Complete Fool - Chloe Foy

 

Chloe Foy

Complete Fool

I was lucky enough to watch Chloe Foy as a support act for Conchur White at Old St. Pancras Church back in 2023. Her songwriting and performance were utterly sublime.

I discovered she was doing a tour of record stores and mooched over to Oxford to catch her promoting her new album. She showcased the majority of her album in a pared down but completely flawless and emotional performance. Even though I had heard her sing this live it didn’t prepare me for the elegance and beauty of this new album.

Chloe Foy mingles genres from the beautifully layered vocals and strings that seem to hark back to the heady days of Hoffman, Livingston and David alongside the Jud Conlon Chorus (from Disney’s Cinderella) before breaking into the sweet simplicity of the title track. This journey through musical styles is a sweet and heady confection that layers harmonies, orchestra and chorus. The album takes pleasant and surprising twists throughout. Each song soars but in different and unexpected ways. There are hints of country, of Nick Drake pastoralism, alt folk, pop, rock and so much more to be found here.

This album is an absolute joy from start to finish.

https://chloefoymusic.bandcamp.com/album/complete-fool

Coffinmaker's Blues by Stephen Volk

 

It is not very often that a book finds you when you need it the most.

I have been umming and ahhing about whether to ever write again. Veering between continuing to self-publish, bothering with sending novels to agents or publishers anymore or, far more crucially, sitting down and actually writing anything.

I was comforted to discover that a writer I consider to be at the top of his game suffers very similar self-doubt. His struggles with both the internal mechanisms of writing and the external realities of getting the work made were painfully relatable. I was struck particularly by his insights into where ideas come from and the terrifying feeling of writer’s block which chimed with my own existential crisis as a writer.

There is much more to this book, however. It is stuffed with helpful musings on the value of research, how to write dialogue and create character, on the connections between horror and comedy, along with invigorating polemic on the state of the industry both in the UK and the States. There are wonderfully reflective anecdotes and thoughts on his own experience in working in TV and Film (including a fascinating account of the creation and reception of Ghostwatch). The work is also peppered with observations regarding influential writers and directors that have had me scuttling to eBay to look for works that I have missed.

These essays, collected from Black Static over a 10 year period and placed in this single volume, reveal an evolution of Volk‘s own character over time. I love the confessional style of this collection; Volk’s voice at times crying out in frustration or whispering helpful or hopeful nuggets of advice. Whilst this is a book that encourages you to dip in and out, I found I could not stop reading, pulled through it by his passion and sense of fun. Overall, it is his love of horror and the realisation of its power that truly make their mark, making me want to get back to my desk and start scribbling stuff again.

What have I taken from this? I need to enjoy the moments in teaching, writing and family life as they come. I need to welcome the highs and the lows as they are a part of me and any potential stories I create.  I need to read and watch more!

If you love horror, are fascinated by the process of writing or just want to be thoroughly entertained by a wonderfully honest screenwriter and author then read this.

 
Chris Lambert