FEATURE: Talking’ Bout Hey Love: De La Soul’s De La Soul Is Dead at Thirty-Five

FEATURE:

 

 

Talking’ Bout Hey Love

 

De La Soul’s De La Soul Is Dead at Thirty-Five

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THE Daisy Age…

IN THIS PHOTO: De La Soul in January 1991/PHOTO CREDIT: Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty

did not last long. Maybe overwatered or kept in harsh conditions, De La Soul pretty much declared it dead on their second studio album. Released in 1989, 3 Feet High and Rising was this Daisy Age classic. Against a Hip-Hop scene that was political and aggressive, they put out something that was harmonious, funny, loving and gentle. Not that De La Soul Is Dead revered and undid all of that. It seemed to be the tag that was applied to them was shaken off. The cover of their second studio album shows a pot with daisies tipped over and broken. I do wonder if a certain reaction from their peers or a feeling within the group led them to distance themselves from The Daisy Age. Like their classic intro, De La Soul Is Dead contains skits, humour and truly incredible samples. I want to go inside it now, as the album turns thirty-five on 13th May (it was released a day later in the U.S.). Whilst not as acclaimed and heralded as the 1989-released debut, its 1991 follow-up is still a work of genius. Technically The D.A.I.S.Y. (Da Inner Sound, Y'all) Age, Posdnuos, Maseo and the late Trugoy the Dove managed to evolve and retain their core fanbase. The first single from De La Soul Is Dead was Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey). Considered one of their signature songs. De La Soul is a classic case of critics being divided at the time but retrospection being a lot kinder. Many expecting a same-sounding album to 3 Feet High and Rising. I am starting out with Albumism and their retrospective. Marking thirty years of De La Soul Is Dead back in 2021, it is worth shining new light on it. Often overlooked by those who could not accept De La Soul changing or not wanting to repeat themselves. Or feeling that same quality was not there:

“This is a journey back in time. A trip down musical memory lane, back to a bygone era nostalgically regarded by many as nothing short of golden. An age when hip-hop music was fundamentally defined by a vivacity and adventurism that has evolved, expanded, and mostly faded over the past few decades.

This is also the story of three gifted gentlemen who proved instrumental in defining hip-hop during this most fertile of periods in the genre and culture’s storied history. Formed in 1987 on Long Island, NY by Kelvin Mercer (“Posdnuos”), David Jude Jolicoeur (“Dave,” formerly “Trugoy the Dove”), and Vincent Lamont Mason Jr. (“Maseo”), the imitable De La Soul have always been and continue to be the embodiment of all that is pure and unfettered about hip-hop. True masters of the art form. Trusted ambassadors of the culture. Treasures of American music.

In the late 1980s through the mid 1990s, De La Soul—together with their kindred musical spirits the Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest—evolved the Native Tongues’ unique aesthetic and philosophy, defined in equal measures by whimsy and wit, unparalleled bohemian cool, Afrocentric sophistication, and admirable humility. Musically, the collective placed a heavy premium on appropriating and reimagining a widely varied array of samples, across rock, folk, pop, soul, funk, jazz and beyond, in the interest of crafting fresh and vibrant compositions that reinforced the power of music to move minds, bodies, and souls.

When it comes to the quality and consistency of musical output, even among the many incredibly skilled and prolific artists that emerged during hip-hop’s seminal golden era, only a select few can rightfully claim masterpiece status for each of their first four albums of their careers. De La Soul most certainly fulfill this rarefied criteria, and I’d argue that their legendary colleagues Eric B. & Rakim, Public Enemy, and the aforementioned Tribe qualify as well.

While most fans and critics alike cite De La’s watershed 1989 debut LP 3 Feet High and Rising as the strongest album of their esteemed catalog, I’ve always considered their sophomore album De La Soul Is Dead to be their greatest achievement to date. In fact, I’d say it qualifies as one of my five favorite albums of all time across all genres, perhaps even cracking my top three. OK, definitely cracking my top three”.

I want to draw in this review from last year. There are generations growing up who do not know De Soul and an album like De La Soul Is Dead. Modern Hip-Hop is really different to what it was in 1991, so perhaps it does not instantly resonate. However, released during a classic period of the genre, this album still holds up and sounds fantastic:

“The opening “Intro” is a stage setting. A thread is introduced, a storyline of characters discovering a discarded copy of De La Soul Is Dead. This device allows the group to comment on their own public perception, the shifting currents of Hip Hop, and the very act of listening. It’s a playful, almost self-aware approach, as though anticipating the questions and criticisms that would inevitably arise. This sets up a framework that, while conceptually interesting, occasionally disrupts the album’s pacing.

Then comes “Oodles of O’s.” No grand entrance here, but a simple, almost hypnotic bassline emerges. It’s a groove that settles deep, allowing the rhymes to take center stage. Posdnuos, Trugoy, and Maseo deliver their verses with a precise, conversational flow. The words address the growing commercialization of Hip Hop, a shadow that hangs over the entire album. It’s not a furious condemnation, but a wry observation, a commentary on the pressures and allure of the industry.

“Talkin’ Bout Hey Love” brings a change in atmosphere. A sample of Stevie Wonder’s classic provides the bedrock, but it’s not a simple copy. The instrumental arrangement is intricate, with layers of sound that weave in and out. The track becomes a dialogue, a verbal exchange between Posdnuos and a female voice, exploring the complexities of relationships. There’s a touch of melancholy, a sense of searching for connection in a world that often feels disconnected.

“Johnny’s Dead AKA Vincent Mason (Live From the BK Lounge)” takes a sharp turn into the unexpected. The recording quality is deliberately rough, like a worn-out cassette tape. The track presents itself as a live performance, complete with background chatter and stage ambiance. The song itself is a dark tale, dealing with violence and its aftermath. It’s delivered with a darkly comedic tone, but the underlying message is unsettling.

Then, a jolt of pure energy: “A Roller Skating Jam Named ‘Saturdays’.” This track provides a necessary dose of levity. The instrumental is pure funk, with a driving rhythm and an irresistible groove. It’s a celebration of weekend release, a reminder of simpler pleasures. The energy is contagious, making it one of the album’s most immediately appealing moments.

The album continues with “Kicked Out the House,” incorporating elements of house music. “Pass the Plugs” offers a moment of reflection, with a melancholic instrumental. “Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)” addresses the frustrations of dealing with unsolicited demos, with a catchy and upbeat instrumental. “Shwingalokate” explores more experimental territory, with unusual sound effects and a disjointed structure. “Fanatic of the B Word” features guest appearances, adding another layer to the sound. “Keepin’ the Faith” takes a more traditional Hip Hop approach.

The album concludes with a final skit, closing the storyline. The characters discard the album, deeming it lacking in the elements they associate with Hip Hop. This ending serves as a final commentary on the album’s themes, questioning the very definition of the genre.

De La Soul Is Dead is a complex and ambitious work. It retains De La Soul’s signature creativity and wordplay while venturing into darker territory and a more challenging  musical landscape. The album’s structure, with its recurring skits and diverse musical styles, creates a rich and engaging experience, but the sheer number of interludes and the album’s length can hinder a smooth and continuous listen. While conceptually strong, the constant interruptions can disrupt the flow of the music.

Following the passing of Trugoy the Dove in February 2023, the album takes on a new layer of poignancy. With its complex themes and innovative approach, De La Soul Is Dead remains a significant part of his legacy, a reminder of his artistry and his impact on  music. It is a work that continues to resonate, not only as a snapshot of a particular moment in Hip Hop history, but as an exploration of artistic growth, the pressures of expectation, and the ever-shifting landscape of music itself. It is a complex, layered, and ultimately rewarding experience”.

Before finishing off with another review, I will bring in a 1991 interview from Rolling Stone. A trio that was concerned less with neon, flowers, jokes and everything associated with their 1989 debut, they were now concerned with growing up. De La Soul Is Dead was a symbolic killing of the old selves and this introduction to the new De La Soul:

“With its Day-Glo cover, peace signs and flowers and its rhymes about the coming of the “D.A.I.S.Y. Age” (which stands not for a new form of flower power but for “Da Inner Sound, Y’all”), 3 Feet High and Rising earned the members of De La Soul an image as the hippies of hip-hop, a description the group has never accepted. Dove thinks that “100 percent of the people listening to De La Soul were really attached to the image and not to what we were trying to say.” Pos says that when he and his partners returned to the studio for the new album, they were determined to shake the familiar De La image. “We didn’t want to be pinned down to a visual look,” he says, “and so we thought, ‘This whole daisy thing has to just die.”’

Indeed, the stylish black-and-white video for “Ring Ring Ring” includes a slow-motion shot of a pot of daisies falling off a table and shattering to bits. It’s a neat summary of De La Soul Is Dead‘s achievement; from the unblinking anticrack narrative “My Brother’s a Basehead” to the elaborate tale of sexual abuse and revenge in “Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa,” this is the work of an older, wiser De La Soul. Not that the group’s lighter touch is gone – its repartee with a Burger King waitress in “Bitties in the BK Lounge,” for instance, is at least as silly as anything on the first album.

“I feel like we’re showing something else to the people we introduced to a whole new sound on the first album,” says Pos. “Like a lot of the white kids – we’re bringing them to more of a street level this time.” Mase says: “We wanted to show the one side that, yo, it ain’t gotta be a rough beat all the time. And let the other side know there is a rough side.”

This expanded scope makes for a demanding, often bewildering brew. The beats are slow for a hip-hop album, and the grooves are often interrupted by spoken-word segments or careening tempo changes. The three rappers are sometimes too clever for their own good. But they’ve anticipated some of the criticism they’ll undoubtedly provoke: The game-show theme that ran through 3 Feet High has been replaced by a “read-along” story of three knucklehead hoods who bully a schoolmate into giving them a De La Soul tape he’s found in the garbage. They’re not impressed. “These rhymes are so corny,” our narrators complain. “Sounds like Vanilla Ice wrote ’em.”

The hip-hop world has been waiting so long for this album that it’s easy to forget just how young the members of De La Soul are. At twenty-two, Trugoy is the oldest, but the trio has been together for almost six years. Kelvin Mercer (Posdnuos, 21), David Jolicoeur (Trugoy) and Vincent Mason Jr. (Maseo, 21, formerly Pase Master Mase) first met in high school in Amityville, a quiet suburb about an hour’s drive from Manhattan but one that has not been untouched by the city’s problems. After kicking around in assorted local groups, the three recorded a home demo of their own “Plug Tunin’,” which sampled Liberace and utilized large doses of their private, whacked-out slang.

Mase played the song for his neighbor, Prince Paul (Paul Houston) of Stetsasonic, who started circulating the tape among local DJs. Soon, De La Soul was the talk of the New York rap world and the subject of a bidding war. The trio signed with the rap-specialty label Tommy Boy Records in 1988. Mase was still in high school.

Prince Paul, who Pos calls “the fourth member of De La Soul,” produced 3 Feet High, an astonishing contrast to rap’s tired bass pumping and chest thumping. Soon, the press was running lengthy explanations of the group’s in jokes, expressions and names (Trugoy is yogurt, Jolicoeur’s favorite food, spelled backward; Posdnuos is an inversion of Sop Sound, Mercer’s old DJ tag). De La’s impact was even more visible on the street. Even as the three admonished listeners to stop wearing trendy clothing on “Take It Off” and preached nonconformity on the album’s first track (“Casually see but don’t do like the Soul/’Cause seeing and doing are actions for monkeys”), their bright, baggy shirts and short dreadlocks became the year’s most copied styles.

But late in 1989, De La Soul’s creative process came under fire; the group became the subject of the biggest antisampling lawsuit ever. “Transmitting Live From Mars” is a minute-long gag made up of a French-language instruction record played over an eerie organ loop. Flo and Eddie of the Turtles (and now New York radio DJs) recognized the snatch of keyboards from one of their old records and, alleging that they had never been approached for permission to use it, filed a $1.7 million suit. (The parties settled out of court last August for an undisclosed amount.)

The implications of the lawsuit, more than anything else, slowed the release of De La Soul Is Dead. The album was essentially completed last fall, but it has taken almost four months to process the paperwork necessary to clear all of the samples. “Now everybody is looking for De La Soul to sample them,” says Mase. And indeed, just before the album was mastered, Herb Alpert refused permission to use the Dating Game theme on a new comic bit, which had to be pulled.

This time, though, there are virtually no samples as instantly recognizable as the Hall and Oates or Parliament-Funkadelic riffs on the debut. “Before, I just sampled things that I grew up on and loved, the music our parents listened to,” says Mase. “I still do that, but now I’ll sample anything – I’ll sample knocking on the wall, I’ll sample Tony! Toni! Tone! – anything that sounds good.”

Such wildly imaginative sampling, a refreshing departure from the usual, overfamiliar James Brown breaks, has extended De La Soul’s appeal far beyond traditional hip-hop fans, most notably to white college kids. But will that crowd be able to follow the twists and turns of De La Soul Is Dead? Dove says: “It’s not the same feeling as 3 Feet, where as soon as you put the needle on the record, you jumped to it. But I think people will have faith in us and say, ‘Let’s listen to it for a little while, let’s see what’s really happening.”’ Mase says: “We see this album as directed more to our peers, but it also gives our alternative audience a chance to hear what our peers listen to. Really, instead of being a step ahead, it’s a step back to where our roots are.”

Some of the subject matter, though, is a decisive step forward. “My Brother’s a Basehead,” a bonus cut on the CD, is the most hard-hitting rap the group has recorded yet. Posdnuos says the song’s powerful story is no accident and no joke; he wrote it from personal experience. “One of my older brothers was fucked up on crack,” he says. “I wrote that song basically straight from the anger that I had inside.” Happily, one detail is changed from real life: Unlike the song’s subject, Pos’s brother is currently in rehab.

Similarly, “Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa,” an almost surreal and technically breathtaking rap about a friendly social worker who sexually abuses his daughter, is based on a story related to Posdnuos by a friend. “Whatever we see,” says Pos, “whether it’s from within us or what we learn or see in the streets, that’s what we write about.” Mase says that the new album is “more self-explanatory” than 3 Feet High: “It’s like looking into a mirror. We even wanted to have a mirror as the inner sleeve. Because looking to the album, you see yourself.”

The members of De La Soul are trying  to do something no rap group has ever really done: They’re trying to grow up. It would have been easy to return to the D.A.I.S.Y. path; 3 Feet High, Part 2 probably would have flown off the shelves. “The record company was very into the ingredients that went into the first album,” says Posdnuos, “but we told them we were gonna try something new, and it could either fail or work. If it fails, we don’t feel like it’s gonna kill our careers.” Dove says: “The whole D.A.I.S.Y. Age thing worked, so we went along with it. We wanted to take that ladder, and then when we got to the top, we could do our own thing from that point on.”

De La Soul cultivated one of the strongest, freshest and most identifiable images in hip-hop, but having to stay in character outside the studio very quickly proved too limiting for these bright, shy rappers. “Every minute you’re on guard,” Pos says. “I can’t put the Posdnuos thing down for a second.” He cites an unlikely star as inspiration: “If you look at David Bowie and compare how he changed all through the years, that’s how De La Soul would like to come across.”

Some things, of course, don’t change overnight. The members of De La Soul are still three Long Island kids, the kind who drink Hawaiian Punch and who still joke that their real ambition is to open a doughnut shop. But Posdnuos says: “People ask, ‘Has success changed you?’ Obviously, it has – it changes everything from eating habits to thinking habits. It’s hectic, I’m losing hair, but it’s cool.” And do people still ask if the guys in De La Soul are hippies? “When we go to photo shoots, everyone wants to mess with flowers,” says Posdnuos, “but all that is starting to be cleared up. Now everyone wants us to be with caskets”.

I will end up with a review from Treble published in 2008. Anyone who has not heard De La Soul Is Dead needs to give it a shot. Even if it is quite a long listen, I do think that it is one of the most important Hip-Hop albums ever. De La Soul would follow it with 1993’s Buhloone Mindstate:

“One can imagine the burden on De La Soul following the critical and commercial success of Three Feet High and Rising. So much praise, so much pay, and already pigeonholed as hippies of hip hop. Where to go next? De La Soul went dark and disjointed. The result is an album that addresses their success, their own image, and the trends they saw in the hip hop community (i.e., the growth of gangsta rap). Prince Paul’s mixing mastery is still on display (his quirkiest work is the old-timey, bone-tapping “Pease Porridge”), and Posdnuos, Trugoy, and Mase can still flow like champs. There is even some humor (albeit brief, and sometimes dark) on the album, like the mumbled Slick Rick lyrics, or the kazoos and snappy snaps on “Bitties in the BK Lounge.” Yet overall, De La Soul is Dead is edgier, darker, older, and more cynical than its predecessor. Sure, that’s an easy feat given the Technicolor vibe of their debut, but what astounds is how dark they get. It’s not like it’s all gloomy or anything, but compared to Three Feet High and Rising, it’s none more black.

The three singles off the album are all strong spots. “A Roller Skating Jam Named ‘Saturdays'” is the funkiest of the funky bunch, capturing the excitement of the one day to play after five days of work (which means De La Soul rolls on Shabbos, but doesn’t roll on the Sabbath). “Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)” relates the group’s frustrations dealing with overzealous aspiring artists who want to use De La Soul to get into the music business. It features a great refrain that could double as a voicemail message. “Keepin’ the Faith” deals with gold diggers and actually features a sample that is reminiscent of the backing tracks on Three Feet High and Rising.

But “Oodles of Os,” the album’s lead off track, presents the marked shift in De La Soul’s tone. Rather than the big synth blasts of “Me, Myself, and I” or a whistling Otis Redding on “Eye Know,” the backing track on “Oodles of Os” is mostly just a jazzy, descending bassline over drums. The sample on the following song, “Talkin’ Bout Hey, Love,” is a little off-kilter and out of tune. By the time you hit “Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa” in the middle of the album, you are completely immersed in some dark territory. After you listen to the tale of a girl sexually molested by her own dad, you’re then bombarded by “Who Do You Worship,” in which the narrator–a misanthropic dickhead–thinks about how good he feels about being bad.

After all of that, you almost feel the need to step a way and take a break, and those breaks come in the form of one of the album’s skits. The framing narrative of De La Soul is Dead is a bit of pomo self-reflection that would make Charlie Kaufman smile: People who don’t like De La Soul is Dead listening to a stolen copy of De La Soul is Dead. It’s clever and it’s as if De La Soul anticipated that their album would be a commercial failure, especially when compared to their debut.

Since its release, however, De La Soul is Dead has developed a greater following. It’s an album that grows on you with each listen, and what was jarring at first seems less so each go round. At the end of the album, the guys in the framing narrative throw away a copy of De La Soul is Dead. They lament that it lacks pimps, lacks guns, and lacks curse words. Of course, the soul being invisible and intangible, it’s obvious they didn’t sense the album’s soul when they trashed it. They proclaim in unison, “De La Soul is dead”.

On 13th May, it will be thirty-five years since De La Soul Is Dead was released in the U.K. Splitting critics, it was still a commercial success. In years following its release, the album has rightly been labelled as one of the best Hip-Hop releases ever. Thirty-five years after its release and this important and sensational album…

STILL hits the spot.

FEATURE: The Girl Who Wanted to Be God: Manic Street Preachers’ Everything Must Go at Thirty

FEATURE:

 

 

The Girl Who Wanted to Be God

 

Manic Street Preachers’ Everything Must Go at Thirty

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I previously wrote…

about the lead single from Manic Street Preachers’ Everything Must Go, A Design for Life, as it turns thirty on 15th April. I am writing this feature in March but sharing it in April, as the band’s fourth studio album turns thirty on 20th May. I am going to get to features and reviews of this amazing album. It was the first record released as a trio, following the disappearance of lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards. Reaching number two upon its release, Everything Must Go is often cited among the greatest albums ever released. There are a few features I want to come to first. They give us some background behind Everything Must Go. It must have been one of the most challenging of the band’s career. Considering Richie Edwards’s disappearance and uncertainty around him, it would have been almost impossible to focus. However, what Manic Street Preachers released on 20th May, 1996 is one of the most powerful and enduring albums ever. In 2016, twenty years after Everything Must Go was released, The Line of Best Fit reflect on this masterpiece. Even though Richey Edwards went missing in 1995, it was still very much raw in the mind of the trio of James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire and Sean Moore. The article charts the build-up to Everything Must Go and the gruelling tour in support of 1994’s The Holy Bible. I pick the story up here:

“What would, fifteen months later, be released as Everything Must Go was fairly improbable prior to that day in February, but seemed utterly impossible thereafter. Left with so many questions, Bradfield, Moore and Wire found a shared focus in crafting a remarkably accomplished record. The Manics were not known for conjuring meticulously sculpted music. They’d blustered onto the scene at the start of the decade making forever-quoted claims about selling sixteen million copies of their debut and then splitting up, unfortunately forgetting to then actually record an album worthy of such grand figures. The shambling Guns N’ Roses-light reverb-laced polish that was applied to the majority of the sixteen songs neutered much of their early punk energy, only for the follow up, Gold Against The Soul, to head even further down the hard rock route. By the time The Holy Bible arrived, with its raw inertia and uncompromising intensity, people were losing interest and failed to notice the change.

The space is what stands out the most. It’s there on the album cover, with the band’s portraits neatly arranged in the middle of so much unassuming pastel blue. It’s there in the parentheses below the album’s title, hinting at what is missing. It’s there in James Dean Bradfield’s audible breath at the start of Interiors (Song For Willem De Kooning) which offers a very literal manifestation of the fact he “wanted [the music] to breathe a bit.”

 

Such a pause was rare in the band’s catalogue to date, lyrics normally dominating their songs to such an extent that they necessitated a machine-gun fire delivery from their beleaguered frontman. And yet, Everything Must Go is an album that is delicately arranged. Revered British poet Simon Armitage recently observed rather beautifully that “prose fills a space, like a liquid poured from the top, but poetry occupies it, arrays itself in formation, sets up camp and refuses to budge.” This description perfectly captures the transition that occurs between the songs of The Holy Bible and its successor.

The record’s first single, the song with which the band chose to step out into the public gaze once again, "A Design For Life", is built around only ten lines. That’s ‘only’ in the sense of size alone, for their impact is not to be underestimated. The boozy culture of Britpop had birthed an asinine notion that the working classes were stupid and driven by simple desires. The reclaiming of their status as those capable of intellectual insurgency resulted in the subsequently slightly misappropriated rallying cry of “we only want to get drunk.” Originally intended to highlight the media’s characterising of that section of society, even the band themselves later admitted that the quest for oblivion when eloquence alludes was a feeling with which they were all too familiar of late. It remains the final song in the band’s live sets, twenty years later.

