There are a few wardrobe essentials for men that just work. No matter what and when. A great quality leather jacket is one of them. It exudes a rugged vibe and adds weight and structure to a simple outfit. What makes it more special is how it stays in the fashion game for many years. You can keep it for decades, say thirty years, and it will still look relevant. The cuts stay classic, so you won’t look out of style, and the material (leather) only gets better with time.
So what’s the hardest part? Well, it’s not whether to get it or not; it’s knowing which one. There are so many colors, cuts, and details available that it’s easy to end up with something that doesn’t quite fit your life.
You don’t want that, do you? To help you out, this mini but powerful guide breaks it all down so you know exactly what you’re looking for before you buy.
The Styles Worth Knowing
Generally, you’ll find countless options for leather outerwear, but to avoid confusing you with hundreds of styles, let’s stick to the classic, most popular styles you’ll actually reach for every day. Starting off with:
The Biker Jacket
This is where the concept started. The biker jacket was originally designed for motorcycle riders; hence the name. It features an asymmetric zip to keep the wind out, the wide lapels fold neatly at the collar, and the structure was built to last.
It’s the most recognized leather outerwear on the planet today. Pair it simply with a tee and jeans, and you’re done.
Next, The Bomber Jacket
One of the most popular jackets for a relaxed look is the bomber jacket. They came with a bang in 2026 with sleek lines, high-quality leather, and work with almost everything.
It’s the type of outerwear you want to layer on days when you want to look put together without making any effort.
The Varsity Jacket
The leather varsity brings back the retro times. It stands out with its athleisure, throwback aesthetic. Make it work with a plain tee, straight jeans, and clean sneakers.
It’s casual but adds just the right amount of personality.
The Leather Blazer
This style often surprises people before they try it. The leather blazers come with clean lines and modern designs.
Combining a black blazer with a white shirt and wide-leg trousers gives an authoritative aura that works from work to an evening out later.
The Suede Jacket
Suede is also leather, but unlike traditional leather, it’s softer, lighter, and has a matte finish that looks more relaxed. It offers the same warmth and comfort as your regular leather but with a more subtle and unique finish.
It’s best when you want leather without the shine.
The Fringe Jacket
If you love the idea of unique, real character, get yourself a fringe jacket. It’s bold, different, and has a western edge that works surprisingly well with simple dark outfits.
One piece is enough to stand out with zero effort and lots of attention.
The Leather Vest
One of the most underrated leather pieces, yet it delivers. But not anymore, leather vests are making their mark as a versatile layering piece that works across casual and smart-casual outfits.
It’s great for transitional weather when the full sleeve jacket feels too much, or throw it over a hoodie for some structure without being bulky.
What to Look for Before You Buy a Leather Jacket
There are a few key factors you need to know before getting the right jacket. They are:
Fit
The shoulder seam should sit exactly at your shoulder joint. If the shoulders are off, nothing else matters.
Leather quality
Go for full-grain leather as it’s the strongest and develops more character over time. The second option is the top grain leather, which is also of good quality and more refined.
Hardware
High-quality hardware like zippers and snaps should be smooth and solid. Cheap ones will disappoint you and ruin the overall look.
Choosing Color For Yourself
When you’re buying a jacket, other than knowing what’s trending, check for what suits your entire wardrobe.
Black jackets offer maximum versatility and work for casual and formal events
Brown feels rich and timeless and develops a clear and prominent patina with time
Red jacket is bold and will let you make a statement
White leather gives off cleanliness, purity, and a minimal modern aesthetic
A blue leather jacket adds personality to your ensemble without being too flashy
Metallic shades like gold/silver add a strong personality and are best for people who love expressive styles.
It’s a Wrap!
Shoppers now prefer long-term investment pieces. That’s full-grain leather. It improves with time, stays strong for a long time without losing its shape. This also keeps you from replacing it anytime soon. That’s the right call.
Remember that a well-selected leather jacket becomes a part of your lifestyle. So find the style that fits how you actually live, take care of it, and it’ll stay with you for years.
In Los Angeles, one of the most urgent conversations in entertainment is no longer only about what audiences watch, but how quickly they decide to keep watching.
Film producer Jingyi Li would know. While legacy Hollywood continues to grapple with long development cycles and traditional distribution models,Li has built a career at the intersection of vertical drama, creative producing, and next-generation digital media, working within a 9:16 mobile-first format that has reshaped how serialized stories are produced and consumed.
Li’s career moves across independent narrative filmmaking, mobile-first serialized entertainment, and performance-driven commercial video production. Across producer and director roles, her credits include several narrative short films, roughly a dozen vertical drama series for platforms such as DramaBox, ShortMax and GoodShort, and hundreds of short-form commercial video productions for mobile games and digital products including Vita Mahjong and Tile Explorer. Across these formats, Li’s producing work centers on translating creative and commercial objectives into executable production plans, coordinating talent and crew, supervising production and post-production, and delivering platform-ready content for audiences, clients, and digital distribution channels.
