Category Archives: Hedonism

Thomas Mars of Phoenix. Photo: ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images

For their sixth LP, Ti Amo, the French band Phoenix looked to the Italian lifestyle for inspiration. Blending shimmering disco pop with a smattering of Italian phrases, Phoenix created a colorful, occasionally decadent sonic trip that manages to be optimistic even in these troubled times.

Apparently inspired by gelato, and all the connotations the notoriously rich form of ice cream might bring, Phoenix recorded the album without much rehearsal time. We tried to keep the first take, and the first emotion [we experienced], says front man Thomas Mars. We wanted to keep the first awkward, unconscious chemistry that was happening between the four of us.

During a visit to New York, Mars and bassist Deck DArcy spoke with Vulture about finding inspiration in hedonism, and why it felt important to create a fantasy for their listeners.

How did you land on Ti Amo as an album title? Thomas Mars: One of the working titles for our previous record Bankrupt! was Je taime. Maybe people dont know [in the U.S.], but for a French band, its extremely ballsy to call your album Je taime. Its not something you do and we wanted to do it, but the songs and the title didnt go together. [Je taime] isnt very unique. Its something thats used by a lot of people. So its hard to appropriate it theres a bit of work that you need to make it yours. And slowly, while writing the songs, we embraced some of our own language, which had mostly English, but French and Italian. And then we shifted: Je taime became Ti Amo and it felt like a natural choice. It felt like the record sounded like Ti Amo; the [music and title] matched. And that helped us choose the direction of which songs would be on the

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Why did a fantasized version of Italy become the focus for the record? TM: When we first wrote the songs, it sounded like a mumble. The words came, and they didnt really make sense, but there were a few words here and there that popped, and they were written in Italian. Then we embraced it: We tried to keep the first take and the first emotion [we experienced]. We wanted to keep the first awkward, unconscious chemistry that was happening between the four of us. Italy was a part of it because of a few trips and a few influences. But it popped out really strongly because I think [Italian] is not really being used a lot in contemporary music, and its always interesting for us to find things that no one taps into for some reason. People seem to drink from the same water. We went just a little bit outside and we found a giant oasis of fresh water.

What accounts for the romantic, carefree-sounding record? TM: Its romantic, but at the same time, while recording, we were the first ones surprised by the fact that it was light, carefree, and hedonistic. Because around us, there was not a lot of pleasure. I think that any artist would have you ask themselves, What was really the point of [making this record] when the atmosphere in Paris was really dark? So we all were a little bit surprised that we did something that opposite.

So is it a form of escapism? TM: You know, people are gonna write protest songs its that time. But music shouldnt be one thing. We went into [making music] in its most precious and simple form, which is just a fantasy, pure and detached, but not escapism.

Deck DArcy: A lot of our favorite artists turn darkness into light. From Prince to Hank Williams. You know, [Princes] Sign O the Times? The song has a darkness: Its a questioning song, but then at the same time, theres a lot of light, and a strong, new sound. Theres something new about it that I love.

What were you listening to when you made this record? TM: Tons of things, but nothing specific. Maybe Italian music more, like Lucio Battisti, Franco Battiato. But then we have to find a common language; we have to make them fit into the same [music]. The less inbred, the better.

The less inbred? TM: Were Frenchmen, so it would be inbred to be inspired by a French artist. The more foreign in time and distance like Monteverdi, thats perfect: 1500s Italian music. Thats really far from us we can easily steal from that.

Is this a concept record? TM: Not on paper, but maybe. The word concept has a bit of a negative twist for me somehow, but at the same time, every album is a concept, because we see it as a book. With every single song that you hear, we want each of them to have a strong identity.

DD: Its more coherence than concept. Concept sometimes goes against freedom. And the way we made it was free-spirited for a while. At least there was no concept at the beginning

Judging by the titles of the songs, Europe was a huge influence. How did you land on those titles? TM: The thing is, we are a European band as well. Even in our previous albums, we talk about the European roots, and then we sing in English. And actually what we sing about is our European roots. But we probably pushed it even farther this time.

How? DD: There are songs in Italian, like Thomas was saying. Telefono and Fior di Latte. The song is named after a kind of sweet milk. Its actually the flavor of a very good ice cream. We were thinking a lot about ice cream and gelato while we were doing this album. That was the concept.

TM: Melting, always melting.

DD: Melting gelato.

TM: It had to melt. Otherwise, it helps when youre in this industry to have a few words whenever youre surrounded by instruments, and you have to choose something to fit in a song. If you have a word that you can think of, it helps to make that decision. I know in movies they do that. Every day they have to take that: We want this shot to be green or white. And then, if milk is part of one of those words, you go with white it helps create a coherent identity. So in that way, [the album] is maybe a little bit conceptual.

