If you’re the kind of person who craves a deeper connection to their music, analogue is the way to go. This way of listening doesn’t just let you hear the notes, but it also immerses you in every nuance of the track. A turntable brings a physical, tactile element to your listening experience that digital files often miss. I’ll help you navigate the options without getting overwhelmed by the technical jargon.
Upgrading Your Turntable
If you’re looking to upgrade your device, opt for precision-engineered record players that are built to incredibly tight tolerances, often in the micrometre range. These machines use advanced materials and clever mechanical solutions to eliminate vibration and maintain perfect speed stability. From sapphire and tungsten carbide bearings to cryogenically treated components and sophisticated magnetic drive systems, every element makes the music emerge with maximum clarity and purity. These devices can make a dramatic difference in how your records sound, revealing finer details, better dynamics, and a more natural, effortless musical flow that brings your vinyl collection to life in a whole new way.
Many beginner vinyl players are conveniently ready to use right out of the box. However, as your passion for music grows and you become more discerning about sound quality, upgrading certain parts can make a surprisingly big difference.
The platter is one of the most worthwhile upgrades. A heavier platter helps dampen external vibrations, resulting in smoother and more stable playback.
The tonearm also plays a major role. A higher quality one tracks the record grooves more accurately, which improves clarity and overall consistency.
Perhaps the most important component to pay attention to is the stylus, or needle. This small but critical part is responsible for picking up all the fine sonic details in your records. Over time, it naturally wears down, so replacing it after around 1,000 hours of listening is a smart move to keep the audio crisp and detailed.
Operating a Record Player
Getting started with record players is much simpler than most people expect. Once you’ve got your setup ready, just follow these easy steps to enjoy your records safely and get the best sound possible:
Always handle your records by the edges to avoid transferring oils or dust from your fingers into the grooves.
Carefully align the centre hole with the spindle and gently lower the disc into place.
Set the correct playback speed (usually 33 or 45 RPM) before you begin.
Slowly lower the tonearm so the needle meets the outer edge of the record.
When the side is finished, carefully lift the tonearm back to its resting position, remove the record by the edges, and slide it back into its sleeve.
Automatic vs Manual
How do I decide which record player to buy? One of the key decisions when choosing a device is whether you want it to be automatic or manual. Automatic models are wonderfully convenient. The tonearm lifts and lowers itself, so you don’t have to worry about handling the needle. They’re especially forgiving for complete beginners. Manual systems require you to gently lift the tonearm and place the needle onto the record yourself. If you tend to have shaky hands, there’s a small chance of accidental scratches, so it’s a good idea to practice on a less important record first. With a bit of practice, the motion quickly becomes smooth and natural, and many enthusiasts enjoy the hands-on ritual it adds to the listening experience.
Speed and Size
Not all records are the same size or play at the same speed, so it’s helpful to have a turntable that lets you easily switch between settings. The small 7-inch singles spin at 45 RPM and usually hold around five minutes of music on each side. The classic 12-inch albums, which most people own, play at 33 RPM and typically give you about 22 minutes per side. Older, rarer 10-inch records spin much faster at 78 RPM.
Belt-Drive vs Direct-Drive
Another big decision when choosing a vinyl player is whether to go with a belt-drive or direct-drive model. Each has its unique strengths depending on what you value most. Belt-drive systems use a separate motor connected by a rubber belt to spin the platter. They tend to be the favourite among serious listeners because they do a better job of reducing vibrations and external noise, leading to cleaner, more accurate sound reproduction.
Direct-drive models, on the other hand, connect the motor directly to the platter. This gives them faster start-up times and greater durability, which is why they’re the preferred choice for DJs who need quick, reliable performance during mixing and live sets.
Setting It Up
Try to set your turntable on a solid, heavy surface that doesn’t wobble or easily pass along vibrations. Footsteps, speaker bass, or even a lightweight table can cause the needle to skip or create an unwanted hum in your music. A sturdy, dedicated stand or isolation shelf designed to absorb vibrations can be very helpful. Taking a moment to choose a stable spot will help your records play smoothly and sound much cleaner.
Listening
If you want to listen through speakers or headphones, make sure your turntable has a built-in preamp, or that your receiver includes one. Without it, the sound will be very quiet and thin. Most receivers have a larger headphone jack, so you’ll probably need a small 3.5mm to ¼-inch adapter to plug in your regular headphones.
Speakers
If you care about how your music sounds, built-in speakers on budget turntables usually fall short. They can make even great records sound thin or muddy. A decent pair of external speakers can bring out richness and detail you didn’t even know were there. For most people starting, a pair of bookshelf speakers is the sweet spot. They’re compact, roughly the size of a large shoebox, and deliver surprisingly full, balanced sound without taking over your space or breaking the bank. Paired with a mid-range turntable, they offer a noticeable upgrade in clarity and warmth, making listening far more enjoyable.
Budget
It’s common knowledge that you get what you pay for. This rings true for your record player. If you want that warm, high-fidelity sound, you will often find that higher-priced options provide superior components that make listening to music immersive. Don’t just look at the price tag; the upgrade to premium build quality is usually worth it. With this in mind, you can make a choice that gives the best sound quality for your investment.
The katana remains easy to read before a character says a word. Put one in an anime frame, a game loadout, a film poster, or a collector’s room, and the viewer already knows what kind of energy has entered the scene. It can suggest restraint, danger, memory, discipline, or style without needing a speech about samurai history. A reader might not know the terminology, but they know the mood. The shape is old, but each medium gives it a different rhythm.
