FEATURE: Spotlight: Hyd

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Hyd

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I will end…

with a review of the extraordinary new album from Hyd. Hold onto Me Infinity is one of the most extraordinary albums of the year for a stunning talent everyone should know about. Many already know about Hyd, though I don’t think there is the same awareness in the U.K. (they have a date here in October) as there is in their native U.S. They are Hayden Frances Dunham, an American performance artist, designer, singer, songwriter and D.J.. They  grew up in Austin, Texas. There are interviews with Hyd from this year I want to come to. They were in conversation with Tourmaline for 032c. I am not including the entire thing, though there are aspects and part of the conversation that I am compelled to include:

“On the eve of the release of Hold Onto Me Infinity, Hyd was joined in conversation by activist, artist, filmmaker, and writer Tourmaline, who recently published Martha (2025), the first expansive biography on Marsha P. Johnson. Coming seven years after Happy Birthday, Marsha! (2018), the artist’s short film made in collaboration with Sasha Wortzel, the book is a continuation of Tourmaline’s two-decade research commitment to the life of the activist, performer, and cornerstone of the historic 1969 Stonewall Uprising and the subsequent founding of organizations such as the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), and the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR). Equally an extension of the visual work she’s shown at the Whitney and Venice Biennales, and in solo and group presentations at Kunsthalle Brandhorst, MASP Sao Paulo, MUDAM Luxembourg, MASS MoCA, the Tate Modern, and Chapter New York over the years, Marsha reflects the expansive, care-based practice of its author, as it does her conversation partner, Dunham.

Tourmaline: Are there particular tracks where you feel that in this album? Or, do you think a root system extends throughout the entire album?

Hyd: Making this body of work has been this incredible scaffolding for me to move through this time. Clearing operated in the same way. I made Clearing in a calm time in my life, but whenever it touched the air, it felt like a past version of me made it for a future version of me.

Hold Onto Me Infinity holds that for me too. [It’s] the thing that has been supportive of me connecting with and celebrating what it is to have a body. And as you know Tourmaline, I have not always been like this. I feel like I have been more in an airspace, an in-between space, or not fully embodied.

PHOTO CREDIT: Bobbi Salvör Menuez

Tourmaline: Do you feel like you can pinpoint any “aha” moments—I remember the end of 2019 was a moment where I was like, oh, everything is vibrational, and it was so overwhelming—for this place that you’re in now?

Hyd: 2016 is when I first started working on this song “Makeover.” The song came through really fast. Some of the lyrics are about becoming new again, like “1-800, this ain’t working at all.” There was a moment where I needed to be reminded that anything can change at any moment, towards expansion and and towards feeling really.

Then, strangely, almost 10 years later, I found the files for this song, opened them and found these additional lyrics that I had written in 2016 with SOPHIE. They were about moving between timelines. Like, after we leave Earth, do we get to come back again? Is life in that way we knew before complete, or do we get to change forms again? And I realized that this song wasn’t about a physical makeover. It was about, on a soul level, being able to come back again. This was a real lightning moment for me where I realized that, again, we’re not held into one specific timeline. We get to be more expansive than our singular one form.

That’s when I realized that this body of work had actually already come through. I had already received it. It was done. I just had to let it go, have soft hands, and trust and surrender to the process. Those surrender moments where you don’t know but you just choose to trust—that’s when really strange, freaky things can happen. And I think all this work is a teacher where I get to be a student listening and trying to be more sensitive. It’s not like a fantasy or something like that. It’s a real thing that is happening, Earth-side and beyond.

I have a question for you now. Something that I have witnessed you do over and over again throughout our friendship is having a wild vision and bringing it into the physical. Is there a practice that you have [for this]?

Tourmaline: What I found is, if I can conjure the emotion, everything else fills in around it. And that sounds so vague, but if I can have feeling, the whole thing speeds up. That’s really my process. How about for you?

Hyd: I’m having that experience right now with the album. I have never been naturally gifted, or there are a lot of things that I had never been before that I then became by just doing them. Sometimes the fear of not doing something right or well can keep you from doing it, but the practice of being willing to see yourself in a way that you haven’t before—and the way that you know is true, that is resonant on a deep level but can’t be seen—just becomes. That is true of this body of work, where sometimes you just have to keep moving through with faith, with holding the vision when it’s not clear to other people. It’s interesting to try to consolidate it into language because it’s this thing outside of language.

Tourmaline: It’s like a gardener having faith that the seed is going to turn into a fully-formed, beautiful flower. It’s a leap of faith, the belief that just because it hasn’t happened before or we weren’t living it before doesn’t mean that we can’t usher it in right now. I was having the same thought when I got out of the shower this morning, about the difference between where I was and where I am right now. So much of that [difference] is in just doing the thing even when it’s bad, or getting that first draft done, or showing up on set.

Hyd: 100%. At some point that seed will be able to push through the ground and touch the sun. You’re bringing the water to the seed, but also rain happens—there’s a part of it that you don’t have to do, that you just trust”.

Prior to coming to a review of the extraordinary experience that is Hold onto Me Infinity, METAL spent some time with a multi-hyphenated talent who is absolutely wonderful. I hope they grow a larger fanbase here, as so many should see Hyd perform. I am not sure if they are performing in the U.K. later this year:

“Across twelve carefully balanced songs, the sound becomes a kind of sensory physics: something designed not only to be heard, but to be felt at a cellular level - as in Light Span, an emotional limbo - where vibration replaces distance and listening becomes a bodily event. It’s a record shaped by questions that hover between metaphysics and embodiment: where do people go after they leave, and what does that absence feel like: buoyant, weightless, or somehow still present in another form? These are not abstract speculations so much as felt inquiries - as in Make Me Believe - approached from inside the body and mind, where listening becomes a way of sensing what cannot be seen. It is almost like developing a conceptual system for relating to what is no longer here.

Dunham’s sense of connection - as heard in Freak - and collaboration runs through the album, where relationships persist beyond physical proximity or even presence. Watch You Cry explores the act of witnessing emotion in others. Moments shared with SOPHIE remain active within the work, sometimes difficult to return to, yet still carrying a charge, like a voice suspended in time that continues to speak. Makeover becomes a kind of contemporary archival artifact of internet and pop culture history. Hyd describes the album as a multisensory dialogue, where the boundaries between seeing, hearing, and feeling begin to dissolve.

The record unfolds as an environment in motion, alive with echoes of collaboration and shared worlds built alongside artists including Benny Long, Saint Patrick, Finn Keane, Tjörvi, Marcus Andersson, Michael Bailey-Gates, Bobbi Salvör Menuez, and many others, each contributing to an ecosystem that is as relational as it is sonic. In conversation, Dunham returns again and again to the act of listening: as attention, as contact, as a way of staying close to what cannot be held. We are then transported into a space of discovery, a psychological surface where things can be felt differently.

Their concurrent exhibition Never Is Over, on view at Company Gallery in New York until the 13th of June, stages this directly: voices held in fragile vessels, light-sensitive materials that only reveal themselves through rupture, and sonic frequencies that seem to exist at the edge of perception. Together, these works suggest a continuous loop between presence and absence, as if each form is always becoming another.

What follows is an interview, taking place just before their North American tour, that traces these connections and references from Sally Ride to The Neverending Story, from their incredible method of verifying that you are indeed a freak to the significance of chocolate chip cookie buttons; between the intimate act of listening and the possibility that nothing, once felt, ever fully leaves.

Your new album is about to be released into the world. I’ve had the chance to listen to it and was completely blown away. The first thing that stood out to me was the production: it feels like a very particular kind of sound architecture, which is quite difficult to achieve nowadays within experimental or alternative pop soundscapes. How happy are you with the final result?

It’s kind of a miracle that it’s here to me. I was really close to putting it into a vessel and burying it in the ground, but somehow we’re here now.

There’s a huge sense of depth throughout the album: not just in its layers, but in something almost ethereal. There are so many details: the delicate percussion in both Freak and Make Me Believe, the synths in Take Care of Me, the textures in Light Span. What was the process of curating the album’s sonic world like?

It started with adding a matchstick to volcanic gas, leading to an air-forward bubbling up from underlayers of the earth. The bouncing kept getting bigger until it was more bodied and brash, even. But the truth about these big drums is that inside is a pretty soft and even tender voice. I wanted the sonic palette to be big but really, on a cellular level, make people vibrate. Or want to vibrate. I guess the sound could be described as alive.

“I love thinking about where people go after they leave here. If it is actually buoyant and bright, or does it feel weightless? Expansive or something else?”

In Freak, there’s a really compelling narrative about connecting with someone, whether as friendship or something deeper. It has so many layers of meaning, and I can clearly see a queer interpretation of it, especially in the way language and labels are reclaimed or transformed. What can you tell us about this song?

Yes. First off, I love freaks. Anyone who feels like they aren’t from around here, or haven’t found a way to connect into whatever is going on earthside. This song is about that moment where you think you find someone else who is like you, but in order to be sure you might have to look to a series of clues and receive help from a past or future version of yourself.

In my case, this song takes place in Texas, in high school, with my first crush, and realising that the only way I could be close to her was through proxies like becoming the boy she was kissing in her car. Or becoming the cake she delivered to my room at 4 am with a Flannery O’Connor story baked inside. The video, made with my dear friend Kelly McCormick, features a version of me as a quantum time-travelling villain helping out a past version of me to locate secret intel. Making this video felt like a rehearsal for the rest of my life in pure joy.

The video is fantastic. Watching it and reading about your work made me think about your solo art show at Company Gallery in New York. I was wondering how parallel the development of the exhibition and the album were, and if they influenced one another creatively.

It’s pretty wild: Hold Onto Me Infinity and Never Is Over happening at the same time. I love multisensory dialogues, when you get a taste in your mouth of something you’re looking at. When sound you hear becomes a texture you can see. Both bodies of work are extensions of this research.

In Never Is Over, your solo exhibition, unassuming vessels placed throughout the gallery contain recorded voices of the departed who have some connection to you. The accompanying text explains: “These sounds can only be heard if the objects themselves are broken open, the light-sensitive contents inside are unlocked by the sun, and the voices set free.” What has the response to this piece been like so far?

I love it when people spontaneously start crying. I mean, in all circumstances, I just love it. At the opening, I hid in the dark and watched people experiencing the piece, and this kind of stuff is something I love about exhibitions. You really get to use all senses to make something new. I worked with Saint Patrick on the score and the sound of black holes, and also people's voices who I love who are no longer here.

Then, the song with the same title on the album contains this verse: “Left me in a cloud of doubt / Even though you're not here / I still see you laughing at the piano / Saying 'it's okay to cry' / In the way that it's over / Never is really over.” When I looked up the lyrics more closely, it suddenly clicked, and I realised the song is about SOPHIE. It’s incredibly beautiful. In that sense, Makeover is not just a standout moment on the album, it feels like a piece of internet and pop culture history. If I'm correct, you worked on this song with SOPHIE, and it was first heard in Washington, D.C. around 2016. Listening to it now feels like a treat for many reasons, one of them being how incredible the two of you sound together. It's not the first time we've heard your collaborations, but this one feels especially fitting within Hold Onto Me Infinity. What was it like working with her on this song?

We started Makeover at home in LA one morning. Usually she would go out for a coffee and bring me back a chocolate chip cookie button. This morning I had been in sass level ten mode (aka almost lethal levels of sass) and said to her, ‘1-800, this ain’t working, at all,’ about her days-long open suitcase on the floor, and she started laughing, and that was the catalyst for the song. This kind of stuff was a big part of how we communicated.

The lyric “Are those your clothes sprawled out across the floor?” was also the landscape of our bedroom at the time. We had been in LA for maybe a year, and there was this idea about becoming new. Like that we get to choose to be a new version of ourselves at any time. And maybe that can happen through new choices or new practices or new things aka “New car, new body, new activewear, new everything…" but really Makeover held this other note. That at any moment you could make yourself new again.

Later, the lyrics became more broad strokes: do we get to return here again to earth, or do we only get one life here, or “do we get more,” as in can we come back again to earth after we leave. This was a special fixation for me for reasons I didn’t understand at the time, but then now I understand why.

Sometime last year, I was driving to meet her brother Benny Long, who is also a brilliant producer, and the Notes app on my phone from that original session appeared. I had just locked my car and thought, oh wow. And as I scrolled down, I saw the second verse. Sometimes I have a hard time going back into these spaces SOPHIE and I made together because it holds so much for me, but getting to hear her voice in that session really carries me. Sometimes in sessions when I open them, I can hear her laughing too just after a recording or things like that. It feels like a present hidden in time for this moment right now. That, or I choose to see it that way.

You're about to tour North America and present the album live. How are rehearsals going? Given your wider artistic practice, how have you approached conceiving the live show?

The live show might be my favourite part of making music. I love being in a room together singing. Rehearsals have involved vaporised metal, flashlights and clean white socks. I hope I can pull it off. There’s this element of going so far beyond what is physically possible that I almost can't do it that really gets exciting to me.

Looking back at your debut EP in 2021, how do you feel about the work you've developed over the last few years?

It feels like a conversation I have been having for years now that is held in a sonic format. Some of it was with SOPHIE, some of it was with myself, but a lot of it is with the universe at large. For a while it was just for me, but I feel really honored to get to share it with other people. I love my collaborators so much: SOPHIE, Benny Long, Hudson Mohawk, Finn Keane, Saint Patrick, Tjörvi, Chris Lyons, Marcus Andersson, Michael Bailey-Gates, Tourmaline, Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Aaron Chan, Hedia Maron, Jeff and Cascine, Aimee Goguen, Kelly McCormick, Azsa West. Just getting to make new worlds with my friends that then we get to live in. And I get to activate, it's very profound to me. And something that with PC Music, we have done together for such a long time. It's really special to get to witness people in their practice for all of these years”.

I am finishing up with a review of Hold onto Me Infinity. Brooklyn Vegan provided their take on a phenomenal album that I would urge anyone reading this to go and listen to. I feel we will be hearing a lot more from Hyd. So many years where they will evolve as an artist and do so much good in the music world:

“Hayden Dunham and SOPHIE were close collaborators and partners, and the presence of the iconic producer, who we lost in 2021, haunts Hold Onto Me Infinity, Dunham’s second album as Hyd. SOPHIE first premiered the audacious “Makeover” at a Washington DC set in 2016, and she’s also credited as a producer on the upbeat “Make Me Believe,” along with Hudson Mohawke, who worked on much of the album. Then there’s “Never Is Over,” with its lines, “I still see you laughing at the piano / Saying, ‘it’s okay to cry,'” which seem to directly reference SOPHIE’s 2017 single and Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides opening track. In addition to the loss of SOPHIE, Dunham’s brother was killed in a 2024 hit-and-run, and while these major losses leave traces all over Hold Onto Me Infinity, particularly in its lyrics, my main takeaway is how full of bangers it is. It starts with two of the most irresistible slices of art-pop I’ve heard all year and never lets up. “Angel” is all bright, ebullient synths and infectious melodies, while “Freak” revolves around its extremely quotable chorus, “that girl is a freak, yeah she’s just like me.” It’s my early choice for song of the summer; arriving on the eve of Memorial Day Weekend, this album is here just in time”.

There will be some people seeing this who have not heard of Hyd. They are such a singular talent, you do really need to follow Hyd on social media. I am quite new to their work, but I was immediately engrossed. The magnificent Hyd will stun and amaze…

FOR a very long time.

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Follow Hyd

PHOTO CREDIT: Eve Fowler

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/hyd.earth/

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@hydearth

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@hydearth

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3pYle1qnqjdGhG0agFZLj5?si=0Uk-CLHWSVW7R3PwUGVk0A

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Freddie Mercury at Eighty

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

PHOTO CREDIT: A. Sawa/Mercury Songs Ltd.

Freddie Mercury at Eighty

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ONE of the greatest voices…

in music history left the world in 1991. The legendary Freddie Mercury died so young, yet his legacy lives on. One of the most powerful voices the world will ever hear, artists such as Alabama Shakes and Lady Gaga are inspired by him. Freddie Mercury’s eightieth birthday is on 5th September. Before getting to a mixtape of his best vocal performances with Queen, together with some solo cuts, I want to bring in some biography. His official website gives us a real insight into the life and legacy of Freddie Mercury:

“The life of Frederick Bulsara began on the East African island of Zanzibar on September 5, 1946. 25 years later in London under the name of Freddie Mercury he was fronting the now legendary rock group named Queen.

The son of Bomi and Jer Bulsara, Freddie spent the bulk of his childhood in India where he attended St. Peter’s boarding school. He began taking piano lessons at the age of seven. No one could foresee where a love of music would take him.

The Bulsara family moved to Middlesex in 1964 and from there Freddie joined up with a blues band called Wreckage while studying graphic design courses at Ealing College of Art. While singing for Wreckage, a fellow student introduced Freddie to Roger Taylor and Brian May, founder members of a band called Smile. Smile metamorphosed into Queen when Freddie joined Roger and Brian as the lead vocalist. The final member of the band, which was to stay together for the next 20 years, was bassist John Deacon, who joined the band on 1st of March 1971.

The immortal operatically styled single ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was released in 1975 and proceeded to the top of the UK charts for 9 weeks. A song that was nearly never released due to its length and unusual style but which Freddie insisted would be played became the instantly recognisable hit. By this time Freddie’s unique talents were becoming clear, a voice with a remarkable range and a stage presence that gave Queen its colourful, unpredictable and flamboyant personality

Very soon Queen’s popularity extended beyond the shores of the UK as they charted and triumphed around Europe, Japan and the USA where in 1979 they topped the charts with Freddie’s song ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’.

Queen was always indisputably run as a democratic organisation. All four members are each responsible for having penned number one singles for the band. This massive writing strength combined with spectacular lights, the faultless sound, a sprinkling of theatricality and Freddie’s balletic movements made up Queen on stage and on film.

Through Freddie’s ability to project himself and the band’s music and image to the four corners of 70,000 seater venues they became known as the prime developers of stadium rock, a reputation perpetuated by their pioneering tactics in South America where in 1981 they performed to 231,000 fans in Sao Paulo, a world record at the time. They also became known as the key innovators of pop videos as their catalogue of 3-minute clips became more and more adventurous in style, size and content.

Their phenomenal success continued around the globe throughout the 80’s highlighted in 1985 by their show-stealing and unforgettable performance on stage at Live Aid.

In the mid 80’s, Freddie started concentrating on his solo career, which was to run in tandem with Queen (“the mothership”) for several albums commencing with the 1985 release of ‘Mr. Bad Guy’. Freddie’s much loved sense of self-parody reached a zenith with his cover version of The Platter’s song ‘The Great Pretender’ in 1987, the video of which recorded him descending a sweeping staircase among acres of identical cardboard cutouts of himself.

His first major collaboration outside Queen was with Dave Clark for the recording of London’s West End musical Time, in 1986. This was followed in 1987 with the realisation of one of Freddie’s long-term dreams; to record with the world revered opera diva Montserrat Caballé. The LP’s title song, ‘Barcelona’ went on to become an anthem for Señora Caballé’s home city and the theme for the Olympics in 1992.

While most publicly recognised as the front man to one of the most progressive rock bands of the 70’s, Freddie defied the stereotype. A taste for venturing into new territories – a trait that was to have a marked influence on the direction Queen would take – took Freddie to explore his interests in a wide spectrum of the arts, particularly in the areas of ballet, opera and theatre, even taking a participating role: in October1977 the sell-out audience of a charity gala at the London Coliseum organised by Royal Ballet Principal dance Wayne Eagling received the surprise of an unannounced appearance by a silver-sequinned leotard-clad Freddie performing an intricate routine choreographed for him by Eagling. In 1987 he made a one-night appearance in Dave Clarke’s Time at the Dominion Theatre, although legend has it Freddie occasionally turned up at the theatre to support friend Clarke’s musical, one night selling ice-creams in the stalls! Freddie would have loved the fact that The Dominion now plays host to the band’s phenomenally successful musical We Will Rock You which has now held the Dominion stage nearly seven years longer than Time’s two year run.

The legend is born

On November 24th, 1991, Freddie’s struggle against AIDS ended when he passed away just over 24 hours after he had publicly announced he had the disease. Musicians and fans from all over the world paid their highest respects as the passing of rock’s most innovative, flamboyant ambassador signified the end of an era at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium on April 20, 1992 which gave birth to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, the AIDS charity set up in Freddie’s memory by the remaining members of Queen and Freddie’s Executor, Jim Beach.

Freddie Mercury, who majored in stardom while giving new meaning to the word showmanship, left a legacy of songs, which will never lose their stature as classics to live on forever. Some of the most poignant of these were immortalised on the Queen album ‘Made In Heaven’ released in November 1995. The sleeve of the album shows a view from Freddie’s Montreux home.

Despite twenty years having passed since Freddie lost his life to HIV complications, he remains in the minds of millions throughout the world as one of the greatest artists we will ever see. In September 2010 (coincidentally, around Freddie's 64th birthday) a poll carried out among rock fans saw him named the Greatest Rock Legend Of All Time, beating Elvis Presley to claim the title, and ahead of David Bowie, Jon Bon Jovi, Jimi Hendrix and Ozzy Osbourne.

September 5, 2010 saw The Mercury Phoenix Trust launch ‘Freddie For A Day’, a major annual initiative designed to celebrate Freddie’s life each year on his birthday and to support the on-going work of the Trust. The project encourages fans to dress as Freddie for a day and in doing so raise funds for MPT through sponsorship. No one could have imagined the extraordinary response which resulted, with fans from 24 countries around the world, from Argentina to Ukraine, seizing on the idea to pay their own special tribute to Freddie.

Some sent pictures strutting their stuff at home, singing into a microphone in their bedroom. Others took the plunge and spent the whole day as Freddie, including one US enthusiast who dressed herself as ‘Slightly Mad’ Freddie and then spent her day at the local mall and then at Columbus Zoo in Ohio with a penguin and a gorilla. Another took a TGV trip from France to Switzerland dressed in a harlequin leotard. The stories of extraordinary and fun days spent come in their hundreds, and as a result, Freddie For A Day is now an annual event”.

We mark Freddie Mercury’s eightieth birthday on 5th September. I hope there is celebration and commemoration. I hope too that his Queen bandmates pay tribute to him. It is amazing to think what would happen if he had lived and what he would have done in his career. I reckon he would still be performing live to this day. Even though he died almost thirty-five years ago, his brilliance lives on. There has never been anyone like…

THE God-like Freddie Mercury.

FEATURE: Stay Where You Are: A Love Letter to Lauren Laverne… Why I Have Been Affected Personally By the Broadcaster’s Recent News

FEATURE:

 

 

Stay Where You Are: A Love Letter to Lauren Laverne…

PHOTO CREDIT: Jonty Davies for Good Housekeeping

Why I Have Been Affected Personally By the Broadcaster’s Recent News

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THIS is going to start out…

PHOTO CREDIT: Sarah Jeynes/BBC

somewhat downbeat and negatively. It is going to turn into a salute and love letter to one of the world’s greatest broadcasters and human beings. Whilst she may not have time or opportunity to read this, I did want to write about someone who shared some recent health news that led to an outpouring of support and love. Lauren Laverne broadcasts on BBC Radio 6 Music weekday mornings, and she captains BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. I shall come to an article that writes about something that she recently posted to her Instagram. Even though our lives and paths are vastly different, I can identify with Charli xcx. She posted earlier in the year that she was in the worst mental state of her life. Even more recently, in response to a question as to how she is feeling right now, Charli xcx said she was tired. On Friday (24th July), she has the release party for her new album, Music, Fashion, Film. The album is released in five days and it will gather a load of acclaim. Though, I can identify with her. ‘Tired’ being an understatement! Also, though I am living in the city I want to (London) and have the freedom to run my own site, I too am in the worst psychological state of my life. She is a megastar, and one of the most prolific artists in the world. I can only imagine the pressure on her and how rigorous her life is. I do worry about her and whether she will burn out or there is too much expectation! Arguably the greatest artist of our times, I do hope that she gets a chance to decompress and rest for a couple of months – though this may be naïve optimism! I am different. I have said in a previous blog piece how I have this dread of going to work…

I get the same sort of reaction that I had on a Sunday evening before going to school in the morning. The horrifying chirpiness of the Antiques Roadshow theme could well have been a Bernard Herrmann score in terms of its psychological impact! Now, I get that anxiety and huge depression. Although I can quit a job in the same way I could not quit school, being an adult – especially one living in an expensive city – has a different set of economics and challenges. If a major artist like Charli xcx is drained because of the demands of modern music and a sense of churn, my situation is a little removed from that – though not completely. I guess anyone in a job they hate has to weight up so much and cannot just quit without a parachute. For me, I recently expressed the stress of being an independent music journalist. I struggle to get traction with a lot of my features. Though I have a dedicated (yet small) audience who reads my Kate Bush features (1,420 at this stage), most of what I publish on my site is not about Kate Bush. Even though I do not have the skill and popularity of Alexis Petridis and Laura Snapes  (both of whom write for The Guardian and are considered among the most preeminent and prolific music journalists in the world), I am consistent. I am not sure how many journalists – I am guessing none? – have published at least one feature every day for over a decade. I do it, in part because of passion, but also that need to be seen and shared. And yet few artists I write about do. Aside from the odd artist who are very sweet and write me a thank you message (as Eaves Wilder did when I featured her), most of it does not get shared or liked. It is disheartening! You cannot force people to share stuff, though there is common sense and a politeness at least acknowledging someone for writing something very nice about your music. Yet, I can’t complain too much. Even if the six -or-so-thousand features have not received a tonne of interaction, I can afford to run my website solo and publish regularly. Though the fact I can never monetise it and it will never be a professional option saddens me.

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A post shared by Lauren Laverne (@laurenlaverne)

Right now, as I write (on a Sunday afternoon), I am fearing getting up in the morning and going to work. It has been a bad day and I suspect the next week will be very tough. Though I have been given a shot of perspective lately. Back to the subject of this feature: the wonderful Lauren Laverne. Recent news she shared did lead to a wave of love and support on social media. The Guardian explains more:

“Lauren Laverne has announced she has been diagnosed with a blood and bone marrow disorder, less than two years after recovering from cancer.

The radio and TV presenter revealed she has smouldering myeloma, a condition characterised by an abnormal level of blood plasma cells in bone marrow, and said she made her diagnosis public out of a desire to help others. In August 2024, she announced she had been diagnosed with cancer, and received the all-clear three months later.

Laverne, 48, wrote on Instagram on Friday: “I’m quite a private person by nature, but am sharing this as one of the many things I’ve learned after going through health challenges in recent years is that talking about this stuff helps people.

“I’ve been diagnosed with something called smouldering myeloma (yes that is a weird name and no I’d never heard of it either). It’s an asymptomatic blood and bone marrow disorder that in some people can develop into blood cancer.

“Thankfully the risk of this happening in my case is pretty low.”

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A post shared by BBC The One Show (@bbctheoneshow)

Laverne said she did not currently need treatment, adding the condition had “nothing to do” with her previous illness. She said: “Most people my age who have it have no idea – it tends to be cancer survivors like me who are diagnosed early, as we’re so carefully monitored.

“It is a chronic condition – no cure yet – and it does mean my immune system is a bit compromised, so I will need to take good care of myself and I will be carefully monitored with blood tests, MRIs and bone marrow biopsies (which I have recently discovered are even less fun than they sound).”

The broadcaster said she would take a “couple weeks holiday” before returning to work. Laverne, who was the lead singer of the alternative rock band Kenickie in the 90s, has been a BBC Radio 6 Music presenter since 2008 and has hosted Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs since 2018. She has also co-presented The One Show since 2023.

She wrote: “It’s been a lot, especially coming less than two years after my last diagnosis, but I know that seeing others in the public eye cope with comparable situations has helped me, so I thought I’d be upfront about it.

“I’ve had some difficult experiences in the last eight years, but I have learned more from them than some people do in a lifetime and that is helping me right now.

“I am so grateful for that.”

Laverne thanked her family, friends and colleagues along with her “wonderful” GP for detecting the condition early due to her low iron levels.

The charity Blood Cancer UK said in a statement: “There are more than 53,000 people across the UK on active monitoring for different blood cancers, including smouldering myeloma, so nobody should feel they are facing this alone.

“If Lauren’s story has prompted questions or concerns about smouldering myeloma or any type of blood cancer, we’re here for you. Our specialist nurses provide free, confidential support and information, helping people understand their diagnosis, make sense of active monitoring and find answers to any questions they may have”.

I am going to come to some interviews with Lauren Laverne, as this feature is a cross between a love letter to her importance and brilliance. But also my (somewhat long-winded) support. You can read her post of sharing the news here. Looking more relaxed and trying to respond to as many people’s message as possible, it has been a pretty shit last few weeks. After getting the cancer all-clear and now dealing with this, it has been challenging and distinctly unfair. I don’t believe that the universe throws things at people and has any impact over what happens in life – as it is too problematic and flawed if we scrutinise that idea -, but Laverne has received more than her fair share of bad vibes and crap the past few years or so. You do feel like she needs and deserves nothing but happiness going forward. I will write as to why I think that will be the case. Again, our situations are different, though my depression and dissatisfaction with the realities of being an independent music journalist is not as severe as other people’s live and issues. I have just listened to her Desert Island Discs interview with Shania Twain. Listening to Twain was another case of personal perspective. Her experiences of losing her parents in a crash and going through a divorce and health issues was sobering and remarkable. How she is this amazingly successful artist, yet she has had such a hard life. Her fortutiude, strength and resilience is inspiring! Other people have come to mind. One of her disc selections was Carpenters’ We’ve Only Just Begun. I recall when Shaun Keaveny played that song on his final BBC Radio 6 Music show on 10th September, 2021. Giving a teary send-off, I wondered what the future held and whether he would bounce back. Now, he is a staple on BBC Radio 2 (on Sounds of the 70s and The Rock Show), and he has broadcast across multiple stations. He also broadcasts on Community Garden Radio. Alongside Lauren Laverne, he is my favourite broadcaster (the two of them seriously need to co-host a radio show or do a podcast episode!). I guess things will work out in the end, even if they take time.

I did want to write about Lauren Laverne. I might write about her again in a couple of years but, given the news she has shared and what she has faced, I wanted to move to the positives and not make it a me-fest or something downbeat. I will find a way out of my struggles and depression, but I have naturally worried about Lauren Laverne. She has a loving family, close group of friends and the love of the 6 Music family behind her. I did want to cover off a couple of interviews, for anyone who may not know about her work. Or if you only know her in her past life as an artist (she was the lead of the ‘90s band, Kenickie). I want to drop in a Music Week interview from January last year:

“When Music Week encounters BBC Radio 6 Music star Lauren Laverne at the station’s HQ on a Friday morning in late May, she has just come off air, having delivered the last breakfast show of a busy week.

The night before we speak, she was in central London hosting the Ivors, taking a rare breather from the intense Glastonbury preparations that dominate her schedule at this time of year. Shortly before that, it was her own name in lights, as she triumphed in the Radio Show category at the Music Week Awards, reclaiming a trophy she won in 2019, when her breakfast show gig began.

It was a momentous victory and Laverne smiles as we start by reflecting on what it means to have won.

Congratulations on your latest Music Week Awards win! What do you think made your peers in the industry vote for you?

“Well, I still can’t quite believe it. The whole team works really, really hard to make sure that every day we are excited and we’re bringing a number of different elements together in a way that just feels easy, fun and accessible. It’s not a typical breakfast show, it’s not a conventional listen. But maybe that’s why people like it. I certainly hope so. I decided a long time ago that I just want to make programmes that feel like they’re doing something constructive in the world. That doesn’t always mean everything’s shiny and happy-clappy, it’s about hope, not optimism. It’s something positive in people’s day.”

How has the culture at 6 Music changed in your time there?

“As a station, it has always had a very positive outlook. If you think of the music that we play, that alternative space is very forward-looking and accepting. It’s a nice place to work with lovely people, and it always has been. In terms of direct cultural change, it’s always evolving, there’s always new voices coming in. There was a long, long time when I was one of the few women there and the only one on weekdays and I am glad that has evolved over time. There are wonderful people, Mary Anne Hobbs and Jamz Supernova doing such brilliant work. That’s nice because that’s your little group and you become friends and support each other. Sherelle [DJ and producer] was on my show, she was in covering for Mary Anne, she’s wonderful. There’s so much brilliant talent coming through. That’s great to see, culture-wise, but it has always been a great place to work. Then, in May, the boss [head of station Sam Moy] and a few others came up with Change The Tune [an initiative to raise awareness around the impact online abuse has on artists].”

What keeps you at 6 Music specifically?

“Well, I also love Radio 4 and The One Show. I only work with great teams and as you get older, that’s so important. I feel incredibly lucky for all of the places that I work, but 6 is my heart. It represents the kind of music fan I am. The life-long adventure of continuing to discover music and the frustration of knowing you will never get to the end of it. I mean, the ephemeral nature is what makes it special, and that is what 6 runs on, it’s all about that.”

Has doing Desert Island Discs changed your life? Or people’s perceptions of you?

“I don’t know. You don’t try and work out people’s perceptions of you, that’s their business. But I think it has, hopefully, changed me. There’s always opportunity to improve, but I think having those kinds of conversations week in, week out has made me more compassionate. It has made me a better listener and it has made me braver, I think, because it’s maybe the most high-profile thing I’ve done. I’m not a natural attention seeker, I always say radio is the place where people who like to show off in private go. So to be looking after something that is such a jewel in the crown is a big thing. But to know that we’re doing a good job, and continue to take care of something I loved so much as a listener, to take it up from Kirsty [Young, former host] who is my hero... It’s a real challenge, but it’s a joy to get there.”

Let’s move on to Glastonbury. The lack of veteran acts among the headliners has been criticised by some this year, but the ratio of women to men has improved markedly. Where do you stand on those arguments?

“It’s always going to generate conversation and that’s fine. That’s like any music event, you can’t really avoid it. With Glastonbury, you’re talking about how many acts? About 2,000? If you can’t find something that you like, among that, I think it might be you. But I think when you’ve got the biggest music and arts festival on the planet, if you’re just determined to moan about it and find fault, and you can’t find anything that you like, I think it might not be Glastonbury that is the problem. It’s all of the clichés, everybody has a different Glastonbury experience. You can go and never see a band and have an amazing Glastonbury. You can go and see music all weekend, none of which you have ever heard before in your life, and have an incredible time. It is so much more than the main headliners”.

