We Speak Music
Dylan Rippon’s future punk-disco classic “Destroy The Now” gets vinyl release!

One of the finest British albums of the last twenty years, ‘Destroy The Now’ by Dylan Rippon has just come out on Limited Edition Vinyl to coincide with the release of instant indie classic ‘Sunburn’ which was featured on SKY in a recent feature length documentary film ‘The Warhol Effect’ which explores the late work and legacy of Andy Warhol.
The power of Dylan Rippon’s music rests in his extraordinary sensitivity to the dislocation of the modern experience combined with the stark beauty of his melodies. Throughout the album, Dylan instinctively weaves darkness and light into beauty. ‘Forever’ is a love song for the ages. Anguished and eternal. ‘Mobius Trip’ is a twisted electronic nightmare of folding and unfolding worlds. ‘All Too Human’ is the prayer of everyone standing on the edge of oblivion. ‘Futurismo’ is for a man who knows the future but will never live to see it. ‘Listen’ is the voice that calls from the liminal world.
And new single ‘Sunburn’ explodes the agony of panic in a glorious synthesis of punk and disco.
Dylan explains this recording as follows, “I started work on ‘Destroy The Now’ around the same time that I was asked to write the music for a new documentary about Andy Warhol called ‘The Warhol Effect’ (dir. by Paul Toogood and Lloyd Stanton). I wanted to make sound in the same way Warhol made images, at the speed of light. Andy was the first to repeat, repeat, repeat. He could paint in code. He was his own algorithm. Marshall McLuhan, my only spiritual guide, understood the digital human as a spirit, disembodied by light itself. He said, ‘everybody at the speed of light becomes a nobody’. And he knew what this separation of the body and soul would do to our lives. ‘Violence whether spiritual or physical is a quest for identity and the meaningful. The less identity, the more
violence.’ I started thinking about the violence of digital life, the way it ‘destroys the now’. Warhol spent a lot of time thinking about the violence of car crashes and electric chairs, teenage kids dead on the sidewalk but all over the evening news, violence as a destiny. Maybe that’s why Valerie Solanas tried to murder him. After that, it didn’t take long for the songs to manifest themselves. It was automatic. I didn’t even have to try. ‘Listen!’ was the Universe telling me to wake up, to be aware. ‘Futurismo’ was for Antonio Sant’Elia. He imagined skyscrapers and futuristic city-scapes but was killed in the First World War before he ever saw his dreams come true. ‘Mobius Trip’ is the ‘eternal return’, Nietzsche’s horror concept that we are all destined to live our lives again, every thought, decision and action the same as the first time around. ‘Forever/Eternity Song’ is a love song. It may be the greatest love song ever written. ‘All Too Human’ borrows its title from ‘Human, All Too Human: A Book For Free Spirits’. The robots are already more human than we are. They feel, we scroll. The digital human is all too human to be real. ‘Divider’ is a song about memory, about losing love long ago when you could feel the streets and breathe the night. ‘Sunburn’ is a panic attack transformed into glorious light. ‘Momentum’ is a prayer. I mastered the album at Abbey Road. Richard Bull created a beautiful painting for the sleeve. I had the feeling that I’d made something really special.”
Baring the hallmarks of a dystopian world spraypainted musically by Kraftwerk, Air, Future Islands, The Killers, Gary Numan, John Lennon, The Cure and David Bowie, Dylan’s influences as cited above are laid bare for all to see but only he could have put something this comprehensive together. A cult gem for the modern age made from a gifted light of life devoted to music and art. This may well be Dylan Rippon’s finest hour and the perfect bridge to connect Gen X and Gen Z.
‘Destroy The Now’ is out now on Hero Rhymes With Zero. Order the vinyl now here.

