Matthew Ennis





Portfolio

Nouse •

From Letterboxd to Goodreads, does everything we consume really need to be recorded and rated online?

“Surely I can’t give it five stars though?”. This was one of the questions that drifted through my mind while watching Project Hail Mary last week. The immersive power of York’s biggest IMAX screen proved insufficient to prevent me from considering how I would rate the film on Letterboxd. Knowing I couldn’t present my five stars as semi-ironic like I gave High School Musical (my personal The Godfather), but concerned that I would look uncultured for thinking that the Ryan Gosling sci-fi-mee...
York Press •

‘We’ve created a community’: meet the friends behind York’s newest club night

So says Olivia Ramsden who, alongside Callum Nicholson, runs the emerging monthly York club night, Electrify, at Micklegate Social.

The event aims to diversify the city’s music and nightlife scene.

Inside Electrify at the Micklegate Social in York(Image: Bloom Productions)

Electrify focuses on alternative music and communities that the pair believe are otherwise not represented in York's mainstream clubbing scene. 

Callum, 23, from Heworth, says cities such as Manchester and Leed...
Nouse •

With the far right on the rise, queer people can’t afford to be complacent

Sometimes you can sense the mood of a moment changing long before you are able to consciously identify and articulate it. Like the party that starts in an excited buzz but ends deflated, or the friendship initially defined by immediate closeness before descending into a ritualistic progression of meaningless coffee dates. Where there was once expectation and hope now lies disquiet and distress. Somewhere along the line the tone has shifted entirely, but you’re not quite sure...
Nouse •

Trump, Farage, and the Politics of Bombardment

To say that ‘the world has gone mad’ may be the most banal political cliché of them all. It’s the kind of insubstantial aphorism used by those with little knowledge of political affairs to shut down discussion while feigning insight. Yet, much to my dismay, I have often found myself reaching for the phrase recently.
It’s often seemed like the only explanation as I’ve observed Trump's second presidency, which has been characterised by ineptitude, insolence and merciless destru...
Nouse •

Defying Gravity: How the future of cinema could learn a lot from the success of Wicked and Barbie

Whether you loved or hated it – though general audience consensus seems to favour the former – there is one word to describe 2024’s Wicked movie that no one can deny: inescapable. Since leading ladies Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande held space at the Oscars last March wearing their character’s signature green and pink, the world has faced an onslaught of all-out Wicked sensory bombardment. The film has permeated headlines with behind-the-scenes gossip, shops with product tie-...
Nouse •

For Welly, It's All About the Music - Interview

Welly, the five-piece band fronted by singer-songwriter Elliot Hall, are making a bold impression on the music world with their witty, energetic and sarcastic brand of indie pop-rock. MUSE was lucky enough to catch up with Hall ahead of Welly’s exciting debut album, which will be released next month.
The stereotype of the snobbish artist finds its consummate opposite in Welly’s Hall. Far from self-aggrandising or waxing poetic about his ‘artistic project’, Hall’s down to eart...
Nouse •

Sabrina, Charli and Chappell: How 2024 Became The Year Of The Tortoise

For many, summer 2024 was a Charli xcx ‘brat summer’. For others, this summer was undoubtedly dominated by the sensational rise of Chappell Roan. And for all those who still can’t get that chorus out of their heads, it was the summer of Sabrina Carpenter and her ‘me espresso’. Whichever defined your summer, though, there’s no question that Charli xcx , Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter were the brightest rising stars in music of the past year.
Their astonishing growth doesn...
Nouse •

York arts community optimistic in face of AI

In late October, 10,500 creatives signed an anti-AI statement. Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus, Julianne Moore and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke were among signatories from the creative industries who allege that “The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted.”

Generative AI - the type of AI that creates new content like photos or sentences - uses huge databases of existin...
The Tab •

Forget the library, try these York underrated study spots instead

Whether you’re trying to become an academic weapon this year, or simply hoping to scrape by with something that justifies the £9,250 tuition you paid to pretty much spend the whole year in Salvos, the chances are that at some point soon, you’ll need to lock in and get some work done. While the library might seem the obvious place to do this, it’s not exactly a favourite study location among all students. Finding a seat can be more difficult than securing Eras Tour tickets, leaving you completing...
Nouse •

Still at the top of their game : The Sugababes at Kendal Calling review - Nouse

When we think of the biggest female pop groups of the century (The Spice Girls, Girls Aloud and Little Mix to name a few)  the quality of their live performances are often defined by spectacle and extravagance; flamboyant outfits, intense choreography and a defining sense of pulling out all the stops to deliver a mesmerising experience. The Sugababes' arrival at Kendal Calling festival last night - with the groups’ original lineup of Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan striding on to t...
Nouse •

“Go girl, give us everything!” : Dua Lipa dances the night away at Glastonbury

While many attributes were widely praised during Dua Lipa’s mainstream emergence in 2017, her live performance ability was not one of them. Though Dua’s vocals have always been strong, it was unrelentingly acknowledged that she didn’t arrive on the scene with heaps of natural charisma or polished choreography. Dua went viral for her now-iconic ‘pencil sharpener dance’ to ‘One Kiss’ and the negative reaction to a 2018 performance led to the phrase “Go girl, give us nothing” be...
Nouse •

“I just love the idea of people listening to my music on the bus!” : interviewing your new favourite indie artist, Daisy Veacock

When it feels like every other video on your TikTok feed is an emerging independent artist desperately trying to introduce you to their music, it can be hard for someone to break through and truly make you take notice. Enter Daisy Veacock, with one simple video of her sitting on the bus, lip syncing to the infectiously catchy chorus of her then-unreleased single ‘when i used to spend the night’. It had me hooked immediately, as I began taking a deep-dive into her discography...
Youth Journalism International •

UK Conservatives target trans people

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak caused outrage in February after making a transphobic jibe in parliament in front of Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered transgender teenager Brianna Ghey.

