From his early days with proto-punk pop band Slik, through his tenure with ex-Sex Pistol Glen Matlock’s Rich Kids, the creation of Visage, and touring with Thin Lizzy, to his major league success with Ultravox, and then his pivotal musical role in Band Aid and Live Aid, Midge Ure was a constant and significant force in the evolving music scene of the late seventies and eighties. 2026 sees his first release of new material in twelve years, a double album entitled A Man Of Two Worlds.

In this episode of The Art Of Longevity, Midge talks to Fenner Pearson about his long career in music, his bold decision to release an album of instrumental music as part of his new double-album, and his plans for taking it on tour with a full band. Along the way, they discuss changes to the music industry and technology over the last fifty years, and how his Mum made egg and chips for Phil Lynott the first time he and Midge met.

There is little doubt about it, Midge is a British music legend and modest to a fault. A typically understated and delightful chat.

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The book of the podcast, Riding the Rollercoaster, is now available.

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Ladytron have never followed a conventional path to longevity. That’s good, because there isn’t one. This band has worked through cycles - creative surges, enforced pauses, patches of momentum, a hiatus, and reinvention. The unglamorous realities of sustaining a working band across decades. Daniel Hunt has been through these cycles a few times and knows how to press reset. “Every record has its own story,” he says, adding, with understatement, that “every record has to involve someone having a breakdown.”

Generally true, except not this time around.

The Art of Longevity Season 13 is powered by Bang & Olufsen.

The book of the podcast, Riding the Rollercoaster, is now available.

Support the show

Get more related content at: https://www.songsommelier.com/

Ólafur Arnalds reflects on creativity, the changing music landscape, and the deeper emotional connection we risk losing in a hyper-digital world. This conversation unfolds less like a traditional interview and more like a meditation on what music is—and what it could still become.

Arnalds speaks candidly about the role of streaming platforms in his career. Algorithms have elevated his genre (neo-classical) to global visibility, but they’ve also introduced fundamental creative pressures (he recalls feeling compelled to include more “streamable” tracks on his 2018 album re:member, particularly solo piano pieces, simply because of how they perform on playlists). Over time, Arnalds has became wary of how easily those expectations can seep into his own creative thinking.

More broadly, he gently critiques the culture of passive listening. Playlists designed for focus or relaxation often generate vast numbers of streams, yet little real connection between artist and audience. The result is a strange disconnect: access without identity - a sort of weirdly tuned-out form of listening.

So, with host Keith Jopling, this conversation looks to find ways to place music back where it needs to be: nourishing, useful, enabling artist to tell their stories, break down emotional barriers and build community. We discuss how Ólafur's new groundbreaking world tour "Falling Apart Together" aims to achieve just that! We also test some of the themes of longevity as written about in Keith's new book Riding The Rollercoaster: how artists survive the music business to become the legends we love.

Possibly the best episode yet.

The Art of Longevity Season 13 is powered by Bang & Olufsen.

Support the show

Get more related content at: https://www.songsommelier.com/