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Albums Out Today: Charli XCX, Rosalía, Sonic Youth, Oso Oso, and More

In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on March 18, 2022:


 Charli XCX, CRASH

Charli XCX is back with a new album. CRASH is out now via Atlantic, her last LP to be released under her current record contract. The follow-up to 2020’s how i’m feeling now features the promotional singles ‘New Shapes’ (featuring Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek), ‘Good Ones’, ‘Beg for You’ (with Rina Sawayama), ‘Baby’, and ‘Every Rule’. “I’d never actually made a major label album in the way that it’s actually done,” the British singer said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “It felt interesting to me to use moments of that process to make this final album as somebody who has really navigated the major label record system since I was 16 in completely on my own terms.”


Rosalía, MOTOMAMI

Rosalía’s new album MOTOMAMI is out now via Columbia. It’s the third LP from the Spanish superstar, following 2018’s El Mal Querer, and was recorded across Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Barcelona. Preceded by the singles ‘SAOKO’, ‘Chicken Teriyaki’, ‘Hentai’, and the Weeknd collaboration ‘LA FAMA’, the album is divided into two sides: MOTO is the “aggressive side of a woman,” while MAMI is “more connected with nature,” Rosalía explained in an interview with i-D, calling it her “most personal album to date.”


 Sonic Youth, In/Out/In

Released today via Three Lobbed, In/Out/In is a new album compiling unreleased material Sonic Youth recorded between 2000 and 2010. The record spans five tracks, including the previously shared ‘In & Out’. “When you’re in the middle of a tour and all of the musical cylinders (musicians, crew + equipment) are warmed up and firing on 10, and if the room/theater/venue and its acoustics allow, you can sometimes catch magic or maybe a basic track,” Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley explained in press materials. “This magic/music/inspiration doesn’t always occur when you’d like it to show up (you know, during the show!) – however, it sometimes can be caught in small unspoken moments during soundcheck when you least expect it.”


Oso Oso, sore thumb

After returning with the new single ‘Pensacola’ in February, Oso Oso has surprise-released a new album called sore thumb (via Triple Crown). Jade Lilitri recorded the follow-up to 2019’s Basking in the Glow over the course of a month with his late cousin Tavish Maloney at producer Billy Mannino’s (of Bigger Better Sun) Two Worlds Recordings. Maloney passed away less than a month after the recording, and Lilitri decided to keep the songs intact, only handing them over to Mike Sapone to get the album mixed. “The making of this record is a now a memory of a time that I hold closer to my heart than anything,” Lilitri said in a statement. “Regardless of how I feel about these songs in the years to come, I am so happy this exists. Thanks for listening. Be decent.”


Yumi Zouma, Present Tense

New Zealand alt-pop outfit Yumi Zouma have returned with their fourth album, Present Tense. The follow-up to 2020’s Truth or Consequences is out now via Polyvinyl and includes the previously unveiled tracks ‘Where the Light Used to Lay’‘In the Eyes of Our Love’, ‘Mona Lisa’, ‘Give It Hell’, and ‘Astral Projection’. “The lyrics on these songs feel like premonitions, in some regards,” lead singer/keyboardist Christie Simpson said in a press release. “So much has changed for us, both personally and as a band, that things I wrote because the words sounded good together now speak to me in ways I didn’t anticipate.”


Midlake, FOR THE SAKE OF BETHEL WOODS

Midlake have put out FOR THE SAKE OF BETHEL WOODS, their first new album in over 8 years, via ATO. For the follow-up to 2013’s Antiphon, the band worked with John Congleton, who produced, engineered, and mixed the album, marking the first time they’ve worked with an outside producer. “I can’t say enough just how much his influence brought our music to another sonic place than we would have,” frontman Eric Pulido said in a statement. “I don’t want to record without a producer again. Part of that is the health of the band, because as you get older you get more opinionated and you kind of need that person who says, ‘No, it’s going to be this way!’ It’s hard to do that with your friends.”


Babeheaven, Sink Into Me

Babeheaven, the London five-piece led by Nancy Andersen and Jamie Travis, have released their second album, Sink Into Me, via Believe. The follow-up to the group’s 2020 debut full-length, Home For Now, features the advance tracks ‘The Hours’‘Don’t Wake Me’, and the Navy Blue-assisted ‘Make Me Wanna’. “It was a conscious decision to move away from being a trip-hop bedroom-pop band,” Travis said in press materials. “We did that on the last album; now it was time to try something different.”


