⭐𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗩𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗨𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗠𝗢𝗟𝗞𝗢 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 (𝗙𝗔𝗥 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭)⭐

"𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝑲𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝑪𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐’𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑰𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒊𝒏’𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒔." (𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘔𝘤𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘺)

Photo credits at the end od the text

🔸 Today, I'd like to share an article about "𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐" by 𝐹𝑎𝑟 𝑂𝑢𝑡. It was published on Brian Molko's birthday, December 10th, 2021. 🔸

What a beautiful tribute 💕
Enjoy reading as much as I did 😊

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐

📕 Placebo’s Brian Molko has established himself as one of the most significant figures in the world of music over the past 30 years. Defying musical, aesthetic, thematic and personal mores, he and Placebo partner in crime Stefan Olsdal showed that music did not have to be the boisterous and misogynistic place it was in the mid-late 1990s amongst all the Britpop and nu-metal.


Following in the footsteps of Lou Reed, David Bowie and perhaps even Leigh Bowery, Molko shaped Placebo into an outfit that helped to bring the discussion of sexuality, fluidity and politics into the mainstream and change pop culture for the better.


To put things into perspective, when the 1997 single ‘Nancy Boy’ went to number four in the UK Singles Charts, the band stuck out like a sore thumb, but a refreshing and necessary one, to say the least. Discussing what were then taboo themes, the band’s message contained considerable weight, particularly when you match it against what Oasis were doing at the time with tracks like ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’.


Taking off when Britpop was at it the tail end of its commercial zenith, ironically, this proved to be very fortuitous for Molko and Placebo. They became the de jure band for all the outsiders, the square pegs in round holes, an outfit that didn’t relate to the bucket hat-wearing, alpha male brashness of the bustling music industry of the time.

Photo credit: Par Pope

It wasn’t all about sexuality, though. Molko’s lyrics touch on a whole host of challenging topics such as death, violence, teenage angst, drug use and the modern fascination with money. They often provide a means of escaping from humanity’s increasingly grim reality. The latest single, for example, ‘Surrounded by Spies’, discusses surveillance culture and the environmental collapse that world leaders are ignoring, showing that Molko always has his finger on the pulse.


Like Lou Reed, Molko has never been afraid to get into the nitty-gritty. This is one of the key facets of his brilliance, he’s a realist, a cynic even, and this again has filled his music with a pulp that many of his contemporaries could only have dreamed of having. There’s a reason why we’re still talking about Molko and Co. today and why, in comparison, Britpop eventually committed suicide by becoming a ridiculous caricature of itself, as did the mid-2000s indie scene. Placebo has, to varying degrees of success, remained relevant.


Again like Reed, Molko’s lyrical style positions him as somewhat of a Gonzo journalist stuck right in the middle of society’s most critical debates, peeling back the curtain and revealing the truth. He’s a witness that provides lessons in how we can better ourselves by outlining our faults, much like Thomas Pynchon or Hunter S. Thompson. He’s also captivated us by instilling a thrill to all of his music, much like the stomach churn you get after popping a pill. It’s a little naughty, but one hell of a ride.


Musically, in the early days, his down-tuned guitar and Generation X attitude aligned him with Sonic Youth, Nirvana and even riot grrrl groups like Pussy Riot. He espoused a caustic, sardonic wit that constantly proved that society’s established mores are flawed and something to be laughed at. “𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑒,” Molko said in 2017, when he explained the band’s early ethos to The Independent. “𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑐 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑔𝑖𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 ‘𝑂ℎ, 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟’,” ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑. “𝑆ℎ𝑒’𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑡! 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝑂𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠-𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑒𝑠𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑠, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑐𝑡; 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒.”

Photo credit: Alfred Steffen

It’s a shame Kurt Cobain didn’t live long enough to witness Placebo’s rise, as it is certain he would have been captivated. In many ways, they are Cobain’s subversive spiritual successors. Showing just how provocative they are, in 2013, the band teamed up with the literary master of satire, Bret Easton Ellis, to deliver the pertinent video for single ‘Loud Like Love’, and his narration on suburban secrets is another superb indication of Placebo’s artistic vision.


“𝑊𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑,” Molko told The Guardian in 2021. “𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ, 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑥 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 90𝑠, 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒 – 𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜, 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠𝑜𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑦 1% – 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒’𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔”.


