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Home , Boygenius, Dave Sardy, Delia Fiallo, Janicza Bravo, Lucy Dacus, Planet Her

ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2021 NEWS/FEATURES 13

People & Places

Music

Dacus sings young love Cat falters at fi rst but ends strong By Mark Kennedy ot to be totally catty, but ’s third album Nstarts poorly. The first four songs — “Woman,” “Naked,” “Payday” with and “Get Into It (Yuh)” — are half-baked tunes mimicking beats and vocals from or . None are note- worthy. It’s depressing. What happened to the artist behind 2019s “Hot Pink,” a sonic breath of fresh air? What happened to the Doja Cat whose electric performance of “Say So” at the Grammys was reminiscent of Missy Elliott’s futurism? Just wait. The fi fth song, “Need to Know,” is a superb, steamy sex tape of a song (with Dr. Luke co-writing and producing) and the sixth, “I Don’t Do Drugs” featuring , is airy and confi dent with heav- enly harmonies. “Love to Dream” follows, a slice of dreamy pop, and then stops by on a terrifi c, slow-burning “.” Cat The Cat is back. From then on, the 14-track “Planet Her” rights itself with whispery pop songs and the envelope-pushing “Options” with JID, climaxing with the awesome “,” the previously released single with SZA that has a Gwen Stefani-ish refrain and must be considered a strong contender for This image released by A24 shows Riley Keough, (left), and Taylour Paige in a scene from ‘Zola.’ (AP) song of the summer. Despite the weak start, Doja Cat fulfi lls her promise on “Planet Her,” with an exciting, unpredictable style and a vocal ability that can switch from buttery sweet- Film ness to cutting raps. Just don’t start at the beginning. ❑ ❑ ❑ , “Home Video” (Matador) This is what the world of teenagers sounds like — Bravo’s cinema of ‘life at high volume’ intense, earnest, funny and sometimes beautiful. On “Home Video,” 26-year-old Lucy Dacus re- visits her adolescence, and in this case, intimate in- trospection makes for moving music. She shares rec- ollections in a casually conversational style, writing ‘Zola’ is a love letter to internet mostly in the second person with an appealing speci- fi city about young love and friendships. By Jake Coyle but raised in Panama before moving mannerisms and phrases. For Harris, “You told me to skip school to go with you to the to Brooklyn when she was 12. Her it’s a kind of blackface without the movies,” goes the opening couplet on “Brando.” “You t’s not easy to put a finger on Janicza parents were both tailors, a source of makeup; one scene he compares to knew you were uncool, but you thought you could IBravo’s cinema. In describing her Bravo’s stylishness. Spike Lee’s “Bamboozled.” We watch fool me.” Elsewhere Dacus sings about vacation Bible work, which now encompasses nine “The thing that I loved about that fi lm as Stefani drags Zola into a hellish school, murder fantasy and forbidden love. shorts and two feature films, including then and about all of her fi lms since is situation. Like the lyrics to “Brando,” Dacus’ arrangements the new film “Zola,” you want to use that she has this very sly, chaotic way of “Zola” turns the camera around on are cinematic, with a soft focus framing her honest words like surreal, disturbing, satirical, dealing with the darkest truths of Ameri- whiteness. It’s a theme found throughout alto. She goes for washes of synthesizers, strummed absurd, otherworldly. can history while making you laugh Bravo’s work, including her previous acoustic guitars and gauzy harmonies. The pretty “These are all very good, sexy throughout it,” Harris said while nursing feature “Lemon” (about an aggressively pleas on the breakup ballad “Please Stay” benefi t from words to me,” Bravo says, laughing. a hangover and picking up smoothies af- unappealing failed actor, made with ex- the vocal assistance of Dacus’ bandmates, “Zola,” which A24 will release in ter a celebratory “Zola” screening in Fort husband and frequent collaborator Brett and . Writer/director Janicza Bravo poses theaters Wednesday, is the most vivid Greene, Brooklyn. Gelman); and a series she’s currently Dacus smartly varies the dynamics, opting at times for a portrait to promote the film ‘Zola’ look yet at the 40-year-old Bravo as an during the on Harris became friends with Bravo developing with Jake Gyllenhaal as Dan for big drums and bass, and even -style elec- emergent fi lmmaker. The fi lm, which about seven years ago. When the possi- Mallory, pen name A.J. Finn, the best- Jan 25, 2020, in Park City, Utah. (AP) fi rst debuted back at Sundance in Janu- tric guitar. Because every adolescence should include bility of making “Zola” came up, Bravo selling novelist who was found to have ary 2020, is one of the most anticipated some Slayer. asked him to write it with her. For Harris, fabricated a brain tumor and a tragic past ❑ ❑ ❑ of the summer. It’s very possibly the fi rst feature fi lm adapted from a Twit- “Zola” represents more than your aver- for himself. For Bravo, whiteness is of- , “The Golden Casket” (Epic) ter thread — an infamous, mostly true age Hollywood breakthrough. ten treated as invisible and neutral. Her Uh-oh. It’s not a good sign when any band starts 148-tweet tale from 2015 in which “This is a moment of profound experience is the opposite. referencing death right from jump. Modest Mouse A’Ziah “Zola” King unloaded about catching up,” says Harris. “The work “I wanted to be in conversation with have placed an open coffi n on the cover of its latest a Florida road trip to a strip club that that she’s been doing has been so con- whiteness and I wanted to talk to that album and have called it “The Golden Casket.” goes harrowingly south. sist that I think people didn’t have a because I hadn’t really seen anyone Relax, fans. Inside the 12-track album is a band true In Bravo’s hands, the viral tweet Rosetta Stone for the language she was doing that, especially in comedy,” says to its quirky alt-rock soul and having kooky fun. It storm is a “Wizard of Oz”-like fairy speaking in. We’re not used to hearing Bravo. “Usually when things were may be commercial enough to attract new listeners tale that turns nightmare — a hallu- a Black woman speak in languages this about race, they were explicitly about and yet still embrace enough of the bizarre to satisfy cinogenic but clear-eyed adventure complex inside independent cinema.” race. And I am interested about folding race into my everyday circumstance. longtime admirers. If this is a eulogy, it’s a terrifi c one. through sex work, social media, race Reverence In fact, a resigned tranquility runs through the O’Reilly Fiallo and violence that’s both fantastical and That is how it for me. It’s my own band’s fi rst album since 2015. In the song “Wooden darkly real. Comedy and horror inter- “Zola” was originally set up with processing of feeling limited or feeling Soldiers,” frontman Isaac Brock sings “just being twine. So do movies and the internet. James Franco directing. That version less than and what it is to wear this skin here now is enough for me” and in “We’re Lucky,” “I think it very much still is a ride,” of the fi lm, the fi lmmakers say, was a and wear this body.” he’s happy to be between the stars and the seas: “It Variety says Bravo. “I just don’t know if it’s more carefree romp. Bravo and Har- But “Zola” — still a ride, remember takes a lifetime to ever fi gure out/That there ain’t no always a pleasant one.” ris approached King’s thread — cloaks its thoughtful mediations. lifetime that is ever fi gured out.” For even some of Bravo’s closest — a colorfully told, often funny tale Throughout the movie, whenever a bit MIAMI: Delia Fiallo, a native of Cuba that brought phrases like “vibing over of dialogue matches King’s tweets, a Modest Mouse wouldn’t be Modest Mouse without who was considered the mother of Latin collaborators, explaining the feel- some weirdness and there’s plenty of that. “Transmit- ing and style of Bravo’s disorienting, our hoeism” into the lexicon — with Twitter ding sounds like slot-machine America’s and wrote dozens more reverence. To Bravo and Harris, chimes. It’s a touch King considers ting Receiving” is mostly a list of things — “mustard of the popular television soap operas, dreamlike movies can be tricky. Mid- seeds, turtles, weeds” — that goes into the trippy died Tuesday at her home in Coral way through making “Zola,” her pro- the thread was a modern-day Homeric “priceless.” space of The Flaming Lips. A cosmic understanding Gables, Florida, her caregiver said. She duction designer, Katie Byron, turned epic. They wanted to ground the fi lm “When I watch the fi lm, it’s kind also resides in the terrifi c, funky “We Are Between,” was 96. to her and asked if Bravo had done a in Zola’s perspective and capture the of a time-traveling moment. It’s like which positions mankind “somewhere between dust Fiallo, whose TV hits included “Cris- lot of ketamine. way Black women can be treated as I suddenly forget where I am and I’m and the stars.” tal,” “Kassandra” and “,” died “I’m unfortunately a little straight edge,” disposable, and the traumatic fallout of back in 2015. She really paints that im- Many of the songs are excessively overcooked, like just fi ve days before her 97th birthday, says Bravo. “I’m just very attracted to cre- white appropriation of Blackness. age,” says King. “The movie, it feels the unnecessary fl ourishes on “We’re Lucky,” and her caregiver for the past three years, ating work that feels a little larger than life. “When Janicza came on board, it like Twitter. I don’t know how to ex- some are undercooked, like “Lace Your Shoes.” But Blanca, told The Associated Press. She It’s just next to it. It’s something kind of became more about my voice,” says plain that, but it does. From the quotes some are just right, among them the driving “Back to asked to be quoted only by her fi rst familiar but we go to 11.” King, who’s an executive producer on to the chimes to the lighting, it feels the Middle,” “The Sun Hasn’t Left” and the opening name. Bravo’s “life at high volume” fi lm- the fi lm. Her tweets have been pub- like you’re in the internet.” song, which is what an acid trip must sound like if it The caregiver gave no cause of death making has drawn widespread admir- lished in a cloth-bound hardcover. Whether because of her identity, was set to music. but said Fiallo died at her home sur- ers. Her second short, 2013’s “Gregory In the fi lm, Zola (played by Tay- international childhood or artistic in- The album was produced with Dave Sardy and rounded by her children. Goes Boom,” starred as lour Paige) is a Detroit waitress whose stincts, Bravo’s knack for making the Jacknife Lee and the range of instruments is