One to watch: Erin LeCount
LeCount's 2023 debut EP, Soft Skin, Restless Bones, offered soulful vocals and the beginnings of a now well-established aesthetic: morbid religious imagery mixed with graceful ballet movements and discarded flowers. Later that year she released a mashup cover of Phoebe Bridgers's I Know the End and Frank Ocean's White Ferrari. The results are otherworldly: think Ethel Cain or Florence + the Machine and Fiona Apple for the digital age.
Last year, LeCount featured on German DJ Ben Böhmer's Faithless, a delicate song of self-sabotage and lost love. Her newest single, Silver Spoon, paints a story of love, privilege and shame through ethereal vocals and dark, angelic imagery ('I bet you grew up grazing your knees, but the fall wasn't fatal like it was for me'). Originally a demo on SoundCloud and YouTube, when the song was officially released it achieved more than 1m streams in a week. In 2025 it looks as if LeCount's garden-shed pop will continue to bloom.
Silver Spoon is out now. Erin LeCount plays Rae's, London SE1, on 27 March
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Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Smitten Taylor Swift gushes over falling in love with Travis Kelce as she reveals emotional choices behind new album
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) TAYLOR Swift has spoken in detail for the first time about falling in love with NFL star Travis Kelce — admitting she thought he was 'crazy' for publicly asking her for a date. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 35, bagged a first date with the superstar in September 2023 after using his New Heights podcast to beg for a chance. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 6 Superstar Taylor Swift has spoken in detail for the first time about falling in love with her NFL star boyfriend Credit: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott 6 Taylor admits she thought Travis Kelce was 'crazy' for publicly asking her for a date Credit: Youtube / New Heights 6 Taylor has announced her 12th studio album, The Life of A Showgirl Appearing alongside Travis, in the latest episode of the show, Taylor, also 35, said: 'This podcast got me a boyfriend, ever since Travis decided to use it as his personal dating app. 'It was such a wild romantic gesture to be like, 'I want to date you'. 'At first when I looked at it I thought, 'This dude didn't get a meet and greet and he is making it everyone's problem'.' Travis admitted he fell head over heels for Taylor after secretly watching her perform at his team's home ground, the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, days before he made his public plea. 'How it worked in 1973!' He initially made a friendship bracelet with his number on it to give to Taylor but was left gutted when his plan failed. Taylor added: 'I never saw those friendship bracelets. He didn't even reach out to management. 'He came with Pat [quarterback Patrick Mahomes] and thought because he knows the elevator lady that he could talk to her about getting down to my dressing room.' Taylor scoffed: 'That's how it worked in 1973!' Despite joking about her initial concerns, Taylor said she quickly romanticised Travis's very public move. She explained: 'I was like, if this guy isn't crazy — which is a big if — this is the sort of thing I've been writing songs about since I was a teenager. Taylor Swift reveals 'wild' true story of how she met Travis Kelce moments into New Heights podcast appearance 'It felt like a modern version of standing outside my window with a boombox like, 'I want to date you! Do you want to go on a date with me? I made you a friendship bracelet.' 'It was wild, but it worked. I'm glad it worked. I'm just circling back to New Heights to say thank you for this.' He is the good kind of crazy Taylor Swift Clearly smitten, Taylor continued: 'He is the good kind of crazy. I knew he wasn't crazy the first couple of times we talked. 'He was truly getting to know me, that was very natural, pure and normal. 'The way he could make me laugh about normal things. 'Travis is just a vibe booster in everyone's life he is in. 'He is like a human exclamation mark. 'He is like pressing the enhance colour button.' Taylor has previously dated a string of famous men including DJ Calvin Harris, actor Jake Gyllenhaal and fellow superstar Harry Styles. But the romances never lasted. 6 Travis and Taylor share a Superbowl kiss Credit: AP 6 Taylor posed in a series of pictures for her new album Credit: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott 6 Taylor secretly recorded the album last summer while touring Europe Credit: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott Now Taylor has hinted at why she thinks her relationship with Travis will go all the way. She said: 'A huge green flag for me was that Travis has had the same friends since he was four. 'He is very good at maintaining friendships and he is so loyal.' When Taylor and Travis first started dating, they tried to keep their romance as low key as possible. To avoid detection, Taylor even went undercover and walked into the Arrowhead stadium using the main gates rather than the VIP entrance in a bid to deflect any attention away from herself. Taylor said: 'I walked in through the front door. Right through general admission. I had a scarf and a mask. 