What makes us human? Is it our intelligence, our self-awareness, our ability to use tools? Or is it our emotions that govern us, that part of us that’s been with us from the early stages of evolution – a part that’s often referred to as our ‘lizard brain’?
We turn on the television or doomscroll on our phones, and we see war, famine and destruction from around the world. It feels like the emotional side is winning. Painter Cristina Starr leans into this and asks us to question how logical and intelligent we can be to leave such pain in our wake. Was philosopher Thomas Hobbes right when he said life was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”?
Starr explores both sides of the emotional equation with a violent depiction of a bird feeding a man’s genitals to its offspring and another man in a tender embrace with an alien-like figure. Its many eyes remind me of Jeremy Bentham’s concept of the panopticon, and it has been realised in what Shoshana Zuboff refers to as the age of surveillance capitalism, where our phones and cameras track our every move, and tailored advertising often feels as if it knows us better than we know ourselves. It begs the question: has technology freed or enslaved us?
In two of her latest works, ‘Tower’ and ‘Ghost of Boy with Baby Bird’, we see isolated children while violence occurs all around them. It reminds us that it’s often the most vulnerable who suffer in times of war, even if the amount of agency they have is limited or non-existent. The ones who look to us to protect them, and yet we feel powerless as we witness their suffering from thousands of miles away. As the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once said, “When the rich wage war, it’s the poor who die”.
The child in the tower brings to mind Ursula Le Guin’s short story ‘The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas’, which lays out a utopia in which everyone’s happiness depends on the misery of a single child. Just as the citizens in this story accept this child’s misery, it often feels like we’re in a similar world where much of the population, while shocked, continues as is after witnessing the suffering of children worldwide.
The style of the paintings reminds me of Edvard Munch at his most expressive, with a touch of the surreal we see in William Blake’s work. The emotion in each work is palpable, ensuring we feel the full impact of Starr’s powerful and topical paintings.
While the works are uncomfortable to look at, it’s important that we’re confronted with these hard truths as we view them, with both works on display in the group show EXI 26 at the Crypt Gallery in London, running from February 4-8. Cristina Starr isn’t showing us the world we want to see, but the one we need to know about.
You can find more about Cristina Starr’s work through her website and Instagram.
She will have a solo exhibition of her work opening August 1 2026, at Art and Talking Gallery in Chipping Norton.
The Black Forest in South-West Germany is a dense forest filled with enchantment and legends. It served as inspiration for many of the Brothers Grimm’s stories and continues to inspire. This time, in the paintings of British artist Stephen Harrison, who worked as a schoolteacher in Germany.
We may be in a gallery space in Acton, West London, but lose ourselves in Harrison’s paintings and we’re transported from rainy London to the verdant Black Forest. A hazy figure can be seen in the landscape; ballet dancers with a lit-up house in the background feel surreal, and what looks like a creature covered in blood heightens the intimidation factor.
There’s a reason fairy tales take place in forests, and Harrison is inviting you to get lost in the fantastical narratives that his works create. He’s experimenting with pastel, oil, and acrylic paints and draws inspiration from the works of David Blackburn, which we can see in how the layers bleed into one another. The works can also resemble Turner or Monet at their haziest, allowing the background image to be visible when we inspect them.
While there are many contemporary painters examining landscape painting in a looser style, think Peter Doig or Hurvin Anderson, what’s unique about Harrison’s work is the Surrealist elements and his deep connection to the Black Forest and its history of myth-making and enchantment. Magical realism is having a moment in contemporary art at the moment, and as Harrison’s work develops and brings in more references to the local myths and legends, I feel like his work would fit neatly into that zeitgeist.
Harrison spent his life as a teacher and came to art later in life, proving that art can find you at any stage in life, and it’s never too late to have a personal Renaissance. It’s clear from the work in this show that he’s building his unique style in voice in both how he paints and the stories he wants to tell through his works.
An early figurative work is shown as a contrast to his later works, and while there are stylistic similarities to his later works, it’s clear that his work is moving in a different direction. Though like all good painters finding their voice, he hasn’t written off potentially returning to the figurative as his style develops.
It’s always exciting to watch a painter refine their style, and it’s never clear whether we’re nearly there or if their work will take a radical turn and take us in a new direction. Just as Stephen Harrison’s paintings take us on a journey into the Black Forest, we’re also seeing his journey as an artist develop. Let’s see where both take us.
Stephen Harrison’s paintings were on display at W3 Gallery in Acton from 15-30 January 2026.
Thinking back to when you were a kid, you likely played physical board games on the kitchen table and card games with a physical deck you shuffled by hand. These games made for fun times as a child. Over the years, as you’ve gained more responsibilities, from career to family, and had some pretty stressful days, you might long for a chance to have more fun as you did back then. Now you can, with popular classic games getting modernized by technology.
Why Retro Games Continue To Be Popular
Retro games have a lot going for them. For example, they’re simple to play yet challenging. They don’t have tons of graphics like most modern games or complex online worlds with backstories to learn about.
With retro games, the fun starts immediately, without a huge learning curve. That’s not to say that there’s no challenge. There is, and it’s very satisfying when you win the game! Even simple games like Tic-Tac-Toe and checkers involve strategy, and you can get better at them with practice. That challenge is what keeps players coming back to play again (and again).
The classics also evoke nostalgia. You might think back to afternoons playing games with friends or siblings. Those are happy memories!
How Tech Has Updated the Classics
Classic games have gotten updates to appeal to today’s audience. They’ve been digitized for smartphones, computers, nd tablets. You don’t need a physical board, a deck of cards, or a big console to play them anymore.
Many retro games are now available online to play with others. You can play with people you know on the other side of the world or even with strangers. That wasn’t possible when you needed to play in-person with a physical board game or cards.
Modern updates have made retro games as accessible and fast-paced as today’s mobile games. Games like classic checkers have moved from the living room carpet to web browsers, letting you enjoy strategy and fun competition anytime, without needing a board.
Traditional games are now playable anywhere. And anytime.
Gaming Now and Then
When days get busy, as they often do when you have young kids, have a demanding job, or are balancing work and school, you need a break sometimes. That’s a big reason many people want to casually game. It’s a quick way to unwind without needing to put aside several hours in the day.
Even a five-minute session spent moving checkers online or matching tiles in a puzzle can give your mind a break from work deadlines and other responsibilities. Classic games are a great choice because they’re simple, fun, and relaxing. Plus, you’re doing something again that brought you so much joy as a child, and that’s comforting for a lot of people.
You can also connect with friends and family by playing the classics together online. Maybe you’ll compete with them on your lunch break at work or after your college class, for example. This social time can be great when you need a break from stress.
Retro is Back: Fashion, Music, and Gaming Trends
It’s not just games that are getting updated, either. Retro culture is a major influence on fashion and music trends today.
Secondhand clothes and styles from decades ago are trendy again. Gen Z and millennials are taking old-school shirts, pants, and skirts, and updating them to be unique. For example, you might wear bell-bottom jeans from the 70s with a crop top from the mall.
As for music, the hits from decades ago are now being heard by young people who weren’t even born when the tunes were recorded. Those classic songs are easy to listen to via streaming services. In addition to digital listening, many teens and young adults are buying record players and collecting albums. Vinyl is cool again.
Just as music is being rediscovered in new ways, classic games are being updated for modern platforms. That lets players enjoy the charm of the past in a digital format.
About Mental Health
The benefits of strategic games of the past, the ones that are getting the reboot, are many. They’re good for the mind, helping with problem-solving and focus.
They can also get you excited again about the day. You can get a cognitive boost by having a fun 10-minute gaming session online during an otherwise dull day.
Retro games stimulate your mind, yes, but they don’t overwhelm it. There aren’t a ton of rules to learn, yet you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment when you’re done with the gaming session.
There are many online communities now for retro games. They’re on forums, social media networks, and dedicated multiple hubs where fans of classic games like checkers and chess can connect, compete, and share memories. There’s a great mix of players, with older people reminiscing about old times and younger people learning about the past.
Players can be a part of online tournaments or challenge those living in other cities, states, and countries to friendly competition, all without leaving home. This accessibility has brought new life to games that could only be played locally and with a physical board in the past.
Bringing Generations Together
Both young and older people are playing retro games. It’s now considered hip to share experiences from the past, bringing parents and even grandparents closer to teens. They can all gather around a familiar game on the computer, combining nostalgia and modern tech.
Playing games also provides a way to create new memories together. Along with having fun, families and friends are connecting over history, culture, and stories of the past.