Even if most of their new audience missed the irony of bawling their way through what they perceived to be a paean to alcoholic obliteration, it provided a fortuitous foothold in the world of laddish indie that was dominating the UK music scene at the time. Bradfield remains defiant that “we were not Britpop”, but this rare period, during which the acts who adorned the pages of the weekly music press were somehow also dominating the charts, provided the perfect platform for this oft-overlooked Welsh band to gain purchase in the nation’s affections.

 

Such elevation was soon to be formally confirmed. Taking to the stage in a t-shirt stenciled with the phrase ‘I Love Hoovering’ to collect two BRIT Awards in February 1997, Nicky Wire, with Bradfield and Moore alongside him, looked in his element. Everything Must Go had just been named album of the year and the Manic Street Preachers had gone from being perilously close to having no record deal to occupying the position of Best British Band.

After Bradfield had delivered conventional awards show thank yous, Wire grabbed hold of the microphone and proclaimed “this is also for every comprehensive school in Britain which the government is trying to eradicate. They produce the best bands, the best art and the best everything. The best boxers too.” It was delightfully incoherent and typically out of step with everything else that happened that evening, but the warmth with which it was greeted neatly highlighted the scale of their acceptance in the mainstream. Ten months on from their return, they were heralded by the public and their peers alike, revered in a way to which they were entirely unaccustomed.

The evolution was complete but at what price? Manics diehards were not used to sharing standing room with the beer-swilling Oasis fans, the meticulous anti-image had produced the strange sight of Bradfield on Saturday night television in double denim and even he still wasn’t happy, recalling “there was never a moment where it felt like we won.” Greater triumphs lay ahead, but those twelve songs taken together formed a truly classic album. In an age where endless promotional schedules necessitate insincere hyperbolic proclamations about each new release, it’s heartening to hear Wire stating emphatically that he’s “not afraid to say that I think it’s our best record.” He’s right”.

There is not much written about Everything Must Go and you’d hope. However, I do want to source from Riffology and their feature from last year. They looked at the making of the 1996 album. From the genesis through to the recording process and the commercial success of it. I recall when it came out. I was aware of Manic Street Preachers but this album was a revelation. It awoke me to their brilliance:

“From the start, the creative direction was clear: this would not be a repeat of The Holy Bible. As James Dean Bradfield later told NME, “We didn’t want to make another album about darkness. We wanted to make something more open, more anthemic, something that felt like a release.” The band kept five sets of lyrics Richey had left behind, weaving them into new songs, while Nicky Wire took on a larger role as lyricist. Musically, the band moved toward bigger, more symphonic arrangements, embracing strings, synths, and expansive choruses.

Here’s a look at the band members and their roles on the album:

Recording costs for Everything Must Go were financed by the band’s label, Epic Records. The sessions were not extravagant by major label standards, but the band invested heavily in time and effort, determined to get every detail right. There is no evidence of major financial challenges, but the emotional stakes were high. The working title, Sounds in the Grass, drew inspiration from Jackson Pollock’s paintings, hinting at the abstract, searching quality of the music. The final title, Everything Must Go, came from a play by Nicky Wire’s brother, Patrick Jones. It captured the sense of change, loss, and the need to move forward.

The album’s artwork, designed by Mark Farrow, featured minimalist blue and white imagery, with a Jackson Pollock quote inside: “The pictures I contemplate painting would constitute a halfway state and attempt to point out the direction of the future – without arriving there completely.” The cover’s clean lines and cool colours reflected the album’s themes of clarity, renewal, and looking ahead.

Recording Process

Entering the studio, the band knew they had something to prove. Recording began in late 1995 and continued into 1996, taking place across three main studios: Chateau de la Rouge Motte in France, Big Noise in Cardiff, and Real World Studios in Box, England. Chateau de la Rouge Motte, owned by producer Mike Hedges, was particularly important. The studio boasted a mixing desk originally from Abbey Road, adding a touch of history and prestige. According to Bradfield, the choice of Hedges as producer was influenced by his work with Siouxsie and the Banshees, especially the song “Swimming Horses”.

 

Mike Hedges brought decades of experience to the sessions. Known for his work with The Cure, The Associates, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, Hedges was skilled at blending lush arrangements with sharp rock dynamics. He worked closely with engineer Ian Grimble, and the band themselves took a hands-on approach. Dave Eringa, a longtime collaborator, produced and mixed the track “No Surface All Feeling” and mixed “Australia”. Stephen Hague, another respected producer, handled the original production for “The Girl Who Wanted to Be God”. The team used a blend of analogue and digital equipment, with an emphasis on warmth and clarity.

The studio setup at Chateau de la Rouge Motte included classic microphones, vintage compressors, and a legendary Abbey Road desk. While the exact gear list is not fully documented, we can make educated assumptions based on the studios’ capabilities and the era’s technology. Here’s a likely list of hardware and instruments used during the recording:

Throughout the sessions, the band faced moments of doubt and exhaustion. Yet, the process was also marked by bursts of inspiration. “A Design for Life” came together in less than ten minutes, with Nicky Wire describing it as “a bolt of light from a dark place.” The band aimed for a sound influenced by Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, The Cure, Joy Division, and Magazine. The drum sound, in particular, was crucial—James Dean Bradfield said, “The drum sound had to set the tone for the whole record.”

Producer Mike Hedges has an extensive discography. Here is a table of notable albums he produced (excluding Everything Must Go):

Commercial Performance and Reception

When Everything Must Go was released on 20 May 1996, it was an immediate commercial triumph. The album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, selling 60,000 copies in its first week. It remained in the Top 5 for a year and spent 104 weeks in the UK Top 100. According to the Official Charts Company, it has sold 1,097,865 copies in the UK, earning triple platinum status. Worldwide sales exceed two million copies, making it one of the band’s biggest successes.

Internationally, the album charted across Europe, Asia, and Australia. It peaked at number 12 in Ireland, 21 in Sweden, 29 in Finland and New Zealand, 40 in Denmark, 50 in Austria, 55 in Australia, and 63 in the Netherlands. The singles “A Design for Life,” “Everything Must Go,” “Kevin Carter,” and “Australia” all reached the UK Top 10, with “A Design for Life” peaking at number two and going silver (over 200,000 copies sold)”.

I am going to end with a review for Everything Must Go. Maybe there are better of more appropriate reviews for Everything Must Go, though I want to quote NME and their take. Reflecting a lot of reaction to Manic Street Preachers and the disappearance of Richey Edwards, there was a lot of focus on the album in relation to that event and how it affected the band and their music:

“Will they use any of the large pile of lyrics he left behind, or will they choose to press forward with a new ideal? Will they persist with the powerful, mangled claustrophobia of 'The Holy Bible', or will they broaden their sound to incorporate a lusher vision? Will there be songs about Richey or will the issue be skirted? For those who never fell prey to the Manics' charms, the idea that Richey's input wouldn't even be missed is understandable. He was derided as the guitarist who didn't play on the records and who used his instrument onstage merely as a visual prop. But fans know that his ideology, sleeve design and lyrics were the driving force behind the band. How can they carry on without him?

Well, whatever powers them forward now - and it can't be born of the same grim intensity as before - tragedy has not dimmed the Manics' creative glow. 'Everything Must Go' does not collapse under its own sheer significance in the way that New Order's first album did after Ian Curtis' suicide and Joy Division's subsequent split. It's a record that races with heavenly string arrangements and huge sweeps of emotive rock orchestration, one that bristles with a brittle urgency. It is not a wake, but the sound of a band in bloom.

The crucial pointer to this can be found in the realistic optimism of Nicky Wire's lyrics on the title track (the compulsion to pore over the words on the whole album is necessarily huge). "I just hope that you can forgive us," bellows James Dean Bradfield during the chorus, as strings and guitars clash tunefully around him, "but everything must go." How long must they have agonised over these sentiments among themselves, let alone publicly, before committing them to tape? Yet the result is gloriously cathartic.

Richey's lyrics account for five of the 12 songs - three written on his own, two finished in his absence by Nicky - but there are no motivational clues here, as he wrote them while working with the band. Still, the bleak intelligence of the man

8/10”.

There will be a lot of new things written about Everything Must Go ahead of its thirtieth anniversary on 20th May. I wanted to come in early and discuss one of the finest and most important albums ever. 1996 was a year when Britpop was still here and Spice Girls came through. British music was changing and shifting. It was a strange time for Manic Street Preachers. Losing a band member and having to recalibrate, Everything Must Go could have been a mess or something very dark and forgettable. As it is, the Welsh band’s fourth studio album stands up today and is this work of brilliance. Ahead of its thirtieth anniversary, do go and check it out. A twentieth anniversary edition was released in 2016, so I wonder if there are plans for anything on its thirtieth. Cathartic and more polished than what came before, Everything Must Go was a breakthrough, in the sense that Manic Street Preachers reached a whole new audience. All these years later and Everything Must Go is…

THEIR most enduring work.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Nadia Kadek

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Phoebe Fox

Nadia Kadek

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A British-Indonesian artist…

who released the stunning Green Car E.P. last year, I do think that Nadia Kadek is well worth seeking out. From Norwich, she was recently featured in NME’s rundown of the one-hundred artists who will define this year. For fans of Nell Mescal and Lizzy McAlpine, I am quite new to her music. However, I am already hooked and engrossed. Having played London’s The Social last week, I do wonder where else she is heading this year. Definitely one of our brightest new artists, I am going to get to some recent interview with Nadia Kadek. For CLASH last year, Nadia Kadek was spoke about “belonging, familial relationships and the diaristic feel of recent EP 'Green Car'”. This is someone who I recommend that you connect with as soon as possible:

“It is in the buzz and anonymity of London life that singer-songwriter Nadia Kadek has found her own sense of belonging. Growing up in a small town created rose-tinted memories for Kadek, but also came at a price. “If you go there for five minutes, you see someone you know. That always made me feel like I didn’t have a lot of space to breathe as a person,” Kadek tells CLASH. “I think London gives me a chance to hide a bit… I’m naturally very introverted and I need space. So it’s the perfect place for that. I can see why people would find it lonely, but I think I just love being alone.”

Kadek’s debut EP ‘Green Car’ is a collection of deeply personal songs which encapsulate a writing style she describes as coming directly from “organic experiences”. The writer strives to capture complex emotions: the unique clash of excitement and nostalgia which blooms as life’s realities reveal themselves; the wonder and confusion of reaching adulthood; and moving on with forgiveness from imperfect family ties.

“Songwriting for me has always been a way of trying to make myself feel seen and heard, and putting my feelings somewhere in order to understand them and understand myself,” Kadek says. “Because actually what I’ve learned from songwriting, and also from listening to other songwriters, is that you’re definitely not the only person experiencing a feeling.”

Although Kadek finds writing songs an essential form of emotional expression, and revels in performing them, it was only recently that she felt ready to commit her music professionally to tape. Her EP ‘Green Car’ came to fruition after Kadek found the right team (musician, engineer and producer Riccardo Damian, and co-producer Jamie Biles) at a time when she had grown and become more confident as a musician..

“I had these songs written for ages and I think they were so precious to me that I was paranoid about getting the recording wrong,” she says. “I kept waiting and waiting for something… I think I needed to do that to know what I know now, which is to trust myself”.

Although there are not a load of interviews out at the moment, there are a few from late last year that I want to get to. The second is from DIY who say that, at a time when A.I. is rising, Nadia Kadek provides these “heartfelt accounts of coming of age anxieties delivered with genuine heart and a desire for connection beyond engagement and algorithms”:

“You grew up in Norfolk, and have British-Indonesian heritage. How did your background and hometown influence your musical education? Did you take on the tastes of your family? Were there venues nearby, or much of a ‘scene’ to speak of?

I was very lucky to be taken along to shows and festivals growing up. My earliest memory was going to Camp Bestival when I was six. We listened to Florence + The Machine all the way there, and then I was on a random lady’s shoulders watching her sing right in front of me that same weekend. I think that exciting upbringing pushed me to see live music any way I could as I grew up, despite there not being much of a scene or any venues in my hometown.

What’s the story behind your first instrument? 

I had guitar lessons until I was 11, but then got really into classical singing so stuck with that instead. Then at 15, I found I couldn’t express myself enough with just that, so I picked the guitar back up and learnt how to play as I started writing my own songs. I still don’t really know what I’m doing on the guitar… but I write very instinctively, so I kind of like the magic of just feeling what I’m playing.

Your debut EP, ‘Green Car’, centres around the bittersweet experience of coming of age and starting to navigate the adult world. Are there any particular albums, books, or films that you still return to, to help you reconnect with your child/teenhood? 

Coraline has been my favourite film for as long as I can remember; it’s so clever that I don’t think I could ever grow out of it. All of Phoebe Bridger’s discography was the soundtrack of my life from 16 to 18, and comforted me so much as a sad teenage girl - if I catch myself listening to her now, it’s usually a sign that something is wrong. It makes me so emotional that I’ve had to put myself on a Phoebe ban!

If you could collaborate with one artist from the past two decades, who would you pick (and why)? 

I would love to write with Glen Hansard; he’s such an incredible performer and storyteller, and I’d love to just have a cup of tea with him to be honest.

Finally, DIY are coming round for dinner - what are you making?

I think I’d just make a comforting lemon and courgette orzo, and then I’d finish with my homemade cookies that have white chocolate, dark chocolate and Crunchie bar in them”.

Although not an interview, this review from The Rodeo Mag, reacted to her set at The Waiting Room in London from last October. I do feel that this year is going to be one where Nadia Kadek continues to build her music and gains more and more fans. I would love to see her live, as it sounds like she is truly one of these breathtaking voices that can silence an audience:

“The sounds of Joni Mitchell, Lizzie McAlpine, and Lana Del Rey can all be heard blending to make Kadek’s soulful declaration of emotion. Kadek stares into the abyss wearing polka dots and retro earrings, effortlessly playing through a setlist of seven songs. Her second song, ‘Jenny From Dakota’, gives more of a melody to swing to: ‘I hope you don’t find some love with another one, I hope you don’t find this song on the radio’. Kadek’s songwriting is nothing less than beautifully transparent, never shying away from the pit of her feelings. In ‘Feeling it All’, her first ever release, she sings, ‘If you said jump I would, maybe that’s where I went wrong/ but I was only a kid, every child needs a hero to live’. Silence grows to every corner of the room, and stillness allows for each word to land like a teardrop. There is a casualness to her as she tunes her guitar, talking to the crowd like they’re sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows”.

I am writing this feature before any new music from this year, though I am aware that something might come out soon. The tremendous and awe-inspiring Nadia Kadek is such a remarkable and hugely talented artist who is one of our best songwriters. Her voice is heart-stopping and filled with so much beauty and poetry. Anyone unfamiliar with Nadia Kadek really does need…

TO experience her music.

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Follow Nadia Kadek

FEATURE: Spotlight: Blessing Jolie

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Ro.Lexx

 Blessing Jolie

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HERE is an artist…

who definitely should be on your radar. Blessing Jolie is a Katy, Texas-raised artist, who started out by sharing guitar and singing videos online, where her performances came to the notice of Thirty Tigers who signed her following the release of her 2022 debut E.P., the girl next door. Software Developer is her latest single. Her debut album, 20nothing, came out on 13th March. Last year was a great one for Blessing Jolie. Releasing incredible cuts in the form of Frown Lines and 20teens, I do wonder what this year holds after the release of the album. There is an interview I will get to around the release of her phenomenal single, 20teens. However, I want to start off with a feature from last year which focused on Frown Lines. They label the song as a debut, though Blessing Jolie has been putting out music since 2022. Maybe they mean her debut with Thirty Tigers. In any case, it is one of the most extraordinary songs of last year:

“When she sings, “I don’t want to disclose this but I conjure ‘L’s into real life,” it’s not just clever—it’s vulnerable. And she’s full of these lyrical double entendres that cut just a little deeper the longer you sit with them. One moment she’s warning, “When my patience running thin, you’re gonna find another girl who’s thicker than me,” and the next she’s flipping a cultural punchline on its head: “When you finally start thinking of me, I’m a ‘thought’.” That play on “thot” might make you smile, but it also lands like a gut punch.

Her “frown line may not be deep,” as she sings in the song’s chorus—but this track runs deep in ways that go beyond the literal. It’s about aging out of illusions, about navigating disappointment, and finding beauty in the honest, unvarnished places where we don’t quite have it figured out.

Jolie’s music has already started to turn heads across the Atlantic. Americana UK praised her “excellent vocal range and sense of dynamics,” with comparisons to Joan Armatrading, Tracy Chapman, and even flashes of Mary J. Blige. God Is In The TV highlighted her confidence and songwriting chops—and it’s easy to see why.

Blessing Jolie doesn’t feel like an artist trying to chase trends. She feels like someone telling her truth in real time. And “Frown Lines,” with its wistful tone and quiet command, is a hell of a first impression. This isn’t background music—it’s something you sit with, feel through, and maybe even see a little of yourself in.

With more music on the way and a debut album in the works, this Katy, Texas native is poised for a breakout. But she’s already doing the most important thing any artist can do: making you feel something real”.

I am going to move to this interview with Atwood Magazine. I do hope that more interviews come this year, as Blessing Jolie is a fascinating artist who I think has a long future ahead. They write how 20teens is about “transforming the moment you stop negotiating with your own discomfort and finally choose yourself into something loud, cinematic, and undeniably empowering – a defining statement from an Artist to Watch off her upcoming debut album ‘20nothing”. Her debut album announced her as someone who you can definitely not overlook:

“Raised in Katy, Texas, the 23-year-old Nigerian American artist has been writing songs since she was fifteen – learning guitar the hard way, failing loudly, and returning anyway, persistence shaping her artistry as much as talent. Her influences are as eclectic as her emotional range – from Shawn Mendes and Destiny’s Child to Limp Bizkit – and you can hear that wide-open appetite in the way she blurs borders between folk intimacy, R&B soul, and pop-punk punch without ever losing the thread of sincerity.

As unapologetic in her lyrics as she is uncompromising in her artistry, Jolie’s vulnerability is her compass.

She has described her music as a documentation of her life, “the emotions I rarely say out loud,” and “20teens” arrives with that same unfiltered, raw honesty – only now it’s framed as catharsis with teeth, a coming-of-age refusal to stay stuck in anyone else’s pattern.

“‘20teens’ is one of my favorite songs from my upcoming album, and I’m beyond excited to finally release it,” she tells Atwood Magazine. “I wrote it in a moment of clarity – when I started recognizing red flags and realized I don’t have to accept what I can’t tolerate. It’s another honest moment, one the song captures candidly.”

That “moment of clarity” is the song’s engine: the point where the heart stops bargaining and starts drawing boundaries. “20teens” opens in a place of restraint – tender, open-handed guitar lines setting the scene like a held breath – while Jolie steps in sounding measured but alert, her voice carrying the weight of someone already halfway to the truth. In the first verse, she sketches a life caught in repetition – “Twenty nothing now same friends, same threads / Tug my heart at the same ol’ seams” – capturing the quiet exhaustion of realizing how long you’ve been circling the same emotional ground, mistaking familiarity for stability.

There’s a sharp, almost conversational wit threaded through these early lines – “My present looking lot like my past / Only difference I got HBO Max” – humor cutting through the ache without dulling it. Jolie isn’t romanticizing the cycle; she’s naming it, clocking the way routine can masquerade as comfort even as it keeps you small. Her delivery remains controlled, but the tension is unmistakable – each line tightening the screws as the arrangement slowly swells beneath her.

“20teens” doesn’t try to talk you out of staying; it meets you exactly when you’ve decided you’re done.

It’s a release that feels earned, not impulsive – the sound of someone finally saying what they mean and meaning it fully. In that explosive turn, “20teens” transforms from introspection into declaration, from recognition into action – a fiery, unflinching refusal to shrink, settle, or stay silent in the face of her own knowing.

For Jolie, that eruption isn’t just dramatic – it’s deliberate and intentional. “20teens” marks a shift not only in how she writes, but in how she speaks. “I want people to know that I say what I mean,” she explains. “I don’t always mean some of the abrasive things I say, but I do always say what’s on my mind.” That clarity of voice – unfiltered, unsmoothed, and unapologetic – is what gives the song its bite. It’s not about revenge or rehashing the hurt; it’s about the instant when you finally believe yourself enough to draw the line. The power here isn’t in sounding wounded, but in sounding sure.

In that way, “20teens” captures a distinctly early-twenties realization: The moment when endurance stops being romantic and discernment takes its place. It’s a coming-of-age not defined by heartbreak itself, but by the decision to stop mistaking tolerance for maturity.

Who are some of your musical north stars, and what do you love most about your own songwriting and songs?

Blessing Jolie: Some of my musical north stars are Shawn Mendes, Eminem, and Destiny’s Child. What I love about my own music is that, at least to me, it takes all 3 and creates an entirely new artist a little different from but also a little similar to them.

“20teens” is such an invigorating coming-of-age anthem! I can see why it’s caught fire. What's the story behind this song?

Blessing Jolie: Someone showed me who they truly were and then tried to retract it, but I wasn’t having it.

I've seen people call this song catchy, sarcastic, and cathartic – among many other adjectives. What’s “20teens” about, for you personally? What makes it special?

Blessing Jolie: What makes “20teens” special is that I was able to express my hurt without actually sounding hurt, which is why the song carries that sarcastic, witty edge.


What do you hope listeners take away from “20teens,” and what have you taken away from creating it and now putting it out?

Blessing Jolie: I want listeners to take from 20teens what I did: when someone shows you who they really are, believe them.

This feels like the beginning of a new era for you, but you've been releasing music for 4+ years! What older song of yours would you direct people to, after they give “20teens” a listen?

Blessing Jolie: I’d point listeners toward “19 and peaked,” which tells the story of a girl who keeps sticking around, mishap after mishap. “20teens,” on the other hand, delivers a clear message: if you mess up, we’re done. I’ve grown up – I’m 24, not 19 – and “20teens” is a symbol of that growth”.

I am going to finish with The Line of Best Fit and their article about Software Developer. If you have not heard Blessing Jolie’s music, then do make sure that you check her out. I am not sure if she is playing in the U.K. this year at all, but I would love to see her perform. Someone who will enjoy a long career in the industry. She is rightly being tipped as a name to watch this year:

“For Blessing Jolie, it’s all about self-expression. “I couldn’t write music if I didn’t sing it,” she says. “I couldn’t sing music if I didn’t write it, it’s that sort of thing for me.” When asked about her songwriting influences, she cites rappers such as Eminem and Jay-Z. Listening to Jolie's work, this might be surprising. It certainly fuses genre, but is not especially close to the Bling era or hardcore hip-hop of American Gangster or The Marshall Mathers LP. The influence, Jolie explains, is not necessarily the sound, but what is being said. “Rappers… they all have their own character. They’re all very different. Only Eminem can say [what he says]. Only Jay-Z can say that. So it was the storytelling, and I think also the mere fact that no one else could say it.”

