Nova Daily - 21 January 2026: Creative differences

Hi!

This is just a short one, written the day after because I was so drained that I went to sleep early.

Creative differences

When a band fires one of its members, the usual thing that they communicate to the outside world is that they split up over "creative differences". Most of the time this is just an excuse, a cover-up for what has really happened within the band.

Such a cover-up is needed for several reasons. First of all, it doesn't improve a band's image if they're bickering for all eyes to see. Although it might have a strategic purpose to do so, it's generally smarter to solve your issues away from the public gaze. Turmoil doesn't solicit support. That's also the reason why during campaign and election time, political agents dig up as much dirt of their opponents as they can, and spread out the release of that garbage to keep a permanent focus on the flaws and misdemeanours of their opponents. "Will you vote for this villain?"

Often, however, creative differences are actually the driving force behind most bands that have more than one songwriter. Throughout their career, Dimmu Borgir have had several composers. Most of the songs have been written by the two founding members Shagrath and Silenoz, but lead guitarist Astennu and keyboardist Mustis gave the music a completely different sound on their 1999 album Spiritual Black Dimensions. The sound of a band like Queen essentially thrives on the many musical differences. Within Temptation have worked together with a plethora of artists from entirely different musical worlds and demonstrated how well even styles like rap and electronic music can go hand-in-hand with their main style of symphonic metal.

Musical differences are also what marked the music of Australian rock band Midnight Oil. Their two lead composers Jim Moginie and Rob Hirst both have a very distinct style. Lead guitarist and keyboardist Moginie has the more complex ideas that include foreshadowing of themes and large build-ups in songs like One Country and Now Or Never Land. Drummer and backing vocalist Hirst had a good feel of darker soundscapes and tunes, as he showcased in Mountains of Burma and Outbreak Of Love.

If you noticed well, you'll see a difference in tense in the above paragraph. That has to do with the fact that Rob Hirst died yesterday, on 20 January 2026.

Blindfold chess

Blindfold chess is a really fun way to challenge your visualisation, and there are many ways in which you can practice your blindfold chess skills. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I quite like it. Chess.com and lichess have the possibility to make your pieces completely invisible. The only negative thing about it is that you'll still be able to see the board, which can provide you with a visual aid.

Last week I was made aware of an app that lets you play blindfold chess without the need for a board.

https://blindfold-chess.app/ 

Since the board is divided up in 64 squares, which is 4³, you can divide the screen into four equal compartments and determine the square with three clicks.

Here's the first game that I played with this app:

The game will look chaotic, and so it was. Black played random moves that go against the logic of the position, and I had forgotten that black had played a7-a6 early on. Hence the two pieces that I gave away on that square. But I did spot the checkmate pattern with Bf5, so that's nice.