Other albums out today:

Blanck Mass, Ted K (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack); Mattiel, Georgia Gothic; Feeder, Torpedo; Maggie Gently, Peppermint; Cypress Hill, Back in Black; Hinako Omori, a journey…; Bogdan Raczynski, ADDLE; Dark Funeral, We Are the Apocalypse; Stabbing Westward, Chasing Ghosts.

King Princess Announces New Album, Shares Video for New Song ‘For My Friends’

King Princess is gearing up for the release of their sophomore album, Hold On Baby, due later this year. Today, the singer-songwriter has shared a new track called ‘For My Friends’, which follows the January single ‘Little Bother’, a collaboration with Fousheé. Check out the Nick Harwood-directed video for the song below, and scroll down for King Princess’ upcoming tour dates.

“I thought it would be extra fab to begin releasing this new record with a song about my two best friends from high school,” King Princess said in a press release. “These girls have been through the pits with me, and the more time I spend with them as an adult, the more I’m reminded that they are my home. So thank you my angel horse queens for sticking with me. I love you all and I can’t wait to give you this song.”

King Princess 2022 Tour Dates:

Jul 5 – Vancouver, BC – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Jul 6 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre
Jul 8 – Forest Grove, OR – Grand Lodge
Jul 9 – Boise, ID – Revolution
Jul 12 – Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom
Jul 13 – Salt Lake City, UT – Union Event Center
Jul 15 – Berkeley, CA – The Greek Theatre
Jul 16 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre
Jul 18 – San Diego, CA – SOMA
Jul 19 – Phoenix, AZ – Van Buren
Jul 21 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s Amphitheater
Jul 22 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
Jul 23 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
Jul 25 – Kansas City, MO – Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland
Jul 26 – St. Louis, MO – The Factory at The District
Sep 28 – Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore
Sep 30 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore
Oct 3 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
Oct 5 – Boston, MA – Roadrunner
Oct 6 – Portland, ME – State Theatre
Oct 8 – Toronto, ON – HISTORY
Oct 9 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore
Oct 11 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
Oct 12 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theatre
Oct 14 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee
Oct 15 – St. Paul, MN – Palace Theatre

Chino Moreno’s ✞✞✞ (Crosses) Release New Songs ‘Initiation’ and ‘Protection’

✞✞✞ (Crosses) – the project of Deftones’ Chino Moreno and producer/multi-instrumentalist Shaun Lopez – have shared two new songs. ‘Initiation’ and ‘Protection’ mark the duo’s first original music since 2014’s †††. Take a listen below.

On Christmas Eve last year, ††† released a cover of Q Lazzarus’ ‘Goodbye Horses’. The year before, they covered Cause & Effect’s ‘Beginning of the End’.

Syd Announces New Album ‘Broken Hearts Club’, Shares Video for New Single

Syd has announced a new solo album, Broken Hearts Club, which arrives on April 8 via Columbia. The follow-up to 2017’s Fin features the previously reeleased singles ‘Fast Car’, ‘Missing Out’, and ‘Right Track’. Today, Syd has shared a video for the new track ‘Could You Break a Heart’, which features Lucky Daye. Check it out below.

Syd co-wrote, performed, and co-produced Broken Hearts Club, which includes contributions from Kehlani and Smilo as well as additional production from Troy Taylor, G Koop, and Darkchild.

“The album is about a relationship I had that ended in my first real broken heart,” the Internet co-founder said in a press statement. “It almost felt like I joined a club because all of my friends went through similar experiences. It was like a rite of passage. I started writing the album on the relationship when I was in love. You’re really getting the whole journey from the beginning to the end. I want people to find it beautiful. It’s super vulnerable, sentimental, and it’s soft. There’s touching moments and a couple of dark moments.”

