Girl in Red, Holly Humberstone at the House of Blues in Dallas

earlier? Yes. You guessed it. We get the space orgy three times. There is no escape. You all are very lucky my editor won’t allow me to keep telling you about the space orgy, because I’m of the mind that if I had to suffer through that for this review, so do you. Did I mention one of the Randies is an incredibly crusty old man? No? Well, now I have.

“Timemaster” is a brilliant example of both excellent and awful science fiction writing—a duality which is impressive by itself. Forward, while a master of describing theoretical astrophysics in a fairly approachable way, gets a little too comfortable in the novel’s latter half, and lets it turn into an extended selfinsertion fantasy. If you enjoy a deeply flawed man becoming the savior of the universe through gaining money, go listen to Bo Burnham’s “Bezos” songs on loop; if you are looking for wellwritten hard sci-fi, check out Greg Bear. If you’re really here for the time traveling, self-incest space orgies… well, I suppose it is Forward’s time to shine.

Tech thriller breaks ground in some areas, but ultimately aims too wide in topic scope

JACK SIERPUTWOSKI Mercury Staff

If you have an Alexa, unless you opt out of contributing user data, there could at any point be Amazon employees listening through your audio to improve voice recognition. So what would happen if one of these employees came across evidence of a violent crime? Would they try to report it? Or would Amazon avoid claiming responsibility? This is not a hypothetical—it has already happened and serves as the premise of the 2022 tech thriller “Kimi.” Set during the COVID-19 pandemic and released in February, “Kimi” follows the story of Angela, an agoraphobic tech worker who discovers evidence of a violent crime. Angela meets mortal danger time and again in her quest to help a mystery woman she hears in a voice recording at her desk job, and in the process, confronts a variety of social issues relevant to today’s America. While the film breaks ground on some cinematography techniques and social commentary, its overly broad scope proves to be a cheap parody of more meaningful stories.

One of the core issues of the plot of “Kimi” is that it attempts to do too much. Among the modern issues criticized in this film are the effects of technology on society, the intrusion of corporations into the justice system, the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health, sexual assault, inequality and police brutality. These are all problems that have found a prominent place in the public eye in the past few years, and clearly deserve addressing. However, the fact that they are all loosely related to one another does not allow an adequate examination of these issues in just 90 minutes. By bringing up all these issues and then failing to deliver on them, “Kimi” comes across as a cheap attempt at saying something “deep.”

The overly broad thematic scope of “Kimi” is glaringly obvious in its inability to satisfactorily resolve several plot lines. Much of the story seems to be there simply as filler or for shock value. Angela develops a toothache for seemingly no real reason, her voyeur neighbor is teased throughout the movie and yet given barely any screen time and Angela is provided with a flat, two-dimensional love interest. Most grievously, the movie brings up an assault in Angela’s past for which she was ignored and shamed—and then suddenly drops this idea. While this knowledge informs our understanding of Angela’s character and why her quest is so important, the film never provides a satisfactory resolution to this trauma beyond Angela

Most indie fans are well aware of the holy trinity of bedroom pop: girl in red, Clairo and Beadoobee. They are known for their dreamy tunes that could very well be in a coming-of-age film soundtrack, but now many of these “bedroom pop” musicians are branching out into a variety of sounds. Marie Ulven Ringheim, also known as girl in red, embarked on her “make it go quiet” tour along with headliner Holly Humberstone and proved that indie music is not just “bedroom pop”. The two came to the House of Blues in Dallas on April 2.

Unlike many musicians, the 22-yearold Humberstone opened without a band or any background vocalists, arriving on stage with just her guitar, keyboard and soft British accent. Her performances allowed the crowd to bask in soothing music before girl in red’s highenergy set.

My personal favorite song of hers, “Falling Asleep at the Wheel,” was a somber tune explaining her sister’s difficult mental health journey and how hopeless Humberstone felt as an older sister. Humberstone’s soft keyboard playing and gentle tone contrasted greatly with the flashing overhead stage lights and thumping beats to create a unique stage presence. Another popular song, “London is Lonely,” expresses Humberstone’s anxiety and isolation during her initial move to London. She explained that being away from her friends and family made her feel alone in one of the most populated cities in the world. The artists’ anecdotes made each song more meaningful and grasped the crowd’s wavering attention. Her storytelling was truly enchanting with lyrics like: “London is lonely without you/So will you stay/‘Cause I’m oh, so sick of this place/ Feeling way too big and nothing can hold me/Can hold me like you do.”

Upon girl in red’s arrival, the crowd- brandishing a variety of pride flags- went wild, greeting the queen of LGBTQ+ indie pop with open arms.

Donning a plain, oversized t-shirt and jeans, I would've never suspected that she would have such a dominating stage presence, but her energy instantly got the crowd riled up. Her songs’ fast beats and catchy lyrics mixed well with her physicality on stage, including hair flips and active crowd interaction. Her setlist began with the newer “You Stupid Bitch,” though she later performed her older, more popular songs such as “Girls” and “we fell in love in october.”

JAMIE LIN | MERCURY

While it is rare to see sapphic themes in popular media, girl in red doesn’t shy away from them. The pride flags scattered across the packed audience were proof that her audiences are more than just fans, but make up a community who are overjoyed to hear non-heteronormative romance songs. Her catchy chorus from “Girls” had the crowd chanting along: “They’re so pretty, it hurts/I’m not talking ‘bout boys/I’m talking about girls/They’re so pretty with their button up shirts.”

When she finally spoke to the crowd, everyone was shocked to hear the musician’s raspy voice. Although girl in red said she had a throat infection, she rarely showed signs of discomfort, performing each song with vigor and interacting with fans in cute ways, like signing a humongous bra and accepting a bundle of roses. She closed the concert with “bad idea!” and a huge mosh pit, spraying the crowd with water. This was the perfect way to close her high-energy concert, with the audience jumping along to the chorus: “It was a bad idea/Calling you up/Was such a bad idea/I’m totally fucked.” The artist claims to be working on a new, unnamed album consisting of a completely different sound than her debut album “if i could make it go quiet.”

Not many restaurants, let alone coffee chains, claim to have a highly sociable drive through experience, but Dutch Bros Coffee provides a quick fix of energy – in more ways than one.

Located about five minutes out from campus on Arapaho and West Shore is the closest chain location of Dutch Bros Coffee. It is primarily a drive-through, but there is a second window for walk-up orders and two tables outside underneath the shade of the building. However, it’s clear that this is not the place to spend time studying at. Rather, it’s a stop on your commute to the university, perhaps a wakeup before your first class of the day. Not only are there a variety of caf-