So is the theme of the album melted gelato, then? TM: It is! Yeah! What would you say?

I would say, like, love and passion? TM: Yeah. Melted gelato theres an erotic quality in gelato, and in food in general.

How many gelatos did you have while making this record? TM: None, but you fantasize about them. No, actually, we had a few the Fior di Latte one has this pure quality. Its hard to analyze I read recently a really good quote from Mike Nichols, who was quoting someone else. But hes trying to explain his work, and hes saying, Im a bird, not an ornithologist. And I think it explains really well how incapable people are at analyzing their own work. We are the bird.

Other than gelato, how did you immerse yourself in Italy and Europe in general to create the record? Did you go to any specific places to gain inspiration? TM: We did, but we werent looking for authenticity. We were looking for this distortion; we we were looking for mistakes and imperfection. With this record, were almost happy to stay as tourists to get the distorted feeling. Similar to the way that we sing in English, we dont want to make perfect American songs with American accents. We love that our brain cells and connections are French, and it makes something cool that sometimes people dont get. But I think it makes the music unique. So its the same way with Italian, we just used it as a vehicle to create a tone.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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On 'Ti Amo', Phoenix Combat Dark Times with Fun and Gelato - Vulture

Mixmag

6 party crews redefining the gay underground Mixmag Taking the hedonism of vintage Folsom Street and mixing in some spectacular party planning (and four very talented selectors), Honey Soundsystem is a San Francisco-based collective and party that has redefined the sound of the gay millennium with a ...

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6 party crews redefining the gay underground - Mixmag

New York Times

The Best Things We Saw and Heard During London Fashion Week Men's New York Times But beneath the pantomime and theater, serious ideas were at work, including musings on self-expression, hedonism and the right to freedom. We need to dance in the face of threats, Mr. Jeffrey said. It's not enough to stay woke. We also need to be ... and more »

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The Best Things We Saw and Heard During London Fashion Week Men's - New York Times

Claudia Comte, Now I won (2017) on the Messeplatz outside Art Basel.

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You can see Claudia Comtes Now I Won (2017) from far down the road up to the convention center here in Basel, Switzerland, and eventually the wooden stakes atop a turf-covered structure reveal themselves to be spelling out the name of the piece in a manner that shows the artist triumphantly asserting her dominance over the towns main Messepaltz and perhaps Art Basel as a whole.

As aninstallation for the entrance to the fair, however, this one is business in the front, party in the back. Thats because once you go around you realize you have entered the Fun Fair, where art aficionadoscan play darts, shoot mini-golf, throw stuff in knockdown toss, or arm wrestle all to gain points and potential prizessuch as a sculpture. Theres also a booth called Dance or Die, in which a DJ is spinning tunes and those around are askedto bust moves(or, less appealingly, die).

If this seems likea little too much Art Basel Miami Beach for Art Basel in Basel, just wait until you get to the last booth: the Fun Fair Shot Bar, which announces in big letters SLURP EM UP. This, readers, will be the only time I will get to reference the fair-weather resort town denof hedonism that is the chain restaurantSeor Frogs in the context of an art fair on the Rhine, but the Fun Fair Show Bars list is straight out ofSeor Frogs. The bartenders are wearing T-shirts and sunglasses, and everything is very chill.

Here are your options, and its advised that you choose two and take them both at once, which is a monstrously horrifying proposition Ill probably entertainat some point this week regardless. Slurp away.

Images of the bar below.

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Fun Fair Shot Bar By Claudia Comte Brings Seor Frogs-Style Hedonism to Art Basel - ARTnews

Adapting her own novel for the big screen, German author-director Helen Hegemann makes a polished feature debut with Axolotl Overkill. Pulse firmly on the rapid strobe-lit streets of Berlin, the film is very much a muse on teenage excess and independence, as self-destructive as in can be, with an assured sense of style and impressive visuals to compensate for a lack of originality. Though there isnt quite as much narrative heft behind it, often falling into repetition and not knowing how to fully capitalise on crucial moments, Hegemann is admirable as she follows sixteen year old Mifti (Jasna Fritzi Bauer) through unstable sexual relationships, a more-is-more approach to drugs, and a desperate desire for rebellion.