That passion for wanting a song to tell a story, and tell her story, is the clear starting point of “Software Developer”, the third single from Jolie’s upcoming album, 20nothing, set for release on 13 March. The track allows folk-infused guitar to take centre-stage alongside Jolie’s powerful, expressive voice, which darts nimbly across complex, knotty lyrics. She could be “one hell of a software developer,” she notes, if only “I could ever beat / This little malady / Of writing melodies.”

It’s a look inward that is somewhat self-effacing, and doesn’t shy away from the apparent fallacy of choosing music over a more traditional path. Jolie imagines what her life could have been: “I was going into tech and stuff, my initial thing was to become a software developer. I could have done that by now, and been on that track.” Instead, though, she’s on “this really slow, sometimes a little daunting kind of path, [but] to a life that I want. You know, I’m pretty sure I want it, because I’m going after it.”

During its almost four minute runtime, what starts as a stripped-back, acoustic arrangement seems to evolve and expand, broadening out as Jolie’s voice becomes more urgent, grappling with her past selves and the expectations she finds placed on her. She attributes that breadth to producers and co-writers Julián Cruz (Dominic Fike, Kevin Abstract) and Willie Breeding (Jessie Murph, Willie Jones). Breeding in particular brings an audible stretching outwards that “makes it whole, makes it [feel] really full.” layering Jolie’s voice and guitar layered with subtle drums and slide-guitar, that take it out of the realm of R&B and bedroom pop, to the verge of country-style folk and back again. “Software Developer” has a feeling of warmth to it, as though Jolie were sitting right in front of her listener, confessing her anxieties with disarming clarity”.

I am going to finish up here. Go and follow Blessing Jolie. 20nothing is out and has received a lot of love. Though there are so many new artists who are worthy of your time, I do think that Blessing Jolie is particularly special and someone who is primed for a very long career. If you are not convinced then go and…

LISTEN to her music now.

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Follow Blessing Jolie

FEATURE: The Great American Songbook: Madonna

FEATURE:

 

 

The Great American Songbook

 

Madonna

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THIS year is going to be…

a big one for Madonna. There are a couple of anniversaries. True Blue turns forty. I think the most exciting thing is that Confessions on a Dance Floor Part 2 will be released. The first Confessions on a Dance Floor was released in 2005. I am not sure how close to that album the second one will be. Before getting to a mixtape feature twenty essential Madonna songs, I want to bring in some biography. This year is going to be one where the Queen of Pop is very much at the forefront:

“Determined to stick it out, Madonna touted herself around the club scene as a singer. In 1982, she signed to Sire Records and released her first single, Everybody, followed by Burning Up. Her third track, Holiday, became a worldwide hit. ‘She exerted a level of control back in 1982 that no female performer had ever done,’ said Sullivan. ‘She wanted to produce her first album, but [Sire] wouldn’t let her, because she didn’t know what she was doing. But she refused to be told no, learned quickly and took over production from Like a Virgin onwards.’

Fans didn’t just love her music; they copied her look – bleach-streaked hair tied with lace, fingerless gloves and bra tops. According to Christopher, his sister was once prudish about being overtly sexual, partly due to their Catholic upbringing. Although she had posed naked as an artist’s model to make ends meet, she employed Christopher as her dresser on her first tour because she didn’t want anyone else to see her naked.

The turning point came in July 1985, when nude pictures taken during her art modelling days appeared in Playboy. ‘Any innocence she may have had is now gone. She has nothing to hide any more,’ Christopher said at the time. ‘From now on, she will forever invade [her privacy] herself.’ Controversy soon became a byword for Madonna, from kissing a black Jesus in her 1989 video for Like a Prayer to appearing naked with Naomi Campbell in 1992 in her Sex book and championing sadomasochism in her Erotica phase that same year.

As her fame grew, she developed a reputation for being high-handed and hard. An awkward scene in her In Bed with Madonna saw the star give her friend Moira the brush-off when she asked Madonna to be godmother to her child. Madonna also claimed they were sexually intimate as teenagers, which Moira denied. ‘When it came out I called her and said, “What the hell is in that movie?”’ said Moira, who then flew to New York to see her. ‘She didn’t say sorry, because Madonna doesn’t apologise.’ But when Moira’s son suffered a brain injury in a car accident aged 13, Madonna offered financial support. ‘She’s always been there when I needed her,’ said Moira.

Madonna’s fall outs with her Hollywood cohorts make compelling headlines – like her clash with Gwyneth Paltrow over their mutual friendship with personal trainer Tracy Anderson. She also feuded with Demi Moore after Madonna appeared to side with Ashton Kutcher when the couple split. Though her softer side is rarely reported, Carlton Wilborn, who danced on her Blond Ambition and Girlie Show tours and appears in the Vogue video, revealed a rare vulnerability to Madonna that he saw when lodging with her in New York. ‘She told me her insecurities, what she wanted to do with her career and what she was frustrated about,’ he added. Far from being egotistical, Wilborn insists Madonna treated her dancers as equals. ‘She ensured we felt as special as she felt,’ he said. ‘We travelled on private jets, had suites in hotels and were managed by her as though we, too, were rock stars.’

In 1985, aged 26, Madonna married actor Sean Penn, then 24, after they were introduced as he passed by the set of her Material Girl video. She later confided in Christopher that he reminded her of a younger version of their dad. It was a passionate yet violent union, and they split after four years following an incident in which Penn allegedly tied her to a chair for nine hours and attacked her. He was charged with felony domestic assault, but Madonna later withdrew the charge and filed for divorce. ‘It was a miserable marriage,’ Penn said years later. ‘I describe that marriage as loud. I don’t recall having a single conversation in four years of marriage.’

The break-up took its toll. Whatever else Penn did, he was the love of Madonna’s life – and still is, actress Debi Mazar, a friend from her New York club days, insisted in a 2013 TV interview. Madonna rebounded into an 11-month fling with actor Warren Beatty, then channelled her feelings into 1992’s Erotica. ‘[I was] cynical about love for a long time,’ she later said. ‘I was running the gamut of emotions and I think that, creatively, I was all over the place.’

After the release of her coffee-table book Sex in 1992, Madonna was accused of betraying her feminist roots by promoting images of rape as entertainment – something she vehemently rejected. ‘I’m in charge of my fantasies,’ she said. ‘I put myself in these situations with men. Isn’t that what feminism is about – equality for men and women? Aren’t I in charge of my life?’ But the backlash stung and it was two years before another album. A collection of ballads called Bedtime Stories, it reflected her urge to find someone to fill her ‘daddy chair’, as she and Christopher jokingly called it.

In September 1994, Madonna, then 37, met unassuming personal trainer Carlos Leon, 28, while running in Central Park. In October the following year, their daughter, Lourdes – Lola to Madonna – was born, but they split six months later. On the flip side, Madonna’s career soared when she landed the lead in Evita. For years she’d sought to be taken seriously as an actor – for every Desperately Seeking Susan there was a turkey like The Next Best Thing – but at last she had a cinematic hit”.

On 24th May, it will be thirty-five years since Madonna: Truth or Dare/In Bed with Madonna was released. On 30th June, True Blue turns forty. I think there is going to be a load of expectation and excitement around Confessions on a Dance Floor Part 2. An album that will demonstrate why Madonna is the undisputed Queen of Pop, I wanted to feature her here and do an impossible thing: distil her incredible and peerless career to twenty songs. Golden cuts from an artist who is…

ONE of the greatest ever.

FEATURE: Over the Quavers, Drunk in the Bars: The Classical Potential of Kate Bush’s Music

FEATURE:

 

 

Over the Quavers, Drunk in the Bars

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in the photoshoot for the single art of Babooshka (which featured on the 1980 album, Never for Ever)/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

 

The Classical Potential of Kate Bush’s Music

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THERE has been a smattering…

of Kate Bush articles the past few weeks or so. There is still a lot of attention around her 1978 debut single, Wuthering Heights, and how people have discovered it after Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” film. Even though the song did not feature, it was inevitable this track would receive increased focus by association. What I love is how different tracks of hers have received boosts and been picked up by young generations for various reasons. It gives people a deeper and broader knowledge of Kate Bush and her career. My real hope is that, even before another album is released, there is something that motivates a greater and more concentrated on her entire catalogue. In terms of understanding why she is so revered and is this such a remarkable songwriter. I think there is recognition around certain greats and their genius, as more of their music is played and known. If it is a documentary, film or interviews, you do get more insight into the artist and, as a result, there is this wider appreciation and knowledge. Maybe Kate Bush is responsible for some of the issues. In terms of not releasing albums more regularly and being visible in interviews. In the sense she has not given a filmed interview since the 1990s and she perhaps does not give permission to make documentaries or use her music unless it is for something she really loves. That is fine and her decision. However, I do feel there are facets and sides to her music that are going unexplored or unknown. In terms of Bush’s compositions and her catalogue, I do think there is something epic and symphonic. Even if Bush did not use orchestras and Classic players much, there is a grandeur and this scale that does suggest itself to a larger production. Hounds of Love (1985) definitely had these operatic, sky-scraping and huge moments. Aerial (2005) in a different way. I feel this is one of the undermined aspects of her career.

I have said before how Kate Bush would be magnificent composing scores or working on a soundtrack. Some of her contemporaries have, and you really do feel like there is this natural composer who is aware of Classic music and has woven it into her work. In Violin, from 1980’s Never for Ever, is “for all the mad fiddlers from ‘Paganini’ to ‘Old Nick’ himself”. She said that in a fan club newsletters in September 1980. “Four strings across the bridge/Ready to carry me over/Over the quavers, drunk in the bars/Out of the realm of the orchestra/Out of the realm of the orchestra”. “Get the bow going!/Let it scream to me:/Violin! Violin! Violin!”. Bush learned the violin as a child and, whilst she did not take to it and much preferred the piano, I do feel her household featured music from Classical composers. Her father particularly would have played Classical music. Bush wrote a song, Delius (Song of Summer) for 1980’s Never for Ever. That album nodding to Classic al music in more than a couple of ways. Frederick Delius was an English composer who died in 1934. Bush also danced with a double bass in the video for Babooshka. If there is to be another album from Kate Bush, might she go in a more Classical direction and utilise Abbey Road Studios and hire a full orchestra across several songs? That would be wonderful to hear! I have written before how modern artists are performing their songs backed by orchestras. It is not inauthentic or artists trying to elevate themselves. It brings something new from their music and is to be commended. Dua Lipa, RAYE and St. Vincent are a few artists who have teamed with conductors and orchestras recently to give their well-known songs this new interpretation.

Even if Kate Bush herself will not do this or do a one-off live event where she is supported by Classical players, others are noticing how her incredible songbook would reach new levels – and new audiences – when they are given a Classic edge. This brings me to this article and how there is this exciting tour happening next summer that Kate Bush fans will be interested in:

“Cloudbusting have just announced they are to team-up with the acclaimed West London Sinfonia 50-piece orchestra for a major new ‘Classical Kate Bush’ UK tour in summer 2027.

Described by Classic Rock magazine as “utterly, surreally brilliant”, Cloudbusting – The Music of Kate Bush have confirmed a brand new run of live shows, which includes a date at Manchester Bridgewater Hall on 12th June.

In an ambitious return to the stage, the band will bring their ‘Classical Kate Bush’ live experience to some of the nation’s most prestigious concert halls next year, accompanied by the magnificent West London Sinfonia.

Formed in 2012 and having performed more than 500 live shows across the globe, this new 2027 UK tour represents the pinnacle of Cloudbusting’s 15 year-long journey - the longest-running and most acclaimed homage to Kate Bush - transforming her extraordinary experimental pop catalogue into a grand orchestral spectacle. Featuring bespoke arrangements by BAFTA & Ivor Novello award-winning composer Rob Lane, Classical Kate Bush marries the raw energy of a live rock band with the soaring thrill of a world-class fifty-piece symphony orchestra.

As lead vocalist Mandy Watson says, "There is something uniquely spiritual about hearing these songs performed with a full orchestra. After such a phenomenal reaction to our previous performances there was no question about it - we absolutely had to do it again, to share this magic with even more people in 2027.”

Under the baton of conductor Philip Hesketh and leader of the orchestra Iwona Boesche, the show’s set-list will span Kate’s entire career — from the ethereal heights of The Kick Inside to the conceptual mastery of The Ninth Wave and beyond. Audiences can expect many "wow" moments as hits like ‘Cloudbusting’, ‘Hounds of Love’ and ‘Running Up That Hill’ are reimagined live with the orchestral depth they have always deserved.

Mandy adds: "Performing Kate’s music is always an emotional journey, but to do so with a 50-piece orchestra is simply surreal. Many of her songs have such an inherent cinematic quality — they were always meant to be this 'big'. Having that wall of sound behind me doesn't just change the scale; it allows us to explore the emotional core and 'unheard dialects' of her work in a way that feels like a homecoming. I want every fan to leave feeling like they’ve experienced the absolute depth of her genius."

Significantly, Cloudbusting have often performed Kate’s music alongside her original collaborators, a distinction and honour that speaks to the band’s unmatched authenticity. They have been deeply honoured to share the stage with legendary drummer Preston Heyman (Tour of Life, Never For Ever, The Dreaming) and Kate’s iconic dance partner and co-choreographer, Stewart Avon Arnold, both of whom brought an indescribable energy to their live shows. Most poignantly, the band shared a long-standing professional bond with the late Del Palmer, Kate’s long-time bassist and sound engineer, who played live with the band many times. As the only tribute band to have performed with the man who originally helped shape Kate’s studio sound, Cloudbusting carry this privilege with them in every performance as they continue to celebrate their collective legacy.

Tickets are on-sale now here for Classical Kate Bush’s summer 2027 live shows in Liverpool, London, Basingstoke, Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham, whilst fans can also check out www.classicalkatebush.com for further information”.

That quote about Bush’s music being cinematic. I have always said that. I have also said how Bush maybe approached albums like films. That they were soundtracks where each song was more a scene that traditional works. This idea of a fifty-piece orchestra bringing the full theatrical and cinematic qualities of Kate Bush’s work out is to be commended. I think that everyone should go and book a ticket. When ROSALÍA released Lux’s Berghain, there was criticism because of its blend of Classical and Opera. Snobbish and ignorant people feeling it was not the place of a Pop artist to step into these worlds. I do wonder if Kate Bush ever considered something like Berghain in her career but worried how that might be perceived. That particular song is fascinating when you break it down. Kate Bush has actually tried to replicate and emulate Classical music. In 2011, when she released 50 Words for Snow, you can feel this sense of these longer songs unfolding like Classical pieces. More mobility, story and breadth compared to shorter Pop songs. This NME article reflected on an interview she gave to the Independent about her then-new album and Classical music:

“Kate Bush has said that she likes the idea of “emulating classical music” in her work, although she claimed she lacked the compositional ability to create her own classical piece.

In an interview with The Independent, the singer said there were elements of classical music in her new album ’50 Words For Snow’, which is released on November 21, and hinted that she found the idea of classical composition appealing.

She said:

I quite like the idea of emulating classical music in what I do. I’m not able to orchestrate, but I can certainly direct, and give ideas. Although this isn’t a classical album at all, in some ways it holds elements of that”.

I am excited Classical Kate Bush and bringing her music to new heights. Truly cinematic and epic, I think it does validate this claim that her work is Classical. At least how thee are elements of the genre within the blood of many of her tracks. How Bush is someone whose music often went beyond the mainstream and conventional and into the realms of the Classical – something modern artists like ROSALÍA has done recently and won huge critical acclaim. How Bush wanted to create her own version of Classical music for her most recent album and how, nearly fifteen years since that came out, there is this announcement that a fifty-strong orchestra will do something truly mesmeric with her music, alongside the extraordinary Cloudbusting. It does make me think of Kate Bush as a composer in a Classical sense. Or a director and cinematic producer. Someone who has affection for this world and it has been part of her career almost since the beginning. It adds extra layers of wonder and gold…

TO this peerless and unique artist.

FEATURE: One for the Record Collection! Essential April Releases

FEATURE:

 

 

One for the Record Collection!

IN THIS PHOTO: Jessie Ware releases Superbloom on 10th April

 

Essential April Releases

__________

NEXT month is a packed one…

IN THIS PHOTO: Holly Humberstone’s new album, Cruel World, is out on 10th April

for great new albums. I am starting out with the best of 3rd April. There are two albums that I want to get to. Arlo Parks’s Ambiguous Desire is one I would recommend that you pre-order. Parks is one of our absolute best songwriters. The new album sounds like it could shape up to be her strongest. It is one that you will want to get:

“Twice Grammy-nominated, Mercury Prize and BRIT Award-winning artist Arlo Parks releases her new album, Ambiguous Desire, via Transgressive Records.

Ambiguous Desire is Parks at her most confident and experimental, supplanting live band sessions for modular synths, ableton plugins and samplers that channel the frenetic, vibrant spaces she was immersed in, all while spotlighting the acclaimed poetry and lyricism she’s beloved for.

Reflecting on the making of the record, Parks shares, "I danced more than ever as I made this record, I made more friends than ever too, found myself in the weird underbelly of New York juke nights, unleashed, laughed and laughed and laughed. This record has desire at its centre. Desire is a life force, it’s a wanting, a yearning, a momentum - we are all alive because there is something or someone we want - desire is an engine. But it is also mysterious, tangled, random, enlightening and HUMAN."

Parks crafted the album with producer Baird (Brockhampton, Kevin Abstract). Their process unfolded between NYC’s vibrant, community-rooted nightlife and long, introspective days spent in Baird’s downtown loft. The result is Parks’ most vulnerable, self-affirming, and euphoric work to date”.

Before moving to 10th April, I will highlight Thundercat and his album, Distracted. If you do not know about this amazing American artist, I would urge you to check out his music. You can pre-order Distracted here. I think this will be among the finest albums of this year. Thundercat’s previous work has won huge critical praise. I feel Distracted will get a lot of four and five-star reviews:

“Six years to the date of his last LP, Thundercat releases his fifth studio album, Distracted, via Brainfeeder. The new album features contributions from A$AP Rocky, WILLOW, Tame Impala, Channel Tres, Lil Yachty and a previously unreleased collaboration with the dearly departed Mac Miller. Distracted was primarily created in close collaboration with a new creative partner for Thundercat - the superproducer Greg Kurstin, known for his work with some of the biggest names in pop like Adele, Paul McCartney, Sia, Beyoncé, Beck and more - with additional production turns on the record from Flying Lotus, Kenny Beats (Kenneth Blume), and The Lemon Twigs.

What Thundercat ultimately wants listeners to take from Distracted is disarmingly simple: “Just enjoy it and have fun and just know that the struggle is real and changes shape, but just to keep pushing forward.” In an era that demands constant commentary, Thundercat offers something quieter and, in its own way, more radical. He gives permission to be confused. To be tired. To be, well, distracted — and still make something beautiful out of the noise”.

There are a few albums from 10th April I want to recommend to people. Cruel World is the second studio album from Holly Humberstone. You can pre-order it here. Her amazing debut, Paint My Bedroom Black, was released in 2023. All signs point to Cruel World being a truly phenomenal album. If you are a fan already or not, this is an album that I think you need to add to your collection:

“Holly Humberstone returns with her highly anticipated second album, Cruel World. One of the defining voices of her generation, Holly delivers a record that lives in the tension between pain and pleasure, where chaos and acceptance sit side by side.

Renowned for her forensic songwriting — earning an Ivor Novello nomination for her debut EP and winning the BRIT Rising Star in 2022 — Holly has evolved into a global force whose lucid, emotionally piercing storytelling resonates far beyond her own walls.

On Cruel World, she escapes into a dark fairytale of her own making, where childhood relics, monsters and memory collide, resulting in her most immersive, introspective and compelling body of work to date”.

Another wonderful album due on 10th April is Jessie Ware’s Superbloom. Ware is a phenomenal artist and I love all of her albums. Go and pre-order this album, as it is going to sit alongside the standouts of this year. I loved 2023’s That! Feels Good!, so I am really excited to see what Superbloom offers up. An artist who always delivers something special:

“Jessie Ware returns with her new album Superbloom – the crescendo of her latest era – out via Island EMI Records.

Superbloom erupts into a glittering rush of Studio 54-inflected groove-pop. Expanding Ware’s increasingly euphoric body of work as she explores our shared craving for touch, pleasure, intimacy and connection.

The album features recent single ‘I Could Get Used To This’, hailed as her “ultimate entry into divahood” and the first track to fully capture the record’s assured, expansive spirit, carried by cascading strings and a sense of full-bodied release”.

Prior to moving to two albums from 17th April, there is one more from 10th April worth investigating. Lime Garden’s Maybe Not Tonight is one you can pre-order here. I have been following the band for a little while now. What I have heard from Maybe Not Tonight is absolutely fantastic, so this is another album I am really knee to to check out:

“Brighton four-piece Lime Garden release their self-reckoning second album, Maybe Not Tonight, via So Young Records. It includes the punch-drunk lead single, ‘23’. Fizzing with the anticipation of stepping into a club at the very start of a night out, ‘23’ sets the tone for the record in full. Bouncy basslines and looping synths pull the listener straight onto the dancefloor, conjuring the bright, ecstatic glow of possibility. Yet beneath its euphoric rush lies a distinctly mid-20s anxiety: the realisation that adulthood has arrived, whether you feel ready for it or not.

Maybe Not Tonight unfolds as a full night out, charting the pleasures and perils of partying and impulsive decisions. “The album is about a night out, from start to finish,” Howard explains. “As the night progresses, you’re having a great time, until your ex walks in with someone else. You hate the way you look but rather than going home, you press the big red button and get even more drunk. Eventually, you take yourself home full of melancholy, chaos and anger.”

Written in the aftermath of a period of intense personal upheaval, described by the band as a collective “mass breakup”, the album finds Lime Garden grappling with grief, drinking, body image and self-esteem, while leaning into a shared, self-aware hedonism. Early uncertainty fuelled a creative urgency that runs through all ten tracks.

Produced by Charlie Andrew (Wolf Alice, alt-J), with additional production from drummer Annabel Whittle, Maybe Not Tonight reflects the band’s rapid evolution. Glitchy vocal fragments, hypnotic drum lines, garage-rock guitars, detuned synths and even bongos weave together into immersive, richly detailed songs. Many began life as Whittle’s home-produced demos, drawing influence from Bon Iver, A.G. Cook, Danny L Harle and Jim-E Stack, while pulling from a wide pool of inspirations including Scissor Sisters, Magdalena Bay, The Breeders, St. Vincent, Lily Allen, The Stone Roses and New Order”.

24th April promises a lot of great albums. Let’s first get to 17th April. That is when Honey Dijon’s Nightlife is out. You can pre-order the album here. If you need some persuasion to go and grab this album, then Rough Trade have it covered:

“The Nightlife finds Honey Dijon exploring the space between house music’s past, present, and future — blurring boundaries, bending conventions, and inviting an all-star cast of collaborators to help redefine what club culture sounds like for today.

