Injecting a little bit of rock’n’roll into the dining experience
Ask EADith
How to avoid the queues but still get your pastry fix
TRAVEL & SHOP
On Your Doorstep
Hunker
Make sure your pet isn’t peeved
Romería
Digging
The
Amityvilleville
Watching
Annie Lennox, Lulu, Eddi Reader, Emeli Sandé, Liz Fraser, Clare Grogan, Sharleen Spiteri, Brooke Combe, KT Tunstall. Scotland has never been shy in producing strong women as solo artists or leaders of bands. But is there anyone who has quite had the impact of Shirley Manson? Edinburgh Makar Michael Pedersen would say ‘nope’ and in our summer music special he pays hefty and poetic tribute to the Garbage frontwoman who is having quite the year: in July her band play Edinburgh Castle (which may or may not be their final gig in Scotland) and she celebrates a significant birthday the following month.
Other elements of our music special include interviews with trad/electronica duo Valtos, Dundee DJ Hannah Laing ahead of the second Doof In The Park, and Iron Maiden axe man Adrian Smith who reflects on their 50 years in the business as a new documentary on the metal band is set to be released. Across the issue, other music bits include some chat with the author of a new book about the elegant and experimental Talk Talk, a review of The High Life musical, a Future Sound on Orla Noble, a Mouthpiece on Boards Of Canada, an interview with John Tiffany about the stage version of Once, Alice Faye tells us about her favourite holiday and Edinburgh Tradfest producer Jane-Ann Purdy reveals her number one pub. Plus there are reviews of Mull Historical Society’s hook-up with literary figures, Brazilian jazz pianist Eliane Elias’ latest album, and Power Ballad, a new film starring Paul Rudd and a Jonas brother.
But the May mag is not all about tunes to put in your lugs. Non-music matters include an advice column about pastry, a trip around Peru, a focus on street dance festival Breakin’ Convention, a review of the new Douglas Stuart novel, and Q&As with action man Bob Odenkirk, stand-up Fatiha El-Ghorri and podcast host Ayesha Khan. We hope that all this is music to your ears.
Brian Donaldson EDITOR
Afreka Thomson, Allan Radcliffe, Brian Donaldson, Carol Main, Claire Sawers, Danny Munro, David Kirkwood, Donald Reid, Emma Simmonds, Evie Glen, Fiona Shepherd, Gary Sullivan, Greg Thomas, Isy Santini, James Mottram, Jay Richardson, Jay Thundercliffe, Kelly Apter, Kevin Fullerton, Lucy Ribchester, Marcas Mac an Tuairneir, Mark Fisher, Megan Merino, Michael Pedersen, Murray Robertson, Neil Cooper, Paul McLean, Rachel Morrell, Rob Adams, Suzy Pope, Vic Galloway, Zara Janjua
front
mouthpiece
After a month of mysteries, misdirection and speculation, ambient music pioneers Boards Of Canada have confirmed their new album. But what have the band been up to for the past 13 years? Unsurprisingly, our regular columnist Kevin Fullerton has some theories of his own
True to their mercurial nature, Boards Of Canada spent springtime sending VHS tapes to a select number of North American fans. The heavily degraded footage was soon doing the rounds online and featured clipped sounds, juddering feedback and a general air of spacey menace. No explanation was provided by either Boards (the brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin) or their record label Warp, and so Redditors scoured the tapes for clues of a new album or some kind of archival release.
Soon, similarly worn-out VHS footage was spied on the band’s YouTube channel; entitled ‘Tape 05’, this was presumed to be a forthcoming single. Speculation continued until the band announced concrete details of new album Inferno (set for launch on Friday 29 May), a devilish title that confirms my own theories about what the band have been up to for 13 years: Sandison and Eoin have joined a satanic death cult.
After their seminal 1998 album Music Has The Right To Children, the legendary Moog-fetishists presumably decided to invest a huge amount of their newly accrued wealth on the then booming field of VCRs. As their art reshaped the ambient landscape, the band’s stock portfolio ran in direct opposition to their forward-thinking compositions, cleaving to the VCR market with the vicious grip of a rabid labrador humping its slowly dying owner’s leg (in this analogy, the labrador is a stock option and the owner, bleeding out from the bite of its rabies-
MThis year is quite the landmark for icons born in 1926 (do the M for maths) such as Marilyn Monroe, Miles Davis, Mel Brooks, Fred Gwynne (best known as Herman Munster) and George Martin. Their work is all around us if you care to find it. Madonna once channelled Marilyn Monroe in the video for ‘Material Girl’ and she possesses, let’s say, a similar timeless quality. Ms Ciccone is back this summer with new album Confessions II. These other M-based music folk have upcoming or just-released sounds for us: post-rockers Million Moons, math-rockers Maebe, Yorkshire rockers Marmozets, Washington rockers Modest Mouse (the double points this month are just flying around), LA producer/vocalist Maiah Manser
infested pet, is Boards Of Canada’s increasingly precarious financial portfolio . . . are you following all this?).
By the time their last album (Tomorrow’s Harvest) went among us in 2013, the siblings were one of the most influential acts on the planet yet lumbered with thousands of unsold VCRs. They needed a change and so they combined the incantations of Aleister Crowley with an instruction manual for a Panasonic VCR-25800 to conjure a series of tapes that would hypnotise all those who watched into adopting obsolete technology. I myself have purchased 18 VCRs since their video surfaced online and have even moved onto the hard stuff: Betamax. I’ve also started selling my body to truckers from Norfolk to scrounge enough money for a LaserDisc although, admittedly, I was doing that anyway.
If we allow Sandison and Eoin to continue pursuing this dark practice, frothing electronica lovers will besiege provincial charity shops, stabbing each other for the final tape machines in human existence. Netflix, Apple TV, Now and HBO Max will close their doors while men, women and children hunch over 14-inch CRT screens in an Infinite Jest-style mass hypnosis. That manky woman from The Ring will return to claw at the faces of pensioners, all while an Edinburgh duo rake it in big on the stock market. Whatever Boards Of Canada are up to, one thing is clear: they must be stopped.
Either that or it’s just a new album. Who’s to say?
(keep totting ’em up, people), ex-Spicer Melanie ‘Mel’ C, ex-Beatle Paul ‘Macca’ McCartney, techno-bro Max Cooper, indiepoppers Muna, and the man we shall simply call Manilow. In the movie world, Minions & Monsters (ooft!) hits cinemas in July with the latest instalment of the Despicable Me franchise while Mortal Kombat has its sequel arriving in the middle of this month: Simon McQuoid is back in the director’s chair. And National Theatre Of Scotland marks Mayday at Edinburgh’s Central Hall with a pay-whatyou-can one-night-only response to the times we’re living through, featuring works from the likes of Sara Shaarawi, Kathryn Joseph, Sanjeev Kohli, Apphia Campbell, Djana Gabrielle, Janice Parker and Cora Bissett.
Madonna
Minions
PlayList
Welcome to our May issue soundtrack, where once again we bring together an eclectic cacophony of songs by artists who feature in the forthcoming pages. This month you can hear music by Garbage, Valtos, Big Special, Alice Faye, Danielle Price, Orla Noble, Talk Talk and several more
Scan and listen as you read:
wholesome pic of the month
In the first episode of the UK’s take on Saturday Night Live, a Last Supper sketch suggested that the mighty David Attenborough might be in the last lap of an extraordinary life. The guy hits the 100 mark this month so technically it’s a fair if slightly uncharitable observation. A whole heap of programmes have been commissioned by the BBC to celebrate the beloved broadcaster and natural historian including Making Life On Earth, Secret Garden and 100 Years On Planet Earth. Hang in there, mate.
In this series of articles, we turn the focus back on ourselves by asking folk at The List about cultural artefacts that touch their heart and soul. This time around, Gary Sullivan tells us which things . . .
Made me cry: As friends will attest, I adore a good greet. I’ve been unusually restrained of late, but the final scene in Celine Song’s sublime Korean-American film Past Lives totally broke me. Cheeks were wetter than a turfer’s knee. Inconsolable.
Made me angry: I’ve just turned 50, so ungovernable rage is a frequently close bedfellow. Shonky regional accents are a common bugbear: Maxine Peake’s mangled Glaswegian in I Swear had me crushing the TV remote. But even worse are terrible wigs in film and television. Nothing kills suspense quicker than a badly fitted syrup.
Made me laugh: Regular Show, JG Quintel’s 2010 animated sitcom, has recently been rereleased on HBO Max. It follows a racoon and a blue jay who work at a suburban park, and it’s anarchic, trippy and stupidly hilarious. Watching Muscle Man being knocked out by his own moobs is guaranteed to make me dissolve.
Made me think: Kim Gordon’s new album Play Me rewired my appreciation of cross-genre music and that sometimes pejorative term ‘art rock’. At 72, she sounds more essential than ever, still experimenting with her sound, and driving protest and invention. Guitar x trap is the future.
Made me think twice: Currently streaming on BBC iPlayer, Ultras is a brilliant series about Scottish football’s fan groups. Most talk surrounding fan culture tends to focus on negative aspects, reducing discourse to violence and pyrotechnics. This series redresses the balance, looking at the ultra movement as a positive force for football and a passionate, creative outlet for young men.
Her pursuit of human betterment is astounding to behold “
As we fling ourselves into a summer music special, Michael Pedersen starts the ball rolling with a paean, an ode and an homage to the mighty Shirley Manson. The brio-filled Edinburgh Makar recalls the first time he ever saw her face, heard her voice and fully realised he was in the company of magnificence
SHIRLEY MANSON
Cards on the table, my introduction to Garbage was through an obsessive playing of the film soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s hit film adaptation of Romeo & Juliet. Alongside tracks from Radiohead, The Cardigans, Gustav Mahler, Kym Mazelle and plenty other luminaries, Garbage’s song ‘#1 Crush’ emerged as a clear favourite. The CD (which I harvested from HMV Princes Street a few years after the film’s release) was played until the point of disintegration. In fact, to this day, when asked by sound engineers what music to play as audiences come into my show, I request this same film soundtrack. The request is greeted by either yelps of rapture (by those aware of its musical pedigree) or grunts of disapproval (by the uninitiated fearing this might be a playlist of Shakespearean soliloquies).
From that day forth, Garbage were up the top of my teenage hit list of the best bands in the business (alongside REM, No Doubt, Counting Crows and The Cure) and I needed an album. Version 2.0 was the first of their albums I purchased and went all in on: track by track with conviction. After questing through this tour de force of anthemic splendour and sonic majesty, with its introspective, rallying and kooky cauldron of lyrics, I was totally rapt.
I’ll point out this release contains such belters as ‘I Think I’m Paranoid’, ‘Special’, ‘The Trick Is To Keep Breathing’ and ‘Push It’ which is undoubtedly the only track in history to feature both The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and Salt ‘N’ Pepa in its songwriting credits. The album is obsessive, obscure and ensorcelling: all my favourite flavours. It spoke into the search for sanity in a wayward world and brandished its vulnerabilities openly. It was a clarion call to love unrelentingly and yet kicked back with gusto.
I kept an ear in on Garbage’s sensational unfurlings in the years that followed, though got all zealoty over a few heralded 60s singer-songwriters and then went a
bit indie-gross with a Libertines and Strokes addiction. That said, my admiration for Garbage remained consistent and clear; they were a distant lighthouse blasting out a lustrous beam to regularly remind me just how present and vital they truly were.
Shirley’s first appearance in my professional life was reading a section of Alasdair Gray’s Lanark for our Neu! Reekie! TV: The Christmas Special, broadcast in 2020 amidst the haze of the pandemic. Actually, prior to that, in 2019, we had been conjuring the notion of a mini Scottish take on the Meltdown festival (rather one big show that birthed mini shows) with Shirley as the inaugural co-curator (to be hosted from Summerhall, Central Hall or Leith Theatre). This didn’t come into being for various reasons but I’m still manifesting it.
In the years that followed, through assorted wee social and creative interactions, I got to know Shirley more personally, and she went from fond acquaintance to veritable friend, and then on to one of my most cherished people on this planet. I should point out some of those interactions were Garbage concerts and toasts afterwards; Scotland wise, we’re talking Dunfermline’s Alhambra Theatre and then, more recently, Edinburgh’s Usher Hall. Over in Europe I saw Garbage take to the stage in Barcelona at the infamous Razzmatazz: it was truly one of the best live gigs of my life. My gig-going buddies (Hollie McNish and Kat Gollock) were both as awestruck with wonder, Hollie having joyously wept at the majesty of Shirley tearing across the stage like a blazing bolide.
Weirdly, my fascination with the life and works of Robert Louis Stevenson also played a key role in my friendship with Shirley, who grew up as the daughter of an RLS aficionado, a thoroughly charming, sweetly quirky and kind-hearted professor whom I too got to know enough to call a friend (and am also supremely grateful to for
SHIRLEY MANSON
his warmth and erudition). I love to think of a young Shirley longing to be taken on some cool citybreak holiday as a kid and being told instead they were going to Wick to retrace the steps of Stevenson (I have no idea whether this happened but it sounds legit).
Shirley has also blurbed and hosted book launches for me and been similarly supportive to many of my favourite writers and artists (Jenni Fagan, Nicola Sturgeon, Hollie McNish). In fact, I know her to be one of the most passionate and tireless advocates of other artists I’ve ever encountered (that’s both in real life and on social media). And it doesn’t stop there, far from it; her engagement and promotion of humanitarian causes and the general pursuit of human betterment is, quite frankly, astounding to behold.
As Edinburgh Makar, when touring the globe (Ullapool to Ulverston), I take great pride in lionising Edinburgh’s brightest stars/most glistering citizens. Shirley Manson is ALWAYS amongst them. If anyone audaciously, or erroneously, replies ‘I think you’ll find she’s American!’, they get an exuberant explosion of just how stridently Edinburgh Shirley is. Of course, that’s understandable: Shirley is mostly in LA, all the other members of the band are American, and Garbage are undoubtedly extolled more over the other side of the pond. Then again, what I see here is an opportunity for Scotland to celebrate Garbage’s cultural output far more vivaciously than we currently do.
When Garbage announced their latest album, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, I was approaching it both as a friend and a fan. Suffice to say, it fulfilled me in each capacity and surpassed my expectations on both levels. A zeitgeist album that rings with timelessness, personal truths unravelled in a fashion that feels effortlessly universal. It is anthemic and esoteric at once. ‘Hold’, ‘Love To Give’ and ‘Chinese Fire Horse’ are my personal standouts.
To now have the opportunity to see Garbage play a headline gig at Edinburgh Castle in July, in the year Shirley celebrates her 60th birthday, is downright dreamy in its scope for splendour. If at the bottom of this article you are readying yourself to call me a Shirley sycophant, know I’m already retorting ‘aye, and what of it?’ I’ve done years of sedulous research on this outstanding human and can think of few people more worthy of such vehement praise. So how about you come and join all of us here? You’d be so very welcome. Shirley would make sure of it.
summer music
Garbage play Edinburgh Castle on Saturday 11 July with Shirley Manson’s first band Goodbye Mr MacKenzie as their support act; Michael Pedersen’s Muckle Flugga is available in hardback and paperback or in audio where it’s read by Jack Lowden.
Leading Scotland’s current trad music revival, Valtos headline Hidden Door with their hybrid live/DJ show. The duo chat to Danny Munro about eureka moments, national pride and finding their sound
summer music
Skye high
Skye
Keen to bow out of The Paper Factory in style, Hidden Door have acquired the services of indemand electro-trad rock stars Valtos for Saturday night headline duties. Fresh from playing a rather daunting support slot warming up 50,000 rugby fans at Murrayfield and blowing the roof off a sold-out Barrowlands, the booking marks something of a coup for the volunteer-run festival. ‘Yeah, it’s just a little bit bizarre,’ admits a humble Martyn MacDonald, reflecting on the immense success he and his musical partner, Daniel Doherty, have found since forming the double act in 2021. ‘Especially over the last few years where tickets just seem to fly out the door. We don’t take it for granted at all.’
Raised on the Isle Of Skye against a backdrop of pipe bands and trad pub sessions, Doherty and MacDonald had instruments handed to them at a young age. ‘I think in the Highlands, when you’re in school you’re pretty much given an instrument to learn, be it chanter, pipes, fiddle or guitar,’ Doherty reminisces. ‘So everyone’s kind of got that instrument as a utility.’
Though they grew up surrounded by traditional music, the pair, rather naturally, began to gravitate toward the allure of electronic music in their teens. Developing a fascination with the likes of Madeon and Bicep, the duo taught themselves various DJ and production programmes in their bedrooms, prompting a eureka moment while attending the island’s premiere music festival. ‘We were at Skye Live 2019 and Peatbog Faeries were on,’ MacDonald remembers. ‘And we just thought “why don’t we give it a bash?”’ While the pandemic halted any immediate gigging plans, the duo made sure to reap all the benefits they could from lockdown. ‘We had quite a luxury of time,’ says Doherty, ‘because Skye during covid, as you can imagine, was quite quiet. I don’t think we really knew what our sound was for a long time; we were kind of experimenting, and then it all came together with the album.’
The resulting self-titled LP was released in summer 2022 to a host of rave reviews. Featuring trad royalty past and present, from Runrig legend Donnie Munro to Niteworks’ Allan MacDonald, Valtos raked in plaudits for innovatively fusing the sounds of Skye’s past with that of its future, a formula that appears to be increasingly popular among the young Scots flocking en masse to sold-out new-age trad nights across the country. ‘I think there’s maybe an element of people redefining their pride in Scotland after a very long time of being told we’re a bit shit,’ reasons MacDonald, when asked about the country’s trad renaissance. ‘Look at the charts right now,’ Doherty adds. ‘Kingfishr, Amble, even Mumford & Sons . . . that whole kind of folky thing is quite prevalent, so it is cool!’
Those with Saturday tickets for Hidden Door will witness the duo’s acclaimed High Water Mark show, during which you’ll find Doherty and MacDonald behind the decks, with accomplished fiddle player Euan McLaughlin handling the live music element.
‘A normal Valtos show is 90 minutes of Valtos songs the whole way through. But the High Water Mark stuff really does act more like a DJ set,’ explains MacDonald. ‘Our stuff’s sprinkled in there, but then we play our favourite dance tunes and Euan adds the fiddle on top.’
As ever, it’s a busy summer in Scotland with a multitude of festivals to pick from, though MacDonald assures anyone still on the fence that they won’t regret heading to The Paper Factory. ‘If you’ve had any chance to see us before, we’re quite a liberated, friendly bunch of people . . . we do lots of different styles, so if you don’t like a song, wait for the next one. It’ll probably be something you might like.’
Valtos play The Paper Factory, Edinburgh on Saturday 6 June; Hidden Door runs from Wednesday 3–Sunday 7 June.
Doof positive
With her rave and hard house festival returning to Dundee for its second outing, hometown hero Hannah Laing talks to Fiona Shepherd about big breaks and lifting up the next generation of artists
You’re never too old to rave,’ reckons Dundonian superstar DJ Hannah Laing. In clubbing terms, Laing is somewhere between spring chicken and elder stateswoman (experienced hand?) but it’s only in the post-covid years that she’s become a household name in DJ circles. Laing has hit the top ten with her tunes, guested alongside trance legends such as Armin Van Buuren, been treated like a homecoming hero in Ibiza and given back to her native city with electronic music festival Doof In The Park, so-called for the sound of her beloved rave and hard house beats.