Bauers self-medicating protagonist is not in a healthy place at any point in the film, reeling from her mothers death and her detachment from a rich father who doesnt seem all that present. Though Mifti is under the care of her older half-sister Anika (Laura Tonke), in her mind she is not tethered to anything, floating on a precarious cloud of self-indulgence and immediate gratification. Rather than focus on how aimless Mifti has become, Hegemann wastes no time spinning the teen into a cycle of drugs, sex and partying, all anchored with unromantic and blunt language, juxtaposed against the dazzling surrounds of Berlin which are heightened by the directors consistent dream-like and kinetic tone.

Tales of youth spiralling out of control is as much about the company one keeps as well, and theres no shortage of a poisonous echo chamber with Miftis primary dynamics bouncing off damaged, drug-addicted actor Ophelia (Mavie Hrbiger) and love interest Alice (Arly Jover), an older woman with whom the teen begins an affair between nameless men and hazy drug-addled raves. Its these relationships which give the actors considerable material to digest, highlighting a strong cast that proves invaluable in deepening the otherwise shallow core around which the film revolves.

Though electric scenes of instant gratification are the life-blood of Overkill, the film overdoses on its own candy-coated ambition, most definitely falling head-first into the style-over-substance pile when Hegemann cant quite contain her own creation. Instead of focusing on any sort of momentum, the exciting morphs into the mundane until it becomes clear that no amount of visual finesse as much as it is genuinely exciting to watch can take Miftis arc where it needs to go in order for Axolotl Overkill to be set apart from the dozens of similar films before it.

If nothing else, this is a showcase for Hegemanns irrepressible style sitting in colourful opposition to more grounded and patient illustrations of youth-in-revolt such as Larry Clark cult-classic Kids. A sense of hopelessness and the trappings of pleasure is shared by both films, but in this case Overkill is unable to stick the landing after flying so high with tunnel vision and dilated pupils.

Review Score: THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE) Running Time: 94 minutes

Axoltl Overkill is currently screening as part of Sydney Film Festival. More information and tickets can be found HERE

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Sydney Festival Film Review: Axoltl Overkill (Germany, 2017) burns up Berlin with heavily stylised hedonism - the AU review (blog)

Mary Zardilla looked like she had it all. It was 1986, the heyday of Hong Kong hedonism and she had spent the past decade climbing the greasy pole of the entertainment business to its gaudy, gold-plated zenith the self-appointed greatest night club of them all, Club Bboss.

Like many others, Mary had risked much to be here, lured by the promise of rubbing shoulders with the movers and shakers of the day. The clubs clientele was a veritable whos who of 1980s Hong Kong. Celebrities, politicians, famous businessmen... all were common sights at this Tsim Sha Tsui landmark, a 70,000 sq ft nightclub-cum-amusement park for men that boasted bright lights, lavish floor shows and more than 1,000 perfectly coiffed hostesses.

As one of the citys last Japanese super clubs, Club Bboss formerly Club Volvo was about nothing if not conspicuous consumption. The rich and famous would arrive at the curbside in their Rolls-Royces, only to be ferried to their booths in gold-plated golf carts designed to look like the vehicles they had just left.

And once inside they might meet one of those many perfectly coiffed hostesses but not before first encountering someone like Mary.

Mary was one of the clubs foremost mamasans. Her job was to match up the clubs male clientele with one of the 100 or so escorts under her control and it was a job Mary, who learned Japanese for the role, was particularly good at, having acquired an uncanny knack for reading mens minds when it came to their tastes in women.

So good, in fact, that the club gave her two armed bodyguards as round-the-clock protection when she joined from a rival establishment a skilled mamasan like Mary could bring in a lot of money for a club, many of which were run by triad gangs, and employers did not take kindly to being abandoned.

Some mamasans got beaten and hospitalised to warn you against leaving [for another club], recalls Mary, now 63, petite with a pretty, wrinkle-free face that makes her look decades younger than she is. [When I left my former job], I said, please dont hurt me. I served my contract. I have to support my poor family in the Philippines.

I WAS A TRAFFICKER OF WOMEN

Luckily for her, Mary was allowed to leave for Club Bboss, where she worked alongside mamasans from Australia, Japan, China and Korea, managing girls who, like her, had begun working there voluntarily, out of financial need driven by their impoverished family backgrounds.

We were trapped with no other options, says Mary, who herself began working at 16 to support her parents and siblings.

As a pimp, Mary mentored her girls in everything from etiquette to styling. Every night she introduced them to johns who were charged fees by 15 minute increments. Johns were charged by the club anywhere from HK$1,900 to HK$3,500 or more per encounter, depending on how wealthy they appeared.

Technically, Marys work and that of her girls was entirely legal, but Mary herself is in little doubt as to what her role constituted. I sold girls. As a mamasan, I trafficked girls, Mary now says, bluntly.