She is also part of a rapidly evolving industry that has, in many ways, taken over the phones — if not yet the studios — of American audiences. While vertical dramas first gained momentum in China in the early 2020s as “duanju” — condensed serialized dramas designed for mobile viewing — the format has since evolved into a professionalized production ecosystem for vertical mini-series. Over the past six years, it has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. Shot for 9:16 smartphones, these 1 to 3 minute episodes rely on cliffhangers to keep audiences hooked. They are posted to subscription-based apps, like ReelShort, DramaBox and GoodShort, and vertical dramas have become mainstream, globally.
The innovation is not only that audiences can watch these stories on a phone from almost anywhere; it is that the format breaks down both the spatial and temporal barriers of serialized storytelling. Viewers can follow characters, conflicts, reversals, and emotional payoffs in a structure closer to television drama, but with the accessibility and time commitment of a feature film. As the format has grown into a multi-billion-dollar global industry, vertical dramas have also created a new production ecosystem for U.S.-based actors, producers, directors, and crew members at a time when traditional studio production has faced cutbacks.
“Producing, for me, is never limited to only being on set,” Li said. Her perspective carries the grounded weight of someone who has mastered the entire lifecycle of a project. “A large part of the work happens before filming begins and continues through post-production and final delivery.”
The growing world of mobile-first vertical dramas moves at a velocity that requires a producer to pivot between a macro-level creative vision and micro-level logistics. During her tenure with Tap Story at GoodShort, Li became the critical bridge between creative development, production execution and platform delivery.
When evaluating whether a script was ready to move forward in the production pipeline, Li explains that the calculus relied heavily on a deep understanding of human psychology.
“One of the most important things is emotional engagement,” said Li. “Vertical dramas rely heavily on pacing, cliffhangers, character dynamics, and audience retention, so we constantly had to think about how quickly a story could emotionally hook audiences and make them invested in a character’s fate. The goal is to make viewers curious, emotionally attached, and eager to keep watching.”
Yet Li’s strength does not come only from understanding what makes a script compelling. It comes from knowing how to turn that understanding into production reality, aligning story, casting, location, schedule, crew, and post-production so the emotional promise of a script can survive the speed of production.
Li’s directing background also shapes how she approaches producing. Having worked across narrative shorts and vertical drama productions, she brings a director’s sensitivity to performance, visual tone, casting, and emotional pacing into her work as a producer.
Since these productions move extremely quickly, producers often have to make creative and operational decisions at the same time, while constantly thinking from the audience’s perspective,” Li says. “Since I also come from a directing background, I pay a lot of attention to performance, emotional pacing, visual tone, and casting.”
In a medium where characters are framed in a tight 9:16 aspect ratio on a handheld screen, there is nowhere for a performance to hide. “Casting instinct is especially important because audiences form emotional attachments to characters very quickly,” she notes. “Producers need to constantly evaluate how emotionally readable a character or scene feels on screen.”
Traditional filmmaking allows for slow-burn exposition and expansive, cinematic world-building. Vertical serialization, by contrast, demands instant hooks and high-frequency emotional cliffhangers. The visual framing drops environmental context in favor of intense, portrait-mode close-ups that drive character investment. Because the delivery cycles are so tightly compressed, producers must manage highly agile pipelines that respond to viewer behavior in near-real time.
That producing fluency extends beyond vertical drama. Li has worked on independent narrative shorts including Green Card and Happy Birthday, while also managing short-form commercial video productions for mobile games and digital products including Tile Explorer and Vita Mahjong. Moving between narrative and commercial work has made her especially fluent in shifting between the storyteller’s perspective and the audience’s point of view, a skill that allows her to protect a project’s creative intention while keeping its emotional impact, production demands, and market-facing delivery in focus.
That perspective also shaped her mentoring work during graduate school, when she mentored undergraduate film students at the Savannah College of Art and Design. In that role, Li helped emerging filmmakers understand the delicate balance between artistic vision, production realities, and commercial expectations in screen production.
Li’s fascination with audience psychology naturally led her to conquer another frontier of modern media: live broadcasting. As a Live Streaming Director for CHC Fashion Group, she treated the medium not merely as a marketing tool, but as a living, breathing iteration of real-time fashion sales. The company specializes in live fashion sales on TikTok, featuring over 40 brands, 60 in-house hosts and has generated over $50 million in revenue in 2024 alone.
For Li, working in that environment meant learning how creative choices are tested instantly against viewer behavior and commercial response. It became another way to study pacing, attention, performance, and emotional engagement in real time.
“I think livestreaming is powerful not only because it is interactive and immediate, but because it is fundamentally a form of real-time storytelling and emotional engagement,” said Li. “Unlike traditional film or television, there is no editing process to reshape the experience afterward. Live production teams have to constantly adjust pacing, emotional energy, and presentation in real time based on audience reactions and engagement.”
Her time directing live broadcasts served as an elite training ground for her current narrative work. “It trained me to think very carefully about when audiences become emotionally invested, when attention begins to drop, and how storytelling pacing can influence real-time engagement,” she said.
Grumpy has returned with a new single, ‘Twenty Five’. It marks the Heaven Schmitt-led project’s first release of 2026, and you can listen to it below.