Her appreciation of the elder clubbers’ market comes from her retro influences. Laing grew up to the pulse of 90s rave and trance thanks to her clubbing parents who passed on their knowledge and understanding when their 15-year-old daughter started to scope out her own clubbing tribe in Dundee and Arbroath. Two years later, they sanctioned her first trip to Ibiza. Laing had been DJing for six months, practicing on a second-hand controller in her bedroom, when she left her job in search of Balearic bliss. To her surprise, she netted a last-minute booking to DJ for a hen party at the Highlander Scottish pub in Sant Antoni de Portmany.
‘It was just a really lucky moment,’ she recalls. ‘I had been hanging around that bar using their wifi cos I didn’t have any. I played for three hours for this crazy Scottish hen do. They must have really enjoyed it because they paid me and I’d never been paid to DJ before.’ Laing’s DJ dues were subsequently paid across three seasons at the Highlander. ‘You’re DJing seven hours a night for four nights a week; that’s really when you learn how to DJ. The bar would get busy, then empty, then busy, so if you wanted to keep people in you really had to learn how to hold the crowd.’
Back in Dundee, she would take any gig going for the experience before being able to zero in on her signature rave and trance sets. Her voracious appetite for learning extended to making her own tunes, firstly by observing a producer in Ibiza, then enrolling in a production course back in Scotland and following through with one-to-one tuition. ‘It was a lot quicker to learn how to DJ than it was to produce music,’ she says. ‘It took years of consistently making music to find my sound and get good at it. I still learn every day.’
Her tracks ‘Good Love’ and ‘Party All The Time’ both charted in 2023 and she’s set for further exposure via her current Armin Van Buuren collaboration ‘U Got 2 Know’. Laing has not long returned from a US tour, DJing to ‘free-spirited’ crowds, but she is laser-focused on celebrating her roots and bolstering her community, so much so that she created a replica of the Highlander at 2025’s inaugural sell-out Doof In The Park.
The Highlander stage will return for this year’s expanded edition of the festival. Laing will rock the main stage alongside trance veterans Paul Van Dyk and BK and her European peers Maddix and Lilly Palmer, while on the Up The Doof stage Antwerp’s Novah leads the charge. There are plans afoot to add a fourth stage to showcase new artists, some of whom have been mentored at Laing’s own Doof Studios which she co-founded with Robbie Tolson of Edinburgh-based charity Turn The Tables. It’s all testament to Laing’s pan-generational appeal, from young team to old-age ravers. ‘It’s so important to support the next gen,’ she insists. ‘That was me not too long ago.’
Doof In The Park, Camperdown Park, Dundee, Saturday 4 July.
summer music
Hot metal
As a documentary arrives covering half a century of Iron Maiden, the band’s mild-mannered axe-wielder Adrian Smith tells James Mottram that the buzz of performing is still strong after all these years
In case you hadn’t noticed, Iron Maiden are having a moment. In its final season, Stranger Things featured ‘The Trooper’, the British heavy metal band’s 1983 song. Even better, a semi-naked, red-hued Ralph Fiennes cavorted around to ‘The Number Of The Beast’ in zombie drama 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. All of which is good for the Iron Maiden members who celebrated 50 years together in 2025, and this summer embark on their biggest ever world tour including a headline slot at Knebworth.
Ahead of that comes Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition, a documentary charting the band’s evolution since forming in 1975. ‘It’s a great document for us to have of a very important part of our lives,’ reflects Adrian Smith, with typical reserve. The guitarist may be a tornado on stage, but in person he’s low-key. ‘Watching the film was emotional. I think it would be for all of us. It’s like a document of 50 years of your life.’
In the film, Smith is joined by his bandmates (bassist and founding member Steve Harris, singer Bruce Dickinson, drummer Nicko McBrain and fellow guitarists Dave Murray and Janick Gers) as they recall their life and times. Celebrity contributions include Kiss singer Gene Simmons, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and, believe it or not, Spanish actor Javier Bardem, a hardcore fan who even recites the lyrics of ‘Run To The Hills’ (‘all sorts of people like the music,’ Smith grins).
Certainly, the doc makes the case for Iron Maiden’s enduring legacy, with new generations discovering their work (to date: 17 studio albums, 13 live albums, plus assorted EPs, with the most recent LP being 2021’s critically acclaimed Senjutsu). ‘We’re getting new fans all the time,’ Smith says. ‘We have a lot of young fans as well as people our age. It’s great to have that new blood, a new energy. It’s inspiring.’
While the Malcolm Venville-directed film does a fair job of charting the ins and outs (even Smith left for nine years before returning in 1999), it also pays heed to how Iron Maiden built its unique identity. ‘It was never a question of getting mass exposure in the media or having a couple of hit records,’ says Smith. Rather, it was relentless touring. ‘We’ve always taken our music to the people. It was good, honest, hard work, and we built up the following like that. I think that’s always been a mainstay of the way that we do things.’
One thing is clear: the band has remained as tight knit as a family. In December 2024, McBrain (who suffered a stroke a year earlier) played his last live gig with the group. Smith calls learning of his bandmate’s illness ‘one of the low points of my career’. With that global tour on the horizon, Smith clearly has no wish to hang up his axe. ‘Walking out with Maiden, doing stadiums, is an unbelievable feeling.’
Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition is in cinemas from Thursday 7 May.
Stheir breakout hit of the same name, relishing in his own gleeful puerility. They’re a duo very much in vogue, cra ing the kind of 6 Music-friendly indie that Steve Lamacq can wiggle his lugs in approval at, while maintaining intelligent shout-along choruses that keep festival crowds perky. Clad in black and comprising a singer and drummer combo, it would be easy to dismiss Big Special as some hellspawn revival of Royal Blood’s ear-bleed rawk. But their limber sound is an evolution of the sprechgesang revival that’s been gaining steam since the mid-2010s.
actually sing. When he’s not rapping in a west country brogue, his vocals alternate between a Kasabian-like drawl and an American gospel howl, belting out tunes without mangling his larynx into a punk snarl à la Joe Talbot or descending into the nasal disturbances of Jason Williamson. Hicklin, then, isn’t a weak singer using sprechgesang as a crutch, but is using accent as an instrument in a country that still treats southern English in ections as a default setting in both music and the wider world. What’s more, he’s proof that the qualities of rap once thought incompatible with a British accent have long dissipated.
It would be easy to point towards out ts such as The Fall or even the diaristic screeds of Arab Strap as progenitors of this variation on post-punk; but Big Special, Dry Cleaning, Sleaford Mods, Real Lies and Fontaines DC are really the bene ciaries of a decade when our artists tried and failed to strike a balance between American rap and parochial Britishisms. From the strained couplets of Just Jack to the lads-lads-lads knees-up of The Streets, the 2000s were awash with truly horrendous stabs at Brit hip hop. Writing for Drowned In Sound, Paul Clarke summed up the era best in his review of Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip’s The Logic Of Chance, claiming that the de nition of ‘poet’ in pop generally meant ‘white boys who can’t rap’. Pip (who ditched spoken word for a career in podcasting) had perhaps the worst ow of the bunch, hu ng like an asthmatic sprinting up a ight of stairs while he delivered tin-eared bars critiquing American rappers he could match in neither wit nor lyrical dexterity. Those dark days have been replaced by artists with a greater respect for the traditions they’ve purloined. Perhaps that’s because grime and its o shoots have become an organic part of the UK’s musical grammar; where Roots Manuva and Ms Dynamite were outliers in the 2000s, now acts such as Stormzy, Headie One, Little Simz and Lex Amor are just as likely to be found on an indie bill as on a dedicated hip-hop night. The agrantly aggressive bark of Sleaford Mods’ Williamson is the product of moulding his Nottingham croak around Wu-Tang Clan’s knotted rhythms. Fontaines DC have tipped their hat to Linkin Park’s short-lived reign of angry-lad bluster for their blockbuster indie hit ‘Starburster’. Meanwhile, the ironysoaked surrealist drawl of Dry Cleaning’s Florence Shaw owes plenty to her childhood mimicking of So Solid Crew. As the once-rigidly de ned genres of the past grow porous, so too have rock and rap co-opted each other without the cringe factor of days gone by.
The growing pains of sprechgesang have developed, then, to the extent that they present a far di erent problem than they did in the 2000s. In an industry increasingly dominated by middle to upper-class performers, the variation of accents in music presents an inaccurately equitable picture of a landscape growing less socially mobile every year. According to statistics from The Sutton Trust, top-selling musicians are six times more likely than the public to have attended private schools, while privately educated students represent more than half of music students at the most prestigious conservatoires. As claimed by Wolf Alice guitarist Jo Oddie in a discussion with the British Parliament’s Culture, Media And Sport Committee, ‘one of the things we risk is that music becomes a middle and upper-class sport’. While the music business continues to use class signi ers as a marker for authenticity, it’s pulling the ladder up from workingclass acts across the UK. Shithouse indeed.
from Friday 19–Sunday 21 June.
Talking
exhilarating combo of rap and powerful vocals. Kevin Fullerton pores over the band’s connections with the tidal wave of speaksinging aka sprechgesang, a form that has begun to define post-punk’s modern age
Talking heads
summer music
In the previous pages, we’ve highlighted some top gigs and hot festivals (and a cool film) worth checking out this summer. But that’s merely scratching the surface of the music entertainment across these coming months. So we’ve picked out a number (clue’s in the title) of other exciting live sonic events to look out for
AGNES OBEL
The Danish singer-songwriter has been enchanting and haunting listeners in equal doses ever since her arrival with the 2010 Philharmonics album. She hasn’t made a record since the pandemic but this live gig will be a neo-classical/pop delight.
n Albert Halls, Stirling, Friday 24 July.
AROOJ AFTAB
Revisiting work from across her stunning back catalogue, the Grammy-winning singer and composer embarks on a tour with the London Contemporary Orchestra led by co-artistic director and principal conductor Robert Ames.
n Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Wednesday 24 June.
BACK DOUNE THE RABBIT HOLE
The boutique Stirlingshire festival returned last year and it’s, well, back again for 2026. More than just a music event, but the sounds look good (if that makes sense) including Ash, Bombskare, Goodbye Mr MacKenzie, Rianne Downey, Alabama 3 and, um, Dick & Dom.
n Cardross Estate, Port Of Menteith, Friday 17–Sunday 19 July.
BEACH BOYS
The one-year anniversary of Brian Wilson’s death will have just passed by the time these California dreamers take to the Edinburgh stage, so emotions will run high. As will the harmonies and glorious sounds (pet and otherwise).
n Edinburgh Playhouse, Tuesday 16 June.
BELLADRUM
The Tartan Heart beats once again in the Highlands. A stellar line-up includes James, Human League, Mika, Symphonic Ibiza, Brooke Combe, Skerryvore and Becky Sikasa.
n Belladrum Estate, Kiltarlity, Thursday 30 July–Saturday 1 August.
BIG CITY
Another late-summer delight curated by our post-rock heroes Mogwai features the stirring likes of Super Furry Animals, Spiritualized, Brìghde Chaimbeul and Richard Dawson.
n Queen’s Park Recreation Ground, Glasgow, Saturday 29 August.
CARIBOU
Ontario’s Dan Snaith cements his status as an electronica icon with live performances which bolster the sounds he’s concocted, thanks to a masterly four-piece band.
n SWG3, Glasgow, Friday 17 July.
CELEBRATING NAT KING COLE
The Down For The Count Swing Orchestra are well up for the challenge of bringing us the smooth sound and lush atmosphere of the talented Mr Cole. Marvin Muoneké takes the vocal duties on one memorable tune after another.
n Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Saturday 27 June; City Halls, Glasgow, Sunday 28 June.
From top: Spiritualized, Human League, Su-a Lee, Sarah/Shaun
CONSCIOUS PILOT
An eclectic bunch of venues for the Glasgow-based outfit who are all set to launch their debut album, Human Poultry, which, in the words of their publicity material, is ‘the sad made funny, the mundane turned strange’.
n Leith Cricket Club, Edinburgh, Saturday 2 May; Stereo, Glasgow, Friday 22 May; Kelburn Garden Party, Thursday 2–Monday 6 July.
DAYS FESTIVAL
This alternative electronic festival is now on its fourth edition with The Pitt market set to buzz along with the all-day likes of DJ Seinfeld, Helena Hauff, Daniel Avery, Sweely, Papa Nugs and MarcelDune.
n The Pitt, Edinburgh, Saturday 30 May.
DISCOVERY FESTIVAL
A joyous three-day celebration of nostalgia with Tony Hadley, Hue & Cry and Jaki Graham rubbing shoulders with The Libertines, Level 42 and Five. Plus holy hell will be raised by Reverend & The Makers while Lottery Winners arrive fresh from supporting Robbie Williams.
n Slessor Gardens, Dundee, Friday 24–Sunday 26 July.
EAST NEUK FESTIVAL
Musicians from five continents assemble for this year’s Fife fiesta including pianist Fergus McCreadie, harpist Karen Marshalsay and cellist Su-a Lee plus The Tallis Scholars, The Ayoub Sisters and Kolektif Istanbul.
n Various venues, East Neuk, Wednesday 1–Sunday 5 July.
EDEN FESTIVAL
South Scotland’s family-friendly celebration of music and culture hosts no fewer than 250 acts across its stages. Julian Marley, Malin Lewis, Gnoss, Vieux Farka Touré, Kirsteen Harvey and Kai Reesu will all be in tow.
n Raehills Meadows, Moffat, Thursday 11–Sunday 14 June.
FLORENCE + THE MACHINE
On her most recent album, Florence Welch collaborated with Mitski, The National’s Aaron Dessner and Idles’ Mark Bowen. While it seems unlikely any of that lot will show up here, an extraordinary gig will nonetheless occur.
n Royal Highland Showgrounds, Edinburgh, Monday 24 August.
GEESE
Those cool indie Brooklyn cats fronted by Cameron Winter played Barrowlands earlier this year and loved it so much that they’re flying back for two already highly popular nights.
n Barrowlands, Glasgow, Tuesday 25 & Wednesday 26 August.
GLASGOW JAZZ FESTIVAL
Launched in 1987, this festival has proudly boasted star names and rising stars alike, and the 2026 bonanza is no different. Courtney Pine, Fergus McCreadie, Ali Affleck, Mario Biondi, Dave Milligan, Orphy Robinson and Azamiah are among the roll call.
n Various venues, Glasgow, Wednesday 10–Sunday 14 June.
HADDSTOCK
The East Lothian town’s bars, cafés, halls and green spaces will be full to the brim of arts and music for this delightfully titled fest’s 2026 version. Corn Exchange houses the headline gig featuring Man Of Moon, Alice Faye and Sarah/Shaun.
n Various venues, Haddington, Friday 29–Sunday 31 May.
HEATHER ON THE HILL
A bumper line-up has been gathered for this Edinburgh Summer Sessions event. Nathan Evans And The Saint Phnx Band, Brooke Combe, Cammy Barnes and Nati all grace the main stage.
n Royal Highland Showgrounds, Edinburgh, Saturday 22 August.
HEN HOOSE
A short documentary, a talk and a gig make up this happening as the songwriting collective and production house founded by Tamara Schlesinger goes from one strength to another.
n Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Thursday 28 May.
LOLA YOUNG
This Croydon singer-songwriter has had quite the 12 months having scooped a Grammy, a Brit and an Ivor Novello. She’s also prone to an eye-catching album title. Exhibit A: I’m Only Fucking Myself
n O2 Academy Glasgow, Tuesday 16 June.
LOOSE ARTICLES
The Manchester punks may well be the only act in this entire list to have made a live appearance on TalkSport (then again, this could be speaking out of turn). Their debut album title says it all better than we ever could: Scream If You Wanna Go Faster.
n Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Saturday 23 May.
MELANIE C
She probably won’t thank you for calling her Sporty Spice nowadays. And no wonder given she’s carved out a pretty impressive corner in the music market for herself as a solo artist and collaborator.
n SWG3, Glasgow, Tuesday 5 May.
METALLICA
Heavy riffs and epic grandstanding are assured as Lars, James and co hammer fans with tunes from their 72 Seasons album among many others.
n Hampden Park, Glasgow, Thursday 25 June.
MUSIC
AT PAXTON
Angela Hewitt, Chiaroscuro Quartet, Gould Piano Trio, Steven Osborne and Samrat Majumder are just a few of the names attaching themselves to the 20th anniversary of this unique Scottish Borders event.
n Paxton House, Paxton, Friday 17–Sunday 26 July.
NAAMA
Downbeat Magazine said that this New York jazz singer has a voice that ‘drifts onto a pillow of dreams’. That is surely enough of an endorsement to get you along to this Chambers Street institution.
n Jazz Bar, Edinburgh, Sunday 28 June.
PARTY AT THE PALACE
Another fine line-up in a historic setting with Sandi Thom, Rianne Downey, The Bluebells, Liv Dawn and Cast among those giving it their all over a sunny (we can hope) weekend.
n The Peel, Linlithgow, Saturday 8 & Sunday 9 August.
PITBULL
Hard to argue with the title of this Summer Sessions extravaganza: I’m Back. Armando Christian Pérez sure is.
n Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, Wednesday 1 July.
QUEEN’S PARK SPRING WEEKENDER
Poignantly, the JD Twitch stage is a fitting new addition to this bank holiday bash run by Melting Pot and Optimo, and which has this lot among its 2026 line-up: Shaun G, Amy Rodgers, Mr Scruff, Bikini Body and Daphni aka the aforementioned Dan Snaith, also known as Caribou.
n Queen’s Park Recreation Ground, Glasgow, Saturday 2 & Sunday 3 May.
ROBYN
You have to wonder why no one has come up with this for an album/tour name before, but the Swede got there first. It’s Sexistential time folks.
n OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Friday 26 June.
SHALAMAR
With 11 top 40 hits to their name across 50 years of doing their R&B/soul thing, the Shalamar gang are having a party on The Gold Tour. Special guest is Gwen Dickey, vocalist from their illustrious peers, Rose Royce.
n Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Sunday 28 June.
SPARKS
There’s no letting up on the rejuvenation of the Mael brothers and they’ll pound around this Big Night At The Bandstand show like there’s barely a tomorrow.
n Kelvingrove Bandstand, Glasgow, Sunday 14 June. >>
The fab forty
SUGAR
Bob Mould takes his addictive crew onto the Love You Even Still tour with the first new music they’ve released in three decades. Cop a load of Copper Blue and see what all the fuss was about back in the early 90s.
n Barrowlands, Glasgow, Tuesday 2 June.
TAE
SUP WI A FIFER
Celebrating ten years of collaborative live experiences, James Yorkston once more sups in some venues which may occasionally be ignored by those on the touring circuit. Among the pals he’ll be hanging out with are indie folk twins
The Elidas and Kirsty Newton with Phill Jupitus.
n Byre Theatre, St Andrews, Wednesday 20 May; Eastgate Theatre, Peebles, Thursday 21 May; Strathearn Arts, Crieff, Friday 22 May.
TAMIKREST
These Saharan rockers hit the road on the back of Assikel, their latest album (which was recorded on analogue tape). If you’d like to know, that album title means ‘voyage’ or ‘journey’.
n Stereo, Glasgow, Monday 8 June.
