This month we bring you news of the latest issue of State a little earlier than normal as we feel you may well need time to prepare yourselves. Where to start? How about the cover and bloody hell, it’s only Abba. We have an exclusive interview with Benny and Björn, the architects of some of the most perfect pop music ever made. They tell us about their murky folk past, their dabblings in the world of porn movie soundtracks, love and marriage, divorce and songwriting and how they went from zeros to heroes and back again. And back, back again.

Given the month that’s in it we also look forward to the Electric Picnic, in this case meaning interviews with Tinariwen, David Holmes, Oppenheimer, Tindersticks, That Petrol Emotion, Bodytonic and Pivot as well as a special six page preview of the festival, with the words on the names you’ll know and tips on the ones you won’t.

Your eye may also be drawn to the rather handsome looking CD sat invitingly on the magazine, the first in the State vs…. series. In this case we’re taking on the Summer by bringing you a roundup of what we believe is the most exciting and vibrant Irish music scene for years. Thus you’ll find sixteen tracks from the likes of Fight Like Apes, Jape vs Delorentos, Halfset, Heathers, Super Extra Bonus Party, Fred, Carly Sings, Adebisi Shank and more, many of which you won’t have heard anywhere else. Damn fine stuff, even if we do say so ourselves. Add this to interviews with Chinese pop princess Sa Dingding, soul queen Erykah Badu, a fascinating piece on the Illegal Art label and all the usual mix of the new, the old and the interesting and you have State Issue 06 all wrapped up and ready to go.

And finally, one more thing. In celebration of the ever creeping recession, credit crunch and other financial buzz words, State now comes to you at a new, belt tightening price of just €4.95. So that’s Abba, the Electric Picnic, a CD and the best music in the world for under a fiver. No need to thank us, consider it a public service.

State Magazine – Out this Thursday.

Check out our Issue 06 Muxtape featuring songs from Issue 06 artists.