FEATURE: Spotlight: Revisited: Maya Hawke

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight: Revisited

IN THIS PHOTO: Maya Hawke at the Rolling Stone studios, live at SXSW/PHOTO CREDIT: Pooneh Ghana

Maya Hawke

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PERHAPS best known as an actor…

Maya Hawke is an incredible artist who I wanted to revisit. I spotlighted her in 2024, not long before the release of her previous album, Chaos Angel. I love everything about her music. The brilliant album covers, the aesthetics, her distinct videos, lyric-writing and vocals. She is a unique artist that will release her fourth album, MAITREYA CORSO, on 1st May. With tour dates taking her around North America, I do hope that she comes to the U.K. at some point. Many might associate Hawke with her role in Stranger Things. She played Robin Buckley. I will include a recent interview where she discussed that character and her time on Stranger Things. You can pre-order MAITREYA CORSO, as I feel it is going to be among the best albums of this year. The Line of Best Fit were among those to announce news of this incredible new album earlier in the year:

“The record is her fourth album and the follow-up to last year’s Chaos Angel. Written. It was recorded with her regular collaborators Christian Lee Hutson – who Hawke recently married – and Benjamin Lazar Davis, it was tracked over the autumn and winter of 2025 in Woodstock and New York City, with contributions from bandmates Will Graefe, Odessa Jorgensen and Michael Riddleberger.

Hawke has explained that the album is built around a central persona named Maitreya Corso. Described as a “magical misfit”, the character serves as a conduit for exploring themes of ego and creation. “Devil You Know”, written in part between New York and Los Angeles, is about "trying to keep ambition and greed out of the creative process," says Hawke.

Maitreya Corso "is generally is about learning to protect the precious from the poisonous. Protect creation from pride. Protect love from control. Protect collaboration from jealousy.”

The release date for the album coincides with the announcement of Hawke’s first US tour in three years. She's also set to appear alongside Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson and Debbie Harry at the Tibet House US Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan on 3 March”.

Before I bring things up to date, I want to include an interview from 2024 I did not use in my previous feature. The Talks chatted with Maya Hawke about Chaos Angel and her career. The daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, this is definitely not a case of a daughter of famous actors getting any sort of leg-up. In addition to be an amazing actor who has carved her own path, she is this artist who peruses this passion that her parents are not associated with. I actually think that her music is her greatest talent, though she is a tremendous and versatile actor:

“Maya, would you say your creative work as a songwriter gets easier as you get older and more experienced?

It’s definitely not easier! If anything, the more I do it, the harder it gets. Because with each album, I feel like I’m raising the bar of what I can do. Have you ever heard about that psychological test where they have people take a math test, but first they rate how well they think they’re going to do. And the people who rate themselves the best, do the worst. And the people who think they’re going to do the worst, do the best. What they say about that is that the more you know about something, you more you know you don’t know. When I was younger and I was writing songs, I thought, “Wow, this song is amazing. I’ve just rhymed love and above!” (Laughs) And then you learn more, your bar gets a lot higher, your expectation for yourself gets higher. So the process only gets more difficult — but in a good way.

Apparently something that brings you comfort is craftsmanship — the idea of knowing how to do something well enough that you can do it even when you’ve had a bad day…

I think when I said that I was talking about acting, because I’ve spent so much of my life acting and learning about acting in school, and I feel like I have some level of craftsmanship with it. I can do it on a bad day. I can do it with a broken heart.

After you put out your sophomore album, you said that your only hope from it was just to have the privilege to make a third.

Yeah, and I mean, that has been a really helpful way to think about it, because you can get so caught up in the game of the arts industry. For me, I think working in the arts is like having a bus pass; it can be hard, people have to trust you enough to give you money to make something, but if you can get a bus pass, all you really need is to get it renewed. And sometimes it can be renewed with a demotion, you can make another record, but you have to make it for less money, and that’s okay, too. All that matters is that you can get on the bus, and that you can contribute, you can express yourself. I’m a lifelong learner, and I’m just hoping for the next opportunity to learn something. I see that as a much better God to worship than reviews or popularity or awards. Although, maybe if I started winning some, I would start to see that as a better gauge? (Laughs)

Were you ever worried about crossing into different fields in the way that you have? I think often people can be judgmental about actors who want to start making music, or singers who want to act.

I think that was very true in the nineties, that was the era for that kind of judgment. But I feel like we are in kind of a new era, I hope so anyway. I think the world is in so much chaos and in so much pain, that actually now enthusiasm is the move! It’s way cooler to see a movie and love it. It is stupid to hate things! There’s not enough good stuff anymore to really be that judgey. There are so many things that I feel make me like an unlikable cultural character, that singing to the mix… Whatever! People are going to say shit. But it makes me happy, so whatever.

I think that full-on belief in what you’re doing is how the best musicians think about their work, though. Do you also think that way when you’re working on a film where the dream is not entirely yours?

I’ve done parts in movies where I didn’t believe in the dream. I have! It’s not fun, I hate it. But I’ve done it. It’s usually more about me than it is about the project. So with my music, I try to facilitate a space where other people feel like they can believe in the dream. I want everyone working with me to feel a sense of ownership over the record as a whole. Because as an actor when I’m on set, I’m saying the words that the writer wrote, I am being directed in the vision of the director. But it’s my song too, I am putting huge parts of myself into the characters that I play. And I wanted to facilitate a space for that in the record making process so that the instrumentalists who came in were actors in the play called Chaos Angel”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Greg Swales

I do love where MAITREYA CORSO stems from and what inspired it. The Buddhist concept of a future, compassionate teacher. Spirituality and self-discovery. Chaos Angel also has spiritual connotations, though something a little more disordered. The title suggests movement and a voyage, but something more centred and calm. Maybe reflecting Maya Hawke’s life and career. The New York-born multi-talented recently wed musician Christian Lee Hutson. Detouring slightly, I feel that it is important to also discuss Maya Hawke’s acting. It feeds into her music and I feel the disciplines are interlinked. I do want to draw from a recent interview with Vogue Hong Kong. Maya Hawke discussed her role in Stranger Things and the affect it has had on her:

“In a world where everyone is constantly told to “just be yourself,” Hawke finds freedom in the opposite. That willingness to stretch and reshape herself has shaped her acting journey, including her breakout role as Robin Buckley in Stranger Things.

Introduced in Season 3, Robin quickly became a fan favourite for her wit, humour, and unflinching honesty. “I had a great acting teacher at drama school who gave me this piece of advice: don’t let your habit be your only choice,” Hawke says. “I think, a lot of the time, the Duffers wrote Robin inspired by my most nervous version of myself, which was, you know, the young woman who was on the show for the first time joining in Season 3. I was so nervous around them, and then I think they really wrote Robin inspired by that nervousness.”

But instead of feeling boxed in, Hawke saw it as a chance to grow. “I think it really allowed me to learn how I was coming off to people, and reflect on my desire to come off as less nervous. I tend to have more options in my bag of tricks than sort of just buoyant enthusiasm; I wanted to have a more grounded sense of myself and my behaviour at work, and a more diverse bag of tricks as an actor, and I really learned that through the way the Duffer brothers’ writing style works.”

As Robin evolved on screen, so did Hawke, who wasn’t afraid to throw out the script when inspiration struck. Her willingness to embrace the weird and unexpected gave Robin a life of her own, often resulting in some of the show’s most delightfully offbeat moments. One of her favourite unscripted bits came during Season 5.

“My favourite [improvised moment] that made it into the show was in Episode 5. I’m sitting in the kind of lobby area of the radio station with an ice pack over my eye. And I’m trying to explain something to Brett Gellman, his character, and in the middle of my sentence, I just stop and go hi to him,” she recalls. “I remember that on the day, I was really just trying weird stuff […] Thank you to Frank Darabont for keeping it in.”

When asked about a potential Stranger Things spinoff for Robin, Hawke’s imagination runs wild. “I’ve always thought a really fun spinoff would be her having to come back to Hawkins and become a low-level traffic officer under David Harbour. Robin and Hopper, as a duo that should never be, would be the most fun, weird duo option of different vibes,” she quips. I would love to watch Hopper be really annoyed by Robin all the time. I think they would play off each other nicely.”

This philosophy of creative play extends beyond the screen. In 2025, Hawke took a leap by making her off-Broadway debut in a revival of Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice at the Signature Theatre. “I had never done a professional play before and was extremely intimidated by the task,” she admits. “I never could have imagined what a rewarding, educational, and community-building experience that would be and feel like. It’s paid off in dividends that I never would have expected.”

Now, Hawke is set to venture into The Hunger Games universe as young Wiress in the prequel The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. The character, introduced in the original trilogy as a highly intelligent yet mentally fragile District 3 victor, required Hawke to thread a delicate needle.

“The most difficult thing about playing Wiress is that the only Wiress we see in the movies is a Wiress in the aftermath of a massive plot point from Sunrise on the Reaping,” Hawke explains. “This experience during this book informs when you meet Wiress in the later films and books, and she, you know, is pretty nonverbal and really struggles to communicate—that’s the trauma response to her having been tortured at the end of Sunrise on the Reaping.”

For Hawke, the challenge lay in balancing hints of Wiress’ eventual breakdown with the woman she was before surviving the Games. “Mags and Beedee are also tortured, but don’t become nonverbal, so there has to be something about Wiress that is already dancing on the edge of the line of her mental health, where she could have such a stark, different, stronger reaction to the same experience that her friends and coworkers have,” she explains. “So, figuring out how not to foreshadow what happens to her too much, while also indicating“You’re a clown.” For Maya Hawke, those three words from director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson on the set of Do Revenge opened the door to a new dimension of her craft. why it might have happened to her in a more extreme way than her friends, was definitely the most difficult needle to thread”.

A couple of things to wrap up with. Speaking with Rolling Stone last month, she chatted about singing with Sadie Sink (her Stranger Things co-star), that celebrated show, and her new work. Rolling Stone state how “Hawke goes deep on her fantastic new album, May 1’s Maitreya Corso, her grief over the end of Stranger Things, her new movie, Wishful Thinking, and much more in our deep-dive new interview”:

“As Stranger Things came to a close, Maya Hawke says she was flat-out “scared” about the future of her career. But it’s already clear that she couldn’t have had less to worry about. Her fantastic fourth album, Maitreya Corso, due on May 1, is a major step forward, a quirky, cozily organic, unceasingly melodic collection of Aimee Mann-worthy pop. She also stars alongside Lewis Pullman in the high-concept romantic comedy Wishful Thinking, which just premiered to critical praise at SXSW, and already moved into a new franchise, filming next year’s Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.

When Hawke sat down at the Rolling Stone Studio, live at SXSW, she went deep on all of it, plus ambition, creative anxiety, Taylor Swift’s influence, and the voice in her head that’s never satisfied. Some highlights follow; to watch the whole interview, press play above, or go to Rolling Stone’s YouTube channel.

The album’s title comes from two very different sources — the Beat poet Gregory Corso and the Buddhist concept of Maitreya. “This is the first time I’ve ever spoken about this record to anyone, and I really probably should have made up my mind about what I was gonna say,” she says. “But I come from a lot of different worlds and philosophies. Corso is a reference to Gregory Corso, and Maitreya is a reference to the Bodhisattva — this idea of new beginnings, this combination of the divine spirit and the human spirit. I was looking for a name of a fantasy heroine to go on this journey that I felt like the record was, and that felt right.”

Hawke doesn’t hesitate to cite Taylor Swift as an influence. “I think she inspired a generation. She made a generation of young people listen to music and think, ‘Oh, wow, my life could matter. My feelings could matter. The details of it could matter.’ And of course it’s a Blakean thing, the minute particulars — the more specific you make something, the more relatable it actually is. But I was hugely influenced by her. I’ve been listening to her music my entire life. You could start any song from any word and I would be able to know where you were and finish it, probably.”

On the new song “Lioness,” Hawke sings about watching “Sadie talk to God through the lav mic,” and she confirms it’s about her costar Sadie Sink. “I was actually talking about working on Stranger Things,” she reveals. “There was a day where I was really grumpy and not feeling inspired. And I came into set as a background player in a scene she was in, and I remembered how magical acting is. I just watched her pick a spirit out of the universe and make the whole room quiet and speak truth and turn something from a game of playing pretend into something extremely authentic. It was a kick in my butt — bring it every time, every second. Don’t get lazy for one second. When I was at drama school, I used to complain — 80 percent of the day is magic, but 20 percent is total bull honky. And then I started working, and I was like, ‘Oh, whoa, 80-20 is a high percentage of magic.’ And that was a moment where I was like, ‘You are shrinking the ratio. You are losing touch with the magic. It’s not the art that’s depressed. You are.’ I think she’s the greatest actress of our generation.”

Hawke got permission from Sink before putting her name in the song — and says she sometimes asks permission even when she doesn’t name-drop. “It’s a weird feeling to be written about,” she says. “I’ve had it in my own life from people that I love, who didn’t name-drop me but wrote about me. It can feel exposing and vulnerable. And also, Miley Cyrus said this — feelings enter your body and that’s not who you are. To write a great song, sometimes you wanna zero in on a singular feeling. And really, that’s just a moment. If you write a really angry song about somebody you love, you wanna be like, ‘Hey, just so you know — I’m not angry at you. I was angry at you on a day that was really inspiring and created this thing. Do you feel OK about me sharing that with the world?'”

The first single, “The Devil You Know,” is about the “gremlin” of ambition, and a wake-up call Hawke got when someone asked when success would ever be “enough.” “The only time it would ever feel like enough is if it was too much,” she says. “If it started to impede my ability to be anonymous, to be free. And I don’t want that. The only thing that would satisfy the gremlin in me is the ruination of my freedom. So I’ve gotta go talk to the gremlin and figure out a way to make a deal. That’s the devil in the song. The gremlin who’s like, ‘More. You must do better. This person is more successful than you.’ You’ve gotta talk to that guy and be like, ‘OK, how can we work something out?’ This jealousy isn’t helping me. It’s not making me a better artist.”

Hawke started as a lyricist and was initially afraid to get into the music side of songwriting, in part because she was intimidated by the extraordinary musicians around her. “I just didn’t think I was any good,” she says. “And this is where great fortune meets its own complications. If I hadn’t met people like that, I probably would’ve made demos in my room and put them on YouTube. But that wasn’t the hand I was dealt. I was dealt a hand where it was like, ‘Hey, come over, I’ve got the greatest guitar player in the world here who wants to write a song with you.’ That’s a really intimidating environment to be like, ‘But maybe what about this?’ It took a while and a lot of encouragement to think my idea was worthwhile — not because it was better, but because it was mine”.

I am going to wrap up with an article from People. They got an exclusive, as Maya Hawke teased some plans for her summer. I do wonder if she will extend her tour run and visit the U.K. and Europe. No doubt there will be new acting projects. I am curious if we will get surprises relating to MAITREYA CORSO and any surprise appearances and collaborations:

“Speaking with PEOPLE in an exclusive interview at the premiere of her latest film project, the sci-fi rom-com Wishful Thinking, at SXSW on March 12, the 27-year-old Stranger Things actress teased her summer plans.

"I wish I could tell you, but I can't," Hawke explained. "But right now, I'm really looking forward to putting my record out and doing a little tour, but that's more spring. I'm really looking forward to this movie.”

“For the full summer, I wish I could tell you, but I can't," she reiterated.

Asked if she just didn't know what her plans were yet or if she had something top secret in store, Hawke said simply responded, “Secret.”

In Wishful Thinking, Hawke stars alongside Lewis Pullman as a couple who go to therapy together, only to find that their relationship is affecting the world around them.

The cast also includes Randall Park, Jake Shane and Amita Rao.

Before SXWS, Hawke tied the knot with Christian Lee Hutson on Feb. 14.

She has been with the musician since 2023, and a few of her Stranger Things costars attended the wedding, including Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton and Joe Keery.

Hawke's parents, Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, were also present at her surprise New York City nuptials. The Inside Out 2 voice actress and Hutson, 35, both wore Prada outfits for the ceremony.

"It's awesome. I cannot recommend highly enough dating your friends. It's the best. They know you, and as a human being who has dated other people," she said about her relationship during an appearance on the Zach Sang Show.

She also has some additional projects on the horizon, including playing Wiress in Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping and a starring in a leading role in a psychological drama film called Lucia, but it's unclear if her summer secret ties into either of these”.

A hugely talented and wonderful artist whose voice I absolutely adore, her lyrics and what she puts into her songs is so powerful and potent. She is a wonderful songwriter and someone who I hope releases a lot more albums. Two years after I previously spotlighted Maya Hawake, I wanted to revisit ahead of the release of MAITREYA CORSO on 1st May. I feel that her fourth album will be one of 2026’s absolute best. This is an artist that I hope to…

SEE live one day soon.

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Follow Maya Hawke

PHOTO CREDIT: Greg Swales

Official:

https://www.mayahawkemusic.com/

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https://www.instagram.com/maya_hawke/

Bandcamp:

https://mayahawke.bandcamp.com/music

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

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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjUd55djpR9bBdZ-1PWUqMw

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https://open.spotify.com/artist/4e9vQfyvvDlcQAkjSdFE4x?si=z5Vs8xPPRX-Ykpr-B5hLYQ

FEATURE: The Great American Songbook: Nina Simone

FEATURE:

 

 

The Great American Songbook

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images/David Redfern

Nina Simone

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ONE of the greatest voices…

IN THIS PHOTO: Nina Simone in 1968/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

that we have heard in music history, I wanted to recognise Nina Simone for this The Great American Songbook. The Carolina=born artist released her debut album, Little Girl Blue: Jazz as Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club, in 1959. She died in 2003. In 1991, Simone published her autobiography, I Put a Spell on You, and she continued to perform and attract audiences until her death. I am going to end this feature with a twenty-song mixtape featuring some of Nina Simone’s greatest songs. So many to choose from, so it has been a hard choice! In 2022, Vanity Fair published a feature regarding Nina Simone’s “Tortured Talent”. As they write: “Together, Simone’s autobiography I Put a Spell on You and Alan Light’s biography What Happened, Miss Simone? elucidate an anguished genius”. It is fascinating learning about her beginnings and everything that she achieved. Her successes as well as failings and harder moments paint this compelling and complete portrait of one of the greatest artists who has ever lived:

“When I used to get blue years ago, James Baldwin would say the same thing to me each time: ‘This is the world you have made for yourself, Nina, now you have to live in it,’” the trailblazing musician and civil rights activist Nina Simone muses in the opening lines of her 1992 autobiography, I Put a Spell on You.

Throughout this slight, remarkably placid autobiography (co-written with Stephen Cleary), one sometimes wonders—almost with relief—whether these words are actually the voice of Nina Simone. Could this possibly be the same tortured musical prodigy whose mental illness and irrational actions are brutally and heartbreakingly documented in Alan Light’s 2016 biography What Happened, Miss Simone?—a book inspired by the harrowing 2015 documentary of the same name?

But then, like flashes of lightning, Simone reveals her aching loneliness—her insecurities, her rage, her passion, and her inability to explain her oftentimes hurtful actions. A classically trained pianist who begrudgingly became “the high priestess of soul,” Simone knew people thought she was strange. Still, she found a way to connect and inspire through her extraordinary gifts, leaving behind a body of work which reveals unflinching, universal truths.

“When a person moves to their own kind of clock, spirit, flow, you’re always in congress with yourself. The challenge is, how does the congress around you accept you?” her friend Attallah Shabazz asked Light. “How does royalty stomp around in the mud and still walk with grace? Most people are afraid to be as honest as she lived.”

Carolina Girl

Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in 1933, in the small resort town of Tryon, North Carolina. Her mother, Mary Kate, was a pious and renowned preacher, while her jaunty father, John Divine Waymon, was an entertainer turned entrepreneur who had fallen on hard times due to the Depression.

Simone recounts her family life and the relatively integrated, bucolic Tryon in the most sentimental, emotional, and clear-headed portion of I Put a Spell on You. As Simone recalls, her parents and siblings were considered “exceptional” in both the Black and white communities. Little Eunice became the Waymons’ brightest star at two and a half, when she taught herself to play the family organ. “Momma came into the living room and heard me playing one of her favorite hymns, ’God Be with You Till We Meet Again’ in the key of F. She was so surprised she almost died on the spot,” Simone writes.

Simone shared a special bond with John Divine.One gets the sense her entire life was spent trying to recapture the security she felt with her father, who made her laugh and loved to watch her perform. “Daddy’s favorite was ‘The Darktown Strutters’ Ball,’ and he’d sneak up in the day when Momma was out and get me to play it,” she writes. “He’d sit by the window or outside on the porch, and if he saw Momma coming down the road he’d whistle—the signal for me to switch to a more righteous tune.”

The Prodigy

Simone’s obvious gifts would soon become serious business. Her mother’s employer recognized Simone’s genius and paid for her to take piano lessons with Muriel Mazzanovich, an affectionate, tactile woman whom Simone came to see as her “white momma.” After hours spent practicing Bach in Mazzanovich’s airy, elegant studio, the two would play duets—“bright funny pieces that came as a welcome relief.”

Simone is at her most relatable describing the loneliness and isolation of a dutiful child prodigy: the punishing hours practicing, the lack of formative friendships, and the pressure of representing her race. To further her protégé’s education, “Miz Mazzy” started the Eunice Waymon Fund, and the entire community of Tryon—Black and white—chipped in. “The direction of my life was determined by their ambitions and their money, and I was promised a future I had no part in choosing,” Simone writes. This direction would include boarding school (where she was valedictorian), Julliard, and then, it was hoped, a spot at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

But the sheltered Simone occasionally, spectacularly found her own voice. In I Put a Spell on You, she recounts a solo recital for her backers at the age of eleven. She was all set to play when she saw her parents being removed from their seats so a white family could take their place. “I …stood up in my starched dress and said if anyone expected to hear me play, they’d better make sure that my family was sitting right there in the front row where I could see them, and to hell with poise and elegance,” she writes. “The day after the recital I walked around feeling as if I had been flayed and every slight, real or imagined, cut me raw. But the skin grew back again a little tougher, a little less innocent, and a little more black.”

An Education

By 1950, Simone was studying at Julliard, and admittedly feeling awkward and out of tune with the glamorous and sophisticated women of Harlem and Brooklyn. She was further alienated when she was rejected by Curtis, which she believed was because of her race (though Light notes there are differing opinions on the reason).

While teaching piano in Philadelphia, Simone learned that her much less talented students were getting summer gigs in Atlantic City. To evade her religious mother’s wrath, the stage name “Nina Simone” was born. Her first residency was at an Atlantic City dive called Midtown Bar and Grill, where the innocent Simone ordered a glass of milk and only started singing when her employer insisted.

She quickly developed a following, with a group she refers to imperiously as “my students.” Painfully insecure offstage, she relished being in complete control over a ragtag audience far from her dreams of concert pianist stardom. “I would get through it by closing my eyes and pretending I was somewhere else, like Carnegie Hall or the Metropolitan Opera,” she writes.

Simone was soon a nightclub sensation, especially in vibrant, intellectually and musically stimulating Greenwich Village. She had a hit record with her 1957 version of “I Loves You, Porgy.” She was married to a beatnik named Don Ross, during which time her sister Francis recalled, per Light, she was drinking heavily and experimenting with drugs.

“Life blazed, and for a moment I thought I had everything I wanted,” Simone writes of these heady times. “After shows people would crowd my dressing room, leave flowers, kiss me and say they loved me. Men I had never met before, handsome men, said they loved me and I almost believed them—I wanted it to be true.”

Revolution

Simone’ s career would really take off after she married a tough, business-savvy, and abusive ex-policeman named Andy Stroud in 1961. “The way I looked at it, if I married Andy, he would be able to protect me from everything but himself,” she writes.

With Stroud managing her career, Simone became increasingly involved in the fight for civil rights, counting among her mentors James Baldwin, Odetta, Langston Hughes, and her dear friend Lorraine Hansberry, with whom “it was always Marx, Lenin and revolution—real girls talk.”

With songs like “Mississippi Goddam” and “Young, Gifted, and Black,” Simone earned the moniker bestowed on her by Stokely Carmichael: “the only singer of the civil rights movement.”

“People who lived through those times doing the same things I did, living and breathing the revolution, will tell you the same stories of how their private lives faded away for years at a time,” she writes. “The first thing I saw in the morning when I woke up was my black face in the bathroom mirror, and that fixed what I felt about myself for the rest of the day—that I was a black-skinned woman in a country where you could be killed because of that one fact.”

While recounting her involvement in the movement, one can feel Simone loosening up, relishing the human connections she made during the 1960s. With dark, twisted humor, she jokes about performing on a stage made of coffins in Alabama and attempting to seduce Louis Farrakhan after becoming obsessed with his tiny feet. She was especially amused when singer Johnny Mathis, who always bragged of having been a high school track star, sprinted off a stage when it collapsed, thinking (understandably) it had been bombed by racist agitators.

Yet Simone, whose vulnerability and fickle nature are evident in numerous contradictory passages throughout I Put a Spell on You, also admits to feeling like an outsider within a movement to which she gave so much. “I was lonely in the movement like I had been lonely everywhere else. Sometimes I think the whole of my life has been a search to find the one place I truly belong.”

The Betrayal

As Light notes, this alienation was undoubtedly not helped by Simone’s increasingly debilitating mental illness. She was later diagnosed as bipolar.

Though Simone is sparing when discussing her mental instability, she does describe her first real breakdown during a tour with Bill Cosby in 1967. “Andy walked into my dressing room and found me staring into the mirror putting make-up in my hair, brown make-up, because I wanted to be the same color all over,” she writes. ”He tried to get me to talk sense, but I said things like…I was Grandma Moses…I had visions of laser beams and heaven, with skin—always skin—involved in there somewhere.”

By the late 1960s, Simone was lashing out, heartbroken in part by the stagnant struggle for civil rights. “America betrayed me, betrayed my people and stamped on our hopes. Andy had betrayed me too,” she writes. “I felt like I was being attacked on all sides: the whole world was ganging up on Nina Simone.”

Simone retreated to Barbados in 1969, leaving behind Andy and their daughter, Lisa (who asserts she was physically abused by Simone). Even more inexplicably, she abandoned her beloved father after overhearing him brag that he had supported her family growing up, though it was her mother who had really kept them afloat. “I walked into the kitchen and told him he wasn’t my daddy anymore because I disowned him. From that moment I had no father,” she writes.

She held true to her vow. While her father was dying, Simone recalls staying in Tryon with Mazzanovich. Despite her family’s constant appeals, she refused to visit him on his deathbed. The day he was buried in North Carolina, Simone was performing in D.C., singing a song she just written about him which ended with these cryptic last lines: “When he passed away, I smoked and drank all day. Alone. Again. Naturally.”

Exile

“I had done things I could not explain to people I loved most…I couldn’t go home without explaining myself, and I didn’t know how,” Simone writes. “The truth was I had no home anymore.”

After recounting the death of her father, I Put a Spell on You becomes increasingly erratic and disjointed, mirroring the chaos of Simone’s life during the 1970s and 1980s. As Light notes, much of the book is dedicated to men Simone believes could have saved her, although she does not mention the many affairs with women her family and friends claim she enjoyed.

For a time, she was the mistress of Barbados Prime Minister Earl Barrow. “I was his courtesan and he was my pasha,” she recalls. She then moved with Lisa to Liberia, where she felt a wild sense of freedom and descended into hedonism and divadom At one party, which inspired her joyful song “African Calypso,” she stripped naked and danced for two hours, fueled by champagne.

But according to guitarist Al Shackman not everyone was thrilled to have Nina in Liberia. “They couldn’t stand her in Africa,” he told Light. “Her maids—oh, she was just awful. If she were a queen, the streets would rumble.”

During these tumultuous years, Simone became increasingly hostile towards her audiences, once chasing a fan in Casablanca out of a show with a knife. She found occasional solace and compassion with other bright lights—an understanding, reverential David Bowie and her old friend James Baldwin, who touchingly helped her during a show in New York.

“Song after song collapsed midway through, with Simone complaining about the microphones and the lights, until eventually Baldwin came out and sat with her onstage,” guitarist Al Schackman recalled, per Light. “He said, ‘Nina, I think you should sing,’ and she replied, ’James, yes, of course—I like you, I know you like me, so if you think I should sing, I will sing.’”

To The Bitter End

By the early 1980s, Simone was down and out in Paris. “Living in a tiny apartment, Simone would stand on the sidewalk in front of various Latin Quarter nightclubs and invite passersby to come in and see her perform,” Light writes.

Eventually Simone rebuilt her career and began taking medicine to treat her mental illness. But she remained volatile and reactive, aware that her emotions were often out of control.

Despite the turmoil, Simone claims in her autobiography to have had no regrets.

“I know she felt like she was alone, and she was still fighting while everybody else was happy that they had gotten their certificate,” Lisa told Light. “She never stopped speaking out against injustice. I think that Mom’s anger is what sustained her, really what kept her going. It just became who she was.”

Nina Simone died at her home in the French seaside town of Carry-le-Rouet on April 21, 2003. At last, she was at peace”.

With one of the absolute best songbooks in music history, artists influenced by Nina Simone include Jeff Buckley, Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Tracy Chapman, and Meshell Ndegeocello. Zoe Saldaña was cast as Nina Simone in the 2016 biopic, Simone, but that drew criticism for the casting of a light-skinned Black woman. She had her skin darkened and a prophetic nose for the role. The actress did apologise and said she should never have stepped into Simone’s shoes (the film was widely panned). I do think Nina Simone deserves another biopic, but have a different actor – one endorsed by Simone’s estate – playing her. You feel Viola Davis would be a good choice. Maybe an artist playing Simone. Would casting Doechii be a good fit? Or casting an unknown actor or artist? In any case, this musical goddess warrants…

FAR better.

