Episode Sixteen: Roxanne De Bastion
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For the latest In the Spotlight podcast Bill Cummings is joined by Roxanne de Bastion, who recently embarked on a new era with her single, 'Simple Pleasures', an impish electro-pop bop for the end times. She says “’Simple Pleasures is a musing on our direction of travel as a species, walking the path from a human to an AI society and how we never seem to pay attention to the ‘man behind the curtain’
They talk her new single, AI and its implications for creatives, musicians and society following her new article "AI stole my Granddad". Plus the influence of Beck and St Vincent upon the more synth-pop songs she is recording now, indie sleaze, the charts, homogenised culture, working with Bernard Butler, how she navigates being a musician in 2026 and much more.
'Simple Pleasures' is Roxanne's first new solo material since her deeply personal last album, 2021’s You & Me, We Are The Same. Roxanne as she received widespread critical and public praise for her 2024 book, The Piano Player Of Budapest. Confronting a remarkable family history, and beautifully portraying how music defines people, place and offers hope in the very darkest of hours, the book arrived alongside de Bastion’s restored recordings of her late grandfather’s songs.
Celebrating her emergence from vibrant writing and studio sessions, de Bastion also returns to the stage, setting up a special one-night-only showcase of new music alongside familiar fan favourites. Prior to the announcement of more live dates, she plays London’s Sebright Arms on Tue 15 September 2026. Tickets are on sale now via DICE.
Produced by hand-picked collaborator, the Music Producers Guild Writer-Producer of the Year and double Grammy-nominated Steph Marziano (Hayley Williams, Picture Parlour, Jasmine.4.t, Nell Mescal), ‘Simple Pleasures‘ is, according to the press release, “a watershed moment before more promised ruptures in all expectations built around the songwriter over the last decade.”
The intensity associated with those 10 eventful years of personal loss, responding to the Covid pandemic and unexpectedly being the custodian of her grandfather’s legacy as The Piano Player Of Budapest, falls away for fun, bigger choruses and a beat you can dance to. This, the first fruit of de Bastion’s ‘post-grief phase’, is just the beginning.
For further information and to be the first to know about future releases and live dates, connect with Roxanne de Bastion online at: