Maybe you've come across my work in The Guardian, Empire Magazine, British GQ, BBC News, Vice, TIME, The Telegraph, The Independent, The Times or Dazed. Or perhaps you saw me named one of Topman's "New Faces of Creativity" recently. Either way – HELLO, thanks for swinging by. This is usually the part where I tell you a bit about me, right?
I'm a London-based writer and editor specialising in music, film, TV and the arts. I'm also the third member of best-selling rap crew Run The Jewels, as this photo clearly proves (eurgh, alright, fine! I'm also a presenter, and that shot's taken from one of many live Q&As I've hosted across the UK).
I've worked as Editor-In-Chief of FACT Magazine, Deputy Digital Editor of NME and Staff Writer at Q in my 7 years as a journalist. In that time, I've swapped yoga tips with Björk, nerded out with Kendrick Lamar, got lost in Colombia with Foals, received dating tips from Alicia Keys and questioned whether I'm a replicant while producing a documentary about Blade Runner. Tyler, The Creator shot me in the leg with a paintball gun once, too. Yep, it's been a wild ride. Here are some cover features I've written:
I also have my own podcast, called Script Apart. Each week, an incredible screenwriter shares with me their first draft of a now-iconic movie. Proceeds go to Black Minds Matter UK, the NHS Charities Covid-19 Appeal and the Film & TV Charity. Listen to a recent episode below.
When I’m not writing for newspapers and magazines, I’m providing copywriting and creative consultancy services for brands like Adidas, Netflix, Apple, Amazon and YouTube. I also write PR materials for record labels from time to time too, give lectures at universities and occasionally pop up on the radio. Want to commission me for something? I'd be delighted. Get me on email – al.horner@live.com is me. You can also find me on Twitter and Instagram.
“The cult singer-songwriter made his name as a whimsical chronicler of US history. Now he’s made an electropop album about his country’s evils. Al Horner speaks to the reclusive, Detroit-born star about Trump, the corrosive impact of social media and finding himself alone at the Oscars.” – The Guardian, September 2020
“Apocalypse Now isn’t a film about the darkness war brings out in man. It’s a movie about the darkness within man that makes war inevitable: the recurring catastrophe our species can’t stop venturing up river towards. “It’s outrageous what we do to each other, what’s going on in the world,” the man who risked everything to make it, the legendary Francis Ford Coppola, tells Al Horner, four decades after it first shocked audiences.” – Empire Magazine, August 2019
“For eight years, Lana Del Rey’s music has been a fantasy of a forgotten America: a coke bottle-cool daydream of 1950s cars, Hollywood glamour and young love found on sun-kissed beaches. Recently though, the doomy current state of the world has crept inside that fantasy bubble. “I’m surprised more people aren’t writing about certain things that are going on,” the star tells Al Horner as she releases her best and boldest album yet.” – The Times, August 2019
"How did the biggest family show in America end up bringing cannibal school teachers, killer clown, post-apocalyptic mutants and flesh-eating fogs to primetime TV? Key members of The Simpsons’ creative family share the story of how Treehouse of Horror came to be, inspiring a new generation of horror fans in its bloody wake.” – Little White Lies, October 2018
“How did MCs Yukmouth and Numskull create one of the best-loved cult hip-hop tracks of all time? And how did it go on to feature in Jordan Peele’s new horror, Us? ‘Everybody was rapping about getting high but our slang camouflaged it. We got a weed anthem on mainstream radio,’ they tell Al Horner.” – The Guardian, June 2019
“For an artist whose sound is steeped in isolation, cutting a forlorn figure on icy electronic laments that shiver with loneliness, James Blake is one of the best connected people in popular music. On the eve of astounding new album Assume Form, Al Horner explores his ascent to hip-hop’s top table: a 10-year journey that’s taken him from Enfield anonymity to collaborations with Travis Scott, Kanye West, Frank Ocean, Beyonce and many more. – The Guardian, February 2019
"The Wachowskis’ 1999 cyberpunk adventure changed blockbuster cinema in a way not even The Oracle could have predicted. Why, 20 years later, does The Matrix still matter? Al Horner tells the story of the film, from its origins in millennium bug anxiety to its troubling role today in the language of the alt-right." – Little White Lies, March 2019
"Pusha T's new album Daytona has cemented the Virginia rapper as one of the hardest in the game, delivering rhymes recollecting his drug-slinging past over steely beats. As a staunch left-wing political activist, how did he deal with close collaborator Kanye West's endorsement of Donald Trump in the run-up to his album's release? And what now after a Drake beef that shook hip-hop" – The Guardian, July 2018
"This year's Oscar nominations included a nod for Sufjan Stevens, whose whisper-quiet ballads in Luca Guadagnino’s powerful, pastel love story Call Me By Your Name soundtrack its most emotional moments. Al Horner explains why his music is as beautiful and curious a match for the film as Oliver was for Elio, and why it would be just peachy if the cult New Yorker could go home with Best Original Song at February’s awards." – FACT, February 2018
“America likened that morning to something out of a movie, and ever since, movies have looked like something out of that morning. 9/11 has had a profound impact on blockbuster cinema and in particular, superhero movies. Al Horner explores how Superman, Spider-Man and co have exorcised that day’s demons.” – Little White Lies, May 2019
“In January 1999, a man stepped into a psychiatrist’s office and changed TV forever. This man was Tony Soprano: a murderous, adulterous, big brooding bull of a mob boss, whose violence as head of the New Jersey DiMeo crime family hid a sweeter side. Al Horner tracks down the cast and creatives behind The Sopranos to uncover the secrets behind James Gandolfini’s pop culture icon.”– Pilot, February 2019
"Still scratching your head over the ending of Jordan Peele's mind-bending Get Out follow-up? You're not alone. From America’s slave trade past and the corrosive influence of the internet to post-traumatic stress syndrome, here are five interpretations of Peele’s scissor-sharp satirical horror." – British GQ, March 2019
"Spotify has changed music consumption forever – but as the Swedish streaming service continues to expand, pop songwriters for some of the world's biggest stars claim it's beginning to alter the music itself. Al Horner speaks to musicians behind massive hits for Dua Lipa, Adele and more, to hear how Spotify's algorithms are changing the form and feel of pop music in 2018." – The Telegraph, June 2018
"Her new album Utopia imagines a better world, while our own plunges into darkness. Why? Because nihilism is not going to save the planet, a fired-up Björk tells Al Horner, in a conversation also spanning nights in New York with the Wu-Tang Clan, self-care canal walks in London, a near-collaboration with Jay Z and her anger at Spotify and Apple Music." – FACT, November 2017
"After their first night on tour together, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak had dinner. “He asked me: ‘But are you really ready man? You ready to have a hit?’" recalls Dr. Dre's funk apprentice. Paak's ready. The question is: are you?" – Shortlist, June 2017
"Justin Vernon returns this week with 22, A Million, a collection of sample-driven tracks written while battling depression after an aborted soul-searching trip to the Greek island Santorini. Al Horner heads to Vernon’s hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin to hear how what could have been a Greek tragedy ended up an exciting new electronic dawn for Bon Iver." – FACT, October 2016
"Lower-than-expected sales for the One Direction star’s debut solo album Mind Of Mine raised music industry eyebrows. The truth is, Malik is playing a long-game as smart and subtly sophisticated as his unsung R&B, says Al Horner." – FACT, February 2016
Go on. Say hi. Why not, huh?