FEATURE: Cher at Eighty: Love and Understanding: Celebrating the Icon’s Career-Spanning L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ Advocacy

FEATURE:

 

 

Cher at Eighty

PHOTO CREDIT: Swan Gallet for WWD

Love and Understanding: Celebrating the Icon’s Career-Spanning L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ Advocacy

__________

I did recently…

feature Cher as part of my The Great American Songbook series, so I won’t repeat that and do another mixtape. However, I do have to write about her again, as she turns eighty on 23rd May. I was thinking about what defines Cher. It is her endurance and consistency. How she has helped shape music and changed it too. However, one of the most notable and best aspects of her as a human and artist is her advocacy for the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community. An icon and trailblazer, she is revered and seen as one of their most staunch and unwavering allies. That is needed in music now arguably as much as ever. I am going to drop in examples where Cher has either defended L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ people or shown her support. I am going to include some songs along the way, not necessarily gay anthems or those that are especially resonant to the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community. I will start out with an article from Advocate, which was published in 2024. Admitting that she had been obsessed with gay men since she was nine, Cher “reflected on her relationship with the LGBTQ+ community during a surprise appearance at the Abbey in West Hollywood”:

“Meeting gay men for the first time was “love at first sight” for Cher when she was only 9 years old, the iconic entertainer said during a surprise appearance Thursday at the Abbey, the famous LGBTQ+ bar in West Hollywood.

“The first gay guys I ever met, I was 9 years old,” she said at an event for the Abbey’s new owner, Tristan Schukraft, who bought the bar from David Cooley last year; video was posted online by Marc Malkin of Variety and others. “I walked into my house and there were these two guys there and they started talking to my mom and mom’s best friend. I was thinking, Where have they been hiding these guys? I’m 9, but I thought, Wait a minute … why aren’t the other guys as funny as these guys? It was really love at first sight.”

Cher also gave a shout-out to her LGBTQ+ fans. “One thing I have to say that is serious, that is from the heart, is that I’ve had really ups and downs in my career — I mean, really! — and you guys never left me,” she said. “So thank you.” She had entered the bar singing “Song for the Lonely.” She is a longtime ally to the community and mother of a transgender son, Chaz Bono”

There is a lot of articles and different pieces I could bring together, and the timeline is slightly all over the place here. However, as a performer, Cher is someone who will not perform in a nation who has is anti-gay/trans and does not support the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community. Unfortunately, that maybe includes America now under President Trump. In 2013, Cher refused to play in Russia for the Winter Olympics:

“Cher claims to have rejected an invitation to perform at the Sochi Winter Olympics. Although she was asked to participate in February's official opening ceremonies, the singer said she "immediately" refused out of solidarity with Russia's gay community.

Speaking with the Canadian magazine Maclean's, Cher recounted receiving a call from a friend "who is a big [Russian oligarch]". "[He] asked me if I'd like to be an ambassador for the Olympics and open the show," she said. "I immediately said no. I want to know why all of this gay hate just exploded over there. He said the Russian people don't feel the way the government does”.

Cher is no stranger to Russia: she has performed there twice in the past year. And while she said she "can't name names" when it comes to her friend the oligarch, both of her recent gigs were at the invitation of billionaire businessman/politician Suleyman Kerimov. Kerimov is the world's 162nd-richest man, according to Forbes; he is also a huge Cher fan. He brought the Believe singer to Moscow for a private party in December 2012, and then to his home province of Dagestan this July for the opening of a new football stadium. "Russia is Great … COLD BUT GREAT!" Cher tweeted at the time of the December show. "Here is pic of me wearing my friend's [giant, fur] hat!"

Cher is a longtime advocate of LGBT rights, spurred by events "in the early days" of Sonny and Cher, as well as her experiences as mother to a transgender child. "People hated Sonny and I ... because we looked and acted so different," she told Maclean's. "Sonny was always getting into fights – people would called him 'fag' and he'd get his nose broken – only because we were dressing different … You can't forget that”.

There are a couple of other articles I will get to before wrapping this up. Which artist would you say is the greatest and most prolific gay rights activist and ally ever? Many might jump to Madonna. That would be a good shout. Though think about Cher and all the times she has stood up for gay rights and supported the L.G.B .T.Q.I.A.+ community. This article from The Blunt Post argues Cher is the greatest gay icon of all time. This was published in 2018, so it might need updating:

“1983: She played a lesbian opposite Meryl Streep in the film, Silkwood, and was nominated for her first Academy Award.

1989: She released the smash hit If I could turn back time, with a groundbreaking video and reinvented herself once again. The video was filmed on The Queen Mary with hundreds of US Navy sailors. She wore a sexy see-through outfit that vowed the public and redefined what a woman in her forties can do.

1995: Cher’s then daughter, Chastity Bono, came out as a lesbian and went on to be the President of GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation).

1997: Recognized as one of the LGBT community’s most vocals advocates, Cher was invited as the keynote speaker for the 1997 national Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) convention.

1998: Cher reached a new commercial peak with the album Believe, whose title track became the biggest-selling single of all time by a female artist in the UK. It featured the pioneering use of Auto-Tune, also known as the “Cher effect”. It played at clubs across the globe and Cher reached a whole new generation of fans.

1998: Cher was honored with a GLAAD Media Award (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Vanguard Award.  The honor is presented to a member of the entertainment or media community who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for the LGBT community.

2000 & 2002: The NBC sitcom Will & Grace acknowledged her status by making her the idol of gay character Jack McFarland. In 2000, Cher made a cameo on the show, in which Jack believed her to be a drag queen and said he could “do” a better Cher himself. In 2002, she portrayed God in Jack’s imagined version of Heaven.

008-2010: Chaz Bono underwent female-to-male gender transition. In May 2010, he legally changed his gender and name, a decision Cher supported wholeheartedly and publicly.

2012: Cher attended the GLAAD Media Awards and presented Chaz with GLAAD’s Stephen F. Kolzak Award, which is presented annually to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality. Cher was joined on stage by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (Sonny Bono’s second wife and widow).

2018: Cher starred in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, arguably one of the gayest films in recent years and reunites her with her good friend, Meryl Streep”.

There is a remarkable article from Pride Source that is also from 2018. It was timely, as Cher, in their words, “did her gay-icon due diligence by helicoptering onto the set of "Mamma Mia 2! Here We Go Again". I hope that, as she turns eighty soon, there are new interviews where we get to see how she continues to champion, defend and speak for the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community:

“In July, she did her gay-icon due diligence by helicoptering onto the set of "Mamma Mia 2! Here We Go Again" to play the role she'd been playing in front of the world, most discernibly to generations of baby-gays and grown-up gays: maternal pillar. When I met Cher in 2016 on Halloween at a fundraiser stop for Hillary Clinton in the suburbs of Michigan, I was struck by her Cher-ness, the glitzy legend momentarily eclipsed by her warm, inviting humanness.

Armed with a cannon of glittery ABBA bops, Cher has come to our rescue once again with an ode to the Swedish disco-pop supergroup titled – what else? – "Dancing Queen," her 26th album and first since 2013's "Closer to the Truth." In December, "The Cher Show," the musical about her life, which she is co-producing, officially opens on Broadway. And next year, because she just can't help herself, she will embark on a tour appropriately titled "Here We Go Again."

The night we spoke, Cher was laid-back, reflective and full of hearty chuckles as she talked about that Walgreens detour, kissing "Silkwood" co-star Meryl Streep, the wedding dress she'd wear to Trump's impeachment party, the "breadcrumbs" of her legacy, Twitter, the devil, jumping out of a window – and not only her long-standing influence on the LGBTQ community, but our influence on her.

You could've easily found enough inspiration in the world's current plight for another album like your 2000 indie album "Not Commercial," which was dark.

But we don't need that right now! We need ABBA right now! If anything, we need to not be brought down because everything is so terrible. I was just talking to this one boy who came in and he was asking me what did I really think and I said, "Babe, I think the picture's bleak. I think everyone's gotta vote."

Thankfully, "Dancing Queen" is a slice of gay heaven in hell.

Well, look, I wasn't doing it for that, but I'm happy if it can make people happier than they were before they heard it.

When were you first aware that the LGBTQ community identified you as a gay icon?

I don't think I was when I was with Sonny. I think it happened on "The Sonny and Cher Show" (which ran from 1976-1977), somehow. I don't know – I don't know how that happens. I mean, how does it happen? I have no idea! It's just like, we made a pact and we're a group and that's it.

But you were seeing more of the LGBTQ community come out at some point? There was a switch?

Yeah, there was a change, there was definitely a change. And I think it was when I was not with Sonny anymore, and then somehow it all started to click. But I always had gay friends. I actually almost got arrested at a party with my best friend at school. He was gay but he couldn't let anybody know, and he wanted me to go with him to a party and the party got raided. And we jumped out the bathroom window! It was high. We had to go over the bathtub into the window and jump out.

Do you recall the moment that galvanized you to stand up as an ally for the LGBTQ community?

I really don't know if there was a moment. I'm not sure there was a moment; I'm not sure what it was. I just feel that, probably, there was a moment where guys thought I was just one of you. It's like, there's a moment where you're either part of the group and you're absorbed into the group and people love you as part of the group, or they don't even know you're alive, you know? Gay men are very loyal.

Look, I have a friend (makeup artist) Kevyn Aucoin – he's dead now – but he told me when he was young, he was growing up in some place in Louisiana and said how horrible it was to have to hide and be frightened, and he said he loved listening to Cher records. I think that's a dead giveaway! Haha! If you want to hide being gay, do not buy Cher records!

And I had another friend who had a Cher poster on his wall. I don't remember where he came from – some small town too – and his dad ripped it off the wall and he bought another one, put it inside his closet and said it was a way to really be who he was in spite of who his dad wanted him to be.

When in your life have you felt like the LGBTQ community was on your side when the rest of the world maybe was not?

Always. I remember when I was doing (the play) "Come Back to the Five and Dime" (in 1976) and we had standing room only before we got reviewed, and after we got reviewed nobody came except the community – the community, and little grey-haired old women who came to matinees. We managed to stay open until we could build back up the following. Also, the gay community, they just don't leave you, they stay with you; that's one thing that always keeps you going.

What does that loyalty mean to you?

There's been sometimes where I was just, you know, heartbroken about things, but it always gives you hope when there are people who think that you're cute and worthwhile and an artist. It's a great thing to have in your back pocket.

How do you hope your role as the mother of a trans son, Chaz Bono, has influenced other parents of LGBTQ kids?

This is what I think, and this is what I would hope: I would hope that, look, I didn't go through it that easily. Both times. When I found out Chaz was gay, I didn't go through it that easily; when I found out Chaz was (transitioning) … except we talked about it a lot, actually. But then Chaz didn't mention it anymore, so I kind of forgot. And what I think is, there's such a fear of losing the child you love, and what will replace that child.

I think it's about the fear, mostly. I felt, who will this new person be? Because I know who the person is now, but who will the new person be and how will it work and will I have lost somebody? And then I thought of something else: I thought, my god, if I woke up tomorrow and I was a man, I would be gouging my eyes out. And so I know that if that's what you feel then that must be so painful that it doesn't make any difference what anyone else feels or what anyone else thinks. Chaz is so happy now and we get along better than ever”.

It is a very bleak time in America. For so many reasons. When it comes to women’s rights and body autonomy. Abortion being criminalised and President Trump, a known abuser and misogynist, making sure women have fewer rights and less freedom than any time in recent history. In terms of rights of the trans community, they are more vulnerable and less heard than ever before. In 2023, Cher spoke out for trans rights. How we all need to stand together at a moment when trans people are being demonised and seen by some governments, including Trump’s, as almost sub-human. Their safety as in jeopardy as it has been ever arguably. A powerful and consistent ally such as Cher is definitely not wavering:

“Cher is sounding the alarm about the unprecedented number of anti-trans bills that have been introduced by Republicans in state houses across the U.S. this year.

While promoting her first-ever holiday album, Christmas, out this Friday, the “Believe” singer seemed aghast when asked about the GOP’s anti-trans crusade ahead of the 2024 election.

“It’s something like 500 bills they’re trying to pass,” she told The Guardian.Bottom of Form

In fact, the American Civil Liberties Union is currently tracking 501 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have been introduced, and in some cases passed into law, across the country during the 2023 legislative session. Those include bans on gender-affirming care for trans young people and laws restricting which bathrooms trans people can use and the sports teams on which they can compete.

“I was with two trans girls the other night – and of course my own child,” Cher continued, referring to her son, Chaz Bono, who is trans. “I was saying, ‘We’ve got to stand together.’ I don’t know what their eventual plan is for trans people. I don’t put anything past them.”

A long-time LGBTQ+ ally—not to mention a gay icon—Cher has spoken candidly about her struggle to come to terms with Bono coming out as trans.

“I think it’s about the fear, mostly. I felt, who will this new person be? Because I know who the person is now, but who will the new person be and how will it work and will I have lost somebody?” she told PrideSource in 2018.

In the years since Bono began transitioning in 2008, however, Cher has been a tireless defender of her son, blasting transphobic critics on the Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2011. “If you got that excess time and that amount of hostility, I’m not so sure that I can say anything to you that would make you change your feelings,” she said. “Those are such feelings of hostility and fear, that I don’t know that I would have any magic words to make you feel more comfortable and to soothe you into not being terrified of my child dancing on ‘Dancing With the F–king Stars.’”

Following the 2016 election, she told LGBTQ Nation “I shudder to think” what Donald Trump’s presidency might mean for transgender Americans.

“I almost got an ulcer the last time,” Cher told The Guardian of a potential second Trump victory. “If he gets in, who knows? This time I will leave [the country]”.

You knew Cher has a nasty and cold feeling. That Trump would roll back trans rights and block any pro-trans bills and orders within hours of coming back into The White House. This 2025 article provided some sobering and awful truths about Trump and his attitudes towards the trans community:

“Within hours of returning to power Monday, United States President Donald Trump issued a stunningly broad executive order that seeks to dismantle crucial protections for transgender people and denies the validity of gender identity itself.

The new order withdraws a range of executive orders issued by former President Joe Biden, including those allowing transgender people to serve in the military, advancing the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, and interpreting federal sex discrimination protections in domains like education, housing, and immigration to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The order states that the US government will recognize only two sexes, male and female, that are fixed at birth, and orders government agencies to end all reference to and consideration of a person’s gender identity. This sweeping redefinition threatens federal programs used by transgender people and impacts federal documentation such as passports, which can currently reflect the gender identity of transgender and nonbinary people.

The order also pledges to withhold federal funding from any programs that promote “gender ideology,” echoing language used by right-wing movements across Europe and Latin America to oppose not only recognition of transgender people but broader sexual and reproductive rights.

Worryingly, it instructs agencies to house transgender people in detention according to their sex assigned at birth, putting them at extreme risk of physical and sexual violence, and to withhold gender-affirming care in prisons, which can amount to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment under international law. The order further instructs the Department of Justice to help agencies reinforce sex-segregated spaces that exclude transgender people, potentially excluding transgender individuals from everyday facilities like bathrooms but also from crucial services like shelters for those facing homelessness and intimate partner violence”.

Transgender rights in the US are currently heavily contested, with a stark divide between states passing restrictive legislation and others expanding protections. As of 2025–2026, over twenty-five states have restricted gender-affirming care for minors, while federal protections are fluctuating. Major debates centre on healthcare access, bathroom usage, and sports participation. This anti-trans bill tracker gives us real-time information about the bills passed and where in the U.S. At the time of writing this (5th April), there have been 755 bills across forty-two states. Twenty-six passed, 666 active and sixty-three have failed. Texas has passed the most anti-trans bills. Missouri, Oklahoma, and West Virginia are not far behind. Other high-impact states for passing restrictive laws include Idaho, Arkansas, and Wyoming. Cher was born in California. California has passed zero anti-transgender bills in recent years, as the state actively pursues pro-equality legislation and serves as a ‘shield’ state for gender-affirming care. Conversely, California is a leader in passing pro-transgender legislation, with over 200 LGBTQ+ bills enacted as of September 2025. Governor Gavin Newsom has signed numerous bills strengthening protections for transgender and nonbinary people regarding privacy, healthcare, and identification. This is heartening to see. Civility and humanity in one of the biggest and most important states in the U.S. As this revered icon and fearless, consistent and committed champion for the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community enters her ninth decade on 23rd May, I wanted to highlight some of her important words, advocacy and great work here – whilst peppering in some Cher classics! I am not sure what her position is about remain in the U.S. Cher still live in the U.S. but I feel that she might relocate if President Trump doubles-down his anti-trans hatred. Trying to almost eradicate or neutralise the community. This incredible advocate for communities still attacked, vilified and seen as immoral by so many nations and states of the U.S. has Cher in their corner. It might be a long road (especially in the UJ.S.) before there is equity, freedom and acceptance but, with women like Cher standing firm and not budging, this is a huge reason…

TO believe.

FEATURE: The Great American Songbook: Miles Davis

FEATURE:

 

 

The Great American Songbook

IN THIS PHOTO: Miles Davis in New York, March/April, 1959/PHOTO CREDIT: Don Hunstein

Miles Davis

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THERE is no denying how Miles Davis…

PHOTO CREDIT: Horace/ZumaPress

is one of the greatest and most influential Jazz musicians ever. In terms of his style and his legacy, there are few that match his heights. He would have turned one-hundred on 26th May. He died in 1991 aged only sixty-five. However, in his lifetime, he released scores of albums and claimed so many honours. He lived this incredible life. I am going to end this feature with a twenty-song mixtape featuring some of his finest work. That is a hard job considering his phenomenal and epic catalogue! Before getting there, below is some biography about the master:

“A monumental innovator, icon, and maverick, trumpeter Miles Davis helped define the course of jazz as well as popular culture in the 20th century, bridging the gap between bebop, modal music, funk, and fusion. Throughout most of his 50-year career, Davis played the trumpet in a lyrical, introspective style, often employing a stemless Harmon mute to make his sound more personal and intimate. It was a style that, along with his brooding stage persona, earned him the nickname "Prince of Darkness." However, Davis proved to be a dazzlingly protean artist, moving into fiery modal jazz in the '60s and electrified funk and fusion in the '70s, drenching his trumpet in wah-wah pedal effects along the way. More than any other figure in jazz, Davis helped establish the direction of the genre with a steady stream of boundary-pushing recordings, among them 1957's chamber jazz album Birth of the Cool (which collected recordings from 1949-1950), 1959's modal masterpiece Kind of Blue, 1960's orchestral album Sketches of Spain, and 1970's landmark fusion recording Bitches Brew. Davis' own playing was obviously at the forefront of those changes, but he also distinguished himself as a bandleader, regularly surrounding himself with sidemen and collaborators who likewise moved in new directions, including the luminaries John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, and many more. While he remains one of the most referenced figures in jazz, a major touchstone for generations of trumpeters (including Wynton Marsalis, Chris Botti, and Nicholas Payton), his music reaches far beyond the jazz tradition, and can be heard in the genre-bending approach of performers across the musical spectrum, ranging from funk and pop to rock, electronica, hip-hop, and more.

Born in 1926, Davis was the son of dental surgeon, Dr. Miles Dewey Davis, Jr., and a music teacher, Cleota Mae (Henry) Davis, and grew up in the Black middle class of East St. Louis after the family moved there shortly after his birth. He became interested in music during his childhood and by the age of 12 began taking trumpet lessons. While still in high school, he got jobs playing in local bars and at 16 was playing gigs out of town on weekends. At 17, he joined Eddie Randle's Blue Devils, a territory band based in St. Louis. He enjoyed a personal apotheosis in 1944, just after graduating from high school, when he saw and was allowed to sit in with Billy Eckstine's big band, which was playing in St. Louis. The band featured trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Charlie Parker, the architects of the emerging bebop style of jazz, which was characterized by fast, inventive soloing and dynamic rhythm variations.

It is striking that Davis fell so completely under Gillespie and Parker's spell, since his own slower and less flashy style never really compared to theirs. But bebop was the new sound of the day, and the young trumpeter was bound to follow it. He did so by leaving the Midwest to attend the Institute of Musical Art in New York City (renamed Juilliard) in September 1944. Shortly after his arrival in Manhattan, he was playing in clubs with Parker, and by 1945 he had abandoned his academic studies for a full-time career as a jazz musician, initially joining Benny Carter's band and making his first recordings as a sideman. He played with Eckstine in 1946-1947 and was a member of Parker's group in 1947-1948, making his recording debut as a leader on a 1947 session that featured Parker, pianist John Lewis, bassist Nelson Boyd, and drummer Max Roach. This was an isolated date, however, and Davis spent most of his time playing and recording behind Parker. But in the summer of 1948, he organized a nine-piece band with an unusual horn section. In addition to himself, it featured an alto saxophone, a baritone saxophone, a trombone, a French horn, and a tuba. This nonet, employing arrangements by Gil Evans and others, played for two weeks at the Royal Roost in New York in September. Earning a contract with Capitol Records, the band went into the studio in January 1949 for the first of three sessions and produced 12 tracks that attracted little attention at first. The band's relaxed sound, however, affected the musicians who played it, among them Kai Winding, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, John Lewis, J.J. Johnson, and Kenny Clarke, and it had a profound influence on the development of the cool jazz style on the West Coast. (In February 1957, Capitol finally issued the tracks together on an LP called Birth of the Cool.)

Davis, meanwhile, had moved on to co-leading a band with pianist Tadd Dameron in 1949, and the group took him out of the country for an appearance at the Paris Jazz Festival in May. But the trumpeter's progress was impeded by an addiction to heroin that plagued him in the early '50s. His performances and recordings became more haphazard, but in January 1951 he began a long series of recordings for the Prestige label that became his main recording outlet for the next several years. He managed to kick his habit by the middle of the decade, and he made a strong impression playing "'Round Midnight" at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1955, a performance that led major-label Columbia to sign him. The prestigious contract allowed him to put together a permanent band, and he organized a quintet featuring saxophonist John Coltrane, pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones, who began recording his Columbia debut, 'Round About Midnight, in October.

As it happened, however, he had a remaining five albums on his Prestige contract, and over the next year he was forced to alternate his Columbia sessions with sessions for Prestige to fulfill this previous commitment. The latter resulted in the Prestige albums The New Miles Davis Quintet, Cookin', Workin', Relaxin', and Steamin', making Davis' first quintet one of his better-documented outfits. In May 1957, just three months after Capitol released the Birth of the Cool LP, Davis again teamed with arranger Gil Evans for his second Columbia LP, Miles Ahead. Playing flügelhorn, Davis fronted a big band on music that extended the Birth of the Cool concept and even had classical overtones. Released in 1958, the album was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, intended to honor recordings made before the Grammy Awards were instituted in 1959.

In December 1957, Davis returned to Paris, where he improvised the background music for the film L'Ascenseur pour l'Echafaud. Jazz Track, an album containing this music, earned him a 1960 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance, Solo or Small Group. He added saxophonist Cannonball Adderley to his group, creating the Miles Davis Sextet, which recorded Milestones in April 1958. Shortly after this recording, Red Garland was replaced on piano by Bill Evans and Jimmy Cobb took over for Philly Joe Jones on drums. In July, Davis again collaborated with Gil Evans and an orchestra on an album of music from Porgy and Bess. Back in the sextet, Davis began to experiment with modal playing, basing his improvisations on scales rather than chord changes.

This led to his next band recording, Kind of Blue, in March and April 1959, an album that became a landmark in modern jazz and the most popular album of Davis' career, eventually selling over two million copies, a phenomenal success for a jazz record. In sessions held in November 1959 and March 1960, Davis again followed his pattern of alternating band releases and collaborations with Gil Evans, recording Sketches of Spain, containing traditional Spanish music and original compositions in that style. The album earned Davis and Evans Grammy nominations in 1960 for Best Jazz Performance, Large Group, and Best Jazz Composition, More Than 5 Minutes; they won in the latter category.

By the time Davis returned to the studio to make his next band album in March 1961, Adderley had departed, Wynton Kelly had replaced Bill Evans at the piano, and John Coltrane had left to begin his successful solo career, being replaced by saxophonist Hank Mobley (following the brief tenure of Sonny Stitt). Nevertheless, Coltrane guested on a couple of tracks of the album, called Someday My Prince Will Come. The record made the pop charts in March 1962, but it was preceded into the best-seller lists by the Davis quintet's next recording, the two-LP set Miles Davis in Person (Friday & Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, San Fr…, recorded in April. The following month, Davis recorded another live show, as he and his band were joined by an orchestra led by Gil Evans at Carnegie Hall in May. The resulting Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall was his third LP to reach the pop charts, and it earned Davis and Evans a 1962 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance by a Large Group, Instrumental. Davis and Evans teamed up again in 1962 for what became their final collaboration, Quiet Nights. The album was not issued until 1964, when it reached the charts and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Large Group or Soloist with Large Group.

In 1996, Columbia Records released a six-CD box set, Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings, that won the Grammy for Best Historical Album. Quiet Nights was preceded into the marketplace by Davis' next band effort, Seven Steps to Heaven, recorded in the spring of 1963 with an entirely new lineup consisting of saxophonist George Coleman, pianist Victor Feldman, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Frank Butler. During the sessions, Feldman was replaced by Herbie Hancock and Butler by Tony Williams. The album found Davis making a transition to his next great group, of which Carter, Hancock, and Williams would be members. It was another pop chart entry that earned 1963 Grammy nominations for both Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Soloist or Small Group and Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Large Group. The quintet followed with two live albums, Miles Davis in Europe, recorded in July 1963, which made the pop charts and earned a 1964 Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Small Group or Soloist with Small Group, and My Funny Valentine, recorded in February 1964 and released in 1965, when it reached the pop charts.

By September 1964, the final member of the classic Miles Davis Quintet of the '60s was in place with the addition of saxophonist Wayne Shorter to the team of Davis, Carter, Hancock, and Williams. While continuing to play standards in concert, this unit embarked on a series of albums of original compositions contributed by the bandmembers themselves, starting in January 1965 with E.S.P., followed by Miles Smiles (1967 Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Small Group or Soloist with Small Group [7 or Fewer]), Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky (1968 Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Small Group or Soloist with Small Group), and Filles de Kilimanjaro. By the time of Miles in the Sky, the group had begun to turn to electric instruments, presaging Davis' next stylistic turn. By the final sessions for Filles de Kilimanjaro in September 1968, Hancock had been replaced by Chick Corea and Carter by Dave Holland. But Hancock, along with pianist Joe Zawinul and guitarist John McLaughlin, participated on Davis' next album, In a Silent Way (1969), which returned the trumpeter to the pop charts for the first time in four years and earned him another small-group jazz performance Grammy nomination. With his next album, Bitches Brew, Davis turned more overtly to a jazz-rock style. Though certainly not conventional rock music, Davis' electrified sound attracted a young, non-jazz audience while putting off traditional jazz fans.

Bitches Brew, released in March 1970, reached the pop Top 40 and became Davis' first album to be certified gold. It also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Arrangement and won the Grammy for large-group jazz performance. He followed it with such similar efforts as Miles Davis at Fillmore East (1971 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance by a Group), A Tribute to Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, On the Corner, and In Concert, all of which reached the pop charts. Meanwhile, Davis' former sidemen became his disciples in a series of fusion groups: Corea formed Return to Forever, Shorter and Zawinul led Weather Report, and McLaughlin and former Davis drummer Billy Cobham organized the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Starting in October 1972, when he broke his ankles in a car accident, Davis became less active in the early '70s, and in 1975 he gave up recording entirely due to illness, undergoing surgery for hip replacement later in the year. Five years passed before he returned to action by recording The Man with the Horn in 1980 and going back to touring in 1981.

By now, he was an elder statesman of jazz, and his innovations had been incorporated into the music, at least by those who supported his eclectic approach. He was also a celebrity whose appeal extended far beyond the basic jazz audience. He performed on the worldwide jazz festival circuit and recorded a series of albums that made the pop charts, including We Want Miles (1982 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Soloist), Star People, Decoy, and You're Under Arrest. In 1986, after 30 years with Columbia, he switched to Warner Bros. and released Tutu, which won him his fourth Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance.

Aura, an album he had recorded in 1984, was released by Columbia in 1989 and brought him his fifth Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Soloist (on a Jazz Recording). Davis surprised jazz fans when, on July 8, 1991, he joined an orchestra led by Quincy Jones at the Montreux Jazz Festival to perform some of the arrangements written for him in the late '50s by Gil Evans; he had never previously looked back at an aspect of his career. He died of pneumonia, respiratory failure, and a stroke within months. Doo-Bop, his last studio album, appeared in 1992. It was a collaboration with rapper Easy Mo Bee, and it won a Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Instrumental Performance, with the track "Fantasy" nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo. Released in 1993, Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux won Davis his seventh Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance.Miles Davis took an all-inclusive, constantly restless approach to jazz that won him accolades and earned him controversy during his lifetime. It was hard to recognize the bebop acolyte of Charlie Parker in the flamboyantly dressed leader who seemed to keep one foot on a wah-wah pedal and one hand on an electric keyboard in his later years. But he did much to popularize jazz, reversing the trend away from commercial appeal that bebop started. And whatever the fripperies and explorations, he retained an ability to play moving solos that endeared him to audiences and demonstrated his affinity with tradition. He is a reminder of the music's essential quality of boundless invention, using all available means. Twenty-four years after Davis' death, he was the subject of Miles Ahead, a biopic co-written and directed by Don Cheadle, who also portrayed him. Its soundtrack functioned as a career overview with additional music provided by pianist Robert Glasper and associates. Additionally, Glasper enlisted many of his collaborators to help record Everything's Beautiful, a separate release that incorporated Davis' master recordings and outtakes into new compositions. In 2020, the trumpeter was also the focus of director Stanley Nelson's documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, which showcased music from throughout Davis' career. Also included on the documentary's soundtrack was a newly produced track, "Hail to the Real Chief," constructed out of previously unreleased Davis recordings by the trumpeter's fusion-era bandmates drummer Lenny White and drummer (and nephew) Vince Wilburn, Jr”.

There are so many books and articles about Miles Davis you should investigate. Such a genius musician whose innovation and originality is among the most notable in all of music history. You can learn more of his legacy here, but his impact has spread far beyond the realm of Jazz. There will be celebrations and a lot written around the one-hundredth birthday of Miles Davis on 26th May. This is my salute in The Great American Songbook. Twenty amazing cuts from…

THE peerless Miles Davis.

