Ethel Cain has shared a new video for her Wicca Phase Springs Eternal-featuring track ‘God’s Country’. Check out the self-directed visual below.
“I wanted the video to be a homage to all the home videos my family shot when I was a kid,” Ethel Cain said in a statement. “It was my first road trip and my first time driving through the west and it was just a life-changing experience that made me feel the exact same way I felt when I was writing the song.”
Marking the 30th anniversary of their self-titled fifth album, best known as The Black Album, Metallica have announced two commemorative releases, both out September 10 on the band’s own Blackened Recordings. One is a new, expanded edition of the album, which will be available as a deluxe box set featuring the 2xLP, a picture disc, three live LPs, 14 CDs, six DVDs, a hardcover book, and more. The other is a massive covers album featuring 53 artists’ take on Black Album songs.
The Metallica Blacklist, which benefits various charities, is split into different sections; for example, there’s multiple artists putting their spin on ‘Enter Sandman’, including Weezer, Rina Sawayama, Juanes, Ghost, Mac DeMarco, and Alessia Cara & The Warning. Phoebe Bridgers, Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, My Morning Jacket, Mickey Guyton, and Chris Stapleton are among the artists who have tackled ‘Nothing Else Matters’, while St. Vincent, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Sam Fender, Royal Blood, and others offered their take on ‘Sad But True’. Then there’s the likes of Moses Sumney, Diet Cig, Flatbush Zombies featuring DJ Scratch, Ha*Ash, José Madero, and Cage the Elephant covering ‘The Unforgiven’. The project also includes contributions from PUP, J Balvin, OFF!, Corey Taylor, the Neptunes, Portugal. The Man, IDLES, Cherry Glazer, Kamasi Washington, and more.
The full Blacklist tracklist can be found at Metallica’s website. Below, check out Miley Cyrus’ rendition of ‘Nothing Else Matters’, featuring Watt, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, along with Juanes’ version of ‘Enter Sandman’, and trailers for the albums. Several other versions of ‘Enter Sandman’ have also been released and can be found below.
Low have announced a new album called HEY WHAT. The follow-up to 2018’s Double Negative was produced by BJ Burton and comes out September 10 via Sub Pop. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the lead single ‘Days Like These’, along with an accompanying video helmed by the group’s longtime friend and director Karlos Rene Ayala. Check it out below and scroll down for the LP’s cover art (designed by Peter Liversidge) and tracklist.
Along with the details of their new record, Low have also announced 30-date a world tour, which will kick off in North America in March 2022 with shows in the UK and Europe following in May. Find the list of dates below.
HEY WHAT Cover Artwork:
HEY WHAT Tracklist:
1. White Horses
2. I Can Wait
3. All Night
4. Disappearing
5. Hey
6. Days Like These
7. There’s a Comma After Still
8. Don’t Walk Away
9. More
10. The Price You Pay (It Must Be Wearing Off)
Low Tour Dates:
North America 2022:
Mar 22 – Bloomington, IN – Bishop
Mar 25 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn
Mar 26 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
Mar 28 – Washington, DC – Miracle Theatre
Mar 29 – Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live
Mar 31 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
Apr 01 – Providence, RI – Columbus Theater
Apr 02 – Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount
Apr 04 – Toronto, ON – The Axis Club
Apr 05 – Detroit, MI – Loving Touch
Apr 08 – Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
UK & Europe 2022:
Apr 25 – Edinburgh, UK – Queen’s Hall
Apr 26 – Dublin, IE – Vicar Street
Apr 27 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Cathedral
Apr 28 – Brighton, UK – St. George’s Church Brighton
Apr 29 – London, UK – St. John at Hackney Church –
Apr 30 – Bristol, UK – Trinity
May 02 – Paris, FR – Alhambra
May 03 – Cologne, DE – Kulturkirche Köln
May 04 – Antwerp, BE – TRIX
May 05 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
May 06 – Aarhus, DK – Voxhall
May 07 – Copenhagen, DK – Vega
May 09 – Hamburg, DE – Uebel & Gefährlich
May 10 – Berlin, DE – Festsaal Kreuzberg
May 11 – Vienna, AT – Wuk
May 12 – Bologna, IT – Teatro Duse
May 13 – Lausanne, CH- Les Docks
May 14 – Zurich, CH – Mascotte
Rachel Lime spent the early years of her life listening to church hymns and reading fantasy novels, which became a primary source of inspiration for the first songs she ever wrote. A Korean-American adoptee who was born in Seoul and grew up amidst the cornfields of Minnesota, the musician and producer was always interested in combining her various influences – from 80s synthpop to contemporary R&B – to create imaginative worlds that evoke very real yet elusive feelings of deep yearning, alienation, and transcendence. Though they take different forms on her recently released debut album, A.U., these emotional states permeate every corner of it: the playful, enchanting ‘Silla’ is a loose interpretation of the story of Queen Seondeok and her determination to compete for the throne, but Lime fixates on her longing for the stars (“When I was a child/ The stars made me cry/ They were so far away”).
