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Los Angeles Times
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘The Ballad of Wallis Island' is a crowd-pleasing folk-music comedy worth crowing about
At this year's Sundance, I blushed every time someone asked about my favorite movies of the fest. I knew I'd have to include James Griffiths' 'The Ballad of Wallis Island,' a twee-sounding British comedy about a folk musician named Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) who plays a gig on a remote Welsh island for his No. 1 fan, Charles (Tim Key). Sundance is all about championing bold new discoveries that will electrify the art form. But this sentimental charmer is literally acoustic: an expansion of the 2007 BAFTA-nominated short film 'The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island,' which, like the feature, was directed by Griffiths with a script from Basden and Key. And it's something almost as rare as a revelation: a crowdpleaser I'd recommend to everyone. And I have, from the grocery store clerks in Park City to my aunt to my metalhead pal — and now I'm tipping you off, too. The core story has deepened over the decade and a half it took to enlarge it to full-length. Eighteen years ago, indie folk was ascendant in the U.K. with the formation of Mumford & Sons, and already on the airwaves in the States thanks to Sufjan Stevens, Fleet Foxes and the Plain White T's. The short film's incarnation of Herb McGwyer had more hair, more hope and more cool-kid credibility in pop culture. This older Herb knows his peak has passed. Once, he sold out shows as half of the folk duo McGwyer Mortimer; today, he's a sell-out. His ex-bandmate and former girlfriend Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) stopped speaking to him ages ago in favor of expatriating to Portland, Ore., to sell chutney at farmers markets. We don't hear any of Herb's post-duo commercial hits, but we're meant to assume they're godawful. His mood sure is. Having sullenly agreed to a £500,000 paycheck for one show, Herb gets drenched as soon as his boat wobbles into Wallis Island and spends most of the film with his bangs plastered pathetically to his forehead. He's even grown himself a hipster mustache of despair. Herb's patron, Charles, is a mysterious mega-millionaire who has spent a fortune for a private show. An apple-cheeked, motor-mouthed fanboy, he doesn't fit the profile of, say, former Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi who managed to command performances from Mariah Carey and Beyoncé. Charles swears up and down his fortune isn't from anything evil and Key's smile is enough to convince you. He's never done anything crueler than return a library book past due. Charles used a chunk of his money to travel the world and settled down with souvenir magnets cluttering every inch of his fridge. 'Katmandu was very much a case of Katman-did,' the lonely widower says, bubbling over with his need to impress his famous guest or really, just to talk to anybody. The composer Adem Ilhan has written a warm score of creaky horns and foot-stomping jangles to pair with Basden's 16 original songs, but the film's actual soundtrack is Charles' constant chatter. (Key acted a minor role as the Pigeon Man in Bong Joon Ho's 'Mickey 17,' but he launched his career as a comic poet.) Quips, puns, allusions — the nonsense tumbles out of him so fast, you barely have time to make sense of one joke before he's onto the next. I'd call 'Wallis Island' a contender for the most quotable film of the year but there are so many good lines stacked on top of each other, and so much giggling on top of that, it's impossible to keep up with Key's wordplay. Presenting Herb with a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue, he calls it a 'Winona.' As in Ryder, as in a tour rider, as in the goodies a musician expects in their dressing room. Only once does Charles find himself stymied. 'Well, I'm speechless,' he says to fill the silence. 'Well, you're not,' Herb rebuts. Yet, there's a cyclone of emotions inside this goofball that he never lets out — never ever. If he did, the film would get maudlin. But there are clues: Watch how furiously Charles plays tetherball when no one is looking. Basden and Key have been performing together since they were on the Cambridge Footlights sketch team in 2001. (Key wasn't a university student, but he pretended to be writing a PhD thesis on Nikolai Gogol — true story.) They're comfortable making things awkward. That the film is shot like a drama prevents their odd-couple clash from getting cartoonish. Griffiths keeps most of the humiliations subtle, rather than sitcom large — say, having Herb wear Charles' old tees, one of which is a McGwyer Mortimer tour shirt of his own face. The audience will see the surprise arrival of Mulligan's Nell coming like a warship on the horizon. His estranged ex's appearance alongside her new American husband, Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen), gobsmacks this snob off his pedestal. Nell knows Herb well enough to be thoroughly unimpressed. When Herb reveals his new back tattoo, exposing that a guy who once prided himself on authenticity is now desperately chasing trends, Mulligan's Nell barely cocks an eyebrow. 