FEATURE: Spotlight: City Girls

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Joshua Kissi for Pop Sugar 

City Girls

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AN established…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Marcelo Cantu

duo that some might have heard of, I don’t think that City Girls are known to everyone. Maybe less acknowledged and played in the U.K., they are an American Hip-Hop duo consisting of Yung Miami and JT. Hailing from Miami, Florida, they came to prominence following an uncredited guest appearance on In My Feelings, Drake’s 2018 chart-topping single. Signed to Quality Control Music prior to their current album, they released one mixtape, 2018's Period, and two studio albums: 2018's Girl Code; 2020's City on Lock. Their latest album, October’s RAW, is one of their best work. Their most accomplished and diverse album so far, I hope that it brings them to the attention of more people around the world. With a huge U.S. following, I would like to hope that City Girls translates more in the U.K. With their sound quite intense and bold for many commercial radio stations, maybe that limits their playability. I want to wind back to 2020 and an interview with Rolling Stone. In spite of the fact one half of City Girls was incarcerated for a lot of 2019, this was a rebirth and fresh start:

“ALL THROUGH 2019, Jatavia “JT” Johnson tracked the rise of her duo, City Girls, by watching the size of the jewelry worn by her musical partner, Caresha “Yung Miami” Brownlee, in their frequent video calls. “Things were getting bigger,” she says with a giggle.

JT spent most of last year in a Tallahassee, Florida prison, serving out a sentence for credit-card fraud that began the day after City Girls’ feature spot on Drake’s smash “In My Feelings” introduced them to the world, in 2018. Hearing from Yung Miami, who handled all of the duo’s performances and promotional work on her own during JT’s time behind bars, was a lifeline.

The challenges didn’t end with JT’s release from prison in October. First she moved into an Atlanta halfway house, where she remained under travel restrictions until her sentence reached its final end earlier this month. She jumped back into her paused career at the soonest opportunity, recording and dropping the freestyle “JT’s First Day Out” and getting to work on City Girls’ second album. Yung Miami, meanwhile, had just given birth to her second child, so she spent most of her time back in their shared hometown of Miami, flying frequently to Atlanta to record with her best friend.

While their lifelong bond was the same as ever — “All we do is laugh, joke, play,” Yung Miami says — their recording process changed significantly since they made their two full-length 2018 projects (Period, a mixtape, and Girl Code, an album).

Back then, JT recalls, everything “was really stressful for me because I was indicted.” The pair had made their debut in late 2017 with the single “Fuck Dat Nigga,” which sampled Khia’s playful, sexual “My Neck, My Back”; JT was arrested a week later on charges of using stolen credit card numbers to buy clothes and shoes. Their lives were further flipped upside down when the track caught the attention of Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “P” Thomas, the founders of Atlanta’s influential Quality Control, who signed City Girls to join Migos and Lil Baby on the label’s roster that November.

Quality Control helped arrange a postponed start date for JT’s sentence, but that mean the pair of rookie rappers had to move swiftly to take advantage of their limited time. They recorded their first two projects in a hurry during what was technically 60 days, though JT says that their lack of seriousness meant it was more like 30.

“I was battling other stuff in my mind,” she says. “I’m not saying people didn’t have sympathy, but there was no sympathy. It was do or die, for real.”

JT was able to witness some of their work paying off with the release of Period in May 2018. “In My Feelings” arrived that summer with Drake’s Scorpion, and the simultaneous start of JT’s sentence spurred a movement. The song became a breakout hit, topping the charts as Yung Miami appeared solo in the video. Later the same year, Girl Code spawned the Cardi B-assisted “Twerk” and the surprise meme hit “Act Up.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Diwang Valdez for Rolling Stone

All the while, Yung Miami held down the business, touring and promoting City Girls’ budding career and keeping them a part of the conversation even while they were down one half of the duo.“It feels like a job now. It feels normal,” she says.

The first time the duo’s fame really hit her was on a Jamaican vacation, where she found that DJs recognized her and played their music. “The City Girls is really international!” Yung Miami says. “I didn’t expect people in Jamaica to know who I am.”

The pair have  lot to live up to, and it doesn’t help that they feel like their sound has been bitten and over-saturated by other artists before they could reunite. “I’ve been sitting back and looking for our sound,” JT says. They’ve recorded a number of tracks they’re excited to release, all on theme with the rest of their discography.

“It’s still women empowerment,” Yung Miami says. “City Girls don’t take no ish from a man”.

By 2022, City Girls’ JT (Jatavia Johnson) and Yung Miami (Caresha Brownlee) were back in the spotlight. Harper’s Bazaar spoke with the fierce Miami Rap duo. They, as Harper’s Bazaar wrote, have worked for everything they've ever wanted. Now, they're out for what they deserve. Two years after the release of City on Lock, the phenomenal duo were taking on new projects and reaching new heights:

“The City Girls push back against limited notions of who is deserving of luxury and stand as bosses in their own right. They are recognizable to women groomed in inner cities, who are inclined to speak with bravado to ensure survival. The pair's connection to Miami's rich hip-hop history runs deep. Their debut music video, "Fuck Dat Ni**a," features cameos from hometown heroes DJ Khaled and Trina (who is Yung Miami's godmother), and the song samples vocals from "My Neck, My Back (Lick It)" by another Florida emcee, Khia. Last year's breakthrough bop, "Twerkulator" (a callback to the 1992 house hit "The Percolator"), was even sanctified by another legendary East Coast emcee, Missy Elliott, who directed the video. A mega-popular mixtape, two albums, and prominent collaborations propelled City Girls to the Coachella Festival stage earlier this year. "We showed people we could work an audience," JT says matter-of-factly.

It was a triumphant return to performing for JT, who was arrested in 2017 while shoe-shopping at Nordstrom and charged with buying clothes and gift cards using stolen credit card numbers. She was ultimately convicted of aggravated identity theft and credit card fraud, and served 24 months in a federal correctional institution. (Her incarceration inspired the song "Intro (#FreeJT)" and an accompanying social media movement).

Fans rallied around her while she was in custody, and she and Yung Miami stayed focused on the next steps of their career. "When Caresha was on tour with [her] baby, she would send pictures of her costumes and with her dancers. I was always saying, 'Dang! I can't wait for us to go on tour together,'" JT explains. "This show with Jack Harlow will be my first time going on tour with her."

In addition to the Come Home the Kids Miss You Tour, City Girls have an album on the horizon. Their latest single, "Good Love," features Usher and interpolates "I Wanna Rock (Doo Doo Brown)" by Miami legends Luke and 2 Live Crew's track. "I'm excited," Yung Miami says of the era ahead. "Fans can expect a whole lot of City Girls shit and a lot of ass shaking. It's going to be the whole City Girls experience." Adds JT, "City Girls shit—fun, elevation, and bars!"

Each of their previous records is a master class in finessing. The City Girls get what they are supposed to acquire, and they are not shy about their expectations. That consistent "Nothing comes for free" doctrine rouses City Girls' core fan base, even if it might offend the listeners incapable of financing their lovers.

On "Top Notch," JT raps, "Say you gotta pay for this … I just got my hair did, then shit on hoes like it's a hobby … I ain't goin' there, that's an opp party / I'm a bad bitch, I'm a Black Barbie." When asked to elaborate, she says, "I really feel like everybody should know their worth. If you want somebody to pay for it, make them pay for it. If you are cool with whatever agreement y'all got going on, be cool with that too. But for me, I stand for getting what I deserve. I require a lot, because I give a lot. I feel like there are women out here that give so much of themselves and don't get much in return”.

RAW is the most authentic album from City Girls. More in control and released with fewer obstacles and issues, it seems like a new era. They are going to go on to be included in the pantheon of Hip-Hop queens. AP News discussed one of this year’s most potent albums. One that is among the very best Hip-Hop releases of 2023. Such a remarkable work from an astonishing duo:

“LOS ANGELES (AP) — You’d be hard pressed to find a rap duo doing it like City Girls. They’ve been bringing life-affirming, pretty-girl scam rap to the masses since they were featured on Drake ’s “In My Feelings” and launched into superstardom with their 2018 debut “Girl Code” and its hit single “Act Up.”

A lot has changed since then. Three years ago, the Miami-based duo of JT and Yung Miami released their sophomore album, “City on Lock” shortly after it was leaked. They’ve worked to make sure things move as smoothly as possible with their third full-length album, “RAW.” It’s City Girls, as fun as ever — with marked growth.

“‘RAW’ is just being authentic and being ourselves,” says JT, who did most of the speaking in their interview with The Associated Press.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the album — true to their spirited party records and moments of real vulnerability — came easy. Across the last three years, the duo hasn’t felt immune to the pressures that accompany fame and influence creativity.

“I feel like, when creating music, it relates so much to your life, and as your life change, your music change. So, it’s a lot of pressure from different sides, like people saying, ‘Oh, you don’t sound like your old self. Or people just basically saying, ‘I want to hear growth in the music,’” she continues. “It’s a line of division as an artist, when you’re creating.”

Of course, there’s a lot to celebrate here, from the NSFW club banger “Piñata” and “Tonight,” which samples Lil Kim, to the JT freestyle “No Bars,” her first solo single since 2019’s “JT First Day Out,” which led to the launch of a No Bars Reform initiative, created to provide resources to other formerly incarcerated women and help them rehabilitate into society.

There’s also an all-star list of collaborations on “RAW,” from the dizzying trap of “Static” featuring Lil Durk to the Dr. Luke pop record “Flashy,” with Kim Petras. “Kim Petras is beautiful. I love her songs. I love her music,” says JT. “(When) she sent the demo back in, she sounded amazing.”

Then there’s their track with future Super Bowl halftime performer Usher. “Originally Chris Brown was supposed to get on ‘Good Love,’ but I don’t know what happened with that,” says Yung Miami. “So, I personally reached out to Usher, I sent the record, he sent it back, and that’s how ‘Good Love’ came about.”

And a collaboration with fellow Floridian Muni Long on the sexy R&B tune “Emotions.” “I just hear her voice on it,” JT says. “She writes great music so we felt like she would be perfect for that song.”

That track follows the sing-along rap record, “Show Me the Money,” emphasizing the no-skip, smooth transitions of “RAW,” what JT refers to as “turn down, turn up, turn down, turn up” sequencing.

The math is working. When asked about their place in hip-hop — on its 50th anniversary, no less — JT is acutely aware of City Girls’ position. “Every time I think about, like, us being rappers, I always feel blessed. Like, damn, we are really rappers. We are really a part of hip-hop,” she says, expressing particular gratitude for being “the only female rap group right now. “And I think we were the first female rappers to go platinum since Salt-N-Pepa, and to chart over than Salt-N-Pepa... It’s a great feeling. I feel like we doing our thing and we will continue.”

As for their listeners: “I want them to feel good, you know, liberated,” she says. “I want our album to kind of be an escape from this world because it is always so serious and it’s always so stressful”.

I am going to finish with an interview from Variety. A lot of eyes were on City Girls this year. With a fierce and accomplished album out in the world, it is clear that there is nobody out there like them! I am fairly new to their work, so that is a reason why I was keen to spotlight them here:

“RAW” is precisely what its title suggests: a record comprised of classic City Girls, from the X-rated lyrics down to the familiar samples (like Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and Willie Hutch’s “I Choose You”). They also take new swings, swerving into the pop lane on the glitter-bombed “Flashy” featuring Kim Petras. “We never really did a pop record,” says JT, who explains she heard a few different people on the hook before deciding Petras was the best fit. “It’s an experiment for the both of us. You just never know, and I feel like it’s just us trying something new.”

The Miami natives, who got their mainstream start in 2018 after an uncredited feature on Drake’s “In My Feelings” raised their profile, have reached a point in their career where music may be the focus but their every move is scrutinized. The internet is constantly chattering about their relationships — Miami with Diddy, JT with Lil Uzi Vert — and they’re no strangers to a TMZ headline. But “RAW” is an attempt to recenter the narrative that they’re artists first — not social media talking points.

“Right now, it feels like there’s a lot of people doubting us,” says JT. “It’s just a bitter time for a lot of people coming out of the lockdown and people feel so entitled and opinionated and it’s just popular to be hateful right now. I won’t say that people are just hating on us, I just see a lot of hate in the world. I hope that this album puts fun back into music from our direction. I hope it makes them fall back in love with us.”

To that, JT and Miami are locked in on City Girls, and how to keep up the momentum. They’re planning their first headlining solo tour, complete with backup dancers, and hope to close the gap between this album and the next. Miami is feeling the love for her side hustle as host of the podcast “Caresha Please,” which has spawned countless viral moments since its launch in June 2022. She lets JT do most of the talking here but opens up about recently winning best hip-hop platform for the second year in a row at the BET Hip-Hop Awards.

“It feels good to do something outside of [music] and to be able to win an award so early and soon and to express something outside of my box,” she says. “I never saw myself doing a podcast, but now that I’m doing it, I’m starting to love it and I feel like that’s my lane.”

With “RAW,” City Girls remind listeners what they’re all about. They’re frank, and unapologetic, and hope that comes across in their latest body of work. JT says it plainly: “Shut the fuck up and enjoy the music and consume the music and love the music. That’s what I hope they take away from this — just the music”.

RAW is one of the most remarkable albums of the year. City Girls are going from strength to strength. Among the most importance voices in Hip-Hop, you need to follow this mighty duo. It is going to be interesting to see where they go now. I hope they do tour in the U.K. at some point. There are going to be plenty of people who would love to see them in the flesh. I will wrap it up here. If you are new to City Girls, go and play RAW and see why they are being heralded as…

LEADERS and queens of Hip-Hop.

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Follow City Girls

FEATURE: Big Gifts and Stocking Fillers: A Selection Box of Christmas Classics and Alternative/Smaller Christmas Tracks

FEATURE:

 

 

Big Gifts and Stocking Fillers

PHOTO CREDIT: Arsham Haghani/Pexels

 

A Selection Box of Christmas Classics and Alternative/Smaller Christmas Tracks

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LOTS of people…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Julia Volk/Pexels

are sharing their Christmas playlists. It is a time of office parties and a week when many are looking to Christmas and seeing what tunes they will add to their playlists. I have been thinking of how many playlist to put out. Rather than do one of classics and a separate one of alternative Christmas tracks and those lesser-known gems, I thought I would combine them. A selection box of the established and hallowed Christmas songs, together with ones that are underrated or send out a different Christmas message. It is a time of year where not everyone will want cheer and that same sort of sound. They should be catered for here. Whatever your preference when it comes to Christmas music, there are various options out there. Some wonderful modern options sitting alongside those that have been ruling the airwaves for decades now. I have assembled some Christmas gifts together in a…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Ioana Motoc/Pexels

FESTIVE playlist.

FEATURE: Headline Font: At a Time When They Are Struggling with Available Options, Why Festivals Need to Take Risks Regarding Their Main Artists

FEATURE:

 

 

Headline Font

IN THIS PHOTO: Florence + The Machine in 2023 (they headlined Glastonbury in 2015 when Foo Fighters pulled out)

 

At a Time When They Are Struggling with Available Options, Why Festivals Need to Take Risks Regarding Their Main Artists

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WE are starting to hear…

a number of headliners announced for festivals next year. Primavera Sound have announced headliners including Lana Del Rey and SZA. Reading and Leeds announced some names. Their headliners also include Lana Del Rey. Other festivals have declared some names, though one of the big differences between Primavera Sound (Spain) and our Reading and Leeds is the gender discrepancy. The former booking female headliners. The latter only the one. It got me wondering how festivals decide who should headline. What budgets are in place and why a festival like Glastonbury this year featured three slightly older male acts. Not many fresh legs on that stage. I thought Lana Del Rey could have headlined Glastonbury, as she appeared at the festival. Gender equality is something all festivals should be mindful of next year. One issue that might affect things is budget and the availability of artists. I don’t think women are more likely to prefer solo tours to festivals or ask for a bigger fee. Though it is clear that many festival organisers are not taking risks when it comes to artists. Younger or less headline-looking acts that could be booked and make a big impression. I shall expand more on this. A week ago, The Guardian wrote a feature where it is reported festivals are struggling to book headliners. A range of issues that are limiting choices and causing some headaches:

“Set on the front meadow of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, minutes from the Guinness brewery, it is no surprise the first wave of tickets for Dublin’s Forbidden Fruit festival sold out within days.

The line-up – a heady mix of veterans, newcomers and nostalgia acts – is one of many festivals currently being announced for next summer. “We’ve got Nelly Furtado, who hasn’t played in Ireland for 24 years, Bicep and Barry Can’t Swim, who’s from that generation of artists with ironic names that audiences love” says festival booker Will Rolfe.

But behind the scenes, he says, it’s been a “real challenge”. The festival confirmed 90% of its first-choice artists, but that is rare. “The industry is struggling with a shortage of top headliners. The biggest and best artists are doing their own tours rather than festivals because it’s more lucrative.”

Forbidden Fruit is not alone. Festival organisers are reporting that the UK is no longer an appealing destination for global headline acts. With huge numbers of green spaces being given the go-ahead to hold events, organisers say there are struggling to find bands to fill them, and Brexit border delays are making matters worse.

Securing US acts is especially difficult. Many American shows operate a “dynamic” ticketing model, where the cost adjusts according to demand. As a result, prices can be astronomical. US tour tickets for Bruce Springsteen can go for several thousand dollars. For Taylor Swift, it is just shy of $900. Although an A-grade festival headliner in the UK can expect a fee of £2m-plus, financial expectations for US acts are far greater than this.

There will always be exceptions for artists who just want to do the show, such as Glastonbury, or who want the exposure and understand there is a fee difference. “Some will make less money and be OK with that,” says Rolfe.

The fear is that the UK is becoming irrelevant. “The UK just isn’t an attractive offer at the moment,” says Sacha Lord, co-founder of Parklife festival and night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester. “When you’re booking these huge global artists, you’re competing with the rest of the world. It’s really tough out there.” 

Noah Ball, programmer for Dorset’s We Out Here festival and Cross The Tracks in Brixton, says getting headliners locked in is trickier for next summer than it has been in previous years. “The cost of events has gone up 30-40% over the last few years. It was always a risky business and it’s become even riskier. It’s very important for events to hit the nail on the head and really get the line-up right.”

Artists may be asking for more money, but it is more expensive than ever for them to tour, says Claudio Lillo, booking agent for A$AP Rocky, Playboi Carti, Priya Ragu and Ezra Collective: “Festivals are saying they don’t have the budget, but artists’ costs have increased too.”

Sarah McBriar, founder and creative director of AVA festival in Belfast, which is in its 10th year, says people still want to go to festivals and their tickets sell quickly, but the weekend they are on at the end of May, there are now “four or five others at the same time”.

Although electronic star Fred Again has managed to go from backroom pop producer to headline the Reading and Leeds festival in a couple of years, for most it takes years of touring to cultivate a fanbase. The problem, says Ball, is festivals want proven ticket-sellers. “There’s a disparity between the number of acts that build to a large scale and the number of events that have capacity for huge crowds.”

One of the big criticisms is that line-ups look similar, but Lillo thinks festival bookers are not taking risks: “They say there aren’t enough headliners, but how are you going to become one unless someone takes a chance on you?”.

I can appreciate how the factors and drawbacks mentioned in the feature are limiting some headliner choices. Maybe not enough budget for huge artists. Solo tours offer more in the way of sets and design. You can play in many countries and reach more people. You also get to design your own stage and create something intimate and spectacular at the same time. Festivals seem less personal and unwieldy. I can understand why the U.K. is not as attractive as, say, the U.S.. or Spain. I think our track record regarding a lack of female headliners also does not help when it comes to attracting women to play. I do feel like there are problems which need addressing. I am not sure an artist like Lana Del Rey would have been out of Glastonbury’s budget this year as a headliner. She is headlining Reading and Leeds next year, so I don’t feel a potential Glastonbury headliner set would be too expensive and lavish – so instead she played a more stripped back one. That last paragraph of the feature is especially standout. No festival has a measure when it comes to what a headliner is. I think that many assume an artist needs to have been playing for decades and is this monumental success. Too many festivals book the same headliners because they are safe, commercial and tried and tested. It is that lack of bravery and thought that leads to this ‘issue’ with headliners we are seeing now. Maybe some of the bigger acts like Taylor Swift prefer to tour and have sort of outgrown festivals (or feel they are limited and less fulfilling).

If you are going to be book the same headliners or have the same unnecessary standards, of course there will be pipeline issues! It is not the case a headliner has to be this legendary artist that everyone has known for years. Billie Eilish headlined Glastonbury in 2022. She was twenty and had released two studio albums. The youngest artist to headline the festival, that was a risk and chance that very much paid off. I suspect that Glastonbury may do the same thing next year and book Olivia Rodrigo as a headliner (who will be twenty-one when Glastonbury happens next year; she has released two studio albums). How many great artists still coming to their best are booked as headliners?! I posted to Twitter recently with a link to that article from The Guardian. It was pointed out that a few legendary headline slots came from artists booked last moment. Pulp replaced The Stone Roses at Glastonbury in 1995. Without doubt one of the most iconic headliner replacements came when The Stone Roses had to call off their headline set after guitarist John Squire broke his collarbone in a cycling accident. At that point, Pulp had established themselves - though maybe they were not seen as worthy headline material. I am going to mention Glastonbury a lot, though only because it is one of the best festivals in the world and most people will recognise it.

Also, in 2015, Florence + The Machine headlined Glastonbury spectacularly when Foo Fighters cancelled. Dave Grohl broke his leg, so it was a late replacement that truly delivered. Another case of an artist maybe not seen as commercial or stadium-sized as Foo Fighters proving that they were headline-worthy. Epic, passionate and exceptional, one would have hoped that iconic 2015 set from Florence + The Machine showed that unexpected headliners are everywhere. Artists that you may feel are better on other stages, in fact can command that headline slot with aplomb. They do not need pyrotechnics, lavish sets and a lot of set design and dramatics. Just their music connecting with the audience in a very real and powerful way! Right now, all major festivals need to take a chance. I think smaller festivals have more options, as their headliners are often artists not especially massive or on the same level as someone like Taylor Swift for example. It is not a case of promoting a tiny artist to this prestigious slot. Instead, as we have seen with a couple of classic examples, realising there are incredible artists who have produced exceptional music that smashed their headline slots. They were not considered at the time but, owing to unfortunate circumstances, they got drafted in. If artists are not considered and risks are not taken, then that shows festivals are not willing to take chances. They are sticking with the same type of artists. I can appreciate how things are hard and all manner of factors is restricting the options available. However, by opening up their horizons and maybe being less stringent when it comes to their ‘gold standard’, they will find that there are…

PLENTY of headliners out there.

FEATURE: December 25th Will Be Magic…Again: The Kate Bush Christmas Gift Guide

FEATURE:

 

 

December 25th Will Be Magic…Again

PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

 

The Kate Bush Christmas Gift Guide

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IT is December now…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush photographed in 1979 for her BBC Christmas television special, Kate/PHOTO CREDIT: TV Times/Future Publishing/Getty Images

so many people are getting their Christmas presents ordered. Of course, there are many Kate Bush fans out there. I am going to recommend a selection of websites and gifts that could suite the Kate Bush lover in your life. These are books, albums, merchandise and rarities/miscellaneous. I did a gift guide last year but, since then, there have been new reissues and merchandise announced. It is an exciting – if quite expensive! – time to be a Kate Bush fan. These book recommendations might be familiar and ones I have spotlighted before. It is worth coming back to them. There has not been a new Kate Bush book this year – in terms of biographies etc. -, other than Bush re-releasing her lyrics book (which I will recommend). I want to start out with four books that are a cornerstone. There are a selection of books by Laura Shenton that I want to highlight first. A great writer who has penned album dives into The Kick Inside and The Dreaming. One of the essential biographies about Kate Bush, Kate Bush: Under the Ivy (2019), is a wonderful and fascinating book from Graeme Thomson:

“This latest edition of Under The Ivy is fully updated to include analysis of Bush's stunning return to live performance in August 2014. Her run of London concerts was the most unexpected and eagerly awaited pop event of the 21st Century. An acclaimed study of one of the world's most enigmatic artists, Under The Ivy combines a wealth of new research with rigorous critical scrutiny. Featuring over 70 new interviews with those who have viewed from close quarters both the public artist and the private woman, this compelling biography offers numerous fresh perspectives on a unique and elusive talent. Under The Ivy examines Bush's unconventional upbringing in south London, the youthful blossoming of her talent and her evolution into one of the most visually and sonically creative artists of the past 35 years.

It focuses on her unique working methods and pioneering use of the studio on landmark albums such as The Dreaming and Hounds Of Love, her core influences and key relationships, her profound influence on successive generations of musicians, and her most recent releases: Director's Cut, on which Bush reworked 11 songs from her back catalogue, and 50 Words For Snow, her first album of new material for six years”.

Someone who knows Bush’s work more than pretty much anyone else, I know there is an audiobook available via Audible. I wonder, given everything that has happened since the publication, there might be a revision at some point. For any diehard or new fan, you need to get this book.

A brilliant Christmas present! In terms of wonderful Kate Bush biographies, I would also urge you to seek out Tom Doyle’s Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush:

“Kate Bush: the subject of murmured legend and one of the most idiosyncratic musicians of the modern era. Comprising fifty chapters or 'visions', Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush is a multi-faceted biography of this famously elusive figure, viewing her life and work from fresh and illuminating angles.

Featuring details from the author's one-to-one conversations with Kate, as well as vignettes of her key songs, albums, videos and concerts, this artful, candid and often brutally funny portrait introduces the reader to the refreshingly real Kate Bush.