That kind of sentimentality is vital to Lime’s ethereal and transportive music, even when the spaces it occupies are more mundane and down to earth: a bedroom (‘The Other’), the city at dusk (‘A.U.’). Whether walking, driving, or simply lost in thought, her protagonists are always searching for something that’s hard to pin down: “Whose shape would I call forth from the night, if I had such a moonly power?” she asks on the spoken-word piece ‘(The Sounds of Earth)’, and the answer – insofar as there is one – is more ordinary than one might expect, yet all the more beautiful for it.
We caught up with Rachel Lime for this edition of our Artist Spotlight interview series to talk about her upbringing, her musical journey, the making of her debut album, and more.
What was it like growing up in the cornfields of Minnesota?
I had a great childhood where I got to take piano lessons and do all these activities, but it was also very isolating. It was a place where I kind of knew I had to be alone, and I didn’t have friends, actually, till I was probably like 10. [laughs] I had friends, but like, friends. I was pretty awkward. Maybe I would have spent as much time alone as I did even if I did have a bunch of friends, but I mostly spent my time reading – like, 90% of the time I would be at the grocery store with a book, just reading. I remember we went to Disney World once, and I don’t remember this but my mom said I brought a book with and read it in line at this amusement park. So that was like who I was. I remember doing little creative things ever since I learned how to play the piano – I think I started when I was seven or eight.
I was one of maybe 10 Asian people in our town of like 10,000 growing up, and one of them was my brother. [laughs] And I think that’s still in my music; it’s hard to pull apart like social awkwardness and being alone from that and then the other stuff where it’s partly because I think I felt really different. I don’t think that’s universal – my brother had a whole different experience.
You mentioned reading books, and I read that the first songs you wrote were settings of poems from fantasy books. What did you like about fantasy?
I think I’ve always been drawn to things like that. I really like the imaginative part of it where I was always in my head imagining things, and it kind of provided a place to go to. It’s not like I was at a grocery store or at school, trying to go to this place – it wasn’t that intense. But I remember in summer, I would just be on my bed reading and it was my favorite thing. No school, and just this beautiful sunlight coming in my room. That’s one of my strongest memories from being a kid.
I think it’s about this longing, and there’s this German word for it: Sehnsucht. Longing sickness is what it means. And I’ve always really connected with that feeling before I knew what that word was. There’s something about fantasy worlds that is kind of fundamentally based on that, I think, because it’s a writer who’s imagining this whole other place that they desire and long for. There’s something out there that we think if we find it, we’ll find some type of home. And for a lot of people I think that’s a romantic relationship, where you feel like you’ll find that person that finally understands you. And in the album, I was trying to push the boundaries of that and bring up these other kinds of longings that are rooted in the same place, but it’s really not about a person, exactly – it’s about this other place that we think this other thing will give us access to.
Your Bandcamp bio, too, reads “music in search of other worlds,” so obviously that escapism is still integral to your work.
I think it does go back to being a kid, and it was escapism, because it was like, “My life is boring. There’s not things going on in my life that are really engaging me, so I’m going to jump into this other place.” And I guess things were hard for me in that sense, and that was an escape. Not that I actually suffered anything that traumatic, it wasn’t like that, but just feeling out of sync with what was around me. I’m lucky to have a really amazing community of people that I don’t feel that sense of disconnect anymore, but it’s still there. It’s almost instinctual, even when I’m having a great time with my friends, I do think there’s something where my default is to go to this other thing where I’m like… I’m walking down the street or in the woods and I’m just thinking about something magical about it, or maybe even gratitude, a sense of transcendence, because I’m seeing something beyond the ordinary. And you know, it’s not just in the woods – like, having like a beautiful dinner party outside with friends, which happened last night, where it’s just like, “This is a moment,” you know? It’s like a sublime moment, and I like to seek out those moments.