There is a lot to take from that interview. How loved and amazing she is! I still bemoan the lack of established and legacy women booked as Glasto headliners. They have a massive gender issue and lack of credibility overlooking female headliners (was Kylie Minogue approached last year to headline?!), and only one woman over the age of forty has ever headlined Glastonbury (that was Shakespears Sister’s Marcella Detroit, who was a few days over forty when they headlined in 1992). I shall not rant again. What strikes me is how at home she is at BBC Radio 6 Music, and that she sound at her happiest and freest at the station!

Next March, BBC Radio 6 Music turns twenty-five. Lauren Laverne will be there, and I hope the station goes all-out to mark the quarter-century. I genuinely feel she will be at the station for decades more (horrifying to think the station was at threat of being cut at one point!). Whilst now might seem like an especially tough or bleak time because she cannot be on the air for a little while, you do know that she will be on BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio 4 for a very long time. In a couple of years, she celebrates a big birthday. I am just looking ahead then because I feel it will be a time of personal reflection and a chance for all those who listen to her to show love and wish her the best. Though that is not until 2028. The rest of this year is going to see her return to the airwaves and, I hope, things being smooth and clear! Professional commitments such as hosting the Mercury Prize (I am posting my updated predictions ahead of the shortlist being announced on 30th July. The ceremony takes place Utilita Arena in Newcastle on Thursday, 22nd October. Before I bring in the second and final interview (again, from last year), I did want to give my personal support to Lauren Laverne. How she has helped put some things in my life in perspective, but also just wishing her the best. Just to finish off with her interview with Country & Town House. I like their quick-fire interview with a national treasure:

“What’s bringing you joy at the moment?

Music, which has always been a huge part of my life. Last year I had a period of illness and for a while couldn’t listen to it – it was just too much emotionally. When I found the joy in it again I knew I was getting better. Now I’m back on 6 Music every weekday 10am–1pm and discovering new music all the time. I love it more than ever.

What’s annoying you most right now?

That the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.

Advice you’d give to your 15-year-old self?

Keep going, you’re doing great. You’re capable of more than you know. Learn to sit with your feelings.

What keeps you awake at night?

Waiting for my 17-year-old son to get home.

Best life hack you can share with us?

If you’ve got something good to say, say it. Speak up for what you love, praise people when they deserve it, give compliments. It makes other people happy and it makes your own life better.

A moment that changed everything?

Meeting my husband. We worked together on a TV show. That day it was his job to throw a bread roll at my face (don’t ask) but for budgetary reasons the roll was stale. It cut my nose and we had to film the rest of the day in profile, but it did mean I noticed him.

Where do you go to escape?

Alexandra Park. Seven acres with the most beautiful views overlooking London. Having grown up with easy access to the beach I always loved the perspective sea views give you. This is my city equivalent.

What’s the best way to put a smile on your face?

Stick on some frightful oompty-boompty.

You wouldn’t know it but…

My private joy is HGTV. Give me Jasmine Roth remediating someone’s DIY plumbing disaster and I’m a happy woman.

What does sustainability mean to you?

In my own life it’s about keeping things simple, enjoying what I already have and understanding what ‘enough’ looks like. 

PHOTO CREDIT: BBC/Ray Burmiston

How can we save the world?

By choosing to. When I interviewed the climate scientist Corinne Le Quéré for her episode of Desert Island Discs she told me that we already have the scientific innovations and means, what we lack is the will to implement them.

Your greatest failure?

I didn’t go to university. I was supposed to take up a place at Durham University to read Medieval Studies but signed a record deal instead. I still daydream about going back sometimes.

Your greatest triumph?

My children. They bring me more joy than I could ever have dared to imagine.

What does a life in balance mean to you?

Embracing imperfection, enjoying what I can, being where my feet are.

Lauren Laverne’s Quick Fire Favourites

Scent… Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady

Box Set… Mad Men

Chocolate… Green & Black’s 70%

Song… Fela Kuti, ‘Let’s Start’

Dish… My husband’s Sunday roast

Gadget… Lakeland heated airer

Restaurant… J Sheekey.

Holiday… Puglia with my best friend’s family”.

Apologies to write for so long – which may, incidentally, explain why my blog might be a little hard-going or like an assignment at times! -, but I was stunned and a little shaken by Lauren Laverne’s recent post about a health setback. Though, in a way, she has helped me and it has made me think more deeply about my own situation and plans going forward. I am excited to see her back on the air when she is well enough and, fingers crossed, having a relatively setback-free time going forward. Lots to look forward to. That BBC Radio 6 Music twenty-five next year. More awards and perhaps some exciting new professional opportunities. There is no doubt how much love there is out there, as Lauren Laverne is one of our best broadcasters. A queen that we all…

ADMIRE so much.

FEATURE: Kate Bush: Them Heavy People: The Extraordinary Characters in Her Songs: Houdini/Rosabel (Houdini)/Gurdjieff/Jesu (Them Heavy People)

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush: Them Heavy People: The Extraordinary Characters in Her Songs

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: Anton Corbijn

Houdini/Rosabel (Houdini)/Gurdjieff/Jesu (Them Heavy People)

__________

I am quite sad…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

that this is the final edition of this feature. I feel I have exhausted all characters in Kate Bush songs. Though I am finishing strong! I am ending with the song that inspired the title of this series. Them Heavy People is from Kate Bush’s debut album, The Kick Inside (1978). In it, she mentions teachers and philosophers who opened her mind. Those who were rolling the ball to her. I will write more succinctly and fully about this track soon. Before that, I am featuring characters from my favourite Kate Bush song. Houdini is the penultimate track from 1982’s The Dreaming. In terms of its concept and inspiration, I do feel that Houdini and Rosabel represent sides of Kate Bush. In terms of an escape. Her casting herself perhaps as someone trapped or locked in who was taking risks and was trying to pull off this spectacle. Maybe that is me overreaching, though the final song on The Dreaming, Get Out of My House, seems autobiographical. Even though it was influenced by Stephen king’s The Shining, that idea of Bush wailing and screaming out. What you hear on the song. The paranoia and anger. I do look at Houidini and feel it is a personal revelation. Though this is a track influenced by real people. There is a bit of a chart, as the unnamed character in the song is Houdini’s wife, Bess. Rosabel (often spelled Rosabelle) was not a person; it was the name of a popular 1800s song and the secret code-word used by the famous escape artist Harry Houdini and his wife, Bess Houdini. Rosabelle, Sweet Rosabelle was a romantic ballad Bess used to sing in her vaudeville act when the couple first fell in love at Coney Island in the late 1890s. However, I am going to mention Bess when writing about this track. I will discuss Kate Bush and how she transformed and prepared for this track.

In reading the inspiration behind it, it brings to mind subjects that I want to explore first of all. The Kate Bush Encycloppedia provide us with interview archive. I wanted to drop in these words from Kate Bush, as it is very eye-opening and interesting what she says. Why she chose to write Houdini:

“The side most people know of Houdini is that of the escapologist, but he spent many years of his life exposing mediums and seances as frauds. His mother had died, and in trying to make contact through such spiritual people, he realized how much pain was being inflicted on people already in sorrow, people who would part with money just for the chance of a few words from a past loved one. I feel he must have believed in the possibility of contact after death, and perhaps in his own way, by weeding out the frauds, he hoped to find just one that could not be proven to be a fake. He and his wife made a decision that if one of them should die and try to make contact, the other would know it was truly them through a code that only the two of them knew.

His wife would often help him with his escapes. Before he was bound up and sealed away inside a tank or some dark box, she would give him a parting kiss, and as their lips met, she would pass him the key which he would later use to unlock the padlocks that chained him. After he died, Mrs. Houdini did visit many mediums, and tried to make contact for years, with no luck – until one day a medium called Mr. Ford informed her that Houdini had come through. She visited him and he told her that he had a message for her from Houdini, and he spoke the only words that meant for her the proof of her husband’s presence. She was so convinced that she released an official statement to the fact that he had made contact with her through the medium, Ford.

It is such a beautiful and strange story that I thought I had very little to do, other than tell it like it was. But in fact it proved to be the most difficult lyric of all the songs and the most emotionally demanding. I was so aware of trying to do justice to the beauty of the subject, and trying to understand what it must have been like to have been in love with such an extraordinary man, and to have been loved by him. I worked for two or three nights just to find one line that was right. There were so many alternatives, but only a few were right for the song. Gradually it grew and began to piece together, and I found myself wrapped up in the feelings of the song – almost pining for Houdini. Singing the lead vocal was a matter of conjuring up that feeling again and as the clock whirrs and the song flashes back in time to when she watched him through the glass, he’s on the other side under water, and she hangs on to his every breath. We both wait.

Kate Bush Club newsletter, October 1982”.

It goes to show that Kate Bush thinks like no other songwriter, and yet she has inspired so many. I look at songs like Houdini and I can see the impact today. I have compared Charli xcx to Kate Bush. I know that she is a big fan of Kate Bush. Songs like Houdini seem like something Charli xcx would have written in 1982. You can hear some of her more modern stuff and trace it to tracks like this. Kate Bush is someone who has a very open mind. She has said before how she believes in ghosts and I feel like she is open to the idea of reincarnation and Heaven. Not devout, she has said how her going into music was a mission from God. She believes in unknown creatures or figures like a Yeti. You feel she believes in ghost and believes in astrology. Though I cannot share many of those beliefs – especially astrology -, I do like how this open-mindedness works creatively. It opens her palette and makes her sphere much wider. Going beyond the normal and human. Discussing a medium or person who was a fraudster. I don’t think it is controversial to say mediums are fraudsters. They have and cannot communicate with the dead. They pick up cues and make vague guesses and assumptions. Though people believe them and there is this belief from some. I do wonder how Bush feels about mediums and those who feel they can communicate with spirits. The idea of seances and mediums. Being twisted and adapted and going into this song. We cannot forget Bess. Though I have not mentioned her by name, she is really the one Kate Bush is casting herself as. Passing Houdini a key with a kiss. Houdini, I imagine, played by the late Del Palmer. They were dating at the time and he is on the cover of The Dreaming. The idea of Bush passing Palmer a key with a kiss. In the song, Del Palmer can be heard saying “Rosabel Believe”. Bess or Beatrice to give her her full name, is a fascinating human. This article gives us more information:

“Beatrice or Bess Houdini was born Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner on January 23, 1876, in Brooklyn, New York. Like her famous husband, Bess came from a large German speaking immigrant family and was bitten by the showbiz bug in her teens.

Bess was working at Coney Island in a song and dance act called The Floral Sisters when she was first courted by Houdini's younger brother, Dash (aka Theo Hardeen). But it was the older Houdini brother, Harry, that she fell in love with and married on June 22, 1894.

Bess and Harry worked as The Houdinis for several years before Houdini hit it big as The Handcuff King. But he and Bess continued to occasionally perform the Metamorphosis. Bess also looked after their menagerie of pets, collected dolls, and made the costumes for Houdini's full evening show. She also said it was her duty to make sure her absent-minded husband was dressed well and had clean ears.

By all accounts, Bessie was strong-willed and very spirited. While her husband was a teetotaler, Bess enjoyed drinking and she also smoked. Following Houdini's death in 1926, Bess struggled with money, alcohol, and was the target of unethical spiritualists and journalists out to exploit her. She twice attempted suicide.

In 1930 Bess met Edward Saint who became her companion and manager (and some say secret husband). Together they moved to Hollywood where they held a Final Houdini Seance atop the roof of the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel. Bess also helped form the MagiGals, a group of female magicians and enthusiasts which included Gerri Larsen, the mother of Magic Castle co-founders Bill and Milt Larsen. In 1938 she appeared as herself in the film Religious Racketeers .

Bess remained a much loved and respected fixture at magic conventions until her death on February 11, 1943 aboard a train in Needles, California. She is buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in  Hawthorne, NY”.

I lead on to discussing Harry Houdini. Why he is someone who would have resonated with Kate Bush. Again, I see him in her. Bush feeling she needed to escape or was almost in a position where she was trying to fool the public. Though we have to talk about Bush preparing for this track and the sonic leaps from Never for Ever (1980). The final two songs on The Dreaming are the biggest examples of an artist evolving and changing. Again, I come back to someone like Charli xcx. Listen to songs on Never for Ever and Bush’s vocals. Breathing is indication of a rawness she would display on The Dreaming, though I fee The Dreaming is a more masculine and raw album. Get Out of My House is Bush at her most primal to that point. Though you can hear something almost demonic in her voice on Houdini. Going from soft and sweet to this guttural growl, she achieved this by drinking milk and easting chocolate. That gives songs this mucus. It is not wise for singer to do this. However, as a sole producer on The Dreaming, Bush was not having to listen to others. She could take her music and voice deeper. No boundaries or barriers. Less commercial than anything she has ever recorded, Houdini is truer to her vision of her being an artist rather than a Pop singer. I do feel Houdini is among her best songs. It is my favourite because of the subject matter and how phenomenal Bush sounds. Those beautiful strings written and arranged by Dave Lawson and Andrew Powell (who produced The Kick Inside and Lionheart). By the end of The Dreaming, it was clear this artist was vastly different to the one who debuted in 1978! Hounds of Love would arrive three years after The Dreaming. Though not as dark and heavy as The Dreaming, Bush’s voice and composition had this more masculine or deep quality. That would shift again for 1989’s The Sensual World. However, Houdini is this staggering example of Bush writing about something other artists would not even consider. Also, her performance on the song is among the most spectacular in music history. I read some of the lyrics as this being about Kate Bush and EMI. That relationship at the time: “He’s using code that only you and I know/This is no trick of his/This is your magic”, about the unusualness of her music and this idea of ‘fitting in’. “I’d catch the cues/Watching you/Hoping you’d do something wrong” perhaps about this idea people wanted her to fail or she was trying to perform this trick for the public. “Everybody thinks you’ll never make it/But every time/You escape: ‘Rosabel believe/Not even eternity/Can hold Houdini!’. I do sort of read between lines.

IN THIS PHOTO: Harry Houdini in chains, circa 1900/PHOTO CREDIT: Look and Learn/Bridgeman Images

Let’s end with the man in question. Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary. When he was four years old, his family emigrated to the United States and settled in Appleton, Wisconsin. Learning about his extraordinary life and mysterious death makes him this perfect Kate Bush character. National Geographic looked at Harry Houdini’s wild life and his mysterious death in a compelling feature:

“Houdini’s talent for escape was matched only by his knack for self-promotion. The era loved a daredevil, and Houdini was the ultimate American success story. He was an early adopter of corporate sponsorships—for example, inviting beer companies to manufacture the barrels he’d escape from for cross-promotional opportunities—and used the press to plant stories, good and bad, about his act. Often, Houdini’s performances drew public derision from those who wanted to challenge him, although today it’s thought that he himself planted many of those challengers to drum up attention.

As Houdini’s fame grew, so did his bold public stunts. In 1908, he offered a $1,000 reward to anyone who could build a device that could successfully restrain him. (It appears no one ever claimed the prize.) A decade later, Houdini made an elephant disappear as he slowly turned the massive cabinet it stood in onstage at New York’s Hippodrome Theater. With the dawn of cinema, Houdini also dabbled in movies, appearing in several stunt-filled films. But he never became a screen star.

Houdini’s fame amplified his crusade against the spiritualist mediums popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His efforts would inspire generations of magicians to speak out against frauds and con artists, including religious figures claiming to channel spirits or possess mind-reading powers.

His stunts were not without real risk, and Houdini was often injured during his routines, once even rupturing his kidney when a longshoreman tied him up too tightly. But seemingly nothing could pierce his image of impermeability. Though Houdini was never considered as masterful in the art of technical magic as some of his contemporaries, his commitment to bold, daring stunts makes many remember him as the world’s greatest magician.

Houdini’s death on Halloween of 1926 was just as mysterious as his lifetime of tricks. His death is attributed to complications from appendicitis, which likely traced to a lecture at McGill University weeks earlier, where a student had challenged Houdini’s claim that he could withstand punches and hit him forcibly in the stomach. But no autopsy was performed, and rumors of his cause of death have continued to swirl. Some even speculate that enemies in the Spiritualism movement planned his assassination.

Although he never believed the spiritualists’ claims, Houdini did promise his wife, Bess, that he’d communicate a secret code to her from the beyond if he could. For a decade, Bess attended séances hoping for a signal from him, but his voice had been silenced by the grave”.

Let’s end this series by going back to the start of Kate Bush’s career. Them Heavy People is the song that influenced this series and its title. She mentions Gurdjieff (who you can read about here) and Jesu. I will come to words from Kate Bush about the song but, in writing about Them Heavy People, it takes me to her brief time in Japan. I also want to look back to 1978 and how unique she was. How the press perceived her. Also, why we should listen more to Bush’s earlier albums. Let’s start out with some background and explanation from Bush about this track. That takes me again to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia:

“The idea for ‘Heavy People’ came when I was just sitting one day in my parents’ house. I heard the phrase “Rolling the ball” in my head, and I thought that it would be a good way to start a song, so I ran in to the piano and played it and got the chords down. I then worked on it from there. It has lots of different people and ideas and things like that in it, and they came to me amazingly easily – it was a bit like ‘Oh England’, because in a way so much of it was what was happening at home at the time. My brother and my father were very much involved in talking about Gurdjieff and whirling Dervishes, and I was really getting into it, too. It was just like plucking out a bit of that and putting it into something that rhymed. And it happened so easily – in a way, too easily. I say that because normally it’s difficult to get it all to happen at once, but sometimes it does, and that can seem sort of wrong. Usually you have to work hard for things to happen, but it seems that the better you get at them the more likely you are to do something that is good without any effort. And because of that it’s always a surprise when something comes easily. I thought it was important not to be narrow-minded just because we talked about Gurdjieff. I knew that I didn’t mean his system was the only way, and that was why it was important to include whirling Dervishes and Jesus, because they are strong, too. Anyway, in the long run, although somebody might be into all of them, it’s really you that does it – they’re just the vehicle to get you there.
I always felt that ‘Heavy People’ should be a single, but I just had a feeling that it shouldn’t be a second single, although a lot of people wanted that. Maybe that’s why I had the feeling – because it was to happen a little later, and in fact I never really liked the album version much because it should be quite loose, you know: it’s a very human song. And I think, in fact, every time I do it, it gets even looser. I’ve danced and sung that song so many times now, but it’s still like a hymn to me when I sing it. I do sometimes get bored with the actual words I’m singing, but the meaning I put into them is still a comfort. It’s like a prayer, and it reminds me of direction. And it can’t help but help me when I’m singing those words. Subconsciously they must go in.

Kate Bush Club newsletter number 3, November 1979”.

It is a shame that Kate Bush did not like the studio version. I love it. Though the live performances during The Tour of Life – her one and only tour, it took place in 1979 and saw her perform in the U.K. and Europe – bring new life and layers out. A looser and perhaps livelier and interesting version. Songs like this were parodied. People think Kate Bush was this airy-headed singer waffling on about philosophy and niche things. Being arty and weird for the sake of it. Though this bravery to be true and uninhibited can be heard through her career. The Kick Inside was recorded and released when she was so young (she was nineteen when it came out on 17th February, 1978). Rather than write about love in a very commercial and ordinary way, this was an artist writing about so0 many interesting things. I do love Them Heavy People. Her fascination with Gurdjieff, Jesu and other teachers. Her brother John was a reader and poet and no doubt would have exposed his sister to these people. The end of this feature looks to Kate Bush now and me writing why we need to value more her earliest work. Even if Kate Bush herself perhaps feels it is not her best. I do want to include the invaluable Dreams of Orgonon – who have been so useful and present in these features and I offer huge thanks! -, and what they say about Them Heavy People:

“There is a cosmic law which says that every satisfaction must be paid for with a dissatisfaction.”
— G. I. Gurdjieff.

The philosopher-mystic G. I. Gurdjieff’s spiritual path The Fourth Way presents a response to three ways of enlightenment: disciplining the body, emotions, or mind (these are the paths of the fakir, the monk, and yogi, but this isn’t a theology blog). Rather than focusing on becoming one’s true self through just one of these channels, Gurdjieff taught a Fourth Way which prioritized all of them at once. This was a way for people to learn their true selves by engaging with this path in daily working life without undertaking John the Baptistian asceticism. Gurdjieff’s doctrine caught on with such figures as P. L. Travers, Robert Anton Wilson, Peter Brook, and became influential in its disparate, scattered way.

The reference to Gurdjieff in “Them Heavy People” is notable for how it tips an already offbeat song into esoterica. Like much of The Kick Inside, the song is Bush paying her debts to influences and teachers. A number of musicians of the time had spiritual gurus: Pete Townshend never stopped writing songs about Meher Baba, Dave Davies followed yoga teachings, and the Beatles famously lavished Maharishi Mahesh Yogi with attention for a period. Bush touches on this fad not by leaning exclusively on Gurdjieff but by discussing the wonders of influence and being taught.

Bush begins the song with a single phrase, “rolling the ball,” which she calls back and forth across the song’s intro like (fittingly) a ball. She proceeds to speak of having existed in a state of social and mental inertia (“I was hiding in a room in my mind,” “I’d shut the people out of my life”) until some instructive magi hoisted her out of her ennui. Bush is vague on the extent of her isolation, focusing more on how cool it is to be influenced by wise people (the “heavy people” of her title), “wonderful teachers ready to teach me.” The people helping her bring her out of her plight matter more than the spot she found herself in.

So what exactly did the heavy people do to Bush? Their treatments range from the scriptural (“they read me Gurdjieff and Jesu”) to the ascetic (“they build up my body/break me emotionally/it’s nearly killing me/but what a lovely feeling”) to ritual (“I love the whirling of the dervishes”). Bush conjures up a series of esoteric images, ideas keeping her alive mentally and physically as well as spiritually. She’s stepping forward from where she began the song, her eyes tracking a pendulum-like ball, or perhaps getting something started. Gurdjieff’s teachings are compatible with Bush’s aesthetic here: they unify the body with the mind, keeping both alive and in a constant dialogue with each other”.

Them Heavy People was released as a single in Japan and retitled Roiling the Ball. It was featured in a Seiko watch advert Bush appeared in. Dreams of Orgonon have also written about that trip of June 1978. It was a weird thing. Rolling the Ball peaked at number three on the Japanese Oricon Singles Chart. She was successful there for a brief period, though it was not a long-term relationship. Something about her music that resonated with people there. A philosophical or spiritual quality that connected with a more peaceful and curious nation compared to, say, America. Bush seen as too odd or uncommercial in the U.S. Even in this country, she was subjected to misogyny and ridicule. People feeling a track like Them Heavy People was ridiculous. The song expresses an insistent desire to learn as much as possible, while she is still young. That is a plaudit-worthy thing. Though, in 1978, New Wave and Punk were more popular, and artists were writing about politics and an anger and unrest. Pop artist discussing love and traditional subjects. Kate Bush offering something deeper and more interesting. When artists do this, they are open to scrutiny and criticism. Though I feel Kate Bush’s intelligence and bravery should be rewarded. What could have been a one-dimensional song about curiosity and discovering the teachings of people like Gurdjieff and Jesu has this depth and nuance. Again, people are connecting with Bush’s earlier work. So much attention given to Hounds of Love (1985) and that period. Though listen to songs like Them Heavy People. Pop artists of today I feel are taking elements, if not of that song directly, The Kick Inside as a whole. Kate Bush was not keen on her first few albums. Maybe writing them off at a point and feeling they were not her vision and instead something she was part of but not in control of, we need to reappraise. In terms of their power and influence. It is unfair to call them good or promising but not as worthy as later albums. Songs like Them Heavy People are as important and potent as anything she has released.

I want to end with an interview that highlights a few things. First, that she was subjected to creepy journalists who were more invested in her beauty than anything. Also, just how compelling and charming she is. The below interview was published in February 1978, the month The Kick Inside was released. Even though you hear about her sexiness and beauty – the lure and sleaze of ale journalists started very early! -, Bush’s answers and sheer joy is a reason why we need to spend more time with her early work. Dig out these interviews and learn more about this teenage artist who soon would conquer the world. I will wrap up with Kate Bush now. Though, this Evening News interview ("Sexy Kate Sings Like An Angel") is illuminating:

“Kate Bush was a wistful, wide-eyed 14 year-old schoolgirl when she first realised she was destined to become a star.

By the time she was 16, EMI Records had released it too and they advanced her L3,000 to live on while she developed her prodigious song-writing and singing talents.

Now, at 19, her first record - a plaintive, tormented song, "Wuthering Heights" - has just been released.

The record has jumped into the top twenty and I'll be astonished if it doesn't make No. 1 by the middle of next month.

Yet the song is merely the tip of a whole iceberg of talent.

And, having listened to Kate's album, The Kick Inside, and been charmed by her company I'm convinced she is the most important girl singer to have emerged in Britain for at least ten years.

SEXUAL

She's beautiful too and very sexy - al huge brown eyes and long, tangled auburn hair.

"But I'm not going to fall into the trap of doing the whole female thing, being a sex object," she says.

"I think a lot of woman are conditioned to want to look like that when they are young.

"But it's so dangerous to come on all sexual because straightaway you are label as a woman instead of an artist."

"I'm very interested, though, in people's emotions and their relationships. I'm intrigued by the way women use their power over men.

"They can use their bodies and they can use the obviously sexual way to get through but I just think that's wrong.

"That's relying on something that is fading and something that is purely material anyway - it's not really anything."

Kate's fascination with relationships prompted her to write "Wuthering Heights".

It is a strange, almost mystical song which is based around the part of the novel by Emily Bronte where Cathy wants to take Heathcliffe's soul so they can be together in the spiritual world.

"I developed a kind of fascination with Cathy after I saw the last 10 minutes of the television series where she was at the window and cutting herself with the glass. It always stuck in my brain.

"It was probably a lot to do with the fact that her name was Cathy - and I was always called that as a child.

"My feeling about it was so strong that it kept coming back to me again and again.

"Then I read the book and discovered that Emily Bronte had her birthday on the same day as me, July 30, and I really, really wanted to write a song about it all."

She is the daughter of a general practitioner and was brought up in a middle-class home at Plumbstead, in Kent.

"I have two older brothers and they were both very keen on musical instruments so I just grew up with music all around me," she says.

"When I was about 11 I just started poking around at the piano and started making up little songs.

"It was just an easy way to release all the energy I felt inside me. I never played Beatle songs or anything like. I was always just exploring the instrument.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

"Then, when I was 14, I started taking it seriously and i began to treat the words to the songs as poetry. I'd always been keen on poetry at school and it was lovely to put the poems together with the music."

Her brothers were astute enough to realise that here's was a quite exceptional talent - but no record companies were interested when they were offered tapes of little Kate singing and playing the piano.

Eventually, via a friend of a friend, Dave Gilmour, Pink Floyd's millionaire guitarist, came to hear about this strange little girl who sang like an angel.

"I was really nervous about meeting Dave but he was so nice and kind," she says.

"He told me to go into a studio to make a finished demo tape and then to select the three best songs and to offer them to a record company.

"Dave took me into AIR London studios and put up the money for everything. It must have cost a fortune but he didn't want to get anything out of it.

"He's done the same sort of things with a couple of bands. He just discovers them and tries to help them. Since then he's always kept in touch and made sure everything is going OK."

EMI jumped at the chance of signing Kate up when they heard the tape.

"But," she says, "I was only just 16 and then and - though everyone had been telling me for a couple of years I was going to be a star I wasn't really capable of handling it. I needed time."

GIGGLES

So, spared from the drudgery of having to work by EMI's generous advance, Kate first studied mime under Lindsay Kemp - David Bowie's old tutor, then moved on to work at the Dance Centre, in Covent Garden.

"I couldn't believe how hopeless I was," she giggles.

"I went on thinking: 'Oh well I'll have this off in a week.' But after a year I realised that I didn't know anything - ten years and I might just be starting to get good. It really is so very difficult."

During this period she moved from her parents' home to a flat in a house owned by her father in Lewisham.

"It was good for me to be independent," she says.

"I didn't leave home because we were having home troubles. I did it because I wanted to maybe grow up a bit, to find out about the world - to be myself and not have the influence of my parents all the time.

"In fact my father owning the flat is a great situation because both my brothers have flats below me and they are always there when I need them."

She composes now on a honky-tonk piano she bought from a second-hand show in Woolwich.

"I feel as though I've built up a real relationship with the piano," she says. "It's almost like a person. Like, it's really comforting just to sit down and play it.

"And the piano almost dictates what my songs will be about.

"If I haven't got a particular idea I just sit down and play chords and then the chords almost dictate what the song should be about because they have their own moods”.

I am finishing off here, as I feel I have said everything I need to. I wonder what Kate Bush things of her earliest work and songs like Them Heavy People. I feel they are being discovered by a new generation. I have heard artists like Billie Eilish herald her earlier, ‘weirder’ music. It is as powerful and important now more than ever. I feel her songwriting is a big reason why. The characters she puts in her music was a reason I started this series. Ending with ‘them heavy people’ who hit her “in the soft spot”. This incredible young artist exploring beyond the ordinary and personal. Songs like Them Heavy People show she was a genius from the start. Why this work needs more exposure and discussion. Even though she has fans today and so many artists cite her as an influence, it is clear that there is...

NOBODY quite like her.

FEATURE: A New Dawn Beckoning: The Dream and Fantasy of a New Kate Bush Album

FEATURE:

 

 

A New Dawn Beckoning

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 2005/PHOTO CREDIT: Trevor Leighton

The Dream and Fantasy of a New Kate Bush Album

__________

THIS is the longest period…

since Kate Bush has released an album. I do not think that we will get an announcement this year, as I could imagine she would announce a new album in the spring or the start of summer for an autumn release. That said, you can never predict Kate Bush! I am writing this on 19th July, though it will not be shared until August, so I am aware that things could change between now and then! I do have this recurring fantasy that I know can be a reality, as Kate Bush does not know who I am and any news of a new album would come directly from her. Bush is different to other artists. Most major musicians would put out some teaser clips or they would do these various stages. With Kate Bush, there will be an announcement on her website with a release date and the first single news. That would be it. She is not going to change her dynamic and plan because of what other artists Are doing. That is a major reason to love Kate Bush. Even contemporaries who have been around as long or longer sort of conform or at least slot in to what is going on around them. Madonna and Paul McCartney spring to mind. Their release schedule and plan is very similar to younger artists. In terms of how they post videos and there is this whole cycle. It is understandable, though both could afford to be a bit more like Kate Bush. Not giving any notice and being quite old-school. I grew up pre-social media when artists would announce an album and you’d discover it through music news or the music press. There would not be this drip-feed approach. It would massive that Kate Bush released Director’s Cut six years after Aerial. That was a big period between releases, but not the longest she has left. Aerial comes to mind when thinking about Kate Bush now.

In 1993, Bush released The Red Shoes. After that came out, it is clear that she needed a period of change and stability. Her mother died in 1992 and, although she found a new love in the form of Dan McIntosh (who she is married to and has a son with, Bertie), she had experienced heartache and loss. Her work was perhaps not up to her gold standard. A sense of personal disappointment coming in. Many people felt Kate Bush was past her best and this was it. In the 1990s, so many female artists influenced by her were getting attention. The likes of Fiona Apple and Tori Amos. Seemingly fresher and more appealing, this iconic artist lost some favour and momentum. I don’t know if I was too aware of Kate Bush’s imbalance and life in the 1990s as other music was in my mind. It was a time of Britpop – or just before – and other scenes coming in. It was a big surprise when Aerial arrived in 2005. A double album, it is considered one of her masterpieces. The fact that there has been a twelve-year wait made the arrival of this album extra special and unexpected. I do think that it was a crucial moment. Now, in 2005, Bush had a young son (Bertie was born in 1998) and she was married to Dan McIntosh. Not in London, life was more stable and happier. You can see that in Aerial. One could forgive Kate Bush for waiting as long to follow up such a big album. However, 2011 is a year when she released two studio albums. Director’s Cut combined songs from The Sensual World (1989) and The Red Shoes (1993). Songs reworked and re-recorded. Kate Bush maybe not completely happy with the production on these albums. Even if it was not what fans were expecting, this retrospection was new. The first big example of Bush looking back and reworking and reassessing her music. She has reissued albums and been retrospective since, through it was quite new in 2011. 1986’s The Whole Story, her greatest hits album, the first case of retrospection.

It is interesting listening to promotional interviews around Director’s Cut. What compelled her to make the album and why she wanted to revisit those two particular albums. In November 2011, Kate Bush released 50 Words for Snow. It was such a departure from Director’s Cut. Bush wanted to revisit and correct on Director’s Cut to make space for this new album. She released two albums in 1978 – her debut, The Kick Inside, and Lionheart -, but this was a unique set of circumstances. This was in her power and in her control. A massive task to undertake, fans got this double treat in 2011. By the end of that year, Bush had technically released four albums in six years. That is not a bad average! Kate Bush has not been idle since then. In fact, I feel she has been engaging with fans and the media quite a bit. Her 2014 Before the Dawn residency was another big undertaking. She has reissued her studio albums and there has been the whole Stranger Things explosion. That was in 2022 when Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) came out. Bush directed the video for Little Shrew (Snowflake). That single was designed to raise money for War Child UK. Snowflake appeared on 50 Words for Snow. The Little Shrew character provided this representation of someone caught up ion conflict. Maybe in Ukraine. It was a wonderful project that is still raising funding for War Child UK. There has been a lot happening since 2011. However, 21st November marks fifteen years since the release of 50 Words for Snow. Going back to what I was saying about that dream announcement, I do feel it is so unlikely anyone bar Kate Bush would deliver new album news. Though I love the idea of going on a station like BBC Radio 6 Music and getting to announcement the album and the first single. Whatever happens in regards a new album, it is going to be the biggest wave of joy and excitement we will see for years. That may seem like an overstatement, but think about the gap between albums and how many new fans Kate Bush has. Upcoming artists and major acts who have talked about her work. Including Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo. Her music has spread to new generations and there is going to be a very big wave of affection and delight. Even though 2005’s Aerial was met with this anticipation, I do feel that there is even more anticipation now.