FEATURE: Oh Yeah: Ash’s 1977 at Thirty

FEATURE:

 

 

Oh Yeah

Ash’s 1977 at Thirty

__________

ONE of the biggest albums…

IN THIS PHOTO: Ash circa 1996

of the mid-1990s turns thirty on 6th May. Ash’s debut album, 1977, contains huge songs like Girl from Mars and Oh Yeah. I remember it coming out and the buzz around this terrific new band. Led by Tim Wheeler, the Northern Ireland trio put out one of the best debuts of the ‘90s. With critics comparting 1977 to the best work from bands like Sonic Youth and Buzzcocks, I want to shine a light on the album ahead of its anniversary. I am going to lead in with a feature from Guitar.com that was published around the thirty-fifth anniversary of 1977 in 2021. Mere months after leaving school, “Ash released a classic power-pop debut teeming with naive teenage romanticism and soaring guitar moments”:

“There were better, more complete and certainly more sophisticated records made in the mid-90s, but few if any of the albums that arose from the height of the frequently daft Britpop boom evoke a more complete sense of misty-eyed nostalgia for the era than 1977. It feels scarcely believable that it’s already a quarter of a century old.

Ash formed in 1989 at school in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, initially as Iron Maiden covers band Vietnam. Singer and guitarist Tim Wheeler, drummer Rick McMurray and Hamilton followed the breathless grunge-pop promise of 1994 mini-album Trailer by heading into the studio with Oasis producer Owen Morris early in 1995. They emerged with Kung Fu, written in five minutes at Belfast Airport on the way to the sessions, Girl From Mars, penned by Wheeler at the age of 16, and Angel Interceptor. The latter was recorded using The Verve’s equipment, including a drumkit once belonging to John Bonham, with Morris still in the middle of producing A Northern Soul.

A gradual introduction

Suitably impressed by three storming singles lit up by Wheeler’s swashbuckling lead playing, the band’s label, Infectious Records, packed Ash off to Rockfield Studios in South Wales to record the rest of what would become 1977. Kicking off on New Year’s Day 1996, there was one slight problem. The band arrived without nearly enough material and were forced to write the remaining songs in the studio, where Morris was “gradually introducing us to drugs,” recalls Wheeler.

“I wasn’t really ready for it, although it was all I’d ever wanted,” the singer and guitarist told this writer years later. “It was a mad time, those whole couple of years. We meant to finish it in six weeks, but it ended up taking us about two and a half months.”

With the clock ticking and pressure from the label building, work continued as the band enjoyed snowball fights with the Boo Radleys, who were recording C’Mon Kids next door. Morris, meanwhile, was becoming increasingly hedonistic, taking acid, “throwing fire extinguishers through the studio glass and dancing on top of this £500,000 console,” according to Wheeler. On one particularly extra-curricular day, the producer sent the easily-led teenagers to a provincial village charity shop to buy women’s dresses to record in.

“Technically it was our first job out of school, but it didn’t feel like a job at all,” Wheeler told Vice. “It felt more like all of our dreams coming true at once.”

A punch in the face

While the three slightly gawky looking teenagers were becoming unlikely Britpop poster boys, they didn’t subscribe to the prevailing atmosphere of Beatles, Stones and Kinks reverence. Named partly in reference to punk’s landmark year (thankfully drunken working titles Look Girls, Cut The Shit And Suck My Dick and Women & Tits were quickly rejected), 1977 betrays Ash’s love of bands such as Buzzcocks, Ramones and The Undertones. It’s hard, too, to listen to the album without hearing the influence of Dinosaur Jr’s 1988 cult classic Bug and the romantic melodicism of Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque.

While he would go on to indulge his dual-guitar Thin Lizzy fantasies when Charlotte Hatherley joined the band in 1997 (check out their cover of Weezer’s Only In Dreams for the high point of that partnership), the playing on 1977 is all Wheeler’s. First picking up the instrument at 12, he left behind initial metal tendencies when he was seduced by the quiet-loud dynamics of Nirvana, Pixies and Sonic Youth. Ash’s frontman is a self-confessed Les Paul addict, with a 1960s Les Paul Custom Black Beauty his main studio guitar these days, and his favourite live instrument an early-80s Korina Flying V, but 1977 was surprisingly recorded using a 1995 Grestch Silver Jet bought on the band’s first US tour.

Wheeler doesn’t waste a second once the TIE has disappeared into the distance on opening “punch in the face” Lose Control before unleashing the Jet. He launches into a breakneck tremolo-picked ascending octave riff and returns for a frantic solo soaked in wah and dominated by huge string bends. There’s barely a pause for breath before arguably the best song the band have written – Goldfinger. It’s a universal story of teenage romance, the bittersweet grungey chorus built around the simplest of chord structures (B♭/G♯/B/F♯/B). Wheeler delivers another corking solo, overtaken by the soaring jet engine sound of a dimed phaser, as the rain lashes down outside and he waits for his love to arrive. We never find out whether she does”.

Before moving to some reviews of the magnificent 1977, I am highlighting an interview from 1996. Tim Wheeler in Chicago speaking with Olaf Tyaransen. It must have been an exciting time for Ash, but also one that was quite scary. Going to America and promoting their music must have been quite intense for such a young band:

“Tim's here to discuss the band's current American jaunt. This is their third time touring in rock & roll's spiritual home and although their debut album 1977 (the year of Tim's birth) has now shifted nearly three quarters of a million copies worldwide, they're still far from being household names over here at the moment. If their fame could be graded like their O-Levels then they'd probably get a D. Constant touring is the key to cracking the mainstream and Ash have been doing quite a lot of it in recent months. In fact, they've only managed to spend four days at home in Northern Ireland so far this year, having spent most of '96 living on a tourbus.

"We started touring last spring with a tour of the UK," he recounts wearily, "then we did Europe and then a few Irish dates. After that we spent almost all the summer in America. Then we came back and did a few European festivals like Reading and stuff. We got a few weeks off and then we started this big tour where we did Thailand, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Then we came straight out here again."

Ash are now five weeks into an exhaustive two-and-a-half month tour of the States. They're not actually playing many headline gigs themselves, sensibly choosing to ride the slipstream of more established bands instead. Next month they're playing a few dates with Weezer and a support slot with Bush is also on the cards for next year. At the moment, however, they're playing with Chicago techno-punksters Stabbing Westward, whose homecoming gig it is tomorrow night.

"They're really cool," says Tim. "They're a band that's really on the up over here. They're pretty big on MTV and stuff so it makes a big difference touring with someone who's really drawing in big crowds and stuff. Like, it's much better than playing our own little club shows.

"The last time we were here was good as well, but we were playing to much smaller audiences. We were sorta selling out really small clubs and getting a really good reaction from everybody who saw us but still it wasn't an awful lot of people, so I think it just takes a lot of time here, touring and building up a fanbase. Once this tour is over we probably won't come back until after the next album's released. And then we'll probably spend a lot of time here."

Have you begun working on the next album yet?

"No, I haven't done anything," he says, shaking his head ruefully. "I haven't written any new stuff because it's just been so hectic with all the touring we've done so far this year. I don't really wanna rush the next record because it's really important. So we'll just take it easy and wait till we've some time off before we start getting into it."

Any ideas about how it'll sound?

"I'd say the music will be pretty different," he avers. "It'll be better, stronger. I think the best thing we've ever done was the 'Goldfinger' song. It's quite different from all our other stuff and I think we'd like to go more in that direction. More dark and mysterious. Not so poppy but still very melodic. I've actually just been asked to write a song for the new film by the guys who made Trainspotting. It's gonna star Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz and I'd say it's gonna be huge in America. It's actually set here - it's a gangster movie, a kind of romantic comedy. But it's being made by British people so it'll probably take the piss a bit. It should be pretty cool. So we're gonna write a new song in January for it. We're gonna do a brilliant job on it as well."

Although Ash are a three-piece, Wheeler is still very much the band-leader and driving creative force behind them. "I wrote most of the last album myself but Mark sometimes writes new tunes as well. He's not as into it as me but he's got some good ideas. Rick doesn't bother too much really."

Despite the fact that he hasn't actually written any new material yet, Tim's already moved on from his earlier lyrical concerns. In theory at least.

"I look back on some of the lyrics from the album and they now just seem a little too sickly sweet for me," he admits. "You know, I won't do them like that again. But that was what I was into at the time, I was really into Phil Spector pop songs and Beach Boys kinda stuff. So yeah, it's very important to me that we move on and just get better. But I think that will come naturally anyway. My understanding of music has increased more. I should have kept writing though. I think I was getting really efficient at it by the time we finished the album. But I had to take a break. It was all getting too heavy.

"Songwriting is one thing that I know I can do a lot better than a lot of people. It is my skill really. I don't find anything more rewarding than just finishing a song. I'm so proud of 'Goldfinger', I think it's really good."

Seeing as you're from the North, would you ever think of writing a song about the political situation there?

"No, not really," he says. "None of us ever gave a shit about it while we were there. I mean, we were aware of it but we didn't really care about all of that shit. Really it's such a shame what's going on there because when you get out and see a bit of the world, you realise just how irrelevant it all is. And we've seen some really scummy places while we've been out on tour that just make you realise how much Northern Ireland has got going for it. It just needs people to wise up.

"Some of the things we've done have been pretty cool though. That show we did in Belfast - 2,500 people, kids of both religions and sides just out enjoying themselves together. I know I've said this before but that's more than a lot of politicians have done. At least we're bringing people together. And look at our road crew. We're a Proddy band and all of our crew are Fenians! So I reckon we do enough already without writing a song about the whole thing"

The songwriters Wheeler admires include Van Morrisson, Lennon, McCartney, Bowie and, of course, the late Kurt Cobain. In fact, he reckons that things just haven't been the same Stateside since Kurt killed himself.

"I think most American music these days is just really bland," he opines. "It's all very commercial. There hasn't really been anyone much good since Nirvana."

How about British bands? What do you think of Oasis?

"I think Oasis are amazing," he grins. "They're really entertaining. You know, they're proper rock stars - they get busted for drugs and stuff like that."

Speaking of proper rock stars and their lovable antics, over the last two years Ash have garnered a bit of a reputation for themselves as decadent, hotel trashing, full on rock & roll hooligans. It's not something that Wheeler denies (though I've yet to see any evidence of it with my own eyes).

"Well I suppose we are still quite reckless sometimes," he grins, "but really a lot of that stems from the excitement of being in all of these new places for the first time. Sometimes the urge just takes us."

And when was the last time you gave into these, em, urges?

"Nothing too serious has happened since Australia," he admits. "You know, the odd champagne bottle has been thrown across a hotel lobby and some furniture has gone out of hotel windows into swimming pools and that kind of thing."

Do you get billed for those kind of shenanigans?

"Yeah," he laughs. "The first time we were in Japan it cost a fortune. Whatever anything cost the hotel management multiplied it by 4 or 5 times when they were getting us to pay for it. One paper lampshade that we trashed cost about #200! At least that's what they charged us - it probably only actually cost about #40. They just rip you off all the time. So we don't trash things in Japan anymore."

Although Ash have a reputation for wanton destruction and excess, Tim insists that they're not really into drugs in a big way. They might smoke a bit of dope and Mark Hamilton's past problems with acid have been widely reported (he was hospitalised for a short period last year when he failed to come down from a particularly nasty trip), but at the end of the day, alcohol is what floats their collective boats.

Is honesty important to the band?

"Yeah," he nods. "We're real about everything."

A rare breeze of cold sobriety passes through the room and the three old schoolmates look at each other seriously for a moment. "Christ, we've really been through a lot in the last two years," mutters Tim and the other two nod their heads smiling. They appreciate how lucky they've been. And still are. Flying nonstop around the world playing music. And getting very well paid for it as well.

Back when you were just a Downpatrick schoolkid, did you ever think you'd be sitting in an American hotel room midway through an extensive tour discussing your band and their antics with a music magazine?

"Yeah, I did," he affirms. "We kinda had this vision which we followed blindly for some reason and it has all gone pretty much according to plan. It feels like fate or something. We didn't know how to get a record deal, we didn't even know how we were ever gonna get out of Downpatrick. But somehow everything just fell into place."

"I think we're pretty realistic about what we have to do now anyway," adds Mark. "Particularly over here. We're starting to understand America a bit more now. Like, everybody's saying that Oasis are huge in America but they're not. They're pretty big but they're not gigantic. Bands like Bush are much bigger.

"So we're aware that we're probably gonna have to tour our asses off over here. If you look at the English bands that come over here, most of them play a couple of short tours and then realise how much hard work it's gonna take so they give up and come home. Suede, Blur, Manic Street Preachers, Pulp - none of them have really tried hard to establish themselves. The only British band really pushing themselves are Radiohead. They're getting pretty big over here as well. So our plan is to really tour our asses off next year when we've done the second album."

Of course, not everything always goes according to plan. One thing that isn't helping the band in their efforts to conquer America is MTV's reluctance to air any of their videos. Truth be told, though, they've really only got themselves to blame”.

I do want to round things off with some reviews. Drowned in Sound provided their thoughts on an album which I think should be talked about alongside the best of the 1990s. Although some feel there were better albums than 1977, there is no denying that Ash’s debut made an impact and is important. Reaching number one in the U.K. upon its release, it was a huge moment for the Downpatrick three-piece:

“And it starts well. Very well. Lose Control's rawkus, quiet/loud punk action almost smells of packed out youth clubs with Tim Wheeler at the mic, losing his heart to teenage love and its naïve charm. He even then, in a whirl of sexual frustration, gives us sensational wanky-lead and wah pedal action to volcanic effect. Put up the parasol...I'm in heaven...

Oh but there's more...Goldfinger's majestic and almost Stone Roses (well...the beginning reminds me of them...) like pop swagger jumps into your arms like the lovely 16 year old damsel you always dreamed of. The sappy imagery of "Listening to the rain" is just fantastic. Never has music sounded so damn young and with the prospect of sex always looming. When Girl From Mars comes in, the question must be; Could these boys ever survive out of the sixth form college? Could their little hearts really handle it? Angel Interceptor is the icing on the already heavily tiered cake. Sweet and seducing cute-punk as only Ash seem to deliver. Teenage girls everywhere are swooning to the pop screwing sensitive types and the boys are just rocking along with their invisible low slung Flying-V's (especially to Kung Fu).

This album still does have its faults. For a man who lusts after The Pixies sometimes the album just is too... soft. "Always on my mind" totting Lost In You is like a tear stained Shed 7 in slow motion. Gone The Dream's polite indie is just a space filler along with Let It Flow's samey pop rotation and Innocent Smile's slow build-up frankly is too slow for me. Harder tracks like Darkside Lightside and I'd Give You Anything are fine but are not what Ash do so well.

This album is an album by the young for the young. And as that it is almost out on its own. Though it is by no means perfect or complete, the severe hooks of the best of the Brut smothered tunes will always get 1977's name mentioned. This the perfect album to bring back all those memories of early Moshing experience, crop tops and countless cold showers”.

I am going to end with the BBC and their review of 1977. Eventually being certified Platinum in the U.K., many publications – including Kerrang! and NME – included NME on their best-of-the—year lists for 1996. I do hope that something is done to mark thirty years of Ash’s debut, as it is a remarkable album:

“There are albums that define generations, and then there are those that will forever soundtrack a flash rather than a lingering resonance heard across the years. Ash’s debut LP, named in honour of the year Star Wars hit cinema screens and "opened" by the scream of a TIE Fighter (unless you had a CD copy with two hidden tracks at the beginning – this writer did), falls face-first into the latter category, sauce from last night’s takeaway still sticky on its chin and with a less-than-faint whiff of booze about it.

1977 is perhaps best remembered by those who shared in its sentiments – written by a trio of teenagers, for an audience of the same, it preoccupied itself with chugging alcohol, chasing after girls and messing about with martial arts. Frontman Tim Wheeler was just 19 at the time of its release and, like most 19-year-olds, was likely enjoying legal drinking age status; but his songs recall a time just previous to chucking away the fake ID, where park benches were bar stools and a bottle of flavoured wine drink was the choice of the get-drunk-quick teen on their way to a parents-away party.

For this writer, who sold a games console to pick up this record (amongst others, in a since-closed-down-local-indie-shop binge), singles like Angel Interceptor, Girl From Mars and Kung Fu will forever soundtrack foggy memories of spilling out of houses that weren’t home, at a time when bed should have been reached some hours earlier. And this writer is certain he’s not alone in feeling that way.

But listening today, almost 16 years after its release, 1977 isn’t all pop-punk knock-abouts in the vein of its mini-LP predecessor Trailer (one of its tracks, Jack Names the Planets, is one of the pre-Lose Control hidden gems). Goldfinger has stood up to the test of time mightily well, roaring into life with a maturity that wouldn’t fully compose itself until Ash’s third album, 2001’s Free All Angels. Here, bespectacled drummer Rick McMurray sounds as if he’s pounding mountains while lanky bassist Mark Hamilton’s pulling off Jedi mind tracks with his four-string; at the time of writing, the toes can’t help but tap along to something of a Britpop-period classic.

Hamilton’s sole solo composition, Innocent Smile, is amongst the simpler arrangements, in debt to stateside grunge bands and replete with delinquent lyrics – but its raw energy remains as infectious in 2012 as it’s ever been. Best-known cut Oh Yeah helped shift its share of albums, peaking at 6 on the singles chart in the June of 1996, and Wheeler’s imperfect vocal makes its tale of teenage infatuation all the more believable. He’d become a better singer, but has never quite conveyed emotion as perfectly as he did so here. And to the ears of a 16-year-old, his words were gospel: this was the way to rule.

And rule Ash certainly did: every single from 1977, 95's Girl From Mars onwards, went top 20, and their between-LPs effort A Life Less Ordinary (from the film of the same name) was also a top 10 hit. Their stock may have fallen in recent years, but to listeners of a certain vintage Ash will forever be summer holidays and half-inched hooch, stained into the grey like a spilled alcopop”.

For anyone who might be unfamiliar with Ash’s 1977, go and play the album. You will be familiar with a few of the songs at least. Turning thirty on 6th May, I wanted to spend some time with 1977. It is an album that makes an impact and elicits reactions…

TO this day.

FEATURE: “You Guys Just Hate Women, Actually” A Misogynistic Double Standard Applied to Women in the Music Industry

FEATURE:

 

 

“You Guys Just Hate Women, Actually”

IN THIS PHOTO: Zara Larsson

A Misogynistic Double Standard Applied to Women in the Music Industry

__________

THAT quote at the top…

IN THIS PHOTO: Chappell Roan

of this feature was actually said by Zara Larsson. She is one of the biggest artists in the world, and someone who I will be writing about soon for a separate feature. The Swedish-born artist released the acclaimed album, Midnight Sun, last year. She was speaking with The Guardian about that album and reacting to its success. An artist overdue the sort of recognition that, she is perhaps best known for the 2015 single, Lush Life, which has passed two billions Spotify streams. The article writes how “Part of what has made Midnight Sun so irresistible to fans – who call themselves Larssonists – is its genuine youthfulness: it is ultra-fun, uber-femme and whip-smart, evoking tan lines on chests, handprints on butts and skinny-dipping in the dark, all delivered in Larsson’s bright, startlingly powerful three-octave singing voice”. At a time when women in Pop are dominating and creating some of the most powerful, uplifting and unifying music, Zara Larsson does not get talked about in the same way some of her peers do – and what should change. I shall expand on that further in another feature. However, she did react to the recent criticism and controversy around Chappell Roan – something I also wrote about – and the incident of a girl fan who wanted to approach Roan but a security guard stepped in and there was this awkwardness. Turning out that the security guard did not work for Roan or the hotel she was staying at, Roan also didn’t witness the incident but is getting blamed and dragged none the less. Chappell Roan is an extraordinary artist but probably not someone who thrives on fame and attention. She has had boundary issues with fans, many of whom have been unsettling and far too forceful and inappropriate, so it is understandable that she would want her privacy. Zara Larsson is also an extraordinary artist, but someone who knows the press and that side of things is a game.

She thrives on attentions of all forms and is similar to U.S. artist Addison Rae in that sense. Larsson also talked about ageism and sexism in the industry and how women over forty, if they look forty, are seen as past it and on the shelf. Robyn’s new album, SEXISTENTIAL, has been widely praised. It is a very charged, extraordinary and sexually open album. Artists like Robyn (who is over forty) often have been dismissed or seen as impropriate if they talk about sex at that age. Something that only seems to apply to women. Larsson is this young artist who is standing up for other women in the industry, collaborating with them and raising them and also being a great role model. That idea of knowing the paparazzi’s game and playing it might seem unwise and a bad example, but it subverts expectations and means that, if the artist is playing the game, it is not as alluring and interesting for the press. They are being played so what they thrive on, invading privacy and these unwarranted harassments, sort of don’t apply. A powerful and strong artist like Zara Larsson very much on control. She did say something about the treatment of Chappell Roan and what happened to her recently:

“Sometimes fame can feel like a Faustian bargain, with scrutiny, sexism and presidential subtweets coming as part of the package. As her star has kept rising, Larsson has been wondering if there are limits to how much fame she can take. Could she handle it if she was as famous as, say, Chappell Roan, now in regular standoffs with the paparazzi? “The more people hate her, the more I love her,” says Larsson. “I don’t like how she’s being treated at all. When a woman has boundaries, I think people freak out. Men can do violent criminal things and people applaud them, but when a woman says, ‘Stop following me,’ it’s controversial? It’s like: you guys just hate women, actually”.

It is quite telling. There are plenty of men in the music industry who, far from being cancelled, are enjoying the freedom to play gigs. Sure, a few have been jailed for crimes and you hope that when they are released their careers will be over, though there are so many men in the music industry who have done awful things and are reprehensible, and yet rules and laws do not apply to them. There are very few cases of women doing violent or criminal things. When they do something wrong or say something that is misjudged, then they are called out and often torn apart in a way men aren’t. There is also the misogyny and violence aimed at them. I think there is that expectation that women in music should always be available and there should really be no boundaries. If women are confident, make music that is seen as provocative or just simple true to them and has that a sense of power or confidence or whatever, then that is an invite to break boundaries or do anything. If men snap or react violently and are obnoxious then there is very little furore and they continue on. However, if any artist like Chappell Roan dares to want some space and not be approached by fans, then there is that misogyny and double standard. The fact that the recent case of a young fan being upset by a security guard after not doing anything wrong is not Chappell Roan’s fault. Some random security guard took it upon himself to be an idiot and, whereas he should have been criticised and taken to task across social media, so many of the posts were disrespectful to Chappell Roan and really offensive. If the roles switches and Roan was the security guard and the guard – whose name I can’t be bothered to look up – was the ‘artist’, then Roan would still get sh*t. Zara Larsson is not suggesting that all journalists and fans out there have this double standard and go after women more than men. Though I do feel like there are a lot of journalists and people in the industry who do hate women. Anything that is perceived being even slightly wrong, then they are there pouncing and ready to attack them. You can dress it up anyway you want, though it this continuing misogyny that is rampant through music. I keep writing about this because, more and more, there are stories of female artists and women in music who have received such hatred and vitriol for either not doing anything wrong or something minor.

Take men and the fact that nearly everything controversial, criminal or worse is because of them, and how often do they face serious repercussions or are even properly called out and criticised? The freedom they are allowed is staggering. If the male artist is profitable enough then rules and morals don’t apply to them. Chris Brown assaulting Rihanna, he is someone who has also been accused by other women of being violent, yet he has not only been allowed to continue his career and collaborate with other arrests – who really need to check their sanity, moral compass and soul before doing this! -, but he has headlined festivals and is getting booking and selling out shows (the fans, likewise, need to check their brain cell count and see if they have reflections at all!). Kanye West is abusive, racist, antisemitic and a repulsive human. Men like him are not held accountable. In his case, using the pathetic accuse of having mental health struggles – people who suffer from mental health issues can do so without being racist and offensive! -, and that lets him off the hook. Kiana Fitzgerald reacted to this in her recent feature:

“Despite what he emoted in the much-discussed Wall Street Journal apology ad from January, Kanye West has done pretty much none of the moral soul-searching or action that many, including me, called for. “It’s not easy to lead the discussion when you’re fighting for your life against mental illness,” I wrote in an open letter on January 27th. “But some of us have taken up the task, regardless of the state of our health. You weren’t ready to put the bipolar conversation on your back then. I wonder if you’re finally ready now.”

For some, including mental health experts, the apology represented authenticity and progress. “When I read it, I honestly felt sad about it,” Houston-based licensed psychologist Dr. Bianca Jones told me last month. “It seemed sincere.” As someone who lives with bipolar type 1, like Ye, I agree with Dr. Jones. The ad was a major first step in making amends for his actions. But sincerity without follow-through is just optics — something West has long understood how to weaponize.

In February 2025, West started selling T-shirts with a swastika emblazoned on them. This came less than two years after he apologized to the Jewish community for previous transgressions. Within months of selling the shirts, Ye released a song called “Heil Hitler,” which praised and sampled a speech by the Nazi leader. While the song was banned in Germany, it went viral online and inspired dickhead influencers like Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes.

With regards to the Black community, Ye has famously made jaw-dropping comments like slavery was “a choice,” and worn a T-shirt that bore the slogan “white lives matter.” West has also appropriated the Confederate flag, a symbol recognized for its deep anti-Blackness. In 2024, one of his former employees filed a lawsuit that alleged West often treated Black employees worse than white ones, berating them on several occasions. And to be clear, these are just a few of his many transgressions over the last two decades.

In the two full months since the ad was published, Kanye has not come forward with any tangible ideas to unburden the bipolar, Jewish, or Black communities. Instead, he reminded us that he doesn’t need to apologize to be a top artist; he’s Kanye fucking West. “It’s my understanding that I was in the top 10 most listened-to artists overall in the US on Spotify in 2025, and last week and most days as well,” West told Vanity Fair on January 27th. “My upcoming album, Bully, is currently one of the most anticipated pre-saves of any album on Spotify, too.”

Most of us with good sense noticed that Bully was initially set to be released the week of the apology ad. Ye insisted that this was unintentional (how could we be so stupid to assume?) and coincidentally pushed the album back to March 28th. Between the ad and the release date, Ye has been extraordinarily busy making plans and making moves. He can’t do that alone.

On March 9th, Ye announced a one-night concert at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, set for April 3rd. When artist pre-sale tickets went live on Ticketmaster the following day, over one million people were in the queue, leading Ye to announce a second show for April 1st. Tickets to Ye’s first US show in five years ranged from $125 for the cheapest seats to $595 for floor.

Beyond L.A., Ye will bring his performances to numerous countries: He played Mexico City on January 30th and 31st, and will play New Delhi on May 23rd, and Arnhem, Netherlands on June 6th and 8th. (For both Mexico City and Arnhem, tickets for the initial date sold out so quickly that they added a second.)

This is all on top of a three-night Wireless Festival headlining takeover in London from July 10th through 12th, and a 103,000-capacity show in Reggio Emilia, Italy on July 18th. It’s obvious that not booking Ye means leaving money on the table — but these shows prove his past actions may as well mean squat. The venues he’s booking are massive, often requiring multiple show dates. Promoters may have empathy for the communities impacted by Ye’s rants, but they see green, and green only.

Bully itself is currently projected to move about 117,000 first-week units, on track to debut at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, behind BTS’s ARIRANG. For context, Vultures 1 sold 148,000 first-week units and debuted at No. 1. Vultures 2 moved 107,000 first-week units and debuted at No. 2, where it peaked. After everything Ye has put the world through, a relatively flat commercial performance could be seen as a success.

Ye’s fans aren’t the only ones tuning in. Sites like Pitchfork, Complex, and Rolling Stone reviewed Bully, while Variety, Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter covered Ye’s first night at SoFi. It’s not even as simple as wanting to contribute to the record of criticism. (There are such things as retrospective reviews.) At certain sites, the clicks are worth the coverage.

Most, if not all, of these publications claim the moral high ground in other instances, from coverage of music to show business. For a time, they even drew a line in the sand with Kanye — but then everyone shrugged their shoulders and went back to covering him immediately. These outlets are essentially riding the wave of the Trump effect: platforming to platform. And Kanye West will almost always put numbers on the board. He’s been telling us this for decades. But in order for these sites to collect their coins, event promoters have to pull the trigger and book Ye in the first place.

Bookers hold more power than any individual news outlet. If anything, everyone in the orbit of bookers ends up downstream of demand. These promoters are effectively bringing Ye’s visions to life and paying him millions, while also ensuring their pockets are fattened in the process. The venues and their proprietors also have a hell of lot to gain, much to the dismay of people in the communities that have been impacted by Ye’s rhetoric. “If he remains on the right path and makes more effort to make amends, that is well and good, but if he returns to his old ways these venues will have much to answer for,” the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism told the BBC on March 31st”.

Circling back to Zara Larsson and what she said about how there are those in the industry that hate women. More than that, they hate women and will open doors for men. We see it time and time again. How can Chappell Roan, an artist who has simply dared to speak out and say she wants boundaries and for intrusive fans to leave alone, gets all this flack and misogyny because of that. Look at someone like Kanye West and countless men in music who are genuinely awful and should been given a global cancellation, and yet they can flourish and get a free pass. In spite of female dominance in music and the unquestionable superiority they have over men in music – not that we should pit them against one another, but the fact is women in music are releasing the best albums and on the most successful tours right now -, it is still a patriarchy. That fear that powerful male artists being punished, imprisoned and cancelled would be an awful thing. Yet, if a women does anything slight or innocuous then they are piled on. Nothing will change – because, when it comes to misogyny, saying there have been baby steps towards improvement is an overstatement -, yet it is high time that it should! Zara Larsson’s comments for The Guardian are timely and strike a chord. The only upside is that Chappell Roan will have a long career, release award-winning albums and hopefully live a happy life where fans can respect her but know their place and give her the space and privacy she deserves. There does need to be a shift and the double standard and toxic culture that has been allowed to fester does need to be challenged. You have to ask, as misogyny and men getting to slide happens time and time again…

WILL it ever change?!

