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Artist Spotlight: Abbie Ozard

Hailing from Manchester, singer-songwriter Abbie Ozard combines her penchant for indie pop escapism with candid explorations of modern life and coming-of-age. Having toured with the likes of whenyoung and Phoebe Green, she recently followed up her 2017 debut project, the lo-fi-leaning Growing Up, with a new EP called let’s play pretend. It’s an infectiously catchy collection of songs that sees her fleshing out her sound with help from co-producer Rich Turvey (Oscar Lang, Vistas, Blossoms) as she continues to navigate the anxieties of being in your early 20s. From the propulsive, sun-drenched hooks of ‘pink sky (endless summer)’ to the understated yet soaring ‘tv kween’ and the Tarantino-inspired, Avril Lavigne-channelling ‘true romance’, Ozard retains a dreamy aesthetic while radiating a newfound sense of confidence that solidifies her status as an artist-to-watch.

We caught up with Abbie Ozard for the latest edition of our Artist Spotlight interview series to talk about her influences, her new EP, and more.


You’ve talked about growing up listening to artists like The Cure and Mazzy Star, and some of these dreamy 80s and 90s influences definitely come through in your music, but there’s also more of a poppunk energy on your new EP. What were some of your reference points while making the record?

I think the sound has just kind of naturally evolved. I don’t think I’ve got anything specific that I’ve taken inspiration from – it’s just kind of happened. I don’t know, the music that I listened to growing up, with my mom and dad listening to all these 80s and 90s bands, and then I’ve got an older sister that was listening to, like, Busted and Avril Lavigne and people like that, so I think it’s all just naturally formed into its own sound.

Do you have any early musical memories that have stayed with you over the years?

Yeah. My parents are big vinyl collectors, so I used to go through old vinyls and play them. And I think as I’ve got older, I’ve kind of become more knowledgeable, and I’m like, “I know that artist! I know that band!” My mom is a huge Blondie fan as well, so we used to dance in the kitchen to ‘Sunday Girl’. I think that was one of my earliest memories of really enjoying music.

How did you become interested in songwriting in particular?

It all started off – I was doing classical music when I was little, and I used to have piano lessons and do like grades and stuff like that. And I joined a church choir for about five years. And then I grew older and kind of grew out of it, so I dropped out of doing that and I got a guitar for my birthday and I started to just write songs from there. I don’t think I’ll ever show anyone the first songs that I wrote.

Do you remember what they were about?

Yeah, they were just about, like, boys and stuff. [laughs] Literally no one can ever see them, I think it was just me trying to be an angsty teenager, trying to be cool.

To get to your new EP, could you talk me through the timeline of writing and recording these songs?

Yeah, so I wrote ‘pink sky’, and then straight after ‘pink sky’ we went into lockdown. And then I wrote ‘tv kween’ and released that. And then we came out of lockdown and I went into the studio and wrote ‘true romance’. ‘breakdowns’ was also written when we when we were allowed to be out of lockdown for a bit, and then it was finished just at home. So they’ve been pretty close together, but I think a lot has changed since when I first started writing the first EP, so it’s kind of gone through the different phases of year and what was happening in my life.

What would you say is the biggest thing that’s changed?

I moved out – I moved away from my parents’ house. I think when I was writing ‘breakdowns’, I was living at my parents’ house and I would feel shit about being, like, twenty-something and not having my own kind of routine and life. All my friends were moving away from my hometown, and I just felt like rubbish and bitter about it, so I wrote a song about it. [laughs] So that’s changed, and like, relationships, that’s all changed. Things are just ever-changing, and I think the EP is just a reflection on how the past year has been.

That leads me to my next question, because I was thinking about ‘breakdowns’ in relation to what you’ve said about the pressure and the lack of direction that comes with being in your early 20s. And you mentioned something specifically in a press release about having “a massive conversation about Generation Z.” Do you remember how that conversation went?

I was writing it with my friend Ben in Leeds at the time, and we were thinking what to write about, just throwing out ideas. And I was like, “Yeah, the other day I saw someone post on their social media, like, ‘having a break from social media.’” And I’ve literally done it before, like I’ve shared a post like that. And I’m like, “How ironic is that, you post about having a break from social media?” Like, I get it, people are so used to posting every day, and I guess you kind of have to inform people when you’re not in that world, otherwise your followers are gonna be like, “What the hell? Where have they gone? Are they okay?” And it’s just so weird – it’s kind of fucked up that you have to do that.