I think back to 2005 and learning news of a new Kate Bush album. It sort of came out of nowhere, but when you hear interviews and she talked about her son and new family life, you can appreciate why there was this twelve-year gap. Now, with there not being that responsibility, I am not sure why there has been such a wait. Though we need to give Kate Bush time and she will put an album out when she feels fit. I would say it is likely to happen next year, yet it could be this year or 2028. As I say, you can never predict Kate Bush! No fan like me is going to get that chance to announce her new album. Only Kate Bush will do that. Not knowing exactly when is a mixed blessing. I love how she is not conforming to social media and modern promotion. Things other artists have to get momentum and traction. The sheer fact it has been nearly fifteen years since she released an album in itself will do most of the work. The sheer earthquake and the ripples it will cause. People sharing the news which will get people buying in droves. We do not know what form an album will take and whether it will be similar to Aerial or 50 Words for Snow or nod back to earlier albums. Given that I have heard some younger artists like Billie Eilish say they like earlier ‘weirder’ Kate Bush does make me wonder if she will change course and there will be this revelation. Bush turned sixty-eight on 30th July, so she is not completely going to go back to those earlier days. We are in a moment when Kate Bush’s influence is everywhere. So many artists can be traced to her. I have written about it extensively. Even if modern icons like Charli xcx are major Kate Bush fans, I doubt Bush will deliver her version of BRAT or follow Madonna back onto the dancefloor. What you will get is something uniquely Kate Bush! It will be magnificent and phenomenal. I could be wrong with my prediction, though I feel a 2027 release is not out of the question. Fifty years since she recorded her debut album, The Kick Inside, a new Kate Bush album would be timely and wonderful. Who knows what the next few months hold in that respect. That unpredictability is one of many reasons why we love Kate Bush. Her Christmas message will be out in December. If there is no new music before then, will she hint at a possible release next year?! When it comes to this music queen, who really knows…

WHAT we will get?!

FEATURE: Back on the Tracks… Why a New Campaign from National Rail Should Encourage More People to Listen to Albums

FEATURE:

 

 

Back on the Tracks…

PHOTO CREDIT: Fatih Güney/Pexels

Why a New Campaign from National Rail Should Encourage More People to Listen to Albums

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THERE have been so many…

PHOTO CREDIT: Mike Norris/Pexels

fantastic albums released this year. Which has been the best so far? I would say Olivia Rodrigo’s you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love. Perhaps it is not indicative of the wider world, though a new National Rail campaign reacts to some shocking statics regarding how many people have listened to a full album this year. I think that streaming dominates and people are hand-picking tracks rather than listening to albums in full. This NME article highlights a shocking reality regarding the percentage of adults who have actually listened to an album in the pas year:

“National Rail’s Track Reset campaign, which aims to encourage listeners to seek music outside of their comfort zones, shared the results of a survey of 2,000 UK adults which painted a stark picture of the popularity of the album format in an era where streaming dominates.

41 per cent of those surveyed had not listened to a full album (from beginning to end) in the last year, with eight per cent admitting they had never done so. Repetition was also a common factor, with those surveyed listening to their favourite track an average of 343 times a year. Reasons given for going back to the same songs include nostalgia (50 per cent), comfort (50 per cent), and simply “I like what I like” (65 per cent).

To encourage exploration in listeners, National Rail partnered with DJ Adriano Desire and music psychologist Dr Ruth Herbert to create Track Reset, a three minute track designed to “clear the palette” and make the listener more receptive to musical discovery.

National Album Day was launched in 2018 to celebrate “the album as an art form”, with artists chosen as Album Champions each year. The 2026 event will be held on October 17, and in May announced PinkPantheress among the latest Album Champions.

“Music is experienced in ways that are unique to every listener,” the artist said in a statement. “I love revisiting albums that I discovered at different times in my life, while always keeping an ear out for new sounds. This year, I encourage everyone to do the same for National Album Day”.

That is quite a lot to take in. Maybe there is still a generational divide. People who grew up listening to physical albums still do, whilst younger listeners perhaps not listening to albums the whole way through. Neary ten per cent of adults have not listened to an album in full ever! That is quite hard to take in. I would suspect that it is younger adults who have never listened to an album. A sad side-effect of a streaming age. How we have access to so much music, though many just want to hear particular tracks. I have listened to full albums, yet I don’t feel I have listened to as many as I should have. Though it is part of what I do, so I know this is not the case with most people. That idea of provided a three-minute track to reset the listener. I do think that we get caught in a loop and pattern. What we like is what we go for, and the idea of hearing an entire album may seem too much. Kerrang! published a feature as to why listening to albums in full is good for our health:

“Could you imagine a world where catch-ups with friends lasted no longer than 10 minutes? Or what it’d be like to go to the cinema and have the film constantly fast-forwarded to the biggest moments of action? Alarmingly, our relationship with music is becoming like this.

We’re skipping tracks and speeding up songs, trialling them by their first chorus only and then moving on. Even those of us who live and breathe music are impacted by the competitive nature of social media and the culture of quickness that is diminishing our ability to savour art like a rich slab of chocolate or a good shag.

But it’s not you or your mind that is at fault – it’s the society we live in. We were once simple creatures who hunted, gathered and purely survived. Now we pay taxes, work 40-hour weeks and are attached to phones filled with people we haven’t spoken to since sprouting our first leg hair, who are now turning themselves into AI caricatures.

Dr. Julia Jones, a neuroscientist known as Dr. Rock, has dedicated 35 years to championing the benefits of having more music in our lives. She also plays lead guitar in a band called Pretty Crap, and was shown just how powerful music can be in the early ’90s, when she studied the U.S. Navy SEALs as they used music to increase physical endurance, reduce anxiety and boost motivation.

“From an evolutionary point of view, it was normal and beneficial to have a brain that was distracted by things, because that’s how we stayed alive,” she explains while proudly sporting a Pretty Crap band tee. “You needed to be able to see if something was moving [nearby], because it could have been something coming to harm you.

“Fast-forward to the modern era, we introduced an education system that punishes you for having that kind of response. We have to narrow our focus in quite an unnatural way… With the amount of digital usage that we’ve got, the amount of distractions, it’s not surprising we find it difficult to relax.”

Among lots of brilliant work about the benefits of music, Dr. Rock was involved in a 2019 study about the positive impact of albums. Within the report, she shared how listening to albums at night can be one of the most beneficial ways to not only absorb the music, but allow it to slow us down.

“When you’re in a safe environment, [like] your bedroom, your brain associates it with safety and sleep,” she says. “It’s dark so you haven’t got the input channel of the eyes distracting you. It’s only your thoughts that are remaining at that point, so there’s less competition for the music.”

If you struggle to focus on music alone, then listening while doing a simple task can make for a great starting point. Dr. Rock suggests listening while driving a familiar route as an example. Some may refer to this as being in a flow state or on ‘autopilot’.

“That is the genius aspect of the brain called neuroplasticity; it changes and evolves and there’s a process called long-term potentiation, which is how we form habits,” she says. “As you repeat a thing over and over, the prefrontal cortex has to be less involved because all of the brain cells that were involved in that action have been connected together to such an extent that it then can just run on its own.”

Another expert who believes in the healing power of albums is Professor Abigail Gardner of the University of Gloucestershire. Some have already dismissed the idea of ‘going analogue’ and disconnecting from the online world as a passing trend, but we need to make a shift, and Professor Gardner thinks physical media could be the key.

Not everyone can afford to buy CDs or vinyl, but if possible, they can not only help our connection to music grow much deeper, but the format can combat the unbearable onslaught of distractions we face when listening digitally.

“If you’ve got a hard copy album, you are witness to the band’s broader life: the visuals, the lyrics, who’s been involved,” she begins. “You can see the life of the album a bit more. If you’re playing vinyl, the technology dictates how you listen to it, because you can switch the needle through, but it’s not particularly easy.”

You might be under the impression it’s purely younger people who’ve grown up with TikTok who struggle to take in longer forms of music, but actually, we are all affected by the platforms we use to consume it.

“It’s what we call technological determinism or platform determinism,” Professor Gardner explains. “The platform dictates how you consume. I know that if I’m on Spotify or [Apple Music], I won’t [always] listen to the whole single. The clickability is built into that. I know of academics who did a study of the Top 100 Billboard songs over the last decades, and they noticed that the hook was coming in earlier into a song.”

Not only are there huge benefits to listening to albums, but it’s also a much stronger way to support your favourite artists and the work that goes into their craft. Hot Milk’s Jim Shaw was referred to by bandmate Han Mee as the most stressed-out man in Salford back in our 2025 Kerrang! Cover Story, and he certainly knows of the sheer dedication that goes into recording music.

He was heavily involved with the production work on Hot Milk’s latest record, Corporation P.O.P, and says there is a lot of thought that goes into the minutiae of every sound. There are elements that are easy to miss when we listen to songs out of order.

“Two songs together might share relative keys, a bpm change, or some sort of mesh between the two,” Jim begins. “Stuff like that I’ve always found really cool. It’s that journey, and if you’re listening to one amongst other songs, you lose all that.

“Interlude tracks are kind of missed on people. If you listen to it in isolation, it doesn’t make any sense, but if you listen to it in the whole album it could be a breath from four absolute stonker tracks just smashing the shit out of you, and you have this reset moving into the next phase.”

Despite the obvious downsides to streaming, there are some benefits. One of the most significant is how much music discovery has grown. We can find our new favourite bands through suggested playlists and simple online searches. Social media virality also has a part to play in this aspect, but a new study found that for the artists themselves, going viral rarely has a long-term effect financially.

“You can find your next favourite band so quickly, but it also means that you can just skip through things, not really thinking about what you’re listening to. It’s that throwaway culture,” says Jim. “I wonder about bands like Tool: how would they [start out] in a world like today with these huge 10-minute songs?”.

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I do hope that things change. On 17th October, it is National Album Day. This year’s theme is celebrating music icons contemporary and historic. It is a shame that people are still gravitating more to tracks or picking this and that rather than spending time immersed in an album. It is a bad habit I am guilty of, though I know how vital the album is. We have the ability to listen to albums through streaming, so the cost aspect should not hold people back. An artist wants the audience to listen to the album in full, rather than select a few tracks. The large percentage of us who have not heard a full album this past year is being tackled and addressed by National Rail and their Track Reset campaign. Their reset track is a good start, but it is incumbent on all of us to do more and ensure that we appreciate albums! There are those health benefits. How many of us are stressed and overworked. Albums are beneficial and can help when it comes to our anxieties and stresses. I do feel that letting an album run and listening from start to finish is restorative. Jumping between tracks can be a bit distracting and you can never really focus. I can understand and appreciate why people want nostalgia and go for their favourite tracks. But we cannot forget the album and why it is so important. There is so much to experience and enjoy. You get this complete story and so many different ideas and themes! I find it sad that fewer people are enjoying albums and instead go for something faster and more familiar. The beautiful and historical album is a…

WONDERFUL listening experience.

FEATURE: Of Wolf and Man: Metallica at Thirty-Five

FEATURE:

 

 

Of Wolf and Man

Metallica at Thirty-Five

__________

THIS is one of…

IN THIS PHOTO: Metallica (L-R) Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich (back to camera) James Hetfield and Jason Newsted on the Nowhere Else to Roam tour in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: Ross Halfin

the most-streamed albums of the 1990s. Metallica is the incredible eponymous album from the American band (James Hetfield – guitars, vocals; Lars Ulrich – drums, percussion on The God That Failed and My Friend of Misery; Kirk Hammett – lead guitar; Jason Newsted – bass). Also known as The Black Album, it was released on 12th August, 1991. I want to mark thirty-five years of a Metal classic. Reaching number one in the U.S. (and other nations), Metallica was a change in the band's style. From the Thrash Metal sound of their previous four albums to a slower, heavier, and more refined feel. Three years after ...And Justice for All, they provided something that was a bit of a change for fans. However, the popularity of this monster album meant that it was accepted and embraced. I do want to start out with Billboard  and their feature from 2016. Marking twenty-five years of Metallica, it is an album that transformed Metal and brought it to the masses. In the process, it “cemented Metallica as one of the biggest and most-legendary bands in history”:

“Metallica changed the face of heavy metal when they released their self-titled fifth album, also known as The Black Album, on Aug. 12, 1991. The monumental effort saw the band step in a more melodic direction than their previous thrash metal sound and helped garner a mainstream following. It is by far their biggest album, shifting over 16 million copies in the U.S., making it the best-selling album of the Nielsen SoundScan era (1991 to present).

It spawned the singles “Enter Sandman,” “The Unforgiven,” “Wherever I May Roam” and the first Metalliballad, “Nothing Else Matters.” It also features some incredible deep cuts like “The God That Failed” and “My Friend of Misery.” The album won the Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 1992, beating the likes of Anthrax, Megadeth, Motorhead and Soundgarden.

In the documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica, Bassist Jason Newsted explained, “On this album we really went after a rhythm section, an actual rhythm section like it’s supposed to be… like everyone else has known about for a long time and we are just now realizing it or something.”

Bob Rock, who was in high demand after helming Motley Crue’s chart topping Dr. Feelgood, produced the album and gave Metallica a slick, polished rock sound. Rock focused heavily on James Hetfield’s vocals and wanted to capture a true rhythm section, which was notably absent on Metallica’s previous album 1988’s …And Justice For All. Many of the songs were based on vocal lines, a first for the band. Hetfield explained, “We wanted to concentrate more on the vocals. We never really took the time to do that with any of the vocal stuff.” He added, “The vocals really had to take over in a lot of songs.”

The Black Album is a landmark effort that brought heavy metal to the masses and cemented Metallica as one of the biggest and most-legendary bands in history. In 1991 the group went from a cult band to global superstars. While some of their hardcore and longtime fans believe the band “sold out” on the effort, drummer Lars Ulrich brashly refuted the claim saying, “Yeah, we sold out arenas.”

In the end, Rock pushed the band out of their comfort zone and helped create the historic and inspired performances captured on the album.

“Enter Sandman”: The album kicks off with what turned out to be its huge crossover hit. The video was played frequently on MTV and the song received a ton of radio airplay — a big moment for a band that rarely, if ever, hit the airwaves. The platinum-selling single brought an entirely new mainstream audience and suddenly wearing Metallica gear didn’t come with a negative stereotype. The track introduced fans to the band’s new sound spotlighted the rhythm section featuring Ulrich’s famous backbeat drums, Newsted’s distinctly audible bass frequencies, Hetfield’s improved and powerful vocals, as well as Kirk Hammett’s notable wah-infused guitar solo.

“The Unforgiven”: The album’s second single reversed the tide of such previous spotlight songs such as “Fade to Black” and “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” by swapping the distorted verse with a clean and melodic sound, while interchanging the heavy chorus for a bright and dulcet one. Hammett struggled in the studio to lay down the guitar solo on the song, but in the end laid down powerful and memorable work. He later said, “It’s pretty much the type of guitar solo I’ve been trying to do for the past five or six years. I’m really proud of that.”

“Nothing Else Matters”: The first true Metalliballad shows off Hetfield’s songwriting and improved vocals. Rock brought in a keyboardist and a string section to layer textures onto the track. The music video features the band recording in the studio and is highlighted by Hetfield’s melodic guitar solo, which surprised many fans who were more accustomed to Hammett always taking the lead”.

In 2015, Ultimate Classic Rock wrote how Metallica turned them into superstars. They call it The Black Album but, like The Beatles/The White Album, the eponymous is correct, so I am going to refer to it as such. Metallica still sounds phenomenal thirty-five years later:

“We wanted to create a different record and offer something new to our audience. I hate it when bands stop taking chances," added Hammett. "A lot of bands put out the same record three or four times, and we didn't want to fall into that rut."

"They had broken through to one level, but they still weren’t on mainstream radio," Rock told Music Radar. "When they came to me, they were ready to make that leap to the big, big leagues. A lot of people think that I changed the band. I didn’t. In their heads, they were already changed when I met them."

Those changes caught up with fans on Aug. 12, 1991, when the new self-titled effort — informally referred to as the Black Album due to its nearly featureless black cover — arrived in stores. Even though the lead-off single, "Enter Sandman," proved Metallica had lost none of their trademark snarling swagger, the band's sound had definitely changed in some very noticeable ways. There was no arguing with the muscle and polished heft Rock brought to the group's historically rather muddy sonics, and the songs boasted plenty of the live feel that he and the band members had painstakingly assembled over a grueling period of months. But they were also shorter, leaner and more varied — and not everyone appreciated the evolution.

"I've run into fans who think the album's crap," grumbled Hammett in a 1991 interview with Rolling Stone. "Friends of mine who are really hardcore fans have said, 'Well, the album's not as heavy. You guys aren't as heavy as you used to be.' I go, 'Man, you're trying to tell me 'Sad But True' isn't heavy? 'Holier Than Thou' isn't heavy? How do you define heavy?'"

"Kids come up and say, 'How come you don't do Kill 'Em All again?'" added Hetfield. "And I go, 'Yeah, I like that album too. But there's more to our music than that.' We can still do it live, and when we play it, we mean it, man. But we have those songs in the set already. And they'll be there for the life of the band. But sitting there and worrying about whether people are going to like the album, therefore we have to write a certain kind of song – you just end up writing for someone else. Everyone's different. If everyone was the same, it would be boring as shit."

If the new songs didn't thrash as hard as their predecessors, the new album was heavier in at least one respect: Rock's production took a much more dynamic approach to the music, allowing the instruments more room to breathe — particularly Jason Newsted's bass, which had been all but squeezed out of the mix during their previous effort, 1988's ...And Justice for All.

The fatter bottom end fans heard on the Black Album was coupled with a change in the way drummer Lars Ulrich approached his own contributions to the tracks.

"I noticed that Lars played to James’s guitar, much like the way that Keith Moon played to Pete Townshend. That’s fine for some bands, but not every one," Rock explained. "Lars wanted Metallica to groove more. AC/DC’s Back in Black was a big reference point as a rock record that grooved. I told him that in order to get that feel, he had to be the focal point musically. So on certain songs, the band played to Lars. They followed him. It made a real difference."

Newsted's bass wasn't the only new sound that filtered into the mix — Rock also encouraged the group to add an assortment of other sonic touches, including sitar and cello, and allowed them free rein to experiment with more melodic material like the eventual hit "Nothing Else Matters," which found Hetfield tapping into a whole new side of his singing skills.

"It's absolutely crazy, that was the song that I thought was least Metallica, least likely to ever played by us, the last song anyone would really want to hear. It was a song for myself in my room on tour when I was bumming out about being away from home," Hetfield later told the Village Voice. "I'm grateful that the guys forced me to take it out of my tape player and make it Metallica”.

 

Prior to getting to a review of Metallica, The Independent marked thirty years of a classic. This titanic eponymous album turned “Metallica from niche concern to mainstream titans in the early Nineties”. I still think that it is inspiring artists to this day. One of the greatest albums ever released:

“Metallica punctured the charts because they also understood song construction. “They are great songwriters, the songs have great melodies and progressions,” agrees Luciano. “When you take those kinds of good bones and add a different mood to it, you still can’t escape the best part – the songwriting.”

The other reason The Black Album went interstellar was because Metallica’s record label, knowing they had a hit on their hands, put all their resources behind it.

“They were marketed extremely well,” says Stenning. “The promotion for the album – free, large-scale listening sessions, for instance – was unprecedented. And then their tour with Guns N’ Roses [across the US in summer 1992] really took them to a new audience and made it apparent that the two worlds – hard rock and metal – were now somehow acceptable to be merged together, whereas before that had never happened and was totally unacceptable… They became the ‘universal’ metal band.”

There was something ironic about Guns ’N Roses and Metallica touring together. While Nirvana’s Nevermind, released on 24 September 1991, is credited with killing off the Eighties “hair-metal” scene that spawned Axl Rose and Slash’s LA rockers, the truth is Metallica had just as big a hand in bringing about its extinction. They may even have helped clear the path for grunge.

“The music journalist narrative has long been that Nirvana finished off hair metal,” says Albert Mudrian, editor of American hard rock magazine Decibel. “And while they may have fired the kill shot, it was Metallica’s Black Album that had already mortally wounded that genre dinosaur. The truth is The Black Album had sold a couple million copies before Nevermind really took off, so an entire generation had a mainstream blueprint for heavier songs with pop sensibilities.

If catchier and better marketed than its predecessors, The Black Album also saw Metallica lower their guards emotionally. This was a first for a group that had traditionally concealed their vulnerable side within squalls of braggadocio.

A case in point is that blistering elegy and central megahit, “Nothing Else Matters”. Written by Hetfield in the middle of a long tour, when he was missing home, it’s raw, earnest and packs a softer punch. Metallica had always hidden behind a theatrical bombast. Now Hetfield was baring his soul on lyrics such as “Never opened myself this way/Life is ours, we live it our way”. He was addressing then-girlfriend, Kristen Martinez, from whom he would separate in 1992.

“‘Nothing Else Matters’ … was a huge turning point,” Hetfield told Playboy. “It was sensitive.”

“James always wants to be perceived as this guy who is very confident and strong,” Hammett had added. “And for him to write lyrics like that – showing a sensitive side – took a lot of balls.”

“Nothing Else Matters” has weathered the years because it comes from a place of simplicity and humility, Dermot Kennedy believes. “[It has] lyrics and chord progressions that can be completely stripped back and still resonate with people, no matter how heavy it is. A song starts with just a single idea, whether that’s musical or lyrical. The fact that it was so easy to strip this song back is testament to the strength of Metallica’s lyrics and musical foundations.”

Metallica’s story didn’t end with The Black Album. Through subsequent years there would be highs and lows – to say nothing of the unintentional comedy of their 2004 rockumentary Some Kind Of Monster, a behind-the-scenes fever dream which challenged This Is Spinal Tap for absurdity. And yet the 1991 LP was their commercial peak – the project that changed everything for them.

The fact that 30 years later artists such as Dermot Kennedy and Miley Cyrus (who inevitably covers “Nothing Else Matters”) are lining up to pay homage speaks to its enduring power and to the fact this was a headbanger opus that smashed through the “metal ceiling” and carried the group shoulder high to the heart of the pop charts. With a rumble and a roar, The Black Album ushered Metallica into the technicolour world of mainstream fame. As Gessle says simply: “It sounds great – and the timing was perfect”.

I am finishing off with a review from Pitchfork. Metallica changed the band’s course and raised them to new heights. In their 2017 review, Pitchfork highlight how (the album’s) “muscular sound would permanently alter the course of heavy music”:

“Metallica’s twelve tracks may be sorted into three categories: angsty arena anthems, furrowed-brow ballads, and tamer, hybridized takes on Metallica’s famous pit-starters. Aside from “Holier Than Thou” and “Through the Never,” which offer red meat for the black-leathered fans of old, the album skews simplistic, melodically and lyrically. Whereas Ride the Lightning and ...And Justice for All prioritized instrumental stunts over melody, Metallica bets it all on Hetfield, a paradigm shift made all the more noticeable by his bandmates’ restraint. Instead of firing off fills, Ulrich keeps it simple, locked in 4/4 throughout (“It’s a little bit like building a house,” he crows in A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica, chest puffed, shit-eating grin on his face, “If you have a good foundation, then…”) Newsted mostly swears by the root notes, but gives millions of would-be bassists their first homework assignment with “My Friend of Misery”’s percolating refrain. While he’s given plenty of room to show off his solos (”Don’t Tread on Me” and “Of Wolf and Man” are particularly fiendish), Hammett’s riffs skew tamer, more deliberate, and subservient to the Hetfield’s pained yowls.

Hetfield pivots between devastating croons and razor-throated yells like a seasoned “American Idol” contestant. “I’m your dream/I’m your eyes/I’m your pain” he sneers on “Sad But True,” a song Rock labelled the heavy metal “Kashmir.” This technique inevitably draws the listener’s focus to Hetfield’s lyrics, which, while perfectly suited for stadium sing-a-longs, aren’t exactly Pulitzer material. You can see the low-hanging rhymes coming from a mile away—“real” and “feel,” “be” and “see,” “you” and “do.” More damningly, it saps his revealing personal narratives of their latent emotional heft.

“The God That Failed” is a bittersweet ode to Hetfield’s mother, a Christian Scientist who succumbed to cancer because she refused to treat it through any means other than faith. And yet, for every devastating couplet (”The healing hand held back the deepened nail/Follow the God that failed”), there’s two chunks of clunky poetry not far behind (”Find your peace/Find your say/Find the smooth road on your way”; “Pride you took/Pride you feel/Pride that you felt when you’d kneel.”)

The simplicity proves far more successful on “Nothing Else Matters,” an acoustic ballad which, however ham-fisted, stands as one of the album’s most revolutionary moments. Here, smack dab in the center of metal’s hyper-masculine universe, we have one of the genre’s most fearsome luminaries singing the praises not of Satan, sex, or the good sweet leaf, but rather a woman. Given the overarching cultural context, Hetfield’s insistence that he’s “Never cared for what they say/Never cared for games they play/Never cared for what they do/Never cared for what they know” scans as a middle finger to all the meatheads who think intimacy and metal are mutually exclusive. His solo acts as the band’s closing argument, undeniable proof that vulnerability could both rock and sell.

August 12, 1991: At midnight, the coup officially begins. The metalheads don their old concert tees and rush, rapt and stoned, to their nearest record store, where they await Metallica’s fifth album coming in droves. The makers of A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica are on hand to chronicle one such release party, and ask the faithful for their thoughts on this monumental album, and what they think it all means. “Reality, man…some shit you just can’t change.” responds one particularly impassioned mullet-man, shouting over his equally-stoked friend. “Listening to the words, it talks about people who, I don’t know, either can’t forgive, or the people that die unforgiven by others,” a soft-spoken young woman posits, reverent, as if contemplating a Rothko.

Just like Metallica’s lyrics, the band’s fans’ insights scan as invariably vague, slightly naive, and unflinchingly, impossibly earnest. It’s only appropriate that these remarks comprise A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica’s opening scene: They’re candids of the Black Album’s power as a tabula rasa for a young, embittered generation, saddled with their parents’ wars and religious scorn. When the hesher in the “Metal Up Your Ass” t-shirt proclaims, “My parents don’t think anything about Metallica, they just ignore it,” he’s really gesturing to a generational victory: Mom and Dad with their heads in the sand, while the kids raise hell and make history.

Heavy metal had officially set up shop on the main stage. As if to prove their point, they hit the road in 1992 with Guns N’ Roses (the only band who rivaled their power at the time; their contemporaneously released albums Use Your Illusion I and II moved 14 million units altogether) for a massive, effects-heavy arena outing. During the band’s run-through of “Fade to Black” at the August 8 stop in Montreal, Hetfield lost track of the band’s complicated pyrotechnics setup and found himself standing atop an erupting grate, leaving the frontman with second- and third-degree burns and forcing his band to the sidelines for several days.

The real burn, though, was still five years off. In May 1996, MTV screened Samuel Bayer’s surreal, melodramatic visual for “Until It Sleeps”—the moody, ur-Godsmack lead single from the Black Album’s successor Load, which removed thrash from the musical equation even further. Five seconds in, we spot Ulrich, dressed like one of the cock-rockers he loved to loathe: thick black eyeliner, shorn head, silver earrings. He drags his hands down his face, his lips curling in a cartoonish gesture of exasperation as if struggling to understand how he ended up in the get-up to begin with. Elsewhere on Load, Hetfield sings in a voice that would usher in the sound of post-grunge and butt rock for the next decade: “Careful what you wish you may regret it/Careful what you wish you just might get it.”

The words drip with meaning now, knowing Metallica’s long road through the turn of the 21st century would be filled with charges of “hair cuts!” and “sell outs!” as well as their own much-derided suit against Napster. There was Newsted’s famous quip from their episode of VH1’s “Behind The Music:” “Yes, we sell out: every seat in the house, every time we play, anywhere we play,” spoken just a few years before he departed the band in early 2001; his acknowledgements of Metallica’s rise in the public sphere and identity crises embedded therein, however lighthearted, nonetheless presaged the physical and existential temper tantrums captured on 2004’s tell-all documentary Some Kind of Monster. Metallica, however, remains the final bastion of focus: a hubristic request for grace masquerading as a show of force, the prophetic turning point for the world’s biggest ever metal band”.

Turning thirty-five on 12th August, I did want to spend some time with the phenomenal Metallica. Whether you see it as The Black Album instead, nobody can deny its importance and legacy. There are other features like this that are interesting to read. In terms of its accolades, Wikipedia detail its success: “In 2000, it was voted number 88 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked Metallica number 255 on "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and then number 235 in a 2020 revised edition of the list. It was also ranked 25th on the magazine's "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" (2017). Spin ranked it number 52 on the "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s" (1999), with its entry reading: "this record's diamond-tipped tuneage stripped the band's melancholy guitar excess down to melodic, radio-ready bullets and ballads”. On 12th August, we salute and celebrate…

A Metal classic.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Miss Monique

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Kate Martin

Miss Monique

__________

THIS incredible D.J. and artist…

played in the U.K. on 26th July at Junction 2 Festival 2026. Miss Monique is someone I have recently connected with. There are some new interviews I want to source. However, I am going back to last year for the first one. DJ Mag chatted with this remarkable Ukrainian D.J. One of the most respected in the world, do make sure that you follow her. As they note in their header, this “Ukrainian DJ, producer and label boss Miss Monique has carved out a global following through her progressive sets that brim with emotional sounds. Now, with a landmark residency at Hï Ibiza and high-profile shows alongside David Guetta and Carl Cox, she opens up about her ever evolving creative journey, falling for the island, and finding freedom in music”. I have so much respect for the mighty Miss Monique:

“Monique is in a reflective mood as she tells us about her personal journey. The road to Hï Ibiza hasn’t been straightforward. Like many Ukrainian artists, her life was disrupted by the Russian invasion of her homeland in February 2022. “When Russia attacked my country and started the war, I had to move to Lisbon to continue working and help Ukraine. It became a place where I could find some peace and process everything that was happening. It gave me time to reflect, to stay grounded, and to continue creating — even in the middle of such emotional, physical chaos.”

Now, she’s found a new base on the White Isle and it’s already beginning to leave its mark, both personally and creatively. “Ibiza is like a beautiful explosion of everything — the energy, the contrasts, the openness. I feel free here, and that freedom naturally flows into my music and sets,” she says. Though she’s still exploring, it’s the island’s sense of musical freedom and the warmth of its people that have stood out most. “Each place built a different layer of who I am, and together they shaped my artistic identity.”

For Miss Monique, Ibiza feels like a place where everyone meets you with open arms — and it’s a place she’s quickly fallen in love with.

“When people experience my music — whether it’s in a club, on a livestream, or somewhere quiet with headphones — I hope they can let go of whatever’s heavy in their mind. Even if just for a moment.”

Her 13-week residency at Hï Ibiza has been more than a career milestone — it’s been the realisation of a quiet hope. “My dream was never about seeing my face on a billboard. The real dream was to one day become part of the Hï club family. Every time I arrived on the island and saw those billboards with the names and faces of artists who had residencies at the club, it gave me motivation and hope. I used to look at them and think, ‘Maybe one day, that could be me’.”

What fuelled her drive has become a reality, the realisation of years of hard work and determination that, no doubt, carries a deep personal meaning for Olesia. “Hï has always been a place I looked up to — where so many artists I admire have played. The level of care, the attention to detail, and the incredible team behind it all make it something truly special,” she tells us. “Being invited to be part of this feels like confirmation that the path I’ve been following — with all its effort, growth and learning — is leading somewhere meaningful.”

Her ability to blend the genre’s roots with her own melodic, hypnotic style has culminated in a signature sound that reverberates widely across the dancefloor — from the underground to main stages and back again. “Sometimes the hypnotic energy comes from simplicity, sometimes from layering or contrast — I don’t follow strict rules, I just follow what feels true. That way, I can evolve without losing the essence.” She adds: “When people experience my music — whether it’s in a club, on a livestream, or somewhere quiet with headphones — I hope they can let go of whatever’s heavy in their mind. Even if just for a moment, I want them to feel calm, connected, and fully present. Like a small pause from reality, just to breathe and enjoy.”

Outside of DJing and the world of streaming, Miss Monique has been busy on the production front. Her remix of David Guetta and Sia’s ‘Beautiful People’ landed just in time for this Ibiza summer season. “When I was invited to remix this track, I felt both excited and a little nervous — it’s such an iconic duo, and when David and Sia work together it’s always something insane. What drew me to the track was the beautiful harmony, Sia’s magical voice and I felt an amazing summer mood here.” She smiles. “I knew that I would like to make this remix ‘for listening’ and to reshape it into something that feels like my own musical language. To release this now, during my first Ibiza season, feels symbolic — like two different worlds connecting through music”.

For Student Pocket Guide, Miss Monique was asked about A.I. music, the summer ahead of her (one that has been very busy), and an Ibiza residency. I would love to hear another album from her soon, as her recent single., Ghosts (Nicolas Taboada and FRANCO BA collaborated), is fantastic:

“Where do you draw the line with AI in music?

The beauty of human-made music is that it’s never perfect, and that’s exactly what makes it powerful. It always evokes emotion, whether good or bad, but it makes you feel something.

When I receive demos for my label, it’s actually quite easy to recognise tracks that are heavily AI-generated. They sound almost too perfect, like they’ve analysed all the data on what works and what doesn’t and built something technically flawless. But for me, they often lack real emotion. They’re good, but they feel standard.

I think AI can be a great tool and assistant in the process, but I would never give it full creative control.

How important is visual identity in DJ culture today?

For me, fashion and music are deeply connected; they’re both forms of self-expression. Before people even hear the music, they already feel something through your visual identity, your presence and your energy.

I see it as one complete world where sound and visuals speak the same language. What I wear and how I present myself reflect the mood and story behind my music.

At the same time, it has to be authentic. If it feels forced or just follows trends, people notice immediately. For me, it’s always about staying true to who I am.

Has DJ technology changed the way artists perform?

Technology is an amazing tool, and it definitely opens up new creative possibilities. It allows you to experiment more during your sets and approach things differently.

At the same time, the essence of DJing stays the same. It’s all about music selection, taste and the connection with the crowd.

Technology should support the artist, not replace the artistry. It depends on how you use it”.

I will end with DJ Mag and their recent chat. I do want to go back to Pioneer DJ and their in-depth interview, as there are some interesting questioned asked. In terms of how Miss Monique prepares for her sets and how her st-up has evolved and changed. This is a D.J. who is arguably on among the greatest D.J.s of her generation.

