Halloween is now lurking around the corner, and the spookiness intensifies with every passing day. With everyone hunting for the most mind-blowing costume for the all hallows night, we are here to give you a hint or two on being absolutely bad to the bone.
Below, we have listed seven unique ideas for a one piece Halloween costume that will help you stand out – streamlined, ruthless, terrifying, and terrific. So, fasten your seatbelts and get ready to misbehave!
#1 A Skeleton Two-Piece Set
For the ones who’d like to stick to the classics but upgrade them in the sexiest way possible, a friction-fit spandex costume with skeleton prints is a deal-maker. To help the good old Halloween-style vibe with the latest trends, you can choose a UV-reactive model and make everyone’s jaws drop straight to the ground.
And it gets even better – a flexible two-piece skeleton costume will give you perfect freedom of movement and ultimate comfort of experience. Because you can’t achieve optimal creepiness while constantly worrying about your outfit, can you?
#2 A Cyberpunk Costume
No one is making fun of dystopian futuristics these days. You can make your blasphemy shine out and project your worst-case scenarios in a brute cyberpunk costume, made to measure both your allure and your darkest fantasies.
Vintage cyberpunk costume or realistic paints of cutting-edge femme bots? It’s up to you, your preferences, and your personal views on having an epic Halloween night.
#3 А Voodoo Doll Costume
Cutesy and creepy go well in one sentence, especially if you wrap them up in a bodycon costume made of sleek and high-quality lycra. Add the baby pink and the pierced heart, and you have the ideal combination for owning their hearts and snatching their souls.
For bonus savageness points, you can round out the overall apparel with a crazy wig, a pair of platform boots, and realistic 3D Halloween makeup. So who’s the voodoo magician, and who’s the voodoo doll now?
#4 A Mermaid Costume
Mermaids are a mythological representation of how deadly an angelically beautiful creature can be. It sounds exactly like the effect you’d like to produce with your Halloween outfit, right? So, here it is.
A radiant, graphic, and staggeringly sensual Mermaid costume can rocket your Halloween concept straight into the deep. Because it’s always better to swim in your own waters when the world around you is going mad.
#5 An Animal Costume
Wild beasts of all worlds, are you ready to come together? This year, animalistic costumes are more appealing than ever before – just like the inbound strive to run screaming towards the horizon.
To let the animal within you reach the surface, you can choose between tens of different costume prints – a zebra, a tiger, an octopus, a giraffe, or whatever else you might feel like. This year, you won’t be needing their treats because your bag of tricks is literally blown out at the seams!
#6 A Cyber Assassin Costume
Droid princesses, cyber assassins, and badass cyborgs are taking over the streets this Halloween, and you can boastfully lead the space-age parade! With a bloodthirsty futuristic costume, you will surely steal the spotlight and keep it for a good while.
As mechanical, robot, and sci-fi costumes are a lasting trend, you can safely reuse your cyber assassin costume during every next rave gathering, EDM festival, or Comic-con in the years to come. All you need to do is wear it like a second skin and go paint the town bloody red.
Ready, Steady…
Go! Halloween outfits are all about getting a bit creative around your inner demons, so don’t hold your weirdness back this night.
Jamming out in the perfect Halloween one-piece costumes is fun, inspiring, and liberating. Just pick the one that makes you feel extraordinary, and give yourself a night to remember!
With the advent of the digital age, modern forms have taken over with videos on YouTube and TikTok that keep people busy and entertained for hours. Video games, movies, and TV series are also top of the line, but some still enjoy sitting down and going through pages of a novel not just to relax but learn something new. Whether they read a paper book or an eBook, reading is a hobby and favorite pass time and still going strong. Today we have curated a list of famous novels that revolve around the gambling world, especially for fans of online gambling who visit websites like LasAtlantis.com frequently.
The excellent novels in this list are fantastic because there is a particular pleasure in reading about people defeating the system of an organization where the house is always slated to win. Be ready to hear here about:
The famous 007 agent;
Genius students;
Underground casinos;
Dangerous connections;
The most outstanding poker player.
Bringing Down the House – Ben Mezrich
Bringing Down the House is an intense page-turner about MIT students who scam big-name Casinos of millions of dollars. The story is about a group of students from the fields of mathematics and physics at MIT who use the technique of counting cards to either fold or draw cards. The whole plot has lots of dazzles, including greed of the system, how high profiling spending takes place, and not being bereft of sex and scandals. Mind you, this is a true story about the professor and his students, and no joke starred Kevin Spacey in the movie.
These students and their teacher devised ingenious plans as a blackjack team to rob these Casinos of millions of dollars fair and square with their spotting trick. They were so successful that all Casinos banned ‘spotting’ and made it into a law to stop others from doing the same.
The movie was adapted into a film in 2008, starred by Kevin Spacey as the teacher making the scheme and training his young protégés. The director so beautifully choreographed the movie that it became an overnight success. If you love the movie and enjoy reading books, this book is perfect for you; as we all know, “The film isn’t always as good as the books.”
About Ben Mezrich
Mezrich has had a fantastic career of 19 years and 24 books to his name, with many international bestsellers and over 10 million copies sold. His books like “Bringing Down the House” and “The Accidental Billionaires” were huge successes both stayed more than 15 weeks on the best sellers list. Studios adopted both books into successful movies. He has become one of the only few writers ever to have two blockbuster movies under their belt and get to the top 25 writers in Hollywood.