TOM ROBINSON
The pioneering musician and broadcaster marks half a century in the business with tunes and tales alongside guitarist Adam Phillips who has performed with everyone from Britney to Boyzone and Lionel Richie to Richard Ashcroft.
n Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Thursday 6 August.
TOYAH
The 80s punkish icon, actress and Strictly contestant heads out on her Songs And Stories tour so you can expect both of those things being aired on all of these stops.
LA-based James Petralli hails 20 years of his band which has fearlessly stuck garage, soul, jazz fusion, psych and improv into a big musical blender and come out with something all of their own.
n The Classic Grand, Glasgow, Sunday 30 August.
WITHERED HAND
Having brought his long touring schedule with Kathryn Williams to a close, the man also known as Dan Willson strikes out on his own with top tunes and equally fine between-song chatter.
n Paisley Arts Centre, Friday 1 May; Tolbooth, Stirling, Saturday 2 May; Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Tuesday 12 May; Green Hotel, Kinross, Friday 26 June; MacArts, Galashiels, Sunday 28 June.
WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM
The throne room is probably the last place you’d want your wolf to run amok, but in this instance it’s fine. This Washington black metal band do dark ambient like few others you’ll see this summer.
n La Belle Angele, Edinburgh, Monday 3 August; St Luke’s, Glasgow, Tuesday 4 August.
WOMAD
Helmed by Peter Gabriel, the first World Of Music, Arts & Dance event took place in Somerset in 1982 and has since gone, literally, global. This marks the festival’s long-awaited Scottish debut and among those appearing are the Grit Ensemble, Suntou Susso And The Gambian Superstars, Peat & Diesel, King Ayisoba and Talisk.
n Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow, Friday 3 & Saturday 4 July.
From top: Lola Young, The Elidas, Tamikrest, Peat & Diesel
eat & drink
FYNEFEST
This annual summer gathering of beer, music and food at the head of Loch Fyne is a popular one, not least with the scores of independent UK breweries who head to Fyne Ales farm brewery in Argyll to offer a taste of their wares. Come for the beer, brewer talks, local food trucks, yoga sessions and kids’ activities; stay for the music across four stages which this year includes Huey Morgan (of Fun Lovin’ Criminals) and RPJ Band, plus DJ sets from Stuart Braithwaite and List scribbler Vic Galloway. You can camp, glamp or make use of the handy return coach service from Glasgow. (Donald Reid) n Fyne Ales, Achadunan, Cairndow, Friday 29–Sunday 31 May; fynefest.com
W‘Numbers game
e were reading about ourselves in the papers as “an institution”. And that didn’t sit well with me.’ Chef/ owner Peter McKenna’s initial take on why he had to close The Gannet and come back as Eleven Fifty Five is made with a chuckle. ‘Even though I’m going grey and getting on in years, I still consider myself to be a little bit young. I still have more to give! So I suppose that was the catalyst.’
There’s a bit more to it than that but, as an opener, it’s the sort of moreish quote that made McKenna and his restaurant a cherished part of Glasgow’s food scene for more than a decade. The Gannet (alongside Crabshakk and later Ox & Finch) gave Finnieston its brand recognition as a foodie strip, so it was a big deal when he announced its last dinner service would be on 31 December last year. The decision wasn’t about the dishes leaving the pass though. ‘The last meal I had in The Gannet was in November and it was the best I ever had,’ he recalls. ‘I was blown away; the food was sublime. But I felt the energy in the room was a bit muted for my personality type.’ He refers to his parents’ pub in Ireland, how it’s an extension of them and how
the best hospitality outlets have an edge. ‘I felt I was looking for something a little bit more fun, a little bit louder, a little bit more up-tempo.’
So the volume’s gone up and the formality down in Eleven Fifty Five. These are tricky things to achieve, to articulate and to indicate to customers, but they’re right there in this new-old space. The cornered-off bar feels more like a place where someone might sit for a drink and a bite, rather than just a spot where restaurant staff pour drinks. Tables are closer, voices spill over. An original Ralph Steadman (Hunter S Thompson’s illustrator) lends a bit of rock’n’roll to the room. Main courses are remarkably keenly priced: opening weekend saw a beef cheek bourguignon for £24 and Irish stew has also made a recent appearance. That, plus a glass of wine, hits a sweet spot of quality, spend and ease. Or go for the white pudding with buttermilk lion’s mane and lardo, followed by the much-vaunted Himalayan salt-aged steak, and make it a bottle. Each feels an equally valid choice.
As McKenna points out, Hydro proximity aside, Finnieston is first and foremost a neighbourhood. Lots of people live there. And a proper neighbourhood restaurant is a great, noble thing. That isn’t to say Eleven
Dynamic duo: Peter McKenna (left) and Kevin Dow
PICTURES: SONYA WALOS
Rebirth, reinvention, regeneration? Whatever you call it, the closure of The Gannet and subsequent reopening as Eleven Fifty Five has got tongues wagging on the Glasgow food scene. David Kirkwood finds out why Peter McKenna, the chef behind both ventures, started all over again
Fifty Five feels brand new. All of The Gannet staff stayed on, including McKenna’s long-term sidekick, manager and sommelier Kevin Dow who plays a crucial role and is every bit as upfront and visible in the new operation; not least when it comes to the playlist (where McKenna cedes influence). Brooklyn’s Geese, newly anointed saviours of rock, for example, are not your typical restaurant soundtrack but you can expect to hear them and their ilk at the new gaff.
Yet they’ve retained the DNA that matters, lending smooth continuity to proceedings while going from 50 to 70 covers and extending opening from four to six days a week. In a sense, the tempo has risen but the roots of the rhythm remain. And, with that, chef has to go back downstairs to prepare two types of bread, some Café de Paris butter and a pig’s head before evening service. It’s all quietly thrilling. Just don’t call it a comeback. Or even an institution.
side dishes
Suzy Pope clocks some exciting new openings in the central belt and further afield
There’s a barrel of bar and pub news to catch up with this month. The reinhabitation of former Innis & Gunn and BrewDog bars has started with established favourites Ramen Dayo and Vodka Wodka shuffling into Ashton Lane in Glasgow, while new venture The Beverly is set to take up residence on Edinburgh’s Lothian Road. Sweet vino spot Leith Wine Kitchen opened recently on Leith Walk, and Princes Street is getting a new swanky cocktail bar with castle views called Eidyn. Staying in Edinburgh for an ultra-local sourcing vibe, new café and pantry Gorse uses the omnipresent yellow flower from nearby Arthur’s Seat in its signature cakes and bakes, while sommelier Peter Adshead has breathed fresh life into The Gardener’s Cottage kitchen garden to fuel a new restaurant, The Cottage At Royal Terrace. Elsewhere in the city, a couple of new Japanese joints have opened: Kome Izakaya on Brougham Street and Yutori on Morrison Street.
Heading out of town, Tom Kitchin’s The Bonnie Badger has been sold to Buzzworks (Herringbone and Scotts) and, up in Aberdeenshire, chef Orry Shand of Great British Menu fame is due to open a new fine-dining restaurant. Just outside Banchory, Falls By Orry Shand will offer a seasonal tasting menu. The opening date is July but tables are available for reservation now. Finally, some good news from Historic Environment Scotland: further cementing the restaurant’s name in the annals of history, they’ve granted B-listed status to Glasgow’s Ubiquitous Chip, thanks to its Alasdair Gray murals.
The Cottage At Royal Terrace
SMOOTH. RICH. PERFECT IN THE MIX.
ITALIAN
TUSCO
Tusco occupies a Glasgow address with a rich culinary history. In 1989, Two Fat Ladies started off serving exciting seafood here at 88 Dumbarton Road (hence the name), then Eighty-Eight picked up the mantle with enjoyable European and global small plates. New owners Hinba, who began life roasting in Oban, now have a few coffee shops around town as well as Ziques in Hyndland. They also owned the neighbouring coffee shop for a few years, which co-existed with Eighty-Eight, before they took over the lot, retaining staff and rebranding.
A makeover has created a low-lit moody bistro with dark terracotta walls, brown panelling and earthy green banquettes, while the linked café becomes a cocktail bar on weekend nights. The teeny kitchen is front-ofhouse, letting passers-by ogle the chefs, while diners jump at occasional fumbled pan clangs. The menu homes in on the former bistro’s Italian leanings, jettisoning the rest. It’s the usual small-plates affair, two or three per person, which’ll be a blowout for most folk. Gaps between arrivals can be noticeable which is ok: the kitchen is super-tiny after all, plus diners get to dwell and savour.
Everything is enjoyable, with nicely balanced combinations. Seafood is a strength: refreshing salmon crudo is diligently diced with citruspunchy rhubarb and chilli, while lovely sea bream, crisp skin-on, tenderly flakes with a bisque sauce and hearty potato terrine layered with nduja. The spicy sausage pops up again with mascarpone over charred hispi cabbage, while bavette steak is accomplished; tender and blushing in a rich, savoury, buttery sauce with smoky almonds and chicory. A few cocktails appear on the main menu: a Negroni or Spritz as aperitif, and digestifs including the inimitable Frangelico. Puds are minimal, with an orange panna cotta or a tiramisu that is more homely than fancy pasticceria. (Jay Thundercliffe) n 88 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow; tusco.co.uk; average price £30 for two courses.
VEGAN ANTOJITOS CANTINA
Grab extra napkins: it’s going to get messy. From the team who brought Antojitos to Edinburgh Street Food and Glasgow vegan hotspot The 78, this latest launch pops up at the always pumping Paradise Palms. The room is a riot of colour and quirk: we’re talking mirror balls, stuffed toys on the ceiling, pretty cut-out Mexican fiesta banners. At the little booths and tables upfront, you can look through big arched windows to the imposing Teviot and McEwan Hall buildings, while there’s a more laid-back loungey vibe further back. Ease into the night with something from Palms’ fun and fruity cocktail list, packed with classics and tropical newbies such as Banana Bread OldFashioned or a Minty Lopez. On the food front, it’s very much a hands-on experience as you tuck into tacos, quesadillas and other Mexican favourites on this 100% plant-based and nut-free adventure. Credible meat substitutes really work, whether soya ch*kn quesadilla dipped into smooth chipotle crema or getting sticky-fingered with satisfying queso birria grilled tacos, made with Juicy Marbles vegan steak. Other taco wins include the soya carnitas with a chilli-citrus ping, a rich vegan chorizo-fried potato combo and the sweet pop of southern-fried pineapple with punchy tomatillo salsa verde on the side. Finish by boosting your five a day with some greens: grilled asparagus and tenderstem broccoli, glistening with slivers of radish and queso fresco crumbled on top does the trick. This is creative plant-based cooking that could win over even the most curmudgeonly of carnivores. (Paul McLean)
n 41 Lothian Street, Edinburgh; instagram.com/ antojitoscantina; average price £20 for two dishes.
Ask EADith
Got a food dilemma? Need a killer rec to seal the deal? Or just want the inside track on Glasgow and Edinburgh’s eating and drinking scene? Then why not ask EADith, our Eat & Drink team’s helpful agony aunt. This month, EADith leans into lamination that won’t make you late for work
Dear EADith
I want to jump on Edinburgh’s pretty pastry bandwagon but I simply don’t have time to queue for over an hour for laminated baked goods. Where can I go?
Dear BusyBee63
BusyBee63
I’m delighted to find a kindred queue avoider. I don’t have the knees for it. Besides, I find hunger and queuing don’t work together. I’ve often observed the snaking lines outside various Edinburgh bakeries and carried on walking with a wry smile because I know where to get my pastry fix without pitching a tent the night before: The Pastry Section You’re never too far from their sweet treats if you’re north of Princes Street; they’ve got shops in Leith and Stockbridge and a pop-up police box in Drumsheugh Gardens. The original shop is in Stockbridge and while the slick interior probably won’t have fickle influencers clicking away on their phones (there’s no vintage cash register or dark-wood fixtures), the selection of cakes in their window always prompts passers-by to stop and stare.
My favourite indulgence is their rich chocolate brownie topped with the lightest, golden-singed Italian meringue . . . or anything topped with Italian meringue. The EADith household pre-ordered their yule log last Christmas and, let me tell you, it went down a storm. Mr E should have taken a few photos for the Instagram thumbs-up, but I was too busy enjoying the damn thing.
Cupcakes, topped with edible violas and sprigs of lavender, are cute as a button and I’m sure would have the likes and whatnot pouring in, if that’s your bag. The Persian love cake is another highlight; a honeysweet celebration of almond, cardamom and the slightest hint of rose. You don’t have to whisk your spoils away to a soggy bench around the corner or furtively gobble your pastries at the outdoor tables of a nearby bistro either. There’s space to sit inside and sip a coffee alongside your morning cinnamon bun oozing with cream cheese icing. Skip the line and hop on over to The Pastry Section for your performative pastry needs. (As told to Suzy Pope)
n The Pastry Section, 86 Raeburn Place, 143 Great Junction Street & The Box at Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh; pastrysection.com; average price £7 for coffee and a cake.
Creative folks reveal their top watering hole
Full disclosure before we begin: I don’t drink. I know, I co-produce a folk festival, but hey, times are a-changing. All that said, it is no problem at all to name my favourite bar. It’s about a three-minute walk from our house to the Bellfield Brewery Taproom, the very place where my favourite beer is brewed: Fire Island (0.5% ABV in case you were wondering), inspired by the pioneering Edinburgh gay nightclub of the same name. The bar itself is a tucked-away nook full of locals enjoying some of the city’s finest brews, catching up with pals, maybe enjoying the quiz hosted by the mighty Gregor, listening to a live music session or getting their tea cooked by one of the excellent pop-up chefs. Special shout out to Guisados who do the best fish tacos this side of Mexico City.
n Edinburgh Tradfest, various venues, Friday 1–Monday 11 May.
BAR FILES
EDINBURGH TRADFEST CO-PRODUCER
JANE-ANN PURDY
PICTURE:
PICTURES:
More to Eat & Drink in Edinburgh? You bet.
Look out for the new edition of our essential guide with TipLists, area guides, reliable recommendations and all the on-the-ground local knowledge Out 18 May
& DRINK
A year-round guide to restaurants, diners, bars and cafés across the city
Distributed with Saturday 16 May FREE and available at your List pick-up points
TipList
Kebabs & grill
Our TipLists suggest the places worth knowing about in different themes, categories and locations. This month, we’re on the grill. No longer the sole preserve of the latenight takeaway, kebabs, shawarma and gyros make for the perfect cheap, casual eat which (whisper it) can actually be pretty healthy too
Edinburgh Glasgow
ADA
9a Antigua Street; adarestaurant.co.uk
With the conviviality of a friendly neighbourhood lokanta, Ada is a top spot for a kebab when you want to enjoy a sit-down dinner. Nicely spiced iskender kebabs are served on a bed of flavoursome chickpea rice and shish kebabs are delightfully tender. And it’s right opposite the Playhouse; who doesn’t love a pre-theatre ’bab?
BABA
130 George Street; baba.restaurant
Kebabs meet casual fancy dining at Baba. Lamb adana from the charcoal grill gives the classic Turkish dish a whipped feta upgrade with a side of sweet peppers, while slow-cooked lamb shoulder falls from the bone and comes adorned with pomegranate seeds. Are ‘occasion kebabs’ a thing? It feels like they might be here.
The light-studded entrance to this Afghan restaurant gives glitzy, Dubai-esque vibes, but the interior is more demure. It’s the food that leaves jaws dropping though; lamb cooked for hours and wrapped in flatbread still warm from the oven, or perfectly charred shish kebabs.
LEITH SHAWARMA
154 Leith Walk & 49 Roseburn Terrace; instagram.com/leith_shawarma_
Two spits (one lamb, one chicken) turning against an electric grill tell you that this is a classic latenight kebab spot. The flatbread is hand-cooked, stuck to the side of a bread oven until it pulses with air bubbles, and the falafels are handrolled. They offer an array of pizzas on a base of traditional fatayer dough, too.
NEIGHBOURWOOD
294 Leith Walk; neighbourwood.co.uk
You can’t miss this glass box of a kebab shop: the bright lights might lure you in but it’s the lemontinged chicken shawarma doused in homemade chilli sauce that will keep you coming back. Booth seating inside and a scattering of outdoor tables make for casual sit-down dining. (Suzy Pope)
‘BABS
49 West Nile Street; babs.co.uk
The folks behind burger spot Bread Meats Bread elevate the kebab with a Mediterranean/Middle East vibe to both menu and décor. The charcoal grill dishes out all manner of top-notch gyros, souvlaki, shish and shawarma. Avoid decisions with the mezze platter for a feast of their grilled delights.
DAMASQINO RESTAURANT
94 Saltmarket; damasqino.co.uk
A golden-hued warm welcome greets you at this Syrian/Levantine spot where grilled and skewered meats are among the best in town. It’s picked up plenty of accolades, including best Lebanese restaurant in the UK at the British Kebab Awards this year. Excellent food ranges from mezze and shawarma to various charcoal-grilled mixed dishes.
Owner Hajar Salih could be credited with Glasgow’s shawarma boom, having set up Shawarma King (see below) before moving on to other venues. Both the Gallowgate site and the outlet at Garnethill have seating, and everything is made fresh daily, from shawarma to flatbreads and sauces.
SHAWARMA KING
113 King Street; instagram.com/shawarma_king_glasgow
Housed in a King Street railway arch, this virally popular shawarma specialist was an early player in Glasgow’s rotisserie craze and remains one of the city’s greatest grill exponents. The mini takeaway has gone all the way to the top, with awards to prove it, including five-time winner of Scotland’s best kebab shop at the British Kebab Awards.
YADGAR KEBAB HOUSE
148 Calder Street; yadgar.co.uk
Kebabs are synonymous with a late-night session. Whether you’re a hospo worker coming off shift or simply like burning the midnight oil, Rachel Reid, Brand Ambassador for Monkey Shoulder, shares her tips for later opening bars
BRAMBLE
16a Queen Street, Edinburgh; bramblebar.co.uk
A true institution, Bramble continues to set the tone for a great night out. Their namesake cocktail is fantastic and the service always friendly and approachable. As hip hop plays out of the speakers, you can’t help but become immersed in the low-lit, relaxed vibe and moody atmosphere.
NICE N SLEAZY
421 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow; nicensleazy.com
Nice N Sleazy is an iconic, gritty dive bar that puts on incredible gigs for up-andcoming musicians of all genres. It has an unpolished charm but the service is genial, and the drinks well-priced and delicious. A great way to end a night with friends and have a wee dance.
TABAC
10 Mitchell Lane, Glasgow; tabacbar.com
Tabac is an intimate cocktail bar with low lights, music, art and great cocktails at its core. The menu is well thoughtout, with drinks to suit all tastes. They’re innovative too, using the likes of blueberry sherry and toasted green coffee syrup. A perfect place for couples to enjoy a late-night date night.
