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Pop

He barely knows what he's doing: Oliver Anthony, at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, reviewed

24 February 2024

9:00 AM

24 February 2024

9:00 AM

Oliver Anthony

O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Roisin Murphy

Alexandra Palace

What does a chubby, bearded American feller wearing a plaid shirt and singing about his dog and truck have in common with a chic, sonically adventurous Irish art-pop star? Both, last year, were inadvertently parachuted into the battlefields of the culture wars.

Oliver Anthony recorded a song called ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ – Virginia, not Surrey – that was picked up by MAGA-types from an obscure country music YouTube channel, became a talking point in the Republican presidential primary debates and ended up entering the Billboard Hot 100 at No.

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