The Shape Carries Meaning Before the Story Starts
Some props do not need much screen time. A guitar says someone has a stage life. A leather jacket changes the temperature of a room. A crown brings power into the frame. The katana works the same way because the curved blade, long grip, guard, and saya give artists a shape people recognize quickly.
That is why katana customization has become part of modern collector culture: fans are not just choosing a blade shape, but also a color story, handle wrap, guard design, saya finish, and display mood. The object stays recognizable while the details make it personal.
A plain katana can feel quiet and ceremonial. A stylized one can belong to a cyberpunk assassin, a fantasy rival, or a game character built around speed. The silhouette holds together even when the setting becomes strange.
One Sword Can Carry Several Different Signals
The katana does not mean only one thing in pop culture. In a martial arts story, it can suggest discipline and repetition. In a revenge film, it can add threat. In anime, it may hold grief, inherited duty, or a character’s private code. In a bedroom display, it can mark a specific taste.
For collectors, even one katana sword can stand for a favorite character type, a visual era, or a broader interest in Japanese design and media culture. That does not require the piece to be historically exact. Its meaning often comes from memory and association.
That range keeps the sword useful to artists and fans. It can look disciplined, dangerous, elegant, nostalgic, or theatrical depending on the frame around it. Few design objects move so easily from animation to games to film to collector display.
Anime Made the Sword Feel Personal
Anime often turns a sword into a character extension. The blade may have a name, a color scheme, a family connection, a curse, a power system, or a history that follows the character through the story. The sword becomes a shorthand for what the character cannot say plainly.
Viewers remember the quiet rival who never raises his voice, the wandering swordsman with no real home, the student carrying an inherited blade, and the antihero tied to a cursed weapon. Those character types work because the sword can hold grief, pride, control, anger, or loyalty in a form the audience recognizes immediately.
Anime-inspired collector culture often cares about mood as much as material. Fans are not always trying to recreate history. They are preserving the feeling of a character, scene, color palette, or fictional world that stayed with them.
Games Turned the Katana Into a Playstyle
Games made the katana feel like a set of choices. It usually signals speed, timing, risk, and precision. A player expects it to feel different from a heavy axe, rifle, spear, magic staff, or oversized fantasy sword. It often reads as the fast build with a narrow timing window.
That fantasy should not be confused with real sword use. Game design uses the katana as a readable promise: clean counters, sharp timing, a glass-cannon feel, and punishment for sloppy movement. The weapon tells the player how the character is supposed to move.
That is why the katana still fits character builds so neatly. It gives players an identity before the plot catches up. The sword says the character is focused, fast, and risky in a way that feels chosen rather than random.
Film Uses the Katana for Silence and Tension
Film gave the katana much of its global cool by letting it slow scenes down. A doorway standoff, a quiet room before a fight, a hand near the handle, or a neon-lit hallway can carry more pressure than a loud threat. The sword makes the silence feel loaded.
The blade’s clean line also helps directors compose a frame. It can divide space, point toward a rival, reflect light, or sit quietly in the background until the scene needs it. Compared with louder weapons, the katana can make danger feel controlled.
That control is part of the appeal. The sword can belong in a period drama, a neon city, a minimalist apartment, or a stylized duel because it brings tension without needing too much explanation.
Collectors Care About the Story Around the Object
Collectors rarely care only about steel. They care about what the piece says about taste, fandom, photography, room design, character memory, and personal identity. A katana on a wall can be a design choice, a media reference, or a private reminder of a story that mattered.
Collectors still need practical judgment. Decorative, training, and functional pieces are different categories. Sharp blades require proper storage, legal awareness, and secure display. A strong cultural object should not become a careless object in the home.
The most interesting displays usually have restraint. One thoughtful sword in the right place can say more than a crowded wall trying to prove every influence at once.
The Symbol Lasts Because It Leaves Room for Reinvention
The katana keeps working because it balances beauty and restraint with danger and drama. It can be quiet enough for a close-up, bold enough for a game cover, and personal enough for a collector’s wall.
The katana lasts because it can be both a story object and a design object. It can belong to a character, a scene, a playstyle, or a room without losing its clean visual charge.
Canadian actor Ryan Gosling built a successful career in part thanks to his versatility. After the massive success of The Notebook, he could have easily relied solely on romantic roles. Instead, he opted to diversify his filmography, often going for surprising projects.
Widely admired for his charm, subtle acting style, and incredible comedic timing, he continues to be sought after for blockbusters and independent projects alike. His net worth clearly reflects his dedication to the craft, right? Here’s what we know about the actor’s earnings.
Most of his fortune comes from his movie career. Gosling started acting young, as a child performer on The Mickey Mouse Club in the early 1990s. He spent several years appearing in television series before transitioning to film. Most notably, you might remember him from Young Hercules, which aired between 1998 and 1999.
Gosling’s breakthrough came with the coming-of-age drama The Believer in 2001, but he became an international star after The Notebook came out in 2004. The film was a cultural phenomenon and established him as a bona fide leading man.
From there, he built a reputation for choosing varied projects. He earned widespread critical acclaim for Half Nelson, which he followed with acclaimed performances in Lars and the Real Girl, Crazy, Stupid, Love., Blue Valentine, Drive, The Big Short, and The Nice Guys, among others.
In 2016, Gosling played jazz pianist Sebastian in the beloved musical La La Land, one of the defining performances of his career. He continued with blockbusters like Blade Runner 2049, First Man, and The Gray Man. In 2023, he starred as Ken in Barbie, which became a global sensation.
This year, Gosling played Dr. Ryland Grace in Project Hail Mary, a critical and commercial success. The film grossed $683.3 million worldwide.