To get around the laws on prostitution, their salaries were paid by nightclub accountants and they were taxed as hostesses something that is considered legal work.

To keep their mamasan happy, the girls would give Mary money or gifts as a favour. The girls needed to do this to get an edge on their competition for the highest paying, most attractive johns. Mamasans were in charge of their own schedules and were the most powerful in the food chain. Mary had only one boss the owner.

The link between human trafficking and the escort business is not always clear. At high-end places like Club Bboss, for example, working women arrived on their own accord from places such as Japan, America, Britain, Latin America, the Philippines and mainland China. And, of course, there were local Hongkongers, too. Many of the women from overseas had entered Hong Kong on tourist visas before applying, voluntarily, for work at one of the 10 or so top clubs. Mary says all the women were hoping a man would sweep them off their feet like Richard Gere in the film Pretty Woman.

The girls can make more money in clubs than brothels. Brothels are faster turnover, but they are more controlled. Nightclubs give more freedom and pay more, she says.

At the lower-end establishments, however, its less clear how much choice the women had. Mary knew many clubs that recruited women from overseas, paying for their plane tickets and all expenses, but did not allow them to leave the premises after they arrived.

In some of the worst cases, women were clearly trafficked. One of Marys girls at Club Bboss, Isabelle, had been trafficked from Manila by a triad gang who had deceived her about the type of work she would be doing in Hong Kong. When she arrived, the gang forced her into prostitution in a private home. Isabelle was forced to sleep with up to 30 men a night, with the triads charging HK$50 per john. A man guarded her at all times to prevent her from escaping. Isabelles bodyguard later bought her from her owner after the pair formed a bond and they ended up getting married. Yet, even liberated, with limited options for income, Isabelle found herself back in a similar line of work as one of Marys hostesses, albeit with more freedom and pay.

And even for those women who had entered the field voluntarily, by the time they realised Richard Gere would not be coming to save them, it was too late. Some girls wanted to find a better job. But unfortunately they hadnt finished school or didnt have skills, Mary explains. Freelancers can leave anytime they want but dont have other options and they end up trapped.

THE DESCENT

The descent into pimping women happened slowly for Mary. At 16, she had dropped out of school and started working in a factory to support her parents and seven siblings. Her father died three years later leaving her mother, a laundry woman, devastated. Mary stepped up as the eldest daughter to support the family. Mary left the factory job to join a cultural dance troupe and the troupe took her to Hong Kong in 1972. During the troupes tour, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law back in the Philippines, prompting Mary and other dancers to search for more permanent work in the city.

That year, she met a Filipino man working in entertainment and married him a few years later. He cheated on her frequently. Pained, she focused on making money to send back to her family. I longed for love. I didnt have love, I became a slave to money, she recalls.

She applied for a receptionist role at a club in Tsim Sha Tsui not realising it was a hostess job. I was innocent and so deceived. Many are deceived into working as prostitutes. But she refused to sleep with the johns and was instead groomed as a mamasan.

Unacquainted with this underworld, she had no idea what mamasans did nor what big money they made. She learned on the go. I was entertaining customers like a public relations person. I studied Japanese and became good. I would ask them what kind of girls they preferred. I soon learned Japanese businessmen like young girls.

The money hardened her. Her starting salary was HK$20,000 a month plus commissions and she got HK$15,000 as a one-off payment for signing her contract. But she found out that other mamasans were being paid HK$30,000 a month and HK$20,000 for signing a contract, so she asked for a raise. The raises were never enough so she began climbing the ranks of the leading clubs before finally rising to the top Club Bboss, where she was paid HK$500,000 annually and HK$80,000 for signing her contract.

She was not the only one lured by the promise of riches. We charged HK$1,000 for sex in the 1980s, she says. Back then [many of the Hong Kong Chinese] girls were married. They, too, were lured by the money.

Clients gave her girls jewellery, money to buy land, houses and apartments back in their home countries. At times, Mary was given blank cheques by the clients. She had several wealthy boyfriends on the side. Some of the girls became savvy at buying and selling real estate and left the club with small fortunes. They were regularly paid to attend parties with high-profile Hong Kong businessmen. They were high-end call girls, dressed so elegantly, says Mary.

Yet even then, at the zenith of her profession, surrounded by the rich and famous and able, seemingly, to pluck money from thin air, Mary knew that deep inside she and her girls were suffering and lost. Amid the stream of glamorous clients, Rolls-Royces and golden golf carts, the women battled drug addictions, alcoholism and ever-creeping levels of self-loathing and emptiness.

