Clairo review – charming pop-soul from a singer with starpower to spare
Charm, the third album from 26-year-old US singer-songwriter Clairo, was one of last year's best: 1970s-skewing pop-soul where you could almost sense the warmth of the era's wood, velvet and corduroy. Played live on this sold-out tour, the lounge-lizard feeling intensifies as her band perform on what looks like an epically proportioned sofa, backed by an elegantly glinting feature wall.
Clairo sweeps around in front of this bold interior decoration with a carefree second-mimosa energy, saying that she and her band are in 'such high spirits' and admiring her 'crazy' teen and twentysomething audience. Truth be told, this seated crowd, given to carefully filming each song on phones or fashionably ancient digital cameras and sometimes both, isn't exactly wild. But giddy admiration gushes from them, and there's a big, fierce singalong for early single Bags, particularly on its clever line about a battle of wits between lovers: 'Can you see me using everything to hold back?'
The screams intensify with a top note of disbelief as Clairo introduces Steeeam. It's the first live airing for this song dating back to her 2020 side project Shelly, but this peppy and pleasant dream-pop feels a bit inconsequential compared with the strong, sophisticated Charm material: having broken through in her teens and charted her whole youth in music, it feels like she is now truly hitting her stride.
Her songs are given extra weight by her terrific band, including multi-instrumentalist Hailey Niswanger. Her flute and saxophone soloing conjure the album's 70s mood, but it's such spirited playing – including a positively raucous sax meltdown to close out Partridge – that it never seems like twee nostalgia. With big organ lines and bigger sofa, the band also bring to mind Stereolab and their Space Age Bachelor Pad Music.
The jump in quality between Steeeam and, say, the funkily headstrong Add Up My Love is a mark of how far Clairo has come in a relatively short time, from insular bedroom ditties to this more mature sound, lavish staging, front rows at last week's Paris fashion week and a kind of tentative extroversion. Even the older material gets swept up in this self-confidence, with the Strokes-y garage rock riff of closing song Sofia ringing out at huge new-wave proportions.
At Eventim Apollo, 14 March; Glasgow Academy, 16 and 17 March; and Manchester Apollo, 19 and 20 March.
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New Statesman
4 days ago
- New Statesman
The lost futures of Stereolab
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Born in 1968, Sadier grew up in the eastern suburbs of Paris, interrupted by long stays in the US following her father's corporate job. Sadier briefly joined McCarthy before the band split in 1990. The pair then moved to south London, signed on to the dole, and plotted an entirely new project. By the Nineties, rock had amassed so much past that would-be musicians could pick a spot in virtually any niche of its history, and burrow there for a whole career. Stereolab's early releases were in thrall to the Seventies Düsseldorf duo Neu! and their propulsive, defiantly minimalist 4/4 beat. A rotating cast of musicians came and went around an unchanging nucleus of Gane, Sadier and the Australian guitarist Mary Hansen, whose bright, volleying harmonies with Sadier were the emotional centre of the band's sound. What set them apart was their politics. Gane wrote – and largely produced – the music, leaving lyrics entirely to Sadier. 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Scotsman
28-05-2025
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The Holiday In Concert: beloved Christmas film to tour UK with full orchestra
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement. Hans Zimmer's powerful score set to be performed live as The Holiday In Concert comes to the United Kingdom. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... This year, why not re-watch the beloved 2005 rom-com The Holiday a little differently? Over 15 different locations over the 2025 Christmas season will get to enjoy the film with Han Zimmer's score performed live by a full orchestra. Here's where the festive favourite accompanied by live music is screening across the UK later this year. It's regarded as one of those Christmas films that almost 'has' to be watched at least once over the festive period, but for fans of The Holiday, this year's screening is different. The Holiday In Concert brings the beloved rom-com starring Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Jack Black to 15 different venues across the UK in December 2025. This time, however, it will be backed by a full live orchestra performing the score – penned by Oscar winner Hans Zimmer – to audiences. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad From writer-director-producer Nancy Meyers, known for celebrated films like It's Complicated, The Intern, Something's Gotta Give, and The Parent Trap, The Holiday follows the tale of two women, strangers living 6,000 miles apart. The seasonal favourite The Holiday is set for the full orchestra treatment in locations across the United Kingdom this festive season. | Canva Seeking an escape, they meet online via a home exchange website and impulsively swap houses for the holiday season. Iris (Winslet) journeys to Amanda's (Diaz) sun-drenched L.A. home, while Amanda retreats to Iris's snow-covered English countryside cottage. Shortly after arriving, both women stumble upon the one thing neither expected: a new romance. A mainstay of holiday viewing since its release in 2006 and continually cited as one of the best 'meet-cute' romantic comedies of the 2000s, why not treat yourself to a repeat viewing this year with the full backing of a live orchestra? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Where is The Holiday In Concert touring in the United Kingdom? The full orchestral screenings of The Holiday are set to take place at the following locations on the following dates during the 2025 Christmas season: December 4 2025: Lighthouse, Poole December 7 2025: Eventim Apollo, London (matinee and evening performances) December 8 2025: Brighton Centre December 9 2025: The Forum, Bath December 10 2025: Barbican, York December 11 2025: Valliant Live, Derby December 12 2025: Swansea Arena December 15 2025: Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow December 16 2025: Bridgewater Hall, Manchester December 17 2025: Bridgewater Hall, Manchester December 18 2025: City Hall, Sheffield December 19 2025: Bradford Live December 20 2025: Usher Hall, Edinburgh December 21 2025: Concert Hall, Perth When can I buy tickets to see The Holiday In Concert in the United Kingdom? Pre-sale tickets Those with access to Ticketmaster pre-sales or venue pre-sales will have their first pick of tickets, as they are set to go on pre-sale from May 29 2025 at 10am BST. General ticket sales The remaining allocation of tickets will then go on general sale from May 30 2025 at 10am BST through Ticketmaster.