“It’s about loving her so much and having this really selfish thought of like, ‘Oh God, what if you could do that and we never meet?’” Schmitt shared in a statement. “The song is me telling her, ‘If you ever get that opportunity, please leave a clue so that you can get back to me in the present.’”
“Ellie and I were at home and we were talking about being trans and time travel, and she said she wished she could go back in time and transition at a younger age,” they added. “I then had such a sefilsh thought; I worried that, if she went back in time and changed something, what if it altered the future such that we never met? So I told her, if she ever gets the opportunity to travel back in time, make sure she can get back to me and meet me in 2025. The lyrics in the beginning sum it up ‘when you travel back, leave a clue so that you can still find me when you get to 2025.'”
Hovvdy have shared a new single, ‘Blast’, from their forthcoming album Big World. For a track called ‘Blast’, it’s quite bleary, which fits into Hovvdy’s overall aesthetic. Still, the hook worms itself into your brain. Check out director Michael Rees’ video for it below.
As loosely defined as the genre remains, there’s something culturally vivifying about a legendary indie rock band going back to an independent label. An Eraser and a Maze marks Modest Mouse’s first indie release since 1997’s seminal The Lonesome Crowded West, as well as their first since the death of founding drummer Jeremiah Green, who passed away shortly after 2021’sThe Golden Casket. Perhaps more significant than the fact that the new album was released on Isaac Brock’s Glacial Pace Recordings, though, at least from a creative standpoint, is how it was originally destined for the frontman’s solo project, Ugly Casanova. Even with the band’s distinct flourishes and vibrant, sometimes shaky co-production from Jacknife Lee, Suzy Shinn, and Justin Raisen, its unsurprisingly labyrinthine nature often feels like following the whims of their only constant member. With or without major label backing, Brock’s Modest Mouse can sound big and subtle, puzzling and gratifying in equal measure.
1. Picking Dragons’ Pockets
An Erazer and a Maze comes out swinging with its most surefire hit, juxtaposing off-kilter percussion with undeniable hooks: “Well they’ll go crazy if you don’t go crazy somehow/ And I’m not crazy ‘bout what they’re so crazy ‘bout now” is an indelible chorus cut from the same cloth as 2004’s Good News For People Who Love Bad News. For anyone who got into Modest Mouse through that record, it’s a definite way in.
2. Remember Yourself
An acoustic ditty with a big heart, ‘Remember Yourself’ makes space for a mellow guitar part from Simon O’Connor, who’s relatively new to the band.
3. Life’s a Dream
You don’t really need to take a look at the credits to venture that someone who’s worked with U2 had a hand in ‘Life’s a Dream’. That would be Jacknife Lee, who co-produced the track with Suzy Shinn (Weezer), sending it into the stratosphere with crashing cymbals and layered guitars. There’s just not enough weight behind the song’s central hook to justify the overbearing production.
4. The Third Side of the Moon
The opposite is true of ‘The Third Side of the Moon’, which feels like an immediate course correction. Isaac Brock’s mournful, increasingly fervent, and definitely weighty lyrics reckon with the realization that the features of a loved one who’s passed are fading into the ether, and his performance seems to be clenching the fist of memory. Whether or not you’re familiar with the faces he’s referring to, it’s easily the most gut-wrenching song on the album.
5. Dogbed in Heaven / Give It a Skeleton
Sequenced after ‘The Third Side of the Moon’, the first part of the song’s ramshackle charm turns eerily morbid: “I can go to heaven as I fall asleep/ Hope that people miss me and they weep and weep.” But the last songs on side A are also connected via their likeliness to hold the interest of old fans, even if the rubbery ‘Give It a Skeleton’ drags itself a little too long.
6. Interlude
A synth-led interlude that segues into the second part of the record, but also makes ‘I Can’t Talk Right Now’ feel less out of place.
7. I Can’t Talk Right Now
Even with that interlude, it’s hard to make sense of ‘I Can’t Talk Right Now’, which tries to squeeze some amount of meaning out of the difference between different modes of communication. Of course, its hollow breeziness becomes commentary, and a few of Brock’s lines hit: “Gonna keep things cool, maintain an open door/ To a windowless room with no furniture.”
8. Speak ‘N Spell (Not)
Brock’s clumsy sincerity and shaky communication turns anthemic on ‘Speak ‘N Spell’, a reminder that Modest Mouse are perfectly equipped to spin a great, if not nostalgic, song out of “a trifling disaster.”
9. Rotten Fruit [feat. pkpkpkpk]
Over buzzing synth bass and a whistled hook, Modest Mouse team with Charli XCX/Kim Gordon/Grace Ives collaborator Justin Raiser, whose eerie pop flourishes could have coloured more of the record.
10. Knocked Down by Waves
Neither an interlude nor a fully-fledged track, this short acoustic lament is sandwiched between two punchier tunes, though Brock’s desperation still cuts through.
11. Absolutely Necessary Never
Those flourishes certainly do animate ‘Absolutely Necessary Never’, which coasts on a lovely groove that’s never overburdened by the production details: shuffling, swooning, creaking. It feels like the whole record has been inching towards this kind of sonic balance.
12. Song About Nothing
How much can one really say about ‘Song About Nothing’? It serves a functional purpose – you can sing along to it – but adds little to the record, except perhaps cultivating an unhinged energy.
