Essex Honey is probably too eclectic to sound like the music you grew up with, but it certainly feels like it. “Regressing back to times you know/ Playing songs you forgot you owned,” Dev Hynes sings on ‘Westerberg’, a key line on an album that digs through memory by interpolating songs from acts including the Replacements, Yo La Tengo, Elliott Smith, and Everything But the Girl’s Ben Watt. Just as evocative are the variably abstract passages of piano and cello, the first instruments Hynes ever played. Foggy, fatigued, yet clear-eyed, Blood Orange’s first record since Angel’s Pulse vaguely revolves around returning to a formative place in the wake of grief, struggling to hold anything in its grip. Yet slipping through the cracks, and the sadness, are memories that offer relief even if you can’t quite place them, as well as a cast of familiar voices that may seem distant but help in embracing it. Hynes’ music should have hardened with the passage of time, but it’s never flowed more gently.
1. Look at You
The starting point is tricky for Hynes, who begins singing over tender synths and gets all the way to a chorus before letting it dissolve, only to reemerge with practically another song. Opting, instead, for softly strummed guitar, he wonders, “How can I start my day/ Knowing the truth/ ‘Bout love and a loss of youth?” And the question behind the question: What does it mean to mull it over into a body of work?
2. Thinking Clean
Counter to its title, there’s something purposefully jumbled about the track, which haunts one of the album’s most danceable moments with its bridge – refrain? – “I don’t want to be here anymore.” The beat melts into a cello coda inviting comparisons to Arthur Russel, digging harder into the past.
3. Somewhere in Between
Echoing the opening track, Hynes tries harder to articulate a listless, liminal feeling: “So I surrender to being just a body with tired limbs/ When the world is in your hand you can’t be inside of it.” He can’t pretend to know where everything ends, he admits, driving the point home by pasting in another oddly disconnected coda.
4. The Field
Gorgeously sun-kissed and instantly nostalgic, ‘The Field’ is built on a sample of the Durutti Column’s ‘Sing to Me’, further softened by the voices of Caroline Polachek and Daniel Caesar. The singing is so lovely, the memory so clear, that you almost forget how tangled everything around it is.
5. Mind Loaded
Hynes quickly bounces back from weightlessness, aided by Polachek in the emotional transition, and bringing along Lorde and Mustafa to deliver a stunning Elliott Smith interpolation – “Everything means nothing to me” – that ends up sitting at the heart of Essex Honey. The dance between the song’s intermingling elements has a relieving effect, until the burden catches up to him, hunching down; hiding.
6. Vivid Light
Without looking into it, you wouldn’t necessarily know it’s Mustafa once again offering backing vocals on ‘Vivid Light’, which also features a notable guest appearance from author Zadie Smith. In the same way, you may not gather that the song revolves around writer’s block – though muted, it’s hardly bereft of musical ideas. Yet Hynes finds much more precise language for it: “Nothing makes it better/ Still you try and book a room/ Hoping something comes to you/ And still you’re dry.” Something as small as a watery synth, of course, can make a difference.
7. Countryside
Questing still for a feeling of aliveness, Hynes returns to the countryside as a place of refuge, seeking comfort in the forest. If the beat mirrors the flow of air in and out of his body, ‘Countryside’ is more relaxed, but tightens as the vision seems to fade and doubt creeps back in.
8. The Last of England
After a whole lot of scene-setting, ‘The Last of England’ is contextualizing, making perfect sense in the middle of the album. It opens with a recording of Hynes’ sister and mother talking about the Beatles during their last Christmas together, subtly foregrounding the fact that Essex Honey was largely informed by the death of his mother. The juxtaposition between the soft piano and a sudden breakbeat is almost cruel, as time would have it. “My sister understands just how it feels,” he sings, and if she is supposed to be embodied by the backing vocalist, she remains uncredited. “Nothing more to do but leave, following the corners of the room.” “Room” rhymes better with “took’,” a word accented so strikingly here, but you could naturally substitute it with “memory.”
9. Life
Over a lurching rhythm, Hynes enlists Tirzah and Charlotte Dos Santos for an oddly seductive moment on the album. Yet the romance feels like a distraction as he’s “phasing all the blue out,” the colour still spilling over the music.
10. Westerberg
After interpolating the chorus of The Replacements’ ‘Alex Chilton’ via call-and-response, Hynes lands on a crushing realization that almost gives the impression of linear healing: “You squint to see the truth/ That there’s no longer your youth/ Got more things to do.” But the song eventually circles back to the hook from ‘Thinking Clean’, fuller and more devastating than before.
11. The Train (King’s Cross)
What better way to signal this transitional moment than with a song called ‘The Train (King’s Cross)’ (albeit one that sneakily incorporates street sounds recorded in New York)? With Polacheck back into the fold, the track kicks into motion with gently strummed guitar, dreamy woodwinds cresting over its indie rock backbone. The lyrics are riddled with anxiety and surrender, but Hynes keeps up the pace.
12. Scared of It
Blood Orange appeared on the last two Turnstile records, imbuing their hardcore with a hazier feel, and Brendan Yates returns the favor on a song sampling Ben Watt’s 1982 track ‘Slipping Slowly’. Beatless but comfortable in its solitude, the song awkwardly weaves in Yates’ voice, which is steeped in despondency but not quite gelling with everything around it.
13. I Listened (Every Night)
A slinky bass line instantly renders the song as one of the album’s most buoyan, but really every element blends together with beautiful clarity. Lorde comes back to harmonize over the lines, “Falling out the way/ Something made you stay/ Time will change you.” Essex Honey, then, doesn’t sound amorphous so much as mutable, a wavering subject to time.
14. I Can Go
Ilford, the place where Hynes spent his childhood, is also where he received classical cello training, and the instrument holds a spiritual resonance throughout Essex Honey. He plays it, of course, but he’s not alone: Cæcilie Trier’s cello is a graceful presence across the album, and on the final track, which grants permission to let go, he invites fellow classically trained cellist and experimentalist Mabe Fratti. Her singing – the only non-English passage on the album – has symbolic as well as aesthetic value. For Mustafa’s closing vocal, a feathery synth and guitar take over, and once it’s gone, a bit of twinkling piano. You go, but the sounds only get lodged deeper into your brain.
Elden Ring: Nightreign is officially set to launch a tough new difficulty mode called “Deep of Night.” In just a few days, Bandai Namco and FromSoftware will introduce what may be the game’s most exciting and hardest challenge yet. In fact, even seasoned players are going to face the ultimate test.
What is Deep of Night?
This upcoming hard mode from the developer and publisher is an expedition.
“Deep of Night’ is a high-difficulty mode that provides a thrilling and challenging adventure,” says Bandai Namco in an official announcement.
More clearly, it aims to push experienced Elden Ring: Nightreign players to their limits.
“Deep of Night” is a high-difficulty challenge mode designed for seasoned players who have navigated through the Night many times,” adds Namco.