Rooted in the lineage of house yet never confined by it, the album moves effortlessly from sweat-soaked basement energy to lush strains of soul and R&B — and into unexpected spaces in between. It’s not a strictly house record; it’s an expression of nightlife itself: fearless, fluid, and in constant evolution.

At once reverent and forward-looking, The Nightlife honors the foundations of the dancefloor while pushing its possibilities outward. It captures the communal pulse, the intimacy, and the transformative power that only music at night can hold.

A love letter to the dancefloor”.

Though I am not over-familiar with Tiga and his work, I have heard about his new album, Hotlife, and am intrigued by it. You can pre-order the album here. It sounds like an album well worth seeking out. The background to the album and what Tiga had to go through gives extra weight and emotion to the music:

“Montreal icon Tiga is back from heaven with his fourth album, Hotlife, marking a new era in his immortal techno journey toward Absolute Brain Freedom. Featuring collaborators Boys Noize, Matthew Dear, Fcukers, MRD, Gesloten Cirkel, Paranoid London, Maara, and new hometown studio whiz-men Priori and Patrick Holland, Hotlife finds Tiga at the pinnacle of Music Mountain, hurling infectious dancefloor lightning at listeners below: “When I turn on the Catharsis Machine," says the storied singer-producer, “It don’t matter if you’re a rich man or a poor man, ‘cause you’re about to be a free man…"
Reclaiming his perch atop the celestial firmament of contemporary dance music was not without a compelling and relatable narrative arc. Following an arduous battle with a neurological condition he discovered and named “Vibe Fog," Tiga found himself at a crossroads: "At a certain point, it was either buy the exoskeleton and cash out my Virgin Megastore stock, or rebuild Tiga City from the ground up, brick by brick, gargoyle by gargoyle.” What has emerged is a Tiga that longtime Tiga-watchers are calling “angelic” and “terrifying,” resulting in an album that captures the distilled essence of a tastemaker pushed beyond all human limits.
"My yes/no response time to artistic choices is off the charts,” adds Tiga. “We took each second shaved off every creative decision and reinvested it into the album’s runtime. 12 songs. 60 minutes. Remarkable”.

Even though I am not a personal fan of Dave Grohl, there is no denying Foo Fighters are a legendary band who continue to release amazing albums. Your Favorite Toy is their latest. Always known for their edge and raw sound, Your Favorite Toy is up there with their most direct and kick-ass. You can pre-order it here. If you have not heard about Your Favorite Toy and what to expect, then here is some information:

“Preceded by its addictive new title track and last year’s incendiary “Asking For A Friend,” Your Favorite Toy is Foo Fighters’ 12th album — and quite possibly their hardest rocking to date. Burning through 10 absolute bangers in under 40 minutes, Your Favorite Toy demands and rewards repeat listens in equal measure. It’s Foo Fighters pushing boundaries as they pin the volume meters, adding new dimensions to their timeless signature sound”.

Gia Margaret’s Singing is an album I would recommend people pre-order. A spellbinding songwriter and voice, I have known about her music for a while. However, Singing might be Gia Margaret’s best album yet. One that I think everyone should listen to. A truly jaw-dropping artist that you cannot miss out on:

“Every artist has to discover their voice. Gia Margaret didn’t find herself until she lost hers. With a vocal injury that kept her from singing for years, she developed other musical languages, mastering the grammar of an intricate, homey form of ambient music pioneered by Ernest Hood and perfected by The Books. Now, her physical voice healed and her artistic voice honed, she comes full circle with Singing, her first vocal album since 2018’s There’s Always Glimmer. Led by soft piano lines that fall like breath on glass, the music on Singing evidences the same jeweler’s sensitivity to detail that she developed in her silence. “There was a time when I really didn’t know if I would sing again. So once I healed, there was a lot of internal pressure to come back strong,” Margaret says. “I didn’t know who I was anymore. So it felt like beginning again, and reconnecting with these very old, old parts of myself.” This feeling of intermixed alienation and rediscovery is palpable across the album.

In opener “Everyone Around Me Dancing,” she watches a party from the wings, aware of how her body keeps her from communal joy while also providing new modes of self-knowledge. Shut out from the scene, she is “closer to the ground, the planet.” In “Alive Inside,” she’s so far away from the source that she’s praying to whoever might hear (“a god, a friend that’s gone, a spirit”). As her voice rises, it seems to be trapped in a web of distortion; it’s as if in her pursuit, she’s pushing at the very boundaries of what can be said. The process of making Singing was one of learning how to trust each of those feelings. The album was partially recorded in London with Frou Frou’s Guy Sigsworth, who helped Margaret unify the spree of ideas she had for “Good Friend,” an album highlight that includes Gregorian chant by ILĀ and turntable scratches, among many other things. David Bazan and Amy Millan also make appearances, as do Kurt Vile and Sean Carey, while Margaret’s longtime collaborator Doug Saltzman plays on and co-produces much of the record. Deb Talan, previously of The Weepies, lends her voice, piano, and guitar to the album's closing—and definitive—statement, "E-Motion." Gia Margaret is always singing. Every note of this album sings a warm requiem to her past selves; every layer sings her future self into being. Across the album, she applies the lessons of speechlessness—the quasirational ways we communicate without communicating, the way formless sound can cut to the heart of things like a scalpel—to her own artistic voice”.

Julia Cumming’s Julia is the next album I want to highlight. This is going to be among the most anticipated debut albums of 2025. You may recognise Julia Cumming, as she is a member of Sunflower Bean. Putting out her own work, I do wonder what we will get from Julia. You can pre-order it here:

“Julia Cumming’s solo debut Julia opens with an unadorned declaration of independence: her voice and a piano uniting for a liberating proclamation of self that rejects doubt, misogyny, and the notion of being “too much.” Julia unlocks a creative door years in the making for the New York–born multi-instrumentalist and Sunflower Bean bassist, culminating after nearly two decades of bands, releases, labels, and relentless touring. As Sunflower Bean’s Headful of Sugar era ended in 2023, Cumming decamped to Los Angeles, where a two-year, deeply healing collaboration with producer Brian Robert Jones — her “second artistic puberty” — took shape. Drawing freely from formative influences: Burt Bacharach, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, and Brian Wilson. Julia emerges as a joyful, anti-cool coming-out: a celebration of the dorks, the misfits, and the enduring truth of being enough”.

Two more albums to recommend. Go and pre-order Kneecap’s FENIAN. A band who have been making headlines for the wrong reasons (they were not in the wrong; however, standing up against genocide caused backlash and censorship), they are not bringing us a terrific new album:

“Kneecap return to bend genre, language, and rules. The most talked about artists in the world are turning the page. A new chapter, new sounds, new manifestos. A blistering album that revels in darkness while bursting through the void with illuminated revery. This is FENIAN.

Produced by Dan Carey (Fontaines D.C., Kae Tempest, Wet Leg), FENIAN upends expectations with an expansive sonic palate, traversing acid house, trip-hop, dubstep, and more - Masters of rave and rap theatre, FENIAN represents Kneecap’s most sophisticated exploration of language and sounds.

More darkness. More confrontation. More craic. More energy. More solidarity. More absolute bangers. And more fuel for the unrelenting engine that powers this unstoppable force. For their remarkable second album, Kneecap have come out fighting.

Throughout, the sirens and alarms ring, and the chorus’s blast. Revolutionary and rebellious, confrontational and impossibly catchy, inescapably intelligent and brilliantly rendered, FENIAN doesn’t just represent the next phase in Kneecap’s trajectory but stands as a remarkable record that thrills as much as it surprises. The mayhem of their breakout year is a memory now. But Kneecap are neither dwelling on that nor merely persevering through it. In FENIAN they excel, reaching a new peak that is undeniable in its mastery.

Pressure makes diamonds, and FENIAN glistens with Kneecap’s uncut gems”.

I am ending this feature by spotlighting Miss Grit’s Under My Umbrella. You can pre-order the album here. When it comes to Miss Grit, they are an artist that you definitely need to spend time with. In terms of the music they are producing and the emotions they provoke. Under My Umbrella is going to be a cracker:

“For their second full-length album, Under My Umbrella, Miss Grit has lifted the lid on their internal world, lasering in on the anxieties and heartbreak of the past two years, following their acclaimed debut Follow the Cyborg.

On this album, Margaret Sohn – aka Miss Grit (they/she) – channels the noirish atmosphere of classic trip-hop bands, while adding a hefty dose of maximalism and a dream-pop sensibility.  The title is a nod to the iconic Rihanna song and embraces Sohn “…letting people in more on this record and trying not to shy away from that. I’m leaving the cyborg behind, I’m letting it all out.”

This record started to take shape when Sohn returned from an intense touring schedule where they’d driven themself around North America totally alone. When they returned home, Sohn found themselves yearning to capture that specific, less restrained energy of playing live.

Under My Umbrella not only presents Sohn’s gift for complex production, but also the boldness of finding your voice, and ultimately is about coming to terms with yourself, your imperfections, and your complex interior world”.

There are other albums out next month that you may also want to think about. I hope that those above are of interest and have given you some food for thought. Some guidance and discoveries. April looks like it is going to be a busy and exciting month. Some wonderful and eclectic albums that you will want to…

GO and pre-order.

FEATURE: At a Local Level: The Love and Affection for Kate Bush Around the World

FEATURE:

 

 

At a Local Level

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1989/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

 

The Love and Affection for Kate Bush Around the World

__________

I have spoken a lot…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing live in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: TV Times via Getty Images

about the influence of Kate Bush in the music world. This huge and international representation. How some of the biggest artists of the day are embodying Kate Bush and you can see how she has affected them. However, we do not really drill down to a local level. I guess it is impossible to do that, and so many of the events and moments where Kate Bush is celebrated will go unreported. However, I do wonder whether there is capacity for more to be done when it comes to Kate Bush. In terms of size and budget. However, that is not to take anything away from the smaller tributes and acknowledgments. I read a story from the U.S. about a Kate Bush musical that has been launched in the U.S. It has finished now, but I do hope that it inspires others to do likewise:

“The Callbacks, a no-cut student musical theater group founded in spring 2024, will be performing an original musical titled “Hounds of Love” for their termly production this weekend. Written, directed and choreographed by Nathaniel Lopez ’29, the jukebox musical will feature songs by the English singer-songwriter and musician Kate Bush. The title of the musical comes from Bush’s 1985 studio album, “Hounds of Love.”

The musical follows Ella, played by Gianna Werle ’29, a recent college graduate as she navigates a new corporate marketing job. Grappling with self-doubt and uncertainty about her career path, Ella’s eccentric co-worker Jason, played by Aidan Lewinter ’28, helps her rekindle her passion for dance.

Lopez said he believes the story will be “important for our audience,” as college students.

“It is okay to do the thing you love — whether this is English, engineering, medical school or even the arts,” he said.

Lopez has been involved with The Callbacks since last fall, his first term on campus, when he performed in their cabaret show. Outside of The Callbacks, he has also been involved in the student-run Displaced Theatre Company and the Rude Mechanicals as an actor and sound technician.

To Lopez’s knowledge, this production is the first Kate Bush jukebox musical. Calling Bush a “mastermind of her music,” Lopez explained that her “theatrical” style — from her music videos to her costumes — inspired him to make a musical using her songs.

“I always thought that her music could act as great dance pieces,” Lopez said.

Lopez said this idea specifically began as a class assignment in his THEA 50: “Playwriting 1” class, where he started writing the show, which is currently in its fifth version.

Lopez is an experienced choreographer. Last term, he choreographed a dance for the theater department’s First Year Project showcase, and he said he has choreographed four musicals before.

Reflecting Bush’s music style, Lopez described the choreography of “Hounds of Love” as “surreal and abstract.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Kaley Beth Roberts

Ben Killian ’29, who will be playing Ella’s dad, added that every choice is nonetheless very “intentional.”

“I think that there’s a lot of things that Nate intentionally put in for people to notice,” Killian said.

The show marks Lopez’ debut as a director. Despite initial nervousness, Lopez said he thinks that “being the playwright of the show you’re directing makes the experience much easier.”

“It is much easier for me to give direction to my cast, as I know each character’s wants and motives,” Lopez said.

He explained that the process of putting on the show involved learning about many aspects of theater-making, including “directing, holding auditions, arranging sheet music, doing a little bit of dramaturgy and so much more.”

Jussynda Burns ’29, an ensemble member in the show, said she wanted to audition for “Hounds of Love” because she “grew to miss” the theater after a hiatus from it in college.

“Theater [has] just been a big part of my life for a long time, but I kind of stopped when I was going through the college process,” she said.

Odete Coss ’29, another ensemble member, said her involvement in the show has allowed her to expand her artistic “toolbox.”

“I’m not a singer or a dancer — I’m an actor. So being able to do [those things] and seeing that I’m not bad at [them] is really awesome,” Coss said.

Moreover, Coss described being part of the fulfillment of Lopez’ vision as highly rewarding.

“I get to help make my friend’s dreams come true,” she said.

Lopez said he is looking forward to the audience seeing his innovative use of Bush’s songs.

“I think the audience will love to see how I took pre-existing Kate Bush songs and put them in the context of an entire plot,” he said.

“Hounds of Love” will be showing at the Warner Bentley Theater in the Hopkins Center for the Arts at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27 and at 1 p.m. on Feb. 28”.

There have been cases of Kate Bush being spotlighted in various ways around the world. I have said before how, in 2022, a Brisbane choir covered Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and they received a thanks from Kate Bush. Baby Bushka is a San Diego, California-based eight-woman powerhouse troupe that performs Kate Bush covers. They are one of a few tribute acts or groups who perform Kate Bush songs. You know it is not only the U.S. and Australia where Kate Bush is inspiring. It does make me want to look more at what is happening around the world. The local-level salutes to this music icon. We talk about how massive artists are influenced by Kate Bush. However, there is something more compelling and interesting when we look at these smaller projects, groups and interesting events. I recently wrote about a couple of Kate Bush events in the U.K. The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever is coming up and I know last year offered some revues, charity nights and tribute acts. Given how Kate Bush continues to make an impact in music and her songs are being discovered and shared by a whole new generation, it is not a surprise that people are honouring that in their own way. If artists love Kate Bush for their reasons, things like musical in California has different dynamics and personal meanings. I don’t know if we have had a Kate Bush musical here. I also am curious what is in store this year. Given the momentum that Wuthering Heights recently gained, I suspect that something around that song will come to light. We have TikTok videos and things online. People posting clips of Kate Bush songs. However, I do love it when people go to greater lengths to show their appreciation of Kate Bush. It is a shame that there is not a forum, fan club or website where those who are doing something Kate Bush-related can post. It would be amazing to have a global map and see what is happening. Maybe Kate Bush herself would react to that. We discuss music-related connections to Kate Bush’s work. However, there are those across theatre, literature and art (and beyond) that warrant greater focus. Showing just how wide-ranging and multi-discipline her music and influence is, it is always heartening when people celebrate this woman’s work. I do think that the rest of this year will see more examples than ever of people embarking on projects or incorporating Kate Bush’s music into an original work. A representation of and emphasis on…

HER unique genius.

FEATURE: Exploring One of Kate Bush’s Most Divisive and Important Singles: Director’s Cut’s Deeper Understanding at Fifteen

FEATURE:

 

 

Exploring One of Kate Bush’s Most Divisive and Important Singles

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional image for 2011’s Director’s Cut/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

 

Director’s Cut’s Deeper Understanding at Fifteen

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WHILST the only big…

album anniversary regarding Kate Bush this year is the fortieth of the greatest hits collection, The Whole Story, there are some smaller anniversaries. Director’s Cut turns fifteen in May. Its only single, Deeper Understanding, turns fifteen on 5th April, it is worth highlighting it. There are a few reasons why people; are divided about this song. One relates to the music video. The original song was included on 1989’s The Sensual World and I am surprised it did not get a single release. It only reached seventy-eight upon its release in 2011. The video for the 2011 version was directed by Kate Bush. Even though she is a remarkable director, Director’s Cut is not one of her best efforts. It seems messy and strange and doesn’t really hang together. Also, the number of musicians on Director’s Cut version is higher than on The Sensual World’s. The 1989 version had drum, bass, tupan and vocals. Maybe a little too busy the 2011 version. The other divisive aspect is the relevance of the song. If Kate Bush was mystic and prescient when she put out Deeper Understanding in 1989, maybe there was less impact in 2011. I do feel like there is something oldskool and a little dial-up modem about the 2011 version, even though technology had moved on. So it is hard to write about Deeper Understanding without addressing these points. In 2011, for The Guardian, this is what Michael Cragg wrote about Deeper Understanding: “The 2011 retwizzle is two minutes longer, seems to have a new vocal and, naturally for the music climate of today, a lot of vocal processing and vocoder. The chorus is much more explicitly meant to be a conversation between human and computer: “I bring you love and deeper understanding” croons the machine like a malfunctioning ZX Spectrum. It’s not a disaster, in fact once you get used to the vocals it’s still a great Kate Bush track, but if revisiting songs is going to mean adding an extra minute and a half of harmonica solos to each one then we may have problems.” The New Yorker added: “Where the original chattered and cracked, this version susurrates and warps, a bit more like life online”.

I will move on in a minute. However, before I get there, there are some interview archives from 1989 where Kate Bush discussed Deeper Understanding. One of the standout cuts from The Sensual World. Thanks to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia for their archive:

“This is about people… well, about the modern situation, where more and more people are having less contact with human beings. We spend all day with machines; all night with machines. You know, all day, you’re on the phone, all night you’re watching telly. Press a button, this happens. You can get your shopping from the Ceefax! It’s like this long chain of machines that actually stop you going out into the world. It’s like more and more humans are becoming isolated and contained in their homes. And this is the idea of someone who spends all their time with their computer and, like a lot of people, they spend an obsessive amount of time with their computer. People really build up heavy relationships with their computers! And this person sees an ad in a magazine for a new program: a special program that’s for lonely people, lost people. So this buff sends off for it, gets it, puts it in their computer and then like , it turns into this big voice that’s saying to them, “Look, I know that you’re not very happy, and I can offer you love: I’m her to love you. I love you!” And it’s the idea of a divine energy coming through the least expected thing. For me, when I think of computers, it’s such a cold contact and yet, at the same time, I really believe that computers could be a tremendous way for us to look at ourselves in a very spiritual way because I think computers could teach us more about ourselves than we’ve been able to look at, so far. I think there’s a large part of us that is like a computer. I think in some ways, there’s a lot of natural processes that are like programs… do you know what I mean? And I think that, more and more, the more we get into computers and science like that, the more we’re going to open up our spirituality. And it was the idea of this that this… the last place you would expect to find love, you know, real love, is from a computer and, you know, this is almost like the voice of angels speaking to this person, saying they’ve come to save them: “Look, we’re here, we love you, we’re here to love you!” And it’s just too much, really, because this is just a mere human being and they’re being sucked into the machine and they have to be rescued from it. And all they want is that, because this is “real” contact.

Roger Scott, BBC Radio 1 interview, 14 October 1989

It’s like today, a lot of people relate to machines, not to human beings, like they hear telephone [Makes ringing noise] and think “Is that for me?” I guess it playing with the idea of how people get more and more isolated from humans and spend a lot more time with machines. I suppose America’s a really good example where there are some people who never go out, they watch television all day, they’re surrounded by machines, they shop through television, they speak to people on the phone; it’s just distant contact. The idea of the computer buffs who end up going through divorce cases because their wives can’t cope with the attention the computer gets. They have an obsessive effect on people, and this track’s about one of those types.

I was playing with the juxtaposition of high tech and spirituality. I suppose one inspiration was a program I saw last year about a scientist called Stephen Hawking who for years had been studying the universe, and his concepts are like the closest we’ve ever come to understanding the answer. But unfortunately he has a wasting-away disease, and the only way he can talk is through voice process. It was one of the most moving things I’ve ever heard. He was so close to the answers to everything, and yet his body was going on him – in some ways it was the closest I’d ever come to hearing God speak! The things he was saying were so spiritual, it was like he’d gone straight through science and come out the other end. It was like he’d gone beyond words, and I do think that there is this possibility with computers that we really could learn about ourselves on levels that could take us into much deeper areas. With my music, I like to combine both the old and the new, the high tech and the compassion from the human element, the combination of synths and acoustic instruments.

Will Johnson, ‘A Slowly Blooming English Rose’. Pulse, December 1989”.

Even though it seemed like a quick process selecting the songs that would be included on Director’s Cut – the album features songs that appeared on The Sensual World and 1993’s The Red Shoes -, you feel like Deeper Understanding was a harder choice. I think the original is really good and effecting. Bush said in interviews how she had a bank of voices for the version on The Sensual World but wanted it to be this single voice. A conversation between a human and computer. She got the chance to realise this with the re-recorded version. I do like the fact that she brought her son. Bertie appeared on Aerial in 2005 and 50 Words for Snow, which was released in November 2011. Playing this computerised part, it sort of buried his lovely voice. We got a chance to hear it in its pure form for Snowflake. The longer version meant that Deeper Understanding was perhaps not an obvious choice for single. Maybe Kate Bush felt that the reliance on technology and social media coming in meant Deeper Understanding was the most relevant song. In terms of how people could relate to it. Many argue that Deeper Understanding was more effecting and potent in 1989. The longest song on Director’s Cut, why not shine a light on The Song of Solomon or Top of the City? As The Red Shoes gets mor focus than The Sensual World regarding the songs included on Director’s Cut, maybe strange Bush wanted the only single to be a reworked version of a classic from The Sensual World. Or she could have even released Flower of the Mountain. The song that pretty much inspired Director’s Cut or was a big motivator, Bush got permission to use words from James Joyce’s Ulysses that she was denied when writing The Sensual World. It would have been fascinating seeing a video for Flower of the Mountain. As Deeper Understanding was not a single the first time around, Bush might have felt it was long overdue.

I will end with a few takes on Deeper Understanding. How people reacted to the new version. Bush, as an older woman, discussing technology and how addicted we are. There is an irony on Deeper Understanding, Bush not someone who is on social media or especially bothered about smartphones and that side of things. More, this is her observing society as a whole. Uncut wrote this in their review of Director’s Cut: “Elsewhere, Director’s Cut simply marks the changes in musical fashion – most notably on the reworked “Deeper Understanding”, a song about the questionable solace of technology, which now features a multitracked, pitchshifted Kate as the voice of the computer, as though she had just heard Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak”. The Guardian wrote this: “Bush has seriously messed with "Deeper Understanding" as well, a track whose prescience about the siren's call of the internet is shivery. The computer gets a bigger voice – Bush's 12-year-old son, Bertie – and a dose of Auto-Tune, the vocal effect of choice of 21st-century R&B. It will make you smile”. This blog provided their take on Deeper Understanding: “The opening lines of “Deeper Understanding” works more powerfully in today’s age of social networking on the Internet than it did over 20 years ago: “As the people here grow colder/I turn to my computer/And spend my evenings with it like a friend.” To top it off, Bush has robotocized the chorus with a warped, more modern auto-tune effect. It’s a witty up-date to a song whose coda she also extends an extra couple of minutes with odd computer effects and a slow jam with drums, bass, harmonica and her own quirky voice”.