Besides acting, Gosling also dabbled in music, releasing a solo album in 2000 and another one in 2007 as part of the indie rock band Dead Man’s Bones. He also collaborated with several brands, though he tends to be selective in that department.
Ryan Gosling Salary
Gosling has come a long way since earning a mere $185 per week for The Mickey Mouse Club.
Unsurprisingly, Ryan Gosling’s highest-grossing movie is Barbie, which earned approximately $1.45 billion. It’s followed by Project Hail Mary and La La Land.
Next up, Gosling will appear in Star Wars: Starfighter, joining another successful franchise. The movie is scheduled to come out in spring 2027.
When you think of relief sculpture, you may envision the Parthenon in Athens, or neoclassical buildings in London or Washington, D.C. However, Temitope Fagade takes this centuries-old technique and uses it to create contemporary works that reflect his identity, culture and heritage.
In his cast metal relief, Work and Pride, we see seven figures, including a hunter and a fisherman, rather than deities or famous heroes. It takes the ordinary work that keeps societies functioning and elevates it into the medium of relief sculpture, asking us to question who gets to be celebrated. Right at the centre, larger than the other figures, he places the mother, the greatest of all labours, in raising a child who has the potential to change the world around them and influence the lives of many others.
While the characters’ labour and dress reflect their, and the artists’, Yoruba heritage, they also offer an alternative perspective than you would find in London, where statues mainly represent and venerate monarchs, aristocracy and military commanders. It feels more in line with the Soviet tradition, in which statues were dedicated to workers, including the famous Worker and Kolkhoz Woman statue featuring a giant worker and a farm woman.
In contemporary art, I see a similar theme in the work of British sculptor Thomas J. Price, who creates oversized statues that are composites of multiple black men and women. He creates these statues in recognition of the underrepresentation of black men and women in art, and he wants to place these sculptures as a means of representing all the black men and women in the UK, the US, and the many other countries where they have been shown. Representing the unrepresented feels like the same theme Fagade explores in his work.
What makes his work unique is the use of metal relief, a painstaking process seldom seen in contemporary art. One of the few art-historical pieces I can compare it to is the reliefs on the gilded-bronze doors of the Florence baptistery by Lorenzo Ghiberti, works so magnificent that Michelangelo referred to them as the Gates of Paradise, and the unofficial name has stuck. I’m also reminded of the reliefs on the doors of 9 Millbank, London, modelled on those in Florence and depicting scenes of scientific advancement.
Unlike these historical examples, Fagade is not capturing such lofty moments, but rather the more down-to-earth activities of everyday people that are just as important yet are often overlooked in fine art.
He does make reference to historical greats in his metal relief of Queen Amina, also known as Amina of Zazzau. She was a legendary 16th-century warrior queen who ruled the city-state of Zazzau in present-day northern Nigeria. However, unlike the historical reliefs we’ve mentioned, this work references a history that Western art, both historical and contemporary, does not discuss.
By merging Yoruba visual culture with the monumental nature of this medium, Temitope Fagade is contributing to the development of contemporary African relief sculpture. His work highlights his indigenous artistic heritage and also brings it to new audiences, matching what contemporary viewers are looking for in art.
Temitope Fagade, working in metal relief, is a welcome return to a medium largely consigned to art history and rarely seen in contemporary art. He is also using it to spotlight a history and culture that is not visible in the UK art scene. These two, combined, ensure he has a unique voice that makes his work stand out from that of other contemporary artists.
More information on Temitope Fagade may be found on his website.
Anne Hathaway has been a Hollywood darling ever since she made her debut as Mia Thermopolis in the charming 2001 movie The Princess Diaries. Her filmography seamlessly moved from comedy to drama, and from action to romance. To call Hathaway versatile would be an understatement.
Her willingness to embrace a wide range of genres has allowed her to remain in the spotlight for more than two decades. Her net worth should be substantial by now, right? Here’s what we know about Hathaway’s earnings.
The bulk of it came from her extensive movie career. After The Princess Diaries, she continued with family-friendly films such as Ella Enchanted before expanding into more mature roles. Before long, she was being praised for her performances in Brokeback Mountain and The Devil Wears Prada. The latter became one of the defining films of her career.
Hathaway continued to showcase her acting chops in movies like Rachel Getting Married,Alice in Wonderland, Love & Other Drugs, and Rio. In 2012, she played Fantine in Les Misérables. The role earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. That same year, she appeared in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, once again proving that she can shift between affective dramas and action blockbusters with ease.
That trend continues throughout her career, with romance occasionally thrown in for good measure. Other notable films she starred in include Interstellar, The Intern, Ocean’s 8, The Hustle, Armageddon Time, and The Idea of You.
In 2026, the actor is busier than ever. She already appeared in psychological drama Mother Mary and reprised her role as Andy Sachs for The Devil Wears Prada 2. Next, fans can catch her in the highly anticipated fantasy epic The Odyssey. She’ll also star in the sci-fi survival film The End of Oak Street and thriller Verity.
Besides film, Hathaway has also consistently performed on the theatre scene and collaborated with numerous brands, including Lancôme and Bulgari.
Anne Hathaway Salary
While reports about an actor’s salary should usually be taken with a grain of salt, Hathaway continues to be sought-after. That means her paychecks are hefty.
Her best performers include The Dark Knight Rises with $1.081 billion, Alice in Wonderland with $1.025 billion, and Interstellar with approximately $775 million. The release of the highly anticipated The Odyssey in July might change her personal top 3.
Are you holding onto clothes you no longer wear? Before tossing them in the bin, consider this: the fashion industry is responsible for up to 10% of global carbon emissions, and it produces a staggering 92 million tonnes of textile waste annually. Throwing away clothes contributes to this problem, but luckily, there are far better ways to handle your old clothes.
