Friday Five: January 16, 2026
- kirstimackenzie
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 4 hours ago
Side A:
Side B:
Friday Fav:
RÜFÜS DU SOL - Innerbloom • Songs almost 10 mins long typically fall into one of two categories: masturbatory, or transcendent. Innerbloom falls in the latter. I don't quite know how to describe Innerbloom except that it feels closer to prayer than anything I ever uttered in a Catholic church. I wept when I first heard it. If you really want the full experience, I'd suggest very stoned and dancing around your living room.
Jan 16, 2026
Friday Five exists as a little challenge to me: five new albums, five new stories per week. They're here for you to enjoy (or not!) No summaries or in-depth criticism. But here are a few notes:
DRAMA's "Platonic Romance" is my first fav album of 2026. I've had it on repeat for about a week and keep singing "Savannah" to myself while cooking breakfast.
Congratulations to Sarp Sozdinler on the launch of The Bulb Region, a beautiful new literary journal. Launching and maintaining a lit journal is a labour of love start to finish, and I'm very excited to see where Sarp takes it.
Nod once again to Adam Voith for bringing Men of the Reef to our attention via Substack. I am, like everyone else on planet Earth, a Cameron Winter fan and glad to find some early work.
You'll notice Lyndsay Hall is a repeat on this week's mixtape. I've read precisely two Lyndsay Hall stories and have decided that I need a collection immediately.
Both Glenn Orgias and Claire Hopple have novels coming this summer and you'd do well to watch out for them.
Watching Is This Thing On? and The Pitt, reading The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and M7 submissions.
If you happen to be in Winnipeg, I'll be doing a reading with some lovely writers on Jan 21 at Sookram's Brewing. The Wild & Wonderful Words series is organized by Sheldon Birnie, tireless advocate for literature in the north and one of my very fav writers. It'll be my first appearance and I'm really excited for it. See you there?
xo,
Kirsti