Broken Hearts Club Cover Artwork:

Broken Hearts Club Tracklist:

1. CYBAH [feat. Lucky Daye]
2. Tie the Knot
3. Fast Car
4. Right Track [feat. Smino]
5. Sweet
6. Control
7. No Way
8. Getting Late
9. Out Loud [feat. Kehlani]
10. Heartfelt Freestyle
11. BMHWDY
12. Goodbye My Love
13. Missing Out

Normani Drops New Song ‘Fair’

Normani is back with her first song since ‘Wild Side’, her 2021 collaboration with Cardi B. It’s called ‘Fair’, and Normani co-wrote it with Abby Keen, Bernard “HARV” Harvey, and Felisha King Harvey. HARV produced the track, which Normani also performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night (March 17). Check it out below.

“This song really captures me in one of my most vulnerable moments,” Normani said in a statement. “Sharing this record makes me uncomfortable because you have never really seen me in this light. Definitely aware that you might feel like you don’t know much about me but that’s only because it’s what makes me feel protected. I am really forcing myself to let go here. This is huge for me and hopefully this piece of art resonates. Love is beautiful yet so soooo terrifying. I adore you guys to the moon and back.”

 

Album Review: Alex Cameron, ‘Oxy Music’

Alex Cameron has been effectively blurring the line between persona and artist for most of his career, dealing with uncomfortable themes by embodying some version of a sleazy, deplorable male character. It’s been a playful act of exposure more than serious commentary, a quality that has kept his music entertaining as well as refreshing ever since his 2016 debut Jumping the Shark. The Australian musician followed up 2017’s excellent Forced Witness with Miami Memory, a compelling record that promised a more sincere look into relationships. It worked only because that was half-true; whatever earnestness seeped into the picture, it was balanced out by Cameron’s trademark tongue-in-cheek humour. His latest, the smartly titled Oxy Music, would seem to continue that trajectory; it was recorded during lockdown and tackles topics such as mental illness and opioid addiction, which loom larger on the record than any of its morally questionable protagonists.

Oxy Music reflects how the world has changed – and hasn’t – since Cameron put out his last album, but despite the thematic shift, his approach remains virtually the same. Which is why it’s hard to say exactly what it is that holds it back. It’s not that he’s less provocative than before; the appeal of his music has less to do with edginess than a unique ability to simultaneously ridicule and elicit sympathy for the most pathetic dirtbags on the planet. His attempts to do that on this album don’t exactly fall flat, and his character sketches benefit from being candid and thoughtful as well as dark. But though songs like ‘K Hole’ and ‘Hold the Line’ outline interesting scenarios, they lack the nuance and detail that has made Cameron’s work so engaging and slyly subversive in the past. You might feel bad for the guy trying to balance his online and real-life presence on ‘Best Life’, but if you’re waiting for the real punchline, it’s one of the many instances where Oxy Music fails to deliver.

Even if it doesn’t have much of substance to say, Cameron still knows his way around a hook, and he uses it to his advantage. It doesn’t take too many listens to get some of the choruses on the album stuck in your head – ‘Sara Jo’ is the clear highlight in that regard, despite including the line “Who told my brother that his kids are gonna die from this vaccine?” – but on the whole, the album isn’t as memorable as Cameron’s last two efforts, mostly because there’s not a lot that will cut through and leave a lasting impression once you’ve stopped listening. And when it’s not forgettable, it’s often baffling: a catchy hook can cleverly obscure the message of a song, but not knowing whether he’s joking or not doesn’t necessarily make it more meta – it just increases the chances that it’s not funny. That’s certainly the case with ‘Cancel Culture’, in which Cameron croons, “Lily-white but I listen to hip hop, show me the crime/ Says I can’t sing along, I even use the accents, baby.”

It’s so easy to say that all of this is the point. But the album’s lack of commitment extends to the music itself, which rides on the glowing ‘80s synth-pop production that Cameron has successfully employed time and time again – this time, though, the results are less immediately dazzling, more stagnant. On the vocal front, Cameron goes some way into delivering some of his most dynamic and heartfelt performances, particularly on tracks like ‘Hold the Line’ and ‘Dead Eyes’. But for such an unconventional and astute songwriter, he seems to have oddly settled on a formula and struggling to breathe life into it. It might be a self-aware move, but a weak one considering that Cameron’s music seems to be heading in a more emotionally affecting direction. You can only be so vulnerable while keeping an ironic distance; instead of blurring the line between those two tendencies, the impact should come from revealing what’s underneath it.