According to an IGN report, the new mode affects the whole run instead of simply increasing boss difficulty like in previous updates. Also, each player will face stronger enemies throughout Limveld. Players cannot choose the target Nightlord boss. In the same way, they will not receive a warning about which one they will face before matches. Also, changes in terrain will not be reflected. Unpredictability becomes the game.
New Rewards and Increasing Challenge
Based on a Polygon article, Deep of Night offers new special items known as “Depths Relics” to balance the tough nature of the mode. These fresh weapons also feature powerful boosts. However, they also bring detrimental effects, introducing tactical variety and risk.
In this update of Elden Ring: Nightreign, the mode’s difficulty increases as players descend through the five depths. Wins and losses influence player ratings and affect the depth. The developers invite players to surpass Depth 3 and tease the challenge awaiting in the last two stages.
“Depths 4 to 5 will feature an endless battle for those seeking even greater thrills,” Namco says, describing the latter depths.
How to Prepare for the Ultimate Test
With unpredictable enemies and no chances to plan for specific bosses or terrain, players must become adaptable. GameRant says that Nightreign’s new mode is about to deliver the most demanding gameplay now that it features solo, duo, and three-player options. Deep of Night will test teamwork among players.
Release Date and Availability
Deep of Night comes to Elden Ring: Nightreign on September 11, 2025. Players still have several days to sharpen their skills and dive into the game across devices. As of now, it is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One.
Besides traditional forms of investment, nowadays there are alternative ways to build wealth that have emerged. These alternatives include investing in diamond jewelry, something that pairs beauty with lasting value which can increase over time. Combining the joy that a beautiful piece of jewelry can bring with the idea of an investment sounds appealing but before you embark on such an investment, it’s a good idea to understand what makes diamonds the right investment.
What determines the value of a diamond
Investing in diamonds is the same as investing in anything else. The important thing is to first understand the area of investment thoroughly. When it comes to diamonds, the process used to assess the quality of diamonds uses an internationally recognized scale known as the 4Cs, which takes into account the four basic characteristics of diamonds:
Carat (carat weight)
Generally, the larger the diamond, the more expensive it is. But it is not always the case that a larger diamond will necessarily be more expensive. Other parameters also matter.
Cut
The cut determines how well a diamond reflects light. It enhances its sparkle, luster and overall brilliance. A poorly executed cut can in fact visually devalue even a very clear stone.
Color
The color of clear diamonds is rated on a scale from D to G, with D being a designation for the most valuable, completely colorless stones. As the amount of color in a stone increases, the value of the diamond decreases. The exception to this is fancy diamonds–naturally colored stones that are very rare and valuable.
Clarity
Another characteristic which is assessed is the quantity, size and visibility of any internal and surface defects that are called inclusions. The fewer the inclusions, the more valuable the diamond. Diamonds with no internal imperfections have the highest grade but these are extremely rare.
The final value of a diamond is always determined by a combination of these four factors. When choosing a specific stone, it is therefore worth looking for a balance between each of these factors so that the diamond not only looks good but also retains its value in the future.
How to recognize quality diamond jewelry
The quality of a diamond cannot be accurately assessed with the naked eye. Some jewelry is often set with stones that have a higher proportion of color impurities, but the way the ring is designed means that this may not be apparent at all. If the seller is transparent about this fact, then there is nothing wrong with that. The customer should always know exactly what they are about to buy and key to this is the certificate that should accompany every piece of diamond jewelry. It is issued by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and guarantees an accurate diamond rating according to international standards.
In addition to the stone itself, you should also focus on the design of the jewelry–its symmetry, precision of detail and its overall impression. Any diamonds in the jewelry should be set firmly and definitely shouldn’t be loose in any way. And you certainly won’t go wrong if you entrust your investment to a specialist jewelry store with extensive experience in jewelry making that guarantees the origin and quality of the stones it uses. At the Czech jewelry studio KLENOTA, experienced gemologists are in charge of selecting the best quality stones and you automatically receive a Certificate of Authenticity with each piece of jewelry. This outlines among other things, the type of metal used and its weight, information about any gemstones in the jewelry and the total weight of the jewelry. Each piece of diamond jewelry also comes with a certificate from an international laboratory.
What about lab diamonds?
Lab-created diamonds have become increasingly popular since in addition to their incredible quality, they also tempt due to their much lower price tag. Lab grown diamonds have the same chemical composition as natural ones but from an investment point of view, they don’t have a comparable value. This is because lab diamonds are not unique and can be produced in any quantity in a short amount of time. Natural diamonds, on the other hand, have been created over millions of years and each piece is a unique original. It is the uniqueness and limited natural resources that has kept the value of natural diamonds stable, and is likely to do so even into the future.
Taking care of diamond jewelry
Diamond jewelry is very durable and it does not require complicated care. You just need to follow a few basic rules which will ensure that the jewelry retains its brilliance and value even after many years. Keep diamond jewelry in a box separate from other jewelry to avoid scratching it. For the more valuable pieces, it’s also worth thinking about storing them in a home safe or bank safe deposit box, especially if you don’t wear them regularly.
The KLENOTA studio provides free cleaning on all jewelry purchased along with regular maintenance checks, where experts check the setting of any stones and the overall condition of the jewelry. This ensures that your jewelry remains in excellent condition and retains its aesthetic and investment value.
Planning to propose brings with it a mixture of several different feelings all at once. It’s very exciting and intensely nerve-racking at the same time, and there’s a whole lot to plan.
It’s also the case that today, there are many ways of going about it. The traditional choice is always a sure-fire bet, but in 2025, you could also consider switching things up a little.
To help get you started, here are 8 things you need to think about before proposing.
Considering Your Partner First
It’s easy to get so caught up in what you need to do when planning a proposal that sometimes, what your partner would want can slip by the wayside.
If the proposal is to be a success, you’ll need to think long and hard about what sort of gesture they’d like. It’s about first assessing where you are in your lives (you need to be mostly certain you’re both on the same page about marriage), and then thinking about the type of person your partner is. For example, if they hate big crowds, you won’t want to go for a public proposal.
The Importance of Timing
Timing is one of the most fundamental elements of this whole process. Even if your partner would say yes from an emotional perspective, he or she might not be in a position from a practical sense to do so.
From a logical standpoint, you may feel this is the right time for both of you, but this isn’t necessarily how they feel. Just because something seems right on paper doesn’t mean now is the perfect moment – that’s something you’ll only understand by talking to them.
Discussing Your Finances
Even if you’re both on board with marriage, it’s important to look closely at your finances to ensure the plan is viable.
Weddings are expensive, and without a fundamental understanding of each other’s financial situation, planning for anything in the immediate future would be a mistake. You don’t have to discuss marriage and weddings in detail, but you should have a good handle on what your collective finances look like from a bird’s-eye view.
Of course, proposing doesn’t mean the marriage is imminent, but some people prefer to be completely stable before even considering it. Using an online budgeting platform can help you get to grips with things.
Choosing the Right Ring
The ring is likely a major consideration in your mind as you plan the proposal, and that makes sense; the entire event is centred around that one object, after all. That said, it’s really the connection between the two of you in that moment that matters, so don’t stress about it too much.