“What were the main challenges you faced in the first few years of your DJ career, and how did you overcome them?

It’s funny but in the beginning I honestly thought, ‘Once I learn how to mix, the world will be mine.’ I know, that sounds so naive and full of unicorn dreams.

But with time I realized that the hardest part—and something I’m still learning—is to truly feel the crowd at every event. People are so different, some come for the artist, some just want to be part of the party, and others might arrive in a bad mood. As many people as there are, that’s how many moods you’ll find. A DJ has to sense all of them to make the night special for everyone on the dance floor, and that’s not always easy.

Another challenge I faced in the early years was being taken seriously. Back then, there weren’t many women behind the decks, and earning respect sometimes required twice the effort.

And of course, confidence was a big one too—learning to trust my own taste and not overthink what people might expect from me. Over the years, I’ve learned that the more authentic I am, the stronger the connection with the crowd becomes. Every set, every mistake, and every small success helped me grow and find my own direction.

What’s your current setup on stage, and how has it evolved over time?

I honestly love that you’ve brought me back into my memories of this. Let’s go through my whole setup journey!

I started with CDJ-1000MK2 and always played with different mixers, depending on what the club had. Back then, I didn’t even know what an artist’s technical rider was. Pretty soon, I decided to try using a laptop and Traktor X1 controller. For me, it felt more comfortable because I didn’t have to burn 12 tracks onto a single CD, it definitely made my life easier on that side. Plus, it was really interesting to work with the effects and loops on the X1.

The first time I saw the CDJ-850 in a club—finally with USB support—I was excited, but honestly, I didn’t fall in love with them right away. It was only later, when I started playing regularly at one club in Kyiv that had CDJ-2000NXS that I completely switched. I stopped using the laptop and fell absolutely in love with that gear.

As for my current setup, it’s CDJ-3000’s and the V10 mixer. I love this setup so much that I can’t even imagine working with anything else… well, maybe with the new Alphatheta Euphonia, which I already tested last summer, my second love.

How important is improvisation in your sets, and how do you leave space for it when planning or preparing music?

You know, there was a time when I mixed more cautiously—I was scared to improvise, always worrying I might make a mistake. But now I’ve changed my view on that. I’d rather try something and make a mistake than stick to something boring and routine. For me, it’s much more interesting to play when I can improvise, play with people’s emotions, and capture their attention. Of course, there are some loops or ideas I might plan in advance, but I always leave space for improvisation.

What’s your process for prepping music before a show?

I always want to know my tracks perfectly, so I listen to them many times. I also prepare some loops, acapellas, and tracks that I can blend live, depending on how the crowd feels. But I never plan a full set in advance, I prefer to leave space for spontaneity and let the moment guide me.

A lot of DJs are trying to build their own series or channels now. What advice would you give them, especially about standing out in a crowded space?

Right now, YouTube is full of very similar content. I feel that on some level it’s not as exciting as it was a year ago. But if someone still wants to start, even with so much competition, they should try to create something truly unique, something that hasn’t been done before. People always notice originality, and that’s what can really make you stand out”.

DJ Mag spoke with Miss Monique for her second year of an Ibiza residency. Having first visited Ibiza in 2017, this does feel like home to her. There are sections of this interview I feel are important to drop in. DJ Mag start by noting how “joy and responsibility of helming such a high-profile residency, getting props from some of the biggest figures in the scene, and the mutual devotion she shares with her fans all over the world”. A breath-taking talent and one of the most passionate and driven D.J.s and producers, go and follow her on social media. It is clear that initial visit to Ibiza (almost a decade ago) made a huge impression on Miss Monique:

“Nevertheless, that first visit opened her eyes to some of the possibilities that were open to her within electronic music. She’d made her name in her home country, and up until that point had only played a couple of times abroad — in India and Egypt. She remembers going to Amnesia that first time and standing in the middle of the dancefloor, taking in the vibe during a Cosmic Gate set. Fuelled by coffee, her posse then jumped to a few more other parties. “I had fun and didn’t analyse it too much,” she says.

Fast forward to 2022 and Miss Monique — born Olesia Arkusha — started coming to Ibiza regularly, especially after being invited by David Guetta to play his Future Rave night after a chance meeting in Miami. “The next year David and MORTEN invited me many more times. And then it was decided to sometimes stay some extra days, so I had the possibility to visit some parties.” Her love of the island continued to flourish.

“The music that I like is changing so fast, it’s hard to name myself in one genre. So I’m playing melodic techno, I can add some tech-house, sometimes in my residency night I’m going into house at some point — a bit of everything.”

The following autumn she received a life-changing phone call from her manager. “He said, ‘Listen, there is something happening. You might feel stressed at first but you will like it’," she recalls. "He then told me that the Night League team were thinking about offering me a residency at Hï Ibiza, and I remember my hands started shaking. I was emotional, it was probably one of the key moments of my life. That call changed a lot.”

She remembers feeling apprehensive of the huge, nerve-racking responsibility of such a high-profile residency. She was stressed about whether people would come to see her sets in the Club Room. But, of course, they did, and in their droves. “I had so much appreciation every night when they came and then stayed until 6AM,” she says, “because usually I was closing the night. Sometimes people leave because it’s late and they want to sleep, or they drank too much alcohol or whatever, but most of the people every week they stayed. I had so much appreciation for this — they pushed me to believe in myself.”

She shouts out the Night League team, including owner Yann Pissenem, for believing in her, and when she saw the poster with the full line-up of guest DJs she had invited to join her at Hï Ibiza throughout the season, she thought, “Oh my god, it’s really happening. I could only dream about something like this before.”

Miss Monique says that the whole of the 2025 season was a highlight for her. “One of the brightest moments was when David Guetta showed up in the booth. I never thought that David would come — artists are usually travelling, they’re busy. I remember I was playing my set and someone touched my back just at the moment where I was mixing a track, and I was like, ‘Just wait, just wait please’ [she remonstrates behind her], and I continued. Someone touched me again and I was like, ‘Just wait please’. I was mixing and I thought it was one of my team members or something, and then when I turned around and I saw David... I think someone caught this moment on video, and even now it makes me feel emotional. That was one of the highlights. That was huge support from his side for me. He always shows up in my life unexpectedly.”

“Nowadays I’m playing music that I like!” she continues. “Ten years ago it was progressive house. Now the music that I like is changing so fast, it’s hard to name myself in one genre. So I’m playing melodic techno, I can add some tech-house, sometimes in my residency night I’m going into house at some point — a bit of everything. I can’t say that I’m just part of one genre.” She talks about how she’s constantly looking for new tunes to keep her sets fresh, and how she takes the odd weekend off to make new music herself, as well as to listen to other new tunes in her zone.

Sport has also become increasingly important for her — she asks that as far as possible, the hotel she stays in for international gigs has a gym, so that she can do some simple exercises. She also plays tennis whenever she can, and her most recent discovery is cycling — hence her joining DJ Mag in the the charity Bridges For Music cycle ride earlier in the week during IMS. “I had so much fun, I did my personal record — 110 kilometres,” she beams. “It was a huge challenge.”

She talks about how positive messages from supporters have inspired her over the years, and that her Lisbon apartment walls are covered in presents given to her by well-wishers. “I never put them in the trash or leave them somewhere, I always take these huge packages with me. Bracelets, incredibly unique dolls, and besides all this they’ve done lots of tattoos, which for me is a crazy thing... When I see that they did this, I’m completely shocked — in a good way.”

Some make home-made MiMo flags, too. “I’m very appreciative, I know how much time goes into these things.” Miss Monique clearly has a deep connection with her audience, many of whom have also styled their hair in the same trademark green hue she's been dying it for 13 years. She mostly gets it refreshed professionally, she says, although “if I’m on a one-month tour then of course I can do it myself, if it needs to be”.

If you are not aware of Miss Monique or are new to her, I would urge you to follow her. I have not been able to see one of her sets, though I hope that changes soon enough. She is going to have a very busy next year or so, given the way she united crowds. So incredibly skilled, I am in awe of her! Go and spend some time with the sensational Miss Monique. She is a D.J. who is…

CONQUERING the global.

_____________

Follow Miss Monique

Official:

https://missmoniquemusic.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/djmissmonique/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/MissMoniqueUA/

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/29TpNOsTNYbLb6Xa10H0PR?si=CblZqMkiQ0GXOH5NF1rjZA

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClIIy-aQBXRi1OHupBcrjJw

FEATURE: Modern-Day Queens: Natalie Imbruglia

FEATURE:

 

 

Modern-Day Queens

PHOTO CREDIT: Rankin

Natalie Imbruglia

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I am going to come to…

some new interviews with the amazing and awe-inspiring Natalie Imbruglia. I have a very special relationship with her music. I have been a fan since the 1990s. One of my favourite albums from the decade is her debut, Left of the Middle (1997). She has a new album coming out soon. Algorithm will be released on 4th September. That is one I will definitely be getting. You can pre-order it here. She has U.K. dates this and next month before flying to her native Australia. I would love to see her live, as I have been a fan for decades and love everything she puts out. I am going to come to a 2022 interview before bringing things right up to date. Imbruglia released her album, Firebird, in 2021. It was seen as a sort of a return, even though she had gone nowhere and was active. It came six years after Male. Algorithm comes five years after her current album. This is an artist who puts everything into her music. Arguably, she is at her strongest and most confident now. I do want to head back to 2022 and the twenty-fifth anniversary of her best-known song, Torn. The Forty-Five spoke with Natalie Imbruglia for this fantastic interview:

“It’s been 25 years since ‘Left of The Middle’. Can you remember what your hopes for the album were before you released it?

There’s only a first time once. What was beautiful, was that the world was my oyster. I felt so privileged to have a record deal. Everything was ahead of me. And although yes, I’d been on Neighbours and there was the fear of being another person doing music from a soap. But there was this incredible confidence and joy. People talk about manifesting, it was easier to do it because you had no experience of living up to a previous album. I thought: I can be anything, I could do anything. And I was a sponge, everyone I wrote with was teaching me something I had the opportunity to work with Mark Goldenberg – I loved his work with Eels. And, you know, there was Gwen Stefani and Alanis Morissette and I was like, ‘Oh my God, these chicks are so cool!’ And so it was actually really wonderful. You can’t get that back because you know too much. And so, yeah, fond memories.

I was at the recent Olivia Rodrigo show where you popped up to perform ‘Torn’ with her. It must be cool to be influencing this new gen of artists?

It was very flattering to be asked. Olivia’s a good person. It makes me happy that young girls have people like that to look up to. You could see the respect that we both had for each other. We were literally singing to each other and didn’t want to look at the audience because I was giving props to her, and she was giving props to me. It was so lovely.

Was there anyone you looked up to, that offered you support when you were coming up?

Not on the daily, but the person that springs to mind is Tori Amos. I remember meeting her in the bathroom at her show and giving her a rose quartz crystal and having beautiful conversations with her. She was someone I looked up to immensely, who also seemed to have a quirky spiritual energy – she was into crystals and stuff like me.

I would also say Kylie. I grew up watching her on on Neighbours, and wanting to do what she did and obviously followed in her footsteps. She’s always been incredibly supportive, and gracious, and kind. And even now, when my album came out, she sent me a little message. So definitely, Kylie.

I was watching an old interview with you on TFI Friday where Chris Evans keeps referencing the fact that you wouldn’t date him. Was this sort of thing just par for the course or did it make you anxious doing interviews back then?

I want to give props to Chris. He got me on the show because what had happened was he’d started the whole ‘Natalie didn’t write ‘Torn” thing on the radio. And it was interesting timing because I had just shut him down for a dinner date. Anyway, me being the feisty Aussie that I am, I saw him in a pub and I went up to him and got in his face and was like, ‘You owe me an apology’. He looked terrified and I was like, ‘Do you realise what you did?’ So he gave the most genuine, look-me-in-the-eye apology, and then got me on the show and tried to correct that. So knowing what I’ve just told you, it’s actually a very sweet thing that he did, because he kind of owned it and was trying to repair that damage. But 100% you’re right. Recently, I had to look back through some old press articles – and we can’t put all of this on Chris, this is an industry that certain things were a given – but it’s quite shocking now to look back at some of those old articles. I was made of pretty tough stuff, I just took it on the chin but I think what you see in that ‘Torn’ video is someone taking ownership after being exploited in numerous situations and going ‘I don’t need to show my body. I’m gonna draw a line in the sand’. There were numerous occasions I was called difficult because of that, because I wouldn’t wear a dress. I wanted to cover up and it didn’t go down well.

People like Billie Eilish have taken a similar stance – covering up because they don’t want their body to be a talking point

She’s able to do it – I got called difficult – but evolution is a great thing. They’ve also got to do deal with social media and things that I didn’t have to so it’s all relative. For the things that we’ve corrected, there’s a whole new wave of other shit that teenagers have to deal with for mental health. I was the right person for it to happen to because I’m very strong. And I was able to say no, and I didn’t really care if people called me difficult.

And now young artists like Beabadoobee are citing you as a style icon.

Listen, if you stick around long enough, you come back in flavour. I’m just like, yes! The 90s are trending right when I need them to be! This is amazing! The truth of it is just that I just wanted to be comfortable. And I wanted to wear my own clothes. I think I was also going through curiosity about my sexuality, which is more evident to me now when I look at myself back then. That exploration was a period of time that I had to go through very privately – another thing that people can go through a lot more openly now. Yeah, there’s lots of things going on there. But for people to say I’m this style icon, it’s just so amazing and cute to me. I was wearing the daggiest army pants, they weren’t event a cool brand. I think that T-shirt’s a cheap Portobello Market print shirt. The cool part was probably from a stylist, which was the Maharishi jacket because they were all the rage. And eventually I ordered Maharishi trousers”.

Let’s move things to this year. Algorithm is going to be a wonderful album from this music queen. Someone who has been releasing brilliant material for almost thirty years now. And yet the quality does not dip! It is great that Natalie Imbruglia clearly had a load of fun making this album. As we learn from this Rolling Stone Australia article, this is her at her most relaxed and free I feel:

“The record, titled, Algorithm, will arrive on September 4th.

“On this record I chose to work with collaborators who also co-produce, so from start to finish we were all so invested in every song,” Imbruglia says. “I really hope that people get as much joy from listening to this record as we did making it. And that they dance their arses off.

“This was by far the most fun I’ve ever had making a record. It also happened to coincide with the most challenging time I’ve had with my mental health. This is the beauty of music and artistic expression. You can take something dark and turn it into light”.

I will end with a recent interview with The Times, as there are some interesting things from that chat to discuss. However, The Guardian fired some reader questions at Natalie Imbruglia for their feature. It is a more light and quick-fire thing, but there are some cool answers that reveal different sides and facets to Imbruglia:

“Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Alanis Morissette because, in my earlier career, she was a big influence on me and had a feistiness that you didn’t see much of in women in the industry. Also, she has been very vocal about mental health issues.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Not having the ability to say sorry when they’re wrong.

What was your most embarrassing moment?
Forgetting the words to my own songs on stage. I’m a very good mumbler of my own songs. You’d be surprised how few people notice – if you smile and do it confidently, they’re none the wiser.

What keeps you awake at night?
I worry a lot about how to juggle being a single parent and working – scheduling keeps me up at night!

What would your superpower be?
I’d clone myself so I could work and be with my son at the same time.

What makes you unhappy?
Living in England when there are too many grey days in a row.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?
A hairdresser through the week and a star on the weekends.

What was the last lie that you told?
It was to do with Santa Claus around Christmastime.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Junk food – Haribos, Wotsits”.

I do want to end with this interview from The Times. There is discussion around her debut single, Torn, and misogyny that was around in the 1990s. How it must have been a challenge for a young woman coming through in that decade. Now, Imbruglia lives this quieter and more peaceful life and is making some of the best music of her career, without all that toxicity that came when she started out. Though there is still a lot of ageism in music, especially when it comes to festival bookings and women over forty and what stations their music appears on:

“It’s such a blessing,” Imbruglia says of the mega-hit single that reached a billion streams on Spotify last year. “I don’t even know how to put into words the gifts of that song landing. I still feel so connected to it. It changed my life.”

Torn was released in 1997 to worldwide success, topping the US Billboard chart for 11 weeks in 1998. As a teenager in that decade, if you hadn’t been “all out of faith” and “lying naked on the floor”, were you even a teenager at all?

She made the album during a challenging period for her mental health, and while the melodies are upbeat, the lyrics are darker. The lead single, Upside Down, which was released in April, is about finding herself unable to “power through” any more. “What you resist persists,” she says. “I’ve done a lot of spiritual work in my life, a lot of meditation study, and I have learnt that anything you have resistance to, it’s like a tsunami coming at you.”

As was perimenopause, which she hit five years ago and her experience of which has powered the lyrics of several tracks. “Let’s just say it was a grieving process. I was really angry. I fell off a cliff. It felt like someone had taken some of my personality. I’d talk about it and people would try to hush me. Now I’m very outspoken. Thank God for Davina McCall — I bumped into her in a restaurant at the time. I was like, ‘Tell me everything!’ It’s really important that we speak up and stop going, ‘Oh, I just breezed through it.’ How is that helping anyone? Beware, women, if you start saying, ‘I just don’t feel like myself.’ I said that for a year before I addressed anything.”

Her main symptoms were anxiety and anger. “I probably hurt a lot of people that I wish I hadn’t, but until you have the tools and the HRT cream… HRT worked, absolutely. But how wonderful that this is not a shameful topic or a taboo subject. Imagine how it was for our mothers.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Amar Daved

Rather than worrying about revealing too much on the album, she found the experience of making it cathartic. Her debut album, Left of the Middle (1997), sold more than seven million copies worldwide and the pressure to equal it was immense. Eventually that led to a harrowing period of writer’s block. “The best thing that has happened for my songwriting is having writer’s block for five years,” she says. “I got dropped by a label, had a nervous breakdown and was convinced the universe was telling me I shouldn’t be doing this. Not pretty. So I tried to go to LA and be an actress [she starred in Johnny English with Rowan Atkinson in 2003], and that was worse. Epic fail.”

Scarred by her experiences, she was adamant that Algorithm be self-funded and so set up her own label, Landgirl Records, to release it. “I was asking my son what he learnt at school that day and he taught me all about land girls,” she says, explaining the name.

History having revealed the extent to which many female stars were treated badly in the Nineties, I ask how the decade was for her. Was it horrifically sexist? “It was definitely sexist, but I certainly don’t want the tone of this to come across as me being a victim.” She recalls being careful in interviews, knowing that, as a woman, a funny or ironic comment might be twisted. “I was quite feisty and funny but I had to suppress that. So I was very vanilla. Maybe that got me a reputation for being a bit of a diva because I wasn’t revealing of myself. So then a story gets made up about you and how you are.”

It’s sad to learn that she was censoring herself, but unsurprising that she refuses to play the victim. Even at 22, Imbruglia seemed like a woman who knew her own mind. Indeed, if the lyrics of Torn are burnt into the memory, so too is the video, produced during an era when lads’ mags were at their peak and female celebrities were highly sexualised, and featuring Imbruglia dressed like she was off to the small Tesco to pick up a pint of milk, wearing combat trousers, a washed-out T-shirt and a hoodie. With her short hair and face devoid of make-up, she looked like the tomboy next door.

Today she lives quietly in Oxfordshire. “On a farm. In the middle of nowhere,” she says with a grin. “I’m not in the London scene any more. It’s great!” As is being 51. “It’s easier for me, being an older woman. Maybe that’s the opposite to how a lot of women feel, but when you’re given a hard time about the way you look — bitchiness, jealousy — it can be used against you. I used to get asked by journalists if I thought I got here because of the way I look, and I wasn’t allowed to be angry. I had to cleverly answer the question. They don’t give you as hard a time when you get older. I’m actually more comfortable in my skin at this age and haven’t had much problem with getting a wrinkle here and there. It doesn’t bother me. I like this age. I like the wisdom that comes with it”.

I have so much love and respect for Natalie Imbruglia. This amazing and powerful woman who has had this varied and successful career, I am really looking forward to seeing what Algorithm offers! The singles released from it so far are up there with the best stuff she has ever done. Aside from some festival appearances, it would be great if there were any gigs later in the year. Maybe a London date would be awesome, as this is someone I would really love to see live. There is no doubt that Natalie Imbruglia is one of the all-time best artists and has maintained this awesome career. Arguably hitting a new peak right now, I wanted to spend some time showing my appreciation…

OF this musical titan.

_____________

Follow Natalie Imbruglia

PHOTO CREDIT: Amar Daved

Official:

https://natalieimbruglia.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/natalie_imbruglia/

Twitter:

https://x.com/natimbruglia

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/natalieimbruglia/

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0dlOr0VIysztGWvU1dpjmP?si=OY6lMD3AR12HtYYlWfGAMw

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHUKvjtAglO4G8vfK5EX6mg

FEATURE: Kate Bush: Them Heavy People: The Extraordinary Characters in Her Songs: The Diva (The Red Shoes)/Cathy/Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights)

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush: Them Heavy People: The Extraordinary Characters in Her Songs

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush and Lindsay Kemp on the set of her 1993 short film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve (which was loosely inspired by the 1948 film, The Red Shoes, which share the title of Bush’s 1993 album)/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

The Diva (The Red Shoes)/Cathy/Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights)

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THIS is the penultimate…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

edition of a series that looks at the amazing characters in Kate Bush’s song. I am featuring one track from The Kick Inside for this edition and another in the final one. This inclusion is the most famous and popular song from her debut album. It is Wuthering Heights and Cathy and Heathcliff. These doomed lovers. The ghost of Cathy at Wuthering Heights and trying to grab Heathcliff’s soul, it is one of Kate Bush’s most extraordinary songs. A lot to talk about around this track. I am starting out with The Diva from The Red Shoes’ title track. These are the opening lines from The Red Shoes: “Oh she move like the Diva do/I said “I’d love to dance like you.”/She said “just take off my red shoes/Put them on and your dream’ll come true”. In terms of who this character is, The Diva in the 1948 classic film The Red Shoes is the aspiring ballerina Victoria ‘Vicky’ Page. She was played by the late great Moira Shearer, a renowned Scottish ballet dancer and actress. I will come to a 1993 interview with Kate Bush. I do want to start out with a look at the 1948 film that influenced Kate Bush. It is not unusual for artists to write songs or albums based around a film. Many people will not know about The Red Shoes and its origins. The BFI published an article in 2023 around their Exhibition, The Red Shoes: Behind the Mirror. Among the artefacts included are the ballet shoes worn by Moira Shearer:

“Alexander Korda’s original vision for The Red Shoes

Our story starts in 1937. Leading producer Alexander Korda is searching for his next box office success. It will star his future wife, Merle Oberon. Industry rumours start to swirl of a film “derived from an old legend of a girl who wore red shoes which made her dance unceasingly”.

Korda recruits a series of writers to bring his vision to life. Unhappy with each new version of the script, Korda finally abandons the project in 1939, and in the mid-1940s he sells the concept to Powell and Pressburger. They transform the story. Travelling to Andersen’s home in Odense, the writer-directors imagine a film much closer to the passion and violence of its Danish source.

London-based artist Michelle Williams Gamaker has created a new piece for the exhibition, exploring this early genesis of The Red Shoes story. Oberon (2023) responds to a photographic series in the BFI’s collection, taken at around the time that Korda was developing the script for The Red Shoes.

Oberon had a complex relationship with her visual identity in these years. Make-up and lighting were used to mask the physical trauma of a car accident in 1937. These techniques also lightened her skin on camera. Williams Gamaker interprets the script as a love letter from Korda to Oberon, with Korda speaking the lines of Konstantin – an early version of ballet impresario Boris Lermontov – during a fictional make-up test. The artist reflects on the spaces of casting and screen testing beyond the archival photographs, and the relationships that extend behind the camera to the individuals (mostly men) who held Oberon’s career and her image in their power.

A life-changing role for Moira Shearer

Moira Shearer in costume for the 1942 Sadler’s Wells production of The QuestPhotographed by Anthony. Moira Shearer’s ArchiveMoira Shearer’s pink pointe shoes, and note cards from her time at Sadler’s WellsMoira Shearer’s Archive. Photo: Tim Whitby

By 1946, Powell and Pressburger had a clear vision of the story that they wanted to tell, and were ready to start planning The Red Shoes in detail. It would centre on the story of a young woman, Victoria Page, falling in love: with her art form and with a fellow artist. Powell and Pressburger were aware that its success would depend on the creativity of an established performer to occupy this central role.

In Powell’s eyes, Scottish-born dancer Moira Shearer was the very embodiment of Page. On the brink of international success as a dancer, she was initially hesitant to step into the world of film and declined the offer a number of times. Powell was insistent – the role belonged to Shearer. It took nearly a year, but the announcement of her acceptance came in 1947.

The role would be both career and life changing for Shearer. She was catapulted almost overnight to global stardom, with a tour of the USA following the film’s box office success. Shearer’s image was used to represent the film internationally, and her burnished auburn hair was associated with the unfettered creativity of the scarlet slippers.

The Red Shoes explores the world of a fictional ballet company – the Ballet Lermontov. During a residency in Monte Carlo, the company’s defining production is ‘The Ballet of the Red Shoes’: a reworking of the Andersen fairytale. Cast in the lead role of ‘The Girl’, Vicky Page finds that art mirrors real life. Her desire for artistic fulfilment is challenged when she finds herself falling in love with composer Julian Craster (Marius Goring) and is asked to make a choice between the part she plays and the life she loves.

The Ballet of the Red Shoes

Within the exhibition we invite you to step over the threshold between a real and imagined world, and into the shoes of Vicky Page. Music, art, light and dance magically combine to transport us, in Powell’s words, “inside the heads of two people who were falling in love”.

The famous ‘Ballet of the Red Shoes’ is presented as a series of ‘scenes’, drawing on the work of designer Hein Heckroth and sketch artist Ivor Beddoes, who, with the help of art director Arthur Lawson, helped to bring Powell and Pressburger’s vision to life. Just as the film is shot out of sequence, carefully pieced together in the editing suite, so too this room of the exhibition is structured thematically, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the filmmaking process.

The legacy of The Red Shoes

Powell and Pressburger’s totemic red slippers, imbued with a magic that inhabits their wearer, never truly stopped dancing. In interview, Shearer was honest about the mental and physical toll that the production took on her. But just as Vicky returned in the final scenes of The Red Shoes to perform for her company director, so too Shearer seemed unable to resist the possibility of another performance with Powell and Pressburger. She returned in both The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) and in Powell’s Peeping Tom (1960). In Shearer, not only the red shoes, but the Girl, danced on.

When Shearer finally hung up her pointes, the magic of The Red Shoes went on to inspire generations of creative practitioners. In 1993, musician Kate Bush created her studio album The Red Shoes, followed by an extended music video, The Line, the Cross and the Curve. More recently, Matthew Bourne’s production of The Red Shoes (2016) brought together Powell and Pressburger’s story with the music of Bernard Herrmann. Victoria Page was danced by Ashley Shaw. With the support of Bourne’s choreography and Lez Brotherston’s designs, Shaw took on the demanding role to bring the blood-red pointes to life for new audiences”.

The Red Shoes was released as a single and reached twenty-one in the U.K. It is the lead track of the short film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve. Although it premiered at the London Film Festival in November 1993 (around the time of the release of The Red Shoes), it got a wider cinematic release in May 1994. I have said before how The Line, the Cross and the Curve is arguably the first visual album by a female artist. Bush inspired by this classic 1948 film and producing her own version. Bush re-recorded The Red Shoes for 2011’s Director’s Cut. I think I prefer the 1993 original, as there is more energy to it. Beautiful instrumentation. Gaumont d’Oliveira, Paddy Bush and Justin Vali among the musicians who bring alive this fantastic track. Thinking of The Red Shoes, I don’t think that many people know about the 1948 film. Kate Bush was a fan of it and Michael Powell. The two were going to work together on a project shortly before his death (in 1990). He is immortalised in Moments of Pleasure from The Red Shoes. Thinking of The Diva and that mention in The Red Shoes’ title track, I did want to look at the Powell- Pressburger film and its legacy. Another article from the BFI, it is clear that The Red Shoes has a big modern legacy:

“It’s a spectacular rejection of realism

The Red Shoes (1948) followed a tremendous run of films by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Between 1943 and 1947, they made The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Canterbury Tale, “I Know Where I’m Going!”, A Matter of Life and Death and Black Narcissus. For their next trick, they took a decisive step away from the tendency towards realism in postwar cinema, pushing the emotional expressiveness of Technicolor photography yet further, in collaboration with genius cinematographer Jack Cardiff.

Pressburger had originally worked on the idea for the film before the war. Producer Alexander Korda had hired him to write a script that combined the story of the dancer Nijinsky, and his time at Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, with the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale about enchanted shoes that force the wearer to dance on and on until death. He’d also instructed Pressburger to write a role for Merle Oberon, but as that passion cooled, so did the producer’s interest in the film.

IN THIS PHOTO: Moira Stewart (who played Victoria Page) in The Red Shoes/PHOTO CREDIT: Hulton Deutsch

It’s about the agony of artistic expression

Lermontov chides Vicky: “Don’t forget, a great impression of simplicity can only be achieved by great agony of body and spirit.” Few films reveal, either as cruelly or as eloquently as this one, the sacrifices that artists make. We see more bruising rehearsals than standing ovations, and yet, the Ballet Lermontov dances on.

Page’s final, anguished choice between love and art only makes tangible the decision that Lermontov clearly made long ago. Walbrook, who plays him so brilliantly, was gay, as was Diaghilev. Lermontov knows nothing of Page’s “charms” and cares less, he says; his “family” is his company, and he asserts that: “The dancer who relies on the comforts of human love will never be a great dancer. Never!”

As certain critics have noted, there is a striking gay subtext to The Red Shoes, but it is a tragic one – Lermontov is a lonely figure whose obsessive nature demonstrates the danger of living for art rather than love.

From Scorsese to La La Land, its influence lives on

The Red Shoes is one of the most widely influential movies of all time. Regularly hailed as a favourite in critics’ polls and by directors including Martin Scorsese (“It’s one of the true miracles of film history”), Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg and Brian De Palma, it has also been reworked by artists outside the cinema. Kate Bush’s 1993 album The Red Shoes was inspired by the film, for example. Coming full circle, Matthew Bourne choreographed the film as a ballet at Sadler’s Wells in 2017.

The film also has an afterlife in the classic Hollywood musical. Gene Kelly screened the film multiple times for the producers of An American in Paris (1951), as he persuaded them to let him include a ballet sequence in the film. He did, and in the following year’s Singin’ in the Rain too. The popularity of the ballet sequence as a genre trope was underlined when Damien Chazelle included one in his pastiche La La Land (2016).

There are several, pointed, references to the film in a very different musical, the 1985 Broadway adaptation A Chorus Line. That’s not a direct cinematic influence but rather a testament to the film’s impact on generations of girls. The book for that musical was based on interviews with New York dancers, several of whom confided that The Red Shoes inspired their choice of career.

In a 1970 interview with the New York Times, Shearer expressed a little self-deprecating regret on this score: “I’m a bit embarrassed whenever I hear how many girls were influenced by it. The dancing in it wasn’t terribly good”.

Prior to moving to the second part of this feature, I do want to source a 1993 interview with Kate Bush. The Red Shoes arrived at a difficult time. When there was this balancing of personal loss and change. Her mother died in 1992. Her long-term relationship with Del Palmer ended, and she faced her first real creative and commercial slump. The Red Shoes’ production quite plasticky and compacted. Bush wanted to reapproach some of the songs from the 1993 album in 2011. Give the songs more space. 1993 was a pivotal year. She id pack quite a lot in, though her next album would not arrive until 2005. That is when Aerial was released. Nick Coleman interviewed Kate Bush for Time Out in November 1993. I did want to highlight the section where we get mention of The Red Shoes film:

“She pours tea and places herself on the edge of her chair. She is small, not minute, and erect. One booted leg crosses the other and bumps gently up and down. She cocks her head and waits. She is courteous, cool and suspicious.

My friend Catherine has never opened any post addressed to Kate Bush. There was, however, a letter that came addressed merely to 'Catherine '. So Catherine opened it. Inside was a lot of stream-of-consciousness stuff about dreams, and about how the writer was watching Catherine. So Catherine snorted, noted the postmark and forgot about it. Then another letter arrived, identically addressed, from the same postal region; then another, and another, each of them increasingly weird and disturbing. Sometimes three would arrive in a day. And it so happened that on the day that Catherine decided to go to the police, a letter arrived that included a reference to Catherine's poetry and music, neither of which are big with Catherine. Also, the letter included the appellation Kate.'

'It's so nice to talk about my work for once,' she says. By this she means she's glad we've started by talking about the great film director Michael Powell and his influence on her, which is signally manifest in the title track of her new album 'The Red Shoes'.

'The Red Shoes' is a ballet film made by Powell and Emeric Pressburger in 1948, telling the story of a dancer who is torn between the demands of a great impresario, who can help her to become an artist of destiny, and those of her composer/husband, who can bring her happiness. The story elides an old fairy tale and a take on the power struggle that raged between the dancer Nijinsky and Diaghilev, first director of the Ballet Russe. Bush says the song evolved out of a feeling she had one day at the piano of music running away with itself. The image in her mind 'was like horses galloping and running away, with the horses turned into running feet, and then shoes galloping away with themselves'. Which corresponded, conveniently enough, with the key fairy-tale element in the Powell film: the red pumps worn by the tragic ballerina, which are imbued with a magic that carries their wearer off in a terrible outpouring of expressiveness.

Bush contacted Powell shortly before he died, 'to see whether he'd be interested in working with me. He was the most charming man, so charming. He wanted to hear my music, so I sent him some cassettes and we exchanged letters occasionally, and I got a chance to meet him not so long before he died. He left a really strong impression on me, as much as a person as for his work. He was just one of those very special spirits, almost magical in a way. Left me with a big influence.'

Which makes some kind of sense. Powell's super-rich three-strip Technicolor, his English-ness, his 'expressiveness', his interest in the shadows cast by daylight; even, you could argue, his thematic preoccupation with islands, solitary souls and the unconfined spirit; these are some of Bush's favourite things.