Along the way, the narrative also includes vivid reconstructions of transformative moments in her career and insights from the friends and collaborators closest to Kate, including her photographer brother John Carder Bush and fellow artists David Gilmour, John Lydon and Youth.

Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush is a vibrant and comprehensive re-examination of Kate Bush and her many creative landmarks”.

In all cases when it comes to these books, you may find them less expensive on Amazon. I am linking to other sites as a personal preference, though do shop around so that you can get the best deal for you. A book released in 2015 that was recently reprinted and back on the market is John Carder Bush’s wonderful coffee table volume, KATE: Inside the Rainbow. I think, when it comes to any artist, photography give you a real insight. They are always fascinating and say something unique. Who better than her own brother to capture her at her most natural or comfortable:

“MUST-HAVE COLLECTION OF RARE AND UNSEEN PHOTOGRAPHS OF KATE BUSH.

WITH ESSAYS BY HER BROTHER, JOHN CARDER BUSH, ABOUT KATE'S LIFE AND CAREER.

Stunning and unique images from throughout Kate Bush's career including:

Outtakes from classic album shoots and never-before-seen photographs from The Dreaming and Hounds of Love sessions

Rare candid studio shots and behind-the-scenes stills from video sets, including 'Army Dreamers' and 'Running Up that Hill'

Includes original essays from Kate's brother:

From Cathy to Kate: Describes in vibrant detail their shared childhood and the whirlwind days of Kate's career

Chasing the Shot: A vivid evocation of John's experience of photographing his sister

'For me, each of these images forms part of a golden thread that shoots through the visual tapestry of Kate's remarkable career. Storytelling has always been the heartbeat of Kate's body of work, and it has been a privilege to capture these photographic illustrations that accompany those magical tales' John Carder Bush”.

With photos from her early career up to 2011, this is a great chronicle and loving selection of photographs from someone who knows Kate Bush better than anyone. For fans, you get to see behind the scenes snaps and some wonderful portraits. It is a beautiful book that you can treasure and keep for many years.

The final book that is well worth getting – and would make a lovely Christmas present – is How To Be Invisible: Selected Lyrics. This is Kate Bush choosing lyrics from a range of her amazing songs. It must have been an impossible choice narrowing things down. Rather than it being a dry collection of song lyrics, you do get this beautiful and detailed book with illustrations. It was republished this year featuring a new introduction from Kate Bush. You do really need to add this to your collection. I feel it is a perfect present for anyone just getting into Kate Bush who wants to know more about her music. Perfectly illuminating her wonderful and unique words:

“Selected and arranged by the author, How To Be Invisible presents the lyrics of Kate Bush in a beautiful new paperback edition featuring a new cover by illustrator Jim Kay.

'The greatest singer-songwriter of the past 40 years, whose work is complex, ethereal and filled with so many secrets that one can listen to the albums for decades and still discover new delights every time[...] there's not a spare word anywhere in Bush's work. Everything means something.' - Irish Times”.

Take a look here when you need guidance and a reference point for Kate Bush’s studio albums on vinyl. She did bring her albums back to vinyl in 2018. This new reissue is special, as there are specially designed/coloured vinyl by Bush. She has created new looks and vibes for each album. There is a whole range of Hounds of Love (1985) reissues that I will come to. It is hard to say which albums you should own. I would say that it is a personal preference, though many might go straight for Hounds of Love:

“All ten of Kate Bush’s studio albums are being re-released through her new label The state51 Conspiracy on vinyl and CD, with special coloured vinyl editions being available via independent record shops.

The Kick Inside (1978), Lionheart (1978), Never For Ever (1980), The Dreaming (1982), Hounds of Love (1985), The Sensual World (1989), The Red Shoes (1993), Aerial (2005), Director’s Cut (2011) and 50 Words For Snow (2011) boast new ‘Ecopak’ CD packaging with booklets and reseable poly-sleves. All CDs feature the 2018 remastering by Kate and James Guthrie.

The vinyl editions also use the 2018 remasters, but with new lacquers cut by Bernie Grundman. These have been pressed at the Record Industry plant in the Netherlands.

The ‘indie editions’ are pressed on coloured vinyl which is sympathetic to the original album artwork and feature new Fish People label designs and special OBI strips with the pressing date on them. They are protected in resealable poly-bag liners with a ‘Fish People Reissue’ sticker, bottom right. Refreshingly, these coloured vinyl pressings are described as “unlimited editions” and will be in production constantly. The only thing that will change is the pressing date on the OBIs.

Sadly, the first three albums are USA-only, which is why you won’t find them in the selection on the SDE shop. It’s worth noting that the Hounds of Love that forms part of this reissue campaign is not the “special presentation” we were promised earlier this year, so we have to presume that that will emerge at some point in the future”.

Maybe a very special Christmas present, there is this new and big focus on Hounds of Love. This is understandable. Last year, Stranger Things helped elevate Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) to the top of the singles chart and, with it, Hounds of Love also found a new audience. Even if these special reissues are quite expensive, they are more of an investment. Something we will never get again:

“Kate Bush has delivered on her promise of ‘special presentations’ of her classic 1985 album Hounds of Love with three new editions, none of which offers any new audio.

The Baskerville Edition is a gatefold vinyl presentation with entirely new artwork by Glasgow-based design studio Timorous Beasties (who delivered some of the illustrations for Before The Dawn). Inside the gatefold is a LED light (“little light…shining”) which doesn’t require batteries since it’s powered via a solar panel on the rear of the product! Oh yes. You can see clearly what the product is like from the video below. There are no bonus tracks or anything like that and indeed this edition uses the same 2018 remaster as the recently announced black and coloured vinyl reissues. Interestingly, ‘The Big Sky’ is no longer indicated as the ‘single mix’ even though it must be, if they are using the 2018 version. The Baskerville Edition is retailing for £138 from Kate’s newly-designed website.

The other two editions actually split the album in half. The Boxes of Lost At Sea Edition consists of two boxes, each containing one side of the album. Each disc features a UV printed illustration on white vinyl and a battery powered LED light. Kate says: “The idea was to create a hybrid of an album and a piece of artwork you could hang on the wall. They’re based on something I designed for an auction for the charity War Child”. (In 1993 Brian Eno asked Kate to contribute to an auction for War Child, and she came up with the idea of two identical box frames, each containing a flashing red LED with text on brass plaques). A donation will be made to War Child from each new box that is sold.

These boxes are £285 each, so that’s £570 for the album, although there’s a bundle edition of this hybrid album/art edition available which costs £500.

All three new editions of Hounds of Love will be released on 1 December 2023 via The state51 Conspiracy. They appear only to be available via Kate’s site. Don’t forget you can order the standard coloured vinyl indie editions from the SDE shop as an alternative to the above!”.

You can get more detail on these album reissues via Kate Bush’s official website. I will wrap up soon. There is a lot of cool merchandise that is available. Ranging in price, I think that every Kate Bush fan should be accommodated and satisfied. It is an amazing array of prints, goodies and T-shirts. Some real rare gems alongside playing cards and other bits. There are some other Kate Bush bits available here and here. You can get memorabilia and some other cool things here. There are options depending on your budget. Maybe you already have your Kate Bush-related gifts sorted out. If you need any more guidance and late inspiration, I hope that the albums, books and merchandise I have mentioned above help out. You may just want to get a gift for yourself. I am going to publish a few other Kate Bush features before the end of the year. I am going to predict what may lay ahead next year. What sort of things might come along. It is exciting to see how next year differs to this one. As it is almost Christmas, we are not far away from getting the now-annual Kate Bush Christmas message that she posts to her official website. A chance for her to offer thanks and provide reflection. For any Kate Bush fan out there, there are ample options and great gifts that can fit neatly…

UNDER any Christmas tree.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Jazzy

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Claire Boshell for Wonderland.

 

Jazzy

__________

I am at that point…

where I am trying to run as many Spotlight features as possible before 2024. Tipping artists who are going to make some big moves then. This takes me to the wonderful Jazzy. She is quite new on the scene, so I hope that she gets a Twitter, TikTok (there is one but no videos or content) and Facebook page. You can follow her music on the links at the bottom. I am sure that will change in 2024. The Jamaican-Irish artist is someone that everyone should check out. Signed to Polydor, she has already been highlighted as one of Vevo’s DSCVR Artists to Watch. I am going to come to interviews that she has been involved in. To be fair to her, Jazzy has only released a bit of material so far. Some singles and an acclaimed E.P., Constellations. It has been a busy year, mind. She was recently interviewed by The Times. Giving Me, her debut single, broke records recently. I am going to start with an interview from HotPress, where they celebrated what a remarkable feat this was. Showing, perhaps, what a male-dominated thing Spotify’s Ireland Top 50 is, Jazzy will pave the way for other Irish female artists:

“Currently sitting at No.2 in the Irish Singles Charts, DJ Jazzy's debut solo single 'Giving Me' has made the Dubliner the first Irish female artist to hit No.1 on the Spotify Ireland Top 50.

Achieving this incredible milestone, Jazzy knocked Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding’s 'Miracle' off the top spot this week. Thumping dance banger 'Giving Me' was released in March and has already been streamed 1.7 million times in Ireland and been certified platinum.

Arriving on the solo stage with a bold statement, the Irish-Jamaican newcomer Jazzy’s debut is soaring in the Irish and International Charts, with Jazzy earning the No.1 spot on the Homegrown Irish charts.

'Giving Me' is a club-ready slice of Irish house with lyrics that see Jazzy relinquishing the responsibility for the hurt experienced from a past relationship and getting back out on the town after having healed from all “the sunshine in the rain”.

On writing the track, Jazzy shares “my solo debut has been a really long time coming, so we made sure that we edited and tweaked the track until it felt perfect. I’ve been anticipating this moment for some time now and am buzzing to share 'Giving Me' with you all”.

Jazzy is no stranger to the dance music scene, having already graced massive collaborations with the likes of Irish dance duo Belters Only on their hit singles ‘Make Me Feel Good’ and ‘Don’t Stop Just Yet’. Her entrance into the music world has turned heads and connected internationally.

With over 1.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify, as well as a Top 5 Platinum certified single in the UK, it looks as though this will be the year that see’s Jazzy bring Irish house music to the masses. Having already built a community around her sound through consistent releases of her ‘GEWAH’ DJ mixes on Soundcloud, the release of ‘Giving Me’ see’s Jazzy entering a new sonic chapter; one that will see her create a musical legacy of her own”.

There are a few interviews that I want to cover off. The Irish Post spent ten minutes with an artist who is doing the country proud. One of the big and exciting names to watch closely next year, it has been a truly remarkable year for her. I suspect that a debut album will come at some point very soon. Her awesome debut E.P., Constellations, came out in October:

“What are you up to?

Right now I am spending as much time in the studio as possible - making new music!

Which piece of music always sends a shiver down your spine?

Everything But The Girl - Missing

Which musician has most influenced you?

Lauryn Hill would have been one of the first who influenced me to start singing. As of late we have so many amazing artists who inspire and influence me too though; RAYE, Eliza Rose, Carla Monroe, Hayley May, Karen Harding… the list goes on!

Who would be in your ideal band?

My ideal band would be with my friends because I’d just love to spend that much time with them messing about and working together, but sadly none of them sing.

How did you get started in music?

The school I attended had an amazing music programme so everyone had the chance to learn a string instrument. I went on to do all my grades in violin before I started to sing because of that, so actually I guess I started on the classical side

If you were told musicians are no longer welcome where you live, where would you go?

Anywhere with a temperature over 28 degrees. Answer inspired by the miserable Dublin weather as I’m writing this.

Where are you from in Ireland, and what are your roots?

I’m from the south side of Dublin - born and reared. My mam is originally from Swords

What’s on your smartphone playlist at the minute?

It’s Your Time - Bklava

Take It Easy - Spencer Ramsey

Shinin - Ethan Healy

More Money Girls - Joshwa

Pantomime or opera?

Pantomime for sure. I’m not an opera kinda girl!

What is your favourite place in Ireland?

Dublin is my home so that will always be my favourite, but if I had to say somewhere else it would probably be Galway. I love visiting, it always feels super homey and the people are so nice.

What would be your motto?

“Live in the now”

Which living person do you most admire?

My niece Savvanah, she’s more like a little sister to me to be honest. She’s only 4 but she could teach us all a thing or two I swear”.

The wonderful NOTION recently spent some time with an artist who, as they say, is just getting started. Such a fresh and original talent who is distinct and memorable - it is going to be exciting to see how she steps into 2024. I would imagine a mix of solo tracks and some collaborations to happen:

“Striking a friendship with DJ duo Belters Only helped Jazzy become the breakout star she is today. A few years ago, she tasted her first dose of mainstream success when their collaboration “Make Me Feel Good” soared to number 1 in Ireland and reached platinum-selling status in the UK. It became an overnight hit and announced Jazzy’s equally imposing and alluring vocal range to the world. Despite the instant triumph, she’s been biding her time, waiting in the wings to release her debut solo single. No one, not even the 26-year-old could have imagined what came next.

Where do you go after a number one debut single? For Jazzy, it’s a question with a simple answer. The Jamaican-Irish singer is hungry for more success, hungry for more chart-topping singles, and eventually, to produce a debut project with the same trajectory. But before she accumulates more accolades, Jazzy sits down with us to speak about Dublin’s music scene, reaching new heights and why she’ll always keep herself grounded.

Taking it right back, what were your experiences of music growing up? Can you remember your early musical infatuations?

I started to learn music at the age of 10 and quickly became eager for it to be my career. I also studied violin, which introduced me to the classical world.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jasmine Engel-Malone for NOTION

We read that you fell in love with clubbing and house music as a teenager. Where was good to go out in Ireland growing up and what are some of your fondest memories of that time?

There were so many amazing places to go out in Dublin a few years ago. Some of my favourites included the Hanger, and District 8. Going to see Kerri Chandler live was definitely one of my fondest memories.

And now, you’ve just played Longitude festival, pulling a massive crowd. How did it feel to play to such a large audience in your home city?

Honestly, I don’t know how to put it into words. It’s such an amazing feeling hearing everyone sing the lyrics back to you, and so loudly that you can barely hear yourself! I’m so grateful to have everyone’s support; it’s been amazing.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jasmine Engel-Malone for NOTION

When you made “Giving Me”, did you know that you had a hit on your hands?

I don’t know if you ever know when something will be a hit. All I know is that I absolutely loved it! So, I guess it’s about going with your gut, which seems to be working for me.

You now have two Irish number one’s under your belt. When working in the studio, what do you listen out for?

When I’m in the studio, I’m just vibing and hoping to create another Jazzy track, keeping with everything I have done so far.

An act you’ve worked very closely with is Belters Only, how do they bring out the best in you when in the studio and why do you think that you both work so well on tracks?

The first time I went into the studio with Belters Only, it was such a good vibe! We have worked so well together from the beginning, I’m a big fan of their style and everything they’ve made. They are super talented and I was delighted to be able to work with them. I think we go really well together in the studio and always come out with a banger!

From the underground to the mainstream, Dublin has a thriving electronic music scene. What do you think makes the city so special?

I’m so proud of everyone on the Dublin scene right now, there’s so many amazing Irish acts killing it and we love to see it. Dublin always gets behind their own and that’s something you don’t always see.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jasmine Engel-Malone for NOTION

Jazzy rules the world for the day, what’s going down?

It depends on how much power I have exactly. I’d want to get the biggest group of dogs together that the world has ever seen. And more generally, free flights for everyone who wants to participate and bring their dog to visit me.

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?

In five years’ time, I’d like to have two albums under my belt, to be working on a third, a European tour, breaking America and just doing my thing!

What’s next for Jazzy? Do you have any music, festivals or gigs coming up that you’d like people to know about?

I’ve got lots of gigs over the next few weeks and I’m in Ibiza rocks this weekend! You can find all the info on my socials. A new single will be coming out really soon, and an EP is in the works! I’m really excited to share with everyone!”.

Let’s come to an interview with Wonderland. They spoke with the extraordinary and rising D.J., producer and singer about the Irish scene, her introduction to the industry, and a truly and memorably busy summer. If you are compiling names of artists to follow through next year, there is no doubt that Jazzy should be on there:

“How would you describe your essence as an artist?

Passionate and fun. 

What’s your opinion of the Irish scene?

I absolutely love it, it’s amazing, there’s so much talent going in Ireland right now I’m super proud!

Do you think that the UK industry should be paying more attention to the scene over there?

Yes absolutely, I feel like it’s already drawing attention so it won’t be long before it happens!

You announced yourself to the industry with your work with Belters Only. How did that collaboration come about?

My partner grew up with Conor from Belters, and they had seen I was doing some singing bits, so he mentioned to me that he invited us to do a session with them, so we went, ended up recording make me feel good!

Was it a conscious decision to wait till now to release solo material after working on the collaborations?

I think this was the start of something new for me and it definitely happened organically!

Your debut solo single, “Giving Me”, went #1 in the Irish charts, how did it feel to achieve that, and why do you think the song resonated so widely?

Honestly it was such an amazing thing to happen to me on my first single, words can’t describe how it made me feel!

We love “Feel it (Club Edit)”! Talk us through the creative process of the track?

Feel it was a song that came around by chance, and when I heard it I fell in love! I knew it had to be a jazzy track.

What does the song mean to you?

This song is my second single as a solo artist, so it means a lot to me as I begin to grow.

Where do you want to take your artistry? 

Right now I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing, stay in the studio as much as possible and be consistent with the music that I’m releasing

What else is to come from you this year? 

I have lots of gigs and festivals coming. And also working on my EP right now for towards end of the year so lots going on!”.

A brilliant and stunning Irish talent, this artist and D.J. is going to be on the radars of many publications as they share their list of artists to look out for in 2024. It is interesting seeing which artists appear and whether there are standout names that feature on several. Jazzy is going to be one who will score a lot of kudos from a variety of publications and websites. On the evidence of what she has achieved so far this year, there is no denying the fact that she is…

PRIMED for greatness.

___________

Follow Jazzy

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Songs from the Best Albums of 2023

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

IN THIS PHOTO: Kylie Minogue

 

Songs from the Best Albums of 2023

__________

I already put out…

 IN THIS PHOTO: SZA/PHOTO CREDIT: Gianni Gallant for Rolling Stone

a playlist featuring songs from the best debut albums and E.P.s of 2023. This might be a subjective thing but, when it comes to the best albums of the year, there is some consensus. I am using Album of the Year, Time Out, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and PopMatters. I have also put in a couple of my own selections. We are going to get a few other lists coming out before the end of the year. It has been another really tremendous year for music. I think that this is one of the strongest year for music in quite a long time! You might agree with the selections below, though this is what critics are saying is the very best of 2023. Such a strong and varied year for music, the playlist below collates some gems from wonderful albums released…

IN THIS PHOTO: Gabriels/PHOTO CREDIT: Atlas Artists/Parlophone Records

IN 2023.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Songs from the Best Debut Albums and E.P.s of 2023

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

IN THIS PHOTO: Victoria Monét/PHOTO CREDIT: Justin J Wee/Los Angeles Times

 

Songs from the Best Debut Albums and E.P.s of 2023

__________

I did a similar playlist…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Coach Party

earlier in the year, as there were a lot of great debut albums coming out. I may not be able to include all of them, though I should be able to capture most of them here. I am also going to include songs from the best E.P.s of 2023. It has been quite a busy and exciting year for music! So many tremendous debut releases have come out. I think that we will see a lot more next year. If you need a guide as to which debut albums and E.P.s have come out this year, then the playlist below should be able to help out. As we look towards Christmas and think about what is going to come along, I am keen to give you a reminder as to the wonderful introductory projects that have come our way. Some amazing projects from artists who are going to grow bigger and more established in the coming years. Among all the debut albums and E.P.s that have come out this year, the songs below are taken from…

 IN THIS PHOTO: HotWax/PHOTO CREDIT: Chiara Gambuto

THE absolute finest.

FEATURE: Kindred Spirits: Ending the Year in Style with The Trouble Club

FEATURE:

 

 

Kindred Spirits

IN THIS PHOTO: Poet Arch Hades photographed in 2021 (she spoke for The Trouble Club on 14th November at Kindred, Hammersmith)/PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Arch Hades

 

Ending the Year in Style with The Trouble Club

__________

THERE are a few constant reminders…

 IN THIS PHOTO: The Trouble Club Director Eleanor Newton (left) alongside journalist and writer Marina Hyde (who appeared for The Trouble Club at The Ned, London on 21st November/PHOTO CREDIT: Alice Lubbock

of The Trouble Club that I keep in my head and possession. A poetry book from Aija Mayrock, Dear Girl, that I got (signed) when I saw her speak for The Trouble Club earlier in the year. That is in my rucksack. Almost like a guide or sacred text. I do love it so. I also have various lines and memories that are with me that I bring to mind and have in my heart. I would suggest anyone that has not heard of The Trouble Club to check them out on their TikTok,  Twitter, Instagram. Also, go and check out their YouTube channel. This is my third and final feature about them this year. I will reexplore next year, of course. Similar to the first and second features, I am going to discuss the events that I attended and why they were so impactful. I will finish off with a look ahead to events yet to come this year; why I feel 2024 is going to be a big year for The Trouble Club. I will also, as I intend to do through this feature, make a real push for membership – in terms of anyone who is not a member is tempted to become one. You can see how to become a member. As someone who is a regular at events, there is no doubt how much I love The Trouble Club. How much it means to me! Sometimes, as the only man in the room (or borderline in a lot of cases), I do feel that there are a lot of men I know would fit right in. One of the big and great things about The Trouble Club – among many other things! – is that they are inclusive and open. Rather than it strictly being a women-only club, it is a one comprised mostly of female members…through it is open to all. In addition to the events that are held regularly, there are social and networking benefits too. Truly, something for anyone and everyone! Its absolutely incredible Director, Eleanor (Ellie) Newton conducts most of the interviews with the speakers who are the focal point of events. Francesca Edmondson, their amazing Marketing & Events Coordinator, has also interviewed some guests. In fact, she interviewed the aforementioned Aija Mayrock. They are a formidable duo who have huge passion and dedication to The Trouble Club (as she can see in this video of Ellie working 9-5!). Always working hard to bring new and interesting events to a range of locations throughout central London (there are a couple of venues further afield in London and plans for wider representation in the future, though most are around this area), they embrace all new members and ensure that everything they host is memorable and inclusive! A very warm and bonded space where this is this kindness and kindred spirit running through the air.

So many of the features I have written for my music website are inspired by The Trouble Club (including my deeper love and appreciation of my favourite film of 2023, Barbie). I am going to end by writing how The Trouble Club has impacted me through this year. Why it has made such a difference. I am looking forward to seeing what next year holds. Given the fact the most recent feature about The Trouble Club I published was out on 23rd September, that took us to the Trouble In Business: Triumphs & Challenges from the FTSE Women Leaders Review event (which occurred on Tuesday, 19th September at The Ned). I will go from there and work my way to everything else to come in 2023. There some bits announced for next year. I am going to write about them in a few moments. Before getting to that first event, I would say there are events and gatherings I have not attending this year in terms of the book clubs and drinks. I am going to rectify that in 2024. Just a matter of being double booked in lots of cases. From the Trouble Book Club: Unaccustomed Earth on 28th September to Members Picnic in support of Women's Aid from 19th August, there are so many ways in which members can connect. I love the fact that there are book clubs, coffee mornings, Friday Night News Roundup (on 6th October, The Trouble Club welcomed Naomi Smith). There are also outings, private screenings, members trips - and, in March, there will be a '70s/'80s Disco (for which I have a Harry Styles-type green jacket ready to pair with something period-appropriate). It is testament to Eleanor Newton and Francesca Edmondson that they have such a variety of events and speakers across some incredible venues in London. Great spaces for amazing faces…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Author Kate Mosse/PHOTO CREDIT: Hannah Harley Young Photography

On Tuesday, 3rd October at Kindred Hammersmith, The Trouble Club welcomed acclaimed author Kate Mosse. At an extraordinary and beautiful venue, an author whose work I was aware of – but not huge acquainted with – spoke about the Women's Prize for Fiction and why it is so important (“The Women's Prize for Fiction has grown into one of the most prestigious literary awards in the UK and it was co-founded by none other than bestselling author, Kate Mosse. As the prize enters its 29th year, we're thrilled that Kate will be joining us to talk about the impact of the prize and how it’s increased recognition for women’s writing across every genre”). Mosse’s excellent new book, The Ghost Ship, was/is out. In addition to talking about her work, we got to learn about this incredible cause. In terms of women represented at literary awards and the acknowledgement of their work, there are still gulfs and gaps. Like so many areas of the creative industries, we have gender imbalance and a real lack of appreciation of women’s work – though, with the likes of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and what they do impactging, steps are being made. It was thrilling hearing Kate Mosse talk about her experiences. The advice she would give to young women entering literature. It was inspiring for the women in the audience. For me – I might have been the only chap in attendance that evening I think?! -, it made me think more widely about the music industry and how there are the same barriers for women here. How there maybe needs to be a Women’s Prize for Fiction for music. There are award events that honour women though, with some shocking statics coming each year about representation and imbalance, much more can be done! Like every event with The Trouble Club, I come away more motivated, illuminated and amazed. Hearing Kate Mosse speak was a real treat!

