Sacred Musings: January 2026
Some recommendations for a bleak time
If you are in London on February 11th, I’ll be introducing the screening of Cocteau’s LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE (1946) via video at BFI Southbank. Tickets and information at the link here.
If you are in Los Angeles on February 13th, I’ll be co-hosting a Valentine’s Day Fête d’amour and screening of Jacques Demy’s LA PEAU D’ANE (1970) at the Philosophical Research Society, in person. Tickets and information at the link here.
Bonjour à tous et à toutes,
I wish I could say, “I hope you’ve had a nice start to the year,” but what with the complete and utter horror that has and continues to unfold across the United States and particularly in Minneapolis, I don’t know that that question can ring true.
I must confess that I have been both extremely busy and extremely uninspired lately — from the end of November, through the holidays. But I can feel the stirrings of some ideas that may come to fruition soon.
As far as culture I’ve been consuming, I, like many, many others, have been bewitched by Heated Rivalry. I blame my close friend Clark Moore — whose series “Le Canard” is a must-read — for giving me the heads-up about it at his Friendsgiving dinner back in November. What is there to say about Connor Storrie, Hudson Williams, François Arnaud and Robbie GK that hasn’t already been said? If you somehow needed one more push to watch it, consider it this. A bright spot in a pitch-black world, I fucking loved it.
I’ve picked up a few books, including my friend Navid Sinaki’s queer, Iranian noir Medusa of the Roses; Jacob Soboroff’s sobering Firestorm; and Good Girl by Aria Aber. In their own very different ways, all three books present ways of shifting, changing and transitioning from one state of being to another. (I wonder what that says about my current state of mind… ha).
Musically, I’ve been revisiting some old favorites from my days working at The Roxy — deep cuts and hits of the genre/movement that Gen Z has branded “indie sleaze.” At the same time, I’ve had the hypnotic track “Here I Am” by duo The Hellp on repeat. They sound exactly like something I would have come across on MySpace and insisted on booking in my time working at the famous Sunset Strip club that gave me my professional start, back when I was but a wee 14-year-old.
Another song I’ve had on repeat — and which was a mainstay of my Spotify Wrapped for several years — is French act Christine and the Queen’s revisit of Indochine’s classic ode to androgyny “3SEX.” I think it might be my favorite French song ever, with lyrics that have remained current for almost four decades and that challenge the limits of the very romantic, but very gendered, language of love.
Finally, when Harry Styles dropped his latest offering “Aperture” last week, I instantly thought of the song “Need You Now” by Hot Chip (a band whose music I have cherished and loved for nearly twenty years, a frightening realization I had not long ago). I used to play “Need You Now” a lot when I was a radio DJ, which is one of those phases of life that seems like it happened to someone else; another version of myself I was, then.
More soon,
Until next time,
Chloë