Welcome to June, when the temperature finally reaches double figures and we Brits decide that's warm enough to listen to music outdoors and camp. Yep festival season is upon us. If you're not inclined to wade through muddy fields or pay £6 for a warm Bulmers then allow us to point you towards one of the great films hitting cinemas this month. Or if you're saving up for your summer hols then you can enjoy some of the fab new series starting on Netflix or hit up one of the superb art shows opening. No wellies required.
Georgia Murray, Fashion & Beauty Writer
Chastity Belt, I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone, released 2nd June
Boy, do I love musicians that turn facets of the patriarchy into band names. Skinny Girl Diet, Dream Wife, Chastity Belt… June is looking pretty exciting thanks to the latter’s third album drop, I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone. We’ve already had a sample of what’s to come with lead single "Different Now" – all twangy guitars and wistful vocals. The Washington foursome are a glorious hybrid of the spirit of 90s riot grrrl, the lyrical wit of the west coast, and the lazy haze of summer days. Their UK tour begins in September, so make sure you grab a ticket.
Field Day, Victoria Park, London, 3rd June
This year, London’s Field Day is only running over one day, but don’t let that fool you – they haven’t held back on the talent. First up, headlining the festival’s brand new indoor stage, The Barn, is the enigmatic Aphex Twin (who, rumour has it, lives in the structure on Elephant and Castle’s roundabout…). Then we have incredible electronic acts Flying Lotus, Nicolas Jarr and Marcel Dettman, indie favourites Kevin Morby and Whitney, and Birmingham’s grime queen Lady Leshurr. If you’re looking for more than just music, punk poet John Cooper Clarke will be spitting riddles and rhymes, while the food offers some of the best falafel wraps of your life. See you in the sunshine, pint in hand.
Anna Jay, Art Director
Love Island, starts 4th June 9-10:30pm, ITV2
It's that time of year again: the princes and princesses of ITV descend on the island of Mallorca for stellar entertainment every night of the week. In case you haven't watched before, the group of singles are thrown together and made to 'couple up', with any left on the sidelines voted off in archaic fashion. It's the creme de la creme of guilty pleasures and I can't wait.
Nathalie du Pasquier, Pace London, opens 27th June
Just to restore the cultural balance, my art show of the month is Nathalie du Pasquier at PACE London. A member of Memphis, an Italian art group famous for bold colours and patterns, which has resurfaced in recent years. Expect bold, 80s sensations - after all this was the stuff that inspired all the prints we grew up with, we're talking a Saved By The Bell kinda vibe.
Gillian Orr, Senior Editor
Baby Driver, released in cinemas on 28th June
A film in which the lead from that hokey teen cancer film plays a getaway driver who always has his headphones in sounds terrible, right? Well this action blockbuster currently boasts a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is set to be the film of the summer. Race you there.
Glastonbury, Pilton, Somerset, 21st-25th June
AKA my Mecca, my heart, my purpose. Too much? Basically it's just the best place in the world and I won't hear a bad word about it. Yes, naysayers will point out that Ed Sheeran is headlining but who the hell cares? If you're actually going for the music, you're doing it all wrong.
Natalie Gil, News Writer
Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press, available on Netflix from 23rd June
The battle between Hulk Hogan and Gawker Media was a bruising one for the media industry. It began when Gawker posted a clip of Hogan’s sex tape with a married woman and ended with the closure of one of the biggest news and gossip sites in the US.
Whether you’re a media nerd or know little to nothing about the case, this documentary looks set to be a gripping exploration of the issues: individual privacy vs press freedom being a key one. At a time when the freedom of the press is in doubt in the US, it’s sadly pretty relevant, too.
East End Film Festival, from 2nd June - 2nd July
Watching a film at home often feels like a huge effort – I usually end up picking something trashy because I know I won’t be able to focus, or I'll just fall asleep halfway through. Which is why watching films during the day is so great. This month, I’m looking forward to watching some enriching indie films at the East End Film Festival, particularly All Eyez On Me, Benny Boom’s biopic of the legend that was Tupac Shakur.