'There were rumours about us seeing each other but I think people were like, 'What would they talk about?' 'Nobody thought they would see me there or go through general admission.' By January 2024, Taylor was a firm fixture of the Kelce family. She joined Travis on the pitch in Las Vegas to celebrate his Superbowl win against the San Francisco 49ers. And now she is a signed up American football fanatic. I detach from the internet in a huge way. I have had my comments disabled on Instagram for ten years. I don't miss it Taylor Swift Taylor explained: 'He was so non-judgmental about people and not judgmental about me knowing nothing about the world he is in. 'I was not a sporty person. I didn't even know what a tight end was. I fell in love with it [American football] and I became obsessed with it.' Naturally, as with all of Taylor's romances, Travis was thrust into the spotlight and their union became the focus of intense fan speculation. It led to a number of wild allegations, including someone making a fake contract about when and where the pair would end their romance. The hoax, last September, went viral and saw Travis's team furiously deny it. Insisting it is water off a duck's back, Taylor said: 'I detach from the internet in a huge way. I have had my comments disabled on Instagram for ten years. I don't miss it. 'I am not an online person at all. 'I am genuinely terrified to open my DMs — 20million unread DMs. I don't want to go there. 'I love to sew' 'Can you imagine if we just talked about what everyone said about our relationship? That is all we would talk about. 'We are too busy having an actual relationship.' She added: 'My business is making music and taking care of my fans.' Taylor wrapped up her Eras World Tour in Canada in December last year, and since then has been keeping a low profile. Opening up about how a multi-millionaire music megastar spends her days, Taylor conceded she was actually pretty boring. She said: 'All my hobbies are hobbies you could have had in the 1700s. 'I love to sew — I specialise in children's purses and baby blankets. 'I love to paint and I love to cook. I have a baking obsession every six months. 'Right now it's a sour dough obsession. I am really talking about baking 70 percent of the time now. 'I am baking bread and texting my friends to send it to them for feedback. 'I am on sourdough blogs. There is a whole community. I was physically exhausted at this point in the tour, but I was so mentally stimulated and so excited to be creating Taylor Swift 'All I use the internet for is sour dough and when Travis shows me cute otters.' Of taking a break from her mammoth run of gigs, where she performed 51 shows in 22 countries around the world, Taylor added: 'It feels great to be honest. 'I miss it but it was perfect for what it was. It was a lot of physical therapy and a lot of being in a state of discomfort. 'The heels for that long . . . 'I have an acupuncture mat and toe spacers. 'It was the most formative time of my life. I learned so much about how far I can push myself. 'I was on tour for so long and now I'm not on tour. I am getting my hobbies back. 'When I was on tour all I could think of was, 'What is the mash-up this week?' 'Or, 'How do I say welcome to the Eras tour in Portuguese?'' Ever the businesswoman, Taylor used her turn on Travis's podcast to announce her 12th studio album, The Life of A Showgirl. Almost one million fans watched the podcast live — and 17 hours after it was put on to YouTube more than 10million people had viewed it. The Life of A Showgirl is Taylor's first record since 2023's The Tortured Poets Department, which went on to become her 13th UK No1 album. 'Catching lightning in a bottle' That record, which detailed Taylor's break-up with British actor Joe Alwyn and her short lived romance with The 1975's Matty Healy, sold more than 3.4million copies. The Life Of A Showgirl, which comes out October 3, marks a drastic change of tone. Taylor secretly recorded the album last summer when she was in Europe at the height of her Eras Tour success. She said: 'I would do like three shows in a row [and then] I'd have three days off. 'I'd fly to Sweden, go back to the tour, and was actually working on this. I was physically exhausted at this point in the tour, but I was so mentally stimulated and so excited to be creating.' She added: 'This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life when this tour was going on. That is why it is so vibrant. 'Writing and recording it felt like catching lightning in a bottle.' The album has been produced by Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellback, who previously helped craft some of Taylor's biggest hits. These include 22, Bad Blood, I Knew You Were Trouble and Shake It Off. Taylor said: 'I said I wanted to be as proud of an album as I am for The Eras Tour and they were like that's a lot of pressure. 'I know the pressure I am putting on this record but I don't care as I love it so much. 'It comes from the most infectious, joyful, wild dramatic place I was in my life. It's bangers. 'This is the record I've wanted to make for a very long time'.