Another exemplary element of Molko’s artistry is that he has always tread his own path, staunch in his beliefs even if millions of dollars are offered to him. He once turned down the offer of a million euros to become a judge on the French version of The X Factor, saying “𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑” that could have persuaded him, regardless of the fact he’s bi-lingual and speaks French fluently.


Molko is driven by artistry and dedication to what is right. That’s what makes him such a refreshing breath of ice-cool air. He’s not a careerist or a money grabber, he’s Brian Molko, and he’s true to his own convictions. Considering that we live in the age of cultural pastiche, where rip-offs reign supreme both economically and musically, Molko continues to lead by example. 📖

(Mick McStarkey - faroutmagazine.co.uk)


🔸 I never thought about the fact that Kurt Cobain might have liked Placebo, but it seems like a no-brainer to me actually !

I really like this post by Mick McStarkey who has found the right words to describe the mind of Brian and Placebo. The last sentence, in my opinion, best defines Placebo's line of work throughout their career. And I'm sure that 𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑀𝑒 𝐺𝑜 will have some interesting insights in this respect. 🔸

⭐ 𝑆𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 ? 𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑑𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒 ? ✨

Photo credit: Sebastien Dolidon

🎶 Let's listen (and watch !) to the first song that propelled Placebo to fame, 𝑁𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝐵𝑜𝑦 , and the latest song they released, 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝐵𝑦 𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑠 from their upcoming album, 𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑀𝑒 𝐺𝑜 🎶

⭐🎥 𝑵𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝑩𝒐𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒊 𝑭𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏 1996 https://bit.ly/3q8FNtN 🎵

⭐🎥 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝑩𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒔 https://bit.ly/3me1PKA 🎵

Photo credits collage: Robin (2), Liam Duke, David Willis, Scarlet Page, Joseph Llanes (2), Mads Perch / edit by Laetitia 

Post by Laetitia

🌟𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐆𝐎’ 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐘🌟

🔸 𝑮𝑳𝑨𝑺𝑺 𝑩𝑬𝑨𝑪𝑯 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚: 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 🔸 

As soon as the new album 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐆𝐎 has been officially announced, we can now talk about its cover that was revealed by Placebo a few days ago.
With this record, it was a cover the guys unexpectedly started with. “𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉,” Stefan told to The Guardian. “𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.”

There’s no doubt that this beautiful picture has drawn Brian’s attention for a reason as it’s got a fascinating background.
The location pictured on the cover is so-called 𝑮𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 at the north end of 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒈, 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒂.

…There’s a 𝒎𝒚𝒕𝒉 that every time a sailor was lost at sea, mermaids would cry and their tears would wash onto the shores as sea glass. The story began with a mermaid who loved a sailor from afar and tamed the stormy sea to save his life. Neptune was incensed and banished her to the depths. Since then, her mermaid tears wash up as sea glass — mementos of unrequited love…

Photo credit: Never Let Me Go cover (creative direction - Phil Lee; production - Untold Studios)

In truth, the origins of the Fort Bragg sea glass are far more mundane.
📍The 1906 earthquake that devastated San Francisco also tore 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒈 apart. Before rebuilding could begin, the fallen homes, shops, and all the garbage had to be removed. Much was burned or bulldozed toward the ocean. This practice continued for decades afterwards…
Today, we (seem to?..) know better than to toss our trash into the ocean, though it does still happen. In the early 20th century, however, this was common practice. Residents of Fort Bragg used a local beach as an impromptu dump. Household items, glass, appliances, and even cars were chucked over a cliff, landing onto the beaches below. Fires were often lit using Molotov cocktails to reduce the size of the trash pile.

📍Thankfully, this practice came to an end. In 1967, dumping was prohibited, and cleaning programs started to correct the damage. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆: 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕.
Over the next several decades, what was biodegradable in the dump sites simply degraded and all the metal and other items were eventually removed and sold as scrap or used in art.

📍More work was undertaken in 1998. The land was owned privately, and the owner teamed up with the Coastal Conservancy and California State Water Resources Control Board to clean the area more thoroughly. In 2002, the 38 acres of historic dumping site was opened as a part of MacKerricher State Park.

🔸 𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄 𝑶𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒉, 𝒋𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒓𝒚-𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 ‘𝒔𝒆𝒂 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔’ 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒔, 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒅.