13. Stoner Party
With shouts of “You fuck with us, we’ll fuck with you,” the unruliness starts to feel self-indulgent and haphazard. There’s no “us” or “you” to get riled up about.
14. Look How Far…
A leaner version of An Eraser and a Maze would have existed simply by, well, erasing the previous two songs, if only because ‘Absolutely Necessary Never’ and ‘Look How Far…’ would have made for a solid one-two punch. Aided by Janet Weiss on drums, ‘Look How Far…’ is so aware of its dynamism it doesn’t even cross the two-minute mark, which is pretty bold for a lead single. “I can’t believe how long I’ve wanted to be living in the past,” Brock memorably laments.
15. Impossible Somedays
There’s a funny disconnect between the penultimate song’s freneticism and the pure, soaring nature of ‘Impossible Somedays’. Sleeplessness is a thread throughout the record, which doesn’t end without relaxing into a dream: one where “the rocks become liquid, the liquid it turns into a gas/ And eventually the skies, they turn to glass.” As guitars blaze through them all the same, it’s clear the basic chemistry of this band remains intact.
Korean series Teach You a Lesson has a premise that’s hard to resist. In schools where bullies wreak havoc, the Educational Rights Protection Bureau swoops in to restore order. Part action, part social commentary, it’s the kind of show meant to spark conversations.
So much so that it shot straight to the top of the Netflix global charts for non-English series. With 6.4 million views this week, Teach You a Lesson is also the #1 show in 10 countries. Could this mean we’re getting a follow-up? Here’s what we know so far.
Teach You a Lesson Season 2 Release Date
At the time of writing, there’s no official news available about a potential Teach You a Lesson season 2. The title is listed as a limited series on Netflix, and Korean shows rarely get sequels.
That said, you never know. Teach You a Lesson is growing in popularity. If it becomes a global phenomenon, a second season is never out of the question.
Teach You a Lesson Cast
Kim Moo-yul as Na Hwa-jin
Lee Sung-min as Choi Gang-seok
Jin Ki-joo as Im Han-rim
Pyo Ji-hoon as Bong Geun-dae
Kim Jong-soo as Hwang Gi-tae
Lee Bong-jun as Cho Gyu-cheol
What Is Teach You a Lesson About?
Teach You a Lesson imagines a near-future Korea where escalating school violence has pushed the government to create a special agency called the Educational Rights Protection Bureau (ERPB). The story centres on Na Hwa-jin, a feared ERPB inspector who is dispatched to schools where traditional authority has broken down.
Alongside his team, he investigates cases involving violent bullies, corrupt administrators, abusive parents, online harassment, and student crime. He is willing to use aggressive tactics to restore order. If you ever wished bullies would receive what they dish out, Teach You a Lesson can be quite cathartic.
However, that might also make it divisive. The show was inspired by the popular webtoon Get Schooled, which attracted controversy. For now, the adaptation seems to be predominantly well-received by critics and the audience alike, with many viewers praising it for its escapist nature.
While Teach You a Lesson season 2 is unlikely for now, good word-of-mouth and solid viewership might convince the powers that be to continue the series. Given the show’s premise, we’re sure there are more stories to tell.
Rosa Walton is a 26-year-old musician best known as one half of Let’s Eat Grandma, the art-pop project she’s helmed alongside Jenny Hollingworth since they were teenagers. This year, they’ve both come out with solo albums: our first Artist Spotlight of 2026 was with Hollingworth, who named her project Jenny on Holiday as a reference to her time away from LEG. In Walton’s case, it’s more the title of her record that alludes to their band, encapsulating the life it’s afforded them: Tell Me It’s a Dream. After being featured on Jenny on Holiday’s Quicksand Heart, Walton enlists her on ‘Prettier Things’, singing, “Oh, you and me/ We breathe everything in.” A lighthearted magnetism permeates Tell Me It’s a Dream, which was far from a solitary effort: working with producer and longtime collaborator David Wrench, as well as a band including guitarist John Victor, bassist Kam Khan, and drummer Elena Costa, Walton crafted a lean, guitar-forward record that still reaches some ethereal places. “I said stop decorating the meaning,” she sings on ‘Heart to Heartbreak’, “Some things really are as they are.” Doesn’t mean they can’t be pretty exquisite.
We caught up with Rosa Walton for the latest edition of our Artist Spotlight series to talk about being inspired by the seasons, the process behind Tell Me It’s a Dream, strengthening her voice, and more.
With the timing of the album’s release, I’m thinking of the line, “There’s something kind of bursting inside of me that feels like a summer just begun.” I wonder if there’s a burst of creativity that you associate with the summer, or if you’re affected by seasons more broadly.
In general, I’m someone who’s hugely affected by seasons. When I’m writing songs, definitely that feeds into it: having different seasons for different songs, or writing about the current season. For example, yeah, ‘Wave Machine’ is hugely a summer song, and ‘July’, obviously, was written in July. I wrote those songs in the summer, and I wanted to capture that feeling; in ‘Wave Machine’ particularly, of feeling like you’re on the beach and everything feels quite endless in the way that it can do in summer. And then there’s ‘Taking the Roof Down’, which is a Christmas song, so that’s a winter song. Most of my songs, in fact, if you were to say a song, I’d say the season. ‘Sorry Anyway’ is a spring song. I wrote those songs in those times, because seasons kind of cut to the core of feelings. Even if you don’t say it obviously in a metaphor, there’s still certain feelings linked to certain seasons.