'His work is just so... so beautiful,' says Kate, in her tiniest voice.

Meaning what, exactly?

'Well, there's such heart in his films. The way he portrayed women... that was particularly good and very interesting. His women are strong and they're treated as people...'

That's one kind of beauty.

'The heart, I think, is the main beauty. This human quality he has. Although there's clever shots in his films, they're not really used for effect, to be clever. They're used for an emotional effect. I'd call that a human quality. Like vulnerability. Also, I like the emotional qualities of the characters. I suppose in one way they're very English ...'

To combine her interest in Powell with her lust for new directions, and perhaps to solve one or two promotional problems, Bush has directed a 40-minute film interpreting six songs from the excellent 'Red Shoes' album. It will be premiered at the London Film Festival.

'I'll be very interested to see what people make of it. To see whether they regard it as a long promo video or as a short film,' she says.

Where do your stories come from?

'Oh, all kinds of sources but generally they come down to people. People's ideas or works. Films, books, they all lead back to someone else's ideas, which in turn lead back to someone's else's ideas...'

I've always assumed you must be a bit of an Angela Carter fan.

'Um, no. I don't think I know her stuff.'

She wrote 'Company Of Wolves' and was big, I believe, on pomegranates, the predatory nature of nature, the heat of female sexuality; that sort of thing.

'Oh, yes.' Bush smiles, and her dimple disappears.

Other post addressed to Kate Bush arrived which went unopened. Then one day a letter came for the attention of Catherine Earnshaw. This being ambiguous, Catherine opened it just to make sure. Inside was a note from a Harley Street doctor indicating that Catherine was fit as a fiddle. This was good news. Unfortunately, Catherine had not been to see a Harley Street doctor. She hastily sent the letter on to Bush's record company, blushing at her daftness in not remembering immediately that Catherine Earnshaw is the name of the storm-tossed tragic heroine of 'Wuthering Heights '.

You're 35 and you've been doing this since you were a teenager. How have you changed?

'I think I've changed quite a lot. Essentially I'm still the same person but I suppose I've grown up a lot, and learned a lot.'

What's made you grow up the most?

'You get lots of disappointments. I'm not sure that they make you grow up but they make you question intentions.' She pauses. 'But life is what makes you grow up’”.

From a song on an album influenced by a 1948 film, we now move to a stunning single influenced by a 1847 novel. This is another case of Kate Bush being inspired by the screen. I feel her love of The Red Shoes was centred around the 1948 film. Bush did reads Emily Brontë’s only novel. There is quite a bit to unpack when it comes to this song. There has been a lot of recent interest around Wuthering Heights as Emerald Fennell’s film, “Wuthering Heights”, was released earlier in the year. Starring Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, it did divide critics. It is not exactly true to the novel in terms of its casting and feel. It is a retelling or reimagining. In the same way Bush was inspired by the last few minutes of a 1967 BBC adaptation of the novel when it came to writing the song, I have reengaged myself with Emily Brontë’s novel because of the 2026 film. One of the most pleasing aspects of the film is how there has been interest in Kate Bush’s number one single. I did want to start out with an article from The New Yorker. They write about the “timeless provocation” of this incredible text. Although there has been some controversy around Emerald Fennell’s film “Emily Brontë’s ruthless text will always have the last word”:

“If Victorian fiction ordinarily treats the orphan as an engine of social mobility, whose path involves finding his place in the world, “Wuthering Heights” asserts that any such progress is temporary. At the end, Heathcliff stands alone and “unredeemed,” as Charlotte Brontë wrote of him in 1850. He destroys all his relationships, such that he can’t think of how to write his will and bequeath all the property he’s spent his life vengefully acquiring. Emily Brontë, instead, writes him out of it altogether. He has nothing to show for all of his actions. His sole biological heir predeceases him, and, once he has gone, the two homes in question, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, will pass to Hareton and young Catherine, who continue the Earnshaw family lineage. By the standards of the Victorian novel, Heathcliff, who leaves neither descendants nor legacy behind him, is a dead end.

In this way, Brontë demonstrates that not all trauma has a resolution, that belonging is a gift that not even the most powerful of novelists can readily bestow. She does not tame, contain, or tidy Heathcliff’s wild energy. It shapes his outlook even in death. When Nelly, the Earnshaw family’s longtime servant, finds his body, his eyes are wide open, with a stare both “keen and fierce.” She says, “I tried to close his eyes: to extinguish, if possible, that frightful, life-like gaze of exultation, before any one else beheld it. They would not shut.” His tombstone reminds us one last time of how little we know him. “As he had no surname, and we could not tell his age,” Nelly says, “we were obliged to content ourselves with the single word, ‘Heathcliff.’ ”

Whenever a fuss arises over the adaptation of a literary text to screen, I think of what James M. Cain told an interviewer for The Paris Review who asked him what he thought of the film that Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler made of his novel “ Double Indemnity.” Their version made significant changes to the plot. Cain replied that he didn’t like movies. “I don’t go,” he said. “People tell me, don’t you care what they’ve done to your book? I tell them, they haven’t done anything to my book. It’s right there on the shelf.”

“Double Indemnity” ’s plot was reworked, in part, to sanitize the story for screen audiences. The Hays Code, a precursor to the motion-picture rating system that gave Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” an R for its depictions of violence, sex, and death, required that Hollywood movies eschew profanity, obscenity, and other indicators of low morals, and also stipulated that “the sympathy of the audience shall never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil, or sin.” Among other potential issues, in Cain’s ending, the lovers who commit the insurance fraud at the center of the story escape the country, with plans for a double suicide. The film closes, instead, with a confession scene.

It’s hard these days to imagine a situation in which, through a self-imposed agreement among all the major studios, movies and television series would need to be tamer than their source material specifically so as not to corrupt the audience. If anything, in our visual culture, we tend to expect—indeed, anticipate—the opposite. But the impulse behind the Hays Code aligns with a truism of nineteenth-century fiction that its successful writers well knew: that characters who transgress within the pages of a novel could not be allowed to prosper without punishment. It doesn’t take a literary scholar to notice, for example, that adulterous women in nineteenth-century novels—English, French, Russian—meet tragic ends, no matter how sympathetically or charismatically their creators portray them. Even the men must square their accounts. In “Jane Eyre,” Mr. Rochester, Jane’s employer at Thornfield Hall, where she goes to work as a governess, fails in his initial attempt to marry her when the existence of his first wife, Bertha, locked up in the attic, is revealed. He gets Jane in the end, but only after being maimed and partially blinded in a fire set by Bertha, in which she perishes. It’s not exactly an eye for an eye, but it reflects the belief that actions have moral consequences.

“Wuthering Heights” abides by that convention. Heathcliff and Cathy both must suffer and die, lest readers make the mistake of believing it’s acceptable to profess undying love for your childhood companion while you’re seven months pregnant and married to another man (as Cathy does) or to try to kill your wife’s dog (as Heathcliff does), to name but two of their many offenses. The placid romance of Hareton and young Catherine leaves us, superficially, in a peaceful, even hopeful place.

But it is Heathcliff’s passionate declarations and shocking acts that stay in the mind and color our lasting impression of “Wuthering Heights” as strange and uncontainable. They will outlive the blood-red, entertaining raunch of Fennell’s movie, too, in spite of the recency bias that kicks in when we’re confronted with contemporary interpretations of classics. It’s humbling to admit that an isolated nineteenth-century Yorkshirewoman, of whom her sister wrote that “she had scarcely more practical knowledge of the peasantry amongst whom she lived, than a nun has of the country people who sometimes pass her convent gates,” could possibly harbor thoughts as wild or knowing or kinky as we do now. But Brontë’s novel easily checks the first and third of those R-rated boxes. (As for the second, we can make our own assumptions.)”.

I do love how Margot Robbie recreated the dance of Wuthering Heights when she was on the set of the film. This song has enjoyed an interesting life. Noel Fielding performed a version of the song for Let's Dance for Comic Relief in 2009. Prior to ending with a BBC feature about Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights. I did want to come to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia and their information about Wuthering Heights. We also get some interview archive where Bush discussed writing this timeless debut single:

“The release date for the single was initially scheduled to be 4 November 1977. However, Bush was unhappy with the picture being used for the single’s cover and insisted it be replaced. Some copies of the single had already been sent out to radio stations, but EMI relented and put back the single’s launch until the New Year. Ultimately, this proved to be a wise choice, as the earlier release would have had to compete with Wings’ latest release, ‘Mull of Kintyre’, which became the biggest-selling single in UK history up to this point in December 1977.

‘Wuthering Heights’ was finally released on 20 January 1978, was immediately playlisted by Capital Radio and entered their chart at no. 39 on 27 January. It crept into the national Top 50 in week ending 11 February at No.42. The following week it rose to No.27 and Bush made her first appearance on Top of the Pops (“It was like watching myself die”, recalls Bush), The song was finally added to Radio One’s playlist the following week and became one of the most played records on radio. When the song reached number 1, it was the first UK number 1 written and performed by a female artist

“I wrote in my flat, sitting at the upright piano one night in March at about midnight. There was a full moon and the curtains were open, and every time I looked up for ideas, I looked at the moon. Actually, it came quite easily. I couldn’t seem to get out of the chorus – it had a really circular feel to it, which is why it repeats. I had originally written something more complicated, but I couldn’t link it up, so I kept the first bit and repeated it. I was really pleased, because it was the first song I had written for a while, as I’d been busy rehearsing with the KT Band.

I felt a particular want to write it, and had wanted to write it for quite a while. I remember my brother John talking about the story, but I couldn’t relate to it enough. So I borrowed the book and read a few pages, picking out a few lines. So I actually wrote the song before I had read the book right through. The name Cathy helped, and made it easier to project my own feelings of want for someone so much that you hate them. I could understand how Cathy felt.

It’s funny, but I heard a radio programme about a woman who was writing a book in Old English, and she found she was using words she didn’t know, but when she looked them up she found they were correct. A similar thing happened with ‘Wuthering Heights’: I put lines in the song that I found in the book when I read it later.

I’ve never been to Wuthering Heights, the place, though I would like to, and someone sent me a photo of where it’s supposed to be.

One thing that really pleases me is the amount of positive feedback I’ve had from the song, though I’ve heard that the Bronte Society think it’s a disgrace. A lot of people have read the book because of the song and liked it, which I think is the best thing about it for me. I didn’t know the book would be on the GCE syllabus in the year I had the hit, but lots of people have written to say how the song helped them. I’m really happy about that.

There are a couple of synchronicities involved with the song. When Emily Bronte wrote the book she was in the terminal stages of consumption, and I had a bad cold when I wrote the song. Also, when I was in Canada I found out that Lindsay Kemp, my dance teacher, was in town, only ten minutes away by car, so I went to see him. When I came back I had this urge to switch on the TV – it was about one in the morning – because I knew the film of Wuthering Heights would be on. I tuned in to a thirties gangster film, then flicked through the channels, playing channel roulette, until I found it. I came in at the moment Cathy was dying, so that’s all I saw of the film. It was an amazing coincidence.

Kate Bush Club Newsletter, January 1979”.

Kate Bush did say in another 1978 interview how “This young girl in an era when the female role was so inferior and she was coming out with this passionate, heavy stuff. Great subject matter for a song”. I do think that there is a lot more to be said about Wuthering Heights (the novel) and its legacy in the present day. Following a new adaptation of the novel and Kate Bush’s 1978 single, I do think that more should be written. I am ending with the BBC and their article from last year. They tell the story behind this extraordinary and powerful debut single from Kate Bush:

“Well, I hadn't read the book, that wasn't what inspired it. It was a television series they had years ago," she told Michael Aspel in a BBC interview in 1978. As a teenager she had come across the end of an episode of a 1967 BBC adaptation of Brontë's tale of doomed love. Its startling imagery had captivated her. "I just managed to catch the very last few minutes where there was a hand coming through the window and blood everywhere and glass. And I just didn't know what was going on and someone explained the story."

Bush was just 19 years old when the single was released. Although she may have seemed precocious to the public, she had been writing songs for years. Born in July 1958, the youngest of three children, she grew up in an artistic household in Kent, England. Her father, a doctor, and her mother, a nurse, surrounded their children with music, and encouraged them to learn instruments from an early age. Both of her older brothers were heavily involved in music and poetry, and she would join them performing Irish and English folk songs at home. "My brothers are very musical, yes. They were really responsible for turning me onto it in the first place. They were always playing music when I was a kid," she told Aspel.

Bush began to compose her own songs in her early teens, recording them on homemade demo tapes. One of these tapes found its way via a family friend into the hands of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, who recognised the promise in her songwriting and was particularly taken with the otherworldly quality of her voice. "I was intrigued by this strange voice," he told BBC podcast Profile in 2022. "I went to her house, met her parents down in Kent, and she played me, God, it must have been 40 or 50 songs."

Gilmour re-recorded three of Bush's songs with her in his studio for a new demo, and then encouraged Pink Floyd's record label, EMI, to sign her at the age of 16. As Bush was still at school, she spent the first two years of her contract continuing with her studies, while using the record company's advance to enrol in interpretive dance classes with mime artist and choreographer Lindsay Kemp, who had previously taught a young David Bowie.

In History

"I've definitely been influenced by Lindsay Kemp because he's one of my heroes and he was my teacher for a while," she told Aspel. "Marcel Marceau, I admire his stuff, but it is a little too staid for me. It's the art of illusion. It's not really the actual showing of emotion, which is what Lindsay teaches, and for me that's perfect because that's what music in any form of art is about. It's emotion, it's from inside."

At the same time, she was also honing her musical craft. She formed a group called the KT Bush Band and began playing in London pubs while working on songs for her debut album, The Kick Inside. The singer told the BBC that she tended to compose these songs late in the evening. "It seems to be the time of day that things gather, you know. I wake up about 11pm, I'm sort of sleepy all day, then at 11pm I really wake up." One night when she was 18, she sat down at the piano to write a song from the perspective of Brontë's passionate, conflicted heroine, Catherine Earnshaw, who haunts her lover Heathcliff, both during her life and after she dies. The imagery from the Wuthering Heights TV adaptation "was just hanging around for years", she said, "so I read the book in order to get the research right".

New influences and new technologies

The song's lyrics evoke Catherine's obsessive longing for Heathcliff, her mercurial nature, and the couple's charged, destructive relationship. Bush also wanted to convey Catherine's ghostly presence, so she adopted high-pitched, keening vocals to give the song an eerie, haunting air. "It was really specifically for that song, it was that high because of the subject matter," she said. "I'm playing Cathy and she was a spirit, and it needed some kind of ethereal effect, and it seemed to be the best way to do it, to get a high register."

Wuthering Heights, with its lush, sweeping orchestration, its literary sensibilities, and Bush's soaring theatrical delivery, did not strike her record company as an obvious radio hit. EMI instead wanted the rockier sounding James and the Cold Gun, a favourite from her KT Bush Band's pub set, to be the first single from the album. But Bush was adamant that Wuthering Heights should be her debut – and EMI eventually relented.

To accompany its release, two music videos were filmed. One was studio-based and the other was shot outside, with Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, standing in for the novel's windswept Yorkshire moors. For the shoots, Bush used the interpretive dance instruction she had received to mesmerising effect. Both videos feature her gazing intensely at the camera, clad in floaty dresses while performing dramatic and emotive dance movements to express the spectral essence of Cathy. Her dance routine was so distinctive that it became something of a cultural touchstone, inspiring both comedic homages and an annual event called The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever, at which Bush devotees recreate her performance from the videos.

The single would prove to be her breakthrough. Within three weeks of being released, it had reached number one, getting a boost from Bush's arresting mime-style performance on the BBC's music chart show, Top of the Pops. It knocked Abba's Take a Chance on Me off the UK singles chart's top spot, and stayed there for a month. It also topped the charts in Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and Australia. Her album, The Kick Inside, when it was released the following month, sold more than one million copies. She would go on to collect an Ivor Novello award in 1979 for The Man with The Child in His Eyes, released as her second single from the album.

Wuthering Heights marked the start of Bush's innovative, critically acclaimed and shape-shifting musical career. She has now released a total of 10 studio albums, melding diverse influences, complex musical storytelling and new technologies, such as sampling, to spawn hit singles like Hounds of Love and Babooshka. She has also collaborated with artists including Prince and Elton John. Her duet with Peter Gabriel, Don't Give Up, would pick up another Ivor Novello award in 1987”.

In 2028, we mark fifty years of Wuthering Heights. Still perhaps the most singular and extraordinary debut single ever. There are songs where Bush brought in literary characters. I feel that Wuthering Heights is one of her moist powerful examples. How it was an adaptation of the novel that led her to write this song. How she would then read the text after writing the track. Bush had to perform the song multiple times. On Top of the Pops several times. Around Europe. During The Tour of Life. It must have been quite exhausting, though there was such a demand for this song. Testament to the good sense of the record-buying public in 1978 that they sent it to number one. I think the song resonates because of how Bush represents Cathy. Casting her as this possessed and somewhat horrible spirit. The two videos that were shot for the single. I will always favour the white dress version. In the final part of this series, I am going to unique The Dreaming’s Houdini and The Kick Inside’s Them Heavy People. From The Diva who we can draw to the 1948 film, The Red Shoes, which influenced Kate Bush’s seventh studio album of the same name, she then created a version of that film for her own short film. We then move to a 1967 adaption of an 1847 novel that influenced a 1978 song. So many different years and time periods that connect together. How Kate Bush was drawing guidance from films and T.V. Fascinating and fantastic characters to investigate for this part. I am sort of sad to be ending this run very soon. However, it has been great looking inside Kate Bush’s songs and the vast array of characters. It goes to show what an imaginative writer she is.  No doubt that Kate Bush is…

A songwriting genius.

FEATURE: Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love at Forty-One: Revisiting the Cinematic Potential of The Ninth Wave

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love at Forty-One

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush shot for The Ninth Wave in 1985/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

Revisiting the Cinematic Potential of The Ninth Wave

__________

I have written before…

about the cinematic possibilities of Kate Bush’s The Ninth Wave. That is the conceptual second side of her fifth studio album, Hounds of Love, which turns forty-one on 16th September. She wrote The Ninth Wave with the idea of turning it into a short film. She managed to bring it to the stage during 2014’s Before the Dawn, unfulfilled that ambition – to an extent. I have said before how there is a limit of what you can create on a stage. Even if it is the Eventim Apollo, there is not the same expanse and space you would have on a set or in a huge water tank. Also, only those who saw Before the Dawn will know what it was like. It was a theatrical representation of The Ninth Wave. To date, there has not been a short film or full-length of The Ninth Wave. I do feel it is important to once more revisit this idea because of Hounds of Love’s anniversary. It is a sweeping and masterful album from a genius producer. The Ninth Wave is this story of a woman who falls into the sea, presumingly having gone overboard and she is now in the water and trying to stat awake. We chart this amazing night of survival as she is under the water and trying to stay afloat. In the end, a helicopter comes alongside and rescues her. In the stages version, there is debate as to whether Kate Bush, who played the heroine, survived or not. She always intended the woman to be rescued. It is a shame that Bush’s original vision was never brought to the cinema. I do think that there is plenty of scope and potential. In terms of who would play the heroine, there are choices. You could see Margaret Qualley playing her. In terms of appearance, there are similarities between her and Kate Bush in 1985. Though actors like Sidney Sweeny or Grace McKenna could play the role. I feel Qualley is a perfect choice.

IN THIS PHOTO: Margaret Qualley/PHOTO CREDIT: Sameer Al-Doumy

What you would have is this story of how the woman got into the water. You would follow this tale of a newly-married couple in New York. I have written a synopsis of the two of them embarking on a honeymoon cruise. The woman falls into the water and there is this struggle. We follow the action and the songs play. Margaret Qualley – or whomever you see in that role – would not sing the songs. It would be Bush’s original recordings. Instead, we would get visualisations of each of the tracks. I do feel there is a lot more you can do with cinema compared to the stage. Having these epic songs given their own feel. Sweeping and dramatic, the film would be split into three acts. The first is the lead-up to the woman going overboard. The Ninth Wave would form the second act, and the third would be the aftermath. As to whether she survived and what happens afterwards. People could argue that Kate Bush has been approached to do this and turned people down. There is no evidence that this has ever happened. People guessing. Personally, I don’t think that there have been pitches to take The Ninth Wave onto the screen, which is a real shame. Above all else, we would get to see something that Bush imagined in 1985. A modern-day version. In terms of budget, it would not be a huge thing. The most challenging aspect is the water scenes. An actor would need to be in a water tank for a number of hours, and the waster would need to be warm enough so they do not get hypothermia. When Kate Bush filmed the video for And Dream of Sheep, she was in a water tank at Pinewood Studios. She caught mild hypothermic and got a small telling off from her doctor. I am not sure how practical it could be to heat a water tank so that it was warm and not that cold.

There is so much love and curiosity around Hounds of Love. The Ninth Wave is this celebrated second side. It is such a fascinating story. You can only visualise so much through the music. Kate Bush’s music has been used in films though, as yet, there has not been any films based around her music. The Ninth Wave is too powerful and interesting to only be staged during Before the Dawn. I feel a good film could be created, where these incredible songs are at the centre. A film that would not have a massive budget, I do feel like it could be a success. In terms of its box office, there would be a huge pull. Films have explored people surviving at sea and facing the dangers of what lurks beneath. However, there is something unique about The Ninth Wave. This incredible suite that could only come from Kate Bush, visualising it and bringing it to the big screen would be wonderful. Kate Bush surely has thought of that in the years since 1985. I don’t think she has been approached to do it, so I feel there is a real opportunity. Sure, she could turn them down and say it was done for the stage so it does not need to be done on film. There is space for both, as most of us did not get to Before the Dawn. I always feel like the heroine should survive and make it from the water. Though having a sense of mystery would add something to the film. I did want to revisit yet filmic scope of The Ninth Wave. A great director who could bring this to the screen. Greta Gerwig or Olivia Wilde. A fantastic writer(s) who could blend comedy and drama. Though I feel Margaret Qualley would be perfect, there are so many potential options. Maybe Anne Hathaway. In any case, there is something to be said of a big screen transfer of this stunning suite from a genius album. Forty-one years after it was first heard, The Ninth Wave still send shivers. It is such an accomplished piece of work from an incredible artist and producer. Though it has not been made into a film yet, I do hold out hope that the Ninth Wave could be adapted for the screen…

ONE day soon.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Lee Ann Roberts

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Lee Ann Roberts

__________

THERE are…

a few interviews with Lee Ann Roberts that I want to get to. This incredible D.J. and artist has just released her album, TAKE CONTROL. There is a lot of interest around it. I want to start out with Metal Magazine, who “caught up with the South African artist to talk about the project that’s set to redefine not only her sound but the way she sees herself as an artist”:

“IN THE SHADOWS and TAKE CONTROL have already given people a glimpse into this new era. What has surprised you most about the reaction so far?

I think what surprised me most is how many people connected with the message behind the music. Of course, it's always great when people enjoy the tracks, but seeing people resonate with the themes of growth, self-belief and taking ownership of your life has been really special. What I've loved most is the messages I've been receiving from people. I've had so many supporters reach out saying that this feels like the most authentic version of me they've heard in a long time and that they can really hear me in the music. Some of the messages have been incredibly thoughtful and detailed, and that's been amazing to see. As an artist, there’s nothing more rewarding than knowing people are connecting not just with the sound but with the story behind it as well.

You've described this project as a new era rather than simply a new release. Beyond the visible changes, how has this transformation felt from your side?

For me, it's felt like coming home to myself. A lot of the changes people see externally are just reflections of what has been happening internally. I've spent a lot of time reconnecting with who I am, what I stand for and what I want to represent as an artist. That process has been incredibly freeing.

You took a step back from social media and allowed yourself time to reset. Was it difficult to slow down in an industry that seems permanently obsessed with momentum?

At first, yes. There's always that fear that if you're not constantly visible, you'll be forgotten. But I realised that constantly moving doesn't necessarily mean you're moving in the right direction. Taking a step back gave me clarity, and honestly, it was one of the best things I've done for both my creativity and my mental health.

The title TAKE CONTROL feels like a statement. What exactly were you taking control back from?

From external expectations, noise, opinions and the pressure to be something other than myself. At some point I realised I was spending too much time looking outward and not enough time trusting my own instincts. But it also goes much deeper than music. TAKE CONTROL is about taking ownership of your life in general. I've been through a lot of different experiences and challenges over the years, and for me it was about no longer allowing those things to define me. Instead, it was about taking everything I've learned, everything I've been through and using it as fuel to move forward. TAKE CONTROL is about getting back in the driver's seat and deciding for myself who I wanted to be, where I wanted to go and how I wanted to live my life.

For years, people placed you inside the hard techno box. Did that label ever begin to feel restrictive?

I think labels can be useful to a point because they help people understand where you fit within a scene, but they can definitely become restrictive. Especially when you're someone with a wide range of influences and a genuine love for different styles of music. I've never wanted to be defined by a single genre because my influences have always been much broader than that. As an artist, I think it's important to give yourself the freedom to evolve, experiment and bring different elements into your music. At the end of the day, music is far more fluid than any label we try to put on it.

Your career has taken you across the world, but what does a perfect day look like when nobody needs anything from you, and there’s nowhere you have to be?

A slow morning with my affirmations and meditation, a coffee, some time in nature, spending time with my cats, training and/or going for a surf and seeing my friends. Nothing extravagant, just simple things that make me feel present.

When life starts moving too fast, and you feel disconnected from yourself, what helps you find your way back?

Nature, affirmations, meditation and taking a step back from the noise. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I try to reconnect with the things that ground me. Usually the answers become a lot clearer when you create a bit of space”.

I do want to move to Pioneer DJ and their interview with Lee Ann Roberts. She explains how careful preparation and sobriety shapes her explosive D.J. performance and high-energy sets. This is one of the most talented D.J.s in the world:

“Sobriety has also sharpened Lee Ann’s craft. As we learn below, she feels that having a clear head in the DJ booth has upped her game in basically every respect. “It’s funny because a lot of people think they play better under the influence but I think that’s often because they’ve never really experienced DJing sober, so they assume they’re better,” she says.

As you’ll sense from the interview below—which covers mixing at speed, reading crowds, and switching musical lanes—Lee Ann is someone who thinks deeply about her DJing and is always looking to improve.

Did you learn anything from radio DJing that you carried into club DJing?

Absolutely. Radio taught me the importance of flow, pacing, and taking people on a journey. Even though you’re not physically in front of a crowd, you’re still responsible for holding someone’s attention and creating a mood. It also taught me how to think about track selection more deeply and how to build energy over time rather than just chasing big moments. Those lessons have stayed with me and definitely influence the way I approach DJ sets today.

Do you remember the first setup you learned to DJ on? What was difficult at the beginning?

The first setup I learned on was a pair of Pioneer CDJ-800 MK2s and a Numark DM950 mixer. CDJ-800’s still had CD inserts and it definitely felt like the real deal. I think learning on that kind of setup teaches you the true art of DJing. You had to understand phrasing, timing, track selection, and beatmatching on a much deeper level because there was far less technology doing the work for you.

You established yourself as a DJ and producer playing deeper, minimal sounds. What led to your decision to make a pivot to another style? How difficult did you find this transition?

I never really saw it as a conscious decision to pivot as much as a natural evolution of who I am as an artist. The deeper, more minimal sounds were a huge part of my journey and helped me develop my identity but over time I found myself wanting to express a wider range of emotions and energy through my music. My roots actually come from South Africa’s psytrance scene, so in many ways the harder, more driving sound I make today feels like a return to something that was always part of me. As I grew as both a producer and performer, I became more interested in creating music that combined power, emotion, and storytelling while still maintaining the hypnotic qualities that first drew me to electronic music.

The transition wasn’t without its challenges. Any time you evolve, there’s a risk that some people won’t come with you. But I think authenticity is the most important thing. I’ve always tried to follow what genuinely excites and inspires me creatively rather than chasing trends or expectations. Looking back, it was absolutely the right decision because the music I’m making today feels like the most honest representation of who I am.

Do you have any advice for DJs who are thinking of making a similar lane change?

My biggest piece of advice would be to make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. Don’t change direction because it’s fashionable or because you think it’s what people want to hear. Do it because it’s a genuine reflection of where you are creatively.

It’s also important to accept that not everyone will come with you on the journey and that’s OK. Every artist evolves. If you’re growing and challenging yourself creatively, some people will connect with the new direction and others may prefer what came before.

Most importantly, trust your instincts. The artists who inspire me most are the ones who weren’t afraid to take risks and follow their own path even when it wasn’t the obvious or popular choice. If the new sound genuinely excites you and feels authentic, lean into it fully and commit to it. People can feel when something is real and that’s ultimately what creates a lasting connection.

What are you reading from the crowd when you decide where to go next?

I’m constantly watching the crowd and looking for small shifts in energy. It’s not just about whether people are dancing, it’s about how they’re dancing, how they’re reacting to certain sounds, whether they’re fully locked in and whether the energy feels like it’s building or starting to level out. Sometimes a crowd wants more intensity but other times they need a moment to breathe before you can take them higher again.

I pay a lot of attention to the emotional response as well. A lot of it is instinct at this point. After years of playing clubs and festivals around the world you develop a feel for when to push, when to hold back, and when to surprise people. Every crowd is different, which is what makes DJing so exciting. You’re having a conversation with thousands of people without saying a word and they’re constantly telling you where to go next through their energy.

Do you always know what track you’ll play first before you step up to the booth?

Sometimes I know exactly what I’m going to play first but most of the time I don’t decide until I’m standing in the booth. A lot depends on the event, the time slot, and the energy in the room. Even if I’ve got a few ideas in mind beforehand, I like to take a moment to suss out the vibe, see how the previous DJ has left the dancefloor, and get a feel for what the crowd is responding to. I’ve always preferred to leave room for spontaneity. The first track sets the tone for everything that follows, so I want it to feel right for that particular moment rather than forcing something I’d decided on hours earlier.

How has your music discovery process changed since you became a professional DJ?

It’s changed quite a lot. When I first started, discovering music was really just about finding tracks that I personally loved. These days, I’m still looking for music that excites me but I’m also listening through the lens of a DJ and thinking about how a track will work on a dancefloor, where it might fit in a set and what kind of emotion or energy it creates. I also receive a lot more music now than I did in the beginning, whether it’s promos, demos, or unreleased tracks from friends and producers, so there’s a lot more filtering involved. You have to become quite selective. That said, I still genuinely love digging for music. There’s nothing quite like finding that track that gives you goosebumps or discovering an artist you’ve never heard before. Even after all these years, that feeling hasn’t changed”.

A couple more interviews to cover before wrapping things up. Let’s get to 1883 Magazine and their eighteen-question interview with Lee Ann Roberts. I have chosen a few of the questions to highlight. They spoke with this prodigious artist and D.J. “about losing her mother, rebuilding her life in Lisbon, and why she stopped chasing trends to trust her own instincts instead”:

“Where do you feel most at peace when life and touring become overwhelming?

Nature… without a doubt. Growing up in South Africa gave me a deep connection to the bush, and whenever life gets overwhelming, that’s where I feel most grounded. Whether it’s the ocean, a forest, or just somewhere quiet, it helps me reconnect with myself. Since moving to Lisbon, I’ve also put a lot of effort into creating a calm, peaceful home environment. When you’re constantly travelling, having a space that feels safe and grounding becomes really important, and Lisbon has been such a healing and calming place for me.

What’s something people often assume about you that couldn’t be further from the truth?

Assumptions are the mother of all fuck-ups. People think they know who you are from social media or from afar, but that’s only a tiny part of the picture. At the end of the day, you should never judge a book by its cover… people are always far more complex than they seem. So I don’t really spend too much time worrying about what people assume. But if I had to pick one thing, it’s probably that people assume I’m naturally outgoing all the time. The truth is I’m actually pretty shy. I can be very extroverted at times, but I think that’s often something I’ve learned to do to compensate. Once I’m comfortable, I’m great, but naturally I’m much more reserved than people expect.

PHOTO CREDIT: Nik Mueller

If you weren’t making music today, what do you think you’d be doing instead?

That’s a difficult one because music has become such a huge part of who I am. But I think I’d probably still be doing something creative or entrepreneurial. I’ve always been driven to build things and create opportunities for myself. Having said that, if I wasn’t in music, I could definitely have seen myself becoming a lawyer or going into criminology. I’ve always been someone who likes to ask questions, challenge things and fight for what I believe is right.

You’ve spoken before about growing up in South Africa and feeling like creative expression wasn’t something that was encouraged. Looking back now, how much of your drive comes from proving to yourself that you could build a different life?

A huge amount of it. Looking back, I think a lot of my drive came from wanting to see what I was capable of and how far I could push myself. Growing up in South Africa, a career in music didn’t necessarily feel like the obvious path, so building a life around it has been incredibly rewarding. It was never really about proving anyone wrong; it was about proving to myself that with enough hard work and belief, I could create a life that felt true to who I am and achieve anything I set my mind on, no matter what the circumstances.

There was a point where modelling was opening doors for you internationally. Was there a specific moment when you realised music wasn’t just a passion anymore but the thing you wanted to dedicate your life to?

Yes, there was. When I moved to Los Angeles for modelling, I reconnected with a friend I’d met in South Africa who is a producer from Houston. I originally went there to spend some time on his turntables, but we ended up spending two weeks in the studio together and made two tracks, “Sensational Lies” and “The Subliminal.” That was the moment everything clicked for me. Up until then, music had always been a passion, working in radio and so forth, but after those two weeks I remember thinking, “Oh my God, this is what I want to do with my life.” From that point on, I never really looked back.

In several interviews you’ve described techno as something that helped you process difficult experiences. Do you think music saved you in some ways?

Yes, I do. Music gave me an outlet when I didn’t always have the words to explain or express what I was feeling. It gave me purpose, direction and a way to channel emotions that otherwise could have stayed buried. I don’t know where I’d be without it”.

I am going to end with Numéro Netherlands and their great interview. Lee Ann Roberts is a fascinating D.J. and artist. She spoke about “changes behind this new era, finding the way back to herself, and why now felt like the right time to take control”:

“A lot of people know you for hard techno, but this project brings you back to your psytrance roots. Why did you want to explore that side of your sound again?