While working in the club, we didnt have a life. Its so temporal nice restaurants, fancy clothes, all temporary happiness. Any prostitute who says theyre happy, theyre in denial. The girls would go back and cry even if they had made US$10,000 that night with a man from the Middle East. Youre forced to make love with a man you dont like. Your soul and emotions have to be numb. Only drugs numb.

Then there was the sexual abuse and exploitation, which was widespread. One time, a client strangled one of her girls.

TROUBLE WITH THE LAW

The escort business operates in a shady area, where the line between what is legal and what is not is not always clear. Mary says clubs would often be tipped off about police raids before they happened corruption is everywhere. The mamasans and women feared the police. Mary feels that had more police been trained to identify women in the red light district who felt they had been coerced into prostitution, some lives could have been saved. The police must have a deeper understanding that these women are trapped and that in their heart of hearts, these women hate their work. No one wants to be a prostitute.

A Hong Kong police spokesperson said they had found prostitutes from the Chinese mainland, Southeast Asia, Europe and South America who had been trafficked to Hong Kong on tourist visas. However, these women, according to the police, are usually reluctant to speak out.

Last year, police arrested 266 people on suspicion of keeping a vice establishment. In Hong Kong, prostitution itself is legal, but organised prostitution is not.

While some clubs and operators from Tsim Sha Tsui have migrated to the Wan Chai bar street, the days of the luxurious nightclub scene are over Club Bboss itself shut in 2012.

Yet even now, campaigners estimate there are anywhere between 20,000 to 100,000 children, women, and men working in prostitution in Hong Kong. According to Zi Teng, a support group, around 1 in 50 are under 18.

According to one NGO worker, some smaller nightclubs in Kowloon have forced underage Chinese girls usually from broken families into prostitution through debt bondage. The girls are lured by mamasans who ask if they want easy cash or pocket money. The girls soon get into debt, finding they owe their mamasans HK$10,000 to HK$20,000 for living expenses or to finance their cocaine or ketamine drug habits.

Despite such problems there is no government funding to support NGOs to provide direct intervention, according to the NGO worker.

Sandy Wong, chairperson of the Anti-Human Trafficking Committee of the Hong Kong Federation of Women Lawyers, says more needs to be done to stop the demand for prostitution. In Sweden, targeting the sex buyers helps reduce prostitution and sex trafficking significantly and it is a model increasingly adopted by other countries. It is a model we should adopt in Hong Kong.

TRANSFORMATION

Every night, Mary and her girls drank to ease the pain. Their daily routine before their work would involve lunch then a beauty parlour session. In 1991, a friend who owned a beauty clinic in Cebu visited Mary to ask for her help setting up another business in Hong Kong.

Mary admitted she was a mamasan, but rather than judge her, the friend, a Christian, told Mary that Jesus came to save the sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes.

The friend offered to study the Bible with Mary. All of a sudden something pinched my heart, recalls Mary. But I was a millionaire. I was afraid to say no. I was afraid of getting cursed by God and that Id lose my money.

As she prayed, she felt cleansed for the first time. But she continued to struggle with guilt and shame.

What sealed her conversion was seeing her young nephew, who had been dying from cancer, healed after another friend, Rita, prayed for him.

This convinced Mary there must be a higher power and she invited Rita to Hong Kong to speak with her girls, hoping for more miracles.

For the next month and a half, they conducted Bible studies every day. Around 10 girls experienced a new hope and the power of God and the girls were healed of their emotional pain, anger, depression, drug addictions and alcoholism.

All of a sudden their countenance changed, their attitudes and characters changed. They had so much hunger to learn about the Christian faith.

Mary began to use the karaoke bar she owned as a meeting place for the women to learn about their new faith during the day. At night it continued to function as a bar for prostitution.

One by one the girls quit their work, as did Mary after 17 years in the business, she paid her boss HK$200,000 so she could leave. I knew it was time to quit because of my conviction. I felt so bad and couldnt walk into the club. I didnt care if I didnt have money or a job.

The next year, she sold her bar and moved back to the Philippines.

PEACE OF MIND

Back in the Philippines, Mary worked at restoring her marriage, which is now strong. Over the years, she has mentored many women and recounts her past in public speeches. Recently, her testimony at a Hong Kong church moved a congregation of domestic helpers to tears. Now Mary wants to tell as many mamasans and bar girls as she can that there is hope. I want to tell them theyre not stuck, she says, tearing up. She is still in touch with six of her girls who left the world of prostitution. They are now working as dishwashers, or cleaners. One is a restaurant floor manager.

We may not have luxury but we have peace and joy. Theres no oppression, she says. Our identity is restored: money cant buy that.