FEATURE: Kate Bush: Them Heavy People: The Extraordinary Characters in Her Songs: Mammy’s Hero (Army Dreamers)/Rubberband Girl (Rubberband Girl)

FEATURE:

 

 

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

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

Mammy’s Hero (Army Dreamers)/Rubberband Girl (Rubberband Girl)

__________

MAYBE a bit…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993

of a stretch (no pun intended), I am going to include a ‘character’ from the lead single from Kate Bush’s 1993 album, The Red Shoes, that may well be one of her most revealing and honest to that point. I am beginning by studying a track from 1980’s Never for Ever. I am going to pair these two albums together soon, as there is a song from each that mentions a lot of different people/characters. However, as these two songs were singles and they are very important, there are characters from them that are worth spotlighting. Let’s start with Army Dreamers. I could have talked about ‘Mammy’ in the song. A mother of a son who has been sent to war and died young. Presumingly seeing her as Irish – as Kate Bush’s mother was Irish -, instead I am turning my focus to Mammy’s Hero. The unnamed son that goes to war. Perhaps feeling it is important or something he had to do, I will revisit some themes I have addressed when discussing this song in the post. Before getting to those areas of exploration, it is worth getting some interview insight from Kate Bush:

“It’s the first song I’ve ever written in the studio. It’s not specifically about Ireland, it’s just putting the case of a mother in these circumstances, how incredibly sad it is for her. How she feels she should have been able to prevent it. If she’d bought him a guitar when he asked for one.

Colin Irwin, ‘Paranoia And Passion Of The Kate Inside’. Melody Maker (UK), 10 October 1980

No, it’s not personal. It’s just a mother grieving and observing the waste. A boy with no O-levels, say, who might have [??? Line missing!] whatever. But he’s nothing to do, no way to express himself. So he joins the army. He’s trapped. So many die, often in accidents. I’m not slagging off the army, because it’s good for certain people. But there are a lot of people in it who shouldn’t be.

Derek Jewell, ‘How To Write Songs And Influence People’. Sunday Times (UK), 5 October 1980

The Irish accent was important because the treatment of the song is very traditional, and the Irish would always use their songs to tell stories, it’s the traditional way. There’s something about an Irish accent that’s very vulnerable, very poetic, and so by singing it in an Irish accent it comes across in a different way. But the song was meant to cover areas like Germany, especially with the kids that get killed in manoeuvres, not even in action. It doesn’t get brought out much, but it happens a lot. I’m not slagging off the Army, it’s just so sad that there are kids who have no O-levels and nothing to do but become soldiers, and it’s not really what they want. That’s what frightens me.

Kris Needs, ‘Fire In The Bush’. ZigZag (UK), 1980”.

There is a lot to discuss based off of these interviews. Kate Bush has said how Army Dreamers is about a mother who loses her son and questions her motherhood. I think that it is intriguing that she was thinking about this around 1979 or 1980. As she wrote it in the studio, perhaps this was one of a few songs in her career where she was reacting to the news. The song I am coming onto is another that she wrote in the studio, and I found that connection interesting. However, it is the urgency that is exciting. Up until this point, Bush’s work rarely touch on world events and politics. I think she was keener to explore different characters and channel her love of film asnd T.V. She did open up her heart and soul in some songs but, largely, there was this fictional element. When writing about love or loss, often some other character or person was cast in the song. I speculated before, though I wonder which conflict(s) she was moved by. It could have been the Soviet-Afghan War (1979–1989), or the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988). Maybe it was the former, as the Iran-Iraq war started in September 1980. That was the month Never for Ever was released. If not reacting to specific global tensions, there was conflict and riots in the U.K. in 1980. The 1980 U.K. riots began with the St Pauls riot in Bristol on  2nd April, 1980, sparked by a police raid on the Black and White Café. It was driven by tension between Black communities and police over ‘sus’ laws, inner-city deprivation, and racism. The senselessness of violence and division. Those who were being attacked or supressed. You can apply Army Dreamers to local violence as you can with international wars. How mothers lose their sons in this senselessness. Army Dreamers resonates and remains popular because we have learned nothing. Right now, there is murder, genocide and destruction. Although the nature of war has changed and we might think of the violence as coming from the skies and less on the ground, young lives are still taken.

I am going to include a recruitment poster published by the Ministry of Defence in 1980. How war and drafting young men was represented. Making it sound like advice. Asking for engineers and mechanical minds to maintain the equipment used by the army. They still do this now. Adverts for the Royal Navy. Almost making it seem like this glamorous life where people are useful and get to have this fulfilling job. More interesting than regular jobs, I do feel like recruitment and drafting by the army or navy should not be on television. It does seem problematic for young people who are thinking of joining. Perhaps they feel they are doing good and this is like a national service or a calling. Instead, there is violence often involved. Especially now, there is call for people to risk their lives to attack or defend countries. Do people think about the families at home who have to receive news of a child’s death? Someone in their twenties – like Mammy’s Hero in Army Dreamers – who was “only in his twenties”?! It is scary that this is something we have to talk about in the modern age. I like how Buch did bring this into her music at the start of a decade that would see major conflicts and some of the worst violence in years. The Falklands among the conflicts of the 1980s. I am going to come to a feature about Army Dreamers to end this section. Going back to that first interview. How much guilt on the mother? We listen to Army Dreamers and feel sympathy with Mammy. Bush maybe unconsciously referencing her mother. Bush’s family supportive of her ambitions. Never a chance Kate Bush would be asked to join the army. Though weaponry, violence and this sort of theme was kind of explored again for 1986’s Experiment IV. The government making this device and machine that could kill people by sound. However, what if the mother had given her son a guitar when he asked? Children ask their parents for stuff like this and they have all these loft dreams. Did the mother encourage her son to do something ‘useful’ or practical and not chase wild dreams?! Going into war seen as helpful or like a purpose. Instead, her son was killed. It is an interesting angle I had not considered. How much of the lyrics were Kate Bush looking at her life? If she had not been granted a path to music and her parents resisted, would her life have turned out far worse? Not as extreme as dying in battle, but how there needs to be trust from parents when their children do want to pursue a path that is perhaps not orthodox or seems unlikely.

In the second interview, Kate Bush giving a different perspective. Someone struggling in education and, instead of learning a trade or redoing exams, the army is seen as an only option. How realistic was this in the 1970s and 1980s? Today, children, especially here, do not get drafted and there is not this option that, if you can get educated, then you go into the armed forces. However, it might have been an only way out for Mammy’s Hero. The next interview is the most revealing. How the Irish and Irish accent in Army Dreamers is emphasised. Army Dreamers almost like an Irish Folk song. This old tale of a young man killed in war. Bush saying that “There’s something about an Irish accent that’s very vulnerable, very poetic, and so by singing it in an Irish accent it comes across in a different way”. That is true. Bush’s accent and delivery does give Army Dreamers an elegance and sense of the poetic. Not that she saw romanticising war at all. Instead, she was mixing the beautiful and tender with the horrifying and stark. I did not know that Bush was also conscious of things like army manoeuvrers, especially in countries like Germany, where young men were killed there and not even in battle! If some think that Army Dreamers is about the futility of war and its insanity, it also can be seen as this excoriating attack on the education system and British society in 1979/1980. Around about the time Army Dreamers was written, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. Thatcher's education policy (1979–1990) aimed to reduce state control, increase parental choice, and introduce market mechanisms into schools. In 1979, the U.K. labour market was at a turning point, with unemployment around 1.3 million in May. Manufacturing employment continued to decline, having lost 1 million jobs between 1970–1979. It was a terrible time. Those leaving school with no qualifications not able to get a job or not having the skills. These army dreamers thinking perhaps that being a soldier was an easier life. Instead, it was a reality that often meant premature death.

I have said before how many sexist journalists belittled Kate Bush and the fact she was not political. At a time Punk was in charge, Bush was seen as effete, insubstantial and airy-fairly. Danny Baker’s dreadful and insulting interview with Bush whilst she was still making Never for Ever. Not that this one interview led to Army Dreamers, though Kate Bush becoming much more conscious of bringing global conflicts, social elements and ‘deep’ subjects into her music. However, this being Kate Bush, she was not exactly a Punk act yelling and dully sloganeering or following the herd. You only need to see a few of the live performances of Army Dreamers and how they were staged. One or two performances quite camp and almost balletic. Bush bringing the quirky and kitchen sink into the performances. The video for Army Dreamers is the final one screened that was directed by Keith (Keef) MacMillan. You could tell Bush’s videos were growing in scope and becoming more filmic. Compare Army Dreamers with Wuthering Heights or Hammer Horror. In a short time, she had taken a big step in terms of her visuals and how her videos would look. In Army Dreamers, it is almost like a piece of film or a plot, rather than staged dance and about the choreography. Bush telling a story with the video. It is quite a startling video that hits hard all these years later. Dreams of Orgonon observe how, when it comes to war and young men dying, women are seen as devastated and emotionally broken. “the actual effects of trauma are widely besmirched and ignored by the jingoistic reactionaries who send civilians off to die”. This is not what Kate Bush does. The hero of the story has been snatches away from the mother, yet the mother is not broken and this cliché emotional wreck. She is strong and sad, yet there is this wider arc that is not about grief and what it does to those who lose their sons:

“There’s a touch of sentimentalism to this, if at least a grounded and humanitarian one. Violent deaths are often devastating because they cut short the lives of unsuspecting civilians who’ve been planning to go live their lives as usual the next day. Bush’s anti-militarism is hardly strident, but “Army Dreamers” has an edge to it even in its understatedness, blaming the services of “B.F.P.O” for overseas tragedies (although interestingly, her son’s death appears to be an accident — there’s little fanfare of death, no suggestion of the glory of battle). The horror of the death is largely its silence — all the things that couldn’t happen, no matter how much saying them would make them so.

The politics of the situation are left understated, as is typical for Bush, and yet with a light inimical rage, as if Bush is finally turning to the British establishment and shouting “look at what you’ve done!” While “Army Dreamers” is far from an indictment of the military-industrial complex (indeed, it has more to do with the British Army’s consumption of Irish civilians than anything else), its highlighting of war as futile is striking. “Give the kid the pick of pips/and give him all your stripes and ribbons/now he’s sitting in his hole/he might as well have buttons and bows” is a line of understated condemnation that spits on military emblems (pips are a British Army insignia) and consolidates trenches and graves. “B. F. P. O.,,” intone Bush’s backing vocalists again and again. In interviews, Bush backpedals from any perceived anti-militarist sentiments in her work (“I’m not slagging off the army…”), but her song tells a different story: nothing comes with B. F. P. O. except carnage.

In the song’s music video, Bush’s final collaboration with director Keef MacMillan (the two strong-willed auteurs could only collaborate together for so long), the visceral glimpses of departed loved ones that plague mourners gets captured in one devastatingly simple moment. Bush, a soldier stationed in a forest and surrounded by men in camo, turns to a tree to see her lost son. She runs to embrace him, and he’s gone before she reaches the tree. There’s a hard cut to Bush’s eyes flashing wide open. There it is: trauma and grief in a glance. Waking up, but still living the same dream”.

Reaching number sixteen in the U.K. upon its release, it was a modest success for Kate Bush. Perhaps fans of hers were not entirely sold on the song or expecting this direction. However, as Breathing was the first single from Never for Ever and also reached that chart position, people taking time to warm to Kate Bush as someone more political. Or that the songs were heavier. The second single, Babosohka, went to number five. Interesting too seeing how people reacted to the singles from Never for Ever. The more commercial and ‘traditionally Kate Bush’ faring better than her discussions around destruction, warfare, violence and death.

I have probably not gone into as much depth as I should with Mammy’s Hero and Army Dreamers. However, its lost son represents one of thousands of young men who needlessly were killed in battle. However, this second character is much more personal. One might argue it is not a character. However, as the Rubberband Girl was named and the title of the first single from The Red Shoes, it gives me chance to discuss this song and Bush as this character. I talked a bit about critical reaction and press interpretation of Kate Bush around Never for Ever in 1980. This was an album with Bush co-producing and taking more control. Her most confident album to date and first of the 1980s, she was on this upwards arc, and yet there were critics still mocking and insulting. In 1993, things had changed and I feel Kate Bush was at a stage where she was tiring or perhaps not seen as innovative compared to artists around her. Thanks to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia for this resource:

“This is Bush at her most direct… rhythmic, almost raunchy workout with the occasional outburst of rock guitar, strange lyrics – and a wired vocal impression of said office accessory being stretched. It is also a very commercial rejoinder.

Alan Jones, Music Week, 28 August 1993

Perhaps a little too up tempo for my tastes – I prefer my Bush all dreamy and mysterious. A minus the drums… but it still has enough kookiness to draw me under. And she’s still the only artist for whom the word “kooky” isn’t an insult.

Everett True, Melody Maker, 11 September 1993”.

It is arguable, that apart from Hounds of Love (1985), all Bush’s albums up to and including The Red Shoes was met by mixed reviews and some derision. That last interview about kooky not being seen as insulting, when blatantly it is! Rubberband Girl is not a kooky single. It was quite commercial, though in the 1990s and Bush pushing her music forward, I think it was necessary. Critics never really happy. Wanting her to be more commercial and accessible and then, when she is, they want her to be mysterious and odder! She was in this constant state of being true to herself but also wanting to sell albums and be relatable. However, by 1993, you could feel this strain taking hold. Kate Bush might not think of Rubberband Girl as her most autobiographical song. However, I feel it is up there with Hounds of Love in that sense. Number twelve in the U.K., Rubberband Girl was a success. Think about the singles being released at the same time Rubberband Girl came out (September 1993). It was an odd time in U.K. music. In terms of what was in the charts around August and September 1993, we had Billy Joel’s The River of Dreams, Culture Beat’s Mr. Vain, SWV’s Right Here, Mariah Carey’s Dreamlover and Nirvana’s Heart-Shaped Box. Boom! Shake the Room by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince was also in the charts. Apart from Nirvana, I guess you could say Dance, Pop and Hip-Hop were trending.

How did Kate Bush fit into the scene in 1993? I do think that she was not compromising or trying to be like other artists that year. However, I do feel like there was a shift. Dance and Pop big at the forefront. Something Kate Bush was not naturally attuned to or was separate from, it was a difficult period. The Red Shoes reached two in the U.K. and twenty-eight in the U.S. Huge success here (though not with massive sales), that U.S. appreciate is notable. How she was connecting in the country at a time when genres like Grunge were perhaps seen as more commercial or cooler. Rubberband Girl is seen as a throwaway and silly Pop song by Bush. However, it was written in the studio and seems to have come together quickly. Rather than Bush tossing the song off and having to come up with a lead track that was Pop-heavy and accessible, I do feel like it absorbs some of Bush’s feeling and fatigue at the time. There is silliness to the song, though this idea of being knocked down and blown away and bouncing back on your feet. It was clear Bush’s career was in a slight decline and there was this slight downturn. Her songwriting and the critical reaction. “A rubberband bouncing back to life/A rubberband bend the beat/If I could learn to give like a rubberband/I’d be back on my feet”. On the surface, it may seem like Rubberband Girl is quite inessential or hollow. I do think it is Kate Bush casting herself as a Rubberband Girl. Being affected and feeling flattened by then having to get back on her feet and carry on. This promotional trail and this endless cycle. “When I slip out/Of my catapult/I gotta land with my feet firm on the ground/And let my body catch up”. It was a very unusual time anyway. Her mother died in 1992, and it was clear that Bush was losing people. There was this need for her to release music in the 1990s, but it was a decade that was so varied and perhaps one where Bush would not fit into so readily. In any case, she was at a natural point where she needed to stop and take a break away. Rubberband Girl reveals layers. Bush writing a song that perhaps was commercially demanded and would please critics and yet one that gives us a window into her mindset at the time.

 

Rubberband Girl was one of the songs that featured in the short film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve. I have talked about this a lot. It makes me think about Kate Bush and the source material. How so much of her work can be tied back to books, Folk songs, mythology, T.V., film and far beyond. If you look at many of Kate Bush’s songs, they can be traced back to some unusual or rare areas. Babooshka, from the aforementioned Never for Ever, inspired by (loosely, at least) a Folk song, Savoy, in which a young woman dresses a s highwayman to rob her lover to see if he will give her the gold love ruing she gave him. The husband refuses to give it up, which lets the woman know of his devotion. I feel like there should be a podcast or something that traces lines back to all the books, films and songs where Kate Bush had gained inspiration from. I mention this, as The Line, the Cross and the Curve was inspired by the 1948 film, The Red Shoes. The 1993 album obviously shares the title, though the only similarity or nod is the cover – Kate Bush’s feet wearing red shoes – and the title track. However, The Line, the Cross and the Curve was almost a remarking or reinterpretation of that film but with a new title. Written and directed by Michael Powell and Eric Pressburger, The Red Shoes follows Victoria Page (Moira Shearer), an aspiring ballerina who joins the world-renowned Ballet Lermontov, owned and operated by Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook), who tests her dedication to the ballet by making her choose between her career and her romance with composer Julian Craster (Marius Goring). I am not sure when Kate Bush encountered this film, though she had this fondness especially for Michael Powell, and the two did meet and I think discussed collaborating shortly before his death – though that never came to pass.

I do love how Bush was this innovator in 1993. If one feels The Red Shoes is one of her weaker album, consider how The Line, the Cross and the Curve was almost a visual album. One that was influenced by this 1948 film. If this was done today by a major Pop artist then they would get praise. However, Bush did get criticism. Rubberband Girl has a brilliant video where Bush dances and springs on a trampoline. In terms of concept, perhaps not as striking as other videos in that short film. However, this was one of the last times we get to see Kate Bush dance on film. Rubberband Girl sess her in quite an intense workout. The chorography and dancing quite energetic and flexible. Perhaps not the right words, it did at least show that, fifteen years since her debut single (Wuthering Heights) was released, Bush was still very much this amazing and compelling dancer. I do really love Rubberband Girl and the fact that this is a song that she re-recorded for Director’s Cut. One that she actually considered taking off of the album. I love the original and not sure that it should have been reproached. It is much more powerful and striking in its 1993 context than it was when included for Director’s Cut in 2011. I feel that people should seek out The Red Shoes. In terms of how Kate Bush was inspired, we get a deeper appreciation of here creativity when we look to the sources that she took from. There is the question as to whether the Rubberband Girl actually bounded back. In the song, it did seem to be the case that she got back on her feet. However, very shortly after the single came out, Bush would wind down and be seen in public less. It would be twelve years until here next album, Aerial was released. Perhaps one of the greatest acts of bouncing back in music history! A stunning double album and this…

AMAZING new chapter.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Janet Jackson at Sixty

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

PHOTO CREDIT: Greg Doherty/Getty Images

Janet Jackson at Sixty

__________

I am excited…

PHOTO CREDIT: Lynn Goldsmith

to mark the upcoming sixtieth birthday of one of the all-time Pop greats. Janet Jackson turns sixty on 16th May. To honour that, I have collated some of her best tracks onto a mixtape. One of the most iconic artists of all time, I will first bring in biography I think I have sourced before when it comes to Janet Jackson. AllMusic go into real depth about this phenomenal artist. Coming form a musical and famous family, it would have been easy for Janet Jackson to have been buried or overlooked in favour of Michael Jackson. However, I feel she has a more enduring legacy. One that is a lot more positive and inspiring. Her story is fascinating. I wonder if there will ever be plans for a Janet Jackson biopic? It would be amazing to see her story brought to the screen:

“Janet Jackson didn't merely emerge from the shadows of her famous brothers to become a superstar in her own right. Starting with her breakout 1986 album Control, she became one of the biggest pop stars of the '80s. Through the early 2000s, she was able to maintain her stature with impeccable quality control and stylistic evolution. Her singles, expertly crafted with indelible pop hooks and state-of-the-art production, consistently set or kept up with trends in contemporary R&B, demonstrated by an exceptional run of Top 20 R&B singles that spans over 30 years. From platinum album to platinum album, Jackson's image smoothly shifted as it projected power and independence. In turn, she inspired the likes of TLC, Aaliyah, Beyoncé, Britney Spears, and Rihanna, all of whom learned a few things from her recordings, videos, and performances.

Janet Damita Jo Jackson was born May 16, 1966, in Gary, Indiana. She was the youngest of nine children in the Jackson family, and her older brothers had already begun performing together as the Jackson 5 by the time she was born. Bitten by the performing bug, she first appeared on-stage with the Jackson 5 at age seven, and began a sitcom acting career at the age of ten in 1977, when producer Norman Lear selected her to join the cast of Good Times. She remained there until 1979, and subsequently appeared on Diff'rent Strokes and A New Kind of Family. In 1982, pushed by her father into trying a singing career, Jackson released her self-titled first album on A&M. "Young Love," written and produced by René & Angela and Rufus' Bobby Watson, reached number six on Billboard's R&B chart, but the album didn't cross into the pop market. She was cast in the musical series Fame in 1983. The following year, she issued her second album, Dream Street, which didn't sell as well as its predecessor. Upon turning 18, Jackson rebelled against her parents' close supervision and eloped with a member of another musical family, singer James DeBarge. However, the relationship quickly hit the rocks and Jackson moved back into her parents' home and had the marriage annulled.

Jackson took some time to rethink her musical career, and her father hired her a new manager, John McClain, who isolated his young charge to train her as a dancer (and make her lose weight). McClain hooked Jackson up with producers/writers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, whom she'd seen perform as members of the Minneapolis funk outfit the Time. Jackson collaborated with Jam and Lewis on most of the tracks for her next album, Control, which presented her as a confident and tough-minded artist (with a soft side and a sense of humor) taking charge of her life for the first time. In support of Jackson's new persona, Jam and Lewis crafted a set of polished, computerized backing tracks with slamming beats that owed more to hard, hip-hop-tinged funk and urban R&B than Janet's older brother Michael's music. Control became an out-of-the-box hit, and eventually spun off six singles, the first five of which -- "What Have You Done for Me Lately," the catch phrase-inspiring "Nasty," the number one "When I Think of You," the title track, and the ballad "Let's Wait Awhile" -- hit the Top Five on the Billboard Hot 100. Jackson was hailed as a role model and Control eventually sold over five million copies, establishing her as a pop star. It also made Jam and Lewis, whose considerable accomplishments were previously limited to the R&B world, a monstrously in-demand pop production team.

For the hotly anticipated follow-up, McClain wanted to push Jackson toward more overtly sexual territory, to which she objected strenuously. Instead, she began collaborating with Jam and Lewis on more socially conscious material, which formed the backbone of 1989's Rhythm Nation 1814 (the "1814" purportedly stood for either the letters "R" and "N" or the year "The Star-Spangled Banner" was written). Actually, save for the title track, most of the album's singles were bright and romantically themed. Four of them -- "Miss You Much," "Escapade," "Black Cat," and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" -- hit number one, and three more -- "Rhythm Nation," "Alright," and "Come Back to Me" -- reached the Top Five, making Jackson the first artist ever to produce seven Top Five hits off one album (something not even her brother Michael had accomplished). Aside from a greater use of samples, Rhythm Nation's sound largely resembled that of Control, but was just as well-crafted, and listeners embraced it enthusiastically, buying over five million copies in the U.S. alone. Jackson undertook her first real tour (she'd appeared at high schools around the country in 1982) in support of the album and it was predictably a smashing success. In 1991, Jackson capitalized by jumping from A&M to Virgin for a reported $32 million, and also secretly married choreographer and longtime boyfriend René Elizondo.

Once on Virgin, Jackson set about revamping her sound and image. Her 1992 duet with Luther Vandross from the Mo' Money soundtrack, "The Best Things in Life Are Free," was another major R&B hit and reached the pop Top Ten. The following year, she also resumed her acting career, co-starring in acclaimed director (and former junior high classmate) John Singleton's Poetic Justice, along with rapper Tupac Shakur. Neither really hinted at the seductive, fully adult persona she unveiled with 1993's janet., her Virgin debut. Jackson trumpeted her new image with a striking Rolling Stone cover photo -- an uncropped version of the cover of janet. -- in which her topless form was covered by a pair of hands belonging to Elizondo. Musically, Jam and Lewis set aside the synthesized funk of their first two albums with Jackson in favor of warm, inviting, gently undulating grooves. Jackson took credit for all the lyrics. The album's lead single, the slinky "That's the Way Love Goes," became Jackson's biggest hit ever, spending eight weeks at number one. It was followed by a predictably long parade of Top Ten hits -- "If," the number one ballad "Again," "Because of You," "Any Time, Any Place," and "You Want This." janet.'s debut showing at number one made it her third straight chart-topping album, and it went on to sell nearly seven million copies in the U.S.

In 1995, Janet and Michael teamed up for the single "Scream," which was supported by an elaborate, award-winning, space-age video that, upon completion, ranked as the most expensive music video ever made. The single debuted at number five on the Hot 100. The same year, A&M issued a retrospective of her years at the label, Design of a Decade 1986-1996; it featured the Virgin hit "That's the Way Love Goes" and a few new tracks, one of which, "Runaway," became a Top Five hit. In 1996, Jackson signed a new contract with Virgin for a reported $80 million. Yet while working on her next album, Jackson reportedly suffered an emotional breakdown, or at least a severe bout with depression. She later raised eyebrows when she talked in interviews about the cleansing value of coffee enemas as part of her treatment. Her next album, The Velvet Rope, appeared in 1997 and was touted as her most personal and intimate work to date. The Velvet Rope sought to combine the sensuality of janet. with the more socially conscious parts of Rhythm Nation, mixing songs about issues like domestic abuse, AIDS, and homophobia with her most sexually explicit songs ever. Critical opinion on the album was divided; some applauded her ambition, while others found the record too bloated. The lead American single "Together Again," an elegy for AIDS victims, was a number one hit. Also popular on the radio was "Got 'Til It's Gone," which featured rapper Q-Tip and a sample of Joni Mitchell over a reggae beat. "I Get Lonely," featuring Blackstreet, was another big hit, but on the whole, The Velvet Rope didn't prove to be the blockbuster singles bonanza that its predecessors were, which was probably why its sales stalled at around three million copies.

Jackson toured the world again, and stayed on the charts in 1999 with the Top Five Busta Rhymes duet "What's It Gonna Be?!"; her appearance in the video remade her as a glitzy, artificially costumed, single-name diva. In 2000, she appeared in the Eddie Murphy comedy Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, and her soundtrack contribution, "Doesn't Really Matter," became a number one single. Unfortunately, Jackson's marriage to Elizondo had become strained and the couple filed for divorce in 2000, sparking a court battle over her musical income. Jackson returned with a new album, All for You, in 2001, which largely continued the sensual tone of janet. and The Velvet Rope. It debuted at number one, selling over 600,000 copies in its first week alone. The title track was issued as the album's first single and quickly topped the charts, followed by another sizable hit in "Someone to Call My Lover. "While Jackson spent much of 2001 and 2002 on the road supporting All for You, she also found time for some guest appearances, most notably with Beenie Man on his Tropical Storm LP and Justin Timberlake on Justified. By 2003 she was back in the studio, working once again with Jam and Lewis on tracks for a new album. Additional producers included Dallas Austin and Kanye West. The following year began with an Internet leak of the upbeat Austin production "Just a Little While." The singer's camp rolled with the punches, offering the track to radio as an authorized digital download, but the buzz this business caused was minuscule in comparison to the nightmare union of free exposure and bad publicity that Jackson's next adventure caused. Appearing during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, Jackson performed "All for You" and "Rhythm Nation" before bringing out surprise guest Timberlake for a duet on his hit "Rock Your Body." But the real surprise came at song's end, when a gesture from Timberlake caused Jackson's costume to tear, exposing her right, pierced breast on live television to hundreds of millions of viewers.

The incident caused furious backpedaling and apologizing from Timberlake, Jackson, the NFL, CBS, and MTV, which swore no previous knowledge of the so-called "wardrobe malfunction," and led to speculation over how Damita Jo -- Jackson's upcoming album and her first in three years -- would be received. But while the controversy gave Jackson both grief and a bit of free advertising, it was also the impetus for a national debate on public indecency. A federal commission was set up to investigate prurience, the FCC enacted tougher crackdowns on TV and radio programs broadcasting questionable content, and suddenly everyone from pundits to politicians to the man in the street had an opinion about it. Later that March, the singer quietly started making the talk show rounds. She was still apologizing for the incident -- while Timberlake escaped unscathed -- but she was also promoting Damita Jo, which Virgin issued at the end of the month. Largely considered a disappointment, the album nonetheless sold over two million copies worldwide and earned three Grammy nominations. 20 Y.O. followed two years later, and though it was reviewed more favorably than Damita Jo, it was off the Billboard 200 album chart after 15 weeks. Jermaine Dupri, Jackson's love interest and the executive producer of the album, was so upset over Virgin's lack of support that he left his post as president of Virgin's urban division. Dupri moved to Island, and so did Jackson. In 2008, Jackson released her tenth studio album, Discipline, which became her sixth release to top the Billboard 200, despite another tumultuous artist-label relationship.

Although Jackson didn't release another album for seven years, the longest gap in her discography was filled with professional activity and major life changes. During the filming of Why Did I Get Married Too?, she learned of her brother Michael's death. Soon after, she and Dupri split, and she toured in support of Number Ones, a double-disc anthology promoted with the number one club hit "Make Me." She took the lead role in the big-screen adaptation of For Colored Girls, published a book, and remained deeply connected to various causes as a philanthropist. In 2015, she returned on her own Rhythm Nation label with "No Sleeep," a slow-jam Jam and Lewis collaboration that hit the R&B Top 20. It primed her audience for a tour, as well as her 11th studio album, Unbreakable -- another number one hit. Plans for the tour were postponed so Jackson could focus on family; she wouldn't return to the road until 2017”.

I hope that there is a lot of celebration around Janet Jackson on 16th May. The sixtieth birthday of an artist who has released some of the best-selling and important albums ever. Everyone will have their favourite though for me, it might be Control – which turned forty earlier this year. This is my salute to…

A music legend.

FEATURE: Live to Tell: Madonna's True Blue at Forty

FEATURE:

 

 

Live to Tell

Madonna's True Blue at Forty

__________

I am looking ahead…

IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna in 1986/PHOTO CREDIT: Herb Ritts

to 30th June and the fortieth anniversary of Madonna’s True Blue. In terms of steps forward, this was one of the biggest of her career to that point. After 1983’s Madonna came 1984’s Like a Virgin. Both albums can be seen as quite light Pop. Extraordinary albums, though maybe what you would expect from that period of the 1980s. True Blue in 1986 was an evolution. More mature in terms of its sound, Madonna also underwent a transformation in terms of her styler and look. Rather than repeat her first two albums, she did something new with True Blue. Forty years later and I feel the album endures. Sounding less dated than her earlier albums. Before getting to some features and reviews around True Blue, here is an archive interview from The New York Times from 29th June, 1986:

“'I like challenge and controversy - I like to tick people off,'' Madonna boasted, tossing her head and flashing a mischievous half-smile. The 27-year-old pop star was sipping a diet cola in a conference room at the New York offices of Warner Bros. Records. She appeared almost demure in a pink-and-blue flowered dress and a very short haircut inspired by the late-50's gamine look of Jean Seberg, Audrey Hepburn and Leslie Caron. Gone along with most of her hair was the heavy makeup and jewelry that made last year's Madonna resemble a contemporary street version of Marilyn Monroe in ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.''