Psytrance is where my journey began. It’s who I am. It’s in my blood, my DNA. Before I was a DJ, I was spending every weekend stomping for days at psytrance festivals in the vineyards and mountains of South Africa, completely losing myself in the music. Those experiences shaped me long before I ever stepped behind the decks.

As my career evolved, I explored different sounds and genres, but over the last few years I’ve found myself reconnecting with the music that first made me fall in love with electronic music. There’s something about psytrance that feels like home. The energy, the freedom, the sense of community—it’s always been a part of me. This chapter isn’t about going backwards. It’s about embracing the foundation that shaped me and bringing it together with everything I’ve learned along the way.

This EP feels more emotional and cinematic than some of your previous work. Did making these songs help you express a different side of yourself?

Definitely.  Music has always been how I process things that I struggle to put into words. A lot of these tracks were written during a period of huge personal growth and reflection. There are emotions, memories, and experiences woven into the  music that people might not immediately hear, but they’re there. This project allowed me to be more vulnerable and tell a deeper story.

The visuals for this new era are very striking and fashion-focused. How important was it to create a new visual identity alongside the music?

Very important. I’ve always believed that music is more than just sound. It’s a feeling, a world, and an experience. The visuals help tell the story behind the music.  Fashion has always been part of my life, so it felt natural to bring that influence into this chapter. I wanted the visuals to feel powerful, mysterious, and cinematic while reflecting the confidence and evolution behind the music.

The tracks on the EP move between dark and uplifting moments. Was there a story or feeling you wanted listeners to experience?

The EP reflects a journey. There are moments that represent struggle, uncertainty, and confronting parts of yourself, but there are also moments of freedom, strength, and hope. Life isn’t one emotion. It’s all of those things at once. I wanted listeners to feel like they were moving through different chapters and ultimately arriving somewhere stronger than where they started.

PHOTO CREDIT: Nik Mueller

As a female producer, have you ever felt pressure to fit into a certain box, and how have you learned to stay true to yourself?

Of course. There are always expectations about how you should look, sound, or behave. Early on, I probably felt those pressures more strongly, but over time I’ve realised that authenticity is your biggest strength. The moments where I’ve grown the most have been the moments where I’ve stopped trying to fit into someone else’s idea of who I should be and simply focused on being myself.

After years of touring and building your career, what have you learned about yourself during this new chapter?

I’ve learned that success means very little if you’re disconnected from yourself. For a long time, I was focused on the next show, the next milestone, and the next goal. This chapter has taught me the importance of balance, self-worth, and creating a life that feels meaningful outside of music as well. I’ve also learned that some of my greatest strengths come from the challenges I’ve overcome.

This feels like the start of something new for you. What do you hope people take away from TAKE CONTROL and this new era of Lee Ann Roberts?

I hope people see that it’s never too late to evolve. We all go through difficult periods, setbacks, and moments where we lose our way. TAKE CONTROL is a reminder that you can always choose to begin again. If this music inspires even one person to trust themselves, embrace change, or step into their own power, then I’ve achieved what I set out to do”.

I shall wrap things up. I am a new convert of Lee Ann Roberts. Her new E.P., TAKE CONTROL, is sensational. If you are in a position to see one of her D.J. sets then make sure that you do, as she is a phenomenal and unique talent. You can see where she is playing here. If you have not done it already, make sure that you follow…

THIS D.J. queen.

___________

Follow Lee Ann Roberts

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/leeann_roberts

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@leeann_roberts

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/leeannroberts07

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vemAVjLY9Dbz229ZqRlT1?si=fRVmJ2-4RrOLudYEuesxhQ

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Shirley Manson at Sixty

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

PHOTO CREDIT: Nate Ryan 

Shirley Manson at Sixty

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ONE of our…

PHOTO CREDIT: Andy Willsher

best artists celebrates her sixtieth birthday on 26th August. Shirley Manson is the lead of Garbage. I have been a fan of hers for many years. I am going to end with a Garbage playlist. Before I get to that mixtape at the end, I am going to get to some biography from AllMusic. They give us an insight into this brilliant artist:

“Scottish singer/songwriter Shirley Manson is best known as the iconic lead singer for the alternative pop/rock band Garbage. Prior to Garbage, she was a member of Scottish bands Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie and Angelfish. It was in a music video for the latter group that she was discovered by her future bandmates Butch Vig and Duke Erikson.

Manson was born in 1966 and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, influenced by her mother, Muriel, a onetime jazz singer. Growing up, school was a particular problem, with Manson teased by classmates about everything from her hair to her eyes. Manson's focus soon shifted toward a life of drugs, sex, and depression. However, one thing proved to be a light in her life: her love for music. She began playing keyboards and singing backup for local rock bands, then went on to be a lead singer. Although she thought Angelfish would be her big break, the group didn't score any hits. However, it did get her noticed, and in 1994 landed her the lead singer spot in Garbage.

Garbage's multi-platinum self-titled debut was released in 1995 and would go on to become a seminal record of the era, with singles like "Only Happy When It Rains" and "Stupid Girl." The band's popularity grew, fueled by the charismatic frontwoman. Their sophomore set, Version 2.0, another platinum hit, arrived in 1998. After a slight slip in the charts with their third release, 2001's Beautiful Garbage, Manson and company debuted at number four in 2005 with their comeback LP, Bleed Like Me. A greatest-hits compilation followed in 2007 before the release of their fifth album, Not Your Kind of People, in 2012. Their first in seven years, People peaked in the Top Five of the Billboard independent, alternative, and rock charts. Strange Little Birds arrived in 2016.

In addition to fronting Garbage, Manson also acts. Her earliest role was on the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, in which she starred from 2008 to 2009. Manson also recorded vocals for the theme song for the 2017 series American Gods. Her contributions to the big screen also extended to the James Bond franchise with Garbage's 1999 theme "The World Is Not Enough." She has also recorded with Queens of the Stone Age, Gavin Rossdale, the Bird and the Bee, Serj Tankian, and Brody Dalle”.

A very happy birthday to Shirley Manson. When she turns sixty on 26th August, I hope there is a lot of celebration. Still going strong with Garbage, she is one fo the greatest band leads of all time. We all need to show love to…

THIS music icon.

FEATURE: Modern-Day Queens: Nia Archives

FEATURE:

 

 

Modern-Day Queens

PHOTO CREDIT: Lewis Vorn

Nia Archives

__________

THE brilliant…

Nia Archives has released one of the best albumns of the year with Emotional Junglism. I am starting out with an interview from Rolling Stone UK. They spoke with an artist whose mission was to champion Jungle. Now, this “girl for the genre’s renaissance is spreading her musical wings and being unapologetically herself”. I have been following her for years. Seeing her growth and evolution has been amazing:

“Over the past five years, Nia Archives has become one of British music’s most magnetic success stories. The self-funded producer who once paid for her debut single ‘Sober Feels’ with her student loan is now a history-maker in her own right: the first jungle artist to receive three BRIT Award nominations, the first in more than two decades to be shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, and a support act for Beyoncé at a London stadium show. Between festival takeovers, magazine covers and industry accolades, she’s established herself as the unmistakable face of jungle’s new generation. If Britain’s electronic scene has spent the past half decade searching for a poster girl, it found one in Nia Archives.

The producer doesn’t reject that title. If anything, she thinks she helped build it. “I think I did that to myself a bit too, [but] I had to back it,” she admits. And when jungle needed a louder champion, she rarely shied away from being one. In 2022, she lobbied for the return of the MOBOs’ Best Dance Act category with a public letter. Across the table, Nia reveals that she convinced herself that the institution would “hate me forever”. Instead, the category returned and she became its inaugural winner – a full-circle moment for someone who had attended the ceremony as a teenager. “I think it’s a great Black institution in British music,” she says of the organisation. “What [late MOBOs founder] Kanya [King] did is amazing and her legacy will go on forever. I feel honoured to be a small part of that legacy.” But, despite all this history-making with the genre, she’s equally keen to remind people that Nia Archives has always been bigger than jungle alone.

That philosophy sits at the heart of her upcoming record. Despite the title, she is quick to point out that this isn’t really a jungle record. “It’s called Emotional Junglist, but it’s not a jungle album,” she says. “It’s an alternative record.” She starts reeling off the music that shaped it almost instinctively: Madonna’s Ray of Light, Blur, Pulp, Saint Etienne, Massive Attack. Jungle still dictates the pulse – the breakbeats, the basslines, the skeletal framework of the songs – but almost everything else has been given permission to wander. “With jungle, I’m inspired by the drums and the bass production and the structure,” she explains, “but I’m not necessarily inspired by the synths. I take way more inspiration from alternative music, guitar music and trip-hop.”

As a music listener and fan, Nia Archives has long admired artists who refuse to sit still. “Madonna did that so well across all her eras – always pioneering, always asking, ‘What’s next?’” she says. “I’m really inspired by people like Madonna and Björk, who keep innovating. [FKA] twigs too, she’s always kept it moving.” Now, Nia is ready “to fuse genres, find the next combination of the things I like – that’s what excites me at the moment.”

The music itself isn’t what worries her. Putting it out into the world is. “I’m really worried,” she admits with a laugh. “People are expecting 15 straight-up jungle tracks. I’ve done that already. I hope people allow me the grace to just try some shit.” For an artist who spent years loudly staking her name on jungle, there is an irony in now having to convince people to follow her somewhere else. The question is no longer whether she can make jungle bend to her imagination, but whether her audience will trust her without knowing exactly where she’s taking them.

That freedom extends beyond the production. She has always written candidly about her life, but admits she once used the frenzy of her music to obscure just how much she was saying. “I used singing more as a musical tool than a vocal showcase,” she says. Even on her debut album Silence Is Loud, widely praised for its emotional openness, she was wary of revealing too much. When its raw title track quickly became a favourite among her team, who wanted to make it a focus of the campaign, Nia pushed back. “I was so scared,” she remembers. “I was like, ‘It can be on the album, but I don’t want it to be the focus.’” This time, there is nowhere near as much distance between the woman living through these experiences and the artist singing about them”.

Polyester spent time with Nia Archives. In addition to discussing her new album, she discussed being shy. If you have not discovered this incredible artist then do go and follow her work. Emotional Junglist is such a stunning album:

“Making a second album is stressful. The pressure, the lack of innocence…I made Silence is Loud in two weeks. This album took me a year. It’s a really different process. What I really like about both is I was going for a particular sound and with Emotional Junglist, I doubled down on it.”

Her fear of the sophomore slump is a valid one; the second albums of so many artists have been cast away as failures by the culture, punished for veering too far off their more famous older sibling. It is a limitation that breeds risk averse musicians, genre used to offset experimentation or too much individuality like a cane.

“I hope people allow me the grace to be an artist and experiment and not be bound by the restraints of what dance music should be because I’ve never wanted to be bound by that,” she says. “I’ve always wanted to try stuff and make stuff for fun. As I get further into my career, I feel like everyone just expects the same thing but I don’t want to do that. It’s boring!”

“I feel a lot of pressure to make “Baianá” over and over again. Or even“Forbidden Feelingz”. I just feel like I made those tunes for fun. I don’t want to make the same song again. I think my music prior to this album and this era has been a little confusing to people.”

Silence is Loud’s charm comes exactly from the fizzy youthfulness and naivety of the artist who made it. It would not work now, precisely because Nia is not the same person she was when she started out.

She does the intelligent thing here, building on the cheeky Britpop writing and unrepentant jungle beats of work past while giving space to the assured melancholy and introversion our mid-twenties force upon us all; it is a sonic maturation in the clearest sense. “Boys in Blue,” a punk anthem jeering at the alarming decision by an ex to intimidate her by calling police to her door, is just a sample of the kind of assuredness she exhibits on the project.

“It’s definitely a more female gaze kind of album, so I want to see a lot more girls at the gigs this year.”

“I’m really happy with that song because it’s a middle finger, a bit of a victory lap. It’s so empowering. Sometimes I feel like I’m moaning?..It’s nice to have a song that’s not like ‘woe is me’. It’s nice to have a song that’s like, ‘I’m that girl. I can’t believe you even dared to do something like that.’”

Many would have licked their wounds in private, but being an emotional junglist requires a  candidness that would have been impossible at 22 simply. The point is to cry in the club with your girlfriends and count your battle scars.

“I’ve always written really personal songs but because the production has been so intensely instrumental, I’ve kind of hidden behind the production in previous music. There’s moments of sparseness (on Emotional Junglist), stripped back vibes so I think you can hear what I’m saying a bit more.” She laughs self-deprecatingly. “Weirdly, even though I’ve always been front facing, I feel even more front facing in this era.”

I ask, on a whim, if she’s an introvert.

“I’m naturally a really, really shy person! As I child I was very shy, really quiet,” she says. “In this job though I feel like I have to force myself to be more extroverted than I naturally am.” Her aversion to chaos and attention has cropped up a few times (at one point she tells me that her preferred pre-show ritual is silence: “I like avoiding people before the shows. It sounds really bad but I really don’t like talking”) but you wouldn’t expect it of someone with such formidable energy on stage.

Now, she is once more preparing to face crowds and fans again, this time with an older, wiser version of Nia Archives.

“I’m putting myself out there again. I’ve been doing my own thing away from everyone’s criticism for the past year so I’m preparing to deal with that again.”

She’s being diplomatic about the backlash present in the discourse around both her experimentation across forms as well as the perceived ‘commerciality’ of her work now that her star has risen to BRIT-nominated heights. “Online is just negative vibes. I try to detach from it because people always have so much to say. Even today, I was scrolling TikTok just to wake up and the first thing I see is someone being negative about me.”

Punishment for visibility and mainstream success is not a new phenomenon. Pedestal tearing has become as integral a part of online fandom spaces as thirst edits and shipping culture. Die a hidden gem, undervalued and underpaid or be successful and pay for it with the cultural currency amassed earlier in your career. No artist seems to have squared this incongruous circle, of holding both democratic fame and underground genius.

“That’s why everyone is moving to America, not just in music but in everything. It’s just very British. In Australia they call it tall poppy syndrome. When someone gets to a certain level…people start to resent that and they try to humble you. It’s a cultural thing. In many ways I think it’s good to be grounded but it’s kind of a shame when the community you give so much to can be negative when you do all the things they supported you doing. Skepta had that…I just think it’s part of the journey.”

“I care but I don’t because all the people talking don’t even make music. They’re always talking about junglist this, junglist that but I know all the original junglistst”.

I am going to end up with a review of Emotional Junglist from CLASH. I do think that it is one of the best albums of this year. Such a remarkable work from Nia Archives. That is why I wanted to feature her here, as she is one of our greatest artists:

“Spearheading the new wave of 21st century junglism, Nia Archives swept the competition aside with her excellent 2024 debut album ‘Silence Is Loud’. Since then, the Bradford-raised producer has expanded her sound, fully unpacking her influences in the process. Along the way, her heart has taken a few bruises, and it’s this mixture of personal and technical which makes expansive second album ‘Emotional Junglist’ so compelling.

If one of the standard criticisms of Nia’s work was that she was too in thrall with jungle’s heritage, well, this album demolishes that entirely. Citing everyone from the Streets and Happy Mondays through to LTJ Bukem as a point of inspiration, it’s a weighty 15-tracker that embodies her quicksilver creativity.

The highs come thick and fast. ‘Feelingz Go Numb’ is a superb opener, a neat point of connection between her crisp debut and the frenetic creativity of the follow-up. ‘Around Tha Bend’ utilises a guitar line worthy of The Cure, while ‘Danger’ merges dancehall impulses with industrial tones worthy of Nine Inch Nails. A heady thrill, it somehow remains firmly under the jungle imbrella.

It’s this push-and-pull between her sonic ambitions and her fixed roots which gives the record such a dichotomous energy. If William Orbit’s late 90s work haunts ‘Vertical’ then something like ‘Train Of Thought’ is a more down-the-line liquid DNB offering (albeit with the vocals of an angel).

Indeed, if Nia Archives’ debut album was defined, then her follow-up is fusion oriented. ‘Almost Always’ has a sombre, post-punk guitar line; ‘Dance With Me 2Nite’ is unafraid to embrace pop, and ‘The Darkest Hour’ has an orchestral sweep.

The guests, too, are expertly chosen. Ethan P Flynn helps to engage the creative process, Julia Michaels pops up during a writing trip to Los Angeles, and as a whole the record fully embraces a live-in-the-studio full band feel. Sampha is typically radiant on ‘Tender’ – an open song of longing – while old friend Jorja Smith appears on ‘Get Me Down’, perhaps the apex of ‘Emotional Junglist’ both as a project and as a concept.

In refusing to be hemmed in Nia Archives has built a space to call her own, building outwards on her firm breakbeat foundations. ‘Emotional Junglist’ is a dense mosiac of sounds, but the feelings are pure and distinct – a step forwards from her debut, it’s a fascinating second chapter.

8/10”.

I will wrap up here. Nia Archives is such a tremendous talent. I am wondering where she goes from here and what her next album sounds like. Emotional Junglist is the sound of an artist in full flight. I think that it could be in with a shout of a Mercury Prize nomination. If so, it would be the least that she deserves. We should all salute…

THIS wonderful artist.

_________

Follow Nia Archives

PHOTO CREDIT: Stuart Nimmo

Official:

https://www.niaarchives.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/archives.nia

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@archives_nia

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/archives.nia

Twitter:

https://x.com/archives_nia

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/7BMR0fwtEvzGtK4rNGdoiQ?si=YP5Yxm2tTEWkVnBfYz4XVQ

FEATURE: Spotlight: Flava D

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Flava D

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I am spending…

some time with the amazing Flava D. This is one of our best D.J.s. Hailing from Bournemouth, this incredible D.J. has been making music and performing sets for many years. She has a busy over the next couple of months. However, there was a lot of interest around her last year, as she released the album, Here & Now. I want to get to some 2026 interviews with Flava D. I am starting out with Asbo Magazine, who caught her at Gemfest:

“Okay, so you can start by introducing yourself.

Uh, hey, I'm Flava D. I'm a DJ producer that’s been making music for about 15 years, kind of specialising in electronic dance music, like garage, drum and bass. Most recently, kind of dubstep stuff; done grime back in the day, so I'm quite across the board.

Nice, so how did you first get into performing, and what got you into the scene and inspired you?

It was about 2011. So, yeah, about 15 years ago, I kind of had my break with my 1st grime song. That got some circulation, and then as the years went on, I started making garage, and that's when my 1st DJ sets came about, and like my 1st ever booking, and then it just kind of went from there.

What tracks are you most excited to play tonight, and will we be hearing any new music?

Yeah. I've got a lot. So I'm starting my set tonight with a collab with me and Hamdi. So, yeah, it's a song we actually finished about 2 weeks ago, but yeah, I'm pretty stoked to play that. I've got a lot of music with me, Peekaboo. Yeah, there's like at least 5 new tracks. I'm testing, so it's quite a lot.

Do you have any new music coming out?

Yeah, lots. A lot. Every month, I think, I've got a song coming out this year, so... Yeah, so I'm going to be playing; I've got a single dropping in 2 weeks. I'm actually playing it today 1st time as well. So I’m like, GemFest is really getting the exclusives.

And then lastly, where can we expect to see you performing this summer?

The summer is quite a lot. I'm in America quite a lot at the end of the year, but I'm at quite a few festivals in England. Croatia's coming up next month with Hospitality on the Beach. So that should be good. Uh, God, I kind of have to think on the top of my head. But yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot. I'm about”.

I am getting to an interview with UKF. They spoke at “UKF Invites at London’s Colour Factory where Flava D’s is joint headliner”. I do think that it is important to spotlight D.J.s in addition to artists. D.J.s never really get the exposure that they deserve. Flava D is a global sensation:

“I’m ten years into my career and it was never really a thing I wanted to do. Until just before COVID, when I was about to start it. But then I put it on pause for a bit because of the way the world was. It just didn’t feel like album time.

I only feel like it was last year that I really got the tracks, and I really found myself. I found my confidence, I was happy with the tunes I was making, I was happy with my mixing down. I felt satisfied and I felt like I had something that I was satisfied with.”

Growing up on the UK’s south coast was very different to Flava D’s time in London’s dirty South. However both areas have strong underground music scenes. Spending her formative years across the two areas it is easy to see how her diverse range of influences had contributed to the breadth of her soundscapes today.

“ I was born in Bournemouth, but I lived around South London for about 10 years, and then last summer I moved back to Bournemouth. It’s quite a change. I miss London- certain things, the environment, the energy, the nightlife, things like that. But then you’ve got the seaside. I love the seaside, and my family are around me. It’s a nice change that I think I needed.

My raving years were a bit in Bournemouth and a bit in London. When I originally moved out of Bournemouth I moved to Maidstone in Kent and when eventually I could afford it, I headed to South London, in Lewisham, Catford and then Bromley.

There used to be a lively drum and bass scene in Bournemouth- it’s not quite the same. About 10 years ago, Bournemouth was known as ‘that party town’

As I was growing up everyone around me was into different things, but dance music was a big thing. My auntie was into old school garage, my mum was very much into trance and euphoria- she had all the Ferry Corsten CDs. My dad was very into acoustic rock and my cousins were into Cyprus Hill, Nas and Lauren Hill. So I had such a complex musical palette at a very young age. When I was ten I was listening to J Dilla, and everyone in my class was listening to the Spice Girls.

Being musically different from my peers didn’t bother me at the time. I was just very into what I was into. I was a bit of an introvert anyway so I would buried myself in my music and passions at school.”

Those of us with enough fine lines to remember Channel U and SBTV will have fond memories of the many, many hours sacrificed to watching our favourite MCs spitting over the intriguing, frenetic new genre- grime. The explosion of music television meant that swaths of young people now had access to underground genres that had previously only been easily available if you lived within the reach of a pirate radio tower.  Flava D had found her sound, even though she didn’t know what it was yet.

“My first break though music I’d say was with grime. When my mum got us Sky, we had this whole new array of channels and I was like, “Oh My God”, and I eventually found channel U. Living in Bournemouth you didn’t have Pirate FM, you didn’t have local radio stations playing things, so that was my gateway into grime.

“More Fire Crew, So Solid Crew, all the early garage. I was obsessed with Ms Dynamite. I was captivated by what this really raw sound was that I hadn’t heard before. Dizzee Rascal ‘Boy In The Corner’ I had that album on repeat- I think we all did. Those were the days that I was learning to produce music. I was like ‘I don’t know what this is, but I’m gonna try to make some. And that’s how I started my catalogue of grime.”

Although self-taught, Flava D surrounded herself with a support network of friends and colleagues who filled an almost mentor-like space without ever needing the title. She attributes the nuance of her unique sonic style to the underrated beauty in making mistakes. 

“I was about 17, 18 when I started to produce grime. I was self-taught. I was working at a record shop in Bournemouth when I was 16. My boss was a top-three DMC turntableist champion. He was very into his hip-hop and he had a copy of Ableton and he gave it to me on a disc. I took it home, there was no youtube then, no tutorials, no nothing. So I really had to find my feet in it, but I’m so glad I did because I feel like I wouldn’t be me, if I had learnt today with so much information around me.

“If everyone’s learning from the same youtube videos, everyone will have the same sound- the same formula. It’s not cheating, but you are fast tracking a little bit and I feel like sometimes the beauty can come from experimenting, just, you, yourself. Trial and error. I think that’s how you really develop your own style as well.”

Ten years ago social media was in its infancy artists didn’t have the access to the copious amounts of online resources and support that we are blessed with today. If you wanted to make it in the industry you had to get out there and make friends and mentors and do a lot of learning on the job.

Often referred to by Wiley as “Eskibeats one and only female producer”, it’s no secret that gender imbalance is prevalent across the entire music industry, and while underground and dance music are some of the more progressive and inclusive genres, UK bass music is still heavily dominated by male identifying individuals. Today we’re seeing a slow and steady shift in this ideology but ten years ago, while Flava D was coming through and making a name for herself, it was almost impossible to see women in the bass music sphere, especially within the ruff, raucous and “masculine” energy of grime. Although the imbalance was very noticeable Flava D wasn’t particularly bothered by it, and it certainly didn’t affect her work ethic or determination.

“If I’m totally honest I wouldn’t say that I was bothered by how male dominated the industry was. I’ve always been a very tunnel vision person. I think what helped me was that I was surrounded by this very boisterous masculine crew. The grime lot took me under their wing a bit.  I was always very protected and I think they respected me because I was this very niche female in this particularly masculine group. This little blond, white female who’s too shy to speak – but they just liked my beats. They were almost like older brother figures in a way. I made a lot of connections with a lot of friends and the respect level just always remained from then on.”

We reflect on the very obvious juxtaposition of Flava D and her comrades. A blond, white, incredibly quiet female from a typical British seaside town against her group of predominantly black men, raised on the rough and ready roads of London. We wonder if this added to Flava D’s je ne sais quoi.

“Up until I signed with Butterz a lot of people didn’t even know Flava D was a female. People would be like “What you’re Flava D? You made that?” I’d never had a manager, I’d never thought about branding. I liked to stay behind the scenes. When I signed to Butterz I finally had this really solid branding. They knew how to do marketing and releasing officially and my first ever press shot I got was after meeting Elijah and Skilliam and that’s when people actually started to know that Flava D is a girl. There was no difference in reaction, but I think people were just surprised.

“If anything, I think it was probably more refreshing to the female audience that were just discovering me, back then a female produced in the underground scene was quite rare.

“It’s a massively different landscape for women today, there’s still a lot more to be done, with the attitude and the energy towards tokenism and stuff like that. But it’s a completely different way to what it was then, and it’s so good to see. In lockdown, because we all had so much time a lot of women learned to produce, they learned to DJ. Getting in touch with their hobbies and we’re really seeing the results of that coming into fruition now”.

I actually want to end with an interview from last September. This one is from Beat Portal who spent some time with the incredible Flava D. “She rose from the garage scene, but Flava D has just released her debut album 'Here & Now' – a 15-track masterclass in drum & bass production. Beatportal uncovers the story behind the milestone”:

“As an artist who’s been active in the bass music scene since 2013, it may come as a surprise that Flava D is only now releasing her debut album. After originally making a name for herself in the garage scene through anthems like “Soul Shake” with My Nu Leng and “Vibsing Ting” as part of TQD, when she joined the Hospital Records roster, it was a significant career switch-up. Not only was she joining a new label, she was stepping into a genre she’d never worked in before – one she had looked up to since she started following the label’s music when she was just 14.

“If you’d told me 10 years ago I’d be releasing a d&b album, I’d say you were lying!” She jokes. “...It's been a massive learning curve moving into d&b from garage. I thought I was a good producer until I started making d&b…I would be playing my sketch ideas next to a break tune, and it would make me want to quit.”

But it’s a challenge she’s thankful for: “Moving across to d&b has levelled me up in a way that is crucial if you want to have your tune stand up,” she adds.

This level up is audible on Here & Now. The most detailed Flava D work to date, the album showcases her ability to work between d&b’s lines. From the soulful tones of “Can’t Get It Back” with SOLAH, to the dance floor energy of “Reesey Thing,” to the jungle breaks of “The Function" with Logan_olm, Here & Now is a vibrant picture of a genre that has captured Flava D’s heart.

“I wanted to have a bit of everything on there,” she says. “I've always been eclectic with my music and my sets. My album is like that too.”

While connecting with the genre on a deeper level has been a motivation for Flava D, this drive has also been her downfall in getting the album finished sooner: a project she has been working towards since putting out her first d&b single “Return To Me” in 2019. “It’s taken a while to get here because I was over-scrutinizing how I wanted it to be,” she admits. “With it being my first album, and fully d&b, I felt the pressure to match the high-bar of the genre.” It was only a year ago Flava D “got to a place where I felt satisfied with my music. Once I achieved that, ideas started flowing.”

The album  – a project she describes as “my musical diary for the last year and a half” – is some of her “most expressive work yet.”

“I wanted the album to be more personal with more vocal-based songs, rather than just club bangers,” Flava D says. “I love the track with Lauren Archer, ‘The Cycle’. It was an emotional tune from the soul I made to help me get through something.”

As we talk, it’s clear Here & Now is not just a representation of where she is at musically, but also personally. From getting married earlier this year to embracing sobriety at shows over summer, there’s a refreshing sense of being present that radiates from her, something she admits hasn’t always been the case.

“Last year, there were lots of changes going on in my personal life, being a workaholic for so many years caught up with me. I took a break to figure things out while focusing on getting the album right. I'm in a good space now, but last year was like a therapy for myself. With the title of the album being Here & Now, it felt right to portray exactly what I am and what I'm feeling.”

While the album’s primary focus is showcasing where Flava D is in the present, sonically, it also nods to her roots, namely in songs like “Do You Want Me.”

“I intentionally used some of my garage basslines and melodies from the past and reworked them on that track,” she says. “It's very old-school me, but today in d&b. I even use my voice for the vocal.”

Flava D’s experimentation won’t stop with Here & Now. With her debut album now out in the world, Flava D is keen to continue honing her “UK sound” by paying homage to the corners of bass music that have defined her journey: “Even though I’m constantly trying to do things differently, I’m always mindful to revisit sounds I've used in the past or create melodies in a patch I’ve used for a TQD track. That helps me to keep my sound more recognisable.”

Having fun with her music and not putting pressure on herself to stay in one lane is something listeners can expect to see more of from Flava D on the road ahead, across 140 BPM sets like she did at UKF Invites London earlier this year, and more productions outside of a d&b tempo, such as “Dutty” with P Money. It all comes back to the UK sound she’s representing.

"I’m looking to come back to my roots again over the next year, releasing more garage and 140,” she says. “I’m having fun experimenting with my music and not overthinking it. I’m trying to avoid putting pressure on myself to make music that sounds a certain way. I’m enjoying having that freedom and I’m excited to see what next year holds”.

Go and follow Fava D. I am not sure what her diary is like in terms of touring and gigs, but I would love to see her D.J. The music she has produced and the sets I have heard are absolute amazing. She is such a prodigiously talented D.J. A queen that deserves your love and attention, it was a no-brainer including her…

Flava D · Flava D - Sunset

IN this Spotlight feature.

_________

Follow Flava D

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/flava_d

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@flava_d

Soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/flava_d

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/682SntJ7VKoFfssPfDAmDZ?si=fmMcXCe7QR-vc-NWWXpoNA

FEATURE: Spotlight: femtanyl

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Jacqui Sharah for NME

femtanyl

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QUITE rightly…

this duo are blowing up right now. After releasing their debut album, MAN BITES DOG, earlier in the year, femtanyl are getting a lot of praise and buzz. They consist of Noelle Stockwood (also known as Noelle Mansbridge) who is the lead singer, songwriter, and producer who founded the project as a solo act in May 2023, and Juno Callender, their incredible multi-instrumentalist and producer who joined the band in August 2025 after initially performing as their live drummer. The superb femtanyl make phenomenal music. They are a mighty force to be reckoned with. I am going to start out with an intervbiew from Metal Magazine that was published around the release of their debut album in February. As they note in their heard, “Whether you’re head banging, punching, or desperately flailing on the dance floor, there is no one right dance move for this Canadian-American duo, just so long as you’re shedding your outer shell and revealing your most unashamed self. Noelle Stockwood and Juno Callender transformed from strangers into bandmates and then into best friends through the genre-bending group, Femtanyl. After releasing their debut album, Man Bites Dog, earlier this month, the pair are now embarking on a US tour, ending with a festival appearance at Primavera Sound in Barcelona”. This is a duo that you really do need to check out:

“Are you guys based in Seattle full-time or split between Toronto and Seattle?

Noelle: We were originally split, but around eight months ago, I moved up to Seattle so we could work on the album full-time together.

That was around the time when Femtanyl transitioned from a solo artist to you two being a duo, right?

Juno: Yeah, but we also worked remotely for a while before that. We sent a lot of project files back and forth between Seattle and Toronto, but that wasn’t necessarily ideal. We still got a lot of work done, but the difference between how efficiently we worked together after Noelle moved up here was night and day.

The album was written and recorded virtually between Toronto and Seattle. What were the most challenging, and also rewarding, parts of that experience? I’m sure it must’ve created an interesting creative dynamic.

Noelle: We fell into this weird time sync where I’d wake up and Juno would have sent me a file that she had been working on, and then I would be like, yo, this is awesome. Then I’d work on it for the entire day and then she would wake up and work on it until like 5:00 a.m. We were never really awake at the same time except for maybe two hours.
Juno: We had a weird, regimented sleep schedule like Noelle was talking about. I would always wake up to something that she had sent me with a very long explanation of what she did. I would take that and work on it, and she would go to bed and then I would basically do the same thing and send it back to her right before she woke up. It was fun every day waking up and listening to what had changed, but then on the other hand, it doesn’t hold a candle efficacy-wise to working together in the same room at the same time on the same thing.

You’ve said that being a trans woman, or transfem, comes with a high level of experimentation with yourself and also through interests like music. How is that journey of self discovery represented in your music?

Noelle: When I first started transitioning, music was the only place I could feel that aspect of myself. I could augment my vocals and talk about it openly. It again became my outlet because I wasn’t on any hormones and just sitting in my room thinking, this sucks, dude. I feel good that there is a type of music for trans people that’s just about being an idiot and being unfiltered and messy and rough around the edges. There’s a lot of pressure on trans people to be very manicured and, with this music and space, it’s nice that we can all get in a room and just be really loud and sweaty and a bit embarrassing.

Juno: Music and art were so important for feeling like my identity was creatively accepted and made me feel so comfortable in expressing and exploring it. In a situation where we’re already held to such a monstrously high standard as trans people, it’s nice to have music that is focused on the trans experience and uplifting the community. With Femtanyl, we do that, but we also go in an alternate direction where we're trying to portray it as close to the human experience as possible.

I’m sure there is. With your upcoming tour, is the space that you create in each venue different, or does it have more of a common community that feels like it’s removed from space and time?

Noelle: In terms of our fan base, it’s decently uniform across a lot of places. You get a little bit of variation per city, some show cultures are a bit different. But our fans typically show up and go crazy and have a great time. Our fan base is a bit younger than a lot of our contemporaries, so their first experiences with this kind of music are at our shows and it’s very fun to see them fall in love with that environment like I did at a young age.

Juno: The live show experience is such a sacred and important thing to being a music fan that a lot of what we try to bring to it is creating a space where it becomes impossible to focus on anything but the music and the live performance. We want everybody there to transcend into the Femtanyl space for that hour. I want people to be able to feel like they’re getting plucked from their lives and then they need to take some time to readjust back to their normal life afterwards”.