Could you talk about your musical journey up until this point?
As I said, I’ve written songs ever since I can remember, and the first ones I wrote were these settings of poems from fantasy books. [There were] these ancient, mythic dimensions to what I wrote, very much based in nature and this feeling of transcendence. And then as I got older, I started listening to these seminal albums of that era, like Fleet Foxes’ debut album, Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago, Arcade Fire’s Funeral. It was just like, music can be different than what I was listening to up till that point, which was like Panic! at the Disco and Dashboard Confessional and stuff like that. I started writing a lot of singer-songwriter stuff, I learned the guitar and wrote songs that were in that vein, like really emo, kind of Bright Eyes/Bon Iver attempt. And then in college I discovered synth pop, this band DOM that I got really into. I was doing all this in GarageBand before then, and then when I got to college I was exploring the synths on GarageBand. I was like, “How do I make these sounds, how do I add all this reverb and distortion?”
And then I was listening to alternative R&B and trying to make beats, but there was something else that was always coming out when I was doing this stuff – I was trying to make songs in a certain genre, but then weird moments would pop out, you know, adding these orchestral or very transcendent moments. Now I think there’s much more of an acceptance of these fusions, like FKA twigs’ latest album, Moses Sumney, lots of other artists that are adding in these more acoustic elements and very beautiful choral arrangements. But back then I don’t know if I knew of any music like that, and so I was very uncomfortable with this. I’m like, “I failed at doing this,” and now I’ve since discovered that those little moments peeking through is actually what I want to make.
I was in grad school for the past two years, and I had, weirdly, more space to really think about music. And I was trying to put together an EP and was writing a bunch over fall to like, January, February, from 2019 to 2020. Then the pandemic happened, of course, and I had this spring break trip planned and it was canceled. I had like a week to just do nothing, and then I started working on – I don’t know if it was ‘Voyager 3’ or this other song that I haven’t released – and then I posted a draft, and my friend Bobby Granfelt was like, “I’m starting a little record label with my friends, do you want to release something on it?” I was like, “Yeah, this is exactly what I need.” And I wrote those songs on GarageBand, and I discovered the GarageBand sampler, which is very janky, but I like that it is because if I’m thinking about music I can produce, I’m not going to attempt to do really technologically advanced things, because I don’t have those skills. I like working around limitations and maybe going in the opposite direction and seeing what happens. I eventually got Logic and was learning how to do more sophisticated things, but the sampler was really fun and I use it in a lot of the songs. I was very low tech, and I liked it too because a huge influence of mine is Kate Bush – there was a time where I was pretty obsessed, and I learned a lot about her and her process. But she used the Fairlight synthesizer – she was one of the first people to do that, and it’s sample-based, which sounds very distinct and what we would think of maybe as not super sophisticated now.
What was it like learning these things while in the process of making the album?
It was very cool. I wouldn’t have grown as much as a producer if I hadn’t done this. The process of working with a mixing engineer was very educational for me – I had no idea really what to expect. So, going back to Kate Bush – not to be too obsessive, but it really did shape this album and me finding my voice. I was looking at a bunch of albums that I like and looking at their credits, and I found Brian Tench, who mixed Hounds of Love. And I Googled his name, and he had this freelance profile, and I was like, “Oh my god, I could work with Brian!” And I sent him a message, like, “Hey, I probably don’t have a budget to afford you – I’m releasing on a label, but it’s not like there’s any money for it, so it’s basically very indie and DIY.” And he has a special rate for that, and he listened and was like, “This is cool, I can definitely hear the Kate Bush influence and I would love to work with you.” And I feel so grateful that he did and was really patient with me during the process. I think it’s normal to have a lot of back and forth, and it’s hard because it’s remote. It’s like a whole thing where I have to send like a book’s worth of notes even just to try something, and then I’m like, “No, I don’t want it,” and I felt really guilty.
I also think as who I am – which is, you know, very anxious and people-pleasing and feeling like I’m being annoying – it really came out in this process. I felt really bad each time I sent an email, but he was really patient. And I think part of that is like… I’ve talked with other friends who make music who are men, and I think it’s very different, because as a woman in music and probably all spheres of life, I feel like there’s a lot of guilt for being assertive, guilt for saying “This is what I want.” And that’s been a learning process, too, of how to maintain my vision while being cognizant of these other factors. But working with Brian taught me a lot about writing and producing, and I have him in the credits – I have this long list of thank yous – and he’s in there as someone who really indirectly taught me a lot about writing and producing, and to have confidence in what I’m doing. So I learned a lot, and mostly my feeling is gratitude for all the people who facilitated that learning.