'Cool,' she says. Her neutrality is brutal. Mulligan has been edging toward comedy without committing to it. She's great in that sweet spot of playing either narcissistic fools (like 'Saltburn's' Poor Dear Pamela) or here, a woman who shows up with a game plan to be confident and droll. Although Mulligan is the newbie within this filmmaking team, she probably knows the folk-star world more intimately than any of them — she's been married to the singer of Mumford & Sons since 2012. The script promptly sends her fictional spouse off on a birding expedition so that Herb and Nell can get slowly and persuasively reacquainted. (Pun-happy Charles would no doubt call the conveniently exiled husband's trip a McGuffin of puffins.) With just one other character worth mentioning, a daffy shop clerk played by 'Fleabag's' Sian Clifford, there's only so many moves a story this small can make. The film can't afford to be shy about contrivances, but it's only willing to cheat on facts, not feelings. You can imagine how things will play out and you'd be close but not exact. Griffiths doesn't fight against the formula, he just takes our expectations for every scene and gingers them up a little, the movie version of a cozy sweater threaded with tinsel. It's the music that takes things from pleasant to powerful — not just indie folk's earnest refrains, but the way everyone hides behind the songs' pretense of candor while keeping their own walls sky-high. All three leads croon along with these pure emotions, each one believing they've grown to know each other, either through their own lyrics or Charles' nonstop blather. Yet whenever one claims to know what another person wants, they're usually wrong. Key, in particular, plays all the these layers beautifully. Blunt as his Charles is, he proves to be the most guarded of the trio; there are unsung stanzas of sadness in his eyes. He might open up if his heroes asked. Except he's the geek, the hanger-on, the money man, so nobody does. Fandom isn't painless. But 'Wallis Island' is worth applause.
USA Today
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Billy Ray Cyrus praises daughters Miley and Noah amid alleged family rift: 'So damn proud'
Billy Ray Cyrus praises daughters Miley and Noah amid alleged family rift: 'So damn proud' Show Caption Hide Caption Billy Ray Cyrus and Firerose divorce after 8 months of marriage Billy Ray Cyrus filed for divorce from Firerose last month, just eight months after they tied the knot. unbranded - Entertainment Unsurprisingly, Billy Ray Cyrus' love language is the art of music. The country singer-songwriter, who has made headlines in recent months for an alleged feud with his children, praised his daughters Miley and Noah Cyrus in an affectionate Instagram post Tuesday. Both Miley and Noah have recently announced new music. Noah released "Don't Put It All on Me," a collaboration with Grammy-nominated folk band Fleet Foxes, on March 19. Meanwhile, Miley announced on Monday the arrival of her ninth album "Something Beautiful," which is slated for a May 30 release. "You are witnessing in real time what it feels like for a Dad who with in less than one weeks time has had his (butt) kicked and his mind blown by not one …but two of his own daughters @mileycyrus @noahcyrus," Cyrus wrote alongside a side-by-side photo of Miley and Noah. He added: "Flesh and blood … completely taking their art to a whole new level. Congratulations girls! Well done I'm so damn proud of both of you. I'm actually crying as I write this. Thank God you can't see me. Have fun now and be happy! 😊Love Dad." Miley and Noah have seemingly not responded to Cyrus' post since its publication. Cyrus' social media endorsement comes after his son Trace Cyrus expressed concern for the "Achy Breaky Heart" singer's well-being in a Jan. 22 Instagram post, writing, "Sadly the man that I wanted so desperately to be just like I barely recognize now." "It seems this world has beaten you down and it's become obvious to everyone but you," Trace continued. "You may be upset with me for posting this but I really could care less at this point. Me and the girls have been genuinely worried about you for years but you've pushed all of us away." Days later, Cyrus allegedly threatened Trace with legal action for "encouraging him to get help," the former Metro Station guitarist claimed in a subsequent post on his Instagram Story. "You should be ashamed of yourself," Trace wrote in a since-deleted follow-up post. "I will always love you but I no longer respect you as a man." Trace Cyrus speaks out: Billy Ray Cyrus' son shares he's 'worried' about dad post-Trump performance Cyrus shares five children with ex-wife Tish Cyrus, including Trace Cyrus, 36; Brandi Cyrus, 37; Miley Cyrus, 32; Braison Cyrus, 30; and Noah Cyrus, 25. The singer has another son, Christopher Cody Cyrus, with Kristin Luckey. For her part, Miley has kept mum about a possible rift with Cyrus. When asked if there was an estrangement between the two during a June 2024 interview with David Letterman, the pop star said, "My parents served us and sacrificed so much for us. Anything we dreamed of, they made possible." Cyrus family drama: Trace Cyrus says Billy Ray made legal threat after he claimed dad needs help As for Noah, the "July" songstress reportedly showed appreciation for Cyrus in a pair of posts on her Instagram Story in February, per People magazine and E! News. In the first post, dated Feb. 7, Noah said she was "proud" of her father and gave a shoutout to the release of his song "Lost." Contributing: Brendan Morrow and Jay Stahl, USA TODAY
