Latest news with #catharsis
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Caroline Jones Etches a Roadmap to Personal Freedom on ‘No Tellin': ‘I Think There's a Big Cultural Shift Around This Conversation'
'The truth,' according to the New Testament, 'will set you free.' As it turns out, Jesus wasn't just a spiritual leader; he was also a good psychologist. Withholding the truth can prevent people from fully developing emotionally, particularly because it leads to guilt, anxiety and the fear of being found out. More from Billboard Young Singer Wins Over 'AGT' Judges With Ed Sheeran Cover Ozzy Osbourne's DNA Will Be Sold in Limited Edition Liquid Death Cans Kneecap Launch London Billboard Takeover Ahead of 'Witch-Hunt' Court Appearance In that context, Zac Brown Band member Caroline Jones' first single for Nashville Harbor, 'No Tellin',' highlights the personal damage that hiding secrets can inflict, and the catharsis that comes once the truth is revealed. Not that the process of putting it out there is easy. Current or recent legal cases involving Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Stormy Daniels and Harvey Weinstein have demonstrated how difficult it is for victims to come forward with the most egregious abuse. 'I do think that there's a big cultural shift around this conversation, and people are starting to understand that it's a cultural, social problem,' Jones says. 'It's existed forever, really, but now, I think, there's more consciousness around it, and more compassion and more understanding around it.' Jones wasn't making a social statement when she wrote 'No Tellin'' in November. She was actually working through her own experience with emotional abuse from a relationship around the time she turned 20. 'It was something that I hadn't really ever written about and had only recently processed in therapy and in my life with the people who are close to me,' she says. 'I feel like I had been unconsciously, or subconsciously, writing it for a long time. Most of the song came out really fast, and it was just a matter of organizing it and structuring it.' The initial thread of 'No Tellin'' had been around for years. Jones created an ascendant acoustic riff with a bluegrass flavor and would play it instinctively while noodling on her guitar. She'd already written another song with that riff, but she recycled it while prepping at her Nashville home for a co-write. She was ready to explore the emotional abuse from her past, and it emerged in a classic country twist in 'No Tellin'' – 'There ain't no tellin',' she sings in the first line of the chorus, recognizing the attitude she'd been taught about secrets; 'But I'm still tellin' on you,' she concludes at the end of that stanza. She pulled together a bundle of thoughts about holding negative stuff inside, made a rough recording and brought it the next day – Nov. 18 – to the appointment at SMACKSongs on Music Row, along with her notes, hand-written in a spiral notebook. 'She's like, 'I have this idea that I've been working on. It's just a little something. I don't know what it is yet,'' co-writer Lauren McLamb recalls. 'And she just proceeds to play us half the song,'But Jones was missing some lines, and a second verse, and she didn't know how to sequence what she had. 'She had lyrical paragraphs just kind of pasted, and she was like, 'I don't know where each line goes,'' says co-writer Clara Park. 'We read through them all and talked through the idea, and then we pieced it all together.' The three bonded over the topic, sharing stories about abusive relationships from their past – either their own entanglements, or their friends'. The conversation helped both the song and their souls. 'She had a line about 'hiding skeletons,'' Park says, 'and I think I added the 'just ain't in my bones' line. And I remember thinking that hiding skeletons actually is in my bones. I feel like being a sugar-coater – you know, a people-pleaser from Charleston – I don't really speak up too much. I got to wear this different hat that day, and it reminded me that I should live more like this song.' One of the keys came in organizing the story. With verse one, the singer admits she's been hiding secrets. In the chorus, she announces the truth is coming out, and in verse two, she begins to show how burdensome it was to stay silent. In perhaps their most significant decision, the three women built a bridge, acknowledging the risk that came with revealing the past, but noting that exposing that information might benefit the next potential victim: 'The truth will set her free.' 'This isn't a takedown song,' McLamb says. 'It's an empowering song, and it's all about morality. It's not about a vindictive situation on [the singer's] part, and I think that was something that was important to get in there lyrically. We were clarifying why we were telling this truth.' To heighten the drama, they fashioned that bridge over an a cappella breakdown section with claps and bass drum. 