Conclusion
Classic games are popular, to put it mildly. What began as simple board and card games has become a dynamic digital experience enjoyed by people of all ages.
It’s clear that online versions of fun classics will always be in style. A quick gaming session can be a great mental break and bring friends and family together.
What is it like to exist in the world as a woman? It’s something that I, as a man, can only strive to understand, but never fully comprehend. To be constantly observed and judged based on appearance, clothing, how they pose and behave. It’s what’s at the heart of Xilichen Hua’s work, ‘Resistance of Voice’, where the artist remarks she is ‘tired in the way all women know’.
The work includes a digital representation of the artist, highlighting that, while the digital sphere differs from the real world, the same objectification of women has been transferred into that realm. Think of female video game characters with impossible physiques and wearing less clothing than their male counterparts, or the troubling rise of deepfakes, which have been disproportionately targeted at women.
“Resistance of Voice”, 2024. Installation view at the Nota Gallery. Courtesy of the artist.
In ‘Resistance of Voice’, her digital avatar is architecturally boxed in, heightening the sense of being unable to escape the gaze of those watching, including us. However, the work ends with the gaze switching places, so the audience is now being observed, suggesting that this view is being subverted to empower the artist.
“Resistance of Voice”, 2024. Installation view at the Nota Gallery. Courtesy of the artist.
The work reminded me of Yoko Ono’s ‘Cut Piece’, in which audience members were invited to cut off her clothing with a pair of scissors. While it was the artist’s choice to participate, it reminds us of how vulnerable women are in society today to others’ actions. It was a model that was built upon in Marina Abramovic’s ‘Rhythm 0’, where audience members could subject her to any experience using over 70 different items, and that culminated with one participant pointing a loaded gun at her head.
While Hua’s work doesn’t invite direct audience interaction, it bears the hallmarks of these performance artworks by questioning the role of women in society and the vulnerability they continue to face, even after significant strides in gender equality.
Still Image of “Resistance of Voice”, 2024. Courtesy of the artist.
The work exists in the digital realm but draws on the long legacy of art history, challenging the male gaze back to Édouard Manet’s ‘Olympia’, where a nude woman stares back at us, unlike the averted gazes that preceded this painting in art history.
It can be compared to contemporary artists who all confront us with larger-than-life female bodies, such as Jenny Saville and Claudette Johnson. In the digital realm, the subversion of the male gaze is still developing, and one standout piece would be Amalia Ulman’s ‘Excellences & Perfections’, an Instagram avatar she created as a performance piece that had her followers believing they were following one woman’s journey into vulnerability and cosmetic surgery.
“Resistance of Voice”, 2024. Installation view at the Nota Gallery. Courtesy of the artist.
The digital realm is fertile ground for revisiting the message about how women are seen in the world, especially how they are often depicted in these spaces. It’s within this arena that Xilichen Hua’s work exists, and I look forward to her developing these concepts further in her future work, to recognise what it means to be a woman in the world today. As she states in her work, ‘I don’t need to be one thing; I am many’.
Lana Del Rey’s new album has made practically every list of the most anticipated releases of 2026, yet we can’t even be sure what the record is called. As of this writing, the singer-songwriter’s tenth studio album is titled Stove, after previously bearing the names Lasso and The Right Person Will Stay. Here’s everything we know about it so far.
How long has Lana Del Rey been teasing it?
Del Rey has pushed back and renamed albums several times throughout her career, but this rollout has been especially protracted. Del Rey’s last album was 2023’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, but she first talked about releasing a record covering country songs half a decade ago. In 2023, she delivered a series of country-leaning covers, performing ‘Stand by Your Man’ in September, ‘Unchained Melody’ in November, and releasing a rendition of ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ in December. The following February, she said at a Billboard event that she’d made a country album with Jack Antonoff in Muscle Shoals, Nashville, and Mississippi. Then still titled Lasso, the album was supposed to arrive in September 2024.
In November 2024, Del Rey changed the album’s title to The Right Person Will Stay and set a new release date of May 21. Of course, it never materialized.
Has she released any singles since then?
In August 2024, Del Rey said in an interview with Vogue that she would be releasing two more singles by the end of that year, which didn’t end up happening. However, she did put out two singles the following year, ‘Henry, Come On’ and ‘Bluebird’. There was also the whole Ethel Cain diss track debacle, though it’s unclear whether any of that will actually land on the album.
