The Last Mixed Tape

In 1976, David Bowie became the Thin White Duke. Elegant. Immaculate. Emotionless. Detached. But behind the perfectly tailored waistcoat and slicked-back hair was an artist whose life was beginning to collapse. Bowie was deep in cocaine addiction. He was barely eating or sleeping. His paranoia and obsession with the occult were intensifying, while his extraordinary fame had begun to feel less…

Few songs in modern rock have inspired as much discussion as U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday. For more than forty years, Bono has introduced the song with the words: “This is not a rebel song.” Yet that statement has only fuelled debate about one of the most important songs ever written about The Troubles. In this new documentary essay, I explore the history behind Sunday Bloody Sunday, beginning…

When Brat became one of the defining cultural moments of the decade, it transformed Charli XCX from a critically acclaimed pop innovator into the centre of a much larger conversation. The album escaped the studio, becoming a visual language, a fashion aesthetic and a social phenomenon that extended far beyond the music itself. Rather than recreating that success, Music, Fashion, Film asks a more…

For more than a decade, Gilla Band have made some of the most uncompromising music to emerge from Ireland. Their records are loud, abrasive and often difficult to describe but beneath the distortion lies something remarkably human. This documentary explores how the band’s work evolved alongside frontman Dara Kiely’s own experiences of psychosis, schizophrenia and recovery, and how those personal…

Phoebe Bridgers is back with Lost Boys, her first solo single from the newly announced album Lost Weekend and buried inside the song is a dark inversion of one of the most famous slogans in protest music. Woody Guthrie wrote: “This Machine Kills Fascists.” Phoebe Bridgers sings: “This machine is killing me.” In this video essay, I explore what Lost Boys tells us about smartphones, social…

Following renewed controversy surrounding Róisín Murphy’s latest comments about transgender people, criticism from artists including The Blessed Madonna and CMAT, and an increasingly fractured relationship with the LGBTQ+ community that helped shape the Irish singer and former Moloko member career, this video essay asks a much bigger question. What happens when an artist becomes estranged from…

When CMAT accepted the Ivor Novello Award for Euro-Country, she used her speech to deliver a direct challenge to fellow artists. “It is not the time to sit on the fence. Fascism is on the rise.” The speech quickly became one of the most discussed moments in British and Irish music, but it did not emerge in isolation. It arrived during a period of growing political tension, following…

For much of the twentieth century, the Catholic Church shaped almost every aspect of Irish life education, sexuality, politics, family and silence. But long before Ireland changed politically, Irish artists began documenting the emotional cost of that world through music. From Christy Moore’s haunting response to the death of Ann Lovett, to Sinéad O’Connor’s infamous Saturday Night Live…

“I think the dance floor is dead… so now we’re making rock music.” One sentence from Charli XCX during a British Vogue interview that sparked immediate online discourse and announced the release of Charli’s brand new single ‘Rock Music’. Was this the end of Brat? A reinvention? A provocation? Or something much bigger? From the branding of Brat Summer to the mythology of rock authenticity, the…

Kate Bush described Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), taken from her seminal 1985 album Hounds of Love, as a song about a man and a woman trying to understand each other. But the enduring power of the song goes far beyond romance and its era. In this video essay, The Last Mixed Tape explores how Kate Bush used shifting narrative perspectives across Running Up That Hill, Cloudbusting, and…

Kneecap’s second album Fenian arrives as one of the most politically charged Irish releases in recent years, confronting the history and meaning of a word long tied to identity, conflict and power. In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, we explores how “Fenian” evolved from Irish mythology and revolutionary history into a sectarian slur during the Troubles and why its use today remains deeply…

At what point does listening become endorsing? In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, I explore Kanye West’s latest album Bully and the uncomfortable questions it raises about how we engage with art in 2026. This review is a deeper look at the relationship between artist and audience, and whether it’s still possible to separate the art from the artist in an era where context is impossible to…

In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, we explore the reaction to Kneecap’s recent trip to Cuba and what that reaction reveals about the relationship between music, politics, and public discourse. As Cuba faces ongoing blackouts, shortages, and economic strain shaped in part by the long-standing United States embargo against Cuba Kneecap’s decision to speak out has drawn both support and…

Rosalía’s Lux tour is being described as something more than a concert. In this episode, we explore why. From her early work in flamenco to the global success of Motomami and now Lux, Rosalía has built a career on blending tradition with modern pop without ever losing the cultural identity at the centre of her music. But with the Lux tour, that idea evolves further. Structured more like a piece…

In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, I explore Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C. and ask a big question: could this already be the defining Irish album of the 21st century? Looking at the record through five key criteria; cultural relevance, popular resonance, iconic status, influence and artistry, the episode dives into the themes of identity, emigration and modern Irish culture that run through…

With the release of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, the franchise once again pairs its early-20th-century setting with a soundtrack filled with modern artists. From Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” to contemporary acts like Fontaines D.C., Lankum, and Amyl and the Sniffers, the music of Peaky Blinders has always been historically inaccurate yet strangely perfect. In this video essay from The Last…

In February 2026, U2 surprise-released Days of Ash, a six-track EP responding to global political crises from Trump-era America to Gaza, Ukraine, and Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom movement. Framed as urgent and uncompromising, the project has been described as the band’s most political work in years. But does it confront power equally in every direction? In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape,…