NOVEMBER 2025 ISSUE
A sneaky peek of just some of what is in the November 2025 issue – OUT NOW!
TONY TIXIER
Many musicians do more than music. When not spending time with their instruments they pursue other artforms that are not so much a distraction as further stimulation. Pianist Tony Tixier sees life through a lens as well as on a keyboard – and he makes sure that he is always ready to point and shoot at short notice.
“I always have a camera on me. Normally medium format,” he says. “Or sometimes I have a 35 millimetre film and I try to picture the situation. I’m a kind of witness…
ALBOROSIE
Two days before I was due to speak with Alborosie, Hurricane Melissa smashed into Jamaica, unleashing winds travelling at a record 185mph and causing widespread devastation. People said it was the worst hurricane in living memory: the aerial pictures made harrowing viewing for anyone who’s ever visited the island or has friends and relatives there. Places like Santa Cruz and Black River were especially badly affected, and 70% of Jamaica’s power supply was down at one stage.
It seemed increasingly unlikely that Alborosie, who has lived in Jamaica for at least 20 years, would have either the means, time or inclination to speak to us given the circumstances. Luckily for us, Sicily’s greatest-ever reggae export is of warrior stock, although our conversation was regularly interrupted by the workmen making repairs to the roof of his home…
EGO ELLA MAY
It’s not exactly a fashionable thing to admit to – and she knows, and she doesn’t care – but Ego Ella May counts Phil Collins amongst her early musical influences.
“My dad had this really cool Phil Collins record that I used to love,” she says, like it’s nothing at all. “I can’t remember the name of it, but I used to listen to him – like, lyrically – a lot.”
There’s more:
“But then, I grew up listening to a lot of different music – we had a lot of music in the house – there was gospel, obviously… old jazz standards, a lot of seventies and eighties Afrobeat; at school I heard pop and R&B, the kind of things my friends were listening to. But when I got home, it’s like I could reveal my true self… ”
D'ANGELO
The nineteen-sixties and seventies were great decades for soul music. The eighties? Well – with some obvious and wonderful exceptions – not so much. By the time we’d ticked over into the nineties, most real soul fans were hoping for something better – a turning point that might take us away from the seemingly endless cacophony of massive drum sounds, dumb boy bands and mechanical R&B/pop infesting the American airwaves and charts. Who could save us? Well, D’Angelo could…