Originally posted here:

'I trafficked women at a famous Hong Kong nightclub' - South China Morning Post

Handels Semele, one of the most enjoyable operas (or opera-oratorio, if you insist) in the repertoire, is, in its upshot, an enchanting display of thoughtless hedonism and a warning about what may happen, or even what is bound to happen, if you take hedonism too far. Wormsley, to which Garsington Opera moved several years ago this was my first visit seems the ideal place to stage it. The opening of the season was a perfect early-summer evening, the countryside looking gorgeous, refreshments and supper delicious and prompt, the atmosphere friendly, and the performance in many ways excellent. Who could have left it without thinking how marvellous it had almost all been, but how unwise it would be to expect most of life to give such pleasure, or indeed to think that it would be a good idea if it did?

Almost everyone, I suspect. For Semele, its text derived from Congreve, with Pope responsible for Whereer you walk, is mythology with a stern admixture of morality, though in terms of musical content hedonism is the obvious winner. Certainly, the melodies one comes away from it humming are Jupiters seductive one and Semeles heedless Endless pleasure, endless love and Myself I shall adore, if I persist in gazing. It is as amusing as Offenbachs mythological send-ups, but its targets are almost always us. So the production needs to steer a delicate course between diverting us and making us think, even if not very hard. Anniliese Miskimmons wasnt, in that way, or in several others, a complete success, though it was almost always entertaining. Together with the designer Nicky Shaw she concocted a time- and space-travelling affair that was sometimes witty, sometimes serviceable, sometimes tiresome. The opening, with Semele resisting marriage to Athamas, was distinctly low church, a sparse congregation bewildered by the bride-in-whites fleeing the altar. Thanks to Jupiters impatience, she was wafted up to the eternal regions by a large team of cabin crew. Wings of various kinds sprouted on the performers, who included a group of cute, very small children who could only draw gasps of delight.

Meanwhile a first-rate musical performance was taking place, Jonathan Cohen eliciting lively, warm playing from a reasonably large orchestra, and Heidi Stober a lovely and lovely-sounding Semele; she twisted her knee badly in the interval after Act One, but it didnt seem to affect her performance. I have seen even finer performers of the role, especially Rosemary Joshua, but Stober is an artist to watch. When we reached the realm of the gods, it was immediately to show that it is no kind of paradise. Juno is in labour with her eighth child, so who better to play the part than Christine Rice, herself pregnant as almost always. While singing magnificently, she managed to give a graphic portrayal of the middle stages of labour, with the god Somnus administering gas. Rice is such a star that she has to work quite hard not to seem one. Her formidable low notes are almost up, or down, there with Marilyn Hornes. No wonder she intimidates Jupiter, though surely he should, even when disguised as a mortal, look rather more alluring than Robert Murray, who was dressed in a drab City suit. His lyrical passages were winning, his commanding ones less so. There wasnt a lot of electricity in his relationship with Semele, at any stage. All the other roles were well taken, and the chorus, about 25 of them, was superb, with an unusually large part in the proceedings.

Take any quarter-hour of this production, and it would be hard to fault. And the consistently high standard of the musical performance ensured that there were no longueurs. But dramatically it was a mess, with the action and scenery (much of it delightful) failing to cohere or even, sometimes, to be intelligible. Maybe it doesnt matter all that much but if you are convinced that there is more, much more, to Semele than charm, then you would be frustrated and hoping for something more cumulative. The tragic conclusion, however, is well managed: not only is Semele withered by Jupiters appearance in propria persona, but Stober is replaced by a hideous old woman, a poignant moment that makes the arrival of Bacchus all the more ambiguous.

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First-rate musical performance & production that's hard to fault: Garsington's Semele reviewed - Spectator.co.uk

The breakfast club Phoenix (left to right) Christian Mazzalai, Laurent Brancowitz, Thomas Mars and Deck dArcy. Photograph: Emma Le Doyen

English music has been in decline for the best part of two-and-a-half decades, say Phoenix. That is a frank provocation from a French band who have spent 18 years artfully melting into the background. Especially given that we are sitting in a Nashville theatre steeped in country and honky-tonk music heritage, where neither Phoenix or the failure of British pop make obvious sense. But, I have this theory, says guitarist Laurent Brancowitz. It happened just before Oasis and Blur, or it was the Radiohead thing; or it could be a combination of the two? But it just destroyed decades of greatness. Exceptional outliers have come and gone through the sludge of bands that have dominated and limped on since, he adds, but as a cultural movement that lasted since the early 60s at least There is a pause for a very Gallic oosh: Its been brutal stuff.

