What song do you associate with the current season?

My first thought was the Sisters of Mercy's LP 'Floodland' because that's what my bit of the Shire turns into at this time of year...but instead I've gone for something equally Goth-y and very appropriate to the season

What’s your favorite love song, and why?

As Christy himself almost sang, "Oh not Christy Moore, you've picked him loads of times before".

This is a Ewan MacColl song and I'm posting it because it's a great song, and because I do remember the first time I saw her face, as clear as day.

What’s a guilty pleasure song?

This might fit the idea of a Guilty Pleasure in that it probably wouldn't have been positively featured in the NME at the time it came out....and it's also from an LP called Guilty

What’s a song you’ve had on repeat recently?

This was in my top 10 most streamed songs of last year.

Lauren Laverne now presents Dessert Island Discs. Nobody has chosen this song yet.

Another song that tells a story

What’s your favorite collaboration between artists?

Kylie came on to sing this with Nick Cave once or twice when I saw him. She wore a sparkly, pop star red dress - a bit of a contrast with the Godfathers of Goth black suits of Nick and the Bad Seeds

Which song would you use to introduce yourself to someone new?

Very old, very English, and very odd.

Share a song that tells a great story.

This isn't exactly a great story. It's really a reflection on the life of a politician. It's about Eamon de Lavera.

How he held Bolands Mill for the rebels in 1916, how he was "sentenced to die with Pearse and McBride" but went on to settle with the English and to dominate Irish politics

I can only think of two political songs which I'd see as nuanced. This is one of them.

What song always makes you feel better?

Boney M usually put a smile on my face

Share a song that makes you want to dance every time.

I've always felt this song should've been a massive hit, and I'm slightly puzzled that the world doesn't like it as much as I do