The quarantine has made one thing abundantly clear: far too many attention-deprived, extroverted celebrities simply do not know what to do with themselves – and, more often than not, it’s a bad look.
From complaining about being bored in their massive mansions to musing in milk baths about the death of poor people, there’s seemingly no end to self-cancelable activity while in self-isolation.
Of course, some saviors have emerged within the pop world: to no one’s surprise, well-intentioned angel Britney‘s unwaveringly earnest calls for positivity and gratitude through yoga poses, silly, unhinged dancing and sincere, vintage-filtered post-and-deleted video messages (also, a call for wealth redistribution – thanks, Comrade Britney) have earned her praise among The Masses, while Lady Gaga, Rihanna and more legends of the entertainment world have chipped in on a massive level, using their platform for good to save the planet. And of course, Dua Lipa came through for us by doing everything right with Future Nostalgia.
And then, there’s Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who’s emerged as perhaps one of more unlikely heroines of the quarantine.
It’s been a minute since the disco-turned-folk-turned-orchestral diva delivered something directly for the donce floor, musically speaking. But she’s dusted off the disco ball, the fog machines and Christmas lights with her family, and set up something truly spectacular: Kitchen Disco.
As a way of coping with being cooped up, Sophie (and her husband, The Feeling‘s Richard Jones, plus their numerous children) have been entertaining her Instagram Live followers with truly entertaining, twenty-or-so minute sets of high-energy disco numbers from her catalog – from “Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)” to “Murder on the Dance Floor” to “Bittersweet” to “If You Go,” as well as some covers, like New Order‘s “True Faith” and her hit take on Cher‘s “Take Me Home.”
The set-up is, as with all quarantine live sessions, right in her cozy-looking home – thus, Kitchen Disco. But the video and audio quality is surprisingly good, down to Sophie’s reliable vocals and the soaring strings and disco bells and whistles.
Armed with a microphone, a frilly and sparkly ensemble of some kind, and a delightfully dry sense of humor, Sophie twirls her way through the oft-hazardous commotion caused by the young children squirming at her feet. Sometimes the kids dance along. Sometimes they fight and cry. Somehow, she manages to break it up and soothe them all without missing too many of the lyrics.
“What happened?! You’ll be fine, Jesse. Stay at home, stay at home…Jesse, it’s government advised,” she croons to one of her tantrum-throwing sons while singing “Take Me Home” early into the fourth edition of Kitchen Disco, who immediately snaps out of it. “Look, Jesse’s made a full recovery,” she notes seconds later.
“I mean, it’s just so wonderful. The joys of isolation with the family. Never gets boring,” she deadpans as two of them break out into another fight during “Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love).”
It’s joyful, it’s absurd – and it’s a totally candid capture of a pop star mommy at home.
Luckily, Sophie’s gone and uploaded each Kitchen Disco set on her YouTube thus far, and they’ve really been racking up the views. Evidently, more than a few people have been enjoying her brief familial forays into disco bliss.
Until we find ourselves out on a dance floor, making memories and/or messes of ourselves once again, Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s made social distancing a little easier to bear. Thank you for your service, Sophie and family.
