Music
PJ Harvey
Performing over two nights, Polly Jean Harvey brings a nine-piece band and her trusty friend the saxophone to the Edinburgh Playhouse as part of the city’s international festival. Expect songs from last year’s Grammy-nominated, UK No 1 album The Hope Six Demolition Project as well as hits from her catalogue.
Edinburgh Playhouse, 7-8 August
Houghton festival
This lakeside boutique fest in Norfolk offers up a plethora of high-end electronic artists - Hercules & Love Affair, Ricardo Villalobos, Nicolas Jaar - plus some art and sculpture to scare you at 3am from the likes of Rachel Whiteread and Zhan Wang. Starts on Thursday.
Houghton Hall, King’s Lynn, 10-13 August
Kesha
Following her much-publicised legal struggles with former producer Dr Luke, Kesha (now sans the $) is back with Rainbow, her first album in almost five years. Cathartic lead single Praying suggests fans can expect a lot of laser-guided anger (one song is called Bastards, for example), while recent track Woman – written in response to Donald Trump’s remarks about grabbing women – is a horn-laced, whiskey-soaked, feminist anthem. The eclectic Rainbow features collaborations with Eagles of Death Metal, her mum Pebe and the actual Dolly Parton.
Out on 11 August
Theatre
King Lear
Director Nancy Meckler and Pirates of the Caribbean actor Kevin McNally headline Shakespeare’s epic tragedy.
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, SE1, from 10 August
Visions festival
Wellies, mud and those cheap Technicolor rain macs be damned! Taking place across eight (indoor!) venues, Visions showcases some of music’s most promising upstarts including DIY indie rabble Goat Girl; gonzo pop producer SOPHIE; and Norwegian experimentalist Jenny Hval. If you get a bit bored of all the live music, there’s also a dog show judged by the Mystery Jets.
Various venues, mostly E8, 5 August
Exhibitions
Matisse in the Studio
As the title suggests, this exhibition offers a rare glimpse into Henri Matisse’s studio, showcasing the vast array of found objects - including Buddhist statuary from Thailand, Chinese calligraphy and textiles from north Africa – that would go on to inspire his paintings, sculptures and drawings.
London’s Royal Academy of Arts, W1, until 12 November
Film
A Ghost Story
Despite appearances in its early trailers and posters, David Lowery’s A Ghost Story is more of a drip-feed psychological drama than a jump out of your skin, empty your bowels horror. It tells the story of a grieving Rooney Mara, haunted by her late husband Casey Affleck wearing an old Ikea sheet with eye holes cut out. Over time Mara moves on with her life, while Affleck is left knocking about their old house as ghosts are wont to do. Expect muted colours, indie actor crying and the urge to buy some new bedding.
In cinemas from 11 August
The Floating Cinema
It’s official: no one goes to a proper cinema any more. Watching films in a warm room, sitting in a comfy chair piled high with some delicious snacks is now as passe as eating food off actual plates. At Hull Marina, for example, you can watch a selection of celluloid curios, including the newly commissioned On the Bench, via a big screen resting on a barge.
Hull Marina, 7-13 August
Podcasts
The Two Shot Podcast
Line of Duty’s Craig Parkinson sits down with a fortnightly guest to chat honestly about the occasional highs and often crushing lows of being an actor. The first episode – available at podbean.com – features This Is England and LoD’s Vicky McClure, while former man behaving badly Neil Morrissey (also ex-LoD) and Happy Valley’s Susan Lynch (who is Parkinson’s wife) have also appeared so far.
The Nod
Presented by Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings, this podcast explores all aspects of black culture, with one particularly amazing episode diving headlong into the murky world of YouTube conspiracy theories, specifically one alleging Beyoncé and Jay-Z forced Solange into being their children’s surrogate.