His 2nd bestseller and now a blockbuster movie is about the success of none other than Mark Zuckerberg. The book is all about the fame of what is now known as Facebook. This novel follows the story of how hacking the university servers to build a database of his peers becomes a hobby and, later on, a way to communicate. No one knew this would be one of the most famous and common ways of communicating in the present world for years to come.
He has been dramatically successful in creating a whole new world with his groundbreaking and genre-defining writing style, bringing to life stories about geniuses. The way he explains the risks these trendsetters took and reshaped the world makes you want to read each novel in a single sitting. His other works include Sex on the Moon, Ugly Americans, Busting Vegas, and many more.
Casino Royale – Ian Fleming
A gambling novels and even a gambling movies list would be incomplete without Casino Royale, both of the most favorites for this genre’s fans. Ian Fleming spins an intriguing and nail-biting thriller for a James Bond movie like no other. The detail of the gambling world depicted and explained so well in the book is translated with the best homage to the writer in the movie. The movie is full of action, unlike the book. Amazingly Daniel Craig’s acting and portrayal of James Bond is loved as one of the best James Bond movies of all time.
Enjoy this amazing read about the great adventure of James Bond, 007, again as he dives head deep into the espionage and scandals of the gambling world. The handsome British agent 007 is sent on a mission to France to take down Le Chiffre. The story of 007 is never complete without at least one beautiful love interest, and here it’s about Vesper Lynd with a dark secret from MI6 sent there to help him.
One thing to note here is that Ian Fleming wrote the book in 1953 and one of the first books of the infamous agent 007, aka James Bond. So the movie returns to its roots and takes the high-stakes story soon after James Bond gets the 00 status.
About Ian Fleming
It is hard not to know Fleming if you have seen even a single James Bond movie, as he is the author behind all books and the inspiration behind all the movies. His stories about the handsome spy span 12 novels and nine short stories in his career.
Ian Fleming is the grandson of Robert Fleming, the founder of Robert Fleming & Co. bank and Scottish American Investment Trust. Fleming was not just an author or a journalist but a navy commander during WW2.
Most of Fleming’s writing was post World War when the British empire was fading from its former glory, so they needed an icon to boost the morale in these failing times. Bond mythology gave the brits an inflated ego and enhanced their failing self-image after the wars. These themes were predominant in his stories of the spy with famous lines such as “we don’t show teeth anymore—only gums.” This showed Fleming was acutely aware of the waning British prestige and gave the citizens a great hero in his books who was not just handsome and classy but deadly when his government needed it to protect its interests.
Molly’s Game – Molly Bloom
You can term this novel as a biography mixed with the sex and drama of the gambling world. The novel talks about the author’s boom as a figure skater, but due to an injury, she had to retire. Bloom was not a quitter, so she used her contacts during her fame by starting a gambling ring for the most famous and high rollers. Her gambling joint was secretive, underground, and only open to celebrities and influential people.
She didn’t know that all that glamour and glitz would turn against her when she rubbed shoulders with the most notorious gamblers from the mob. What happens next and how she comes out on top is full of suspense and for you to read without any spoilers.
The book was later adapted into a hit movie by the same name starring Edris Elba and Jessica Chastain as Molly. The movie depicts the events of the book with great detail and the antics of all the powerful and famous, primarily the Russian mafia criminals. Jessica’s acting depicts how strong women can control crazy influential people with just her words and the glamourous façade she builds around her establishment.
About Molly Bloom
Molly was a famous Olympic skier, she trained for years as it was her dream which was broken to pieces when she was injured and had to retire. As mentioned above, she was convicted for her high-stakes gambling ring and fined $200,000 with a year of probation. She also had to do 200 hours of community service. She turned things around again and shared her stories with the world as she is now an entrepreneur and a speaker, not just an author.
She was born in Loveland, Colorado, in 1978. Her father was a professor, while her mother was a snowboard and ski instructor. She got her inspiration and aspirations from her mother to become a figure skater and has trained since childhood.
The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told – Mark Paul
A full of life drama, one of the most authentic tales of gambling influenced by the cartel, and full of intriguing relationships with a deep narrative of a racehorse. The “Winning Colors” racehorse dominated the track with its speed while inspiring the crowd. The story takes a beautiful turn when it involves a trio of gamblers who get it in with the wrong people and eventually how it all turns out for the better.
The story has been aptly named “crazier-than-fiction” and is one of the most remarkable gambling stories ever told.
About Mark Paul
The life of Mark Paul is full of adventures, including motorcycle racing, investment in around 40 horses, and sailing 5,000 miles in his sailboat just to attend horse racing in different countries tells a lot about him. No wonder his stories are so full of intrigue and adventure.
Paul used the Greatest Gambling Novel to become a character of his storytelling in the 3rd person and how he lives his life in a fictional tale. It is always great to write about oneself in a fictional world to talk about dreams which aren’t possible in real life.
One of a Kind – N. Dalla
One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey is one of the most amazing autobiographical stories on “The Kid” Ungar, The World’s Greatest Poker Player, Stuey Ungar, the poker champ, consecutively three times champion of the Poker World Series. He was the best card player ever lived but unfortunately died of mysterious circumstances in a motel.
