The show took place at Manchester’s AO Arena, and marks Eilish’s first show in England since her performance at Reading Festival in 2019. Before sharing the track, Eilish said: “We haven’t played a new song live before it’s out since 2017 or 2018…This is one we just wrote, and we just wanted to play for you.” Eilish performed the track alongside her brother and long-time collaborator Finneas, who toted an acoustic guitar during the song.

The tune is bare and melancholy, featuring tentatively strummed acoustic guitar chords and soft vocals from Eilish. From footage of the performance, you can hear Eilish sing “What’s the point of anything / All of my friends are missing again / That’s what happens when you fall in love”.  As the title of the sombre tune may suggest, some of the lyrics focus on the media, with a reference to the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial and the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States: “The internet’s gone wild watching movie stars on trial /While they’re overturning Roe v. Wade.”

Eilish also recently announced a London-based, climate-focused event entitled Overheated, which coincides with her current “Happier Than Ever” UK tour. The event will commence tomorrow (June 10^th) and intends to unite designers, musicians and climate activists at various UK venues to discuss the climate crisis.

The subjects set to be explored include climate friendly approaches within the music industry, sustainable fashion and the impact of plant-based diets. The event will also feature live performances and screenings of the Overheated documentary. Live performances will be given by the likes of Sigrid and Yungblud. More information regarding the event can be found here.

The 1985 synth-pop heart wrencher was part of Bush’s Hounds Of Love album and has seen a viral resurgence in its consumption in recent years. In no small part in fact, to its use previously on Stranger Things. Which saw the song; “become her most popular title on the service after it experienced a 153 per cent surge in streams on Spotify.” Which was described by the streaming platform as; “the biggest gainer on the Global Spotify chart” at the time. If you need reminding, you can listen to “Running Up That Hill” in the video below:

The shows music supervisor Nora Felder explained the process of selection; “Consequently, each of the prospective song placements in the initial scripts was tagged with the placeholder, ‘TBD Max song.’ From there, I made an effort to internally align myself with what the Duffers felt were the most important elements needed, and my own intuitive grasp of Max’s complex feelings.”

When she finally found the song in question; “It immediately struck me with its deep chords of the possible connection to Max’s emotional struggles and took on more significance as Bush’s song marinated in my conscious awareness.”

After a lengthy process which saw Wende Crowley (SVP of Sony Publishing’s creative marketing, film and TV) get the request and take steps to ensure that all parties were happy with the outcome. Crowley explained; “Kate Bush is selective when it comes to licensing her music and because of that, we made sure to get script pages and footage for her to review so she could see exactly how the song would be used.”

Felder felt the music was key to the scenes following the character’s journey; “Kate Bush’s lyrics can mean very different things to different people. In the face of Max’s painful isolation and alienation from others, a ‘deal with god’ could heart-wrenchingly reflect Max’s implicit belief that only a miracle of unlikely understanding and show of support could help her climb the hills of life before her.”

Fans of the show will now be familiar with the song and a new generation is being introduced to these timeless tracks. With the show’s end sadly coming into view, the Duffer Brothers (directors) stated; “It’s just one of those things that you come up with and you go, ‘That’s it, that’s right, that’s inevitable – that’s what it has to be.’”

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Angels! As part of the 6th annual Everyman Cinema Music Film Festival, I’ll be hosting a one-off event at the magnificent Screen On The Green venue in Islington on October 20th. There’ll be lovely guests n I’ll be premiering my next release + music video WITH a Q&A and a few other special surprises. It’ll all be safe and masked! tickets are supa limited ofc so smash the link in my bio I miss y’all

A post shared by Arlo Parks (@arlo.parks) on Oct 11, 2020 at 11:00am PDT

South London singer-songwriter Arlo Parks has been busy this year. She has released three powerful singles: Eugene, Black Dog and Hurt, as well as a cover of Radiohead’s Creep. In addition to this, she has appeared on countless platforms such as COLORSXSTUDIOS, BBC Live Lounge and most recently a Channel 4 special for World Mental Health Day.

Park’s spoken words are as eloquent as her song-lyrics. At only the age of twenty, she is incredibly self-aware about her mental health and the creative process. Talking to Jordan Stephens of Rizzle Kicks, she articulately discusses the dissonance between the way one sees oneself vs. the way the world sees you: ‘things can be going incredibly in terms of your career… but the internal landscape is so detached from the success around you’.

The Everyman’s annual Music Film Festival is a way of celebrating the ‘crossover and creativity between the fields of music and film’. It has been running for six years now, and in the past has involved Q&A’s, live music and film screenings of films such as Amazing Grace and Teen Spirit. This year, alongside Parks, there will be a feature of Nick Cave playing his songs alone at Alexandra Palace; as well as an exclusive screening of Billie Holiday tapes and interviews.

Park’s session is set to feature ‘a selection of music videos’ which will then presumably be discussed in the Q&A. She is a well chosen candidate for this conversation, given the artful nature of her music videos. The video for Eugene, directed by Loyle Carner and his brother, was an evocative accompaniment to the track. The birds-eye view of Parks and her best friend lounging about in a bedroom gives the viewer the sense of observing perfectly undisturbed and intimate moments.

This connection between film and music, of how the two can enhance and affect each other, is an interesting topic of conversation. To buy tickets to the Everyman Cinema Music Film Festival or to find out more, please click here.