While the decision to make these comments in this company was – of course – appalling and reprehensible, it certainly was not indicative of an isolated incident.

It shouldn’t be that it is only when a prime minister spews transphobia beside the mother of a murdered trans girl that we condemn the hat...
Nouse •

Reviving Fame: The Gay Community's Impact on Forgotten Icons

Picture the scene. It’s February 2023 and I’ve fought hard to secure my spot near the front of the O2 Apollo, after racing from Manchester Piccadilly station. That indescribable buzz of the crowd begins to grow and excitement builds as we anticipate witnessing a pop star in her prime. From the atmosphere in the room you might deduce that we were awaiting an appearance from one of music's most prominent artists. Except that's the thing: we weren’t.  The artist was Carly Rae Je...
York Vision •

Poignant and Polished: Eternal Sunshine Proves Grande Deserving of Music Icon Status

Aside from her applauded whistle-tone vocals, if Ariana Grande is an expert in anything it’s the subtle construction and retaking of a public narrative. 


Now, after a widely-publicised divorce and subsequent alleged ‘home-wrecking’ relationship with ‘Wicked’ co-star Ethan Slater, it feels like she’s never had more to address. 


But, rather than brazenly air-out her personal life with a bullet-point list of explanations, Grande floats above the noise and focuses on crafting a carefully consi...
Youth Journalism International •

'One Day' sees life through a romantic lens

One criticism often lobbied at movie and TV romances, with their cliches and repeated tropes, is that they feel like they’ve ‘been done before.’

In the case of Netflix’s new limited series “One Day” – it literally has, in the form of a 2009 novel and 2011 film.

Yet there’s something about the new series that feels timelessly relevant and uniquely poignant to a whole new generation becoming enthralled by the fateful tale of Dex and Em.

Perhaps the reason lies in just how metic...
Nouse •

Sampling: Is this the Death of Originality in Music?

When listening to recent chart music, an unsettling feeling may creep through the soundwaves: deja-vu. What you’re noticing is a huge increase in the number of songs making use of sampling. Sampling is the practice of taking audio from existing songs and repurposing them for new music.
While sampling is not new, the frequency and blatantness of its use has skyrocketed in recent years, with many hits shamelessly lifting elements or entire choruses from existing songs;, David G...
York Vision •

Comment: How ‘Swift-mania’ Took Over the World

If Taylor Swift was one of the most famous people in the world before, we’re now living in the world (Taylor’s Version). 


In the last year, the singer-songwriter has reached unprecedented heights, marked by the release of her 10th studio album Midnights, in October 2022. 


The album became the most streamed in a single day on Spotify, the best-selling of 2022 and a chart juggernaut, making Swift the first person to claim the entire Billboard Top 10. 


Presales for Swift’s record-breaking...
Youth Journalism International •

'The Loveliest Time' cements Carly Rae Jepsen's pop legacy

After dominating the charts with 2012’s smash hit “Call Me Maybe” before disappearing from the public consciousness, one could be forgiven for disregarding Carly Rae Jepsen as another one hit wonder rather than a trailblazing pop mastermind. Yet it’s arguably everything Jepsen has done since her moment of fame that marks her as one of the most interesting artists of the modern age. 

The commercially underwhelming follow up album to Jepsen’s 2015 breakthrough Emotion emerged as a...
Youth Journalism International •

TikTok and consent: When innocent people become the content

It’s funny how a 30-second video clip can send you down a rabbit hole that ends in questioning the very idea of consent and autonomy in the digital age.

Like so many people, my TikTok ‘For You’ page is currently dominated by videos of Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour,’ but one recurring type made me think. These were videos of security guards at the concert singing along while working, often paired with comments joking about them being secret Swifties or giving Taylor herself a run for...
Daily Mirror •

Disabled people feeling 'even more isolated' from society following lockdowns

Disabled people across the UK have been left feeling “worthless” after the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted inaccessibility in society .

During the first lockdown a wide range of initiatives, such as virtual shows and concerts, were introduced to make experiences accessible from home, also allowing many disabled people to access such events for the first time.

But now that in-person venues are opening up again, many of these advancements have been dropped, excluding disabled people once more....
Youth Journalism International •

Losing track of time? It might be TikTok o'clock

With around 800 million active users, video sharing app TikTok is the latest craze to take the social media world by storm, quickly becoming the biggest platform for young people around the world.
It’s not difficult to become entranced by the app, mindlessly scrolling through the endless supply of 15-second videos, telling yourself `just one more’ until you look up from your phone and an hour has passed.
“it’s incredibly addicting,” said 15-year-old Brooke Dunn of Liverp...