La Roux - Trouble in Paradise

Five years after the release of the self-titled debut, La Roux is back. After the departure of producer Ben Langmaid, singer Elly Jackson has gone ahead on her own to create an album that smacks of classic 1980s synth-pop.

The album is easy to get into, La Roux's sound has matured over the five years away and Trouble in Paradise is better for it. The opener Uptight Downtown is sure to get the party started, with the opening sounding like something straight out of a club in 1985. Kiss and Not Tell is an ideal summer track, easy to listen to and definitely funky!

The latter half of the album contains Silent Parter, the 7-minute long track that could easily have been an anthem for any 1980s synth-pop outfit. The overall tracklist is strong, and well put together, mixing the fast paced songs with the slower ones to create an album that flows together well and makes for fantastic summer listening.

Trouble in Paradise shows that La Roux is definitely back!

Skylight

Yesterday I went to see the National Theatre Live production of Skylight by David Hare, being broadcast at the Everyman cinema in Leeds.

18 years since it's last production, Skylight is back at Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End. Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy star as Kyra and Tom respectively. The story tells the tale of Kyra, a school teacher living in a dingy apartment in London who is visited by Edward (Matthew Beard), son of her former lover, Tom. Edward, now 18, tells Kyra of the death of his mother a year ago and the state his father is in. Shortly after Edward leaves, Tom arrives at Kyra's apartment. Many years have passed since the two former flames saw each other, and there is a lot to cover. The play is staged in a single set, driven purely but the passion between the two characters, the passion of rage and the passion of romance.

This play is Carey Mulligan's West End debut and she is fantastic. Watching in a cinema, you realise how different theatre acting is to film acting, but all actors did it effortlessly. Bill Nighy is, of course, no stranger to the stage, reprising his role as Tom in Skylight which he first performed in its original run.

If you get the chance to go and see a National Theatre Live production at a cinema then I highly recommend it, it is a truly enjoyable experience.

Chef

Jon Favreau's latest is a feel good film about food and family. Favreau directed and wrote the film, and also stars as the lead, Carl Casper. The film opens as Carl and his fellow chefs, Martin (John Leguizamo) and Tony (Bobby Cannavale) are preparing for a visit from the city's most famous food critic, Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt). We soon learn that things at home aren't great for Casper, he is divorced from wife Inez (Sofía Vergara), and is struggling to have a good relationship with his son Percy (Emjay Anthony). 

Although the film focuses on Casper's ability as a chef, with beautiful close up shots of some very delicious looking food, it's main focus is family. Whether it's close, or extended, Casper learns that in order to find true happiness, he must let go of all the things he once thought to be the key to his happiness. The cinematography is warm and welcoming.  While the film isn't perfect, nor will it be the blockbuster of the summer, this film just makes you feel good. It makes you happy and pretty hungry too. The cast did a great job and there are cameos from another Favreau film, Iron Man, with Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr.

I enjoyed Chef, it isn't my favourite film of the year, but it made me happy, and I think that's what it's all about.