 PHOTO CREDIT: Sabrina @ InTact Creatives

A couple of nights later – on 5th October at Mortimer House (completed with unwanted ‘ambience’ from the venue) -, there was The Trouble Club STORY SLAM. Thanks to Founder & CEO of InTact Creatives, the awe-inspiring Ciara Charteris. She is the Creator and Host of Story Slam Series. It is, as they say: “A safe stage to share your truth”. That is what it felt like! Even though I did not have a story to share (‘slam)’' myself, I was determined to be there so I could witness something very intimate and raw. From poetry to storytelling, these brave and amazing women took to the stage (essentially, the microphone in a small and safe space) and opened up. Revealing some harrowing recollections and funny memories, it was almost this sanctuary and confessional booth. Maybe they had not said these words in public before. Things that were private or had not extended beyond their family and close friend circle. It was a privilege and very special evening where I came away quite emotional myself! I do hope that there are many more collaborations between STORY SLAM and The Trouble Club. I would be very interested – and I know other people who would be too – attending again. The bravery it took for the women there to share their words in front of people who are largely strangers was very humbling! Until that point, I had not done too much personal sharing or interviews for my music website. Partly because of this event, I took steps and have rectified that. Taking leaps and using my voice in a different way. Like I said earlier: every event I attend teaches me something or changes me (positively) in some form.

On 12th October, there was Sharing is Caring: Eleanor Tucker on the Sharing Economy. Held at Bloomsbury Tavern, Tucker spoke about her book, Thanks for Sharing. It is a book I have just finished reading and got so much from. At such a hard time for all of us, there are huge benefits when it comes to the sharing economy. Whether that is using food or clothes-sharing apps, you can cut costs, bond with people you have never met, and also help the environment. Incredible money-saving tips together with warm and witty personal insights. Eleanor Tucker’s experiences of using various apps and how she has embraced a sharing economy were motivating to say the least. A way of cutting costs and sharing rather than buying. As Waterstones say: “What is the Sharing Economy? How can it help us live more affordable, more sustainable, and ultimately more fulfilling lives?  What would happen if for one year a family pledged to share as much as they possibly can? Instead of owning more and more stuff, what it’s like to stop owning things and borrow, lend, rent and swap instead? These are big questions, but features writer Eleanor Tucker sets out to answer them in this thoroughly absorbing and entertaining guide to sustainable sharing, or as it is also known, 'collaborative consumption'. In this engrossing study, Eleanor straps us into on her year-long experiment along with her somewhat reluctant family. Over the course of the year, with the aid of various sharing apps, they will pledge to buy as few new things as possible, instead relying on the power of sharing, lending, renting and borrowing to supply their needs”. A brilliant book that I would recommend everyone owns. It provides so much value and worth in terms of how we can all be more cost-effective and conscious of the environment. It also made me question various things. Like how I am buying and wasting too much food and don’t need to. How I am buying new clothes and items and barely using them when, in reality, I can using sharing apps and save money, space and waste. Another terrific event that I am very glad that I attended!

IN THIS PHOTO: Camilla Nord/PHOTO CREDIT: Alice Lubbock

In terms of books I have bought at Trouble Club events and have either just read or are reading now, that takes me to a book I am actually in the middle of. The Balanced Brain with Camilla Nord took place on Thursday, 26th October at Mortimer House. The brilliant Camilla Nord is a neuroscientist at Cambridge University. She leads the Mental Health Neuroscience Lab there. Her book, The Balanced Brain: The Science of Mental Health, is extraordinary! I am reading it with huge fascination at the moment. I am someone who is neurodivergence and has several psychological disorders. I am aware my brain works differently from many other people. It is very revealing and revelatory. A terrific book that, again, everyone needs to own. (You can get it for £20 on Amazon). This is what Waterstones say: “In The Balanced Brain, Nord reframes mental health as an intricate, self-regulating process, one which is different for all of us. She examines a huge diversity of treatments, from therapy and medication to recreational drugs and electrical brain stimulation, to show how they work, and why they sometimes don't. In doing so, she reveals how the small things we do to lift our mood during the course of a day - a piece of chocolate, a coffee, chatting to a friend - often work on the same pathways in our brain as the latest pharmacological treatments for mental health disorders. Whether they help us to manage pain, learn from experience or expend energy on the things that are important for our survival, these conscious actions are part of a complex process that is unique to each individual and the constant backdrop to our everyday lives”. This was an event where I came away amazed and blown away (and a little bit heartbroken. A story for another blog. Bit of a moment I wish I could rewind to and do differently in terms of talking with someone and us getting separated!). Nord was such a compelling, funny and fascinating speaker. I think everyone in the room at Mortimer House came away enriched – and with a deeper knowledge of the ‘science of mental health’. In terms of my music journalism, the book has given me new perspective and depth when it comes to artists and the brain. In terms of its make-up and psychology. A deeper insight into the human mind and the brain’s working pretty much covers everything I write about. So it was a very valuable trip out!

IN THIS PHOTO: Alex O’Brien (far right) in her element/PHOTO CREDIT: Alice Lubbock

Okay. There are still a few events to cover off. I was gutted I could not get to Culture Club Dinner: Escapism with Mollie Goodfellow on 30th October. I am a massive fan of Goodfellow and I would have loved to have been there (other commitments etc.). I did get to go to How To Think Like a Poker Player with Alex O'Brien. Another book I am currently reading, the brilliant queen Alex O’Brien was part of this unique evening at SPACES in Finsbury Park. Talking about her incredible book, The Truth Detective: A Poker Player's Guide to a Complex World, O’Brien discussed the essential skills and disciplines you use as a poker player. This was applied to everyday life and how her toolkit can help in everyday life. This is what Waterstones explore: “At the poker table you need certain skills to win. The more Alex O'Brien played competitively, the more she realised those skills are essential in everyday life too. From reading body language to calculating risk, dealing with uncertainty and separating emotion from facts, her toolkit will help you make better decisions and understand what's happening around you. Offering insights from the latest psychology, neuroscience, game theory and more, you'll encounter new ideas and ways of thinking from pioneering researchers and experts in their field. With O'Brien as your guide, you'll learn to see clearly, think carefully and cut through the noise of a complex world”. Those in attendance also got to play a few hands of poker. Being on the novice/beginners table, there was a mix of more experienced players and newbies. O’Brien taught us and she was sat at my table. We each got to learn the rules and saw how the game worked. Even though I fumbled my first hand and folded too soon, I got the hang of it and actually become really invested! Maybe not for money (I’d be on the streets in days!), poker is a game I would like to get more into. I think it is, as O’Brien writes in her essential book, not about luck at all. It is a very skilful game that requires a lot of discipline, patience and intelligence – yet it is something everyone can learn. Body language and the whole persona and physique of a poker player is vital. I really love and admire the book. I would recommend this to everyone. A real pleasure to meet and chat with Alex O’Brien too!

There have been some hugely emotional events I have witnessed at The Trouble Club. In addition to STORY SLAM, Reckoning with V and Sandi Toksvig was another one. V (formerly Eve Ensler) was interviewed by her dear friend, Sandi Toksvig. On Thursday, 2nd November at Soho’s Century Club, this incredibly emotional and often hilarious event unfolded. At such a gorgeous and distinct location – Toksvig explained how she had to pick up our special guest owing to a problem with the taxi driver and his sense of direction (“Rent-a-Dyke”, as Toksvig brilliant put!). There were a lot of laughs alongside literal tears. V was discussing her past and recalling traumatic events (incest and abuse at the hands of her father among them). It was so phenomenally moving! You could almost hear a pin drop at times. She was also discussing her new book, Reckoning. Hearing these two friends who love each other speak in front of an enraptured audience was something I will never forget. Reckoning is described by Bloomsbury thus: “The work of a lifetime from the Tony Award-winning, bestselling author of The Vagina Monologues-political, personal, profound, and more than forty years in the making. The newest book from V (formerly Eve Ensler), Reckoning invites you to travel the journey of a writer's and activist's life and process over forty years, representing both the core of ideas that have become global movements and the methods through which V survived abuse and self-hatred. Seamlessly moving from the internal to the external, the personal to the political, Reckoning is a moving and inspiring work of prose, poetry, dreams, letters, and essays drawn from V's lifelong journals that takes readers from Berlin to Oklahoma to the Congo, from climate disaster, homelessness, and activism to family Unflinching, intimate, introspective, courageous, Reckoning explores ways to create an unstoppable force for change, to love and survive love, to hold people and states accountable, to reckon with demons and honor the dead, to reclaim the body, and to see oneself as connected to a greater purpose. It reimagines what seems fixed and intractable, providing a path to understand one's unique experience as deeply rooted in the world, to break through one's own boundaries, and to write oneself into freedom”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Iona Marinca

In terms of the antepenultimate event I have attended, that would be Divided with Dr Annabel Sowemimo. It went down on Thursday, 9th November at the wonderful and always-beautiful AllBright. At a very popular event space for The Trouble Club, Dr. Annabel Sowemimo discussed Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need to Decolonise Healthcare. I have not read the book yet – quite a pile to get through! – but, when she spoke about it and her experiences as a doctor, her words elicited real reaction and, at times, shock. You should order this book: “In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are all too aware of the urgent health inequalities that plague our world. But these inequalities have always been urgent: modern medicine has a colonial and racist history. Here, in an essential and searingly truthful account, Annabel Sowemimo unravels the colonial roots of modern medicine. Tackling systemic racism, hidden histories and healthcare myths, Sowemimo recounts her own experiences as a doctor, patient and activist. Divided exposes the racial biases of medicine that affect our everyday lives and provides an illuminating - and incredibly necessary - insight into how our world works, and who it works for. This book will reshape how we see health and medicine – forever”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Alice Lubbock

Taking us to the human being you see at the very top of this feature. Even though she had a cold on the day, Arches Hades was tremendous, captivating and brilliant during An Evening with Bestselling poet, Arch Hades on Tuesday, 14th November at Kindred. She was being questioned about her career and what it was like being the highest-paid poet ever (as she said, she was a big fish in a small pond). Hades also discussed her current volume of poetry, 21C Human. A simply brilliant and eye-opening collection of poetry. I am currently immersed and addicted to this book: ‘21C Human’ is a collection of poetry and essays detailing the millennial perspective in three parts. Part 1 reflects on western political culture, including how social media is affecting democracy, on climate anxiety, on our disillusionment with populist politicians, and many others. Part 2 delves into a woman’s experience of navigating constantly contradicting expectations in the public and private sphere, including verse about domestic and emotional labour. Part 3 journeys through the depths of a pandemic-induced depression culminating in a turn towards existentialism and rebellion”. I am a big poetry fan - and so I got a lot from the event. It was amazing and moving hearing her read from the book. Someone who is so inspiring and important in the modern age and at these difficult and divisive times, I do hope there are more published interviews with Arch Hades soon. I really loved being in her company at Kindred. There was a lot of respect, appreciation and love for her in the building on 14th November!

PHOTO CREDIT: Alice Lubbock

The most-recent event I have attended for The Trouble Club was Marina Hyde: What Just Happened?! It occurred on Tuesday 21st November at The Ned. Marina Hyde writes for The Guardian/The Observer, and she is noted for her funny and hugely popular features and columns about political unfolding(s) and events. At the divine and grand The Ned, it was an evening filled with energy, electricity and laughter! One of the biggest events The Trouble Club has ever hosted. It was a packed and really excited audience who welcomed Marina Hyde to the stage. She was typically hilarious throughout! Asked about her favourite moments and columns, it was a real treat to hear one of this country’s most respected and brilliant journalists discuss her career and work. Talking about her writing routine and past, it was especially intriguing for me as a journalist. A lot to take away and apply to my own writing. If you have not got her book, What Just Happened?!: Dispatches from Turbulent Times, then Waterstones give some details about a must-own/read: “No other writer is more suited to chronicling the absurd times in which we live. In What Just Happened?! Marina Hyde slashes her way through the hellscape of post-referendum politics, where the chaos never stops. Clamber aboard as we relive every inspirational moment of magic, from David Cameron to Theresa May to Boris Johnson. Marvel at the sights, from Trumpian WTF-ery to celebrity twattery. And boggle at the cast of characters: Hollywood sex offenders, populists, sporting heroes (and villains), dastardly dukes, media barons, movie stars, reality TV monsters, billionaires, police officers, various princes and princesses, wicked advisers, philanthropists, fauxlanthropists, telly chefs, and (naturally) Gwyneth Paltrow. It's the full state banquet of crazy - and you're most cordially invited. Drawn from her spectacularly funny Guardian columns, What Just Happened?! is a welcome blast of humour and sanity in a world where reality has become stranger than fiction”.

That takes me up to date. I am going to see the brilliant Think Like a Tree with Arit Anderson. You can check out the schedule if you fancy attending an event. Applying for membership is definitely recommended if you like what you have heard here. On Wednesday (6th December), Arit Anderson (the British garden designer, writer, and television presenter (Gardeners’ World), this event will take place at The Hearth. I am looking forward to being back there – I saw Dr. Julia Grace Patterson earlier in the year – and hearing what Anderson has to say. It is an event that is billed like this: “We've all heard that trees can combat much of the climate damage humans have wreaked on our ecosystem, but only if we plant the right ones. Arit Anderson is a garden designer, writer and presenter on BBC Two’s Gardeners’ World and she'll be joining us to talk about her passion for gardening, the environment and the huge importance of tree planting”.

She is co-author of The Essential Tree Selection Guide: For Climate Resilience, Carbon Storage, Species Diversity and Other Ecosystem Benefits. I am really interested in it, as “At the heart of the book is a unique A-Z Tree Directory representing more than 550 trees chosen for their ecosystem benefits, resilience and a host of other criteria that will ensure their continuing contribution to our future gardens and landscapes. A further quick-reference Tree Selection Table provides key attributes for each species at a glance”. I think the book and the themes that it explores are very relevant - not just in terms of the environment and climate change; also in aiding and highlighting gardens and landscapes as beneficial to our mental health. This will be a really interesting interview and evening. If this is something that may interest you, then I am sure there are a few tickets left!

Two events in two days for me1 First is Fixing France with Nabila Ramdani on Monday, 11th December at The House of St Barnabas. That venue in Soho is gorgeous. Nabila Ramdani is going to be wonderful: “Nabila Ramdani is not from the establishment elite: she is a marginalised insider, born and raised in a neglected Paris suburb. With unflinching clarity, she probes the fault lines of her struggling country, exposing the Fifth Republic as an archaic system which emerged from Algeria’s cataclysmic War of Independence”. Her book, Fixing France: How to Repair a Broken Republic, is really engrossing and compelling. I have not got it yet – I will get a copy at the event -, though it does sound like it is an essential buy: “Nabila Ramdani is not from the establishment elite: she is a marginalised insider, born and raised in a neglected Paris suburb. With unflinching clarity, she probes the fault lines of her struggling country, exposing the Fifth Republic as an archaic system which emerged from Algeria’s cataclysmic War of Independence. Today, a monarchical President Macron shows little interest in democracy, while a far-right party founded by Nazi collaborators threatens to replace him. Segregation, institutionalised rioting, economic injustice, the debasement of women, a monolithic education system, deep-seated racial and religious discrimination, paramilitary policing, terrorism and extremism, and a duplicitous foreign policy all fuel the growing crisis”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Wellness professional, international TEDx speaker and acclaimed author, Adrienne Herbert/PHOTO CREDIT: Adrienne Herbert (via Marie Claire)

The following evening, Trouble In Business: Leaders in Tech is going to be another massive one. Featuring three hugely important and inspiring women in business, it will be an event to remember at Dartmouth House (on 12th December). I have never been to Dartmouth House. So this is a brand-new venue I am looking forward to seeing and exploring. It is going to be simply incredible: “Join us for an evening with three leading tech entrepreneurs. Our three panelists: Georgia Stewart - CEO and co-founder of Tumelo, Deirdre O’Neill - Co-Founder and Chief Commercial & Legal Officer at Hertility Health and Juanita Morgan - Co-Founder and CEO of Value Adders World – will discuss what drove them to start their own businesses”. I am really looking forward to seeing Georgia Stewart, Deirdre O’Neill and Juanita Morgan. Before the much-anticipated Christmas event, Networking Drinks Evening: Power Hour with Adrienne Herbert happens on Thursday, 14th December at DIAGEO. Herbert is a fantastic author who you can find out more about here and here (“Adrienne is a leading wellness professional, international TEDx speaker, Author and mother. Adrienne is the epitome of the modern digital entrepreneur, and former Director of Innovation at the UK's leading fitness app Fiit. Adrienne has delivered talks and workshops for brands such as Apple, Microsoft & WeWork to motivate and empower their employees to perform at their best in work and life”). This will be an amazing event that is also a networking evening. Preceded by drinks, it is going to be a pre-Christmas relaxation where new and established members of The Trouble Club can get together and chat!

IN THIS PHOTO: Caroline Criado Perez/PHOTO CREDIT: Stuart Simpson/Penguin Books

I shall finish with a brief nod to 2024 at The Trouble Club and thoughts on this year. One of the biggest events on the calendar is Trouble's Big Night Out: Featuring Caroline Criado Perez & Kelechi Okafor. You can follow Caroline Criado Perez and Kelechi Okafor. Taking place on Monday, 18th December at the splendid Conway Hall, this is going to be the centrepiece of an amazing evening! One that will combine cheer, emotion, inspiration and celebration. Caroline Criado Perez is author of Invisible Women. Here are some more details about this wonderful author: “Caroline Criado Perez is the author of the #1 international best-seller, INVISIBLE WOMEN: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men (Chatto & Windus, Abrams, 2019), highlighting the systematic biases behind the data and assumptions impacting our everyday lives. It is the winner of Financial Times Book of the Year Award 2019 and the 2019 Royal Society Science Book prize. Caroline is currently working on a new book, as well as an updated version of Invisible Women. She writes a regular newsletter that goes out to over 35,000 subscribers. Her first book, Do it Like a Woman (Portobello, 2015), introduces pioneering women from around the world and what it means to be female in a culture where power and basic freedoms are too often equated with being male”.

Kelechi Okafor is a Black-British actress, director and public speaker born in Nigeria and raised in London. Edge of Here: Stories from Near to Now is her latest book. Before moving on, I want to bring in parts of a recent interview from Afreada:

“NA: You chose to start your collection with an introduction, a sort of author’s note, where you said you never considered yourself as a writer — an actor and director, yes, but never a writer. I would love to know why this was, and when this changed?

KO:  I guess I hadn't considered myself to be a writer because writing always looked so grueling. It just seemed horrid. Anybody that I knew who was a writer would tell me that they were in the pits and it was really hard, so it was never something I planned to do even though I loved writing, and I loved deconstructing texts. I studied English literature, then I went on to study Drama and Theater Studies with Law at university. I'm really into words but, in my mind, the kind of person who was a writer wasn't me. I love to take other people's words and act them out, or direct them because I really understand what is happening, subtext and all of that. Obviously, I have my own specific way with words on social media but I didn't think that all of those things could come together and I would be an actual writer. I just thought that was somebody else's job and then I would do my job of deconstructing the text and conveying what I found during that exploration.

I started to think more seriously about writing a few years ago when I wrote a particular thread and Daniellé Dash sent me a DM, asking me to stop sharing my words for free. I just thought, what do you mean? She told me to write articles or something but to stop giving out all of this knowledge online for free. Of course, I believe that we should still have a way to share knowledge online, but the point she was making was that there are people who would come on to my page to get an idea of something that they didn't know about, and then they would pitch it to publications and they would get paid to write that thing. So she thought that I should know that it's important that I write these things for myself. When I was ready to write my first piece, she introduced me to the editor of a platform and that's how I started writing in that regard. It really just started from another Black woman, seeing me and saying, try doing this instead. I fell in line after that.

NA: I love that answer. I'm curious to know when you transitioned from writing articles online to wanting to become a published author of a book, because you could have easily stuck to writing online and found success that way. Why was a book something you wanted to pursue?

KO: Funnily enough, it started with a viral thread I wrote at the end of 2017 where I said I was going to move into the home of white people and colonise it. I basically used the infrastructure of how Nigeria came to be, really. I used that framework to write this thread about what I will do in this home, how I'd stop them from speaking their language, and they could only speak this, and they could only do that. People were just so fascinated by the thread. They were like, this should be a book, and I thought, oh, maybe it should be.

NA: Lol I’d definitely read that!

KO:  I spoke to my friend Dapo Adeola about it and he said, maybe I should introduce you to my agent, Sallyanne Sweeney. He introduced me to Sallyanne and I presented her with this idea. I wanted to call the story Ara Ile, which means ‘person of the house’ in Yoruba, translating to ‘family member’. I proposed the idea to her, and said I needed an advance to write it, but she told me that that’s not really how it works with fiction - you have to finish writing the whole thing before pitching to publishers. While all of this was happening, I'd had three different people who worked with publishing houses approach me and ask if I’d ever considered writing a book. Then a friend of mine was explaining to me that when editors are approaching you directly, it's a really good sign but I shouldn’t go with the editors directly. I needed to play it well and get an agent. I shared this with Sallyanne and I told her that there was some interest. She thought that was interesting and she said, you know when it comes to fiction, you're gonna have to write the whole thing first, but I was like I need money. So we talked about it and then it was suggested that I write nonfiction first, and then use that as a way in. Of course, there are a multitude of things that I like to talk about and feel that we need to have more public discourse about. Initially, I wanted to write about anger, and how anger can be a liberating force for Black women. When that was taken out as a proposal to publishers, just before 2020, they said, oh, but how do we make this universal? Essentially, if you're not talking about white women, that topic is not commercially viable. Offers were made, but I wasn't happy with any of the offers, because I felt like I deserved more for what I was about to write. Then 2020 happened.

Suddenly, the interest was back again. The publishers were asking if I still wanted to write that book and I just said no, I don't want to write it now. I'm seeing way too much happening in the world that I think I need to soak in, so when I do finally write that nonfiction book, it will be what I want it to be because there's still a lot to learn there. It was during that time that Sareeta Domingo approached me on Twitter, DMs again. She asked me if I wanted to write a short story for an anthology she was putting together, love stories by women of color. Immediately, I knew what I wanted to write. I just knew that I wanted to write The Watchers. That's how The Watchers came to be.

From the moment the idea of writing was presented to me when people read that thread and they said, this is extremely creative, you should do something with it, I think it was almost like I was waiting for permission, or for somebody to turn the light bulb or light switch on, for me to know that I could do something with all of the words that I was using on social media.

 NA: I hear it and I love it. Picking up on the Sareeta piece, she came to you and presented you with the idea of writing a short story, and instantly your spirit resonated with that idea. When we first met at the Caine Prize award ceremony, Ben Okri said something about the unique beauty and power of short stories and I remember you resonating with his words then too. So my question is, when you think about fiction, or when you think about writing a book, what is it specifically about the short story form that calls you? Why does it feel like home to you as a writer?

KO: Oh, I love that question. When Ben Okri gave that speech, it was definitely what I needed to hear at a time that I felt like I was contending with people over the validity of the short story form. It kept being presented as if short stories were merely a precursor to writing a novel. It was weird to me, because I love short stories so much. I love that you can delve into a world really briefly and then leave, but you're forever changed by that vignette. I love having the autonomy as a reader that wherever I'm left with that story, I just have to figure out the rest for myself. It really speaks deeply to me because I've always felt like it takes a lot of skill to be able to write short stories that don’t feel unfinished, even if we don't get to see the rest of these people's lives. It's beautiful. One of my favorite short story collections is Alexia Arthurs’ How to Love a Jamaican. I also really love Danzy Senna’s You Are Free and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck. From all the short stories I've read, I just thought, yeah, that's what I want to do. I want to do that.

NA: That's a perfect answer. Now let's focus on this particular collection. The beauty of storytelling is that people can come to a piece of work, a piece of writing, or a collection of writing, and they walk away with their own conclusions about what it's about, but I would love for you to tell me, when we think about Edge of Here as a body of work, how would you describe it? What is it about and what is the intention behind it?

KO: Overall, I feel like the overarching sentiment is yearning.

I don't feel like Black women are given enough space to yearn and to desire, because we're too busy being strong, and too busy being ‘good.’ I wanted a space where the characters that we meet in the stories are yearning for something more. Across womanhood generally but specifically, when we look at Black womanhood, there’s this narrative that to want more or to desire more is uncouth. The constant question that you get is, how do you juggle it all? How do you do it all? There’s an idea that you're wanting too much, and you're not going to have the capacity to hold all that you are yearning for. I feel like we have enough capacity within us to be able to hold the expanse of our desires, so in each of the stories, we meet intelligent women, women who are embodied, yet, each of them is looking for something more.

Yearning needs to be normalized. We should feel okay to say, “I want more than that”. Whether it's money in terms of our work, whether it's our living situations, whether it's our romantic or intimate relationships, or our familial relationships, we should be able to say, I want more, and not be vilified for wanting that. That translates not just in the personal, but in the political as well. We don't have to settle for the way that for instance, the beauty industry is or the fashion industry is. We don't have to settle for things just because we've been told, that's the way that things are. It's time that we start making it clear that we want more”.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Emma Dabiri/PHOTO CREDIT: Stuart Simpson/PA (via Earwolf)

There are some amazing events already announced for 2024. Including An Evening with Emma Dabiri (5th March). I am looking forward to seeing Emma Dabiri speak at The Conduit in Covent Garden. The Trouble Club are hosting someone very special indeed: “Emma Dabiri is one of the most important writers in the UK today, known for her insightful and thought-provoking discussions on race, gender, colonialism, and cultural issues”. I am looking forward to what else comes in 2024. I have loved being a member. It has been a real pleasure and privilege being in various rooms across London witnessing some amazing women speak to a crowd of terrific and passionate women – and some charming chaps too. So many varied and inspiring creatives and leaders have told their stories and shared their memories and elicited so many emotions and reactions. The events I have attended since the second Trouble Club feature have been truly life-enriching and important in so many ways (in terms of what I have learned and the people I have met). I am looking forward to a few this month. If there was a dream guest list of potential future guests…obviously someone as huge, inspiring and iconic as Greta Gerwig or Margot Robbie would be the stuff of legends (thought, between availability of both and their fees, that may be far-fetched!).

