The R&B singer broke out with the single Worst Behaviour, which she sold on a custom-built website.
All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by Martyn Jones.
Playing a small role in the finale of BBC comedy Gavin & Stacey has been a high point in an award-winning career that spans stage and screen, according to Welsh actor Rakie Ayola.
She said playing the registrar who married TV fans’ favourites Nessa and Smithy, played by show writers Ruth Jones and James Corden, was a pivotal moment.
“Standing between Ruth and James, it suddenly occurred to me that this was the picture,” said Ayola.
“I thought, ‘wow, look at me, so this is the most important and influential minute of my career’.”
The Bafta Cymru award-winning actor has appeared in TV dramas including The Pact, Anthony, Silent Witness, Casualty and Doctor Who, among others.
Ayola, from Cardiff, explained how the opportunity to appear in the comedy, set between Barry and Billericay, came about after she bumped into Jones while visiting a theatre.
Teddy Swims’ third Cardiff show to date is also his largest by an order of magnitude, with the Georgian greeted by a capacity crowd at Blackweir Fields. Fans have travelled from inside Wales and well beyond to show him love, and observing the variety of people in the crowd it’s evident his music – which flows between r’n’b, soul and pop, with more than a nod to rock and country to boot – resonates across generations.
Launching with 2024’s massive hit The Door, the crowd are instantly onside, and it’s not long before Teddy really starts to show us who he is. His voice, instantly recognisable, is naturally the main attraction, but it’s hard to look past his appearance: tattoos, piercings, an abundance of jewellery, gold nail varnish, sequinned trousers, a Balenciaga denim jacket and a bespoke microphone with a knuckleduster motif. All of which may infer a hardman image on first appearance – yet the emotional, humble manner in which Teddy presents himself to the audience shows otherwise. If ever the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” applied to anyone, it’s Teddy Swims.
Opening up to the field, we’re reminded by the singer that “love is love”, no matter the gender or skin colour, which segues into duet number Black & White. He talks about mental health – alluding to his own such struggles in the past, encouraging men to open up and talk to friends, and for people to be present for those friends (“be where your feet are”).
It might be Teddy’s name on the posters, but a moment in the spotlight is afforded to every member of his band Freak Freely, each of whom show us why they deserved to be on that stage. One of the evening’s highlights is a full-throttle rendition of Van Halen’s Jump, a showcase of his versatility and that of his musicians.
Reminiscent of a Prince, Lenny Kravitz and Terence Trent D’arby mashup – all in their prime, one should add – this is a show of pure electrifying talent, like witnessing a jam session between very talented friends. Certainly, it’s one of the most intimate-feeling experiences in the company of 35,000 other people.
The night draws to a close with Lose Control, arguably Teddy Swims’ best-known song, yet hearing it leaves you wanting more. An intriguing artist – and human – there’s more to this man than just an incredible voice: he’s an old soul with a heart full of love.
Teddy Swims, Blackweir Fields, Cardiff, Fri 26 June
words ANTONIA FELLOWES photos ZACK KINGSTON-BUTLER
BUTTHOLE SURFERS
After The Astronaut (Sunset Blvd)
Playing it safe was never Butthole Surfers’ modus operandi, if a band as notoriously chaotic as them could ever be described as having such a thing. The chapter dedicated to the Texans in Our Band Could Be Your Life, Michael Azerrad’s brilliant history of the 1980s US punk underground, is a jaw-dropping chronicle of noise, sex, violence, drugs and depravity.
So more fool Capitol for expecting a carbon copy of the band’s 1996 album Electriclarryland, and being sufficiently dismayed by the subsequent LP to pull the plug on the deal. That record, released in bastardised form by Hollywood Records in 2001 as Weird Revolution, is only now seeing the light of day as originally intended.