I think a lot of people have started talking about mental health a lot more the past couple of years and especially this year. And I just felt like, even though they were starting to talk about it more, a lot of people couldn’t cope with what was happening and they were having breakdowns. I kind of think the song has got a sarcastic manner to it, like people might think I’m taking the mick out of people having breakdowns, but that’s not what I’m doing. I’m just talking about how it is to be in your early 20s in this time, and so many people living at their parents’ houses can’t afford to move out because they’ve not got jobs, and there’s so much pressure, like, “What am I going to do in my life?”

You mentioned you wrote the song with Ben – do you feel like making this EP as a whole was a more collaborative process?

Yeah, I think the songs that I write on my own verses versus the songs that I write with other people are really different. This EP has been more collaborative, but with the next few releases I kind of want to make sure there’s a mixture of songs that I’ve written by myself and with other people. I don’t want everything to sound the same because I get bored of the sound so quickly; I just want to go to the next thing and I want to make sure that there’s a variation of soundscapes and lyrics.

It sounds like you’re at a phase where you’re experimenting with a lot of different ideas and going from one sound to the next pretty quickly. In what ways has the pandemic affected your approach?

At the start, there wasn’t much to work with in terms of inspiration. I was like, “Nothing is going on in my life, I’m literally stuck in my room. That’s all there is to write about, the fact that you’re stuck in your room.” And a lot of people were doing that at the time, and you’re like, “Ugh, that’s so unoriginal, I’m writing about corona again.” And then I started doing Zoom sessions – I kind of avoided it a bit for a bit, but I thought, you know, if we’re in this for the long run, then I’ve got to start writing and collaborating with other people, as well as writing by myself, so I pushed myself to do that a bit more. And that was cool, because ‘tv kween’ was written on FaceTime, and that’s my favorite song yet. In a way it’s been a blessing, but at the same time, it’s really hard to find inspiration a lot of the time.

Maybe as a result of that, a running theme on the EP is that’s largely about romanticizing different aspects of your life. And you’ve said as well that that’s something you didn’t realize until after you’d assembled it. How did you think that common thread came about?

I’d released each song individually, not knowing that they were going to be put into an EP, and I thought – each song has its own little separate world, and I wanted to keep it like that. But then I thought, “Wait, all the songs have that running theme throughout them,” and I’m kind of playing ignorance is bliss, ignoring what’s happening and creating little separate worlds to kind of escape from it. And I kind of wanted to just bundle that up into a project, because I think the songs work really well together in that each song has a different form of escapism. And for me, that really helped, and I kind of want other people to realize that could help as well.

With that in mind, where do your ambitions stand at the moment in terms of music?

I just want to carry on releasing music and keep growing through my music with every release. I think it’s nice that people are starting to relate to the songs and the lyrics more, because that’s my main goal, to help people and to make them think, like, “Yeah, I’m feeling the same as her, so that’s okay.”


This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Abbie Ozard’s let’s play pretend EP is out now.

Jeff Buckley Biopic Officially In the Works, Gets New Director and Producers

A new biopic about Jeff Buckley is officially in the works, Variety reports. The film, called Everybody Here Wants You, will star Reeve Carney, who has long been rumored for the part and has appeared in Spiderman: Turn Off the DarkPenny Dreadful, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again. The biopic marks the directorial debut of producer Orian Williams and will be released by Culmination Productions.

According to VarietyEverybody Here Wants You has the full support of Jeff Buckley’s estate and access to his catalog of music. It is co-produced by Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert, as well as Alison Raykovich, manager of his estate and VP of Jeff Buckley Music. Filming is set to commence this fall.

“This will be the only official dramatization of Jeff’s story which I can promise his fans will be true to him and to his legacy,” Guibert said in a statement. “Thankfully, my determination to assemble all the right participants, no matter how long it took, is about to culminate in the best way possible.”

Buckley released one studio album, 1994’s Grace, and died in a swimming accident in 1997. He was previously portrayed on screen in the 2012 film Greetings from Tim Buckley, starring Penn Badgley in the lead role.