The novel represents his life’s tragic story away from the poker world champions through a series of monologues, tapes, and interviews. He dropped out of school early and became a sensation overnight when he started playing underground card-table games. He was so good that he could take out even the top players in his game.
The overarching story in the novel is about a man succeeding in poker games to the top but failing miserably in his life. The unfortunate thing about him was that he gambled away every penny he ever earned.
About Nolan Dalla
Nolan was approached by Stuey himself to write his amazingly tragic story in 1998, where Nolan interviewed him and recorded hundreds of hours of tape. These tapes helped Nolan write this tragic and dark genius story of Stuey.
Nolan Dalla has been involved in many endeavors besides writing Stuey’s autobiography. He worked for the state department until his attraction to gambling life led him to run poker websites and write about them. Most of his initial career was with the state department. He became pretty famous for his works and the effort he put into what online gambling is today.
Due to these exploits, Ungar approached him, and even after Ungar’s death, Nolan finished his life story. He was lauded for writing such a harrowing story in such a gripping manner as he only had conversations with Stuey and nothing else. This autobiography also helped him become the Media Director of the World Series of poker, which he managed with flying colors for a few years. He now lives in Las Vegas, right there at the heart of gambling.
Conclusion
Life is full of stories of people wanting to become rich overnight with a simple trick or scam. These stories probably engage people so much that most gamble in hopes of winning big. Even the biggest gamblers eventually have a harsh life, maybe because of gambling it all away or messing with the wrong people. It’s no surprise people are pissed when they lose money, and the Casinos are more pissed when players win big. All the novels in this list revolve around a similar sentiment, and that’s why they are intriguing reads.
The renowned detective Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the most frequently portrayed literary character in film and TV. It’s rarely a surprise these days to learn when there is a new adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic mystery-solving character. After all, there are over 250 adaptations of the Great Detective, according to the Guinness World Records.
I’ve recently started re-reading Doyle’s works. That, combined with the upcoming Netflix release of the sequel to Enola Holmes in November, prompted me to provide a breakdown into who has played the Great Detective over the years. We’ve seen a range of iterations, from classic adaptations to more contemporary versions with modern takes on the literary genius, so the question of who has best done the discerning detective justice is a tough one, but it’s a question that I have taken upon myself to answer. Mind you, it’s important to note that the Holmes’ below are just a glimpse of the many on-screen adaptations.
Will Ferrell (Holmes & Watson, 2018)
To begin, I feel like this rendition deserves the lowest spot on this list. As you might guess from the presence of Will Ferrell, this movie is a comedic interpretation of the iconic character, with Ferrell’s bumbling take on the Great Detective. It is laughable at times, but mostly cringe-worthy.
Henry Cavill (Enola Holmes, 2020)
In Netflix’s adaptation, Sherlock, played by Henry Cavill, takes a backseat to support his younger sister Enola, played by Stranger Things’ Millie Bobbie Brown), who is the focus of the story. It is a classic, Victorian take with a feminist edge, with the focus being on Enola instead of Sherlock or their brother Mycroft (played by Sam Caflin from The Hunger Games series); however, the explicit focus on Enola’s independence lacks subtlety and nuance, and Cavill’s Sherlock seems to be devoid of any substance. Nevertheless, I look forward to seeing what the sequel has in store.
Jonny Lee Miller (Elementary, 2012-2017)
A modernized addition to the Sherlock Holmes canon, this CBS rendition, which stars Jonny Lee Miller as the detective, is one of the more contemporary versions. As more of an Americanized procedural drama (think Law & Order). I have mixed feelings about this iteration. It takes quite a lot of liberties from the literature, reimagining the iconic character as a recovering drug addict and police consultant in New York who gets out of rehab as the series begins. However, I feel like it doesn’t truly pay off as Miller’s portrayal ultimately falls flat.
Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes, 2009; Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, 2011)
Perhaps it’s because the 2009 incarnation with Robert Downey Jr. as the titular character comes following his performance as Iron Man. But this series, directed by Guy Ritchie, positions the adventure as more of a blockbuster action movie. The movies emphasize Sherlock’s physical prowess more than in previous iterations, portraying him as a larger-than-life action hero. It isn’t particularly faithful to the story, or even that witty, which is why it didn’t score higher on the list, but it’s still enjoyable to watch.
Basil Rathbone (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles and more, 1939 – 1946)
For seven years, Basil Rathbone played the Great Detective in perhaps one of his most iconic roles. Immersed in a classic Victorian setting, Rathbone’s Holmes is on par compared to other portrayals when it comes to his intelligence, focus and class. What I like most about his portrayal, perhaps, is how he brings to life the detective’s knack for taking on various disguises. However, he does lack the spark compared to some portrayals, which is why he isn’t higher on the list.
Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, 2010 – 2017)
The BBC rendition is another contemporary version, similar to Elementary; however, it proves to be more promising. Unlike its American counterpart, Benedict Cumberbatch manages to capture the essence of the character. Cumberbatch combines the titular character’s wit with the character’s arrogance and intellect. I also enjoyed the introduction of Cumberbatch’s Holmes through the eyes of Watson, ex-army doctor-turned-blogger, which mirrors the literature that largely focuses on Holmes through Watson’s eyes.