''After awhile I got sick of wearing tons of jewelry - I wanted to clean myself off,'' Madonna said flatly. ''I see my new look as very innocent and feminine and unadorned. It makes me feel good. Growing up, I admired the kind of beautiful glamorous woman - from Brigitte Bardot to Grace Kelly - who doesn't seem to be around much anymore. I think it's time for that kind of glamour to come back.''

If Madonna's new upscale look represents a dramatic swing away from the provocative sex symbol who wore lingerie as outerwear and crucifixes like diamonds, it does not signal an end to her courting of controversy. ''Papa Don't Preach,'' the second single from her third album, ''True Blue'' (Sire 25442; LP, cassette, compact disk), is bound to rile some parents of teen-age girls. The protagonist of the song, which was written by Brian Elliot, is a pregnant adolescent who begs her father to bless her decision to keep the baby and marry her boyfriend. Madonna sings it in a passionate, bratty sob that makes the plea immediate and believable.

The song has also been turned into a compelling slice-of-life music video. Filmed on location in a working-class neighborhood of Staten Island, with Danny Aiello playing the father, it features a virtuoso performance by a waifish, saucer-eyed Madonna, who looks all of 15 as she quivers anxiously, awaiting her father's response. Like Michael Jackson's ''Billie Jean,'' the song and its video have an iconographic resonance that could push Madonna's career to an even higher plateau than the household-word status she attained last year with her 6 1/2-million-selling second album, ''Like a Virgin.''

'' 'Papa Don't Preach' is a message song that everyone is going to take the wrong way,'' Madonna proudly predicted. ''Immediately they're going to say I am advising every young girl to go out and get pregnant. When I first heard the song, I thought it was silly. But then I thought, wait a minute, this song is really about a girl who is making a decision in her life. She has a very close relationship with her father and wants to maintain that closeness. To me it's a celebration of life. It says, 'I love you, father, and I love this man and this child that is growing inside me.' Of course, who knows how it will end? But at least it starts off positive.''

''Papa Don't Preach,'' for which Madonna contributed a couple of minor lyrical revisions, is the only song on the album that Madonna didn't have a strong hand in writing. The song was sent to her by Michael Ostin, the same Warner Bros. executive who discovered ''Like a Virgin.'' Most of the album's eight other songs Madonna co-wrote with Patrick Leonard, the musical director for her 1985 tour, or with her sometime songwriting partner, Stephen Bray. The three also co-produced the LP.

While ''True Blue'' lacks the gleaming ultra-sleek aural surfaces of ''Like a Virgin,'' both its songs and Madonna's singing show a lot more heart. ''Live to Tell,'' written for the soundtrack of ''At Close Range,'' the movie starring her husband, Sean Penn, was released in advance of the album and recently spent a week perched at No. 1 on the pop charts. It proves that vocally Madonna isn't limited to catchy novelties and disco tunes - she can carry off a weightier ballad. The rest of the album consists of highly commercial dance-pop whose lyrics convey an upbeat message along with casual autobiographical references. ''True Blue'' takes its title from a favorite expression of Sean Penn, and is a tribute, according to Madonna, ''to my husband's very pure vision of love.'' Musically, it also pays homage to Motown and to 60's ''girl-group'' hits like ''Chapel of Love'' that are the direct antecedents of Madonna's sound.

The happy, Latin-flavored ''La Isla Bonita'' is Madonna's celebration of what she called ''the beauty and mystery of Latin American people.'' The itchy dance tune, ''Jimmy Jimmy'' commemorates her youthful fascination with James Dean. ''I used to fantasize that we grew up in the same neighborhood and that he moved away and became a big star,'' she admitted. ''White Heat'' is dedicated to another mythic rebel, James Cagney, whose voice opens the track in a snatch of dialogue from the movie of the same name. ''Where's the Party?'' Madonna explained, ''is my ultimate reminder to myself that I want to enjoy life and not let the press get to me, because every once in a while it does.'' ''Open Your Heart'' is about ''wanting to change somebody.'' And the album's final cut, ''Love Makes the World Go Round,'' preaches a cheerfully simplistic humanitarianism: ''Don't judge a man 'til you've been standin' in his shoes/ You know that we're all so quick to look away/ 'Cause it's the easy thing to do/ Make love not war.''

Obviously, Madonna is still much more significant as a pop culture symbol than as a songwriter or a singer. But the songs on ''True Blue'' are shrewdly crafted teen-age and pre-teen-age ditties that reveal Madonna's unfailing commercial instincts. And her singing, which has been harshly criticized as a thin imitation of the 60's girl-group sound, has strengthened.

''I grew up loving innocent child voices like Diana Ross, while she was with the Supremes, and Stevie Wonder, when he was young, and I practically swooned when I heard Frankie Lymon's records,'' she said. ''I don't know why, but I was always instinctively drawn to those voices. I don't think I sing like a woman. I sing like a girl, and it's a quality I never want to lose.''

But even more than a girlish voice, the quality that defines Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone is an instinct for rebellion that she traces to her parochial school girlhood in Pontiac, Mich.

''When you go to Catholic school, you have to wear uniforms, and everything is decided for you,'' she recalled. ''Since you have no choice but to wear your uniform, you go out of your way to do things that are different in order to stand out. All that rebellion carried over when I moved to New York eight years ago to become a dancer. At dance classes, all the ballerinas had their hair back in a bun, and so I chopped my hair off and ripped my leotard down the front and put little tiny safety pins all the way up just to provoke my teacher. After all, where is it written that in order to be a better dancer you have to wear a black leotard and pink tights and have your hair in a bun? Going out dancing with my girlfriends in New York clubs, we would dress for provocation. What I was wearing at the time I was signed to a record contract became my look.

''What kids see in me is another rebel kid who says what she wants and does what she wants and has a joy in life,'' Madonna went on. ''The girls that dressed like me all got the joke - it was their parents who didn't. You didn't see those girls going off and doing awful things because they bought my records. What I've learned from all the controversy is that you can't expect everyone to get your sense of humor. But I've also learned that people eventually do catch on to what they didn't get at first. It's a nice surprise in the end when they, go, 'Hey, well, you know. . .I like that.' ''

A disciplined, immensely self-confident woman who doesn't eat meat, rarely touches liquor and rigorously trains her body every day, Madonna is a woman in charge of her life and career. She appeared to be uncowed by the voyeurism of a celebrity press that has dredged up vintage nude photos of her and made her recent marriage to Mr. Penn a running battle with the paparazzi. Madonna's title role of a freewheeling bohemian vagabond in the Susan Seidelman film ''Desperately Seeking Susan,'' along with her music-videos, has established her as a natural screen presence, and a larger movie career seems inevitable. In her next film, ''Shanghai Surprise,'' she plays a staid young missionary from Massachusetts who falls in love with a petty swindler, played by Mr. Penn. The film, which is set in pre-Revolutionary China, was shot in Hong Kong and is scheduled to be released this fall.

''I always thought of myself as a star, though I never in my wildest dreams expected to become this big,'' Madonna said bluntly. ''But I knew I was born to it. I don't know why. I think people are named names for certain reasons, and I feel that I was given a special name for a reason. In a way, maybe I wanted to live up to my name”.

I do think that True Blue is Madonna’s first masterpiece. In terms of her emotional and sonic range. There are moments of vulnerability and depth alongside Pop songs that are more fun and free. La Isla Bonita sitting alongside the extraordinary title track and Live to Tell. Maybe some of the deeper cuts, such as Jimmy Jimmy and Love Makes the World Go Round are less celebrated, but I feel they are exceptional songs. True Blue was the first time Madonna wrote/co-wrote all of the tracks. I forgot to mention arguably the standout, Papa Don’t Preach, and how that impacted. This article from 2021 celebrated thirty-five years of True Blue:

“Yet by 1986, Madonna was a superstar, one who had to contend with sexist, reductive criticism that zeroed in on her use of frank sexuality as well as criticism that she was a mediocre talent who bleated tinny dance-pop. It’s a ridiculous charge as both 1983’ Madonna and 1984’s Like a Virgin are excellent. And because dance-pop was (and still is) seen as primarily a producer’s genre, it was easy to dismiss Madonna’s input in her sound (even as early as 1983, she had a huge hand in the writing and production of her music)

But True Blue is a concerted effort to prove her mettle as an accomplished singer-songwriter. For the first time in her career, she co-wrote and co-produced all nine tracks. Her vocals matured, too – a throatier, fuller instrument has replaced the high-pitched trill of “Holiday” or “Material Girl”. She rejoined Stephen Bray, the drummer of Breakfast Club, a new wave band for which she drummed before she was famous. Along with Bray, Madonna also hooked up with Patrick Leonard, a prolific producer who would go on to become one of her most enduring collaborators.

As with her previous releases, True Blue is a brilliant dance-pop record, one that speaks to its time but also celebrates the disparate cultures that influence Madonna’s sound at the moment. Not only does she incorporate soul and R&B, but she also continues to explore queer dance club culture, as well as her affection for Latin pop. With Bray and Leonard, Madonna crams her album loud, aggressive drum machines, glossy keyboards, and plump synthesizers.

Before its release, True Blue’s first single, “Live to Tell”, was released in the spring of 1986. The single was only Madonna’s second ballad to be released as a single – her first was the swinging “Crazy for You” from the 1985 film Vision Quest – and it was a very deliberate effort to present Madonna as a mature and serious artist. The single is simultaneously cold and emotional. Leonard creates a chilly and vast soundscape with spacey, atmospheric synths punctuated with a drum machine. Madonna’s voice is lovely, gracefully conveying the deep regret in the song’s pained lyrics.

It was a gutsy choice for a lead single for a singer who was identified as a dance-pop singer. But it makes a lot of sense because if Madonna was interested in developing her craft, the best way to do that was to introduce her most ambitious record at that point of her career with a stirring, melancholy ballad. As if to dispute the charges that Madonna’s popularity was tied to her sexuality and not any discernible talent, the vocal arrangement on the song makes use of Madonna’s growth as a singer. It gave her a chance to do some quality emoting, her voice surprisingly powerful, with a charming and winning ability to inject some winsome poignancy to the song.

And because Madonna is as much a visual artist as she is a musician, the video for “Live to Tell” matched the song’s intense moodiness with a gorgeous and stylish clip that explored Madonna’s then-affection for old Hollywood glamour. Instead of romping around in revealing clothing and ratted hair, she’s presented in dramatic chiaroscuro, her style heavily influenced by Marilyn Monroe with heavy but very tasteful makeup and elegant hair. She’s dressed in a demure floral dress. Directed by James Foley, the video includes clips from his film At Close Range (the song was featured on the Leonard-produced soundtrack), starring her then-husband Sean Penn. The video was popular on MTV, and it continued her symbiotic relationship with the cable channel.

The maturity and ambition of “Live to Tell” are evident on the other tracks, as well. The album’s second single and first track is an idiosyncratic tune about teenage pregnancy, which courted controversy due to its lyrical content. Madonna gives voice to the narrator, a scared young woman who is admitting to her father that she’s pregnant with her boyfriend’s baby. Because so much of Madonna’s fans were young girls (the Madonna wannabes who would show up at her shows in mini-Madonna drag), certain parent groups were concerned that their kids’ idol was glamorizing teenage pregnancy.

Some women’s rights and pro-choice groups were also wary about Madonna belting, “But I made up my mind / I’m keeping my baby!”. Weirdly – and probably for the only time in her career – some conservative groups and religious figures celebrated the song as an implicit condemnation of abortion. The song’s controversy spoke to the moral panic of the 1980s, and it was yet another time in her career when the media and pundits opined about Madonna’s career choices.

With “True Blue”, Madonna looked to other eras to inform her songwriting. With True Blue’s big hit “La Isla Bonita”, she looks to other cultures. One of the criticisms leveled against Madonna – fairly, by the way – is that she can be a cultural thief, stealing from subcultures and marginalized groups for her gain. Before cultural appropriation was a thing, Madonna was a master at that game. With “La Isla Bonita”, she indulged in a fascination with Latin rhythms and brought an internationalism to the record – something she would continue with her following albums, returning to Latin-pop as well as Europop, London club culture, French house, as well as her further exploration/exploitation of Black American pop music.

True Blue was released in the summer of 1986 and making it to number one on the Billboard charts, eventually selling over 25 million copies. Though she became a superstar due to the success of Like a Virgin, True Blue propelled Madonna into iconic status. It’s with True Blue that Madonna became the dominant face on the Mount Rushmore of 1980s pop (along with Michael Jackson, Prince, and Bruce Springsteen). Like anything that Madonna does well, it’s fun and highly enjoyable, yet also obviously a product of hard work, toil, and careful deliberation. The goal of a lot of art – especially pop art – is to make it all look easy, but with Madonna, part of the experience of consuming her work is appreciating the work behind the art.

True Blue is a towering achievement and it’s imposing – its composition, construction, and architecture apparent – like Erich Kettelhut’s intimidating set designs for Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Like Metropolis’ sharp Deco look, there’s an armored sheen to True Blue. True Blue isn’t just fantastic pop music, it’s also an impressive feat of hard work”.

I am going to end with Classic Pop from last year. Not only is Madonna’s songwriting and singing stronger than on this album. She surrounded herself with an amazing team that helped develop her visions and create something new. I do think that True Blue is a classic that is slept on to an extent. An album that people should spend some more time with:

“Aside from Madonna, a lot of True Blue’s sound, production and songwriting was down to the team she surrounded herself with during its writing and recording.

And while later Madonna albums might well have hinged on whatever producer was in vogue at the time, this wasn’t the case with True Blue.

The target of the album was to ramp up the variety, depth and quality of the songs to attract a wider and perhaps more mature audience, and for that Madonna chose the tried and trusted duo of Pat Leonard and Stephen Bray.

Between them, they co-wrote and co-produced pretty much every track on the album alongside Madonna. And it was a first for her to be involved in both disciplines for every track on an album.

Patrick Leonard had been the musical director on Madonna’s The Virgin Tour, getting the job after working with The Jackson 5.

But he wasn’t keen on the role to start with: “Going out on a stage and playing Like A Virgin wasn’t my idea of a thrill. And it still isn’t,” he told Sound On Sound in 1991. But the tour had its benefits, one of which was that Leonard and Madonna had started writing together.

Bray and Leonard had the chops, then, certainly what you might call safe pairs of hands, and it was understandable that Madonna would trust them to both co-produce and co-write the majority of True Blue. But that’s not to say the album is particularly safe.

It certainly ramps up the sophistication to appeal to a bigger audience, but also features wider instrumentation and a more varied feel, from the first single Live To Tell (which Leonard said terrified the record company due to its length and ‘weirdness’) to the Spanish themed La Isla Bonita.

The album recording started in December 1985 with the track Open Your Heart, and finished a mere five months later, testament to how smoothly the process went, and a reflection of the brevity of the songwriting process which mostly took place before the album was recorded, and one which Leonard detailed to Music Business Worldwide.

“I would put something together,” he explained, “usually just on piano, and then she [Madonna] would come in at about 11, we’d mess around with whatever needed to be messed around with, she’d write a lyric, she’d sing it, and the next day we would do another song, one a day.”

Bray and Leonard would switch production duties during the album’s recording and each producer had their own level of input with Bray telling MLVC: The Madonna Podcast that his role was “to shape things and maybe create arrangements and to show off the song better which I think is the important job of collaborators”.

Meanwhile Leonard would get more involved with the instrumentation on certain tracks, sequencing the bass for Open Your Heart, for example.

However, the two producers both get equal credit for Where’s The Party, a track which was written during the recording process, such was the creativity in the studio at the time.

“I think at that point we were all having fun,” Leonard told USA Today. “There’s a chemical thing that contributes to that ‘thing’ and why those records are what they are.

“They were relatively spontaneous for the most part. As legend has it, most of those vocals are the only time Madonna sang [the songs in the studio] and I can attest to that. It helped that neither she nor I are second guessers. Period.”

The first of five singles, Live To Tell was released three months before the album, a track chosen by Madonna as the debut, but against the record company’s wishes.

Leonard told Top 2000 a gogo: “Believe me that was one scared record company!’ She said, ‘It’s the first single’ and they said, ‘It’s over, you’re doomed, you’re putting out a seven-minute single that stops three times.

As is so often the case, though, Madonna was proven correct and Live To Tell provided a perfect precursor for second single Papa Don’t Preach, a song, of course, not without controversy.

“They’re going to say I am advising every young girl to go out and get pregnant,” Madonna again correctly predicted. This controversy didn’t stop its sales – if anything, it helped – and it would prove to be the ideal launchpad for True Blue’s stratospheric launch.

The album was released in June 1986 and certainly achieved its goal of getting a wider and older audience. Rolling Stone magazine said, “Madonna’s sturdy, dependable, lovable new album remains faithful to her past while shamelessly rising above it.”

But then they also said, “True Blue may generate fewer sales and less attention than Like A Virgin, but it sets her up as an artist for the long run.” And while they were certainly right on the second point, the first turned out to be somewhat wide of the mark.

We could, of course, fill the rest of this feature with stats on how well True Blue would go on to do: estimated sales of anywhere between 19 and 25 million and No.1 in 28 countries. Or the world records broken: Madonna’s biggest-selling album and the biggest by a female artist of the 80s (and most likely beyond).

But the simple fact is: if you didn’t know Madonna on 29 June 1986, you certainly would have by the time fifth single La Isla Bonita was released in February the following year.

True Blue launched Madonna to global superstardom, yes, but its impact on music and culture helped keep her at the top of her game for the next three decades, and it might well be the record she is remembered for for many more decades to come”.

On 30th June, we mark forty years of True Blue. I do not know if there will be anything special in regards an expanded vinyl or new issue of the album. Undoubtably one of Madonna’s most important albums, if you have not heard this before, then you really need to listen to True Blue. It is a sensational album that boasts some of Madonna’s greatest tracks. After forty years and True Blue still…

SOUNDS gold.

FEATURE: Spotlight: SIGGY

FEATURE:

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Belibi Nkollo Serrokh

SIGGY

__________

THIS awesome D.J. is…

someone I have been following for years now, but I feel she deserves a lot more spotlight. An amazing woman who is one of the most talented D.J.s in the U.K., Sigourney Standley is SIGGY. I have always known her as Siggy Smalls, and she has given an interview under that moniker, though I hope she will not mind me referring to her SIGGY – as that is what is on her Instagram page. Incredibly cool and passionate about her work, I want to get to a 2025 interview with her. I do feel that more people need to speak with SIGGY, as I have known about the brilliance of her work for years now. I do feel that D.J.s do not get the same sort of press inches and discussion as artists. I am dropping in some examples of her work. Although it might not be the most up-to-date information, here is some background to the remarkable SIGGY: “Siggy’s music is usually considered to be more disco house she is is able to adapt her style for any event without losing her signature sound. Starting her career interviewing artists at Sony HQ she quickly moved into hosting her own weekly show on MEATtransMISSION, playing the best in Disco/ Nu disco and vocal house with monthly guest DJs and producers. The show gained more and more attention, providing her with the perfect platform and opportunity to launch her DJ career in venues and festivals”. I have featured recently another D.J. London queen, Carly Wilford, who is releasing her own music. I do wonder whether SIGGY is going to bring out some music, as she is a hypnotic and utterly wonderful D.J. who is rightly being hailed and saluted. In all the years I have known about her brilliance, I am yet to see a set of hers. I am going to rectify that, as SIGGY is an immense talent. I am thinking about the rest of this year and what is coming from her. We do not realise the variety of female D.J.s. In terms of the genres they blend. I am a big fan of D.J.s who play Dance, Disco and House. SIGGY has evolved and incorporated different elements into her sets, though she is renowned for House and Disco. Earlier this year, she has warmed up for legends like Jayda G and Horsemeat Disco.

PHOTO CREDIT: Massimiliano Giorgeschi

Although not an interview, I was intrigued by SIGGY’s appearance in the Noctus. Published early last year, this was The Last Date – A Valentine’s Story: “Inspired by ‘The Last Supper,’ we gather around a dark, atmospheric table where distinctive characters embody various facets of love. Ranging from the purest desires to the deadliest passions, they unite around Cupid, creating a delicate balance. Together, they represent the entire spectrum of what love can be”. SIGGY was part of a fantastic cast: Dead Love: Chiino, Sad Love: Jakub Franasowicz, Self Love: Siggy Smalls, Cupid: Busola Peters, Lover 1: India Bailey, Lover 2: Frankie Mason, Money Lover: Jenna Anne Nathan. One thing about SIGGY, apart from her power, passion and talent is that she has this iconic quality to her. In terms of the photoshoots and her fashion sense. She is someone so incredible striking who can adopt a number of looks and distinctly be her. Someone who is so engaging in front of the camera, it also makes me hope that she does put out music videos. I also feel she would be such an engaging and remarkable actor, though this is me projecting or trying to manifest something that SIGGY has possibly never considered. Though, looking at that Noctus shoot, and those images of her stay in the mind! This multi-talented and multifaceted queen who I am such a fan of, I do want to drop in parts of her 2025 interview with Decoded Magazine. Labelled her as ‘London’s Disco Diva’, this is a truly phenomenal D.J. who you really need to check out:

“London-based Siggy has carved out her own unique space in the capital’s ever-evolving house and disco landscape, bringing an infectious energy that’s taken her from intimate radio booths to the world’s biggest festival stages. What began nearly a decade ago as a weekly radio show on MEATtransMISSION has blossomed into something far more profound, seeing her navigate the challenging terrain of original disco mixing and develop a signature sound that seamlessly blends classic disco soul with contemporary vocal house.

From her early days interviewing artists at Sony HQ to becoming a two-time Glastonbury performer, Siggy has consistently pushed boundaries across continents. Her passport tells the story of a true musical nomad, with standout performances at Hideout Festival in Croatia, Secret Garden Party, the legendary Pikes in Ibiza, and most remarkably, the playa at Burning Man, an experience she describes as utterly indescribable and life changing. Closer to home, her residencies at venues like Egg London and La Discothèque, plus her role with the acclaimed Disco Disco parties, have established her as a vital voice in London’s disco revival, sharing stages with world-class performers at iconic venues including Room 1 in Fabric.

Now, as she prepares to take the decks for Decoded Magazine – Friday 26th September at SushiSamba London alongside Clive Henry and Ben Cain, we caught up with the woman who’s helping define disco’s modern renaissance. From hidden crate gems to her transformative festival experiences, from London’s underground pulse to her ventures into original production, Siggy Smalls is ready to share the stories behind the groove.

You’ve been deeply embedded in London’s house and disco scene for nearly a decade, from your early days at MEATtransMISSION to your residencies at venues like Egg London and Disco Disco parties. How would you describe the evolution of London’s house music scene during this time? What shifts have you witnessed in both the music and the community, and where do you see it heading in 2025?

I’ve found over the last ten years, London’s house music scene has really changed big time. In the beginning it was all about creating a lively underground vibe. As time has gone on house music has got a lot more attention and gone down the mainstream road, which is great but also the unground scene still needs its own identity from today’s ‘House Music’ scene…

As time has gone on the bigger clubs in London began to feature different subgenres and international acts, this made the sound a bit slicker and polished it sometimes felt too commercial for those who loved the underground scene. But…it has opened doors for new artists and fresh styles, adding more to the music scene. Everything is changing always but these days it’s happening much faster!

A lot of smaller events in today’s  scene are focusing on roots and creating friendly spaces, which really helped build the community back together post Covid. The younger generation are growing and I see a push for diversity and representation, which is super important as the scene keeps evolving, but also keeping what it was all about from the very beginning, diversity and inclusion for all.

Looking at 2025, I think the scene will continue to change drastically, technology is changing fast and how music is being created and played, which could lead to exciting new fresh sounds. I expect we’ll see a mix of old and new, with fresh artists taking inspiration from classic house while pushing boundaries. The sense of community will still be key, as people search for real connections and shared experiences in a digital world with a focus on sustainability and inclusivity. I just hope they can start to put their phones down and have a proper dance together!!

Your residency at La Discothèque has become quite the talking point in the UK’s underground scene. What initially drew you to that venue and its aesthetic? How has having a regular residency shaped your development as a DJ, and what’s the energy like when you have that familiarity with both the space and the crowd?

I was drawn to La Discothèque because of its loud and proud aesthetics, Kat who runs La Discotheque is the first female promoter I’ve ever worked with within my 10 years of being in the industry. I love what she represents for her brand and pushes boundaries with her dancers. She’s big on supporting the LGBTQIA+ community and I love that!

Having a regular residency there has been a big deal for my growth as a DJ. It lets me try out new things and really connect with the crowd over time. I get to see what works and what doesn’t, which helps me improve my sets, I’ve met some amazing legendary DJS playing with La discotheque, such as Jamie 326, DJ Paulette, Kenny Dope and more! It’s also given me the opportunities to play at some amazing locations and venues such as Kala festival, Pikes Ibiza, Drumsheds, Printworks, Glastonbury!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SIGGY 🩷 (@siggy_siggy_siggy)

There’s been a massive resurgence of disco over the past few years, with everyone from Purple Disco Machine to Barry Can’t Swim and newer artists bringing fresh ears to the genre. From your perspective as someone who’s been championing disco since your radio days, what do you think is driving this renaissance? How do you feel about seeing disco pull in a completely new generation of listeners?

The resurgence of disco over the past few years is really exciting to see! I think a big part of it comes from people craving that feel-good energy and those uplifting vibes, especially after everything we’ve been through. Artists like Purple Disco Machine and Barry Can’t Swim are doing an amazing job of blending classic disco sounds with modern production, making it accessible and fresh for new listeners.

As someone who has championed disco since my radio days, I love seeing this genre pull in a new generation. It’s great to watch younger audiences discover the joy and groove of disco, reshaping it in their own way. There’s something timeless about disco music that resonates across generations, and it’s awesome to see how new artists are putting their spin on it while still honoring the roots, it’s great to see Artists such as Kirollus and Minna playing authentic disco music on vinyl and seeing a young crowd absolutely loving it.

This revival also highlights how music can bring people together. Disco has always been about joy, celebration, and community, and seeing it capture the hearts of new listeners is a reminder of that magic. It’s a great time for disco, and I’m excited to see how it continues to evolve!

You mentioned working in the studio and finding your sound as a producer. How has transitioning from radio host to DJ to now producer changed your relationship with music creation? What can we expect from Siggy Smalls in the studio, and how do you see your sound evolving as you continue to bridge that gap between classic disco soul and contemporary production techniques?

Transitioning from radio host to DJ and now to producer has definitely deepened my relationship with music creation. As a radio host, I focused on curating and sharing music, developing a keen ear for what resonates with listeners. DJing allowed me to connect directly with the audience, understanding how tracks can create energy and emotion in real-time. Now, as a producer, I’m digging into the intricacies of sound design and arrangement, which gives me a more hands-on role in the creative process.

In the studio, expect a blend of classic disco soul vibes infused with modern production techniques. I’m experimenting with layering live instruments and samples, all while incorporating electronic elements that keep the sound fresh and relevant. My goal is to create music that honors the past while pushing boundaries, making it accessible to both old-school fans and new listeners. I see my sound becoming more nuanced, exploring deeper grooves and collaborations that challenge me musically. I want to create quality music that resonates across generations. That’s the dream anyway!”.

I have waited until now to spotlight SIGGY, as I could not find interviews with her. I wanted to get that insight and words from her. However, I do hope that there are gigs announced and we hear more from SIGGY this year. Another reason why I love her is that she recently shared a photo or her rocking some Betty Boo-inspired fashion. Influenced by the video/art for Betty Boo’s single, Where Are You Baby? This is my favourite Betty Boo song and one I heard when I was a child. Maybe a SIGGY/Boo collab soon?! This world-straddling and hugely accomplished D.J. and producer is someone that you need to connect with. Even though she has played sets and stages around the world, I can see in SIGGY’s future…

SIGGY · Siggy Smalls x Decoded Magazine Mix

SO much success.

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Follow SIGGY

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/siggy_siggy_siggy/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/siggysmalls89/

Soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/siggy_smalls

MixCloud:

https://www.mixcloud.com/siggysmalls/

FEATURE: An Assassin’s Smile: Kate Bush and the Women Who Interview Her

FEATURE:

 

 

An Assassin’s Smile

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: John Stoddardt

Kate Bush and the Women Who Interview Her

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THIS is not a negative thing…

or any slight against Kate Bush. However, I wanted to look at how, through her career, Bush was mostly interviewed by men. I was re-reading Graeme Thomson’s Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush and there is an interesting section on page 291 I wanted to expand on. Talking about Kate Bush in 1993 and what was happening then. This was a year when Bush was pretty much stepping away from music. The Red Shoes came out in November and she also released the short film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve. Her mother died the year before and she had broken up with Del Palmer (who she was in a relationship with since the 1970s). She experienced personal loss and exhaustion through recording an album and shooting a short film. I am surprised that Bush had any energy left in the tank. In terms of promotion, it wouldn’t have been the most exciting or happy time. Bush had to speak about her work, though there was this challenge of having to be professional and provide some energy and engagement. However, as Graeme Thomson notes, there was this combative interview between Kate Bush and Chrissie Iley. Writing for the Sunday Times, this celebrity interview sat down with Kate Bush. Thinking that Bush had an “assassin’s smile”, there was this frustration with Bush, as she gave polite chat but there was an undercurrent of hostility. Even the simplest questions, like when Bush was asked what kind of doctor her father was, was met with refusal and this slight passive-aggressiveness. Maybe you can understand why Illey was annoyed. Thomson notes how an early interviewer likened Bush to Lady Macbeth. How men were too busy rhapsodising and getting distracted by her beauty could not see something steelier and cold lurking beneath that exterior. I don’t think that it is fair on Kate Bush to call her cold towards women. However, maybe there was this dynamic shift. Bush maybe finding it easier to get along with men or it being unusual for her to be interviewed by women.