I think there’s a couple of references to Christmas specifically, which made me think of the New Year as a theme in the Let’s Eat Grandma catalog. Something we talked about with Jenny was the relationship between home – the place where you build your dreams up, essentially – and the holiday season.
That’s totally what ‘Taking the Roof Down’ is about. Christmas as a metaphor is, how I could capture that feeling of, when you’re a kid, and it’s Christmas, and you feel that warm feeling inside, that excitement, and that spark. In ‘Halfway Round the World’, when I say “a spark from all the Christmases,” it’s about being able to capture that feeling of family and warmth, and the excitement of getting out of bed on Christmas Day as a kid. Even in that song, which I don’t view as being a winter song, you can have that at any point. Also, when Christmas comes around, I really like festive things, I love Christmas lights and everything to do with Christmas. Not Christmas Day, I could take it or leave it. It’s just about that magical feeling that you get in the build-up to Christmas.
A phrase I singled out from ‘When Will It All Reveal’ is “wrapped up in family,” which can have both postive and negative connotatoins. For you, what’s the feeling of returning home like now?
There’s two songs that are kind of mainly about that, ‘Taking the Roof Down’ and ‘Prettier Things’. That’s a really good question and I know the feeling, and the feeling itself is quite abstract, but it’s the ability to step out of your life and reset. I’m definitely also someone that thinks a lot about memories in the way that sometimes being in a place brings back memories, and it’s almost like I feel the memory so strongly that I’m inside the memory. I get that through listening to music, or if I go back home; certain places do that. Going home isn’t a huge theme of this record, so maybe that’s why it was quite difficult to answer.
You mentioned ‘Prettier Things’, which is a song that Jenny sings on, and I feel like you were both quite intentional about which songs to feature each other on your solo records. Those songs are at least in part reflective of what you’ve gone through together. I wonder if you can speak to your memory of singing on ‘Quicksand Heart’ and your decision to have Jenny sing on ‘Prettier Things’.
With ‘Prettier Things’, it really made sense for her to be on it, because it’s about me and Jenny – it’s about us being like dragonflies flying around in a magical garden that we’ve discovered together, and it made sense then to have her voice coming in and weaving in with mine. And what her voice brings to the song is a whole other element. She’s an incredible vocalist, and it’s just something special about having her involved in that. And same with her record, I went to a lot of her studio sessions, and sometimes I’d just be there just to hang out on the sofa, trying to say the right level of things. Because I didn’t want to interfere, but like, “I’ve got suggestions.” [laughs] I think she found that quite supportive, and it just created a nice atmosphere. Whenever there was a line that needed a backup, I was just there, so might as well.
What was that dynamic like with Jenny while making Tell Me It’s a Dream?
My record was more collaborative with the band, so I guess I had other people that I was doing that with, and I wanted to bring her in for that song. Me and Jenny are best friends, and we do everything together. It might be easy for people to have an idea that that isn’t the case now, but it is. We just hang out all the time.
She also worked with a different producer for her record, and you decided to co-produce Tell Me It’s a Dream with David Wrench, who worked on the last two Let’s Eat Grandma records. I’m curious what made it feel natural for you to go in that direction.
Me and David are very close friends, and I just wouldn’t really have wanted to work with anyone else because it goes without saying he’s an incredible producer and mixer. I just feel so comfortable around him to be exactly the way I am, and a lot of the record was based around that, and us just being in his studio and having a really fun time. I can’t imagine not working with anyone else, really.
Early on in the songwriting, was it mostly a solitary process? What was that phase of the record like for you?
Some of the songs I started writing with Sam E. Yamaha. A lot of them were synth-pop songs, and then I developed them by myself. I rewrote a lot of the vocals, and I rewrote all of the lyrics, and over time, reworked them into guitar songs, basically. A couple of the others I just wrote by myself.
In the trajectory of the record, I feel like a lot of the guitar songs are in the first half, and then it gradually gets more ethereal. I’m thinking of the electronics on ‘When Will It All Reveal’ and the strings on ‘Halfway Round the World’. Were these written into the demos?
To be honest, the sequencing of the record is something that I always do right at the end. It’s the final thing to do, and I don’t put an awful lot of thought into it. It felt natural to have the songs in that order. I’d written all the strings on ‘Halfway Round the World’ already in the demo, all of the choirs and the organs. We tracked the bass and drums and guitar all together, and then quite a lot of the extra bits that I had in the demos were more synth-based sounds and small details. In a track like ‘July’, for example, that’s an outlier, because we kept a lot of those from the demo. That was just such an important feature of that song, whereas for the rest of them, we built the sounds again from scratch, and we wanted to keep it really organic doing that.