Vasily Livanov (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson, 1979 – 1986)
The most exciting part of any ranking is the reveal of who makes it to the top. I recently watched for the first time the Soviet movie series, which ran from 1979 to 1986; this iteration of the character, played by Vasily Lentilov, stuck with me, particularly for its accuracy to Doyle’s original works. Livanov’s version of the character feels perhaps the most aligned with Doyle’s vision. Livanov brings to life the gentleman we know and love while also focusing on Holmes as a cunning and witty detective.
In Thunder, the shapeshifting debut feature from Geneva-born filmmaker Carmen Jaquier, sexual awakenings clash against biblical teachings at the onset of the 20th century. Set against brisk valleys and woods, the movie follows 17-year-old Elisabeth as she returns home from a five-year stint in a nunnery. However, her departure from the convent, backdropped against summery green Swiss hills and golden midday light, doesn’t lead to a Sound of Music-esque saga. Rather, Elisabeth’s God-fearing lifestyle quickly comes spiraling down as she’s forced to confront her burgeoning sexuality: something long repressed under the roof of Catholicism.
On the heels of her older sister Innocente (subtlety be damned)’s death, Elisabeth ditches her rosary for a shovel, filling the gap in her household’s domestic labour. Quickly, she’s overwhelmed by the liberties of a secular life and scavenges her late sister’s diary to find solace in her death. To Elisabeth’s surprise, she learns the once-righteous Innocente experienced an erotic coming-of-age, catapulted into a world of secret pleasures. For her, faith and sexuality were fundamentally linked. Innocente’s diary becomes a new bible for Elisabeth. It navigates her through the depths of her own sexuality as she embarks on an orgiastic journey of liberation with three local boys. Together, the foursome tango with forbidden desires and pursue an independence long eroded by the repressive arm of piety.
In the tradition of Laura Palmer, hidden truths of a departed loved one surface with their diary. Innocente’s intimate passages guide Elisabeth through her own self-discovery. The ink blotch-stained pages unleash a sexual awakening so potent it undoes Thunder’s both formal and narrative conventions. The film’s world bends at the introduction of lust, incorporating surreal and genre film imagery. There’s a psychedelic interlude of sexual exploration reminiscent of Angela Carter’s magical realist tales of adolescent lusts. Eerie masked figures initiate a psychosexual frenzy across enchanted woods. Then, all at once, the restrained period piece aesthetics buckle into a passage of saturated, noisy overload. Even the soundtrack turns anachronistic, sidestepping the booming church choirs which haunt earlier scenes. Everything overflows and Elisabeth’s body becomes fever-struck. While she eventually recovers, the seed’s already planted. Sexual desire manifests as everything her chaste world isn’t.
Thunder is at its best detouring into “vulgar” aesthetics as teenage rebellion ruptures the grip of a classical film form. The tensions between two worldviews (one devout and restrictive, the other fluid and free) unfolds in the opposed stylings the movie oscillates between. As Elisabeth delves deeper into her freedom, even the movie’s confined temporal order melts away. A rigid editing structure succumbs to a free-flowing rivulet of images, dancing across sprawling valleys with no causal linking between shots. Exposition falls wayside, replaced by long wordless stretches. Jaquier launches a full-arsenal assault against the institutions of repression and observes how these same forces dictate how movies are constructed. She subverts a film form rooted in tradition: a deceptive maneuver for a movie initially grounded in the familiar aesthetics of an early-20th century, rural period piece. At times it’s excessively blunt, but nonetheless welcome. Thunder’s form beats alongside its protagonist’s heart, tossed into a whirlwind of emotions, searching for a long-withheld freedom.
Weyes Blood has announced her next album. Natalie Mering’s first LP since 2019’s Titanic Rising is called And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow and it comes out November 18 via Sub Pop. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the lead single ‘It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody’, which she describes as “a Buddhist anthem, ensconced in the interconnectivity of all beings.” Check it out below, along with the album cover, tracklist, Weyes Blood’s upcoming tour dates, and a statement from Mering about the album.
Mering co-produced most of And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow with Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado, with the exception of ‘A Given Thing’, which was co-produced by Rodaidh McDonald. The 10-track record features contributions from Meg Duffy, Daniel Lopatin, and Mary Lattimore. It was mixed by Kenny Gilmore at 101 Studio and mastered by Emily Lazar and Chris Allgood at the Lodge. “We’re in a fully functional shit show,” Mering said of the album, which is billed as the second in a trilogy of albums that began with Titanic Rising. “My heart is a glow stick that’s been cracked, lighting up my chest in an explosion of earnestness.”
Read our review of Weyes Blood’s set at Primavera Sound 2022.