14 Captivating Stills from The Imitation Game (2014)

Benedict Cumberbatch gives a layered performance as British mathematician Alan Turing. A complex man, Turing joined the cryptography team during World War II to decipher the German enigma code. The Imitation Game is based on the true story of how Turing, along with a team of fellow mathematicians, built a machine to crack the codes.
Directed by Mortem Tyldum, the film is a touching insight into Turing’s behind-the-scenes struggles with his homosexuality, beginning in his childhood. As young Turing, Alex Lawther brings further vulnerability to the character and hints at how his future relationship with Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley) will unfold. Clarke herself faces a few obstacles, being the only female cryptologist on the team.
Here are fourteen captivating stills from The Imitation Game.

Giorgio Armani Fall/Winter 2021

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Giorgio Armani presented his 2021 fall-winter womenswear and menswear collection at Milan Fashion Week. The collection brought sophisticated lounge, work and partywear. Giorgio Armani used beautiful tranquil colours like the shades of blue with pink and purple accents. The clothes embodied the model’s movement; Giorgio used velvet and satin paired on straight/baggy trousers to create that voluminous look. To contrast the baggy trousers, he used a boxy silhouette for coats. The use of several surface designs gave the clothes personalities. Throughout the collection, there are different beading designs, embroidery print, and applique of various motifs.

Watch the full runway show here.

Dsquared2 at Milan Fashion Week

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Dsquared2 released its 2021 fall-winter collection at Milan Fashion Week. Designers Dan and his brother Dean designed their collection based on the nostalgic days in Toronto, Canada. The collection utilises various colours, some more subtle like beige, black, blue, and contrasting vibrant colours. The collection is a mixture of glamour party wear and everyday casual wear. Throughout the collection, Fabrics and patterns include leather, faux fur, gingham, boucle fabric, wool, herringbone, and lace. The creativity and styling in this collection are endless, which makes a tremendous ready-to-wear collection.

Watch the full fashion film here.

Emporio Armani Fall/Winter 2021 at Milan Fashion Week

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Italian Designer Giorgio Armani presented Emporio Armani’s 2021 fall-winter ready-to-wear collection titled In the Mood for Pop. The collection revisited the ’80s, particularly the time after the economic crisis of the ’70s. The show had Emporio Armani exhibited across the background with the runway in neon lights bringing back the ’80s vibe. The collection gives us pops of colours like pinks, blues, purples and largely greys and black. There is a combination of formal wear and loungewear garments in this collection. The loungewear is made to look sophisticated with the added neck scarf and beret. The collection has a relaxed fit, some with baggy trousers, wide-leg trousers and long outerwear. Key fabrics that Giorgio uses are wool, leather, velvet, and faux fur. There’s also a mixture of textures of the cable knits, mix of herringbone, and pinstripe patterns. Throughout the collection, accessories are utilised to style the outfits.

Watch the full fashion show here.

    

Moschino Fall/Winter 2021

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Moschino presented their womenswear 2021 fall-winter collection titled Jungle Red. Creative Director Jeremy Scott showcased a lady’s everyday life showing us business, leisure, and travel. Moschino reminds us no matter the scene, “you should always consider one thing: wearing Jungle Red!.” The collection combines glamour and fantasy, something we can only wonder about whilst being in a pandemic. Jeremy Scott envisioned something fun and dramatic. There are cows in the field motif; he uses a sack of potatoes as dresses, models covered in paint to look like art and bold prints. There is a mixture of creative pattern cutting and classical looks with an edge. It is like watching a mini collection within a collection.

Watch the full fashion film here.

Album Review: Julien Baker, ‘Little Oblivions’

More so than many of her indie rock counterparts, it’s almost impossible not to recognize some part of yourself in Julien Baker’s music. The Tennessee singer-songwriter offered an easy way in, laying her inner demons bare on her 2015 debut, Sprained Ankle, before coating her self-lacerating lyrics in the refined minimalism of 2017’s breakout Turn Out the Lights. A year later, she formed a powerhouse trio called boygenius with Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, two songwriters who rose to prominence around the same time as her. Though it made entirely too much sense, some might not have guessed that Baker’s brand of introspective songwriting could have the same impact in a more collaborative context. But as she tells it, the stripped-back nature of her debut was almost incidental: she originally wanted to record the songs with Forrister, the Memphis band she was playing with at the time, but they couldn’t get off work, and she didn’t want to waste studio time. “Those songs are just things I cobbled together alone in college because I didn’t have my boys with me,” she said in a recent interview. “To me it sounds like a scratch track where all the instruments are missing.”