With all of the other small production details that I had before the demo, I think what I wanted to do in the studio is strip it back to only having parts that were completely necessary, because that was how I wanted the record to sound, with it being guitar songs, but putting as many of the synths as possible on guitars. Only having the most parts — drums, guitar, bass, and a key part – because I wanted the songs to be good enough at the core to not have to hide behind production details. But then, of course, there’s always room for some nice production details, like in ‘July’, so it’s getting that balance. With Let’s Eat Grandma, it was definitely very focused around the little details that I’d done in the demo of this little sparkle sound here, or this there, which works so well for that type of more in-the-box synth-pop I wanted to go in a different direction for this project.
One of my favorite parts on the record, both lyrically and vocally, is the second verse of ‘Sorry Anyway’, when you reach a higher register as you sing about thunderbolts and rain. How was your relationship to your voice affected by working on this record?
Yeah, I think I’ve definitely expanded what I can do with my voice, and that even began in the process of writing songs. But I think my voice has gotten stronger since practicing, because I then needed to sing live these melodies that I wrote that were pretty high. But it was important for me to write those melodies because that was what I wanted to express in the ethereal side. I think I can say more now I’ve got more of a range; you can set the lyrics off better, and that’s all tied together. Singing in the studio and preparing it for live, when it’s a solo project and I’m the only vocalist, it does change the way that I view my voice, because that’s the voice. [laughs] But I really enjoy doing my scales every morning.
Is that a habit you picked up recently, or have you been doing it for years?
No, I decided that recently. I never really rehearsed ever before in my life until now. I never practiced the guitar, I’d never really done things to improve my voice. I actually Googled “how to sing” a couple of weeks ago for a gig. [laughs] Like, how to breathe? I don’t know those things, but I decided that it might be a good time to learn, and you have to breathe from your stomach, from low down, I found. I wasn’t doing that, but now I am.
How are you finding it?
Oh, it’s so much easier! It’s changed the game. I’m the vocalist, so I gotta breathe from the stomach. Before I thought that that was all a waste of time. I thought, “Why would I be singing scales when I can write another song?” Because obviously I love writing songs, and so I just want to do that. And then I thought, you can do other things when you’re singing. You can clean. [laughs] That’s quite nice, because it means you can do it alongside other stuff. But it makes you feel like you’re sort of ready.
What’s your favorite song to sing from the record at the moment?
I really like singing them all in different ways. I like singing ‘Wave Machine’, just because there’s so many different feelings in that song at once that it’s just quite fun to sing.
Are there any songs that feel different to sing now, or have taken on a new meaning to you?
Maybe ‘Halfway Round the World’. It always felt like a quite timeless, nostalgic song to me, so it’s quite interesting singing it now, because it’s almost like I captured that feeling that I wanted to capture in a way which is so true to myself, that I can connect to that song now, still, in different ways. A lot of that song was written about a time when I was on tour as well, and two of the members of the band, Elena [Costa] and Kam [Khan], who play bass and drums, were on that tour as well, so they were there for that. And now they’re gonna be playing that with me in my upcoming shows, and that’s quite special. It captured a time then, and now, three years later, that song is being performed. But it’s not even nostalgic; it’s more like a through flow.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
It wasn’t so long ago that gaming was something you did in a specific room, on a specific machine, and usually at a specific cost. You’d head down to the local arcade with a pocket full of ten-pence pieces, or you’d save up for months to buy a single cartridge for your console. Once that money was spent, the transaction was over. You played until the “Game Over” screen flickered, and that was that. Fast forward to now, and the way we engage with play has shifted into something much more fluid and integrated into our daily lives. We’ve moved away from the old “pay-to-play” gatekeeping and into a world where engagement is the real currency.
The Evolution of Digital Leisure
The landscape of how we spend our free time has undergone a massive transformation. We’ve seen a move away from the rigid structures of the past towards models that prioritise keeping us involved over the long term. This isn’t just about games; it’s about how we consume all sorts of media. Think about how streaming services suggest new shows based on what you’ve already watched, or how social platforms encourage you to return with little notifications. In the gaming world, this has manifested as a move toward engagement-led models.
Rather than demanding a hefty upfront payment, many of the most successful platforms today focus on building a relationship with the user. They want you to come back, not because you’ve paid for the privilege, but because you actually want to be there. This shift has democratised entertainment in a way we hadn’t seen before. It has removed the barriers that used to keep casual players away from high-quality experiences. Now, anyone with a smartphone or a laptop can access top-tier entertainment without feeling like they’re making a massive financial commitment. It’s a bit like the difference between buying a fancy hardback book and having a library card; the stories are the same, but the way you get to them feels much more open and inviting.
The Psychology of Micro-Rituals
Have you ever noticed how satisfying it is to tick a box on a to-do list? There’s a specific kind of mental “click” that happens when we complete a small, repetitive task. This is the heart of what many culture-conscious users are finding in modern digital play. We’re seeing the rise of “micro-rituals” (small, daily actions that provide a sense of routine and minor accomplishment). For many of us, checking into a favourite app or playing a quick round of a game has become a form of digital wellness.
