Kitty Empire
Pop Critic
Kitty Empire is The Observer’s pop critic. Prior to her broadsheet work, she wrote for the New Musical Express and freelanced. She occasionally crops up on BBC Radio 4 and has also contributed to 5Live, 6Music, BBC2’s The Culture Show and Newsnight Review. She has appeared on judging panels for the Mercury Prize, the BRITS or the Sky Arts Awards. She also has a wholesome side-gig reviewing middle years children’s books.
Kitty Empire
Pop Critic
Kitty Empire is The Observer’s pop critic. Prior to her broadsheet work, she wrote for the New Musical Express and freelanced. She occasionally crops up on BBC Radio 4 and has also contributed to 5Live, 6Music, BBC2’s The Culture Show and Newsnight Review. She has appeared on judging panels for the Mercury Prize, the BRITS or the Sky Arts Awards. She also has a wholesome side-gig reviewing middle years children’s books.
Robbie Williams still wishes he was Britpop
Chapter books of the month: adventurers assemble
David Bowie’s Blackstar: urgent, contemporary and elliptical
Dry Cleaning’s Secret Love is a work of everyday poetry
Playlist of the week: acts to watch out for in 2026
The albums and tours to look out for in 2026
The best albums of 2025
Are Stereolab better than ever?
What to do this weekend
Jacob Alon and the art of restraint
The 25 best albums of the century so far
Playlist of the week: tracks of the century
Cameron Winter: the voice of a new generation
How My Bloody Valentine became an arena band
Greatest hits Radiohead reunion is a shape-shifting joy
Is Taylor Swift a great poet?
Playlist of the week:Â the most unexpected collaborations
Lorde rewrites the rules of the arena-pop gig
Joy Crookes’s quiet courage
