Good morning everyone, I trust we've all stopped with the "happy new year" business by now? Please?
It's been a mad week - I got back from Eurosonic in the Netherlands on Saturday and basically hit the ground running. On Monday I spoke with the brilliant David Soutar who directed a new Take That documentary out on Netflix next week, it's really, really good and he clearly had a very interesting time putting it together. Also, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth fame - today is the day the legendary metal band release their final ever album, Megadeth, before kicking off their farewell tour. That conversation (brief, but interesting) should be out as a Good Vibrations episode in the next couple of weeks.
The Brit Award nominations also landed and, honestly, it feels like one of the best yet. The list is really eclectic, showing much of the breadth of talent in the UK right now and acknowledging how women in music continue to kill it with nods for Lily Allen, Olivia Dean, Little Simz, Rosalia, RAYE, Lola Young, JADE, PinkPantheress... I could go on and on. In fact, I did go on and on on BBC Woman's Hour yesterday, chatting with the wonderful Anita Rani about the nominations and what it says about the wider industry.
Elsewhere... it's the 20th anniversary of one of my favourite albums ever, also one of the greatest debuts in history, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Not by Arctic Monkeys (sometimes you should believe the hype!). Mark Beaumont did a great deep-dive into the story behind it, speaking with producers Alan Smyth and Jim Abbiss, so definitely have a read of that. The band happen to have released a song in collaboration with War Child, "Opening Night", which is fantastic - it's giving Bowie with those super lush textures and Alex Turner singing in a slightly lower, crooning register.
More new music out, well, obviously there's Harry Styles, but there's also his former bandmate Louis Tomlinson with a whole new album, which Helen Brown reviewed here. The wonderful MIKA also has his first English-language album in six years out, the dizzying Hyperlove, which I spoke with him about (among many other things) earlier this year. There'll be a full review up shortly of Mr Styles's comeback single, "Aperture", for now though I'll just say I enjoyed it immensely and I'm glad that he's back - we were somewhat lacking when it came to men giving us the kind of full-scale entertainment value to match the Sabrina Carpenters and Chappell Roans of the world.
Other stuff I love this week: Welsh artist Jasmine Power's track "Leap", Jessie Ware's return with "I Could Get Used to This", "Right Here" from Miso Extra, the new Henry Grace album (my spotlight artist last week, in case you missed it), the brilliant Gia Ford with the scorching "How Do I Reply?" and Snail Mail, back with "Dead End" (really, really like this) and the announcement of her new album, Ricochet. Also Holly Humberstone's "To Love Somebody" and the excellent Nosferatu-inspired music video, and Altrice's "Think & Dream" which actually dropped last week but I missed it so... maybe you did too.
Finally, big news, drum roll please... Good Vibrations is BACK! I'm so excited, giddy even, especially because my first guest of 2026 is the legendary Jill Scott, an absolute queen who is about to release her first album in a decade, To Whom This May Concern. It's an absolutely stunning record, full of incredible skits and moments along with the songs themselves, which feature some astonishing collaborations with Tierra Whack, DJ Premier, JID and many more. Me and Jill, my new best friend, chatted about the making of that record, swapped some mutual horror stories about relationships and shared our thoughts on body image. She also told me about the times she spent dancing with Prince (rarely have I been quite so jealous), and the lengths she's gone to surround her son with positive role models.
Tune in, let me know if you enjoyed the episode and please feel free to tell me who else you'd love to hear me chat with on Good Vibrations this year.
Roisin x
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