Fox News
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Billy Ray Cyrus praises daughters Miley and Noah after rumors of family feud: 'I'm actually crying'
Billy Ray Cyrus heaped praise on daughters Miley and Noah Cyrus amid rumors of a family rift. On Tuesday, the 68-year-old country star gushed over his daughters' new music projects in an emotional post he shared on Instagram. "Holy s---. I seldom ever swear in my post but this deserves one! You are witnessing in real time what it feels like for a Dad who with in less than one weeks time has had his a-- kicked and his mind blown by not one …but two of his own daughters," the "Achy Breaky Heart" hitmaker wrote, tagging Miley, 32, and Noah, 25. "Flesh and blood … completely taking their art to a whole new level," he added. "Congratulations girls ! Well done. I'm so damn proud of both of you. I'm actually crying as I write this. Thank God you can't see me. "Have fun now and be happy! Love Dad." Billy Ray's post comes a day after Miley announced her upcoming visual album, "Something Beautiful," which will be released May 30. On March 19, Noah debuted her new song, "Don't Put It All On Me," with Fleet Foxes. "Don't Put It All On Me" is Noah's first collaboration with the indie folk band, and the song was written by her brother, Braison Cyrus. In his post, Billy Ray featured a promotional photo of Miley for "Something Beautiful" and a still image of Noah in the music video for "Don't Put It All On Me." Billy Ray dropped his own new single, "Ask," with Ben Burgess and Brandon Manley the same day Noah released "Don't Put It All On Me." In an Instagram post March 19, Billy Ray posted a screenshot of a text exchange between him and Noah in which he sent her a photo of a tall building in New York City that featured a sign for "Don't Put It All On Me" and expressed his excitement over her achievement. In the screenshot, Noah wrote, "Doddy!! I love your single." "I'm so damn proud of both of you. I'm actually crying as I write this." "Congratulations Noie @noahcyrus!!! I love your sign in NYC!," Billy Ray wrote in the caption of his post. "It is crazy our records were released on the same day. They … tell me we made history again in music today as a father and daughter release on the same day kinda thing. "I like doing things that hasn't been done before," Billy Ray added. "That's the challenge ya see ? Carl Perkins taught me that. He bended a few genres himself. How bout them blue suede shoes!" In the comments section, Noah wrote, "thanks fath!!! i love you so much. you're my inspiration." Last month, Noah took to her Instagram story to compliment Billy Ray's new single "Lost," according to People. "So proud of my Dad's INCREDIBLE new single LOST with my good, old friend [Sam Tinnesz] and [Tommee Profitt]," she wrote. Billy Ray's latest post comes two months after his son Trace sparked speculation of family tensions when he penned an open letter to Billy Ray. In the letter, Trace begged Billy Ray to reconnect with his family and suggested there was a rift between father and Noah. "You may be upset with me for posting this but I really could care less at this point. Me and the girls have been genuinely worried about you for years but you've pushed all of us away. Noah desperately has wanted you to be a part of her life and you haven't even been there for her. That's your baby girl. She deserves better. Somehow just like me she still idolizes you though." Billy Ray adopted Trace and his older sister, Brandi, when he married Tish Cyrus in 1992, and the couple went on to welcome Miley Cyrus, Braison and Noah before their divorce in 2022. The singer is also father to Christopher Cyrus with ex-wife Kristin Luckey. The 35-year-old also expressed concerns over Billy Ray's health, writing, "We are all hanging on to memories of the man we once knew & hoping for the day he returns. You're not healthy Dad & everyone is noticing it. Just like I showed up for you at mamaws funeral when you didn't expect me to I'm still here right now." On Jan. 20, Billy Ray took the stage to sing hits like "Old Town Road" and "Achy Breaky Heart" in celebration of President Donald Trump's inauguration, experiencing technical difficulties. Billy Ray later said, "I wouldn't have missed the honor of playing this event whether my microphone, guitar and monitors worked or not. I was there because President Donald J. Trump invited me. I had a ball at the Liberty Ball last night, and I've learned through all these years when the producer says, 'You're on,' you go entertain the folks even if the equipment goes to hell. "I was there for the people, and we had a blast," the statement shared to Instagram added. "That's called rock n' roll!!!" Trace posted a follow-up message after his first letter, claiming his adoptive father was threatening him with legal action over the initial letter. "Dad my message was beyond loving. I could have been extremely honest about a lot more but I don't want to put your business out there like that," he wrote. "But for you to threaten me with legal action for wanting you to get help is a disgrace." On Jan. 26, Billy Ray appeared to address his son's comments, sharing a clip of his 2009 music video, "Somebody Said a Prayer" to his YouTube account. The music video starred Trace. "Sunday callin," Billy Ray captioned his YouTube short. "Giving thanks for the California Rain. Praying for the brokenhearted and their pain. Praying for my family. For my children… sons and daughters… and their mother. Let this moment be the start of healing for us all. 'The past does not equal the future.' Amen." At the time, People reported that Miley planned to stay out of the conflict. "Miley used to feel overwhelmed by the family drama. She worked hard to remove herself. She's not about to get involved again," a source told the outlet. "She's in a great place now. She's thriving and looking out for herself." In a comment to People magazine, Braison, who worked with Billy Ray on his new album, weighed in on the strained relations between his dad and brother. "I don't have any bad feelings toward anyone in my family," he told the outlet.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Noah Cyrus Recruits Fleet Foxes For Song 'Don't Put It All On Me': Stream
The post Noah Cyrus Recruits Fleet Foxes For Song 'Don't Put It All On Me': Stream appeared first on Consequence. Noah Cyrus has just released a new song featuring indie-folk group Fleet Foxes. It's called 'Don't Put It All On Me,' and you can stream the new track now below. 'Don't Put It All On Me' is a lush piano-led ballad about bearing the responsibilities of others and learning how to slowly relieve oneself from these burdens. 'By the look in your eye I can tell you no longer need me,' the pair sings. 'the feeling is freeing.' The single was written by her brother, Braison. 'I have always been the observer in our family, and Braison wrote about how I tend to carry the weight of that on my shoulders,' she said in a statement. Along with the release, Cyrus has teased more new music to come, noting that she wants her work to provide solace to her fans. 'We all want to connect with our past while also being aware of the present moment. Music does that for me, and this new collection of songs was made with that in mind,' she stated. 'I want to evoke that feeling of a comforting friend that a song can be — and allow us all to heal.' Cyrus released her debut album The Hardest Part in 2022. Most recently, she was a featured artist on two fellow country artists tracks: Orville Peck's 'How Far Will We Take It?' and Shaboozey's 'My Fault,' the latter which she cowrote. After listening to the artist's new track, revisit Consequence's 2023 interview with Cyrus at Moon River Music Festival. Noah Cyrus Recruits Fleet Foxes For Song 'Don't Put It All On Me': Stream Jaeden Pinder Popular Posts JD Vance Booed at Kennedy Center Dropkick Murphys Make On-Stage Wager with Trump Supporter Over Where His Shirt Was Made Documentary Claims Jim Morrison Is Alive, Living in Syracuse In 2025, Lollapalooza Has Shed Its Rock Past for Good j-hope of BTS Makes Triumphant Return with Solo Tour "Hope on the Stage": Review Matt Pinfield Comes Out of a Coma After Suffering Massive Stroke: "Guys, I'm Alive" Subscribe to Consequence's email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
From Liberia to Tennessee: Mon Rovîa on bridging cultures with Afro-Appalachian sound ahead of Nashville show
Singer-songwriter Mon Rovîa straddles two worlds. For him, it's important to pay homage to both in his music. The Chattanooga-based folk musician, born Janjay Lowe, moved to the U.S. from his home country Liberia during the country's civil war. He had never planned for a career in music, but he felt pulled toward it as he reflected on his identity. "I decided if I was going to do music, and if anything was to happen to it, I would dedicate it back to my people," he said. Over the past few years, he's been making waves with his Afro-Appalachian tunes after going viral on social media and gaining a loyal following. His distinct, gentle voice and fluttery, ukulele-heartened tracks, including "crooked the road.," "City on a Hill" and "Big Love Ahead," have captivated audiences. Fans are even elevating Mon Rovîa's name up with the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Nick Drake and Bon Iver. Mon Rovîa has released a series of EPs following the hero's journey, starting with 2023's "Act 1: The Wandering," and "Act 2: Trials," "Act 3: The Dying of Self" in 2024, and the last chapter, "Act 4: Atonement," on Jan. 10. On Mon Rovîa's upcoming tour, the "Heal With Others: Appalachia Tour," he will stop in Nashville for one of his seven shows to showcase the songs that began his career. Before hitting the stage at the Basement East for a sold-out performance on Friday, Jan. 31, Mon Rovîa sat down with The Tennessean. Mon Rovîa was born in Liberia, West Africa during the country's first civil war and was adopted by a Christian missionary family alongside two other boys, ones who had fought in the war. Together, the new family