Everything You Should Know About Custom Home Renovation and Expansion

The transformation of a house is one of the most remarkable. When designing or renovating your home, keep in mind that it’s one of the most personal investments you’ll ever make. Since custom home renovation and extensions can take many forms, you should have no trouble finding a solution that meets your requirements and your budget.

 When planning a home renovation or expansion, finding a siding contractor you can trust is essential to ensuring durability, aesthetics, and long-term value.

Different Methods

Renovation

Consider remodeling if your house is in good shape. Because you don’t have to build anything new, remodeling an existing space will save you money. A two-story addition, on the other hand, allows for more square footage and more amenities.

It’s still possible, however, to update your home while maintaining its original integrity by employing the custom house renovation Sydney method.

Extension

It is possible to get more space for your money by adding an extension to your current house, but this isn’t the best option for everyone. If you’ve already laid the foundation for your house and have enough space on your property, this might be an excellent option for you. 

It is possible to get more space for your money by adding an extension to your current house, but this isn’t the best option for everyone. If you’ve already laid the foundation for your house and have enough space on your property, this might be an excellent option for you. However, before proceeding with an extension project, it is essential to consult with experienced professionals such as general contractors CT. They can assess your property, evaluate the feasibility of an extension, and provide expert guidance throughout the process. Working with general contractors ensures that the project is executed efficiently, adheres to local building codes and regulations, and meets your specific requirements and budget. With their expertise, you can achieve the desired expansion and create a more spacious and functional home.

Preparation is the key to success

Consult with local officials to determine what permits are required before beginning any construction. In addition, you should think about how your home’s appearance and resale value will be affected by the renovation or extension.

Consider hiring a professional architect who can help you plan a functional layout while keeping in mind the aesthetics of your neighborhood. After all, it would be wonderful if that new kitchen had a view of the surrounding area.

Financing

Financing options will vary depending on the scope of your project. It’s possible to contract out your work, but there are other options that might be more suitable for you.

There are some situations where buying someone else’s custom home renovation and extension project may be more cost-effective than starting from scratch.

Licensed Expertise

Consult with a qualified professional for guidance on the best approach before beginning any work. They can give you advice on what materials and techniques are best for your project, as well as information on local prices and rules.

What’s Next?

If you know where to look, there are a plethora of resources available for custom home renovation and expansion ideas. The Internet is your friend, so don’t forget to take advantage of it for inspiration or to get in touch with potential contractors! Check here for more information.

What are the advantages of having a custom home built?

Reduces Anxiety

Often, remodeling or expanding a home is a stressful endeavor. You should stick with what you’ve got if you have enough room. By simply adding an extension to your existing home rather than starting from scratch, custom renovations can alleviate all of that stress.

Enhances Usability

Remodeling an unoccupied area of your home can benefit greatly from a custom house renovation.

Boosts the resale value

A custom home renovation or extension can increase the resale value of your property, as was previously stated. However, you should take into consideration the layout of your current property before making any major changes.

Space is Expanded

Adding square footage to your home is an excellent idea if your children have moved out and you find yourself with more space than you know what to do with.

Final Note

When it comes to this topic, there are numerous ways to approach it. Adding a room to your home is an excellent option if you need more space but don’t want to invest a lot of time or effort in the process.

Arcade Fire Announce New Album ‘WE’, Share Video for New Single

Arcade Fire have announced their new album: WE is out May 6 via Columbia Records. To mark the news, the band has shared a video for the new single ‘The Lightning I, II’, which they announced earlier this week. Check out the Emily Kai Bock-directed clip and find the album’s cover artwork and tracklist below.

Nigel Godrich, Win Butler, and Régine Chassagne produced WE, which was recorded in multiple locales including New Orleans, El Paso, and Mount Desert Island. According to Butler, it marks “the longest we’ve ever spent writing, uninterrupted, probably ever.” The 40-minute, seven-song LP is divided into two sides: Side ‘I’ is about “the fear and loneliness of isolation” and Side ‘WE’ is about “the joy and power of reconnection,” per a press release. The album’s cover artwork features a photograph of the human eye by the artist JR with airbrush color tinting by Terry Pastor, who employed the same technique on David Bowie’s Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust covers.