I imagine that the sensational author, broadcaster and journalist Caitlin Moran would be a hugely popular guest. Not sure if she has spoken for The Trouble Club before?! Many would like to hear from actress and writer Michaela Coel. I am coming from at this from an entertainment bent…but there are so many other compelling and vital potential speakers I am sure so many members of The Trouble Club have in their minds (sort of like dream guests on Desert Island Discs!). It has been such a fabulous year where I have bought some wonderful, informative books from terrific women. I have met some great people, heard such powerful and stunning words across some of the most individual and interesting venues in London. Interestingly, literally as I am editing this (1st December, lunchtime), a new event for next year has been announced. The Power of Constraint with Novelist Christine Coulson takes place on Thursday, 18th January at The Groucho. I have never been to that iconic venue, so that will be really interesting! Christine Coulson’s new novel “is written almost entirely in 75-word museum wall labels and demonstrates how constraint need not limit storytelling”. I am really looking forward to hearing her speak. I have also reserved a signed copy of One Woman Show. It is a book that everyone should seek out: “Prized, collected, critiqued. One Woman Show revolves around the life of Kitty Whitaker as she is defined by her potential for display and moved from collection to collection through multiple marriages. Christine Coulson, who has written hundreds of exhibition wall labels for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, precisely distils each stage of Kitty's sprawling life into that distinct format, every brief snapshot in time a wry reflection on womanhood, ownership, value and power. Described with wit, poignancy and humour over the course of the twentieth century, Kitty emerges as an eccentric heroine who disrupts her privileged, porcelain life with both major force and minor transgressions. As human foibles propel each delicately crafted text, Coulson playfully asks: who really gets to tell our stories?”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Christine Coulson/PHOTO CREDIT: Taylor Jewell (via Christine Coulson)

One of the hopes of this feature – aside from taking The Trouble Club and looking back at some amazing events – is to get people who have thought about joining The Trouble Club to do so. It s really great value. Give the gift of Trouble. I think that would be a really excellent Christmas present. More of investment than something ephemeral. I joined earlier in the year and I have got so much out of membership in a short space! A lot of lifelong memories and really important evenings that I will cherish. I have learned so much about a lot of the inequalities and injustices women face. So many awesome guests who have brought their books and careers to life. I have become a more committed feminist. This has been applied to my music journalism. Some wonderful fellow members (and those who were not members but attended events) who I look forward to talking to. It is an amazing and close-knit community where everyone is welcomed in. Next year will surely be another busy one for The Trouble Club! There is this social aspect to events. You get to be part of events that are often moving and hugely educational and empowering. Book clubs, screening, drinks and some wonderful get-togethers should mean that, as part of your resolutions for next year, membership with The Trouble Club...

IS right near the top!

INTERVIEW: Anna Howie

INTERVIEW:

 

Anna Howie

_________

I have been speaking with…

the incredible Anna Howie about her new single, Searching for Christmas. She reveals the background behind it, what it was like recording in Nashville, some of the music and artists who have inspired her, correcting and tackling gender inequality throughout the industry, and what we can expect next. The London-born artist released the terrific album, The Friday Night Club (that title reminds me of Sheryl Crow’s wonderful debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club), and it is one that I would recommend everyone checks out. It is a rich and hugely satisfying and wonderful album that I have been revisiting quite a bit. With a recent single, How to Stop Crying, building on the momentum and brilliance of Friday Night Club, I was excited to hear what Searching for Christmas had to offer. Thanks to the amazing Anna Howie for discussing her latest track with me and revealing more about her musical path and loves. It has been a pleasure speaking with an artist that…

EVERYONE should follow.

___________

Hi Anna. How are you? How has your week treated you?

Hi, Sam. A good week, thank you. I am currently in a campervan just outside Cardiff.

Before getting into current music, can you take me back to your earliest years. Was there a particular artist that drew you to music, or something in you that you felt needed to come out?

I've always loved stories and writing things down; so before I ever wrote a song, I would write stories about people and places. On the music side, I would have to go first to Dolly Parton as she has been a constant. Many major milestones in my life - first car, first trip away from home, first flat - all feature Dolly as a soundtrack. Allso Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, and more recently, I have come to love other really great storytellers: Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, John Prine.

When did that spark first appear?

At  primary school, I was the only one in my class who would ever sing on their own - so I was always being wheeled out when no one else would do it. But it was when I was at uni that I got to sing backing vocals for a band  for the first time - ad that was it, there was no going back!

Born in London, I can hear a lot of U.S. and Country influences. How did that genre come in your life?

My dad was a Johnny Cash fan. And, for me, it was Dolly. I fell in love with the stories.

“Also, I have so many fantastic women artist friends who should be heard by as much as possible, as often as possible”

Do you think that it is a style of music that is still underrated and underplayed in this country?

Yes! But ever-growing. The festivals popping up all over the U.K. dedicated to Americana and Country music are testimony to that! But we need a new name for it, I think, the U.K. version. Lots of my songs are about London and growing up there, so it always feels strange to call it ‘Americana’.

You have previously recorded in Nashville. What was that experience like?

I really enjoyed it. It’s quick. Very different to here. The structure of the Nashville day is set up around writing and recording sessions, but I was very lucky to work with Bob Britt and a band of fantastic session musicians. It was great.

I believe you have put on all-female showcases/events and are very much about empowering other women. How important is this to you, and what was it that kindled that particular passion and desire?

It’s hard trying to make a career out of music. It’s especially hard if you are a woman. I think the statistic is just 12% of people who play festivals in the U.K. are women. I think it’s really important to try and reset the balance. Also, I have so many fantastic women artist friends who should be heard by as much as possible, as often as possible.

“Just small venues, but it was so great to get out there and meet people and share songs”

You have had big support from various stations and publications. I still think stations struggle to create gender balance and genre balance. Is this an issue you think needs to be a top priority for 2024?

Yes, always. Not just in music - in everything -, I do feel like it is shifting slowly in the right direction. The next generation (I have two daughters) won’t stand for it. Also, I think the role of men plays such an important part in the shift. We all need to work together.

Looking back on this year, what memories stick in the mind? Do you have any particular highlights?

I am really glad that you asked this question because it has made me stop and think about it! And there are lots. I did my first solo tour this year. I was nervous to go to places where people didn't know me. At a time when audiences are down. But I really enjoyed it. Just small venues, but it was so great to get out there and meet people and share songs. Also, The ARC Songwriters Tour, which is myself and Kate Ellis and My Girl the River in a writers round, has been a joy - they are both great artists, and I feel very lucky to get on stage with them, sing on their songs, and have them on mine.  Also, being one of Black Deer Festival’s Emerging Artists was great.

I could go on…but all in all a good year!

Talk to me about your new single, Searching for Christmas. How did that song come together?

I actually wrote it last year, but not in time to release it properly. It’s about a night out in London a few years ago that ended up with me  alone, crying in a well-known church off Trafalgar Square. I recorded it with my fabulous band at Saltwell Studio in Cambridgeshire. And it is produced by my ARC Songwriter Series sister, My Girl the River (a.k.a. Kris Wilkinson Hughes). Yesterday, I filmed the video, in the actual church and all around the streets of London, which was loads of fun to do. I was swigging from a wine bottle at four in the afternoon on the Tube. People kept asking if I was ok. It was only Ribena, but I could tell they weren't convinced when I told them that.

It is almost Christmas now. How will you be spending it this year?

At home and with family and friends and mince pies.

How do you usually unwind at this time of year?

The single comes out on 1st December, so there will be lots of promotion around that over the next few weeks. But when it is time to unwind, dog walks, stupid family games, and time with friends will do it

What does next year hold in store?

I am going to write a new album (there, I've said it out loud as motivation).

Might we see some tour dates or new music in 2024?

Yes. Planning a spring headline tour in March. And we have more ARC dates too.

Finally, and for being a good sport, you can select any song you like (other than your own music) and I will play it here. What shall we go with?

Sheryl Crow has just been announced as a headliner at Black Deer Festival in June, which is great. Can I have Strong Enough, which is one of my favourites of hers?

Thank you, Sam. Big love to you x

____________

Follow Anna Howie

FEATURE: Good News Only: After a Traumatising and Challenging 2022, how 2023 Has Seen Megan Thee Stallion Enter Her ‘Healing Girl Era’

FEATURE:

 

 

Good News Only

PHOTO CREDIT: Adrienne Raquel for Elle

 

After a Traumatising and Challenging 2022, how 2023 Has Seen Megan Thee Stallion Enter Her ‘Healing Girl Era’

__________

I think that one of the most important albums…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Megan Thee Stallion at the GQ Awards Men of the Year Awards on 16th November, 2023/PHOTO CREDIT: Gilbert Flores

of last year came from  the mighty Megan Thee Stallion. Traumazine received huge acclaim and, with it, a new wave of interest in the Texan-born rapper. One of the modern Rap queens, born Megan Jovon Ruth Pete, this modern-day superstar is someone not to be questioned or messed with. An outstanding talent who is going to influence a generation of women in Hip-Hop, I wanted to react to an article that The Cut published recently. It is paywalled - so many people might not have the chance to read it. Someone who has received a lot of scrutiny and attack from those within and without the music industry, especially of late, there seemed like this defiance and self-love this year. A year that could not break the incredible Megan Thee Stallion! I wanted to bring in some sections of the feature by Tirhakah Love:

“Mainstream artists hardly take breaks from dropping new joints, and, even rarer, they don’t usually come out the other side of a hiatus shittin’ on their opps. In 2023, Megan Thee Stallion was able to do both with a level of grace and savoir faire that we’ve come to expect from the bubbly, confident, hellaciously fun rap superstar. With the release of her single “Cobra” earlier this month, over its slithering, synth-y guitar riffs, she has compelled our eyes and ears to consider what happens when an artist retrieves joy for themselves after an immense amount of public suffering.

If this new song sounds like testimony, that’s because it is. Eight months ago, when asked by Entertainment Tonight about new music — a rather impatient question, seeing as she had released her second studio album, Traumazine, only seven months prior — she answered with the prickly brevity of a public face aware that insatiable audiences, who love her or hate her, seem to always fiend for a piece of her, and that this is the imbalanced social contract she signed her name to when she first started this whole rappity-rap thing: “Oh, I am. New album. Fuck y’all hoes. Bye!”

Of course, this well-deserved sabbatical and standoffish posture came after years of receiving floods of hatred from folks within, outside, and adjacent to the music industry that only a few years ago seemed to fully embrace her energy with wide-open Henny-filled mouths. The turn on her wasn’t entirely unexpected; there were always jokes about her size, the shape of her face, the bop she liked to hit when she freestyled in those early days, her ’fits (before the high-end designers got ahold of her) — all of which spoke to the depth of anti-Blackness, misogynoir, anti-transness, and sex negativity internalized by music fans. But it wasn’t until Tory Lanez shot her in mid-2020 that rap blogs and commentators — egged on by that nebbish Canadian artist — began to spread lies around the incident, compelling her to betray her initial decision to handle the matter privately and take him to court. He was convicted to ten years in prison, but before, during, and after the case, tweets, blog posts, and dusty-ass rappers came out of the woodwork to gaslight her. She lost her best friend in that incident out of jealousy and lies, and earlier that year, her mother and her great-grandmother had passed away. We also learned that she had been stuck in an exploitative deal with a record label hardly anyone outside of Houston would even know if it weren’t for her.

But that was a primordial era when Megan, in her own words, “naïvely believed that everyone came with pure intentions and wanted to be my friend.” It’s fascinating to go back and watch those videos of Meg at the club pouring shots down the tubes of folks who would eventually abandon her in her time of need. Discerning hearts could feel how unsustainable it all was, that the entertainment industry is nowhere near as lighthearted and jovial as it appears. That the drinking, the Instagram love, the flings, the attempts at twerking alongside thee twerk empress would eventually fall by the wayside once the high subsided. Once she was rendered vulnerable, the vultures and leeches did the only thing they know: steal and consume. Her narrative became twisted. And if those years were about naïveté, 2023 was about taking her things back.

At the beginning of this year, Meg’s silence was louder than ever. After releasing Traumazine in August 2022, launching mental-health resource site Bad Bitches Have Bad Days Too (a reference to a bar in her elegy “Anxiety”), and being featured in Forbes’ top rap earners of the year, she had stepped away from the public eye to focus on recovering, spending time with pets and her small circle of remaining friends. By March, she had reemerged with the announcement of not only a new album, but that she was in talks to star in the next Safdie brothers film and would be performing at the March Madness Music Festival in her hometown. In May, she addressed the shooting for the very last time with a heartfelt column in Elle magazine.

She continued with a string of performances that showcased her growing talent and continued marketability among a diverse set of stages: at L.A. Pride, where she surprisingly reunited with a queer friend, Carlos Ruvalcaba from middle school (who later Instagrammed that Meg “stepped in and defended” them when they were “talked down being called Gay when I wasn’t out yet”); at the Essence Fest in New Orleans; and eventually the release and performance of “Bongos” at the VMAs with Cardi B (one of the only celebrities who has stuck beside Meg during her troubles), a second chapter to “WAP” that, naturally, moved from gooch to ass in the duo’s traversal across the taint. (Maybe they’ll co-write a final chapter on the tatas just to complete the holy trinity? One can only hope.).

Perhaps Megan’s biggest moment onstage this year came when she stood alongside her idol Beyoncé during her exalted Renaissance world tour. In hindsight, we should’ve known something more massive was coming, because October had been a banner month for the Hot Girl: The first Friday of the month, she starred in Dicks: The Musical; a week later, she announced that she’d be independently financing her next album; and six days after that, she and her label, 1501, finally parted ways. The very next day, the seventh season of Netflix’s horny animated hit Big Mouth premiered, wherein audiences were delightfully surprised to hear her deep verveful voicework as Megan, (thee) hormone monster. By the time we reached November, around 448 days since the release of Traumazine, Meg switched on the Snake Signal to let her rabid fans know new tunes would be rattling out November 3. She started with “Cobra,” a song conceptualized from the very public trauma that everyone witnessed her experience, anime nerdom (she references the Naruto character Orochimaru, a slippery snake-based villain known for reinvention, renewal, and chasing immortality), and a streaking guitar chord that immediately told us that she was trying something completely new here. (And the bars? Whew, the bars.)”.

I was affected by that feature and the realisation of what Megan Thee Stallion has gone through. As a women in Hip-Hop, a genre that still has an issue with misogyny and inequality, she has to fight and shout harder and louder than her male peers. There was this toxicity and backlash that came out of the shooting and court battle. Perhaps, as PBS noted, there is this misogyny that impacts Black women where Megan Thee Stallion was questioned and attacked. This misogynoir was highlighted by Associated Press. This prejudice where racism and sexism meet; this unique discrimination that is also present in the music industry, it is testament to Megan Thee Stallion’s strength and conviction that she stood up to artists like Drake – who questioned her version of events and felt she lied about being shot. Earlier this year, writing for Elle, Megan Thee Stallion looked back on a turbulent and horrific time:

“I could have let the adversity break me, but I persevered, even as people treated my trauma like a running joke. First, there were conspiracy theories that I was never shot. Then came the false narratives that my former best friend shot me. Even some of my peers in the music industry piled on with memes, jokes, and sneak disses, and completely ignored the fact that I could have lost my life. Instead of condemning any form of violence against a woman, these individuals tried to justify my attacker’s actions.

I wish I could have handled this situation privately. That was my intention, but once my attacker made it public, everything changed. By the time I identified my attacker, I was completely drained. Many thought I was inexplicably healed because I was still smiling through the pain, still posting on social media, still performing, still dancing, and still releasing music.

PHOTO CREDIT: Adrienne Raquel for Elle

The truth is that I started falling into a depression. I didn’t feel like making music. I was in such a low place that I didn’t even know what I wanted to rap about. I wondered if people even cared anymore. There would be times that I’d literally be backstage or in my hotel, crying my eyes out, and then I’d have to pull Megan Pete together and be Megan Thee Stallion.

It never crossed my mind that people wouldn’t believe me. Still, I knew the truth and the indisputable facts would prevail. I had worked way too hard to reach this point in my career to let taunts deter me. When the guilty verdict came on Dec. 23, 2022, it was more than just vindication for me, it was a victory for every woman who has ever been shamed, dismissed, and blamed for a violent crime committed against them.

But my heart hurts for all the women around the world who are suffering in silence, especially if you’re a Black woman who doesn’t appear as if she needs help. So many times, people looked at me and thought, “You look strong. You’re outspoken. You’re tall. You don’t look like somebody who needs to be saved.” They assumed that, per preconceived stigmas, “I didn’t fit the profile of a victim,” and that I didn’t need support or protection.

PHOTO CREDIT: Adrienne Raquel for Elle

Time after time, women are bullied with backlash for speaking out against their attackers, especially when they’re accusing someone who is famous and wealthy. They’re often accused of lying or attempting to make money from their trauma. From firsthand experience, I know why a lot of women don’t come forward. Any support and empathy that I received was drowned out by overwhelming doubt and criticism from so many others”.

An artist who is being name-checked by so many as influence, this year has been one where she has almost had to rebuild a reputation destroyed by some in the industry.

For anyone who has survived violence, please know your feelings are valid. You matter. You are not at fault. You are important. You are loved. You are not defined by your trauma. You can continue to write beautiful, new chapters to your life story. Just because you are in a bad situation doesn’t mean you are a bad person. Our value doesn’t come from the opinions of other people. As long as you stand your ground and live in your truth, nobody can take your power.

We can’t control what others think, especially when the lies are juicier than the truth. But as a society, we must create safer environments for women to come forward about violent behavior without fear of retaliation. We must provide stronger resources for women to recover from these tragedies physically and emotionally, without fear of judgment. We must do more than say her name. We must protect all women who have survived the unimaginable”.

She has had hot girl moments on the red carpet, released new music, and is looking ahead to 2024. A year where many would love to see her follow her 2022 masterpiece, Traumazine. A modern fashion icon, hugely respected and loved by fellow artists, and an icon who is inspiring women across multiple genres, this year has been a very different one for Megan Thee Stallion. I look back at articles like this from 2020, where she had released her debut, Good News. Many people unaware of what would come and how many would reframe her in light of the Tory Lanez shooting revelation and subsequent trial.  It is shocking and completely reprehensible what she had to face; how she battled to be believed and supported. It opens up questions around Black women; not just in music and the industry but right across the world. That discrimination and misogyny that is aimed at them. An artist who should have got justice sooner had to fight to be believed. 2023 has been a year for rebuilding, reflection and new ambition. Someone who, whilst not recovered and clear of the trauma sha faced, can at least look at a more positive and less turbulent 2024. After legal issues with the record label 1501 were settled recently, we all hope of brighter and more carefree days for Megan Thee Stallion!

Cobra sees Megan Thee Stallion rap about mental health. This inspiring and defiant song that was matched with an extraordinary video, it amazes me how this hugely important artist has survived! Someone who deserved a lot of support and understanding when she went through such a horrible and tough time was often met with criticism and prejudice. Misogynoir and prejudice. This year has been, as The Cut, brilliantly wrote, one that could not break Megan Thee Stallion. I feel next year is one where there will be new music, big touring and some wonderful and happy times for her – someone who deserves it more than anyone I feel. She is closing old chapters and, with it, embarking on a brighter future. There will be a lot of excitement regarding new music from one of Rap’s most powerful and inspiring names. Such a fighter and incredible brave woman, let’s hope that 2024 offers up…

NOTHING but good news!

FEATURE: Still: Jennifer Lopez’s This Is Me…Now and the Continuing Influence of the Global Icon

FEATURE:

 

 

Still

  

Jennifer Lopez’s This Is Me…Now and the Continuing Influence of the Global Icon

__________

EVEN if some of her studio albums…

have not been given smooth critical ride, there is no denying the influence, excellence and importance of Jennifer Lopez. In terms of how she has inspired artists. There is a new album, This Is Me…Now, due on 16th February. It follows almost two decades after her (2002) breakthrough, This Is Me…Then. One of the big themes of that album is her love life. She was with then, as she is again now, Ben Affleck (they married last year). One of the most unlikely but popular rekindling, the two have come full circle. Lopez’s new album will reflect too on her life as a tabloid target. Go deep into her new love and stage of life. I wanted to mention the album, though also delve deeper into the ways in which Jennifer Lopez has inspired others. First, and surely among the most anticipated albums coming in the first quarter of 2024, Variety report on the This Is Me…Now:

“Jennifer Lopez‘s ninth studio album finally has a release date. The full-length “This Is Me…Now” will arrive on Feb. 16, 2024, in tandem with a new short film that has been acquired by Amazon MGM Studios.

“This Is Me…Now” is Lopez’s first studio album in nearly a decade and celebrates the anniversary of its sister album, “This is Me…Then.” The album, written and executive produced by Lopez and Rogét Chayed, along with Angel Lopez, Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman, HitBoy, Tay Keith and INK among others, is described as an blend of “R&B, contemporary pop sounds and hip-hop beats.”

As for the Dave Meyers-directed film, it is said to be “a narrative driven, intimate, reflective, sexy, funny, fantastical and highly entertaining musical and visual reimagining of her publicly scrutinized love life.” Like its sister album, “This Is Me…Now” includes nods to Lopez’s relationship with actor Ben Affleck; the track list, which was announced in November 2022, features among its titles “Dear Ben Pt. II,” presumably a sequel to the earlier album’s “Dear Ben.”

A teaser of the film was shared on Monday morning and is said to feature additional, unannounced cameos. “When I was a little girl, when someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always… in love,” Lopez says in the clip.

“Can’t Get Enough,” the first single from the album will be released on Jan. 10, 2024, and is available to pre-save. This will be Lopez’s first release under her new partnership with BMG. The 13-song set credits BMG’s Brandon Riester as the album’s A&R”.

There is more to Jennifer Lopez than her music. Also known as J.Lo – though I think that she is going mostly by Jennifer Lopez now for her music, there is no denying how important she is in modern culture. In terms of inspiring a wave of Latin artists in the late-1990s and 2000s, she was at the forefront. Last year, GRAMMY wrote how Lopez is this record-setting, boundary-breaking actor, dancer and GRAMMY-nominated singer - arguably the most influential Latino entertainer of all time:

“From her roots as "Jenny From the Block" to one of the highest-paid and influential Latinas in Hollywood history, Jennifer Lopez's stratospheric career has broken borders, elevated Latin music and culture, and cemented her as one of the largest-looming entertainment icons of all time.

While music fans were introduced to J. Lo via her 1999 debut album, On the 6, Lopez first gained prominence in the early '90s as a dancer on the sketch TV show "In Living Color." Lopez then established her acting career with starring roles in Selena, Anaconda and Out of Sight, becoming the highest-paid Latina actress in Hollywood before ever even branching out into a musical career.

As part of GRAMMY.com's celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, this special episode of Run the World takes a look at Lopez's storied career. In every field of entertainment she stepped into, the dancer, actor and singer quickly established her position as a record-setting powerhouse paving the way both for female entertainers and for Latin entertainers to step into the business on the highest level.

When she released On the 6, Lopez helped to usher in "Latin explosion" of the late '90s, introducing herself as a proud Nuyorican who used her story to elevate the experience of growing up Latina in the Bronx.

In 2001, she became the first woman to ever simultaneously have a No. 1 album and film — her second record, J.Lo, was released the same week as The Wedding Planner, which she starred in opposite Matthew McConaughey. Over the decade, Lopez continued to set records, pursue new ventures and evolve along with the entertainment industry, putting out her first entirely Spanish-language album — Como Ama una Mujer — in 2007. In 2011, she became a judge on "American Idol," and in 2016, she began a Las Vegas residency that grossed more than $100 million in ticket sales over the course of its three-year run.

Over the course of her lengthy and varied career, Lopez has delivered a multi-faceted, ever-adapting skill set while remaining true to her roots. Her strong sense of self has brought her to the world's largest stages, including a co-headlining performance the 2020 Super Bowl LIV halftime show with Shakira. But, as she sings, Lopez is "still Jenny from the block."

"Everybody knows that I'm the Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx," she told Billboard in 2020. "I'm proud of that because there's no reason for that to ever hide. It's the secret to my success”.

Jennifer Lopez’s new album might be a different affair to anything we have heard in terms of its sound and tone. Perhaps something more introspective, it is another evolution from one of the most important artists of her generation. You only need to listen to mainstream artists today like Karol G and a host of others to realise how impactful she has become. I am going to include a playlist of songs from artists influenced by J.Lo/Jennifer Lopez. Before that, Oprah Daily wrote about Lopez’s influence back in 2019 (ahead of her fiftieth birthday):

“Without question, Lopez transformed Hollywood's perception of Latino people in contemporary culture—but of course, there are several trailblazers who paved the way. Before Lopez, representation of Latino people on television was essentially limited to Carmen Miranda in the 1930s and '40s, and in the '50s, there was Desi Arnaz on I Love Lucy. Next came '70s comedian Freddie Prinze and, in the '80s, Saved by the Bell star Mario Lopez.

But between 1995 and 2004, less than 1 percent of stories in film and television were about Latinos, and most of those stories focused on illegal immigration and crime, according to a report by the University of Pittsburgh. Today, the number of speaking roles by a Latino in film and television has increased just slightly to 5.8 percent, suggests research from the Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Despite how slowly those numbers are rising, representation for Latinos in popular culture is indeed growing—and much of that is thanks to the influence of Jennifer Lopez over the past three decades. Many were first introduced to J.Lo, as she would later become known, during her stint as a dancer on the sketch-comedy show In Living Color during its 1990-1994 run.