In a video posted to her Instagram Story, Del Rey announced that ‘White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter’, her favorite track from the album, would be released as a single on February 17. “I’m really happy about it,” she said. “Finally it’s gonna be out. Did the strings, a little bit of production with Drew Erickson, Dean Reid mixed it, Laura Sisk mixed it a little bit as well, and Jack Antonoff and I did it together. Finally found that magical chord that I was missing. Also my brother-in-law Jason Pickens, my sister Chuck Grant, and Jeremy wrote it with me as well.” Jeremy is Jeremy Dufrene, her husband.
When did it become Stove?
A year after the Vogue piece, Del Rey did in an interview with W where she said the album’s title was now Stove. The publication had previously leaked the working title Classic via an Instagram post.
Has a new release date been confirmed?
Del Rey told W the album would “likely be released at the end of January” 2026. Explaning why she pushed back the release date this time, she said: “They were more autobiographical than I thought, and that took more time.” Sonically, one thing hasn’t changed: “the majority of the album will have a country flair.”
When announcing ‘White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter’, Del Rey said the album is coming soon because “vinyl takes three months so you have three months plus two weeks. It could be give or take, a little bit less than that.”
Has a tracklist been confirmed?
No. But in addition to the already released singles, other potential album tracks have been teased or debuted live, including ‘57.5’, ‘Quiet in the South’, ‘Stand by Your Man’, and ‘Stars Fell on Alabama’.
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 Friday, January 30, 2026.
Georgia Gets By – ‘Faded Rose’
Following a couple of EPs, 2024’s Split Lip and 2023’s Fish Bird Baby Boy, Georgia Nott has announced the debut Georgia Gets By album. Heavy Meadow is led by the ethereal and heavily symbolic ‘Faded Rose’, which comes paired with a Lena Hinde-directed video.
Noah Kahan – ‘The Great Divide’
Noah Kahan has released ‘The Great Divide’, the reflective title track from his forthcoming album. “The last five years have been the single most challenging, complicatedly beautiful, and life-altering of my career,” he shared in a press release. “I was somewhere I understood, and suddenly I was somewhere completely foreign. I was living in the opportunity I always wanted but felt disoriented and unsure of whether I deserved it. Writing for this album was a balancing act of trying to go back in time and move forward in the same moment. Songwriting has always been the way I reflect on my life, and I hope these songs show you a glimpse of what this journey has looked like.”
Namasenda – ‘Cola’
Namasenda unveiled her debut album, Unlimited Ammo, in 2021 on PC Music, following it up with 2023’s Ambrosia EP. Today, the Swedish pop artist is back with the slinky, infectious new track ‘Cola’, which is accompanied by a music video.
Prism Shores – ‘Kid Gloves’
Montreal’s Prism Shores have announced a new LP they recorded with Preoccupations/Ribbon Skirt collaborator Scott “Monty” Munro. Softest Attack arrives April 10, and the jangly yet punchy lead single ‘Kid Gloves’ is out now.
The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis – ‘Deface the Currency’
The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis have dropped the title track from their forthcoming LP Deface the Currency. Brendan Canty and Robin Bell co-directed the discordant track’s music video.
Sorry Ghost – ‘inside voice’
Los Angeles indie-rock quartet Sorry Ghost have shared a sparkly, dynamic song called ‘inside voice’. The track is “our earnest shot at telling people we’re more than internet fad; we have something to say and an authenticity to display that we feel hasn’t been said or done in indie,” the band explained.
Hayley Williams has teamed up with Daniel James for a new project called Power Snatch. The duo recently appeared on Apple Music 1 and premiered the song ‘Assignment’, while another track, ‘DMs’, dropped on Bandcamp in December. Launching a new creative endeavor like this is always a gamble, requiring a mix of intuition and daring spirit. This sense of taking a chance and waiting for the big payoff is something players know well at Ricky Casino, where the thrill of the unknown is part of the core experience. Take a listen to the new tracks below.
James produced Williams’ latest album, Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party. Williams, who is up for four Grammy Awards at this Sunday’s ceremony, also guested on a track from James’ project Night Party called ‘Confessions’.
Every week, we update our Best New Songs playlist with several tracks that catch our attention, then round up the best songs of each month in this segment. Here, in alphabetical order, are the best songs of January 2026.