Phoenix grew up on My Bloody Valentine and the Jesus and Mary Chain, Serge Gainsbourg and Prince. Heady doses of British shoegaze and pervy sex filtered through in fits and starts on each of their last five albums, but have been whipped into frothy potency on Ti Amo. Its their sixth and easily most optimistic record, underscored with love, hope and hedonism. The bands obsession with subverting Californian soft rock still stands, as does the Parisian electro of which they were originators, but now it comes with flourishes of Italo-disco and FM pop.

There was a moment when we wondered what was wrong with us, says frontman Thomas Mars. We were writing these carefree, joyful songs and the climate in Paris was the total opposite. It felt really strange and disconnected. Work on Ti Amo began in the spring of 2014 in a converted opera house in the 3rd arrondissement; they clocked in from 10am to 6pm every weekday for the next two-and-a-half years. Mars would fly in from New York, where he lives, for about 10 days every month, until they wrapped it last Christmas. In that time, the city suffered three major terror attacks and France became a bellwether for debate on immigration, race, religion and national identity.

Its not escapism or denial, insists Mars. It was there all the time so Im sure its in the music somewhere. When it comes to politics ... being in a band, being artsy, living in big cities, our opinions are pretty predictable. You know where we stand, we dont have anything unique to bring to that table. The political tension might have seeped in, but really Ti Amo is prime Phoenix: the soundtrack to what you might imagine Hockneys pool parties to be like; the teenage abandon of John Hughes-ian summers; the mood of every Sofia Coppola film (literally Mars married the film-maker in 2011 and Phoenix have featured on every Coppola film from Lost in Translation to The Beguiled.)

Its a weird contrast, says Brancowitz. But I think its a universal rule that when youre in a world full of tension, the thing you create goes the opposite way. Frances argument around Islam, for instance, elicits some very French exhaling. The idea of the purity of French identity is just an illusion; its fantasy, its never existed, to believe in it is very stupid. Brancowitz pauses: I only feel a bit ashamed of saying it because its so obvious.

We know a lot of people feeling crushed by the establishment and the extreme crazy people

The band were stuck in an airport waiting for a flight from Miami to LA when the French election results started coming in. Were they ever worried that Marine Le Pen would win?

We were worried because we could feel there was a moment where the tables were turning, says Mars.

Its a weird thing when the moral compass Brancowitz mimes a nosedive: So the thing thats supposed to be a bad look for candidates suddenly, in an alternate universe of moral values, becomes a plus. The discussion moves obliquely around Trump. For some people its a sign of being a cool outsider and its the same everywhere in the world. We know a lot of people feeling crushed by the establishment and the extreme crazy people. This is where our reasonable people are, crushed between the two.

How do they explain the world to their children? Mars has two daughters, Romy and Cosima; bassist Deck Darcy has a two-year old.

The weird new feeling is a feeling of shame, says Christian Mazzalai, guitarist and puppyish baby brother to Brancowitz. It started with migrants, and you feel the helplessness and embarrassment for humanity, for all the things that happened, the fear. Mazzalai was in the studio when the Bataclan was attacked in November 2015; he had to stay the night as the city went into lockdown.

The four invested in a studio supercomputer for Ti Amo; everything was recorded, filed and labelled, and put under Mazzalais stewardship. Im the master of the archive, he laughs. We recorded 5,000 pieces of music and it was all in colourful directions, he says. It was unpredictable because it was hard times in Paris and what we were doing felt like a selfish process, but it was healing.

Theyre nervous about the album and how the tour will pan out. It looks simple but it adds up to a big headache and we cant blame anyone but ourselves because we control everything, says DArcy. A giant kaleidoscope stage mirror that has to assemble, mount and come down in minutes at festivals is one worry. Their portable merch vending machine that we probably wont make any money from is another.

In England, you have these venues where, as soon as you arrive, there is beer everywhere. They want you to get wasted

There has always been resistance to Phoenix in the UK, an unwarranted tendency to mark them down as twee or boring because theyre clever and down-to-earth and nice. And they are nice to everyone: the lady from the coach company managing their tour bus. The guy from YouTube. The executive from Spotify. The journalist from the Guardian, haranguing them at 2am post-show as to whether they want to be as big as, say, Nashvilles Kings of Leon. (When we first started, maybe, says Mars, but look what happened to them.)

Rock stars are usually very stupid, says Brancowitz before the show (sold out, with the setlist only written and decided 30 minutes before they went on stage). Noel Gallagher is not a cliche rock star because hes clever. Its safe to say Phoenix have never gone in for rock stardom of the dumb, drunk, lads-on-tour kind. Lairy obnoxiousness doesnt sit well with them. In England, you have these Academy venues where, as soon as you arrive, there is beer everywhere, says Mars. They want you to get wasted. Beyond the fact that its not even in our interests, its so corporate.