There are many different types of gems (diamond, sapphire, emerald, etc) as well as a variety of cuts and materials to choose from, and no matter what budget you have, there will be something for you that your partner will love.
Proposals are all about the small details – details that show you truly know and understand the person. For this reason, the more ways you can personalize the experience for them, the better.
It all comes down to the type of person your partner is. Take the location, for example: do they have a sense of adventure? Perhaps they’d love a walk in nature, and for the proposal to take place at a central location in their favorite wood or on the beach. Or, maybe they’re the sentimental type, and would prefer a place that means something to both of you, such as the place you shared your first kiss.
Making Sure You Are Ready
Proposal is a huge step, and so, as well as being sure you and your partner are ready collectively, you want to make sure you’re ready as an individual. Never approach proposing from a standpoint of it being something you should do – you need to want to do it.
Getting married is an important milestone, sure, but there’s no sense in pursuing it if you’re not ready yet. Consider both where you are in your career, your relationship, and even aspects like your mental health, and don’t rush into anything.
Considering Cultural Expectations
Depending on the person you’re proposing to, it’s important to be aware of any cultural or religious traditions surrounding marriage. For example, in some cultures, it’s considered a grave insult not to ask the parents’ permission to marry their daughter: you need to be acutely aware of these matters, so be sure to ask friends or family members familiar with the customs for advice.
While not relevant for the proposal itself, these cultural and religious elements may also dictate certain aspects of the wedding, so you’ll need to be prepared for this when you’re planning for the big day.
Planning for After the Proposal
It’s common to get so wrapped up in the elements surrounding the proposal that you forget about what comes next. You certainly don’t have to be immediately planning the wedding, but you should definitely start putting things in place that will help you get there. The sooner you plan for something as significant as a wedding, the better.
There are many elements that go into the day, from the style to the venue and everything in between. A couple of weeks or so after you pop the question, have a light talk with your partner about what they’d like, just to get the thought out there.
Wrapping Up
You should now have a solid starting point for planning your proposal. Remember, this moment sets the foundation for your future as a couple. That doesn’t mean you need to be overly stressed about getting every little thing right, but it does mean that your intentions should come from the heart.
It’s not about how much money you spend. Instead, focus on showcasing your love for the person you’re proposing to marry, as perhaps more so than with any other matter, it’s the thought and sentiment that counts.
There’s so much music coming out all the time that it’s hard to keep track. On those days when the influx of new tracks is particularly overwhelming, we sift through the noise to bring you a curated list of the most interesting new releases (the best of which will be added to our Best New Songs playlist). Below, check out our track roundup for September 2, 2025.
Kneecap – ‘Sayōnara’
“We’ve seen yis going mad for this one in mosh pits all summer,” Kneecap said of their new single ‘Sayōnara’ on Twitter. They’ve been performing the rave-ready track, produced by Paul Hartnoll of Orbital, since their Glastonbury set earlier this summer, and it arrives today with a video featuring Derry Girls star Jamie Lee O’Donnell, who commented: “I had the best time filming the ‘Sayōnara’ music video. Not only is it a massive banger of a track but the intense yet euphoric video is sure to be remembered. The creativity and vision of director, Finn, created a fantastic environment for us all to create something really special. I was delighted to have been asked to be involved in this project especially as I am already a huge fan of Kneecap’s music and an admirer of their work overall.”
Sparks – ‘Porcupine’
Sparks have announced their first-ever EP, MADDER!, a companion to their latest album MAD!, with the propulsive new single ‘Porcupine’. It’s “a song about a guy’s fascination with a woman who possesses a prickly personality,” according to a press release, and they know how to make it sound prickly, too.
Daphni – ‘Eleven’
“summer’s ending 😢,” Dan Snaith posted on socials announcing his new single as Daphni, which explains why it’s a little more wistful than his usual work under the moniker. It comes paired with a Damien Roach-directed video.
Princess Nokia – ‘Blue Velvet’
Nuyorican rapper Princess Nokia has announced a new album, Girls, arriving October 10. The ominous lead single ‘Blue Velvet’ serves as a kind of thesis statement: “If I was a man, they would have coddled me, adored me/ But I am a girl so they hate my fucking guts,” she raps. In a statement, Princess Nokia explained: “‘Blue Velvet’ is both delicate and sinister. It supports women’s rights and women’s wrongs. It straddles the edge of confrontation and dares predatory behavior to be reckoned with.”
Blawan – ‘NOS’
Blawan has announced his debut album on XL Recordings, SickElixir. Offering a taste of just how sick it is is the pulverizing first single ‘NOS’. The record, out October 10, follows a string of EPs including BouQ, Dismantled Into Juice, and Woke Up Right Handed.
Horse Jumper Of Love – Blue Factory Flame’, Lutalo – ‘Shadow Answers The Wall’ (Songs: Ohia Cover)
Horse Jumper of Love and Lutalo have shared their contributions to I Will Swim To You, the new new tribute compilation dedicated to Jason Molina that comes out on Friday. Horse Jumper of Love have taken on ‘Blue Factory Flame’, from Songs: Ohia’s 2002 album Didn’t It Rain. “Bradford Krieger co-produced our cover and played second guitar, and Ella Williams from Squirrel Flower sang harmony with me,” Dimitri Giannopoulos said of the stultifying track. “This song cuts through to some deeper, primal part of me. It has made me cry before. When I hear the first line, “When I die…,” everything in my life swirls around in my head. Then the first chorus hits, and I feel removed from it all — free, because there is nothing. But the amp hum left in the recording is one of my favorite things — it feels like an electronic voice phenomenon, like some spirit trying to communicate with us, to remind us there isn’t just nothing and emptiness. Jason Molina has proved that through his music.
Lutalo, meanwhile, tackled ‘Shadow Answers the Wall’ from Molina’s posthumously released record Eight Gates. “I love the general tone of the song, but also the lyrical structure felt so resonant to me,” the Vermont musician said. “I appreciate how vague the lyrics are, allowing the listener to associate their own thoughts and feelings. It’s a type of poetry I always lean toward — Jason was a true master of that freedom of experience.”
Destiny Bond – ‘Peace as a Punchline’
Denver-based hardcore punks Destiny Bond have announced a new album, The Love. The follow-up to their 2023 debut LP Be My Vengeance is out October 17 through Convulse, and it’s led by the rowdy new track ”Peace as a Punchline’.
Jesca Hoop, Kate Stables, and Lail Arad – ‘Raised on Robbery’ (Joni Mitchell Cover)
Jesca Hoop, Kate Stables (This Is The Kit), and Lail Arad are set to perform Joni Mitchell songs in a string of UK and European tour dates, a show they’re accompanying with a new EP, The Songs Of Joni Mitchell Vol. 1, out September 12. Today, the trio have served up their pretty off-the-cuff rendition of ‘Raised on Robbery’. “It was the joy of clicking these harmonies together, backstage at the Roundhouse, that sowed the seeds for the EP,” Arad commented.