📍 When author Richard Lamott, appeared on the Martha Stewart show to give tips on collecting sea glass, Glass Beach became a popular international tourist destination. Most of the thousands of daily tourists took some glass home as a souvenir. Because of this and also because of natural factors, the glass is slowly diminishing. Now it’s forbidden to collect sea glass within the boundaries of MacKerricher State Park.
(𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠: 𝑊𝑖𝑘𝑖𝑝𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎, 𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑎 𝐽𝑎𝑐𝑘, 𝑀𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑜, 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝐴𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑠)

🔸 In this human-made, nature-perfected phenomenon, can you see a direct continuation of Placebo’s 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞’𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐭 video theme?
If there was a terrifying evidence of human actions towards Earth, then here, it seems to be some hope. But… is there hope just for the planet or for us, humans, as well?...

📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: “It’s not going to be the end of the world. It’s just going to be the end of the human species,” Molko says. “We call it the end of the world in our incessant hubris and narcissism. Try Better Next Time [a song from upcoming album] is kind of a rallying cry saying: ‘Just give it up, give it back to the animals.’ They were here first.”
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑁𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 12𝑡ℎ, 2021)

🔸 The abilities of Nature are incredible, it just needs to finally stop damaging the planet and make an effort to help it revive itself… to keep its beauty for the next generations - unless we’re now ready for the desperate scenario Brian described…

🔸 …Take a look at the photo once again. Aren’t Placebo songs those multi-coloured “jewels” created out of Brian and Stefan’s challenging experiences, profound reflections, and inescapable conclusions transformed into the perfect beauty of the new album's “landscape”?
What do you think of this allegory?..
Please share YOUR thoughts on the Never Let Me Go cover, soulmates!

Post by Olga

🌟𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐅𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐋𝐒𝐃𝐀𝐋 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝟑𝟓𝟕: “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞”🌟

𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑇𝑊𝑂 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑤?
Just a few hours ago today, we could listen to the full version of the 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 with Stefan broadcast on Polish Radio 357. Stefan talked to the radio presenter Piotr Stelmach shortly before Placebo’s second single 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐬 was premiered on this radio station on November 9th, at the midnight.

Photo credit: Mads Perch

The conversation started with beautiful Stefan’s words after Piotr told him a bit of the Radio 357 history: the independent radio station managed to survive through the years thanks to the listeners’ support and they’ve been always playing Placebo a lot.
📢 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥: Thank you! You know, that means a lot because you’ve been supporting us since day one. I can only congratulate you on your efforts and sticking to the good fight. It wasn’t easy. You have all the Placebo support.

𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡: I can tell you the last year, well, a few latest years were quite complicated for us here. How was it for you?
📢 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥: I think the only constant that we have in life is change. And it’s not just for bad. It’s going to be good and bad… Over the latest years, we went through heavy changes, unpredictable changes, and it was kind of bad for writing these new Placebo songs. So yeah, it’s been turbulent. In our songs, we try to battle chaos and negativity but hopefully, we can keep hope alive. That’s, in the end, what keeps hope in us - to keep music alive, see the hope, see the light in all of it.

𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡: Remembering your other singles, don’t you think that Surrounded By Spies is kind of an ‘anti-single’?
📢 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥: I think life would be too safe without taking risks. We’ve got very eclectic taste fan base, they don’t like one type of music. Surrounded By Spies is very different to our first song, Beautiful James. But it’s still us. It was good to do things slightly different, not to make two same songs, to let the fans taste yourself what’s to come. But as I said, it’s all still Placebo.

𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡: Surrounded By Spies… Haven’t you already played and talked about voyeurs in your songs? It was in Peeping Tom from the album Black Market Music. There, a person was spied by another person, this time it’s being done by the system. Do you agree with that?
📢 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥: You see, I haven’t seen it from that angle, that’s interesting. This title is kind of claustrophobic because, you know, it’s hard to avoid prying eyes nowadays. It’s kind of crapped off on us. The character of Surrounded by Spies is feeling that pressure of modern age, what it can do to you, how it can slowly turn your world very dark. And it can start to feel at times that there’s no escape. There’s some kind of a darkness in this song. We wanted music to be very expressive, evil… We’re trying to find the hope, trying to find the cracklings of light in our songs but I think that Surrounded by Spies is probably one of the darker moments.
When it comes to Placebo lyrics, throughout the albums, there were elements of personal and emotional honesty. I think that we’ve realized that it’s what makes the song universal - if you make it personal, sing about you’ve experienced on this planet, whatever the feeling may be. We always explored the darkest sides of human psyche and human’s emotions that aren’t necessarily easy to talk about, to acknowledge that we have sometimes. So I think this track is continuing in that way.

𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡: Now, how did your first single, Beautiful James, come to being?
📢 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥: It’s kind of hard to tell because it was made out of such a long period of time. We were interrupted as everyone was with what was going on in the world around us. So the process was kind of piece-mail. I think it’s started off very slow on a piano and kind of grew into this pop monster. I think doing many songs on this album we took a different angle than we did before. We like to take kind of a new way with every next album.
I remember Brian came in with a picture and said ‘Let’s use this photograph and create the album around it’ and he kept throwing the song titles. Beautiful James, I think it was one of those great titles he had in mind for a while. Sometimes, it’s just through the whole creative process you can see the final effect. And with Beautiful James, it was one of those songs with a very turbulent process of creating. But when we finished it at the studio, it just told us like ‘Hi, I am your first single!’ So, I think that’s why a lot of you reacted to the song same way. As you said, you felt like it was the essence of Placebo, and there’s nothing bad. People react emotionally to our music. We also felt that was right, that was true Placebo, the track was very much us.

Photo credit: Mads Perch

𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡: Robert Schultzberg, Steve Hewitt, then Steve Forrest… It’s like there were drummers in the band but they weren’t there constantly, for a long period of time, let’s say. So, what’s about the place behind the drum kit for Placebo now?
📢 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥: We have since a few years back a British drummer called 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 𝑳𝒖𝒏𝒏, Matthew Lunn, in a live band. At the studio, we’re back with Brian as we kind of started 25 years ago, a two-piece. Matt Lunn is also on a record and another drummer, 𝑷𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒐 𝑮𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆. So we’re not pretending we can play drums but those guys can. [Pietro Garrone is a drummer of Husky Loops, an Italian art rock band based in London]

𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡: I’ve been asked to not ask too much about the new album, time for that is yet to come. We’re waiting for you and Brian before the album release. But – Never Let Me Go – I think it’s one of the most popular phrases in pop music.
📢 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥: It could be. It’s certainly one that describes something romantic, enormously desperate, it’s just four little words. It was a phrase that kind of grabbed us for a long time. I have it written on a piece of paper at the studio where I am now. I think we wrote it down and it kind of stared at us for all the time we created the album. It’s also very open title, it could be interpreted in many different ways. Even right now, I can think of many fast interpretations.

𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡: It’s positive.
📢 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥: Yeah, it’s surely a dramatic phrase.

𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡: I said positive…
📢 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥: Well, yeah, we can say so. Such a love pleading, it could be applied to, you know, heavenly bodies as well as human bodies.

𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡: We know that Stefan is originally Swedish who lives in London for many many years. So, it’s quite nice as it’s happening now, famous Swedes are back: Stefan Olsdal is back, ABBA are back!
📢 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥: (laughs) Yeah, I think we were never expecting a new ABBA album, so we’re blessed by new music from these four Swedes. Good on them!

…At the end of the interview, Stefan told a little anecdote. Long time ago, he met Björn Ulvaeus and said something like ‘You know, I’m so proud, you’re from ABBA and I play in such a band Placebo - can you hear your influence in our music?!’ And Björn answered with one short ‘NO

𝑅𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑜 357, 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑁𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 13𝑡ℎ, 2021
𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝑂𝑙𝑔𝑎 𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑎

🔸𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨: ‘𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬’ 🔸

The alt-rockers brought gender fluidity into the 90s mainstream – and are now reckoning with climate apocalypse, surveillance culture and how to escape our horrific reality.

Photo credit: Mads Perch

On the screen of my phone, Brian Molko is trying to dodge the camera’s gaze. I’m in Colorado, video calling him in London, watching him chain smoke from across the Atlantic. He sometimes casts glances at the lens, mostly doing his best to forget it’s there.

Over the past 25 years, Molko’s band Placebo have often grappled with the question of image; with being seen, photographed and surveilled. Alongside co-writer and multi-instrumentalist Stefan Olsdal, Molko has carved out a dark and daring aesthetic universe, wrangling topics deemed taboo within alternative rock and culture. There are Placebo songs about abuse, co-dependency, violence and addiction; many seem to ring out from past the end of the world. In 1999, a few years after David Bowie took notice of the band and invited them to open for him – they later duetted on a version of the Placebo song Without You I’m Nothing – REM’s Michael Stipe dedicated It’s the End of the World As We Know It to Placebo at a festival in Belgium.

