April 2020

“Portrait of a Lady on Fire” is best described as a visual love poem.

Recently released on Hulu in 2019, the French drama centers around a painter named Marianne who is tasked with secretly painting a wedding portrait of Heloise, a reluctant bride-to-be who just left the convent. Marianne pretends she is her companion for walks, and the two young women share lingering glances as they walk around the edges of cliffs, which eventually sparks a fiery romance within the isolated island they are stuck on. 

Set at the end of the eighteenth century in Brittany, France, director Celine Sciamma describes the film as a “manifesto about the female gaze.” This certainly rings true considering men are only given a few seconds of screentime; the majority of the film is dedicated to the women’s eyes. 

The cinematography is bare-boned and simplistic — its most grand setting is the vast, blue sea the women often teeter upon. But this is not a burden on the artful aspect of the film. It instead works in the film’s favor by emphasizing the intensity of the relationship depicted, one that doesn’t need extravagance or grand gestures to prove authenticity. 

The dialogue is fueled by intense silences that make room for the female gaze the film highlights, including having the musical score only occur in two of the film’s scenes. When they talk at length, it is with deep purpose, which creates layers of meaning upon its characters. In the most dialogue-heavy scene of the film, Heloise is reciting the tragic Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, two lovers whose time together comes to a bitter end. 

But above all of the silence and simplicity comes a slow burn that will inevitably leave you walking around with a melancholic ache in your chest for days after you’re done watching the film.

In this case, the ache isn’t a bad thing. Few stories in life are meant to be carried with you like this one; few films are created to pass on the weight of what it means to love and be loved — to feel the distance between the past turn to fleeting memory. This kind of ache is meant to be held close to the heart, and it’s certain that “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” will share this for generations to come.

Graduate student Jeremy Zucker didn’t dream of pursuing a career in music. Creating music had always been something he loved doing as a hobby, but as he slowly began releasing music throughout his college years, he was quickly discovered and offered many record label deals. Now, the young talent has put out his very first debut album, “love is not dying.” 

Although Zucker has a massive fanbase, his newest album remains true to his roots, capitulating a powerful listening experience for his fans. “Love is not dying” is a concept album — a record that illustrates Jeremy navigating through life as he experiences hardships all while trying to conquer his hopes and dreams. The album is a poetic and honeyed story that captures Zucker’s life-altering decisions. 

“The album is a lot of introspection and it really outlines my whole life this past year and a half from the perspective of my mental health, my emotions, and my relationships.” Zucker stated in an interview with L’Officiel. 

“Love is not dying” captures the essence of melodramatics and the uncertainty of today’s youth. “Still,” the first track,  sets the tone for the rest of the album through its melodic daze.  Its serene and soothing sound features birds chirping and distant conversations that make you feel you’re outside with Zucker. 

Early into the record, Zucker displays his vulnerability to his listeners with the song “Orchid.” “Orchid” is a detailed and intimate love song. It’s a powerful modern ballad with soft vocals and  lyrics about regret. 

Following “Orchid,” “Julia” also displays an act of vulnerability. Based on a true story, “Julia” is a song about realization and closure; it holds a flair of sentimentality and a dark sense, resembling a love coming to an end.

“[Julia] encapsulates the most important emotions and feelings that come up in the album” Zucker shared. 

Ballads aren’t all Zucker has to offer on “love is dying,” though. More upbeat songs like “lakehouse” and “oh, mexico” create an electric feel. “Lakehouse” is a mixture of a happy and sad song with a pop-infused beat, whereas “oh, mexico” is a tune that starts off soft, but then picks up to a more upbeat sound with the arrangement of an electric piano. “love is not dying” is a euphoric dreamscape of ballads, pops and acoustics. 

In this album, Jeremy Zucker does an incredible job of transforming his inner feelings into a therapeutic journey. During this journey, Zucker makes room for acceptance and growth and expresses his emotions through music. For it being Zucker’s first album, “love is not dying” is an immaculate project — and I can’t wait to see what more Jeremy Zucker has to offer in the future. 

So much has been said about Fiona Apple that it seems impossible to add anything more. With four Grammy-nominated albums, spanning genres of jazz, art pop and indie, fans have been waiting eight years for a new album. That day has finally come with “Fetch the Bolt Cutters.” 

Released on April 17, 2020 and recorded in her Venice Beach house, the album has already garnered critical acclaim, with Pitchfork giving it the first perfect album score since Kanye West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” in 2010. 

Within the heavy percussion sound, raw vocals and occasional dog bark, Apple describes the album’s central theme as “not being afraid to speak.” It’s a sentiment perfectly incorporated here as she rages against Brett Kavanaugh, invites her ex’s new girlfriend to her old things and calls out her childhood bullies.

Apple certainly holds nothing back in her songs centered around depression, jealousy, trauma, and resentment. More than that, she makes an effort to portray female relationships in a world that often tries to diminish them.

In “Shameika,” Apple describes a middle school classmate that tells her she has potential. It’s a detail that especially stands out to Apple, since middle school was when her relationships with other women were first messed up due to bullying, she told Vulture.

This relationship continued to struggle well into her adult life; in “Newspaper,” she sings to her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend, saying “I watch him walk over, talk over you, be mean to you, and it makes me feel close to you.” Perhaps there is no better example of tricky female relationships than an ex’s girlfriend, and Apple illustrates this without fault.

It isn’t until the eighth song that we see these female connections being healed. In “Ladies,” Apple mourns for the women that have been pitted against her by men, specifically in cheating relationships. It’s a bit tongue in cheek, with Apple insisting “take it easy, when he leaves me, please be my guest to whatever I might’ve left in his kitchen cupboards.”

The intense emotions that define womanhood come to a bitter peak with “For Her,” a song inspired by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s sexual assault accusations. “For Her” is deeply personal and includes echoing vocals of multiple women, showing the true solidarity and strength that they possess no matter the circumstances.

The messages can certainly feel weighty, but ultimately, Apple finds hope in each of them with her title track “Fetch the Bolt Cutters.” It’s a fight for freedom that unquestionably wins with this album. As she puts it in her Vulture interview,“The message in the whole record is just: Fetch the bolt cutters and get yourself out of the situation that you’re in — whatever it is that you don’t like.”