Fatima Jollah, Intern
M.I.A.'s Meltdown, Southbank London, 9th-18th June
The iconic, innovative and all around talented M.I.A. is curating Southbank's 24th Meltdown, following greats such as David Bowie and Yoko Ono. This artistic celebration commemorates diversity in music and culture with an eclectic mix performances from the likes of Afrotrap's MHD, Dancehall's Dexta Daps and South London's Grime star, Giggs. With an all-day block party, mass carnival and special sessions, I simply can't wait to see what she has in store for everyone.
Power, Season 4, 25th June
Power has never failed to keep me on my toes. With the show gaining 1.9 million viewers per episode, if you haven't watched already, don't worry, you have until 25th June to catch up. The protagonist James St Patrick, otherwise known as Ghost, lives a double life full of lies, infidelity, drugs and non-stop drama. Power, co-produced by the one and only 50 Cent, keeps you coming back for more. At the end of each series I'm either left shouting at my TV screen like mad woman or gasping at the unexpected plot twists and cliff hangers. Watch it.
Jess Commons, Health & Living Editor
Orange Is The New Black, Season 5, available on Netflix from 9th June
After the devastating end to season 4 (those who watched are probably still rocking backwards and forwards in shock), I've got absolutely no idea what's going to happen next. OITNB is a show famous for tackling real life social issues and, well, considering how that kind of thing has been going in America recently, Season 5 probably isn't going to be sunshine and rainbows.
The Beguiled, released in cinemas 23rd June
It's just made Sofia Coppola the second ever woman to win the director's prize at Cannes and it looks like the coolest film ever to feature hooped skirts and bonnets. Starring Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning, it's set in a creepy girl's school in America's Deep South during the Civil War. All is going well...ish, until handsome injured soldier Colin Farrell shows up at their doors with a dashing Irish accent and a Mr. Darcy-esque ripped shirt.
Natasha Slee, Social Media Manager
Merge Festival, until Sunday 4th June
You’ve only got a couple days to catch the end of this art, music and performance festival on London’s Bankside – featuring some very ‘grammable immersive art installations. (Like the world’s first artist-designed dodgems – who says art is just standing in a gallery?) If you can’t make it in person, tune into our Facebook Live with Patrick Tresset’s installation ‘Machine Studies’ and watch us have our portrait drawn by...a robot. Join us at 11am, Thurs 1 June here.
Powerpuff Girls Emporium
Calling all 90s kids! Channel your inner Blossom, Bubble or Buttercup at the three-day Powerpuff Girl Emporium in Soho. Entry is free (kapow!) and there’ll be a beauty and nail bar (zoom!) for your own super cute, super fierce makeover.
Sadhbh O'Sullivan, Social Media Assistant
Perfume, Somerset House, London, 21st June to 17th September
Have you ever been to an exhibition isn't focused on what you can see, but what you can smell? Me neither. Billed as a multi-sensory experience featuring ten extraordinary perfumes, the exhibition will take you on a journey through perfume and how we've smelled the world for the past 20 years. I'm completely intrigued.
Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
As a white woman, I have a feeling this will be one of the most important books I read. An exploration into the way that racism and discrimination is built into British life, the book covers class, race and politics and is vital reading. Read our interview with Reni here.
Katy Thompsett, Sub Editor
Hans Zimmer, Wembley Arena, London, 15th-16th June
Look, I KNOW this isn't cool but show me a person who doesn't tear up at the final scene of Gladiator and I will show you a cold, dead soul. If Hans and his orchestra play nothing but "Now We Are Free" on loop for the duration of this concert, it'll still be worth the stomach-churning ticket price. Tissues at the ready.
Dreamers Awake, White Cube Bermondsey, 28th June-17th September
I've been obsessed with Leonora Carrington since I found out she used to snip hair from the heads of her sleeping houseguests and serve it back to them in an omelette for breakfast the following morning. Remembered by many as the British debutante who ran off with serial shagger Max Ernst, Carrington was a major Surrealist painter and writer in her own right (check out her bonkers novella, The Hearing Trumpet, about a group of old women trapped in a creepy retirement home). This trippy-sounding exhibit will show her work alongside other female artists from the 1930s to the present day.
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