In terms of the themes, there’s a lot of, as you mentioned, longing, but also references to loneliness. What was your headspace like when you were writing the album?
It’s hard to remember because it feels so long ago now. I guess it was a year ago that I was really in the thick of it, and it was this pandemic time – I don’t think it’s a pandemic album, because all the feelings I’ve been feeling for my whole life. So it’s not like it was this year I was like, “Now I feel lonely for the first time.” It wasn’t even worse than before, honestly, because I had just started grad school and that was very lonely, in a way, so it was kind of just a continuation, possibly even better, because I didn’t have to deal with social anxiety as much; I could just do what I wanted alone. It definitely took a toll, but it was kind of nice and freeing, and so maybe the album comes from that space, and maybe being more comfortable returning to being a kid, almost, in my head. Some of the songs are very not that space, but like, ‘Voyager’ is really playful, ‘Silla’ is very playful, ‘Bitter, Sweet’ has that kind of youthful spirit.
When you were tapping into that spirit and reflecting back on your childhood, was there anything that struck you that you hadn’t thought about before?
Yeah, I think a lot of the themes I’ve been talking about, I didn’t exactly put them all together before I wrote this. It’s almost like journaling, where you go back and you see themes that you didn’t realize at the time. I journal probably once a month, and I think it’s really similar in that sense, where it’s like, I’m recording this moment and how I’m feeling it now, and then in hindsight it’s transformed, because I’m not in it in the same way. So all these reflections about childhood… I have this very long Instagram post about it that I might have archived because I was embarrassed, and it was me reflecting after the new year about what I want this year to be. And as I’ve grown older, I think I’ve slowly lost the sense of wonder and feeling of playfulness and of like, “Things are possible, things can change.” Part of that is obviously depression, but I think it’s gotten… I don’t know if worse is the word, but just taken on this specific character for me. For me, depression is defined as things not feeling possible, like things never feel like they’re going to change. And so being in a good mood for me is thinking that things are changeable.
I definitely feel like I’m reaching kind of this weird turning point where it’s like, “What matters to me?” I realized all the things that I really cared about were creative, and I’ve been kind of pushing myself towards this other path. And it was really freeing to realize that what I want to really work on is music, and I couldn’t have realized that without the album and without all the support I’ve gotten and now the feedback I’m getting from people. All of that stuff means the world because it’s affirming that this is what I want to do. You know, in school, if I got a good grade on a paper, that pales in comparison to a random person finding my music and saying something really thoughtful and nice about it. That’s a very profound shift in my life, and I think I’m moving towards a lot more possibility and alignment with what I want to do.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Lorde has revealed the release date for her new album Solar Power: the follow-up to 2017’s Melodrama comes out August 20. Check out the album’s tracklist and previously unveiled cover artwork below.
In addition to sharing the details of her new album, Lorde has also announced a 2022 world tour. The pop star will kick things off in her native New Zealand in February before heading to North America, Europe, and the UK. Tickets go on general sale this Friday, June 25, 2021 at 10am local time. Find the list of dates below, too.
In a press release, Lorde said of Solar Power: “The album is a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors. In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers. I’ve learned to breathe out, and tune in. This is what came through.”
Lorde has already shared the album’s lead single and title track. “The first song, also called ‘Solar Power’ and written and produced by myself and Jack, is the first of the rays. It’s about that infectious, flirtatious summer energy that takes hold of us all, come June…”
According to the press release, Solar Power will be released as a disc-less, “eco-conscious Music Box” designed to minimize the carbon footprint of the new album. The Music Box will offer additional visual content, handwritten notes, exclusive photos, and a download card, which will give purchasers a high-quality download of the music, two exclusive bonus songs, and “access to some special surprises along the way.”
“I decided early on in the process of making this album that I also wanted to create an environmentally kind, forward-thinking alternative to the CD,” Lorde said. “I wanted this Music Box product to be similar in size, shape and price to a CD, to live alongside it in a retail environment, but be something which stands apart and that’s committed to the evolving nature of a modern album.”