Arcade Fire shared the following note about the album:

My grandmother read me a book when I was a little kid that had the word “WE” stamped into its cover in broken 1920s gold leaf

As my eyes grew heavy, in the bedroom my father slept in as a child, I wondered…

What is “WE”? Who are “WE”?

There are questions that can rattle around in your head for a lifetime…
but once in a while the centuries grind to a halt
and WE are given the precious time
to ask again in our child-like inner voice
What is “WE”?
Hiding in the shadow of Carl Jung
is the WE that holds each other back
and tears each other down
the WE that whispers secrets
and complains about paradise
even heaven is too cold…
But also it is the “ONE” of Marley, the Buddha and Abraham
it’s the lightning strike
of our magic mutual creation
it’s the root
WE share
made of the same dust as the stars
WE pray to
It’s the dream of Martin Luther King Jr.
and the iron of the nail on the church door of his namesake
it’s the innocence and the mistake
the universal flaw and the perfect imperfection
The hipsters called it jazz
The hippies called it love
And we call it WE

Arcade Fire’s last album, Everything Now, was released in 2017.

WE Cover Artwork:

WE Tracklist:

1. Age of Anxiety I
2. Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole)
3. End of the Empire I-IV
4. The Lightning I, II
5. Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)
6. Unconditional II (Race and Religion)
7. We

5 Best Alternative Fashion Trends

So, you’re not really into mainstream fashion, but you also don’t want to look like a poser. Finding a balance is a delicate dance, but it is possible to determine the styles to focus on. When creating outfits, the goal should be to send a message. Defining what you want to convey is what alternative fashion is all about. How can you be authentic through fashion? Wearing Kaftans? To help you break down the walls of your creative fashion blocks, here are five alternative fashion trends to inspire you. Another favourite is summer trousers. They are lightweight and keep you cool in summer.

1. Classic Emo Culture

For those who love goth, punk, and emo clothes, you already know that these styles reflect subcultures with their own kinds of defining music, values, and beliefs. Emo fashion tells us we can create fashion equivalent to art by channeling our pain and suffering outward.

Those unfamiliar with emo clothing might brush it off as the aesthetic of an outcast. In reality, these “outcasts” choose to be alone or with a tight-knit group of friends that get them. The “emo” aesthetic is misunderstood in mainstream fashion, and perhaps that is why it resides so comfortably as an alternative fashion trend. Classic emo clothes are a critical starting point if you want to incorporate clothing that reflects your personality, let alone emotion at ALL.

  1. I Am Not A Hipster Aesthetic

Another trend is the hipster aesthetic: the look that is so far down the line hipster, not even the hipster is willing to admit what they are. Secretly, we all know that any hipster who looks like a hipster yet denies being one is lying, but that is just another part of their “ironic” charm.

If you feel that your soul is calling out for sunhats and t-shirts with cats on them, let your inner-hipster shine and give it a shot. Soon enough, you might even sport suspenders. This is mixed into the latest fashion trends anyway, so it’s not hard to incorporate.

3. The All-Knowing Bohemian

The least edgy alternative look belongs to the all-knowing bohemian icon. If you like long maxi skirts, messy buns, messenger bags (vegan, of course), and open, sustainable fashion statements like recycled shoes, you might just be an all-knowing bohemian too.

You can get style inspiration for this look by attending a yoga class or heading out to the Sunday farmer’s market. Embrace your love for flowy tops and yoga pants like never before. Namaste.

4. The Minimalist Look

If you feel like the world is your oyster when you wear a plain white t-shirt, you are probably a fan of minimalist fashions. Anything European with Converse shoes is a must-have. You might get your inspiration from early 2000s boy bands.

Plain White T’s comes to mind, which is SUCH a fitting name for this topic. Anyway, if you enjoy the simple things in life, a minimalist style could be your claim to fame.

5. The Outdoorsy Aesthetic

You keep a thermos in your bag and a pocketknife in your pocket in the event of spontaneous camping invites. You also love puffer vests and work boots with rubber soles. If this sounds like you, party on nature lover.

If your love for the great outdoors dictates your fashion, you are a fan of the outdoorsy aesthetic. Perhaps you enjoy flannel shirts, beanies, and fingerless gloves. You do you.

