SOUND JUDGEMENT
THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED
“We were there on a spectacular day,” she recalls. “But it had this energy, this magic about it – and it was just ruins.” What she really hopes comes across in the programmes is how passionate the people who live on these islands are about their home (another highlight sees her join young environmentalists keeping the beaches clean for wildlife). With the Covid-19 pandemic impacting how much and where we can travel, Darcey notes how grateful the locals were to have visitors, because of how much they rely on tourism. “They really want to show you the importance of this environment, and how they live, and how simple things can be – but how rewarding they can be. “And I suppose, for me, it was just a wonderful cleanser, and a realisation of how happy you can be in the simplest situations. You don’t need all these extra material objects that we feel that we always need, weirdly, in this society.”
Laughing, she admits she did feel like a bit of a “townie” and a “city girl” at some points during filming. We see her help a family with their Highland cows (they bring them from the mainland and take them to an island for better pasture to get them through the winter months).
She says the “giant, hairy” animals are “so beautiful, they’re full of character”, while the incredible views meant that she felt like she was on a movie set.
“And the family were fabulous. I think when you go to environments like that, and you meet people that live off the land, your hat goes off to them because it’s a hard life. And we realise that, My God, they look happy and healthy on it!
“It just makes me think, ‘Why am I living in an urban society?!”’
It wouldn’t be a show presented by Darcey without some dancing being featured, and in episode one, local Meena Watts, who teaches Bollywood dance classes, offers her an impromptu lesson on the shoreline.
Meanwhile, Sophie Stephenson, who is keeping Skye’s ancient dancing tradition alive, teaches Darcey some new moves.
The presenter reveals she used to do a lot of Scottish dancing as a child, as her grandfather took her to quite a few ceilidhs in London.
“But it had been quite a few years since I touched it,” she adds.
“So, it was lovely to see quite a few people who are carrying on this tradition. They realise the social benefits of the dance and music and how it brings people together.”
Something Darcey is very passionate about is that such benefits should be accessible to every single child growing up – and she explains dance fitness is the best way to do make that happen.
Enter DDMix: a dance fitness programme she has designed to be used in PE lessons. Based on many genres and styles, each workout is just three to four minutes long.
“The great advantage of dance is that it is not competitive, and children don’t have to worry about being picked or being excluded,” she suggests. “It’s not about if you’re good enough to be on the A-Team of baseball, hockey or football.
“DDMix is a fun exercise that every child can enjoy, without any dance experience, and that any teacher can easily teach. The kids love it – and it is great for their physicality and mental wellbeing.” ■ Darcey Bussell’s Wild Scottish Coast continues on More4 on Mondays at 9pm.
It’s something that I’ve always known, that for your wellbeing, mental and physical wellbeing, the outdoors is everything
Dame Darcey Bussell
FOR THE FIRST TIME BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD ★★★★
THERE has been a lot of hype around Black Country, New Road, and the Cambridgeshire sextet are self-aware enough to acknowledge it.
“Just to think I could’ve left the fair with my dignity intact/And fled from the stage with the world’s second-best Slint tribute act,” singer Isaac Wood jokes on recent single Science Fair, making wry reference to the band’s frequent (and, to be fair, pretty on-the-nose) comparisons to the ‘90s alt favourites.
But describing BCNR as derivative couldn’t be wider of the mark. This is a group of supremely talented performers with fascinatingly diverse musical backgrounds, despite all being in their early 20s.
Careering through post-rock and free jazz via Klezmer (Jewish party music), their debut LP For The First Time is erratic, epic and teeming with more ideas than many artists have in their lifetimes.
MEDICINE AT MIDNIGHT FOO FIGHTERS ★★★
DAVE GROHL is, famously, the nicest man in the world, so we really don’t want to be rude about his new album. Sadly, it’s not very good.
The “na-na-nas” and handclaps of Making A Fire are a jarring start, only added to by Shame Shame’s funk-pop stylings. Of the other singles, No Son Of Mine is just straight-up Motorhead cosplay – albeit packing the album’s best riffs – while the earnest Waiting On A War is a curious disappointment.
Even a poor Foo Fighters album is worth a listen, but this offering lacks cohesion and inspiration.
LOST THEMES III: ALIVE AFTER DEATH JOHN CARPENTER ★★★
OMINOUS jabbing synths and insistent drums get the adrenaline going before a brooding guitar solo releases the tension – welcome to John Carpenter’s unique vision.
The director is known for horror classics like Halloween and The Thing, as well as cult movies Escape From New York and Assault On Precinct 13, but has actually made more albums than films.
Opener Alive After Death channels the spirit of Halloween, perhaps his best-known composition, the first of 10 suspense-filled instrumentals that lie somewhere between the 1980s and the near future.
Carpenter and his son Cody bring the widescreen synths and his godson, Daniel Davies, provides the crunching guitar, so the listener just needs to sink into the darkness.