Ukrainian punk trio Death Pill to reunite for European tour after ‘waking nightmare’ of war separation
A Ukrainian punk trio separated by Russia’s war are due to reunite as a band for the first time in more than a year to play a European tour.
After releasing their debut album earlier in 2023, while living thousands of miles apart, Death Pill have announced the Over My Dead Body shows in Ukraine, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK in May and June.
The band – Mariana Navrotskaya, Anastasiia Khomenko and Nataliia Seryakova – were separated after Russia‘s war on Ukraine began in February 2022; Nataliia moved temporarily to Australia for work, Mariana stayed in Kyiv, and Anastasiia made the difficult decision to take her young son to safety in Spain, leaving her husband behind.
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Now, Nataliia and Anastasiia are set to return home for the Kyiv show, which kicks off the tour on 20 May.
“For me, not playing is almost like not living and I’m very excited about the opportunity to get together, go on tour, see new places, and meet new people,” Anastasiia told Sky News. “It should be a very exciting journey.”
While she is also excited about the shows, Mariana said she cannot feel true happiness about the band’s return after everything that has happened to their country.
“[My feelings] are very mixed,” she said. “I know it is impossible to feel the current situation as fully as we feel it, but try to imagine this: we are going on our first tour, to follow our long-awaited and cherished dream, we are playing for the first time in Europe and in the UK – actually, it’s my first time going abroad. It was a dream of mine.
“But I absolutely do not feel ‘happiness’ inside. I am excited but I feel anxiety and devastation, I feel an internal struggle; the dream of my life comes true right in the midst of a horrible bloody f****** war.
“All my endless ambitions, all my emotions and feelings, all my joys and all my pain – Death Pill. This is the most honest and sincere thing I have. Nataliia and Anastasiia, they are literally sisters to me; sisters by blood, sisters by spirit. We’ll all be together for a month, and right now it sounds as sweet to me as it can be.”
‘Exciting doom’
Nataliia said she has only started addressing her feelings properly in the past few days after months of not allowing herself to be anything but strong.
“I didn’t allow myself to be sad, or sick, or poor, or weak during my whole life and even more so in the last year, because in my opinion it prohibits moving forward,” she said. “I have just started to think more about my honest feelings a few days ago and I can’t describe it properly. It is new for me.
“I was very focused on preparations for the tour over the last four months – bookings, advertising, merchandise, home rehearsals, flights etc – and just now, when the date of my flight home is in 10 days, I realise that most of all I want to see my parents alive, to see the girls from the band and to try to catch the feeling that I am at home.
“But I realise it is only for one month and after that we all will be separated again. [It’s a] strange new feeling – exciting doom. Our nation has been handling it for the last few years, I hope I can handle it too.”
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Death Pill’s self-titled debut album won praise from critics – described as “a record of staggering musicianship fuelled by an untamed fury” by The Line Of Best Fit and “a face-toasting listen” by the Guardian, while Metal Hammer called it “one of the best crossover albums of the modern era”.
The put the album out against all the odds on 24 February this year, marking the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
While Anastasiia was able to practise with Mariana during a visit to Ukraine to see family, their in-person rehearsal two days before the Kyiv show will be the first time all three women get to see each other, and play music together, since they were separated.
“I am rehearsing with my computer,” Nataliia said. “Sad but true – Guitar Pro replaced my girls for this year. I miss them.”
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“In Barcelona, I go to a studio where I play solo,” Anastasiia said. “I have our records to play to, a metronome. Of course, it’s not as cool and productive as when you play with a band. But you have time to hone your game more.”
“Each of us regularly rehearses a concert programme solo, under a metronome and MIDI (digital) drums from Guitar Pro,” Mariana added. “Of course, a solo rehearsal will never replace a rehearsal with a group, but in our case it is impossible.
“We put [so much] effort to make this tour happen against the backdrop of this waking nightmare – and I will take full advantage of this tour.”
Death Pill play The Crown Bar in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 20 May, with shows in Bradford, Manchester, Bristol, Brighton and London in June
Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.
Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.
Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.
It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
The full track list is:
1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)
Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.
Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records
‘The hardest-working star in pop’
The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.
That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.
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“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.
A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.
Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.
The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.
Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.
He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.
Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.
Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.
Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.
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In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.
Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.
Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.
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