Here, we explore highly effective ways to give your old clothes a second life, from turning them into side income to repurposing them in unexpected ways.
Sell Them
Selling your old clothes is one of the most straightforward ways to give them a second life. You can sell them at flea markets for a hands-on experience or use dedicated apps like Depop, Vinted, or eBay for convenience. For a faster declutter and higher value, consider bundling items. Grouping similar pieces together can attract buyers looking for curated lots, whether it’s a set of vintage shirts, a bundle of cozy sweaters, or a collection of accessories.
Sell Them…Worn!
Selling worn clothes might sound unusual, but it’s a win-win: you earn extra money while making a very happy customer. Believe it or not, many people are willing to pay for pre-worn clothing (unwashed), especially for items like underwear, nightwear, or sportswear. Why? Because scent plays a crucial role in attraction and arousal, and some buyers are drawn to the idea of owning something that has been worn by someone else.
If you’re interested in selling your used panties online, there are dedicated online platforms that make it easy to do so. You can sell your worn items anonymously and safely on Pantydeal, one of the most trusted platforms, with over a million active members. Here’s why Pantydeal stands out:
No commission fees: You keep 100% of your earnings.
Verified profiles: Safety is prioritized through identity verification, ensuring members are over 18.
Review system: Buyers and sellers can review each other after each transaction, ensuring trust and transparency.
Wide range of items: While worn panties and socks are popular, you can also sell digital content such as photos, videos, or even personalized requests.
Pantydeal’s process is easy and straightforward: create your profile, upload your listings, communicate with buyers, and ship your item! It’s like running your own online boutique, but with the flexibility to set your own pace and schedule. You are totally in charge of your online business: you decide what to sell, you set your own pricing and choose your preferred payment methods.
Beyond the financial benefits, Pantydeal is also an empowering side hustle. Many Pantydeal sellers have reported a boost in confidence, as the platform encourages you to express your sensuality and embrace your unique personality. It’s a very inclusive platform where every body type is welcome and celebrated.
But the real magic of Pantydeal lies in its unique community. It is an open-minded, supportive, and judgment-free space, where you can express yourself freely and connect with like-minded individuals, creating lasting connections throughout your panty-selling journey.
Upcycle
One of the most rewarding ways to give your old clothes a second life is by upcycling them into something entirely new, whether that’s a fresh wardrobe piece or a practical item for your home. Instead of tossing worn-out fabrics, consider transforming them into cleaning cloths for cleaning, plant pot covers, or even cushion covers to refresh your living space. Even a simple T-shirt can become a tote bag, a car cleaning rag, or a colorful patchwork blanket. The possibilities are endless when you look at old clothes not as waste, but as raw material for creativity. Upcycling not only reduces textile waste but also lets you craft unique, personalized items tailored to your needs, all while saving money and sparking a little DIY inspiration.
Think Outside the Box with your Old Clothes
Your old clothes hold more value than you might think, and there are endless ways to repurpose them, whether you want tostart a side hustle with Pantydeal, are looking to express your creativity, or simply want to reduce waste. The next time you consider tossing out clothes you no longer wear, ask yourself: Could this be a source of income, a creative project, or a way to make a positive impact? With so many possibilities, your old clothes don’t belong in the bin!
The Apple TV stylish mystery drama Sugar is back with season 2, which promises to take viewers on another fun adventure. Starring Colin Farrell, it not only looks stunning but delivers a plot twist in its first season that is sure to give viewers whiplash.
Now, the show embarks on a new mystery while continuing to build the lore surrounding the main character. Could this mean that another installment is on the way? Here’s what we know so far.
Sugar Season 3 Release Date
At the time of writing, Apple TV hasn’t announced whether Sugar season 3 is happening. That’s not uncommon, as they might want to assess viewership before making a decision either way.
Given that the second season premiered recently, it might be a while before we get news. However, the people involved seem optimistic. In an interview with ScreenRant, executive producer Simon Kinberg mentioned they have “a lot stored away for the future,” which can only be a good sign.
If all goes well, new episodes could drop sometime in 2027.
Sugar Cast
Colin Farrell as John Sugar
Kirby as Ruby
Jason Butler Harner as Henry Thorpe
Jin Ha as Danny Moon
Tony Dalton as Ray Vega
Raymond Lee as Ji-Seok Moon
Sasha Calle as Val
Laura Donnelly as Charlotte Fischer
Shea Whigham as Tom Flyberg
What Is Sugar About?
It’s tricky to write about the show without revealing the main twist, but we’re giving it a shot anyway. Experiencing it first-hand is a must.
Sugar revolves around the titular character, John Sugar, a sophisticated private investigator with a passion for classic Hollywood films. In the first season, he is hired by a legendary movie producer to find his missing granddaughter. Soon, Sugar is drawn into a dangerous investigation that uncovers a human trafficking network. Turns out, it was operating beneath the glam façade Los Angeles is known for.
The first season ends with Sugar making a difficult decision that has to do with finding his sister. Season 2 picks up from there, with the detective taking on a new missing person case. This time around, he’s searching for the older brother of an up-and-coming local boxer. Along the way, he must figure out how far he will go to do what’s right.
While Sugar season 3 isn’t a sure thing yet, it will likely follow a different mystery, while also expanding the titular character’s backstory. Until then, you can catch season 2 episodes weekly on Apple TV. The finale arrives in early August.
Are There Other Shows Like Sugar?
If you like Sugar, shows with similar vibes include Lucifer, Perry Mason, Spider Noir, I Am the Night, and Bosch.
