Arts & Entertainment
Music in the air
Wide array of fall releases slated from Mika to Yoko

This season brings listeners a combination of whole new sounds, including new works from Mika and the Pet Shop Boys, along with re-imagined and re-worked throwbacks as Nina Simone is honored and Barbra Streisand releases never-before-heard songs from earlier parts of her career.
Folk-rock musician Melissa Etheridgeās newly released album, ā4thĀ Street Feeling,ā takes listeners back to her hometown Leavenworth, Kan. Etheridge describes 4thĀ St. as the main drag of downtown and this is the first time where she takes lead guitar to sing the bluesy sounds of her home.
Released earlier this week, the Pet Shop Boysā new album āElysiumā is the 30-year-old groupās attempt to infuse the music with fresh sounds by recording in Los Angeles with Kanye West associate Andrew Dawson. The first single āWinnerā was revealed in July and it was performed before the Olympic tennis game along with āAlways On My Mindā and āWhat Have I Done to Deserve This?ā in Henman Hill, Wimbledon.
Also just out is Amy Cookās new album āSummer Skinā where singers as diverse as Robert Plant and Patty Griffin join her for the project she calls highly melodic and catchy.
The day after, Nelly Furtadoās latest album āThe Spirit Indestructibleā released and it is her first English language album in six years. Three years in the making, Furtado has returned to her āWhoa Nelly!ā origins with a pop and R&B combo.
The multi-platinum out star Mika releases his new album āThe Origin of Loveā on Oct. 16. His third album, every aspect of āThe Origin of Loveā was put together completely by Mika over two years. He flew all over the world to put together a large amount of collaborators including Greg Wells, who has worked with stars such as Rufus Wainwright, Katy Perry, Elton John and Adele.
Yoko Ono has linked up with Sonic Youthās Kim Gordon and Thurston Moor to produce āYOKOKIMTHURSTONā coming out Sept. 25. The album has only six tracks, however it still appears to be lengthy based on their first single āEarly in the Morning,ā which is 14 minutes long. The announcement of the new album came to surprise many fans since Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore split after 27 years of marriage last October.
Seattle-based rapper, Macklemore (also known as Ben Haggerty) has a new release āThe Heist LPā coming out Oct. 9.Ā The previously released single āSame Love,ā which showed Macklemoreās support for same-sex marriage, is included on the track along with āCanāt Hold Usā and āMake the Money.ā
While some artists are producing new modern sounds, some are putting fresh twists on the old. Meshell Ndegeocello comes out with āPour Une Ame Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simoneā on Oct. 9, a tribute to legendary singer and pianist Nina Simone who died in 2003. The juxtaposition of Simoneās lyrical clarity against the unclear style of Ndegeocello, whoās bi, appears in many of the albumās songs.
Also reimaging older numbers is Tori Amos, whose newest album āGold Dustā comes out on Oct. 2.Ā This year marks the 20th anniversary of Amosā first album āLittle Earthquakes,ā and her new album includes several numbers spanning her career re-recorded with the Metropole Orchestra. The idea for the album was conceived in 2010 when Amos was invited to perform with the orchestra and she enjoyed hearing her songs being played in this style. She wanted the renditions of her songs recorded.
Also working somewhat within that vein is Aussie diva Kylie Minogue, whose āAbbey Road Sessionsā drops Nov. 6 featuring 16 of her songs re-imagined and re-arranged with full orchestra. It will also include one previously unreleased cut, āFlower.ā
Barbra Streisand is sharing 11 unreleased numbers that span from 1963 to the present in her album āRelease Me,ā which is available on Vinyl on Sept. 25 and on CD on Oct. 9. Many of the tracks were extra recordings that did not make it onto the original albums. The tracks include songs such as āWillow Weep For Me,ā recorded in 1967 for the album āSimply Streisand,ā and a version of Randy Newmanās āI Think Itās Going Rain Todayā with Newman on piano and Streisand singing.
Leona Lewis is finally releasing her third studio album āGlassheartā on Oct. 15. The album was originally scheduled to release last fall, but was pushed back several times to add more recording sessions. Lewis performed the first single āCollideā on Simon Cowellās new game show āRed or Black?ā Later in September 2011, she performed this single along with the title song āGlassheartā at G-A-Y nightclub in London.
Freshening up the later part of fall is Taylor Swift with her studio album āRedā slated for Oct. 22.Ā Swift is known for her tumultuous and emotional style, often pulling from her past relationships as inspiration. Her new work promises to be no different as the first released single āWe Are Never Getting Back Togetherā might be the next breakup anthem. Itās up to listeners to figure out which past loves she is singing about in which tracks, as the singer is not giving any names.
On Oct. 23, Diamond Rings ā a one-man outfit consisting of gay singer John O ā releases āFree Dimensional,ā which he says retains the melodicism, clever juxtapositions and lyrical honesty that garnered him kudos for his āSpecial Affectionsā project.
āWhatās different this time around is how the songs were conceived and produced,ā he said in a press statement, referring to his increasing comfort with āhigh tech bells and whistles.ā
Books
From genteel British wealth to trans biker
Memoir āFrighten the Horsesā a long but essential read