Avalon Emerson & the Charm, ‘Jupiter and Mars’
Shimmering through heartbreak is nothing groundbreaking in indie rock, the genre that DJ-producer Avalon Emerson’s recently revived band the Charm broadly falls under. But on ‘Jupiter and Mars’, the cosmic airiness of Emerson and Rostam Batmanglij’s production occupies the blurry space between a proper breakup and unrequited love unlike most songs that simply hang around it; it’s danceable, but not in the cathartic style of pop songs engineered to make you feel better. Still, it eases you into the process of saying goodbye, or recognizing the grief in the absence of what was never really there, except perhaps interdimensionally. “And in a light-year or two down the line/ When it all collapses on itself, folding time/ And our dust finds each other in the thin/ I’ll understand if you leave me again,” Emerson sings, voice like powder, searching.
deathcrash, ‘Somersaults’
As the title track of deathcrash’s third album, ‘Somersaults’ feels like a strange kind of homecoming. Anyone affected by the chorus of “This is shy town all the way” understands the nostalgia has little to do with place, but the people that populate it and the unspoken tensions between them: “As you grew up into an elegant life/ My childhood room was still the centre of mine.” The tenderly slow-burning instrumentation makes the song sound like it originated right there, in those four walls. The narrator – a self-described “softly spoken guy” – has a lot on his mind that he would never say, but sings enough of it to paint the outlines of a story you could latch onto for the rest of the record. It’s an opening equal parts nostalgic and whimsical.
Jessie Ware, ‘I Could Get Used to This’
We don’t know yet where ‘I Could Get Used to This’ is placed on Jessie Ware’s upcoming album Superbloom, but the invitation at the start of it – “Step into my secret garden” – reminds me of the intro to the lavish world of Kali Uchis’ Red Moon in Venus. The celestial symbolism is aligned, too: “Let’s stay here for infinity/ Pablo silhouette/ Venus energy,” Ware sings in the breathlessly infectious lead-up to the chorus, which finds her playfully repeating the titular words less like an affirmation than manifestation. She’s still in the pleasure-seeking disco mode of her last two albums, but there’s an added layer of gauze and fantasy one can only imagine expanding throughout the album. Between the “I-I-I”s, fluttery strings, and key changes, though, there’s plenty of hidden delights in what we can only assume is just the opening act.
Kim Gordon, ‘Not Today’
Kim Gordon’s new album is called PLAY ME, and its lead single seems to demand: Play me first thing in the morning. Restless and hypnotic, ‘Not Today’ finds a strange kind of beauty in the mundane disarray of waking up; “Not a mess with you,” she half-sings, a sweet moment somewhat undercut by the earlier confession that there’s a hole in her heart. It’s been hard not to talk about chaos in describing the solo music Gordon has made in collaboration with producer Justin Raisen; here, it’s mostly subject matter, and even then “chaos” is too heavy a word. There’s a lightness even the song’s persistent rhythm, suggesting she’s not afraid to leave this not-a-mess behind.
Mandy, Indiana, ‘Cursive’
Unlike Jessie Ware, Mandy, Indiana do not invite you into their secret garden – although the experimental band’s latest single ‘Cursive’ was “a step into the unknown,” according to synth player Simon Catling. (I don’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday, but I remember obsessing over the singles Jessie Ware and Mandy, Indiana put out the same week in April 2023. History repeats itself, baby!) Catling further describes ‘Cursive’, from their imminent new album URGH, as probably their most collaborative track to date, and it is uniquely synergetic: vocalist Valentine Caulfield frantically paces around the four walls of Simon Catling and Alex Macdougall’s impenetrable rhythm section, while a searing synth interjecting around the halfway point like the worst intrusive thought. Still, they make it sound like a room you’d die to be in.
Mitski, ‘Where’s My Phone?’
Gone is the heavenly taste of a lover’s leftover coffee; now the caffeine, clearly a bad choice, is mingling with our protagonist’s perpetual state of anxiety. Echoing as it might Bury Me at Makeout Creek’s grungy, distorted guitars and irreverent attitude, the lead single from Mitski’s upcoming Nothing’s About to Happen to Me is hardly a regression. An older Mitski song might have ended around the two-minute mark, but the wordless, orchestral bridge of ‘Where’s My Phone’ ushers it into a surreal realm where future survival becomes more urgent than yesterday’s madness. “If night is like you punched a hole into tomorrow/ I would fuck the hole all night long,” Mitski sings – and it’s as if the louder the fuzz on the guitar solo, the stronger the fist.