immigrated to America around 2000. His family relocated to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where his adopted father was the pastor of a church. They later moved to Montana, about 30 miles outside of Whitefish, and Nassau in the Bahamas before resettling in Florida, where Mon Rovîa found music. Or more aptly, music found him. Growing up, he mostly listened to Christian music. It wasn't until high school when his family fostered two boys that the world of indie music revealed itself. His foster brothers introduced the then 16-year-old Mon Rovîa to a new world of music, like the Fleet Foxes, Radical Face and Bon Iver. One of his foster brothers, Hunter Martinez, now plays guitar in the band Goth Babe. "The love of music kind of was formed there," Mon Rovîa said. "It's been awesome seeing us now ... it's super cool to be on this journey of music together." Mon Rovîa started playing guitar around that time, creating a band with his brothers called the Tribe of Shrews. Their tunes are still on Spotify for the curious internet sleuths. But he still wasn't sold on a career in music. "I was a pretty shy kid. Still am, to be honest. But that opened the door for me to be a little bit more open to trying my hand out at singing." Mon Rovîa left Florida and headed to Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga for college, where he studied English but found himself in the throes of depression as he tried to unpack newfound feelings about his roots. "I felt survivor's guilt, lack of identity, the yearning for home and the yearning to understand history — my history, specifically — and the history of my people, something that I had not tapped back into at all in all these years that I was living in the states and trying to assimilate to some different culture," he said. "It was really lonely being raised in a primarily white family, kind of middle-classish white experience, but never being fully in there. But also at the same time, not relating to the African American experience either." Mon Rovîa felt isolated and misunderstood. "It all came to a head on Lookout Mountain." He left school and spent some time helping his father renovate his new home in California. "We were tearing down walls and putting up different structures — mirroring the experience I was having inward of tearing down old things alone," he said. "It's amazing to see that I needed that loneliness then to really look at the mirror, to really look at myself and break down old things." That's when Janjay Lowe became Mon Rovîa. He found joy in creating music again, in reconnecting with his roots through song. The music brought more clarity to Mon Rovîa about his identity. This music was for "the land, the story, the stories of others that are cast aside, that are forgotten, stories that are untold," he said. It was for home. So he settled on the stage name in honor of the capital city of Liberia, the city Monrovia. He still continues to return home to visit Liberia and learn his family history, and he's on track to visit again this year. Mon Rovîa's music has the sounds of his birthplace interlaced within them, like melodies that shift suddenly within the verses, and then fall back into their original tune. This West African music characteristic became integral in Appalachian folk music in the 1910s, Teen Vogue reported. Mon Rovîa combines his knowledge and experience with West African music with the sounds of Appalachia, just as others have done before him — breathing new life into a cycle that constantly reinvigorates genre as a concept. When Mon Rovîa sits down to create music, he calls it "downloading from the source." "Most of the stuff comes out of thin air," he said. "I guess I don't really think about it too much at all. I hear the music, and that's just an open exploration of mostly self." More recently, Mon Rovîa's been turning away from his inner world to the outer world for inspiration — it's new to him. "My writing process is poetic," he said. "I tend to not write many things until I'm in the studio, so I don't sit at home writing." He may jot down a couple lines of poetry in a moment of inspiration, and that later turns into a song. One song on his January EP came about exactly that way. Mon Rovîa was visiting Lake Como in Italy last year and saw two swans sitting together. As he watched the birds, he jotted down the lines: "From afternoon 'til dusk / I'm loving you too much / Until desire turns to dust / Loving you 'til I rust." A year later, the memory of the afternoon revisited him in the studio, and voilà. Add in Mon Rovîa's tranquil vocals, ambient guitar and hazy piano and the song bloomed into an introspective love story for the ages. Now, as Mon Rovîa works to craft his debut album, perhaps similar formative moments will flood back to him in the studio. He's not sure when his work on the record will conclude, but he is hopeful to "have something for the fans to continue the story." Mon Rovîa will perform at The Basement East on Friday. You can learn more about him at Audrey Gibbs is a music journalist with The Tennessean. You can reach her at agibbs@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Chattanooga's Mon Rovîa brings Afro-Appalachian sound to Nashville