Inside the gloom, though, a sense of thrill flickers. With their distinctive palette, defined by downtuned guitars, electrified overtones and Molko’s metallic, androgynous voice, Placebo extol the pleasure that can come from kink, unbridled infatuation and queer sex. Back in 1996, when Placebo released their self-titled debut album, Molko and Olsdal wore dresses and makeup onstage and in photoshoots; Molko’s bratty, girlish affect broadcasted a way of moving through the world that flouted binaries. He cultivated a gendered and sexual expansiveness decades before the term “non-binary” slipped into mainstream vernacular.

“We did what we could within the framework that existed,” Molko says. “And we rebelled against the framework that existed. It’s much, much more complex now. But if just by being ourselves in the 90s, we made people feel less alone – if we managed to, in any way whatsoever, increase the potential and capacity for freedom just by 1% – then we’ve achieved something.”


Placebo didn’t just play music about being queer to a broad audience – they frequently hit the Top 5 of both the UK single and album charts – but made music that insisted that queerness had its delights alongside its dangers. Songs such as Nancy Boy, with its deliriously Cronenbergian music video, traced the fluid morphology of bodies. In one shot, Molko and Olsdal’s heads dissolve into each other: symbolic of how a creative partnership, or music in general, has the power to liquefy the self.

“We had a great opportunity to let parts of us show that we hadn’t up to that point in our lives,” Olsdal tells me from Stockholm a few days after I speak with Molko. “We got the confidence to show the world who we were.”

Molko echoes him. “We were just kids who just wanted to make music. But we couldn’t do it without going onstage in a dress, without talking about our sexuality. It was very, very important for us to not be ashamed,” he says. “And inadvertently, hopefully, we perhaps created something within people who listened to us where they felt that the necessity for shame was decreased.”

Placebo’s upcoming eighth studio album, Never Let Me Go, began germinating during a world tour for the 20th anniversary of that 1996 debut. Newly a duo after parting ways with drummer Steve Forrest, both Molko and Olsdal felt trepidation; reiterating songs they had written in their 20s became stifling.

Photo credit: Mads Perch, edit by Michael Haralampous

“It felt like an extremely commercial exercise for me,” Molko says. “I have a very unique point of view as the writer. I’m just looking for mistakes. Having to go back and play songs which felt quite sophomoric for me at first made me want to do something that really, really broke with all of my safety nets.”

Placebo was a way to claim space in the world; the band’s 90s output was life-giving at the time, but by 2016 felt lodged in a bygone era. “We’ve never really felt that we fit in. Having searched for so long, we got tired of searching. So we built our own world instead,” Olsdal says. “That’s what we’ve inhabited. That’s what we know and what we need to find strength, to go up on stage and to perform these songs night after night. But when you build your own world, sometimes you can get trapped by it.”

In the midst of the tour, to shake the band loose, Molko decided to invert Placebo’s typical songwriting process. “What would we normally do? Let’s not do that,” he says. “If you decide to do everything in a way that you don’t actually know how to do, you’ll fall into a series of accidents which can stimulate you or disgust you. That surprise is what I live for.”


Rather than jam with a drummer to feel out the songs from the ground up, Placebo started with what usually comes last: the album cover. “Brian came in with a photograph,” Olsdal says. “And he kept throwing me song titles and potential album titles, and we worked from there.” The cover, recently revealed on Instagram, shows a rocky beach bejewelled with colourful sea glass: bits of human trash worn smooth by the ocean. The image seems to speak to the track Try Better Next Time, an upbeat and sweetly melodic rumination on climate disaster. Molko’s lyrics paint a world of extreme inequality, water shortages, militarised security and human beings growing fins to return to the encroaching sea.

“It’s not going to be the end of the world. It’s just going to be the end of the human species,” Molko says. “We call it the end of the world in our incessant hubris and narcissism. Try Better Next Time is kind of a rallying cry saying: ‘Just give it up, give it back to the animals.’ They were here first.”


