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Jay Electronica: A Written Testimony: Leaflets / A Written Testimony: Power at the Rate of My Dreams / A Written Testimony: Mars, the Inhabited Planet Album Review

by jummy84 October 7, 2025

written by jummy84

Conspiracies aside, Jay Electronica hasn’t missed a step when it comes to craft. “Ashes to Ashes,” from Power at the Rate of My Dreams, is arguably the most beautiful track out of the collection and hits on all the notes that make engaging the New Orleans native worth the frequent absences and head-scratching beliefs. He takes the Brazilian icon Jorge Ben Jor’s 1969 hit “Domingas,” slows it down, and delivers a mesmerizing stream-of-consciousness verse about his approach to life. “The long road to one’s own destiny ain’t paved/This treacherous path through the wilderness is only for the brave,” he starts, before honoring enslaved ancestors and leaning on that lineage to find peace in the fact that, when his time comes, he will be immortalized in his work. “Letter to Mars,” from Mars, The Inhabited Planet, is addressed to his daughter he shares with Erykah Badu. Originally released as an outtake from A Written Testimony in October 2020 on his own Discord channel, the song marks the beginning of the third and final installment of this new chapter. On it, he speaks of how long it’s taken him to resurface—a process that, by his estimation, was informed by a constant push-and-pull of dark and light forces within. Vocals from Thom Yorke’s “Bloom (Live From Electric Lady Studios)” add melancholic effect.

At his best, Electronica is painfully human. Throughout the duration of a project (and sometimes a single song), he goes from someone burdened by the weight of life, justifiably reclusive, to someone whose chest swells with spiritual belief, commitment to community, and trust in his artistic merit. He reveals these ebbs and flows lyrically, but is just as effective at communicating through voice recordings, selected film scenes, and knowing when to let a track breathe without his rapping present. Leaflets track “Four Billion, Four Hundred Million (4,400,000,000) / The Worst Is Yet to Come” begins with a clip of Stevie Wonder making an impromptu theme song for Soul Train in 1973. The rising New York singer Kelly Moonstone gets a chance to show her chops on Mars’ serene “… shine for me.” Electronica’s own crooning on the hook of “Japan Airline 1628” is so convincing that you may pause to try and find out who it is. And in using Michael Caine’s breakdown of a magic trick from The Prestige for “Dear Mr. Blain, I Won.,” he gives insight into why Act II: The Patents of Nobility (the turn) is always disappearing from streaming platforms.

October 7, 2025 0 comments

Music

Taylor Swift: The Life of a Showgirl Album Review

by jummy84 October 6, 2025

written by jummy84

These aren’t obscure soundalikes—they are several of the most famous songs already ever made, now recreated in the genre of “Taylor Swift song.” Whatever vision Martin and Shellback set out to realize here is not really serving her strengths and, intentionally or not, appears to signal a disinterest in evolution. “Father Figure” has some of the album’s strongest writing, with the signature Swiftian heel turn at the bridge, and I could not be less excited about how the production sounds, which is unremarkable compared to its inspiration, the 1987 George Michael song that’s still so hot you remember it from Babygirl. It’s not worth being mad about “CANCELLED!,” a swagless “Look What You Made Me Do,” even when Swift hits us with, “Did you girlboss too close to the sun?”

I can sort of recommend “Opalite,” a better-days-ahead anthem for gemstone lovers that sounds like a stage adaptation of Post Malone’s “Circles,” or maybe it’s Maroon 5’s “Sugar”? “Honey” is quite sweet—a simple hip-hop beat flecked with bass, clarinet, and banjo, it finds room in the spotlight for the extensive live instrumentation that’s sometimes overshadowed on other songs. The same is true of Swift’s charming detour back to country-pop alongside Sabrina Carpenter on the closing title track, which ties a bow on the theme of A-list drama and glamour with lines like, “They ripped me off like false lashes” and a Swedish guy playing pedal steel guitar. (He’s Anders Pettersson and he also appears on “The Fate of Ophelia,” far and away the most convincing song overall, and normie dream house “Wi$h Li$t,” in which Swift imagines a future where, apparently, everyone looks just like Travis Kelce.)

“The Life of a Showgirl” is a little schmaltzy, but it’s proactive about introducing an independent personality with a story to tell, and Carpenter is a real asset. It’s one of the moments when, musically, The Life of a Showgirl brushes up against a much better idea—a big, glorious pageant that inspires organic passion and camaraderie; a concept album with the ambition to do something familiar like it’s never been seen before. The rest of the time, Showgirl sounds like much of the pop music you have heard over the past 10 years and throughout your lifetime; it asks that this time, you listen more closely, because this is Taylor Swift, with the enormity of commercial power and cultural significance and algorithmic rank that implies. “In my industry, attention is affection,” Swift says in her video commentary introducing “Actually Romantic.” That’s the showgirl’s job: making you pay attention. It’s working, and if this is the only pop album you hear this year, maybe it’s good enough.

