Charli XCX, John Cale & the Gothic Reinvention of ‘House’
Charli XCX has entered her darkest era yet. With “House,” her new collaboration with The Velvet Underground legend John Cale for Emerald Fennell’s upcoming Wuthering Heights (2026), Charli steps into a world of gothic romance, decaying architecture, and emotional brutality, a complete reinvention from her Brat era.In this deep-dive, The Last Mixed Tape explores Charli’s career-defining pivot after Brat to the haunting production choices and Cale’s iconic narration, this episode unpacks why “House” is quickly becoming one of the most important songs of her career.
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Ghost Town: Then & Now – From The Specials to Lankum
Four decades after The Specials captured Britain’s collapse, Irish folk collective Lankum have reimagined Ghost Town transforming it into a haunting reflection of modern Ireland.In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, we trace Ghost Town’s journey from 1981’s Two-Tone rebellion to today’s Dublin exploring how music becomes a document of its time, from racial tension and working-class despair in Thatcher’s Britain to housing crises and far-right unrest in Ireland today.
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Rosalía “Berghain”: When Pain Becomes Art
In Berghain, Rosalía turns heartbreak into ritual. Set against the cultural backdrop of Berlin’s legendary club and her Catalan roots, this episode of The Last Mixed Tape examines how she translates loss into performance using sound, body, and movement to reclaim freedom.We look at how Berghain continues the evolution of Motomami, blending vulnerability with power, and how collaborators like Björk and Yves Tumor expand its emotional and symbolic depth. Through grief, Rosalía reinvents herself and in doing so, redefines what pop music can be.
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Róisín Murphy and the Fragility of Allyship
Róisín Murphy was once celebrated as a queer icon, a voice that echoed through the very clubs and communities that made her career. But her recent comments, and past posts, about trans people have shaken that bond to its core.In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, Stephen White explores how an artist so deeply embraced by queer culture could turn against it, what that says about allyship, and why this moment matters far beyond one tweet.
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Who Owns America’s Stage? Bad Bunny & The Super Bowl Reaction
The announcement of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show sparked a wave of backlash from ICE threats to pundits questioning whether he’s even “American.”But this isn’t just about one artist or one performance. It’s about who gets to define America’s culture and who’s allowed to stand on its biggest stage.In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, we explore how Bad Bunny and Chappell Roan have become symbols in a new cultural resistance one where language, identity, and freedom of expression collide with a politics of fear.
Ireland