Premium Japanese sportswear brand Descente is gearing up for the summer launch of its highly anticipated 2026 Spring/Summer Golf Collection campaign, fronted by global ambassador and Chinese PGA TOUR professional Haotong Li.
The upcoming digital and social media push spotlights the label’s new Pro Series apparel and cutting-edge techwear upgrades, including Schematech Sky Knit fabrics and moisture-wicking compression layers engineered for the international tour.
Behind the camera, Los Angeles-based Director of Photography Honglin Zhu was tapped to helm the campaign’s visual identity, translating Descente’s high-performance tour apparel into a sleek, striking lifestyle narrative.
Zhu has built a reputation for navigating complex cross-cultural production frameworks; managing the visual pipeline from principal photography to the final color grade. His portfolio spans award-winning festival shorts like Mingling to viral, high-traffic 9:16 vertical series for platforms like TikTok Shop, ReelShort, and DramaBox—a specialized expertise that earned him a feature in The Wall Street Journal in March. For this brand rollout, Zhu leverages his unique dual-track mastery of high-end commercial polish and digital efficiency to give the campaign a distinct global appeal.
Lensing a global sports icon who has anchored Descente’s roster since 2020 requires looking beyond athleticism. Li is more than just an athlete, he is a sports legend and a cultural icon. For Zhu, the visual goal for this new Descente commercial was to translate Li’s on-course reputation into an aspirational campaign asset.
“For this commercial, I really wanted to look past the technicality of the swing and focus on his profound respect and raw passion for the game,” Zhu says. “Haotong is an incredibly expressive and emotional competitor on the course. He carries this intense fire, and you can see this deep, unwavering hunger for victory right in his eyes. That’s exactly what I wanted to amplify through the lens.”
The creative brief required showcasing the collection’s technical silhouette—including structured, ultra-stretch Pro Series pants and athletic perforated jackets—without rendering the content clinical. “It’s about capturing those quiet, high-stakes moments of focus—the grit, the determination, and the spirit of a true athlete,” Zhu notes. “To me, that emotional drive is the perfect reflection of what a premium brand like Descente stands for.”
Having shot major commercial campaigns for VOGUE China, FILA, and TikTok’s Super Brand Day, Zhu tailored the Descente campaign’s grammar to how modern global audiences digest digital content.
“Because China is so technologically and digitally integrated, the Chinese audience processes visual information at an incredibly high velocity,” said Zhu. “This directly shapes the commercial aesthetic. When I approach a Chinese commercial, the visual language needs to be highly kinetic and visually dense.”
He explains: “The camera movements are sharper, transitions are seamless, and there’s a strong embrace of a glossy, futuristic aesthetic—think clean, high-key lighting, vibrant color palettes, and a flawless digital polish that instantly pops on a screen. It’s also inherently mobile-first, so the framing often maximizes vertical space and blends mixed media or UI elements organically into the cinematography.”
Domestic campaigns generally pull from a different visual tradition. “An American commercial often leans into cinematic realism and texture,” he explains. “Western audiences still heavily sub-consciously crave that legacy film look.”
His cinematic approach in the US involves more textured lighting, leveraging natural shadows, richer contrast and a slower, more grounded camera pacing “that allows the narrative to breathe,” said Zhu. “For commercials in China, I’m capturing a hyper-efficient, polished future; for the US, I’m often chasing an organic, character-driven intimacy.”
Whether operating as a gaffer on vertical dramas like Vicious (65 million views) or serving as DP for commercials starring sports icons like Ying Ruoning and Lily He, Zhu anchors his commercial methodology in what he defines as “polished authenticity.”
“Absolute realism can sometimes look flat or unpolished on screen,” Zhu says. “My approach is to find the sweet spot where truth meets beauty. I keep the logic of the lighting natural and organic—so the audience believes the world we’ve built—but I wrap the light to make the skin tones pop, clean up the backgrounds, and ensure the overall image feels bright, premium, and aspirational. It’s about elevating everyday life into something captivating without losing its soul.”
Zhu, an alumnus of Hong Kong Baptist University and Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, recently won awards for his gangster-themed gritty short film Mingling, which screened at Mumbai Shorts International Film Fest, FIRST Fantastic Film Festival, and won the Remi Award at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival.
To execute his aesthetic to realism across tight commercial schedules, Zhu relies on exhaustive technical preparation long before arriving on location.
“The fashion and commercial worlds move incredibly fast, and to stay sharp, you have to be a lifelong student,” Zhu explains. “My approach to staying versatile is simply being the most prepared person in the room. Pre-production is where the real work happens.”
He spends a lot of time in research mode; digging for visual references online to align with the director’s vision, and then backing that up with concrete tech preparation. “For example, I will run lens tests to see how the glass behaves, do lighting tests to perfect the contrast, and make sure the entire package is dialed in,” said Zhu. “When you do your homework, you can handle any curveball a major fashion shoot that Descente or a VOGUE China shoot throws at you.”
Earlier this week, the Killers frontman Brandon Flowers announced a new solo album, THRASHER, arriving August 21 via Island. Today, he’s shared its twangy first single, ‘Plans’, which was recorded in Nashville with longtime collaborators Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado. Check it out below.
THRASHER marks Flowers’ first LP in over a decade, following 2015’s The Desired Effect. The last Killers full-length was 2021’s Pressure Machine. You might recall that one featured Phoebe Bridgers, who also released the first single from her upcoming album today.
A couple of years ago, a flood of joy was visible on the horizon of Tasha’s music. All of This and So Much More was the titular refrain of her last album, which is deeply actualized on the New York-via-Chicago artist’s fourth LP, You Are Spring!, out today. The via is an important part of how it came to be: after portraying Nacna in Illinoise, the Broadway adaptation of Sufjan Stevens’ landmark album, Tasha relocated from her native Chicago to New York, where she quickly went back to working on her next album. All she knew, to start, was that she wanted it to be released in the spring or summer, because all of her past records had come out in the fall.
In fact, discussing Tell Me What You Miss the Most half a decade ago, she’d told me she rarely feels the urge to sit and write in the summer. Now, Tasha talks about being inspired by looking at the sun out the window while crafting most of You Are Spring! the same way she found comfort, back then, in “sitting alone in my room with the radiators kicking.” But the point of Tasha’s work is never linear progression, changing while moving from one place to the next, so much as the beauty orchestrating and constantly rearranging itself in between; past selves seeping through the present; via as home. “There’s life to be found now,” she sings, echoing Gwendolyn Brooks’s foundational poem ‘To the Young Who Want to Die’ while harmonizing with Brooklyn’s L’Rain and Chicago’s Jamila Woods. Halfway through beloved cities, but most of all: right here.
We caught up with Tasha to talk about cities, sunsets, the clarinet, and other inspirations behind her new album, You Are Spring!.
Cities
As much as there is a lot of nature imagery, I think this record is also really inspired by what it feels like to live in a city, as someone who grew up in a city and now is living in a new city for the first time. I’ve lived in the city where I was born for almost my entire life. Honestly, moving to New York and experiencing the seasons changing in a new place is really inspiring to me. It’s like experiencing a season change for the first time, almost. Becoming familiar with a new place, learning to love it, learning how to be comfortable in it. is so connected to thinking about time passing and the emotional rollercoaster that comes with that.
Even though I was here for one spring before when I was doing Illinois, it was different because my time was different, my life was different, and my life was really structured around that show, so I was processing things in a different way. Whereas 2025 was kind of my first real entrance into spring. I had already started recording – I went to LA in May of 2025. I hadn’t written all the songs yet, but I’d written a bunch, and I didn’t have the intro track written yet. I didn’t have the title yet. Listening to ‘Clarion’, which was a really big part of it, I just realized my relationship to spring, and what it means to sort of find one’s footing and to really feel so much possibility.
What shape did that sense of possibility take for you during that particular spring?
I think I was just really thinking about what it meant to make a life that was really mine, and that was really shaped by my own desires and dreams. Moving here was such a big decision because Chicago has shaped me so much – both that city and the people there, and my family, who are all still there. It was very dramatic to decide to leave. I think that the first few months here were very fun, but it’s completely disorienting. Anyone who moves here can tell you that. Even though, again, I’d been here for many months, my life looked really different. I think I see those months of writing songs through March, April, and May as me really reveling in this freedom.
I think sometimes about the way one record connects to another. All of my albums are really different and have been written and recorded in very different ways, from different places in my life. But I do think there’s sometimes one song from the last record that feels like the thread or the catalyst that springboards into the next one, whether I know it or not. When I think about All This and So Much More, the big theme and refrain of that whole album and the way that it ends is this idea of “you could have all this and so much more.” It was me just getting this taste of “there’s all of this goodness to come.” I think You’re Spring! is sort of the aftermath, the fruition of that. It was really important for me in that time of year to capture what that joy and excitement felt like.
Sunsets
In ‘Special’, I have this line, “The sunsets still dazzle everyone.” I feel like a lot of what I was experiencing was this sense of, “Okay, Tasha, open your eyes, see what’s around you. Look at how wondrous it is.” I have this window in my room here with a little fire escape. There’s a view where I can see a little bit of Lower Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn. It faces sort of southwest diagonally, but I get some really incredible sunset views. In this period of what was a cycle between loneliness, thrill, and self-actualization, there was a lot of reflection that happened sitting on the fire escape and watching the sunset. There were times when maybe someone else was sitting there with me, but mostly alone. A lot of reflection time happened in this little corner that I have here.
New York – everyone says this – demands so much, and it’s so oppressive to the senses when you’re out in it. [laughs] Having a shelter, a bubble of peace from it, really does wonders for one’s nervous system when living here. This was really my bubble, my shelter zone, my little fire escape sunset view. A lot of songs were written sitting in this room and looking out the window. ‘Perfect’ and ‘Porous’ were the last songs I wrote, and those were written when I went to a writing residency in Nantucket last September. I knew I wanted to finish writing the record, and I was about to go to LA right after the residency to finish recording, so I needed some more songs. ‘Quick!’ was written sitting on a blanket in the sunshine last June, and ‘Summer’ was written in the little apartment I was staying in when I was doing Illinois on Broadway. I was staying in the West Village. And then all the other songs were written in this room, so they really feel like a product of my internal processing, my place of respite, my own sort of emotional workshop zone.
Having some distance from the other songs and being in a different season, how had your perception of the record developed when you were finishing the album?
I think there’s this acknowledgement that I get to really indulge in this joy because I know that it’s temporary, just like everything else. I feel like by the time I was writing the last couple of songs, they felt a little bit like the bow that gets tied. By the time I wrote ‘Perfect’, it was September, the season was changing again, and the quality of the light was different. But like I said, the reason that I think season change in general feels important to this record – I have a line in that song that says, “I’m falling for the changing season’s light.” Dusk and sunsets are in there again, and this line, “I’m not brave, I’m not tough, I just need to see a dream come true somehow.” I feel like I am just thinking about how so much of that whole period of time was about dream-following and dream fruition – various dreams of various sorts.
