Half an hour
Something is Happening and I May Not Fully Understand but I’m Happy by André 3000, YouTube
It’s been a couple of decades since André 3000 was putting out the best soul-pop hip-hop on the planet; these days his musical interests are decidedly more esoteric, as evidenced by his 2023, Grammy-nominated new-age flute album New Blue Sun, and this trippily hypnotic video for his latest ambient track. All skittering sonic whatsits and hazy monochrome imagery, it’s aptly summed up by its title. If your ears and eyes need a rest amid the December frenzy, it does the job.
An hour
Even as a Shadow, Even as a Dream, at 6 Fitzroy Square, London W1T, until 20 December
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Putting on an “immersive exhibition” dedicated to Chloé Zhao’s lavishly acclaimed, Oscar-tipped Hamnet a month before the film lands in UK cinemas is a curious choice. But if you’re impatient to see Zhao’s wrenching adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s bestseller about the private life of Shakespeare, this ornately curated ode to its world-building – including props, photography, drawings and writings – will whet your appetite. Pop in as a soulful respite from West End Christmas shopping.
Free to visit, booking encouraged.
An afternoon
Caroline Walker: Mothering, at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, until 26 April
If you happen to be at Chichester’s wonderful Pallant House Gallery for their expansive William Nicholson retrospective – as reviewed last week by Laura Cumming – don’t overlook their smaller but revelatory exhibition dedicated to the contemporary Scottish painter Caroline Walker’s tender, textured portraits of everyday maternal routine in all its beauty and banality. The accompanying monograph would make a fine gift too.
An evening out
Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes, at Sadler’s Wells, London, until 18 January
The master choreographer’s swirling, iridescent take on the classic Powell & Pressburger film – itself a free riff on the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale – has returned to Sadler’s Wells for its second Christmastime revival since its first staging in 2016. The story of a high-strung ballerina dancing herself to death might not seem an obvious holiday staple, but its wild romanticism, rich orchestrations and luscious palette – all those saturated scarlets and emeralds – say otherwise.
An evening in
The Mastermind on Mubi
One of the year’s best films has just landed on Mubi’s streaming platform. A heist movie is the last thing you’d expect from Kelly Reichardt, the independent American minimalist behind Wendy & Lucy (one of the Observer’s top films of the 21st century), but she tackles the genre on her own terms in this droll, jazzy, 1970s-set tale of a suburban family man (played by a never-better Josh O’Connor) in over his head when he raids a small-town art gallery.
Illustration by Charlotte Durance