Elizabeth Aubrey

Freelance arts and culture journalist/lecturer. My work is regularly found in NME, Evening Standard, The Guardian, Empire, The Quietus, GQ, The Independent, MixMag, Crack and more.

The Quietus •

The National's Bryce Dessner on All Of This Unreal Time

After teaming up with Jon Hopkins and twin brother Aaron for a score to a Max Porter-penned and Cillian Murphy-starring film, The National's Bryce Dessner speaks to Elizabeth Aubrey about the project and moreBack in 2021, The National’s Bryce Dessner teamed up with twin brother Aaron and musician Jon Hopkins to score the music for the searing Cillian Murphy-starring short film, All Of This Unreal Time, adapted from the writing of Max Porter. A live score was meant to accompany the film’s premier...
The Telegraph •

Rick Astley: I have a sense of ‘thank Christ’ for that song

Best and worst is a regular interview in which a celebrity reflects on the highs and lows of their lifeMusician Rick Astley got his big break after Pete Waterman saw him singing at a working men’s club in Warrington and signed him on the spot. His first hit Never Gonna Give You Up went to No 1 around the world. Now, after forty years in the music business, Astley has written a memoir reflecting on his career, exploring his working-class roots, challenging childhood and rise-to-fame, as well as a...
The Quietus •

The Sound of Light on Water: Jon Hopkins' Favourite Music

Ahead of new album Ritual and a headline set at this weekend's Green Man, Jon Hopkins takes Elizabeth Aubrey through an eclectic Baker's Dozen spanning adolescent favourites, ambient rarities, gifts from the algorithm and the soundtracks to his travels across the globe“I didn’t just want to pick the same songs I’ve done before for lists like this,” says Jon Hopkins, referencing previous “best of” lists that included the likes of Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys...
The Telegraph •

Ebon Moss-Bachrach interview: ‘We’re nearing the end of The Bear’

Despite being the star of one of the biggest shows on the planet about Michelin-starred eateries, The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach isn’t a fan of haute cuisine. “I don’t like fine dining, per se,” he tells me when we meet at London’s Corinthia hotel. Yet he likes good food: on another recent trip to London, he was thrilled to find some culinary gems and is keen to share tips. “I like Rochelle Canteen; I also ate at a place called Rita’s that was really good.”

Anya Taylor-Joy Cover Feature

“It was definitely the bloodiest and dirtiest I have ever been in my life,” laughs actor Anya Taylor-Joy, recounting her “war stories” from the set of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in which she stars as the titular lead. “I remember looking at my makeup artist at one point and saying, ‘I am filthy right now!’” she recalls, sharing nothing prepared her—not even her annual trips to Glastonbury, her favorite festival, where she’s well-used to being knee-deep in mud and grime.
Radio Times •

Tarot star Harriet Slater: 'Horror movies are having a real resurgence'

"It’s an exciting time for horror movies right now – they’re having a real resurgence," rising star Harriet Slater tells RadioTimes.com, days before her own exciting new horror film, Tarot, arrives in cinemas. "I saw Immaculate last week, and it was so much fun," she says of the recent Sydney Sweeney-starring smash, and adds that she’ll watch a horror movie whenever she gets the chance.
IndieWire •

‘Shaun of the Dead’ Oral History: Zombie Trust Exercises, Getting Egged on Set, and Helen Mirren’s Unforgettable Turndown

“Shaun of the Dead” remains, against the odds, one of the most successful British indie films of all time. Released in the early-noughties period when British indies were struggling, from a budget of a modest $6.1 million, Edgar Wright’s 2004 film earned $39 million at the box office and made household names of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost…
The Telegraph •

Daniel Mays: ‘Culture and the arts should never be for the privileged few’

Best and worst is a regular interview in which a celebrity reflects on the highs and lows of their life Actor Daniel Mays began his career working with director Mike Leigh in All or Nothing and Vera Drake. Since then, he’s appeared in Ashes to Ashes, Line of Duty, Made in Dagenham and Des. He was recently nominated for an Olivier Award for his performance in Guys and Dolls on the West End. He stars alongside Michael Douglas in new Apple TV+ drama, Franklin, about the founding father of America…
Record Collector •

Madonna 'Confessions on A Dancefloor' essay

Time was on Madonna’s mind at the start of her tenth album. Opening with a ticking clock on the seismic Hung Up, there’s an air of urgency as Madonna tells us there’s “No time to hesitate,” because “You’ll wake up one day/But it’ll be too late.” On the dramatic Let It Will Be, Madonna considers: “It won’t last long/The lights, they will turn down.” In How High, she asserts “Nothing lasts forever” and bleakly wonders: “Does this get any better?”
Record Collector •

Madonna at the Movies Feature Essay

Is Madonna only ever playing herself? That was the cliché about Madonna’s acting. Looking at her disparate roles, it’s a criticism that bears little scrutiny. Elizabeth Aubrey speaks to Madonna’s directors Susan Seidelman, James Foley and Abel Ferrara, plus A League Of Their Own writer Lowell Ganz, to learn of the reality of Madonna’s big-screen talent, while Madonna expert Lucy O’Brien assesses whether Madonna was always destined to prioritise music over movies.
Record Collector •

TANGK album review

Idles “isn’t a fucking punk band”, frontman Joe Talbot once said about his Bristol quintet, despite the fact they very much sounded and acted exactly like a punk band. Across their early albums the group raged against the government and their policies on austerity, Brexit and the NHS, their punk sentiment chiming with a generation who felt abandoned by Westminster. Their last two records, however, 2020’s Ultra Mono and 2021’s Crawler, veered away from politics – and from what some critics deemed...
Flaunt Magazine •

Eva Longoria | Cover Feature

“There’s a lot of amazing female directors creating amazing movies,” Eva Longoria tells FLAUNT, before excitedly naming some recent favorites: Greta Gerwig, Emerald Fennell, Ava DuVernay. “But I think it’s also a myth that Hollywood is progressive in that way, that women are directing everywhere.” Longoria continues, “We’re not. We’re still underrepresented behind the camera. We’re a smaller percentage now than in the years prior. We’re going in the wrong direction.”
NME •

'Slow Horses' season three review: the best spy show on TV is back

During his MI5 medical exam, Gary Oldman’s scruffy spook Jackson Lamb tells his doctor he’s quit smoking. “Really?!” the doctor says, suspiciously surprised. “Yeah… I haven’t had one for 27 minutes now.” “What about alcohol intake?” the doctor wonders, eyebrow aloft. “Two to three bottles a week.” Not bottles of beer or lager, he implies, but bottles of wine and whiskey. The doctor asks him to get on the treadmill. “You put me on a treadmill, you’ll be done for manslaughter,” Lamb retorts…
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