The Observer New Review

Once a jewel in the seaside economy, the town is now a symbol of British decline. Why do so many believe Rupert Lowe’s far right politics can save it? @milesellingham went to #GreatYarmouth to find out. bit.ly/45wRIXs

"Heart really does feel like the delicate centre of this collection, with one motif passed across from a futuristic harpsichord to a glitching library of digital noises", writes @kittyempire666 about @arca1000000's new track on her album XXXXX. bit.ly/4wxopQu

"The engineered plague in Jacobsen’s scenario is full of unpleasant surprises. The fatality rate is 100%, with no known cure." @AnnieJacobsen's new non-fiction thriller imagines what would happen in the wake of a deadly lab leak. bit.ly/4h5eBbQ

"All human life is here, often unfolding in tantalising glimpses" Read Sean O'Hagan's full review of @DulwichGallery's Portrait of a City: A Century of American Photography. bit.ly/4yRmDeu

How Mark Haddon learned to write again A series of health crises left the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time author afflicted by ‘brain fog’ and unable to write fiction for six years – until inspiration struck Read now: bit.ly/4vZj7MA

Ish is a soulful story of British boyhood by a notable new talent Imran Perretta’s Luton-set debut starring non-professional young actors has Loachian social realist grit filtered through a British Asian lens Review by Wendy Ide bit.ly/4x9CX8P

From nuclear bunker to ministry of sound A 1960s Cold War building in north-east Wales is now home a ‘vintage audio playground’, full of rare synthesisers and quirky instruments ✍️ Jude Rogers bit.ly/3TxsxBw

Long Covid left novelist Mark Haddon unable to write fiction. A project involving miniature stories on postcards helped him start again. Eight of the stories are published here for the first time: bit.ly/4hIOYxB

@FrankMillerInk: "AI is not a panacea, it’s not a god… we need not all bow down before it." One of the most influential comic book creators of the past 50 years sat down with Killian Fox to discuss his new memoir. bit.ly/4wCHD7q

Your guide to next week’s Proms, from #Rachmaninov to #LadysmithBlackMambazo Our classical music critic Fiona Maddocks picks forthcoming highlights at the @RoyalAlbertHall bit.ly/3TvfoZN

Portrait of a City at @DulwichGallery – a definitive visual history of American urban life Works by Diane Arbus and Garry Winogrand are among the many era-defining images packed into an exhibition tracing the evolution of US cityscapes bit.ly/4yRmDeu

@arca1000000 – the electronic auteur who can’t be defined The Venezuelan musician, fresh from working with Madonna, visits the dancefloor, the bedroom and the dungeon on her new album ✍️ @kittyempire666 bit.ly/4wxopQu

The World is Full of Married Men is a gloriously filthy Barbie bonkbuster Hackney’s @YardTheatre reopens in startling fashion with a hilarious feminist Jackie Collins puppet show boasting plenty of plastic-on-plastic action, writes Susannah Clapp. bit.ly/4x7XgDD

Furious is a febrile murder drama for the post-MeToo era Elizabeth Meriwether’s thriller about the hunt for a serial killer unleashes female wrath to compelling effect. Plus, The Rapture leaves us far from rapt ✍️ Barbara Ellen bit.ly/4wIVQzy

Your guide to next week’s Proms, from Rachmaninov to Ladysmith Black Mambazo Our classical music critic Fiona Maddocks picks forthcoming highlights at the Royal Albert Hall bit.ly/3TvfoZN

Making Great Yarmouth great again Has the once-thriving seaside town really embraced the anti-immigrant worldview of its MP Rupert Lowe? ✍️ @milesellingham bit.ly/45wRIXs

The big picture: after the gold rush Robin Bernstein trains his lens on the people left behind in South Africa’s resource-rich Mpumalanga province bit.ly/4g8dNkn

Could the world survive biological war? Annie Jacobsen imagines what would happen in the wake of a deadly lab leak in this graphic and sobering non-fiction thriller Review by Killian Fox bit.ly/4h5eBbQ

@FrankMillerInk: ‘Hollywood in the 80s was wild. I lost my way’ The veteran comic book creator on the joy of Batman, drawing with a toothbrush, and how the new Sin City will be a big surprise Interview by Killian Fox bit.ly/4wCHD7q

Playlist of the week: when pop went geopolitical From Wham! in China to Elton John in the USSR, pop stars have long used their music to bridge ideological divides ✍️ Lewis Huxley bit.ly/4z7bdnp