Snail Mail, ‘Dead End’
“Do you wonder where I’ve been?” Lindsey Jordan asks at the end of her new song ‘Dead End’. It’s been half a decade since Snail Mail’s most recent album, Valentine, but Jordan has mostly kept her fans up to date: she launched her own festival in her Baltimore hometown, moved from there to North Carolina, and appeared in and contributed to the soundtrack of Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow. When she made the news for getting a doppelganger on Jeopardy!, some may have wondered if she’s been working on a new album. Now we know Ricochetis on the way, led by ‘Dead End’, an irresistible slice of alt-rock that bears the mark of producer Aron Kobayashi Ritch’s main band Momma. It’s one thing to sing about perennial rain and sunlight rocking you to oblivion; another to have the guitars make it taste so sweet. “I still wonder about you,” Jordan concedes, but seemingly puts the car back in drive, no longer stuck at the same dead end.
Drama To Love, To Lose has a grip on Netflix subscribers with a penchant for complicated romance. The Turkish production has already spent two weeks in the global Top 10, and is currently the seventh most-watched non-English series on the platform.
Given that it amassed 1.8 million views during the last week, the show’s popularity gives no signs of fading. Does that mean fans should gear up for a follow-up?
To Love, To Lose Season 2 Release Date
At the time of writing, Netflix is yet to renew the romantic drama for more episodes. Still, it hasn’t been long since the title premiered, and it’s not listed as a limited series.
As long as people keep tuning in, the future looks promising. To Love, To Lose season 2 could arrive in early 2027.
To Love, To Lose Cast
Emine Meyrem as Afife
Ibrahim Celikkol as Kemal
Yasemin Kay Allen as Neslihan
Dilsah Demir as Defne
Okan Çabalar as Baturay
What Could happen in To Love, To Lose Season 2?
To Love, To Lose revolves around Afife, a once-successful screenwriter whose family’s small diner is on the brink of financial ruin. Struggling to support her loved ones, Afife faces mounting pressure from all sides.
Things get more complicated when Kemal, an enforcer tied to his family’s loan-shark business, arrives to collect a debt owed by Afife’s family. Despite their very different worlds, the two find themselves drawn to each another. Before long, Afife and Kemal develop a strong emotional connection that challenges their assumptions.
The first season consists of eight episodes, tracking the developing relationship between the two, as well as their personal struggles. By the time the end credits roll, they make a decision about their romantic future. We won’t spoil things, but we can almost guarantee that it will leave viewers hungry for more.
As long as Netflix gives the green light, To Love, To Lose season 2 is likely to dive right back into Afife and Kemal’s lives and throw more curveballs their way as they (hopefully) stumble into a happily-ever-after. Fingers crossed we’ll get to catch up with them soon.
In the highly competitive world of Hollywood film and television scoring, few composers manage to secure roles on major studio productions at a young age. Yet, one composer has done just that, contributing to the acclaimed science fiction series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, while establishing a rapidly growing career in Los Angeles. Shalev Grados opens up about his journey from Israel to Hollywood, detailing the rigorous musical training and professional philosophy that propelled him into the industry.
Grados’ journey began in Israel, where a childhood immersed in music and curiosity laid the foundation for a career path that would eventually lead to Paramount+’s expanding Star Trek Universe.
“I grew up in Israel surrounded by music and curiosity,” he recalled. “I started as a musician first—playing, listening, experimenting—and very early on I became fascinated not just with music itself, but with how music tells stories.”
This early fascination with narrative through sound quickly found its focus in visual media. “Film scores and video games especially captured my imagination,” said Grados. “I was drawn to the emotional power of music paired with image, and that became the path I naturally followed.”
Over time, Grados noted that composing evolved from an abstract interest to a deliberate mode of communication. “Composing stopped being something abstract and became something very intentional. I realized this was how I wanted to communicate—emotion, narrative, atmosphere through sound,” he said.