Established in 1981, Yadgar is a Southside institution serving Pakistani-Indian dishes. Their reputation and customer base has grown since opening, as did their size when they annexed the neighbours for a sit-in area. A canteeny vibe doesn’t deter spice fans queuing up for excellent seekh, shammi and chapli kebabs. (Jay Thundercliffe) IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Bramble
Baba
Damasqino Restaurant
travel & shop
Sustainable fashion brand Lucy & Yak arrived in Edinburgh last November with their first ever Scottish store. Inside the bright pink shopfront, customers are greeted by pastel interiors, wooden furnishings and the colourful slowfashion clothing that defines the company. The store also boasts a Re:Yak hub where customers can return clothing in exchange for money off their next purchase (the items are then sold in the shop’s PreLoved collection). The hub also provides space for customers to repair or upcycle their Lucy & Yak clothing, marking another step in the brand’s environmentally conscious journey. (Isy Santini)
70 Rose Street, Edinburgh; lucyandyak.com; instagram.com/ lucyandyakedinburgh
WanderList: Peru
From its culinary capital to Inca wonders, Zara Janjua discovers Peru is a destination that challenges and rewards the adventurous traveller
The first thing you need to know about Peru is that it contains 84 ecosystems. The second is that you won’t see them all, even if you channel full Race Across The World energy and surrender entirely to buses, boats and questionable timetables. Lima is your likely landing point and, briefly, your eating capital. In 2023, Central was named the best restaurant in the world: stay long enough to try octopus ceviche, trout or, if curiosity wins, guinea pig.
Peru rewards the long way round. The so-called Gringo Trail drifts south from Lima to Paracas, where desert collides with ocean, and Huacachina, an oasis made for sandboarding by day and stargazing by night. Inland, the white stone of Arequipa gives way to Puno, gateway to Lake Titicaca, where reed islands float and families host travellers in homes built from those same reeds. Then comes Cusco, often called the navel of the world and starting point of the Inca Trail. You can take a bus to Machu Picchu in a day but that would miss the point. The four-day trek threads through cloud forest, ancient stone paths and lung-testing altitude before revealing the citadel at sunrise like a well-earned punchline.
But if there is one journey to prioritise, it’s the flight to Puerto Maldonado and into the Tambopata National Reserve, a vast protected expanse of rainforest stretching over 270,000 hectares. From above, the Madre De Dios River coils through an endless canopy of green. On
the ground, it is hotter, louder and far more alive than any photograph suggests. Days are spent by boat and on foot through dense jungle trails, where guides point out camouflaged insects, medicinal plants and the flash of morpho butterflies. Clay licks (exposed mineral-rich riverbanks) draw hundreds of macaws and parrots in a riot of colour and sound; canopy towers reveal a skyline alive with movement and, if you’re lucky, you’ll spot a sloth descending with enviable indifference overhead. Even the air feels occupied, thick with humidity, noise and intent, pressing in on every sense, dampening clothes and sharpening every instinct. Nights belong to the jungle. Rain hammers the roof, howler monkeys soundtrack the dark, and every rustle feels like the beginning of a new adventure. There are tarantulas, caiman, mosquitos and plants that sting on contact. It is not relaxing, exactly, but it is unforgettable. The Amazon does not perform for you; it engulfs you. Peru is not a country you tick off neatly. It stretches, surprises and occasionally exhausts you. But whether you are sipping pisco on the coast, gasping your way up an Inca staircase or lying under a mosquito net listening to the jungle breathe, you are constantly reminded that adventure here is not curated. It is earned.
peru.travel
ROOFTOP
my favourite holiday
Singer-songwriter Alice Faye, BBC Introducing’s 2026
Scottish Act Of The Year winner, recalls a trip to Spain that proved both healing and hilarious
Aholiday that meant a lot to me would probably be the one I spent four years ago in Madrid with my friend Flora. I’d gone through my first proper heartbreak that year and felt very deeply that I had lost myself. The weather in Madrid was over 40 degrees the entire time. For some reason, we didn’t bother trying to go for siestas and instead opted for heat-induced walks and swims at the outdoor community pool, creating a shared madness that meant we spent most of our days laughing silently to ourselves.
As the week progressed, I spoke properly to Flora about what had happened to me that year. Her decisive opinions made me feel assured. Even more, I was reminded that I was still Flora’s funny and self-possessed friend. We shopped, had picnics and went to a very immersive Gustav Klimt exhibit. I slowly started to remember who Alice was: how she dressed, how she joked, how she smoked, loved food, loved laughing and loved psychoanalysing.
A particular highlight would be the evening we spent on the balcony with ice packs in various unseemly positions. There was something so hilariously tragic about our attempts to cool ourselves down, so uninhibited and silly. My trip reminded me that life is about you and what you want to do, and not what others want for you. I’m so glad me and Flora did what we wanted to do for that week in Madrid in 2022.
on your doorstep
Venture into the wilds as Afreka Thomson scopes out three special bothies where you can take shelter from the storm or just rest your weary legs
MANGERSTA BOTHY
Daringly built into the sheer cliffs of Mangersta on the Isle Of Lewis is a small bothy, its curious shape echoing the wheeling seabirds above. Mangersta Bothy was created in the 1990s by John and Lorna Norgrove and stands as a memorial to their daughter Linda who was an overseas aid worker before her tragic death in 2010. Like all bothies, it’s free to stay though visitors are encouraged to leave a donation to the Linda Norgrove Foundation, which continues her work with women and children in Afghanistan.
n lindanorgrovefoundation.org/mangersta-bothy
THE TEAHOUSE BOTHY
Possibly the teensiest of its kind in the Highlands, The Teahouse Bothy in Achnashellach is less about sleepovers and more about pausing for a cosy brew before pressing on. Surrounded by the towering peaks between Torridon and Strathcarron, its green tin roof offers simple shelter from the (frequent) Highland drizzle. Local legend has it that in 2006, Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer once ducked in here during a downpour while filming Stardust. n atlasobscura.com/places/the-teahouse-bothy
THE LOOKOUT BOTHY
On the northernmost tip of Skye, The Lookout Bothy is an easy-to-reach refuge popular with wanderers and wildlife watchers alike. A romantic, wind-battered hut of whitewashed wood, it has impressive windows wrapping around the sea-facing walls. Inside, simple wooden bunks sit alongside binoculars, ready for spotting whales, dolphins and seabirds. In summer, you’ll likely have company, and the guestbook is bursting with stories and sketches of perilous hikes and unexpected encounters. n hiddenscotland.com/listings/the-lookout-bothy
Mangersta Bothy
Alice Faye headlines Haddstock at The Corn Exchange, Haddington, Saturday 30 May.
In the bag
Travel accessory brand Earth.er balance craft and sustainability in their products while helping Nepalese workers earn a living, as Lucy Ribchester finds out
They say necessity is the mother of invention and it was first-hand experience of being frustrated with flimsy polyester rucksacks while backpacking that led designer Benny Yuen to create his own line of bags. ‘I wanted a bag that was functional, durable and sustainable,’ he says. ‘When I couldn’t find one that met these needs, I realised the best way forward was to create it myself.’ Fast forward several years and the company Earth.er was born. Specialising in hemp bags, purses and accessories, the brand is based in Glasgow’s Barras Market with additional stockists in Edinburgh and Dundee.
Yuen had been aware of hemp’s potential as a fabric for years (‘it has a long history in crafts,’ he says). Along with his partner, Aka, he was drawn towards working with a Nepalese family the couple had met while backpacking. ‘We knew they had limited access to formal education, so rather than just donating money, we wanted to help them earn a living,’ Yuen recalls. ‘The eldest brother had experience in stitching, which made the idea of collaboration feel natural and exciting.’ Sourced from Nepal, the hemp used by the company is harvested and woven by a women’s co-operative before being handed to the family workshop where each design is crafted. Yuen still keeps in mind the couple’s motivations for designing bags in the first place. ‘Our designs are guided by everyday practicality,’ he says, and travel is always high on their list of priorities. ‘Since we travel frequently, we developed the Traveller Series with multiple compartments and multifunctional features, making them versatile.’ However, there are also practical matters closer to home that need to be factored in. ‘We also consider Scotland’s unpredictable weather. Bags have compartments for essentials like beanies, scarves or sunglasses.’
The life of a pet owner can be a busy one, which is why Petshop Postie delivers straight to you. Their local delivery service covers addresses in Inverclyde, West Renfrewshire and parts of Glasgow. With supplies for dogs, cats, birds and farm animals, it’s a service that should suit almost any animal lover.
n 2 Bogston Lane, Greenock; thepetshoppostie.co.uk; instagram.com/ petshoppostie
BOWZOS
This small shop offers stylish designer accessories for customers of the furry variety. Whether you’re looking to get your pooch a
Isy Santini rounds up some top spots to help your pets live their best lives
comfy collar, a bandana, a seatbelt or even a tie, everything at Bowzos is handmade with care using quality Harris Tweed fabric.
n 42 London Street, Edinburgh; bowzos.co.uk; instagram.com/bowzosbows
ODD DOGS
‘We will never stock anything we wouldn’t feed to our own dogs’ is the promise made by Odd Dogs, a shop specialising in allnatural, nutritious food. Their aim is simple: to be a friendly space for dog owners to chat, seek advice and purchase treats and toys they can trust.
n 1067 Cathcart Road, Glasgow; odddogsstore.com; instagram.com/ odddogsstore
EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL
Another stirring and inspirational festival programme has been put together by Imaginate who have long known exactly how to lay on quality art for kids. Among the highlights are Dutch company BonteHond’s Wow! which reveals the world through toddlers’ eyes, Italy’s Quattrox4 considering the meaning of home with Gretel, and our very own Catherine Wheels with The Unlikely Friendship Of Feather Boy And Tentacle Girl (pictured). Sadiq Ali and Vee Smith play a pair of outsiders who transform into fantastical beings through flying, spinning and clinging.
(Brian Donaldson)
n Various venues, Edinburgh, Saturday 30 May–Sunday 7 June.
going out
As the world’s biggest festival of hip-hop dance theatre pitches up in Glasgow, Kelly Apter talks with two of the Breakin’ Convention crew and hears how they’re empowering marginalised communities
POP
Seeing a version of yourself re ected on stage can be a powerful antidote to feeling misunderstood or that you don’t belong. With that in mind, Breakin’ Convention has used its platform wisely since beginning in 2004. Talent that might otherwise have been reserved for the streets or tiny venues has toured some of the UK’s nest theatres. Meanwhile, those in the audience have felt heard and inspired, and this year is no exception. Once again curated and hosted by Jonzi D, the 2026 line-up features a mix of local, national and international acts. Flying the ag for both Glasgow and women in hip hop are Female Funk Fruition, a nine-strong dance group founded in 2023 by Shelltoe Mel and Nadia Sewnauth. ‘We wanted to create something for women, for them to have the opportunity to train and not feel uncomfortable or not good enough,’ explains Sewnauth. ‘Because personally, we’ve been in those circles where we’ve felt intimidated in such a male-dominated environment. So we wanted a safe space for women to enjoy themselves and not feel any pressure.’
Performing brand new work Aye Wonder at Breakin’ Convention, the group will use its colourful, upbeat style to entertain but also tackle some of the issues facing women today. ‘The piece is based on a track I wrote called “Token Female”, about the lack of females included within the hip-hop community,’ explains Mel. ‘So it’s a
Unconventional: (previous page) Traplord and Female Funk Fruition; (this page) Ivan Michael Blackstock in Traplord (and from right clockwise), Ill-Abilities, Femme Fatale
PICTURE:
celebration of the females within this culture who came before us, but it also asks some serious questions and addresses what’s going on in the world right now.’
Everyone involved in Female Funk Fruition fed into the process, sharing their experiences, hopes and fears. And, as the group’s age demographic veers (perhaps surprisingly) towards older dancers, they’ve got a lot to talk about. ‘When we first set it up, we thought we were going to get younger females,’ says Sewnauth. ‘But we actually found that it’s mainly women in their 40s and 50s who danced at some point in their lives in a class or clubbing, but maybe then had kids and now want to get their life back and just be themselves.’
Despite hip hop’s gender imbalance, Mel is a stalwart of the scene and indeed no stranger to Breakin’ Convention. She first danced at the festival in 2005, as part of Flying Jalapenos and as far as she’s concerned, the genre has no age barrier. ‘Hip hop has been part of my whole life,’ says Mel. ‘So just because I’m ageing, I’m not going to stop doing it. Breaking is obviously more acrobatic, but styles like locking, popping and freestyle rocking are good for any age and help build stamina. We’re also aiming to keep the traditions of the dance alive because not a lot of people in Scotland do locking and freestyle rocking.’
Just as lived experience fed into Aye Wonder, Ivan Michael Blackstock’s Olivier Award-winning piece Traplord is also rooted in real life. Blending dance, theatre and spoken word, the work questions stereotypes of black men in western society and was partly inspired by a series of allmale sessions Blackstock facilitated in 2015.
Gathering in east London, the men sat in darkness so they could focus on, as Blackstock says, ‘how we find the light within ourselves’. Sharing childhood memories, present-day friendships and difficult connections, these deeply personal conversations helped the men ‘relook at how we navigate our lives and our relationships’ and later fed into the creation of Traplord
Trained at London Contemporary Dance School, Blackstock’s early cultural education in music and movement took place on the streets. Initially, he found sharing aspects of himself in his choreography hard, but watching others give of themselves inspired a desire to try. And those conversations in darkness helped illuminate a path. ‘As a creator, you’re trying to find your voice,’ he explains. ‘But at first, I was scared to create work that was personal. I thought, “that’s not your business, that’s my business”. But through my experiences working in commercial dance, in theatre and the underground scene, I realised that’s how you actually engage people and find a universal connection. The ones who really shine through are the people brave enough to show parts of themselves.’ Blackstock’s collective share Breakin’ Convention’s Glasgow date with Los Angeles-based trio Femme Fatale, Ill-Abilities members from Brazil and the Netherlands, and homegrown talent Heavy Smokers Krew, SK Dance and Corey Owens. All of them will offer a unique take on hiphop culture, with Blackstock promising us something particularly hardhitting. ‘I think Traplord is different from what Breakin’ Convention usually presents, because we don’t hold back in terms of intensity. And that’s something I’ve wanted to do with my work because it had got to a point where I felt like I was putting filters on things. And I don’t want to do that, because then I’m not giving you the full me; I’m cheating you.’ Although the intended audience for Blackstock’s piece is young black men, he’s worked hard to ensure it has broad appeal, including paying homage to one of the most famous works in 20th-century literature. ‘One of the big inspirations was William Golding’s Lord Of The Flies,’ he explains. ‘The full name of the piece is Traplord Of The Flies Traplord is just a kind of nickname. We’ve found tools and narrative devices for other people watching to jump in and hold onto it. But my target audience is young men; for them to feel like they’ve been seen and heard.’
Best known for stellar turns in Breaking Bad and hit spin-off Better Call Saul, Bob Odenkirk also has a distinguished CV as a comedy writer, sketch performer, director and screenwriter. As he returns to the big screen to co-create, produce and star in mystery-action flick Normal, he talks to James Mottram about the intricacies of making good action movies, getting fit in his 50s and the potential danger of sequels
In Normal you play Ulysses, a temporary sheriff in a crooked Minnesotan town. What drew you to the story? I liked it because it had this mystery element in the first act. Something’s weird in this town but we don’t know what it is. A lot of action movie scripts really just get the action to happen and then pack in as many sequences as possible, one right up against the other. And I just don’t really care about that. I’m still an interloper in the action field. I don’t even know how to understand a movie that is just action.
The town of Normal in the movie is based on a real place in Illinois. Did you want to show how many of these areas are facing financial hardship? I don’t know if it comes across, but the town is idyllic in a way that is hard to maintain without money. How do you even keep this alive? And the fact is, many of the towns in the midwest that I’m referencing here are at least half shut down, if not three-quarters. The stores are boarded up; there’s no one there. And you can’t keep a restaurant like the one in the film alive, and you certainly can’t keep a yarn shop going. There’s nobody buying yarn in bulk! So the idea is this town has an infusion of money from somewhere.
What made you go for British-born Ben Wheatley to direct? Was it his movie Free Fire, which feels like a cousin to Normal? I’m watching Free Fire, and the characters are relatable people with fear and uncertainty and tension that a lot of times is not a part of these action films. It’s like an impregnable fortress of a man takes on pure evil and vanquishes it over and over and over again. And so that’s all I was looking for. A human touch. I got a lot more than that in Ben Wheatley.
You co-star in Normal with Henry Winkler aka The Fonz from Happy Days, who plays the mayor. Give us your best Winkler anecdote . . . The only person I can compare him to is Paul McCartney: the only other person I’ve been close to that’s that famous. Henry is aware of how beloved he is and by people of different ages. I had to tell him to stop being Henry Winkler so that he could act the scene, which he did.
You perform a lot of your own stunts here. Were you always in such good shape? No, I was a comedy writer! I only exercised because I felt I had to. Somewhere around the age of 30 I started and I really reluctantly did two times a week. And then I went up to probably four times a week, just because you kind of have to do something. And so when I was about 50 years old, I had the notion of doing an action movie and I started training around 52.
You’re 63 now. How do you find the action scenes? I like doing action. It’s a bit like sketch comedy, to be honest with you. Action sequences are three to five minutes long, and hopefully they have a journey. They set a tone and then they go there and build it, and then they turn, just like a sketch. And so that’s been something I was very surprised to find and, of course, I relate to that.
yarn in bulk
You first did extreme action in 2019 movie Nobody. What was a bigger risk: that or making a Breaking Bad spin-off? Both things could have backfired on me, but I think Better Call Saul would have been the bigger backfire. It would have been a reference point forever about sequels and when you shouldn’t do a sequel when you’ve made a show as good as Breaking Bad. There was so much riding on it, but all credit to showrunners Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan whose instincts are to do great work.
What are you up to next? I’m trying to direct this TV show that my son wrote. It’s got some DNA from The Royle Family which I showed him when he was young. So he grew up and wrote this show about a family in Encino, California.
Normal is in cinemas from Friday 15 May; Better Call Saul is on Netflix.
GAELIC CULTURE FOLK FILM GATHERING
Folk Film Gathering is an initiative led by music-cum-film collective Transgressive North. It celebrates intersections between folk film, traditional music and storytelling, with a keen eye on indigenous narratives and concerns. Gaelic nations feature prominently, with Jack Archer and Rob MacNeacail’s film Sailm nan Daoine (Psalms Of The People) receiving another outing. Also featured, Faodail (Found) reflects on a lack of Hebridean-born perspectives in cinema.
Until 1979, the Hebrides had only been seen on film through the incomer’s eye, but Faodail’s vintage footage broke new ground, celebrating and recording Western Isles daily life. Now redigitised, 25 hours of 8mm home movies will blend with live music from Hebridean artists, including accordionist Pàdruig Morrison who has recently returned from the International Pan Celtic Festival’s New Song competition.
Where Faodail exhibits the impact of creeping anglicisation on rural Gaeldom, with lyric and melody at the forefront, Dennis Harvey and Lars Lovén’s Celtic Utopia examines how Irish traditions continue to inform the contemporary. In counterpoint with a reckoning over colonialism, the screening begins with live tunes from David Lennon while the film showcases The Deadlians, Lankum and The Mary Wallopers.
Las Damas Azules bridges the Atlantic, shoring up connections between Scotland and Peru. Here, women are front and centre, exploring their role in community movements and action. Presented in collaboration with Resonating Moving Images, a discussion will be led by Sara Guerrero, Ximena Oñate and Verónica Zela Valdez to look at their own experience and reflect on a solidarity with our own homegrown movements. (Marcas Mac an Tuairneir)
Various venues, Edinburgh, until Sunday 10 May; full programme at folkcinemas.com/folkfilmgathering
Faodail
THEATRE FUNERAL FOR MY BOOBS
There are funerals that call for solemn black suits and hushed voices. And there are funerals that demand sequins and power ballads. Funeral For My Boobs, a new cabaret-style musical, promises very much the latter. Written by and starring Edinburgh-born performer Hannah Howie, the production is inspired by her own experience of undergoing a preventative double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. This devastating decision came after discovering she carries a gene that significantly increases her risk of developing breast cancer. The show transforms a deeply personal medical experience into something hilariously life-affirming.