Solar Power Cover Artwork:
Solar Power Tracklist:
1. The Path
2. Solar Power
3. California
4. Stoned in the Nail Salon
5. Fallen Fruit
6. Secrets From a Girl (Who’s Seen It All)
7. The Man with An Axe
8. Dominoes
9. Big Star
10. Leader of a New Regime
11. Mood Ring
12. Oceanic Feeling
Lorde 2022 Tour Dates:
Feb 26 – Christchurch, NZ – Electric Avenue Festival
Feb 27 – Upper Moutere, NZ – Neudorf Vineyards
Mar 1 – Wellington, NZ – Days Bay
Mar 2 – Havelock North, NZ – Black Barn Vineyards
Mar 4 – New Plymouth, NZ – Bowl of Brooklands
Mar 5 – Auckland, NZ – Outerfields
Mar 10 – Brisbane, AU – Riverstage
Mar 12 – Melbourne, AU – SMMB
Mar 15 – Sydney, AU – Aware Super Theatre
Mar 19 – Perth, AU – Belvoir Amphitheater
Apr 3 – Nashville, TN – Opry House
Apr 5 – Detroit, MI – Masonic Temple Theatre
Apr 7 – Montreal, QC – Salle Willfrid Pelletier
Apr 8 – Toronto, ON – Meridian Hall
Apr 12 – Boston, MA – Boch Center – Wang Theatre
Apr 15 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
Apr 16 – Washington, DC – The Anthem
Apr 18 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
Apr 20 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met
Apr 22 – Chicago, IL – The Chicago Theatre
Apr 25 – Minneapolis, MN – The Armory
Apr 27 – Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom
Apr 30 – Seattle, WA – WaMu Theatre
May 1 – Portland, OR – Theater of the Clouds
May 3 – San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
May 5 – Los Angeles, CA – Shrine Auditorium
May 7 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
May 25 – Leeds, UK – O2 Academy
May 26 – Edinburgh, UK – Usher Hall
May 28 – Manchester, UK – O2 Victoria Warehouse
May 30 – Birmingham, UK – O2 Academy
Jun 1 – London, UK – Roundhouse
Jun 2 – London, UK – Roundhouse
Jun 7 – Paris, FR – Casino de Paris
Jun 8 – Amsterdam, NL – AFAS Live
Jun 10 – Barcelona, ES – Primavera Sound
Jun 13 – Zurich, CH – Halle 622
Jun 14 Munich, DE – Zenith
Jun 16 – Rome, IT – Cavea – Auditorium Parco della Musica
Jun 17 – Villafranca di Verona, IT – Castello di Villafranca
Jun 18 – Sibenik, HR – Saint Mihovil Fortress
Jun 21 – Cologne, DE – Open Air am Tanzbrunnen
Jun 23 – Berlin, DE – Verti Music Hall
MUBI, the streaming service behind some of the most exciting cinema, unveiled their film schedule for the month of July. The list includes Radiane, The Unseen River, and The 10th Victim starring Ursula Andress, Marcello Mastroianni, and Salvo Randone.
The MUBI Spotlights this month feature Christian Petzold’s Undine (2020) and Pedro Almodóvar’s The Human Voice (2020), both fresh off their UK cinema releases.
This is the current list of films on MUBI in July 2021.
