EDITOR'S LETTER | Mayflowers.

WORDS | Moeima Dukuly 

What a feeling. To be in bloom.

After a rough winter in New York, and a pretty rainy April, May blessed us with some beautiful days, cherry blossoms and good music. I’ve been crazy busy juggling shoots, interviews, shows and meetings with incredible people.  All of New York was in bloom.

I have plenty to be excited about. We planted the XO EDIT seed back in March and by time May rolled around our baby was in full bloom - we decided to come up with a new design,  that was still in line with the Issue’s aesthetic but had her own identity. The results were awesome and will look even better in print. We’re doing something that American media has yet to really embrace and we’re certain will be well received here and around the world. Personally nothing tops a beautiful print issue, the feeling of pages sliding through your fingers, being able to share a copy with a friend or extract images for collages or wall art. Being a writer my affinity for print runs especially deep and seeing your work in the flesh is pure joy. Print isn’t dead but times have changed. The digital age has us by the throat, but as vivid and engaging a digital issue or app can be nothing tops the real thing. My readers actually continue to remind me of that fact.  So many of you want to see and support our work – the EDIT was a solution that allows us to produce content at an affordable price, because printing on newsprint is incredibly…well affordable!

So who would grace our cover?? We had several artists in mind, but when we found out that Charlotte Kemp and Sean Lennon, aka The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger or The GOASTT, were releasing an album and touring around the country – we jumped at the chance for this beautiful couple to be featured with our new design. We are thrilled to be their VERY FIRST COVER. To be honest, it blows my mind how incredibly gracious (and SO good looking) they both are and they’ve been so kind to us and a joy to interview. Their album, Midnight Sun, is a pinch of their previous work but chock full of other sonic endeavors. Upon first listen I couldn’t help but feel a vibe that was distinctly classic/psychedelic rock, reminiscent of The Who, Deep Purple and even a little Led Zeppelin and I daresay The Beatles.

I’m really proud of the cover story but also of all the other great stuff we’ve reviewed – like the Warpaint show in Dallas, shot by Le’Keisha; all the good music on our XO LISTEN list – especially the Röyksopp and Robyn album; our featured menswear designer from Portugal, David Catalán; and Tribeca Film Fellow Grace McLeod’s short film Under the Table, recently screened at the Tribeca Film Festival.  It’s been a GOOD month and we won’t let you forget it.  For those curious as to why we release towards the end of the month, we drew upon past Issues and last year did a Summer Review and Winter Review that was well received. It’s a good vibe to look back and be grateful for all that came before and the EDIT is embodies that sentiment. We include a dose of the past, present and future in each EDIT- but especially focus on what isn’t covered in mainstream media and dig into the emerging talent across the globe.  Anyway I hope you love the May EDIT, find the digital copy here, and if you do make sure to give us a shout here or on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram and of course, buy a copy to enjoy at home.

We have so much coming at you with festival season around the corner, a ton of great albums coming out this summer and the XO brand expanding all over the world and getting #territorial. We are stoked.

Til next time, keep it cute. Keep it cool.

All of my Love,

Moeima xx