Seven Songs for the Week #99 - 26th Feb 25

I hadn't heard of Q Lazzarus before reading this article: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/17/documentary-q-lazzarus-goodbye-horses ...it's quite a story and this is quite a song.

Anyone who follows me on Mastodon (and let's face it, that's everyone, because how else would you find these playlists?) will know that I was in London for a few days last week and the main plan was to go see the ABBA Voyage show. I had been avoiding the setlists but did know the two new songs featured. If you don't know, the Voyage shows feature an actual live 10-piece band playing along to the ABBA vocals (and screens). The live band definitely elevated the new songs. I'd recommend the show and was emotional by the end of it. Would love to go again, but it's not holograms. The venue itself would just be an excellent design for venues generally. Easy to get in and out of, no bad seats, it should be built elsewhere. Having been to the ABBA Arena, The Sphere in Vegas must be this times 100. I was torn between choosing this song and I Still Have Faith In You for the playlist, but you gotta go uptempo. By the way, now that we're a little removed from it, it is wonderful that we got a new ABBA album in the 2020s. Voyage (the album) is so much better than it needs to be, very fond of it now.

Heard this playing in a shop in London. Shazammed.

Anyone else watching the new third series of The White Lotus? It's very good. The slow burn character studies. Rooting for the most awful people. It's set in Thailand this time around, and this familiar-sounding song popped up in the first episode. I'd like to think of casting for future series (there will be a season four): Bryan Cranston, Cobie Smulders, Lisa Kudrow, Jon Hamm, Sarah Paulson, that kind of thing... (NB The Righteous Gemstones Season 4 is coming next month)

Hello Genevieve!

The other significant thing I did in London was visit the renovated Battersea Power Station. Like many people, I have found the building fascinating for many years. I first went to see it in 1997 and it was a bit of a trek, as I recall, tubing down to Pimlico and walking down to the north bank of the Thames to see it. When I lived in London 20 years ago, it was in a permanent state of not being developed, and had become cordoned off and dilapidated, having gone out of service in 1983. Following the global financial crash in 2008 planned development stalled again, and there were further changes in ownership. The Irish Government owned it through NAMA (look it up!) when the plans collapsed in 2011, and it was sold to Malaysian developers in 2012 for enough to cover the debt secured by NAMA and a spare £100m to build the Northern Line out to the Station itself.

There is still some development on site, but the main works ended in 2022 with the reopening of BSP with shopping, food and apartments. If you look at the cover of the 2018 Remix version of Pink Floyd’s Animals shows the shell of the building being renovated. Fundamentally, the whole building was stripped right back and rebuilt. The results are spectacular, but the main attraction was being able to go up the north west chimney. A circular glass elevator delivers you up the body of the chimney where you emerge on top and the lift becomes a panoramic platform. Would recommend.

So here’s a song from Animals!

Did this riff inspire Paul’s bass on Come Together? I don’t think so.