Freelance journalist and copywriter covering culture, society, politics, and lifestyle. Bylines in The Guardian, Dazed, Euronews, Metro, Vice UK, Kerrang! and others.
Could TikTok Be An Aid in Substance Use Disorder Recovery?
Key Takeaways
• Some people are using TikTok to help in their substance use disorder recovery.
• Videos about recovery have amassed millions of views on the video-sharing app.
• It can be difficult to access formal treatment, so some are turning to TikTok as a substitute.
Getting formal treatment for substance use disorder can be difficult, and some people are turning to TikTok to help them in their recovery instead.
It’s no secret that TikTok is huge, and hugely popular. The video-sharing pl...
Live Review: Arcade Fire at KOKO, London, 29/04/22
Arcade Fire are back. KOKO is back. What could be better?
The opening of Camden’s iconic KOKO is something that has been eagerly awaited for a long time, as has the return of Arcade Fire to the UK, so why not kill two birds with one stone?
It’s the Montreal indie icons’ first UK show since 2018, and their first without long-time member Will Butler, who departed last year. With their upcoming sixth studio album being their first since 2017, too, it feels somewhat fitting that they’re headlinin...
Touring and loneliness: Musicians discuss the impacts of a life on the road
For Mental Health Awareness Week, Adam England speaks to James Kennedy, The Subways’ Billy Lunn, Jess Branney of indie trio Peaness and Natalie Wardle about the psychological effects of touring and asks how the pandemic has added another layer of pressure.
Touring can be lonely for artists — that’s hardly a secret. It’s something the likes of James Blake and Florence Welch have been vocal about in the past, and it’s not hard to see why a life of solitary hotel rooms and cramped vans might tak...
What the Rise in Smoking Says About Modern Day Coping Mechanisms
Cigarette sales have increased for the first time in two decades, as more people have taken up smoking during the pandemic, often using it as a coping...
Ten years of Electra Heart by Marina and the Diamonds
Cast your mind back to 2012. Among seminal releases from Frank Ocean, Taylor Swift and Tame Impala (not to mention the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics in London and Barack Obama’s re-election), there came Electra Heart.
As difficult as it might be to believe, Marina’s second album celebrates its tenth birthday on Wednesday (27 April 2022). You’d be hard-pressed to find an artist with such a consistently strong output, and the impact of Electra Heart — her real ‘pop’ album — cannot be ov...
“If I can make it, God, anyone can!” – ‘bonkbuster’ queen MELANIE BLAKE on her unlikely author success
Self-styled “author returning to escapism” Melanie Blake was a go-nowhere schoolgirl – but the stars aligned, she put the hours in, and now she’s writing randy romps that shoot to the top of the bestseller lists. What’s the story? Adam England found out.
“Every single thing in that book, and every way they behave, is exactly what it’s like with the real celebrities, the real actresses, and the real executives.”
I’m speaking to agent-turned-author Melanie Blake about her upcoming novel Guilty ...
Album Review: Kae Tempest - The Line is a Curve
Over the past decade, Kae Tempest has been cementing themselves as one of the UK’s most vital voices. They mix the personal, the political, and the everyday in such a way that other artists seldom manage, and The Line is a Curve is a continuation of that trend.
Tempest is the sort of talent who could easily give us 45 minutes of just them and have it be great, but as we’ve seen previously with the likes of ‘Guts’, featuring Loyle Carner, they shine when working with some of the brightest name...
Album Review Syd - Broken Hearts Club
Of all the artists to emerge from the Odd Future collective, Syd is easily among the most fascinating. First joining the likes of Tyler, the Creator and Matt Martians as a teen under the moniker Syd tha Kid, she went on to form The Internet with Matt in 2011, and released her debut solo album, ‘Fin’, in 2017. And now, five years later, comes ‘Broken Hearts Club’.
When she was first planning her second album, love songs were part of the plan, but following the breakdown of a two-year relations...
What the Latest Mental State of the World Report Says About Our Declining State of Mind
Key Takeaways
• The Mental State of the World Report has been published, and the US is near the bottom.
• The 'Core Anglosphere' region as a whole scored low, with the UK joint-bottom.
• More individualistic societies tended to score poorly, with collectivist societies ranking higher.
• Globally, the mental health of young adults is declining.
The Mental Health Million Project has published its annual Mental State of the World Report, and while there’s been a smaller decline in mental wellbei...
How social media helped ‘Football Manager’ become one of the biggest cult games on the planet
Tonton Zola Moukoko. Cherno Samba. Carlos Fierro. Tó Madeira. In reality, these rather obscure footballers have played for the likes of Atletico Morelia, Carlstad United and FC Haka – Madeira, it turned out, didn’t even exist – but for many fans of the Football Manager series, they’re better known for their in-game exploits.
Millions of copies of Football Manager are sold every year, and for those that play, it’s less of a hobby and more a way of life. A glimpse online shows just how big the ...
‘We love our Queen, you b******s!’ – The Story Behind Sex Pistols’ God Save The Queen
Written in one day, the cultural impact of God Save the Queen can’t be understated. Its story is one of fallout, violence, and desperate censorship from a pro-monarchy status quo.
“God save the Queen/A fascist regime!”
Even now a song beginning like this would court plenty of controversy and invite an avalanche of opinion pieces and angry tweets, but 45 years ago some people were so incensed they were ready to resort to violence.
1977 marked the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, celebrating the 25th an...
Florida Set to Pass “Don’t Say Gay” Bill—What It Means and Why It’s Problematic
Key Takeaways
Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis is set to sign the “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law.
The bill bans teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity between kindergarten and the third grade.
Supporters claim the bill increases parental rights, but research shows that discussion of LGBTQ+ topics in schools improves the mental health of LGBTQ+ students.
Four states currently have laws prohibiting or limiting the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the classro...
Album Review: Peaness - World Full of Worry
Forming in 2013, Peaness have been fixtures on the indie venue circuit for a number of years now and almost a decade after they first got started, we’ve got their long-awaited debut album World Full of Worry in our hands.
How Spencer, The Crown and the internet turned Princess Diana into a Gen-Z queen
Timeline dead?” asked one viral tweet in September. “Here’s a reminder that this trailer exists.” “Yeah her Oscar coming for real,” read another. “Wishing y’all a very happy ‘watch this trailer at least five times today’ day,” read one more. You might expect to see those kinds of tweets after a trailer drops for a Netflix movie, maybe one set in a high school, or perhaps starring a Gen-Z icon such as Zendaya. Not, as they were, in relation to Spencer, a historical drama about British royalty....