Then, in ‘Porous’, the last song that was written, there’s a sunset in there, too. Looking at the lyrics, it’s funny to see how many times it comes up. [laughs] I honestly think ‘Porous’ feels like a really big representation of what that whole year was feeling like. Because there’s missing, there’s lovers that have come and gone, there’s the sunset over the city I’ll learn to love. It’s thinking about rushing toward a dream and still having fear, but having trust. A place feeling like home; so much of this is also homemaking and what home means. And this line, “My future’s all mine” – again, coming from the last record, coming from ‘Love’s Changing’, it’s really thinking about what the future looks like and what time passing looks like. ‘Porous’ does feel like this ecstatic recognition of, “Everything that I’ve wanted, I have.” So much of life, especially as an artist, makes it easy to compare what you’re doing to other people because other people’s achievements are broadcast with such proximity. Having made so many records now at this point, I think I have moved internally to a place of, “Everything that I have, I’m grateful for.”
Home
As someone who’s always explored the shifting nature of home, something that struck me about this record is how much stock you put in homemaking as almost a separate thing.
I’ve said this about ‘Clarion’ – it’s named after this town in Pennsylvania that I was driving past a lot between Chicago and New York. I went back to Chicago six times or something last year for various reasons; I just had a lot of stuff to do there. So there was a lot of thinking about this transition of home. In ‘Clarion’, I say the line, “Clarion, I’m halfway home.” Home is both Chicago and New York, and to me, in my mind, “I’m halfway home” is pointed in either direction. At that time, I wasn’t sure yet if I could call New York home, even though I lived here and had no plan to leave. There was a way where it was like, “That’s not my home, though. Chicago is my home.” But that continued to shift as I processed what making a home meant. In Chicago, home was different because it was the place I’m from, the place I grew up, and the place where my deepest and longest relationships still reside. It’s the place where I lived with a partner for the first and only time, so homemaking was very much centered around that.
Here and now, homemaking is, yes, my physical space, but it feels almost more external. It’s about finding the people here who can be my home people, relationships I can nurture and invest in. It’s about finding places, corners, and activities in the city that feel personal to me and important to who I am. And it’s music-making, too. It’s playing enough shows and being in enough rooms with people where I get to share my music, because that’s really important to me. I really had that in Chicago. I have it sort of here, but I’m kind of building it from scratch. So there are a lot more intricate puzzle pieces that I have to put together.
Recording in LA with Gregory Uhlmann
I like what you said about music-making and homemaking being intertwined. With that in mind, did recording the album in LA with Gregory Uhlmann shift the energy at all?
It’s interesting because we didn’t have that much time to record. It happened really fast, and a lot of recording happened remotely. Greg did a lot of tracking on his own and sent things to me. I recorded the vocals in New Jersey with my friend because our schedules were crazy. Greg is very busy with his many music projects, as I’m sure you’re aware, so we were squeezing it into a short amount of time. He has his own influences and musical references, and his musical imagination is just insane. So many of the projects he plays in are different, from SML to the stuff he does with Meg Duffy in their duo, or his years playing with Perfume Genius. He can take my demos, which are just guitar and vocal and really find ways to make them into entirely new universes.
Our recording process is most of the time just the two of us, and he has a really lovely little studio attached to his home that has a beautiful garden and outdoor space. It feels very LA to me – it’s very lush, sunshiny, warm. While I think that was present a little bit on the last record, it feels really present on this one, too. As far as the references, we were both listening to a lot of really lush music. We both listen to a lot of old Brazilian samba and bossa nova, like Milton Nascimento and Gal Costa. He has a bunch of nylon-string guitars, and a lot of the record was recorded on nylon-string guitar. But I feel like that sort of expansive quality of the music feels very indicative of recording in LA with Greg. He’s so great at creating these layers and layers of sparkle. I don’t think it would sound like that if it was recorded in Brooklyn. [laughs]
How did the sense of familiarity of working with him again influence the process?
The turnaround from the last record was kind of fast, and I wanted to work with him again because I knew I wouldn’t have to go through the process of becoming familiar with someone. It requires so much trust, and I’m kind of protective of my songs or feel a bit shy sometimes, to be honest. I was really counting on working with someone where I knew I could send the songs and wouldn’t have to feel nervous or shy about what they might think or if they would want to work on them. I obviously asked Greg, “I have a few songs, I think I’m gonna work on another record, do you want to do this one again with me?” He was immediately down, which I love. I really appreciate his friendship, his excitement, and his trust in me to make something like this.
Having worked together before allowed us to work a little quicker, and it allowed me to have a little bit more of a voice in the recording process. With every record I’ve made, I think I’ve learned more. I don’t really consider myself an executive producer – I haven’t cultivated and perfected those kinds of skills – but I do see myself as more of a producer than I was two or five years ago. Working with Greg for a second time really opened up that door in a bigger way, gave me more confidence, and allowed me to feel like I had more say. Also, I just know how to communicate with him. Not to say I can’t do that with a new person on the next record, but he has a real softness to his temperament that I really value and appreciate. It allowed for a very intuitive time in the studio.
The clarinet
You mentioned ‘Special’ before, where you make your clarinet debut. What inspired you to take it up and make it a part of the record?
I have clarinet on the last record – my friend Adeline Strei recorded some clarinet on All This and So Much More – and I have flute. I think it was partially meeting more musicians who play other instruments, and just becoming kind of musically intrigued and excited by that. It sounds kind of basic or naive to say, “I met other people who play other instruments.” [laughs] But it really was a part of it, and I was listening to so much more music. I was listening to a lot more jazz and classical – which I always have, but the volume was increasing. I wasn’t really playing a lot of guitar or feeling super inspired by it, actually, and I wanted to play something else that was going to shock some inspiration into me. I don’t have room for a piano in my apartment, so I’d been thinking about the clarinet and just decided to go for it. I reached out to some friends and found a place I could rent a clarinet from. I found a teacher, though, to be honest, I only took two lessons; most of my learning was just teaching myself and doing it on my own. It was immediately so fun and really inspiring.