Fast forward to January 2021, and the now 25-year-old, usually a solitary presence on stage, is playing The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with a full-band that includes Matt Gilliam from Forrister on drums. She’s performing ‘Faith Healer’, the lead single off her third album, Little Oblivions, which embraces that full-band sound and expands her palette in bolder and more noticeable ways than Turn Out the Lights did. The revitalized approach creates exciting new dynamics that will no doubt sound great live, but what’s more intriguing on record is that Baker handled most of the instrumentation herself, with some unspecified “additional instrumentation” by engineer Calvin Lauber. This is more than just a fleshing-out of her sound – rather than hiding in the layers of guitars, bass, synths, and drums, she uses them to carve new spaces that accentuate not just the bracing intimacy of her songwriting but also its emotional intensity and depth. Even when songs like ‘Hardline’, ‘Faith Healer’, ‘Ringside’ reach soaring heights that lend credence to Baker’s claim that “we’re basically a post rock band now”, they’re not meant to offer an emotional release as much as evoke the constant push-and-pull of striving for some form of escape and trying not to give in to your most destructive impulses.

Both in her music and in a seemingly endless series of interviews, Baker has been incredibly open about her struggles with substance abuse and mental illness and how they inform her new record. More than ever before, the music feels like a vehicle rather than a cushion for her achingly vulnerable lyrics and raw, powerful vocals: “I can see where this is going, but I can’t find the brakes,” she sings on opener ‘Hardline’, and though the album never quite veers off course to indicate a total loss of control, Baker nails the looming feeling of never knowing when you just might sink into that hopeless state – she even hints at that disintegrating sense of self on ‘Repeat’, where her vocals become increasingly distorted as she loops the titular word until it merges with the instrumental. ‘Heatwave’ is at first a jaunty, delicate tune complete with banjo and a sprightly synth melody, before shifting gears halfway through to subtly mirror the downward spiral that Baker sings about as she promises to “wrap Orion’s belt around my neck/ And kick the chair out.”

Though it all still sounds exceptionally pretty and tastefully arranged, the production never undercuts the bleakness of Baker’s confessionals as much as it reveals the urgency to build something beautiful out of it. But for the most part, Baker lets go of the impulse to offer some semblance of hope or resolution – as the final track on Turn Out the Lights did – and is more interested in sincere expression than attempting to tie up a narrative that’s inherently messy and non-linear. Her lyrics are more confrontational and ruthlessly self-critical: “What if it’s all black, baby, all the time?” she posits as soon as the record starts; on ‘Favor’, an ode to friendship in which she’s joined by her boygenius bandmates, she asks, “What right had you not to let me die?” Rather than deflecting blame, she accepts all of it (“I wish that I drank because of you and not only because of me”) while shielding herself from empathy (“It’s too kind of you to say you can help/ But there’s no one around who can save me from myself”).

Julien Baker’s music may not have lost any of its uncomfortable honesty, but one of her gifts as a songwriter is that she remains approachable even at her most heart-wrenching. It’s why, even as she digs into the most disturbing nuances of her experience, honing her strengths as both a storyteller and a vocalist, Little Oblivions never becomes a particularly difficult listen, and it never alienates the listener. Baker doesn’t wallow in despair or self-pity, but she also doesn’t set her harsh self-reflections against a sweeping canvas in order to give the false impression of achieving triumph or redemption. Underneath it all is a self-aware portrait of survival in the midst of personal crisis, and if there’s a battle the album proves she’s won, it’s that of staying true to yourself – even when you’re not exactly sure what that entails, or where it leaves you. And if her music continues to serve as a conduit for catharsis, it’s in tracing that journey – not necessarily relating to the trauma itself – that it retains a visceral resonance.

This Week’s Best New Songs: Nick Cave, Flock of Dimes, Half Waif, and More

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.

The big music news last week was the surprise release of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ first non-soundtrack album as a duo, Carnage, of which the menacing six-minute epic ‘White Elephant’ is the clear centerpiece. ‘Ringside’ is a soaring non-single highlight from Julien Baker’s new album Little Oblivions, while Jenn Wasner’s latest as Flock of Dimes is a slow-burning stunner. Half Waif offers just enough hope on her dreamy, memorable new track ‘Party’s Over’; Kero Kero Bonito delivered the bright and playful ‘The Princess and the Clock’; and finally, Noname returned with her first single of the year, ‘Rainforest’, which sets her complex, insightful lyricism against a jazz-inflected instrumental.