Later, she would descend upon box offices thanks to her starring role in the 1997 biopic Selena, which earned nearly $12 million its opening weekend—the first contemporary feature film that caused Hollywood to sit up and pay attention to our box office power. And for many Latinas like me, growing up in the '90s and early 2000s, Lopez was the first famous Latina in mainstream media we knew. And she's since continued to blaze that trail for us.

"She's a change agent, having given visibility to our culture and our people through the massive media empire she's created that sees the spotlight shine on her cultural pride, her work, her talent, and her drive," says Isabel González Whitaker, a Latina author and journalist who has interviewed Lopez for InStyle and Harper's Bazaar.

Out of the few other Latinos that popped up in film and TV during the 90s—in addition to the aforementioned Mario Lopez in Saved by the Bell, I have to give other shoutouts to Wilson Cruz in My So-Called Life, Tatyana Ali in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, John Leguizamo in Romeo + Juliet, Stacey Dash in Clueless, and Lauren Vélez in New York Undercover—Jennifer Lopez became the quintessential example of a Latina star.

You only have to look at her record breaking sales for her last Las Vegas residency show to see the heights she has climbed since those days on In Living Color—but long before she was earning millions, Lopez was making waves as one of only two Latinas on the 1997 Oscars red carpet. And for many Latinas who grew up in the U.S., she was the one they could relate to, thanks to her Nuyorican (meaning, a Puerto Rican from New York, since Jenny from the Block was born in the Bronx) accent and around-the-way-girl style. In fact, as one fan puts it, with the 1999 release of her first album On the 6, Lopez put both Puerto Ricans and the Bronx on the map.

Out of Variety's list of the top 10 Latino actors and actresses, most names—like Salma Hayek and Sofia Vergara—found mainstream fame after J.Lo. And although she cannot be fully credited with the rise of Latinos in mainstream media, her impact is certainly significant.

"While there were definitely prominent Puerto Rican women in the urban sphere before her—like Lisa Lisa and Rosie Perez—Lopez was the first to bring that pop sensibility and diva magnitude while still remaining true to her Bronx roots," says Davu Flint, an African American emcee, musician, educator, filmmaker, and ethnomusicologist. "I think that her embracing her roots like that definitely paved the way for artists like Cardi B."

But her influence on today's stars doesn't stop there, says says Jesús Triviño Alarcón, a Webby-nominated content creator and authority on Latino pop culture who booked Lopez for her final Latina magazine cover in 2015. Before J.Lo, "Latina celebrities were largely regulated to Spanish language outlets," he says. "Jennifer Lopez was on the inaugural cover of Latina in 1996. In many ways, she set off the Latino media industry and influenced the current crop of actresses and musicians. I’m pretty sure Gina Rodriguez, Diane Guerrero, Becky G, Natti Natasha, Karol G, and more will point to Lopez as a source of inspiration”.

In terms of taking Latino music and artistry to new levels and the mainstream, Jennifer Lopez has been enormously influential! She has also helped do the same in Hollywood. Maybe not to the same extent but, starring in some incredibly profitable films., she has raised the profile and visibility of Latino actresses. This powerful and multi-talented women from the Bronx who conquered music, Hollywood and beyond, there is this new generation of talent that follows in Jennifer Lopez’s lead. The fact that she is with Ben Affleck again and they are embarking on this new relationship – albeit one that has existed before – shows that old love can be found again. Against tabloid scrutiny, a couple can come back together. In 2021, The New York Times referred to her relationship with Affleck and the way Lopez defying human standards as the ‘J.Lo Effect’. With stunning albums like her 1999 debut, On the 6, and 2002’s This Is Me...Then, we now look forward to This Is Me...Now. With the single, Can’t Get Enough, out in January, there will be this new interest around Jennifer Lopez. Nearly twenty-five years after her debut album announced this incredible artist, it is clear that this inspiration and groundbreaking legend is very much loved and still relevant! 2024 is going to be a year when one of music’s  titans and queens…

REIGNS large and proud.

FEATURE: Dynasties and Eras: Will It Soon Become Commonplace for Artists Such as Taylor Swift to Become Part of the Curriculum?

FEATURE:

 

 

Dynasties and Eras

IN THIS PHOTO: Taylor Swift in New Jersey during her recent Eras Tour/PHOTO CREDIT: Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York Times

 

Will It Soon Become Commonplace for Artists Such as Taylor Swift to Become Part of the Curriculum?

__________

I know I mention Taylor Swift…

PHOTO CREDIT: Pari Dukovic for TIME

but, as she is a cultural phenomenon and one of the most important artists ever, there is no getting away from the fact that she inspired discussion and discourse. I am referencing her today, as an intriguing piece of news was announced on 27th November. I was curious to explore it more. I think I have mentioned this before in the context of Kate Bush. Whether she will make it on to school, college and university syllabuses. Someone whose music and career is almost historical and this vital cultural conversation point. Some might think that artists being studied as a course is cheap or throwaway. Almost like dumbing down education. In fact, beyond the music alone, artists such as Taylor Swift feed into so many subjects that would be taught to children and teens. In terms of their historical impact, the way they inspire different cultures, the sociological and historical impact of their music and live performances, in addition to the fact Taylor Swift is someone who has a political voice, donates to charity, and has paved the way for so many women coming through. Entertainment Weekly reported how Taylor Swift will ‘go to school’, as Harvard and the University of Florida are offering classes. She is not the only artist who has made it on to a syllabus:

“Taylor Swift is heading to Gainesville and Cambridge in 2024. No, it's not more Eras Tour dates, but college courses. Both Harvard and the University of Florida (UF) have announced new courses studying Swift for 2024.

At Harvard, the course "Taylor Swift and Her World" will be taught by professor, poet, and critic Stephanie Burt. At UF, the course "Musical storytelling with Taylor Swift and other iconic female artists" will be taught by Melina Jimenez. The UF course will dig into Swift's discography, "her evergreen songwriting," and investigate iconic artists like Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, and Dolly Parton.

These schools are far from the first to dig into the lyrics and cultural impact of Swift, who is unquestionably one of the most influential musicians performing now. She is not only churning out chart-topping songs and albums but also making an economic impact everywhere her Eras Tour stops, breaking records at the box office, and even bringing new fans to the NFL. And that's just in 2023.

Other schools offering classes on Swift, Swifties, and culture include Ghent University in Belgium, the University of Texas at Austin, Rice University, Berklee College of Music, the University of California at Berkeley, Arizona State, New York University, and Stanford.

Those courses, while not uniform, tend to use a dissection of Swift's work as an entry point into criticism, analysis, and broader cultural issues and touchstones. Burt's course at Harvard, per the Harvard Crimson, will dive into how Swift's work intersects with the literary canon, with reading that includes William Wordsworth and Willa Cather. “We are lucky enough to be living in a time when one of our major artists is also one of the most famous people on the planet,” Burt told the Crimson. “Why would you not have a course on that?”

Studying contemporary pop culture is far from being off the academic map. Texas State University has offered a class on Harry Styles, UC Berkley has offered a class on Nicki Minaj, and San Diego State has offered a course on Bad Bunny. And that's really just the tip of the iceberg”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Nicki Minaj/PHOTO CREDIT: Young Money/Cash Money Records/Republic Records

I think, as music is being taken off of the curriculum of many schools in the U.K., we here could do with more courses where artists are at the centre. That exposure and connection with music through education is dwindling. I know it is slightly different in the U.S., though there is still less music being taught than in decades past. It is important, as we are seeing artists like Taylor Swift move beyond music and impact so much of culture and life in general, that they are being discussed. In some ways, they are modern-day historical figures. They will be as important in years to come as some of the more traditional/orthodox figures that are taught through schools, colleges and universities today. Music can change our lives. It can be life-changing learning music and adopting that skill. Rather than these new courses about Taylor Swift being an opportunity for fans to bone up on their live and knowledge of their favourite artist, Swift is history-making and someone who will be revered and highlighted years from now. Her recent Era Tour just wrapped up. She made history. That tour alone bleeds into economics, history, music, and so many other subject areas. As someone who has climbed from slightly humble artistic beginnings, Swift has become this hugely lucrative and successful artist. Someone who is a role model to so many. One who very much loves her fans and is a contemporary icon.

I guess a question comes in around next year whether other artists will become university courses. There is no doubt that artists like Beyoncé (whose Renaissance World Tour conquered the globe this year) and Billie Eilish could be brought into schools and universities. Inspiring to young children, teenagers and young adults, I don’t even think it is a particular demographic that will take these courses. Sure, it will mostly be girls/women who would take courses about artists like Taylor Swift. I hope that changes. One might not think her music and career has the importance and relevance of historical dynasties and these hugely seismic historical moments. Even as early as 2021, articles were being written about her longstanding cultural impact. This recent BU Today article, among citing other reasons as to why Taylor Swift is an icon, discusses the way in which she inspires others to be smart businesspeople:

“The release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) marks Swift’s fourth of her earlier albums. The reason? Her ex-manager and longtime enemy Scooter Braun acquired her former record label, Big Machine Records, and therefore owns her first six masters. A few years ago, she set out to reclaim her music by rerecording it, and the project has proven to be a massive success.

Jessica Silbey, a BU School of Law professor, studies intellectual property law, and she says copyright law recognizes two different rights in music: the musical work and the sound recording. Artists usually transfer the rights to the recording company for them to sell and market and then receive a percentage (or royalties) from that. But artists keep their musical work. And anyone can make a cover of a song for a fee.

Silbey says that what is so interesting is that Swift essentially made covers of her own music and is therefore competing with her old albums. “What makes it possible for her to succeed at this business venture is that she has developed a strong fandom,” Silbey says. “She’s telling her fans, ‘Buy my version, buy my cover, don’t buy the earlier version, because I don’t like those people anymore. Protest with your dollars.’”

Not all artists have that power, unfortunately. Silbey, who is also a ​​Yanakakis Faculty Research Scholar, says that some musical artists sign contracts with their record companies that forbid them from doing this for a period of time. But at this point in her career, Swift has a considerable amount of leverage. Silbey says the rerecording project has turned into a “really impressive business maneuver.”

“If you think about the albums as an embodiment of her identity and her performance, she’s really taking back her identity,” Silbey says. “I think this is a huge statement in 2023, after the Supreme Court has taken away the right of bodily autonomy for women and after the #MeToo movement. She is making a huge statement about women’s power and our capitalist system”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Yan Krukau/Pexels

She has changed the music industry and made a real impression. A leader and advocate who is a feminist icon, a champion of artists’ rights and a political beacon who has this longevity, Taylor Swift is also a philanthropist and evolving artist who is an exceptional writer and creative. A visionary who also directs and is a filmmaker, she will continue to step into other areas of the arts. An acting career that is quite new, expect to see Taylor Swift on the big screen more in the coming years. She has accrued huge wealth. I think a lot of this will go to making people’s lives better. She will invest in charities and also to artists and people coming through. An artist in her thirties who remains hugely popular and relevant in an industry that tend to abandon and sideline women when they reach that age, there are so many reasons as to why Taylor Swift will go down in history. I think that other artists will get this same educational nod. Maybe there are few who rival Swift at the moment when it comes to legacy and importance. Even so, it will open eyes and change perceptions around artists and their cultural significance. As I say, it is not only about the music. They affect the GDP of nations. They touch and resonate with so many different cultural and communities. They have this political voice that can help affect change and unite people. Rather than see them as contemporary equivalents as great leaders and figures of the past, it is clear that some of our best artists are as inspirational and significant as many cultural and historical figures who are maybe not as relevant today or engaging to young minds. I don’t think any old artist should be featured in a school/college/university course - though highlighting Beyoncé, Lana Del Rey or Harry Styles is really useful and relevant. It engages that student with music. It also opens their mind to so many other areas and corners of politics and culture. Rather than people being snobs and dismissive when it comes to education and what is deemed ‘worthy’ and ‘pure,’' it is worth noting howe massively influential and important an artist like Taylor Swift is…

IN the modern age.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Elmiene

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Pierre Girardin

  

Elmiene

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AN artist who I am really excited…

to see move through 2024 and grow in stature, Elmiene is someone who I am fairly new to. Born in Oxford, this is a rare case of a British artist being spotlighted who is not from London. That may be an exaggeration - though there is still a dominance when it comes to the capital and the media’s focus! There is something refreshing about Elmiene. I am going to come to some interviews from this year, where we get to discover more about a wonderful new talent who is going to be a big name in music very soon. The BBC included them in their Sound of 2024 longlist recently. He was also named as one of Vevo's 2024 DSCVR Artists to Watch. It is clear that Elmiene is a sensational artist who many are tipping for great success next year. His E.P., Marking My Time, was released in October. It is a stunning work! First, before I come to anything around that, here is some background regarding Elmiene:

“There are voices that feel familiar, even when you’re tuning in for the first time. They’re steeped in a vast vulnerability that at first feels impossibly crystalline, but then opens itself up as something already entrenched in our own consciousness. Such a voice beams with emotionality that connects to a point in our own emotional spectrum, better tuned to navigate, decipher the things that make us feel up, down, and everywhere in between than even our own internal monologues. Oxford born and raised Elmiene carries just such a rare sonic silkiness, married with a relatable touch that makes him a force of timelessness and familiarity in the realm of the UK’s ever-evolving Neo-Soul sphere.

There’s a pretty good chance you’ve heard him before. The soaring falsettos that float overtop the mostly acoustic backdrops of March release, and debut EP, EL-MEAN have already reached audiences far and wide. And for good reason.

His signature cut of an emotionally entrenched Rhythm & Blues angle is able to transcend the oft weighty depths of the sonic space in favor of something altogether more airy and digestible, at times even pop-adjacent. Just take the EP’s closing number, Guess We’re Leaving, and feel how the bubbly, self-realized layers of vocal padding make for a soft landing for anyone listening, whether veteran fans of Neo-Soul or first-timers. And yet, even in the course of the same track, his compositional breadth eases into a slower, more emotionally anchored and vocally reliant breakdown that feels reminiscent of Brent Faiyaz’s heading of bleeding, almost-bare vocal runs that ask of its listener, vulnerability, too.

EL-MEAN at large plays a lot in that space, where a listener has to be engaged with the music at all of its depths in order to experience the lofty emotionality of it all. Elmiene’s compositional layering is largely to thank, and his music - the singles, the debut project, all of it since he first made his way onto the scene with 2021 single, Golden - is an exhibition of his knack at weaving so many textural layers into his sound.

It’s the reason why Golden was tapped to spearhead Virgil Abloh’s posthumous final show in Miami, where the then-20-year-old Elmiene’s debut single - not even then yet released - captured the weighty emotion and timeless beauty of everyone in attendance. Since that point, he’s been finishing university and working towards the release of EL-MEAN, while grappling with the early exposure and lofty expectations that Golden brought into frame. And now, through it all, and with breezy individuality - and some comparable artists in his orbit - he’s taking the next steps.

The Brent Faiyaz comparisons come easy. And by all measures, that’s a near—impossible sonic relation to boast for any artist these days. His voice tinders with the same organically wide-ranging seamlessness, imperfectly docile at times of emotional mellow, and explosively emotive when speaking - singing - on the subject matters that require such extents. His register at large, also just bleeds with something indescribably reminiscent of Faiyaz.

But it’s in his production, too, where Brent Faiyaz - in particular his debut album, Sonder Son - comes to mind. Acoustic backdrops set the emotional tones for most of his tracks, and largely for EL-MEAN from top to bottom, lending more analogue organics to his space. His debut EP’s opening cut, Before I Take A While exists as a dynamic thoroughfare of his many uniquely Elmiene signatures - the delicate vocals, the thought-provoking poeticism, the acoustically-ridden beat, and the resulting emotional relatability that emerges from them alchemized into gentle balance - where everything a listener needs to know about his emerging sound, is on transparent display.

And yet, there’s even more to Elmiene than world-class vocal prowess, acute songwriting, instrumental dynamism, and comparisons to one of the most important R&B forces in the game today. From the moment the next track, Why (Spare Me Tears) opens with a vocal arrangement reminiscent of early Motown quartets, he’s pushing his own boundaries, both back in time, and into new experimental spaces. The song is already one of his most streamed, and its timelessness - spanning eras and epochs of Soul lineage - has a lot to do with that.

It’s perhaps in the brash sonic shifts from track-to-track, all still tethered to his core organic relatability and emotional depth, that makes not only his debut project, but his future at large, so exciting and impossible to predict. An emotionally entrenched ballad like Endless No Mores shines a light on the most passionate depths of his ability to evoke with his music, and yet still feels exciting through another Brent Faiyaz reminiscent breakdown halfway through. A track like Choose You allows wallows in an indefinable folksiness that speaks to the genius of his instrumental-lyrical crossroads. It’s a poetically deep, musically poignant ballad that transcends the very idea that Elmiene belongs to any preconceived notion of genre at all.

It’s that mystery, that effortless delicacy with which he navigates the ever-expanding extents of his range in new, and seemingly easy directions, that makes the UK singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist not simply an artist to watch, but one whose music, now in this moment, should be known by anyone who treks through Neo-Soul, R&B, folk-acoustic, and beyond”.

Some of the promotion and interviews are going to relate to his previous E.P., EL-MEAN. That came out back in March. I want to give you a fuller picture of Elmiene’s 2023. He has released a couple of stunning E.P.s and put out some simply staggering music. CRACK spoke to Elmiene earlier in the year. It was a moment when there was this focus and determination from the young talent. Someone looking ahead and prepared to put in the hard yards:

“On his latest EP, El-Mean, the artist gives expression to the reflective mood stirred up by the path his life has suddenly taken. The five-track project leans into the classic R&B Elmiene grew up listening to – think D’Angelo, Prince – albeit with a light touch that heads off accusations of pure nostalgia. Before I Take a While is limpid and mournful, Elmiene’s smooth vocals meshing with his guitar licks and vibes; single Why (Spare Me Tears) channels haunting and heartsore; while Endless No Mores, with its lived-in melody and soothing guitar picks, is custom-built for late-night Uber rides. “It was very much a mourning of the life that I saw for myself before music came on the scene,” he says.

Having recently headlined Hoxton Hall, he’s already working on another EP, which, to him, paints a clearer picture of his future. Whereas the last record laments a life that wasn’t to be, Elmiene hopes this latest project sets the agenda for the next chapter – a kind of coming to terms with his current reality. Or, in his words, an exploration of “knowing that this is definitely the path that I’m on, but how do I manoeuvre this the right way”. Now the dust has settled, you sense that the real work is starting – and Elmiene is more than ready to hunker down and get on with the task in hand. “My head has finally kind of laid the cement on the fact that this is my life,” he laughs, “and possibly for a very long time”.

Let’s bring things more up to date regarding conversation. Marking My Time is a beautiful E.P. that boasts some of Elmiene’s finest work to date. I feel that next year is going to be a really big one for him. COMPLEX spoke with Elmiene in October. Chatting about everything from his touring in the U.S., to his Sudanese heritage and growing up Black in Oxford, it is an interview well worth reading:

“COMPLEX: Black people’s experience in the UK often seems to be London-centric, but you are from Oxford. How was it growing up in that part of England, and how did it shape your understanding of being Black and British? 

Elmiene: It was slightly weird in Oxford because I stayed in West Oxford, which is predominantly white. In my school, there were only four Black kids in the whole year, but because of it, I feel like many of us were down for what’s good, and we’re proud of our Black heritage. We all went down different roots, but I went down the soul root—that was my addiction: soul and R&B. I was a kid obsessed. Despite being in an area where people wouldn’t listen to R&B, I was deep in it, but it all felt good. When I first moved to Oxford, my cousins put me on to R&B and at the time, T-Pain, Usher and Craig David were big, so I had people to look up to. I made my own army of people who would appreciate the music.

Coming from a Sudanese family, what were your parents’ attitudes and perspectives when you told them you were pursuing a music career? How did this impact your inspiration and your commitment to purpose?   

I got very lucky because my mother was very open about what I wanted to do. She was’'t the stereotypical Sudanese mother; she tried to make me go through the roots of STEM. But she would never make me do something I didn’t want to do because she knew I wouldn’t do it well. So, I went to university to study poetry, then started to do music, and by the grace of God, I was able to show her that music can be financially lucrative for me.

Your new EP, Marking My Time, is highly anticipated. Can you provide some insight into this project’s themes and creative process, especially concerning the title track that you co-wrote with Jamie Woon and James Vincent McMorrow?

Marking My Time is me marking my time at this checkpoint in life and using it as a checkpoint for my romantic emotions. What was that life during this time of my life? My mental health is what I’m thinking about during this time. My interests, the things I’m hearing and the sounds I’m interested in... It’s a project to document and respect this time of my life because, very soon, a significant change in my life will happen. I would be making different music for this period. Jamie Woon and James Vincent McMorrow are like my senseis in the game. I soon realised their inspirations are the same as mine; they express them differently, and I’ve learned much from them.

Looking ahead to 2024, what are your goals and aspirations as an artist, and how do you plan to build on the momentum you’ve gained so far in the industry?

I want to continue to make records that I’m proud of, that make people understand me and myself more. That’s what I’m looking forward to doing in the coming years, and I also want to be considered in the conversation amongst some of the greats”.

I am going to end with an interview from The Line of Best Fit. Published back in August, Elmiene revealed how he was ready to make his Punk record. Quite a revelation from someone who is softly-spoken – and one would not assume this ambition and sound would come out of him! There is no predicting where this extraordinary human will head in 2024:

“Songwriting hasn’t always been something that he approaches with a preconceived mindset. The Sampha-produced “Mama”, his latest single, was the first where Elmiene did come to the writing session with a general topic and idea, but what surprised him was how much that actually helped him craft it.

“I’m actually very strange in the way that I write music or think about music,” he explains. “When I come into the studio, I don’t like to walk in with a formed idea or theme. I want the session to lead me where it was to lead me. [Writing sessions] feel pretty free and I'm always experimenting with how to write music, and with a song like ‘Mama’ it came from listening to one album by Prince and the song ‘Mary Don't You Weep’ and the lyric ‘Mary, don't you mourn’ was a sick lyric. It made me think of the lyric ‘Would you mourn a sinner’. I walked into recording ‘Mama’ and the rest of the lyrics came through. Not coming in with any preconceptions helps relax you — I think of it like a beam of light coming straight through you and telling the exact story you want to tell.”

With the creation and release of “Mama”, Elmiene wants to capture that light beam in the future. “One-hundred percent,” he admits when asked if coming up with a lyric or phrase will be something that he does in future writing sessions. “All my processes in the studio are usually just jamming for 40 minutes and having amazing conversations through music. I’m filtering through all of it, like looking through a library of books. I take little pieces of everything until I finally find the one that really works.”

Lately, Elmiene has been thinking about legacy and the impact art has on the world. Creating music is something that is so personal but eventually is given to the masses with the hope that it finds a home. When prepping for the interview, a quick scan of the comments on his recent video for “Mama” shows a number of comments that have embraced the track — one of which saying “This song really touched home… I’ll start my day off with this and keep my head up in positivity, truth, love and light.”

“That is the biggest thing,” Elmiene declares when he hears of the comment. “ I didn’t know it was the sweetest thing about music but it’s something I've really learned recently. People doing covers of my songs and seeing people connect with the song so much that they have to sing it themselves and want to learn it on guitar or wherever… Oh, man. That means the world. Getting those kinds of messages where someone tells me that a song came to them at this point in life or its been on repeat in the shop [they work at]. Everyone knows what it feels like to have that connection with a song during a certain part of their life. I remember how Dru Hill’s ‘5 Steps' was a pivotal part of my sixth form experience. It’s so cool when that's you on the other end, it’s a crazy kind of high that you wouldn't get normally in life. I’m very blessed to have it happen frequently. It’s the ancient tradition of a song being passed down, so it just feels like I’m part of that”.

A wonderful British artist whose R&B sound is both familiar and unique. With such a remarkable voice that draws you into the music, it is no wonder Elmiene has been heralded and tipped as an artist that we need to watch closely. Make sure that he is very much in your sight. He is definitely going to make some big moves…

NEXT year.

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Follow Elmiene

FEATURE: Over the Hardest Part… Reflecting on a Successful and Important Year for the Remarkable Olivia Dean

FEATURE:

 

 

Over the Hardest Part…

PHOTO CREDIT: Jess Hand for Time Out

  

Reflecting on a Successful and Important Year for the Remarkable Olivia Dean

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IT is that time of year…

IN THIS PHOTO: Olivia Dean captured at GLAMOUR’s Women of the Year awards in October 2023/PHOTO CREDIT: Hollie Molloy

when we are all predicting who will make waves next year. I am trying to keep a track of all the lists that are being published naming artists primed to succeed in 2024. I am going to do as many playlists as possible based on them. Not that she is brand-new, though it is clear that Olivia Dean is among the artists that are going to shape music next year. She has already been named BBC Introducing's Artist of the Year. I am going to come to an interview with her around that, in addition to a couple of others from this year. I will also bring in a review for her debut album, Messy. That was nominated for this year’s Mercury Prize. I think there is a confidence within Olivia Dean where she knows she will headline big festivals one day. If smaller ones in this country are booking women as headliners, it is clear that most bigger festivals will not. Or at the very least it is going to be majorly imbalance. Dean seems like a natural headliner. Someone whose natural ability and charm is enough to win any crowd. I am keen to update my previous feature and include interviews and insight that was not available then. I want to start out with the BBC talking with Olivia Dean in reaction to her being named BBC Introducing's Artist of the Year:

“Success has kept her busy - as well as playing Glastonbury she's also performed on Later... With Jools Holland (which she described as "a dream") and covered Beyoncé in the Radio 1 Live Lounge (she "loves a challenge").