1 July | Nadia, Butterfly | Pascal Plante | On Your Marks: A Cinematic Olympiad | Exclusive
2 July | Undine | Christian Petzold | MUBI Spotlight
3 July | TBC
4 July | The 10th Victim | Elio Petri | Dystopia
5 July | Miso et Maso Vont en Bateau | Carole Roussopoulos, Delphine Seyrig, Ioana Wieder, Nadja Ringart | Sex, Truth and Videotape: French Feminist Activism
6 July | Radiance | Nicolas Parisier | Cannes Takeover
7 July | Alice and The Mayor | Joanna Reposi Garibaldi | A MUBI Release / Viewfinder / Cannes Takeover | Exclusive
8 July | Jeannette – the childhood of Joan of Arc | Bruno Dumont | Cannes Takeover
9 July | First Cow | Kelly Reichardt | A MUBI Release / Luminaries | Exclusive
10 July | Chris The Swiss | Anja Kofmel | Cannes Takeover
11 July | Sibyl | Justine Triet | Cannes Takeover
12 July | The Halt | Lav Diaz | A MUBI Release / Luminaries / Cannes Takeover | Exclusive
13 July | Nina Wu | Midi Z | Cannes Takeover
14 July | The Wasps are Here | Dharmasena Pathiraja | A MUBI Release / Rediscovered / Cannes Takeover | Exclusive
15 July | Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian | Arnaud Desplechin | Cannes Takeover
16 July | TBD
17 July | Rubber | Quentin Dupieux | Cannes Takeover
18 July | The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki | Juho Kuosmanen | On Your Marks: A Cinematic Olympiad
19 July | The Prostitutes of Lyon Speak | Carole Roussopoulos | Sex, Truth and Videotape: French Feminist Activism
20 July | Air Conditioner | Fradique | A MUBI Release / Debuts | Exclusive
21 July | Fire in My Belly | Ayo Akingbade | Becoming and Belonging: An Ayo Akingbade Focus | Exclusive
22 July | Claudette’s Star | Ayo Akingbade | Becoming and Belonging: An Ayo Akingbade Focus | Exclusive
23 July | The Human Voice | Pedro Almodóvar | MUBI Spotlight
24 July | TBC
25 July | Jessica Forever | Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel | Dystopia
26 July | Maquinaria Panamericana | Joaquin Del Paso
27 July | Something Different | Věra Chytilová | On Your Marks: A Cinematic Olympiad
28 July | Volleyball (Foot Film) | Yvonne Rainer | On Your Marks: A Cinematic Olympiad
29 July | The Unseen River | Phạm Ngọc Lân | A MUBI Release / Brief Encounters | Exclusive
30 July | Pikadero | Ben Sharrock | Limbo in Cinemas!
31 July | Freedom Fields | Naziha Arebi | On Your Marks: A Cinematic Olympiad
Throughout the week, we update our Best New Songs playlist with the new releases that caught our attention the most, be it a single leading up to the release of an album or a newly unveiled deep cut. And each Monday, we round up the best new songs released over the past week (the eligibility period begins on Monday and ends Sunday night) in this segment.
We’re starting off this week’s list with Tyler, the Creator’s hard-hitting new single ‘LUMBERJACK’, taken from his soon-to-be-released new album; Vince Staples also returned with a new track, the very solid, low-key ‘LAW OF AVERAGES’, from his newly announced self-titled LP; Yves Tumor’s first solo single since last year’s Heaven to a Tortured Mind is a dark, guitar-driven fever dream; Lingua Ignota announced a new record with the haunting ballad ‘Pennsylvania Furnace’; TORRES previewed her forthcoming album with the joyful and catchy ‘Hug From a Dinosaur’; Wet Leg, the post-punk duo newly signed to Domino, dropped their playfully absurd yet infectious debut single ‘Chaise Lounge’; Efterklang have a gorgeous, transportive new song out called ‘Living Other Lives’, while Gang of Youths evoke a similar if more direct sense of indie rock grandeur on ‘the angel of 8th ave.’; and finally, Indigo De Souza announced a new album, Any Shape You Take, with the dynamic and wryly-self-aware ‘Kill Me’.
Lorde has shared another teaser for her upcoming third album Solar Power. Earlier this week, New Zealand pop star updated her website with a soundless clip titled ‘Every Perfect Summer’s Gotta Take Its Flight’ that featured a crop circle spelling out ‘SP’. The new 21-second clip, ‘Solstice’, sees Lorde sitting on the beach behind a bower of plants; the only audio in the clip is the sound of hissing plants. Solstice, the official beginning of summer, occurs tonight at 11:31 pm EST/4:31 am BST. Check out the visual below and at Lorde’s website.
Solar Power is the much-anticipated follow-up to Lorde’s 2017 album Melodrama. After teasing the title track with the single art, Lorde shared ‘Solar Power’, featuring vocals from Clairo and Phoebe Bridgers, alongside an accompanying video co-directed by Lorde and Joel Kefali.
The Queen’s Gambit is one of Netflix’s most popular releases to date. Adapted from the novel by Walter Tevis, which was published in 1983, the screen adaptation was a long time in the making. In 1992, screenwriter Allan Shiach (penname Allan Scott) optioned the rights to the book. Prior to his death in 2008, Heath Ledger had planned to direct and star in the film opposite Elliot Page. The book was finally brought to life with the 2020 miniseries, with Allan Scott contributing as an executive producer, writer, and creator.