Pillow Queens – ‘Be a Big Girl’
Pillow Queens are back with an anthemic new snigle, ‘Be a Big Girl’. It’s out now via their own Pillow Queens Records, which self-released the Dublin band’s 2020 debut album In Waiting. “I think people expect ‘being a big girl’ to mean keeping your chin up, not making a fuss, and politely ignoring the fact you’re being shoved towards the door,” the band explained. “For us, it’s the opposite. It’s staying exactly where you are when you’re told to leave, making a fuss, and taking up more space in the process. Living in Ireland, making music here, and not hopping on the first flight out is already an act of stubborn
optimism. And yeah, sometimes you’re crying in Lidl or planning a better life in Australia, but at least you’re still standing. That’s the kind of ‘big girl’ we’re interested in being.”
Whitmer Thomas – ‘On a Roll’
Ahead of the release of his new EP Tilt on Friday, comedian, actor, and musician Whitmer Thomas has dropped a new single, ‘On a Roll’. “My intention was to capture the excitement of heading to the casino and the major bum out of leaving a loser, with some pit stops along the way,” Thomas explained.
Kitba – ‘Tightrope/Island’
Kitba has released ‘Tightrope/Island’, a groovy yet ethereal cut from their forthcoming LP Hold the Edges. “This song is about the edges of myself and coming up against them and wanting to break them while in the confines of a relationship,” Kitba revealed. “It contains a line ‘I will never arrive at me / because all I am is now,’ that is a reference to a moment near the end of John Williams’ Stoner. The release of recognizing that you don’t arrive at one ‘true’ identity but are always in flux, from birth to death.”
Ebbb – ‘Eyes’
London-based trio Ebbb have unveiled a mesmerizing track, ‘Eyes’, via Ninja Tune. It’s “about going above and beyond the call of duty in a relationship and becoming someone’s emotional support system, but ultimately confronting the realisation that you are two, incompatible people,” according to the band’s Will Rowland. “The song explores the conflicting internal monologue around this – one moment accepting the fate and necessity to sever ties, and the next, convincing yourself to give things another chance.”
Buying a new Rolex has become a significant task even in 2025 when the watch market has dropped. Rolex dealers are notoriously known to be hard to read or understand when buying a particular model, such as the Steel Submariner Date, Everose Gold Day-Date, or even the iconic flagship Datejust. For Rolex enthusiasts, this can be daunting. However, there is a way to avoid the Rolex waiting list and get your dream model in a timely manner without other purchases at an AD.
Why Rolex Watches Are in High Demand
Since its founding in 1905 by Hans Wilsdorf, Rolex has been a critical player in the Swiss watch market. Yet, Rolex is a somewhat mysterious luxury watch brand when it comes to buying from them. Each buyer has different experiences from Rolex, some great, some bad — depending on whether you have previously established a relationship with authorised dealers. The high demand for Rolex timepieces is primarily due to several things, including scarcity, lack of openness from the brand, and their decent resell value, which has come under scrutiny from watch enthusiasts in recent years.
How long is the waiting period for a Rolex watch?
According to several sources, the waiting time is generally around six months for a Rolex but can be as long as two years. However, this does not guarantee the Rolex you want. You may get a call for a Rolex they are simply trying to get rid of, which could be as simple as an Air King. If you expect to buy a more expensive timepiece, such as a Day-Date, you will likely be disappointed.
Specific Rolex Models and Their Waiting Lists
If you’re looking to buy specific models like a Rolex Daytona ‘Panda’ or a Rolex Datejust ‘Hulk’, then the waiting game to buy the specific watch from a Rolex-authorised dealer can be even longer. A typical Rolex boutique doesn’t have set times for particular models, but here are standard waiting list requirements and timelines if you are keen to tuck into luxury watch brands.
Rolex Model
Waiting List / Requirement
Rolex Datejust 126334
1-year (May get lucky)
Rolex Submariner 126610LN
2-years + potential purchase history
Rolex Day-Date 40 228235
Significant purchase history
Rolex Daytona Panda 116500LN
Significant purchase history
Tips for Buying a Rolex from an Authorised Dealers
With Rolex being such a hard brand to acquire in a well-crowded luxury watch market, there are some tips to increase your chances when it comes to buying a new Rolex brand.
Communicate with your AD about the specific model you’re buying
Develop a relationship by purchasing other models or jewellery
Showcase your purchasing history with other dealers
Follow up on your initial meeting; don’t let them forget about you
Present yourself as a professional and a watch enthusiast
Know some facts about your dream watch
Lastly, be patient. Getting a Rolex is a waiting game.
If you’re also adding a Rolex watch to your collection, it’s worth adding some stylish bracelets from brands like Clariston who specialise in quality bracelets for men.
Buying a Pre-owned Rolex in 2025
For those bored of the waiting list, you could opt to buy a pre-owned Rolex from online Men Watch Deals or trusted in-person shops that specialise in Swiss timepieces. This includes vintage Rolex models such as the Day-Date 36mm, Rolex Datejust 1601, or even the Submariner 16610 with a date. It’s true that even in the grey market, certain Rolex models will be more accessible than others.
For example, a Rolex Oyster Precision, which costs around the £3,500 mark, are readily available, while a Daytona 16520 from the late 90s will be much harder to acquire. This is purely due to trends and demand for watches produced less than others.
If you do opt for the second-hand Rolex watch, be sure to watch out for several things:
Authentic documentation, such as boxes and papers
Dealer History
Condition of the watch
According to expert jeweller Miltons Diamonds, you should also check the serial number of the Rolex watch, which should be from 4 to 8 characters long. You should cross-reference the serial number with the documentation provided, as bad fakes or false documents can be provided to close a sale.
Is Getting a Patek Philippe Easier than Rolex?
Sadly, Patek Philippe is even a harder brand to add to your collection. That’s if you’re happy to wait for a few years. Patek has a lot of demand, some say even more than Rolex when it comes to how many numbers they sell and how many they actually make. If you’re looking for a quick solution, Omega and Tudor will be good more affordable options.
Final Thoughts
Your typical watch enthusiasts may criticise the price points and waiting times when buying a new Rolex. Yet the constant increased demand for Swiss timepieces will keep growing among luxury watch collectors even in 2025. If you’re beginning to look or inquire with your local authorised dealer, we’d recommend taking a look at the tips above for help.
Always ensure you buy the model you want, even if you can upgrade later. Rolex is known for banning resellers of their timepieces from buying a new one ever again, so if you may want to sell it anytime soon, be careful when you choose the route you take when buying your first Rolex.
Denver-based hardcore punks Destiny Bond have announced a new album, The Love, to follow up their 2023 debut LP Be My Vengeance. It’s set to land on October 17 through Convulse. According to a press release, the record is “built on themes of survival, resistance, and the immortality of love. Not a sanitized love, but the kind that sticks around even when things fall apart.” Listen to the rowdy lead single ‘Peace As a Punchline’ below.
