Audley’s Cultural Highlights of 2025
As we round out 2025, the Audley team select their highlights from another great year of books, music, and television, for you to dive into over the holidays.
MUSIC: Comic Trip by Sylvie Kreusch
By tradition, my annual cultural recommendation is an album. This year, I’m nominating Comic Trip by Belgian artist Sylvie Kreusch. She previously sang with the band Warhaus (also good) and released this, her second album, last year, but I only discovered it recently. It’s got what she has called a ‘pop art sound,’ with influences like 90s indie legends Stereolab, and bridges pop, electronica, and the avant-garde. ‘Ding Dong’ and ‘Ride Away’ are two stand-out classics (check out the piano solo in the latter), but it’s all good and I love her breathy singing style throughout. I also recommend her previous album. Harry Wynne-Williams, Principal Advisor.
TV: How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge) (BBC)
Steve Coogan’s latest outing as his iconic comic character, the irrepressible Alan Partridge (in multiple senses; Coogan’s been playing him for nearly 35 years!), is a highlight. The setup for this series is that Alan is creating a (self-funded) documentary about mental health in Britain; hence the title, ‘How Are You?’ But with each episode, the series unveils more about Alan and his anxieties, as a former TV host and radio DJ in a world where he doesn’t quite fit in anymore. Cerebral as that sounds, rest assured, Coogan and his team of writers wring a number of laugh-out-loud moments from the uncomfortable, embarrassing, and outright surreal scenarios Alan cannot help but get himself into. Harri Adams, Junior Advisor.
Image Credit/Andrés Ibarra/Licence
MUSIC: LUX by Rosalía
With her latest album LUX, Rosalía pushes classical music into modern territory without losing its emotional weight. Created in collaboration with the London Contemporary Orchestra, the album blends orchestral arrangements with flamenco and experimental pop, moving effortlessly across languages and styles. Rather than treating classical music as something fixed or untouchable, LUX sits comfortably between past and present, opening up classical to a younger audience and giving it a fresh sense of relevance. The result feels bold and considered, yet also playful. Rosalía challenges the norm with this album, showing how traditional forms can evolve. Mariana Seygas, Operations Coordinator.
BOOK: How to Live an Artful Life by Katy Hessel
Usually more of a fiction reader, this year I found myself delving into the world of non-fiction a little more. This month, I thoroughly enjoyed How to Live an Artful Life by Katy Hessel (pictured). Hessel (rather artfully) plots little morsels of daily creativity across the calendar of the year, drawing on pearls of wisdom from everyone from Marina Abramovic to Ali Smith. If you want something uplifting that gently nudges you to flex your creative streak, I would highly recommend this gem. Emily Callaghan-Sloane, Associate Advisor.
TV: The Night Manager (Series 2) (BBC One / Prime Video)
Last year’s cultural highlights ended on the Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special, unaired at the time of publication. Once again, our final cultural highlight of 2025 is still yet to come. After nearly a decade, The Night Manager returns, with hero Jonathan Pine pulled into a new mission in Colombia. Pine, trying to infiltrate an arms trading operation, finds himself sucked into a “deadly plot” relating to the training of a guerrilla army. If you’re looking for thrills over the festive period, the new series launches in the UK on January 1 2026 on BBC One and iPlayer, with the international rollout following on January 11 on Prime Video. Katie Lockett, Managing Partner.