I love it when I discover a record that hooks me.

There are only a few that really do it for me each year, but hearing ‘Jubilee’ Japanese Breakfast absolutely did just that.

I was aware of Michelle Zauner and listened with great intrigue to her earlier work including soft sounds from another planet. A lot of female artists are out there doing work that isn’t confined to the constraints of specific genres or sound worlds and it is some of the most innovative music I’ve heard. I wonder if Male artists find it more challenging to do this and if so, why?

Her voice is lovely, but so is the production. Not least starting with the fact that I can hear guitars on a pop record. They are creative guitar parts as well. Some amazing funky popping lines and passages.

I haven’t dived into the lyrics but there’s something ethereal and otherworldly about Zauner’s music and there is moments of introspection and joy to be heard.

The single ‘be sweet’ very much sums this up with it’s reflective verses, contrasted with a chorus that cries for genuine affection.

If you like music that is different and has a lot more depth to anything you’d hear on the radio, this record will definitely interest you.

When I work on a big and ambitious project, I sometimes take to my notepad and not everything down that comes to mind in terms of what I need to do.

Take an album, there’s the songwriting, the instrumentation, the lyrics, the concepts, the track list, there’s the personnel, the artwork, the layout, the presentation and distribution and a myriad of other aspects to the work.

This is why they take a long time to ship and release, especially if you are working independently and on a tight budget.

And sometimes it’s easy to get overwhelmed with it all, or anxious about the level of control or simply that you are barely getting anywhere whilst waiting for certain pieces of the process to come into place.

But with each day is a chance to make connections, make progress, put pen to paper and make objectives and a plan of action.

It’s all certainly achievable with smart planning that’s reasonable, measurable and focused.

Each day is a chance to make small drips of progress, working towards an endpoint that with persistent and resilience comes along at some point.

Good luck to everyone out there making their work.

Since moving back to the United Kingdom and in particular Wales, there has been a huge improvement in terms of the cycle networks that are available to me from my home to the city of Cardiff and across the countryside.

The city itself has new designated cycle roads, for both directions and they are integrated with the main roads running through town. What is also interesting to see is the amount of Deliveroo cyclists as well as the public bikes and how often they are used.

These are great initiatives and it is genuinely wonderful to see cycling become so integrated into life here.

I have loved cycling for a long time, I am doing it regularly at the moment and did a long cycle to Barry over the barrage from Penarth to Cardiff and then home and the surroundings are absolutely stunning this time of year.

Cycling is great exercise, it is adventurous, it is liberating. It is also affordable. There are cheap bikes available from charity centres such as the one in Gabalfa, and maintaining them isn’t too much of an expense either. Cycling is also liberating and allows you to get out there and enjoy your surroundings in a way you could never possibly achieve in a car. It is also worth mentioning that it is sustainable, and the more people can be encouraged to do short trips on cycles as opposed to cars is one way to tackle the climate crisis.

I am glad to say that me and Jiff cycle regularly and have successfully encouraged our friends to do it as well. The national cycle routes mean that cycling is getting safer in regards to negotiating space with cars. Of course, there is the consideration of wearing a helmet and cycling at reasonable speeds but generally the beauty of Wales for those who live here is on our doorstep to be enjoyed on two wheels and a handlebar.

Those involved in the development of the cycle routes have my respect and gratitude.

When he was around, Michael Caswell was an extraordinarily effective teacher, to the few who could handle his brutal honesty.

And brutal honesty is what we need sometimes.

I’m a much better guitar player and navigator of guitar tones and sound as a result of spending time with Mike. He was an extraordinary guitar player and I’m glad he at least did one solo album before leaving us far too early.

But today I wanted to share one of my most memorable moments in a lecture room with him in regards to something else.

He decided to call a break between a two hour lesson of guitar assessments. Thinking the fresh air would do everyone a load of good.

As per usual, you would walk outside of the buildings of my college and straight upon the exit would be a handful of students smoking. To everyone else, walking involuntarily through smoke and subsequently consuming it passively isn’t particularly pleasant.

As we came back upstairs, he marched through the room, and was quick to express his exasperation at the amount of students who were smoking.

‘Let me tell you something about smoking’ he said, ‘we are in a superficial industry in music, when you’re 30, you’re supposed to look like 20, and when you’re 40 you are meant to look like 30, do you know what smoking does to you? The OPPOSITE!’

What followed was a silence as students got ready to be called up for their performance assessments. Another 20 seconds later:

‘AND IT STINKS!!!’

This was the hilarious and candid way he used to address a class, but in a way it defined his ethos about the need to she light and truth on a habit and he always had best intentions for everyone and in some ways, conceded that not everyone will listen.

But if you did listen, it could benefit you in more ways than you realise.