That has changed in more recent years, though Bush was mostly interviewed by men. After the interview with Christine Illey, Bush felt that something akin to a hatchet job had been perpetrated. This hatchet job occurred later. Articles that were about Bush’s son and lifestyle. Bush responded with a press statement, saying how she was very happy with her new son, Bertie, and give him as normal and safe environment and life as possible. Maybe her not talking about her son and keeping quiet was to protect him. You can appreciate that. I don’t think it is the case that all Bush’s earlier interview encounters with women were frosty or awkward. I am going to highlight one with actor Laura Dern that is especially charming. Maybe that feeling that female journalists had an agenda or there would be this agenda. Bush did not work and collaborate with many women through her career. She may have felt like that would take away from her talent or like she was in competition. I am making it sound like she was unwelcoming to women. However, I feel like Bush bonded with men better, as she has two brothers and she grew up listening mostly to male artists. However, it was clear that there were select interviews with women that did not go well. This infamous Night Flight 1985 interview was a car crash from the start. The U.S. show was probably not used to artists like Kate Bush. In the case of Sue Simmons, she was probably given some brief notes and had never heard of Kate Bush. The Kate Bush Encyclopedia has more detail:

“In November 1985, Kate Bush was interviewed for the programme Night Flight during a promotional trip to the USA. While the segment in the actual broadcast has become hard to find, the uncut, unedited version of the interview has become a classic among Kate Bush fans for the inane questions by the uninformed interviewer. After the interview, Kate is further exploited by the studio crew, who pressure her into delivering a series of advertising ‘spots’ for a number of television programmes”.

One of the best moments is seeing the expression on Kate Bush’s face. Rather than an ‘assassin’s smile’, it was a cross between someone about to snap and this smirk! Not that this was gender specific: that U.S. trip in late-1985 where she was promoting Hounds of Love was quite ill-fated. More than one interview that went off the rails. Simmons’s questions were quite inane and she even labelled Bush’s 1982 album, The Dreaming, as ‘Dreaming’. I can understand why Bush might have felt a bit standoffish or reluctant to speak with female journalists and broadcasters if this was the sort of thing she had to endure!

However, it would be unfair to say that male journalists were too busy lost in their own minds and easier to control and women were seen as rivals or Bush needed to control them. That would paint her as someone who was professional at all, which couldn’t be further from the case. However, there are some wonderful examples of Bush bonding with female journalists and interviewers. In 1994, actor Laura Dern spoke with Kate Bush. I guess it did happen years ago where you got a celebrity outside of music chatting with an artist. It happens now, but on sites like Interview Magazine. It would be amazing to see YouTube shows where actors and people from other areas interviewed musicians. There is this respect and easy bond between Bush and Dern, as you can tell from the answers Bush provides:

“What do you say when someone has truly inspired you? How do you express to an artist how deeply their work has affected you? Well, for better or worse, I just had my opportunity.

I wanted to ask Kate Bush every obvious fan question in the book. I wanted to let her know how much her work means to me. I wanted to ask the right questions.

I have no conscious memory of our conversation, because I went into some altered state of panic. Luckily, I realized that my duty of being Lois Lane, reporter extraordinaire, would get in my way. So I just tried to chat with Kate.

With the release of her new album, The Red Shoes, Kate was in the U.S. for her first visit since 1989. She and I have both recently completed our directorial debuts on short films -- hers, a 50-minute feature, The Line, The Curve and The Cross, which links six of the new songs through a fairy tale.

How fantastic it was to speak with her! It was so unusual to hear that magical voice that I've heard singing into my inner ear (through headphones) since 1985. I remember first encountering Kate's music while filming Blue Velvet. I listened to Hounds of Love, and instantly felt I had found what I always longed for music to be: a discovery of self, a journey full of imagery and passion; and now this voice, this creator and I were having a conversation.

SPIN: Tell me about your new short film, The Line, The Curve and The Cross. I understand that Michael Powell, the director of the old classic movie The Red Shoes, is a hero of yours. Is your film adapted from his?

Kate Bush: It was something I thought of when we finished the album: to make a short film that would include some of the songs from the record but also tell a story. The only stuff I've worked on before has been short videos.

Spin: You've directed almost all of yours for years now.

KB: But I've never done anything like this before, and it was just such an education for me. I think the most demanding thing was being in it as well as directing, and I don't think I'd do that again. I found it very difficult --just having the sheer stamina. But what a wonderful experience, and it's so different from making an album because you've got this big group of people all working together on something that has to be done quickly and the albums are almost completely opposite to that.

Spin: I've read in interviews where you talk about how exciting it's been for you in the process of mixing, and I thought to myself, "Oh my God, as a director what an exciting new world that must be for you, with all that you can do with the visual side." Were you like a kid in a candy store?

KB: To a certain extent, but we were very restricted by having no money and so little time. But some of it was so new to me -- like working with dialogue, which I found fascinating. I really enjoyed it. The film is meant to be like a modern fairy tale. We worked on it so intensely and it's not been finished for very long, so it's really difficult for me to know what people will think of it and whether they'll get a sense of story from it.

Spin: The thing I remember when I was a teenager and saw The Red Shoes was the struggle of this woman's: having to choose between being a dancer and being with her man. That the passion for love and the passion for dance couldn't coexist really affected me. I don't know what you think about that. I hope to believe -- well, I hope to believe a lot of things -- but I hope to believe that we can be consummate artists as women or revolutionaries, or whatever women want to be, and also have love, not only for ourselves but from a partner.

KB: I have to believe that too. It's just not fair to think that it's not possible. But I suppose the consuming nature of being obsessed with one's work, or one's art, is obviously something that we probably all struggle with to try to find a balance.

Spin: In interviews, people always refer to you as this great perfectionist. Do you agree with that? Do you perceive yourself that way?

KB: Well, if perfectionist means taking a long time, then I would agree with it. But I really don't think that it's possible to make things perfect, really. In some ways, there's almost an attempt to try to achieve something that is quite imperfect. Do you know what I mean? And to be able to find a way of leaving it with certain raw edges, so that the heart doesn't go out of it. I don't think of myself as a perfectionist at all.

Spin: Critics, especially men, seem to describe women who are brilliant at what they do as perfectionists or loners or difficult to get at. I always find that so hilarious because I think someone who is connected to their work must be easier to reach than others.

KB: I think so too, it's just that maybe they're going to be a little more weary.

Spin: Do you struggle to balance your desire to keep a raw, spiritual edge to your music and a need to make the music accessible? Do you feel confident enough to just express what you believe and hope the audience catches up?

KB: There's kind of a driving force involved in the whole process of putting music together, to ultimately ending up with a finished album. I think there's a lot of stuff that I don't even question until other people come in and listen to the music, and it's almost like suddenly you're listening to things through other people's ears. I suppose that's when it gets a bit difficult. Sometimes I'm aware that things were actually a little more personal than I'd realized. But I suppose I feel if, when you are actually creating something, it feels kind of honest, it feels good, then that's the point where the intenion matters, and then from that point onwards it's just a matter of being brave enough to actually let it go.

Spin: That's why I've always loved film more than theater, and film may be more closely related to making a record because you have that ability to go in and do your work and have no judgment around it, and feel honest. Then, much later, it's presented to people. But in theater, people come backstage after a performance and you're about to do the same play again the next night, and people say, "Well, I didn't really believe that emotion" or whatever. It's really hard for me, I like to be closed up and just do the work.

KB: That's a very interesting observation, I'd not actually thought of it like that, but you're quite right. Films are kept very personal for quite a long time.

Spin: I've always been so curious to know if there are certain of your own songs or albums that you feel most proud of, or most connected to?

KB: I suppose, like most people, I tend to feel closest to the work I've most recently done. In a lot of ways, it's like extracts from a diary: If you look back at things in your past and consider events, it's like, "Oh God, no." You tend to feel differently about things as you move through two or three years. And I suppose also, hopefully, you like to think that you are getting better at what you do, more mature in your craft. Quite soon after that, there comes a point where you just want to do something completely different from the most recent piece of work in order to shake it off.

Spin: Have you ever gone back and either thought about songs you've written, or listened to your music from years before, and learned something you hadn't recognized, or understood something that at the time you didn't understand?

KB: I'm not sure I've ever reinterpreted something, but I have definitely been able to hear things in a different way from how I did at the time. I very rarely listen to any of my old music; it's the last thing I ever want to do. But occasionally I end up in a situation where I do, and if enough time has gone by, I can actually hear how I would do things differently.

Spin: But if art is a contribution, and I certainly know that your music has been, the one thing that I'm excited about as a listener is that you've been at different places in your life and have written pieces of music where you may now think, "if I had only done it that way," but somehow the place you were at allowed you to write it that way and it affected people who were in the same place.

KB: There was a reason for it happening then.

Spin: I've always wanted to ask you if you have interests in the shadow side, in understanding the repressed self -- things we are in denial about.

KB: Creative art is an awfully positive way of channeling the shadow side, and I think it's much more healthy to explore it and have fun with it within the boundaries of art. I'm not sure that it's something terribly good to go looking for. Do you know what I mean? I think it's actually something that ends up coming to you anyway”.

It is when someone asking the questions is a fan and you can tell they know about Bush’s music is when she is more relaxed. Is it a control thing? Maybe years ago, though you can tell Dern is a massive fan and they had this meant that you get these insights and interesting replies from Bush, rather than something that is tense and formulaic. Look at more recent years and how Bush has spoken with women more. Lauren Laverne (BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio 4) interviewed Kate Bush for 50 Words for Snow in 2011, and it was a really great chat. Kate Bush completely charming and loving speaking with Laverne! There is also the two very recent examples of Emma Barnett speaking with Bush. In 2022, when Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) was used in Stranger Things and it was a chart success. That was for Woman’s Hour. I have dropped this interviewed in a lot in the past, though I feel it is necessary again, so that you can hear their rapport and that respect. Interesting Bush wanted to speak with Woman’s Hour at that time. Barnett interviewed Bush at the end of 2024, around the time Little Shrew (Snowflake) was released. That was a single aimed at raising funds for War Child. Bush directed the video and requested to speak with Emma Barnett. I hope the two chat again very soon. Going back to what Graeme Thomson noted in his book. That Christine Iley interview, where one can attribute blame to both sides. Maybe Bush was a little tense or reluctant that day and it came across as icy or calculating. Iley very much doing a hatchet job and sort of trying to settle a score or make Kate Bush look bad. It would be unfair to say that Kate Bush did not like being interviewed by women, though it is evident that it was unusual for that to happen to a point, and perhaps she preferred the dynamic of speaking with male journalists more. That did shift later in her career. If one would argue Kate Bush preferred speaking with male journalists more, or it was perhaps a different experience that meant that she could relax more, articles such as this argue how it is her female fans that understand her more – and male fans just don’t ‘get her’. Barbara Ellen, writing for The Guardian in 2024 – right after that interview with Emma Barnett for the Today programme -, caused backlash and criticism when she write this:

“What is it about Bush and her fans, and her female fans in particular? One radio interview and we’re transported into Kate-mode, which, for me, means going about my normal day (walking the dog; prodding at the supermarket self-checkout screen), booming her music on headphones, feeling thrilling, otherworldly, impetuous. Other female musicians can be exciting: Beyoncé dropping country music albums (yes!); Taylor Swift conquering the known pop universe (why not?). Bush, however, only has to murmur about “new ideas” and some of us feel all the molecules in our bodies rearranging themselves.

Do men understand the effect Bush has on so many women: how “other” she makes us feel? I’m sometimes surprised myself by my Kate-worship. It’s as if she’s snuck through the net as British pop culture’s only forgivable prog-hippy. And yet love her unreservedly I do. Obviously, it’s a lot to do with the music. Bush isn’t just another musician, she’s an entire genre. And, with perma-reclusive Bush truly the JD Salinger of music (just as the last album was in 2011, the most recent live shows were in 2014), everything she touches has rarity value.

But it’s also because she’s our Kate: the cultural trigger for the secret part of every outwardly sensible woman who wants to jack everything in (yes, all of it) and devote her life to floaty dancing in leotards and diaphanous skirts. Or fancies slipping into a hot Victorian nightie and running barefoot across a windswept moor towards a Heathcliff-esque lover, however brooding and dodgy he might be”.

There is perhaps more to be written, and I guess it might have been true of any major female artist of that time. What is being written about them and how they come across can affect their career and reputation. Words can be manipulated and, when two men or two women talk, it can be a different set of agendas or dynamics compared to those of the opposite sex in conversation. Bush’s male-heavy upbringing probably did affect the way she was with male interviewers. As a woman trying to make her own career and do it on her own terms, the experience of being faced with a female interviewer might have put the hackles up, or Bush felt like she had to compose herself in a different manner. That 1993 interview with Christine Iley seemed a trial. Also, in 1985, when speaking with Sue Simmons in the U.S., that was another blow. Though more recent examples sees Bush seek out women like Emma Barnett. So that idea that Bush was this assassin luring women in only to strike or not answer their questions seems unfair and not representative or who she is. As we all know, the great Kate Bush is…

ONE of the sweetest and nicest humans.

FEATURE Kate Bush: The Whole Story: Spotlighting a Very Special Fan Interaction

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush: The Whole Story

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

Spotlighting a Very Special Fan Interaction

__________

LOOKING at a post that appeared…

on social media relating to a time Kate Bush went the extra mile with a fan makes me want to revisit her connection with those who love her music. I wrote about this recently, but I wanted to focus on this one particular interaction. I think there were times early in her career, in 1978, when fans would ask for a photo and she would send one that might be considered risqué. Not a deliberate thing, it was just the promotional photos that were being taken. It does not really happen today, as social media makes it impossible. Major artists especially have huge followings and they cannot realistically respond to all comments and requests. I can only imagine how busy the DMs are for artists on Instagram. Many have teams that handle that and people who can filter out things. It must also be a minefield, as they get so many nasty comments too. I do not envy the life of an artist now. Kate Bush herself is not on social media, and she would not get anything else done if all she did was respond to comments and messages. However, she was a woman in demand back in 1978. After the release of Wuthering Heights in January 1978 and the international success that accrued, there was of course a lot of fascination and appreciation. People who had never heard of her listening to this song and being struck. I feel she would have received a lot of letters on w weekly basis. Not able to respond to every one, she did send quite a few replies to fans. Appearing at the odd fan club meeting and convention. Someone who wanted to show her appreciate to those who support her. However, there is something about a response to a fan who loved Wuthering Heights but did not know what the lyrics were.

Of course, this is pre-Internet and a time when the only way you could learn about lyrics and what they were was having a good ear! It must have been quite frustrating getting this sort of information. Perhaps thinking it was a long shot, what strikes me about this Twitter post is how other people responded saying Kate Bush replied to them. I am not sure whether we could go back to the days when people write to artists and there is a fan club. How practical would it be?! However, a fan wrote a lovely letter that presumingly went along the lines of saying they were a fan of loved Wuthering Heights and please could I have the lyrics? Delightful and a bonus for a teenage fan, though in retrospect she might have gone with something else! I any case, this must have touched her, as someone was genuinely invested in the words and wanted to know what they were. A lot of the press in 1978 ridiculed Kate Bush or felt her weird and a short-term artists. Fans were different. They were the ones who were truly dedicated and understood her. Bush would have got a load of letters like this, and she took the time out to reply to the fan. The fan was named David. It is a crying shame that David auctioned off his letter. No huge or true fan would let go of anything this precious! Auctioned it in 2014, when Kate Bush’s Before the Dawn residency began, it does seem opportunistic and foolhardy. However, maybe he had no sentimental tie or love of that letter all those years later. Far Out Magazine wrote in 2020 how David spoke about his experience and writing to Kate Bush:

“Speaking to Huffington Post when putting the letter up for auction in 2014, David wrote: “In 1978 I was 14 years old when Kate Bush released ‘Wuthering Heights’. At the time, the song was the most extraordinary thing I had ever heard and I was utterly mesmerised by her performance when she appeared on Top of the Pops”

“I was in love with the song so I wrote to EMI Records for the lyrics,” he continued. “Much to my amazement a few weeks later I received a reply from the lady herself. She had not only hand written all the lyrics for me, but also included a letter and a signed photograph of herself – an image that, at the time, was this teenage boy’s dream and made me the envy of all my friends!”.

 If someone else does have it, then they must appreciate the magnitude and significance. What Bush says in her reply. How she was “thrilled” to get that letter and how it is no trouble to provide the lyrics – and, sweetly, she writes how it certainly won’t cost him anything (David cutely asking if he would need to pay!). David, in his letter, wrote that he read Wuthering Heights. Kate Bush didn’t when she was first inspired to write the song, so maybe he was affected by someone writing a song about a book particular to him. I would have loved to have seen David’s original letter, as you have to piece together what he wrote. Bush wished him luck in everything he does and said ‘God Bless’ and included three kisses. A very special and warm letter. This young artist, who was already under the wheels of endless media attention and interviews, making sure that this loyal young fan got to see the words to this unique chart-topping single. It raises the question as to whether you can write to artists now. I would love to write to Kate Bush, though it is almost impossible to send it to her management and get it read by her. I can appreciate how many people would do that, and it would not be something she’d like. However, for projects and requests about professional engagement, it does seem like this big hurdle you need to jump over to get to her! In a weird way, it was easier to connect with something in 1978 – before computers and the Internet – than it does in this technological age; where anyone can write a comment about an artist in mere seconds. The photo of the lyrics that Bush wrote is a little blurry, but you can make it out. Beautifully written, she divides it by verses and chorus. What is must notable about Kate Bush’s response letter is where she was sending it from. Not at Wickham Farm (her family home) or 44 Wickham Lane (where she moved to), this letter has the letterhead of the Hotel Interconnectional in Paris. And Kate Bush including a photo taken by Gerd Mankowitz where you can see her nipples! A bonus for a teenage fan, though you wonder if it was the wisest choice and whether Bush should have sent a different shot!

 I wonder if this is the InterContinental Paris Le Grand, which faces the Place de l'Opéra? Maybe she was on a break in Paris and the letter was forwarded. For The Tour of Life in 1979, Bush did perform at the Theatre Des Champs Elysees Paris on 6th May. I wonder if she was booked at the Hotel Intercontinental for that date and was reading through some fan mail. This would date the communication to about sixteen months since Wuthering Heights came out. It is plausible. The single reached number fourteen in France, though the album it is from, The Kick Inside, went to number three. She had this clear and big fanbase in France. Perhaps Kate Bush remembers writing that letter, though she must have had quite a few letters she responded to. People coming out and sharing memories of Kate Bush writing back to them. Lucky David in this case, though many others around the world did get a letter or signed photo from Kate Bush. She does sign things now, but I am curious when was the last time she wrote a letter to someone. A dizzying time for Kate Bush, a lot of 1978 and 1979 was exhausting for her. She could easily have sent a signed photo and slip to say she was busy but thanks for the letter. Instead, she sat down in her Paris hotel room and wrote out the lyrics to Wuthering Heights. Wherever that response was going – not sure if David was U.K.-based or not -, David would have been beaming when he opened that letter! No doubt framing it or keeping it somewhere special, it would be sad if he gave it away or auctioned it. One of my dreams, aside from interviewing Kate Bush, is to get a letter from her. I know she has sent emails to some fans but the days of her writing fans probably ended decades ago. Recalling that time in 1979 (?) when she answered David’s letter showed how amazing she is! That personal connection and relatability. Treasuring her fans and being so friendly, few artists took the time to reply to their fan mail like that. A big reason why Kate Bush is…

SO special.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Amma

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Su Müstecaplıoğlu

Amma

__________

ONE of the most talented…

PHOTO CREDIT: Loïc Rodrigues

families in music, Lauren Keen is known as Amma. Her sister is RAYE, real name Rachel Keen. Abby-Lynn is known as Absolutely. I have featured her before. I am shining a spotlight on Amma, as she released the E.P., Blame Game, last year. A tremendous artist that I am very excited about, there are some interviews to drop in. The first of a couple of interviews that I want to come to is from Numéro Netherlands from last year. For Amma, music was never the plan early on. She started quietly writing songs and eventually doors opened. She is one of the most promising young artists coming through:

“You've said becoming an artist wasn't the plan. What changed during that quiet songwriting moment that pulled you toward music?

Music has always been a part of my life. Even when I tried to escape from it, it pulled me back. At this point, I had been a writer for about three years. I was on a writing trip in LA and it was a tough trip for me as I was very in my head and feeling quite sad. I then went for a meeting with one of my publishers and the A&R label. We were going to have the meeting about artists in the label and what I could do for their projects. About 20 minutes into the meeting, we ending up talking about me as an artist. I kept deflecting the topic, which I personally think I’m really good at doing, and after a while, I allowed the conversation to open up. As I was in the car driving back home, I felt the best I had on the whole trip. I started asking myself why I thought that was and slowly started laughing out loud because I was starting to accept the fact that it had planted a seed of fire in my stomach for something I may have been pushing away.

My next thought was “Ok, if I am going to do this, what am I doing it for?” Which became the title of a song I wrote about me becoming an artist. This song allowed me to release a lot of thoughts and emotions that had been going through my head and was unable to decipher. This led me to drop my pride and lean into the idea of really putting my art out there”.

You come from such a musical family. How did growing up alongside RAYE and Absolutely shape your approach to creativity and self-expression?

Growing up in a family like mine is really a blessing. We have had so many fun music moments, but like any family, there are times we don’t get along and we argue and bicker. I am so grateful I was given my sisters. It’s been hard understanding and finding my identity in such a bold family. I constantly compare myself to them when creating and I feel that if I don’t compare myself, someone else in the room will. I guess it’s a self defense mechanism.

I’ve been to writing sessions for other artists and been told “Can you do it like Abby?” or “Put some RAYE into it.” A lot of the time I would just say OK with a cute smile on my face and ignore it, but there were and still are times when it gets to me. However, once I started creating songs for me, things really started to shift. I started to understand what I liked and what I didn’t. I stopped thinking what would my sisters do. It then felt easier to go and share music with my sisters, without being afraid of getting honest feedback. We usually share music with each other when we are in the car. Driving home to our parents for Christmas or going to our uncles and aunties houses. We will authentically and naturally take turns sharing our new music as we sometimes don’t get to hear what each other’s been up to for months at a time.

How has your songwriting evolved since you first started, and what's surprised you most about your own growth?

Wow, my song writing has changed dramatically. There used to be times I’d create a whole song, listen to it back as soon as I’ve finished and then delete the whole thing. I had a really high standard for myself and of the music I made. If my expectations weren’t met, it was really hard for me to want to get back in the studio and start again. This was a very repetitive cycle for me, until I eventually made a song that I didn’t hate. It was the first song I didn’t delete and wasn’t as embarrassed by. Fast forward to today, where I now really understand my writing process. I can feel when I need to create and can also feel when I’m forcing it too. What’s surprised me most about my growth from the first song to now is most likely my ability to really create something I am proud of. That was one of the hardest tasks for me to do when writing, and now I have created a fair amount of songs I love. Even now, I wrestle with saying that out loud.

You've said your music isn't to center yourself, but to connect with others. What's been the most meaningful reaction you've received to your work so far?

I think there are a lot of songs in my projects that have brought out different reactions in people, one of them being a reaction from my older sister RAYE. I am definitely more of a quality time and acts of service person when showing love. However, my sister is physical touch and words of affirmation, which I give her none of unless she is really sad. Not dramatically sad, but really sad. I wrote a song called ‘if not you, who?’ for her.

We were speaking the day before I wrote this song and I was worried about going in and not feeling inspired. There can be times where my sister doesn’t understand me at all and starts talking about experiences she’s had, which has nothing to do with what I’m saying, but on this day, she said all the right things and it really helped reassure me and my ability to create. I made this song and then showed it to her that night on Facetime, and like the emotional person she is, she started to cry and told me all the things she loved about the song, but more importantly, how it made her feel. To me, that’s the most important thing about my music right now. What it can do for someone else”.

Actually, a couple more interviews before I wrap things up. I want to get to Occhimag and their 2025 feature about Amma. A brief reflection and chat, this is someone who I think will grow to the same level as RAYE. In terms of releasing these stunning albums and commanding huge stages. It is only a matter of time before Amma is getting serious attention and focus:

“For London-based singer-songwriter Amma (Lauren Keen), music was always in the air—but never in her plans. Growing up surrounded by melody and rhythm, she initially resisted the path that seemed predestined. “It felt like the last thing I wanted to pursue,” Amma reflects. Yet, as life often proves, the things we push away sometimes hold the greatest pull. It was during a quiet, introspective moment—writing a song solely for herself—that Amma’s journey as an artist truly began. That song, born from solitude and sincerity, soon found its way into the wider world, catching the attention of industry insiders and propelling her into label meetings she never expected.

Amma’s artistry is rooted not in emulation, but in emotion. She isn’t driven by the industry’s biggest names; instead, she finds inspiration in artists who are unafraid to feel deeply and honestly. “No matter what I’ve felt, another human has felt it too,” Amma shares. “Although our stories differ, the emotions we experience are something we all share universally.” This empathetic approach shapes her songwriting, which continues to evolve through collaborative sessions, late-night bedroom musings, and harmonies with her sisters—fellow artists RAYE and Absolutely. While singing has always come naturally, finding her unique voice as an artist has required patience, bravery, and several leaps of faith”.

I will end with an interview from FLAUNT, where Amma, RAYE and Absolutely were together. Three sisters talking about their careers and lives. It was great to see them all photographed together and in conversation giving their own reflections. I want to focus on words from Amma:

“Amma, I was listening to your tape, Middle Child. On the opening track “What Am I Doing It For?” you’re very candid about finding your place, identity, self-confidence, self-belief, trust. How did you get to that place?

Amma: It was definitely a lot of ups and downs for me. I’m quite prideful, so I kind of, like—
RAYE: No, you’re not!

Amma: I am a little when it comes to music.

RAYE: You have a high standard for yourself.

Amma: Okay, yeah, my standard is quite high, so it was difficult writing music and not feeling like I was reaching the standard, especially when I would hear things that [RAYE] or Abby [Absolutely] had created, and being like, “Wow, this is really amazing,” and then hearing things I would create and be like, “Okay, we have so much work to do.”

One day I was just having a bad experience when I was in LA—because I was writing for other artists—and I went to a meeting meant to be for other artists in that label. Twenty minutes into the meeting, it was about me and my own artist project, and I was like, “That’s not happening!”

I left that meeting after allowing it to become a fake reality for a bit, and I thought, “Okay, well, maybe I should just dive into this and see where it can bring me.” I went home to my Airbnb that day, and got my setup on my bed, and it kind of just came out. I remember just recording the a cappella, “mmmm, aahhh” things and the lyrics just kind of came out, which I kind of find is the easiest way to write on my own.

By harmonizing and then figuring things out through that, on your own?

Amma: I really find it so easy writing through acoustic guitar. I’ll build up the production after, because that’s the way I get emotion, is through the chords feeling vulnerable too, you know?

Amma, I remember hearing you say recently that being a musician wasn’t your initial vocation. What would your vocation have been if not music?

Amma: If I could do anything other than music, I would 110% be a therapist. I mean, this kind of songwriting in itself, understanding people’s stories and being able to put it in a song so that there can even be healing from that. I feel like I do [my music] when I feel super upset, I’m like, “Oh, I think I’m meant to write, because I haven’t written in so long, and I’m just so emotional. I must write something.”

What do each of you think the role of an artist is in 2025?

RAYE: It’s a form of hope. When I think back to even, like, COVID times, everyone was really feeling it. That actually was a moment where I felt like, “Oh my gosh.” You really realize when the world’s going through this, how all of this stuff is so important.

Amma: A lot of people feel alone in a lot of emotions that they feel. But actually, there are only 27 distinct emotions, meaning everyone has felt something. Like, you’ve been sad? [I’ve] felt exactly the same. Our stories may be different, but we can feel the same emotion. So for me, I feel like putting my story across so that people can understand that the feeling that they’re feeling isn’t an isolating one, but can be shared.

Absolutely: I think about my music, from people that it’s a place where they can really be immersed, and be transported into a different world.

RAYE: That’s beautiful.

Amma: That’s nice”.

If you do not know about Amma, then make sure that you follow her. The E.P., Blame Game, is extraordinary! This is someone who is going to have a long future in the industry and release so much great music. She does come from this very much family. Currently on tour with RAYE supporting her on the THIS TOUR MAY CONTAIN NEW MUSIC, it is a busy ands exciting time for Amma. However, rather than compare her to RAYE and Absolutely, Amma is her own artist, though there is that sibling connection and shared talent. It is clear that Amma is someone that you…

NEED to follow.

__________

Follow Amma

 Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/amma/

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6rYqTmpl2LNEovR30mauo2?si=QVKXRbNRTteVhEWnmLSJhw

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf7tb4eSgiTMOsa4yA4hbYw

FEATURE: So Hard (To Fall in Love): Can An Artist As Successful As Olivia Dean Be Seen as Underrated?

FEATURE:

 

 

So Hard (To Fall in Love)

Can An Artist As Successful As Olivia Dean Be Seen as Underrated?

__________

I was going to sort of leave it…

and not really comment on it, but there was this interview with journalist Alexis Petridis, where he spoke about Olivia Dean. He writes regularly for The Guardian and is one of the most prolific journalists in this country. It was interesting what he was saying. How Olivia Dean is this honest and extraordinary artist. Making Pop music that is not boring but is very engaging and popular. In spite of the fact that she has won major awards, including GRAMMYs and BRITs is it possible that we are sleeping on her music?! That she is flying under the radar. I realise I have written about her a fair bit recently, though it is important to discuss this incredible songwriter. How she has this ‘girl-next-door’ persona and is making this incredible music but it is sort of being overshadowed. Her latest album, The Art of Loving, is a chart success, in spirt of the fact that it was released last September. With as clutch of awards and more coming possibly, her rise has been somewhat talked about less than more of the visually-driven Pop artists like Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter. That is what Alexis Petridis argued. Of course, one might say that it is impossible to be that much of a beloved artist and win awards and be seen as underrated or under-discussed. Sure, The Art of Loving got great reviews and a tonne of praise, and Olivia Dean has an adoring fanbase. Yet, there is not the same kind of discussion, exposure and hype that many of her Pop peers receive. Perhaps that is not the worst thing when we consider the downsides of that. Being in the public gaze and having that sort of focus on you. Yet, a songwriter this extraordinary and talented should be heralded more. Her music dissected and played more. I had not seen anyone really make a point like this before regarding Olivia Dean.