Whats their idea of fun? I really respect the magic of fermented wheat, deadpans Brancowitz. We have our own kind of hedonism, its different, probably more weird.

On paper, theyre probably too cerebral for their own good. How, for example, to explain their 15-minute digression into Descartes theory of existence or the role of the artist to create space of freedom in peoples minds?

When Phoenix first arrived with their album United in 2000, they were lauded by style mag the Face and decreed a shambles by pretty much everyone else. We got zero stars! says Mars, of their early reviews, which is much better than five or even 10 because it means youre really disturbing someone. Darcy recalls one interview describing their music as chemotherapy. Which, at least, I suppose, is healing.

United was great, though: a bizarre mashup of genres from four schoolmates who grew up together in Versailles and, between them, are friends and onetime bandmates with Air and Daft Punk. Phoenix have never really got the credit they have deserved for the quiet impact theyve had on the pop landscape. They have a tendency to release a buzzy album, follow it with something a bit stranger, get better, come back and go off-beam again. They are consistent only in the sense that their sound is still so signature.

It was their fourth album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix that gave them a breakthrough and won them a Grammy and Coachella headliner status and made them the most blogged-about band of 2009. A classroom video of schoolkids singing Lizstomania went viral, magazine covers and US talkshow slots followed and suddenly it seemed that Phoenix had made it. That fame lasts a day! If youre on TV, youll be famous for a day in the street, says Mars.

Yes, I would say it was pretty manageable, we can still go buy bread in the boulangerie, says Brancowitz, only mildly taking the piss. To have kept on that trajectory, Ti Amo is the album critics would have expected them to come up with next. Instead, Phoenix decided to test the goodwill invested in Wolfgang with Bankrupt! (2013), a harder, cynical commentary on moving from cult to commercial success. Every one of our albums is a reaction to the last one, says DArcy. Its the love of novelty ... I guess its childish. Still, it got them an audience with one of their heroes, R Kelly, and the band had him on stage when they headlined Coachella in 2013. Trapped in the Closet is a masterpiece. Hes a genius. Problematic, though. For sure, he pushed the boundaries of whats acceptable and sometimes went too far, says Brancowitz. But he has so many ideas in one song, some artists dont have one idea he has thousands. He talks about music and its like a tap comes on. For us, it would be like a year of work to just pick up what the sound of what he does in Brancowitz flips his hand. He works constantly.

The fans in Nashville later on are enthusiastic but restricted: there is no dancing in the aisles, and staff at the seated auditorium are searching everyone. It would never be like this in Europe, says Darcy, but then there are more weapons floating around here than there are birds. Their performance, however, is undimmed; Phoenix are a band at the peak of their powers.

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Phoenix: 'The purity of French identity is an illusion; it's never existed ... - The Guardian

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Hedonism II - Top Lifestyle Resort in Negril, Jamaica

Florence Welch used to think she needed a hangover to write music.

The 30-year-old Florence and the Machine star admitted she is quite reserved and shy in real life and used alcohol as a crutch when she first found fame.

She explained to the Daily Telegraph: "Hedonism was like a disguise. I was a shy kid and I had to alter my personality. At first it's freeing but then it becomes a prison of its own making. I thought you needed a hangover to write."

Florence also revealed she has always found it easier to pour out her feelings in songs rather than express them by talking to people.

She said: "I find it easier to explain myself in music than in person. Songs are like protective talismans. In daily life, I'm much more unsure and shy.

"It's like hiding in plain sight... If I tell you that I'm struggling or in pain but dress it up and make the loudest noise ever, I can get it out. I can tell the truth but still hide behind the noise I'm making.

"On stage, something takes over. When I sing there is a huge sense of release. I am very in love with the world and quite afraid of it as well; my feelings come on really strong. In real life I have to find a way to shut that down. Stage is a place where it all makes sense and people aren't going to think I'm crazy."

Florence is currently working on her fourth album, which will explore the "black hole" she fell into with alcohol and upheaval in her personal life, including a split from event planner boyfriend James Nesbitt in 2014.

She said: "I'm happier now, I'm content, but I'm never going to be fixed, ever. I don't think that's how it works. A lot of things almost worked for me: partying almost worked, being famous and successful almost worked, the relationship almost worked... but it won't sustain you. These are transient things. It's working out how to be OK regardless."

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Florence Welch: 'Hedonism was a disguise from shyness' - Bismarck Tribune