In a world that often feels chaotic and unpredictable, these tiny loops offer a moment of control. They aren’t meant to be stressful or demanding; instead, they act as a gentle anchor in our day. It’s similar to the way some people find peace in tending to a garden or making a proper cup of tea. These actions don’t take much time, but the cumulative effect on our mood is significant. By offering consistent, predictable rewards for showing up, digital platforms are tapping into our natural desire for structure. It turns out that having a little bit of play to look forward to can make the rest of the day feel a lot more manageable.
Aesthetic Reward Systems
It’s not just about the mechanics of play, though. The way these digital spaces look and feel has a huge impact on our culture. If you look at the user interfaces (UI) of modern gaming platforms, you’ll see a visual language that’s incredibly sophisticated. We’ve moved past the clunky, neon-soaked graphics of the eighties and nineties. Today, the design is often sleek, minimal, and deeply satisfying to interact with.
This visual polish has started to bleed over into contemporary digital art and even the design of our everyday apps. The smooth animations, the soft glows, and the tactile feel of clicking a virtual button have set a new standard for how we expect our technology to behave. When a platform looks beautiful, it feels more like a luxury experience, regardless of whether you’re playing for five minutes or an hour. Designers are now focusing on “haptic feedback” and “visual satisfaction,” ensuring that every interaction feels like a tiny reward in itself. This focus on aesthetics makes the act of playing feel less like a distraction and more like an appreciation of good design.
Low-Friction Luxury
This brings us to a really interesting point: the concept of low-friction luxury. In the past, “luxury” usually meant something exclusive, expensive, and hard to reach. But in the digital age, the definition is changing. Now, luxury is often about how easy and seamless an experience is. Top-tier platforms are increasingly using curated, no-cost experiences to bridge the gap between casual play and high-end entertainment. They’ve realised that the best way to show off their quality is to let people experience it for themselves without any fuss.
A prime example of this can be found in the way major brands are democratising access to their best features. Instead of hiding everything behind a paywall, they offer high-quality entry points that feel premium. For instance, you might find that certain sites offer daily games that are free to enter but still maintain the high production values of their paid counterparts. When you look at the free spins available on platforms like Virgin Games, you can see how this model works in practice. It’s a low-friction way for someone to enjoy a bit of high-end play without any barriers. It’s about offering a taste of that “premium” feel as part of a daily routine, making the entire experience feel more like a treat and less like a transaction. By removing the friction, these platforms make it incredibly easy to transition from a moment of curiosity to a genuine sense of engagement.
The Future of Social Landscapes
So, where is all of this heading? It seems likely that incentivized play will become even more woven into the fabric of our lives. We’re already seeing gaming elements pop up in areas where we least expect them, from fitness apps that turn your morning run into a quest, to language-learning platforms that reward you for a “streak” of daily practice. The lines between “play,” “work,” and “lifestyle” are blurring.
In the future, our social landscapes will probably be defined by these integrated experiences. We won’t just “play a game”; we’ll be part of a broader cultural ecosystem where our digital interactions are rewarded in ways that feel meaningful to us. This isn’t about chasing a high score anymore; it’s about participating in a community and building a personal digital history. As we move forward, the focus will likely stay on making these experiences as accessible and high-quality as possible. The goal is to create a world where play isn’t just a separate activity, but a natural, rewarding part of how we live, communicate, and relax.
Please play responsibly. For more information and support on responsible gambling, please visit BeGambleAware or GamCare. These services offer free, confidential advice and support for anyone who might need it. It is important to remember that play should always be about entertainment and staying within your limits.
A New Way of Thinking
When we look at the way digital culture is evolving, it’s clear that we’re moving toward a much more human-centric approach to technology. We’re no longer just “users” or “consumers”; we’re participants in a complex, beautifully designed world of play. Whether it’s through a five-minute micro-ritual in the morning or a more immersive session in the evening, these incentivized moments are helping us find a sense of balance and enjoyment in a busy world.
The ritual of play has become a cornerstone of our modern identity. It’s a way for us to connect with great design, enjoy a sense of routine, and access high-end entertainment without the old-fashioned barriers. As we continue to see these models grow, the distinction between “digital” and “real” life will only continue to fade, leaving us with a lifestyle that’s a bit more colourful, a bit more rewarding, and a whole lot more fun. It’s an exciting time to be part of this shift, and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing how these digital rituals continue to shape the way we see the world.
After seeing New York host luxury fashion’s Cruise 2027 collections, it’s time to head back to Paris. The Fall/Winter 2026-27 Haute Couture calendar is out, which means the city is once again preparing for four days of hand-sewn gowns, painstaking embroidery, pitch-black Mercedes vans, heatwaves, and very little sleep. From July 6 to 9, Paris will fill with couture clients, editors running on espresso and deadlines, photographers camping outside show venues in search of a street-style moment, and stylists navigating cobblestones with suitcases that appear to violate several laws of physics. The calendar is the easy part, even when it includes 30 houses.
You’d think Paris would double as a getaway once couture week ends. For some, it might. Except, of course, for those catching a flight to Rome on the final evening just to see what Maria Grazia Chiuri thinks Fendi’s couture should look like. Italy, once again, does not align with Paris’ timing. Meanwhile Valentino’s Alessandro Michele likes his couture season cold, preferably in January. Maison Margiela is also missing from the schedule, though Glenn Martens’ previous collection is still fresh in the industry’s overstimulated memory. At least Martin Margiela’s upcoming auction on July 9 offers something to anchor the week, if only for a moment.