But it's also brought up feelings of imposter syndrome and wrestling with her identity again - such as feeling pigeon-holed when her single UFO was added to R&B playlists.

"There's no rhythm, there's no drums in it, so how can it be rhythm and blues?" she says.

"If I looked differently, I don't think it would have been put in that category.

"It's very confusing, especially for young women in the industry. You feel like everybody else knows - or they think they know - better."

Olivia tells Newsbeat her experiences have taught her that being in control of her own sound is a priority.

"I don't have a problem with people thinking I'm difficult," she says.

"I just don't like being told what to do."

That doesn't mean she won't accept criticism - as long as it's constructive - "but at the end of the day, I need to do what's going to be best for me because it's my name on the tin.

"In many years' time, my grandkids are going to be listening to what I thought about the world and love and how I was feeling at the time."

Although her music takes her all over the world, Olivia says she's "London through and through"

Love, and the loss of it, is a huge inspiration for Olivia. Her album Messy, featuring singles including The Hardest Part and Dive, maps falling in love again after a break-up.

But the seeds of her songs also come from some unexpected places.

The clue's in the name for Ladies Room, which came out of an overheard conversation in a south London pub toilet.

Olivia recalls a woman standing at the sinks dishing out the advice: "Don't date a man 20 years older than you!".

The boyfriend wanted to go home but this girl wanted to party.

"The ladies bathroom can be a really crazy place," Olivia says. "Stories being shared, lip gloss thrown everywhere, gossip, drama."

And see if you can spot the inspiration for this lyric: "If you can't see my mirrors, then I can't see you".

Sound familiar?

"That is one of my favourite lyrics I've ever written," Olivia laughs. "And it is inspired by stickers on the back of trucks.

"That's what I believe so strongly about music, it's about the small things.

"There's little specific details that we all see every day. They carry so much meaning, you just have to look for it and almost inject it into them."

Olivia Dean says she's manifested her milestones this year

Olivia's realised she works best in her comfort zone rather than being thrown in at the deep end.

She says she likes to chill with her team for a couple of hours before work, having long chats over cups of tea - a different approach to other artists who "work like athletes" but one that fits for Olivia.

"And then out of that, the seed of inspiration comes," she says. "What the song's going to be about, always it'll come in that conversation”.

I will end with a review of Messy. One of this year’s best debut albums, it quite rightly was nominated for a Mercury and, in the process, has taken Olivia Dean to new heights. She will go on to massive stages and reach new heights very soon. She has some big European dates booked for next year. I feel it will not be too long until Dean tours through the U.S. I can see her music making a real impact there. I want to come to an interview from May. About a month before her album arrived, Olivia Dean spoke with The Independent about her ambitions and new music:

“I’m having the craziest week of my life!” declares soul-pop sensation Olivia Dean. She is currently backstage at the Roundhouse, where she is due to perform in a few hours. Her “crazy week” consists of what she calls a hometown “gig sandwich” – a headline show at Camden’s KOKO (which sold out in under a minute), a support slot for London rapper Loyle Carner at Wembley and tonight at the Roundhouse. It’s also her 24th birthday. Reclining on a red leather sofa, hair tied back in a messy bun and inhaling from her vocal steamer, she looks unfazed. You wouldn’t guess she was about to perform the biggest show of her life. Dean exudes such calm confidence, you feel like you could catch it.

Clearly, there is something infectious about her, or at least her music, because for tonight’s 3,000-capacity show, there are 10,000 people on the waitlist. Not only has the singer achieved early success with her storytelling songs, (sold-out tours, songs across Radio 1 and a secret set at Glastonbury), but she’s also made a name for herself in fashion, having recently become a brand ambassador for Chanel.

Music remains the priority though, especially playing live. “I love singing to people so much, it just brings me so much joy,” she smiles. Dean compares going on tour to making pancakes. “The first one is probably a bit dodgy – still tastes nice – but you haven’t really nailed it,” she laughs. “I love when stuff goes wrong – those have been my favourite shows, it’s the messiness that makes it fun.”

It’s these imperfections that have inspired her highly anticipated debut album, Messy, due on 30 June. Not that Dean needs an album; she has already amassed a cult-like fanbase, all of whom sing back every word of her candid lyrics at the Roundhouse this evening. “The thing that most people tell me is, ‘You’ve got me through a break-up’,” Dean explains when I ask what gives her such a strong affinity with fans. “Everyone has that big [split] in their life that messes you up and you kind of lose that perspective of yourself. It can feel like a really lonely experience and I guess I was just documenting that.” Later that evening, she tells the crowd, “I don’t really believe in this idea of the ‘other half’. You’re a whole person and you don’t need somebody else to complete you.”

Her 12-track record navigates falling out of love and back into it, with comforting, conversational lyrics all articulated in the warm, glowy tones of her full-bodied voice. Tracks directly address their subjects with frank honesty in a nod to her musical idols: Amy Winehouse, Lauryn Hill and Carole King. While the album features the relatable relationship ruminations her fans have come to expect, (you’ll recognise 2020 break-up anthem “The Hardest Part” and the newer and seductive “Danger”), elsewhere Dean braves introspection.

She explores identity in “Carmen”, which was named after her grandmother, whom Messy is dedicated to. “You transplanted a family tree, and a part of it grew into me,” Dean sings, referencing her grandmother’s move to London from Guyana as part of the Windrush generation. “I just feel so grateful to her for being so brave, because it’s enabled me to live my dream,” says Dean. She recalls visiting the Life Between Islands exhibition at the Tate Modern, which showcased Caribbean-British art. The work made her feel seen and connected to herself. “I feel so British and so East London – but I also feel that there’s this other thing that’s kind of missing,” she says. “The exhibition was just crazy to me. It was celebrating the beauty, crossover and the imperfections.” And so Dean arrived at the album’s title Messy, which ended up guiding her attitude towards songwriting this time around. “There’s no rules,” she says.

Dean has routinely come up against expectations in the industry – expectations of what her music should sound like because of what she looks like. On the album’s otherworldly opening track “UFO”, Dean decided to explore an Imogen Heap sound. Yet frustratingly, she discovered the song had been added to an R&B playlist. “In what world? What rhythm and blues are you hearing? If I was white, that would just never happen,” she says. “Sometimes with the way that I look, I feel like, is my music supposed to be urban or am I supposed to make a certain kind of thing?” With two fingers up to those stereotypes, Dean simply writes what she feels. “I made Messy quite selfishly, to be honest,” she admits. “I was just like, ‘This is what I would want to listen to’”.

I am going to bring things up to date. The purpose of this feature, apart from highlighting Olivia Dean, is to see what she has said about her album and get more of an insight into her creative process. Before moving on, I want to bring in an interview from Sound of Brit. It is fascinating reading how she approached the album and the fact that, in spite of the songs flowing naturally, it was hard to write at times – being in that headspace where she could breathe and feel inspired:

“Sound of Brit : We really enjoyed Messy, your first album, and go a lot of feedback on our review on out website. Can you tell us about the cover?

Olivia Dean: Hmm… Good or bad?? Ahah. In fact, early on in the process of finding the good artwork, we made a big shoot, completely different, and it was going to be a really conceptual cover. And I hated all the photos. They were beautiful photos, but they didn’t represent the music. They weren’t warm. It was too conceptual. And I wasn’t an abstract person. In fact, I’m quite simple, you know? I like people. And the music is soul music. So I gave it all up. My manager told me to stop. And she said, « What are you going to do? Because you have to deliver it in a week. » There were two weeks left and I asked myself if there was already an image that would represent me well at this point in my life. And I found this image of a shooting I’d made two years ago, in black and white, and we put it in colour and changed it to purple, my favourite colour. And that’s it, really. There’s no crazy story. I just thought, I like this picture, that’s all. It’s my face. There was no crazy story!

Sound of Brit : The album ends with the magnificent track Carmen. Was it important for you to end the album with such a powerful track?

Olivia Dean: Yes, I did. Yes, I knew that as soon as I wrote the song. I wanted to dedicate the whole album to my grandmother and, of course, it had to be the closing song, you know, with the band and the jubilant celebration of her life and her legacy and that whole generation and what they brought to the UK. And hopefully that song will be separate from the whole album, you know, whatever happens, I want to make a lot of albums. But this particular song will live on, you know, beyond me and my grandchildren. It’s my grandmother’s voice and it’s there forever, and time is very powerful.

Sound of Brit : Dive was THE big single on the album, a real masterpiece. You played it on the TV show Quotidien, with an audience of millions. What was that like?

Sound of Brit: Yes, I did. I didn’t realise it was such a big show. Someone told me afterwards, because I have family who live in France, that it was something big. It was crazy. It was fun. I didn’t really know what was going on. I got on the plane. They told me: « You’re going to be on the air ». I met everyone there. It was lovely. We played. The audience was there and they were receptive. I don’t know what happened. It just happened. And I said, OK, fine, then I went home!

Sound of Brit : How did you go about writing Messy? Your collaborators, your recording locations, your writing…

Olivia Dean: I’d say it took 18 months from the start, from the moment I said to myself « this is it, I’m making an album » to the delivery of the album. And I’d say that writing the songs is the longest process. I’m very perfectionist when it comes to lyrics and chords. I feel that if the song is good, if you take everything away, you can play it just on the piano. So everything had to be that good for me. The recording process took two or three weeks and then the album was finished. I wrote a lot of the album in a bar in the UK, so I left London to go to my two songwriters’ houses and it was nice to have other perspectives. It was a pleasure to do it. My main aim was to have fun doing it, because I think sometimes you get so caught up in life that you need to be excellent and you forget that you’re living a dream. As I’m in the process of making my first album, I’ll never be able to do that again. So I just had fun. I tried to have fun. It wasn’t always fun. It was stressful. But most of the time I was trying to escape.

Sound of Brit : The need to get out of London to write, or as if it were a way of breathing easier.

Olivia Dean: And that’s exactly what I did. I mean, yes and no, because I did another trip where I left London for a fortnight to isolate myself. You know, that’s what they do in films! I did it once and I wrote that I hadn’t written any good music apart from one song. I wrote that one song, but as for the rest, I was putting too much pressure on myself. So it didn’t really work out. But it got me to the right place and to the right people, you know? Someone made a very good metaphor about writing music. It’s like surfing. You can train yourself to get on the board. If the waves aren’t there, you’re not going to surf today. And that’s the case. If you practise, the waves will come. So I’d say you have to find a balance”.

The last month or so has seen Olivia Dean receive awards and honours. The result of a lot of hard work and a magnificent debut album. I spotlighted Dean a little while ago. Since then, in such a short time, she has grown even stronger and more impressive. One of our finest young artists. Someone who you can see conquering the world. GLAMOUR spoke to Olivia Dean in October. They named her their Samsung Rising Star at their Women of the Year ceremony. It is clear that, with that and BBC’s kudos under her belt, here is someone everyone should know about:

“For GLAMOUR's Women of the Year Awards 2023, in partnership with Samsung, we have chosen Dean to be our Samsung Rising Star. She arrives to meet me on a sunny summer’s morning with her curly hair slicked back into a super-neat ponytail. Her outfit is very on-brand for the singer, whose sound and style shows she’s nostalgic but not afraid to innovate. Today she mixes classic Levi's jeans with a contemporary statement piece: a white and black denim biker jacket by Feben. Olivia is always trying to find ways to empower other women, particularly women of colour. She excitedly tells me to follow the Black London designer on Instagram because she’s doing “really cool stuff”.

A self-described feminist, it appears that navigating the industry has emboldened her push for empowerment. Dean no longer feels guilty rejecting other people’s demands to blaze her own trail. “I know what I want. I’m not a doll to be told what to do and what to say,” she asserts. She tells me that she’s at a place in her life where she’s feeling in control after feeling pulled in different directions in a male-dominated and pressurised industry. “I don’t let that happen to me anymore,” she asserts.

“At the beginning of my career, I felt boxed in because of the way that I look, or the colour of my skin. It was like I was supposed to make a certain type of music and I really took that on like I could only make R&B,” she says. “I love R&B and soul, but also psychedelic and folk. I don’t believe in boxes”. During her career she’s taken control of her own image and artistry by “learning the art of saying no”. While she could follow a formula to create cookie-cutter pop and get herself noticed, she says she can’t release a track unless it really means something to her and is made “purely for [her] soul”. “I can tell when people have made something just because they want to get to number one and I can’t do that,” she says. “I have quite an acute ear for bullsh*t.” In fact, one of her biggest regrets in life was releasing a song she knew intuitively she didn’t connect with.

She explains: “I won't say what song it is, because I don't think it's productive. I think I felt a bit pressured to release something and a lot of people were telling me that they loved it. It didn't set my soul on fire though. I put it out and the next morning, I just cried, and I cried. I knew that I had crossed a line with myself because I had to promote something I didn’t really believe in. I’m glad it happened so I can recognise that visceral feeling.”

Olivia has hit her stride and has found a renewed sense of purpose. “I take my vulnerable moments – moments where I needed to empower myself – and then put that into my music,” she says. “I love seeing women message me saying that it helped get them through a break-up or embrace their own independence.”

Hers is the sort of emotive voice that takes you to various planes of feeling, whether it’s back to a love you lost while listening to ‘The Hardest Part’; or vibing out to ‘Messy’ despite the disarray in your life; or being sonically taken to that vulnerable, chaotic emotional minefield of falling in love on ‘Dive’. The latter track feels like the perfect place to start with this rising talent. It’s such a masterfully crafted pop song imbued with soul bearing lyricism that can sit in playlists alongside the classics, you can sing it in your room, you can play it to your parents, and to be honest you can imagine it soundtracking a Christmas ad too. Her silky sweet vocals glide over angelic harmonies and Motown adjacent instrumentation. Dean’s aim is to make pop music that is reminiscent of what’s come before and you can hear that her influences hark back to an era she was not even born for, rather than being tied to current fast-moving trends or TikTok-geared sounds.

While she is a stellar recording artist, performing in front of a live audience is what really drives Dean’s passion for music. At school she felt “annoying”. “I was that kid that always wanted to sing in assembly,” she says. Then she was accepted by the Brit school, and found that being in a performing arts environment where everyone is the “same type of annoying” really transformed her into a less muted version of herself. “I realised I wasn’t lame, I just like entertaining people.” While its alumni include Adele, Tom Holland, and Amy Winehouse could be intimidating but she found it encouraging.

Being in a performance art environment means that in lockdown when gigs were impossible in enclosed spaces, Olivia drove round the country in an old milk truck to do a string of free shows for a nation deprived of live music. “I felt very lucky because live music makes people feel good,” she says. “Plus concerts are getting expensive, Jesus Christ”.

I will come to a sample review for the wonderous, sensational and unforgettable Messy. First, and one of the most illuminating and interesting interviews she has been involved with, takes me to Time Out. They spoke with Olivia Dean earlier this month. As is clear, there is no ego or any arrogance. She is an ambitious artist though, when you hear and read her speak, there is this humbleness and willingness to please. Someone impossible not to root for:

“Throughout our chat, Olivia prefaces any mentions of her wins with a disclaimer, because God forbid she ever came across as ungrateful. She’s careful to recognise that she was ‘very lucky’ that her parents supported her choice to pursue music as a career: ‘I never had the ‘‘that’s not gonna make you any money’’ thing.’ It’s the sort of grating self-awareness that we, Gen Z, pride ourselves on, but there’s a maturity in how she stands by her graft. ‘I’m definitely aware of the privileges to go to BRIT, and I think the title comes with, perhaps, a ‘people-give-you-a-look-in’ assumption,’ she says. ‘But I wouldn’t say that they hand you stuff on a plate. It is a free school in Croydon. You just apply because you know you want to do music and you know you want to work really hard.’

PHOTO CREDIT: Jess Hand

Olivia’s music isn’t trying to be something it’s not: it’s not especially abstract, edgy or intellectual. It’s easy-listening: the type of sweet, milky pop that makes you want to reach for the volume dial in the car, play through your headphones to make the night bus journey feel shorter or send to a friend getting over a breakup. But there’s no auto-tune, no Ibiza-tinged EDM beats which plague a lot of chart music. Instead, there’s a humanness to her work, an innocence in the sound as much as the lyrics which makes it irresistible to her many fans.

‘It’s not a straight line when your heart has been smooshed up,’ Olivia says, explaining that ‘Messy’ is about navigating the journey of falling in love again after a breakup. ‘It’s a messy road and I’ve become quite hardened. My heart has got a hard case.’ It’s not all gushy breakup songs or self-affirming anthems, though (although there is a bit of that). Her new single, ‘Ladies Room’, is inspired by a drunk chat she overheard in the toilets on a night out. ‘I was just in the cubicle peeing and I overheard this lady talking,’ she says. ‘She was like, ‘‘Girls, if I could give you any advice, never go out with a man who’s 20 years your senior.’’ I recorded her because I thought it was hilarious. The song originally had her voice at the beginning, but it’s illegal to record people. I was in the toilet queue before, so I don’t know how to find her. Wherever you are out there, you’re my inspiration!’

PHOTO CREDIT: Jess Hand

We’re there for longer than expected. She smiles, flirts, makes sarcastic jokes and never breaks eye contact. She’s here to please. And, sitting in the corner of a cosy pub, it seems like she’s in her element. Because as much as she loves the glamour that comes along with a career in music, at the end of the day she’s a wholesome soul: in her free time, she burns incense, listens to vinyl and knits scarves for her mum. When lockdown hit in 2020, she packed her band into a happy yellow van and drove around the UK, playing socially distanced gigs to cheer up strangers. After this, she’s going home to watch ‘Bake Off’.  It’s a shell that must crack eventually, right?

‘Honestly, I think I’m just a pretty positive person,’ she says. ‘I’m definitely, like, not bubbly and happy all the time. But I feel like I’m very lucky in my life right now and I have a lot to be grateful for. I pride myself on being a good person, because nobody wants to work with a horrible person. It’s not a productive way to move through the industry’”.

I will end up soon. If you want to follow Olivia Dean, go and check out her official site, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. You can also listen to her music through Spotify. After such a triumphant year, I hope that Olivia Dean gets some time to unwind and reflect. Already tipped as an artist to watch in 2024, in addition to being acclaimed as one of this year’s best, the BBC Introducing's Artist of the Year is a new honour that should give her confirmation, if there was any doubt, that she is here for the long-run. I predict that she will be a festival mainstay in the summer. I will end with The Line of Best Fit and their 9/10 review for the gorgeous and hypnotic Messy:

“Starting in music at just 17 years old, her career has seen her selling out the Jazz Café plus hometown shows in KOKO and The Roundhouse. Now, at 24, her debut album Messy is no exception to her upward trajectory, using creative artistry to scrapbook elements of love, life and everything in-between into a homegrown directory of soulful buoyancy.

Balancing a fine line between refined and authentic, the record is universally carefree, with atmospherics ranging from dreamy to dark, soulful to spine tingling. Title track “Messy” is a perfect outline of the entire body of work "It's ok if it's messy," Dean croons as glittering synths echo intermittently, whilst mouth trumpet mimes feature alongside a steady build up a of acoustic tropical serenity.

Following her words of wisdom, Olivia Dean’s self-proclaimed mess is a rally of to and fro. Varying from delirious encounters in pub bathrooms in “Ladies Room,” the freedom of falling in love in the euphoric “Dive,” to the risks of taking that plunge, showcased in the playfully wonderful “Danger,” with thoughts that can only be translated into the method of music.

On the deeply personal “Carmen,” Dean pays tribute to her Grandmother who boarded her first ever plane at the age of 18 to the UK, as part of the Windrush Generation. An outpouring of overwhelming gratitude, the track is effervescent with recordings of her grandma’s rich voice, steel pan drums and horns set against undercurrents of delicate bass guitar. The star of the show, however, vocalises itself through Olivia Dean’s poignant storytelling, as she sings "You transplanted a family tree, and a part of it grew into me."

Despite bringing a joyful vibrance to the vast majority of the record, Dean continues to validate that she is the master of versatility. "I’m not as strong as I appear / I’m way more anxious than I seem" she admits on “Everybody’s Crazy,” bearing resemblance to the early soulful ballads of 00’s Adele. Rich with enigmatic chord progressions tied stylishly together with elegant strings, “No Man” is a dark tale of abandonment that see’s Dean reflect on a man’s neglect, with a sound conveying a hybrid of Arctic Monkeys’ Humbug and Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.

It’s one thing to transform your deepest thoughts, experience and feelings into fiercely beautiful lyrics, the next steps of creating a catalogue of songs with music and vocals is just as precarious. In spite of this, no matter how disorganised Olivia Dean proclaims this album to be, she doesn’t miss a beat – and instead generates a record with just about everything to deem itself ‘perfect’”.

Aged just twenty-four, Olivia Dean is at the start of her career. An award-nominated debut album and some recent honour proves that she is a remarkable artist whose is a natural-born talent. The London-born artist is one I will recommend to everyone. Someone who is going to explode and go to new heights next year. If Dean was nervous about Messy and how it would be received, then she need not have worried! Given all the love it has received, she can rest assured that…

THE hardest part is over!

FEATURE: Excites Me Silly: The Wonders of Early Exposure to the Gifts of Kate Bush’s Music and Potential

FEATURE:

 

 

Excites Me Silly

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in the studio in March 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Mirrorpix

 

The Wonders of Early Exposure to the Gifts of Kate Bush’s Music and Potential

__________

A lot of people…

 IMAGE CREDIT: Jay Noorman

are talking about Kate Bush now in the context of songs like Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and Hounds of Love (1985). A particular point of her career when she was established and she had just released – arguably – her very best work. That is great. Any conversation around Kate Bush is incredible and should be encouraged! Of course, many are looking ahead and seeing what might come from her next year. It is an interesting and busy time if you are a Kate Bush fan. Even though her most recent studio album was released twelve years ago now (50 Words for Snow), that does not mean she is irrelevant or lacks any modern influence. Quite the opposite! This year saw her inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Her streaming numbers have shot up and, with it, she has been introduced to a whole new generation of fans. Many exploring an artist they may not have heard before. What interests me is going back to the beginning. Well, almost. Think about her 1978 debut album, The Kick Inside, and being around her at the time. Nobody could predict where her career would go and the fact Kate Bush was still celebrated and hugely important in 2023! I like that mix of the modest and otherworldly. I mention this as, recently, a new edition of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast was with Andrew Powell. He produced her first two albums – The Kick Inside and the 1978 follow-up, Lionheart. Here is someone who has not done a lot of recent promotion. He is a crucial part of Kate Bush history:

“In this new episode of The Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Darrell, co-host of Bush Telegraph had the rare opportunity of chatting with Andrew Powell, producer and arranger of Kate’s first two iconic albums, The Kick Inside and Lionheart. Listen in as they discuss the very first time Powell met Cathy Bush as a 16 year old, and the songs they eventually chose and recorded together. We also get to hear how Kate’s vocal and piano playing with a live orchestra for ‘The Man With The Child In His Eyes’ was recorded all in one take – still at this incredibly young age.

Many new things are revealed and discussed. What David Bowie song did Kate cover when Powell worked with her in Japan? What songs did not get included on the published albums? And what was it like for Andrew Powell to hear ‘Wuthering Heights’ for the first time played by Kate in his flat? These questions and a whole lot more are revealed in this podcast with iconic producer, arranger, composer, conductor and musician, Andrew Powell”.

Go and listen to that episode in full. One thing that fascinates me is that we get these insights and new revelations regarding Kate Bush. Another recent episode of that fan podcast with Brian Bath (who played with Kate Bush and was a member of her band, the KT Bush Band in 1977) revealed some unheard audio. I have posted online how it is great that we hear new stuff after all of these years. I will end on why, in light of these new podcast episodes, how there could be excavation and new exploration of her earlier work. I know Kate Bush might not want rare songs, demos and other bits brought to the wider world. Even so, it is discussion-worthy and really interesting. There is this fresh burst of spotlighting around her early work. That 1977 to 1978 period that is deeply compelling. Imagine being Andrew Powell and hearing Wuthering Heights in Bush’s flat! Something most of us can only dream of, there is that balance of the modest/humble and something almost transcendental! You get to hear a song that would launch the career of one of the most influential artists ever. The teenage Kate Bush giving this exposure to a song like no other. It is not only Wuthering Heights and that incredible experience. Bush recording her vocal and piano in one take for The Man with the Child in His Eyes. That was done in 1975. A remarkable achievement for someone so young! There are a couple of things that I wanted to explore more. I shall come to Andrew Powell revealing songs that were not included on her albums.

I have written about it before, though I wanted to come back to those early days. Bush was an ambitious young artist who was definitely determined when she was recording The Kick Inside. Even so, she was inexperienced and would have been nervous at times. Considering how her career blossomed and what she achieved, how interesting it would have been watching her work. Hearing songs in their embryonic form. Listening to conversations where songs were being worked on and planned. I would pay anything to travel back in time and space and being around Kate Bush in 1977 and 1978! As intrigued as I am by her very earliest recordings, I think hearing that sonic revelation and kick that went into her debut is where I would go. Being in the studio when Wuthering Heights was recorded. People who were there got this incredible experience. Witnessing history in the making! With no other artists like her in the world, it must have been a beguiling and unique thing hearing this music take shape. There would have been a lot of sketches and ideas that never formed fully. Watching her mind work things out. This teenager exploring her own music and imagination. We now hear the recorded versions though, as The Kick Inside was being recorded, most people had not heard of Kate Bush or knew what she was about. Her friends, musicians, family and those around her had this special access. Getting to witness an exceptional and almost supernatural talent work! I always feel that the most interesting period of her career is those very early days. Getting the debut album done. Her passion and curiosity would have been at its peak. An exciting and hungry young woman who had been writing for years but this was her first time recording an album.