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Taylor Swift's chat with the Kelces on 'New Heights' marks a milestone moment for podcasts
Since nothing Taylor Swift ever does is small, her two-hour conversation with boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce on their 'New Heights' podcast is a watershed moment for a media format that has already outlived the device it was named for. By Thursday afternoon, Wednesday night's talk had already been seen more than 11.7 million times on YouTube. But that's only a fraction of its circulation — clips distributed on Instagram, TikTok, X and elsewhere have received more than 400 million views, and the episode was also available for streaming on audio platforms. Swift, who infrequently gives interviews to journalists, revealed key information about her upcoming album, 'The Life of a Showgirl,' and talked about her relationships with Travis Kelce and her family, and her joy of gaining full control of her past work — a yearslong quest. It was a revelation for fans with whom she's primarily communicated through her music and social media Easter eggs, a treasure hunt of clues about what she's doing professionally. 'We have not heard Taylor speak in like a long-form interview like that in about five years,' Alex Antonides, a superfan from Dallas, told The Associated Press. 'She's never been in that comfortable of a situation, either. It's always been like more professional, like a professional interviewer asking her questions. And then this is like with her boyfriend and his brother. So that was ... an environment we've truly never seen her in before.' Celebrities like a friendly face for public talks Swift cemented a trend that's been seen in recent years among entertainers, sports figures and politicians who seek to deliver particular messages. A visit to friendly faces for a long-form conversation beats questions from nosy, prying journalists. In this case, Swift and Travis Kelce locked arms and cooed at each other between admiring queries. 'My boyfriend says,' Swift said in asides when Kelce laid things on too thick. 'The Kelce brothers have become the Barbara Walters of their generation,' said Nick Cicero, founder of Mondo Metrics, which studies the podcast industry. Fans ate it up. 'I think it's really nice and refreshing, especially for a woman whose primary fan base is young women, to see somebody that is so celebratory of their partner and also not self-deprecating in a bad way, but also really admires what they do, and they don't try to minimize that,' one fan, Britton Copeland, who goes by Britton Rae on TikTok, said in a Zoom interview. Swift interpreters immediately began online discussions about What It All Means. One fan discussed theories about the still-unheard song, 'The Fate of Ophelia,' listed as the new album's first cut. Others pointed out that the album release date of Oct. 3 coincided with National Plaid Day — apparently a Swift obsession — and National Boyfriend's Day. Such Easter eggs are likely to bring listeners back to the 'New Heights' interview again and again, meaning it could eventually stand as the most listened-to podcast episode on YouTube ever. 'It's got a chance,' Cicero said. Podcasts emerged in the 2000s as an audio-only programming format tied to Apple's now-defunct iPod. The New Oxford American Dictionary called 'podcast' its word of the year in 2005, even as many in the industry sought an alternative name almost as soon as it was coined. The well-regarded 'Serial' podcasts helped bring the format into the mainstream a decade ago. Particularly since the pandemic, and with the explosive growth of YouTube and personalities like Joe Rogan, video podcasts have become far more popular. Like most interview podcasts, 'New Heights' can also be enjoyed in an audio format — and it's background noise even for many who air it on YouTube — but being able to see Swift and the Kelces interact has its benefits. Will Swift outdraw President Trump's appearance with Rogan? Rogan's interview with President Donald Trump was a key moment in the 2024 presidential campaign, and has been seen 59 million times on YouTube in nine months. Certainly Swifties — and possibly Trump himself — will be eager to see if the 'New Heights' interview exceeds that number. Swift is among the celebrities who has drawn the president's ire. It has further to go to be a record-setter, though. The most-watched podcast episode ever on YouTube, and likely the most-consumed podcast ever, is Abdulrahman Abu Maleh's interview with relationship coach Yasser Hazimi for 'Secrets to Thriving Relationships' from the Saudi Arabian company Thmanyah. It has racked up 144 million views in two years. Swift's and the Kelces' teams were was particularly skillful in creating a huge demand for the interview with how its spread clips across various social media platforms, said Tom Webster, founder of Sounds Profitable, a firm that analyzes the podcast industry. By Thursday morning, Instagram highlights alone from the interview were viewed more than 350 million times, Cicero said. ___ Associated Press journalist Alicia Rancilio contributed to this report from Detroit. ___ David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at and
Metro
9 hours ago
- Metro
Marvel Rivals is a ‘gooner game' insist fans but director refuses to comment
The creative director of Marvel Rivals has offered an explanation for the game's choice of skins when asked about its 'gooner game' status. If there's one thing everybody knows about Marvel Rivals, it's that everyone in that video game's roster looks incredibly sexy. Well, almost everyone, we don't think anyone's attracted to Jeff the Land Shark. It's a subject that has earned the game both praise and criticism, particularly regarding the designs for the female members of the cast, such as Invisible Woman and Emma Frost, the latter of whom quickly became a fan favourite for her thick Chun-Li style thighs. As a result, Marvel Rivals has earned a reputation as a 'gooner game' – a term people use for games that rely heavily on sex appeal. The game's creative director Guangyun Chen, however, has tried to downplay the idea that the characters and their unlockable skins are deliberately made to be sexy. Recently, Chen sat down with YouTube channel Rivals Assembled to discuss various aspects of Marvel Rivals. When asked how he feels about social media comments labelling it as a gooner game, Chen dodged the question and chose to explain how new skins are designed for Marvel Rivals. 'Because our design is inspired by classic comic themes, including some very outstanding skins, like Mantis and also Psylocke's Vengeance, these all come from classic comic designs, and we create some more fashionable designs based on them to gain players' appreciation,' said Chen. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. In a way, he's not wrong. A lot of classic comic book superhero outfits, especially for women, were designed to be sexy, like the aforementioned Psylocke skin. Although in a lot of cases Marvel Rival's team has made the skins extra sexy, such as Invisible Woman's Malice costume, which ditches the original's cape and lets her bare bottom hang out. We can't help noticing though, that Squirrel Girl still doesn't have the costume she wore for the majority of her most famous comic book run. One that happens to show very little skin at all… Plus, Chen's explanation doesn't account for any original skins that lean on sex appeal, such as this Hela skin that shows off a lot of skin, especially around her well-defined rear. Chen claims some skins are designed to fit with whatever storyline is occurring within a given season. For example, the current season has given characters skins themed around the Phoenix Force and the Venom symbiote, since the plot involves the superhero Phoenix fighting the symbiote god Knull. 'For designs like these, we try our best to integrate the storylines from the season,' continued Chen, adding that they'll incorporate real-world elements as well, like they have for the summer swimsuit skins. 'We create new designs based on that and I'm very grateful these designs have been well received by the majority of players.' More Trending Marvel Rivals fans don't seem particularly convinced by Chen's answer, though, with a couple pointing out that they see a lot of online ads for the game that focus on the sexier outfits. 'One of their ads I saw for a month or so was a girl in a one-piece swimsuit face away, so her cheeks were just hanging out. Definitely not a gooner game,' one writes sarcastically. Others think Chen is being honest, pointing out how Marvel comics 'have been gooning for a long, long time.' 'People are used to seeing censored designs for Marvel characters but if you look at most of the original comic book designs a lot of them are as horny as the average gacha game,' says one, 'Rivals is probably one of the most authentic Marvel projects we've seen.' Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Marvel Rivals interview – how to make a hit live service game MORE: NetEase celebrates Marvel Rivals success by sacking director and staff MORE: The best Marvel superhero video games you can play right now