The spark for the piece came from the late Kris Hallenga, founder of breast cancer charity CoppaFeel!. Hallenga famously hosted a ‘living funeral’ filled with glitter, dancing and colourful outfits, an idea Howie found irresistible. ‘What a way to celebrate your life in style,’ she says. ‘And then I thought “I wonder if anyone has had a funeral for their boobs?”’ Howie plays the officiant at her own theatrical farewell, joined by two performers embodying her left and right breasts. Together, they deliver a cabaret of reimagined pop classics including ‘One Night Only’, ‘My Heart Will Go On’ and ‘That’s Life’.
Developed last year in front of a tiny, invited audience, early reactions were full of what Howie describes as ‘oh I shouldn’t be laughing at this’ giggling. The response since has been overwhelmingly positive, with messages pouring in from women who feel represented by the story. Many have shared their own experiences, thanking Howie for what she describes as ‘making something scary feel speakable’. Ultimately, the show is about living as loudly and as gloriously as you can. Or, as Howie puts it: ‘Life is so desperately short, so take it by the balls (or the boobs, or whatever you have) and run with it. Find the joy.’ (Afreka Thomson)
BBC broadcaster, author, actor, musician, DJ and List columnist, Mr Galloway flicks through some music listings to choose top May gigs in variously sized rooms and across different genres…
ome bands are fortunate enough never to age, stylistically or conceptually, and we are forever happy to welcome their return. Welsh psych-pop wizards Super Furry Animals are definitely one of those acts. If proof of their popularity was needed, two shows at the legendary Glasgow Barrowlands (Friday 8 & Saturday 9 May) sold out in seconds. A full 30 years since their debut album Fuzzy Logic emerged into the UK scene in a lysergic haze, you soon realise how timeless and surprisingly fresh their back catalogue sounds. Missed out on tickets? Well, they’re back at the end of August for Mogwai’s Big City Festival in Queen’s Park. Fairmilehead’s lyrical dandy and purveyor of fine chanson, Hamish Hawk different cities this month. A man with wit, flair and charisma in abundance, he brings his Ivor Cutler tribute show Life In A Scotch Sitting-Room, Vol 0 to Òran Mór in Glasgow (Sunday 10 May) before supporting legendary folk-rock firebrand Richard Thompson to perform songs from his own acclaimed solo albums at Aberdeen Music Hall (Tuesday 26 May), Eden Court in Inverness (Wednesday 27 May) and Edinburgh’s Usher Hall (Thursday 28 May).
It’s heartening when true legends include Scotland on their global live tour itinerary. Tuareg desert-rock pioneers Tinariwen have been quietly reinventing rock music in their own North Saharan image since 1979, and you can experience their dusty, windswept, rebel soul at Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms (Thursday 21 May) as they play tracks from recently released 12th album Hoggar. And it would be remiss of me not to mention the real architects of electronic and indeed modern pop music, Kraftwerk, who return to Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (Monday 25 May) and Edinburgh Playhouse (Tuesday 9 June). They are still The Robots and nobody does audio-visual, retrofuturist pop art better.
lysergic the , plays four different cities this month. A man with wit, flair and charisma in abundance, he brings (Sunday 10 May) before supporting legendary folk-rock firebrand Richard Thompson to live their dusty, And May),
But if you’d rather leap about, bang your head and hang out with the young team, let me recommend the excellent Dead Pony who bring their 21st-century nu-rock anthems to Edinburgh’s La Belle Angele (Wednesday 27 May), with Anna Shields giving it rock-star licks and unashamed empowerment up front. Bring the noise!
Listen to Vic Galloway every Monday night on BBC Radio Scotland or anytime on BBC Sounds; Vic also comperes & DJs on the main stage at FyneFest on Saturday 30 May.
Tinariwen
PICTURE: MARIE PLANEILLE
“ Cannibalism is a really juicy horror theme
This year’s Dundead horror celebration serves a menu that would make Hannibal Lecter salivate. Kevin Fullerton chats to feminist archive collective Invisible Women about programming a gory selection of films that explore carnal appetites
H‘orror is not something that we’ve really done,’ explains Rachel Pronger, one third of Invisible Women, who I meet alongside fellow member of the feminist archive collective, Camilla Baier. It was only when they were approached by Michael Coull, programmer for DCA’s long-running horror lm festival Dundead, that Pronger, Baier and (completing the trio) Lauren Clarke noticed a connection between eating esh and a host of female anxieties. The result is She’s A Maneater! Cannibalism, Consumption And Carnal Appetites, a strand at this year’s Dundead which focuses on women who favour a staple diet of bodily remains and human blood.
‘As soon as you start looking at feminist or women-centred horror, you get a lot of dynamics around sexuality, consumption, food and money,’ Pronger explains. ‘The ultimate taboo is cannibalism which is a complete transgression of boundaries. But it’s also about bodies; and bodies are very policed. And it’s about women’s relationship to gore and viscera, which is generally built around reproduction and sexuality. But it’s also a really juicy horror theme.’
Invisible Women’s curation proves how delightful feasting on esh can be, allowing cult curios to rub shoulders with arthouse favourites. In the line-up is Julia Ducournau’s crowd-pleasing Raw, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year; Fruit Chan’s gruesome meditation on ageing in Dumplings; Claire Denis’ gore- lled provocation Trouble Every Day; and the lurid trash trio of Blood Diner, Santo Vs Frankenstein’s Daughter and The Velvet Vampire
Like all Invisible Women’s programming, the enthusiasms of the collective are embedded in every selection, whether that’s Baier’s extensive knowledge of Mexican genre cinema or Pronger’s passion for horror with strong themes. ‘Horror is brilliant because it’s able to be provocative and confronting in a way that shocks and surprises people, but still be popular,’ insists Pronger. ‘But I also love trashy stu ; there’s something about lmmakers making stu on low budgets and not being afraid of looking like idiots doing it.’ For Baier, the DIY vibe of earlier genre lms is where horror nds its schlocky groove: ‘I love to see the glue on old horror masks. I nd it fascinating, especially for these older lms, to see what was considered scary at the time or what is a taboo within the context of a certain place.’ Directors as varied as Coralie Fargeat, Rose Glass, Nia DaCosta and Ana Lily Amirpour are the great innovators of modern horror, but an in ux of interesting female directors shouldn’t dim the work of empowering female voices both in front of and behind the lens. ‘What we’ve seen by studying lm history is that there are periods of excitement for a new wave of women lmmakers,’ explains Pronger. ‘But then you realise that there’s an article in Sight & Sound every ten years about how women lmmakers are nally breaking through, and then you look at the dire stats around awards representation or lm school admissions. These things slide back very easily, but there have always been great women directing horror and genre lms. We just have to be careful that we nd it, spotlight it and keep celebrating it.’
Liverpool legend Willy Russell’s work remains vital and relevant (the continuous productions of Shirley Valentine and Blood Brothers are a testament to that) and another of his beloved plays comes to Tayside. Educating Rita (Dundee Rep, Saturday 23 May–Saturday 13 June) was made famous through the 1983 film starring Julie Walters and Michael Caine. Here, Grace Galloway and Jonathan Watson take on the roles of the spirited hairdresser desperate for something new to happen in her life and the disillusioned lecturer who feels a rush of inspiration when the redoubtable Rita gatecrashes his safe world.
In our review of Weather Alive from 2022, we hailed Beth Orton (Beat Generator, Wednesday 6 May) for producing an ‘evanescent listening experience’. Well, there’s more of that on the horizon with upcoming album The Ground Above, ahead of which the folktronica artist hits the road. Susie McCabe (Whitehall Theatre, Saturday 9 May) has come a long way from gigs as a support act in a dank Edinburgh cave to becoming the Billy Connolly Spirit Of Glasgow winner. While steadily moving towards national treasure status, the stand-up is on her Best Behaviour with this show about her recovery from a devastating health episode. (Brian Donaldson)
Willy Russell
Under the skin: (from far left) Dumplings, The Velvet Vampire, Trouble Every Day, Santo Vs Frankenstein's Daughter
The world’s best all-male comedy drag ballet
“This
A SHOW BY JASON GILKISON 2026 TOUR
ART
VERONICA RYAN: THE WEATHER INSIDE II
art• •tra •tra art•
Morven Gregor is talking from Venice where she’s installing Bugarin + Castle’s Scottish commission for the city’s Biennale. But in her role as curator of contemporary art at Mount Stuart, she’s thrilled about the next major show at the Isle Of Bute mansion: Veronica Ryan’s The Weather Inside II. ‘Veronica’s got a big exhibition on at Whitechapel Gallery at the moment, so bringing her into this more history-laden domestic environment is very exciting,’ says Gregor.
Ryan is a Montserrat-born British sculptor known for her work recontextualising traditionally domestic and feminine objects and processes. Seed heads and pods play a talismanic but ambiguous role in her art, signifying birth and protection as much as confinement and containment, often reproduced on a large scale in materials such as brass and ceramics. Recently, Ryan’s practice has incorporated ephemera and found materials to a greater extent. Part of a modernist heritage stretching back to Eva Hesse and Barbara Hepworth, Ryan’s oeuvre is ineluctably tied to questions of race (and thus to a critique of 20th-century modernism’s whiteness) but never reducible to them.
The 2022 Turner Prize winner has also often worked with fabric and textiles. As Gregor says, ‘those traditional female crafts are going to be crucial to this show, as is the notion of the house being a family space’ (Mount Stuart is home to the Crichton-Stuart family, the Marquesses Of Bute). Offering a tantalising glimpse of what will be on display, Ryan herself states that The Weather Inside II explores interior lives, including ‘cabinets with decorative items, family photos on a different scale’ and ‘histories of life, death and the in-between’. (Greg Thomas)
n Mount Stuart, Isle Of Bute, Saturday 30 May–Sunday 18 October.
MUSIC TECTONICS
Led by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Glasgow once again plays host to the remarkable Tectonics festival of new and experimental music from around the world. To be tectonic relates to the surface of the earth’s structure being formed, changed and moved by the forces within it. For the festival’s curator, Ilan Volkov, this becomes ‘imagining how music might sound, behave and be made’.
In the 2026 edition’s spirit of discovery, transformation of familiar instruments and different ways of listening, Scotland-based tuba player Danielle Price is one of several international artists presenting their practice in reflection of Volkov’s mission. ‘I think that the tuba is so often under-represented or misrepresented,’ she says. ‘It’s often thought of as being a bass, being mechanical; it’s clumsy, it’s big.’ For Price, the tuba is so much more. ‘Because it’s big and mechanical, it lends itself to versatility. It can be, for instance, lyrical or great for extended techniques. It can be played in so many different ways and there’s something about the low mellow sound and the way it fills the room. It’s kind of like a playground where I can look for connection over perfection.’
For Tectonics, Price brings a new solo set of original material, improvised tuba electronics, spoken text and singing to the Old Fruitmarket (Saturday 2 May). ‘Basically, I want to be a songwriter but play the tuba and I’m marrying these two worlds together,’ she explains. Her songwriting is rooted in telling the stories of what makes us human and, she says, ‘all the things you think about as a person in daily life’. (Carol Main) n City Halls & Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Saturday 2 & Sunday 3 May.
PICTURE: ALAN DONALDSON
Danielle Price
“ There is a real analogue purity about Once
Once is the little show that made it big. Now the multi-award winning musical finally makes its Scottish debut as a centrepiece of Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s new season. Director John Tiffany talks to Mark Fisher about getting the original creative team back together and why he won’t be messing with the production’s fragile beauty
When John Ti any was invited to direct the stage adaptation of Once, the low-budget movie by John Carney, he immediately thought of Enda Walsh as writer. He had known the playwright since 1997 when Disco Pigs was a Fringe hit at Edinburgh’s Traverse. Ti any thought Walsh’s Dublin upbringing would make him an ideal candidate to retell the bittersweet love story of a busker on the cusp of giving up music and the Czech woman who believes in him.
At the time, Walsh mentioned it to the lm director Paweł Pawlikowski who o ered these wise words: ‘That will be like catching a butter y.’ Good advice for Walsh. And for Ti any too. In 2026, keeping that butter y alive feels all the more delicate a task. Fourteen years ago, Once was a massive hit for Ti any and Walsh, along with songwriters Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, and movement director Steven Hoggett. It won eight Tony awards and two Oliviers. It’s the only musical to receive an Oscar, a Grammy, an Olivier and a Tony. Now, Ti any is reuniting the original production team to restage Once as the opening show in Alan Cumming’s inaugural season at Pitlochry Festival Theatre. He knows it would be ruinous if he tinkered with what made it work in the rst place. As one critic said, this was a show that ‘wins you over with its simplicity, charm and air of sweet melancholy’. Ti any is not about to make it complicated. ‘You want to make sure it’s a version for now,’ says the director. ‘But you also have to protect the person who made that show. There is a place that it came from in your heart that made it work and you’ve got to be sure you know what that is before you start playing with it.’
Much has changed since 2013 when Once rst played in London. Thanks to the pandemic, the touring version never made it to Scotland, so this will be its premiere here. Ti any went on to direct West End hit Harry Potter And The Cursed Child and, last year, staged another musical, Wild Rose, at Edinburgh’s Lyceum. Going back to chance to root himself. ‘It’s just heaven,’ he says. ‘Martin Lowe, the music director, said the show always comes into your life when you need it. There is an innocence about Once, a real analogue purity.’
From the start, he knew this was not the kind of story that usually made it to Broadway. It was quiet and low-key, not brash and brassy, and was never going to be about high-kicking chorus lines. ‘It would have su ocated the story, the characters and the beautiful fragility of what Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová and John Carney created,’ he says. ‘I’m the wrong director for that kind of traditional Broadway spectacle and I wouldn’t have known where to start.’
Once is a but feels to me like not just a musical, but a story about
With Dylan Wood and Lydia White taking on the roles played on screen by Hansard and Irglová, Ti any is focusing on essentials. From its very earliest incarnation at the American Repertory Theatre, this was a show that needed no more than six tables and 12 chairs, with actors playing their own instruments. The sound design is more complex than it looks, but the power is in the direct audience engagement. ‘Once feels to me like not just a musical, but a story about the healing and transforming power of music.’
Once, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Saturday 23 May–Saturday 27 June.
It takes two: (from left) Dylan Wood and Lydia White in rehearsal; Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová in the film version of Once; John Tiffany
THEATRE BABY MASHUP: WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?
Baby Mash-Up: What On Earth Are You Doing? is informed by writer Sally Hobson’s early experience of Troubles-era Belfast and her family’s subsequent migration. The play deals with the restlessness that comes from lacking a tangible connection to place, leading to complete existential disorientation. Hobson writes that confusion into her protagonist, Baby Mash-Up, who literally tap dances around and over the cracks of her fragmented inner self. All the big questions of who we are and why we’re here abound.
Hobson created the piece in 2024 as part of her masters in playwriting at Edinburgh University. Though not autobiographical, she says the impact of migration is a central theme alongside ‘the role of the individual and collective, and how we create our lives after trauma or loss’. The piece is directed by Nicholas Bone and fittingly presented by Stillpoint, a new Scottish writing company led by Hobson that aims to ‘provide a quiet reflection on life and people’. Baby Mash-Up: What On Earth Are You Doing? aspires to invoke a similar kind of reflection in its audience, taking them on a journey through different scenes (a field, a bingo hall, the ocean). The big questions are left unanswered, all the while regrounding viewers in the present and, in Hobson’s words, the equally ‘extraordinary gift of a life on planet earth’. (Evie Glen)
Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling, Saturday 9 May; Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Thursday 14–Saturday 16 May; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Friday 22 & Saturday 23 May.
ART SARAH CALMUS: RIGHT TO ROAM
Water is at the centre of Sarah Calmus’ world in Right To Roam, as the Edinburgh-based artist follows up on her recent multi-screen intervention, Uisge, with a full-on immersive experience. Calmus’ exhibition takes its title from the internationally recognised notion of a right to access public and privately owned land. Focusing on the River Forth, she utilises moving image, sculpture, sound and screenprints to take a deep dive into environmental pollution, climate change and how the natural landscape is threatened.
‘I wanted to talk about this idea within the lens of water,’ Calmus says of an exhibition that has its roots in a residency in Sweden. ‘I swim in the Forth quite a lot and I also row; because of where I live in Newhaven I see the river every morning, so I’m all about the water.' Having decided to zero in on her subject through this prism, she explains: 'We’re all made of water; the tides are rising but we’re not looking after our water necessarily in the right way. I suppose I’m really focusing on the idea of thinking about water as a living body, because we often think about it as a resource, which it is, but it’s interesting to think about it through the lens of life itself.’ As well as a remount of Uisge, Right To Roam will include recordings of the Forth made by artist Theodore Koterwas played through underfloor speakers that give audiences a physical experience of the underwater environment. ‘Essentially the river will be dictating what you see and hear,’ says Calmus. ‘I’m just highlighting the power of water. I’m not giving it voice; it already has a voice, but I’m translating its energy into the gallery space.’ (Neil Cooper)
Inspace, Edinburgh, Friday 8–Sunday 24 May.
GOING OUT FURTHER AFIELD
Get yourself away from the central belt and out into various parts of Scotland where the cultural landscape is just as rich and varied. Among the upcoming highlights this month are a star-studded book gathering, a dance festival dedicated to Indigenous communities worldwide, an acclaimed paean to a palm tree and a hot dose of improvised musical mayhem
ABERDEEN
NICK MOHAMMED
The star of Ted Lasso, Taskmaster and Celebrity Traitors (and the finale of Inside No 9 lest we forget) gets back in the live comedy saddle as the irritating yet oddly lovable Mr Swallow for Show Pony
n Music Hall, Monday 4 May.
CUMNOCK
BOSWELL BOOK FESTIVAL
Uniquely dedicated to memoir and biography, this festival attracts big names by the crateload. Audiences can hear from and meet Harriet Walter, Damian Barr, Jan Ravens, Jung Chang, Cal Flyn and Penny Lancaster.
n Dumfries House, Friday 8–Sunday 10 May.
FALKIRK
FALKIRK SCIENCE FESTIVAL
Interactive and family-friendly science activities entertain the wee ones and their elders in Falkirk as well as in the likes of Grangemouth and Bo’ness.
n Various venues, Saturday 2–Saturday 16 May.
FINDHORN
RISE FESTIVAL WEEKEND
As part of the wider Rise event which also takes place in Caithness, Inverness and Glasgow, this weekender celebrates global Indigenous dance and performance, as well as laying on workshops, talks and lectures.
n The Park Ecovillage, Friday 29–Sunday 31 May.
INVERNESS
BOYS DON’T DANCE
Ahead of appearing at Edinburgh’s Children’s Festival as well as the Fringe, Marc Brew’s dance piece recalls his own upbringing trying to embrace an artform he loved in the face of intolerance.
n Eden Court, Wednesday 20 May.