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Taylor Swift: The Life of a Showgirl

October 6, 2025 0 comments

Music

Paul McCartney “Got Back” Tour in Las Vegas: Review

by jummy84 October 6, 2025

written by jummy84

The past feels very present for Paul McCartney — at least in the way he talked on stage about those he’s lost during the Las Vegas stop on his “Got Back” tour. “Let’s hear it for John,” he said the first time he mentioned the late John Lennon, like Lennon was waiting in the wings, about to come out and duet with him. “Let’s hear it for George” came as he swapped a guitar for the ukulele George Harrison once gave him, which he then used to plink out a stripped-down version of “Something.”

That ukulele performance of “Something” represented one of the few quiet moments of the show, as McCartney’s goal was to keep the crowd on its feet for, as he proclaimed early on, “the biggest party in Vegas.” It perhaps wasn’t quite as raucous as that (perhaps because the crowd demographic leaned heavily towards people who were calling my 40-something ass “young lady”), but McCartney without question delivered a great two-and-a-half-hour hang without a single break in the music.

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The October 4th, 2025 show at Allegiant Stadium blasted open with the nuclear-powered energy of “Help!” — notable given that the “Got Back” tour is the first time McCartney’s performed the song live in 35 years — and it’s hard to imagine a better way to get a crowd on its feat and ready to dance. From there, McCartney promised that the setlist for the evening would include “some old ones, some new ones, and some in between.” That said, his definition of “new” proved a bit loose just a few minutes later, when he launched into “Come On to Me,” released in 2018. “Relatively new,” he said wryly. “It’s new enough.”

Frauds review | Jones and Whittaker fight typecasting in bold heist drama

by jummy84 October 5, 2025

written by jummy84

At a time of funding woes and fragmenting audiences, widely marketable detective shows and true crime dramas have come to dominate our schedules more than ever, seemingly leaving little room for much else.

By design, Frauds isn’t wholly original – its influences in the heist caper genre are clear to see – but its vibrant setting and eccentric leads still offer a welcome break from smartly dressed sleuths standing morosely against a grey sky.

Indeed, between all of the violent atrocities and calculating sociopaths in our TV diet, it’s no wonder that the country seems perpetually on the cusp of a nervous, paranoid breakdown. Frauds is a holiday by comparison.

The story picks up after loose canon Bert (Jones), a fraudster and thief, is released from prison on compassionate grounds due to ill health, bringing her back together with former partner-in-crime, Sam (Whittaker).

It isn’t long before old habits rear their head, with the quiet sundown that Bert had promised swiftly mutating into a pitch for one last job, intended to leave a lasting impact – and potentially set Sam up for life.

As is tradition, a crew is assembled, including magician’s assistant Jackie (Elizabeth Berrington), forgery pro Bilal (Karan Gill) and mentor figure Miss Take (Talisa Garcia), all of whom are overlooked and facing pressures of their own.

Alas, the full potential of this line-up doesn’t present itself until the third episode (by far the strongest of the first half), which sees our gang finally collaborate on a mission where their chemistry rapidly builds.

Jodie Whittaker and Suranne Jones star in Frauds. ITV / Monumental Television

Prior to this, Frauds drags its feet through a flat introduction, where perhaps the most memorable moment is Bilal eagerly guzzling a can of room-temperature baked beans – mainly for how it made me feel viscerally nauseous.

(Let the record show that I am a chronic beans-on-toast eater, but cold from the can is just wrong – and I’m sorry, but it’s something I won’t budge on.)

That this moment has lingered so long in the mind exposes not just my own firmly held beliefs around cupboard essentials, but also that Frauds is at its best when being silly or downright bizarre.

In the first two episodes, too long is spent airing Bert and Sam’s historic grievances (as well as creating a few new ones) in scenes that creak as Jones and Whittaker get settled into these new roles.

Karan Gill plays Bilal in Frauds; seen here on the phone against an ocean backdrop with wind blowing in his hair — Karan Gill plays Bilal in Frauds. ITV / Monumental Television

Frauds represents a striking departure for both of its prolific stars (a fact acknowledged on the press tour), but neither actor immediately disappears behind the hair dye, fake tattoos and elaborate costumes deployed here.

Jones just doesn’t quite fit the mould of a reckless, bawdy burnout, nor Whittaker as a brooding, angry thug, although their respective roles do become more believable as the series progresses and your brain has a chance to recalibrate.

Of course, actors should be given the chance to escape typecasting and flex new muscles – and fans of this duo can expect to see just that – but Frauds is arguably a case of too much, too soon.