In truth, After The Astronaut does share much of its DNA with its predecessor, with tracks such as Intelligent Guy aping the shambling stoned beats and literally phoned-in semi-rapped vocals of MTV breakthrough single Pepper. But their freak flag still flies high on Imbuya (a curious collision of Bauhaus and drum’n’bass), Turkey And Dressing (cartoonish electro-hardcore) and bizarre concoctions like I Don’t Have A Problem and Junkie Jenny In Gaytown. They may have become less feral, but they were never truly tamed.
words BEN WOOLHEAD
For years, Madonna’s younger brother was one of her closest confidantes. He was a background dancer on her first UK TV appearance, and later become her tour director.
But they fell out when Madonna appointed a different director – the choreographer Jamie King – for her Drowned World tour. Things got worse when Christopher wrote a tell-all book, Life With My Sister Madonna, in 2008.
The star has previously said that “for a really long time” she had perceived Christopher as one of her “biggest enemies” – but they reconciled before his death.
“It was him being ill and reaching out to me and saying, ‘I need your help’,” she told the podcast host Jay Shetty last year.
“I felt so relieved. It was such a load off my back, such a weight that was removed, baggage that I could put down to finally be able to be in a room with him and holding his hand even if he was dying and saying, ‘I love you and I forgive you.'”
Speaking to Norton, Madonna said she had written Fragile after Christopher called her in the studio.
“He was in a lot of pain, on the phone, and he was not in a good place. I knew it was close to the end. And then I went upstairs and wrote a song.”
Called Fragile, it looks back to their childhood and makes the promise: “We’ll find each other on the other side.”
“It’s cathartic,” she said of the song. “To let go of somebody you love, the best way to do it is to write about it. It’s like an exorcism.”
VARIOUS
Remix | Remodel: The Vince Clarke Remixes (Cherry Red)
Vince Clarke – Depeche Mode founder member, who went on to greater success with Yazoo and Erasure – has also had a long career remixing other artists, and has compiled 26 of them as Remix | Remodel. We begin with his first ever such venture, in which Happy Mondays’ Wrote For Luck is turned into a tight, punchy floorfiller.
Many of Clarke’s deconstructing/reconstructing assignments are for his immediate peers, including OMD, Soft Cell and Erasure bandmate Andy Bell. He comes full circle with a robust remix of Depeche Mode’s Behind The Wheel and a slicker version of Aftermaths, originally created with that group’s Martin Gore for their VCMG collaboration.
The biggest surprises, though, come when Clarke steps outside the synthpop arena. Two songs by Scottish folk artist James Yorkston are given a beautiful electronic backdrop; Johnny Marr’s Spirit Power & Soul is turned into an electropop belter, and ABAZABA’s cover of Joy Division’s Isolation is taken into brutal, Suicide-like territory. Informative sleeve notes have been written by Richard Evans from the Erasure Information Service.
words DAVID NOBAKHT
When countries from around the world take to the stage to participate in Eurovision next year, they could see a new competitor.
Canada is now eligible to take part in the song contest after CBC/Radio-Canada became a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), a requirement to compete.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has been seeking closer political and economic ties with Europe since taking office last year, raised the idea of Canada joining the song contest in his 2025 budget.
Canada would not be the first non-European country to join the contest; Israel and Australia regularly compete, and Morocco competed in 1980.
The Carney government said in November that it was working with the CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster, “to explore participation in Eurovision”. His government’s budget included C$150m (£80m) in funding for the broadcaster.
Eurovision’s rules state that participation in the contest is open to countries with broadcasting organisations that are members of the EBU.
Before Thursday, the CBC had been an “associate member”.
“Canada’s voice in this community makes us stronger,” Noel Curran, director general of the EBU, said.
Even though Canada has not formally competed in Eurovision, Canadians have, and they have even won.
In 1988, Céline Dion, a Canadian from the province of Quebec, won the contest competing for Switzerland. The victory helped jumpstart Dion’s storied career.
Other Canadians have since competed, including Natasha St-Pier, an Acadian New Brunswicker who represented France in 2001, and La Zarra, a singer from Montreal who represented France in 2023.
