Sound & Vision
Things I listened to and watched in 2025
Music
Olivia Dean, The Art of Loving
I know that everyone listened to Olivia Dean in 2025 but there is a reason: she is very, very good at what she does. And her band are incredible (and pretty much unchanged from when she started out), as are the songwriters she collaborates with. Everyone in my house listens to Olivia Dean; a car went up and down my street today with her duet with Sam Fender blaring out the windows. The Art of Loving is a better album, I think, than Messy, despite the fact that Messy’s high points are probably higher “(Ladies’ Room”, “Carmen”). Olivia Dean, at her very best, represents the music of sheer joy: the end of the chorus of “Reason To Stay”; the pre-chorus of “Man I Need”; the entirety of “OK Love You Bye”. If you’re one of the few people who haven’t listened to her in 2025, give yourself the gift of her music in 2026.
Chet Baker, Chet Baker Sings and Chet Baker Sings & Plays
Who knew that melancholy and insouciance could be so cool? Well Chet Baker did. Jazz trumpeter whose best work, for me, are the few records he made where he combines his breathtaking horn work with his languid vocal style. Introduced to the modern age by The Talented Mr Ripley over twenty five years ago, Baker is the perfect soundtrack to evenings after work or Saturdays making brunch. (See also: Frank Sinatra’s Songs For Swinging Lovers & Van Morrison’s Moondance.)
Kiefer, It’s OK, B U
My favourite music to work to, Kiefer’s piano heavy, instrumental is relaxing and uplifting at the same time. I first found him thanks to the outstanding playlist he made for BBC Sounds’ Focus Beats (including the unforgettable, “Siri, How Do I Know If I Have Commitment Issues?” by Sam Wilkes and Jacob Mann, which is worth the price of admission alone).
DJ Shadow, The Private Press
Can I have two favourite artists to work to? Because if I could, DJ Shadow would be up there too. His debut album, Endtroducing, still sounds fresh today almost thirty years after it was released. This year I have especially enjoyed revisiting his sophomore effort, The Private Press. Slightly looser and more relaxed than its predecessor, it doesn’t, in my mind at least, try to imitate Endtroducing or needlessly break the mould for the sake of it. “Six Days”, in the light of the troubles in Gaza and the ongoing crises across the Middle East, remains as poignant as ever.
Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
I am already on record saying that 1997 is the best year for music in history. And what’s the best album released in that best ever year? It has to be Radiohead’s OK Computer, despite the fact that there is some pretty stiff competition across a whole host of genres. With Radiohead reforming for some live shows in 2025, I took the opportunity to to revisit their back catalogue (and also to try to introduce them to my teenage son). I started at the end, with their most recent album, 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool. I fell in love with in straight away; it had passed me by on its first release because I was living in a world filled with toddlers at the time. What a record. The only shame is, because I listen to it on streaming, I don’t know any of the names of the songs. Which means you’ll just have to listen to the whole thing.
Cephas Azariah & Elle Limebear, A Liturgy For Grief
A late addition, thanks to the amazing radio show presented by Elbow’s Guy Garvey for BBC 6Music. This a beautiful album, full of subtle shifts of mood and sonic delights hidden for listeners with headphones. The stand out track, “You’re Gonna Be Okay”, will be the soundtrack to a TV show sometime soon, I’ve no doubt.
John Eliot Gardener & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Brahms: Complete Symphonies
When not listening to madcap modern instrumental music, I like to work to classical music. I can’t get on with Classic FM (my wife loves it and has it on when I’m not working in our shared office space) because it seems to me they’re playing Jupiter from The Planets every five minutes. My tastes are largely for orchestral works and requiems. A friend recommended to me Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony, which has become a favourite, as have the collected symphonies of Brahms. Next year I’ll revisit some old favourites from Mahler and Bruckner and maybe discover a few new favourites too.
Honourable mentions go to: Skye Peterson, Andy Gullahorn, Keith Jarrett, Paul Simon, and the incomparable Elevation Worship.
Podcasts & Radio
Think Theology Conference on Isaiah
I might be stretching my definition a little bit, but one of the highlights of the year (a highlight of every year, to be honest) was Andrew Wilson’s teaching on Isaiah at the Think Theology conference in London in July.
Teo Hayashi
A personal highlight this year was meeting and sitting under the ministry of Teo Hayashi from Zion Church in Sao Paulo. Founder of the Dunamis movement and a key figure in The Send, Teo spent three days in Cardiff speaking about revival, reformation and the kingdom of God. I got to interview him for our church podcast too, which you can watch here.
The Rest Is History
The reason for all technological advancement, the reason for the invention of the iPhone, the reason for the podcast revolution: all so that one day mankind could enjoy The Rest Is History. Not only the best of the entire “Rest Is…” stable, the historical dynamic duo of Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook present the best podcast out there, bar none. They know their stuff and they know how to make it interesting, inspiring and, at times, unbelievably funny. They even survived Dominic refusing to present an episode on The Beatles this year, drafting in Conan O’Brien instead. Having enjoyed Holland’s Dominion this year, I want to get some of Sandbrook’s post-war British history series under my belt next year.
Stakeknife
This investigation from BBC Sounds into the British agent Stakeknife (real name Freddie Scappaticci) who was an important leader in the IRA during the Troubles is the best single thing I listened to this year. It is fascinating, cruel, and, at times, quite unbelievable. At the time of writing, Scappaticci is back in the news after an enquiry into MI5’s involvement with him; hopefully this will lead to some more episodes of the podcast.
Talk of the Devils
I have been a Manchester United fan for so long I can remember life (just) before the Premier League. Ask me how I’m getting through the roller coaster/ car crash/action movie that is the tenure of Ruben Amorim? With the help of The Athletic’s podcast dedicated to Manchester United. To be honest, I will now watch anything Carl Anka is on and read anything he writes. The man is a genius. And Ruben: please, get Kobbie on.
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Film & Television
Adolescence
Everyone watched Adolescence this year and with good reason. It combined virtuoso technical skill, flawless acting from very talented actors and a story not only culturally relevant but gut wrenching and heart breaking. Stephan Graham might be the finest actor working in television today; he might even be the finest British actor at work in any medium today. Everything else that can be said about this television programme has already been said. But if you haven’t seen it, please do. I can’t say treat yourself; rather, brace yourself.
The Residence
Cosy, quirky crime drama at its very, very best: it is a mystery why Netflix cancelled this after just one series. My daughter and I watched it in a single weekend while she took breaks from revising for her exams.
Department Q
Netflix’s answer to Slow Horses (whose season five I’ll catch at some point soon, although I’m trying to read the books first), this Scottish set detective show was full of menace and pathos. Only thing that let it down, as is the case with more and more TV from streaming services these days, was the language.
The Diplomat
What is this? A screwball comedy masquerading as a political thriller? A subtle meditation on power and its affects on human relationships? A West Wing for the streaming era? Or simply some brilliant nonsense with impressive sets and exciting twists and turns? The relationships at the heart of the show - between Keri Russell’s Kate and Rupert Sewell’s Hal, in particular - are what keep me watching, even as the world holds its breath as the United States and the UK lurch from one crisis to another.
Only Murders In The Building
How this show keeps working is a mystery to me, but it does. Season five was the podcast themed murder mystery back at its very best. The guest stars were very good without dominating proceedings. And it finished on a suitably intriguing cliffhanger for season six.
The English
The writer/director Hugo Blick is a singular, visionary talent. (And I say that not just because once upon a time he studied in Cardiff.) Every few years a series produced by him will appear on British TV and be like nothing else. The Honourable Woman (about an Israeli family business) and The Shadow Line (about an amnesiac detective and possible police corruption) are some of my favourite series of all time. This year I finally watched The English, in which Emily Blunt’s minor aristocrat embarks on a mission of revenge across late nineteenth century America. Blick’s shows look and sound and feel so entirely different from so much other drama on the small screen. They inhabit their own vivid but unsettling universe, the way that Noah Hawley’s Fargo does as well. I’m halfway through Blick’s drama about Rwanda and the International Criminal Court, Black Earth Rising. Will report back next year.