āFrighten the Horses: A Memoirā
By Oliver Radclyffe
c.2024, Roxane Books/Grove Atlantic
$28/352 pages
Finding your own way.
It’s a rite of passage for every young person, a necessity on the path toĀ adulthood. You might have had help with it. You might have listened to your heart alone on the quest to find your own way. And sometimes, as in the new memoir,Ā “Frighten the Horses” by Oliver Radclyffe,Ā you may have to findĀ yourselfĀ first.

If you had observed Oliver Radclyffe in a random diner a few years ago, you’d have seen a blonde, bubbly, but harried mother with four active children under age seven and a distracted husband. You probably wouldn’t have seen trouble, but it was there.
“Nicky,” as Radclyffe was known then, was simmering with something that was just coming to the forefront.
As a young child, Nicky’d been raised in comfort in a family steeped in genteel British wealth, attended a private all-girl’s school, and never wanted for anything. She left all that behind as a young adult, and embraced the biker lifestyle and everything it entailed. The problem now wasn’t that she missed her old ways; it was that she hated life as a wife and mother. Her dreams were filled with fantasies of “exactly who I was: a man on a motorbike, in love with a woman.”
But being a man? No, that wasn’t quite right.
It took every bit of courage she had to say she was gay, that she thought constantly about women, that she hated sex with men. When she told her husband, he was hurt but mostly unbothered, insisting that she tell absolutely no one. They could remain married and just go forward. Nothing had to change.
But everything had already changed for Nicky.
Once she decided finally to come out, she learned that friends had already suspected. Family was supportive. It would be OK. But as Nicky began to experiment with a newfound freedom to be with women, one thing became clear: having sex with a woman was better when she imagined doing it as a man.
In his opening chapter, author Oliver Radclyffe shares an anecdote about the confusion the father of Radclyffe’s son’s friend had when picking up the friend. Readers may feel the same sentiment.
Fortunately, “Frighten the Horses” gets better ā and it gets worse. Radclyffe’s story is riveting, told with a voice that’s distinct, sometimes poker-faced, but compelling; you’ll find yourself agreeing with every bit of his outrage and befuddlement with coming out in a way that feels right. When everything falls into place, it’s a relief for both author and reader.
And yet, it’s hard to get to this point because this memoir is just too long. It lags where you’ll wish it didnāt. It feels like being burrito-wrapped in a heavy-weighted blanket: You don’t necessarily want out, but you might get tired of being in it.
Still, it remains that this peek at transitioning, however painful, is essential reading for anyone who needs to understand how someone figures things out. If that’s you, then consider “Frighten the Horses” and find it.
Celebrity News
Is Karla SofĆa GascĆ³n’s apology too little, too late?
Netflix has removed transgender actress from Oscars campaign

