We’ve been waiting six long years, but Vampire Weekend have come storming back with their best album yet, Father of the Bride. In a highly revealing cover story, frontman Ezra Koenig talks to Pat Carty about the record’s fascinating creation, as well as opening up about writing for Beyonce, covering Thin Lizzy tunes, why California is more defined by weed than cocaine, and his thoughts on Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac and more besides.

We also have a bumper festival special this issue, as the summer festival circuit gets underway. We’ve included a jam-packed 23-page spread on all the top Irish festivals to pitch your tent up at in the coming months. As well as that, we also talk to Irish success heroes Fontaines D.C. about their chart-dominating new album, Dogrel. We also ask Whenyoung, King Kong Company and more to share their Irish festival highlights.

Elsewhere on the music front, Stuart Clark talks to The Cranberries’ Fergal Lawlor and Mike and Noel Hogan about the legacy of the band. Few Irish rock stars have shone as brightly as Dolores O’Riordan did. As the band get ready to release the album they were working on at the time of her death, the remaining members talk about what made their friend so very special and recall some of their fondest memories.

On top of that, Roisin Dwyer talks to hotly tipped rockers The Murder Capital, Stuart Clark meets with The Stone Roses’ Mani to find out how he fared when being honoured with a Made in Athy plaque recently, and Lucy O’Toole talks to rising pop star Ryan Mack.

In our Hot Press interview this fortnight, we grill European election candidates on issues such as direct provision, Ireland leaving the EU, injection centres, and exclusion zones around clinics providing abortion services. We ask Fianna Fail’s Billy Kelleher, People Before Profit’s Adrienne Wallace, Peter Casey, Fine Gael’s Mark Durkan, Green Party’s Saoirse McHugh, Labour’s Sheila Nunan, and Sinn Fein’s Lynn Boylan the questions that matter to the public.

In our film section this fortnight, Roe McDermott talks to Ryan Tohill about his – and his brother Andy’s – highly auspicious directorial debut, in the shape of his powerful drama The Dig. We also review the fortnight’s latest releases, including Dragged Across The Concrete, MID90s and Vox Lux.

In our book section, Peter McGoran talks to Sarah Maria Griffin about witchcraft, the occult, and her eerie new novel Other Words For Smoke. Our literary review team also recommends the best reads to sink your teeth into this fortnight.

On top of all that, we have interviews with the likes of Fangclub, Cherym, and CMAT, reviews of new albums from Lewis Capaldi, Pete Doherty and Lizzo, and we bid farewell to long-time Hot Press’ long-term resident electronic/nightlife reporter Will Kinsella!

You can buy the new Hot Press instores tomorrow (April 25) or order it online here:

/**/