Arriving in Cardiff on her West End Girl tour, Lily Allen presents something far more than a pop concert: a theatrical embodiment of her latest album of the same name, staged with the precision of, yes, a West End production and the emotional weight of a confessional.
The crowdpleasing nostalgia arrives before Allen even takes the stage with a unique opening act, Dallas Minor Trio,who transform the pre-show into a joyous, community-driven, Bridgerton-style karaoke party, reimagining Allen’s early catalogue as orchestral singalongs. Once the house lights dim, though, the past is left behind and a frame of glowing bulbs flickers to life, dancing around the stage to an ominous electronic buzz before everything plunges into blackout with a heart-thumping bass dive.
Emerging from behind the curtain and stepping into a spotlight to rapturous applause, Lily Allen immediately commands attention without ever needing to demand it. From here, the audience is invited to immerse themselves fully in the story of the album.
Every lighting cue, soundscape, costume change and prop serves the narrative, guiding the audience with cinematic precision through a series of meticulously crafted scenes. Shifting seamlessly from song to song, every theatrical flourish deepens the emotional truth of the record.
Allen’s trademark humour speckles moments of depth with perfectly timed wit, while songs like Relapse land with devastating vulnerability. Madeleine becomes a genuine communal moment, thousands singing every word back to her with empathy. Confetti rains from above after Dallas Major, bathing the arena in a euphoric carnival atmosphere and giving the crowd the full emotional journey experience.
This contains every ingredient of a great pop show, yet its refusal to behave like one is what makes it extraordinary. Lily Allen’s emotional awareness and creative fearlessness is something to be admired, and her work remains honest, vulnerable and resonant. The result is live music at its most ambitious: part theatre, part therapy and completely unforgettable.
Lily Allen + Dallas Minor Trio, Utilita Arena Cardiff, Wed 24 June
words JOSEPH ELIJAH photos HENRY REDCLIFFE
The latest release from the Marvel rival is part of a wider reset of its sprawling cinematic universe.
A second Love Island USA contestant has been removed from the villa after historic social media posts emerged that appeared to show her using a racial slur.
Alannah Keyser was removed after a video showed her apparently lip synching to the n-word in a song, while other screenshots showed her appearing to use the same slur in an Instagram comment and Snap message.
The posts came from a private account and were not made public until after Keyser entered the villa, and were therefore not flagged during broadcaster Peacock’s vetting process, sources told US publications including Variety, external.
Keyser, who had appeared on the dating series since Sunday, has been approached for comment.
Keyser joined the series as a “bombshell” during the show’s traditional mid-season Casa Amor twist, where new islanders enter the villa to challenge existing relationships.
Before her departure, Keyser appeared in the first 20 minutes of Thursday’s episode, conversing with one of the male contestants before appearing briefly in two further non-speaking scenes.
However, the show’s narrator then confirmed her exit, telling viewers: “Alannah has left Casa Amor.”
It is the second time this season that a contestant has left over the use of racist language, after Vasana Montgomery was removed, external following the announcement of the line-up.
Montgomery was seen appearing to use the n-word in two different videos that were circulated online.
She later said in an Instagram statement: “In those videos, I used a racial slur. There is no excuse for it, and I am deeply sorry.
“I am embarrassed and disappointed by my words. I take full responsibility for what I said and understand why it has hurt and upset people.”
Two further contestants were also removed from the seventh series of Love Island last year.
Yulissa Escobar was asked to leave the villa after videos emerged of her using a slur in a podcast.
In a TikTok video, external posted after she was removed, Escobar said: “I get it. I said a word that I should have not said. But I wish I would have never said that. It is what it is. I can’t go back in time. I am sorry that I said that word.”
During the same season, Cierra Ortega exited after using a racist term for Asian people. She later apologised and said, external that she “genuinely had no idea” that the term she had used was considered a slur.