct label for sit-down interview content.

If your goal is to understand an artist's intentions or career trajectory, start with Features and Exclusive Interviews. If you want a verdict on a record or a concert, the review sections are the direct route.

What this means for a reader

NME's features and interviews are best read as context: they explain the choices behind new work, follow artists through transitions such as moving from music into film, and report on live and industry events. They are not a substitute for reviews, and the page evidence does not indicate any access restrictions or pricing for reading them. For a quick check on whether a piece fits what you want, look at whether it is labelled as a review, a feature or an exclusive interview — the label tells you whether you are getting a verdict, a background story or a direct conversation.