KIRKCALDY STAND AND DELIVER
Greenock 1981 and over 200 factory jobs are under threat. Written by Frances Poet and directed by Jemima Levick, this National Theatre Of Scotland/Tron Theatre production details those who fought injustice and gained a global platform.
n Adam Smith Theatre, Friday 15 May.
PERTH SHOWSTOPPER!
Time for an improvised musical to set your world aflame as the award-winning band of brave souls take suggestions from the crowd and weave adlibbing magic right in front of your eyes and straight into your ears.
n Perth Concert Hall, Thursday 28 May.
ST ANDREWS JOURNEY
From Cirqulation comes an emotional modern circus experience in which aerial, dance and storytelling combine to reflect upon the journeys we all share.
n Byre Theatre, Saturday 16 May.
STIRLING WINDBLOWN
Karine Polwart’s acclaimed paean to a palm tree that’s about to get the chop (via a chainsaw) becomes a moving portrait of grief and resilience told through folk music, conjured sound, intimate storytelling and immersive visuals.
n Macrobert Arts Centre, Thursday 14 May.
Guuranda as part of Rise Festival Weekend (and bottom from left), Nick Mohammed, Harriet Walter, Showstopper!
Aspecialist in musical morality stories that aren’t afraid to wear sentimentality on their sleeve, Irish lmmaker John Carney is the man behind microbudget indie hit Once, the adorable and underrated Flora And Son and Sing Street, as well as anthology show Modern Love. His work is unmistakable, boasting an open-hearted optimism that’s almost unfashionable in pessimistic times, but that can be tricky to resist.
Carney has worked with up-and-comers such as Eve Hewson and Lucy Boynton but this is the rst time one of his lms has been fronted by a pair of rmly established stars, giving it the potential to reach a wider audience. Cowritten with Peter McDonald (who also appears), Power Ballad brings together US comedy royalty and Ant-Man himself, Paul Rudd, with pop singer Nick Jonas for a story about musical plagiarism and thwarted dreams.
Mercifully avoiding an Irish accent considering how badly his compatriots have mangled them in the past, Rudd plays Rick Power, an American living in suburban Dublin. We hear how Rick fell for an Irishwoman more than a decade earlier while touring with his truly terribly monikered and rather modestly successful band Octagon (a record deal is mentioned), and how he ended up staying in Ireland and raising a child, forgoing his dreams of stardom. Carney’s wife and regular collaborator Marcella Plunkett plays Rick’s adoring spouse Rachel, with Beth Fallon as his loving but typically teenage daughter Aja.
Rick now fronts pun-tastic wedding band The Bride & Groove alongside loyal mucker Sandy (McDonald) and petulant drummer/manager Binzer (Rory Keenan), the latter loving to remind Rick of their lowly purpose (‘we’re not rock stars Rick, we’re human jukeboxes’). When the band are invited to play a posh wedding, ex-boyband member Danny Wilson (Jonas) is there as a guest of the groom. Danny joins Rick in a duet on stage and the pair click, jamming through the night and helping each other with their music. Rick plays Danny an un nished ballad, ‘How To Write A Song (Without You)’, but when he hears it on the radio six months later, he realises that Danny has stolen it.
Director John Carney hits the right notes with Power Ballad, a feelgood Paul Rudd-led Dublin-set tale of plagiarism and unrealised musical ambition, says Emma Simmonds
Jonas is very much in support here and gives an e ective turn, hugely helped by his credibility as a musical performer. Danny’s desire to go beyond his manufactured stardom and prove himself as a serious artist (and the ruthless way he goes about getting there) are judged by Carney to be the less compelling arc. The character is enjoyably anked by Jack Reynor (who gets to make an inappropriate joke about leprechauns in the guise of a crass Yank), sinking his teeth into the part of Danny’s casually cutthroat manager Mac.
By sidelining Danny’s story, Carney shows himself unenamoured with the showbiz world of LA and more aligned with the un ashy folk of his home city, characters whose lives have turned out to be harder and a lot more humdrum than they imagined, as he reminds us that the quality of our relationships with those around us is enough. The seed for this story was planted around eight years ago when Carney saw a middle-aged rocker doing the school run with his daughter and the director started to wonder about the man’s life. Further inspiration came from the 2023 Ed Sheeran copyright case, with the singer accused of li ing elements from Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ before ultimately being cleared.
Given his everyman persona in far glossier projects, Rudd is that rare big star who can plausibly play an ordinary joe, and he delivers a typically a able turn that leans on his comic instincts while giving at least some indication of dramatic skill (and shows o his decent, if unspectacular, singing voice). Incidentally, the role was originally written with Colin Farrell in mind, which would have given the lm a very di erent avour.
The song in question (written by Carney and Gary Clark of 80s Dundee band Danny Wilson . . . can you join the dots?) boasts the deceptively simple, distinctly timeless quality of a smash hit, and stands up to repeated plays. If Carney’s direction can feel a touch bland, Power Ballad coasts on its musical con dence, feelgood charm, comedy and sincerity. As it roots for the little guy and ramps up the love-conquers-all spirit, this lm strikes many of the right notes.
Power Ballad is in cinemas from Friday 29 May.
film of the month
ART SIMON PHIPPS: BRUTAL SCOTLAND
Simon Phipps’ photographs of post-war brutalist architecture have done as much as any other body of work to revive the reputation of a style once castigated for its ugliness, neglect and deprivation. Actually, the building stock of 1950s–70s Britain was beautiful, daring and oddly sensual (brutalism has more to do with curves than it’s given credit for).
Phipps’ dramatic black and white photos of 160 structures spanning the length and breadth of Scotland (in which the tonal contrasts of staining and weathering only add to the atmosphere) remind us that this is a built heritage we should be proud of and rush to protect.
What’s more, this architecture stood for an age of egalitarian optimism. Many of the buildings on display at Street Level were commissioned by public bodies and intended for civic or collective use. Here are university and college campuses, stadiums, churches, sports and shopping centres, council offices and, of course, high-rise housing. You can imagine a welltrodden critical response to the latter images, deriding them as evidence of some sanitising exercise in middle-class nostalgia.
The location of this show in Glasgow, capital of the UK’s largely failed experiment in multi-storey living, is a reminder that too often this was a state of affairs defined by isolation, crime and intergenerational trauma. But do these photos deny that heritage? They pay homage to a vexed and grizzled legacy while reminding us of a much-missed spirit of progress that has vanished into the west coast fog. (Greg Thomas)
Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, until Saturday 16 May.
DANCE STARSTRUCK
Famous for his effervescent umbrella-swinging routine in Singin’ In The Rain, actor, dancer and choreographer Gene Kelly is honoured here in Scottish Ballet’s adaptation of his 1960 stage ballet Pas De Dieux. Originally commissioned by the Paris Opera, this was Kelly’s love letter to ballet, a dance form he first learned at his mother’s Pittsburgh dance school in the 1920s and later popularised through his Hollywood films.
Just as Kelly’s signature dance style was an athletic blend of ballet, jazz, tap, lindy hop and swing, his choreography leaps between eras and techniques. A red-carpet scene with flashing cameras and velvet ropes is pure liquid glamour as taffeta frocks glide and swirl, while a high-energy beach excerpt is a leggy, joyful blast featuring the magnetic, muscular Harvey Littlefield as Life Guard. Cuban principal guest dancer Marlen Fuerte Castro is an impish, elegant Aphrodite, and appearances from Cupid and a flying hot air balloon make love and escapism feel literally in the air.
Originally staged by Scottish Ballet in 2021, this expanded version features a live orchestra, with Eleanor Hudson providing dreamy, swooning harp glissandos and Lynda Cochrane bringing Gershwin, Ravel and Chopin to life on crisp, bouncy piano. An ebullient spectacular, the chirpy party atmosphere is an ideal antidote for the ‘grouchers, groaners, cranks and moaners’ that Kelly sang about to tiny Jerry Mouse in Anchors Aweigh before their glorious duet. That was back in 1945, and who couldn’t use a dose of Kelly’s vitality and sunny disposition to offset the bleaker realities of 2026. (Claire Sawers)
His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen, Friday 1 & Saturday 2 May; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Thursday 7–Saturday 9 May; reviewed at Theatre Royal, Glasgow.
Making its stage debut, The High Life is a fourthwall demolishing treat with songs, gags and crowdpleasing references galore. Kelly Apter might not have enjoyed its plot (oh dearie me) but this minor stumble aside, Cumming, Masson, Redmond and co unleash a truly delirious triumph
Incredible though it may seem, there was a time when Alan Cumming apparently wasn’t in everything, everywhere, all at once. Back in the early 90s his career, although certainly burgeoning, hadn’t yet made him the toast of Broadway, the darling of Hollywood and the fashion icon of The Traitors. So when The High Life hit our small screens in the early weeks of 1995, the BBC sitcom was met with a small but fiercely loyal fandom rather than being a sign of impending and unstoppable world domination.
Now that it’s back, it would appear the net has widened somewhat. For although each reference to the TV show is met with a roar of knowing laughs, the musical also has to stand on its own legs. Indeed, the woman sitting next to me confessed to never having seen the cult 90s phenomenon, yet hooted throughout. It’s fair to say, though, that knowledge of the source material augments enjoyment of the musical exponentially.
Not least because it’s comforting to see Cumming and his drama school pal turned comedic partner-in-crime Forbes Masson back in their Air Scotia uniforms 30 years later. Both are met with whoops of applause and genuine warmth when they arrive on stage dressed as Sebastian Flight and Steve McCracken, as are fellow original cast members Siobhan Redmond and Patrick Ryecart, respectively reprising their roles as Shona Spurtle and Captain Hilary Duff. But while old-time gags and catchphrases are the foundation on which this new show is built (the first ‘oh
theatre of the month
dearie me’ almost brings down the house), writers Cumming, Masson and panto stalwart Johnny McKnight have peppered it liberally with modern references: Scottish politics, modern technology, corporate megalomania and musical theatre gags all find their way in, giving those who haven’t memorised those six short episodes verbatim something else to play with.
And then there’s the ‘storyline’, which earns those air quotes by virtue of being the weakest link. Like many feelgood movies before it, the show follows a David and Goliath model, with Air Scotia’s potential demise sending the staff into a tizz. Will it be taken over and subsumed by aviation giant GB Air, or will the cabin crew prove their worth and keep the company proudly Scottish? No prizes for guessing the outcome.
The journey to victory is far from straightforward, however, with the flight path veering perilously close to the infamous ‘Lower Largo Triangle’. And it’s here that The High Life gets a wee bitty silly, with a visit to the guest house that time forgot bringing more than a few echoes of Brigadoon and The Rocky Horror Show. The fun never stops, though; it’s just the clever lines so prevalent in act one lose their sharpness in a sea of ginger-haired
chaos. But we’re never far from a big show number, keeping the audience buoyed throughout, and sending us scurrying post-show to find an original cast recording that sadly has yet to exist. The strong ensemble support the leads with wit and energy, a particular shout-out going to Louise McCarthy as Steve’s hilarious long-lost love Heather and the hugely versatile Kyle Gardiner as Mylie the intern.
On TV, The High Life felt uniquely British, a niche sitcom that would leave other cultures scratching their heads in bafflement at what we were laughing at. With its panto-esque style, this musical version does much the same thing, with every in-joke bringing the audience closer together. And because the fourth wall isn’t so much broken as shattered into a thousand pieces, Cumming and Masson let us join them in this celebration of a Scottish underdog flying high.
The High Life: The Musical, Dundee Rep, Wednesday 6–Saturday 9 May; King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Tuesday 12–Saturday 23 May; reviewed at Festival Theatre, Edinburgh.
ROMERÍA
‘Does sharing the same blood make you part of the same family?’ wonders 18-year-old orphan Marina as she makes contact with estranged relatives from her late father’s side. This sun-kissed trip is a pilgrimage of sorts, as the Spanish meaning of its title alludes to; it follows a naive young woman whose quest to prove her paternal lineage reveals some long-buried family secrets. Carla Simón, writer-director of the award-winning Alcarràs, is at the helm of this stunning Spanish coming-of-age drama (a fictionalised account of her own backstory), with naturalistic newcomer Llúcia Garcia impressing as Marina.
Travelling solo, Marina makes the journey to Vigo, where she is warmly welcomed by her uncle Lois (Tristán Ulloa). Once there, she seeks out a copy of her father’s death certificate in order to secure a scholarship and discovers that she needs the cooperation of her grandparents (José Ángel Egido and Marina Troncoso) to confirm that she is indeed his daughter. The prickly pair turn out to be difficult to deal with and there are tensions aplenty among the wider family group. Meanwhile, just to make things even more messy, Marina develops a crush on her cousin Nuno (Mitch Martín). An extended fantasy sequence has Marina imagining herself in her mother’s shoes as she puts together the pieces of her parents’ relationship found in her mother’s diary and gleaned from her father’s family. The idyllic seaside setting is fruitfully offset by the shame relating to Marina’s father’s death and the seediness of her parents’ drug-addled lifestyle. Simón steers us through emotionally choppy waters with confidence and class, while Garcia is sensational as a seemingly meek teen who is shaken to the core by revelations but refuses to compromise, possessing more courage and spirit than she knows. (Emma Simmonds) In cinemas from Friday 8 May.
•tra •tra art•
ART ILANA HALPERIN: WHAT IS US AND WHAT IS EARTH
Between 1999 and 2025, Ilana Halperin sought to recreate complex geological formations and put into perspective the almost unimaginable march of time that makes them possible. In short, cut millions of years down to a single, comprehensive vision that fits into a modern time frame: a short walk around the Fruitmarket gallery, for instance.
The first images in this exhibition display the relationship between nature and humanity. An analogue camera reminds us of the lens, as rock formations are interrupted by spliced numbers and boiling milk is heated by geothermal springs. Reflections of Halperin’s own life are tracked next to the endless view of geological time. Her birth is marked alongside an eruption of Icelandic volcano Eldfell, reflecting its age in relation to a human perspective. The found minerals of New York streets appear in charts, while visions of future geological events are predicted. Stunning, vibrant watercolour portraits of Halperin as a lava bomb and minerals named ‘Harry’ and ‘Elaine’ give a beautifully illustrated persona to objects that are both otherworldly and natural.
But what really takes us away from the present are the letters Halperin writes. Next to moments of her domestic life and family, we find stories of the mountains and those who have relationships with the long processes of rocks, living, dying, loving and moving, akin to the formations of our collective history. While the first impression of this exhibition appears minimalist and quickly traversed, it is well worth getting pulled into the minutiae of ancient stories within. (Rachel Morrell) Fruitmarket, Edinburgh, until Sunday 17 May.
THEATRE
THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD lllll
Adaptations of John le Carré’s spy novels have regularly appeared on small and large screens for over 60 years. Think Alec Guinness and Gary Oldman as the astute George Smiley in versions of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or Tom Hiddleston in hit series The Night Manager. So, it is surprising to learn that, until very recently, there has never been a major stage adaptation of one of le Carré’s works.
Sadly, Jeremy Herrin’s production of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, scripted by David Eldridge with the blessings of the author’s estate, is unlikely to set a precedent. Le Carré may have worked in the thriller genre, but his books are densely written and character-driven, punctuated by set pieces. Eldridge’s adaptation is too reverential to transpose the scenario to theatre with any real dynamism. The briefing scenes, in which we meet Alec Leamas (Ralf Little), the demoralised British spy who agrees to one final covert operation, are stilted and heavy on exposition, with very little in the way of dramatised action to break up the wordy back-and-forth.
The show becomes more involving in its depiction of the love affair between Leamas and Liz Gold (Gráinne Dromgoole), Alec’s co-worker and an office bearer for the Communist Party. Tensions rise in a pivotal courtyard scene and there is real jeopardy in the climactic sequence on the Berlin Wall. Yet, although Herrin’s production moves with the speedy efficiency necessary for a big touring show, the action still feels lost on the big stage at the Festival Theatre. The show’s premiere in August 2024 took place in Chichester’s 250-seater Minerva Theatre and it feels likely the whole thing would have greater immediacy in a more intimate space. (Allan Radcliffe) n Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tuesday 26–Saturday 30 May; reviewed at Festival Theatre, Edinburgh.
FILM
MOSS & FREUD lllll
Post #MeToo, perceptions have shifted around the relationships between male artists and female muses, opening up the possibility to re-evaluate iconic collaborations. So it’s easy to see what drew writer/director James Lucas (who won an Oscar for short film The Phone Call) to scrutinise the period during which one of the 20th century’s most famous artists, Lucian Freud, painted one of the 20th century’s most famous models, Kate Moss. The Croydon supermodel is executive producer on the film, which would seem to stamp it with an unvarnished credibility. Very little, however, rings true in this screenplay-by-numbers that serves up a surprisingly retrograde portrayal of a classic ingénue model and her wise old educator.
From the set-up meet-cute in the National Gallery where Freud opines on the nature of art before a stumbly, wide-eyed Moss, to the multitude of indie-soundtracked scenes heavy handedly professing their storytelling significance, every beat, twist and theme in the film is spelled out. Ellie Bamber brings a lively energy to Moss, although she isn’t given huge amounts to work with, alternating between being rapt at one man or another’s genius and shrieking drunk or lashing out. Derek Jacobi, meanwhile, plays a Freud-flavoured approximation of Derek Jacobi: elegant, scowling, capricious and knowledgeable. Iconic moments from Moss’ life (such as her famous Beautiful And Damned 30th birthday bash) lend nostalgic Y2K vibes. But the film contains none of the strange, raw human touches that make both Moss and Freud’s work stand out. (Lucy Ribchester) n In cinemas from Friday 29 May.
OTHER THINGS WORTH GOING OUT FOR
If you fancy getting out and about this month, there’s plenty culture to sample such as a comedy show about depression and Christmas, a spooky horror set in rural Ireland, a dance piece about the world in motion and a new musical recalling an old Edinburgh tragedy
ART SUE TOMPKINS
In Love Ahead, the Glasgow-based artist (and former singer of indie band Life Without Buildings) pursues her exploration into language with a new suite of paintings which surround typewritten works and performance texts.
n Modern Institute, Glasgow, until Wednesday 13 May.
RSA ANNUAL EXHIBITION
To help the Royal Scottish Academy celebrate its 200th birthday, this exhibition brings together a range of contemporary art and architecture from across Scotland and far beyond.
n RSA Galleries, Edinburgh, Saturday 9 May–Sunday 14 June.
COMEDY ERIC RUSHTON
In the Bury-born comedian’s own words, ‘I am going on tour to do my new show about depression and the nativity and I will be performing IRL.’ Innkeeper is the name of said show.
n The Stand, Glasgow, Monday 18 May.
DANCE GRAVITY
Experimental Korean choreographer Janghyun Ryu and his celebrated company stage a universe in motion for 11 dancers who are swept up by an invisible force as the world shakes, scatters and spins around them. n Tramway, Glasgow, Wednesday 13 May.
FILM HOKUM
In this spooky flick, Adam Scott plays a reclusive novelist who retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes. Inevitably, dark visions and a shocking disappearance lead him into a nightmarish confrontation with his past.
n In cinemas from Friday 1 May.
FINDING EMILY
There are a few horror movies out this month so why not wrap yourself up in a light romcom?
A lovesick musician is given the wrong number for his dream girl and teams up with a driven psychology student to find her.
n In cinemas from Friday 22 May.
KIDS
TENEMENT KIDS
This interactive live jazz show is a fun adventure into the world of early jazz, designed especially for younger audiences.
n Jazz Bar, Edinburgh, Sunday 10, 24 May.