And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow Cover Artwork:
And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow Tracklist:
1. It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody
2. Children of the Empire
3. Grapevine
4. God Turn Me Into a Flower
5. Hearts Aglow
6. And in the Darkness
7. Twin Flame
8. In Holy Flux
9. The Worst Is Done
10. A Given Thing
Weyes Blood 2022-203 Tour Dates:
Dec 8 Los Angeles, CA – The Theatre at Ace Hotel
Dec 9 Los Angeles, CA – The Theatre at Ace Hotel
Jan 28 Berlin, Germany – Festsaal Kreuzberg
Jan 30 Stockholm, Sweden – Berns
Jan 31 Oslo, Norway – Rockefeller
Feb 1 Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
Feb 3 Cologne, Germany – Kulturkirche
Feb 4 Paris, France – Le Trianon
Feb 5 Brussels, Belgium – Botanique – Orangerie
Feb 6 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
Feb 8 London, England – Roundhouse
Feb 9 Bristol, England – SWX
Feb 10 Glasgow, Scotland – QMU
Feb 12 Dublin, Ireland – Vicar Street
Feb 13 Manchester, England – O2 Ritz Manchester
Feb 14 Brighton, England – Chalk
Feb 22 Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl
Feb 23 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
Feb 24 Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
Feb 25 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
Feb 27 Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club
Feb 28 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
Mar 3 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel
Mar 5 Boston, MA – Royale
Mar 7 Montreal, Quebec – Corona Theatre
Mar 8 Toronto, Ontario – The Danforth Music Hall
Mar 10 Detroit, MI – El Club
Mar 11 Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre
Mar 13 Milwaukee, WI – The Pabst Theater
Mar 14 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
Mar 15 Des Moines, IA – Wooly’s
Mar 17 Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre
Mar 18 Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
Mar 19 Boise, ID – Knitting Factory Concert House
Mar 21 Vancouver, British Columbia – Commodore Ballroom
Mar 22 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
Mar 23 Portland, OR – McMenamins Crystal Ballroom
Mar 25 San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom
Mar 28 Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
Mar 29 Santa Fe, NM – Meow Wolf
Mar 31 Austin, TX – Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater
Apr 1 Dallas, TX – Studio at The Factory
Apr 2 Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
Following the release of Jump Rope Gazers, the Beths wanted to make a record that would thrive in a live setting. The New Zealand quartet – consisting of vocalist/guitarist Elizabeth Stokes, guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck – followed up their impressive 2018 debut Future Me Hates Mein July 2020, and the group spent the rest of the year and the majority of 2021 at home, connecting with fans via livestreams and working on new music. In September of last year, they released Auckland, New Zealand, 2020, a live album and full-length concert film recorded at a time when New Zealand was one of the few countries where live music was up and running. After recording most of their third LP, Expert in a Dying Field – out this Friday – towards the end of 2021 at Pearce’s studio in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa, a four-month national lockdown forced the group to trade ideas remotely before finalizing it during three days at a Los Angeles studio.
With each release, the Beths have found ways to not only energize their signature formula of driving, incisive guitar pop, but also widen their scope. Filled with resonant choruses and cheerful riffs, Jump Rope Gazers also saw Stokes leaning on the softer, more introspective side of her songwriting, with several slower tracks paired alongside uptempo ones. Yet Expert in a Dying Field doesn’t feel like a course correction; with more time to both take in the response from the last album and sit with the new material, the Beths have simply gotten increasingly more adept at infusing their own personality into all kinds of songs, resulting in their most riveting and dynamic record yet. It’s home to indelible hooks that crystallize and explode off the constant turmoil of the verses; fiery instrumentals that rush along the anxious rhythm of Stokes’ thoughts and others that offset and antagonize them; and immediate production that’s also rich with detail. On ‘Change in the Weather’, Stokes sings of being “frozen in an avalanche of doubt”; as it careens between joy, fear, hope, and trepidation, the music melts away some of those negative instincts. Mostly, though, it brings everything to its bright, messy surface.
We caught up with the Beths’ Elizabeth Stokes ahead of the release of Expert in a Dying Field to talk about touring, the process of making the album, what inspires her about her bandmates, and more.
What’s your headspace like with the release of the album coming up?
Feeling busy in a good way. It’s really nice to be touring while stuff comes out. I’m not lingering in trying to watch the numbers or anything, just because we’re on the road and it’s been really nice seeing a song come out and then playing a song the next day and there’s people who already know the words. It feels like real feedback in such a great way that doesn’t feel so spiral-ly. After the last album, where we would be releasing a single but obviously everybody was in lockdown – it’s really nice when people thank you now putting a song out during the pandemic, but for us, it was kind of weird putting a song out and then sitting at home, twiddling your thumbs being like, “I wonder if anybody likes it.”
How does it feel to be performing songs from Jump Rope Gazers? Have you been playing unreleased tracks as well?
We have been playing some unreleased stuff – even on the shows earlier this year, we were playing one or two songs that were unreleased, because we were rehearsing those back at home. Once this [North American] tour finishes, we’ll be on tour in Australia, New Zealand and that will be an album release run. Whereas this tour and the tours earlier this year, weirdly, they still kind of feel like Jump Rope Gazers tours because we never got to tour those records. You still want to give those records their due and their time in the setlist, so the people who can actually connect with those songs have a chance to hear them live properly.
We did get to play them live a bit because we managed to do a New Zealand tour in 2020 when the borders were closed and there was no COVID in the country, and we got some lucky timing. But the full tour of New Zealand, including a bunch of small towns, was like 11 shows, I think, in late 2020. So actually being able to play over the States and Europe and play a lot to play every night, the songs really they really come into their own and you really feel what’s working and what’s not. We’re much better at playing those songs now.
I was wondering if you could tell me about the story behind the music video for ‘Knees Deep’, which ultimately sort of comes into contrast with the sentiment of the song.