Use Your Fashion Sense

Knowing where you fall in alternative fashion is about considering your style, lifestyle, and fashion sense. You probably already own clothes that can clue you in on your style, but in the meantime, use these tips for inspiration.

Three of the best: Best Mate’s historic trio of Gold Cup victories

The term legend gets thrown around a lot in the sporting world nowadays, but as far as Best Mate is concerned — he certainly fits the billing. Trained by Henrietta Knight, the bay gelding dominated the steeplechasing category in the early 2000s — winning 14 of his 22 starts, including the King George VI Chase, the Peterborough Chase and the Haldon Gold Cup, all while never falling at a fence and finishing outside of the top two just once!

That by itself is a glittering, impressive CV. However, we have merely scratched the surface of the legend that is Best Mate thus far, because it is his hat-trick of successive Cheltenham Gold Cup victories that truly made him a fan favourite with jump racing fanatics. First winning the Festival’s showpiece event in 2001, ‘Matey’ became the ‘people’s champion’ when he went on to win the Gold Cup three wins on the trot — emulating the same feat as the great Arkle, who won each renewal of the race between 1964 and 1966.

Best Mate unfortunately suffered an on-track heart attack at Exeter in 2005, collapsing after being pulled up by Paul Carberry in the Haldon Gold Cup. But his legacy lives on at Cheltenham Racecourse, as his ashes were buried at the winning post while he also has an enclosure named in his honour at the iconic Prestbury Park. So, with another renewal of the Festival on the horizon and the chance for another horse to write their name in Gold Cup history, let’s take a look back at Best Mate’s three victories in the Blue Riband contest.

2002 Gold Cup

With the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain resulting in the 2001 edition of the Festival being cancelled, anticipation was rife for the prestigious Prestbury Park meeting the following year and it was Best Mate who provided the thrills in the Gold Cup — winning from 7/1, much to the joy of those who bet on horses. The then seven-year-old didn’t exactly go into the showpiece race in the best form, finishing second in his previous two outings — including in the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.

But, on his first attempt at the challenging three and quarter-mile trip, Matey prevailed — quickening to take the lead approaching the last and running on well to hold off 25/1 chance Commanche Court, ridden by Ruby Walsh and trained by his father Ted, by almost two lengths to gift Culloty, Knight and owner Jim Lewis their first Gold Cup triumph.

“I’ve always said he was the perfect racehorse so I knew he’d stay three miles plus,” Knight said afterwards. “Jim gave him a super ride, always in the right place. He made a mistake at the same fence twice but otherwise it was a magic round.”

2003 Gold Cup

There were no questions surrounding Best Mate’s form this time around. The Knight-trained horse lined up for starter’s orders at Prestbury Park having already won the Grade 2 Peterborough Chase on his seasonal reappearance in November and he backed that up in the King George one month later — so it was no surprise he went off for the Gold Cup as the short-priced favourite at 13/8.

It was as commanding a race as the betting suggested as well, with Best Mate pulling well clear of Valley Henry, who eventually finished fourth, on the turn for home, opening up a massive lead by the final couple of fences and stretching even further clear up the Cheltenham Hill to beat 33/1 shot Truckers Tavern by a comfortable 10 lengths.

2004 Gold Cup

Best Mate started the season with a defeat in the Peterborough Chase, finishing eight lengths behind Jair Du Cochet, but he bounced back by winning the Ericsson Chase at Leopardstown in Ireland, where he was bred, in December and the bookies were taking absolutely no risks with in the Gold Cup — pricing the now nine-year-old at 8/11, making him the first odds-on favourite for the blue riband race since Arkle went off at 1/10 on his hat-trick attempt in 1966.

It was certainly a more dramatic run than his previous two outings in the Gold Cup, as Best Mate looked trapped in by the leaders on the inside at the final bend. However, Culloty soon switched him right and they led over the final fence — driving home and holding off the very late challenge of Sir Rembrandt to win by nothing more than half a length.

“We said beforehand that the only safe way was down the inside, because down the middle was cut up last year and there was no grass on it,” said Culloty. “We had to take the gamble, and at times I wasn’t getting the best of runs. Everybody was saying it was a steering job, but it was a Gold Cup and there is no quarter given.”