Best New Songs: March 1, 2021

Half Waif, ‘Party’s Over’

Flock of Dimes, ‘Price of Blue’

Kero Kero Bonito, ‘The Princess and the Clock’

Song of the Week: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, ‘White Elephant’

Julien Baker, ‘Ringside’

Noname, ‘Rainforest’

2021 Golden Globes Winners: The Full List

The 2021 Golden Globe Awards took place on Sunday night (February 29) after being delayed for nearly two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Netflix dominated the nominations with 42 going into the night, scoring 10 wins for shows and movies including The Crown, The Queen’s Gambit, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Chloé Zhao made history as the second woman and first woman of colour to win Best Director for Nomadland, which also won Best Motion Picture – Drama, and Chadwick Boseman won a posthumous award for his role as a blues trumpeter in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Sacha Baron Cohen took home two awards for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, while Schitt’s Creek was named Best TV Comedy and gave star Catherine O’Hara a win as well. Best Original Score went to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for Soul, which also nabbed the trophy for Best Animated Feature Film.

Check out the complete list of winners below.

Film

Best Motion Picture, Drama
The Father
Nomadland
Mank
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Promising Young Woman

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal”
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Tahar Rahim, The Mauritanian

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Hamilton
Palm Springs
The Prom
Music

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Dev Patel, The Personal History of David Copperfield
Andy Samberg, Palm Springs
James Corden, The Prom

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Michelle Pfeiffer, French Exit
Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma.
Rosamund Pike, I Care A Lot
Kate Hudson, Music

Best Director
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
David Fincher, Mank
Regina King, One Night in Miami
Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

Best Screenplay
Promising Young Woman
Mank
The Trial of the Chicago 7
The Father
Nomadland

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Jared Leto, The Little Things
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Bill Murray, On the Rocks
Leslie Odom Jr, One Night in Miami
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7 

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Jodie Foster, The Mauritanian
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Helena Zengel, News of the World

Best Original Score
Mank – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
News of the World – James Newton Howard
Soul – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
Tenet – Ludwig Göransson
The Midnight Sky – Alexandre Desplat

Best Original Song
‘Fight for You’ from Judas and the Black Messiah – H.E.R., Dernst Emile II, Tiara Thomas
‘Hear My Voice’ from The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Daniel Pemberton, Celeste
‘Io Si (Seen)’ from The Life Ahead – Diane Warren, Laura Pausini, Niccolò Agliardi
‘Speak Now’ from One Night in Miami – Leslie Odom Jr, Sam Ashworth
“Tigress & Tweed” from The United States vs. Billie Holliday 

Best Animated Feature Film
Onward
Over the Moon
Soul
Wolfwalkers
The Croods: A New Age

Best Foreign Language Film
Another Round
La Llorona
The Life Ahead
Minari
Two of Us

TV

Best TV Series, Drama
The Mandalorian
The Crown
Lovecraft Country
Ozark
Ratched

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Josh O’Connor, The Crown
Bob Odenkirk,Better Call Saul
Al Pacino, Hunters
Matthew Rhys, Perry Mason

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Emma Corrin, The Crown
Jody Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Sarah Paulson, Ratched

Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy
Emily in Paris
The Flight Attendant
Schitt’s Creek
The Great
Ted Lasso

Best Actor in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

Ramy Youssef, Ramy
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Nicholas Hoult, The Great
Don Cheadle, Black Monday

Best Actress in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
Elle Fanning, The Great
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Lily Collins, Emily in Paris
Jane Levy, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist

Best TV Movie or Limited-Series
The Queen’s Gambit

The Undoing
Unorthodox
Normal People
Small Axe

Best Actor in a Series, Limited-Series or TV Movie
Bryan Cranston, Your Honor
Jeff Daniels, The Comey Rule
Hugh Grant, The Undoing
Ethan Hawke, The Good Lord Bird
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True

Best Actress in a Series, Limited-Series or TV Movie
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Nicole Kidman, The Undoing
Daisy Edgar-Jones, Normal People

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited-Series or TV Movie
John Boyega, Small Axe

Brendan Gleeson, The Comey Rule
Dan Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Jim Parsons, Hollywood
Donald Sutherland, The Undoing

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited-Series, or TV Movie
Gillian Anderson, 
The Crown
Annie Murphy, Schitt’s Creek
Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown
Julia Garner, Ozark
Cynthia Nixon, Ratched