Pitchfork’s single review is particularly interesting: “So it’s certainly an appropriate thematic choice to herald Director’s Cut, but there’s plenty of creativity at work here. The contributions by the Bulgarian vocal ensemble Trio Bulgarka are dampened, with Bush Auto-Tuning their voices to make the lush expanses of cushion-y sound ever more opulent. At times the feeling is reminiscent of another familiar touchstone, 10cc’s plushed-out “I’m Not in Love,” at others it flits close to the luxuriant pop of Fleetwood Mac's coke-fueled soft rock work on “Storms.” It’s in the final third of “Deeper Understanding” that this version takes on a life of its own. The pliable bass thrum from former Japan member Mick Karn remains locked-down, Bush loosens her control on language altogether, and the closing harmonica drones, deployed with a similar rusty tone to those in Talk Talk’s “The Rainbow,” add a jagged edge to the natural softness. It’s a feeling heightened by Bush’s ragged vocal take, which hints at another subtle shift in her stylistic mien”. Turning fifteen on 5th April, I do think it is quite a big anniversary. This was the first new music released since 2005’s Aerial. It was a big moment in a year when Bush released two studio albums. Even if Deeper Understanding is not an obvious single selection, I do appreciate why Kate Bush wanted this song to lead. Championed by BBC Radio 2 and Ken Bruce, I instantly sprung to comparing the two versions. See Deeper Understanding as a single work. A new song. Relevant, timely and important as we get to hear Bush’s son on it, there are reasons to love…

THE 2011 recording of a wonderful Kate Bush song.

FEATURE: Broadening the Categories… Why Music Journalists and Photographers Should Be Included in Award Ceremonies

FEATURE:

 

 

Broadening the Categories…

PHOTO CREDIT: Andrew Neel/Pexels

 

Why Music Journalists and Photographers Should Be Included in Award Ceremonies

__________

ALTHOUGH there are…

PHOTO CREDIT: Gabriel Peter/Pexels

separate awards given to those in music who are not artists or songwriters, there are very few in the U.K. that include everyone. We have award ceremonies. They are mostly about artists and songwriters. Occasionally you get producers included. There is not a category for album artwork and photography. None for journalism or those who run venues or run labels. It seems like even the GRAMMYs is limited when it comes to discussing those away from the pure act of making and releasing music. Even though they recently included an album cover category, what about those who photograph artists? People, at labels and who run festivals? Those who are working tirelessly behind the scenes? To show how little music journalism is valued, where are the categories and honours for those who feature and write about the artists who get the awards?! Those who dislike awards or feel like they are pointless might say that it would be extreme and a waste of time. That is okay. They do not need to bother themselves! I do feel that there is focus on artists and not enough attention given to those away from the spotlight. Especially journalists. There are media awards but nothing at the biggest ceremonies. It brings into question the value of independent journalism. Even the biggest publications and magazines are not recognised. They hold their own ceremonies and celebrate artists. However, where are the categorises that recognise legendary and new journalists? The great stories and fantastic interviews? Photographers taking the best shots and producing essential work? We do not have a Best Album Cover category at any U.K. music award ceremonies I don’t think.

You can debate whether music award shows are watered down and politics is being censored. Controversy is not as prevalent and it feels a little timid. T.V. channels silencing anyone who does speak out. Making these nights broader and inclusive. Even some genres of music are included but seen as an afterthought. If we are going to keep up the tradition of having annual music awards, then they really do need to be more geared to the full spectrum and economy than just artists. Without the journalists, venue managers, crew, festival organisers, journalists and beyond then the industry would not be what it is! You cannot deny that. So, rather than them being overlooked or seen as inessential, it would be nice if that habit was ended. Journalism is especially important. At a time when music journalism is at risk and so many websites are closing, it is as vital as ever that we support journalism and also acknowledge how we need to keep it alive. Whilst we do not have the same proliferation of magazines and publications we did a couple or few decades ago, there are still so many examples of wonderful journalism that is not being discussed or properly honoured. It goes beyond that. Think about all the levels and layers of the music industry. Though there is a photography award ceremony held annually by Abbey Road Studios, what about integrating this into huge award ceremonies? It is a shame that photography and journalism is someone marginalised or seen as inferior. Taking nothing away from artists and how incredible they are. However, there is a vast majority of the focus put purely on music and those who make it. It seems so limiting. We do not have anything as extensive or fulsome as the GRAMMYs in the U.K. Most of our award shows are quite limited when it comes to categories.

PHOTO CREDIT: Markus Winkler/Pexels

As an independent music journalist, I see this huge gulf between what I am people like me do and these massive artists. Although it is a stretch to say there is a direct connection or they have in some way been helped by independent journalists, there is this disparity. The hard work and tireless graft and craft from journalists does not get its moment. It is not about awards and materialism. It is more about recognising the value of journalism. Or photography or these areas that are so important. It is not just me who feels like this. There are so many in the music industry that have been working for years without seeing what we do highlighted and recognised on a T.V. screen. There are issues with award ceremonies in terms of gender inequality and how certain genres and categories are not as valued as they should be. Maybe too much focus on Pop and less on, say, Rap. However, it is this narrow focus on artists and those who release music that is frustrating. It is not true that journalism is irrelevant and music fans do not need it or can do the same thing. That everyone is a photographer, so we do not need to spotlight music photographers. There is this ignorance and lack of appreciation for so many people that add so much to the industry. Global press freedom and independence is in decline. Politicisation and censorship. It is a terrible time. Music journalism faces different challenges. A lack of advertising revue and diminished access to artists (who now bypass press via social media. For that reason alone, there should be a lot more support for and recognition of, music journalism. And for so many others who do not get that special moment and experience the glitz of the BRITs or other ceremonies. It is high time that we…

BROADEN the categories.

FEATURE: Groovelines: Doechii - DENIAL IS A RIVER

FEATURE:

 

 

Groovelines

  

Doechii - DENIAL IS A RIVER

__________

THIS is one of…

PHOTO CREDIT: Eric Johnson for Cosmopolitan

my favourite songs of the past decade. I am a big fan of Doechii, and DENIAL IS A RIVER is a true modern classic. This modern Rap great at her peak! A standout from that mixtape, DENIAL IS A RIVER was released last January. The song features Doechii's therapist alter-ego, to whom Doechii narrates the conditions of her own life, such as failed relationships involving her being cheated on and developing a drug addiction. That real struggle to balance her career with her personal life. DENIAL IS A RIVER was a hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 and won huge critical praise. Its video is also fascinating and received a lot of focus and interest. I am going to come to some reviews of the song. One that is a modern masterpiece in my view. I want to start with part of a Cosmopolitan interview from last year. The subject of this remarkable song came up:

“That vulnerability is also such a key component of your music. “DENIAL IS A RIVER” redefined the heartbreak song and represents a post-relationship crash-out pretty accurately. How soon after a traumatizing romantic situation can you put pen to paper?

Sometimes I have to process things before I can talk about them, because if I try to do it immediately, I’m gonna say the wrong thing. But that song took me a year to process. I didn’t want to give my ex any promo in my music. And I talked about three different exes in that song. People think it’s just one! I decided I had to talk about it for me.

Have you ever been involved with a partner who’s creatively limited you?

I only felt that way once. I was 18, and I was dating a guy who just wasn’t very supportive of my music, and it really stifled me. I stopped writing because he was just like, “That’s not cool.” I took his opinion way too seriously when really he just didn’t get it. I remember listening to SZA’s Ctrl for the first time and it literally gave me the courage to break up with him. I only bring that up because she inspired me to be vulnerable through my music in a way that I didn’t think I could be.

It happens all the time. I’ll see so many of my friends with someone and I’m like...

He literally hates you.

Have you ever made a song to help people regain power after a relationship like that?

“GIRLS,” the first song I dropped that went viral, was 100 percent about that ex. I had been working on it for a year and I played it for him, and he was like, “This sucks. What are you even talking about?” And I was like, “Oh yeah, I got to fix this.” And the girls loved it because they felt me.

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(Top) Ahluwalia top, Jacquemus pants, Diotima headscarf, Nina Runsdorf earrings, Simone I. Smith and Rainbow Unicorn Birthday Surprise bracelets. (Bottom) Bottega Veneta shirt and pants, Rainbow Unicorn Birthday Surprise bracelets, stylist’s own bracelets (left arm), Laura Lombardi ring, Home by Areeayl ring (left ring finger), For Future Reference Vintage ring (left middle finger), Charlotte Chesnais ring (left index finger).

One man’s—I don’t want to say trash, but...

No, seriously! I think it boils down to: “You’re not a creative, so you don’t understand why this is important to me. And you don’t even love me enough to support me in something that you don’t understand because you’re selfish. And this is for women—this is not for you.”

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Have you had any people you’ve written about reach out and say something?

If I’m writing about you in the negative, you can’t reach out—you’re blocked”.

DENIAL IS A RIVER is such a fascinating song. In terms of its layers and components. Doechii’s amazing vocals and the sort of conversation she has with herself through it. Rolling Stone broke down DENIAL IS A RIVER for their feature. I have seen others that dissect the verses and composition. Always interesting reading people go deep with a song:

“Ditching the formula was essential for Doechii while she was in the studio cooking up her latest mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal. She knows the appeal of a big commercial hit, something palatable and only barely creative — something almost anyone could do. But her musical interests are more deeply connected to delivering unique stories that find humor in dark situations. On the latest episode of Rolling Stone‘s The Breakdown, the Florida rapper explains how moving away from any preset expectations and carving out her own path led her to “Denial Is a River.”

“I was really afraid of how raw and honest I was being in that record,” Doechii explains. “And I know that a lot of my fans really, really love that record because I made it humorous, but it actually is very, very dark.” The song was inspired by a journal entry and the chronological flow of Slick Rick’s classic “A Children’s Story.” Doechii locked in with her engineer Jayda Love and created a gripping story about finding out her ex-boyfriend cheated on her with a man.

“This song is really just like people hearing how I am, the inner dialogue that I’m having with myself. Like, OK, maybe you should really unpack that,” she said. “This is an inner dialogue that I’m having with the voices in my head. It just seems like I’m less crazy because I do it with a funny voice.” The approach gave her structure, but didn’t take away from her strengths as a lyricist.

Love, who watched the record pour out of Doechii in the studio, shares: “I wasn’t surprised to hear how honest she was. The only surprising factor of it was just how quickly it came about. But the contents of the song were not surprising at all.”

Doechii was in the process of creating an album when an unexpected creative detour led her to Alligator Bites Never Heal. She needed that experience to break away from being codependent on her label and the opinions of everyone else around her. She had to figure out her formula for herself. “That was my version of like, all right, I’m gonna let everything go. I’m getting sober. I’m not talking to nobody. I’m not talking to my label. I’m finna be in my house. I’ma paint and I’ma write, and I’m not talking to anybody,” Doechii says. “That’s me exploding, when I exclude myself and I shut down and I get in my hermit.”

What she learned in the process was that making music was a way to streamline her healing process. “I have to make music for therapy. And for me, that’s my formula,” she says. “If it blows up on TikTok, it blows up. But I can’t make music from that place. It distracts me, and then I’m not able to tell the truth. Sometimes, those formulas that fit for pop and radio and TikTok and the internet, you’re making music for moments. Instead of making music for therapy, you dilute your message. You dilute your creativity. You lose something — you lose the story”.

I am going to finish with this review. If you have not heard DENIAL IS A RIVER then go and watch the video on YouTube. I would urge you also to check out the phenomenal mixtape, Alligator Bits Never Heal. That came out in 2024. I wonder if we will get a mixtape of album from Doechii this year:

“Doechii's "Denial Is A River" is a sharply written story of her deeply personal struggles she has faced throughout her life, especially over the past few years. All while doing so, she also incorporates so much of her signature humor within it too. She is such a dynamic and captivating storyteller, one that is simultaneously very funny and clever, but also very real and honest.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Doechii opened up about the time in her life that inspired this song. "With 'Denial Is a River,' I felt some fear there because it's really me being extremely literal and vulnerable about my situation. It is a very vulnerable thing, especially as an artist," she said. "Just a little backstory, I went through a period where I was afraid to be vulnerable in my music, which is odd for me because that’s all I usually do. I was saying to my engineer, 'I don't want to talk about my feelings because right now all I feel is negativity. All I feel is sadness. I feel anger. I'm upset with everything and everybody. And my fans don't want to hear that.' But my engineer was like, 'It's not for them, it's for you. You need to talk about it.' So, it was very scary for me to be that vulnerable on 'Denial Is a River,' which is why I think that I made it funny; so that it could be a bit easier to process the darkness of that record."

It was released in summer of 2024 on her third mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal, but started gaining more traction in early 2025. She also won her first Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2025, making her only the third female artist in history to win that award, following in the footsteps of Lauryn Hill and Cardi B. I recently discovered her music and have been obsessed with it ever since. When I first saw her NPR Tiny Desk performance, I was just so blown away by her insane skill and the precision of which she performs. Everyone involved is so immensely talented. She also blew me away during her 2025 Grammy's performance of this song and "Catfish", along with the string of other late-night performances she's done recently. Doechii is truly a legend in the making and has such a bright career ahead of her.

"Denial Is A River" is written from such a cool perspective, almost as if she's breaking the fourth wall to the listener and fully dictating her inner dialogue to the audience. She raps about moving from Florida to Hollywood and getting wrapped up in the allure of it all, getting thrust into some bad situations. Doechii opens up about everything from her drug addiction to her relationship troubles. It really dives into the story of her life for the past five years or so.

It is also very conversational as well. The song's title is in reference to an old Wendy Williams quote from her radio show, "Denial is a river in Egypt and your husband is gay". Funny enough that is also a storyline in Doechii's song too, as she details the story of her boyfriend cheating on her with another man. The opening of the song is almost as if she is telling the story on a radio show too, with the host saying, "You know it's been a lil' minute since you and I have had a chat...Probably since, like, your last EP, Oh the Places You'll Go". The song was also inspired by "A Children's Story" by Slick Rick too, she told Rolling Stone that "...this is an inner dialogue that I’m having with the voices in my head. It just seems like I'm less crazy because I do it with a funny voice."

Following her breakup in 2019, she fast-forwards to 2021 when she first got signed to a record label. "I'm movin' so fast, no time to process," she says. "Wrist watch, drip drop, label want the TikToks, now I'm makin' TikTok music, what thee fuck? I need a cleanse, need a detox, but we ain't got time to stop, the charts need us".

"Denial Is A River" is one of the most popular songs from Alligator Bites Never Heal, it keeps gaining more momentum every week on the charts and on social media. It's funny how that works because the song comes from a place of being frustrated with record labels wanting her to make music that will go viral and do well on TikTok. It's really refreshing to see a song gain so much popularity that pushes back against the trends and make something with the opposite intention.

Issa Rae also makes a spoken-word cameo throughout the song too, serving as a voice of reason, like a friend or a therapist trying to talk her down from this spiral she's having. The music video similarly brings all of these emotions to life, as the perfect ode to classic 90's sitcoms with Doechii herself as the main character of it all. The song itself has a very throwback feel to it as well, which they translated so well into a visual format.

By the end of the second verse into the third, she opens up about what 2023 was like for her. "I'm stackin' lots of cheese and makin' money, my grass is really green, and honestly, I can't even fucking cap no more, this is a really dark time for me". Doechii goes on to talk about her addiction and getting wrapped up in a dangerous Hollywood lifestyle, which provided her with short-term pleasure, but was starting to have a negative impact on her mental health. "I like doin' Hollywood shit, snort it? Probably would," she sings, "What can I say? The shit works, it feels good and my self-worth's at an all-time low". She opened up about her sobriety in her acceptance speech at the 2025 Grammy's, when she won the award for Best Rap Album. "I put my heart and my soul into this mixtape," she said through tears. "I bared my life. I went through so much. I dedicated myself to sobriety and God told me that I would be rewarded and that He would show me just how good it can get."

"Denial Is A River" is also officially Doechii's first solo Hot 100 entry on the Billboard charts. On Twitter in January 2025 she wrote, "My first solo entry is a satire about one of the lowest points in my life and has no hook. A message to smaller artists: Create whatever art you want there's really no rules”.

A queen of modern Rap and Hip-Hop, I think Doechii is going to go down as one of the all-time greats. DENIAL IS A RIVER is an example of her genius. Not only in terms of the songwriting and her vocals. How she can switch emotions and characters. More of an actor rather than a singer, she also makes these phenomenal videos that are like works of art. I think she will have a career as an actor too. There are few modern artists as extraordinary…

AS Doechiii.

FEATURE: Through a Long & Sleepless Night: The Divine Comedy's Casanova at Thirty

FEATURE:

 

 

Through a Long & Sleepless Night

 

The Divine Comedy's Casanova at Thirty

__________

THE thirteenth…

studio album from The Divine Comedy, Rainy Sunday Afternoon, was released last year and is one of their best ever. Referring to them as a band, it is essential Neil Hannon and a cast of musicians. He has been the focal point ever since the first album in 1990. Another of their albums has big anniversaries this year. Regeneration turned twenty-five on 12th March. However, one of The Divine Comedy’s greatest and most popular albums, Casanova, was released on 29th April, 1996. The fourth album from Neil Hannon and his crew, it contains classics like Something for the Weekend and Becoming More Like Alfie. I am going to end with a review of this beautiful and hugely impressive album. One of the finest songwriters ever, this is one where Neil Hannon’s gifts are in full flight. People might recognise Songs of Love. That was used as the theme song for the incredible sitcom, Father Ted, in the 1990s. In terms of the truly great albums that arrived in 1996, this stands with the best of them. However, I think Casanova is overlooked in favour of others. It is worth shining a light on it ahead of its thirtieth anniversary. I am starting out with Beats Per Minute and their second look at an album that still sounds astonishing. The song uncovering fresh layers each time you listen:

“The 1996 record turned out to be – and remains – a great entry point. No doubt the fame from Father Ted helped make the album a commercial success (making it a gold record as well as boasting two Top 20 singles in the UK charts), but the strength of Casanova is earned in its own right – something all the more obvious in hindsight.

It’s a sad fact that The Divine Comedy’s principal songwriter and vocalist Neil Hannon is a name that remains fairly under the radar, especially as he is perhaps one of the most talented songwriters and composers out there, consistently delivering solid album after solid album in the band’s 30-some year existence. Truly a poet of his age, he has a magnificent skill of encapsulating everyday woe, everyday love, and the everyday feelings of every day into witty, deprecating couplets. He can turn an unsuspecting phrase into a magnificent weapon on a whim; the kind that can strike you both immediately and decades later with the same force.

Take the aforementioned “Songs of Love” for example; Hannon pokes fun at young couples prancing about in front of him with absolutely no regard for how miserable he is. Phrases like “Pale, pubescent beasts” are golden, but one line sticks out in particular: “Fortune depends on the tone of your voice.”

Perhaps Hannon is poking fun at himself and the love-song-writing community, but he still takes his advice to heart – something that helps distinguish him from other artists. When Hannon delivers a line, he does so entirely invested in it, regardless of how absurd, silly, or ludicrous it might be.

Casanova has a plethora of examples: On “Middle-Class Heroes” he lures in the listener as a hack psychic with a sultry voice (“Okay my pretty, just cross my palm with plastic / and I’ll see what I can do”); the ferocious “Through a Long & Sleepless Night” has him snarling and screaming during the album’s heaviest moment in a sort of post-rock/Britpop climax of noise; and on the centerpiece “Charge” he plays opposing forces of a war, seducing each other with horrific platitudes (“Baby baby, gonna set your village on fire”) in both falsetto and a deep, Barry White-like voice.

Oh, and that’s the thing about Casanova also worth knowing: it’s pretty much all about sex. The album is “inspired by the writings of the eighteenth century Venetian gambler, eroticist, and spy” (which Hannon himself details in the penultimate “Theme From Casanova”, using his best BBC voice as he ushers in a contrastingly gentle and ambling instrumental piece). The characters here are base, dick-led assholes, brimming with misogyny and undeserved huge egos: A man aims to lure a woman into a romp without telling her he’s married on “Something For The Weekend”, while on “In & Out of Paris & London” another man excuses assault and harassment, reasoning “this is not a sin – it’s not even original.” For some, the lyrics might not make for easy listening (even though a lot is left to innuendo and imagination), but it also speaks to Hannon’s skill at painting characters with depth and arcs over the course of just a song. And on the plus side, most of the horrible men meet a deserved grizzly end in some way or another.
When Scott Walker died in 2019, I honestly felt despair over losing an artist like I had felt for no other before. His music had come to be a staple for me since I first heard “Farmer in the City” through the biggest stereo speakers I ever recall seeing, feeling the pressure of the intensifying strings pushing against me. As his voice rose in the song, my heart opened and so did my mind; I had never heard music anything like this before. I promptly went out and bought Scott 1 – 4, and over the following years I consumed about everything I could in the Scott Walker universe. His loss was a sadness in me partly because it meant that there will be no more music from Walker, even though he has a rich, rewarding, and ranging catalogue. Like all good things, you love what you have, but you always want that little more.

When I first saw the biography/documentary film 30 Century Man, I recall a moment of surprise when Neil Hannon came on screen talking about how important Scott Walker was to him. “That’s the guy who does the Father Ted theme,” I thought to myself, knowing little else of his musical output at that point. It came as a great joy then to find Hannon’s music then – especially so after Walker’s death. Walker might be gone, but the ways in which Hannon emulates him, captures his nuance and style, is like having someone putting out B-sides to Scott 1-4 across their own career.

The Walker style is arguably at its most obvious on Casanova – which makes it all the more enjoyable for me to listen to. The rubber brass, marimba, and wide-spanning orchestration on “Middle-Class Heroes” makes it feel like it could fit onto Scott 2 all too perfectly. On the insomniac build of “Through a Long & Sleepless Night”, the way Hannon snarls his words is like he’s actually doing his best Walker impression. (The fact that the song also shares a title with a track from Scott only drives home the deliberate Walker emulation.) When the bass gets slinky and busy during passages on “Charge” and “A Woman of the World” there are echoes of Climate of Hunter to be heard. Final track “The Dogs & the Horses” comes complete with triumphant brass and ornate woodwind as Hannon says goodbye with the air of Oscar Wilde reaching out to the sky to use up his last breath; he’s gentle, but assured of his message throughout as his voice rises and falls with the music.

