Meeting your cloned dog for the first time
Meeting your cloned dog for the first time
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CNA
12 hours ago
- CNA
Laufey's new album, A Matter of Time, explores anger, love and more
Long before the Icelandic Chinese artist Laufey became recognised the world over for her neoclassical jazz-meets-pop music, she was a student, answering a familiar yearbook prompt: 'Where do you see yourself in 10 years?' Her answer: Move to the US, sign a record deal and win a Grammy. The 26-year-old has done all three. 'I must have been so confident to write that because I remember that being a very far-sought kind of thing,' the musician born Laufey Lín Jónsdóttir told The Associated Press. Those aren't her only accomplishments: She's collaborated with Barbra Streisand, shared the stage with Hozier, Noah Kahan and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. An unexpected nonconformist to the rules of contemporary pop, Laufey's third album, A Matter of Time out Friday (Aug 22), pulls inspiration from country and Icelandic folk music as well as classical and bossa nova sounds. 'My ultimate goal is to introduce young audiences to jazz music, to classical music, to encourage them to learn instruments and explore their own sound,' Laufey said. In a recent interview, Laufey discussed her new album, embracing anger on the record, working with her twin sister and more. WHAT'S THE STORY BEHIND THE TITLE A MATTER OF TIME? I knew I wanted the album to have time as a central theme. I was just so fascinated by how it's kind of like this one thing that humans have no control over, and sometimes we want to speed up and sometimes we want to slow down, but ultimately it's out of our control. And there's something romantic about that to me. Now it's taken on a little bit of a different meaning in that it's basically me baring my soul to the world and baring my soul to a lover. And it's kind of like, 'a matter of time until you find out everything about me'. THE END OF SABOTAGE FELT VERY JARRING, WHICH IS UNEXPECTED. ARE YOU EMBRACING ANGER ON THIS ALBUM? For sure. I think I was never allowed to embrace anger. I was a very good kid growing up. I was very polite and very quiet. I used this as a way to show that you can be angry, and rather, to show also that you can be both a soft, spoken person while still harbouring anger. I think the understanding of women and characters has so much been like one or the other. She's like this, she's a mad woman, she a soft, sweet woman. Like, we're all everything. HOW DO YOU COMPARE THIS ALBUM TO YOUR PAST PROJECTS? This is just the most free I've been. I wasn't following any type of compass in that I wasn't trying to create something as education. I was more so just making music from the heart. I just approached with a whole lot more confidence, even though the album's all about anxiety and learning about oneself and insecurity and delusion. And it's tapping into emotions that I maybe wouldn't have dared to tap into before. It is the most confident I've been, because I don't think I'd have the confidence to put out the music in this album before. YOUR TWIN SISTER JUNIA IS CREDITED ON THE ALBUM. WHAT'S IT LIKE WORKING WITH HER? It's so special. We do everything together. Like, she does everything, pretty much – other than the music, the literal music making – she has her hands in. All the merch, that's all her. The album covers, all the creative, like, music videos, everything – she's such a part of the project. And then she literally plays violin on some of the songs. I know so many artists who talk about how it can be quite lonely, but I've never really been alone. Like, I've always done it in tandem with my sister. YOU'VE SPOKEN ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF ASIAN ROLE MODELS. I THINK YOU'VE BECOME ONE YOURSELF. I grew up in a very, very different, like, homogenous Icelandic community. I didn't see people who looked like me every single day. I saw my mom, that was it. And I guess I saw my identical twin sister, who looked exactly like me. But it's so powerful, seeing someone who looks like you, that you can look up to. I already see more representation, but there's still such a long way to go. I'm still a half-white Asian woman, you know? And I don't want young Asian women to look up and see all of the stars in front of them be half-white either, because what kind of message is that sending? So, I don't know. Anything I can do to lift up voices, create those communities, and empower young Asian artists to do their thing, that's, like, at the centre of my philosophy. YOU'VE DONE ALL THE THINGS YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO DO IN YOUR YEARBOOK. WHAT'S NEXT? I'd love to score a film or do, like, a theme song to a film, preferably a James Bond theme song, because that's, like, my dream. But it's so hard to say because I've ticked off all those simple things off – many are big, but the tick-able ones. I hope I'm still making music and I still hope that I love it.
CNA
12 hours ago
- CNA
Singer Tamar Braxton says she 'almost died' in weekend accident
Singer, actor and reality TV star Tamar Braxton said Tuesday (Aug 19) that she 'almost died' in a weekend accident that she doesn't remember. 'I was found in a pool of blood from my friend with a face injury,' Braxton wrote in an Instagram post. 'I fractured my nose, lost some teeth and mobility." She added: 'I don't even know what happened to me.' Braxton, 48, earlier in the day had posted 'Thank you God for waking me up today,' in an Instagram story. She said she was getting calls after and was struggling to talk so she shared what had happened to her. The post also said 'the way I look at life now is totally different. As my health is on the mend my mental journey begins… pray for me for real'. An email to Braxton's manager seeking more details was not immediately answered. Braxton was part of a singing group with her sisters, including Toni Braxton, who went on to a major solo career. They and other family members appeared on the reality series Braxton Family Values starting in 2011, and Tamar Braxton has since appeared in spin-offs and other reality shows. As an actor, her recent credits include the TV series Kingdom Business. And she has spent much of the year on a solo singing tour.
Independent Singapore
a day ago
- Independent Singapore
87% of videogame developers use AI agents following record layoffs, Google study finds
Photo: Freepik/DC Studio (for illustration purposes only) A Google Cloud survey found that 87% of video game developers now rely on artificial intelligence (AI) agents to streamline work, with most using them to handle repetitive tasks so they can focus on creative work, as the industry shifts its focus to optimising costs after record layoffs. The survey, carried out with The Harris Poll in late June and early July, asked 615 developers in the United States, South Korea, Norway, Finland and Sweden. Reuters reported that gaming publishers have turned to AI to manage rising development costs and longer production timelines, driven by high player expectations and fierce competition in the market. About 44% of respondents said they use AI agents to optimise content and quickly process text, code, voice, audio and video. Still, the use of AI in video games remains contentious, with many in the industry voicing concerns about intellectual property, job losses, and lower pay. Last year, video game performers in Hollywood went on strike over pay concerns and AI use, while more than 10,000 jobs were lost as studios shut down. In early July, Bloomberg also reported that Microsoft's gaming unit will cut about 10% of staff, affecting around 200 workers, a move the company later confirmed without giving further details. Even with the wave of job cuts, the industry is expected to pick up pace this year and next, helped by the launch of premium titles and new consoles. The survey showed that 94% of developers expect AI to lower development costs in the long run, although about a quarter said it is still difficult to measure its return on investment, and high integration costs remain a hurdle. At the same time, 63% raised concerns over data ownership, as questions around licensing and the rights to AI-generated content remain unclear. /TISG Read also: Microsoft to cut about 6,000 staff globally as AI investments push spending () => { const trigger = if ('IntersectionObserver' in window && trigger) { const observer = new IntersectionObserver((entries, observer) => { => { if ( { lazyLoader(); // You should define lazyLoader() elsewhere or inline here // Run once } }); }, { rootMargin: '800px', threshold: 0.1 }); } else { // Fallback setTimeout(lazyLoader, 3000); } });