Yeah, the song’s kind of about feeling like I’m quite cowardly. I find it really hard to follow through and basically be brave, which is what the song was about. But with the video, we had a video planned with a friend of ours who’s a really great director, but in the days before, when we were just starting planning the video properly because he’s really busy, he basically got COVID two days before our shoot date. And then three days after that we were leaving to come on this tour, so we didn’t really have time to push it back or reschedule it. So last minute, I called Callum Devlin and Annabel Kea, who we’ve worked with a lot, they’re our friends who have made lots of videos for us. They’re so busy, but luckily they made time for us. And I was like, I’ve got this nebulous idea, because the other director had his own his own idea and concept but we didn’t have time to make that. So I was like, “I’ve got this idea where we go we go bungee jumping.” [laughs]
So you brought up the idea?
Yeah, but in a way that an idea is fully abstract and you’re like, “It’s not real, it’s just an idea.” And they’re so great, they just have a way of conceptualizing something, taking an idea and really making it into a whole concept. We started making plans that day and called the bungee place at the Auckland Harbour Bridge, which is the least picturesque one, which I think was important because I didn’t want it to look like a tourism ad. Then I feel like it all just started rolling into place, and then on the morning of I was like, “Okay, now we actually have to do it.” [laughs] Which I feel like is accurate, right? I feel like with doing bungee jumping – I was nervous, we were all nervous, but I don’t think you really feel the fear until you’re actually looking over the edge and you have to jump and your body is like, “Absolutely not, we’re not doing that.” But we did have to do it. You know, you can’t go all that way and they’d be filming it and then not go through with it. So I feel like it was a way to force myself to do something kind of risky. Even though it’s not risky, it just feels risky.
Did it take convincing to actually do it?
Yeah, it did take convincing. They count you down, and I didn’t go the first time, didn’t want to do it. [laughs] Then they count you down again… I went last as well, I think Jonathan went first and then Ben and Justin, just seeing them go one by on and then come back up. You see that they’ve done it and you’re like, “Oh no, now I know I have to do it.” But it’s just as scary when they go, in some way, because you see someone just disappear over the edge of a bridge and you can’t really see them bounce. But yeah, what a rush.
Listening to the song and reading your statement on it, as someone who also takes a long time to go into the cold water, I could definitely relate, but bungee jumping seems like an entirely more frightening prospect.
Well, I guess you can’t really slowly edge into a bungee jump, can you? You can’t wait into a bungee jump. You just have to fall. [laughs] It’s all or nothing.
When you’re writing this kind of song that’s more introspective than observational, do you start with a physical experience and land on a metaphor that feels potent, or is the metaphor where you start building out a song?
Kind of both. With this particular song, I feel like I had a visual in my head of – I think it was in 2018 after our very first tour, which we thought would our only tour, and then we had six weeks before our next tour. And instead of flying home to New Zealand from Europe, which is where we were, which was very expensive, we were like, we’ll just stay in this tiny village in Spain where our friend lives. It was incredibly cheap, I think it cost us like 300 euros to stay there for the entire time. There was a little swimming hole, and I just remember the feeling of being like, “I want to go swimming, I’m here, I’ve walked down specifically to go swimming.” And just being frozen with the water up to my ankles and not being able to get in. Just being really frustrated at myself, like, “What are you doing, you absolute idiot? [laughs] Just get in!”
But it wasn’t until later that year when I was at home and writing that I turned it into a song. The song wasn’t very good, but it included the phrase, “I want to be brave and dive in.” But it wasn’t really working, and so I kind of shelved it. Until late last year when I was when I was writing again, and the idea came back and threw out almost everything, basically, except for that concept, and tried to turn it into a new song.
Becoming more reflective, maybe, with the passage of time?
Yeah, and a bit more cathartic. The old one was very slow, and I was trying to write something that was driving and fast and felt like there was a tension and a momentum to it.
The album often bounces between conflicting states – high and low, quiet and loud, cold and hot – and I love how you capture a specific dynamic on ‘Head in the Clouds’ as “vicious with a rosy tint.” When you’re writing, does it feel like you’re toeing a similar kind of delicate balance?Do you feel a certain sensitivity to those extremes?
Yeah, I still do feel those extremes. I feel like it makes sense when you’re writing, I do like writing dynamically. Even just arrangement-wise, when you talk about loud/quiet, it just works really well live. I guess the human experience is pretty extreme – there are some people I think that that are really good at writing in the middle, I think that’s really artful. If you can write in that kind of ordinariness, that’s something that’s really special. But I feel like I find it easier to write from either extreme, because that’s where the extreme emotion is. It’s where you can tug at your own heartstrings the most, maybe, is when you’re at a euphoric high or a crushing low. But it is something that feel like it’s a skill, to be able to write in the middle, which is maybe something that I just can’t really do. So I don’t do it as much. [laughs]
Even by turning them into a song, though, you’re structuring them in this deliberate and intentional way. I was wondering if in the moment you’re writing, it feels very visceral and hard to contain, but the actual recording and production process is about trying to contain that dynamic energy.