While writing the album, Molko returned to the sci-fi films he had loved as a child – psychedelic ruminations on technology and power from the 1970s, such as Fantastic Planet and Silent Running. “I’m very interested in creating, with each song, an alternative universe where the laws of physics don’t necessarily apply,” he says. “Each song really does exist in its little parallel universe. If we’re not tied down to the laws of physics that are generally accepted in the universe we see, then certainly emotion will follow. Certainly anything is possible in another reality. It allows me to speak freely about what bothers me. I try to exaggerate things to increase dramatic effect, to highlight how ridiculous our reality is.”

The characters in each song further Placebo’s overarching paranoia and suspicion about the world as it stands (“I think my reaction to most things is just disappointment,” Molko tells me). The driving post-punk track Surrounded By Spies, written using the cut-up technique popularised by William S Burroughs, envisions a society in which every eye and camera is trained on the narrator – a commentary on CCTV surveillance and social media alike.

Photo credit: Mads Perch

“What are the consequences of the bargain that we’ve struck in order to have all of this communication?” Molko asks. “The system is designed to take your privacy away, contribute to the loss of your freedom, and objectify you to the point that you engage in it proactively.” On the beautifully melancholic Went Missing, he dips into his darkened sprechstimme to imagine someone who can go missing for a living – someone who survives through invisibility, a reversal of the tradeoff made by those who survive by revealing themselves constantly. There are songs of tremendous grief and desperation, such as Happy Birthday in the Sky; songs that feel haunted by past selves such as Twin Demons; songs that render the profound alienation of being seen but not known.

“A lot of the writing I did was me trying to write myself out of feeling trapped in this world,” Olsdal says. “And, however scary things are, trying to engage with it somehow. As social beings, we get anxious when we’re left on our own. We miss the herd on a basic human level. It’s this dichotomy of trying to be an individual, but also having to be a part of others.”

Never Let Me Go might frame the end of humanity, but it also sounds out how we hold each other through the ruin. “I think we’ve come across this theme of ‘love in the time of cholera’,” says Olsdal. Beautiful James is about loving someone outside of heteronormative scripts, about how human affection so often spills over the channels that power digs for it. “I want to live in a world where a song like Beautiful James raises no eyebrows,” Molko tells me. That hope offers a slight opening out of the apocalypse on which so much culture now fixates.

I ask Molko if there’s any chance we make it. He doesn’t really think so. “If the tech billionaires get their way, we’re just going to colonise other planets and repeat our mistakes there,” he says. “The thing about running away is that you’ll always take yourself with you.” So I ask what music can do.

“For me, it’s about not existing in the problem and trying to live in the solution. I wanted to express something visceral, something very human. I just hope that other people will understand it and that it will move them,” he says. “I hope that I’ve been somewhat courageous with this record so that it might inspire courage in others. It might help them stand up for what they believe in. That’s all. That’s what music did for me.”

Never Let Me Go is released on 25 March 2022 on So Recordings. The singles Beautiful James and Surrounded By Spies are out now

Source: The Guardian, November 12th 2021

🔸𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐌 𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐒🔸

A few days ago I found a video of ✨“𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒”✨ in my newsfeed, and I want to share it with you, as it brings some interesting approach to the lyrics and is also nice to watch.
The clip consists of scenes from the zombie/love film “𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗺 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀” and has subtitles. If you know the plot of the movie and connect it with the lyrics one can see that the two of them match surprisingly good. You can read more about the film further below.

Photo credit: Mads Perch, movie poster, stills from „Warm Bodies“ / edit by Silke

📹𝗕𝗘𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦
🎵  https://bit.ly/3jbzFP2 🎵 
(video with scenes from “Warm Bodies”)

It's maybe because of the fact I know the movie and the book, but this video of “Beautiful James“ with the scenes from “Warm bodies“ really touched me and made me think about the lyrics again. Brian already said that he is not going to answer the question who Beautiful James is and that he wants everyone who listens to the song to find their own story behind it (see quotes below).

And as my mind wandered I remembered what one of our soulmates told us about their thoughts on the record: “𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 "𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴" 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘐 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮. 𝘈 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦.”

That's also an interesting approach, especially considering the Hail Satan T-shirt which caused some serious arguments lately. But I don't want to start a discussion about Satanism at all again, I'd rather like to ask you for your personal opinions on the song and its unknown main character James.
I know who my “Beautiful James” is, but who is yours and why?

📌 𝗜𝗡𝗙𝗢 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗠 📌
The 2013 movie “Warm Bodies” is based on the same-titled novel by Isaac Marion, a book which is partly inspired by Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet”. It's a romantic zombie comedy staring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer and John Malkovich.

