2025-08-22 21:30:21
"The New Eve is Rising" feels more like a movement than an album. There's something cultish about The New Eves and the media attention surrounding them; carefully curated no doubt. From the Wicker Man imagery on the cover to the feminist manifesto of the opening track.
the new eve is curious and free
she eats what she wants to eat
every fruit from every tree
she devours, guiltlessly
and thick, red fruit blood run down her hungry mouth
and thick, red fruit blood run down her naked thighs
the new eve is not ashamed when she bleeds
Folky but not simpering, rock but not butch, it's never quite what you expect. I'm detecting notes of Grace Slick, Kai Tempest, Young Fathers, Alison Krauss and I like it. There are gospel elements, frentic violins, and the kind of drums Meg White would approve of — all in one song!
I made initial comparisons with The Last Dinner Party, all-female avante-garde modern rock, but The New Eves are a wholly different beast, the Brighton influence clearly differentiating them from their London-based contemporaries.
Approaching "folk" like early Patrick Wolf meets Amanda Palmer, none of the songs feel "dance-able to" — maybe wild swaying beneath a full moon in a forest clearing. It's weird in a good way and grows on me with every listen.
You can buy The New Eve is Rising today from Bandcamp. I need to listen to it a few more times.
2025-08-20 23:20:19
Iyena Mastafar is an inquisitive young girl, recently moved to the magical sovereign city state of Sirvassa where the sky is sometimes lilac, flower petals have healing properties, and the entire city is beneath a glittering mesh to ward off a terrible beast.
Her father is a newly appointed government minister tasked with managing the complicated relationship and uneasy alliance between two formerly hostile tribes while harbouring a clandestine mission.
Meanwhile, the god-cursed Caretaker of the titular garden struggles with his own problems while trying to fix the horrific rot that has taken hold in his beloved garden.
Shades of the fantastical worlds of Clive Barker and The Absolute Book permeate Singh's epic story. The lumbering jowly Rhisuan beasts, the descriptions of taste, references to food. Such a sensual book, rich with adjectives and clever turns of phrase.
The ingenious combination of herbal magic with almost steampunk automatons/golem and flying bird-shaped airships conjures a fascinating and unique world.
The children, their relationships, and the whole school dynamic put me in mind of Studio Ghibli; in fact, Trehan is 100% Kanta from My Neighbour Totoro!
I felt myself grasping for these comparisons and familiarity because the book is unlike much I have read before. There are clearly references to traditions from the Indian subcontinent; clothes and food particularly, but I'm not au fait with the cultures to determine how much of the world building is fantastical and how much is simply Indian.
While I appreciate Singh has a lauded history of short story writing, this is an astounding debut novel.
2025-08-19 22:35:31
Having written a couple of these over the last few years1, I decided to make it more of a regular feature — the more introspection the better, right?
I can be a bit of a curmudgeon and focus on the negatives when I feel the pressure. I know it's not good for me to get into that negativity spiral so reflecting like this is important.
So, without further ado, here are some things I have been enjoying lately.
1: Previous entries in this series: Five things I like, Things that make me go :D, and More things that make me go yay
2025-08-18 02:12:04
It's been a while since I had any bird news because, to be honest, it's all been much of a muchness round here — until a particularly vocal Nuthatch started their loud and insistent "pee-wit, PEE-WIT". That's the first time I've heard a Nuthatch so I'm quite excited!
Equally exciting is getting a shout out in the extremely popular and very famous People & Blogs series. So, yeah, wow — thank you so much for the mention, Loren!
Alice over at The Wallflower Digest recommended yet another book by Sayaka Murata, "Earthlings". I haven't read the review fully because spoilers but the bit I did read intrigued me enough to add it to my Tracker. That's three books by Sayaka Murata on the list and not a single one read yet; I need to fix that!
Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams.
Paulo Coelho, "The Alchemist"
2025-08-15 18:26:09
The fourth and final album from Ethel Cain as we know her, "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You" doesn't stinge on minutes for your money with the shortest track clocking in at 4:45! Her first two singles, "Fuck Me Eyes" and "Nettles", definitely set the tone for this magnum opus; Southern Gothic Americana at its finest.
YouTube decided to recommend "smoke weed eat pussy" by Swedish trap-hop star Ängie. Not exactly my usual tuneage but I quite enjoyed it. A little repetitive but some lovely tones in there.
Talking Heads frontman, David Byrne, returns with a heartfelt quirky love song ably assisted by the Ghost Train Orchestra. "She Explains Things To Me" touches on a niche aspect of relationships when one person has a better grasp of social cues than the other and can explain nuance in a movie scene or metaphors in poetry. In taking the time to patiently explain, they reveal their love.
I first became a fan of Marissa Nadler with 2007's "Songs III: Bird on the Water", especially her cover of Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat". Opening track from her new album, "It Hits Harder" doesn't stray too far from her comfort zone; frosty, ethereal folk.
2025-08-11 22:52:03
In development or programming there exists the concept of "code smells" — little giveaways that indicate the code isn't very good or, perhaps, the writer isn't too proficient.
The more work I see generated by AI, the more I'm becoming attuned to what I'm calling "knowledge smells".
The less a person knows about a subject, the more they lean on the GenAI.
The more a person knows about a subject, the easier it is to detect the flaws in the output of the model.
Given deep knowledge, a person will write it themselves or correct the output accordingly.
If neither of these things have happened, the person doesn't know the subject well enough.