THEATRE
BLACK DIAMONDS & THE BLUE BRAZIL
Adapted by Gary McNair and with music from Ricky Ross (which he performs live), Dawn Steele stars in this piece about a woman returning to Cowdenbeath for her father’s funeral before being dragged right back into the minutiae of smalltown life.
n Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Friday 8–Saturday 23 May.
LAFAYETTE
A work-in-progress of a new musical written and directed by John Binnie which recalls the terrible fate of The Great Lafayette, the magician who died on stage, engulfed in fire, at Edinburgh’s Empire Palace which is now the Festival Theatre.
n Studio Theatre, Edinburgh, Saturday 9 May.
RSA Annual Exhibition (and bottom from left), Hokum, Eric Rushton, Finding Emily, Tenement Kids
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staying in
GIZMO
Every now and again, there’s a cultural resurgence in old stuff. While retro consoles, brick phones and hissing vinyl have all had their moment in the contemporary sun, this book by Simon Tyler simply lays out the argument for loving vintage tech items purely on their own terms and not just for what they may be able to do for us today. The illustrator, designer and author also charts the diverse spectrum of these gizmos by type and purpose, uncovering unexpected connections between them. (Brian Donaldson) Published by Laurence King on Thursday 14 May.
MYSTERY MEN
Enigmatic, elegant and experimental, Talk Talk are the latest subject of music journalist and biographer Graeme Thomson. He tells Neil Cooper that the puzzles concocted by the late Mark Hollis and his band have only become more intriguing in the intervening years
As late 20th-century pop myths go, the story of Talk Talk is one of the most mysterious. Graeme Thomson’s new book, In Another World: The Four Seasons Of Talk Talk, digs deep into the story of the Mark Hollis-fronted group who went from glossy synth-pop chart botherers over their first two albums to creating some of the most sublime musical meditations of their era. Over three albums between 1986 and 1991 (The Colour Of Spring, Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock), Talk Talk’s core trio of Hollis, bassist Paul Webb and drummer Lee Harris, plus producer Tim Friese-Greene, created a series of lushly crafted and increasingly insular soundscapes before disappearing for good. An eponymous stripped back 1998 solo album by Hollis hinted at things to come. As it turned out, it was a last gift to the world before he withdrew from music entirely.
The silence from all band members only increased the Talk Talk legend, while the death of Hollis in 2019 aged 64 put a full stop on a group that existed on their own terms, without scandal or hyperbole. Thomson’s book honours that mystique while at the same time attempting to decipher the glorious intensity of the music. ‘I just love those records,’ says Thomson, ‘and I wanted to swim around in them. They are puzzles and I’m not sure anyone really wants to solve them. There’s an incredible dichotomy there, in that they were laboured over so intensely and so obsessively, and yet the emotional core of them still comes through. So it’s like trying to work out how they were able to retain that spontaneity and emotional heart while spending months going over every little aspect of the music.’
In Another World is the latest in a series of books by Thomson that includes biographies of Simple Minds, John Martyn and Kate Bush. Like them, this new work is a labour of love borne of personal experience. ‘My first immersion in Talk Talk was hearing “The Rainbow” from Spirit Of Eden coming out of my mate’s speakers in a little room in Bristol,’ Thomson remembers. ‘It just transported me. Part of the book is about me trying to explore the magic that we get when we hear music that speaks to us and how music hits us no matter when it was released. It’s such a mysterious thing.’
In Another World: The Four Seasons Of Talk Talk is published by New Modern on Thursday 21 May; Graeme Thomson talks talks about the book at Topping & Company, Edinburgh, Monday 1 June.
LISTEN BACK
We’re resting our record crate on the letter R in this month’s edition of our alphabetically led series of album recommendations
Formerly a member of art-punk rabble-rousers Liars, Aaron Hemphill’s second album as Nonpareils, Rhetoric & Terror (2024), is as cold, unnerving and intellectually rigorous as its title suggests, and remains criminally overlooked. Replacing Liars’ gaudy palette is a fairytale collage of plonking xylophones, trilling bass clarinets, trundling drums and seesawing guitars, held together by Hemphill’s sedated nasal drone. Its every creak and sudden lurches into postrock evokes a mirror world of phantoms and freaks.
Breathing the same skew-whi air is Tom Waits’ classic Rain Dogs (1985), the moment when everyone’s favourite carnival barker completed his metamorphosis from o -kilter singersongwriter to swivel-eyed visionary. He concocts an absurdist dime-store novel of pistol ghts, smoke joints and gambling dens, where even a chorus as innocuous as ‘clap hands’ stalks with threat, and where big-top polkas soundtrack slaughterhouses. Despite its cigarette-stained machismo, Waits is unafraid to engage with the heartbreak of his characters’ lives: ‘Anywhere I Lay My Head’, perhaps the nest album closer ever written, imbues a story of careening loneliness with the intensity of a deathbed confession. (Kevin Fullerton)
Other R albums: Rooting For Love by Lætitia Sadier (2024), Rid Of Me by PJ Harvey (1993), Rise Up! by Bobby Conn (1998).
Sounds Good
May Highlights
2nd John Robins: ‘Thirst’ In Conversation
3rd Cowboy Junkies
13th 100 Years of Laurel and Hardy Presented by Neil Brand
17th Toots and the Maytals feat Leba Hibbert
18th GoGo Penguin
23rd An Evening With Steve Cradock (ex Ocean Colour Scene)
26th An Evening with Mark & Lard
27th Thomas Dolby
28th Hen Hoose Collective
30th SHHE
31st Macy Gray
June Highlights
3rd Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox
6th The Manfreds
8th Ibrahim Maalouf
9th Mario Biondi
12th An Evening with Toyah
13th Julie Fowlis
20th John McCusker Trio
25th Tim Kliphuis Trio
28th Natlie MacMaster & Donnell
I‘future sound
Our column celebrating new music to watch continues with Orla Noble. With her debut album Unfurl out soon, the singer-songwriter chats to Fiona Shepherd about the transformative effect of writing her first song and a jack-off-all-trades approach to the creative process
’m a big appreciator of instruments,’ understates Glasgowbased singer-songwriter Orla Noble. So much so that she had piano, guitar and drums in her armoury by the time she started secondary school, galloping ahead of any formal tuition with her own e orts. ‘I used to carry this mini keyboard around with me and try to play everything by ear. My parents got me piano lessons but I was basically pretending to read the music.’ Her latest instrumental project is ddle. ‘It’s really good for the inner child,’ she says. ‘I wonder if there is a level of de ance in trying to play as many as I can.’
Until recently, however, this one-woman band had never written a song. ‘There was no musical explanation for not being able to write,’ she says. ‘It was purely mental. I just couldn’t let myself; that came from years of suppressing any kind of expression and keeping myself very small.’ The lifelong dam broke as Noble was emerging from a ‘rock bottom’ period. O work with her thoughts and instruments for company, she wrote ‘See Me Free’. ‘The song is about the beginning of being able to write, that feeling of being seen and understood in quite a vulnerable way for the rst time. It just felt like a purging of everything. It was a really intense and transformative time.’
The songs came faster and faster and by the time she arrived on Mull to record with celebrated local musician and engineer Gordon Maclean, her demos were sounding more and more like a fully formed album. Unfurl features the 11 songs she had written up to that time. ‘Working
with Gordon was the best possible rst recording experience I could have had. We agreed I would have the producer credit but I do feel like I couldn’t have made it without him.’
As well as writing, playing and producing the album herself, Noble has also designed the artwork and is making use of her day-job skills to do her own marketing. ‘I’m proud of the fact that I’ve managed to do a lot of it myself. There was an element of wanting to prove to myself that I could and there is still a certain level of stubbornness or self-su ciency or feeling ownership.’
As a music PR for Edinburgh International Festival among other clients, Noble absorbs everything from classical to jazz but reserves a particular love for trad music and singer-songwriters such as Nick Drake, Laura Marling and Rachel Sermanni. Her own music has a delicacy, tenderness and assurance which belies her inexperience as a songwriter. ‘I’m so conscious I’m doing this in such an odd way,’ she admits. ‘Normally when people come to releasing their album, they’ve spent years gigging and building an audience. But I’m still getting used to the idea of being an artist. I don’t take it for granted that I would be able to make another album. I’ve been an audience for so long and I know it’s really special to nd music that you can connect with.’
Unfurl is self-released on Friday 15 May and launched at The Caves, Edinburgh, Sunday 17 May.
GAMES FORZA HORIZON 6
Playground Games’ open-world driving series Forza Horizon has built its reputation on letting players tear across loosely reimagined corners of the globe, including Australia, Great Britain and Mexico. The next stop is Japan, a long-requested destination that feels like a natural fit for the series’ mix of postcard beauty and high-speed escapism. A Forza Motorsport spin-off, Forza Horizon trades track precision for freedom and exploration. Its maps are designed less as faithful recreations and more as playgrounds, where sweeping views and dramatic shifts in elevation take priority over realism: velocity over veracity. Anyone who remembers racing through Edinburgh in Forza Horizon 4 will recognise the approach as familiar landmarks anchor the experience, with the geography tuned for spectacle. So while Mount Fuji looms large, don’t expect to be racing up its sides.
The Japanese setting promises to be the series’ biggest world yet. Tokyo acts as the main focal point, five times bigger than previous urban hubs, while seven distinct regions branch out into countryside, mountains and coastal roads. Dynamic weather and seasonal changes return, ensuring that the same stretch of road can feel radically different from one race to the next. As is always the case with this series, it really looks the part: colourful, fast and varied, with long sightlines so you can always appreciate the view. If Playground Games can match its technical polish with a fresh sense of discovery, this could be Forza Horizon at its most thrilling yet. (Murray Robertson)
Out on PC and Xbox Series X/S on Tuesday 19 May; released on PS5 later this year.
TV AMANDALAND
Successful sitcom spin-offs are essentially an American phenomenon, with classic series such as Cheers begetting the sublime Frasier while Happy Days produced no fewer than seven offshoots, including Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy. Overlooking Alan Partridge’s singular broadcasting career, in the UK you need to go back to In Sickness And In Health and Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? for follow-ups that matched the original. So when Motherland spawned Amandaland, with Lucy Punch reprising her role as the hit comedy’s most cringe-inducing character, it was undoubtedly a gamble from the BBC. Not too big a swing though, given the experience and proven pedigree of the writing team. And last year’s transition to Amandaland’s debut series turned out to be a smooth, rewarding one. Fans of Siobhán McSweeney will be disappointed to find her appearances as eye-rolling Della drastically reduced in the upcoming second run. But her role as the show’s resident cynic, calling out Amanda’s pseudy self-delusions, has been picked up by Big Boys’ Harriet Webb as Ned’s straight-talking mum Abs. Della’s absence also affords her partner, immature fashionista Fi (Rochenda Sandall), the chance for personal development. And while there’s no Peter Serafinowicz as swaggering Johannes, the writers (led by Holly Walsh and Ghosts’ Laurence Rickard) have more than compensated by gifting the peerless Joanna Lumley extra screentime. Meanwhile, the invariably excellent Philippa Dunne gets some hilariously eccentric B-plots, as Anne inadvertently becomes an influencer, begins a relationship with ChatGPT and spins the menopause on its head. (Jay Richardson)
Available on BBC One from Wednesday 6 May.
semag • games •
my perfect podcast
In this column, we ask a pod person about the ’casts that mean a lot to them. This month, it’s Ayesha Khan, the creator and host of Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever (Almost) which has analysed everything from Dr Strangelove to Dr Who And The Daleks, The Blob to The Tingler, and Alien to Alphaville. Here she discusses guilty pleasures and perfect pitches
Which podcast educates you? There are so many! Isn’t that what podcasts are for? Surely we all listen to podcasts to glean knowledge and bedazzle our friends with it. I think Empire: World History with Anita Anand and William Dalrymple is a favourite because stories from history re ect so much about who we are as a species. This American Life is such a heavy hitter in the way it weaves together di erent stories around a theme. TCM’s The Plot Thickens is a great series and the Lucille Ball season was spectacular. I’ve always loved Lucy. I listen to a lot more indie lm and TV podcasts since starting my own and The Lorehounds, Tipping My Fedora, Verbal Diorama and Le Of The Projector are recent favourites. I deeply miss the Undo podcast which was a godsend for my ADHD as most productivity podcasts are oppressive in some way but that one was welcoming, warm and inspiring.
Which podcast makes you laugh? Maybe nothing has ever made me laugh as much as My Dad Wrote A Porno. It’s so ridiculously embarrassing and the hosts are all magni cent. I haven’t listened to it in quite a while as I get stupidly busy with life and my very imposing lm watchlist. I also don’t nd bursting out laughing like a maniac in the middle of a public space very comfortable. A far more socially acceptable level of tittering is O Air With Jane & Fi.
Which podcast makes you sad or angry? Everything about the state of the world sliding back into fascism makes me sad and angry. I listened to The Mysterious Mr Epstein in early 2020. It’s a podcast that has made me increasingly angry and sad as every year goes by. Still no justice six years on and we’re now realising how all the corruption is connected to the current global mess.
Which podcast is your guilty pleasure? I don’t even know what that means! Why would a podcast be a guilty pleasure? Is there an evil podcast that no one should know I listen to? Actually, I would greatly appreciate a podcast that clearly marks up a strategy for world domination. Is there a ‘Coup For You!’ podcast? I would gleefully listen to that but obviously in private as I can’t have everyone knowing my plans for global takeover. I will force universal healthcare and a basic income on the world. Mwahahaha. There will also be fashion police which obviously won’t apply to me. Because I think you need a good dose of hypocrisy to run a dictatorship, right?
Tell us someone who currently doesn’t have a podcast but totally should. And why do you think their one would be amazing? There are so many people I follow on social media platforms who I think would be excellent on a podcast. I might have to go with Dr Rachel Barr who is a brilliant neuroscientist and communicator about how the brain works. Her content is so informative and upli ing and full of compassion and understanding. I think her podcast would not just be intelligent, fun and entertaining but a bene t to society. The title of her book is How To Make Your Brain Your Best Friend which re ects what her work is about.
Pitch us a new podcast idea in exactly 25 words BFI’s 75 Most Wanted. Many early lms are lost due to res, accidents or destruction. I want to know about the BFI’s top picks. Pronto!
New episodes of Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever (Almost) are available on all the usual platforms every fortnight.
JAZZ IN PERTH
MEET THE MUSIC. MEET THE CITY. SAT 30 – SUN 31 MAY
VARIOUS VENUES TICKETS ON SALE: perthfestival.co.uk
Visit website for full line-up. Enjoy 20% discount on headline shows with a Jazz Pass.
SAT 30 MAY
Celebrate the final weekend of Perth Festival of the Arts with non-stop jazz! Why not make a weekend of it?
Rhapsody in Blue: An Afternoon of Gershwin
SUN 31 MAY
of Jazz Piano with Richard Michael
and
History
Georgia Cécile
Colin Steele/ Martin Kershaw Quintet play Chet Baker
Stan Getz
Martin Taylor
Jazz in the Café KIMBERLEY TESSA and ZZ BOP
Colin MacIntyre aka Mull Historical Society assembles a glittering literary line-up who provide lyrics inspired by important photos in their lives. Fiona Shepherd declares the end result a fine album of evocative indie pop
Colin MacIntyre has a lifelong love a air with creation, curation and celebration. Whether authoring children’s books, crime capers or cold case mysteries, his native Mull is both a central inspiration and character in its own right. Likewise, in his long-running musical guise as Mull Historical Society, he has penned many a fond tribute to island life. More recently, though, he has ceded lyric duties to fellow writers, inviting others to contribute vignettes inspired by key rooms and, now, signi cant photographs in their lives, setting their words to music, like the Elton to their Bernie.
In My Mind There’s A Room and its newly minted follow-up, In My Mind There’s A Photograph, are impressive undertakings, marshalling a guest list of prestigious contributors, from international literary prize winners and household Scottish names to a former government minister in order to take on wide-ranging topics. Unsurprisingly, many have chosen family photographs, with nostalgia as a recurring theme. Pulitzer Prize winner Yiyun Li’s lyrics are inspired by a photo of her childhood accordion band. Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch surveys his grandparents’ home and journalist Dan Richards celebrates his grandfather. Irvine Welsh goes for a recent personal memory, meeting his wife during lockdown, and Len Pennie waxes more generally on the capturing of memories in images. In many cases, MacIntyre reverts to blithe indie pop as a foil for their melancholic sentiments.
Louise Welsh chooses an archive pic of the construction of the M8 motorway, cutting a swathe through Glasgow city centre on ‘Charing Cross Canyon’. Ali Smith’s uncovering of a newspaper photograph of her mother and aunt in a car forms the basis for ‘Hillman Imp’, with some lovely ourishes such as ‘when she put her foot down, she really put her foot down’.
The personal becomes political as Colum McCann wrestles with his father-in-law’s survival of 9/11 on ‘Once Upon A Tightrope’ while Palestinian poet and aid worker Jehan Bseiso contributes ‘Gaza On My Back’, for which MacIntyre musters some anger but also lyricism in his ragged vocal and surefooted backing.
Words and music come together very happily on ‘Cattle Bells’, where Alexander McCall Smith draws on his African roots with a ecting simplicity through a sweet piano ballad and soothing female backing vocals. Writer/politician Alan Johnson contemplates his parents’ post-war nuptials on ‘The Soldier And The Waitress’, but can only see the unhappiness to come. MacIntyre interprets this bittersweet ambivalence with staccato vocals and punchy brass before the chorus breaks like a wave, evoking the spectrum of emotions that comes from lea ng through an old photo album.
In My Mind There’s A Photograph is released by Last Night From Glasgow on Friday 29 May.
PODCASTS THE IDIOT
(New York Times/Serial Productions)
The Idiot is a revolving door of devastation, betrayal and love, told with an intimate eye on one man’s downfall. It recounts the legal battles of Allen Gessen told via his cousin, M Gessen, who created the series with one question in mind: are Allen’s actions purely idiotic or something much darker? Because when you are being charged with conspiring to kill your ex-wife, and your cousin is a New York Times writer, the truth will likely come out.
Narrated and written by Russian-American journalist M Gessen, the episodes detail events which ripped a hole in an idyllic family portrait. These began with Allen (a businessman with a questionable jetsetting lifestyle) arriving at M’s father’s house in Cape Cod with his overbearing mother and five-year-old son in tow having left his ex-wife in Moscow. As a custody battle begins, M employs their journalistic skills and contacts Allen’s ex-wife Priscilla, discovering a narrative of violence and deception. Alleviating the mood, M’s intermittent interviews with their father are charmingly straightforward and mostly unruffled. In contrast, we move on to Allen, who can’t stop talking.
M lays out Allen’s communications before and after the situation grows beyond group chat messages and into an FBI operation. Despite having inside knowledge, the research is meticulous and M’s voice brings an intimacy to the narration, with a mix of disgust towards Allen’s pompous behaviour while grappling with his status as a family member. Captured in just five episodes, The Idiot is a tremendous tale of complex relationships, suspicious dealings and an international custody battle that erupts at a peaceful family retreat. With a Bob Dylan credit song as the cherry on top, this is an addictive spiral that’s well worth your time. (Rachel Morrell)
All episodes available now.