‘Special’ was written because I wanted to write a clarinet song. I wanted a song that I could play clarinet along to, and I could only play so many notes at that time since I’d only been playing for two months. So I played these guitar chords as a vehicle for being able to play clarinet to the song. And it did what I wanted it to do. It sort of reverse-engineered this inspiration that I needed. A lot of songs have clarinet on them on the record, and I recorded all the clarinet. It’s such a cool instrument. Woodwinds are beautiful – I love the tone, and I love the texture that it can add. It actually felt, and continues to feel, intuitive to me in a way. I’m not saying this as a humble brag, like, “I just can’t help but be really good at clarinet!” But I think as a singer, there’s a way that I relate to that instrument melodically, the way that I relate to my voice, the way that I think about melody, harmony, and composition
Ross Gay’s Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude
That brings us back to Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem ‘To the Young Who Want to Die’, which gives the album its name. Did something dawn on you when you came across or revisited it? Did it complete or guide the record in some way?
It did feel like such a light bulb moment. I’ve known this poem for years, it’s been a really important poem to me. There’s a book by Ross Gay called Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude that really feels in the orbit of this whole record for me, of what it means to write about joy and gratitude. Ross Gay is so good at that and has been a real touchstone for me for many years. For this Gwendolyn Brooks poem, many people have written work in response to it, especially Black people. Ross Gay has a poem that is inspired by the Gwendolyn Brooks poem, so there’s a lineage and certainly a cadre of people – I’m not the first, is what I’m trying to say.
But having written ‘Clarion’, a few other songs, and having been thinking about spring, I think it was maybe May or June that I wrote the first track. This poem just kept coming into my brain, and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to hold on to that or if I wanted to be like, “No, that is its own thing, it’s not my place.” Eventually, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. I was like, “I think this has to be a direct part of this work that I’m trying to make.” The line that kept returning to me was, “Green’s your color, you are spring.” It was just there in my head, so then I was thinking through all of the feeling and the sentiment of that poem. The words for my song ‘Spring’ came out, and I recorded this little voice memo of the first part of that song. I didn’t even know if it was gonna be on the record, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it. I knew it wasn’t a full song, and then I was like, “Wait, no, this is it—this is all it is, actually. I think it should just be voice.”
In the same way that the OG Tasha fans maybe will remember from Alone at Last, from the poem that I have at the beginning – I don’t really revisit that work so much, just because it feels very baby Tasha. But I started writing songs because of my love for poetry, because I was a poet, and because I performed poems as a teenager, in college, and after that. I grew up in the poetry scene. Another reason having Jamila’s voice on that song is so important to me is because we used to read poems at the same open mics in Chicago when we were in our teens and our twenties, because she is such a fixture of the Chicago poetry scene. The work of Black women poets is such a huge part of her work and her entire oeuvre. Having Jamila [Woods] on there is a dream come true. I mean, she’s a friend, but also I’m a fan, so that felt like a really important part of the orbit of this work.
Having this opening track feels like the overlapping of all of those pieces of my identity as a poet – even my previous life as a poet. Also, thinking about young people, thinking about my younger self, thinking about my love for poetry in general. Honestly, thinking about Alone at Last and opening that album with a poem and having this little moment of return and acknowledgement where it’s less about the production and the arrangement and more about the language and the feeling. I actually hadn’t really thought about that until just now, all of those layers of connection. But allowing myself to hold on to that as a tenet of what this record could be was a huge answer.
Future generations
It’s interesting how that ties into how the record thinks about future generations – not just calling back to your younger self, but considering young people moving through the world right now.
At the end of ‘Quick!’, there’s this outro, a little lullaby part. I do see that as being sort of an offering to both a younger self, but also a young person. I was kind of thinking about my nieces. I have two baby nieces, and this line, “Little girl asleep, tell me what you dream.” I think I am thinking about a child, and that is both me and not me. There will be a video for ‘Quick!’ that will come out in a couple of weeks, but I think we’re gonna incorporate some old VHS footage from my childhood into the video. It feels top of mind because I was just looking at some of the footage that we’re digitizing just yesterday, and it’s so insane to see. But I do think ‘Quick!’ really does tie it back to that. It’s for me, but it’s also for this sort of non-linear past me, and future child, and baby child now. I think there is a lot of kind of generational and message-passing, prayer-passing, through the circle of the record.
What inspires you about your nieces? I feel like there’s a lot of cynicism when we talk about younger generations abstractly, but not so much here.
I think this question feels connected to the song ‘Ending’, too, which is thinking about the multiplicity of this life, and the way that this joy and euphoria exists alongside terror, fear, and a real, almost impossibility of imagining a future. And then this response, I think, is really insisting on that imagination. Recognizing: How am I leaving this place? What is the impact that I am having? What choices have I made to make my presence in the world important, not just to me, but to everyone around me – to the world, to the people before and after me? And the response being this hopeful and optimistic insistence. I think the poem does this: that your life, your choices, your beauty, your joy, and your work are important.
As someone who’s not sure if I will have kids of my own, I think having my nieces and my nephew – and also, one of my best friends has two kids — there are a lot of babies kind of around me. I think it is the surest reassurance that there is so much beauty to witness, and also that it is my responsibility and our responsibility to make sure that they get that. That the world that they also get to receive and grow into. It’s sort of a duty, but not out of obligation – out of love.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