Thanks to orchestral arranger Joby Talbot, Hannon sounds truly like a timeless icon here, and that that icon is Scott Walker makes the album all the more enjoyable. I listen and content myself knowing that someone out there is still carrying the mantle of Walker’s style.

And ultimately that’s why Casanova is such a rewarding album for me: nostalgia, for both my younger self watching Father Ted, and my present self remembering the musical oeuvre of Scott Walker. There will be others who can relate to that, but it’s by no means a requirement for enjoying Casanova. The breadth of quality is wide here, every moment given due consideration from the band and worth a thesis of critical analysis. “Charge” is full of vaudeville piano breaks over a marching stomp of drums, all before the air raid sirens start bellowing and orchestra starts spiralling over the sound of gunfire; the imperialist/colonial air is there, but Hannon has his tongue wedged firmly in his cheek. (The song’s influence can also be heard clearly in Kaiser Chiefs’ 2014 epic “Cannons.”) The gloomy neo-swing jaunt of “A Woman of the World” (which is a reworked rejected first iteration of the Father Ted theme) casually ambles into cavernous depths as the Hannon explores the origin of feelings of love and hate (“Maybe I love her ’cause I’m jealous of her…Maybe I hate her ’cause I didn’t create her).

Indeed, every track here is full enough to want to break down each detail and lyrical turn: the squelchy synths and the brass riffing on the French national anthem on the darkly humorous “The Frog Princess”; the juxtaposition of the album’s most intense moments against its most whimsical and light ones; the slick 60s swing of “Becoming More Like Alfie”, with its glistening harpsichord and the surprising country twang of it’s vibrant guitar solo; and just the line “I fall in love with someone new practically every day but that’s okay,” which captures the fanatic adoration of both a serial womaniser and anyone who has ever been young and lustful”.

Maybe one of the issues is that Casanova did not fit in with the Britpop-dominating sounds of 1996. Not that The Divine Comedy were a mainstream band to begin with. They always had this somewhat underground appeal. Perhaps a bit too literate or eloquent to truly capture a foothold at the forefront, Casanova was very different to what was being proclaimed and recommended in 1996. This article explores how Neil Hannon’s work fitted into the U.K. scene in 1996. I think Casanova is an influential album that does not get enough attention:

“Even the beautiful and, to my ears, what could be seen as a pure love song in Songs Of Love isn‘t as straightforward as it appears. If you delve into the lyrics they talk of roaming the streets looking for prey whilst searching for a mate, so not quite so romantic when you look at it in that light, is it?

Starting out as the instrumental theme tune for telly comedy Father Ted, Songs Of Love did the job that A Woman Of The World was supposed to do, had TV bosses not rejected its brasher melody. With Hannon, the son of a bishop, offering up his best Frank Sinatra impression amid a 1930s Vegas showgirls routine, it’s not at all surprising why AWOTW would be rejected as the keynote track for this bucolic drama concerning the lives of priests on an island in Ireland.

Songs Of Love feels more pastoral, like a gentle love letter to Neil’s emerald homeland. You can imagine lambs frolicking through fields, maybe even picture My Lovely Horse (another Hannon composition featured in Father Ted’s A Song For Europe episode).

The shady libertine continues to be in evidence in the resolutely un-PC Frog Princess, candidly admitting “I don’t love anybody/That stuff is just a waste of time” but still chancing his arm with “Your place or mine?”. But by A Woman Of The World we see the beginnings of an about turn, maybe he loves her, maybe he hates her, maybe he needs her? Of course, he does revert to type considering the happenstance of killing her whilst in the throes of passion though of course the possibility is always there that she might get in there first.

But that is to discuss the insidious nature of intimacy I mentioned, however, is it also really an album about death? In my opinion, yes. Of the 11 stories the lyrics of seven contain allusions to or are explicitly about mortality, whilst one of the four that don’t is mainly wordless (the aforementioned Theme).

Two of the tunes deal wholly with death: The Dogs & The Horses, the album’s closing chapter, and the jaunty Charge, song five,  be a blasé treatise on trench warfare which finds Hannon channelling famous lovemen from Jim Morrison to Barry White and Prince. Midway through the latter, the composer seems to be having great fun charging into the valley of death and shooting left, right and centre, so gung-ho in fact that he’s stark bullock naked. One can almost picture him smoking a cigar with a bandana and camo paint.

The last word in dissonant denouements, The Dogs & The Horses, conversely, is a beautiful baroque slice of Scott Walker-esque melodrama featuring a deathbed vision of beloved pets coming to say one last goodbye and escort you up to the pearly gates. This is, of course, in stark contrast to our protagonist in Middle Class Heroes who is “never to heaven go”.

Maybe again here we are seeing the growth in character progressing throughout the record. We start with the unpleasant side of life but build up to a rousing finale where all is forgiven and we see our rakish hero in a slightly more sympathetic light. We realise he is an animal lover indeed, who has repented of his previous lust and life and can now enjoy an afterlife in heaven and not the hell contemplated in Through A Long & Sleepless Night, here we really feel the shift from loathsome letch to snarling old codger. Hannon never once glosses over the grubby and self-serving aspects of male desire and the album is all the better for it.

And so we leave on a note of positivity that people can change, that repentance brings deathbed redemption and that anyone can end up loved. Or, we could just listen to Neil Hannon and live our lives via the philosophy of track number nine”.

A lot of the features about Casanova are that it is this forgotten album. Rather than heralding a classic that was loved in its time, there is this sense of rewriting the narrative or giving oxygen to something that was ignored or underrated when it came out. Backseat Mafia marked twenty years of Casanova in 2016:

“Possessing a way with a melody light years ahead of his contemporaries, Hannon’s ability to pen a brilliantly accessible tune pretty reached an apex with Casanova, as it was packed full of smart pop songs that would have clogged up the upper reaches of the 90s singles charts for months on end if there was any justice in the world. Hannon’s charming arrangements and experience-soaked croon was a world away from the rip-off riffage and mock-working class bellowing of Britpop, which goes some way to explaining why Divine Comedy were considered an act of niche appeal for so long. As brilliant as Hannon’s songs were, Divine Comedy were committed to the thankless task of swimming against the tide of popularity at the time, so Casanova struggled to reach the audience numbers it deserved to.

So, 20 years after its release, does Casanova still stand up, or have the two decades weighed heavily on its shoulders?

Actually, as it turns out, it still stands up pretty well, especially when compared to the majority of albums released during the era. It remains a collection of arch pop tunes which are playful, without being lightweight, and it’s different enough to anything else going on in the mid-90s for it not to be forever tied to that decade. While not entirely ageless, tunes like “Becoming More Like Alfie”, “Something for the Weekend” and “Songs of Love” have at least aged well, and the heart-swelling “The Frog Princess” is a wonderfully resigned ballad which deserves to be hailed as a modest-masterpiece.

If Casanova has a flaw, it’s that it doesn’t really know how to end. “Theme from Casanova” would have been a charmingly tongue in cheek closing track, however it is followed by the richly orchestrated “The Dogs & the Horses”, a fine song which frustratingly just doesn’t fit in with the sex-based themes of the rest of the album. Perhaps the answer would have been to omit it from the album entirely, but it’s far too fine a piece of music to be relegated to b-side status, or even tucked away as an example of that most teeth gnashing aspect of 90s CD culture – the hidden track.

Casanova is an album that requires a little bit of time lavished on it before it reveals its charms, however when it does, it declares itself one of the finest albums of the 90s. Yes it has its flaws, but that goes for a vast amount of the albums released during that decade, and the good aspects far outweighs the bad. Casanova is by turns playful, charming, smart and on the whole considerably less knuckle-dragging than much of what my generation were subjecting themselves to at that time, and it’s appeal has endured when so many other albums released at the time have long since lost their lustre”.

On 29th April, it will be thirty years since The Divine Comedy released Casanova. There are some who feel Neil Hannon/the band released better albums. I feel Casanova is one of their most important. In terms of how it helped bring the music to wider attention. Even so, many forget about an album released in a year when so many classics came out. That is too bad, as this wonderful album deserves new love…

THIRTY years later.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Elles Bailey

FEATURE:

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Blackham Images

 

Elles Bailey

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THOUGH this is an artist…

who has released her eighth album and has been in the industry for a while, it is a name that I think she be known to more people. An incredible talent, Elles Bailey is currently on a run of tour dates across the U.K., with a couple of U.S. dates in April. Bailey is a Bristol Americana, Blues, and Roots Rock artist. Since the release of her wonderful 2017 debut album, Wildfire, she has achieved multiple #1 UK Blues albums and has won multiple U.K. Americana and Blues awards. I have included her on my blog before, though this is the first Spotlight feature. Her new album, Can’t Take My Story Away, was released in January. I shall come to some recent interviews before finishing with a review of the album. Classic Rock spoke with Elles Bailey about her new album and “fame, vanity, mental health and the childhood trauma behind her smoke’n’honey battle cry”:

“What you see is what you get with Elles Bailey. No filter. No subject off limits. No stage-managed Zoom backdrop. And, as the Bristolian singer-songwriter points out with a cackle, no personal stylist to primp her for today’s video call.

Militantly independent for the best part of a decade, Bailey is now working with label Cooking Vinyl and promoted by Madonna’s PR agency; it’s feasible that eighth album Can’t Take My Story Away could turn her into the kind of singer that Britain reads about over its cornflakes.

“Fame is not something I aspire to,” she insists. “When I look at someone like Taylor Swift, I think: ‘Every moment of their life is documented.’ That feels to me like a trauma. I love Bonnie Raitt, Imelda May, Beth Hart – who have incredible catalogues, but if they were walking down the street you might not recognise them.”

Bailey’s voice, though, is unmistakable, like dry leaves crackling on a bonfire. “On this album I was trying to find my inner Mavis Staples, my inner Janis Joplin.” She laughs at her impudence. “You’ve got to aim high, haven’t you?”

That vocal, she points out, is the silver lining of almost dying in childhood.

“Just before my third birthday, I got viral and bacterial pneumonia,” she explains. “I was intubated, put in a coma for seventeen days. I had to relearn how to walk and talk – and my voice was completely different. Back then the tubes could damage your vocal cords. But I wouldn’t change it.”

Not long after, Bailey remembers her dad playing roots music around the house. “But then you’re eight years old and you want to be Baby Spice. It wasn’t until my early twenties, when I was doing my sports psychology dissertation, that Etta James’s Something’s Got A Hold On Me came on the radio and just stopped me in my tracks. That took me straight back in – Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, that whole Chess Records scene. I was reconnecting with The Band, but also discovering this new Americana, like Jason Isbell and The Civil Wars.”

Can’t Take My Story Away, produced by Temperance Movement guitarist Luke Potashnick, celebrates the high times on the summery Growing Roots (“It takes an amazing human on the other side of a marriage to accept this is your life”) and a flower power-sounding cover of Catfish’s Better Days. “I hope to god that better days are going to come our way,” she mutters, quoting the chorus, “because it does feel like the world is fucked. But we have to be the change.”

Dig deeper, though, and you’ll find lyrics that must have hurt Bailey to put down. “Starling is about losing a friend,” she says of the closing track’s sad sweep of strings. “She took her own life when I was in my twenties. It took a long time to write about that.

“And then,” she continues, “Tightrope is about my battle with mental health, in particular with intrusive thoughts. That came on really strong in 2017, and I had no idea what it was. For years, in secret, I just felt really shameful. When I had a baby, I prepared myself, like: ‘This is going to get really bad.’ And it did. But the midwives found me help, and it was so liberating to find someone to talk to about it.”

Thankfully, alongside those songs in the tracklist is the gliding Dandelion, whose sentiment can be summed up as ‘life is a bin fire, but we’ll tough it out somehow’.

“That goes back to the pandemic, when I’d take my hour-a-day walk and see dandelions everywhere. I Googled them, and it said they can grow in the harshest conditions, and I was like: ‘That’s quite reflective of what we’re going through.’ I guess it was still in that moment where I was like: ‘We’re all gonna come out of this as better humans, and it’ll be a better world.’ I was blissfully naive. But it’s hope that gets us through, isn’t it?”

Bailey has grave concerns for the next generation of grass-roots musicians (“The industry feels really broken right now. For the upcoming artists that are three, four, five years behind me, it’s just getting harder”). But with a dynamite new album, tour dates in early 2026, her story is turning into a real page turner”.

I have admired Elle’s Bailey’s music for years now. Even though she is not a new artist, she is someone perhaps that has not reached every corner. Every home and radio station. That should change, as she is one of our most remarkable artists. I wanted to highlight this interview from Americana UK from February:

“AUK: So, you have a new album coming out. Tell me what gets your juices flowing to write songs.

EB: I think it’s something that always sits and simmers underneath. And I’m always inspired by everything around me, but I must admit, I go through phases. I’m not hugely inspired right now to write any music because I’m writing release campaigns. But the one thing is that I don’t wait for inspiration to hit; I will go and find the inspiration, if that makes sense. I’m someone who actively seeks out a song rather than waiting for a song to seek me out.

AUK: You mostly are using co-writers.

EB: That’s because I just love collaboration. I’ve always co-written because I started when I was 13 or 14, writing my own stuff. But I was in a band with my brother from a really early age, so we wrote together. I wrote for myself a bit, and then as I got into more roots music, there’s so much collaboration there. I really enjoy learning from other songwriters and hearing people’s different takes on ideas. It’s all about human connection for me, and the more the merrier.

AUK: Besides your producer, is there anyone you rely upon to critique new material?

EB: It would probably be my brother. He’s still involved and likes to give what he thinks. Sometimes my parents’ family; they’re really supportive, but what’s interesting is often they can’t hear the bigger picture. So, it’s quite nice to play them a song, and then play them the finished song.

AUK: Songwriting has always had this interesting relationship between honoring its roots and exploring paths not yet taken. Do you find a balance between continuing the tried and true in your music and stepping outside the box?

EB: I try not to think of a box. For me, I don’t think of a genre and think this is how we’re going to write today. We just write a song. I remember writing ‘Constant Need to Keep Going,’ and that was not the song I expected to come out of that songwriting session because the album didn’t really have this country feel at that point. I wrote the song with Luke (Potashnick), and it was probably the last song we were writing for the album. It came out sort of alt country, like, I’m so tired. I started today. I fall right out of bed. It was quite upbeat, a bit tongue in cheek.

PHOTO CREDIT: Blackham Images

AUK: Speaking of finding your voice, your vocals are very soulful. Did it just come out that way or did you develop a style from listening to musicians you liked?

EB: The story behind my voice is, you can hear it’s very husky, like I’ve been smoking a hundred a day. I sounded like this ever since I was in a coma when I was a child, and my voice was irrevocably changed by being incubated. When I was younger, I had a higher range and I would kind of sing over the huskiness. It was only really in my twenties that I’d started to find these sorts of levels of my voice that I didn’t realize I had. And they have gradually evolved as I’ve got stronger as a singer and more confident as an artist. I’ll listen to what other vocalists are doing and think, “Oh, I wonder if I can do something like that. ” But my voice has definitely had a unique starting point from that huskiness that wasn’t there before I got sick.

AUK: Your outfits on stage are striking, and I’ve very rarely seen you without a hat. Are hats kind of your thing?

EB: They very much used to be but not so much recently. I started wearing hats because I’d rock out so much on stage, and I’d basically headbang and give myself whiplash because I’m not very good at headbanging. So, I started wearing a hat to stop that and calm my performance down. Now, I’m definitely a lot more at home on stage as I’ve got well into my career. I don’t wear the hats so much. If you see me wearing a hat now, it’s probably because I haven’t washed my hair for four days.

AUK: What is one quality in your music that you find people really relate to?

EB: People tell me they really relate to my voice, but I think as I’ve got more confidence as an artist, that maybe my songwriting has become more personal, though at the same time more universal. I think people relate to that too. The more honest you are with yourself, actually, the more you open yourself up to be more universal, because we often experience similar things at different times in our lives”.

I am going to end with a review for Can’t Take My Story Away from Blues Rock Review. Already a contender for the album of the year, if you do not know Elles Bailey then make sure you check out her music and go and see her live if you can. She is truly one of the most talented and distinct artists out there. Growing stronger with every album, this is a singular songwriter with many years ahead:

 “It is always an exciting time for me when I am able to review great artists I am not very familiar with. Such is the case with Elles Bailey. I had heard her name a few times and may have heard some of her music previously, but I had not really listened to just how amazing a vocalist and artist she truly is. With her new studio release, Can’t Take My Story Away, that issue has resolved itself.

This is the fifth studio release for Bailey, a singer, songwriter, and musician. Exposed to music at a young age by musical parents and her dad’s personal record collection, she progressed quickly to front an indie band as a teenager. Bailey reportedly developed her soulful, bluesy voice after being stricken with pneumonia as a young child. From there, she has risen to become a multi-award-winning artist in the blues genre, winning Artist of the Year from the UK Blues Awards in 2020, 2021, and 2023. She has opened or performed with notable artists such as Don McLean, Van Morrison, Eric Gales, Mike Farris, and Walter Trout.

“Growing Roots,” the second cut of the eleven-track album Can’t Take My Story Away, offers very sing-along-friendly lyrics paired with some great guitar work. Elles Bailey sings, “It’s like I’m growing roots. They’re growing right into you.” By the way, you can catch the official video for this catchy tune on YouTube. “Better Days,” which also has an official video on YouTube, delivers more great, soulful vocals along with some really nice guitar fills. “People, I know we’re bound for better days. I said people, better days will come our way.” If this song does not lift you up, then you must be tied down tight to the ground.

Track eight of Can’t Take My Story Away is “Angel.” It is an upbeat tune with a really nice groove and an R&B feel. Bailey sings, “Whenever you’re lost to the darkness, I’ll be your angel. We all have times when we get so afraid.” “Tightrope” is a slower-paced ballad and is really nicely done. “The harder you hurt, the brighter you burn, the faster you go up in flames.” Throughout this great album, I cannot help but hear reminders of Bonnie Bramlett in her early career, and for me, that is comparing Elles Bailey to one of the greats.

As I do with many reviews, I went back and listened to other recordings to refresh my memory and expand my knowledge of the artist. I did this with Elles Bailey and simply find her career and talent to be growing stronger and stronger. For those not very familiar with her music, I would suggest checking out some of her previous works, after listening to Can’t Take My Story Away, of course. She will also be touring in Europe and the USA in 2026, and as always, live performances are often the best way to experience what an artist is truly about. We should all look forward to hearing more great music from Elles Bailey in the future.

The Review: 8.5/10”.

The brilliant Elles Bailey is such an awe-inspiring artist. In terms what she has gone through, when it came to childhood trauma and contracting viral and bacterial pneumonia and how that altered her voice. Since then, she has embarked on a music career and is this artist with so many fans behind her. She commands so much love and respect. If Elles Bailey is a new name to you, then do go and follow her, as she has…

MANY years in music ahead.

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Follow Elles Bailey

FEATURE: Roll Up… Kate Bush’s The Tour of Life at Forty-Seven

FEATURE:

 

 

Roll Up…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performs on stage for The Tour of Life at Carre, Amsterdam, Netherlands on 29th April, 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Rob Verhorst/Redferns

 

Kate Bush’s The Tour of Life at Forty-Seven

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IT was sort of like…

The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour. Kate Bush and her crew and players travelling across the U.K. and Europe for The Tour of Life in 1979. It was her one and only tour. Because the warm-up gig was on 2nd April, 1979, I want to mark forty-seven years of this spectacular. It is the build-up of the events leading to the first show that are of particular interest. I will draw in a feature I have included before. I am going to turn to Graeme Thomson’s Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush. There was a lot of preparation and build-up. To draw everything together, it was a huge process. However, given the rapturous reception from critics and the adoring crowds, it was a massive success. However, it did lose Kate Bush money, as she had to invest in it. EMI only put up a certain amount of money, but because the show was more ambitious and larger than the label could budget for, Bush had to put her own money in. I don’t think there had been any live tour since Kate Bush’s 1979 triumph. In terms of combining magic, mine, poetry and dance together with music, it was almost like a theatrical production rather than a traditional concert. Graeme Thomson suggests how there were elements of Guys and Dolls and Wacky Races. Seduction, cartoonish energy and trench-coated gangsters. Aspects of musicals and films. Thirteen people on stage and seventeen costume changes. A lot hinged on this tour. After two albums and all of this press attention and success, it could have failed. In terms of it being accessible and popular but also spectacular, the balance was just right. From the costumes and sets and lighting, through to the cuisine for the show, Bush was calling most of the shots. She was still only twenty!

It is amazing that she had the energy and maturity and focus to make sure that The Tour of Life was something truly different and representative of her. Although the first show was at the Liverpool Empire on 3rd April, 1979, there was a warm-up gig in Poole the night before. Maybe there was expectation that Bush would regularly tour and this was the first chapter. However, it was not until 2014 for Before the Dawn when she would embark on another large-scale live production. Perhaps there was something to prove after her second album, Lionheart, did not get great reviews. The Tour of Life was partly a sort of contractual obligation and what was expected. However, Bush wanted to make it both spectacular and exciting but also something she was in control of because she did not have too much say or production input into her first two albums. Hilary Walker, heads of EMI’s international division, helped crack Bush’s music outside of the U.K. Bush asked Walker to leave EMI and work with her. Not strictly her manager, Walker handled a lot of the day-to-day stuff and was this tough and straight-talking person who was there to intercept any unwanted request and make decisions that were not important or essential, as Bush was busy preparing this important tour. Whilst Bush still had some promotion in 1979 and she performed Wow in Italy and Switzerland, she was clearing a path between Lionheart and The Tour of Life. Being this successful and public artist, Bush was offered opportunities and acting roles. Two roles in horror films (one as a vampire). The opportunity to sing the theme to the James Bond film, Moonraker (which went to Shirley Bassey) – which Bush did not feel she was right to -, and she did briefly pop into the studio in February 1979 to record Magician for The Magician of Lublin, Menwhem Golan’s interpretation of Isaac Beshevis Singer’s 1960 novel. Most of the focus, however, was on preparing for the tour.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing at the Falkoner Centre (Falkoner Centret) in Copenhagen, Denmark on 26th April, 1979 during The Tour of Life/PHOTO CREDIT: Jorgen Angel/Redferns

Bush hated seeing gigs where bands would play the songs and just walk off. If most of her live performances to this point were quite limited in terms of what she could do on stage and how dynamic they would be, The Tour of Life afforded her the chance to be more ambitious and cinematic. 2014’s Before the Dawn was less alienated in terms of the experience of a live concert and what was around it. Other artists putting out these big and multi-faceted performances that mixed different visual elements, sets and costumes. In 1979, there was a lot of Punk and New Wave. The concerts were very basic and not concerned with stimulating the senses of being this multi-layered visual and audio experience. The tour was meant to start in March 1979 but was pushed back as Bush needed more time for it to all come together to her satisfaction. Bush started preparation for The Tour of Life in Christmas 1978. Set designer David Jackson met Kate Bush at EMI’s offices to discuss the tour and sets. She was surrounded by management types and, though he prepared this portfolio for her to look at, Bush very much took the lead. It was a bit looser than he imagined and a bit impromptu and freewheeling. Despite a slightly chaotic feel and a lack of solid direction, Jackson was won over. He met Bush at East Wickham Farm in early-January to discuss the set and lighting. Even if Bush was not exactly clear with her vision and directions, she was full of ideas. Bursting with ideas and enthusiasm, it wads a case getting it all done and making it make sense. Working with wardrobe assistant Lisa Hayes for the costumes, there was also the issue of getting the musicians together. Brian Bath, Paddy Bush (her brother) and Del Palmer (her boyfriend) were in the fold having not really been part of her first two albums – Paddy was on The Kick Inside, but Lionheart was the second where producer Andrew Powell used the musicians he wanted – were core to the sound and feel of the show. The band grew larger and it was amazing she managed to balance things and did not burn out. The band were drilled for three months so things came together. Bush worked through January and February with choreographer Anthony Van Lasst on routines at The Place in Euston. This was the most collaborative aspect of the tour, as Bush was still learning dance and did need a lot of direction and input from Van Lasst.

