Friends, romans, countrymen: welcome back to Emotional Speculation! Hope you’re all well and enjoying the days getting longer, hope your Januarys weren’t too grim, hope you’ve got some blue sky on the horizon.
I’ll kick things off with two tiny announcements about this here newsletter. The first is that (probably inspired by my Riverdale rant and the positive response from some of your number) I will be adding a ✨ whole new feature ✨ to the roster! It’s called (drumroll pls) Emotional Recommendation, and it will be a short(ish) and sweet(ish) rundown of whatever I feel fervently about that week: album, TV show, song, article, book, pop star, etc. I do like to get absolutely rabidly obsessed with things so it will be nice for me to have an outlet to express that that isn’t just searching “Renee rapp interview” on tiktok (par example). Whether you take me up on the recommendation is really entirely up to you! But I think it’ll be a fun new addition to the ES universe. We’re gonna trial it for a bit whilst I’m still on a relatively reduced schedule and then when I’m back in the swing of things I’d like it to feel a bit like this: regular gossip on Fridays, recommendation on Sundays. But let’s see!
The second is that I’ve added this feature where if you enjoy the newsletter, you can buy me a coffee at random to express your enjoyment! I have no real intention of “going paid” any time soon (fundamentally I believe gossip should be free) but it’s something I’ve seen others do that looks relatively low stakes for all involved and a nice way to support The Work should you so wish. It will sit at the top of the newsletter, just like this:
Click here to metaphorically buy me an oat flat white, if you like!
Anyway! Admin out the way, let’s get into it, shall we? We’ll start, as feels right, with the Grammys. Huge night to be a lifelong Miley Cyrus fan!! Even though the Grammys “don’t really matter” it still feels pretty good to watch Miley, nearly 20 years into her career, joyfully ad-libbing “I just won my first Grammy!” as she performed Flowers and looked the best anyone has ever looked. As I’ve written about previously, I have ardently loved Miley forever so it is especially gratifying to watch the recording academy and the people of the internet catch up. Similarly, it felt soooo good to see Victoria Monet, 15 years into her music industry career, win BIG. What a nice turn up for the books!
The same cannot be said for watching Taylor Swift win AOTY for Midnights - for a variety of reasons, namely:
She was kinda rude to Celine Dion!!!!
As a Lana Stan, it stung to see her lose to this, a worse album (though Taylor did credit Lana for her supreme influence, as she was right to do)
The side fringe. The side-swept hair. The little plait. As hairstyles go this one was honestly distressing
The accessories! Putting that watch choker/ peep toe shoes/ opera gloves combo with a Schiaparelli gown is a crime. The whole ensemble was giving “child draws a Disney princess from memory”. Unsettling stuff from her stylist!
Ultimately, even as someone who likes Taylor Swift and can listen to *and* talk about her for hours, I felt a strange sort of ambivalence when she announced her 11th album - and not only because it’s called the Tortured Poets Department. Of course, I thought to myself. I mean, what else? As I said to ES’s Gaylor-in-Chief, Danielle, at this point it’s like: she will be announcing a new album or a tour or a run for president at every awards ceremony until we die, so we might as well get used to it! I was even… dare I say it… disappointed not to be getting Reputation (Taylor’s Version), as I’m a born-again rep girlie, but that’s a whole other thing. All that aside, the album tracklist was released this week and it features a song called But Daddy I Love Him. Personal friends of this newsletter will know I own a tiny T-shirt with that exact saying on it because I saw Harry styles in a bigger version, which does make me wonder if it’s another addition to the songs about a man she dated like 12 years ago canon (my brain is broken). Chances are though the album is entirely about Joe Alwyn, who will certainly never work again after its release. This is, tbh, no great loss to the acting community. At least he got to be in a Sally Rooney adaptation.
Beyond the Taylor Swift show Grammys, what else has been happening? Well, Dua Lipa broke up with her French director and is now dating Callum Turner, a hot and vaguely evil looking British actor. Good for her! One presumes he works better with her current Britpop inspired image than the French director, and they look pretty into each other, so all the best to them.
Sabrina Carpenter is still romantically linked to Weird Little Guy of the Moment Barry Keoghan. Not much more to say about these two other than they are perfectly sized for each other, aren’t they? It’s nice to see a short girl buck tradition and go for a short king for once. Long may it continue!
Next up, we have to devote some time to Sarah Jessica Parker, who is right here in London whilst her and her husband Ferris Bueller star in a show at the Savoy. One of her promo interviews turned to the topic of the London Underground. Fair enough, it is an elite public transport system, but is this really newsworthy? I can hear you ask. Has SJP ever even taken the subway in her own city, let alone the tube? Well, I don’t actually know the answer to that, but I can tell you that the interview itself is a perfectly, accidentally deranged piece of media in which declares - and I quote directly - *I want to know Edgeware*. Now look, I’m all for people getting to know their new environs a little, but someone needs to tell SJP and Matthew Broderick, gently, that there is absolutely nothing for either of them in Edgeware. Or Barnet, or even Kentish Town, which are other stops they expressed an interest in. In fact, they’d be hard pressed to find anywhere on the Northern Line that would match up to the clearly romanticised version of London they’ve got in their minds. I’m thinking they stick to zone 2 of the Piccadilly line and call it a day.
And finally, Kate Hudson released a single last week. File that under “random things the upper echelons do just because they can”! Although that being said, she did sing in that entirely forgettable film about cinema italiano with Penelope Cruz and some other Hollywood ladies (Nine, for those wondering: a solid 39% on Rotten Tomatoes), so it’s not entirely unchartered territory for her. If I’m honest, her number about loving cinema italiano is more of an earworm than this new one, Talk About Love, which is perfectly pleasant but nothing major. Kate will be releasing an album at some point though, so there’s potential yet for one of the album tracks to reach the coveted status of “songs the gays, and only the gays put on at pres”. Bit of a watch and wait with this one!
Right lads, that’s it from me. I’ll see you soon for the first Emotional Recommendation. Until then - have great weekends, share this with whomever you like, and stream Cinema Italiano by Kate Hudson and the cast of NINE.
As ever, thanks for reading!
xoxo