'I wanted it to sound like the old prison songs,' Jones says. Her team got excited about it once she began sharing the demo, a mostly acoustic effort that includes a haunting 'woo hoo' counter-melody; that element helps 'No Tellin'' walk a difficult emotional line.'It's a heavy subject, but it turns out to be a celebration in the end,' says Jones' manager, producer Ric Wake (Mariah Carey, Taylor Dayne). Big Machine Label Group senior vp of A&R/staff producer Julian Raymond (Glen Campbell, Justin Moore) co-produced 'No Tellin'' with Jones and Wake, booking a session at Blackbird Studios before the year ended. Jones sat in on guitar and vocal with the studio band, and they built a track that used a series of scene changes to enhance the storyline's evolution. It started with a swampy feel, took on a driving beat in verse 2, then broke into a New Orleans funk after the breakdown in the bridge, finally relaxing into a ghostly finale. Keyboardist Tim Lauer wrote a string arrangement that included a heat-inducing, descending glissando. Lauer contrasted that with an ascending glissando on his Wurlitzer in the middle of the bridge. 'We kind of lifted that [string sound] a little bit off my loving history of Bobbie Gentry,' Raymond says. 'It's got a little bit of bluegrass vibe in there. It's a roarin' track, and it's just a lot of fun.' Jones sang all the vocal parts herself, including the lead and a load of harmonies, extra melodies and ad libs. She manages to sound like someone else – even like a gospel singer – on some of those extra parts.'She's a chameleon,' Raymond says. 'She can change her voice easily when she needs to.' 'No Tellin'' immediately became the frontrunner for Jones' first Nashville Harbor single, released to radio via PlayMPE on May 13. 'When [BMLG president/CEO] Scott Borchetta and the guys over at the label all heard it, they said, 'This is the one,' and we all agreed,' Wake notes. 'We had a couple other ones that were really close, though. I'm happy to say we definitely have some follow ups.' While Jones worked out some of her internal issues around holding back the truth with 'No Tellin',' she hopes it provides healing – or a warning – for others who hear it and take its message to heart. 'In the end, it's not about one person, whether it's the villain or the victim,' she says. 'It's about the fact that when you tell the truth, then it takes the power out of shame and isolation, and it helps other people who are going through the same thing. Or helps people, hopefully, not have to go through it at all.' 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ABC News
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Chasing Ghosts make an art of catharsis
Led by Thungutti man Jimmy Kyle, five-piece indie-punk band Chasing Ghosts have made an art of catharsis through raw lyrics, and powerful riffs. Together they discuss their latest album, and play live in the studio. Plus, with NAIDOC Week just around the corner, Garuwa co-founder Kieran Satour kicks off a special series to celebrate this year's theme "The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy". And for Word Up, Stuart Joel Nuggest shares the Jingili name for a place north-west of his hometown of Elliot, NT. This episode contains reference to suicide. If this discussion raises any problems for you, support is available by calling 13 YARN on 13 92 76, or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Vogue
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
Sadie Sink on the Magic of Broadway, the Music That Soundtracked Her Coming of Age, and Her Tony-Nominated Role in John Proctor Is the Villain
One thing I was thinking a lot about in rehearsals was what my high school experience looked like. People would tell stories from school and stuff, and I didn't really have that. Mine looked a bit different. So, I always felt disconnected in that way. I went to high school for a little bit, but it was mostly done on set. That became useful for Shelby, because what really resonated was [the feeling of being a] teenager, but parts of you feel like you're already an adult. It became a useful tool for me, just relating it back to my own life. But no matter what a person's teenage experience was, this show encapsulates the rage and the catharsis, how no one will listen to you, and all those things that relate to girlhood, but also just womanhood in general. There was a New York Times article that came out the other day about the show, titled 'Why Women Are Leaving This Broadway Show in Tears.' What do you make of it all? It's beautiful and it's heartbreaking. There's audiences that, through this play, they're able to think about things that have happened in their own life that maybe live in that gray area that this play talks about a lot. And so, a lot of women connect to it. A lot of my friends that come to see it have very similar reactions, and it brings up important conversations. It makes people feel really seen. Obviously, we didn't plan the timing of it at all, but for this story to be told right now, under the same administration that Kimberly wrote [the play] under years ago… to be back in that spot is just really dark. It feels like such a gift that we get to do this right now. What do you hope people take away from seeing the show? I like it when people leave with rage, because I definitely feel a lot of that throughout the show. At the end, though, I hope that through Shelby and Raelynn [played by Amalia Yoo]—through their friendship—there's an appreciation for the connections that you have in your life, and that sense of hope that, with the people around you that you can lean on, you can change the world for a second. That's what these girls do. They change the world around them for the length of a song.