There was the matter of the set being built. I think that took about six weeks to all form. Graeme Thomson notes how, in March 1979, things moved to The Show’s sound stage at Shepperton Film Studios. “Huge mirrors were installed at the back of the room so everyone onstage could see what was going on and how they were projecting themselves”. The musicians could see the dance and dancers. The world of music and arts/theatre coming together. Its thirteen musicians, like Del Palmer, who wondered what was happening and what they had got themselves in for! I have skipped some details regarding the nuts and bolts. However, it is clear how involved Kate Bush was and what was at stake. She put so much of her time into The Tour of Life. It was the cost of the tour that is eye-watering. Up to £250,000 in 1979 (around 1.4-1.6 million in today’s money), EMI only put up “token support funds”. Having made the label so much money, it is shocking Bush basically had to fund everything. I am not sure what they had in mind for the tour with the meagre money they stumped up! Maybe they felt a four-piece shuttled in a van was going to be what we were dealing with. However, a whole cast and crew and all this set and lighting was more realistic. There were constant battles regarding negotiating a bigger budget. The cast and crew tired before things even started! However, things had been rehearsed and everything was set for 2nd April at Poole Art Centre in Dorset. Bush was not performing for the media and their approval, it was to prove to herself she could do this and realise her expectations. The first official night – 3rd April, 1979 in Liverpool – was one of the biggest and most important (and divisive) live events ever. On 3rd April, 1979 at the Liverpool Empire Theatre, the BBC’s Bernard Clark noted how there were conflicting emotions and this unsettling mood. Not knowing whether it would be a mad and unfocused mess or a funeral. Kate Bush herself was terribly nervous and Brian Southall, representing EMI, was flying the company flag and not sure what would lie in store.

Performing every song from The Kick Inside and Lionheart (both 1978) bar Oh to Be in Love, the reviews and audience reaction spoke for itself! The relief that this exceptional and unique live extravaganza had not only come together but seemed seamless and fully-formed from that first night. Kate Bush, with her team and crew, had pulled off something truly unheard of and seismic! I have not even mentioned how she managed to deliver this triumphant performance on 3rd April, 1979, considering how the night before, after the warm-up show in Dorset, Bill Duffield was killed. He was the lighting director who tragically died after the show when he was racing around the venue to see if any clothes, bags and items had been left behind before everything was shut down. He fell through a gap in the flooring onto hard concrete. Someone had left an open panel. Faced with whether to cancel the tour or carry on, she had all that on her shoulders and in her heart and she had to go on and look unaffected and professional. Truly one of the most astonishing acts of resilience, professionalism and bravery in live music history! Forty-seven years later and you can feel and see the influence of The Tour of Life today. Major Pop artists and how they are combining multimedia aspects and multiple costume changed. Bush was not the first to do this, though she was one of the first female Pop artists to do so. Madonna definitely influenced by her. Taylor Swift and some of the biggest artists ever. The legacy Bush left, having invested huge amount of money and fought so hard to get her visions and concepts realised! I am ending with snippets of this feature from PROG that was published last year. The fact that it took five months to pull together and Bush could not write new material is perhaps a major reason it was her only tour – and it took thirty-five years before she was on the stage with Before the Dawn:

“I saw our show as not just people on stage playing the music, but as a complete experience,” she later explained. “A lot of people would say ‘Pooah!’ but for me that’s what it was. Like a play.”

Indeed it was – or perhaps several plays in one. On Egypt, she emerged dressed as a seductive Cleopatra. On Strange Phenomena, she was a magician in top hat and tails, dancing with a pair of spacemen. Former single Hammer Horror replicated the video, with a black-clad Bush dancing with a sinister, black-masked figure behind her, while Oh England My Lionheart cast her as a World War II pilot.

Like every actor, she was surrounded by a cast of strong supporting characters. As well as dancers Stewart Avon Arnold and Gary Hurst, several songs featured Drake, who performed his signature ‘floating cane’ trick during L’Amour Looks Something Like You. And then there was John Carder Bush reciting his poetry before The Kick Inside, Symphony In Blue (fused with elements of experimental composer Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie 1) and the inevitable encore, Wuthering Heights.

But at the heart of it all was Bush, whirling and waving, reaching for the sky one moment, swooping to the floor the next. Occasionally she looked like she was concentrating on what was coming next. More often, she looked lost in the moment.

“When I perform, that’s just something that happens in me,” she later said. “It just takes over, you know. It’s like suddenly feeling that you’ve leapt into another structure, almost like another person, and you just do it.”

Brian Southall was in the audience at the Liverpool Empire. Despite the fact he worked for EMI, he had no idea what to expect. “You just sat in the audience and went, ‘Wow’. It was extraordinary. Bands didn’t take a dancer onstage, they didn’t take a magician onstage, even Queen at their most lavish or Floyd at their most extravangant. They might have used tricks and props in videos, but not other people onstage.

“That was the most interesting thing about it – her handing it over to other people, who became the focus of attention. That’s something that never bothered Kate – that ‘I will be onstage all the time and you will only see me.’ It was like a concept album, except it was a concept show.”

Two and a quarter hours later, this ‘concept show’ was done and the real world intruded once again. If there was any sense of celebration afterwards, then the main attraction was keeping it to herself. “I remember sitting in the bar after the show at Liverpool and Kate wasn’t there. She was with Del,” says Southall. “She wasn’t an extrovert offstage. There were two people. There was that person you saw onstage, in that extraordinary performance, and then offstage there was this fairly shy, reserved person.”

Her reluctance to indulge in the usual rock’n’roll behaviour was both characteristic and understandable. It was a draining performance, night after night as the tour continued around Britain and then into Europe. It was hard work for everyone involved.

“We went out, but not exceptionally,” says Stewart Avon Arnold. “We weren’t out raving until seven o’clock in the morning on heroin. There’s no way we could have done the show the next day.”

They occasionally found time to let their hair down. The Sunday Mail reported that certain members of the touring party indulged in a water-and-pillow fight at a hotel in Glasgow, causing a reported £1,000 damage. EMI allegedly agreed to foot the bill, though they stressed that the singer wasn’t present during this PG-rated display of on-the-road carnage.

After 10 shows in mainland Europe, the tour returned to London for three climactic dates at the Hammersmith Odeon between May 12 and 14. The second of these shows was arranged as tribute to the late Bill Duffield. Bush and her band were joined onstage by Peter Gabriel and Steve Harley. The pair tackled various Bush songs (Them Heavy People, a renamed The Woman With the Child In Her Eyes) and played their own songs (Gabriel’s Here Comes The Flood and I Don’t Remember, Harley’s Best Years Of Our Lives and Come Up And See Me), before everyone came onstage for a cover of The Beatles’ Let It Be.

“Kate asked us all to come and sing with Peter and Steve,” says Avon Arnold. “We were onstage, singing chorus with these two icons. And I’m not a singer. It was an emotional night.”

48 hours later, the tour was over. And so was Kate Bush’s career as a live artist – at least for another 35 years”.

More than it being Kate Bush’s sole tour, The Tour of Life was a revelation and true first. As one of her dancers, Stewart Avon Arnold revealed for that 2025 feature: “She’s an innovator. She did things that had never been done before. She was the first one in this country to merge creative rock music with creative dance. She didn’t have a genre. She had a mentality”. Forty-seven after The Tour of Life started its run and wowed crowds, you can feel how it revolutionised live performance. Its mark being made on Pop tours to this very day. Something that is…

TRULY mind-blowing to behold.

FEATURE: In the Warm Rooms: Kate Bush: The Private and the Personal

FEATURE:

 

 

In the Warm Rooms

PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

 

Kate Bush: The Private and the Personal

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UNLIKE any other artist…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush photographed on 3rd October, 1983/PHOTO CREDIT: Sunday Mirror/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

there has been, Kate Bush seems to straddle the superstar and surreal with the normal and domestic. Touching on this before, it is so hard to remain grounded and private when you are a massive success. Some major artists do love the fame and attention, though most prefer to be left alone and let the music speak. That idea that you have to be flash and out all of the time. For Kate Bush, the ambition was to make music. She did not want to be this megastar and get a load of press attention. Kate Bush is this classic example of someone who definitely can be seen as a major artist but managed to remain humble and private. Some would say hidden. With that, there was a lot of press rumours and intrusion. One of her songs, Mrs. Bartolozzi from 2005’s Aerial, is about a woman who is washing the floor and doing the laundry but is seeing the clothes flap in the breeze and entwine in the washing machine. However, she also seems like this extraordinary and almost filmic character. Bush is no stranger to the finer things in life. She lives in these incredible homes and has definitely indulged in luxury now and then. However, it is the way she conducted her life away from music. The domestic side. I am thinking back to 1983 and how she implemented life changes and had this blissful summer.  Moving away from London and to the countryside – her family home in Welling, Kent -, Bush also spent time gardening, hanging with friends and her boyfriend (Del Palmer) and going to films. She built her own studio, took up dance again and prepared one healthy meal a day. Moving to a farmhouse in the Kent countryside in 1983, this was a transformative year. Rather than rehash that old subject about Bush and the domestic, I wanted to tie it to work. How, when Bush was putting her personal life and happiness first, she was very much at her best as a creative.

That may seem obvious. If artists are contended and calm, then that will affect thew quality of their work. Prior to 1983, Bush was moving between studios, working all hours and not living the healthiest life. I feel 1983 was the first time Bush had to concentrate on her personal life, as she was on the promotional treadmill since 1978! However, as someone dedicated to work and always looking at the next album, it was perhaps a sacrifice changing things. I do wonder about London today and the lure for creatives. You have access to venues and a lot of like-minded people. However, how much of a healthy stimulus is the city? Its smog and busyness is not necessarily conducive to better mental health. However, the countryside and quieter areas might not be stimulating enough. With Kate Bush, she did produce a lot of tremendous work when she was working in London. She managed to enjoy downtime and was happy there, though I feel it was when she moved away and bought property away from the capital when she really began to feel settled and had that balance right. When Bush moved to the countryside and spent the summer of 1983 outside of the house, she did confirm she was dating Del Palmer and confirmed that commitment. I think Bush was perhaps happier when the domestic took more of a lead than the professional. Could Kate Bush ever be private and enjoy a normal life?! I feel she can now and, as she does not need to give regular interviews, she can truly be private. However, in the 1980s especially, she was never truly able to escape celebrity and the demands of the industry. The most wonderful moments and images are when you think about Kate Bush enjoying the normal and almost mundane. Her in the garden in 1983 just before Hounds of Love came together. How she and Del would watch Saturday night game shows and how he gifted her with an antique watch on her birthday. The late Del Palmer revealed how there were two sides to Kate Bush. This superstar who was one of the biggest artists in the world; someone who was just Kate around the house and had no airs and graces.

Palmer asked what she saw in him. That was him being modest. Clearly, she wanted someone who was a good influence and understood her. He was a musician and engineer for her for most of her career. Bush was singing, dancing and writing in 1983 and it was that perfect balance of work and home life. Taking her back to 1976 and a happy time then. I feel Bush was also quite settled and domestic around making The Sensual World. Towards the end of the 1980s, maybe Bush feeling she was at a stage in her life when things needed to change. In spite of the fact Kate Bush was able to find a great home and live this relatively normal and happy life away from the spotlight, she was still someone who was being written about and had professional commitments. I am strangely fascinated by the ordinariness of Kate Bush’s life, as she is this extraordinary artist who was very much at the forefront and in the spotlight for such a long time. I love all those minor details and how it has not really been written about enough. All of this harmony and focus on the personal directly feeds into her work. One might feel that too much focus on the private and personal can damage a career. However, a comparative lack of output from Kate Bush from the end of the 1980s through to 2005 was actually beneficial. Rather than produce multiple albums and the quality dipping and her career being affected, Bush was actually ensuring that her career could continue. You look at mainstream artists today and whether they are allowed a balance. Committing so much time to touring, social media and releasing music, they also live in cities and there is perhaps not the opportunity or space to focus on the domestic and their private lives, Putting that first. Few artists have the same flexibility as Kate Bush when it comes to take time between albums. However, there is something about her career that we should apply to modern artists. So much focus on constant output. How healthy is it for artists to be always be working and have to commit so much of themselves to their careers?! Even if some of Kate Bush’s best work came early in her career, I think the importance of her home and what she was doing away from music was essential when it came to her most influential work. The minor and domestic very much influenced and effected the major and commercial. Kate Bush is a major artist who has released some of the greatest albums ever, yet she has also managed to have autonomy and think about her personal life and change things for the better. A big reason to admire and highlight…

A remarkable human.

FEATURE: The Modern Embodiments of Kate Bush: Is There Anyone Who Comes Close?

FEATURE:

 

 

The Modern Embodiments of Kate Bush

 

Is There Anyone Who Comes Close?

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THERE is always talk…

IN THIS PHOTO: Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine)/PHOTO CREDIT: Linda Brownlee/The Guardian

about an artist being the new so-and-so. We all lazily compare artists to those who came before, as it makes them more identifiable and something to moor to. Maybe there are very few true originals. However, I do think that it is a disservice to the artist they are being compared to. I am not sure whether we get anyone saying a band is the new version of The Beatles. Or The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin or The Who. The Kinks. David Bowie. Maybe Madonna is being linked to newer artists. However, there have been articles and opinions when it comes to who is the new or next Kate Bush. I always say that nobody can equal her, so it is futile asking which new artist or a mainstream act who can take her place. Kate Bush is still recording and active, so there does not need to be a new version of her. However, I have talked enough about Bush’s growing influence and how so many of the great albums from the past year or so can be linked to Kate Bush in some way. Women, anyway, and how they are fans of hers or you can hear some of her work in others. Although there is nobody today who can equal Kate Bush and is exactly like her, I do think there are modern embodiments. In terms of artists who either shift between albums or have a similar trajectory. Maybe their fashion and aesthetic is similar to Kate Bush. I feel The Last Dinner Party have elements of Kate Bush. They are inspired by her and there is definitely a feel of Bush in terms of their fashion and a sense of theatricality. Darker elements in their new album, From the Pyre, reminiscent of Kate Bush. Florence + The Machine, too. Everybody Scream, their latest album, definitely channels Kate Bush. Florence Welch is someone who summons comparisons to Bush. Her vocal style and even her stage presence. One can say that Florence Welch is the closest we get to a ‘modern Kate Bush’.

Rather than distil a true original and suggest anyone can topple the queen, there is inevitable talk around Kate Bush now and whether any new artists are similar to her. I am hearing people talk about Perfume Genius and FKA twigs being Kate Bush-esque. Bold sonic ambition and experimentation. A visual aspect. Given the popularity of Kate Bush now, it is only a matter of time before there are features published asking who the new Kate Bush is. However, when it comes to someone prominent today who seems to be most like Kate Bush, I would say it is Charli xcx. I have written about her a lot, because she recorded the soundtrack from the “Wuthering Heights” film. Naturally, you got people linking Charli xcx to Kate Bush. The Guardian noted this in a recent article:

“Move over Kate Bush! The new voice of “Wuthering Heights” is Charli xcx, whose haunting soundtrack to Emerald Fennell’s new big screen reimagining of Emily Brontë’s gothic tale of love, heartbreak and haunting is poised to darken and deepen our aural landscape.

The recording artist has form with era-defining albums – 2024’s epochal Brat was a summer phenomenon that found its way into that year’s US presidential election. But inspired by Fennell’s take on Brontë’s masterpiece, the mood has turned murky and melancholy. “I think I’m going to die in this house,” intones the deep-voiced refrain on House, the pop singer’s collaboration with the legendary John Cale, which was the first track to be released from the new album. “I’d rather watch my skin bleed/ In the eye of your storm,” she sings on Chains of Love, a moody synth-pop ballad that heightened the sense of gothic romance in the trailer ahead of the film’s 13 February release for Galentine’s Day and Valentine’s Day.

“I sent the script to Charli with a view to asking her simply if she had an emotional response to it, would she like to make a song about it?” says Fennell. “And she called me and asked if she could do an album. Of course I said yes. And then she just started sending me just the most incredible things that were new, sexy, emotionally engaging.”

Charli xcx has called the sound “raw, wild, sexual, gothic and British”. It’s the acoustic equivalent of getting caught in a squall on the Yorkshire moors while wearing one of Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran’s lavish creations”.

Many might see only minor links between Charli xcx and Kate Bush. However, it is clear that the former is a massive fan of the latter. She treads her own path. An album like BRAT is not really comparable to any Kate Bush album. Bits of Hounds of Love or The Dreaming, perhaps. However, I do thank that the way Charli xcx evolves between album and shifts course makes me think about Kate Bush. Touches of Hounds of Love, The Kick Inside, The Sensual World and The Dreaming in other Charli xcx albums. I do feel we will even hear an expansive and rich work like Aerial impact Charli xcx. In terms of a personal, eclectic and shifting style and these different looks. The way Charli xcx is this hugely engaging photographic subject. I do think of Kate Bush. I know Bush will be familiar with Charli xcx’s music and, whilst they will probably never collaborate, you cannot blame me for feeling Charli xcx is the closest we have to a modern incarnation of Kate Bush. Rather than it being about replacement and forgetting the divine Kate Bush, it someone today who seems to carry her torch. Hearing how Charli xcx talks in interviews. That combination of quick humour, sweetness, confidence and the way she deals with the press and interviewers when they are a bit sexiest or foolish. There is this boldness and experimentation in the music. Charli xcx can release sensual and beautiful music but also bombastic and strange songs. The nature and feel of her videos too. How indeliable they are. I do feel and see Kate Bush through that. Popmatters observed this in their review of Charli xcx’s latest album: “Both women were inspired by a deeply British book, channelling Celtic heritage to transform the work into something more idiosyncratic and angular. The Wuthering Heights soundtrack features Velvet Underground bassist John Cale on “House”, an eerie and ghostly recital. An austere cello bolsters the backdrop, brimming with an angular confidence. Where Bush relied on her Irish heritage to guide her, Charli XCX turns to Welsh folk music, immersing the work with memory, madness and hiraeth. “Dying for You” features textured soundscapes and a complex, multi-segmented pop number that shifts in tempo and timbre. “All the pain and torture I went through,” the vocalist screams, emulating the sensual urges felt between Cathy and Heathcliff”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Charli xcx/PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Kooiker

Other people may have different views about which modern artist seems most like Kate Bush. Anna von Hausswolff might spring to mind. However, when we look at the genius of Kate Bush and everything that makes her such an influential artist, I do turn to Charli xcx. Of course, as I say, both artists are distinct and doing their own thing. I am not sure whether Charli xcx would want to be compared so heavily to Kate Bush, even if she is influenced by her and is an obvious fan. That said, I look back at her earliest albums like 2014’s SUCKER and chart it through Charli (2019) and Crash (2022) and you can feel the same sort of shifts and sonic changes that Kate Bush had through her career Charli xcx is only thirty-three and she has decades ahead. She is a more prolific artist than Kate Bush and is involved in a lot of acting projects. There are aspects of her life and career that you cannot compare to Kate Bush. I think the way Charli xcx takes control of her career and is wrestling to have her say and make sure it is her true artistic vision even reminds me of Kate Bush right from the start. In 1978, when she fought to have Wuthering Heights released as her debut single. Charli xcx has this filmic and dramatic nature of her videos. Stylish and ambitious. A certain eccentricity and provocative nature that you can also trace to Kate Bush. It would be wonderful if the two artists met! In a way, Charli xcx has helped get Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights back in the charts and heard by a new wave of listeners. A contentious debate to introduce, you can understand why I am excited to see any artist who has that spirit of Kate Bush. In time, I do feel we will see a lot of newer artists very much taking a similar course to Kate Bush. Right now, I really feel Charli xcx has so much in her that makes me love and admire Kate Bush. Charli xcx and the depth of her sound. That quest for autonomy. A gothic nature to some of the music. Inspiration drawn from literature and film. Of course, look at other artists like Chappell Roan and you know she owes a certain debt to Kate Bush. Looking around at those challenging Pop convention and being this singular artist, who gets closest to Kate Bush? Even if nobody can ever be her – and they are not trying to be -, there are those who certainly summon the spirit and bones of Kate Bush and her remarkable music. The icon of music affecting and shaping modern music…

IN so many ways.

FEATURE: International Women’s Day: The Best Albums from Female Artists from the Past Year

FEATURE:

 

 

International Women’s Day

IN THIS PHOTO: Mitski

 

The Best Albums from Female Artists from the Past Year

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RATHER than write about…

IN THIS PHOTO: Olivia Dean for Adidas

female dominance in the industry and how they are defining the sound of today, I wanted to collate songs from the best albums made by women since last International Women’s Day. That would be 8th March, 2025. This International Women’s Day is a chance to recognise the brilliance of women right across the music industry. From studios through to promotion and venues, right to the forefront, they are making a huge contribution to the industry and economy. Last year was a stunning one in terms of albums released by female artists. This year is shaping up to be another huge one. Mitski put out Nothing's About to Happen to Me recently. That is one of the best albums of this year and another masterpiece. Hilary Duff, Charli xcx and Madison Beer have also released incredible albums. Last year, there were gems from Florence + The Machine, CMAT, Coco Jones, ROSALÍA and so many other queens. The playlist at the end of this feature recognises the brilliance of female artists and how, year in year out, they are delivering the very best music. 2026 is shaping up already to be another where they dominate. I hope the industry one day acknowledges that and there is greater parity and opportunities. That misogyny is properly tackled. I wanted to show love and respect for amazing women through music. The mixtape below are songs taken from the best albums made by women since International Women’s Day last year. Proof that they are…

RULING music.