Though it’s not without its differences, the series is quite a faithful adaptation of the book and has been praised for its realistic portrayal of chess. Both stories follow the life of Beth Harmon, an orphan who grows up to become an international chess sensation. Though the events of the story begin in the 1960s, in real life, women weren’t allowed to play chess until the 1980s. Even so, Beth is one of the only women playing a men’s game, but she doesn’t see why her gender should even enter into the discussion. Here are some of the differences between the book and the miniseries.
Townes isn’t explicitly queer. In the series, Beth meets Townes at her first local tournament in Lexington. Though she’s still a teenager and he’s a grown man, it’s clear she’s attracted to him. The two keep bumping into each other over the years, and Beth begins to think he reciprocates her feelings. However, when he invites her to his hotel room to photograph her for a newspaper, another man enters. The brief interaction is enough for Beth to deduce that Townes is probably gay. In the book, Townes doesn’t show any romantic feelings towards Beth because he thinks she’s too young for him. The pair doesn’t really get a resolution as they do in the series when Townes shows up in Moscow as a reporter. The two are able to talk over what happened between them, but in the book, Townes just disappears from Beth’s life and there’s no suggestion of a male lover.
Beth’s rock bottom. Anya Taylor-Joy’s Beth slips down quite a dramatic spiral in the show. While her arc in the book is similar, she doesn’t hit rock bottom quite so hard. In the miniseries, Beth comes to rely heavily on alcohol, cigarettes, and tranquillizer pills – so much so that she cuts all her ties to her friends and can barely muster the desire to play chess. She locks herself inside her house, occasionally humiliates herself in public, and almost throws her potential away. This part of the story isn’t so dramatic in the book. Beth isn’t as devastated about Alma’s death, and her distance from Harry Beltik isn’t so important. Thus, she doesn’t have as far to fall.
Alma. Beth doesn’t come crashing down so hard in the book because she and Alma aren’t as close. Her flaws are much more vivid and permanent, whereas in the show, Alma clearly goes through some change. She becomes much more loving, and the two appear to enjoy each other’s company.
The Paris game with Borgov. Since Beth doesn’t rely so heavily on alcohol in the book, she isn’t drunk during her game against Borgov in Paris. It’s an important tournament, but she isn’t completely disoriented the way she is in the show. In fact, so important is this moment that it’s the opening shot of the miniseries. In the book, Beth loses the game because Borgov is simply better than her. He’s more experienced and has a different, more logical way of playing the game, which Beth comes to see and lament.
Beth and Benny’s relationship. The miniseries leaves a lot about this relationship ambiguous. Because of the format of the story, the romantic aspect is drawn out and amplified. In the book, the most important relationship Beth has is with chess. This is true of the series to an extent, too, but almost always, there’s Beth’s underlying confusion about which romantic partner to choose. First, she believes Townes is the only person she’s ever been in love with, but Harry becomes the person to treat her the best, and Benny is the only one she truly understands and feels compatible with. In the book, Beth spends far more time with Benny in New York. He’s also a gambler, but in the show, Beth only mentions in passing that he must’ve gambled all his money away when she asks for travel funds. This seems to refer to the money he throws away on speed chess, but in the book, he goes to the casino and plays poker. On the page, their relationship has a lot more depth and complications, but it’s still clear that Beth loves him. This isn’t quite as obvious on the screen. The final episode seems to suggest that Beth and Benny still have a chance when he calls her in Moscow. In the book, Benny is with two other players on the phone, but the show also places Harry, Matt, and Mike there. Harry is a significant addition because it finally allows a fair comparison between him, Benny, and Townes, who is in the room with Beth as she takes the call. In the book, Benny is the only one of her romantic interests who still supports her (and is still in her life) at this point. After Harry’s stay at Beth’s house, he stays out of the book. With him and Townes long gone, the door is open for Beth and Benny as she returns home after the World Championships.
Cleo doesn’t exist in the book. Though Cleo isn’t a romantic interest, Beth has a brief fling with her in Paris. This interaction is part of the reason why Beth fails so miserably in her match-up with Borgov. Cleo sees something in Beth that no other men have, and her liberation and sensuality tempts Beth.
Matt and Mike don’t exist in the book. Like Cleo, the twins are fun additions to the show who help Beth feel less alone. Tevis’s Beth is on a solitary journey and must figure out a lot of things for herself. Many of Beth’s thoughts and choices can’t be translated to the screen, so it makes sense to introduce some more visible external forces. Matt and Mike are there at every step of Beth’s chess journey, ready to answer her questions and show her the ropes of professional chess.