She is quite a private person, though I don’t feel like she is someone who would reject a lot of celebration and the same sort of spotlight that many of the bigger U.S. artists receive. I have seen articles from around 2023 when her debut album, Messy, came out. That was nominated for a Mercury Prize, and you sort of have to feel like The Art of Loving is going to be nominated. I am not sure about the eligibility rules. However, what Petridis said about Olivia Dean and her music not getting the attention it warrants. Her being overshadowed. It opens up an interesting question and debate. Look at articles written after her award success at the GRAMMYs and BRITs and many people say she has transitioned from being underrated and rising to a megastar. Chart success too. This is all commercial recognition. Do we value artists based on awards and chart positions only? Granted, one cannot say that Olivia Dean is under-awarded or going without industry recognition. However, this is a different thing. It might be a cultural thing. How major U.S. artists get amplified and there is a different way of treating artists. One can argue that Olivia Dean is a better and more complete and successful artist than someone like Sabrina Carpenter. I celebrated Carpenter recently and really love her music. However, Dean has been putting out music for quite a few years now and I don’t feel she has yet gained the sort of love and commentary that is earned. In terms of highlighting the brilliance of the music and talking about her deeply not only as one of the finest songwriters of her generation. Olivia Dean is also one of the most compelling and inspiring artists. The fact that she does not have the same sort of lifestyle and celebrated as some of her peers. This relatable and humble artist who is all about the work and does not get involved with the fame side of music.

You could say that this might be a reason why she is being slept on slightly. Looking at the reaction comments to that Alexis Petridis interview for The Guardian’s Today in Focus interview argues Olivia Dean has not been slept on and she is getting loads of attention. Others criticising that label of ‘girl-next-door’, which might be slightly sexist, belittling or old-fashioned. A term that should be dropped. She is simply honest, nice, big-hearted and warm. ‘Girl-next-door’ suggests something slightly insulting or reductive. I would disagree that Olivia Dean is completely underrated and has gone under the radar. What I would say is to make the distinction between someone who has won awards and chart success and artists who are discussed by journalists, their music written about and the artist being written about. It is that clash of the commercial side and the critical. Also, it is fair to say that Dean has not always been spoken about in the most respectful and positive tones. It is clear that she is a very special artist and someone who does not follow the mainstream Pop herd. True to herself and not compromising, The Telegraph wrote about Olivia Dean earlier in the year and highlighted what separates her from other artists:

“Unlike the current crop of reigning female pop superstars – Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo – Dean doesn’t alienate older listeners with risqué outfits or graphic songs about sex. She sings about love, yes, but in PG terms: it’s soft, gentle, and romantic (her breakthrough single Man I Need centred on the pithy chorus “Tell me you got something to give, I want it / I kinda like it when you call me wonderful”). There are no bad boys here, unless you’re choosing to believe the internet rumours from a few years ago that she was dating Harry Styles.

A music industry source, who worked on the campaign for Dean’s 2023 debut album Messy, adds that her success is the result of years of hard work. “Olivia has put the time in. She’s been doing non-stop gigs and festivals for years now and it’s finally paid off,” they tell me. “You couldn’t meet a nicer person either, she’s in it purely for the music.”

It was striking, too, how positively old-fashioned a pop star Dean seems compared to her fellow nominees for this year’s Best New Artist accolade: you had TikTok favourites Addison Rae and Sombr, the slickly manufactured “global girl group” Katseye and Christian crooner Alex Warren, whose dreadful 2025 chart-topper Ordinary almost made me swear off pop music for good.

Dean’s music and image, in comparison, owes more to the glory days of Motown than today’s pop charts. She makes uplifting, sugar-coated songs that still possess depth and soul, and her music offers a welcome respite to the trauma-dumping occurring in much of popular culture. Our world is growing ever more divided, toxic and brutal, and sometimes people want music that makes them feel good rather than reminding them of every one of life’s imminent tragedies”.

I think just some of the labels attributed to her and how she is perceived. Rather than explore why Olivia Dean is such an amazing artist and what makes her songwriting so distinct, there are these comparisons to other artists. It is a bad habit of mine too: instantly comparing female artists with one another. This idea of pitting them against each other, rather than respecting them on their own terms and recognising that artists who are more provocative or expressive in a sexual way are to be as commended and saluted as much as an artist like Olivia Dean. Not see the former as bad and immoral or wrong and the latter as innocent, old-fashioned or pure. My initial question of whether Olivia Dean is underrated or not might need rephrasing. Compared to a certain type of artist, is she regarded as highly? Whilst she has an army of fans, there is not quite that same sort of mania. I do think that there needs to be more column inches dedicated to her phenomenal lyrics and what she puts into her music. Also, how she conducts herself as an artist and remains so grounded and stable. Rather than wonder why she has not got massive headline festival slots and is being cast in films or what you’d expect from an artist of her calibre, perhaps not comparing her with other women! It is something I have been guilty of, and it does help the conversation. I respect all of these amazing women, but wondering why she is not a British Taylor Swift or Sabrina Carpenter is not constructive and is problematic. Instead, we must commend this artist who has released one of the best albums of the past decade with The Art of Loving. All it has achieved. How memorable her videos are and the aesthetic there. In interviews, how wonderfully and warmly Olivia Dean comes across. That she could decamp to L.A. or New York and record for months but prefers to be at home and do it in her own setting. That is refreshing and commendable. That the measure of success is not doing what you would expect a major artist to do. In that respect, we do not rate Olivia Dean as highly. Instead of comparing her to other women and creating a divide, the astonishing Olivia Dean needs to be celebrated…

IN her own right.

FEATURE:A Twenty-First Century Beatlemania: How British Women in Pop Are Dominating in the U.S.

FEATURE:

 

 

A Twenty-First Century Beatlemania

IN THIS PHOTO: PinkPantheress photographed for Vogue in March 2026/PHOTO CREDIT: Tyler Mitchell

How British Women in Pop Are Dominating in the U.S.

__________

I am going to sort of tie…

IN THIS PHOTO: Sienna Spiro

two different stories together, because I do think that they link. One involves superstar Robyn, who told Capital Buzz that the long Pop album is “boring”: “Why not make two albums then? I think 40 minutes is [enough]”. I do sort of get some of that. It can be pretty hard listening to an album that suffers from too much self-indulgence or is overstuffed. Whilst there are some great Pop albums that are short and to the point, an artist I am about to mention is a master of that form, I do like that modern Pop artists are not constrained and can take time with albums. I don’t think that albums should be short. Artists should be allowed to tell their story and express themselves freely. It is great when we do get these short albums, though this has to mixed with Pop albums that are longer and expansive. Music is always evolving, so the days where singles have to be a certain lengths and albums running to ten tracks is gone. Robyn’s latest album, SEXISTENTIAL, is nine tracks and none last over four minutes. However, RAYE’s THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. Runs at seventeen tracks and is like a double album. It has a few weaker moments, though it is this ambitious and grand Pop album that is soul-baring, stunning and this sense of freedom, defiance and a major talent hitting her peak. If artists are too constrained then I do feel that the Pop market would be weaker, though I do agree that some longer albums can be boring. Whilst we can argue as to whether the Pop album is becoming longer and it is a case of artists losing focus – maybe rallying against streaming and people clicking on tracks and not having that attention span -, there is no denying that women are leading. Not just in the world of Pop.

It has been a long time since an artist or scene swept America and created this incredible excitement. The New York Times published a recent article that argued that the new British Invasion is led by women. We may associate bands like The Beatles conquering America and whipping up this frenzy. Whilst we could never replicate that at all – as time have changed and no artist will ever match The Beatles’ talent, originality and capturing a moment and breaking ground -, it is interesting how British artists are gaining more real estate and attention in America. It has been a long time since British artists have seemed to capture imagination and excitement quite like this. Maybe those are not the right words. However, not since the 1990s and Britpop has there been this dominance. Even then, I am not sure how fully British bands were taken to heart. However, right now, there is something shaping up which The New York Times highlighted:

“But the most impactful 21st century British pop stars thus far have almost always been outliers, rising to the top without being part of a larger movement. With her second album, “Back to Black,” Amy Winehouse broke through to the American charts and won five Grammys in 2008, becoming one of the most successful British artists in the United States practically overnight. Adele is a commercial behemoth, and her albums “21,” “25” and “30” — along with their indelible singles, including “Hello” and “Someone Like You” — represent some of the best-selling and most-decorated records in American history. Likewise, Ed Sheeran has sold over 100 million records in the United States and is consistently listed as one of the highest-grossing touring artists here.

These artists all broke through, in part, off the back of their distinct Britishness: All three were rough around the edges and celebrated for it, capitalizing on an unfussy, unpretentious aesthetic typical of the United Kingdom in contrast to their glossy American counterparts. They were also, generally, the British curios in a sea of Americans, as opposed to representatives of any broader cultural wave”.

I do think a lot of the focus in the 2010s and first half of this decade was focused on American artists. The nation maybe embracing their own talent. The dominance of Taylor Swift. Artists like Billie Eilish defining Pop adulation there, though it is hard to overlook how Swift pretty much took over. Things are changing now. Not that she is going anywhere, though the U.S. is now showing a lot of love for some incredible British queens:

“Aside from Dua Lipa, the late 2010s and early 2020s saw few British pop breakouts. But a new cohort of stars — led by four multiracial women — seems intent on changing that. In the past few years, TikTok has elevated a handful of English musicians to newfound renown in the States; this new class of stars emphasizes and plays off its Britishness, with broad accents and Vivienne Westwood corsets. (Though they largely avoid traditional markers of Anglomania, or representations of the Union Jack, like their mostly white forebears.) And, for the most part, they work in a mode familiarized by Winehouse and Adele: that of the brassy British soul diva, sharing unfiltered feelings in a classicist package.

Leading the charge is Raye, the 28-year-old Londoner who broke through in 2022 with her angsty TikTok hit “Escapism.” Signing with Polydor, an imprint of Universal Music Group, at 18, Raye spent a decade in the major-label trenches, releasing a series of EPs, providing guest vocals for EDM producers like Jax Jones and Joel Corry, and serving as a hired-gun songwriter for Beyoncé and Charli XCX, among others. In 2021, she spoke out, saying that the label had been withholding her debut album; shortly after, they parted ways. “Escapism,” a weepy hybrid rap-soul song, was one of her first independent releases, and peaked at No. 1 on the U.K. charts”.

Since the release of “Escapism,” Raye’s career has been on a steady climb: She supported Taylor Swift on her blockbuster Eras tour in 2024, and performed at the Oscars in 2025, covering Adele’s Bond theme “Skyfall”; later that year, she released “Where Is My Husband!,” a glitzy funk track that went viral on social media and subsequently peaked in the Top 20 of the Hot 100”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Dua Lipa

It is clear that RAYE especially is this incredible export that is going to headline major festivals and will no doubt get a lot of future tour dates in the U.S. RAYE is currently touring in the U.S., and is going to be there next month too. She has two huge U.K. dates on 19th and 20th May at The O2. THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. Has blown up around the world and America are throwing their weight and support behind RAYE. She is at the front of this new British invasion that includes artists like Charli xcx, Dua Lipa and PinkPantheress:

“Where Is My Husband!” was the first single from Raye’s second album, “This Music May Contain Hope.,” released last week. It is, for the most part, an album of uber-traditionalist soul and vocal jazz that dabbles, occasionally, in the run-on cadences of contemporary rap and clumsy TikTok slang. It also plays up the fact that Raye is not American: On the opening track, she sings that “some people say I remind them of Amy,” and multiple songs name check South London, where Raye grew up. She has clearly identified her Britishness as a selling point: Posters for her current tour dub her “The oh-so fabulous gal from South London.”

Raye’s music feels like it’s in conversation with that of the singer Olivia Dean, who shunned the music factories in Los Angeles for her second album, 2025’s “The Art of Loving,” instead asking her collaborators to decamp to a house in London that was refitted into a studio. But where Raye’s music is tightly stitched and intentionally showy, Dean’s is loose and conversational. She starts with the same soul diva archetype and removes much of the fuss, in line with younger tastes, while remaining staunchly throwback. “Man I Need,” a single from the album, has spent much of the year hovering in the Top 5 of the Hot 100; although that song draws from Motown and classic soul — and finds Dean adjusting her accent accordingly — other songs on the album, like “So Easy (to Fall in Love)” showcase the distinct contours of her London-native accent.

At this year’s Grammys, Dean beat another Londoner for the Grammys’ best new artist prize: Lola Young, the foul-mouthed belter whose 2024 track “Messy” has been an inescapable hit for nearly two years straight. On her 2025 album, “I’m Only Fucking Myself,” Young makes a meal out of her London-ness, incorporating sounds that have a strong place in the city’s musical heritage — Afrobeat, pub-rock, motorik post-punk. Young, who is tattooed and mulleted, presents herself as a product of her generation, but still expresses clear fealty to her forebears; she is even managed by  Nick Shymansky, who oversaw the early years of Winehouse’s career.

Just think about the established and rising British talent we have. Incredible women like Lola Young, Olivia Deana and Sienna Spiro. Olivia Dean is possibly the biggest British Pop artists right now. Winning awards at the BRITs, GRAMMYs and being nominated at the Ivor Novello Awards, this year has undoubtedly belonged to her. In the same way Charli xcx dominated in 2024 with BRAT, Olivia Dean is defining 2026. It is not only the consistency and success of these Pop queens that is startling. ‘Pop’ is too narrow a definition. In terms of genres, we are looking at R&B, Jazz and a broad spectrum of sounds. Sienna Spiro has the potential to be one of the biggest artists in the world and a legendary name that we will talk about decades from now. I have seen her compared favourable to the late Amy Winehouse, whose final studio album, Back to Black, turns twenty in October. However, Spiro is very much her own artists and will no doubt influence a wave of female artists coming through years from now:

“In her decidedly TikTok-informed presentation, Young is similar to Sienna Spiro, a husky-voiced 20-year-old torch singer. Spiro’s string-drenched soul ballads owe a clear debt to Adele, but her presentation is glamorous and decidedly “vintage” in a very 2020s way, with finessed makeup and minimalist styling.

Then there’s PinkPantheress, the young producer and vocalist who went viral during the pandemic for her intuitive, bedroom-pop flips of classic British dance tracks. PinkPantheress is the outlier of this latest British Invasion: Unlike that of her compatriots, her songs feel musically progressive — and in conversation with other alt-pop artists of the moment like Salute and Fcukers. When it looks to the past, it specifically draws from big-beat 2000s British producers like Basement Jaxx and Groove Armada, rather than just a murky assemblage of vague signifiers.

British identity was always baked into PinkPantheress’s music, but her second mixtape “Fancy That,” released last year, embraced full-on English kitsch: In the imagery associated with the project, the musician is pictured wearing crown jewels and surrounded by scrapbook-y pictures of red telephone boxes and landmarks like Big Ben. One song, “Stateside,” is about an American man who’s never met a British girl; already a popular song on TikTok in the months following its release, the track’s remix featuring the Swedish singer Zara Larsson has surged in recent weeks thanks to the Olympian Alysa Liu, who adapted a dance featured in the video for one of her winning figure-skating routines in Milan”.

It is fascinating and hugely pleasing seeing these phenomenal women capturing the America market. It was always seen as this goa and high point: artists conquering America. Like that was the only way to get success and endure. I don’t think that is the case anymore. Plenty of enduring and successful artists have not had major success in the U.S. However, after so many years when British music was struggling to ignite and remain in the minds of U.S. audiences and create shockwaves, there is this new British Invasion movement led by women. I am not sure whether it directly applies to now. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Kinks, The Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits, and The Who among those characterising the artists who swept America largely during the 1960s and early-1970s. However, like that British Invasion, the styles ad fashion of the modern Pop queens is influential. Olivia Dean different to Lola Young, who has her own style compared to RAYE and Sienna Spiro. These women do not replicate, follow crowds or mimic. Same with interviews, their tour experience and social media relationship with fans. They are distinct and unique artists who I feel are more interesting and stronger than so many U.S. Pop artists (though I love the likes of Addison Rae, Madison Beer and their peers). It is not only award recognition and British artists winning at the GRAMMYs and touring the country. Their albums are selling well there. I do love how THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. features Hans Zimmer, Al Green, the London Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Tom Richards), Flames Collective Choir, and her sisters Amma and Absolutely. PinkPantheress’s 2025 mixtape, Fancy That, reaching number two on the US Top Dance Albums (Billboard). Both albums vastly different. Two distinct women. Of course, Charli xcx and Dua Lipa have been successful in the U.S. for a while. Lipa’s 2024 album, Radical Optimism, reached number two on the US Billboard 200.

Going back to the top of this feature and Robyn’s comments around long Pop albums being boring. I don’t feel this is the case. RAYE has proven that. Allowing more room and time to allow her music to expand, make a statement and not be confined, I feel she would be a lesser artist is she was restricted. However, there are amazing British Pop queens who can deliver these shorter albums. It is a sad by-product of the TikTok generation that there is this desire for music to be shorter and bitesize. If artists like The Beatles, leading the first British Invasion from 1964, were geniuses when it came to timeless Pop music that was short and concentrated, that is – and does not need to be – the case anymore. Pop is evolving and always expanding, so there is more choice, diversity and depth. Artists like PinkPantheress is you want shorter songs and this concise and exceptional music. Acts like RAYE whose new album is longer. Icons such as Charli xcx taking Pop in new directions but not being conscious about writing these three-minute jams. It is great that The New York Times spotlighted and discussed this new British Invasion that is led by women. Pop making an impact in the country in a way arguably that is has not done for almost sixty years. When it comes to the success and variety on offer and how the public are reacting. Such exceptional music from these British queens. There is a new generation and wave making moves that will join them and add new layers and weight to this American dominance.

Pink Pantheress was recently featured by Vogue alongside the young musicians and actors to watch right now: “It feels like I’ve been catapulted into a new space,” says PinkPantheress. The 24-year-old British artist dropped her second mixtape, Fancy That, late last year, a freewheeling bricolage of dance-pop, UK garage, and electronica, lacquered with her sharp humour. For her efforts, she picked up producer of the year at the Brit Awards—the first woman ever to do so—joining a lineage that includes Brian Eno and George Martin of The Beatles. Now touring North America and onwards to Coachella, Pink—who was once quasi-anonymous—wears her British Y2K-ified tartans with pride. “I’m feeling experimental,” she says. “I like diving into a bunch of different genres and pulling from different things. I can feel [myself] returning back to my roots, with whatever may come next”. It is so thrilling that she, Olivia Dean, Lola Young, RAYE and other British queens of Pop are standing loud and proud. Maybe a new summer of love for 2026. A wave of affection and respect for women in Pop releasing some of the best and most inspiring music produced in years. These innovative, empowering, distinct, multifaceted and strong women in Pop flying the flag…

FOR British music.

FEATURE: Modern-Day Queens: Appleton

FEATURE:

 

 

Modern-Day Queens

Appleton

__________

I can honestly…

not include them in my Spotlight feature, as Appleton have been together for a while. Sisters Natalie and Nicole Appleton are half of All Saints. I am not sure whether the group are still active or have plans for future albums and touring. I do wonder if there will be another album from the amazing quartet. The duo of Appleton has been putting out music for a long time. They put out their latest single, Falling Into You, this January. However, Appleton released their debut album, Everything’s Eventual, in 2003. Twenty years after that debut and it was reissued onto vinyl for the first time. Now it seems like there are plans ahead. I know there will be plans for more music, which is why I wanted to highlight these incredible artists. Rather than put in all thew social links, go and check their music out here. I will not mention All Saints too much. However, my first exposure to Nicole and Natalie Appelton was through All Saints. I bought their eponymous album in 1997. Alongside Shaznay Lewis and Melanie Blatt, there was this incredible blend and connection. The Appleton sisters key to the brilliance and success of All Saints. I was really glad when they announced they were working as a duo. I am going to include stuff from their debut album, in addition to their latest song. There are a couple of interviews to cover off before rounding things off. The first interview to cover if from Rolling Stone UK. Nicole and Natalie Appleton discussed a supposed rivalry they had with other girl bands whilst in All Saints, especially the Spice Girls. They also revealed their future plans and what it is like being together and recording music after some time away:

“I remember one day Gene said to me, ‘Mum, why don’t you just go back into the studio with Auntie Nat?’” Natalie’s children chimed in too and soon after, the sisters found themselves back in the studio with songwriter Gareth Young, who worked on the duo’s original debut. “[Our kids] are our harshest critics and if they didn’t think it was a good idea, they would have said, ‘nah!’” Natalie laughs. “They’re massive fans and I think they thought we should’ve maybe thought more of ourselves and they just gave us that little nudge to give it a go.”

The duo’s return comes at a time when the 90s couldn’t be more in vogue following high-profile reunions from the likes of Oasis, Radiohead and Pulp. Nicole, Natalie, Gene and the rest of the Appleton family were all at the Oasis gigs last summer and say they had the time of their lives. “It’s been a long time coming for them to come back and we went with our mum, kids, sisters and it was just brilliant,” Nicole smiles, saying it made her “proud” to be “a part of the 90s.” Natalie agrees. “We got to see [Oasis] first time round of course and now our children got to see it, and it was so great. It was a brilliant show and just seeing the joy of the fans too – that was a show in itself…but like the 90s, I cherish all of it, personally – Appleton, All Saints – I’m just so proud that we did all of it. Every moment, the ups and downs, it’s part of our life and I wouldn’t change anything for the world.

“I think the press put that on us,” Natalie says of the so-called ‘rivalry’ between the bands. “It never really came from us. We just had to kind of deal with it. If you look at us now, it’s like there couldn’t be any more love if you tried. But back then, what you didn’t see is that we were all hanging out with each other – we were going out together all the time,” she smiles. “But it wasn’t interesting to know that we were friends, so [the media] wouldn’t write about us having fun together. We’ve known Emma Bunton since she was 11,” she explains of having met Baby Spice at the Sylvia Young theatre school in the early 90s. “We’ve got history with them and still do.

The sisters went away to Cornwall to record and found solace away from the mania of being in one of the most popular girl bands of all time – and rediscovered their love of music in the process. “We had so much fun,” Natalie says. “My son was a baby, and he was with us while we were creating in the studio. We just had a laugh, and it was so natural.” Nicole loved how there were “no rules” and it being a “really nice, lovely atmosphere,” – a far cry from the 4am finishes when in the studio with All Saints.

Recently, they’ve been “re-listening and re-connecting” to the songs they created in 2003. “It was an emotional one listening to all the songs back because we remember the journey at the time and we were so proud of them,” Natalie says. For Nicole, it “brought back loads of memories” and when they finally headed into the studio to record their new single, “it was just like we carried on where we left off. It was like going back in time,” Nicole adds. “It was like no time had passed at all.”

While no official album has been announced yet, they confirm they’re currently “in the studio” making new music. They say this happened after seeing the response to the new single from fans and critics alike (it was named BBC2’s Song of the Week recently too) after initially having “no plan” and “no expectations” beyond releasing a new single. Natalie explains: “We just had such an incredible reaction to the single and after that we were like, ‘we’re going to have to do more.’ I mean, there’s a few we’ve been working on,” she smiles.

Now, they say they’re finally able to enjoy the success they have more than first time round. “It’s a little bit easier. You enjoy it more; you can take more in,” Nicole says. “You get to have a bit more of a relationship with your fans. We have social media now too, you can have a bit more one on one with fans which is a very different world than it was back [in the 90s]”.

Actually, there are two more interviews that I want to cover off. I want to come to Grazia. Appleton discussed the chaotic rollercoaster of the 1990s. With new music coming out, naturally, there are talks of live dates. There is a big date coming in May. You wonder whether they will announce a second studio album very soon. It will be exciting to see what the rest of the year holds for Appleton:

“Naturally, new music means the Appletons have plans to get back on stage too. They are set to perform at the iconic Mighty Hoopla in south London on 30 May (which Lily Allen will also play). ‘We were like if we can do anything this year, we’d love to do Mighty Hoopla because we did their first ever London show back in the day [in 2016] and it was such a buzz,’ beams Natalie. ‘I just can’t wait to get up on stage and have the time of my life and have some fun with it.’ Before then, they'll take on the BBC Live Lounge with a 25-piece orchestra. ‘That’s a very different show,’ jokes Nicole. ‘I like to pinch myself thinking, “oh my god”, that’s such a privilege.’ As for further plans, the sisters remain tight-lipped. ‘We will definitely announce things when we’re doing them. There’s a lot of stuff planned.’

With one studio album under their hats as a duo (so far), Natalie and Nicole are arguably best known for their time in All Saints. Their set, then, will be a crowd-pleasing fusion of the two. ‘It will be a bit of everything,’ explains Natalie. ‘I think from the reaction we’re getting it’s, “please do Appleton stuff”, so I’m excited about that because we haven’t done that in ages. We’ll do lots of bits and mix it up and make it fun for everyone. It’s nice to give the fans what they want.’ Could this mean a full All Saints reunion (last seen on stage together in 2018) is on the cards? ‘I think because it’s an Appleton journey, were going to keep it like that,’ answers Nicole.

The sisters are well aware that the industry they're re-entering is a different beast. ‘I think the industry as a whole is much more difficult,’ admits Nicole. ‘Financially, you know, I think people are having a really hard time just touring and making ends meet because it’s so expensive.’ Then there’s the shift in the way people find and consume music, the fixation on streaming figures and the threat of AI artists to contend with. ‘This is a whole new world,’ she laughs. ‘It’s the blind leading the blind.’

Nicole, for her part, would like to see a revival of ‘90s music culture, at least in the way it brought people together. ‘[Young people] being on their phones too much, I don’t like in any way. Even my son who’s 24 I don’t like him being on his phone. See the world and enjoy it; everything in moderation.'

She credits the ‘90s club scene for bringing fans, and bands, together. ‘The 90s was just amazing, it was a great time for all music genres. It made it sort of a community, whereas now you don’t see that. You don’t see bands hanging out. You see people performing together on stage, but this was like a proper hang out and having fun.’

Even so, the sisters remain optimistic. The biggest change they have both noticed is that artists these days have their own voice. ‘Everyone’s voice can get around the world just by putting something out on your phone,' notes Natalie. 'It just makes the world a smaller place.’ In fact, it's how they realised there was still so much support for their music. ‘That’s the thing with social media, we didn’t realise,’ she continues, ‘but it’s been so humbling and it’s what ignited us to do what we’re doing now’”.

I am going to end with The Guardian and an interview from last month. It does seem like we are going to get more announcement and news from Appleton regarding music and live dates. I think they are an incredible duo and are releasing music away from All Saints. There is less pressure and they are making music on their own terms. Even though the group are still close, you feel Appleton is going to take priority. This interview from The Guardian is interesting, as Appleton discussed “growing up in west London, finding fame in the 90s and relaunching their music as a duo”. They talked about the time in the band and growing up. There is a photo, from 1982, of the two of them on their bikes on a London street. They recreated it for the interview:

“Nicole

If I had to revisit one moment from my life, it would be this – riding my bike around London with my sister during what felt like an endless summer holiday. Not only because it was great fun, but because I could never ride my bike as much as I did when I was six. I’d be exhausted and would get bum ache from being on the seat for too long.

Mel [Blatt] and I were instantly best friends when we met at the age of 11 at Sylvia Young. After we graduated, we went our separate ways until I bumped into her at a cafe where I worked when I was 19. She told me she was in a band with Shaznay and asked if I wanted to join. I said yes, because I loved to sing. Once Mel and I reconnected, it was like no time had passed. Just like Sylvia Young, Nat quickly joined us, too, and that was it.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pål Hansen

Nat was and is my home away from home and a total comfort during the craziness of All Saints. Working with my sister put no pressure on our relationship at all – we were always together as kids, and we didn’t know anything different. When we started to have families we would spend every holiday together, too. Just after Gene [Gallagher, son of Liam] was born, we had one Christmas with Nat and Liam [Howlett of the Prodigy, Nat’s husband] where the turkey took for ever to cook, and everyone was so pissed we ended up getting KFC.

Natalie

This is my happy place. I was nine, wearing a top from the market and posing with my bike outside our estate in west London. Nic and I loved those bikes – we treated them as if they were cars – getting our hands covered in grease and pretending we were mechanics. This little area of concrete is where all the other estates joined up, and it was the space where we would go roller-skating or wash people’s cars. We charged 10p a vehicle. A lucrative way to make money in the 80s.

My dad is from Bow, and my mum is from Birmingham. They emigrated to Canada but Dad wanted to be back in England, so we moved to London when I was around five. The American accents come from the two years we lived in New York when I was 11. We wanted to fit in, so it just stuck.

We had the greatest childhood in London. It was a real community full of loads of kids and street parties. Whatever was going on, Nic was always with me – my bookend, my best friend, my cute little sister with big brown eyes. Our temperaments were the same – playful and easygoing – although I’ve always been a bit more serious. Nic and I didn’t squabble, but I sometimes did with my older sisters.

Nic and I still talk on the phone every day and while I’ll always say “Love you” – I should really tell her that I love her properly more often. Because the older I get, the more I admire who she has become. She is a great mum, a great auntie and, whatever we are going through, she’s always got my back. I couldn’t live without her.

I am going to leave things there. After releasing Falling Into You in January, there will be excitement around the possibility of a second single this year. And maybe an album or something bigger. Not dropping a step since their 2003 debut and that twentieth anniversary reissue and new wave of excitement, it is also amazing that there was this twenty-year period between their debut album and new singles. Completely harmonious and sensational together. A lot of people are really happy and thrilled that they are releasing music and look set to do it more regularly going forward. It will be really great to see…

WHAT they do next.

