In 2025, we were promised many things. The war in Ukraine would end. The terrorists of the Hamas organisation would be eradicated. The European nations would take back control of their borders. A golden age was just around the corner. But what we got instead was the near genocidal destruction of Gaza, the shaky prospect of an unjust peace in the Donbas region of Ukraine, trade wars, and episodes of misogyny, racism and hatred around the world. And all of this against a background of heatwaves, floods and tropical storms exacerbated by the reckless burning of fossil fuels. It’s no wonder this writer’s response was to hide in a corner of cyberspace and hope for better times to come.

It turns out there’s a word for that. According to the Google search engine’s AI mode, ‘latibulate’ means:

To retreat and lie hidden; specifically, to find a corner in which to hide, often to escape reality or wait until conditions improve.

I know this because there’s a track called latibulate on Robec‘s recent album, the forest is too loud, and I had to look it up.

Robec is the nom-de-clef of the Norwegian composer, Marius T. Røbech. He creates cinematic instrumental music, rather like Vangelis or Hans Zimmer. Discogs lists three compilations by Robec, dated 2018, 2019 and 2020; Spotify and bandcamp have only the 2025 album release, the forest is too loud. This style of music makes for a fitting interlude between Christmas and New Year, while we reflect on the year gone by and look ahead to the next 12 months. Let’s hope that next year, when we stick a thumb in the political pudding, we pull out a big, juicy plum.