At least that, again, speaks to its ambition as a work of genre fiction clearly trying to defy expectations of not just its lead actors, but of primetime programming more broadly.

Having only seen the first half, I can’t yet say whether Frauds will stick the landing; but if it doubles down on the zany action, team camaraderie and genre elements in the chapters to come, then we might yet have something as enjoyable as it is admirable.

Frauds premieres ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday 5th October 2025.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

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October 5, 2025 0 comments

Taylor Swift: “Father Figure” Track Review

Music

Taylor Swift: “Actually Romantic” Track Review

by jummy84 October 5, 2025

written by jummy84

In 2010, Taylor Swift wrote the jaunty diss track “Mean,” about, strangely enough, Bob Lefsetz, a longtime music industry pundit who had viciously panned her performance at the 2010 Grammy Awards. For his part, Lefsetz initially hemmed and hawed over the narrative, but eventually came to embrace it. “Mean” does not stand amongst the best songs on Speak Now, but, as the music YouTuber Todd in the Shadows once pointed out, it is profoundly revealing about Swift’s psyche: “Someday, I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me.”

Flash forward to 2016. Swift was locked in a feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West over the lyrics to “Famous,” from West’s album The Life of Pablo. She was on the verge of claiming the moral high ground when Kardashian dropped her ace in the hole: video footage of Swift seeming to approve—and even laugh over—the lyric “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex.” Swift went on to release “Look What You Made Me Do” as the first single from 2017’s Reputation. The whole affair felt tawdry and camp without being whatsoever fun, but at least she was punching sideways.

It’s 2025 now, Taylor Swift is the biggest pop star on the planet—Time’s Person of the Year big, repeatedly breaking her own sales records with every new release big—and she (allegedly, seemingly) can’t stop thinking about Charli XCX. “I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave,” she sings on “Actually Romantic,” one of the lowlights off her new album, The Life of a Showgirl. For those somehow mercifully out of the loop, Charli XCX just married the 1975’s George Daniel, bandmate of Swift’s recent ex Matty Healy; on the Brat cut “Sympathy is a knife,” she grappled with being thrust into the orbit of a female pop star several times her stature. “Actually Romantic” is just, well, mean. And worse, it’s dumb: “Like a toy chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse, that’s how much it hurts.” No working it out on the remix to be had here.

October 5, 2025 0 comments

Music

Taylor Swift: “Father Figure” Track Review

by jummy84 October 4, 2025

written by jummy84

For the past few years, it’s felt like Taylor Swift’s goal has been expansion at any cost. For longtime fans, the price of Swift becoming the world’s biggest pop star is clear: On The Life of a Showgirl, her 12th album, the pinpoint specificity that defined her best work has all but evaporated, replaced by flaccid podcast-related sexual innuendo and clunker words like “legitly.”

“Father Figure” throws the shift into stark relief. Picking up on ideas of fame, power, and respectability that she explored to great effect on folklore’s “The Last Great American Dynasty” and The Tortured Poets Department’s “Clara Bow”—a thread that leads all the way back to “The Lucky One,” from Red—“Father Figure” is a rare flash of reality amid Showgirl’s cartoony odes to tradwifery and Gucci-clad bad girls.

It is, arguably, Swift’s most straightforward appraisal of her own power: Casting herself as a steely mafioso, she sings about the financial benefit of being even a minor player in the Swiftiverse and casually bemoans the fact that, no matter how much money you might make for someone, you can never guarantee their fealty. “Father Figure” works because—unlike so many of Swift’s songs about broken friendships or business partnerships—any bitterness is hidden many layers deep, beneath actual jokes (“I can make deals with the devil/Because my dick’s bigger”) and chilly, spectral production that sounds like Beach House by way of Carly Rae Jepsen.

“Father Figure” will be pored over for Easter eggs—I have already seen fans fighting over whether it’s about Scott Borchetta or Olivia Rodrigo—which misses the point by a mile: Musically deft and lyrically economical in a way that the rest of Showgirl isn’t, the sweetly sinister “Father Figure” suggests that there might still be a sharper, more interrogative Swift waiting in the wings for when the showgirl’s time is up.

October 4, 2025 0 comments

Music

sombr: I Barely Know Her Album Review

by jummy84 October 4, 2025

written by jummy84

He also has pretty solid pop instincts. It’s easy to appreciate his way with a hook, and his vocal range remains impressive beneath all the effects. You might wonder if a Tobias Jesso Jr.-style future writing for other artists is in the cards. Plus, he’s surrounded by talented people: An album with Prince’s guitarist Wendy Melvoin on several songs and Shawn Everett on the mix is guaranteed to groove and sparkle in all the right ways. Unlike his peers who let their voices dissolve into the background, sombr is up front to the point of a jumpscare on opener “Crushing,” where he announces his presence with overdriven Julian Casablancas-indebted saturation. The polyphonic choruses of “We Never Dated” and “Back to Friends” lend some weight to breathless early comparisons to Brian Wilson.