The Love Cover Artwork:
The Love Tracklist:
1. Destiny Song
2. Free Me
3. Peace as a Punchline
4. Lookin’ for a Fight / Done Lookin’
5. Can’t Kill The Love
6. Debt Perception
7. Out Loud
8. Mind to the Mirror
9. Fix
10. Don’t Lose Control
Sparks have announced a new EP – their first-ever EP, in fact – that serves as a companion to their 28th studio album, MAD!. Out October 3, it’s aptly titled MADDER!, and it’s led by the the propulsive new single ‘Porcupine’, “a song about a guy’s fascination with a woman who possesses a prickly personality,” according to a press release. Check it out below.
“Not wanting the Mad!ness to end and buoyed by the phenomenal reaction to MAD!, we made a hasty but intense retreat to the studio to record a Sparks first: an EP,” the band said of the new project. “MADDER!, a four-song companion piece to the album, is for everyone who isn’t yet MAD! enough. We hope these new songs will take you to an even MADDER! place.”
Even when they make music with words, Hand Habits’ songs are often more about the emotions lurking underneath. “The words behind the words,” is how Meg Duffy puts it, talking about the unique cadence of The National’s Matt Berninger, with whom they recently collaborated on the single ‘Breaking Into Acting’. In fact, ‘(Forgivness)’, an instrumental track from Hand Habits’ mesmerizing new album Blue Reminder, was almost overlaid with spoken word Berninger wrote specifically for it, until Duffy and co-producer Joseph Lorge decided against using it. Sometimes, even beautiful words aren’t right for a piece of music that can transport you on its own, a skill Duffy cultivates by going long periods of time making only instrumental music and playing in other people’s bands – previously Kevin Morby, now Perfume Genius. So while Blue Reminder is wonderfully arranged and subtly cinematic, the lyrics feel all the more carefully intimate, the phrasing more precise, the singing more confident – if only to serve the unspoken feeling of the song. “We don’t need to Talk Talk,” they sing early on, sneaking in a double entendre, “too much.” Which is enough to say they’re hungry for more.
We caught up with Hand Habits to talk about playing with Perfume Genius, their old Mt. Washington neighborhood, The Blue Nile, and other inspirations behind Blue Reminder.
Mt. Washington
You situate us in the environment of your old neighbourhood in Mt. Washington on the song ‘Jasmine Blossoms’, which is a really grounding moment on the record. How often did you go outside while making the record, and did you try to make a habit out of it?
It’s really easy for me not to go outside, especially when I’m working on music. I really have to remind myself. In my old studio, where I lived and wrote that song, I had post-its on the wall, and one of them said, “Go outside.” [laughs] Because I’m such a window gazer too, and I like the feeling of looking at the outside from inside. But every time I went outside there, I got a completely new perspective. It always felt like it was the right choice. I think my ADD can kick in, and I can be hyper-focused – and kind of ruin a song from that focus sometimes. But I really made it a habit. Also, it felt like I lived outside there a little bit, just because the house was really old – it’s a really old craftsman house in LA. Have you ever been here?
No, I haven’t.
Well, if you ever come here, especially in the winter, you’ll realize that every house has no insulation whatsoever. And it does actually get cold here. I know people don’t know that, but it does. I mean, it doesn’t get snow-freezing cold, but it gets cold. I’ve turned the heat on in LA. Every winter I do. And that house really felt like the veil between inside and outside was really thin. There was no insulation. The basement that I lived in was kind of illegally converted into this living space. No screens on any of the windows, and not a screen door, so I’d always just have the door open. Lots of spiders and creatures. It was in a really magical space for living in the city, too. There are all these staircases in LA that are part of walking in LA. Like, there’ll be this random staircase in a hilly neighborhood that takes you to another street. You couldn’t drive up to our house, which made loading my gear into the house horrible. [laughs] I don’t miss that at all. It’s really nice to pull into the driveway and walk into the house.
But it was a quarter mile from the street and totally surrounded by a yard on every side. Which, even if you live somewhere rural, that’s not always the case. So I was really spoiled and just got super lucky. The outdoors always felt like it was with me, no matter where I was, and it inspired so much of the record. Just the birds that would come and sing – and there were rats, too, literally – and the hawks. In the spring, it would be so amazing: everything would be really green. LA spring is very short, and so quickly everything just gets totally baked. But there’s this really magical window where everything’s alive and really lush – if we get water. When I was making this record, there were a couple rainy seasons too when I was writing. I just felt like it was a very inspiring place to be. And yeah, it was a habit of mine to go outside, but even if I wasn’t outside, it felt like I was.
It’s interesting that you talk about it from a seasonal perspective – maybe because of the song ‘Quiet Summer’, I experienced it mostly as a summer record. But it’s also very much about seasons changing, both literally and metaphorically.
Yeah, definitely. Because you notice the change more, I think. People love to say that LA doesn’t have seasons, but there are very much seasons. They’re just subtle, and they happen really fast, too. Change, I feel like, happens really fast. When I lived in upstate New York, it was easy to know, because it got colder every day, and then it would snow. Here, it’s a little more unpredictable, but they do change. And I feel like that change is really inspiring to me, just noticing something being different. And ‘Quiet Summer’, actually, was a holdover for this record. That was the first song, I think, that I wrote for this record. I wrote it while Sugar the Bruise was being mixed, actually. So it was a long time ago, for me, in terms of the timeline. I thought the whole record was gonna be more like that, but then it just changed.
In the statement you shared about ‘Jasmine Blossoms’, you talked about the disharmony between beauty and the horrors of the news cycle – that kind of contradiction. But I wanted to ask you about another question that arises on the album, which is what we can do with all this beauty, but also what beauty does to us. Were you preoccupied with beauty in a particular way while writing this record?
Thanks for noticing that. I can tell you really paid attention, and I really appreciate that. It just makes talking about it more fun for me. And it also makes me feel like the things I do aren’t just for me only – which is okay too, even if they are. But yeah, I was thinking a lot about beauty while writing this record. I had had this sort of creative/chaotic situationship with somebody, sort of in the early period of writing for this record. And ‘Quiet Summer’ – I was still going through that, but then I fell in love, so everything changed. But I found myself thinking about beauty a lot, especially during the making of Sugar the Bruise, too. I hate to bring it up because I know people don’t like to talk about it or think about it, but the pandemic, too – I was able to be an observer in such a different way than I had been when I was just constantly touring and grinding. And it really changed me. It changed my orientation to the world.
There were times when it felt like everything was so beautiful it hurt. [laughs] Even the beauty of death – I’m just being careful of what I say because I don’t want to say something stupid – how beautiful it is to be so human, I guess. How we are so at the mercy of ourselves as humankind. There’s things that are beautiful that I find to be extremely sad. I think specifically for this record, I was really turning over this idea of a childlike beauty and wonder, and how that can be a very easy escape. I have experienced being completely almost high on it, in a way. And also embarrassed of it, kind of.
Beauty can be so paradoxical sometimes. I think also from playing in Perfume Genius, where Mike’s lyrics are often about ugly things. Ugly Season, body horror, disgust, propulsion, and rotting. He’s really into that, and I feel sort of envious of being able to live in that space. When I talk about beauty, especially on this record, sometimes it’s almost satirical. Because there have been a couple times in my life where I’ve been almost seduced by beauty…
Being at the mercy of someone, as you put it on the title track.