📜 𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧
R is a zombie and constantly craves human brains, as he is able to "feel alive" through experiencing the victims' memories when he eats them. When he and a pack of other zombies are hunting they encounter a group of people. R sees Julie and is immediately drawn to her. After being shot in the chest by Julie's boyfriend Perry R kills him and eats his brain. Perry's memories increase R's attraction to Julie and he rescues her from the rest of the pack.

Julie is terrified of R first, but then they bond. The zombie begins to come to life again; his heart starts beating and he is slowly able to communicate with words. After R reveals Julie that he killed her boyfriend she abandons him.

Julie returns to her human enclave but R follows her and they reconnect. Julie's father Colonel Grigio, who is also leader of the human survivors, threatens to kill him. R and the girl escape together but find themselves trapped on a high building soon. R jumps into a pool far below, shielding Julie with his body from the impact. When they finally kiss Colonel Grigio arrives and shoots R in the shoulder. Julie notices that he is bleeding from his wound – revealing that he has completely revived and is human again. The film ends with R and Julie watching the wall surrounding the enclave being demolished, signifying the end of the apocalypse.

Photo credit: Mads Perch / edit by Silke

📌 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗡 “𝗕𝗘𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦” 📌
📢  “If the song serves to irritate the squares and the uptight, so gleefully be it. But it remains imperative for me that each listener discovers their own personal story within it – I really don’t want to tell you how to feel.”
(NME, September 16th 2021)

📢  “I had this list of song titles and that was one of them, and for some reason it just kind of jumped out of the page at me and, you know, and it made itself known. But it kind of started during a period of major insomnia for me in 2019. I was having this kind of… I mean I have issues with sleep, and I can sort of go through periods where I, for a couple of months, I don't really get more than two or three hours sleep at night. And this was a particularly bad couple of weeks, but in my kind of stupor I was getting kind of… I don't know where from, but melodies and phrases were coming into my head. I was kind of delirious, you know, from lack of sleep and therefore connected to something which I didn't really know what it was, but these things were just coming into my head. And I remember having to sort of get out of bed like five, six times a night even though I wasn't sleeping and just go over to the piano and record a melody onto my phone. And one of those melodies was called “Bad Piano” because I'd recorded it at like 5 in the morning, you know, just to get the notes down. And so, for a long time “Beautiful James” was called ‘Bad Piano” because the initial, the main hook melody was written by me at 5 o'clock in the morning in the middle of a major bout of insomnia. And then, Stefan had to take it and make some sense out of it, and it became the keyboard riff, the main riff of “Beautiful James”. I really want each person who cares enough to listen to the record to find their own story. So, Beautiful James… I fully expect people to ask me all the time ‘Who is Beautiful James? Who is Beautiful James?’ Well, I don't know! Who's your favourite James? James Corden or James Brown - which one do you prefer? Or like, you know, who is James to you? And is James even a man? These are questions I'm not going to answer, these are questions I want people to ask themselves.”
(BBC Radio 6 Music, Septeber 16th 2021)

Screenshot from the video

📜 𝗟𝗬𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦
Bring me back to life
Never let me go
Your troubles and your heart strife
I saw them
Take me by the hand
As we cross through battlefields
Nobody understands
'Cause there's nobody at the wheel

Beautiful James
I don't wanna wake you
Beautiful James
I don't wanna wake you

Everybody lies
One hundred times a day
The silence in your hard eyes
Is far too rare to give away
And it's exactly why I stay

Beautiful James
I don't wanna wakе you
Beautiful James
I don't wanna wake you (don't wanna wakе you)
Beautiful James (don't wanna wake you)
I don't wanna wake you (don't wanna wake you)
Beautiful James (don't wanna wake you)
I don't wanna wake you

Though I may have to
I may have to
I may have to

Beautiful James
I don't wanna wake you (don't wanna wake you)
Beautiful James (don't wanna wake you)
I don't wanna wake you (don't wanna wake you)
Beautiful James (don't wanna wake you)
I don't wanna wake you

Post by Silke

💥💥𝑬𝑿𝑪𝑳𝑼𝑺𝑰𝑽𝑬 𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑽𝑰𝑬𝑾: 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐒 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐇 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎💥💥