Among other things, producer Andrew Powell revealed on the Kate Bush Fan Podcast some songs that were recorded during the Lionheart period (in France) and never released. I always knew that Never for Ever was a song recorded but left alone because Bush did not like her vocal. It was intended for Lionheart rather than Never for Ever. I guess Bush liked the title and the idea, so that is why her third album was called Never for Ever (which boasted a few hugely impressive B-sides/rarities). Powell revealed how Bush loved his arrangement – and gave him a big hug! – but she did not like her singing. It is a shame as, by all accounts, it is a gorgeous song that is a lost classic! Powell was not sure what the song was about. You could hear regret at it not being used. Scares Me Silly (you can read the lyrics, and for other Cathy Demos tracks, here), which I always assumed was recorded during The Kick Inside’s sessions, was actually done for Lionheart. That never made it on. Perhaps Bush was curious of wanting her songs to be perfect and, if she was unsure or happy with anything, then it would not make it in. Dear Dead Days is another title that was mentioned. This modern discussion around some very early Kate Bush material. Andrew Powell has a recording of Never for Ever, so it is something that could be available. I’d like to think that a book or article will be written around songs that we have not heard and were considered for her first couple of albums. It gives is a greater insight into this young prodigy. Rather than them being scraps and songs she’d rather forget, I think they are parts of the puzzle and full picture. These minor gems that fans are really keen to hear. Whether that will happen or not I am not sure, though if they were ever brought to life, it would be amazing! Just think of what it was like being around Kate Bush when she was making her first moves. The intimacy that there would have been. People not quite knowing what would happen and how her music would connect with people. Thinking about it…

IS quite spine-tingling.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Qing Madi

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

  

Qing Madi

__________

A tremendous artist…

who was recently named as one of Vevo's 2024 DSCVR Artists to Watch is Qing Madi. I am fairly new to her music but, having seen her highlighted by quite a few sites as someone to look out for, I was compelled to dig deeper. I am going to bring in some interviews and press around this incredible talent. The Nigerian teenager is one to watch out for. In her earliest phase, she will grow and cement her sound. I am going to end with a review of her new E.P. It is worth getting to know her better prior to that. Whether you class her music as Afrobeats or something else, there is no denying there is a universality to it. It translates beyond Nigeria. If Qing Madi’s best days are still ahead, her eponymous E.P. marks her out as someone to watch very closely. I am going to come to an interview with The Things. They charted the beginning and rise or an extraordinary artist who is definitely primed for big success in 2024:

“Qing Began Performing As A Child

Born and raised in Benin City, Nigeria, Qing has long had a penchant for performing.

In fact, she smiles that her career really began when she was just 7-years-old.

"From the time I was in school, I started competing with other kids in arts and culture, and would represent my school," she reminisces.

However, this budding star wasn't content to contend with her age mates, alone.

"Everyone wanted me to be in the children's choir, but I felt the adult choir was where I belonged, so I did that. I was a confident child!" she laughs.

Sure enough, people began taking note - and her career as a professional performer began.

Her Mom Played An Active Role In Her Career, Early On

"I started getting booked for weddings and other events, both in and out of the state. My mom trained me for that," Qing shares.

It's safe to say, Qing's mom saw a spark, there - and she was fully committed to helping her daughter reach her potential.

That was just part of her influence, however,

Beaming at the memory, Qing adds that her mother also enrolled her in a ballet academy, where she trained to dance and studied music more in-depth.

That's still not all, though.

Qing continues that the customers in her mother's shop were always happy to engage with her, musically.

"I was surrounded by her musically-inclined clients, and their influences became mine," she smiles.

That's not to say she didn't pick up influences all on her own, though.

Enter, Kendrick Lamar.

In fact, on top of his musical influence, Qing credits Kendrick, as well as Rihanna, for inspiring her to sing.

"I actually wanted to be a dancer, not a singer, at first," she admits.

Qing Talks Going Viral And Repping Nigeria

With the foundations for Qing's success laid early on, it was only a matter of time before people began taking note, en masse.

At the time of writing, See Finish has close to half a million views on YouTube - and that's just two months after the song's release.

As for her latest release, Why, that isn't too far behind, either, racking in more than 300k YouTube viewers in two weeks.

"I was utterly shocked at how much acceptance I was getting," she gushes, thinking about the moment she realized she was going viral”.

I do think that the mainstream music media does not focus enough attention on nations like Nigeria when it comes to a new wave of artists. Sure, they might be attune to J-Pop of Japan and K-Pop of South Korea. It is a vital and bright Pop that is becoming very popular through western music. I think Afrobeats and various other genes emerging from Africa needs to be heralded and spotlight. Qing Madi is a sensation. As Nigeria’s The Guardian wrote, Qing Madi’s music is universal. Good music, they say, crosses borders and languages:

“Qing Madi, who is a rising star currently out of Nigeria is a major example of this. After releasing her most popular song, “See Finish” which has generated a lot of streams on multiple music platforms, the 16-year-old is slowly making a name for herself in the Afrobeat’s industry as she is set to be the next “big thing” out of Nigeria.

She talks with The Guardian Life about her life, going viral in Nigeria at a young age, music inspirations and her plans for the future.

Tell us about yourself and the creative inspiration behind your name?

My name is Chimamanda Pearl Chukwuma popularly known as Qing Madi. I am a 16 year old Nigerian singer, songwriter and dancer born July 1st, 2006. I am a prodigy, born and raised in Benin city and I came from a family of 4.

The inspiration behind my name was coming from a point of feminity and independence; a Qing is a female who does not need anyone to dictate her place. A female with superiority.

Tracing your steps into music, where would you say the passion came from?

My biggest influence growing up was Kendrick Lamar; he is a lyrical prophet and he made me fall in love with poetry.

But my mom gave me the best passion I needed. Her belief in me made me understand who I was at a tender age.

What did your parents feel when you indicated an interest in music and how are they supporting you now?

My mother who groomed and trained me is completely happy that all our prayers and hard work are being rewarded plus she is super proud too.

What was the inspiration behind “See Finish” and how did it feel going viral in Nigeria?

The creative process for “See Finish” was coming from a genuine point where an actual incident led me to express myself through music. It was an honest song that came naturally, I heard the beat and immediately felt like I needed to communicate with it.

It felt surreal hearing people sing my lyrics right back to me knowing that people genuinely related to it. And most times when I got DMs of how my music had helped people be more comfortable on their own and learn the beauty in being alone, it made me feel fulfilled.

How are you balancing music with school as well as being a teenager?

I’m not in university yet but I’m balancing being a teenager and music very well.

I’ve never been the type to hang out with people a lot so it doesn’t feel much different except now everyone wants to be in my circle which frightens me because I can’t tell what energy is genuine.

You performed at arguably the biggest concert in Lagos, Homecoming. What was that experience like for you at such an early stage of your career?

It was amazing to not only get to understand who I was again but also meeting the crowd and singing my heart out, I’m blessed to have performed there.

With all the fame and attention at a young age, what activities do you engage in that makes you feel like a kid again?

Most times talking to my best friend makes me feel regular again so it’s a therapeutic feeling for me.

Are you working on anything now and what should your fans be expecting from you moving forward?

I’m working on a body of work; my first as a signed artist with possible collaborations and newly explored sounds. So, I’m super excited and I hope my fans are too”.

The Teen Magazine spent some time with Qing Madi earlier in the year. A young talent with so much potential, they also looked at her rise to prominence. Here is someone who I feel everyone needs to get behind and support if they can. Such is the potential and quality out there already, there is not going to be any stopping her:

“Listen and Learn

“The songstress also has an important message she wants her listeners to receive when listening to her music. She commented, "As a 16 year old, I want everyone to know this: You're understood, you’re heard, you have every reason to feel the way you do, and you’re not being ungrateful to anyone for feeling this emotion." Songwriting can be a very intimate process for an artist. Qing Madi also went into depth about her experience with songwriting. "I love writing alone. I tend to write about my past or present experiences. It helps make my lyrics more real."

Her song, “Why”, a track detailing her bullying experiences while in school, was a hit. It now has close to 130,000 streams on Spotify as of writing this article. She gave some words of encouragement to people being bullied currently.

She stated, "Be patient. People only fight what they fear. Being bullied in school makes you the main character most times.

Some things you have to endure to become you and have a story to tell. Speaking up as well is important if you’re being bullied, even though when I did I was told “it’s normal”. But you never know what can happen when you speak up."

9 Fun Questions with Qing Madi

Like any 16 year old, Qing Madi also has ambitions and things she wants to accomplish. Read below to see some of her answers.

1) If you could open a show for any artist, who would it be?

“Internationally, I would love to open for Kendrick Lamar and locally in Nigeria, for Davido.”

2) What's your favorite song you've written and why?

My favorite song I’ve written is called “Still on You” and it’s because it is so much like my track “See Finish. It’s an actual emotion I’ve experienced."

3) What is the best advice you’ve been given?

“Do not let people’s indecision disrupt your vision.”

4) What is your dream car?

"A Bugatti."

5) What’s one thing you can’t live without?

"My phone."

6) Dream vacation?

“Spain, because I speak Spanish, and I would love to practice more with actual indigenous people.”

7) If you were stranded on a beach and you could only bring three things, what would you bring and why?

“My phone, food and water, because I’ll need those to survive. Being stranded on a beach to me sounds like a vacation. I love being alone.”

8) What is your favorite food?

”Jollof rice.”

9) Where do you see yourself in the next three years careerwise?

"Successful and happy, with the right energy and the right people."

The Future of Qing Madi

Qing Madi is a promising young talent, bound to take the western world by storm. She is taking the sound and influence of later greats such as Aaliyah and putting a modern but reminiscent twist on them, which will be successful in her career. She has an EP coming out soon, so stay tuned for that”.

I am going to end with a review of the Qing Madi E.P. First, together with her Vevo DSCVR Artists to Watch inclusion, the Nigerian star has also been honoured by Apple Music. This article tells how it is a big step and achievement. Something that will take her music to the next level. Some terrific early exposure:

“Apple Music has just announced that Qing Madi, the rising star of Afrobeat, is the next Up Next artist for Nigeria. This means that Qing Madi will get a global spotlight on Apple Music, including a short documentary and interview.

As a native of Benin City, Qing Madi began her professional journey by participating in school talent shows and singing in the church choir. Her exceptional vocal capabilities earned her a spot in the adult choir, despite her young age.

Recognizing the unique nature of Qing Madi’s talent, her mother enrolled her in a local ballet academy as a means to foster her creativity outside of school. It proved to be an incredibly savvy move as Qing Madi won several dance awards, and the classes helped foster her musical gifts as she learnt how to memorize lyrics and identify her sound.

If you haven't heard of Qing Madi yet, you're missing out. She is a talented singer and songwriter who blends traditional Nigerian rhythms with modern pop and hip-hop influences. Her debut "Journey" was released in September and has been praised by critics and fans alike.

Nigerian singer and songwriter Qing Madi did release a tribute song for Mohbad titled “Journey.”

She said, “The recent passing of a gem has given me a reality check. No one is going to be here forever. Not even those that have done the best. Nobody knows when the ticking bomb will explode. They just know the timer has begun. I wrote this song based on how I was feeling. RIP IMOLE.”

Influenced heavily by her heritage and the lyrical genius of Kendrick Lamar, Qing Madi’s debut single 'See Finish' (2022) saw her blend Afrobeats, pop, soul and R&B, laying the foundation for the fusion type of music she was keen to create as the single went viral on TikTok and peaked at #51 on Apple Music’s Nigeria Top 100 songs chart.

Her latest single 'Journey' (2023), available to stream on Apple Music, in an Afrobeats call to the dancefloor, layered atop R&B-soaked vocal lines, and reinforces her presence as a name to remember.

Qing Madi is not only a musical genius, but also a social activist. She uses her platform to raise awareness and funds for various causes, such as education, health, and environmental issues. she is also a vocal supporter of the #EndSARS movement, which protests against police brutality and corruption in Nigeria.

Qing Madi is definitely an artist to watch beyond. She is breaking boundaries and creating waves with her unique sound and message. I can't wait to see what she does next. Congratulations, Qing Madi, on being the next Up Next artist for Nigeria!

If you want to listen to Qing Madi's music and learn more about her, head over to Apple Music and check out his Up Next playlist. You won't regret it!”.

Go and check out the tremendous Qing Madi. Her self-titled E.P. is exceptional. There was quite a lot of love around it when it arrived last month. Here is one such review. Next year is going to be one where this teenage artist will get her music played around the world, visit new countries and ensure that she is a name that is talked about as one of the best out there. Even if it is early in her career, you can already hear and see the sparks already. A huge and fascinating musical proposition:

“Her debut EP 'Qing Madi' is a bold announcement of her desire to carve a niche for herself. While her most striking feature is her vocals which she effortlessly deploys to mold R&B melodies, it wouldn't take long for listeners to be drawn to her ability to express herself in the chic and vibrant manner expected of a Gen. Z R&B act.

Like a teenage music star, she explores the familiar subject of ambitions and desires from a teenage perspective that creates originality and relatability amongst the young audience who will form her consumer base.

When she talks about her ambitions in 'Madi's Medley' it's with the exciting dreams of a youngster. She shows teenage glee in 'Ole' where she confesses to covetting another person's partner and in 'See Finish', her writing and cadences of a juvenile music star It's these visibly young approach and age-relatable qualities that give her music an admirable identity.

Her vocals and melody-molding ability drive the EP while she shows the multiplicity of her influences. Her style is quintessentially R&B with her vocals comfortable on the beat and the music filled with lyrics as opposed to the scanty wordings of Pop music.

Even when she sings on Afrobeats arrangements in 'Vision' and 'American Love' she molds R&B melody while infusing very little if not negligible pidgin English and Yoruba.

While she finds herself operating in a Nigerian mainstream where significant domestication in the form of language and production is needed, Qing Madi's music is significantly Westernized. On the rare occasion that she speaks Pidgin or Yoruba, she does it in a Westernized way that makes it unnoticeable.

The very nature of her music takes it away from the mass market and places it among niche consumers, especially those in her age grade who are conversant with the Western variant of the teenage R&B and Pop music she makes.

Even the average Nigerian whose daily music consumption mainly comprises lamba (Nigerian street slang) driven Afropop cuts and Street Hop party starters will struggle to hear some of her lyrics.

Some listeners will find the highly Westernized style of music reminiscent of Nigerian international superstar Tems whom she strikingly sounds like in 'Chargie'.

Qing Madi packs impressive talent for a teenager and this is on full display on her EP. With vocal ability and penmanship in place, it's time for her to learn domestication if she desires to service beyond a niche teenage audience. There's no doubt she has what it takes to achieve this”.

Go and follow the brilliant Qing Madi. Such a strong and promising artist who is being spotlighted as a name to watch next year. You can see why that is. Qing Madi is a brilliant E.P. from this rising talent. I am excited to see where she heads next. If you are unfamiliar with Qing Madi, go and familiarise yourself now. I feel she will be making big and stunning steps for…

MANY years more.

____________

Follow Qing Madi

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Songs from the Best Synth-Pop Albums Ever

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

IN THIS PHOTO: Yazoo (Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet)

 

Songs from the Best Synth-Pop Albums Ever

__________

FOR this Digital Mixtape…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Tegan and Sara/PHOTO CREDIT: Pamela Littky

I have been thinking about some classic Synth-Pop albums from throughout the years. When Christmas music is being played more widely, I have been trying to balance it with other genres. Maybe Synth-Pop has not been in my rotation as much as it should be. To rectify that, I have been listening through some of the all-time best Synth-Pop albums. Some go back decades, whereas there are some that are more recent. Maybe it is a bit random, though I thought it would be nice to assemble songs from some amazing Synth-Pop albums. Thanks to articles like this, this and this for providing some guidance. Whilst some are pure Synth-Pop, there are others that mix genres together – though Synth-Pop is a defining characteristic. If you are familiar with the genre or need a bit of an introduction, then this playlist below should give you a window into…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Tears for Fears (Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith) in 1984/PHOTO CREDIT: Peter Noble/Redferns

SOME classic albums.

FEATURE: A Bright Year for Music Ahead… Selections from Vevo's DSCVR Artists to Watch 2024

FEATURE:

 

 

A Bright Year for Music Ahead…

IN THIS PHOTO: Qing Madi

 

Selections from Vevo's DSCVR Artists to Watch 2024

__________

I am going to do a few of these playlists…

 IN THIS PHOTO: The Last Dinner Party/PHOTO CREDIT: Melinda Oswandel Photo

before January. A lot of sites and publications are naming their names to watch in 2024. There will be some overlap though, depending on whose list it is, you get different artists. The one I want to start with is Vevo's DSCVR Artists to Watch. I think that they have highlighted some really great artists we need to look out for next year. Some are fairly established and known to most, though there are a fair few coming through. I will end with a playlist featuring cuts from the artists named:

“New year, new playlist? Absolutely. VEVO, the video hosting powerhouse and official YouTube partner, has unveiled the 2024 list of up-and-coming artists climbing the charts, set to make waves as we turn the pages of another year. “DSCVR Artists To Watch” is an annual taste-maker program, now in its tenth year, spotlighting emerging global artists poised to break through in the year ahead. Starting Wednesday, November 8th, Vevo’s DSCVR ATW will showcase high-quality live performance video content from the class of 2024, with two unique performances from each artist, shot exclusively for Vevo.

“For the past decade, we’ve had the privilege of watching the alumni of this program go from talented emerging artists to global superstars,” said JP Evangelista, SVP, Content, Programming and Marketing, at Vevo. “From Billie Eilish to Sam Fender, Ice Spice to Wet Leg, to Feid and beyond, the exceptional amount of diverse talent our past list members have is astounding, to say the least. Today, we are thrilled to announce the lineup for 2024.”

The program is one of the most highly anticipated and competitive lists in the emerging music space—this year, they received more than 600 submissions. The artists and bands that make it to the selection receive critical exposure and promotion, as they will be marketed and featured in Vevo’s expert music video programming via playlists and editorial features across Vevo’s network, including YouTube and connected TV platforms, helping propel their careers.

Check out the full list:

Vevo’s 2024 DSCVR “Artists to Watch” are:

– Chappell Roan (Island/UMG)
– Elmiene (Polydor, UMG)
– Florentina (Good Kid Records & Polydor x Island Records/UMG)
– Fridayy (Def Jam/UMG)
– HARLEY (Sony Music France, RCA Records)
– Jazzy (Polydor, UMG)
– Judeline (Interscope Latin)
– Khamari (RCA/SME)
– Libianca (5K Records/RCA)
– LU KALA (AWAL)
– Mae Stephens (EMI, UMG)
– Nathan Galante (UMLE/UMG)
– Olly (Epic Records Italy)
– Qing Madi (Columbia/SME)
– Sarah Kinsley (Verve/UMG)
– ScarLip (Epic/SME)
– Strandz (Epic/SME)
– Teezo Touchdown (RCA/SME)
– The Last Dinner Party (Island Records, UMG)”.

One of the first of many lists that highlight artists we need to be aware of in 2024, the playlist below is a bounty of brilliant music across multiple genes! Some of these artists are new to me. A banquet of great artists we need on our radar, check out Vevo's DSCVR Artists to Watch. There are…

SOME real gems to behold.

FEATURE: The Kate Bush Interview Archive: Roger Trilling: Details (1994)

FEATURE:

 

 

The Kate Bush Interview Archive

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993 (even though she was not happy at the time with the photos/shoot, Bush is captured at a crucial and interesting stage of her career)/PHOTO CREDIT: John Stoddart

 

Roger Trilling: Details (1994)

__________

I do not normally…

include entire interviews in The Kate Bush Interview Archive but, as this one is fascinating and quite tense, I wanted to highlight it. There was not a lot of press  around Kate Bush in 1994. Shortly after The Red Shoes came out (November 1993) and her short film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve was released (it premiered in 1993 but was released in the U.K. in 1994), there was still this interest. A reason why her interview with Roger Trilling of the U.S. publication Details is fascinating is because of the questions asked. Some are very personal. Kate Bush, as always, fielding them with dignity and patience. Rubbeband Girl (from The Red Shoes) has a video out in the U.S. - and, whilst it did not do that well, there was still some buzz from America. It is amazing that, over fifteen years since her debut single, Bush was still being talked about like a celebrity! Like it was a tabloid newspaper or magazine featuring someone’s personal life, rather than an artist. How much focus was there on the music?! In March 1994, this fascinating interview was published in a U.S. publication. I wonder whether it was encounters like this that took Bush out of the spotlight and music until 2005 (she did the odd thing but was much less active after 1994):

“KATE BUSH

A tightly wound conversation with the Rubberband Girl

{Details} Hi, Kate. You're in from Kent, right?

{K} Yes. That sounds like the country, but it's really southeast London.

{D} You live in the 'burbs?

{K} Yeah. I'd like to live in the country, but I need to get into London, and I don't think I'd have been able to put my film [ The Line, the Cross, the Curve ] together and work on the album if I couldn't center it at my house. I'd love to make albums quicker, but it always ends up being more involved than I initially think it will be.

{D} Because the songs change shape?

{K} Yeah, they take on their own life, and I end up being dragged along behind them. I write quickly, but then ideas for arrangements and sometimes the actual structures for the songs change. Usually I get to a point where I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish it, and then once I'm over that bump it's not so bad.

{D} How does that sit with [boyfriend and coproducer] Del?

{K} He's my partner in the whole process. Most of the time it's just him and myself, and we bring musicians in for layering. It's quite intimate; there's not many people involved, and most of them I've known for a long time so they're close friends.

{D} It seems that you love transcendent things...

{K} I have a fascination with putting together opposites.

{D} Like what?

{K} Like ancient acoustic instruments and synthesizers. Or like Irish music: It's so full of life, and yet at the same time there's this incredible tension, a poignance that also makes it very sad.

{D} You say in one of your lyrics that life and love are sad. When did you decide that?

{K} It was a line from Jospeh Campbell, and I'm not saying it's something I believe--quite often there are things said in a song that I don't believe at all, but they are beliefs of other people, and sometimes that's very relevant.

{D} Hmm. Have you found joy in romantic love?

{K} Yeah, I think so. But there's also a great deal of joy in love that isn't necessarily romantic.

{D} Can you read music?

{K} No. I learned to read when I was young--I played the violin--but my heart wasn't in it. What was fun was finding my own way, being allowed to dive off and play for hours on my father's piano.

{D} Do you still improvise?

{K} Not like I did, and there was a big attempt on this album [ The Red Shoes ] to get back to that. With the last three albums, I've been writing straight onto tape, but actually sitting and playing the piano without the technology all around me was really good. "Top of the City" was written like that.

{D} When you play the piano, do you ever go in directions other than songs?

{K} I might start off doing that, but it always ends up being a song. I think there's a great desire in me to tell stories.

{D} How important is popularity to you?

{K} It's not something I have big ambitions about.

{D} So do members of your cult scare the shit out of you?

{K} My *cult*!? What cult?

{D} You have a cult. C'mon, don't be coy.

{K} (laughs) What kind of cult? There is a figure that is adored, but I'd question very strongly that it's me. My work speaks far more eloquently than I do, and if people get anything at all out of the tracks, whether it's what I intended or not, then that's great. But I don't care if people like me or not--I am what I am, I do the best I can, and that's what matters.

{D} A friend of mine said he got the feeling from your music that you don't feel accountable to anyone else.

{K} (laughs) Well, we are slaves to ourselves, but it could be worse.

{D} Is that why you've never had kids?

{K} Huh? That's very personal.

{D} Well, would you?

{K} I would like to have kids, yeah.

{D} More so since your mum died?

{K} It's certainly loss that heightens the realization that life is short--

{D} And art is long.

{K} (laughs) Sometimes. Not always.

{D} What's the most irritating thing about other people?

{K} Maybe it's just their way of expressing themselves, but sometimes people like to make things difficult.

{D} Including you?

{K} Yeah. But obviously people ultimately only have to answer to themselves.

{D} The thing I hate most is having to please myself.

{K} Why?

{D} My self isn't worth it.

{K} Oh, but it is! Most of the creative process is just one disappointment after another, but hopefully, as you move through life, a little less so each time. It's never perfect. In fact, it's important that it's imperfect. That's why I don't listen to my old stuff; I can't remember when I heard anything before Hounds of Love. To finish something is the achievement--then let go and do something new.

{D} That sounds very idealistic.

{K} Not at all. Most of the people I know never listen to their old music. It's so unattractive, particularly the further back it goes. There's such a lot to date it....Do you have the time? I have to keep an eye on the time”.

Nearly thirty years ago, Bush was doing promotion still for The Red Shoes and various singles. After that, there was occasional interviews and appearances. It was a moment when she was taking stock and thinking of her next move. I feel it was a period when she faced tragedy and disappointment, so she wanted to take some time out. Her mother died in 1992. She was in a relationship with Dan McIntosh, yet she split from Del Palmer (whom she was involved with for many years). The Red Shoes was not a huge critical success. U.S. commercial acclaim was minor. This, coupled with a negative reaction to The Line, the Cross and the Curve meant she did need to regroup and recharge. A time when she could breathe and not have the pressure of releasing another album so soon. I guess it is impressive that EMI allowed her so long before her next album came – a twelve-year gap is not something most modern artists would be afforded. These 1993 and 1994 interviews and really interesting. It was a career period where Bush was thinking of her current work in addition to considering family and taking a career break. The Details/Roger Trilling chat is quite illuminating and memorable! That is why I want to pull it in without amendments or redaction. In spite of some difficult and overly-personal questions, Kate Bush remains such…

A consummate professional.

