This weekly feature gives us all a little insight into The Abbey staff, and our next Desert Island Disc ‘castaway’ is Mr Dennedy – Teacher of English.

Top eight pieces of music:

Send Me On My Way – Rusted Root: The most feel good song ever made and it features in the film adaptation of Matilda.

Final Song – MØ: One of my go to karaoke favourites from my favourite Danish pop star. It also has a great video that includes snakes and floating in a desert with dust clouds and dancing. MØ is just sometimes that little bit extra.

Running Up That Hill – Kate Bush: In my opinion the video to this song is the definition of interpretive dance. I love it so much and can perform it on the spot as proven by my win in the University of Reading Pairs Dance competition of 2012.

I’m Goin’ Down – Bruce Springsteen: The hidden gem on a brilliant album that doesn’t get as much love as it deserves. While the famous singles like Dancing in the Dark and Born in the USA are the most well-known songs, when Springsteen sings this one live it is always the highlight of my night.
Clearest Blue – CHVRCHES: What more could you need than an electro/indie/pop song by a controversial Glaswegian trio that samples Just Can’t Get Enough? Pop bliss and edgy synths team up for a relentlessly catchy and loud 4 minutes of dancing and screaming out the lyrics at the top of your lungs.

The Louvre – Lorde: It’s like a film in lyric form and much more muted than my usual go to songs. One of the highlights of Lorde’s brilliant sophomore album Melodrama that deals with far more than is expected of most pop stars but it fits perfectly into the New Zealander’s repertoire of reflective and alternately happy or sad songs.

Seven Wonders – Fleetwood Mac: One of my favourite opening sounds to a song ever! Instantly recognisable and iconic before being further immortalised in Series 3 of American Horror Story.

Radioactive – Marina: The first song that came on the radio after passing my driving test and one of the best songs on an album full of standouts.

Book:

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman: I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on this series as I can name every chapter of Northern Lights in order as I’ve read it so many times. I also collect the series and have over 5 different editions of the full collection.

Luxury item:

An unlimited supply of hair conditioner because my hair is like a Brillo pad!