Other names missing from the lineup include Phan Huy, Gaurav Gupta, and Miss Sohee. Iris van Herpen, a July regular, returns with her usual showing, as do the mainstays: Elie Saab, Viktor & Rolf, and Julie de Libran. Manish Malhotra, whose Met Gala looks for Karan Johar and himself landed on our best-dressed list, will also show as a guest house this season. On the more closely watched end of the calendar, Chanel’s Matthieu Blazy and Dior’s Jonathan Anderson remain the designers everyone is paying attention to right now, with couture week adding another layer of scrutiny. We’ll be watching them, alongside Schiaparelli’s Daniel Roseberry (as always), Jean Paul Gaultier’s Duran Lantink, presenting his first couture collection for the house, and Balenciaga’s Pierpaolo Piccioli, who follows a similar debut trajectory.
Custody matters are frequently the emotional and most challenging matters a parent faces in court. When the parents disagree or in case of divorce, it becomes important to understand when to get a lawyer. A Shelby child custody attorney will be able to guide parents through the legal system, and work to secure a resolution that also benefits the child.
Understanding Child Custody Cases
Custody disputes have to do with the distribution of decision making abilities and responsibilities among parents. The courts have an interest in reaching an agreement that will be beneficial for the child, stable and promote the child’s overall development.
Typically, there are two types of custody: legal and physical. Legal custody is the right to participate in major life decisions like education, medical treatment and how the child is nurtured. Physical custody is the place where the child spends most of his or her time and how parenting time is shared between the parents.
For some parents, the disagreement between the parents can be a court battle or not make it to court, while for others, the parents get along and are able to make a decision without a court case. It’s at these moments that it is ideal to have expert lawful advice.
Instances Where You Should Hire a Child Custody Lawyer
Not all custody disputes require the services of a lawyer, but there are some instances where it is really useful.
A frequent reason for having a lawyer is in the event of parental disagreement concerning custody arrangements. Conflicts over the parenting plan, primary residence and/or visitation schedule can be easily complicated. A lawyer can speak up for you and work to make sure your child’s needs are the highest priority.
A warrant legal help can be also provided if it seems like the child is in danger. Those that need immediate intervention are neglect, substance abuse, or domestic violence. An attorney can assist in presenting evidence and provide necessary court protection when needed.
Parents should also seek an attorney if the other parent is represented by an attorney. A private attorney can give you the proper representation of your rights throughout the process.
A Child Custody Lawyer Can Assist In The Following Ways
A child custody lawyer can be extremely helpful during all phases of a custody dispute. Their main tasks involve advising clients on their rights and duties according to the law, and providing them with educational information.
Attorneys will also help collect evidence that can be used on behalf of the parent’s case. This may be in the form of:
School records
Medical records
Witness statements
Parenting schedules
Communication records
Documentation of the child’s living environment
With organization and presentation of pertinent information, a lawyer can help strengthen the case before the court.
Also, a lot of lawyers will negotiate custody arrangements between parents. Successful negotiations can help decrease conflict, save time, and help children not feel the emotions of the conflict.
If The Need For Custody Modifications Arises
Factors in one’s life will change after a custody order is set in place. A parent can move, lose a job, get married or have a child’s situation change in some other way that makes it difficult for them to care for the child.
If major changes have taken place, it may be necessary to make modifications to an existing custody order. The courts generally expect to see that there is a significant change in circumstances and that the change would be in the child’s best interests.
A lawyer can help you determine whether or not it is necessary to make a change request and draft the necessary paperwork.
High-Conflict Custody Disputes
Sometimes, there is a great deal of conflict between the parents in custody cases. In those instances, it is possible for communication to be lost completely, and cooperation is difficult.
Allegations of poor parenting, breach of orders or issues of significant importance involving the child can often be part of a high conflict case. A lawyer can advocate on behalf of another party and assist them in navigating through the legal process, and lessen direct conflict between the parties.
In cases of high emotions, legal representation is even more essential as mistakes and rash decisions can impact the custody matter.
The Importance of Acting Early
Even when things are not yet escalating, seeking legal help early is a huge help. This helps the parents to be aware of their parental rights. Key documents are ensured to be collected, and common pitfalls can be avoided. It can also support making certain deadlines are met and procedure is appropriately followed. Proactive measures can help you have a positive outcome and reduce needless stress.
Selecting the Best Child Guardian Lawyer
It is an important decision to select the right lawyer. It is important for parents to seek someone who has experience in custody-related issues, good communication abilities, and a knowledge of family law.
It’s important a good lawyer not only be able to break down the legal process, but also give you realistic expectations.
Child custody cases can impact children and parents for years. Knowing when to employ a lawyer is a huge help to ensure your parental rights and to get an arrangement that’s best for your kid. It can be from dealing with child protection issues, to a custody dispute. If you are thinking about your alternatives and desiring to grasp more on how legal representation could assist you, click here to know more info.
