December Deflection
Happy Everything
Happy December. We’ve made it to the final month of another wild, wild year. It also completes my 3rd year on Substack. New songs, old songs, real life, fiction… Thanks for sticking with me!
I’m deep inside my novel, pulling it apart and sellotaping it back together. I think it’s going well. Maybe I’ll share a chapter in the new year. Also in 2025: duo album, solo EP, and a big announcement for The Songs Of Joni Mitchell… hold me to it!
First up, for those of you in London - or with fine friends in London - our annual Christmas Show is coming up fast. We’ve decided on an early Dylan song for this year’s cover. Not quite as on the nose as previous year’s Blue Christmas or Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree, but JF insists it has a “nice wintery feel” (I always assumed it was set in summer…) Season aside, I hope we do it as much justice as Timothée Chalamet. And we’ll no doubt revive the festive numbers too... Come All Ye Faithful! December 17th! 15 Tickets Left!!
For today, in barefaced deflection, because I’m too busy writing to be writing, I want to direct you to two new Substacks I’m greatly enjoying. Both, coincidentally, are written by New Yorkers. I wonder if they know each other. Probably! I miss New York. Or as my 3-year-old Milo confidently calls it: Yew Nork.
I’ve known
for many years, the legendary founder of Paper Magazine, for which I was lucky enough to write tour diaries and even perform live - in the Paper HQ kitchen - in front of a big mural saying Eat Me. You’ll soon hear about her book called STUFF which I’m so excited to get my hands on. Meanwhile her Substack is called MORE STUFF and is a treasure trove of forward-thinking nostalgia:
I don’t know
, she is one of the few strangers I follow on instagram. I don’t even know how I first came across her brilliant artwork, I just remember I instantly loved it. Her aesthetic and way of thinking are delightful to me, and her Substack, Non-Faulty Phenomena, promises to be no less fascinating. Waiting for the right song to convince her to collaborate on a music video!
Wishing you a happy holiday. Hanukkah falls on Christmas Day this year, that’s got to count for something.
Lail x
Ok I can’t help it. I’ll probably share this song every year until Milo is old enough to tell me to stop it mum it’s so embarrassing…
JF & Lail - First Christmas - 2021:
Oh I could look at this video forever! Can't wait to see you again and meet little Milo, (hopefully he will still be little!). Big kiss!
Awe thank you Lail this made my day. I was just introduced to your work and I am an instant fan. Maybe one day we can know each other also!