Idles frontman Joe Talbot has become the latest musician to appear on CBeebies Bedtime Stories – check out the video below.
Talbot read the rhyming picture book Under The Love Umbrella, which was written by Davina Bell and illustrated by Alison Colpoys, on yesterday’s edition (February 20) of the BBC children’s series.
- READ MORE: Idles’ Joe Talbot: “I find love fascinating and empowering”
“Hello, I’m Joe,” the frontman said to introduce his reading. “I’m a musician and I love being a musician. I love it because I get to make music with my friends. I love it because I share my music with lots of people by singing my songs on stage. And I love being able to tell everyone how I’m feeling with the words I write.”
Talbot continued: “People can show love in many ways, but the best thing about love is that being kind and thoughtful to others can make them happy. It can make you feel happy, too.
“Another thing I love is a good story, and I have a good story for you tonight. It’s called Under The Love Umbrella.”
After reading the book, Talbot described it as “wonderful” and told viewers that “love can be something really big or something really small”. He added: “But love is magical, and powerful, and real.”
The singer then invited viewers to “show someone you love what they mean to you” before saying that he’d “be back soon for another Bedtime Story”. You can watch the episode in full above.
In a previous statement, Talbot said: “It’s an honour to announce that I am reading a CBeebies Bedtime Story. I can NOT express how much I love reading to my kid so this was a welcome twist in an already beautiful career. All love.”
He is the latest star to read a Bedtime Story, joining musicians who have previously lent their voices including the likes of Dave Grohl, Dolly Parton, Harry Styles, Elton John and Phoebe Bridgers.
Idles released their fifth album ‘Tangk’ last Friday (February 16). In a four-star review, NME said the project was “the most open-hearted we’ve ever seen them”, adding: “The ambitious and mature fifth album has its hand on its heart and feet on the dancefloor, as the Bristol band prove that they’re so much more than punk.”
During a recent interview with NME, Talbot spoke about why he was interested in showing “the different facets of love that are not so conventional”, but are “very fucking important” like “empathy, patience, honesty, communion, hard work, recovery, forgiveness”.
“That’s what I wrote about. I’m still there,” he explained. “I’m still going to need to go through it, and I’m still very much interested in writing about love forevermore. I find it fascinating and empowering.”
You can watch the full video interview for NME‘s ‘In Conversation’ series above.
Idles are set to tour in the UK, Ireland, Europe and North America throughout 2024, having kicked off the stint in Belgium earlier this month. Visit here for any remaining UK/Ireland tickets and here for US tickets.
In other news, Talbot and co. showed their solidarity with Palestine during a ‘Tangk’ launch show in Brixton last week.