GAMES SCREAMER (Milestone)
Since releasing the original Screamer back in 1995, Milanbased developer Milestone has rarely strayed from the racing lane, building a formidable reputation across series such as MotoGP, WRC and Ride. This reboot is set within a striking anime-inspired world into which a globe-spanning cast of combative personalities and a roster of colourful, fast vehicles are introduced. The racing takes place in Neo Rey, a dazzling neon-drenched metropolis that feels tailormade for high-speed duels. Drawing clear inspiration from 1990s arcade classics such as Ridge Racer and Wipeout, the handling centres on tight steering and a crucial drifting mechanic mapped to the right stick. On top of that are manual gear changes, boost, shield and attack systems, making this a far more demanding experience than it first appears.
That complexity comes at a cost. The game takes its time introducing each mechanic through a long sequence of tutorial races; even then, the learning curve remains steep. Momentum is further interrupted by frequent cutscenes. While some are impressively animated, much of the story is delivered in a static visual-novel format. The multilingual voice work adds flavour but these sequences often feel like obstacles between the player and the next race. Alongside the narrative-driven tournament mode, there are various offline and online race options, and the usual choice to customise rides. This reboot is at its best when letting you focus on the road. It’s just a shame it doesn’t always trust that to be enough. (Murray Robertson)
Out now on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
semag • games
BOOKS
DOUGLAS STUART
John Of John (Picador)
‘Islands within islands’ is how Douglas Stuart describes the emotional boundaries we build around ourselves in John Of John, the Booker Prize-winning author’s third novel. The Isle Of Harris is home to returning son John-Calum after an abortive attempt at life in the big city. Hemmed in between the unwavering gaze of his god-fearing presbyterian father John, and his mercurial maternal grandmother Ella, Cal grasps for redemption while slowly being suffocated by a splintered past.
This book is the epitome of a slow burner. The discipline in Stuart’s writing, in how he conveys shame and desire while shepherding the rage and impotence of masculinity, is like keeping a thoroughbred on a short rein. It would be easy to ignite the central tension of Cal’s youthful recklessness and burgeoning sexuality butting against his father’s grim stoicism and forbidden yearning. But Stuart fully understands the power of restraint. When he finally does spur those flanks, the surge of urgency and emotion churns like the Corryvreckan at spring tide.
It’s the little details that really get under the fingernails. The parochialism of island life and the delicate intensity of religious tradition colour the book throughout, outlined and filled in by the harsh reality of a crofter’s existence. Stuart’s sensitivity to the Gaelic language and the craft of the weaver’s loom swaddles his reader in a rich environment. This is the kind of novel that acts as a looking glass into the last glowing embers of a now unrecognisable way of life. Shuggie Bain may have won him all the plaudits, but here Stuart has matured into a writer of considered strength and self-control. The drama of distance, quiet longing and words left unsaid shouts louder and cuts deeper than any flashy excess. John Of John is a novel of secrets and lies. (Gary Sullivan)
Published on Thursday 21 May.
ALBUMS
RED VANILLA
Where I Should Be (Assai Recordings)
Dundonian indie quartet Red Vanilla are self-confessed perfectionists, which might explain why it has taken over 18 months to follow up their debut EP Days Of Grey. They have been industrious with their time, however, drip feeding all the tracks from Where I Should Be before gathering them together on this cohesive showcase of their dynamic if derivative indie rock sound.
Like its predecessor, Where I Should Be was home-recorded with producer Kieran Smith, this time in the spare room of guitarist George Weller’s flat; but there is nothing DIY about the sound which is slick, muscular and professional. Opening track ‘Electric Blue’ sets the tone: the gentle spoken word flow of the verse, soft shoegaze drone and fingerpicked guitar lull the listener before a monolithic indie prog riff hits, propelled by rumbling bassline and athletic drumrolls to push the track to its crescendo. In contrast, ‘Hazy’ is straight to the point alt.rock, all mountainous drums and clanging guitars.
‘Ask Her If She’s Happy’ develops into a torrid goth maelstrom with singer Anna Forsyth appealing for understanding on mental health.
‘I Thought I Had It’ is all momentum with churning guitars and fleet drumming, then the briefest of drops before it roars playfully to its conclusion with a crash of cymbals. Next, they take a breath on recent single ‘Sunkissed Pools’, with its acoustic guitar, glassy synths, fragile vocals and coming-of-age concerns dovetailing nicely into the post-teen angst of ‘Oh No, I Got Older’, arguably the strongest showcase of their 90s alt.rock influences. (Fiona Shepherd)
Released on Friday 8 May.
Catch Up
Happy days: Half Man (and clockwise from right), Beef, Widow’s Bay, Unchosen
Claire Sawers checks out the best telly action you might have missed to bring us a cheery brew of Glasgow-based trauma, cultish malevolence, scheming scammers and creepy comedy horror
No one doubted Richard Gadd’s ability to lead us into darkness. He con rmed that around episode four of Baby Reindeer, the comedian turned writer’s semi-autobiographical tale of stalking and sexual assault, which became a global hit. The harrowing themes continue in Half Man (BBC iPlayer), where two Glasgow teenagers have to share a bedroom when their mums begin a relationship. Intense friendship spills into full-blown obsession as they become entangled. Gadd literally growls in his animalistic performance of Ruben, a truly horrifying, timely exploration of many sick male urges, while Jamie Bell puts in an equally strong turn as his tortured, closeted protégé. Gadd’s writing is scalpel-sharp and trauma-informed, showing the ability of narcissists to not only hide but thrive in plain sight. Six episodes feels hard to stomach, given the violence and sexual abuse; the same insightful points could probably have been made in four ( aws in the legal system, loyalty to abusers, cycles of harm) but Gadd seems to want to challenge audiences and his own limits through this brutal, emotional purge.
Malevolence also runs deep in Unchosen (Net ix), a six-part drama about a cloistered Christian cult in rural England. Created by Julie Gearey, it’s based on more than 2000 real UK sects such as the Jesus Fellowship Church and Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, borrowing details from both. Molly Windsor (Three Girls) and Asa Butter eld (Sex Education) are the central young couple, obedient but in turmoil, with Christopher Eccleston and Siobhan Finneran as the sinister preacher and his wife. There’s an escaped convict (Fra Fee) hiding in the barn too, giving ashbacks to Whistle Down The Wind crossed with The Night Of The Hunter, all dappled in bucolic sunlight. While the focus is on the twisted, whisky-based punishments and technology-shunning rituals of this ctional insular society, parallels can be drawn with claustrophobic, toxic marriages and the rise of male supremacy. Beyond the plot holes, redemption might be coming . . .
Following the 2023 success of dark comedy-thriller Beef (Net ix), starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong as two strangers buzzing from their mutual road rage and hellbent on destroying one another, the show’s creator Lee Sung Jin delivers a second batch, with Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac as the new leads. Certain themes continue such as the seduction of traditional family values, the reality of grind culture, existential ennui, and the lure of get-rich-quick schemes and fantasy romances. Mulligan and Isaac work among the nauseatingly ultra-rich in a country club and plot their escape through an embezzlement scam, while also being duped themselves. The luxury resort gives White Lotus vibes, while South Korean talent from Parasite’s Song Kangho and Minari’s Youn Yuh-jung add enjoyably weird comedy touches.
Fresh from playing the creepy neighbour to Claire Danes in The Beast In Me, this time Matthew Rhys is the one being creeped out in Widow’s Bay (Apple TV). Here, he’s Tom Lo is, mayor of the quaint, titular island town o the coast of New England who won’t let a few centuries-old curses and haunted houses ruin his chance of turning the place into a busy tourist destination. Tom is getting ak from many of the locals who think he’s a cowardly loser, plus his teenage son is giving him plenty ’tude too. There are echoes of the Amity Island smalltown con icts that feature in Jaws, crossed with Twin Peaks uncanniness and mildly absurd humour, all thanks to creator Katie Dippold who was a writer on Parks And Recreation. Urban legends, ancient myths and classic ghost stories lend tense moments that are o set by lighter, parochial and slightly da scenes. A strange potion of comedy and horror, wrapped in eerie fog and superstition, but somehow it works.
SAWERS ALSO SAW . . .
Margo’s Got Money Troubles on Apple TV: ‘Cosy comedy-drama starring Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman’ Mo Bheatha, Mo Bhodhaig (My Body, My Life) on BBC Alba: ‘Refreshing documentary about body image obsession’ Nobu on Apple TV: ‘Tasty doc about the celeb-endorsed Japanese chef’
ALBUMS
ELIANE ELIAS
Ao Vivo (Candid) lllll
‘Live’ is the simplest translation of the Portuguese phrase ‘ao vivo’. It can also mean ‘in person’ and ‘on air’ in the broadcasting sense, although Brazilian pianist-singer Eliane Elias’ San Francisco audience might well have had the feeling of floating as they left this concert. While her studio albums can project a never less than attractive soft focus, in person she adds layers of presence, personality and stark musicality. Her own composition ‘At First Sight’, the sole original among a collection of timeless Brazilian classics, is a great example of how she and her quartet take their crowd on a journey.
Starting with a deceptively simple melody and stretching out through piano, guitar and bass improvisations that are all completely at the service of the music’s development, it culminates with an irresistibly grooving outro as the momentum rises one last time. The whole album is an exhilarating listen as Elias sings with seductive nonchalance and mesmerising percussiveness while shaping intricate but never showy arrangements.
There’s a great variety of approach and contrast: a midpoint trio of songs are lightly guitar-driven with Elias’ piano held in reserve or offering almost flute-like embellishments, while drummer Rafael Barata delivers a masterclass in subtlety and controlled explosions. A solo piano reading of Armando Manzanero’s ‘Esta Tarde Vi Llover’ offers another dimension and a Tom Jobim brace, ‘A Felicidade’ and ‘Só Danço Samba’, close the programme with masterly warmth, intimacy and no little heat. (Rob Adams)
n Released on Friday 22 May.
PODCASTS AMITYVILLEVILLE (Radiotopia) lllll
In November 1974, 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo shot and killed all six members of his immediate family as they slept in their home in Amityville, Long Island. By the following Christmas, the DeFeos’ old family home had been taken over by George and Kathy Lutz, a young couple with three children, excited to be taking their first steps on the property ladder. Though delighted to have purchased their first home for just $80,000, the family fled the property after 28 days, citing a number of run-ins with paranormal beings who refused to give them a warm welcome to suburbia. Or so the story goes, at least.
Exact details of what went down at 112 Ocean Avenue remain unconfirmed: some claim the Lutz family had been haunted by the ghost of DeFeo Snr, while others claim the property’s expensive upkeep forced them away. Still, horror writer Jay Anson was inspired by this tale, penning a 200-page novel, The Amityville Horror, in 1977. Liberal with its use of artistic licence and comically graphic, the book and subsequent film developed a cult following, culminating in the production of nearly 100 spin-off films over the next 50 years.
Giving themselves the enormous task of watching every single Amityville film and documenting all their thoughts are podcaster Alex Goldman and culture writer Caroline Thompson, the latter of whom describes the brief as ‘the podcast where Alex Goldman and I watch 90,000 fucking terrible movies and report it, for you, the viewers’. While the original story was a tragic one, Goldman and Thompson keep things light-hearted, laughing their way through savage takedowns of each of the sub-genre’s offerings. Although the episodes are structured rather loosely and at times sound like the conversations typically overheard while waiting to order at a busy bar, the largely inane chit-chat and occasionally strong one-liners make this sufficiently good background noise for any horror fan. (Danny Munro) n New episodes available every Friday.
OTHER THINGS WORTH STAYING IN FOR
A packed month of things to do indoors or consume on your travels include the history of female sexual joy, the undercover gang who tried to call a halt to widespread drug smuggling and a video game that might actually make players chuckle
ALBUMS
SAINT SAPPHO
The Glasgow-based 90s-inspired alt-rockers deliver their debut collection, Between The Lines The late Optimo legend Twitch said, ‘this album has the ability to change the world’. We shall see. n Self-released, Friday 1 May.
PETER GABRIEL
As WOMAD heads to Scotland, here’s a chance to sample the inaugural set from the man who founded this event in 1982. ‘Biko’, ‘Shock The Monkey’ and ‘San Jacinto’ should send shivers down the ole spine.
n Ghost Palace/Cargo, Friday 8 May.
SHHE
The acclaimed Scottish-Portuguese sound artist and producer (also known as Su Shaw) releases her new album Thalassa. This six-track ambient work aims to give voice to the Mediterranean Sea at a moment of ecological, political and existential crisis.
n One Little Independent Records, Friday 15 May.
BOOKS
COLIN BURNETT
Family Man is the third book in the adventures of one Adolfo ‘Aldo’ Ali, who is struggling to keep everything on track while running Edinburgh’s top crime clan. While we see his softer side at home, that serenity is put to the test when new enemies start to emerge.
n Tippermuir, out now.
KATE LISTER
From the host of hit history podcast Betwixt The Sheets comes the ‘story of female pleasure’ with the tale kicking off in ancient Mesopotamia.
n Bantam, Thursday 28 May.
GAMES
LEGO BATMAN
Subtitled ‘Legacy Of The Dark Knight’, this game features lots of action and hard-hitting combat, but if you can keep a straight face while playing it, congrats.
n Warner Bros, Friday 22 May.
TV LEGENDS
Steve Coogan, Hayley Squires and Tom Burke star in this latest Neil Forsyth drama about the operatives who went undercover to try and break the cycle of illegal drug smuggling in 90s Britain.
n Netflix, Thursday 7 May.
RIVALS
Jilly Cooper, creator of the original Rivals novel, sadly died before this new second season aired but no doubt would have loved the raucous japes which her characters get up to in this fresh batch.
n Disney+, Friday 15 May.
STAR CITY
This new space-race drama takes eight episodes to give us a slice of alt-history as we go behind the Iron Curtain to see what the Soviets may or may not have been up to in their pursuit of reaching the moon. Rhys Ifans and Anna Maxwell Martin star.
n Apple TV, Friday 29 May.
Lego Batman (and bottom from left), Legends, Saint Sappho, Rivals
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THE Q& A
WITH FATIHA EL-GHORRI
You may recognise Fatiha El-Ghorri from such shows as Taskmaster and Mr Bigstuff (its star Danny Dyer once gave her a huge compliment featuring a massively sweary word). Before giving her all at the Fringe this coming August, she tours with Cockney Stacking Doll, a show that will smash apart a whole heap of stereotypes. Here she tackles our brutal Q&A and debates fizzy drinks, noisy neighbours and purple tongues
Who would you like to see playing you in the movie about your life? Who do you think the casting people would choose?
Melissa McCarthy. She can do comedy and also be serious so she would be perfect for portraying me. Casting better choose her or I’ll turn up at their offices and play Annie Lennox’s ‘Why’ on repeat and full blast.
What’s the punchline to your favourite joke? . . . the barman replies, ‘last week you came in giving it all this!’ (does talking/pincers gesture with his hands).
If you were to return in a future life as an animal, what would it be? A giraffe. They are my fave animal. They are so beautiful, so majestic; strong but also gentle.
If you were playing in an escape room, name two other people (well-known or otherwise) you’d recruit to help you get out? Peter Crouch: he’s well tall so can reach things that are high up. He also has good aim and speed. Carol Vorderman: she’s well smart, knowledgeable and strong.
When was the last time you were mistaken for someone else and what were the circumstances? About 15 years ago, I was on the bus when a woman saw me and called me a ‘tramp’. I said ‘excuse me?!’ and she did a double take and then got really embarrassed and apologised. She had mistaken me for her friend who had the nickname ‘Tramp’ in their friendship group.
What’s the best cover version ever?
Roberta Flack’s ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’.
Whose speaking voice soothes your ears? Ben Whishaw’s as Paddington Bear.
Tell us something you wish you had discovered sooner in life? It’s ok to say no to work and people. I don’t like saying no because I feel I’m letting people down. I’ve realised that sometimes you need to otherwise you end up overstretching yourself which can be harmful.
Describe your perfect Saturday evening? On the sofa watching Saturday night telly like Gladiators, The Weakest Link and Blankety Blank equipped with crisps, biscuits and a cold can of fizzy drink.
If you were a ghost, who would you haunt? My old neighbours. They were awful. Always slamming their door and shouting in the hallway. They would do it daily even though I’d spoken to them about it so many times! I would haunt them so bad they’d need to move.
If you could relive any day of your life, which one would it be? As children, we used to spend our summer holidays in Morocco with our extended family. I remember sleeping in a room with all my cousins and we’d be chatting in the dark until the sun came up. I would love to relive any of those days; they were the best.
What’s your earliest recollection of winning something? Winning Best Debut show at Leicester Comedy Festival in 2023. The show was a work-in-progress. When they called my name, I couldn’t believe it!
Did you have a nickname at school that you were ok with? And can you tell us a nickname you hated? When I was about 12 my mum used to call me Hyacinth Bucket from the BBC comedy Keeping Up Appearances because I was a perfectionist. She still calls me it sometimes.
If you were to start a tribute act to a band or singer, who would it be in tribute to and what would it be called? Chicago, as I grew up listening to them. It would be called The Ceteras after lead singer/bassist, Peter Cetera.
When were you most recently astonished by something? When I learned that giraffes have purple tongues. This stops them from getting sunburnt when they are feeding in the sun. Mind blowing, right?!
When did you last cry? On my most recent birthday. My family arranged a lovely dinner and got me really personal and thoughtful
gifts. Also my little niece made a card and wrote some really beautiful and touching words.
Which famous person would be your ideal holiday companion? Martin Lewis. He’d get us the best flights, best hotel and ain’t no one ripping me off in the market with him by my side.
As an adult, what has a child said to you that made a powerful impact? For my birthday my youngest niece (six years old) brought me four knitted objects. Each one had a quote on it. She told me she picked the quotes for when I ‘have good and bad days’. I found it really powerful that a child that young had a sense of emotional intelligence and self-care.
What’s the most hi-tech item in your home? My flat runs really hot in the summer so I bought a massive electric fan that has a misting function. It also has a remote control.
What’s a skill you’d love to learn but never got round to? Roller skating. I think it’s so freeing but it’s too late for me now. I can just about walk in a straight line let alone skate.
By decree of your local council, you’ve been ordered to destroy one room in your house and all of its contents. Which room do you choose? My bedroom. It has two doors but no windows!
If you were selected as the next 007, where would you pick as your first luxury destination for espionage? Switzerland. I’d want to stop an attack on the world whilst riding one of their glass-roofed trains. After I’d saved the world, I’d go to the bar and order an icy fizzy drink ‘stirred not shaken’ because no one drinks flat fizzy drinks . . .
Edinburgh Tradfest (1–11 May) assembles another strong collection of voices and players from across the globe, including Montreal’s banjo-playing singersongwriter Kaia Kater (pictured), Ganna whose work mixes Ukrainian folk tunes with Peruvian grooves, and Scandinavian string trio Northern Resonance.
Croydon queer electro-pop team Bugeye are interested in The Shape Of Things on their new album which is out on 15 May. Pushing back hard against those who try to box everyone in, their second full-length release channels the work of towering figures of the genre such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode and Gary Numan.
In 2023, avant garde experimentalist and renaissance woman Laurie Anderson recorded a live album. Set for release on 8 May, Let X=X is packed with 23 tracks and comes in triple LP and double CD form. Even more sensational, the International Astronomical Union named a minor planet in her honour: Asteroid 270588.