Yeah, whether it’s someone else, or the way that they see the world. And finding meaning – I think there’s something connected to beauty and meaning for me. Finding coincidences or synchronicities – that’s really what I think of as God in the beautiful. But how that can also just be so trite. Living in Los Angeles, it can just be so cheap and fake too. There is this obsession with beauty that’s affected me. I’m curious about being more curious about ugliness, too. That is something I’m so exposed to from being in Perfume Genius, and it’s so much more fun to play something that’s ugly than it is to play something that’s beautiful.
Being in motion
I’m such a busybody. I’m a workaholic, and I find it hard to sit still. I’ve been touring now for 10 years. I started touring 10 years ago, and aside from 2020 to 2021-and-a-half, I haven’t really stopped moving. And it’s hard for me to stop moving. I really need to, though. I need stillness in my life. That’s when I do my best writing, and it’s when I’m the best friend and the best partner, when I take a beat and not just cram it in. I remember before 2020, I found a calendar where I used to keep all my dates, and I would handwrite them. If I had that schedule now, I would have a nervous breakdown. [laughs] It was back-to-back hour meetings with friends, or trying to play music. I like being in motion. It can kind of take over for me, and I can start self-oscillating, I think, a little bit.
But going on walks was that way of calming my mind while also being in motion. I’m not good at meditating – which, no one can really be good at meditating – but walking, I feel like, was a perfect mix of: I leave my phone, and just be present with the world while still moving, trying to pause my mind and not be planning, not texting someone right when I think of them. I think one thing that’s great from being on tour a lot, that is really inspiring, is you do get to see a lot of the world go by. On this last tour I was on with Perfume Genius, I kept saying we were in the “piss district,” because you go from one piss district to the next. You really do get to see what’s going on with America. It’s not great, when you take a cross-section of every downtown that you visit. I think it’s really important to get out of the place that you come from, and I think that’s always kind of been a motivating force for me creatively.
Do you find yourself writing less, or just soaking up what’s happening around you, when you’re on the road?
Yeah, I can’t really write on the road. I’ll maybe journal and then go back to things, but I’m too tired. That’s not what it’s for, for me. I know people who are so prolific like that, and I just can’t. I need to be home and procrastinate for two months before I start writing.
The Blue Nile’s A Walk Across the Rooftops
I love the arrangements on that record, how they take these songs that I feel like couldn’t always even be played on one instrument solo. They sound like they’re written in the studio or written with a band in mind. I don’t know anything about Paul Buchanan’s approach to songwriting – I know a little because a friend of mine has been working on music with him, which is so crazy. But if I had to guess, I’d say he probably writes a lot in the studio. And I love that – it’s collaborative, you know? It inevitably will be. And I just think that record sounds so good, too. It’s so hi-fi, and every instrument feels like it has its own place. I was really inspired by how some of the grooves were crafted and what the roles of each instrument were. There are a lot of interlocking patterns, sort of this patchwork of a rhythm section – maybe the guitar is doing a lot of the rhythm work or a very pizzicato string synth patch is the driving force.
I went back to that record a lot while we were mixing, too. Joseph, who produced and mixed the record – he produced it with me and mixed it on his own – loves that music, so we would reference it. It just sounds so full and big, and you get these very clear sonic pictures. I feel like it’s underrated, too, because people know Hats a lot.
I can hear some of the intricate grooves on that record, set against his vulnerable voice, echoed on Blue Reminder.
When I was rehearsing last week with the new drummer, Sam KS, he was like, “Your songs are really hard.” [laughs] To me, that felt like a compliment. It was validating, because I’ve been in situations where people put me into folk, indie folk, or even sometimes say my songs are country. And I’m like, this isn’t country music, and it’s not folk music. Maybe it’s structurally or lyrically that, but not rhythmically or from an arranger’s point of view. I’m really addicted to how people play off each other and how they can subvert the roles of their instrument.
Darick Campbell’s ‘End of My Journey’
It’s a wonderfully atmospheric track that reminds me of the middle stretch of Blue Reminder, with ‘Way It Goes’ bleeding into ‘(Forgiveness)’. What resonated with you about it?
It’s just creating an emotion with instruments. That’s why I started playing guitar. Music is incredible in that way, where just instruments can create a feeling – and the feeling might mean something different to everyone. Like, if you say “love” to someone, you don’t know how I experience that or how you experience that. But people can feel things from music without words, and that’s one of the coolest things about our art form. That song makes me cry. It’s so powerful, triumphant, and you can hear the pain in it. And there aren’t even words. I think I’ll always strive for that in instrumental music – it plays such a big role in my life. To be honest with you, I find it more enjoyable than singing a song. It’s always been part of the records I make, since day one, but I want to keep incorporating it more and more.
That song is also really patient, but then you hear everyone cresting at the same time. It’s this psychic understanding and reaction. That’s my favorite part about playing with the people on this record – we just know each other. We’ve developed this musical language, so if someone goes somewhere, we all follow.
I went back to that track also because the guitar tone is so good. He’s such a crazy player, and he’s clearly talking to God in this way. Every time it comes on, I’m like, “Jesus Christ, I never play like that.”
Are there times when you have an instrumental or a piece of music that feels too precious to write or sing over?
Well, it’s funny you ask that, because actually, ‘(Forgiveness)’ – first, originally it was five minutes longer, but we had to cut it down for the vinyl. We all set up in the studio. Tim Carr, who’s playing drums and percussion, Greg Uhlmann, who I also have a project with that’s instrumental guitar music – we shut off the light, got these pedals, mallets, and contact mics. Phil and Joseph mic’d things interestingly – lots of room mics, but also close ones, with some distortion on quietly played sounds. We were playing with dynamics in this way. Before Danny Aged came in, there was this really long time where we just kept playing and recorded it all. I knew it could become something. A lot of Sugar the Bruise was written that way, too – just improvising and forming something out of it.
Danny came in and played on that song, and when we got to the ‘Way It Goes’ part – it’s all just one song to me, I keep forgetting we split it into two – I told him to just keep playing over the percussion loop. There were some melodic and harmonic parts, but it was pretty open-ended. He locked in immediately with the groove, and it was one of those studio moments where I was like, “Holy shit.” He just knew where it was going. We were all like, “What the fuck? How did you know that was gonna happen?” Then I took it home and improvised piano over it. The end piano part is all me, just reharmonizing around it.
Originally, when I first heard that piece – with the piano, the bass, the percussion, and all this sort of thing – Alan actually played some flute over it, too, and we effected it. I had heard Matt Berninger’s voice in my head, because he does such a good talk-singy thing, and he has so much emotion. Sometimes when he’s talking to me, I’m just like, “What were you saying?” His voice is so meditative and emotional to me. I feel like I can really hear the emotions behind the words, or the words behind the words. So I sent it to him, and I said, “Would you be up for writing something to sort of speak over this?” I kept hearing a spoken thing. I had also heard Kevin Morby’s voice a little bit, but I think he was busy or on tour.
Was that before ‘Breaking Into Acting’?