Jolene. In the book, Jolene comes across as somewhat problematic. At the orphanage, she abuses Beth – verbally, physically, and even sexually. Beth is a lot younger and feels powerless against her, but also indebted to her – after all, Jolene is the one to supply Beth with extra pills, if not always directly. Still, the two become something like friends, but not in the way they are in the miniseries. Years later, Beth decides to call Jolene at the orphanage, and from there, the two go to the gym a lot (versus squash in the series). Jolene has clearly made something of herself, much like she has in the screen adaptation, but Beth’s transformation upon Jolene’s return is much more internalized. The series brings much of Beth’s thought process to the surface. Jolene returns to inform Beth of Mr. Shaibel’s passing, then offers to pay for her trip to Moscow. In the book, Beth is much more alone, and while Jolene is there, Beth must figure out for herself how to get to Moscow. She slowly makes herself stronger, both physically and mentally. She focuses on herself, on working out at the gym, eating better, and living without substances. When Beth leaves for Moscow, Jolene isn’t heard from again.
Annette Packer. Another character to help Beth navigate the world of chess, Annette is a friendly young woman and the only other female (in the show) Beth encounters at her early tournaments. When Beth gets her first period, Annette is there to offer her support. Beth still feels alienated because she hasn’t grown up around girls like her, but she isn’t entirely alone the way she is in the book. Annette shows up again when Beth returns to play a tournament in Lexington, hungover and under the influence. It’s an important moment for Beth to take stock of who she’s become and allows audiences to reflect on her journey so far. Annette doesn’t show up in the book beyond her appearance at Beth’s first-ever tournament.
Who is Beth Harmon? Walter Tevis describes Beth as plain and brown-haired. Beth thinks of herself as ugly and is often perceived as ugly by other characters, including Jolene. This is very different from Anya Taylor-Joy’s Beth, and this is mostly because of her appearance. However, it’s worth noting that in the miniseries, it would’ve as easy for Beth’s hair to be brown as it is red. Perhaps this is meant to make Beth more of an outsider, someone who stands out and looks different from most of the people around her. Taylor-Joy is much prettier than Beth is described in the books, and the character’s “ugliness” is an important part of who she is. Beth is constantly aware that she’s not desirable in looks or personality, and in the show, Beth tries to change her appearance by shopping for nice clothes and altering her hairstyle. She takes control of how she’s perceived and has a very clear goal of who she wants to make herself, as exhibited by her relationship with other women in the show, especially Cleo and Jolene. At the end of the last episode, Beth proves herself to be the autonomous woman she’s grown to be; albeit with a smile, she commands, “Let’s play.” The book ends with a question: “Would you like to play?” This alone leaves readers with a very different impression of who Beth is and who she’s evolved to become.
As summer bakes us in its glorious heat, dressing well may not seem a priority. However, maintaining a stylish appearance cannot be overlooked. To help you out, we have put together a list of some of our favourite summer accessories for men.
Ray-ban Aviator Total Black Sunglasses
Sunglasses are an essential part of any summer outfit, and some of my personal favourites are the Ray-ban’s aviator sunglasses — a timeless classic for any man. Besides black leather jackets and white T-shirts, these sunglasses also look great with casual Cuban shirts and dazzling polo shirts.
Christys’ panama hat for John Lewis & Partners is timeless and sophisticated. Made from toquilla palm woven in Ecuador and blocked in the brand’s Oxfordshire factory, it is finished with a contrast stripe ribbon band for a splash of colour. Your summer wardrobe simply won’t be complete without it.
Even a simple outfit can be enhanced with a stylish and striking watch. This Black Hoss by Thümm & Co is a must-have accessory this summer. Black enamel finish dial, black hammered leather hybrid strap, durable ceramic bezel, and scratch-resistant sapphire crystal are the features that make this watch one of the best affordable men’s watches around.
AMBUSH was created by Yoon Ahn and her husband, hip-hop artist Verbal, as an experimental jewellery line in 2008. Although it is today regarded as more of a streetwear brand, the label’s trinkets are the glue that holds its ensembles together. This feather necklace, constructed from gold-toned sterling silver, features a symbolic pendant suspended from its cable chain, setting the mood for a pleasant weekend.
An interchangeable buckle makes this soft leather belt a versatile addition to any outfit. From smart shorts to light chinos, it’s a great addition for summer and beyond.