FEATURE: Big Time: Peter Gabriel’s So at Forty

FEATURE:

 

 

Big Time

 

Peter Gabriel’s So at Forty

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ONE of the all-time…

greatest albums ever turns forty on 19th May. Peter Gabriel’s So is his fifth studio album. Many consider it to be his best. In terms of the quality of the songwriting throughout, it is undoubtably a masterpiece. Big Time, Sledgehammer, Red Rain, In Your Eyes and Don’t Give Up. The album reached the top of the charts in the U.K. and was a massive chart success all around the world. I do hope that there is a lot of celebration around the fortieth anniversary. If some critics felt Gabriel was too commercial and it was following what was popular during that time – rather than being distinct and original -, others noted how Gabriel transformed from being this cult to commercial artist without losing his brilliance and authenticity. After a run of albums more experimental, this was Gabriel making music that was perhaps more accessible but extraordinary. It happened with other artists during the 1980s who were releasing more experimental or less commercial albums then changed. Maybe because of the label, or the feeling that they needed to put something out that would sell more. Gabriel did not compromise or water his music down. The fusion of genres and the production is unlike anything else that was around in 1986 I feel. So still sounds fresh and relevant. Not dated at all. In 2012, Peter Gabriel spoke with Rolling Stone about So. That was a year when he played the album in full on stage:

“Why do you think So managed to reach a much broader audience than your previous albums? 

There was less sort of esoteric songwriting. I think they were simpler songs in some ways, but I think we caught a wave. They were done with passion and we had a really good team working on them. Then, of course, we had things like the “Sledgehammer” video, which helped enormously. It got us a wider audience. Also, the one concession I agreed to was to place an actual photo of myself on the cover rather than the usual obscured stuff I had been doing.

You also gave this one an actual title.

It was named, yeah. That was a reluctant choice. In the old days I would go through my vinyl and identity each record by the picture, not by the title. I always liked that. In some ways, I’m just a visual person. It was the idea to just do away with titles. Give the pictures space to breathe and speak for themselves. But, of course, it caused confusion in the marketplace. The American record company, Geffen, got so fed up with me that they said they weren’t going to release my fourth record unless I gave it some title. So, it was called Security in America and it had no title everywhere else in the world.

When you made So, did you try and make it more accessible, or that was just sort of a natural development?

I think that was a bunch of songs that were there at the time. With “Sledgehammer,” everyone thinks, “Oh, he must have created that to get a hit.” And it wasn’t done that way. In fact, [bassist] Tony Levin reminded me that he was packing his bags to go home, and I called him back into the studio, saying “I’ve got this one idea that maybe we can fool around with for the next record – but I like the feel.” That was “Sledgehammer.” It was late in the day and we just fell into the groove, landed a beautiful drum track on it, a great bass line and it all came together.

I think the video really helped get it to a different audience. I’ve not had many intersections with mass culture, so that was one occasion where that happened.

Did you see “In Your Eyes” as a special song when you made it?

I knew it had some heart in it, and I loved the Youssou N’Dour bit at the end. We should have put out the longer version, but we had to cut it ’cause of time constraints. But it felt so heartfelt and, yeah, I I felt it was a special song, the like of which I hadn’t heard before in the way it integrated the different influences and tried putting together this love lyric, which was, in part, based on this African idea of having an ambiguous love song that can be human love, man to woman, or man to God.

You didn’t release a follow-up to So for six years. Do you think that was a mistake? You sort of lost some momentum there.

I’m sure commercially it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but I’ve never really worried about that. And to be honest, I think one of the reasons I’m still lucky enough to put out records and have audiences come to shows is cause I haven’t played that game very well. I think that consumer culture tends to be very hungry. It can’t get enough of you for a very short time and then your taste gets boring and they spit you out and take the next new thrill. And so, while it was never a predetermined strategy, I would probably recommend it to artists now if they want a long career. If you got something worth saying, if you’ve got something to put out, don’t worry about what the record company tells you. Take your time”.

In May 2021, Albumism wrote about So on its thirty-fifth anniversary. Even if this album was less experimental than his previous work, there are still styles, sounds and genres mixed together that you were not getting on other albums at the time. Peter Gabriel album to perfectly balance something that can appeal to stations and T.V. and also speak to his existing fanbase:

“Gabriel began recording So with producer Daniel Lanois in 1985 at his home studio. Although the songs were less experimental, he fused African and Brazilian styles with the elements of his art rock past, and the end results were something magical. He managed to perform the difficult task of staying true to his style of music while making the album more listenable to a wider audience.

For better or worse, the popularity of So was buoyed by the release of the album’s first single “Sledgehammer.” It was accompanied by, at the time, a groundbreaking, multiple MTV Award winning music video. “Sledgehammer” was released a month before the album and ironically it was the last song recorded for the album. Gabriel refers to the song as an homage to the music that he grew up with and his all-time favorite singer, Otis Redding. To capture the feel of the late ‘60s Stax recordings, Gabriel used trumpeter Wayne Jackson, member of The Memphis Horns, who toured with Redding. Legend has it that Jackson recorded his trumpet solo in just one take.

Upon hearing “Sledgehammer” for the first time, I was curious about what the rest of the album would sound like. I thought most of the songs would be in a similar vein, but I was pleasantly surprised when I put the needle down on the record and I heard the opening cymbals (courtesy of Stewart Copeland) on “Red Rain.” Who knew that a song about torture, kidnapping, and parting red seas could sound so amazing. Gabriel has stated that the song is also the continuing story of Mozo, a character from his first two albums.

The third track, “Don't Give Up,” is a political statement decrying the rising unemployment that prevailed during Margaret Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister of England. It also has a very interesting story attached to it. When Gabriel wrote the song, his original intent was to have it be a duet with Dolly Parton. When Parton declined, Gabriel turned to his friend Kate Bush, who immediately agreed to sing the song. As much as I would have loved to hear Parton's vocal on the song, Bush's delicate reading creates a undeniable sense of beauty that makes the song work.

The running order for So has regrettably changed over the years. When it was first released, the opening track on side two (or track 5 for you CD owners) is the timeless “In Your Eyes.” The song is also famously featured in the 1989 movie Say Anything and features the iconic image of Lloyd Dobler (played by John Cusack) holding up a boombox while this song is emanating from it. Gabriel has said that he and Cusack "were sort of trapped together in a minuscule moment of contemporary culture." The song is also noteworthy for the powerful singing of Youssou N'Dour.

After 35 years, So has sustained the reputation of a great album that does not sound the least bit dated by 1980s production values. Rolling Stone placed it at #187 in its original list of the 500 greatest albums of all-time and at #14 in the 100 Best Albums of the ‘80s. It catapulted Gabriel into international superstardom. At one time, “Sledgehammer” was the most played music video in the history of MTV, but Gabriel's talent and influence is so much greater than just that video”.

In 2024, PROG told the story of So. Maybe Peter Gabriel felt that he was no longer able to remain where he was in terms of recognition and popularity. Having to make a break towards the mainstream. Rather than selling out, this was an album that he needed to make. One that is widely regarded as one of the best ever. So inventive and timeless. Such a broad range of songs:

“Don’t Give Up is arguably Gabriel’s most powerful statement. In 1981, Margaret Thatcher’s Employment Secretary Norman Tebbit infamously used an analogy about his father being out of work in the 30s, and instead of rioting, he got on his bike and looked for work. This became interpreted popularly as telling the unemployed to ‘get on their bike’ to find a job. Gabriel’s tale of a dispirited man at the end of his tether looking for work touched a raw nerve with millions of listeners in the UK and, latterly, the world. The song, with Gabriel’s despair in the verses and Bush’s words of hope in the chorus, has gone on to be arguably Gabriel’s most loved composition.

After such high drama, That Voice Again is a beautiful, Byrds-like pop song that often gets overlooked amid the album’s plentiful highlights. Originally entitled First Stone, it sounds almost as if Gabriel had taped one of the therapy sessions that he had been going through. Musically, it’s relatively simplistic, with Rhodes playing jangling Rickenbacker over the rhythm section of drummer Manu Katché and bassist Tony Levin.

Mercy Street was another standout. Gabriel had been reading the work of American poet Anne Sexton after having become interested in her work through the book To Bedlam And Part Way Back. Sexton had committed suicide at the age of 45 in 1974, leaving a slender yet highly confessional body of work, and the gentle, lilting rhythm of Gabriel’s song supports lyrics that allude to this. Percussion for the track was recorded by Gabriel in Rio de Janeiro by seasoned player Djalma Correa. With its deeply reflective tone and affecting vocal, Mercy Street became one of Gabriel’s most popular numbers and a staple of his live set.

Big Time was a sardonic reflection on the music business. It takes the opposite viewpoint of the Jacob character in I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe); it was time, after all, to try for that future in the fire-escape trade. Gabriel wrote the lyrics examining the dichotomy of his character, and perhaps realising it was fame he craved after all. The track was an obvious choice for a later single from the album in the UK, and the second single in the US, where it reached Number 8. Clean cut and funky, this was clearly how the States liked their Gabriel.

We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s 37) had been around for a considerable period, originally recorded as far back as 1980’s Melt and seriously in the running for 1982’s Security. As it is, it sounds like the last link with that era. Strange, undercooked and difficult, it was about Professor Stanley Milgram’s social psychology experiment from 1961: volunteers assessing how far they would be prepared to follow an authority figure, even if it was in complete opposition to their conscience or their views. Gabriel explored how people are conditioned to believe in dictators and support war. With its patter of Jerry Marotta’s processed drums and L Shankar’s squalls of violin, and two overdubbed guitar tracks by Rhodes, it’s a disquieting interlude, proving to Gabriel’s new-found audience that it was still within his power to unsettle.

This Is The Picture (Excellent Birds) was adapted from the track Gabriel had written with Laurie Anderson for her Mister Heartbreak album. On it, he worked again with Nile Rodgers.

“I recorded my part in New York,” Rodgers recalled. “In those days I was gigging, and that was the height of my life. Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember what studio, what work, where I was. I loved that sound that Daniel got.”

What Gabriel wanted Rodgers to do was to add his remarkable, rhythmical guitar playing to another skeletal idea, and one that had been inspired by the Korean video artist Nam June Paik, who used to make TV shows. He had asked Laurie Anderson and Peter Gabriel if they would like to collaborate, and they worked quickly to produce this groove.

The album closed with another of Gabriel’s most loved songs, In Your Eyes, originally titled Sagrada Familia, inspired by the cathedral in Barcelona. Alluding to Antoni Gaudí and rifle heiress Sarah Winchester, the song was multi-layered and deeply affecting. The power of the track was made real by the stunning guest vocal performance from Youssou N’Dour, who sings in his native language, Ouoloff. In Your Eyes was featured dramatically in the Cameron Crowe film Say Anything in a sequence when protagonist Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) plays it loudly from a ghetto blaster.

So was released on May 19, 1986. Sledgehammer was issued shortly before it and put Gabriel squarely into the charts and hearts of millions. With its Brothers Quay/Aardman Animation video, Gabriel showed that, after all, he was a song and dance man. Here was the flower-headed pipecleaner of Willow Farm, vamping it up for the MTV generation.

The video was a viral sensation long before such things existed. The single reached the top spot in the US. Gabriel was delighted. The most affectionate homage to the music that originated from deep within America, here was almost the ultimate tribute. An introverted white boy from a privileged British background convincingly interpreting the music of the impoverished, segregated south of America. And somehow, it not only worked, but absolutely nailed it.

So, just funky enough, just obscure enough, just nostalgic enough, fitted perfectly with the CD generation. Gabriel began to attract a breed of listener that welcomed him as a ‘new artist’. This was liberating but would ultimately prove constraining. Although a super-slick short single had always been part of Gabriel’s oeuvre, how willing would this new audience be when he was experimenting?”

I am going to finish with a review from So from AllMusic. There was quite a shift in mood from 1982’s Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel 4: Security). As it turns forty on 19th May, I know there will be some fresh features and reviews around So. You hear songs from So played widely to this day:

“Peter Gabriel introduced his fifth studio album, So, with "Sledgehammer," an Otis Redding-inspired soul-pop raver that was easily his catchiest, happiest single to date. Needless to say, it was also his most accessible, and, in that sense it was a good introduction to So, the catchiest, happiest record he ever cut. "Sledgehammer" propelled the record toward blockbuster status, and Gabriel had enough songs with single potential to keep it there. There was "Big Time," another colorful dance number; "Don't Give Up," a moving duet with Kate Bush; "Red Rain," a stately anthem popular on album rock radio; and "In Your Eyes," Gabriel's greatest love song, which achieved genuine classic status after being featured in Cameron Crowe's classic Say Anything. These all illustrated the strengths of the album: Gabriel's increased melodicism and ability to blend African music, jangly pop, and soul into his moody art rock. Apart from these singles, plus the urgent "That Voice Again," the rest of the record is as quiet as the album tracks of Security. The difference is, the singles on that record were part of the overall fabric; here, the singles are the fabric, which can make the album seem top-heavy (a fault of many blockbuster albums, particularly those of the mid-'80s). Even so, those songs are so strong, finding Gabriel in a newfound confidence and accessibility, that it's hard not to be won over by them, even if So doesn't develop the unity of its two predecessors”.

Such a phenomenal album that created this huge success for Peter Gabriel, he followed So with 1992’s As. Whilst not as acclaimed as So, it was another terrific album from Peter Gabriel. That gap of six year between albums. After the huge success of So, one might have thought he would follow it up more quickly. However, that does not take away from what he created with So. It has been great exploring…

A classic album.

FEATURE: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2026: Celebrating the Nominees

FEATURE:

 

 

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2026

IN THIS PHOTO: Ms. Lauryn Hill

 

Celebrating the Nominees

__________

IF some are not…

IN THIS PHOTO: Shakira

are not huge fans of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and what it stands for, I do think that it important and exciting to see artists inducted. Celebrating those who have made a huge contribution to music, an artist is eligible twenty-five years after they release their first record. You can see this year’s nominees here. It is a typically broad and strong list. I would especially love Jeff Buckley and Ms. Lauryn Hill to be among the inductees. The BBC published an article reacting to the nominees:

“Phil Collins, Oasis, Pink and Shakira are among the stars who have been nominated for inclusion in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year.

The 17 artists who could be admitted to the prestigious US-based institution also range from Jeff Buckley and Lauryn Hill to Mariah Carey and Wu-Tang Clan.

Artists or bands become eligible 25 years after releasing their first commercial recording.

Oasis and Carey have been nominated twice before, while Pink is now eligible, 26 years after her debut single, and Colombian superstar Shakira could become one of only a handful of musicians from Latin America to have ever been admitted.

Last year, the Miami Herald reported, external that just three out of more than 1,000 individual inductees were born in Latin America.

The Wu-Tang Clan are the only hip-hop act to be nominated

Wu-Tang Clan's nomination comes after Gene Simmons from veteran rock band Kiss recently criticised the inclusion of hip-hop artists, saying they don't "belong", external in the Hall of Fame.

First-time nominees:

  • Jeff Buckley

  • Phil Collins

  • Melissa Etheridge

  • Lauryn Hill

  • INXS

  • New Edition

  • Pink

  • Shakira

  • Luther Vandross

  • Wu-Tang Clan

Returning nominees:

  • The Black Crowes

  • Mariah Carey

  • Billy Idol

  • Iron Maiden

  • Joy Division/New Order

  • Oasis

  • Sade

Collins, 75, entered as a member of Genesis in 2010, and has now been shortlisted for his solo work including 1980s hits In the Air Tonight, Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) and Easy Lover.

He would be a popular choice after his music has been discovered by a new generation, and after he has suffered a series of health problems in recent years.

Phil Collins performed seated on his last tour, and recently revealed he has a 24-hour live-in nurse

He recently told Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2 podcast Eras that "everything that could go wrong with me did go wrong", adding: "I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do."

He explained: "I got Covid in hospital, my kidneys started to back up, everything that could all seemed to sort of converge at the same time. And I had five operations on my knee."

Collins, the father of Emily in Paris star Lily, also said he would "love" to tour again but wasn't sure he wanted to "go as far as to launch that boat".

His last major solo tour was the Not Dead Yet Tour from 2017 to 2019, and he performed seated during the Genesis reunion world tour in 2021 and 2022.

He also told Ball he may go back into the recording studio to work on "some things that are half-formed or were never finished".

Meanwhile, Oasis will discover whether their successful reunion over the past year has enhanced their reputation as legends in the US, a country they famously struggled to fully break first time around.

But singer Liam Gallagher has repeatedly criticised the Hall of Fame, previously saying he wasn't interested in receiving an award from "some geriatric in a cowboy hat".

He added, perhaps sarcastically, that Oasis didn't deserve their nomination "as much as Mariah [Carey]".

"She smashed it," he noted.

Mariah Carey has been nominated for the past three years - could it be third time lucky?

Carey, meanwhile, has previously noted that "my lawyer got into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before me," referencing entertainment lawyer Allen Grubman - who also represented clients like Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga.

There's strong British representation on this year's list - Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order and Sade are all up for induction at the second or third attempts.

Sade last toured and released an album 15 years ago

A panel of voters normally chooses between six and eight performers to be inducted from the nominations.

The selected acts will be revealed in April, and the star-studded induction ceremony will take place in Cleveland, Ohio, in the autumn”.

To celebrate the incredible artists who have been nominated for induction and inclusion into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I have compiled a playlist of their work. Two songs from each artist. There is going to be a lot of interest around those who are selected for induction in April. I think that it is an amazing rundown of artists who are all very worthy. Here is a mixtape celebrating the remarkable…

ROCK & Roll Hall of Fame nominees.

FEATURE: And Let Me Guide You to the Purple Rain: Remembering the Iconic Prince

FEATURE:

 

 

And Let Me Guide You to the Purple Rain

PHOTO CREDIT: Everett Collection/Bridgeman Images

 

Remembering the Iconic Prince

__________

YOU get these artists who…

PHOTO CREDIT: Everett Collection/Bridgeman Images

have a body of music that lasts through times and will inspire and influence the odd person here and there. They have quite a large legacy, maybe. Others that spread into other areas of culture. There are a rare few artists who have inspired so many generations and areas of culture. Madonna is one. David Bowie, The Beatles. Objectively, Kate Bush too. Prince is someone who has gone down in the history books. A true icon whose music will always be loved and never forgotten. On 21st April, 2016, we received the devastating news that Prince died. Aged only fifty-seven, it was a premature and shocking death that was so hard to process. It is almost ten years since the death of Prince. I am going to write another feature or two prior to that anniversary. I will start out more general here and compile a Prince mix. I want to first get to an article from Esquire published in April 2021 that reflects on this music protegee. It is a fascinating piece about how “The Purple One's late-career protégées reflect on the lives and art he still inspires five years after his death”:

“So much of today’s music was shaped by these relationships he cultivated. From Alicia Keys to D’Angelo to Janelle Monáe, most of R&B’s biggest stars in recent decades were summoned to Paisley Park at some point. A then-unknown Lizzo appeared on Prince’s 2014 album Plectrumelectrum, and before he passed, he had offered to produce her next album. Kendrick Lamar was flown in to join Prince onstage in 2014, and the pair met in the studio for the rapper’s 2015 album, To Pimp a Butterfly, but ran out of time before they could record anything .

Prince approached musicians who caught his attention whenever, wherever. Pop star Rita Ora got a phone call from him at her London office, out of the blue in 2014. He found Donna Grantis—who became the guitarist in his band 3rdEYEGIRL—from a YouTube video. Soul/jazz singer Kandace Springs had been trying to contact him for a few years when he retweeted one of her recordings and then slid into her DMs.

“It was important for him to feel like he was a part of what was going on, to get different perspectives,” says La Havas. “It gave him energy to know what other people were doing and to make connections and new friends and jam with other musicians.”

But in addition to gaining insight into fresh approaches and attitudes, Prince also knew what he had to offer to these new kids. “He found a lot of fulfillment in bringing people together and helping young musicians develop their sound,” says Ora, who remembers “musicians everywhere” when he brought her to his headquarters in Chanhassen, Minnesota. “He had so much passion for music and was really invested in the growth and evolution of younger artists.”

Given his stature, Prince obviously didn’t need to open his ears—and his studio—to artists who were on the rise. Most pop stars tend to turn competitive when the next generation starts to threaten their dominance. But for him, that drive manifested in wanting to keep up on any interesting voices entering his musical territory, and then helping to cultivate their potential, creating a future for the organic, R&B-based sounds he loved.

These protégées all point to certain concepts that he emphasized, mostly having to do with independence and individuality. “He would always stress not to cover up my voice,” says Springs, “to use live instruments, even to mix my own music at the shows. Do everything you can yourself if you can. Push yourself, learn, don’t be afraid—that’s what he was best at.”

Grantis recalls a session in which Prince asked her to record a guitar solo. Thinking it was a pretty big deal, she asked if she could work out some ideas and tackle it the next day. He heard her out and said, “OK—do it now and let me know when you have it,” and then left to play ping-pong with her husband. “That moment speaks to Prince’s ability to bring out the best in all of us, challenge us musically and push us to reach our full potential.”

These women all recount fun moments with Prince—playing checkers, tweeting jokes, having “giggly” phone calls—and staying in touch with him on a regular basis for years. Springs’s last email exchange with him came just two days before his 2016 death; “I remember seeing that he was struggling at the time and asking if he was OK, and he said ‘I’m fine, miss you’.” She recalled performing as a guest at a Paisley Park show marking the thirtieth anniversary of Purple Rain, after which they ran offstage, jumped on bicycles, and rode around the parking lot as the audience got in their cars to go home.

Five years later, his wisdom continues to reveal itself. “Prince would often teach us things, or encourage us to explore certain topics, by asking questions,” says Grantis. “On a couple of occasions he asked, ‘What if we could use music to teach people?’ Although it sounded intriguing, I didn’t fully connect with the possibilities of what it meant at the time. Now, what has become clear to me is that capturing someone’s attention—whether it’s during a three-minute song, or a three-hour performance—is such a privilege. It’s an opportunity for ideas to be shared.”

La Havas, who describes Prince less as a mentor than as a “dear friend who had very valuable advice and cared enough to communicate that,” notes that our current world makes his example shine even brighter. “He was so productive—that’s what’s really sticking with me in this time we’re living in, COVID times,” she says. “He made music on his own, in his own space, 24 hours a day, and that really resonates with how I am now, knowing that I can’t really go to the studio and collaborate with people”.

Even though we mark ten years of Prince’s passing on 21st and it will be very sad, we also will share celebration. In terms of his legacy and staggering body of work. His brilliance and how he changed lives. An artist that will be remembered forever and whose music will continue to influence artists, below is just a portion of the genius that Prince left us. Ten years after his death and there remains…

NOBODY like him.