I don’t remember if it was before or after we recorded it – it was definitely before it came out. But he sent over something, and I felt embarrassed to say this to him, but I was like, “I actually feel like having words over this isn’t making it more effective.” I was scared to tell him that, too, because I look up to him, and he took the time to do it. I definitely didn’t pay him to do it – I couldn’t have afforded to, even if I tried. But I told him, “Thank you for doing this,” and it was beautiful what he wrote, but it just didn’t add anything. Joseph and I had that moment together, where we were like, “This is more compelling as just its own piece of composed music.” And I’m really glad, because now it’s one of my favorite parts of the record. When we play it live, people aren’t surprised if we want to open it up.
Joseph Lorge
Joseph and I had been friends for a while, and I’d worked with him on a couple of other things. He’s mixed some things for me before, and I’ve never had any notes whenever I sent him something. He always made it sound way better, without me being able to put my finger on why. This was back when I was less involved with production or even light mixing. I’m not a professional mixer at all and I don’t know how to make something sound better – usually when I mix, it sounds worse. [laughs] But when I’ve brought stuff to him, he just has this subtle magic, this beautiful, secret talent – not so secret – of knowing how to make the music come out of the song more. He knows how to change one thing, and when I’ve watched him mix, I’ll be like, “What are you even doing?” He’s barely doing anything, but he can really put things into focus.
I think he’s very heart-focused and emotionally approaching music. Honestly, the only other person I know who works like that, in a technical sense, is Blake [Mills], who Joseph worked with for 12 years. They know how to make something happen from a technical point of view, but it’s serving an emotional function. I don’t have that skill – I’m mostly emotion. With Joseph, I really trust him. And I think he was trusting me, too, because this was the first record he produced on his own, without someone else overseeing. He has since stepped away from working as Blake’s engineer and has been doing his own thing.
We learned a lot together. I trust his musical taste, and his ear is crazy. His ear for rhythm is amazing. On ‘Way It Goes’, actually, he played some just crazy guitar, too. I didn’t even know he played guitar. I will make another record with him. It was such a great experience, and I felt like there was room for my ideas. We collaborated super well in that way.
In other situations I’ve been in – for example, with Sasami, who produced Fun House – she’s very vision-oriented, and she knows exactly what she’s trying to achieve. Joseph is very flexible and would never put his agenda on something. Whatever my idea was, he’d just make it work – not necessarily better, but work. And I really appreciated that about making this record.
Playing with Perfume Genius
Bringing a lot of his close collaborators, including Blake Mills and Alan Wyffels, into Blue Reminder – was that just a natural decision?
Sort of, yeah. I joined Perfume Genius five years ago now, at the same time as Gregory, Tim, and Pat [Kelly] – we all joined at the same time. Mike and Alan are a couple, and they’ve been working with Blake on records. I think Glory is their fourth record with him. And they’ve also worked a lot with Joseph, who engineered all those records. Blake and I had become friends before I joined Perfume Genius – we met through LA – and he’s been sort of a mentor to me, in a light way, just being this music angel. And he was the reason I joined Perfume Genius. I remember being in the studio with him. He asked me to come by Sound City, and he was like, “I’ll just play you some stuff I’ve been working on.” And he played me the lead single from their last record, ‘On the Floor’. I remember hearing it and being like, “Who’s gonna play that live? That’s crazy.” There was this insane guitar on that song, and nobody else could do it the way he did. I was like, “Are you gonna tour them?” And he’s like, “No. They’re gonna ask you to do it.” And I was like, “What? I can’t do that.”
At the time, I definitely could not do it, and that sort of made my friendship with Blake a little deeper, too, because I would just bug him and be like, “I don’t know what voicings you’re using on this. How did you get this sound? Can you send me a video of you playing this part?” It wasn’t because I was lazy and didn’t want to do the work myself. It was really that I was coming up against the threshold of my ability. And that hadn’t happened to me, honestly, kind of ever in my life since I started playing guitar. That was the first hurdle of, like, burning through. I’m incredibly grateful for that.
Joining a band with these people – we joined during 2020, so we weren’t touring. It was right when people started getting together again, and we did this live video at the Palace Theater, and we rehearsed for a whole month with that band. That never happens. You never get to do that. But nobody had anything going on, we had infinite time, and it was very big fortune because we learned how to play really well together without going on the road. That’s not something that’s common for touring bands. Maybe if you’re a band-band, that’s something you can do. Because of that, I really learned how to play with Tim and Pat and Greg and Alan, instrumentally.
I was singing – and I am singing — all the harmonies with Mike when we play live, and with Alan singing too. That gave me huge confidence for my vocals. I had to learn how to sing with Mike, and I needed to match him. I wanted to blend with him. Some of those songs are really hard to sing. ‘Slip Away’ is like a pop song. I don’t have pop vocal chops – I definitely had way less when I joined the band. But I started taking vocal lessons sort of to be in that band. It really changed me as a musician. It changed me as a guitar player, for sure, from learning these songs that Blake wrote all the guitar parts for. And then singing with Mike and learning his phrasing and melodic tendencies, just blending with him in the best way that I could. It really has had a profound effect on my musicianship.
And then Alan, I have to say, is such a huge part of this record. There’s so much of him on this record, and he’s a secret weapon, I feel like, in a lot of ways. He would just write these perfect parts. He’s such a composer, and he’s demented too. That flute line on ‘Blue Reminder’ is him playing flute, and it’s him playing piano. On ‘Way It Goes’, he’s playing flute and also piano. On ‘Nubble’, he’s doing those arpeggiations. On ‘Dead Rat’, he came up with the most perfect way of embodying the dead rat itself, melodically. He’s a genius.
I also get along with him so well because we’re both from upstate New York. I’m really fortunate to have met all of these people and develop such deep relationships with them outside of music, and then also being able to live in this realm with them. I’m sad he’s not able to tour with me on this cycle, and I’ve had to take some time away from Perfume Genius because I need to do my own thing. I’m doing more touring with them in the fall. But yeah, that more than anything has changed me as a musician.
Do you feel like there’s a kind of push-and-pull in how playing with Perfume Genius bleeds into your outlet as Hand Habits? Is there a tension you’ve become more conscious of?
It can get tiring, for sure, but it’s not new to me. I did this when I was in Kevin Morby’s band, too. I would do double duty – recording a record on the days I wasn’t on tour with Kevin, opening for him, and also playing in the band. I’ve done that with Mega Bog. I really like doing that. This year is busy – the busiest I’ve been in a long time. But I’m grateful to have work, grateful to be busy. It can be tense sometimes. I didn’t get to do the Jimmy Fallon late-night performance with them because I was recovering from a surgery. The biggest tension is because we’re all friends, too. I don’t want to let them down, and they don’t want to let me down. Even though we understand it can’t always work out, and it’s not personal, it can be a tension in that way.
At the release show, it was interesting because Mike and Alan came, and I was so nervous they were there – especially Alan, watching someone else play all these parts that he wrote. At least me, Mike, and Alan are like family. And so sometimes it’s hard to separate work from friendship. But we’ve learned how to communicate really well with each other in terms of that stuff. I like the tension, and I am aware of it, and I need it too. I can’t just only be doing Hand Habits because it drives me crazy. I feel like it’s too much me. I need someone else to be the one making decisions and doing the talking.
