Born in Gloucestershire and raised in Scotland, Alex Kapranos is the frontman of Scottish indie band Franz Ferdinand. The group won the 2004 Mercury prize for their self-titled debut album; they also won an Ivor Novello and two Brit awards, and have been nominated for a number of Grammys. He has also been a member of supergroups FFS and BNQT. Franz Ferdinand’s fifth album, Always Ascending, is out now on Domino.

1. Theatre
The Ferryman

My girlfriend got me tickets to this as a surprise, and I loved it. It was powerful, moving, very funny at times, and it captured the complexities of the era of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. You have all these different characters, often on stage simultaneously, weaving around each other like a complex piece of choreography. And it was particularly poignant in how it represented machismo. The energy between Paddy Considine and Laura Donnelly was extremely powerful: it was like the sun at the heart of the play’s solar system. It was a thrilling experience.

2. Film
The Killing of a Sacred Deer

I loved Yorgos Lanthimos’s Dogtooth: it was so disturbing and unlike anything I’d ever seen before on screen. This film by the same director is really unsettling – it’s as if the actors have been directed to show no emotion. As the film progresses you normalise to this: your emotional dynamic range completely changes. And this sets you up for a moment later on where the emotional volume comes and hits you full blast. Barry Keoghan was incredible in it: everything he did felt sinister and calculated.

3. Classical
Ravel’s Boléro and Debussy, David Geffen Hall, New York

We were in New York and had an evening off, so we went to this. It climaxes in Bolèro, Ravel’s greatest hit, which we all know because of Torvill and Dean. But nothing quite prepares you for the power it has when you experience it live. When the piece starts, it’s almost imperceptible. You can just make out the flute and a snare drum played at the lowest volume, like a tickling on your eardrum, setting you up for the revelation of the full power of the orchestra.

4. Book
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

My friend Juliet, who always recommends incredibly good books, sent this to me and I loved it. It starts with two half-sisters in what would be present-day Ghana: one is captured and put into slavery in America, and the other ends up marrying a British soldier. It then follows their descendants, and uses that as a device to explore the histories of black communities in America. Of course, you can’t read about that subject without feeling terrible frustration and injustice, but it’s not just about that: it’s an exciting, page-turning book about convincing characters.

5. Pop
Superorganism

I absolutely love this band: they sound like the inventive, electronic pop of the future. When I saw them live in Los Angeles, I left with a grin on my face. I love bands that create a universe. Visually they had so much going on on stage: films, costumes, colourful macs. It felt fresh, original, smart, witty. You feel there are a lot of ideas and thoughts beyond just the tunes and lyrics. The singer, Orono Noguchi, is only 17 but has this astonishing, louche, untouchable coolness about her.

6. Radio
The News Quiz, BBC Radio 4

When I’m on tour I listen to British radio programmes, to feel a connection to home. Like a lot of people, I find myself addicted to the news: it’s completely horrifying but it draws you back again and again. It’s like living through a badly scripted soap opera with a tragic outcome. The News Quiz, however, is funny and lighthearted, and highlights the world’s absurdities while making me feel like I could be back in my kitchen in Scotland, making myself some lunch on a Sunday, rather than in a hotel on the other side of the world.