✨𝑬𝑿𝑪𝑳𝑼𝑺𝑰𝑽𝑬 𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑽𝑰𝑬𝑾 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚
𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡, who has taken the newest photographs of Placebo, is known for using interesting creative techniques for his images. He kindly shared some details of his recent work with Brian and Stefan

Photo credit: Mads Perch 

🌟𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐒 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐇: "𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐔𝐘𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐀"🌟

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚: Hi Mads, nice to meet you online  New photographs of Placebo are amazing. Did you have the concept about this photo shoot in advance or did you take part in creating it with the band/management?
𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡: I was planning the art work in advance with Art director Phil Lee at Untold Studios who commissioned me for the job. I had been working with shooting through distorted plastic sheets before so it felt like a great opportunity to use a previously explored concept in a new way with a great band!

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚: Like a band with a rich and long history, Placebo have had a lot of different photo shoots and images. How did you want to show them now? What was the most important thing for you?
𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡: I guess the most important thing for me was to photograph them in a new and interesting way. My work is often based around creating more conceptual images made using in camera techniques, and it was great to work with Brian and Stefan who were really into the concept which Phil and I had planned prior to the shoot.

Photo credit: Mads Perch

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚: I have noticed that you have used some creative techniques for your photographs. There is some magic in them. The picture of Placebo for Beautiful James looks fantastic. Was that your idea to use this technique?
𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡: Thank you! Phil, the art director, saw some work I had done with textured glass before and thought it would be a great fit for the band. So that is really how it all started. The concept was presented to the band and the guys were really into the idea. We spent a whole day in a studio and did a lot of experimentation with different glass, and textures, and colours – all created in a camera. It was a great shoot day and we got a lot of strong images out of it.

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚: What can you say about working with Placebo for this photo shoot? What was the most interesting in your mutual work with the band?
𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡: The guys were great, one of the nicest bands I worked with! They loved the concept and gave Phil and me plenty of time to experiment and get what we wanted. I am hoping to be able to share some more images from the shoot soon!
(𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡, 𝑆𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 30𝑡ℎ, 2021)

Post by Olga

💥💥💥𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐎 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐋𝐊𝐎💥💥💥

🔥Brian is modelling for Marc Jacobs’ Heaven line😍😍😍

He is captured in a tight black ‘stunt girl’ tee – which is basically a crystal-studded rehash of one he wore on rotation back in the 90s.

Photo credit: Harley Weir 

Read more here:
💖𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐛𝐬
➡ http://bit.ly/3bbb612
"Joining the rest of the line-up are some pretty major models: namely, the one and only Kate Moss, and legendary Placebo frontman Brian Molko."
(𝐷𝑎𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 3, 2021)

💖𝐈𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐛𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐯𝐚 𝐍𝐢𝐫𝐮𝐢
➡ http://bit.ly/3c4HEZY
"Ask Ava Nirui, art director of Heaven by Marc Jacobs, what was occupying her mind when working on the label’s latest collection and she’ll tell you it was Brian Molko, the androgynous frontman of the alt rock band Placebo. Specifically, the self-expression demonstrated throughout his career during a time in which mainstream media was rife with testosterone-fuelled Britpop and laddish masculinity."

𝐀𝐯𝐚 𝐍𝐢𝐫𝐮𝐢, 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐛𝐬:
📢📢📢“Brian was a bit of a muse this season – not only his sense of style and sensibility, but also his intellect and willingness to challenge gender norms from the ​‘90s till now,” Nirui explains, citing Molko as one of the ​“dream people” she wanted to approach for the label’s campaign, styled by THE FACE’s fashion editor Danielle Emerson and shot by Harley Weir. ​“I feel that he is totally Heaven inside and out. I grew up listening to Placebo, and his rebellious attitude and aesthetic is the blueprint for so many things we celebrate today.”
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 3, 2021)

Brian with a similar T-shirt in 1997. Photo credit: Pat Pope

💖𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐛𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐓𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 '𝟗𝟎𝐬 𝐆𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
➡ http://bit.ly/3sMIOzL
(𝑃𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 3, 2021)

Beautiful photo and wonderful words about Brian!!!😍💖
What do you think, soulmates?!!
Your Placebo Anyway Team💗

Photo: Harley Weir, 2021
Stylist Danielle Emerson
Hair by Kiyoko Odo
Makeup by Ammy Drammeh
Set Design by Afra Zamara�
February 5, 2021 in London.

Post by Olga