Song a Day writing club
This was organized by Philip Weinrobe, right? How long were you involved in it, and how did it reorient your songwriting?
It’s one week, usually. It just sort of forced me to get over a hurdle that I was approaching rapidly with songwriting. It was after Sugar the Bruise, and I just – I don’t know, I felt like it was kind of a flop. I don’t know why. I think I just felt like no one really paid attention, and I didn’t really know what I was doing. I wasn’t even trying to make a record, but then that kind of happened for many reasons, so I was a little bit burnt out on writing songs in general. I was really focusing on Perfume Genius and being a session person, which I love doing. I couldn’t say no when Phil asked me, because he’s very persuasive, almost a bully in that way. Blake was actually in the writing group. It was very small, and there were a couple other musicians in there who I highly respect and want them to think the best of me.
The way that the songwriting club works is that if you don’t submit a song by the end of the day, you’re out. You’re no longer on the emails, and you don’t get to hear what people write anymore. You can’t come back in, it’s very exclusive, and that’s the incentive, is that you get to hear these amazing songwriters’ versions of unfinished songs that they can’t work on for days and days and days. There’s no edits. I became completely obsessed with trying to make the best thing I could possibly make in 16 hours, because I needed to sleep at some point. In the first three days, I was pulling on all the stops, I was doing a lot of harmonizing, crazy voice leading, trying to be super witty with the lyrics and reference things that I knew that they would know. I knew I was writing for everyone else. And in the first three days, the three people who I admired the most dropped out. They were like, “It’s too hard, I can’t do it.” And then I started writing for me.
That was a really good lesson to learn, because none of the songs that I thought were so good at the time, showing off my abilities – they were way overwritten and crazy, and they weren’t good, either, because it was not… true. It wasn’t true to me. ‘Way It Goes’, I wrote in that class, and there was another one that didn’t make it on the record, but I think I will record it at a certain time. I think ‘Jasmine Blossoms’ also was written in there, too. It just breaks the seal, too, of writer’s block – I don’t like to think about it that way, because I feel like that’s it’s like a cancer diagnosis or something in terms of creativity, and I think it’s a little problematic, but these ebbs and flows, and I was really in an ebb. And it also reminds you that you don’t have to keep everything, and everything you write doesn’t have to be good. It was also a great way to get into demo brain, and I was writing and making these choices and not thinking too hard about them. I haven’t done another one since then, just because it takes over my life. I will go so hard.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Yiyang Chen’s work sits in that place where theory and touch aren’t fighting for space but working together. A Glasgow-based Chinese artist and researcher, she moves between painting, moving image, ceramics, performance, and writing with an ease that comes from both years of training and a willingness to experiment. What keeps all of it tied together is a steady focus on the body–its surfaces, gestures, and edges–and how those are shaped, watched, and sometimes bent out of shape by culture, technology, and myth.
She’s now at a point in her career where her work is gaining traction in the world of art. With exhibitions across the UK, Europe, and Asia, she’s carving out a reputation as someone who can bridge research with practice into one.
In Myths of Disavowal (2024), oil and acrylic on canvas come together in a scene that refuses to settle. Shapes hover somewhere between familiar and strange: part of a table, a patch of green, a reddish vertical stripe, and a white mark that could be a cloud or some torn cloth. The interior space feels fractured, like a memory replaying but not quite in order. The title hints at her ongoing interest in how certain stories–especially about women and non-binary people–are told but also pushed away. The painting mirrors that, holding back from offering a full, neat picture. The canvas surface becomes a kind of stand-in for skin, layered and hidden but still letting something through.
Her performance The Maid, The Bride, The Body (2022) makes that metaphor physical. The work pairs a video of a figure in a huge white hoop skirt with the skirt itself, stitched and collaged with images. During the performance, Chen hand-stitched these collages in a dimly lit space while streaming live on Instagram. The hoop skirt, once a restrictive and showy garment, becomes a surface for projection and change. Light and shadow move across it with each stitch. She pulls in Laura Mulvey’s film theory but pushes past it, looking at how East Asian women’s bodies are reframed not just in film but in online spaces, with all their filters and quick-fire judgements. In her hands, the skirt stops being a relic of control and starts being something that pushes back.
The Shimmer (2025) feels quieter but still lands hard. A white textile printed with a black-and-white photograph of a fancy, object-packed room hangs on the wall. Two small metal grommets puncture the picture, and from them hang pale cords that loop on the floor. They look like drawstrings or tendons, spilling out of the flat image into the room. It’s a small but sharp move that breaks the sealed feel of the old photo, making it porous, a thing you could reach into. Touch here isn’t just sensory–it’s a way of poking at history to see what spills out.
Across these works, Chen’s idea of “becoming monstrous” turns up again and again, but not in a horror-movie way. The monstrous here is about refusing to fit neatly into the boxes people set up. In painting, that refusal shows in incomplete or slippery forms. In performance, it’s about changing the meaning of an object by working on it in real time. In textiles, it’s the body leaking out into a picture that wasn’t meant to hold it.
She’s careful with her materials. In paint, she leaves some of the canvas bare so the work can breathe. With fabric, she leans into its softness and how it can hold memory. In video, she treats light and projection almost like another physical material, layering them until you can’t tell where one stops and the other starts. In The Shimmer, the empty spaces aren’t really empty at all–they hold their own weight, like a pause in conversation that makes you notice what’s around you.
She’s also good at taking theory and turning it into something you can actually feel. While her work nods to 1970s feminist theory, she doesn’t just recycle it. She points out where it misses things, especially around race, class, and sexuality, and folds in other ways of thinking, like trans theory, to open more possibilities. That mix keeps the work grounded in her own cultural background while still being able to connect across different audiences.
Her shows have reached people in the UK, Germany, China, and South Korea, and it’s easy to see why. The themes are big enough to cross borders, but the way she handles them feels personal and specific. Her teaching and research keep her in conversation with others, which probably feeds into how responsive her work feels.
What stands out most is how she treats the body as a collaborator rather than just a subject. In The Shimmer, it’s there in the cords spilling from the picture. In The Maid, The Bride, The Body, it’s partly hidden but still driving the work. In Myths of Disavowal, it’s there in the fragmented space, felt more than seen. It’s a body that doesn’t sit still, that crosses lines, that turns its own surface into a site of both play and resistance.
Her work invites you to take your time. In a world where everything is pushed to grab you fast, Chen’s pieces slow you down. This isn’t slowness for show–it’s enough to make you notice the tiny shifts in texture, the spaces between marks, the way light falls on a fold of fabric.
In the end, Chen’s art reclaims skin–not as a wall, not as something to be put on display, but as a place where contact happens, where care is possible, and where things can change. She shows that painting can peel things back, performance can take ownership, and textiles can open cracks in the past. Her work doesn’t just stay in the gallery; it sticks with you, shifting how you look and maybe even how you touch.