FEATURE: Mulled Wine and Coventry Carol: The Evolution and Diversity of Christmas Songs – and Why We Still Favour the Classics

FEATURE:

 

 

Mulled Wine and Coventry Carol

 PHOTO CREDIT: Karolina Grabowska/Pexels

The Evolution and Diversity of Christmas Songs – and Why We Still Favour the Classics

__________

IT is interesting how…

Christmas songs have evolved and altered through the years. Not only in terms of their sound. The language and phrases used. Of course, for most of us, our earliest memories might have been Christmas carols. I sung them at school. Briefly part of the school choir, there would be an assembly every year where we’d sing carols. I was aware of more popular and conventional radio songs that relate to Christmas and the holiday period. Whilst I don’t think they are as broad as they could be in terms of covering various faiths and beliefs, there has differently been an expansion regarding tone and mood. Once was the time where pretty much every Christmas recording was positive and joyful. Maybe quite cliché in terms of the images and sentiments. The standard setting of chestnuts on open fires. Spending time at home, snow outside, presents under the tree etc. I am not sure when things changed regarding ‘alternative’ Christmas songs - yet I like how Christmas music has developed to multiple genres. This year is already offering a diverse range of Christmas/holiday takes. As I say, most of the Christmas songs reaching us are from Western religions and artists. If the song is more traditional and conventional, there are elements of the Christian faith. I am going to end by looking to music in general and how, after such a dreadful year, there need to be messages of hope and togetherness in music. Christmas music is very much about that time with family and enjoying the season. If one does not want that endless optimism and some of the more stereotyped and overused Christmas lines, there are songs that provide this alternate take. The song below, Coventry Carol, is from Collette Cooper’s wonderful E.P., Darkside of Christmas - Chapter 2. It was recorded alongside actress Maxine Peake. Cooper’s voice has this rawness, smokiness (with brandy notes) and depth that gives appropriate gravitas to a haunting, timely song. Darkside of Christmas - Chapter 2 deals with love, loss and empathy. So much wit, soulfulness, power, humour and nuance. There are so many emotions, visions, memorable scenes, stunning layers and sights that one is treated to throughout the E.P. From Maxine Peake wonderfully opening When the Snow Falls by reciting a poem (written by Collette Cooper), we get one of Cooper’s most arresting and evocative vocals. Lost Soul (Peace of Mind) has smokiness, swing and electricity. It is a musical and vocal shift that shows the versatility and talent of Cooper and her band. Finishing with Coventry Carol, Collette Cooper’s rendition is haunting and teasing at the same time. Quite epic and almost choral, there is this incredible take on a song that gives it new meaning and impact. The entire E.P. is so memorable that I found myself coming back to it time and time again. One of our most distinct and finest musical voices.

As the E.P. title suggests, it is a less traditional viewpoint of Christmas. Coventry Carol is Cooper’s unique take on an old carol. With its theme of war and strife, it is strangely and sadly relatable in terms of today’s headlines. It shows that, regardless of when a song was recorded, themes like war and division will always appear in the landscape. It makes me think that, at a time when many songs are positive and ignore darker and more harrowing sides of life, maybe there should be more Christmas songs that reflect besieged nations and worrying events. Offering hope to people affected. Discussing how other people are experiencing Christmas. In a more hostile land that any of us will. Of course, most people want cheer and that hope through Christmas music. I am going to discuss modern Christmas music, and how a broader and more genre-hopping scene means Christmas music is wider-reaching. Even if there have been few modern classics that rival the legendary Christmas songs – something I shall also discuss -, there is this blend of less optimist/alternative ones together with those that have a more traditional mindset. As this article explores, there was a definite need for cheerier and more hopeful Christmas song when the world was afflicted by war:

“The earliest record of Christmas music dates back to the Middle Ages with songs inspired by Christian Bible verses, such as the still-popular hymns “What Child Is This?” and “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”. In the 1700s, German composer George Frederic Handel published a collection of now-classic carols including “Joy To The World,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Angels We Have Heard On High,” and more, sparking a renewed interest in Christmas music.

However, prior to 1840, when German Prince Albert married Queen Victoria of England, many Christmas celebrations were condemned as pagan and limited by certain groups or religious movements, such as the Puritanism and Protestant Reformation. It was only after Albert and Victoria’s marriage, when German traditions of Yuletide were mixed with English celebrations of Christmas, that the holiday was re-invented to include evergreen trees, Christmas cards, caroling and gift exchanges. Music, unsurprisingly, changed too.

Along with church classics like “O Holy Night” (1855) and “Silent Night” (1863), non-religious tunes like “Jingle Bells” (1857) were also popularized during this period. Ironically, “Jingle Bells” was actually written for Thanksgiving but grew to be associated with Christmas time instead.

The twentieth century brought a new wave of music in America, especially during the Great Depression when spirits needed significant lifting. It was through new technology like the radio that music spread during the 1930s, including such iconic songs like “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” and “Winter Wonderland.” In 1938, Bob May wrote Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for his daughter, and, by 1949, the book was adapted into the holiday song that generations of kids adore.

World War II increased the public longing for better times and comfort, which resulted in the rise in popularity of Bing Crosby, Majorie Reynolds and more in the movie Holiday Inn. The film featured nostalgic tunes like “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and Crosby’s “White Christmas”. The film and songs were major hits, popular with both soldiers and their families at home. In 1944, Meet Me in St. Louis aired, starring Judy Garland singing “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”–the movie and song remain popular with audiences today. The 40s also produced immensely popular songs like Nat King Cole and the King Cole Trio’s 1946 hit “The Christmas Song” (“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”) and “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” the latter debuting in the summer-release movie Neptune’s Daughter in 1949”.

One notable aspects of the Christmas song is how it has become more popular. Maybe played earlier each year, most shops starting playing Christmas tracks last month. They are more commercial now than ever. If, as we can see in this feature, there have been some true classics through the decades, one of the biggest changes has been with the prolificacy of the Christmas song. Once reserved to crooners and artists in Jazz and a narrow range of genres, it did broaden out to Pop and Rock artists. Since the 1980s even, it has reached so many other genres. Maybe there are more alternative takes on Christmas…though one can hear plenty of artists keeping things warm and traditional – with many tackling old standards and carols. What particularly interests me is how Christmas through song has become less confined and utterly predictable. I can understand the imperative to portray family and togetherness when war was upon us. And, as we hear with Collette Cooper’s new E.P., there is genocide and war happening now - and so an older song about war and strife fits into 2023. I will come to the alternative/’other’ side to Christmas music. I mentioned how fewer religions are mentioned in Christmas songs. In the sense that there is not this multi-faith assortment of songs each year. This article highlights how, through the years, religion is less common in Christmas music. Once a staple and foundation of carols and some of the earliest Christmas tracks, themes and aspects looked more to the home and, perhaps, the more commercial side of Christmas:

“Another way Christmas music has evolved is through the meaning of the songs. Originally Christmas music was played in church in order to celebrate the Christmas story. Therefore, the lyrics and meaning of older songs are based on Christianity; some songs are based on specific Bible verses. For example, lyrics from, Hark The Herald Angel’s Sing, read, “glory to the newborn King,” which is a direct reference to the birth of Jesus.

Christmas music written in recent years seems to be less about religion and more about the holiday season and spending it with significant others. The 1900s is when the themes of Christmas music started to change. A large part of this change is because experimentation began around the 1920s. People started to break away from the ways of the church and try new ideas. Therefore, as overall music evolved, so did Christmas music. Common themes of modern Christmas music include: being together in the cold, love, fictional characters, and many more.

In recent times, many modern artists remake older Christmas songs. Sometimes they keep the traditional sound and other times they incorporate a pop or modern twist. Thus, it can be very hard to differentiate older and newer Christmas songs; in order to identify the different types of songs one really has to pay attention to the lyrics and meanings of the songs. For example, Carrie Underwood released a Christmas album containing her remakes of older songs such as, O Holy Night written in 1855, and new songs she wrote”.

I guess Christmas will move around the sound of the mainstream. If a particular movement or style of genre is fading or less cool, the nature and overall flavour of Christmas music will have to move forward and work around what is popular. At a time when streaming allows us access to most Christmas songs ever recorded, playlists are quite eclectic. As a child, I definitely noticed the changes in Christmas music. I vaguely recall the late-1980s and 1990s. Modern classics like Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You (1994) being played a lot more than carols and older Christmas songs like White Christmas and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. One big evolution seems to be Christmas songs moving from a more hymnal and calmer/smoother pace to something more energetic. Whilst not true of all songs, a lot of Christmas music from the 1940s-1960s was more slower. Singers like Bing Crosby and Dean Martin crooning rather than jubilantly declaring. Songs from Mariah Carey, Slade (Merry Xmas Everybody), Wizard (I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday) and even Wham! (Last Christmas) and Band Aid (Do They Know It's Christmas?) definitely have more energy to them. This Elle article charts how Christmas songs evolved through the decades. I have chosen a few example periods:

“1957

The steady rise of rock & roll threatens the viability of dated Christmas music, which gets revived with the release of Elvis’ Christmas album. His rendition of “Blue Christmas” remains popular today.

1965

In the ‘60s, Christmas isn’t so cheery anymore with the introduction of new studies on the phenomenon that would be known as Winter Blues or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The classic A Charlie Brown Christmas by The Vince Guaraldi Trio evokes a melancholy tone with “Christmas Time is Here.”

1990s - 2000s

A cohort of pop superstars make lasting original holiday songs like the entirety of Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas album (1994), Britney Spears’ “My Only Wish”(2000) and of course, N*Sync’s “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” (1998)”.

I am interested in themes and lyrics in Christmas songs and how that has moved through time. This feature breaks down word frequency, the keys songs Christmas songs were recorded in, in addition to the song length and speed. It makes for very interesting reading:

“The Evolution of Christmas Songs

Ever wondered how Christmas songs have evolved over the last 47 years? How has the lyrical content evolved? Have the songs got quicker or slower? Have the songs got longer or shorter? Do the songs actually reflect changes in society? Christmas Tree World take a look at all this and more...

Word frequency

1970-1989

  • Christmas - 79

  • Time - 57

  • Love - 47

  • Know - 34

  • World - 30

  • Just - 26

  • Day - 23

  • Lord - 22

  • Want - 22

  • Ernie - 21

Other frequent words: Merry (14), Born (14), Sing (11) 1990-2016

  • Love - 67

  • Know - 59

  • Baby - 33

  • Day - 32

  • World - 30

  • Hallelujah - 29

  • Never - 27

  • Time - 27

  • Told - 26

  • Gonna - 26

Other frequent words: F*ck (16 - thanks Rage Against The Machine), Born (15), Sing (14) 35% of Christmas number 1s between 1970-1989 were 'Christmas songs'. 7% of Christmas number 1s between 1990-2016 were 'Christmas songs' - including another version of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'.

Song Keys

Number of Christmas songs per song key 1970-1989

  • A - 2

  • B - 0

  • C - 7

  • D - 1

  • E - 3

  • F - 1

  • G - 2

1990-2016

  • A - 2

  • B - 0

  • C - 3

  • D - 7

  • E - 7

  • F - 1

  • G - 7

No Christmas Number 1 in the last 47 years on the key of B. C Major was the most popular key from 1970-1989 - Schubert described the characteristics of that key as ‘innocence, simplicity, naïvety, children's talk’. G Major was the most popular key from 1990-2016 - Schubert described the characteristics of that key as ‘rustic, idyllic and lyrical’.

Average song speed/length

1970-1989 Average song speed - 96bpm Average song length - 03:45 1990-2016 Average song speed - 85bpm Average song length - 04:08 Facts Paul Joyce, who wrote ‘Can We Fix it’, won an Ivor Novello award for the song in 2001 Christmas Number 1s from 1970 - 1989 were shorter, quicker and lighter in lyrical content Christmas Number 1s from 1990 - 2016 are longer, slower and more frequently written in a minor key 48% of Christmas Number 1s in the last 26 years have been covers What's your favourite Christmas song? At Christmas Tree World, we specialise in realistic Christmas trees. Choose from our wide range of artificial Christmas trees, including snowy Christmas trees, pre-lit Christmas trees and slim Christmas trees”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Jill Wellington/Pexels

Modern Christmas songs are great – and I have included a playlist with some contemporary greats in them -, though there is something about those older hits that remain in our minds. This article explores evolutions and how artists today (it was written in 2014) rely on covers rather than originals. Even if there have been more original Christmas songs in the nine years since, many artists still rather add their take to established songs rather than attempt a new Christmas track – which is something I will ask about at the end:

“It made me wonder, what’s the reason that classic Christmas songs are so much more memorable than newer Christmas songs? I decided to group the songs by theme and see if any patterns emerged.

I found that certain themes such as describing “Christmas in the Air” and wishing people “Merry Christmas” via song are timeless, while others seemed to evolve. For example, songs about “Being Together in the Cold” and being “Home” for the holidays were written up until the mid-1950’s when they switched over to songs about having fun and “Partying” at Christmastime.

One of my favorite trends was the transition from songs about Santa (“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” & “Here Comes Santa Claus”) in the 1930’s and 1940’s to songs about Santa being in love (“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” & “Santa Baby”) in the 1950’s to songs straight up about love in the 1970’s and beyond (“Last Christmas” & “All I Want For Christmas Is You”).

When you look at the use of the word “Christmas” in songs over the past few decades, you see that every one of the top songs since 1963 has the word “Christmas” in it. It’s almost as if the word “Christmas” is put in a song just for the sake of telling you that it’s a Christmas song.

Take “Last Christmas” for example:

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special

If you remove the word “Christmas” from the lyrics, the song actually has nothing to do with Christmas at all. It is simply a love song.

This made me wonder if Christmas songs have had less substance over time as well. After doing some digging, I found that there is no significant correlation between the year a song is written and the complexity of the song. It’s still fun to look at the vocabulary size of songs though, regardless of year. Here I’ve listed the top and bottom 5 songs in terms of the number of unique words.

“All I Want For Christmas Is You” has the most words and uses the most Christmas references of them all, which I guess is why the song feels extra Christmas-y (along with the choir and bells in the background). I also found it pretty humorous that “Feliz Navidad” has the smallest vocabulary of any Christmas song. It uses only 24 words over the course of 3:02 minutes.

Overall, we see that Christmas songs have evolved over time, from songs about fictional characters and being home for the holidays to ones about celebrating with friends and hoping to get your love interest for Christmas. While some might be concerned with the changes, I actually think it’s pretty impressive that the classic songs have prevailed. It shows that they are beautifully written and capture the spirit of the season better than any songs can do today. When else can you get kids from 1 to 92 all singing along to the same tunes? That’s the magic of Christmas songs”.

One great thing about Christmas music now is how there are alternatives. Artists can discuss Christmas and keep it positive, although they mix genres and messages. Even if classics do remain the most sought-after this time of year, I do feel that there is a lot more variety. People don’t necessarily want only treacle, snow and the traditional messages. Alternative Christmas songs can be darker and less optimistic. Not everyone is in the Christmas spirit. Not everyone celebrates the holidays. There are plenty who are suffering and have not got the advantages most of us have, therefore the more traditional Christmas images are slightly jarring and unobtainable. I do wonder why fewer artists are trying to write their own Christmas songs. Do they feel like they cannot come up with anything original or standout?! Maybe tying themselves to a classic gives them more accessible and popularity. People less willing to embrace new Christmas songs when the classics are readily available and familiar. I do like the alternative Christmas tracks and darker takes. At a time when there is a lot of misery in the world, we do need the escape and glee of Christmas. However, it is important to recognise other people and the fact that not everyone in the world feels the same. I am going to end with a few articles that show how classic Christmas songs remain the most popular – and why there have not been a whole load of new Christmas songs. The charts too do not necessarily give us a Christmas song at the number one spot on the big day. One cannot guarantee what will be top of the charts on Christmas.

This NPR article explores some theories as to why there are relatively few new Christmas songs. Even if modern artists like Leona Lewis and Michael Bublé are modern-day greats whose Christmas music could be in the cannon and played decades from now, is there something about those tracks from the 1970s and 1980s that have a magic formula and timelessness impossible to equal? It is an interesting debate:

“Aloe Blacc, a singer-songwriter from southern California perhaps best known for his guest vocal on Avicii's 2013 smash "Wake Me Up," had eight new songs on his 2018 album, Christmas Funk.

"It is intimidating to think about trying to write something that will stand the test of time," Blacc says, especially as he also wanted to expand the emotional palette of holiday music. "My goal was to do songs that felt sentimental from a direction that it's not usually presented from. Yeah, we want to get together and give hugs and have Christmas cheer, but there's also some family members you don't want to see during the holidays."

Dr. Demento, a pop music historian who specializes in oddities and ephemera, likens the contraction of the Christmas playlist to an increased yearning for tradition.

"Most Americans eat pretty much the same big meal every year, turkey and all the trimmings," Dr. Demento says. "If they introduce a new recipe, people will comment about it. 'Hey, mother, what's this?' "

Speaking of new recipes, the Dallas' early '90s band Old 97's try one out in the holiday tune "Here It Is Christmas Time."

"I talk about peach pie instead of one of the more traditional Christmas desserts, so that's a little weird," Rhett Miller, the country-rock band's frontman, says. "I mention doing the dishes. I like the idea of subverting the normal Christmas clichés, but you sort of have to love them to subvert them."

He made quite a few attempts at dodging those clichés, writing nine new songs for the Old 97's album, Love the Holidays. He gets why some people roll their eyes when the Christmas songs start up, but he's willing to risk the audience's annoyance to write a song that sees its emotional currency renewed every year.

"I really love when songs have utility and can point to milestones in people's lives," Miller says. "When songs do that for us, that's a really special thing ... I don't think there are any songs that are useful or as fraught with emotional baggage — in a good way — as Christmas and holiday songs are."

Another new holiday project, Molly Burch's The Molly Burch Christmas Album, is only the Austin-based singer-songwriter's third full-length album, holiday-related or not. But its two originals aren't pitched to the rafters the way Mariah Carey's big hit was”.

Another feature looked back at the evolution of Christmas songs and how certain aspects crept in when it came to sound and time signature. How maybe, in a modern time when Pop has changed, perhaps it is unnatural stepping back. People gravitating towards a particular era because of the production and quality of the music back then? There are many angles to explore:

“Let The Bells Ring

From the tubular chimes of Band Aid, to the sleigh bells of Winter Wonderland, to the jingling of Jingle Bell Rock, we have conclusively proved that we are total suckers when it comes to bell-based percussion.

You can barely move in the Christmas discography without bumping into a clanger of some sort. Bells are absolutely everywhere, refusing to let a quaver go by unmarked. For the most part they’re supposed to be evocative of Santa’s sleigh (with the occasional bit of church campanology) and their hypnotising effect on us is so profound that the simple addition of bells into a regular pop song can trick us into mistaking it for a full-blown festive classic.

For example, there was a conscious decision taken by the record label to add bells into the mix of East 17’s “Stay Another Day”—a song that’s actually about the heartbreak of suicide—to make it fare better in the competitive Christmas charts.

It worked a treat. The song has very little in the way of seasonal flair otherwise yet it managed to beat Mariah Carey’s undisputed classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” to number one, and became one of the final songs to make it into the official Christmas canon (since we apparently stopped taking applications in 1994).

The Most Wonderful Time

Most pop music we know and love is written in a basic 4/4 count. Naturally then, it follows that the vast majority of Christmas songs are written in 4/4 too—but there’s an interesting exception.

A handful of our well-loved Christmas classics are written in 12/8. “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” “Lonely This Christmas,” “Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)” and everyone’s problematic fave “Fairytale Of New York” all work to that relatively rare time signature.

Not only that, but there are a couple of non-festive songs that were Christmas No.1s which are also in 12/8 too. “Too Much” by The Spice Girls. Alexandra Burke’s cover of “Hallelujah.” Last year’s Christmas No.1, “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran. All 12/8.

What is it about 12/8 that feels so seasonal? Western pop music might be in 4/4, but a lot of our most cherished Christmas traditions stretch back to 19th century Central Europe, an area famous for its 3/4 waltzes.

12/8 effectively acts as a compromise between these two time signatures, and therefore these two traditions. With four sets of three quavers in each bar of 12/8, you get your regular, radio-friendly 4/4 pop beat as well as the sort of triple-count found in both a classic Viennese waltz and in a lot of carols (“Away In A Manger,” “Silent Night,” “We Three Kings”).

It’s the perfect blend of old and new. A nod to tradition while keeping things modern.

Christmas Future

All of this raises an interesting question. If the hallmarks of a successful Christmas song are so obvious, why hasn’t there been one that’s really gripped the public imagination in the past 25 years?

It’s not as if Christmas albums aren’t still big business. Every major artist worth their salt has done a cover of “Santa Baby”, or released a non-specific holiday album in late November—and they continue to do so. Sia, one of the world’s most successful and well-respected songwriters, put out a whole album’s worth of original Christmas material last year, but you can safely bet that Chris Rea is going to see more season-specific airplay than she will.

We’ve never been so granular about the production of music than we are in 2018, so why doesn’t this sort of theoretical nuts-and-bolts approach produce any massive modern hits?

Fundamentally it seems to come down to tradition. In much the same way that we buy Quality Street in December in amounts we’d boggle at in August, we have the things we like in this season and nothing will swear us off them. Every year, people complain about turkey being dry. Every year, people eat it. Every year, people complain that the BBC schedules are dreadful. Every year, people watch it.

While pop music styles change rapidly around us, Christmas is the one point in the calendar where everyone appears to have agreed on a fixed playlist. Jingle-heavy, major key pop with a little swing in its step.

Why would we ever ask for more?”.

I am going to end with a feature from WIRED. Even if there are new Christmas songs each year, there is science why we go back to those we already know and love. Maybe a psychological stubbornness that means we are less bold and risk-taking. Even if we dislike a particular song or sound, we keep playing it because it is traditional and we grew up with it. The imperfect Christmas is somehow still more comforting to some than one where we embrace something new and unfamiliar:

“According to research on regional radio stations published earlier this month by the Performing Rights Society for Music, the most recent song to break into the top 20 most-played Christmas tracks is Cliff Richard’s "Millennium Prayer," from the year 2000. Even the more obscure festive tracks – like 1982’s "Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses, or 2003’s "Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) by The Darkness" – date back at least a decade.

But why has it been so long since a new Christmas hit has broken through? “Many of us, regardless of our generation, listen to Christmas music that tends to have come through from the early seventies,” says Paul Carr, professor in popular music analysis at the University of South Wales.

It would be easy, Carr says, to attribute it to the songs being better – but he doesn’t think that’s the case. Instead, he argues there’s a generational effect where we inherit the Christmas tunes beloved by our parents. “We pass these records on to our kids, we listen to them, and consequently these records seem to be having this cyclic impact on generations,” he says.

Nostalgia is a powerful force in popular culture, particularly around Christmas. “Christmas pop songs are all about nostalgia – think about 'White Christmas', which is the biggest selling song of all time,” says Alexandra Lamont, senior lecturer in music psychology at Keele University. “All the lyrics are about nostalgia and going back to Christmases in the past.”

In 2017, forensic musicologist Joe Bennett from Boston’s Berklee College of Music analysed the elements of the ultimate Christmas song in research commissioned by British shopping centre chain Intu.

He looked at the UK Spotify charts for the week of December 25. Of the top 200 songs, 78 were Christmas or holiday-related. Lyrically, they all contained something that was either about the home, being in love, lost love, parties, Santa or reindeers, snow or coldness, religion and peace on Earth. 49 per cent of the tracks featured sleigh bells, 95 per cent were recorded in a major key, and the median tempo of the tracks was 115 beats per minute.

Songwriters Steve Anderson and Harriet Green used this information as a recipe for what should have been the perfect Christmas song – "Love’s Not Just For Christmas". But it didn’t even enter the charts, let alone the festive Christmas canon. “Audiences are, like people, not rational. There isn’t a magic formula,” says Adam Behr, lecturer in contemporary and popular music at Newcastle University. “'Love’s Not Just For Christmas' is actually surprisingly effective for something that was written by committee, but we like a sense of authenticity and nostalgia.”

It’s also wise to recognise that a song doesn’t necessarily need to be explicitly Christmassy in order for it to do well. “For me, the Christmas pop song might be a pop song which has got content about Christmas in it, while the Christmas pop anthem is more about the themes which occur around Christmas,” says Darren Sproston, professor of music at the University of Chester. “I’m thinking about, for example, East 17’s "Stay Another Day", which is kind of a Christmas anthem, but isn't really a Christmas pop song”.

I have been listening to some new Christmas music and mixing that with the more traditional ones. Looking back at the 1950s and bringing it up to date. How the Christmas song has evolved when it comes to the messages, wording, time signature and aesthetic. How there are great traditional songs and ones that are alternative. Options for everyone. Whilst not as varied as they could be when it comes to other nations/faiths, modern artists are still capable of adding their own take to a familiar Christmas track, in addition to coming up with their own Christmas song. It is hard to compete with those iconic songs that we hear in shops this time of year. As much as I love the well-known Christmas songs, my wish is that people embrace more newer songs. Mix them more into their playlists. It is understandable we go for comfort and the familiar but, with so many great and different options out there, I think we can all afford to be…

MORE adventurous.