Oh, yeah. You’ve put that very succinctly. For me, a lot of the emotional expression happens in the writing and the demoing and the writing of the lyrics in particular. And the melodies as well, I feel quite attached to the harmony – I feel like it’s more of a context for the melody. But the arrangement feels like a fun creative craft part, where I still have an emotional arc or an emotional point that I want to get across, but it’s more collaborative with the band. And at that point, it does feel like you can kind of take a step back from what you’ve made and build the house that the song is going to live in. And yeah, it feels more like a structural, craft process. It’s still really fun, and obviously there’s a lot of creative expression that’s happening with everybody writing their parts. But for me, I really feel like the lion’s share of the emotion writing happens when I’m writing the lyrics on my own.
A track that sounds like it really evolved in that collaborative stage is ‘Best Left’, with the group vocals and experimentation that bring the song to life. Does that one stand out to you in terms of how it came together?
Yeah, that was a real trouble song. It was one where I had a demo quite early on, but we had to rewrite it a bunch of times. I had an initial riff, but it turns out that riff was really close to another riff that we found in another song, so we couldn’t use that riff. But the song, the verse is good, it had a chorus, but the chorus wasn’t very strong. And so I wrote another chorus. We played that for a while, but then we didn’t really like that chorus at the end. So now the song has no chorus, and that somehow was better. But there was this instrumental part that initially was under the chorus, and eventually, Jono tried this tremolo thing in the verses. It’s probably the one of the more out-of-character songs for us in terms of expanding into slightly different sounds. It’s still a guitar song. It’s still guitar, bass, drums and vocals, but it’s slow and it’s got this big sound to it that was fun to explore. It was really fun to make, eventually, but it was a hard one to bring together.
Did it also feel exciting to you in the sense of it being something you could explore further in the future?
Yeah, it’s the first time we’ve done a 16th note beat, which is such a rudimentary way to put it, but up till now, we’ve typically been an eighth note band. Which we really like, but it’s just fun to kind of edge out a little bit further. At the same time, I’m like, we’re not reinventing the wheel here. [laughs] It’s a large step for us, but within the context of rock music history, it feels very much like we’re still in our little fenced-off area.
The album is more driving and energetic than its predecessor, but I found some of the quieter tracks, like ‘Your Side’, ‘When You Know You Know’, and especially ‘2am’, to be the most hopeful, even more confident than some of the upbeat tracks. They’re also some of the longest songs on the record, and I wonder if there was a sense of wanting to extend that feeling as far out as possible.
You’re making very astute observations that I hadn’t really worked out. [laughs] That’s really interesting. There’s nothing I’m more confident in than my own self-disdain and anxiety about myself, so I guess I feel a lot more comfortable shouting those things from the rooftops as it were. And then, definitely I feel a tenuousness to any kind of optimism that I have. But I did want there to be some optimism because it’s just been such a weird, depressing time and I didn’t want to write a super depressing album. Even though that would be great, I don’t want to yuck any yums. I guess it is kind of scary to confidently proclaim optimism about anything – it feels like something that I’m definitely always hedging. And so maybe that’s reflected in the way that those songs are arranged, they’re more said in a kind of quiet voice. But I do feel it, and it’s something I do want, I want to be different and want to see the world differently and be more open and optimistic – just loving the world around me and people around me. But I feel like that’s a want versus where I currently am I. Looking at the album, it feels like I’ve got some work to do.
Even said in a quieter voice, it still is vulnerable and kind of brave to proclaim that without much noise surrounding it, and to end on a tenuously hopeful note. I just don’t know how intentional it was when it came out.
Doesn’t feel brave. [laughs] Finishing with ‘2am’ is like the other end of the spectrum for us, where it was one of the songs that was the least arranged. We recorded that one and in the stairwell at the studio, we set up the drums and the guitars in there, and we actually just got a whole live take, which is something that we usually don’t do. It’s not perfect and it’s a bit rough and wasn’t the same every time, and I think we recorded it four or five times and just chose one. The one that everyone was like, “That’s the one.” But then to put it last feels very cowardly. [laughs] But it’s nice to hear that it kind of fits there.
I read in the bio that you “sometimes” recorded in the building’s stairwell, but it sounds like that was the only one you did there.
That was the only time, it was just that one song. It’s just got this beautiful reverb that we’ve always wanted to use but never have. And also, just that thing of, because we record in our own space in Jono’s studio, there wasn’t really an urgency. In the way that sometimes, if you’re a band and you go into a studio and you’ve only got two weeks or one week or something, you have to kind of knock it out and focus, and especially if you’re making something live all together. I feel like it gives a kind of seriousness to what you’re doing, you have to really focus and get it done. So I feel like us moving into the stairwell, not the same thing, but you know, we’ve moved all the stuff there, we have to get it tonight. We got everything set up and I think we started playing around like 12:30, midnight. We just had to get it done, and everybody rose to the occasion. It was really nice.
There’s a line on ‘Head in the Clouds’ that goes, “You can scream at the void/ But it never replies.” I know that any kind of creative pursuit can sometimes feel that way, too. I wanted to ask what you feel like it is that keeps you driving.