The latest in the scandal involving “Emilia PerĆ©z”ās trans star and Best Actress nominee Karla SofĆa GascĆ³n is Netflix deciding to part ways with her even after her public apology and statement regarding not withdrawing from the nomination.
āI have been labeled a racist and I need to be clear that I am not. I feel like Iāve been judged, sentenced, crucified, and stoned without a fair trial and without an option to defend myself,ā said GascĆ³n in an interview with CNN en EspaƱol.Ā
According to Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has cut GascĆ³n out of the campaign for the Oscars. This move comes even after GascĆ³n issued an apology through a statement on her social media and in an interview with CNN en EspaƱol. On Thursday she was set to be seated with co-star Selena Gomez, Zoe SaldaƱa and the filmās writer-director, Jacques Audiard for the AFI Awards luncheon ā a gathering at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. On Friday, she was set to attend the Critics Choice Awards. On Saturday, she was set to serve as presenter at the Producers Guild Awards, which happen to be going on at the same time as the Directors Guild Awards. According to THR, she will not be attending the events.
The Spaniard actress found herself at the center of controversy surrounding the Netflix original being nominated for 13 Oscars after freelance culture writer Sarah Hagi uncovered the actress’s stream of consciousness on display on X, formerly Twitter. Hagi found tweets from as far back as 2020, revealing GascĆ³n’s views on Muslims, George Floyd, China, and vaccines.
In her hour-long interview with CNN en EspaƱol, she defended her position on the issue stating that she feels that she was unfairly targeted, while not being given the opportunity to defend the position she stood behind while writing those tweets.
She goes on to say that she āsupports the Black Lives Matter movement obviouslyā and that the tweets about George Floyd āwere taken out of context.ā In the interview, she goes on to say she was highlighting the hypocrisy of humanity in that moment in history. According to GascĆ³n, what she noticed during that time was that only after Floydās death did people care about him, but prior to his death, they did not help him or care about his struggles.
āI do not identify with any political party and I have my own opinions about issues that might have been one thing in the past, but have now shifted because I have learned many things about respect, love and with the spiritual practice of Buddhism,ā said GascĆ³n.
In the interview, she also pulls the “I have a friend whoās Black, so Iām not racist,ā card by saying she has a very close family friend who is Muslim, in response to the line of questioning about her being Islamophobic and only through very heavy discussions with her, has GascĆ³n truly come to understand the implications of her words against the culture and religion, as well as theĀ differences between the cultures.Ā
“Emilia PerĆ©z” was already facing an upward battle to gain popularity, as it was a French production about MĆ©xico. Audiences criticized the film for various reasons and yet, it was still nominated for Best Picture, Critics Choice Award for Best Picture, Academy Award for Best Directing, and many others.
GascĆ³n deleted her X account shortly after the tweets were discovered and is now facing the cold shoulder from Netflix. Variety and THR, reported that the streaming giant is no longer directly communicating with GascĆ³n ā only through representatives.
Whether or not this is a witch hunt for a trans actress at the height of her career, GascĆ³n now has first-hand experience in dealing with what it means to misuse a platform by sharing her views on issues she said herself, she did not understand.
Out & About
Camp Rehoboth Theatre Company kicks off new season
Poetry jam to be followed by ‘5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche’

CAMP Rehoboth Theatre Company will kick off its 2025 season with its first-ever poetry jam followed by a full-stage production of ā5 Lesbians Eating a Quicheā on Friday, Feb. 21 at 5 p.m. at CAMP Rehoboth’s Elkins-Archibald Atrium.
CAMP Rehoboth Poetry Jam Poets / Performers include: Debbie Bricker, Kari Ebert, Shelley Blue Grabel, Lavance John, Vanita Leatherwood, Syd Linders, Ellie Maher, Jane Miller, Gwen Osborne, Coco Silveira, Guillermo Silverira, Laura Unruh, Paul Unruh, and Sherri Wright.
ā5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche,ā which will run from March 7-9 debuted at CAMP Rehoboth in fall of 2022, and features returning cast members Karen Laitman, Kelly Sheridan, Gwen Osborne, Darcy Vollero, and Shelley Kingsbury, and is directed by Teri Seaton. The absurdist comedy follows the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein having their annual quiche breakfast in 1956. Winner of the 2012 NYC International Fringe Festival as Best Overall Production, ā5 Lesbians Eating A Quicheā is a tasty recipe of hysterical laughs, sexual innuendos, unsuccessful repressions, and delicious discoveries. For more information, visit CAMP Rehobothās website.
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