Communication is a key skill at the heart of every single organisation and operation and it’s really surprising how often I’ve seen this done badly.

If you work for a company, you want to know up front what their values are, and what purpose you serve, having a management tell you that up front and letting you know what is expected of you allows you to have a firmer grasp on what contribution you make.

When it comes to politics in organisations and motivations behind certain decision making, having communication that firmly establishes what is being done and why is of upmost importance. Otherwise, frontline workers start becoming cynical about their head office staff.

Education and Health. Two of the most important factors in a country are always marred by professionals trying to do their job being dictated by ministers who know nothing about the day to day details.

Freelancers setting deadlines to serve clients, responding to messages and emails in a timely manner, receiving and paying invoices. When all of this is done as is expected, it is a heck of a lot easier to establish trust and mutual respect.

With every will in the world, you can have the best intentions and the desire to do good work, but if there is a gap in communication, then it’s more likely that that goodwill is eroded.

It’s good to know where we all stand and are at with everyone else.

When I write my daily articles, I get inspiration from the fact I have to write them daily. I got very annoyed with myself for missing yesterday as well!

When I write an album, I set out a vision for what I want to create through the process of writing down ideas of aesthetic, sound-worlds, reference points and tiny fragments of ideas.

Inspiration when it comes is amazing and I love it when it happens. It normally happens when I am walking or cycling but you cannot rely on or attach yourself to inspiration to getting work done. Otherwise it becomes a trap where you feel you can’t achieve anything because you are not inspired.

It is from putting down a practice routine, embedding a fruitful and rewarding habit that we manifest a body of work that we can be proud of and from my experience, inspiration is a heck of a lot easier to come by when you are in the process of doing something than waiting around for a signal to tell you so.

When we read a headline, it’s very easy to have a gut response to it. One which is excitable. This is because this is how headlines are designed, to grab your attention, to draw you into the story.

The media many times plays the outrage card, and how many of us have been outraged for some years at immigrants, unelected bureaucrats and the way Ed Miliband consumes a bacon sandwich.

Headlines and the way the narrative is designed can easily sway our views, and more often than not, it points us to a direction of confirmation bias, reaffirming what we believe and what our values are.

This is not the way to progress collectively. We need some impartiality blended with differing opinions, we need balanced debate where balance is appropriate. We need all of our viewpoints to be challenged and we need to normalise the notion that we can be wrong and we are entitled to change our mind on something.

In short, we need a full picture, the reasons as to why something is the way it is or what motivates a person of power to decide the actions the way they do. Without such analysis and scrutiny, we fall into the trap of letting people getting away with scapegoating and using their leverage to benefit their own interests whilst gaslighting everyone else.

Journalism of the highest calibre is of utmost important, one which fights against anti-intellectualism and negative partisanship. Lots of work to be done.

Music notation is a very good example of this.

I’ve had students who are quite frightened by the notion of attempting to read a score or perform music that’s put in front of them.

I understand the hesitation, transferring the semiotic information from your eyes to your hands is a complex process that takes years to master.

But the process of reading itself is something any musician is capable of doing.

They trick is to find the pulse, then spot patterns, spot rhythms or high and low notes, and all of a sudden you are able to pinpoint particular features.

As musicians learn theory and about the elements they are then eventually able to put all those different jigsaw pieces of information and place it together into a music score.

Start with the details, and work from there. You know more than you think you know.

Footballers tend to get scapegoated a fair bit.

Upon initial glance, it’s obvious as to why. They are paid a lot of money for what is essentially a wonderful irrelevance. They are involved in a global business where a lot of sketchy economics and corruption occurs.

Yet, more than most other forms of celebrity, I point to footballers who are doing good.

Marcus Rashford pretty much single handedly forced the Tories to U turn on their cruel stance on free school meals.

Jordan Henderson is campaigning fiercely to stop anti racism.

Trent Alexander Arnold has launched a campaign to tackle child poverty.

Andy Robertson is working to make healthcare and football more accessible.

Mohamed Salah’s presence in Liverpool has decreased Islamophobia and he launched an anti drug campaign in Egypt.

Juan Mata, Mesut Ozil, the list goes on.

So to tar all footballers with the same brush is a bit assumptions and unfair. It’s a lot more grey than that.

And for those listed and the ones I’ve omitted who are using their privilege and leverage to do good have my upmost respect.

I would call on anyone in that position to explore their values and get behind a cause.

And you don’t need to be a footballer or celebrity to do that as well. There’s a lot of work everywhere that needs to be done, to make things better.

Social media steers us towards the self, and whilst that is a normal and to be expected, using it for good certainly has it’s virtue.

And credit where due to all of those who use their power to do some good.