Crying, Crying, the second track on Rita Wilson's new album, describes the complexity the actress-singer faced last year after learning she had breast cancer.
“I’m going to all these doctor’s appointments in the morning, but at night I’m going off and doing this comedy,” she said, recalling the time she starred in the Broadway play Fish in the Dark with Larry David. “It’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m out here, I’m doing a comedy, I’m laughing. But you go home and you’re thinking about what’s going to happen in your life and are you going to be OK?”
The honesty and buoyancy is all over Crying, Crying, with Wilson's matter of fact lyrics juxtaposing with track's sprightly beat. It is one of many tunes she co-wrote — a first for the performer — for her self titled album released last week. For the second album she collaborated with a number of well-known producers and writers to craft a cohesive country-pop record.
The album was co-written with Dan Wilson, who had in hand in writing iconic songs like Adele's Someone Like You and the Dixie Chicks' Not Ready to Make Nice. Other collaborators include Babyface (Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton), Stephan Moccio (The Weeknd, Miley Cyrus), Sugarland's Kristian Bush, Ron Aniello (Bruce Springsteen) and Nathan Chapman, who was a producer on all five Taylor Swift albums.
After her 2012 debut AM/FM, Wilson was encouraged to write songs by her friend Kara DioGuardi, the popular songwriter who has worked with Carrie Underwood, Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson.
“(She asked), ‘Do you have anything you want to say?’ And I said, ‘Yes,”’ Wilson recalled.
That’s when they wrote Grateful and Wilson brokedown.
"This is exactly what I wanted to do," she said of writing a song capturing her emotions. "Grateful has a very special place in my heart because it's reflective of what I've been through in the last few years in my life."
With 30 songs in Los Angeles and Nashville, Tennessee, Wilson realised she had a full album of new material.
Not all of the tracks on the new album are based personal experiences, but some hit home: Still Gone is about "losing my dad and my two girlfriends in a very short period of time," and Girls Night In describes a night during which Wilson and her girlfriends trade their stilettos for sweatpants.
“I got all my girlfriends together and we rented a small studio in the neighbourhood and we had a choreographer come in and teach us all the dance moves for Janet Jackson’s ‘All for You,”’ she said with a laugh.
Wilson, who has appeared in a number of films (Sleepless in Seattle, Runaway Bride and Larrt Crowne) and TV series ((The Good Wife and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) and married to Hollywood superstar Tom Hanks is set to combine her film and music worlds with the upcoming release of the comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. As well as producing and starring in the film, Wilson also wrote the track Even More Mine which will appears at the film's conclusion.
Her other track Strong Tonight, from her new album, will be covered by Connie Britton's character on the TV series Nashville.
The 59-year-old performer said she was afraid to tackle music in the beginning. She now describes herself as comfortable being dubbed a singer-songwriter as an actor.
“We all, I think, are really scared to take chances and to try new things. We put ourselves in boxes and we just say, ‘I can’t do this,” she states. “I think to be able to have music right now at this point in my life is such a huge blessing, but I had to get over whatever judgment you feel is going to come at you. I’m not 25 years old, so hopefully people will be buying this.”
arstlife@thenational.ae
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Without Remorse
Directed by: Stefano Sollima
Starring: Michael B Jordan
4/5
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
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Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
