Jessica Walsh

Marxist geographer David Harvey’s latest offering promises to be a ‘handbook for activists’ in the crisis-ridden landscape of 2020. Compiled from a series of podcasts, Harvey’s accessible use of Marxist concepts and language to investigate and categorise the intersecting crises of economic and environmental collapse is wide-ranging and promising.

As a theorist of neoliberalism he takes readers on a tour of the world and highlights the revolts of 2019, characterised as uprisings against neoliberalism and diminishing economic expectations.

Auteur director Terrence Malick commemorates the life of Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter who, when called up for his second round of military service during the Second World War, refused to pledge allegiance to Hitler.

The film is a meditative hymn to commemorate Franz and the life he has with his wife, Franziska, and their young children on their farm in a stunning mountainous valley; a world away from the brutalities of the Nazi war machine.

King Princess burst onto the scene in 2018 with singles “1950” and “Pussy is God”, which unambiguously rejected heteronormative sexuality in a pop packaging, as in the line, “I hate it when men try to chase me”.

The newly minted queer young icon releases her debut album Cheap Queen to much anticipation. Now 20 years old, the title and cover photo where her face is painted like a drag queen are nods to a lineage of underground LGBTQ+ culture.

The debut album is more interesting as a window into King Princess’s emotional exploration than musical journey.

Scottish-born, LA-based experimental pop producer SOPHIE turns over her groundbreaking debut album Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-insides to further transformation in this non-stop, club-ready remix album.

For the album’s release in 2018, SOPHIE shocked fans by appearing unobscured and singing to camera for the first time in the video “It’s Okay to Cry”. Previously altering or obscuring her image and singing in eerie high-pitched vocals, the video and song were a celebration of her coming out as a trans woman.