I want to come to an important interview from NME. This is a recent one. It is important, not only because it is deep and the conversation is great, open and fascinating. It is press from a major U.K. source, so it will highlight femtanyl and expand their growing fanbase here. They did a run of dates in the U.K. and Ireland last month, so I hope they come back at some point. In an interview published this month, NME spotlighted a duo whose “hellacious live show that’s landed them support slots for Danny Brown and The Prodigy, they’re hurtling to a new level”:

“Draw a Venn diagram of the gaming, breakcore and furry communities, and you’ll also find queer people smack bang in the middle. Both Mansbridge and Callender are transgender women, and many Femtanyl fans, too, are young and trans.

The lyrical themes of alienation, suicide and self-harm in Femtanyl songs have resonated with their fanbase. Today, Mansbridge assures us she’s in a “better place now”, adding that the self-destructive sentiments in her older material were, in part, a psychological exorcism. “That was stuff that I was dealing with,” she acknowledges, “but there were a lot of thoughts I was having that I really didn’t like. I wanted to explore those [thoughts] in music and imagine a worse version of my current self.

“It’s very difficult for me to get back into that headspace, or even imagine the person that I was being so upset and angry,” she adds. “I have definitely grown a lot as a person.”

Mansbridge credits music with saving her from perpetual bitterness. “At that point in my life, I had two people who were my friends, and I’d been in and out of the hospital,” she explains. “I felt very destitute and alone. When [my music] started getting traction, I was able to feel like someone that had something to offer to the world. People wanted to talk to me, and I was able to show that I wasn’t just a crash-out. I stopped isolating myself in my own bedroom, and I let myself be a person.”

emtanyl’s friendship proved instrumental to the creation of ‘Man Bites Dog’, especially given the extensive challenges they faced during the album’s production. Mansbridge was stuck in her native Canada for nine months waiting for a visa to visit Callender in Seattle, meaning the pair had to work long-distance with misaligned sleep schedules. “We were not awake at the same time except for an hour out of the day,” Mansbridge recalls.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jacqui Sharah

Callender’s own working conditions weren’t totally ideal, either. She recalls fine-tuning the particularly ferocious track ‘Helltarget’ while visiting her parents’ house in Southern California, which was in the midst of renovations. “All the doors had been taken out, and there were white sheets everywhere,” Callender recounts. “It was one of the most privacy-less, dreadful, terrible, scary environments to have headphones on for 12 hours a day, adding ever-so-tiny variations over and over and over again.”

“I thought it was gonna be that lady who came to your house while you were working and was like, ‘my dead sister’s ghost is in your basement’,” Mansbridge interjects.

But Mansbridge takes issue with Femtanyl being reduced to “trans music” by cisgender male commentators, who group them with contemporaries like 100 gecs and Jane Remover – despite their distinctly different sounds. “It can be a little frustrating, because it feels like they’ve accepted us as people, but now they’re just a bit too vocal about it,” she explains. “It’s like your uncle getting to terms with the whole thing, but he’s still awkward about it.”

Another unique challenge, Callender adds, is how the band can evolve out of their emotionally heavier material, which still means a lot to many of their fans: “There’s a pressure to remain in the same negative headspace that you were in.” Though she thinks fans don’t “necessarily, actually” want this to happen, she nonetheless theorises that “a part of them wants you to remain in a state where you’re not happy, because then they feel like they can connect to you more”.

“They should be able to look at this as a sign of: ‘Hey, this is something that you can do’,” Callender adds. “This is aspirational. You can improve, you can get better… but it’s very challenging when you’re not doing very well.”

Femtanyl certainly aren’t waiting around to move on. With Mansbridge finally relocating to Seattle to work in-person with Callender, they’re returning to the “bright” and “melodic” style of their older songs, which you can hear in their latest single ‘Magfest’. Callender adds that Mansbridge is “expanding so much as a frontwoman”, her bandmate blushing in response”.

I am going to end with a review from Pitchfork of MAN BITES DOG. It is an album that I feel has cross-genre and crossover appeal. It is a Hardcore album, I guess, but there are other sounds and influences. So it means that people who might be wary or new to the genre are not hesitant to check out a superb album:

“The production is raw but precise, a mechanical bull with adjustable shocks. “Helltarget” opens with bulbous bass pads that instruct the listener to gird their loins, before the drums crash in and Mansbridge’s vocals stagger onto the scene. The next three minutes loop cyberpunk synths while flashing between ideas: a brain-smacking rap-screamo section; a vaporwavey dream hole; a movie sample. Halfway through, everything slows down and you think it’s over—but no, like Six Flags Twisted Colossus, there’s a second drop. By the ride’s end, you’re gasping for air, a little puke stirring in the belly. Now repeat for nine more songs that are sometimes thrilling and sometimes too much—beats wound beyond the point of pleasure, mixes overwhelmed with shrapnel.

You could say the music has caught up with Mansbridge’s perennially scary lyrics, a nightmare gallery of caskets, peeled-off skin, and viscous gut-fluid. “Body the Pistol” envisions the human body as a weapon shooting out blood and bones and stomach matter. In a recent interview, Mansbridge underlined the need for trans people everywhere to make their presence known in defiance against a government trying to eliminate them. You might view femtanyl’s music through the lens of body horror, a genre many trans people appreciate for how it captures gender dysphoria and the feeling that your flesh is alien, something corrosive. But here, the body isn’t a site of discomfort so much as destruction—a flamethrower ready to ignite.

This album also sounds like two DIY scene vets trying to prove their punk bona fides. The hyper-rave hi-jinks of Machine Girl and digital hardcore OGs like Atari Teenage Riot loomed large before, but now it’s also the cybergrind screamo of Blind Equation. The warped thrum of “Video Nasty” recalls the empty-room eeriness of the Deli Girls ’ “ Officer.” Apart from “Shows You the Way to the Hiway,” a highlight that’s like femtanyl approximating pop, the atmosphere is mostly deep and dark, heavy on evil clanks and clatter. “City” shakes like a meat grinder chopping up monster limbs as layers of voices both heroic and hellish gasp for attention. “Sick of It” has the beefy synth bassline of an aughts electroclash anthem, filtered through the brain of someone obsessed with the gnarly edge of LustSickPuppy and horrorcore RPGs.

MAN BITES DOG unloads a rush of peaks: the glittery old-skool stabs of “Head Up,” the hard gore shrieks and sickly torrent of leeches and vomit on “Body the Pistol.” Mansbridge’s serrated guitar cuts through the mix like a glowing blade. But the textures also start to get too uniformly shadowy, the beats too stiff. Mansbridge’s earlier EPs were hooky yet haywire, animated by pulpy carnage like the ravenous scream ripping across “ Katamari,” or a sedate lilt caressing the feral aggression on “ Its Time.” When femtanyl try a similar trick with overlapping vocals on “Is This It,” it gets lost in the speedfreak density. The slapdash euphoria that electrified 2024’s REACTOR comes in small doses here. When femtanyl’s music first broke out, haters called it Geometry Dash brainrot (and what’s so wrong with that?), but the more apt critique was “’90s rave pastiche.” MAN BITES DOG aims to beat both allegations, and for the most part it gets there. It also feels like femtanyl are still searching for their final form”.

 I am going to bring things to a close. I would urge everyone, regardless of their musical tastes, to spend some time with femtanyl. MAN BITES DOG is a tremendous debut album from a duo that we will be hearing a lot more from. The fact they are being featured by NME and being hailed as this amazing new act shows that they are connecting with people and have substance and staying power. I would love to see them in London soon as I feel femtanyl will be winning hearts and putting out incredible music…

FOR years more.

_________

Follow femtanyl

 Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/femtanylll/

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@Femtanyl03

Bandcamp:

https://femtanyl.bandcamp.com/

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/53e9n1LucuH3guikmtv180?si=2yql8CLZQk-1uAopAPqQEw

FEATURE: Spotlight: Siiickbrain

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Sean Behr

Siiickbrain

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THIS incredible…

artist and model is Caroline Miner Smith. As an artist, she trades under the name of Siiickbrain. Hailing from Carolina. Her new album, HOUNDSTOOTH, is fantastic. I am going to end with a review. I want to start out with some interviews. House of Solo spent some time with the incredible Siiickbrain:

“Touching on some of your earlier work, your 2021 song “Silence” is about toxic love. When you look back on it now, how does the song make you feel?

Luckily, my love life, as I’ve grown, has become so healthy and stable, and that’s something that takes a lot of inner work and also choosing a partner who is willing to grow with you and communicate in a positive way. I think my choices in romantic relationships in the past definitely are a reflection of what I believed I was worth, and that makes me sad. But at the same time, I think making mistakes and the wrong choices are all part of the path that leads you to making the right ones.

I love how you also slowed the tone down on your 2023 song “Liar.” What do you love most about writing from that honest, exposed place?

I love that song so much! I think it all comes down to the mood that I have surrounding the topic at the time, and bringing the emotion not only through lyrics but through production as well. It can be cathartic to lean into the melancholy feeling surrounding certain topics, but with the upcoming project, I feel that I’ve flipped certain feelings. I have to see the positive and regain control of my emotions in that way, and that’s something that I wanted to communicate through production.

You grew up in small-town North Carolina and ended up in the heart of LA. What do you love most about who you are today, and how have both worlds shaped you?

I love how growing up in North Carolina really taught me about the importance of family, and being raised on a farm around animals instilled in me the importance of being present and empathetic. Also, in the South, I was shown a lot of things that taught me who I don’t want to be. It’s a place where, unfortunately, racism and homophobia, along with the judgment of those who struggle with mental health, are still wildly prevalent.

Growing up around people like that in the community was really eye-opening and disturbing from such a young age. Seeing the impact that it made on people I hold so dear to my heart, and myself in some ways, was extremely shaping. The most important thing to me is pure humanity and respect for the real world, not just the entertainment world and the fashion space. As much as I love that, and that’s my career, if all of that were stripped away, I can say confidently that I would be the same person I am today.

We just touched on your style, which I love. It’s so important for young women especially, to know they can be whoever they want to be. If you could speak words of love to your younger self, or even young people in the industry, what would you say?

I would say keep experimenting because you’re never going to find yourself if you don’t allow yourself to make mistakes or take risks.

I started making music as a form of therapy, so naturally, it’s continued to feel that way, and I feel so lucky that I have it as an outlet. Building production with my collaborators that translates the feeling I have surrounding a topic, and listening to that as I write lyrics, helps me to process how I feel and turn it into something that feels more empowering and positive.

No matter what I may be going through, I feel that if I look at it through a different lens and process it with a different outlook, I almost always feel better and stronger after making a song that way. It sounds cliché, but it works for me.

The title of your new album Houndstooth is so personal, paying homage to your Scottish and Irish heritage. Was there any music from your childhood that your grandfather introduced to you that has impacted you?

My grandfather mainly listened to NPR, so I think I was definitely more impacted by my parents and my siblings in terms of sound. My sister played a lot of Radiohead and Imogen Heap, and I think, if anything, those artists influenced the sound the most on the project, along with others that I discovered on my own as I grew up.

Last question, your music blends so many genres. What do you love most about genre-blending, and where do you feel it could take your sound next?

I love experimenting, and I think that a lot of artists that I look up to have their own sound. So I think that just trying to do my own thing and find my own sound, which I feel like I’ve done with this project, is something I can just keep building off and continue to let evolve naturally without holding back. I’m sure that the next project will feel in a similar world, but who knows what could be next? I’m just as interested as you are to find out.xt? I’m just as interested as you are to find out”.

Let’s move to an interesting chat with The Luna Collective. I am quite new to Siiickbrain, but I am really hooked already. I do wonder if she is going to come to the U.K. at some point and play here. I would really love to see her perform:

“LUNA: “PALO SANTO” and “MURKY WATER” are glimpses into your upcoming album. I would love to hear anything that you would like to share on the project and what you wanted to explore this time around?

SIIICKBRAIN: The project ties into the topic of “MURKY WATER.” The album is called Houndstooth, which is a pattern, and it's just literally about patterns repeating themselves, whether it's politically, whether it's in the space of being a female. Honestly, I feel like everyone can relate to these patterns repeating themselves and getting stuck in certain loops. It's about breaking out. “PALO SANTO” specifically is more about bringing in the positive, and less about talking about what the unfortunate realities are that a lot of us have to face. It's more about looking forward to the future and manifesting a better one for ourselves. I think that overall, this project is not meant to be something where we're coming together and sulking in our experiences, we are taking back our power on this one. With my visuals, there's a lot of women and there's a lot of owning our own autonomy. It is literally about regaining our power back, especially serving provocative and owning our bodies and our skin. That is really important to me because I think that we should all have power over autonomy.

LUNA: How do you hope listeners — especially your femme audience — can connect with or find power in this new era of  music from you? What emotions or messages do you want to leave with them?

SIIICKBRAIN: I don't want it to feel like a trauma bond experience. I would rather have the project resonate with the people it’s meant to resonate with and how they perceive each song for themselves. Letting it be unique to each listener. My hope is just for people to feel a little bit less alone, and hopefully bring some uplifting, positive vibes. There is a world where we go through these things and we come out and we can still be fun and happy and own our autonomy no matter what has gone on and what has happened to us.

LUNA: Your work is very multidisciplinary. Do you approach music visually first — imagining the world, the character, the aesthetic — or does the sound come before everything else?

SIIICKBRAIN: It really depends. I feel like it's unique to each song, to be honest. I definitely, as I'm recording visuals, literally in the moment when I hear a sound, I know exactly where I want it to be and what I want it to look like with the matching visuals.

LUNA: In this current era of your music, how are you expressing yourself visually? Are there specific makeup styles, textures, or aesthetics you’ve been drawn to experimenting with lately?

SIIICKBRAIN: Something that I am experimenting with throughout the album is doing half a wig. The reason behind that is there have been some comments saying it was Skrillex hair, which shout out to Skrillex. It's actually an ode to my past self and dealing with these same patterns. No matter what I looked like, no matter how I presented myself, I've been presented with the same patterns, but in that same sense, it also shows the duality between my past self and my present self, and that also ties into houndstooth, the pattern, which is so black and white.
LUNA: Are there any visual artists, designers, or subcultures that continue to inspire your aesthetic direction?

SIIICKBRAIN: I love Rick Owens. I also have a friend named Catherine and she has a brand called Asylum, and she's a really good friend of mine. Her designs really inspired the world as well. I think that there's a lot of designers that I think are incredible, and I love fashion. I love Kim Shui. I am obsessed with the new Demna for Gucci. I think it's really cool.

LUNA: What is fueling your fire right now that’s pushing you into this new chapter in your career?

SIIICKBRAIN: I have been really paying attention to the things that I genuinely like to get in the car and put on, because I want to literally get to a place where I just want to get in my car and blast my stuff. I feel like in the past, I've really loved my music, but when I want to vibe and jam and have something positive to listen to, it's hard to put on that stuff. I want to have fun with it. I want to get in the car and listen to my own music. I want to be able to play it back-to-back with JT or something. I want it to live in that space.

LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?

SIIICKBRAIN: I'm feeling really excited about my music, but also at the same time, it's really hard to ignore what's going on in the world. I'm trying to just find the positives, to be honest, and I think that it's really difficult, because we're faced with all these challenges that we can only control so much and we can do our part to try and keep the world moving in a better direction. But unfortunately, we're up against something really challenging and dark, and so I'm really just trying to provide more of a positive vibe to lean into. Me, myself, and my personal life, I'm really just trying to stay positive and play that happy  music”.

The final interview I am including is from Metal Magazine. I am fascinated by her aesthetic and music. Siiickbrain is someone that everyone needs to know about. She is truly wonderous. Such a potent and distinct force:

“Outside of music, what has been making you feel most alive lately: a film, a place, a person, a habit, a tiny obsession?

Outside of music, I feel most alive when I’m out at night, surrounded by my friends or partner, feeling completely free and surrounded by love and good energy, and discovering new music.

Your music often sits between industrial, electronic, alternative, hip-hop and heavy sounds. Do you think in terms of genre at all, or is it more about texture and instinct?

I don’t think about genre when I make music; it’s definitely more about the feeling and what comes naturally. I think when artists get too caught up in genre, it can hold them back creatively.

You have a very recognisable vocal presence: screams, spoken moments, melody, distortion, attitude. How do you know what a song needs from your voice?

I honestly had to learn over the past few years what a song called for, rather than trying to turn it into something that I felt like it should be. It’s super easy to ruin a song with things that it doesn’t need, and it’s important to exercise that instinct.

Houndstooth feels like a very physical title: sharp, patterned, almost animalistic. What did that word unlock for you when you were building the album?

I really wanted it to reflect the themes of the album, like exactly what you said: breaking patterns and the sharp reality that comes with breaking free from old habits. When I think about my personal experience with that, it’s a lot of emotion, like strength, power, vulnerability and freedom, but also a bit of fear.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sean Behr

Filthy, featuring Fetish, sounds like it belongs to the more abrasive side of your world. What made Fetish the right person to bring into that song?

I have always loved her and how she writes and expresses herself, so when I made this song, I immediately knew I wanted to ask if she wanted to be a part of it. I also have so many hip-hop and rap elements on the project, and I thought maybe this could help listeners understand where my mind was during the recording process.

You have worked with artists from very different worlds, from Skrillex to Willow and Maggie Lindemann. What do you look for in a collaborator?

I honestly have only collaborated with friends and people that I truly love as a person, as well as the art they create. I’m very blessed for my collaborations to all feel very natural.

Compared with My Masochistic Mind, where do you feel Houndstooth is harsher, and where do you feel it is more vulnerable?

I think they both have vulnerable elements and elements that come from a place of expelling emotion and expressing them in different ways, whether it is lyricism, vocal delivery or production. I do, however, think Houndstooth is more fun and energetic.

There is a lot of intensity in your work, but also humour, confidence and playfulness in the way you inhabit your persona. What do people often misunderstand about you?

People think I’m much rougher around the edges when it comes to my personality before they meet me. That’s something I hear all the time, and I fully understand why. But my music is still so me; it is just where I feel safe enough to let my emotion out, rather than vulnerably in a conversation or room with someone I have just met. But I have always been this way: I keep those things tucked away”.

I am going to finish with Out of Rage and their review of HOUNDSTOOTH. They awarded it eight out of ten. If you have not heard the album yet, I would recommend you give it a listen. It is one of the best albums of this year I think:

“With HOUNDSTOOTH, SIIICKBRAIN builds a record that feels like stepping into a dark, sweat-soaked room and letting the walls close around you. It is abrasive, hazy, clubby, vulnerable, and strange in all the right ways, pulling from industrial grit, electronic production, hip-hop beats, alternative pop structures, and something far more instinctive. It never feels interested in sitting neatly within one sound, and that restlessness becomes part of its identity.

The album opens with a short, haunting intro, almost mechanical in its delivery, declaring “this is the sound of breaking the loop” before launching straight into PALO SANTO. It is an effective introduction to the world SIIICKBRAIN is creating here, immediately pairing rave-like instrumentals with softer, more ghostly vocals. That contrast becomes one of the album’s biggest strengths. There is a constant push and pull between aggression and fragility, between control and collapse, and HOUNDSTOOTH often feels most powerful when those sides are allowed to clash. FILTHY, featuring FETISH, is a standout example, carrying a sense of intoxicating danger that made it such a strong single before the album’s release. Its heavy, industrial-leaning production and club-ready pulse make it feel grimy and physical, with punchy drums and distortion giving the track a razor-sharp edge. SIIICKBRAIN’s vocals sit somewhere between seduction and menace, making the title feel deliberate rather than decorative.

DELICATE is another example of that masterful tension. Built around a trap-leaning, hip-hop influenced beat, it starts with a vulnerability that feels bruised but not passive. Lines like “they promised it all, left me worse than before, I did what was told but they just wanted more” are open enough to be read through multiple lenses, whether that is toxic love, exploitative friendships, or the pressure of industries built on image and consumption. As the track progresses, SIIICKBRAIN delivers “I’m tired of being the victim”, with the vocals eventually becoming harsher and more forceful, cutting against the softness suggested by the title. By the end, this track feels less like a confession and more like a breaking point. That sense of taking power back runs throughout the whole album.

There are repeated images of godhood across HOUNDSTOOTH, not in a hollow, ego-driven way, but as a kind of survival mantra. On I WOKE UP ALIVE, the repetition of “I am a god” lands with a ritualistic force, as though saying it enough times might make it feel real. It taps into the wider emotional thread of the record: reclaiming autonomy, rewriting old patterns, and finding empowerment not through easy triumph, but through confrontation.

Elsewhere, HER introduces one of the album’s more accessible moments, with a chorus that almost leans into pop. In another context, that might soften the record too much, but here it works surprisingly well against the layered electronic details surrounding it. It is arguably one of the lighter-sounding tracks on the album, but still feels distinctly tied to the same world, never losing the eerie, off-kilter quality that makes HOUNDSTOOTH so compelling. By the time closing track FAWN arrives, the album pulls back slightly from some of its denser moments, but without losing any of its atmosphere. It feels darkly cinematic and shadowy, letting the record fade out with tension rather than closure.

While each track holds its own, HOUNDSTOOTH is especially rewarding when listened to in full. Across the album, SIIICKBRAIN creates a world that is confrontational, contradictory, and occasionally uncomfortable, but still deeply magnetic. Some moments are more disjointed than others, though that never feels like a flaw. If anything, it suits a record built around shedding old versions of the self and refusing to be made smaller. HOUNDSTOOTH”.

I shall leave things there. Go and follow the tremendous Siiickbrain. She is gathering a lot of momentum. I am not sure how well she is known in the U.K., but I know she has a huge following in the U.S. I am very new to her work so am making up for some lost time. I am definitely now a fan…

OF the awesome Siiickbrain.

_________

Follow Siiickbrain

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/siiickbrain/

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@siiickbrain

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@siiickbrainsiiickbrain

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1oPEr1Ci8sWOYj8SSh2VPE?si=lqTTwSRITOaefsPxxqtrlQ

FEATURE: The Great American Songbook: The Roots

FEATURE:

 

 

The Great American Songbook

PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Natkin

The Roots

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THIS edition of

IN THIS PHOTO: QuestLove and Black Thought attend the Nordstrom NYC Flagship Opening Party on 22nd October, 2019 in New York City/PHOTO CREDIT: Dominik Bindl/WireImage

The Great American Songbook is with The Roots. They formed in 1987 by singer Tariq ‘Black Thought’ Trotter and drummer Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson in Philadelphia. Their album, Illadelph Halflife, turns thirty on 24th September. Game Theory turns twenty on 29th August. The group are touring at the moment and will be in the U.K. next month. Ahead of that, I wanted to highlight the brilliance of The Roots and end this feature with a twenty-song mixtape of their best tracks. AllMusic give us detailed biography about this incredible group:

“A rare hip-hop band and the longest continually active rap group, the Roots are also among the most progressive acts in contemporary music, combining hard-hitting rhymes, instrumentation, and sample-based production techniques throughout a vast discography of inventive studio albums while upholding an unchallenged standard of live performance. The Philadelphians, led by virtuosic drummer/producer Questlove and revered rapper Black Thought, seemed like a novelty when they broke through with their gold-selling sophomore album Do You Want More?!!!??! (1995). However, they soon became a hip-hop institution. They crashed the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 with Things Fall Apart (1999), featuring the Grammy-winning "You Got Me." By the end of the next decade, they had additional Top Ten entries with The Tipping Point (2002), Game Theory (2006), and Rising Down (2008), among other conceptual studio efforts, and had been installed as the longstanding house band for late-night television host Jimmy Fallon. During the first several years of their TV gig, the Roots put together artful works such as Undun (2011) and ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin (2014) while also co-headlining albums with John Legend, Betty Wright, and Elvis Costello. Years later, Questlove and Black Thought branched out with individual pursuits that included the former's award-winning work as a director and the latter's first solo projects. The Roots Come Alive Too: DYWM30 Live at Blue Note NYC (2025) celebrated the 30th anniversary of the band's second full-length.

The Roots' focus on live music began back in 1987, when rapper Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) and drummer Questlove (Ahmir Khalib Thompson) became friends at the Philadelphia High School for Creative Performing Arts. Playing around school, on the sidewalk, and later at talent shows (with Questlove's drum kit backing Black Thought's rhymes), the pair began to earn money and hooked up with bassist Hub (Leonard Hubbard) and rapper Malik B. Moving from the street to local clubs, the Roots became a highly tipped underground act around Philadelphia and New York. When they were invited to represent stateside hip-hop at a concert in Germany, the Roots recorded an album to sell at shows; the result, Organix, was released in May 1993 on Remedy Records. With a music industry buzz surrounding their activities, the Roots entertained offers from several labels before signing with DGC that same year.

The Roots' first major-label album, Do You Want More?!!!??!, was released in January 1995. Forsaking the usual hip-hop protocol, the record was produced without any samples or previously recorded material. It peaked just outside the Top 100 of the Billboard 200 and made more tracks in alternative circles, partly due to the Roots playing the second stage at Lollapalooza that summer. The band also journeyed to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Two of the guests on the album who had toured around with the band, human beatbox Rahzel the Godfather of Noyze -- previously a performer with Grandmaster Flash and LL Cool J -- and Scott Storch (later replaced by Kamal Gray), became permanent members of the group.Early in 1996, the Roots released "Clones," the trailer single for their second album. It hit the rap Top Five, and created a good buzz. That September, Illadelph Halflife appeared and made number 21 on the Billboard 200. Much like its predecessor, though, the Roots' second LP was a difficult listen. It made several very small concessions to mainstream rap -- the bandmembers sampled material that they had recorded earlier at jam sessions -- but failed to make a hit of their unique sound. Their third album, Things Fall Apart, was easily their biggest critical and commercial success. Released on MCA in February 1999, it entered the Billboard 200 at number four and went platinum, and "You Got Me" -- a collaboration with Erykah Badu -- peaked within the Top 40 and subsequently won a Grammy in the category of Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Malik B. left the group around this time, but he would contribute to a couple studio albums the following decade. 

The long-awaited Phrenology was released in November 2002 amid rumors of the Roots losing interest in their label arrangements with MCA. In 2004, the band remedied the situation by creating the Okayplayer company. Named after their website, Okayplayer included a record label and a production/promotion company. The same year, the band held a series of jam sessions to give their next album a looser feel. The results were edited down to ten tracks and released by Geffen in July 2004 as The Tipping Point, another number four hit on the Billboard 200. A 2004 concert from Manhattan's Webster Hall with special guests like Mobb Deep, Young Gunz, and Jean Grae was issued in February 2005 as The Roots Present in both CD and DVD formats. Two volumes of the rarities-collecting Home Grown! The Beginner's Guide to Understanding the Roots appeared at the end of the year.

A subsequent deal with Def Jam fostered a series of riveting, often grim sets, beginning with Game Theory (August 2006) and Rising Down (April 2008), the band's third and fourth Top Ten albums. In 2009, the group expanded their reach as the exceptionally versatile house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The new gig didn't slow their recording schedule. In 2010 alone, they released the sharp How I Got Over (June), as well as Wake Up! (September), where they backed John Legend on covers of socially relevant soul classics like Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' "Wake Up Everybody" and Donny Hathaway's "Little Ghetto Boy." It earned Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. As they remained with Fallon, the Roots worked with Miami soul legend Betty Wright on November 2011's Betty Wright: The Movie, and followed it the next month with their 13th studio long-player, Undun, an ambitious concept album whose main character dies in the first track and then follows his life backward.

Work on the group's next studio LP was postponed as an unexpected duet album with Elvis Costello took priority for the group in 2013. Originally planned as a reinterpretation of Costello's songbook, the record Wise Up Ghost turned into a full-fledged collaboration and was greeted by positive reviews upon its September 2013 release on Blue Note. Within six months, the band joined Fallon in his new late-night slot, the high-profile Tonight Show program. Another concept album, the brief but deep ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin, was released in May 2014. Black Thought released his first solo projects, the first two volumes in his Streams of Thought series, in 2018. Early members Malik B. and Hub died respectively in 2020 and 2021; Hub's cause of death was multiple myeloma. During the latter year, Questlove made his directorial debut with the Academy Award-winning documentary Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). Black Thought and Questlove continued with many assorted outside pursuits as the Roots remained with Fallon. In 2025, the Roots held a three-night, six-set residency at the Blue Note in New York. The gigs celebrated the 30th anniversary of Do You Want More?!!!??!, as documented by The Roots Come Alive Too: DYWM30 Live at Blue Note NYC, issued that November”.

I am keen to get to that mixtape. Their most recent studio album, ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin, came out in 2014. I wonder whether there will be another album from the group. Their catalogue is among the most extraordinary in all of music. A salute and show of affection for…

A wonderful group.

FEATURE: Kate Bush: Them Heavy People: The Extraordinary Characters in Her Songs: Dennis (In Search of Peter Pan)/Daddy (Cloudbusting)

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush: Them Heavy People: The Extraordinary Characters in Her Songs

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

Dennis (In Search of Peter Pan)/Daddy (Cloudbusting)

__________

THERE are three more parts…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush on the set of Cloudbusting/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

of this series that I have left. The antepenultimate one pairs characters from 1978’s Lionheart and 1985’s Hounds of Love. I shall come to a character in Kate Bush’s Cloudbusting. A song inspired by a book, there are real-life people who were very much at the centre. I wanted to start out with a song from Lionheart. Kate Bush’s second studio album, it came in November 1978. Rather than talk about Peter Pan, there is a character called Dennis that is mentioned in the lyrics. “Dennis loves to look/In the mirror/He tells me that he is beautiful/So I look too, and what do I see?/My eyes are full/But my face is empty”. It does make me wonder who that person is and what could have inspired those lines. Rather than speculate whether he could have been named after a famous person, I have been considering the sense of fantasy and escape in Kate Bush’s music. Bush did discuss what the song is about:

“There’s a song on [Lionheart] called ‘In Search Of Peter Pan’ and it’s sorta about childhood. And the book itself is an absolutely amazing observation on paternal attitudes and the relationships between the parents – how it’s reflected on the children. And I think it’s a really heavy subject, you know, how a young innocence mind can be just controlled, manipulated, and they don’t necessarily want it to happen that way. And it’s really just a song about that.

Lionheart promo cassette, EMI Canada, 1978”.

That is really fascinating. The second song in this feature is another that is influenced by a book. It is work considering the text. The Peter Pan story first came to life on 27th December, 1904. It debuted as a stage play in the heart of the West End at the Duke of York's Theatre in London. Author J. M. Barrie later turned the play into a classic novel in 1911. Despite the fact that it is seen as whimsical and fantastical, it is actually quite a sinister text. Something that could well have intrigued Kate Bush. A song written before 1978, In Search of Peter Pan was dusted off for Lionheart. In 2011, The Guardian explored the darker elements of Peer Pan:

“That we now know so much about the story behind Peter Pan is mostly down to one writer. It can be hard to forgo any myth of departed splendour, and for me, watching Andrew Birkin's The Lost Boys (1978) itself fostered nostalgia for the hallowed decades of British television drama. The programme's brilliance arises both from Birkin's commitment to accuracy and from the knowledge that truth must be something concealed from us, somewhere playing hide and seek among the manuscripts and letters. The acting is note-perfect too, especially Ian Holm's performance as Barrie. The attentiveness and patience of the piece, its combining the richness of a novel and the virtues of theatre with the resources of television (the voice-over, the use of landscape) are qualities that it would be hard to find now on British TV.

Holm has played both Barrie and Lewis Carroll; more recently, and more implausibly, Johnny Depp has nearly followed in his footsteps by acting both The Mad Hatter and, in Marc Foster's Finding Neverland (2004), the author of Peter Pan. Finding Neverland tenders the same story as The Lost Boys, but this time as a sweet romantic fable. Everything odd and intriguing about the real story is smoothed away – no inconvenient Arthur Llewelyn Davies, no thought of blaming Barrie for the failure of his marriage, no marked interest in the boys as boys, no insight into Barrie's glum and fantastical complexities. Instead there's just a summer-soaked hymn to the imagination and a subdued, unspoken love affair, Brief Encounter with Billy Liar dream-escapades thrown in. There is plenty of boyish romping, but no scene that lingers long enough to give room to complexity. And so all the power of Barrie's strangeness slips away, leaving only an immense pity for a young mother dying and leaving her sons.

Just as we return over to Barrie's personal life, versions of the Peter Pan story itself proliferate (we hurry past Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991), averting our eyes in silence); the play still on occasion holds the stage. But these multiple reimaginings only perpetuate a process that Barrie himself began. The first problem faced by Maria Tatar, the editor of The Annotated Peter Pan, is what version of the story one would choose to annotate. There are least six possible contenders: The Boy Castaways of Black Lake Island, purportedly by Peter Llewelyn Davies, a photo book of the Llewelyn Davies boys playing out the adventures of shipwrecked sailors, of which two copies were made in 1901; The Little White Bird (1902), a novel for adults with some chapters devoted to Peter Pan; the original stage play (1904); the Peter Pan chapters from The Little White Bird reissued, with Arthur Rackham's wonderful illustrations, as Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906); Peter and Wendy (1911), "the book of the play", and the closest thing to a standard children's book; and finally the printed, much revised play text of Peter Pan published in 1928. It's a bibliographer's dream, and an editor's nightmare. Understandably Tatar plumped for Peter and Wendy, though in my view, the play is the thing, the finest and most interesting expression of Barrie's personal myth.

Nonetheless, Tatar makes up for her choice with four separate introductions, plus Barrie's introduction to the play, FD Bedford's original illustrations to the children's novel, Rackham's illustrations, an essay on Rackham, a facsimile printing of The Boy Castaways, Barrie's scenario for a proposed silent movie version of Peter Pan, an essay on adaptations, prequels, sequels and spinoffs, and a collection of quotes and responses by people as diverse as George Bernard Shaw, George Orwell and Patti Smith. As will be obvious, it's a sumptuous and copiously illustrated book that anyone who loves Peter Pan would love.