We Speak Music
Anna Silverman Shines in Chekhov’s London Revival

The stage is set, the lights dim, and in just a few moments, a timeless classic unfolds. Chekhov in London is not just another adaptation of The Seagull – it is a daring, stripped-down reimagining guided by the singular vision of Victor Sobchak, a director with an uncompromising approach to theatre. This unique production, blending performance, documentary and personal reflection, challenges both actors and audiences to reconsider what it means to tell a story on stage.
At its heart, Chekhov in London follows three interwoven threads: a condensed performance of The Seagull, an intimate exploration of the rehearsal process, and revealing interviews with Victor and his cast. The loose structure allows room for spontaneity, ensuring that the final piece retains the raw energy of live performance. The result is an immersive theatrical experience that defies convention and highlights the director’s unorthodox methods.
It might be a short production , but within those few moments unfolds an intense scenario of The Seagull. The film fuses performance, documentary and behind-the-scenes insights, resulting in a fascinating work that feels at once theatrical and uncomfortably real.
At the center of this version is Anna Silverman in the role of Irina Arkadina. Unlike the more fragile, wide-eyed Nina, Arkadina is fierce, ego-driven and emotionally strong. Her character is a woman of status and pride but yet, beneath the surface, she is quite brittle. The film’s direction leans into that psychological tension, and Anna doesn’t shy away from it and in fact, she walks straight into the fire.
“I knew from the beginning this wasn’t going to be a conventional performance,” Anna reflects. “Victor didn’t want a polished, distant Arkadina – he wanted a woman trapped in her skin, in her legacy, in her relationships. There was no way to play her halfway.”
In this adaptation, Arkadina isn’t simply a supporting figure in her son’s tragedy – she becomes a central pillar of the emotional architecture. The scenes between her, Treplieff and Nina are structured to feel tight and unforgiving. From a visual perspective, the production chose to create a claustrophobic atmosphere, using close framings, low lighting and limited space. This wasn’t accidental – it was intentional.

“The idea was to strip away the distance – both physically and emotionally,” Anna says. “The camera is close. The pauses feel longer. There’s a tension that’s not just acted, it’s felt.”
For Anna, playing Arkadina came with its own set of challenges – not just technically, but emotionally.
“It was important for me to avoid turning her into a villain. She’s not cruel for the sake of it. She’s scared. She’s aging in a World that punishes women for being anything less than eternal. She’s trying to hold on to relevance, to love, to her past power and it’s slipping. I had to meet her there.”
Working with Victor Sobchak is not for the faint-hearted. Known for his intensity and no-nonsense expectations, he pushes actors into emotional terrain that feels almost unsafe—but never without purpose.
“There were moments I left rehearsal feeling completely stripped bare,” Anna admits. “Victor doesn’t settle for performance. He wants truth – even if it’s messy, even if it makes you uncomfortable. Especially if it makes you uncomfortable.”
This meant many scenes were approached with only minimal technical blocking and instead prioritised emotional improvisation. Anna’s performance, while deeply rehearsed, maintains a feeling of spontaneity – it is almost like we are watching her discover Arkadina for the first time, in real time.
Behind the performance was intense internal work. Anna immersed herself not only in Chekhov’s text, but in Stanislavski’s psychological approach, asking not just what Arkadina says – but why she can’t say anything else.
“You have to find where she lives inside you,” Anna says. “For me, it was about understanding what it means to be needed, but not nurtured. What it means to perform not only on stage, but in life.”
She also speaks of the moments when she doubted herself, at some points when Arkadina’s emotional contradictions left her feeling disconnected.
“It’s exhausting to play someone who won’t break, because it means you carry the weight of everything she’s holding in. As an actress, the real challenge was to show the cracks without letting her fully fall apart.”
The film makes the most of its minimalist structure – focusing entirely on the emotional triangle between Arkadina, Treplieff and Nina. There are no sweeping landscapes or dramatic scores. Instead, it’s the silence, the breath between lines, the glance not returned that builds the tension.
“That was Victor’s vision from the start,” Anna explains. “He wanted it to feel like there was no escape – emotionally or physically. Every word, every pause, becomes a battlefield.”

In the end, Anna doesn’t pretend the role left her untouched. Arkadina, she says, revealed more to her than she expected.
“I think the most painful part of playing Arkadina is how much I saw of myself in her fears. It’s easy to admire the beautiful parts of a character, but it’s when you recognise your own shadows in them – that’s when it becomes real.”
Chekhov in London may be brief in length, but it leaves a long emotional imprint. And Anna Silverman’s Arkadina is at its heart: proud and undeniably alive.
_______________________________
Chekhov in London” is a rebellion, a love letter to theatre itself.
Featured photo credit: Tom Trevatt
-
We Speak Music1 week ago
Julyo Unveils New Instrumental Album AMARanto
-
We Speak Music1 week ago
Jeff Pevar & Inger Nova Announce Italy Tour and Innovative Album Release on Musical Bead
-
We Speak Music1 week ago
B.A. Badd drops new single “100” (Prod Sypooda)
-
We Speak Music1 week ago
Americana Singer-Songwriter Richard Daigle Releases New Single “Cajun Getaway”