ABC News
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Mountainhead review: First film from Succession creator promises 'eat the rich' but neglects to feed the audience
The "eat the rich" subgenre has been so well covered in the past decade that it's become overexposed. But the trope du jour does still offer a singular cinematic delight: watching entitled, horrible, rich people get what's coming to them. What: Four tech billionaires hide out in a palatial mansion while their creations tear the world apart. Starring: Steve Carell, Ramy Youssef, Cory Michael Smith, Jason Schwartzman Directed by: Jesse Armstrong When: Streaming now on Max Likely to make you feel: like you've already seen this story Whether they end up bankrupt, castaways or as human s'mores, there is a catharsis to seeing billionaires suffer in fiction because they so rarely receive their comeuppance in real life. In Succession creator Jesse Armstrong's first foray into writing and directing a feature film, he asks: "What if I did an eat-the-rich film, but just give the audience 'the rich' part?" Mountainhead is a very long bottle episode of TV, set in the most expensive bottle you've ever seen. Tech creator Hugo 'Souper' Van Yalk (Jason Schwartzman) — short in both stature and standing (his net worth is less than $1 billion) — invites three of his closest frenemies to his steely, sprawling, secluded compound for a weekend of poker. Randall Garrett (Steve Carell) — net worth $63 billion — is the oldest of the bunch and he can feel it. Multiple doctors have diagnosed him with an incurable cancer which he rejects, dismissing his latest physician as a "simpleton". Venis 'Ven' Parish (Cory Michael Smith) — net worth $221 billion — has just pushed a frightening new AI-generative feature onto his omnipresent social media platform, Traam. Ven's actually only on the trip because he needs to schmooze Jeff Abredazi (Ramy Youssef) — net worth $59 billion and quickly climbing — owner of an AI company whose code way outstrips Traam's version. In a classic horse-before-the-cart move, Traam's AI isn't so great at sorting fact from fiction, leading to unverifiable videos that flare political tensions internationally. Ven needs Jeff's superior tech to fend off faceless federal forces that are putting pressure on Ven to fix his platform before fake videos tear the planet apart. Because all these man-child characters have the emotional intelligence of an egg, Ven can't quite muster the humility to ask for Jeff's help. As the quartet trade barbs and only semi-literate technobabble in Armstrong's trademark galloping, insult-a-minute dialogue, real-time disasters trickle in from their smartphones: Gangs in South America are killing innocents after deep fake videos called them informants; AI-generated deep fakes of ideologically fuelled violence have inflamed conflict between multiple countries. In response, the four men cast themselves as kings of the new world, indulging in casual debate over who is going to be installed as leader of which impoverished country. The world crises in Mountainhead were so true to life that Youssef says he found it difficult to differentiate between the horror filtering in from his prop phone and his real phone. "At a certain point, I didn't really know which was which, and unfortunately a lot of these things started to blend together," he says. "I think our emotions were definitely tested with how escalating everything in the real world is right now." And therein lies the real problem with Mountainhead. In a world where almost indistinguishable headlines are shrieked at us from all angles, why on earth would we want an uncanny recreation as entertainment? In the past week, AI-generated deepfake videos shared widely across Twitter and Facebook inflamed the conflict between India and Pakistan, with experts claiming the platforms didn't do enough to temper the misinformation. Youssef points to Armstrong's strength of tone — which kept millions engaged in the abhorrent actions of his Succession characters — as the saving grace of this purported comedy. "It never felt like we were making fun of what was happening. We were more making fun of the people who are so reckless," he says. Which could work, if any of the characters did or said anything half as disturbingly comical as their real-life counterparts. Randall takes obvious inspiration from billionaires like US venture capitalist Bryan Johnson, who is perhaps more well-known for his radical attempts at "anti-aging". But absolutely nothing Randall says in his ample screen time is as hilariously dystopian as Johnson taking a whole litre of his 17-year-old son's blood to put in his body in an attempt to reverse aging, only to turn around and say the process had "no benefits detected". Ven, with his problematic social platform, weird connection with his infant