astonish- Fiallo’s telenovelas like “,” newfound friend, a customer she waits familiar seem foreign seems perfectly “Peregrina,” “María de nadie,” “Pobre an embittered paraplegic. Jeremy O. ing, from shakers and marimbas to “paper bags fi lled diabla” and “Esmeralda” were trans- Harris, the “Slave Play” playwright, on, Stefani (Riley Keough), urges her matched for “Zola,” a movie with with wood.” On one track, Brock is credited with “soft lated into languages such as Japanese happened to see it at Sundance and fell to come along on a weekend in Florida one foot in real life and another in a drink percussion,” “spacephone” and “vibraslap” — and Czech, reaching millions of people in love with it. At the time, he fi gured to party and make money stripping. strange, ethereal digital reality. The which is very Modest Mouse. in more than a hundred countries. She Bravo, from her name, was Polish. Keough plays Stefani as mimicking movie, she says, is a love letter to the Whatever he’s playing, it’s good to have Brock’s fi nished “Cristal,” the last of her 43 Bravo was, in fact, born in New York Zola by immediately adopting her story’s birthplace: the internet. (AP) droll, word-stretching, warping vocal delivery back, telenovelas, more than three decades together with Modest Mouse’s fondness for odd and ago. (AP) explicit song titles and a top-notch band always mak- ❑ ❑ ❑ separate “willful and wanton” violations cases, or whether there were more. “If people would dare to break the ing interesting music. that each carried a maximum penalty of Human rights offi cials said they hoped law and discriminate or harass people, ❑ ❑ ❑ NEW YORK: The Com- mission on Human Rights has fi ned Fox $250,000. The commission would not the large penalty would deter bad behav- there will be stiff penalties they would Mary Karlzen, “Shine” (Y&T Music) News $1 million, the largest penalty in identify the people involved in those ior at any workplace. have to pay,” said Carmelyn Malalis, Mary Karlzen’s fi rst album in 14 years is a diverse its history, for violations of laws protect- chairwoman of the city Commission on ing against sexual harassment and job Human Rights. set that includes an Irish-tinged ballad, a country duet, Fox has characterized the cases as the heartland rock, a piano waltz and one brief hint it was retaliation. As part of a settlement agreement product of a previous regime and said recorded for a Miami label. the network has cleaned up its act under “When your life’s just out of reach,” she sings, “get announced Tuesday, Fox also agreed to mandate anti-harassment training for its the leadership of Suzanne Scott, current yourself to the beach.” New York-based staff and contributors CEO of Fox News Media. The commis- The expansive approach on “Shine” fi ts Karlzen’s and to temporarily drop a policy requir- sion said it did not interview anyone who versatile voice, which like Nanci Griffi th and Julie ing people who allege misconduct to came forward after Scott took over in Miller can sound both whispery and steely — and enter into binding arbitration. 2018. twangy on her duet with Radney Foster, “You Still The penalty stems from an investiga- “We are pleased to reach an amica- Belong to Me.” An excellent supporting cast also tion that began in 2017 following several ble resolution of this legacy matter,” includes Garry Tallent, Kenny Aronoff, Greg reports of what the commission called Fox said in a statement. “Fox News Leisz, Ken Coomer and Daniel Tashian, who won “rampant abuse” at the popular news and Media has already been in full compli- two Grammys for co-producing Kacey Musgraves’ opinion outlet. ance across the board, but cooperated groundbreaking 2018 album, “Golden Hour.” The fi rst indication of problems at with the New York City Commission Karlzen, a former Miamian now based in Milwau- the channel came in 2016 when former on Human Rights to continue enacting kee, has written a fi ne batch of songs with quirky anchor Gretchen Carlson charged that extensive preventive measures against melodies that cover a range of topics, from mentoring now-deceased network chief Roger Ailes all forms of discrimination and harass- and forgiveness to unrealized potential and brighter had made unwanted advances and de- ment.” tomorrows. “I’ll Be There” is a touching parental railed her career when she rejected him. The commission said that women who pledge of allegiance, while the rocking “Dumb Game” Both Ailes and former Fox personality rejected advances were retaliated against plumbs a different set of emotions and features a ter- Bill O’Reilly lost their jobs over miscon- with fewer appearances on the air and duct allegations. bad work assignments and had their text rifi c kiss-off line: “I am so sorry I took you seriously.” Several other women have come messages spied upon. Best of all is the title cut, an intimate, refl ective, forward with lawsuits and their own Fox News “ensured that those who thought-provoking fi nale. “Is this all there is?” Kar- harassment allegations, including former have complained have no future” work- lzen sings, leaving the listener wanting more. (AP) Fox anchor Megyn Kelly. Actor Meng’er Zhang poses before a fan screening of the new Marvel film ‘Black ing at the network, it said in its fi ndings. The $1 million fi ne groups four Widow’ at the El Capitan Theatre, June 29, in . (AP) (AP)