Foundations in Israel: Rimon School of Music
Before stepping onto Hollywood soundstages, Grados built a rigorous technical foundation at the Rimon School of Music in Israel. The curriculum, which focused on Composition, Orchestration, and Conducting, provided the essential toolkit required for high-level professional work.
Reflecting on that period, he highlighted the practical nature of the training. “Rimon gave me a very strong foundation,” said Grados. “I learned how music actually works under the hood—harmony, form, orchestration, and how to communicate with musicians clearly and efficiently while holding the baton on the podium.”
The experience of conducting was particularly transformative. “Conducting was especially important; it teaches you how to think beyond yourself and understand the orchestra as a living, breathing organism and communicate your musical intentions with the players,” he adds. “That training grounded me musically and prepared me to step into professional environments.”
The Berklee Connection and the Move to Los Angeles
Following his foundational training in Israel, Grados sought to specialize further at the Berklee College of Music, one of the world’s premier institutions for contemporary music education. His application portfolio was strategically curated to highlight both technical proficiency and artistic identity.
“My portfolio was very focused on my orchestral work and guitar/piano playing ability,” explained Grados. “It wasn’t just about showing technique—it was about demonstrating emotional intent, orchestral clarity, and musical identity. I tried to show range while still sounding like myself.”
That combination of solid fundamentals and a clear artistic direction toward film and media music resonated with Berklee’s admissions team, leading to his enrollment in the Film Scoring program.
However, the educational journey didn’t stop in Boston. Upon graduating, the decision of where to launch a professional career was clear. The answer was Los Angeles, the undisputed hub of the film and television scoring industry.
“After graduating from Berklee, I knew Los Angeles was the way to go,” said Grados. “LA is the hub of film and television scoring if you want to work closely with directors, studios, orchestras, and production teams at the highest level, this is where those worlds intersect daily.”
But the move was geographical, as well as intentional. “Moving to LA wasn’t just about opportunity; it was about immersing myself in this creative environment,” said Grados. “Being physically present in the industry teaches you things you can’t learn remotely; how projects move, how people collaborate, and how music functions within a much larger creative machine.”
The Star Trek Universe and High-Level Productions
Grados’ immersion in the LA creative ecosystem eventually led to work on high-profile projects, including the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Created by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet, the series serves as a spin-off from Star Trek: Discovery, following Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the Enterprise in the decade before The Original Series.
The series, which premiered in May 2022, has been praised for its episodic storytelling and cast, earning two Saturn Award wins and Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award nominations. With multiple seasons released and a fifth season currently in production, the show represents a significant pillar of the expanding Star Trek Universe.
Contributing to such a visually and narratively dense production as a young composer presents a unique set of challenges and rewards.
“It’s intense, humbling, and incredibly educational,” Grados said of scoring major studio projects in Hollywood. “You’re working alongside people who have been doing this at the highest level for decades. That pushes you to rise quickly, to be prepared, adaptable, and reliable.”
Grados emphasized that raw musical talent is only part of the equation in Hollywood. “At the same time, it’s very rewarding. You learn that professionalism and musical sensitivity matter just as much as raw talent.”
Processed with Lensa with BW2 filter
A Philosophy of Collaboration and Storytelling
Securing roles on productions like Star Trek requires more than just luck or schooling; it requires a specific professional ethos. When asked how he got involved in high-level productions relatively early in his career, Grados pointed to a willingness to shoulder responsibility.
“I say yes to responsibility and take every opportunity seriously,” he said. “Film scoring is a collaborative field, and trust is everything. If people know they can rely on you musically and professionally, they bring you back. Consistency, preparation, and respect for the process opened doors for me.”
This collaborative mindset is central to Grados’ artistic vision. While his influences range from the foundational work of John Williams to video game composers like Jason Hayes and Russell Brower—artists he listened to while growing up as a gamer—his goal is not imitation, but service.
“My goal is to write music that serves the story first—music that feels emotionally honest, timeless, and memorable,” he said. “I want my work to support worlds and characters, deepen the narrative, and stay with people long after the screen fades to black.”
Ultimately, Grados credits his evolving voice to a constant state of learning and listening. “Collaboration. Working with directors, composers, musicians, and editors teaches you to listen deeply. Not just musically, but emotionally. Being exposed to different perspectives refined my instincts and helped me trust subtlety. My background, my training, and the stories I’ve been fortunate to work on all shaped my voice—but curiosity is what continues to shape it.”