FEATURE: Groovelines: Iraina Mancini – Take a Bow

FEATURE:

 

 

Groovelines

Iraina Mancini – Take a Bow

__________

IN a recent interview…

IN THIS PHOTO: Iraina Mancini in the studio recording for her second studio album (which follows her 2023 debut, Undo the Blue)/PHOTO CREDIT: Lee Vincent Grubb

Iraina Mancini said that her second studio album – as yet unnamed and without a set release date – feels like the darker, older sister of Undo the Blue. There have been a lot of changes, personal and otherwise, and that it is a more confident, grounded record. Mancini now has a deeper belief as a woman in the music industry. I am excited to see how she follows up 2023’s Undo the Blue. I have raved about that album on several occasions. Speaking with Shindig Magazine about her new album and collaborations, it is a fresh chapter for London-based Iraina Mancini. Last year, she released Running for your life. That is the first taste of the new album. You can check out her Instagram page, as she is one of the busiest people in the industry. Not only recording a new album and making sure it is absolutely as good as it can be, she is also hugely in demand as D.J. Mainly in London spaces (but further afield and internationally too), I can only imagine how full her calendar is this year! I am not sure when the second album will be released and whether it will coincide with the summer festivals. However, alongside recording and D.J. work, she is a broadcaster for Soho Radio and has her own show. Her show is fantastic! Playing music that is so different to mainstream stations and what they feature, I am always fascinated by what she picks and discusses. She recently posted a photo of her father on the set of The Man Who Fell to Earth with David Bowie. That film turned fifty. Warren Peace is this legendary musician who was a close friend of Bowie’s. Iraina Mancini’s Instagram feed is one of the most joyous and inspiring. So many incredible gigs and wonderful moments, this is someone who is among the best D.J.s in London. I am looking ahead to what comes next and how she is in the studio and keeping busy.

Rather than trying to guess album titles or release dates, I just wanted to check in and say, to anyone who does not follow Iraina Mancini, that you need to show her some support and love. Maybe suggestion a second album will be darker and more personally revealing than Undo the Blue. Even though that album had some amazing moments of bliss and delight – listen to Undo the Blue and Sugar High -, there were some more intense or revealing moments. However, what you get from the debut is this incredible eclectic and complete thing. Pete Paphides, of Needle Mythology (the label the album was released on), said that every track could have been a single. That is how it sounded to me. So good, each song was very different but not a weak moment on them. The overall listening experience is one of complete awe! It was my favourite album of 2023. However, you feel like those personal changes and challenges. Iraina Mancini finding new depth and qualities in her voice. Even if this second album is a step forward maybe in terms of personal insight and reflecting where Mancini is now and how her life has changed, I still feel that Undo the Blue is one of the most impressive and enduring debut albums in the past decade. How various songs pop to mind, and I listen to the album in full as much as I can. Go and grab it on vinyl, stick the needle down and immerse yourself in the phenomenal songwriting. Mancini has one of the strongest and most varied voice. How she can summon a range of emotions and nuances. Compositions that are at once tough and snarled and then to something akin to Minnie Ripperton. Cinematic, lush and gritty, there is this gamut of colours and strands to Undo the Blue. In future features where I discuss Iraina Mancini, I will focus on the new album. There will be an explosion of love and excitement when that announcement is made. Gigs that follow will give fans a chance to see these new songs delivered fresh. Given how the recording process must have been quite expensive and challenging at times, there will be a relief and pride getting the album out!

I hope Iraina Mancini will forgive me for, perhaps for the last time in a while, revisiting Undo the Blue. I have written about it and maybe even focused on the title track for a piece. I declared how Undo the Blue was my favourite song from the album but, as I listened to the album more and more, its final track, Take a Bow, stuck in my head the strongest (I was at this gig in 2023 when she performed it live). Made a bigger impact on my heart. For a number of reasons. I think, objectively, Undo the Blue is an unrated masterpiece of an album. One that was slept on to a degree by the press. In terms of streaming numbers, the title track will hit a million this year perhaps - or maybe early in 2027. Three tracks from the ten are in six digits in terms of streams. The sublime and epic finale has been streamed just over ten-thousand times. Given how immense and stunning the song is, it seems scandalous! I am not sure whether Take a Bow relates to a previous relationship or what inspired the track. There were a few interviews released around Undo the Blue, though I am not sure whether Mancini was asked about Take a Bow. It is one of these unmined gems that I feel should be talked about. I will look at some of the lyrics. One reason I love the song so much is that it is a perfect closer. Given the comparatively sunny, energised or dreamy songs that came before, there is this darkness or sense of mood that you could not put anywhere else on the album. How there is almost a conceptual thread to Undo the Blue and, appropriately, Take a Bow is the curtain call. The night has drawn in and maybe a relationship has run its course. However, as I observed in a review of Undo the Blue, perhaps there is this sense of hope or compassion there. Iraina Mancini’s voice is stunning on this song. Such power, panache and control. Providing backing vocals and overlapping, I do love how there are layers and these beautiful combined vocals. The first verse has lines that paint a somewhat defeated or tense picture: “I couldn't think, but found the words to say/I’m shouting out but I can’t concentrate/I should of known, but left too much too late/Cos we both know, these days are growing cold”. I sense that perhaps two lovers who were once close maybe have a slight division: “We used to be wild dreamers/So take a bow/Tell me it’s overdue/I think by now we both need something new/Let’s not make this harder…”. That sense of needing something new. Are they new partners or a new spark?

When listening to tracks on Undo the Blue, there is this wonder when you listen to Iraina Mancini sing. She can inhabit these different scenes, situations and personas in a song. Take a Bow has these different stages. It is almost this short film, in itself. One of the most cinematic tracks on the album, I never tire of hearing it! My favourite package is when she sings “So just stay bright/We'll be all alright/A freefall dive/A breath of life”. The opening stages see Mancini delivering the words almost sensually. The chorus sees her filled with passion and power. City lights and dancing shoes ready. Time running out. There are all these images that compel the listener to step inside the song and what is unfolding. The more I pass through the song, I come up with different possibilities and interpretations. The song has such a sense of emotional unfolding, story and movement. The pre-chorus is stunning. Iraina Mancini’s voice so stirring and grand in the chorus! That sense that they will both be alright. To slow down. Is there that hope and sense that they can rebuild? It such a deep and intriguing song that definitely deserves so many more streams that it has earned. I guess, unless a station plays or it gets mentioned, then it is quite hard to get people to it. Also, Mancini probably not really allowed to play her own songs on Soho Radio – or if she would even want to! Before the anticipated second album from one of our finest artists, I wanted to talk about why Take a Bow, the wonderful closing track of Undo the Blue, is one I absolutely adore. Such a rich, evocative and spine-tingling cut, it is the final scene of a simply amazing record. If Iraina Mancini feels that a new album coming is more representative of her now or does feel more complete or better, in the meantime, people really do need to listen again to Undo the Blue. Every track is an absolute pearl! If Undo the Blue, Do It (You Stole the Rhythm) and Deep End are the most popular tracks (according to Spotify), then I would say give some love and attention to the gorgeous and arresting Take a Bow. All fans of Iraina Mancini are so thrilled she is recording a second album! Perhaps not easy to put it out as soon as she would have liked, you do feel like every ounce of her heart and soul is going into it. When it is announced and we know what themes and sounds it explores, that will give a sense of how this wonderful D.J., broadcaster and artist has progressed and where she is now. Before we welcome in this second album and a new chapter for Iraina Mancini, I wanted to provide a (perhaps) last salute and affectionate nod to Undo the Blue and an utterly brilliant final track. I am not sure how its performer views it and whether it still holds personal relevance and importance. However, I feel it is an amazing and hugely accomplished and fascinating piece of music that…

EVERYONE needs to hear.

FEATURE: A Balanced (and Extraordinary) Bill: Reacting to the Reading & Leeds Line-Ups

FEATURE:

 

 

A Balanced (and Extraordinary) Bill

IN THIS PHOTO: RAYE is one of the headline acts for this year’s Reading & Leeds festivals

Reacting to the Reading & Leeds Line-Ups

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THE smaller festivals…

around the world are quite good when it comes to a balanced bill. I am not sure why a lot of the major ones struggle when it comes to gender and fair representation. Female artists are dominating music and there are ample choices. However, every year sees our biggest festivals struggling to balance things. Glastonbury last year created evenness through the bill, though the headliners on the Pyramid Stage were once again male-heavy. I do hope that, when it is on in 2027, that more women headline. There are plenty of options! I have been hard on Reading & Leeds before because they have been very male-heavy when it comes to their line-up. Look at their headliners from throughout the years, and it is enormously male-dominated. Getting this reputation as not recognising women and sticking rigidly with Rock and Alternative acts, they have been in hot water because of unwise comments when it comes to gender imbalance. However, the headliners this year are both fantastic and there is a balance: Charli XCX, Dave, RAYE, Chase & Status, Florence and The Machine, and Fontaines D.C. RAYE has just released one of the best albums of the year with This Music May Contain Hope. Charli xcx should have headlined Glastonbury last year, so this is an overdue chance for her to mount her music on a major stage. Songs from her “Wuthering Heights” soundtrack coming to life. Florence + The Machine released Everybody Scream last year. One of the best of 2025. I think they are the most exciting acts headlining. Dave is sensational and will be great, though I do wonder about the age thing. I mentioned this when highlighting how Glastonbury book male artists over forty as headliners but not women (though Florence + The Machine’s Florence Welch turns forty on 28th August - pretty much half-way through the festivals’ run) . Maybe wanting to keep the headliners younger, there are iconic and legendary artists who you would love to see headline. Even so, it is a big step forward for Reading & Leeds.

This article reacted to the recent wave of new names added to the Reading & Leeds billed. There are even more names to come. Pleasingly addressing previous gender inequality whilst keeping things pure but also eclectic in terms of genres, it does bode well for the future. I am genuinely concerned about some major festivals when it comes to headliners and that reliance of male artists. Let’s hope that Reading & Leeds keep up this evolution and next year sees some incredible queens headline. There are brilliant artists like Slayyyter delivering spectacular albums that warrant a headline outing. The fact the headlining women are British too. There will be a lot of support for Charli xcx, RAYE and Florence + The Machine:

“Reading & Leeds has dropped a hefty second wave of names for its 2026 edition, adding more than 60 artists to an already stacked line-up topped by Charli xcx, Chase & Status, Dave, Florence + The Machine, Fontaines D.C. and RAYE.

Leading the new additions are Gunna and Loyle Carner – both set for Reading only – alongside Declan McKenna, Maisie Peters and James Marriott. Elsewhere, indie and alt-pop are well represented with Men I Trust and Viagra Boys (both Reading only), Arthur Hill, The Lathums (Leeds only), Holly Humberstone, Julia Wolf and Clara La San joining the bill, while Paris Paloma, Kingfishr, Slayyyter and The K’s (Leeds only) round out a broad sweep of rising and established names.

The festival has also confirmed the debut of a new arena for 2026 – The Warehouse – a purpose-built space dedicated to dance music. Promising a full club experience, the stage will pair high-spec sound with immersive lighting, signalling a clear push into late-night territory. Among those set to take it over are Max Dean b2b Luke Dean (Reading only), Hybrid Minds and a pair of Skepta link-ups – with Prospa in Reading and East End Dubs in Leeds. The line-up leans heavily into underground and crossover club sounds, with sets from Rossi., Mall Grab, Omar+, Hedex, Silva Bumpa and Notion, alongside appearances from Bou (Reading only), Luuk Van Dijk (Reading only) and a Joss Dean b2b Nafe Smallz set at Reading. Leeds exclusives include Alisha, Locky, [IVY] and Jack Marlow, while Hamdi, Riordan, IN PARALLEL and Meeshy are among those playing both sites.

Beyond the headline-grabbing additions, the latest drop digs deep into emerging talent across genres. YT, Niko B and Bassvictim join the weekend’s line-up, alongside bar italia, SPEED and Frost Children (Reading only). Clementine Douglas, Jane Remover (Reading only) and dexter in the newsagent add further depth, with Cardinals, Westside Cowboy and Say Now also confirmed. New names continue across both sites, including The Lilacs (Leeds only), Overpass, Radio Free Alice (Reading only) and Gurriers (Leeds only), while Seb Lowe, Chloe Qisha and Fliss are among the Reading exclusives.

The bill stretches into a new generation of acts too, with Cruz Beckham and The Breakers, Violet Grohl and The Guest List appearing alongside a raft of buzzy newcomers including Mulaa Joans, Amma, Day We Ran and People I’ve Met. Elsewhere, artists such as Ruby Roberts, Raynor, Pozzy and she’s green underline the festival’s continued focus on discovery.

Set to take place across the August Bank Holiday weekend, Reading & Leeds 2026 is shaping up to be one of the festival’s most expansive editions yet – balancing chart-topping headliners with club culture incursions and a deep bench of next-wave talent”.

It is not only that Reading & Leeds have addressed the male-skewed headline acts and in the process broadened the sound and feel. That will appeal to a wider sector of festival-goers. The entire line-up is a lot more ambitious and eclectic. I think there are purists who turned their nose up at how the festivals are moving away a bit from guitar-based music. Or that older image where a lot of the artists were Alternative, Indie or Rock. Even if Glastonbury is still the biggest British festival, I sort of feel Reading & Leeds have taken bigger steps and done something that Glastonbury did not do last year. That relates to ensuring that their biggest slots represent the amazing women who are contributing so much to music. There is always that issue that a festival may lapse and go back to the older ways. However, you do feel that Reading & Leeds have this new commitment and ethos – and it is great to see! I love the artists that they have announced so far. From Violet Grohl to Men I Trust, Maisie Peters and Loyle Carner. Those incredible and diverse headlines. Chase & Status alongside RAYE. I think that RAYE’s headline slot may be one of the best and most extraordinary the festival have seen. I see Slayyyter is on the bill, yet I feel next year could be one where she headlines. We have artists playing festivals for the first time. Absolutely and Cruz Beckham will play. There is very much something for everyone! With Glastonbury on a fallow year, there is that void and demand that I feel Reading & Leeds have covered! I feel it is one of their best lines-up ever. Some future stars and modern greats standing alongside one another. Their bills are quite diverse and always interesting, yet that male-dominated headline trait and bias was worrying and rightly received criticism. Now that this has been addressed – and let’s hope it is now the norm! -, it really is…

SUCH a relief!

FEATURE: Spotlight: The Femcels

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

IN THIS PHOTO: Gabriella Turton (left) and Rowan Miles (right) of The Femcels/PHOTO CREDIT: Bruno Mosso

The Femcels

__________

HERE is a sensational…

and instantly memorable duo who are creating quite a lot of buzz and conversation. Rowan Miles and Gabriella Turton. In January, the London duo were questioned by Richard Turley for Interview. With the headline declaring/describing their music as “Holy Noise, Horny Despair and the Art of Dreaming Yourself Alive”, it is really interesting discovering how life started for The Femcels. Rather than this being a long plan and them carefully planning, there was a degree of things falling together fairly quickly. It is always hard to say how much longevity artists have when they are starting out. However, on the strength of I Have to Get Hotter, it does seem that they are going to be around for a very long time:

“The Femcels didn’t form so much as coalesce: one broken pink toy guitar, a lobby miracle, four songs recorded drunk in a single night, and suddenly London had another problem. Rowan Miles and Gabriella Turton (Gabi) talk like they make music—fast, feral, funny, allergic to sincerity—ricocheting between hymns, horny despair, indie nihilism, and the sacred fantasy of Pitchfork hating them. They didn’t meet online, dated the same men, stole pick-and-mix, coded homework in dark cinemas, acquired yuppie older boyfriends, posted ads for go-go dancers, and woke up to discover they were already a band. Their debut album I Have to Get Hotter, produced by Ike Clateman (Bassvictim), is out VERY SOON and easily the most exciting, deranged thing I’ve heard in ages — its tracklist reading less like songs than a series of threats: “Even Though Ur Blonde,” “She Seems Kind of Stupid (Draft),” “Please Don’t Stab Yourself Like Elliott Smith.” They skewer pop feminism, sneer at boy-run music culture, loot Catholic hymns for melodies, and flinch (briefly) at the terror of singing in front of another human. If people are going to misunderstand you anyway, the logic goes, you might as well make it unforgettable. Less an origin story than a shared hallucination, documented in real time.

The Femcels didn’t form so much as coalesce: one broken pink toy guitar, a lobby miracle, four songs recorded drunk in a single night, and suddenly London had another problem. Rowan Miles and Gabriella Turton (Gabi) talk like they make music—fast, feral, funny, allergic to sincerity—ricocheting between hymns, horny despair, indie nihilism, and the sacred fantasy of Pitchfork hating them. They didn’t meet online, dated the same men, stole pick-and-mix, coded homework in dark cinemas, acquired yuppie older boyfriends, posted ads for go-go dancers, and woke up to discover they were already a band. Their debut album I Have to Get Hotter, produced by Ike Clateman (Bassvictim), is out VERY SOON and easily the most exciting, deranged thing I’ve heard in ages — its tracklist reading less like songs than a series of threats: “Even Though Ur Blonde,” “She Seems Kind of Stupid (Draft),” “Please Don’t Stab Yourself Like Elliott Smith.” They skewer pop feminism, sneer at boy-run music culture, loot Catholic hymns for melodies, and flinch (briefly) at the terror of singing in front of another human. If people are going to misunderstand you anyway, the logic goes, you might as well make it unforgettable. Less an origin story than a shared hallucination, documented in real time.

RICHARD TURLEY: When did this start?

ROWAN MILES: On the 24th of February 2024, we went into the studio with no music. Just a name: The Femcels.

GABI TURTON: A month before, I was styling Maria from Bassvictim and I brought this pink toy guitar and she broke it. That night we asked Ike if he’d produce for us. The next day in our lobby, the same pink guitar appeared but fixed—it’s a sign from God.

ROWAN: We were scared, so we got really drunk. We recorded four songs in one night and they’re all on the album. Ike understood exactly what we were and made perfect beats for us in what felt like 45 seconds. We were so scared to sing in front of someone. We’d just been handed this whole thing of being musicians in one evening.

TURLEY: So, how did you meet?

ROWAN: Online. Then I saw her across the room. She had her mouth open for a really long time. Then later on you invited me to an awkward girly sleep over.

GABRIELLA: Me and my friend used to do this thing where we would invite girls we thought were cool on Instagram.

ROWAN: We realized we’d dated all the same boys.

GABRIELLA: Then she tried to set me up with her ex-boyfriend and he said he’d bring his friends to the date. I got really freaked out so I brought Rowan along.

TURLEY: Tell me about the lyrics.

ROWAN: They are just all from real life experiences. I was heartbroken and you were a Femcel. They are basically all about this relationship where I was flown out to New York by some rockstar. I was a wannabe groupie and was harnessing the musical powers of these guys through this type of science magic I invented.

TURLEY: You sat on the album for two years. Why release it now?

ROWAN: We had a manager and then we decided we were going to do this record deal and then we really decided that wasn’t what we wanted to do.

GABRIELLA: We reclaimed our indie-ness. We decided to self-publish. That’s what makes sense for us.

TURLEY: How seriously are you taking this?

GABRIELLA: It would be awesome to do music, just music, but London is really expensive. I think we both really enjoy playing shows. I’m just excited to play a show and people actually know more than two songs.

ROWAN: That’s most exciting for people to sing along. There’s two girls that want to audition to be our go-go dancers one of them has black hair and one is blonde so its kinda perfect.

PHOTO CREDIT: Max Mistry

Before ending up with a review of I Have to Get Hotter, I want to shift to an NME and their recent interview. However you want to label their music – “electro-twee-punk” is how NME define it -, it is evident there is that very strong bond between Rowan Miles and Gabriella Turton. I am keen to see them live. NME stepped into The Femcels’ “idiosyncratic world as they prepare for their first headline show and reflect on their recent debut album, ‘I Have To Get Hotter”:

“So far, their instincts seem to have served them well. They started making music in 2024 after Miles, on a whim while working as a stylist, asked Bassvictim’s Ike Clateman to produce for them. On their first night working with Clateman (February 24 – they want it mythologised), they wrote four songs. They released two of these songs, ‘He Needs Me’ and ‘Not Ur Friend’, as singles, which quickly gained traction. Since then, they have performed with the likes of EsDeeKid and Fakemink, been photographed by Hedi Slimane, and opened for Frost Children. Miles has also made an album with Worldpeace DMT that’s well worth checking out. Finally, the duo released their first album, ‘I Have To Get Hotter’, in January 2026.

The album is a joyously chaotic, crude, and often hilarious look into the girls’ mirror-world. It’s a release of pure id that Miles says surprised even them: “It’s shocking when you’re writing a song and the stuff that comes out is stuff you wouldn’t say to anyone. But, it’s like: ‘I’ve written it now, and it works with the melody.’ You end up writing a song about sending a boob pic to a 45-year-old, and that’s the only way to explain your feelings.”

Turton nods: “We’re not crude in real life. I don’t think we’ve ever really talked about sex to each other. But in our music it’s all about that.”

It’s this play between shocking honesty and total absurdity, sincerity and irony, that many find so exciting about The Femcels’ music. They manage to give us hymn-like melodies, guttural screams and twee moments, with knowingly cartoonish production and a miraculously punk sensibility. Far from sarcastic vapidity, these songs belie raw emotion while remaining fun and lighthearted.

“Most of the parts I wrote on this album came from this diary I was writing because I was heartbroken,” says Miles. “I was destroyed and trying to write everything down. I was howling in the house, and it must have been really annoying for everyone else.”

“It’s nice to make things into a joke instead of feeling sad,” adds Turton. “Not to sound like a wet tissue, but the music did heal me a bit. I actually was kind of a femcel when I started making the album, and now I’m kind of not.”

“It’s nice to make things into a joke instead of feeling sad. The music did heal me a bit” – Gabriella Turton

The term ‘femcel’ typically refers to female members of the ‘involuntary celibate’ community. It’s often used ironically, but some who identify with it can be quite protective about the label. The girls say they’ve received hundreds of comments accusing them of being ‘cosplayers’, ‘LARPers’ or ‘fakecels’.

“The project isn’t supposed to be taken too seriously; you should just enjoy it,” says Turton. “But also, I think a lot of the people giving us hate in the comments might relate to [the album], and maybe they should listen to it… Like with the body dysmorphia stuff. In popular media, it’s meant to be that you’re just effortlessly skinny; no one ever really talks about it. Lily Allen talks about it, and I remember thinking that was really cool. I think it’s important to show that people do think about it, and are stressed about it, and you’re not just in your own head”.

I Have to Get Hotter is one of the most distinct, best and important debut albums of this year. An act we are going to gearing from years from now. CLASH sat down with an amazing album and provided their views. For anyone who has not heard their music really needs to get involved and check it out:

“A London duo whose stated ambition in life is to make music Pitchfork will hate, The Femcels aren’t people you should take too seriously. Or is that a pre-conception? Debut album ‘I Have To Get Hotter’ thrives on confusion, a kind of meta-post-ironic feast of sincere insincerity, a project packed with eye-searing colour and fuelled in equal doses by eye-liner and one-liners. It’s funny, occasionally cruel, and ridiculously filthy – truly, what else do you want from pop stars?

The song titles alone are worth the price of entry. ‘No One Will F*ck Me When I Wear Two Different Shoes’ gasps the breath out of your lungs and ‘Please Don’t Stab Yourself (Like Elliot Smith)’ is staggeringly close to the bone. Yet, somehow, they skirt around bad taste and come through unscathed – it’s a record packed with ideas, and held together by some wicked melodies.

At times, 00s indie pop shines through – the Juno soundtrack reworked with a pair of dodgy Casio keyboards and a cracked version of Fruity Loops. Working within their limitations, The Femcels are content to break any rule going – if they run out of words, they simply shriek and scream.

Forever self-referential and self-deprecating, songs like ‘Indiest Girl At School’ and ‘Monster In You’ are endlessly fascinating, while the beeps and sonic burps which fuel the spiteful ‘Not ur friend’ are worthy of those early PC Music uploads on SoundCloud, or even the unjustly overlooked Kero Kero Bonito.

Scrappy, brash, and devoutly punk, it’s done and dusted in 33 minutes. Utilising brevity to pack a punch, one song is a smidge over 90 seconds – it’s as though their TikTok-addled imaginations will self-destruct is the concept of a middle eight is mentioned.

Brutally funny and remarkably imaginative, ‘I Have To Get Hotter’ is brattish, attention-seeking, and at times ridiculous. The Femcels are out there on their own – this album is a riot”.

I guess still seen as a new or rising duo, The Femcels seem like they will dominate festivals very soon. As they produce more work, their fanbase will grow and there will be this increased demand. I Have to Get Hotter is a phenomenal album. Go and follow them now. All the hype and love around them is…

MORE than justified.

___________

Follow The Femcels

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/thef_mcels/

Bandcamp:

https://thefemcels.bandcamp.com/

YouTube:

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

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6IEfd4F10D3zvJ9N6DNmvK?si=xz2UmBSQSEiSeXQ1KICt0Q

FEATURE: The Great American Songbook: Sabrina Carpenter

FEATURE:

 

 

The Great American Songbook

PHOTO CREDIT: Steven Meisel

Sabrina Carpenter

__________

THIS time out…

for The Great American Songbook, I am featuring twenty songs from one of the biggest artists on the planet, Sabrina Carpenter. Her most recent album, Man’s Best Friend, was released last year. I feel that the Pennsylvania-born artist and actor is one of the true greats. Someone who is most definitely a global superstar. I really love all of her albums, though Man’s Best Friend might be her best. I will come to that playlist. I am starting out with AllMusic, who provide some background and biography:

“Grammy-winning singer and actor Sabrina Carpenter is known for her sweetly ebullient, often lyrically candid brand of dance-oriented pop. Although no stranger to fans, Carpenter landed a global summer hit with 2024's "Espresso," reaching number three on the Hot 100. Building upon her early years as the star of the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World, she embarked on a successful music career, releasing albums including 2016's Top 30-charting EVOLution. In the meantime, she continued to act, appearing in movies such as 2019's Tall Girl and the next year's Clouds. After signing with Island Records, she issued her fifth LP, 2022's emails i can't send, which reached 23 on the Billboard 200 and was followed by the 2023 holiday EP Fruitcake. In 2024, Carpenter delivered her sixth studio album, Short n' Sweet, led by the disco- and funk-infused hit "Espresso" and the number one Hot 100 single "Please Please Please." Heralded by the cheerful chart-topper "Manchild," she delivered Man's Best Friend LP in 2025.

Born Sabrina Annlyne Carpenter in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, on May 11, 1999, she became interested in performing at a young age. By age ten, she was going to auditions with her parents and won her first part playing a guest role on the hit NBC drama Law & Order: SVU. Two years later, she was cast as the best friend of Rowan Blanchard on the Disney Channel's coming-of-age sitcom Girl Meets World, the sequel to the immensely popular '90s sitcom Boy Meets World. Carpenter inked a deal with Hollywood Records and issued the single "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" in March 2014, which was followed by her debut EP of the same name a month later. In 2015, she delivered her full-length debut, Eyes Wide Open. It peaked at number 43 on the Billboard 200. She returned the following year with her sophomore album, EVOLution, and embarked on a sold-out headlining tour. Next up was a starring role in the Disney Channel's version of Adventures in Babysitting, a few months before EVOLution peaked at number 28 on the Billboard 200.

In 2017, Carpenter teamed up with social media star Jasmine Thompson for a soulful cover of Harry Styles' "Sign of the Times." That same year, she worked with the Vamps and Mike Perry on the track "Hands," released the solo single "Why," headlined her own The De-Tour concert tour, and was featured on Lost Kings' "First Love." The latter landed in the Top 30 of Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. "Alien," Carpenter's first release of 2018, was a collaboration with British producer and DJ Jonas Blue that climbed to number 12 on the same chart. It was followed by an appearance in the film The Hate U Give, based on the Angie Thomas young adult novel. That November, Carpenter issued her third solo long-player, Singular: Act I. A companion piece, Act II, arrived in 2019, as did "On My Way," a collaboration with Alan Walker and Farruko that cracked the Top Ten of the dance/electronic chart. Before the end of 2019, Carpenter also appeared in the Netflix original film Tall Girl.

In 2020, the singer issued the Valentine's Day single "Honeymoon Fades" just before making her Broadway debut as Cady Heron in the musical Mean Girls. Her run only lasted a couple days, though, as theaters closed their doors on March 12 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. (The production officially closed during the lockdown.) Later in the year, however, Carpenter could be seen in the Netflix musical film Work It and in the Disney+ musical film Clouds, which she starred in alongside Fin Argus.

Meanwhile, she headed to the studio with Captain Cuts' Ryan McMahon, returning with the single "Skin" in January 2021. It marked her debut for Island Records. Another track, "Skinny Dipping," arrived that September as the first single off her fifth studio album, emails i can't send. Released in July 2022, the record peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200 and spawned several more popular singles, including the John Ryan-produced "Fast Times" and the Jason Evigan-produced "Vicious." A cover of Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble" arrived in October 2023. A month later, Carpenter delivered the holiday-themed EP Fruitcake, which featured originals including the single "A Nonsense Christmas," as well as a pop-infused rendition of the Irving Berlin classic "White Christmas."

Released in April 2024, her single "Espresso" became a global smash, topping several charts around the world and making the Top Five in the U.S. She followed it a couple months later with "Please Please Please." Both singles paved the way for her sixth studio album, 2024's Short n' Sweet, which found her working with producers Jack Antonoff and Julian Bunetta. Along with topping the Billboard 200, the album also picked up Grammy nominations for Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. At the 2025 ceremony, she took home her first Grammy Awards for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance.

Carpenter reunited with Antonoff for her next album, and the lead single, June 2025's bright, tinny synth pop tune "Manchild," was another international hit; it went to number one in the U.K., Ireland, and in the States. The complete Man's Best Friend followed on Island in August”.

I am a big fan of Sabrina Carpenter and am excited by what is next. There is this tease of a video for House Tour that will feature the incredible Margaret Qualley and Madelyn Cline. Three queens together in a video that looks like it will be cool and bad-ass! I wonder if she will take up some acting roles in addition to releasing new music. Later this month, Carpenter plays the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2026, though I am not sure what comes after that. This playlist assembles essential Sabrina Carpenter cuts. Proving that she is…

A Pop great.