As physical media continues its comeback, The National rounds up the best releases across film, music, art and more.
Abu Dhabi Bright by Myrna Ayad
Walking into a well-curated living room, boutique or cafe oft means you're greeted by the ubiquitous, and colourful, Assouline coffee table travel book. This month, Abu Dhabi is being given the Assouline treatment.
Written by cultural expert and art writer Myrna Ayad, the visual book weaves stunning images of the UAE capital with a look back at its captivating story. Ayad also highlights must-see and must-do attractions, including Louvre Abu Dhabi and Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, as well as the historic Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and the desert oasis of Al Ain.
The book is out on June 11, so I will be adding it to my coffee table book collection sharpish.
Farah Andrews, head of features
Ken Andi Habib by Freh Khodja
Algerian saxophone player Freh Khodja is a cult figure among collectors and DJs who specialise in Arabic grooves. His 1975 album Ken Andi Habib, which blends Arabic music, Caribbean and Latin grooves and funk, is among his best work. Recorded in Paris while Khodja was a member of the African diaspora group Les Flemmes, the album sounds even better 50 years on – not only for its danceable rhythm section, but for Khodja’s vocals. It's being re-released on vinyl by French record label Wewantsounds and will have you grooving either on the dance floor or your apartment floor.
William Mullally, arts & culture editor
Tour of Japan by Minyo Crusaders
There’s no easy way to define Tour of Japan, but its charm is in its eclecticism.
The 2023 album is the second studio release by the Minyo Crusaders, a group renowned for their experimentations with Japanese folk music. They draw their name from a genre of traditional Japanese music called minyo.
The tracks on Tour of Japan have roots in songs performed by Japanese fishermen, coal miners and sumo wrestlers. They have been completely reinvented by the band’s innovative arrangements.
Charged with Latin, jazz and Caribbean rhythms, Minyo Crusaders' compositions incorporate sounds unexpected in Japanese folk, from synthesisers and drum machines to robust brass sections and distorted guitars.
Tour of Japan is due for release on vinyl on June 13.
Razmig Bedirian, features writer
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
I recently read Ocean Vuong’s semi-autobiographical debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, and it shattered me. Published in 2019 and written in the form of letters from a son to his mother, it is achingly beautiful, weaving Vuong’s tragic family story as a Vietnamese asylum seeker in the US into a powerful narrative about memories, human bonds and home.
While he has published many poems and essays, The Emperor of Gladness is only Vuong’s second novel, and was recently picked by Oprah Winfrey for her book club.
It follows a 19-year-old boy who decides to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge but is urged by an old woman to reconsider. The old woman, who has dementia, and the boy then form an unusual kinship and decide to face the world together. I can’t wait for my copy to arrive.
David Tusing, assistant features editor
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Yukio Mishima was one of Japan’s most acclaimed authors, and one of its most controversial. After an award-winning literary career, the author gathered a group of loyal followers in order to restore the Japanese emperor to power, attempted to launch a coup from a military garrison and took his own life when they failed.
Since his death, many have delved into his life and work and the events that shaped him. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, the 1985 film by American director Paul Schrader, is perhaps the most enduring international examination of Mishima’s life.
The film uses vignettes from the author’s novels to juxtapose his writing against the events of his life. These tableaus serve as a mirror between fiction and reality.
Previously released on DVD and Blu-ray, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters arrives in 4K from The Criterion Collection in June.
Faisal Al Zaabi, gaming and social media writer
Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman
Laura Lippman is a distinctive voice in mystery fiction. Stephen King called her “special, even extraordinary” and Gillian Flynn wrote: “She is simply a brilliant novelist.” Here she returns with a wickedly smart mystery featuring Muriel Blossom, a sharp-eyed widow with a past in private investigation and a disarming talent for going unnoticed.
When she stumbles on a winning lottery ticket, Mrs Blossom trades her quiet Baltimore life for a river cruise through France on the MS Solitaire. On the flight over, she meets Allan, a charming man who briefly reignites her long-dormant sense of romance – until he turns up dead in Paris the next day.
As the ship winds down the Seine, Mrs Blossom is drawn into a web of secrets, stolen art and suspicious men who keep showing up when something goes wrong.
Lippman weaves intrigue and wit into this stylish caper about reinvention, revenge and what happens when a 68-year-old woman refuses to disappear. Described as White Lotus meets Only Murders in the Building by its UK publisher Faber, what's not to like?
Nasri Atallah, editor of The National's Luxury magazine
Freaky Tales
Portmanteau films show several stories and present them as intertwining and connected. Wild Tales, Fantasia and Sin City are just some examples. The most recent, and perhaps one of the most exciting entries to the genre is Freaky Tales by directing duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who previously directed Captain Marvel.
Set in Oakland, California in 1987, the film is a nostalgic trip filled with crime, alien powers, basketball and buckets of blood. Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn and Jay Ellis star in this raucous adventure that deserves a place in everyone’s library.
Freaky Tales is being released in a VHS-style case to evoke the experience of renting the film from a video shop in the 1980s.
Faisal Al Zaabi, gaming and social media writer