A problem is that sombr’s lyrics have this strange attitude towards women (in awe of, in fear of) that lands him closer to “Smart Girls” than “God Only Knows.” There’s now a Hot 100 hit with this lyric: “I don’t want the children of another man to have the eyes of the girl I won’t forget.” That line caught on for a reason, if not a good one, and it’s indicative of how the breakup songs are just slightly too mean-spirited to give him the benefit of the doubt. In “Come Closer,” he’s falling over himself for a femme fatale, saying, “You’re the only one I want/And I ain’t one of your pawns.” He’s more enjoyable with endearingly corny wordplay like “I miss the days when we were crushing on each other/Now you’re just crushing my soul, my lover.” But this trick also has its limits, getting overly cute on songs like the shuffle “Dime” (“You’re a ten and I’m a man that needs a dime”) and reaching unintentional humor when repurposing the famous line from Brokeback Mountain on “I Wish I Knew How to Quit You.”

A pair of songs break from the yearncore formula and lean into pure melodrama, and they’re the most promising. Current hit “12 to 12” recalls Brandon Flowers’ gloriously histrionic 2015 solo record The Desired Effect, reviving nu-disco by sheer force of will and a swaggering vocal performance. The playful ’80s synths suggest someone leaning all the way into campiness, a surprisingly good fit for an artist who can come off suspiciously sincere. The other highlight is closer “Under the Mat,” where he amplifies a heartbreak to epic Springsteen levels. There are still clunkers like the worryingly vague line “She and I didn’t see eye to eye on politics and such,” but when sombr and his lovr are moving into a shoebox apartment, it’s hard not to root for them. Instead of hammering in the point of a relationship that fell apart, this time he’s interested in examining why it fell apart. As much as they loved one another, these two simply couldn’t overcome their differences. She was a suburban girl. He was a city boy. And no, sombr can’t make it any more obvious.

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October 4, 2025 0 comments

Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein in episode 304 of Monster: The Ed Gein Story.

TV & Streaming

‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story’ Review: Charlie Hunnam Dons Frilly Undergarments and Flesh Masks for Netflix’s Trashy Takedown of True Crime and Those Who Love It

by jummy84 October 4, 2025

written by jummy84

Focusing on the notorious figure who inspired ‘Psycho,’ ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and more, the latest installment in the anthology series also features Laurie Metcalf, Vicky Krieps and Tom Hollander.

October 4, 2025 0 comments

Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl Is All Dressed Up with Nowhere to Go: Review

Music

Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl Is Skin Deep: Review

by jummy84 October 4, 2025

written by jummy84

Taylor Swift has all the neuroticism of the deeply self-disciplined. Like Michael Jordan, she dominates her peers, charms when she wants to charm, and mostly hides¹ the kind of competitive streak that nice people swerve to avoid. Her greatest gifts are her self- and social awarenesses — knowing which parts of her rare personality almost everyone can relate to.

But Swift also clearly needs the studio, in a way that few people who reached this level of fame have ever needed anything you can legally acquire. Still only 35-years-old, The Life of a Showgirl is her 12th studio album and the fifth in a five-year-span. Post-engagement, post-record-setting tour, and with no plans to tour again any time soon, The Life of a Showgirl unfolds like a breathless vent to a friend, with alternating spurts of warmth, nostalgia, anxious searching, and teeth-baring sneers.

Despite the backup dancer aesthetic — somewhere between the old Ziegfield Follies and 1995’s Showgirls — the songs acutely center life as a superstar. One of the better tunes is “Elizabeth Taylor,” an earnest expression of love cheekily framed around the eight-time-married icon.

r.e.m. Beauty Wicked For Good Makeup Collection Review

by jummy84 October 3, 2025

written by jummy84

I personally consider myself a Glinda rising, Elphaba sun, and Nessarose moon, so I immediately gravitated towards the moody, earthy tones in the Elphaba Makeup Set and the Ozian Forest Eyeshadow Palette. For an everyday fall look, I used a couple matte neutral shades from the palette — a pale beige called “Confusifying,” “Witching Hour” (a warm tan), and “The Grimmerie” (a milk chocolate) in the crease. Then, I applied a plummy lip & cheek tint from the Elphaba set (the shade is “Braverism,” which…love) as a lipstick and blush, and added the glossy balm in the shade Wickedness (a sheer brown with golden-magenta micro glitter) to round out the lip combo. I already happened to be wearing a green cardigan and my hair in a long braid, which totally brought the Elphaba vibes to life.

October 3, 2025 0 comments

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