Barrie is the most ironical of children's writers. He stands always at a winking distance from words, making faces behind the phrases. This is why the play remains the classic version. For here Barrie bases his story of a child given over to perpetual playing in the fact that theatre anyway consists of adults seriously playing the childhood game of "let's pretend". Here there are only pretend mothers and fathers, pretend food, pretend deaths. The play's stage directions call for an infected realism, precise and literal, and yet utterly fantastic. The play's preposterous demands, with its flying children, swimming mermaids, pirate ship and hungry crocodile, dance around the limits of theatrical illusion. And then the horrible appeal to the audience comes, that they should play "let's pretend" too and assert their belief in fairies, to clap their hands and save Tinkerbell's life. They must pretend really to believe in the pretence, and act as though they are more childlike than they are. No wonder that when he saw the play as a child, Graham Greene sat on his hands.

IN THIS PHOTO: J.M. Barrie in 1902/PHOTO CREDIT: George Charles Beresford

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens dishes up a potent local myth, one that even now endows that park with magic. To have permanently altered the way we imagine a part of London is a grand achievement. The later reworking of the plot, with Tinkerbell, pirates, Indians and the Darlings lost this specifically local beauty, but gained a great deal. Above all, it discovered Neverland, that map of Barrie's imagination. Other than its central myth of eternal youth, the life of Peter Pan itself now resides mostly in Captain Hook – a man hungry for admiration, flamboyant, maimed, vindictive, a passionate hater of the child and yet condemned to play for ever in a world of children. He's the bad parent waiting to be slain. In the story, fathers come in for a hard time, conceited and insubstantial Mr Darling being consigned to the kennel; mothers on the other hand have it even worse. Barrie contemplated naming the story "The Boy Who Hated Mothers", and tried to have the actress playing Mrs Darling double with Captain Hook (Barrie himself remarked, "There is the touch of the feminine in Hook, as in all the greatest pirates). In a remarkable moment in Peter and Wendy, the narrator declares that he despises Mrs Darling; a little later, he says that he likes her best of all. Out of such idiosyncratic, rapid switches of feeling, this classic draws its life.

Pan kills Hook; it's only "pretend", only a play, of course, but also an intimation of a darker world. It reminds us that RM Ballantyne's The Coral Island inspired both Barrie and William Golding's The Lord of the Flies. Peter is both the hero of the play and its true villain; there is something of the Hook in him too. The fact that children are learning to become moral agents and accept a place in the world failed to touch Barrie. Imaginatively he loved children's amorality, and wished that they could stay outside the world, before it or beyond it, inside the fenced-in territory of Kensington Gardens or marooned on a faraway island. He himself freely mixes sentimentality with heartlessness. The joke was to present emotional situations and then to refuse emotion for them, not to play "the crying game". Perhaps for Barrie feigning heartlessness rescued him from the pain of loving, whether an unwinnable mother or the lost boys themselves.

But what's oddest of all is that the public shared Barrie's private fantasy. In literature, success means finding a market for monomania. In order to resurrect Tinkerbell, adults as well as children applauded. They too, it seems, were attuned to Barrie's desire to remain a child. For us that desire has gone. Who now would really want to be a child and never grow up? Of course, in our wish to escape from work, responsibility, or money worries, I am sure that many on occasion would like to be a kid again. But a hankering for childhood – that now seems entirely lost. Very likely the long, protected "childhood" was anyway a myth, a middle-class prerogative, but then Peter Pan is a very middle-class tale. Still it is hard to imagine anyone now suggesting that childhood is holy, or that it represents the peak of life, with everything that comes after being merely a long descent. We are more likely to call someone a Dorian Gray than a Peter Pan.

These days it seems that the twilight zone of adolescence is the preferred place to be shipwrecked. "Youth" has advanced on two fronts, seizing the ground of "childhood" while occupying the place of maturity. As on that beach in Brighton, many look to loiter for ever in a state once considered ephemeral and transitional. In The Disappearance of Childhood (1982), Neil Postman persuasively argued that with childhood's disappearance, adulthood vanishes too. All that is left is one marketed expanse, where the consumers cling to the illusion of youth, a Botoxed utopia”.

I will come to Kate Bush quoting from Pinocchio for the final section of In Search of Peter Pan. I do like the study of adolescence and how she approaches it for this song. Wondering if Dennis is a childhood friend or someone she used to know, he sits in this fascinating song. I am interested in what Dreams of Orgonon say about In Search of Peter Pan:

“Peter Pan is effectively popular culture’s favorite anthropomorphization of adolescence. As he will never grow up, he embodies childhood as an endless state which actively revolts against growing up. Given that Bush had been writing fairly adolescent songs not too far back, it’s clear to see why she’d use Pan as a touchstone. Yet her path differs from Pan’s: in the chorus, she declares her desire to grow up and “find Peter Pan” (perhaps as some kind of star sailor) and escape from the trap of adult life. The departure from Peter Pan is that Bush states that she will become an adult instead of just flying to Neverland. Part of being an adult to Bush is being able to enjoy childlike things. More pertinently, as a child you believe you will hold onto childish things forever, and as an adult she holds onto this belief. The culture of children is an important part of Bush’s ethos — it presents an alternative to the tedium of adulthood. She’s never let go of childhood as an ideal, letting it play a role in her work as late as Aerial.

Bush’s quotation of Disney in the outro is an extension of this. The quote she knabs is the most famous part of Pinocchio: “when you wish upon a star/makes no difference who you are/when you wish upon a star/your dreams come true.” This is the Disney theme song, the saccharine aphorism on which their brand is constructed. Bush is quoting the most fantastical idea of childhood possible. Yet she takes this overused quote and turns it into the song’s most interesting musical moment. She sings the quote in a minor key, slowly descending as she does it. It’s not a straight quote; Bush outright warps the song. As Bush won’t pretend childhood is without pain, depictions of it must reflect some kind of wrongness and pain.

“In Search of Peter Pan” has no shortage of adolescent agony. At the start of the song, Bush has given up and declared that she “no longer see[s]” a future. Throughout the song she sings about a child whose life has been derailed by adult interference, taking the game right out of it. Modes of escape are flights of fancy, whether it be the singer’s friend Dennis who fancies himself beautiful (a queer part of the song) or flying away to be Peter Pan. Fantasy is a refuge for Bush: when in doubt, remember your inner fantasist”.

I don’t think that her words for In Search of Peter Pan reflect any struggles for Kate Bush. In terms of her own childhood. She had a stable upbringings with her parents and two older brothers, John and Paddy. Though I can see why she wrote this song. Something about Peter Pan and its darker side. There is this unsettling aspect to J.M. Barrie’s work. This article talks about the legacy and modern relevance of Peter Pan:

“More than a century later, Peter continues to fly through our cultural imagination. But why?

1. The fear of adulthood is timeless

In an age of delayed adulthood, “kidult” culture, and economic precarity, Peter’s refusal to grow up speaks louder than ever.

2. Nostalgia sells

From Disney remakes to fashion lines, Peter is a global brand. But behind the sparkle is something more melancholy: a longing for a past that never was.

3. The orphaned hero trope persists

Peter, like Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker, is a child without parents, thrust into leadership, adventure, and emotional solitude. It’s a potent narrative formula.

4. We recognise the cost of freedom

Peter is free - but he’s also alone. He forgets the people he loves. He doesn't change. In many ways, he’s a ghost. That ambivalence keeps the story alive for modern readers.

A Legacy That Lasts Forever

The story of Peter Pan has been retold in countless adaptations, from stage plays and films to spin-off novels and reinterpretations. Its universal themes of adventure, freedom, loss, and the magic of childhood ensures that it remains relevant to every new generation. Barrie’s brilliant blend of humour, fantasy, and emotional depth makes Peter Pan a book that truly stands the test of time”.

Before moving on to one of Kate Bush’s most famous and popular songs, it is worth talking about the words from Pinocchio that are used. “When you wish upon a star/Makes no difference who you are/When you wish upon a star/Your dreams come true". Pinocchio has been referenced a few times in Kate Bush’s work. I have said before how she is almost unique among established artists in that she has written her own material. You have songwriters like Joni Mitchell who have written their own stuff, though there are so many established and long-running artists who have co-writers. What we get from Kate Bush is a discography of here own words. In Search of Peter Pan does contain some words from elsewhere. There are the odd bits here and there where Bush has referenced other sources, though her studio albums were written by her. I think that this individualism and assurance makes her songs so enduring. This is an artist who did not want to collaborate or include cover versions. I think that it is impressive that Bush wrote her songs. Even today, many major artists have others adding to their work. From the very start, Kate Bush wanted only her voice in the songs. A track like In Search of Peter Pan could not have been written by anyone else. On the promotional cassette for Lionheart, Bush was interviewed and asked whether any classic English themes would be explored. If that is something that was going to be big. Although In Search of Peter Pan sources from a Scottish author, I guess there was an element of a classic British setting. Oh England My Lionheart is another. Though I don’t think Bush was trying to write English or British songs. She was fascinated by different themes and threads. I do think about Dennis and what his role is. Someone who Bush names in the song, I think he might have been a family friend or someone that she knew at school.

Let’s move to Cloudbusting and Daddy. Of course, this song is about Peter and Wilhelm Reich. The Cloudbuster is a controversial, pseudo-scientific weather modification device invented in the 1950s by Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich. Designed to manipulate "orgone energy" (a universal life force Reich believed existed in the atmosphere), it supposedly could cause rain or clear clouds by drawing this energy into a grounded water source. In the Cloudbusting video, Bush plays Peter Reich. The son. Looking up to Daddy, played by the late Donald Sutherland. Prior to getting to Kate Bush and why she wrote Cloudbusting, this article examines this strange and wonderful machine that was designed to make it rain:

“Wilhelm Reich invented what he called a “cloudbuster” after observing the behavior of water in a bucket when a pipe was held above its surface. He was even hired by blueberry farmers in Maine to end a deadly drought that threatened their harvest and livelihoods. As reported in the Bangor Daily News on 24 July 1953:

“Dr. Reich and three assistants set up their ‘rain-making’ device off the shores of Grand Lake, near Bangor hydro-electric dam, at 10:30 on Monday morning 6 July. The device, a set of hollow tubes, suspended over a small cylinder, connected by a cable, conducted a ‘drawing’ operation for about an hour and ten minutes….

“According to a reliable source in Ellsworth the following climactic changes took place in that city on the night of 6 July and the early morning of 7 July: ‘Rain began to fall shortly after ten o’clock Monday evening, first as a drizzle and then by midnight as a gentle, steady rain. Rain continued throughout the night, and a rainfall of 0.24 inches was recorded in Ellsworth following morning.

“A puzzled witness to the ‘rain-making’ process said: ‘The queerest looking clouds you ever saw began to form soon after they got the thing rolling.’ And later the same witness and the scientists were able to change the course of the wind by manipulation of the device”.

Like In Search of Peter Pan, I think childhood links it to Cloudbusting. There is this dynamic between father and son. This almost mad inventor trying to make it rain. His young son in attendance. Discovery and chance are to key to some of Kate Bush’s best songs. Seeing the last fifteen minutes of a 1967 BBC adaptation of Wuthering Heights and then writing her debut single. For Cloudbusting, rather than it being a T.V. show, a book caught her attention, as we discover here:

“This was inspired by a book that I first found on a shelf nearly nine years ago. It was just calling me from the shelf, and when I read it I was very moved by the magic of it. It’s about a special relationship between a young son and his father. The book was written from a child’s point of view. His father is everything to him; he is the magic in his life, and he teaches him everything, teaching him to be open-minded and not to build up barriers. His father has built a machine that can make it rain, a ‘cloudbuster’; and the son and his father go out together cloudbusting. They point big pipes up into the sky, and they make it rain. The song is very much taking a comparison with a yo-yo that glowed in the dark and which was given to the boy by a best friend. It was really special to him; he loved it. But his father believed in things having positive and negative energy, and that fluorescent light was a very negative energy – as was the material they used to make glow-in-the-dark toys then – and his father told him he had to get rid of it, he wasn’t allowed to keep it. But the boy, rather than throwing it away, buried it in the garden, so that he would placate his father but could also go and dig it up occasionally and play with it. It’s a parallel in some ways between how much he loved the yo-yo – how special it was – and yet how dangerous it was considered to be. He loved his father (who was perhaps considered dangerous by some people); and he loved how he could bury his yo-yo and retrieve it whenever he wanted to play with it. But there’s nothing he can do about his father being taken away, he is completely helpless. But it’s very much more to do with how the son does begin to cope with the whole loneliness and pain of being without his father. It is the magic moments of a relationship through a child’s eyes, but told by a sad adult.

Kate Bush Club newsletter, 1985

‘Cloudbusting’ is a track that was very much inspired by a book calledA Book Of Dreams. This book is written through a child’s eyes, looking at his father and how much his father means to him in his world – he’s everything. his father has a machine that can make it rain, amongst many other things, and there’s a wonderful sense of magic as he and his father make it rain together on this machine. The book is full of imagery of an innocent child and yet it’s being written by a sad adult, which gives it a strange kind of personal intimacy and magic that is quite extraordinary. The song is really about how much that father meant to the son and how much he misses him now he’s gone.

Conversation Disc Series, ABCD 012, 1985”.

Can wee see Cloudbusting as a summer anthem? We have just endured a torturous and hot summer and am relieved that it is autumn. Though there is so much atmosphere and weather on Cloudbusting. I will end by looking at its video and how Donald Sutherland became involved. Though this feature argues how Cloudbusting could be the sound and song of every summer:

“Bush was inspired to write “Cloudbusting” after reading about the relationship between the psychologist Wilhelm Reich and his son Peter. The track concerns their practice of trying to make rain using a machine Reich built, called a cloudbuster. A singular song with very few points of comparison within the pop music canon, “Cloudbusting” is a piece of work on which it feels easy to project your own feelings, because it is neither happy nor melancholy. Instead, the song is on the cusp of something, and it’s expansive, the way languid summer days are, vessels ready to fill with what you make of them. The quickly recognisable cello part ebbs and flows like water lapping your feet, rising like a tide at the song’s crescendo, allowing you to ride whatever emotion you like on its wave. “Cloudbusting” has bookended my summers: it has been there during a glorious 5AM sunrise, as pink light melted through my window, and for total stillness at the height of a sweaty, sleepless night. On both occasions, and in all of the moments when I’ve heard it in between, the song’s largesse allowed me to simply be enveloped by it, as my heart swelled up with whatever it wanted, the strings stretching like muscles.

In that way, there’s a sensuality about “Cloudbusting” that makes it feel like it belongs firmly within summer, the most tactile season. Bush’s voice, which tangibly sighs and pleads across the track, feels like it’s trying to grab onto something, like fingers in sand, or feet climbing a hill under beating sun. Her lyrics are largely centred on the Reichs (singing from Peter’s point of view, Bush is concerned with Wilhelm Reich’s arrest in 1941: “I can’t hide you from the government / Oh, God, Daddy, I won’t forget”), and yet the hope at its core, paired with the rousing, lilting musicianship that could mean anything at all, allows the song to maintain a universality that is bigger than their story. In fact, “Cloudbusting” is just one of many examples of Bush’s gift for taking a narrative (think, even, of her most famous song “Wuthering Heights”) and reinventing it for her own purposes, to make more all-encompassing points.

That broadness can be observed at all levels of the song, and I think I like best about “Cloudbusting”. It’s rare that you hear pop music that feels so simply big. It is an island of a song, existing in and of itself, and it lies outside of trends, expressing itself entirely without need for them. It is not the Song of the Summer, but the Song of Every Summer, because it can mean something different every time. It tells a story that is small – the tale of a son and his father – but inside that specificity there are pockets of enormity: there’s a whole sky just in its soaring chorus.

It’s here, in the chorus, where the summer in “Cloudbusting” seeps out. Bush’s voice, pretty but somehow beseeching, conjures sun after rain, light after dark, summer after a long, punishing winter. It’s a perfect image of possibility, made more powerful by the surge of the cello. And then there are the words themselves, like an incantation opening up the sweeping vistas of life that summer promises in a way that other times of year just cannot: I just know that something good is going to happen. And I don’t know when. But just saying it could even make it happen.

I am quite sure that there are no words that feel truer on a summer evening, which is as close as nature gets to real magic – the cloudless heavens turning purple, your body warm and light like the air – than those words of Kate Bush’s from “Cloudbusting”’s chorus. Close your eyes and say them for yourself. I just know that something good is going to happen. And I don’t know when. But just saying it could even make it happen. Perhaps it really could”.

Kate Bush did perform Cloudbusting as part of her 2014 residency, Before the Dawn. This idea of Donald Sutherland playing Wilhelm Reich. That bond between him and Kate Bush playing father and son. It does bring to life the power of the book and the story about Wilhelm and Peter Reich. The tale of how Donald Sutherland came to be in the video for Cloudbusting is interesting. Bush would have been moved by countryside and trees and wind when sitting to write the lyrics. That idyllic setting around her. I do love how Kate Bush turned up at his hotel and pitched the video, as this 2025 article explores:

“One afternoon in 1985, Donald Sutherland was enjoying the rarefied tranquility of Suite 312 at London’s Savoy Hotel, when there was an unexpected knock at the door.

With its panoramic view over the River Thames, Suite 312 was the Canadian actor’s favourite place to stay when in London, due to its position and the way it made him feel, in his words, “so cosseted, so private”.

The knock at the door was a rare event. The Savoy’s floor butler was usually the only one who ever knocked.

When Sutherland opened the door, standing in front of him was Kate Bush.

“She wanted to explain what her video was about,” said Sutherland in a 2015 interview with Dazed magazine. “I let her in.”

Weeks earlier, Bush had approached a mutual contact to ask Sutherland if he would appear in the video for her forthcoming single Cloudbusting. Sutherland promptly declined the offer, so Bush decided to pay him a visit to try and change his mind.

Bush explained the song to Sutherland and her idea for the short film – directed by Julian Doyle and conceived by Bush and Terry Gilliam – in which she would play Peter Reich and Sutherland would play his visionary father.

“She sat down, said some stuff,” continued Sutherland. “All I heard was ‘Wilhelm Reich’. I’d taken an underground copy of his The Mass Psychology Of Fascism with me when I went to film [Bernardo] Bertolucci’s Novecento in Parma… Everything about Reich echoed through me.

“He was there then — and now he was here, sitting across from me in the person of the very eloquent Kate Bush. Synchronicity. Perfect.

“She talked some more. I said okay and we made Cloudbusting. She’s wonderful, Kate Bush. Wonderful. I love that I did it.”

Cloudbusting is a magnificent song, one that hones in on the touching relationship between father and son as seen through the boy’s eyes.

The resulting short film that Donald Sutherland co-starred in was a breathtaking visualisation of Bush’s retelling of Peter Reich’s story. 40 years on from its release, Cloudbusting has lost none of its emotive power and it stands as one of Kate Bush’s finest, most enduring works”.

The two had a clear affection. That comes through in the video. Donald Sutherland died in 2024. However, he had a brilliant experience working on a music video. CLASH provided some of the great memories. Hoe Sutherland almost was like a father figure to Kate Bush on the set:

“She’s wonderful, Kate Bush. Wonderful. I love that I did it,” Sutherland continued. “I remember being in the car and the hill and them taking me, taking Reich, away and looking back through the back window of the car and seeing her, seeing Reich’s son Peter, standing there. And I remember the first morning on set seeing her coming out of her trailer smoking a joint and I cautioned her, saying she shouldn’t smoke that, it’d affect her work, and she looked at me for a second and said she hadn’t been straight for nine years and I loved her.”

For her part Kate Bush told MTV: “Whenever we were acting, he was my father. I just had to react to him like a child. He made it very easy”.

I have two more features to go. I am going to end with songs from The Dreaming and The Kick Inside for the final piece. The next feature will unite The Red Shoes and The Kick Inside. It will be sad bringing this all to a close, as the characters in Kate Bush’s songs are tremendous and so interesting. From Dennis in In Search of Peter Pan to Daddy in Cloudbusting, we get angles to explore. Bringing out new layers…

IN Kate Bush’s songs.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Revisited: Mariah the Scientist

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight: Revisited

 PHOTO CREDIT: Vijat M

Mariah the Scientist

__________

SHE is busy on tour…

PHOTO CREDIT: Carl Chisolm

and will play in the U.K. in August at All Points East 2026. Mariah the Scientist is someone I spotlighted in 2022. I did want to come back to this artist, as she is one of my favourites. Her album, HEARTS SOLD SEPERATELY, came out last year. I want to start out with Rolling Stone and their chat with Mariah the Scientist. They spoke with the “R&B star on the set of a new music video to go deep on her excellent new album, being more than a famous girlfriend, and getting what she deserves”. I have chopped the interview up a bit, but I did want to include these particular sections. She was being interviewed with her sister, Morgan. It is an interesting conversation:

“However, Hearts Sold Separately is Mariah living in her truth: it’s a concept album about her fierce willingness to love, even when she and women like her are treated like disposable, tiny toy soldiers instead of real forces that can change lives – and the world. It’s her best work yet, a tight, cohesive 10 tracks of literary, diaristic songwriting and expansive production. But on the promo circuit, her romance with Thug – indeed a major source of inspiration – can take up too much space. In the YouTube comments of a recent interview on a prominent platform, a fan wrote of the host, “She asked about Thug the whole time like we don’t care abt [sic] him.”

Speaking generally, Mariah says, “I think that it’s crazy when I go to an interview and somebody is making it seem like they care about me and my success and they care about my music and they fuck with me as a person, and then all they want to talk about is my relationship. Or you notice that they know more about what they’ve seen about my relationship than actually being a listener of my music. What I don’t like is when interviews will be an hour long, two hours long sometimes, and the one headline they choose is ‘Mariah the Scientist is with Young Thug.’ It’s like we literally just sat here and talked about all this other shit, and this is what you chose to publicize about me?”

The album is so cohesive, thematically and sonically. How was working with Dvsn’s Nineteen85?

I think everybody should be a big Dvsn fan. I feel like they’re a really good tag team, for sure. Me and Nineteen85 are also a really good tag team. He definitely showed me the value in collaboration. Before I worked on this project, I was more the type to be like, “I don’t need no help. I’m just going to use this very basic YouTube beat that has no evolution at all.” I thought that was going to be enough. He helped me realize what it could be like to think outside of a box and explore more texture.

So this is your first time working with one executive producer from start to finish?

Yeah, for sure. I had never been to the studio with a producer and just sat there and worked on something. I used to get so much anxiety from it, so with him, it was definitely a slow start. I didn’t know what to say or what to tell him. I’m not super well-versed on musical terms. Obviously, as you grow in making music, you learn more about it, but at the time I couldn’t be like, “Oh, maybe if you cut the metronome on, then I can tell you that I wanted to be on the fourth beat instead of the third beat.” Working with other people who are not just musically inclined but knowledgeable on things like that, it made the process more technical.

You’re also such a words person. Even the way you creatively speak and conceptualize things in interviews seems to translate to your lyrics. Where did that come from for you? Did you read a lot as a kid? Talk to adults a ton? I was an only child, so I was always chatting with grown-ups.

I feel like my sister – I only have one sister [motions to Morgan] – tells me that the way I piece words together [is] unconventional. I don’t know. I went to college, [but] I’m not blaming college. You know when you see a new word for the first time and you don’t know what it means? It’s almost like I don’t want to take the easy route and just define it. It’s like I’m trying to use the context clues to figure it out before I actually define it. Sometimes I’m wrong, but I think over time, the words that you didn’t know at all, I feel like they just stick out. I struggle with exactly what I’m trying to say, but there’s almost always a word that could describe it. Maybe you just don’t know the word yet. And I do feel like when I find new words, I like to try to incorporate them. I just try to use what I think I know.

What are your favorite things that you’ve written for this album?

There’s a song called “Rainy Days.” I just like the word play. When I make a song and the words are basic, I don’t want to use the song anymore. I almost feel like with “Burning Blue,” the wording was basic. Not the first verse, but the hook though. I just feel like it was so simple. I just feel like that’s not really my style. I would like to elaborate more in the music. There’s another song [on the album] called “Eternal Flame,” and I like that one because I did a good job in describing this metaphorical place. I feel like people are going to wonder what that song is about.

What inspired Hearts Sold Separately?

The climate of the world made me want to make a whole project about love. I feel like nobody prioritizes love. Everybody looks at love like it’s a problem. I feel like back in the day, it wasn’t like that. Everybody wanted to have a family unit and be married. Now it’s like everybody is shying away from that a little bit. I just feel like there’s this long-standing war between men and women and I don’t know what that’s about. I wish it wasn’t like that, but it just is. And the more men and women I meet, I realize even though we are all human, there are huge fundamental differences that you don’t really acknowledge when you’re younger. I just feel like I’m Eve and I fucked around and bit the apple or something. Now I see everything totally different than what I thought it was. That was the catalyst of everything I wrote.

It also sounds like, in the song “United Nations,” you’re also expanding this idea of love as a potential solution for bigger social problems, not just romantic dynamics. It sounds like you’re also evoking your faith in that song, too.

Yes, for sure. Yeah, it was longer. I cut it a little bit short because I feel like when you talk about what you believe in, sometimes your listeners….I’m not trying to preach to them. I’m just expressing my own beliefs and hopefully that encourages other people. “United Nations” was one of the first songs I made that fell into the theme of what I was trying to get across.

I am really moved by the parts in “United Nations” that aren’t just about romantic love. Do you feel like your love for your sister is reflected on the album, too? Are there more platonic types of love that you feel like you’re exploring here?

We really have a weird relationship, not in a bad way. It’s just that we are different. I don’t know why I feel so strongly about people who are different from me. I have to get to the value and the balance. I don’t know why I’m doing that instead of just withdrawing or retreating.

But that sounds like how you’re thinking about men and women, right? It’s like there’s a difference there, but it’s worth understanding.

Yeah, for sure. I feel like I’m always chasing understanding, which is a problem. It really makes you not be able to rest. So I’ve been trying lately to practice my I-don’t-give-a-fuck vibe. But it is just not the way I am. I do feel like something like “United Nations,” saying “Forgive us for the fuss and fighting” is probably about me and my sister. I don’t have many songs that aren’t about a romantic relationship. It’s actually really rare that I can write something like that. So I do feel like I must have been writing about something that I felt really strongly about, and it’s not very many things that can get me worked up. My sister is one of them.

I know you have to go shoot this video. So this is your most successful music on radio with “Burning Blue,” and now “Is It a Crime” climbing up the charts, how has reaching this new height in your career impacted what your vision is for yourself and for your future?

I feel like when I first started off, from Complex asked me something about doing certain numbers and I told him that I remember reading that to get [RIAA] Gold was 75,000,000 streams. At that point, I had never done any of that. I was like, “Oh my gosh, I don’t think I’ll be able to do this ever.” And now I have done it multiple times. And with the radio stuff and the Billboard Hot 100 and all that, it’s just like because I’ve never had it, I didn’t know how it works. It’s almost like imposter syndrome, and people are like, “Oh, you had a number one song on rhythmic and urban radio. How do you feel about it?” Hearing my song on radio is like so weird. I can’t believe that. Or if I’m in a store and they’re playing it and they don’t know that I’m there, it’s very interesting”.

I want to move to this year and an interview with Billboard. They spent time with Women In Music Rising Star. An artist growing in confidence, I do feel that everyone should be following Mariah the Scientist. There have been a couple of great collaborations this year. Make Me with Latto and Bottles & Lights  with Chxrry:

“Brought up in her beloved Atlanta, this year’s Women in Music Rising Star has been singing all her life. After moving to the Big Apple to study biology (hence her stage name) at St. John’s University, Mariah dropped out her sophomore year to embark on a music career at the encouragement of friends who had heard some of her original songs. She released To Die For, her debut EP, on SoundCloud in 2018, and buzz around the project caught the attention of Tory Lanez, landing her a deal with RCA Records in conjunction with his One Umbrella label, where she started building her lovelorn catalog with 2019’s Master and 2021’s Ry Ry World. By 2022, she left those deals for a six-month stint as an independent artist, before landing at Epic Records, where she remains today.

On those early projects, Mariah fine-tuned her confessional songwriting style and sharpened her ear for her now-signature ’80s Prince-inspired soundscapes — and on 2023’s To Be Eaten Alive, her first album on Epic, she made serious commercial advances. The set became her first project to reach the Billboard 200, and in early 2024, Mariah also made her first two Hot 100 appearances as a featured artist.

As Mariah’s star rose, so did internet scrutiny of everything from her live shows to her tumultuous relationship with headline-grabbing Atlanta MC Young Thug, with online commentators frequently making Mariah the butt of ther jokes. “I don’t even laugh at that,” she says bluntly. “I don’t laugh at none of that s–t. I think that ridicule is really unnecessary.”

But Mariah didn’t allow the chatter, particularly around her high-profile relationship, to cloud her year. As Thug navigated his rocky homecoming following his RICO case victory — including a collection of messy leaked jail conversations between him and his boo — Mariah stayed true to the “war on love,” toy soldier aesthetic of Hearts Sold Separately, hitting the road for her biggest headlining tour yet, playing iconic venues like Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

When we speak, as she nears her trek’s April 10 conclusion at Atlanta’s Coca-Cola Roxy, Mariah is already formulating her next project — and it likely won’t be what fans expect. “I’m trying new things and doing new things, but the heartbroken narrative is kind of jaded for me,” she says. “That’s my whole MO and my claim to fame, but that’s not how I feel every day of my life.”

Does the title Rising Star resonate with you?

When some people hear “rising star,” they may go, “I heard of her several years ago, how is she even included?” But those are the kinds of people who would prefer to continue letting you go excluded. I’m appreciative of the consideration.

You are the third consecutive R&B singer and the fourth consecutive Black woman to be named Rising Star. What does that mean to you?

I never expected to do these things, so to be honored for my art makes me think it wasn’t so random. Maybe this is something I’m supposed to be doing and continue doing. This gives me motivation to continue pursuing longevity in my career.

Was there a particular show on this tour that proved that you’ve reached a new level?

That South Africa show [on Jan. 3 at Pretoria’s SunBet Arena] was probably bigger than any show I’ve ever done, and they were screaming and crying at the top of their lungs. English is not necessarily everybody’s first language in South Africa, so it was honestly unbelievable. It left a huge impact on me; I can’t forget it. I want to go back.

Have you found time on tour to write?

I try to create space for it. I’m more inclined to write by myself. I don’t like to do that around people, and I’m always around people on tour. When I’m on the bus or in my room, maybe I can listen to things and try to come up with ideas. Otherwise, I’m too overstimulated.

Were you expecting a Grammy nomination last year?

I don’t want to say I expected a nomination, but when I wasn’t included, I was like, “Well, damn, what do you need?” “Burning Blue” went gold [in three months]; it went platinum the same calendar year. It debuted on the [Hot 100] at No. 25 — ain’t nobody doing that these days, especially not Black artists. [“Burning Blue” was the highest-debuting female R&B song on the Hot 100 in 2025.] But they don’t owe me anything.

But I will say this: Kehlani definitely deserves what she got. If anybody was going to get [that Grammy], I would rather it be her. I told her, “I really hope that they don’t do you wrong.” She deserved that.

How have the women on your team pushed and protected you during this moment in your career?

Everybody knows my sister [Morgan] is insane. It’s an element to her character and vibe — before she walks in the room, you know she’s a force to be reckoned with. My cousin, Ty, is my assistant and she’s really helpful, never takes anything personally and can get almost any job done. I’ve started incorporating a stylist named Jaclyn [Fleurant], and she takes the weight off my shoulders as far as procuring things.

Jennifer [Raymond] is my A&R, and her personality is like a rainbow. She’s such a positive person and truly shows up. And, of course, everybody at Epic and Olivia [Mirabella], who’s my agent at CAA. It seems like she can get me booked anywhere, anytime. She really kept me on the road for so long, so shoutout to her. I appreciate that because it has paid my bills!

Do you have new music on the way?

I’m itching so bad to put new music out, but I want to set aside a time to cultivate a cohesive project the same way I did with Hearts Sold Separately. When I get off tour, I’ll probably go and sit in the studio a little bit. But I do have some songs that I’m considering including”.

There is not a lot of press or interviews from this year. However, People chatted with Mariah the Scientist. She was nominated for five awards at the 2026 BETs. She won one award: the Viewers' Choice award for Burning Blue. I wanted to spotlight Mariah the Scientist again, as a lot has changed in the past four years:

“On the title of the album, Mariah chose to play with the phrase "parts sold separately" in toys — and related it back to relationships.

"I feel like with toys or things that you buy in the store... You buy a toy and you think, 'Oh my gosh, I'm going to get home and I'm going to play with it.' And it's nothing like breaking the box open and then [you realize] you need batteries," she says.

"I feel like in relationships it's like that. Maybe you see something that you like, but you're not thinking about the fact that you had to put a lot into it to make it work," she adds. "It's not like you rip it out the plastic and it's go time. It just doesn't work like that. I feel like it requires more to power it and keep it lasting and working. It's not as simple as what it looks like in the package."

Now, on top of the writing process being so freeing, she feels seen when her fans sing the lyrics back to her at her shows.

"When I wrote 'No More Entertainers,' I thought that it would be hard for people to listen to because [not] everybody has dated an entertainer, but they sing the song so aggressively at my shows and I start thinking, 'Did you date Leonardo DiCaprio?'" quips Mariah, who got engaged to Young Thug in December.

"They just see me, I don't know. It's almost as if they don't even care what I say or what I'm talking about, kind of how I feel about somebody like Frank Ocean," she continues. "I feel like I don't know exactly what he's talking about. Maybe his exact experiences aren't mine, but maybe it's because he's speaking metaphorically or in these parables-esque talk that it makes it easy for me to digest."

At the 2026 BET Awards, which are happening on Sunday, June 28 in Los Angeles, Mariah received five nominations — including album of the year. Reflecting on the nominations, Mariah says she doesn't want to set her expectations too high for taking home a trophy.

"I'm like, 'Wow, 2026 is just coming in hot,'" she says. "I feel like every time I turn around, they're saying, 'Mariah, you have this new nomination.'”

She continues, "I just think that being considered in general is nice. I feel like it's almost the highest form of respect for your art to be considered”.

That is about it. I think it is important to focus on the brilliant Mariah the Scientist. She is a brilliant artist who I feel is underrated and deserves a lot more attention. If you do not follow her already then make sure that you do. This is an artist who I really love and feel you should check out. Mariah the Scientist is…

A hugely important force for good.

__________

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