Like, just making something and putting it into the world and then kind of seeing it kind of disappearing, do its own thing? It’s kind of nice. The album comes out in three and a half weeks, like a month from now, and it’s kind of wild. You do all this work in the lead-up, you make the album and then you do all this planning, you do interviews and we’re touring and making music videos and releasing singles. And then it kind of feels like that all builds up to the album coming out, and a lot of the work at that point slows right down. The album just goes off and just does its own thing. I just remind myself all the time that some of my favourite albums are albums that I didn’t discover until sometimes years after they came out, or sometimes a year after they came out if they’re a new album. Music has a life of its own once it’s out, and you just have to let go of it. At that point, your ownership over it is kind of done. I think that’s good, it’s kind of healthy at that point be like, now the album belongs to other people.
But then you still get to play it live, and then it feels like it takes on a new context for you. The feedback that we get from playing live, it just feels great, and it feels more tangible. It’s not more real, right? Because someone at home listening to your album or listening to a song and really feeling a real connection, and maybe they live in the middle of nowhere and can’t actually come to gig, that’s real as well. But it’s just tangible for us, when we can play a room of even like 60 people and they know some of the words and they’re smiling. That, I think, becomes what the album feels like for us, more than anything.
Is there anything that we didn’t talk about that you’d like to add?
I think we’ve covered a lot of stuff, it’s been really nice chatting. I do want to shout out – I feel like I do all these interviews, but Jonathan plays a huge part in producing the band and helping write the songs, and Tristan as well. Just always want to acknowledge that we are a band, it’s not a solo project. They’re great, and I love them very much.
Can you share one thing that inspires you about every other person in the group?
Wow. So, Tristan – he’s the drummer – because he joined kind of later than the other three, he’s just been this great jolt of energy into the band, and he’s just so up for anything and really feels like he’s trying to get the most out of, particularly touring, and the experience of being a musician on the road. He’s also a creative force, he’s always trying to think about music in a new way and get something out of it that’s satisfying.
Ben is just super special. He’s this kind of strange, hilarious person. He’s the funniest person in the band by far – this very deadpan sense of humour. He writes this blog, this breakfast blog that he updates every day on tour, like what he had for breakfast and then what we do. He’s so funny and just has this huge heart. He’s always trying to do something useful and help you out in some way and just quietly getting it done.
And Jonathan, he really is the brain and soul of the band. He’s just always ticking over what next step is, and just looking at the experiences up close and also from far away to make sure that what we’re doing is the right step. He has to make all these decisions all the time, because he’s a producer as well and often is running also the tech side of things. I don’t know, I’m underestimating them, but I feel so much love and respect for my bandmates. They’re all so great. I’m really glad to be able to play music with them.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Field Medic has unveiled ‘stained glass’, the latest single from his upcoming album. It follows previous cuts ‘i had a dream that you died’ and ‘i think about you all the time’, and you can check it out below.
“‘stained glass’ is about when something unbelievable & terrible has happened & the surreal nature of trying to process it while going about your day to day,” Field Medic, aka Kevin Patrick Sullivan, explained in a statement. “waking up every morning realizing this is your new reality. all the color has been drained out of the world. processing the grief & replaying the events that lead to this moment over & over. wondering what role you played in it happening. oscillating between blaming the world & blaming yourself. vacant in the eyes. full body anxiety. crisis.”
Bill Callahan has shared a new song, ‘Coyotes’, the first preview of his forthcoming album YTI⅃AƎЯ. Check out a lyric video for it below.
Speaking about the new song, Callahan said in a statement:
We lived for awhile in a house in the hills. Coyote hills. The coyotes would start their song at dawn. Dawn and dusk were their main appearance times. Our dog would sleep outside sometimes in the morning and our boy was still bite-size. The coyotes would come take notes, edging closer each day. Mornings on the kingsize outdoor daybed. Like a righteous floating tide the coyotes would drift into our world. Predator and prey, blurred. Past and present, blurred. The young, the aged are to be snatched and devoured. Past lives edge in closer to try to speak to us. Current lives eye the past ones like sleeping dogs. And love spans all, that is why the feeling is so deep – deeper than one lifetime.
YTI⅃AƎЯ will be released on October 14 via Drag City.
The Menzingers have announced a reissue of their landmark album On the Impossible Past to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Set for release on November 4 via Epitaph, the new edition will include an eight-track EP featuring acoustic demos from the album titled On the Possible Past. Listen to the new version of ‘Burn’ below.
“This record changed our lives forever,” guitarist and vocalist Tom May remarked in a press release. “The last ten years have been a whirlwind of vans and airplanes, loud stages, late nights, love, dear friends, and once in a lifetime experiences. On the Impossible Past was the ticket. It was a rocket that took the four of us from our small smoke-filled basement in South Philly to stages in cities all over the world.”
The Menzingers’ last studio album, Hello Exile, arrived in 2019.
On the Possible Past Cover Artwork:
On the Possible Past Tracklist:
1. Good Things (demo)
2. Burn (demo)
3. Ava (demo)
4. Sun Hotel #2 (demo)
5. Sculptors and Vandals (demo)
6. Casey (demo)
7. I Can’t Seem To Tell (demo)
8. Freedom Bridge (demo)
Ela Minus and DJ Python have released a new song, ‘Kiss U’, the opening track of their upcoming collaborative EP ♡, which comes out this Friday, September 16 on Smugglers Way. It follows the previously shared single ‘Pájaros en Verano’ – one of our Best New Songs. Check out Juan David Figueroa‘s visual for it below.