child and direct line to the president, is reminiscent of Elon Musk. But the character's cringe displays pale in comparison to Musk's gamut of baffling behaviours or squirm-worthy jokes — from setting up a Tesla showroom on the White House lawn to his obsession with 420 gags. Mountainhead was turned around at an astonishing rate. According to Armstrong, he pitched the film to HBO in December last year and production was wrapped by April. This kind of accelerated birth should make the comedy feel fresh and relevant. Instead, Armstrong makes observations and comedy that feel not just dated, but unnecessary. His visual metaphors — like the cold, cruel design of Souper's "home" and the constant, overflowing tables of food (TikTok creators identified luxury grub as the new status symbol ages ago) — are cartoonish in a way that makes you cringe for the creator. The machine gun references to "going to the moon" and bunkers in New Zealand are groan-worthy. His filming style — all shaky cam and quick zoom-ins — ape the reality-TV feel of Succession, but can't pull anything out of Mountainhead's characters except insufferably flat reaction shots. It's clear Armstrong thinks his dip into the world of wannabe tech oligarchs is clever and new, but it quickly becomes repetitive and boring. You can recreate the same effect by doomscrolling Twitter for 20 minutes and you might see a cute cat gif. There are going to be Succession-heads who thought the show deserved 10 more seasons and will likely christen Mountainhead meaningful satire. However, if you do not fall into this group, I implore you to go for a run, touch grass, hug a loved one, draw a picture, bake a cake — all of these actions are more radical in their defiance of dangerous billionaires than watching a rushed recreation of our current societal woes. Mountainhead is streaming on Max now.
New York Times
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Why Women Are Leaving This Broadway Show in Tears
I cried the first time I saw the play 'John Proctor Is the Villain,' set in a high school in small-town Georgia during the height of the MeToo movement, and I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks. On social media, I saw other women reacting similarly, leaving performances in tears. This past weekend, I went a second time with a friend. As the houselights went up, she was crying, as was the woman in the row in front of us. They spontaneously hugged, which is something I've never seen before at a Broadway show. Outside the theater, two women were sobbing. At least since the time of Aristotle, catharsis has been understood as one of the chief purposes of theater, but it's been a while since I've experienced it so viscerally, and I kept wondering why this play is having such an intense effect on so many. (No other play has received more Tony nominations this year.) One reason for its power, I suspect, is that it transports the viewer back to a time when MeToo still felt alive with possibility, the moment before the backlash when it seemed we might be on the cusp of a more just and equal world. It's not an uplifting play — an innocent girl is punished, and a guilty man is not — but it is still shot through with a kind of hope that's now in short supply. 'John Proctor Is the Villain' takes place in 2018 and revolves around an honors English class studying Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible.' The girls in the class are smart and ambitious; they're also, like many teenagers everywhere, swoony and bursting with contradictory emotions. They're so excited about the MeToo movement that they want to start a feminism club at their school, which school officials do not, at first, want to allow. Tensions in the community, their guidance counselor tells them, are too high. Those tensions soon creep in to the high school and start to shake the girls' solidarity. The father of one of the girls is accused of sexual harassment by two women, which leads her to question MeToo. 'We can punish the men if they're proven guilty, but if we find out the girls are making it up they should get punished just as bad,' she says. Another girl, Shelby — played by the 'Stranger Things' star Sadie Sink — returns from a mysterious absence with her own destabilizing accusation. Their drama is refracted through their engagement with 'The Crucible.' In 'John Proctor Is the Villain' the increasingly common idea that MeToo was a witch hunt is turned inside out. The playwright, Kimberly Belflower, had been captivated by the MeToo movement when it revved up in 2017. 'It just felt like, 'Oh, my God, we're doing this. We're naming these things,'' she told me recently. It gave her a new lens on her own adolescence in rural Georgia. 'I didn't have the vocabulary for this then, but I do now,' she said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
