Cultural life: Martha Wainwright, singer

'I've been listening to a little bit of The xx lately and I like them a lot'

Martha Wainwright: 'I've been listening to a little bit of The xx lately and I like them a lot' (Rex Features)

Music

When I was up in Yorkshire I was enjoying some Judy Philbin. I've been listening to a little bit of The xx lately and I like them a lot. There was a beautiful, almost retrospective of my brother's [Rufus Wainwright] music, which was at the Teatro Real in Spain last week, with a full orchestra and opera singers, to celebrate his 40th birthday. That was a really big event and very exciting.

Visual Arts

One thing I got to see recently was an amazing series of projects and exhibitions on climate change at Moma in New York. While in Spain, which was of course devastated by the news of the train crash, I was just walking around the streets on the day of the disaster and I bought a painting by a Spanish artist which was really beautiful.

Films

I've been on a lot of flights catching up on films. I thought Beasts of the Southern Wild was astonishingly beautiful. I also saw an incredible French movie called Mouchette by Robert Bresson, a great film-maker.

Theatre

I saw something at Glastonbury which was really great. 69.9 Bramble FM is a comic travelling roadshow with music. Street theatre is something I don't normally go in for, but I thought it was remarkable.

Martha Wainwright's Summer UK Spree, 10 to 24 August (marthawainwright.com)