In the run up to the Pride celebrations next month, we’re thrilled to present a special dual-cover edition of Hot Press!

On one cover, you’ll find the brilliant Wallis Bird and the one and only Panti Bliss. As she gears up to release her stellar new album Hands, Wallis chats to Panti about growing up gay in small-town Ireland, the attractions of Berlin, her decision not to have children, and the accident that changed her life forever – and, arguably, put her on the road to stardom.

"This album was written specifically for stage, and for my audience who’ve followed me," Wallis says of the new album. "But especially to get out of the [pandemic] funk of what we’ve been through for the last couple of years. So I designed the album around dance, dancing, expressing, using long-some notes, high rhythm. Cause I was sitting at home for a year during the pandemic, just doing nothing. And my body went into fucking rigor, and so in that way, I wrote the album just to get up..."

Folk-pop maestros Hudson Taylor also get a special cover of their own. The brothers chat to Alexandra Anderson about authenticity, pre-tour excitement, and the lockdown creative surge that inspired their fabulous new album, Searching For The Answers.

“In a way, we’ve had two years to plan the best show ever," Alfie Hudson-Taylor says, looking ahead to the pair's upcoming run of gigs. "But then in other ways, yeah, the pressure is on. I go between being nervous and excited. But now, we’ve got our last album, which we never got to tour, and we have loads of songs to play with – so that makes me feel much more confident. Because ultimately that’s what we’re here for, to play music.”

Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find interviews with Def Leppard, Warpaint, SOAK, Sigrid, the cast of Heartstopper, Bulelani Mfaco, Arcade Fire, the cast and creators of Conversations With Friends, Belle and Sebastian, Ye Vagabonds, Ailbhe Reddy, The Blizzards, Catherine Prasifka, Suki Waterhouse, Colm Bairead, Siobhan MacGowan and much more…

And that's just for starters. So don't miss out – pick up your copy of the new issue of Hot Press from Friday, or order online now below: