DIY, February 2025

&Manic Street Preachers
Antony Szmierek
Black Country, New Road
Nao and more
ISSUE 147 • FEBRUARY 2025
DIYMAG.COM
It’s
Self Esteem on her
complex, messy, angry and
empathetic new chapter
Complicated

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CONTENTS
f e b r u a r y 2 0 2 5
NEWS
4 Black Country, New Road
8 Manic Street Preachers
10 Welsh Language Music Day
NEU
12 Jasmine.4.t
14 Recommended
16 The NONE
20 Hello 2025
DIY
FOUNDING EDITOR
Emma Swann
MANAGING EDITOR
Sarah Jamieson
DIGITAL EDITOR
Daisy Carter
DESIGN
Emma Swann
CONTRIBUTORS
Amber Lashley, Bella Martin,
Ben Tipple, Brad Sked,
Caitlin Chatterton, Cameron
Sinclair Harris, Ed Lawson,
Ed Miles, El Hardwick, Elvis
Thirlwell, Emily Savage,
Gemma Cockrell, Hazel
Blacher, Ife Lawrence, Joe
Goggins, Kayla Sandiford,
Kyle Roczniak, Lisa Wright,
Louis Griffin, Max Pilley, Millie
Temperton, Otis Robinson,
Phil Taylor, Peter Martin,
Rhys Buchanan, Rishi Shah,
Sophie Flint Vázquez, Tom
Morgan
COVER PHOTO
El Hardwick
FEATURES
22 Self Esteem
30 Heartworms
34 Squid
36 Nao
40 The Murder Capital
42 Antony Szmierek
REVIEWS
46 Albums
58 EPs, etc
60 Live
EDITOR’S
LETTER
It’s officially 2025, and we are
back with a bang! This month,
we’re buzzing to welcome back
musical force Self Esteem to
the cover of our first issue of
the new year, as she preps
the release of her powerful
third album ‘A Complicated
Woman’. Arriving three-anda-half
years after her Mercury
Prize-shortlisted phenomenon
‘Prioritise Pleasure’ – and a
stint in London’s West End with
Cabaret, for good measure –
Rebecca is about to usher in
another candid and complex
chapter with what’s arguably
her most startling record yet
– dive into our February 2025
issue to find out more.
Elsewhere this month, we go
intergalactic for the release
of Antony Szmierek’s brilliant
debut, delve into the dark
memories that helped inform
Heartworm’s first full-length,
and join Nao as she embraces
joy on her gorgeous fourth
record ‘Jupiter’. Here we go…
Sarah Jamieson
Managing Editor
All material copyright (c). All rights
reserved. This publication may not
be reproduced or transmitted in any
form, in whole or in part, without
the express written permission of
DIY. Disclaimer: While every effort
is made to ensure the information
in this magazine is correct, changes
can occur which affect the accuracy
of copy, for which DIY holds no
responsibility. The opinions of the
contributors do not necessarily bear
a relation to those of DIY or its staff
and we disclaim liability for those
impressions. Distributed nationally.
LISTEN
ALONG!
Scan the code to listen along
to the February playlist.
Photo: El Hardwick

NEWS
Black Country, New
Road’s journey has been
anything but predictable
so far; now, as they ready
their third act with new
single ‘Besties’, it’s time
to prepare for another
about-turn.
Words: Tom Morgan
o call Black Country, New Road’s return ‘muchanticipated’
could be an early contender for
understatement of the year. Arguably one of the most
intriguing and beloved acts to emerge within UK indie
in the last decade, 2022’s ‘Ants From Up There’ saw the
now six-piece achieve widespread acclaim, with critics and fans
alike fawning over the record’s grand arrangements and profound
lyrics; a handful even dared to anoint it a masterpiece.
The band members themselves, however, were unsure of what
reception it would receive. Three years on, as they prepare their
next steps, drummer Charlie Wayne admits to thinking that “people
were going to hate parts of it. The album before it [2021’s ‘For The
First Time’] was so abrasive and weird and this wasn’t that at all,”
he reflects today. “It felt like too much of a change.” Saxophonist
and vocalist Lewis Evans seemingly felt more confident. “I cockily
said on Radio 6 Music, that this album would easily win the Mercury
Prize. We didn’t even get nominated!” he laughs.
Esteemed prize judges aside, the record would go on to be widely
embraced, but another curveball was thrown their way when – just
four days ahead of its release – lead vocalist and lyricist Isaac
Wood suddenly announced his departure from the band. Rather
than calling it a day and “getting normal jobs”, as Lewis puts it,
the band instead reacted by spending the following three months
writing an entirely new set of songs, which they’d go on to play live
that summer, and would later be released as ‘Live At Bush Hall’. “I
think what we got from it was pretty good,” says Lewis, “but it’s not
prepared in the way we like to prepare our albums.” “It has its own
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NEWS
charm that I’m proud of,” Charlie adds. “The band simply
wouldn’t exist without it.”
The live record now reads as an important stepping stone
towards the band’s current incarnation. Rapidly pulled
together from songs that Tyler Hyde (bass/vocals) had been
performing solo at The Windmill, along with others by May
Kershaw (piano/vocals), Georgia Ellery (violin/vocals) and
one by Lewis, the process, they say, “was stressful”. Lewis
continues: “I remember one rehearsal that was two weeks
before our deadline; this big show at Primavera. It was really
tense and at one point I just sat down and gave up, but we
did it.”
It was these new tracks which set the template for third
offering ‘Forever Howlong’. Not only do Tyler, May and
Georgia take on all of the vocal duties this time around, but
the bulk of the songwriting too. “Those first two albums were
very much landed in a male perspective,” Charlie explains.
“That’s not to Isaac’s discredit; he’s an incredible
lyricist, but these tracks are fundamentally different.
Having these three principal songwriters became
the thing that ended up driving our creativity.”
T
hese resulting songs intertwine to masterful
effect, with the record’s thematic core built
around – as Charlie puts it – “exploring
different perspectives and how these can come
together to find meaning in shared experiences”.
It’s an album that feels both perfectly of a piece
alongside the band’s long-established and widelyembraced
vision, but also sees the members
refining their individual sonic parameters. “We tried
to be much more limiting with our arrangements,” Lewis
explains. “That’s not to say it’s a subtle album, but we tried to
allow for each song to be as effective as possible and ensure
that lead vocals were the most important thing.” Nowhere is
this better realised than on lead single ‘Besties’; three-anda-half
minutes of orchestral pop that’s as accessible and
immediate as anything the band have ever written.
This new approach to more immediate and light-on-its-feet
arrangement draws on a band that all six members cite as
a key influence on this third record; Canadian-American
country rockers The Band. “They’re the best band of all
time,” Lewis enthuses. “They have a ridiculously good
connection with each other. They’re so in the pocket. That’s
something we aspired to, when we were trying to groove a bit
more on this record.” This rears its head in fabulous fashion
“[The album is] exploring
different perspectives and how
these can come together to find
meaning in shared experiences.”
- Charlie Wayne
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NEWS
NEWS
IN
BRIEF
across a handful of tracks, notably ‘Two Horses’ which, midway
through, turns into a windswept, galloping cowboy epic.
But for all this newfound push towards precision and clarity, some
things never change. As anyone who has seen the band perform
live will know, all six members are multi-instrumentalists. This time
around, they’re trying their hand at including banjo, bass clarinet,
timpani, harpsichord and recorder in the mix, the latter of which
Lewis says the band all learned specifically for one song. “The
studio played a big part in the process,” Charlie notes. “We felt
as though these songs weren’t best reflected by just the six of us
playing in a room. We really leaned into it, to the point where, by the
end, we were taking stuff off because there was too much.”
For the role of producer, the band turned to James Ford (Blur,
Arctic Monkeys), and both Charlie and Lewis speak with immense
appreciation for “his down to earth and friendly” nature and
impressive work ethic. “He’s a ridiculous professional,” Lewis
explains, “I can’t get over how hard he works.” The band took on an
intense-sounding three week process, with James working every
day from 10am to 2am, taking just one day off; Lewis eloquently
sums up Ford’s contribution as “he was able to make good
decisions with tired ears.”
Thanks to a combination of James’ diligence and the band’s
intelligent refinement of their own vision, ‘Forever Howlong’ feels like
a pure, distilled form of Black Country, New Road. “This is the first
album that we’ve taken the time to write and then tour,” says Charlie,
nodding to the fact that the touring schedules of the band’s first
two albums were halted first by the pandemic and then by Isaac’s
departure. “I guess we made up for it by touring ‘...Bush Hall’ so
extensively,” he continues. “It’s a massive testament to our fanbase
and their willingness to embrace change and stuff they’ve never
heard before.”
Luckily for them, ‘Forever Howlong’ should more than satisfy, with
even the album’s title seeming to channel some of the magic of
Black Country, New Road that has so enraptured fans; a moniker
that’s similarly elegant, complex and downright beautiful.
‘Forever Howlong’ is out 4th April via Ninja Tune. D
“The band
simply wouldn’t
exist without
[‘Live At Bush
Hall’].”
– Lewis Evans
Giddy Up!
Fresh from scooping three
GRAMMYs at this year’s ceremony
- including Album of the Year -
Beyoncé has finally detailed her
much-anticipated plans to tour
her boundary-pushing latest LP,
‘COWBOY CARTER’. Tickets go
on general sale at 12pm local time
on Friday 14th Feb (Valentine’s Day
prezzie, anyone?).
Nailed It
Industrial rock legends Nine Inch
Nails have announced plans for a
huge worldwide tour - and it’ll be
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ first
time on the road together since
2022. The Peel It Back tour will
make stops in Dublin, Manchester,
and London in June before the
duo head to mainland Europe
for a series of festival headlines
(including Open’er, Mad Cool, and
NOS Alive), then travel homewards
to North America for a run through
August and September.
Praise The Lord
Music’s latest power duo, Julien
Baker & TORRES have announced
that they’ve teamed up to record
a whole joint album. ‘Send A
Prayer My Way’ is due to hit
shelves on 18th April via Matador,
and promises to be a collection
of collaborative country gems,
reinterpreted through a queer lens.
Indie Forever
Live at Leeds In The Park have
dropped the full lineup for 2025’s
festival, adding the likes of Manic
Street Preachers, Katy J Pearson,
and Sports Team to a bill already
boasting Bloc Party, Yard Act,
Chloe Slater, and more. Don yer
bucket hat and get amongst it at
Leeds’ Temple Newsam Park on
24th May.
Photos: Eddie Whelan, Mason Poole, Ebru Yildiz
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in deep in deep
REFLECTIONS ON A
DIY In Deep is our monthly, online-centric chance to dig into a longer
profile on some of the most exciting artists in the world right now.
The Welsh indie icons may know they are closer to the end than
the beginning on their 15th studio album, but in amongst personal
reflections on time passed, Manic Street Preachers remain as politically
sharp as ever.
Words: Max Pilley
For a band nearing their 40th anniversary,
you might think Manic Street Preachers
have encountered – and conquered – every
imaginable challenge. But as the Welsh indie
icons convened for what would become
their fifteenth studio album back in 2023,
they realised that something was not quite
right.
“If you go right back to the start, we would always have
an MO,” explains frontman James Dean Bradfield,
speaking on the phone with a cup of tea in hand, having
wrapped up the school run on a crisp January morning.
“On ‘The Holy Bible’, Richie [Edwards] was looking at
the world and turning his disgust back onto the world.
On ‘Everything Must Go’, we just told ourselves that
we wanted a reason to breathe. On ‘This Is My Truth...’,
we wanted to go deeper into ourselves and see how
we interact with the world. On [2021’s] ‘The Ultra Vivid
Lament’, it was a snowglobe created in a post-lockdown
world.
“But on this album, there was no MO really. We couldn’t
make one up. Usually Nicky [Wire, bassist and lyricist]
would have that loose concept, but he couldn’t come
up with one.”
Caught at a crossroads where nagging insecurity would
have derailed many a band, the Manics called upon
the full depth of their experience, recognising that a
sense of danger and discomfort might be just what
they needed to push ahead. “After a while, we just
said, ‘Let’s see what we come up with.’ And what we
came up with was a sense of freedom, really,” Bradfield
continues. “On your fifteenth album, you should be
able to come up with something good. And if you don’t,
it just means you’ve run out of track and you’ve said
everything you want to say.”
That resulting album - this month’s ‘Critical Thinking’
- is proof that the finish line is still nowhere in sight. A
high-velocity juggernaut of relentless energy, the band’s
knack for a tender, infectious melody locks horns with
their impulse to craft the occasional anthemic chorus.
The other central tenet of their identity – their ability
to serve as a barometer of the state of progressive
politics – is also firmly intact here. The title track sees
Wire turn his glare on what he appears to dismiss as the
inane naivete of online ‘Be Kind’ culture. “It’s your lived
experience, be your authentic self / Be fitter, be happier,
speak your truth,” he sings, every word dripping in what
Bradfield describes as “resigned sarcasm”.
To this band, empty words of bland positivity are no
replacement for social action. “As what you might call
old classic Valley socialists, we just prefer a good policy
initiative to a buzzword,” Bradfield explains. “I’m just
suspicious of them, the snake oil holistic slogans that
go out there. When you see someone say ‘be kind’, you
always find them just ripping the fuck out of somebody
online the next day.”
A
s the band responsible for perhaps the two most
politically explicit UK number one singles since
The Specials’ ‘Ghost Town’ - ‘If You Tolerate This
Your Children Will Be Next’ and ‘The Masses Against
The Classes’ - their sentiments carry substantial weight.
Brazenly working class and anti-capitalist in their output
since their fearless 1992 debut ‘Generation Terrorists’,
their spirit is untamed, and seeing them adapt as the
tectonic plates shift towards populism and post-truth
politics in the 2020s is fascinating.
With so much discourse now conducted on increasingly
unpoliced social media platforms, Bradfield bemoans
the extent to which our digital lives have splintered
social movements into smithereens. “When it’s as easy
to disagree with people that are supposedly on mainly
the same side as you… When you find it’s as easy to
disagree with them as it is to disagree with your natural
opposition, then you know something is a bit fucked
up,” he says. “That’s where I find myself politically
sometimes.”
A younger Bradfield could often be found sporting
a copy of the Socialist Workers Party’s Militant
newspaper and bending people’s ears on subjects
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such as the armed struggle in Northern Ireland, but
as he prepares to turn 56, he admits that he now
believes people’s increasing reluctance to accept
compromise is what is holding back progress. “The
inability to disagree with each other in a civil way is
quite alarming to me,” he notes. “I don’t mean that
you can’t have extreme opinions, and I don’t mean
that you shouldn’t be able to express those opinions,
but the way that people persecute each other is not
something that leads us to finding new ideas.”
Clearly in his element discussing politics, the singer
needs no prompting to shift the conversation onto
the newly re-inaugurated US president, who he says
was “just smarter” than his Democrat opponent.
“Somebody will turn that into, ‘He likes Trump, he said
he’s smart’,” Bradfield quickly qualifies. “No, what
I’m saying is it’s upsetting that he was smarter, he
had a better playbook than them. You can’t just be a
blue-sky thinker and virtue signaller. A politician has
got two jobs: address people’s fears and address
people’s hopes. He’s lying to do that, but he still got
the power, didn’t he?”
“THE WAY THAT PEOPLE
PERSECUTE EACH OTHER IS
NOT SOMETHING THAT LEADS
US TO FINDING NEW IDEAS.”
- JAMES DEAN BRADFIELD
‘Critical Thinking’ is out 14th February via
Columbia.
Read the full feature at diymag.com/manic-streetpreachers.
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Photo: Alex Lake
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ADVERTORIAL FEATURE
While some say that music
is a universal language,
here at DIY, we always
believe in broadening
our horizons, which is
why we’re thrilled to have
teamed up with Dydd
Miwsig Cymru to help
celebrate their annual
event this month. Taking
place on Friday 7th
February, the day – also
known as Welsh Language
Music Day – focuses on
celebrating and uplifting
all forms of Welsh
Language music, as well
as highlighting the rich
musical history of Wales as
a nation.
To help mark this year’s
edition of Dydd Miwsig
Cymru, we’ve enlisted
a few key players from
across the Welsh music
industry to help explain
why the Welsh language
and culture is so important
to them – and if you’d like
head to gov.wales/welshlanguage-music-day
Tra bod rhai yn dweud bod
miwsig yn iaith fyd-eang,
yma yn DIY, credwn mewn
lledaenu’n gorwelion, dyna
pam yr ydym wedi cael y
pleser i ymuno hefo Dydd
Miwsig Cymru i ddathlu’r
digwyddiad blynyddol mis
yma. Yn digwydd ar ddydd
Gwener 7fed o Chwefror,
mae’r diwrnod yn ffocysu
ar ddathlu ac ymgodi
pob math o gerddoriaeth
Cymraeg, yn ogystal
ag uwcholeuo cyfoeth
hanesyddol Cymru fel
cenedl.
I nodi Dydd Miwsig
Cymru eleni, rydym
wedi ymrwymo ambell i
berson arwyddocaol o’r
sîn roc Gymraeg i helpu
esbonio pam y mae’r Iaith
a’r diwylliant mor bwysig
iddynt - ac os hoffech
ddarganfod mwy, ewch i
https://www.llyw.cymru/
dydd-miwsig-cymru
Cymru
Q&A
ADWAITH
Ahead of the release of their ambitious new double album
‘Solas’ (which gets released on 7th February), we spoke to the
band’s drummer Heledd Owen.
You’re about to release your
new album ‘Solas’; what sort
yourself in when approaching
the making of this new record?
We wanted to be really ambitious
with this album. From the start
we knew we wanted to create
something special with ‘Solas’,
so we started the process by
trying to write as many songs
as we could. We spent a lot of
time reflecting on our home and
how it shaped us and we wanted
to pay homage to West Wales
through the music.
Making a double album is no
mean feat – what made you
want to do so? And what gave
double album in Welsh?
Initially this album was only
meant to be a 10 or 12 track
album, but we had so many
songs that we’d been working
on and it didn’t feel right to cut
them. Our manager came to see
how we were getting on while
we were in pre-production and
he made a suggestion that it
could be a double album in the
making! We really wanted to
push ourselves to make the best
body of work we possibly could
and it just made sense to make
it a double as we had a story
that needed to be told and told
without any compromises!
What does making music in
Welsh mean to you?
I think it’s become more and
more important to us as we’ve
gotten older. It’s easy to take it
for granted when you’re young,
but then it gets to a point when
you start to realise just how
lucky you are to even be able to
speak the language, let alone
have the opportunity to write and
perform in Welsh. It’s definitely a
great privilege to us and we are
very lucky to have had all these
amazing opportunities and feel
it’s such an honour to be singing
in Welsh.
Does the success of artists
like Kneecap and Gwenno
people are ready for non-
English language artists?
It definitely does! We’ve never
had any doubt that people aren’t
ready for non-English artists, it’s
more the industry that’s been
slow to change. We’ve definitely
noticed a growing interest and
audience for non-English artists
in the UK from our own personal
experience, it feels very exciting.
“It’s such an honour to be
singing in Welsh.”
– Heledd Owen
Q&A
DON LEISURE
Welsh beatmaker Don Leisure has just released his
latest record ‘Tyrchu Sain’, which saw him dive into
the back catalogue of Sain Records, Wales’ oldest
independent record label.
music, and began sampling and experimenting?
I got into music at quite a young age mainly due to my
older cousins who were (irresponsibly) playing me amazing
hip-hop records and pirate radio jungle recordings when
I’d visit them in London. I remember buying Cypress Hill’s
‘Black Sunday’ album on CD when I was starting Year 6 in
school (shout out Llwydcoed Primary!). The penny dropped
on sampling a few years later when my mum was playing
Dusty Springfield’s ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ in her car. That
track was sampled on the Cypress Hill album and my mind
was fully blown! I didn’t have access to any music
software or anything until I was doing my A-levels.
This kid in my year gave me a CD-R with loads
of dodgy cracked programmes on it, so I started
mucking about with them and haven’t really stopped!
Although all my software is now above board and
fully registered!
What were your experiences of the Welsh
language growing up and making music
previously?
I attended English medium schools throughout my
education and in the ‘80s and ‘90s you would rarely
hear anyone speaking Welsh where I grew up in
Aberdare; even less so in Cardiff. Thankfully things
have really changed in that regard. In terms of music
and the Welsh language I suppose I didn’t have
many experiences before and I honestly dismissed
or never really considered the idea of ‘cool’ Welsh
music from the ‘70s until I heard those Welsh Rare
Beat compilations.
How were you introduced to Sain, and how did it
feel to dig into the Sain archive with fresh eyes,
and without knowing the back catalogue?
The Finders Keepers Records compilations were my
gateway drug for sure. I wanted to go deeper into
the back catalogue but it wasn’t that easy as the
records can be seriously tough to find in the wild.
Friends like Rhys Spikes, Dyl Mei and Gruff Rhys
would occasionally tip me off to great tracks from the
back catalogue. The excellent shop Cardiff Record
Exchange bucked this trend and have a really
extensive collection of both Sain and Welsh records
in general. Ed who runs the shop is a total diamond
who let me borrow every single Sain title they had in
stock. That was a godsend and resulted in the bulk
of the samples I used on the record. It was amazing
to dig through all that stuff without much pre-existing
knowledge of the artists. It’s been fun and eyeopening
to learn about them as I went along.
Why do you think it’s important to highlight
and celebrate the Welsh language, especially
through music?
I think it’s important to highlight, celebrate and
propel the Welsh language forward as it is integral to
the very fabric of Welsh identity. I didn’t really ‘get it’ until I
started spending time in North Wales where the language is
more prominent. Welsh has been historically diluted through
various policies and practices that sought to marginalise it.
Promoting Welsh in whatever way you can I feel is vital
to preserving the unique cultural identity and heritage
of Wales. Music is an effective way to do this because
it transcends language barriers and engages people
emotionally and culturally.

Q&A
ELAN EVANS
With over a decade of experience in the music industry, not
only does Elan currently manage Mellt, but she’s also a Project
Manager for Beacons Cymru – an organisation aiming to
empower the next generation – and an ambassador for Merched
yn Gwneud Miwsig, a platform focussed on uplifting women in
Welsh music.
How crucial are projects like the Young Promoters Network
and Beacons Cymru in ensuring the building blocks are there
for Welsh language music gigs to keep happening in their
communities?
What’s great about the work Beacons Cymru do, especially with
the YPN, is getting to know the individuals and spending time with
them. We find pairing young people up with role models within
the industry and helping them create networks throughout Wales
creates valuable working relationships. We hope, with the skills
they learn through the programme, they can then take these skills
back to their communities and expand their creative networks
further to benefit Wales’ ever growing music scene.
Wales’ capital, like in 2025?
Over the years as a promoter, I’ve come to see that the scene is
ever changing, and ever growing. Despite the many challenges
Cardiff’s music industry faces day to day, people still want to go
out and enjoy live music. This is integral to the success of the
city and hopefully is something that will never go away. Cardiff
struggles, as do many cities, with the closure of venues that are
integral to the music scene here. The fact that the community is
still as supportive and passionate as ever can be really comforting
during times like this. As long as that doesn’t go away, then the
scene will be as strong as ever.
Q&A
HUW STEPHENS
ADVERTORIAL FEATURE
is also a huge supporter of Dydd Miwsig Cymru.
Cymru, and what made you want to get
involved?
Before the very first one, loads of us sat around
a table and discussed the idea that Gareth
Cardew Richardson at Welsh Government had
come up with. We all agreed it was a good idea
and an exciting one. It all felt very hands on deck
and everyone getting involved. I became an
ambassador for it in the second year.
Why do you think it’s so important for Dydd
Miwsig Cymru to exist, and what do you hope
people will take away from it?
The world is noisy, so if we can shine a light on a
scene, and the language, and the culture, then it’s
a good thing. Artists who use the Welsh language
will be quick to tell you that Welsh language music
isn’t a genre, it’s the language they choose to
create in, in a multitude of genres. I hope people
will hear something new or old and interesting in
the language that sticks with them. For some, it
will be the start of a journey, for others they might
take it in their stride and not engage with it again.
who really helped shape or change your
relationship with the Welsh language?
The classics, of course, from SFA to Gorky’s.
Digging further back you hear Datblygu, Meic
Stevens, Ail Symudiad, Heather Jones and so
many more, and realise that there’s so many
wonderful albums and records over the decades.
More recently, there’s Gwenno and Adwaith, but
also Mellt, Los Blancos, Buddug, the list goes
on... What I like about the scene in Wales is that it
is tightknit, with bands sharing line-ups. Hearing
Dom and Lloyd do their very modern brand of rap
music was very inspiring and exciting, same with
Sage Todz, a very exciting take on new rap music
using the Welsh language.
What should the world know about the
Welsh language music scene that they don’t
already?
Well, firstly that it exists and that it is alive. It is real,
it is valued and it is very interesting, musically and
culturally.
to be working at Clwb at the time and able to help run the project.
Seven years later and the project is still needed now. Safe spaces are
an absolute necessity for the development of new music, and offering
young women the chance to collaborate, learn and expand their music
skills and knowledge is a crucial part of this. I’ve faced several barriers
as a young woman in the music industry, but this project aims to
create a safe haven to help younger women like myself to learn more. I
feel very honoured to be a small part of this project.
Tell us about Merched yn Gwneud Miwsig and how crucial it is
that more women are represented and involved in live music and
the music industry particularly in Wales.
Representation across the music industry is so important, both on
stage and behind the scenes. It’s been incredible to see the project
grow the way it has over the years, but there’s still so much work to be
done. I would love to see more people from under-represented groups
running venues, booking shows and tech-ing shows. Having more
diversity across the board benefits everyone, but we need more of it
across the music industry as a whole and not just in Wales.
How did Merched yn Gwneud Miwsig begin? Did any of your
own experiences in the industry help to inform the initiative?
Merched yn Gwneud Miwsig was formed in 2018 by the National
Eisteddfod of Wales and Clwb Ifor Bach, and I was lucky enough
am byth!

NEU
New artists, new music.
“If I can raise
other trans women up
and be a visible role
model then that’s a
huge plus. ”

jasmine.4.t
With stardom looming large, jasmine.4.t talks finding hope and joy for herself and
the wider queer community with her boygenius-produced debut ‘You Are The
Morning’.
Words: Rhys Buchanan
Photo: Emma Swann
a shit time to be trans anywhere in
the world, but especially in America
right now,” says jasmine.4.t, as she
fluffs her already iconic pink and
“It’s
blue locks in the mirror on her desk.
Proceeding to top up her eyeliner and lipgloss part way
through a day of Zoom interviews, she continues, “I think
being able to go over there as a trans woman and foster
some kind of international solidarity is such a big reason why
I’m doing this.”
She may have only released her boygenius-produced debut
album ‘You Are The Morning’ last month, but Jasmine
Cruickshank has already managed to resonate with both
trans and wider queer communities way beyond her own
Manchester doorstep. That special relationship was made
rapidly possible after last year saw her become the first UK
artist signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory imprint – a
life-changing move that came about surprisingly organically.
“I toured with Lucy Dacus pre-transition,” explains Jasmine.
“We got on really well and stayed in touch. Lucy was one of
the first people who I came out to and we always swapped
demos. I’ve actually got one of her postcards on the wall
behind me now from when they were recording their album
in LA.” It wasn’t long before Lucy passed her material onto
boygenius bandmate Phoebe who immediately signed the
project.
Reflecting on the moment, Jasmine struggles to hold
back a peel of giddy laughter. “It was such a wild thing to
happen; being part of that roster is just fucking nuts. I’ve
seen MUNA’s rise to stardom and I love Claud as well. The
Saddest Factory and boygenius connection has opened
me up to this whole world of young American queer people
which is amazing.”
It’s not hard to see just what Phoebe and Lucy saw in
those early demos, which were to be the very foundations
of ‘You Are The Morning’. The album’s title track carries a
therapeutic level of warmth as Jasmine’s sweetened vocal
cuts above the healing folk ballad: “You are the morning,
you make the grass grow / You are the hawthorn tangled
in dog-rose.” Elsewhere ‘Guy Fawkes Tesco Dissociation’
(which also features Phoebe on vocals) carries a muddy grit
that nods to Jasmine’s formative experiences as a DIY artist
on the Bristol scene.
She explains it was a continuation of the music she’s been
making for a lifetime. “I don’t really see it as that different a
thing, this is just the latest iteration of what I’ve been doing.”
Discounting her Bristolian skate-punk parody off-shoot The
Gnarwhals – which still has a special place in her heart – she
says she’s always been following this folk-infused sound. “It’s
all part of my own solo project which has been going since
primary school. I’ve been writing songs since I was two, I’ve
always written songs like writing a diary, it’s how I process
things.”
N
eedless to say, the singer is the first to explain she’s
had a lot to process in the run-up to ‘You Are In The
Morning’; an incomprehensible period plagued with
serious health issues that saw her at her lowest ebb. “Things
didn’t go so well when I came out in 2021,” she offers in a
trembling and breathless tone. “My marriage ended pretty
rapidly, I tried moving back in with my parents and that went
similarly, so I didn’t really have a place to live.”
Once back in Manchester, she found the embrace of her own
tribe. “I was staying on friends’ sofas and floors for a while
and during that time I met other queer people while I was
writing these songs.” That sense of new-found community,
hope and warmth pulses through the record. “The title
track is originally about my best friend who took me in,” she
says. “It’s also about the wider community and the hope my
chosen family gave me when I arrived here. My community
really opened my eyes to my future and gave me the energy I
needed to start my transition.”
Jasmine hopes that trans people across the world going
through similar situations can take a similar courage through
the music. “Every morning I wake up with messages from
people all over the world with their transition stories and how
my music resonates with them. I’m reaching so many people
on such a deep level. It makes all the stress and the fear so
worth it. That’s really what this album means to me, it’s not
just hope for myself but hope for others.”
Although there’s a defiance that comes just through being
visible as a trans woman within the music world, she does
feel a weight of responsibility to use the platform she’s been
given. “There’s so much bias and structural transphobia in
the industry,” she says. “I don’t think people really know what
trans people go through, I think people see us as a threat
and disruption to the norm at best. We’re human and this is
what we’re going through. Stepping into the spotlight is a big
responsibility and advocating for trans rights is definitely a
big part of my job.”
With their own experience in the face of superstardom,
boygenius have proven to be perfect mentors through
Jasmine’s step into the spotlight. “I can really trust and
depend on them,” she says, before recalling how they put her
at ease arriving in Los Angeles to record the album. “Lucy
and Julien [Baker] had sorted dinner for us when we arrived
and that was just so sweet, we met their dogs. They’re such
friendly people, I felt very accepted into their community
immediately.”
That communal spirit is reflected on the album itself,
with Jasmine’s band comprising of trans women from
the Manchester scene. And alongside Phoebe, Lucy and
Julien, the wider cast of voices on the album also features
Saddest Factory Records labelmate Claud. “Coming out
of those sessions, it was clear the theme of this album
was processing and healing,” Jasmine notes, of how that
communal bond helped her through the pain across the
album. “It seemed quite obvious that ‘You Are The Morning’
should be the title, representing queer hope.”
She continues: “What’s wonderful is that all of these songs
are about experiences that a lot of trans people will go
through including homelessness, hate crimes, transphobia. It
feels so good to know that I have this body of work that I can
build on and these experiences I can draw on that will help
people who have been through similar situations to process
what they’ve been through.”
With ‘You Are The Morning’, it feels like jasmine.4.t has
already realised many of her dreams, and so the vision
heading into the new year is simply to keep going. “I
would like to just spend my time writing music, recording,
performing and living my life with my chosen family,” she
nods. “If I can raise other trans women up and be a visible
role model then that’s a huge plus. If other trans women are
out there seeing this, hopefully they realise that good things
will happen to them to because it’s certainly made my life
worth living.” D
D 13

A monthly focus on these crucial cogs in the wonderful new music wheel.
NEU Recommended
Your pocket guide to the new names who’ve been catching our eye (and ears) of late.
Alessi Rose
Firmly set to become one of pop’s next big things,
Alessi Rose’s takeover is just starting.
Since debuting in mid-2023 with the delightfully anthemic ‘say you’re mine’,
Alessi Rose has had a trajectory like few others. Placing her unapologetically
honest songwriting at the forefront, the Derby-born newcomer intricately details
the trials and tribulations of young adulthood with refreshing Gen Z candour. From
the recent buzz surrounding her sophomore EP ‘for your validation’ to her upcoming
headline tour (which sold out within minutes), Alessi’s making the blueprint for a new
generation of pop stars.
LISTEN: ‘oh my’ (read into the lyrics at your own discretion).
SIMILAR TO: If Strawberry Shortcake was a slightly unhinged popstar.
The Orchestra (For Now)
London’s latest hotly-tipped perturbed,
odyssey-building art-rockers.
If you concentrated the turbulent, all-consuming angst of young adulthood and leaked
it into the Guinness supply of highly musically literate rollie-smokers, you might end
up with something akin to The Orchestra (For Now). Continuing from the star-studded
lineage of bands who’ve made their name at Brixton Windmill, the London seven-piece
have gained considerable traction in grassroots circles with a sound that infuses the
expeditiousness of prog with idiosyncratic art-rock experimentalism.
LISTEN: Their explosive seven-minute debut single, ‘Wake Robin’.
SIMILAR TO: Drinking strong black coffee and broodingly scrawling poetry on napkins in the pub’s smoking
area.
HONESTY
The trailblazing Leeds collective who are redefining
the boundaries of clubby experimentation.
Guided wholly by their sonic curiosities, HONESTY’s fluid, genreagnostic
sound creates a hazy liminal space that feels distally
nostalgic. Traversing sparse electronic ambience, pumping beats
with post-punk inflections, cool robotic vocal chants, spoken word
and languorous rap to boot, there appears to be no limit to where
this collaborative collective’s sound might land.
LISTEN: The entrancingly propulsive rhythms of standout single
‘MEASURE ME’.
SIMILAR TO: The dancefloor if also a wind tunnel.
Brooke Combe
The Edinburgh singer with a timeless
take on modern soul.
A series of high-profile support slots and recruiting The Coral’s James
Skelly for production duties could have cemented Brooke Combe’s
a place in indie’s upper echelons, but hers is a sound which defies
such boundary-setting. Gifted with a dreamy vocal and a frank
lyrical approach alongside an inalienable ability to make people
dance, Brooke’s tunes are a distinct reflection of her own tastes and
storytelling with all the mass appeal of festival friendly indie.
LISTEN: The title track from recent debut album, ‘Dancing At The Edge
Of The World’ has all the self-assured swagger of a spy thriller soundtrack
made irresistible by alt-pop brushstrokes.
SIMILAR TO: Two-stepping with friends on an impromptu night out.
Moreish Idols
Cranking big-picture thinking through the mangle of post-punk.
Having formed among the crashing Cornish waves and spirited arts scene of
Falmouth, Moreish Idols upped sticks to the Big Smoke, signed to Speedy
Wunderground in 2022, and got to work producing their off-kilter, shoe-gazing
post-punk tales of Venetian posties and devastating ego death. Now they’re
gearing up for the release of their debut full-length, ‘All In The Game’ (produced by
label godfather Dan Carey), which promises the sort of thundering existentialism 2025
seems primed for.
LISTEN: Swiped from their upcoming record, the woozy yet frantic ‘Dream Pixel’ takes a dip
into the throbbing lights and distorted sounds of the band’s subconscious, to enrapturing
effect.
SIMILAR TO: Conversations with strangers at an afters where you all vaguely agree to carpe
every diem, and possibly move to Australia.
Caitlin Chatterton, Emily Savage, Hazel Blacher
DIY144
NEU
LABEL SPOTLIGHT
#3
CITY SLANG
45 RPM
How would you describe, in less than 20
words, the ethos behind City Slang?
Christof Ellinghaus: A friendly boutique
label built on the idea of service to the music
community.
What was the initial motivation for starting
the label? Tell us a bit more about those early
days.
Gosh, that was three and a half decades ago!
Back then there just weren’t that many labels, and
it seemed like a good idea because bands I loved
came up to me and simply asked me to put out
their records.
What are some of your highlights or most
memorable moments of City Slang to date?
Oh my, there are seriously too many to mention.
We’ve finally unleashed Lambrini Girls’ debut
album – LONG may they rage! Otherwise:
witnessing Sprints totally command the stage
at Kentish Town Forum last November; seeing
King Hannah turn into one of the best live bands
on the label; watching Caribou turn into a festival
headliner and doing it with such class, completely
on their own terms. It’s just so rewarding to pick
a band up at Moth Club level, and ultimately see
them headline festivals.
How has the position of indie labels within the
wider music landscape changed since City
Slang began?
Scanning the ‘Indie’ playlists on digital music
services, [you see that] the first ten or so acts are
usually released by Sony, Warner, or Universal.
So really, we need a new term for what we do,
for who we are, because all those corporations
could not do what they do without us. We are
their trial and error, their training ground. The
term “independent” has been hollowed out, but
there are some real exceptional and long running
companies out there.
What are you most excited about for 2025?
Having a front row seat for watching Lambrini
Girls’ continued rise this year! Anna B Savage has
a new album coming at the end of January and it
is simply amazing. Sprints are also heading into
the studio for their second album, and I’m beyond
excited to hear what they will come up with!
If you could re-release any classic album on
City Slang, what would it be and why?
Well, I think that would have to be ‘Goat’ by The
Jesus Lizard – it’s just in a league of its own. It
all came together in that one moment to create
something for eternity: the perfect band armed
with the perfect songs and the perfect producer
(Albini). Go seek it out and play it REALLY LOUD!!
What’s one piece of label-running advice you’d
give your younger self?
Hey, you, young moron over there! It’s great to be
as enthusiastic and dedicated as you are, but now
go and seek some proper business advice from
someone who knows what they’re talking about!
You’re running a business! Stop denying it! It’ll be
helpful!
Photos: Phoebe Lettice Thompson, The Orchestra (For Now), Barney Maguire, Sam Crowston, Kharn Roberts
14 D

NEU
THE NONE
Boasting a line-up of “lightly seasoned” but recognisable faces,
meet the quartet who are very much playing by their own rules.
Words: Amber Lashley
It’s widely understood that, in order to
make meaningful change in any system,
you have to first understand how that
system works, and THE NONE are a
perfect example of that idea. With all
members coming from previous bands – Gordon
Moakes (Bloc Party, Young Legionnaire), vocalist Kai
Whyte (Blue Ruth, Youth Man), guitarist Jim Beck
(Cassels) and drummer Chris Francombe (Frauds) –
THE NONE was initiated after Gordon spotted “an
opportunity to start something fresh”. This fresh
start ultimately gave them a chance to let go of the
inhibitions that may have hindered them the first time
around and to head into something new with their joint
experience and skill, with their main hope being to
enjoy the craft they’ve spent years perfecting.
Following a stint living in Austin, Gordon moved
back to the UK mid-pandemic and spent two
years scouting for members of a new project. He
recalls the recruiting of his slightly younger band
members bringing a rejuvenating energy; they were
experienced, but not jaded, striking a happy medium
that Jim refers to as “lightly seasoned”. “We’re young,
but we’re in our thirties,” Kai explains, “we’re not
teenagers just recklessly chucking stuff into the back
of a van and seeing what happens.”
It’s safe to say that THE NONE tend to move against
the grain, but these decisions follow a period of
learning, a learning that tells them to put their needs
before expectations. Jim explains that the project was
“an opportunity to go into a band knowing what I want
to get out of it in terms of what I enjoy the most, and
just sack off the rest of it.” Gordon shares that same
notion, noting that “the older you get, it’s like saying, ‘I
don’t care, I’m just going to do what works for me.’ To
pander to anyone is just pointless”. This goes hand in
hand with rejecting the routine
of new bands in a (newly)
social media-centric industry.
THE NONE, instead, turned to
platforms such as Bandcamp.
If you blow up on social media,
it’s usually just perceived
value,” Kai explains “On
Bandcamp, you can see who’s
buying your music, and the kind
of people who use Bandcamp
like that usually come to shows
or buy some merch, and that’s
actual value.”
The live show is the heart of
THE NONE; undeniably their
favourite part, they tend to be drawn toward the
sweatbox independent venues that are so well-loved
across the country. “We’ve all come up through
these venues,” Jim shares, citing venues such as
Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach and the Prince Albert in
Brighton. “These are the places we spend our time,
so it’s where we feel comfortable and at home.” And
while there may be a historic love of these spaces,
there’s also just the addictive nature of the energy in
a small-capacity, sticky-floored venue that cannot be
replicated elsewhere. For vocalist Kai, their favourite
type of show is “when you can’t move, you can’t
breathe, and you’re soaking wet. It sounds horrible,
but it’s a good thing!”, before Gordon chips in. “I’m
all for hygienic small gigs though. I’m not being a
germaphobe; I’m just saying run a mop around, that’s
all I’m saying.”
When it comes to the music – in particular, their
upcoming EP, ‘CARE’ – THE NONE are masters of
tension. What Jim calls “sweet and sour, a collision of
“The older you get, it’s
like saying, ‘I don’t care,
I’m just going to do what
works for me.’ To pander to
anyone is just pointless.
- Gordon Moakes
”
the melodic and the really amelodic,” it’s a meeting of
dissonant, abrasive instrumentation and interesting,
harmonious vocal decisions from Kai that oppose
and yet complement each other so well. While Kai
recalls their intention being “for all of us to get as
silly as possible while making really good music,”
Gordon recalls thinking to himself, “I’m going to make
the ugliest music I’ve ever made.” That confidence
to not be afraid of sounding “ugly” and to welcome
ideas they may have never considered before soon
extended into their recording and writing process too.
The band tend to record together live in a room with
everything blaring at once, as ever, in the name of
keeping the process fun and exciting. When writing,
however, Kai likens their attitude to ‘yes and’. “Jim will
be playing the most rancid chords you’ve ever heard,
got a rough time signature going, it’s a racket,” they
enthuse, “and I’m like, yes! It just needs to be the right
kind of disgusting.” THE NONE write from the gut.
They know who they are, what they like, and how they
like to play it; and they’re well up for doing so in any
manner they see fit. D
Photo: Sam Wood
16 D

M20
For people who love music
Two speakers. One entire system. Music at your fingertips.
qacoustics.co.uk/m20

NEU
THE NEU
PLAYLIST
Fancy discovering your new favourite artist?
Dive into the cream of the new music crop
below.
DellaXOZ - UnHinged
Landing after a clip of an early
version garnered widespread
attention on social media,
DellaXOZ’s recent single
‘UnHinged’ first charmed a
crowd of new listeners with guitar
tapping, soft vocals, and painfully
relatable tales of the failings of 21st
Century dating. Now also featuring irregular drum
beats and dreamy harmonies, she’s built around
the original snippet and transformed it into a
fluctuating, full-bodied addition to her growing
collection of indie pop. Amber Lashley
Fuzz Lightyear -
Visual Effect
Back with their latest release via
Nice Swan Records are Leeds’
Fuzz Lightyear, who have
recently shared ‘Visual Effect’
- a sturdy follow up to their
September single, ‘My Body’.
Loud, fast, and abrasive, yet lifted
at times by sweetly melodic underlays and
guitar runs, the new cut races and lurches, a
two-and-a-half-minute injection of fervent energy
that pleads you to go and experience the band
live - which we strongly suggest you do. Amber
Lashley
Esme Emerson - Too Far
Gone
Cult duo Esme Emerson have
returned with a new cut brimming
with nostalgia, communicated
via echoey synths, a cheerful
harmony, and all the ingredients
of a great indie pop song. As
we’ve come to expect from the pair,
the lyrics that sit atop this instrumental
burrow through the end stages of a relationship; a
heart-wrenching topic at face value, but Esme
Emerson work to find joy in it, leaving us with a
track that’s perfect to be belted loud in your car
on a Summer’s day. There’s a true sense of
preciousness with this band, born of their ability
to marry sweet harmony work with these euphoric
instrumentals. Peter Martin
Rosie Alena - Everyman
The title track from her
forthcoming new EP, Rosie’s
Alena’s ‘Everyman’ offers yet
another gem from the South
London auteur. Despite
exploring the agonised and
surrealist experience of grief in its
lyrics - seeing, in Rosie’s words, “lost or
distant loved ones in the morphing faces of
strangers” - it’s a music that yet stands strong,
burnished and optimistic in the face of life’s
blustering whirlwinds of change. Add smart,
free-flowing songwriting, a blissfully captivating
lead vocal, and immaculate acoustic-pop stylings
in the manner of Katy J Pearson or CMAT, and you
have a recipe for repeated listens emerging before
your very ears. Elvis Thirlwell
UPDATE YOUR EARS!
Find the Neu Playlist on Spotify:
The Buzz Feed
All the buzziest new music happenings in one place.
On the Cusp
Peckham’s Sam Akpro has kicked off the new
year by announcing details of his debut album,
the wistfully-titled ‘Evenfall’. Named after “the
onset of evening”, his first full-length will
include ten tracks and is set for release on
28th March via ANTI-.
Co-produced by Sam himself, along
with his regular collaborator Shrink, the
record - which follows on from his 2021
EP ‘Drift’ and 2023’s ‘Arrival’ - features
his live band - Cameron Jacobs
(guitar), Joshua Lee (guitar), Luke Chin-
Joseph (bass), Kyle Creaton (drums)
and Taylor Devenny (sampler, keys)
- and include previous singles ‘Chicago
Town’ and ‘Death By Entertainment’,
which were released last year.
Alongside the news of his forthcoming debut,
he’s also shared its swirling title track - an
offering that, in his own words, exists “somewhere
between a before and after space in time, where
moments have passed and where events are yet to take
place”. It’s accompanied by a video directed by Pedro Takahashi,
who also directed his ‘Death By Entertainment’ clip. “Thematically, the video is about fading away in a city
that is hard to live in,” Pedro has said of the video. “The idea is to express that if you pick out any individual
in this city of millions, you’ll find that everyone has their own grand internalised life, full of hopes, fears,
dreams and failures.” Watch the video for ‘Evenfall’ over on diymag.com.
The It Girl
Fresh from performing at ESNS 2025 last month (more on that over
on p60), Chloe Qisha has returned with her brand new single ‘21st
Century Cool Girl’.
Following on from the release of her self-titled EP - which landed at
the end of last year and included her singles ‘VCR Home Video’, ‘I
Lied, I’m Sorry’ and ‘Sexy Goodbye’ - the singer’s latest is a sonic
delight that just keeps on giving, nodding to everything from ‘9 To 5’
in its intro, through to a starry-tinged, ABBA-like bridge.
“‘21st Century Cool Girl’ is ‘that’ girl,” says Chloe of the track. “An ode
to my teenage self who treated everyday like I was in some ‘90s romcom.
I loved reminiscing on the throes of past teenage romance - and the awkward
heightened emotions that come with that – as well as growing up and owning your
insecurities and being open and ready to love someone. It’s like putting your cards on the table and saying
‘well, this is me. I’ll love you forever if you want in’.” Check it out over on diymag.com now.
That Sounds Delicious
Japanese-British artist Miso Extra has shared details of her long-awaited debut album, the deliciously-titled
‘Earcandy’.
The news of her debut album - which is set for release on 16th May via Transgressive Records - follows
on from the release of her previous single ‘Good Kisses’, which features Metronomy and landed back
in November. Her first full-length saw Miso team up with GRAMMY-winning engineer Ricky Damian last
summer, during which they wrote and recorded the album in Damon
Albarn’s Studio 13.
“It’s about growing through your mistakes and not being
afraid to get things wrong,” Miso has said of the record,
which also features collaborations with A.K. Paul,
MICHELLE, and Tyson. “There are some deep
messages in there but it’s surrounded by sweet
earcandy – that spoonful of sugar that helps the
medicine go down.”
Alongside the news of her album, she’s also shared
a fresh taste of it in the form of ‘Certified’, a track
that “centres around the attempt to be seductive and
the stubborn determination that comes with it”. Head
to diymag.com to check out her new single.
Photos: Ethan & Tom, Lillie Eiger, Claryn Chong
18 D

SELF ESTEEM — A Complicated Woman
THE NEW ALBUM
Out April 25th 2025

NEU Live
CHLOE SLATER
Ah, the first full working week of January: post-Christmas purse strings
are tight, sleep schedules are all out of whack, and the thought of fighting
the gravitational pull of your sofa is far from appealing. Enter Hello 2025
– DIY’s annual January blues-busting gig series of four free shows at
Shoreditch’s storied Old Blue Last, packed full of exciting new artists that
are set to become need-to-know names over the next 12 months. What
better way to blow the cobwebs away, right?
Photos: Emma Swann, Dan Landsburgh
Night One
Kicking things off with a bang on Night 1 are
Leeds outfit Fuzz Lightyear; blurry by name but
impressively tight by nature, the band do a sterling
job at countering the evening’s Baltic conditions by
generating some serious heat onstage. Channelling
IDLES’ visceral snarl into lacerating yet layered
songs of relentless pace, the quartet treat us to a
welcome preview of latest single ‘Visual Effect’ before
concluding with a gloriously gnarly instrumental
breakdown that sees bassist Varun Govil descend to
the floor, kneeling in submission to the noise.
Next up, we’re graced with deary – a dream-pop
duo whose atmospheric amblings land somewhere
between Cocteau Twins and Weyes Blood, and who
are, by all accounts, nothing short of spellbinding.
Having released their second EP ‘Aurelia’ at the
tail end of last year, the pair prove themselves
masters of orchestrating a mood; vocalist Dottie
Cockram weaves gossamer melodies over writing
partner and producer Ben Easton’s intricate guitar
textures, seemingly effortlessly sketching a sense of
enveloping, lingering bliss.
If deary trade in delicacy, then Isle Of Wight lineupmates
The Pill are the perfect foil, peddling their
unapologetically brash, slogan-able wares to a
swelling crowd. With tongues that are both razor
sharp and firmly in cheek, Lily Hutchings and Lottie
Massey bounce off each other with the ease of
two people on precisely the same wavelength,
interspersing their playful punk offerings with quips
about sugar daddies, mullets, and Club Penguin. For
bags of fun and absolutely no fucks given, dose up on
The Pill – doctor’s orders.
Topping the bill, jasmine.4.t and her stunning
band are testament to the importance of trans
representation; political, personal, powerful, and
poignant, tonight’s set cements her as someone
with the sort of diamond-in-the-rough presence
that makes you feel lucky to be watching them in
a room this small. At
times evoking the folky,
JASMINE.4.T Americana twang of
Adrianne Lenker or
MJ Lenderman, at
others leaning more
into Courtney Barnettlike
grungier territory,
Jasmine’s work sits at
the subtle intersection
between devastation
and empowerment;
she’s visibly and
audibly emotional when
dedicating debut album
title track ‘You Are The
Morning’ to her best
friend Yulia Trot, but
defiant when leading
the room in a chant of
‘Free Palestine!’. Phoebe
Bridgers has long since
been onboard – having
signed Jasmine to her
own label, Saddest
FUZZ LIGHTYEAR
Factory Records – and frankly, it’s not hard to see
why.
Night Two
Enthusiasm, it turns out, is the name of the game
tonight, as South London outfit PUNCHBAG leap
onstage and dive headfirst into a dizzying opening
set. Led by sibling duo Clara and Anders Bach, their
punky offerings come supercharged with a fizzing
energy, while Clara gallantly tries to whip up the crowd
into a similar frenzy for their (sort of) self-titled anthem
‘I’m Not Your Punchbag’. If Clara’s affinity to the
Duracell Bunny is anything to go by, they’ve got plenty
more where that came from.
From one sibling duo to another… It’s no secret
that when DIY first saw Disgusting Sisters live
last November we were all in, with the pair’s brand
of camp choreography matched perfectly by their
sloganista sprechgesang. Tonight – a few technical
mishaps aside – they’re just as gloriously OTT; from
giving Clueless vibes in their near-matching outfits
to throwing manic shapes to their Shampoo-esque
hit ‘TGIF’, or just diving into the crowd for one final
dance-off, fun is the only item on the menu for Jules
and Josie tonight.
Variety is the spice of life, and as such, tonight’s more
pared-back appearance from Blossom Caldarone
(who also plays live regularly alongside English
Teacher) provides a welcome break from the chaos
that’s unfurled already thus far. Armed with just a
keyboard and her voice, the stripped back quality of
her set means that her gorgeous offerings glow even
brighter, stunning the usually-rowdy Old Blue Last
crowd to a meditative quiet.
If there’s one new artist who seems to be taking
the live circuit by storm right now, it’s Chloe Slater.
There’s a giddy zeal that ripples through her audience
as the Manchester-based singer takes to the stage
BLOSSOM CALDARONE
20 D

with her band, and judging from her live set, it’s
easy to see why. Packing an even gnarlier punch on
stage than in her recorded offerings, her brand of
scuzzy, politically-infused indie feels invigorating and
accomplished. The jagged edges of ‘Nothing Shines
On This Island’ feels akin to the more wide-eyed dark
moments of Wolf Alice, while ‘Fig Tree’ is a defiant,
fist-pumping rally against the patriarchy that feels
even more potent tonight. If Chloe represents the
latest hope in indie’s lineage, then it’s set to be a very
exciting time indeed.
Night Three
From the moment doors open, the room is crowded
with eager faces, their enthusiasm almost palpable
as opener Yuneki takes to the stage. Armed with
honeyed vocals and confessional lyrics, she guides
us gently through the undulations of breakups and
breakdowns with endearing, self-effacing candour.
“The next one is probably my happiest song,” she
quips before ‘No Rush’ – a tentatively hopeful love
letter to oneself, sealed with mesmerising harmonies
and an earworm hook of which Self Esteem would be
proud.
Sitting squarely at the other end of the spectrum,
MAY cuts
a striking
ALIEN CHICKS
figure in
school
uniformesque
attire, her
erratic
movements
and selfassured
attitude
lending
the set an
uncanny
yet utterly
compelling air. Her vocalisations – at times singing,
at times assuming a more rap-like cadence – sit atop
shapeshifting synths and industrial beats, and it’s
evident to everyone here that this is an artist at the
vanguard of experimental pop.
After gently reprimanding the crowd for not having
seen Mulholland Drive in their tribute to the late
David Lynch – “it’s not all about Twin Peaks you
know guys” – Paige Kennedy proceeds to treat us
to a performance that’s part songs, part stand-up
set, as they tongue-in-cheekily riff off devil worship,
Elon Musk, the emotional timbre of our cheers and
more. Musically speaking, there’s just as much
going on: combining loungey grooves and irresistible
funk basslines with avant-pop vocals and scathing
lyrical observations, their latest EP ‘Babylotion’ (and
beyond) is rendered live here in glorious, full-bodied
technicolour.
If there were ever any question marks over CATTY’s
current trajectory towards becoming pop’s next
queer icon, the number of hardcore stans here is
enough to dispel any lingering doubts. Singing along
to literally every word from the off, the young crowd
are enraptured with every note, every move, every
joke. As for CATTY herself, she’s every inch the
star. Swapping between Americana-toned vocals
(‘I Don’t Miss You (I Just Miss Your Mum)’), riotous
pop-rock à la Avril and OlRod (‘Healing Out Of Spite’)
and cabaret-like dramatic dynamism (new number
‘Joyride’), she holds the room in the palm of her hand
throughout. For those in attendance, tonight, it’s
bound to be a source of future bragging rights that
they caught her somewhere this small.
Night Four
With the room packed out and buzzing from the off for
Hello’s final show, Christian Music really understand
the assignment, with
the quartet taking to the
stage for a hefty dose
of adrenaline. Bouncing
between unabashed
carnage and sonic
wizardry, the likes of
‘Marimba-Tragic Death
Cult’ and ‘Feed The
Monkey’ pack an almighty
punch to the gut, before
an unexpected trumpet
solo adds an altogether
surreal edge to the whole
thing, like a demonic
pied piper whipping up a
most pit.
Following such a display
is no mean feat, but
somehow, London-based
Karma Sheen manage
it. That’s not to say that
they pick up the thrashy
gauntlet where it’s been
thrown down; instead,
they have different plans.
It’s not often that the
classic, ‘small venue’
smell is masked by heady
incense, but tonight,
the Old Blue Last’s vibe
is entirely transformed
to match the band’s
Hindustani psych-rock.
Arguably one of the most
unique performances that this venue will get to play
host to, they’re a mesmeric but joyful force to reckon
with.
Having already garnered a rep for their zealous
live shows, it probably comes as little surprise to
learn that Flat Party are just as good at ushering
FLAT PARTY
PAIGE KENNEDY
in festivities as their
name would suggest.
Ticking just about
every appropriate indie
influence box going (Franz
Ferdinand, check, Yeah
Yeah Yeahs, you betcha,
LCD Soundsystem – don’t
even worry about it!), their
set is a deliciously fun
pogo through their two
EPs to date.
A band that have put
in more than their fair
share of hours on the
YUNEKI
underground gig circuit over recent years, Alien
Chicks feel to embody the eclectic but playful mood
of all four Hello shows, thus helping to cap them off in
real style. Tonight, there’s a balance between frenzied
urgency and funky looseness that defines their set
– akin to the controlled chaos that At The Drive-In
would whip up during their earliest days – which feels
disorientating but enthralling all at once. What stands
out most is that – with only one EP so far – this really
does feel like just the beginning for the band; what’s
to come will definitely be worth waiting for. Daisy
Carter, Sarah Jamieson
D 21

T h e
M a n y
Faces
o
f
S e l f
Esteem

Nearly 20 years after first starting out in the industry, Rebecca Lucy Taylor is
finally an objectively successful pop star. Is it better? Is it worse? Is she happy?
Does any of it even matter? On third Self Esteem album ‘A Complicated Woman’,
we find an artist addressing the grey areas, and turning them technicolour.
Words: Lisa Wright
Photos: El Hardwick
Of all the topics you might expect your
traditional popstar to land on while on
the promo circuit for one of the year’s
most anticipated albums, animated
equine Netflix protagonist BoJack
Horseman would probably not be top
of the list. A tragicomic show following
a jaded, floundering celebrity trying
to claw his way to relevance while
constantly falling into depression,
addiction and general self-destruction,
BoJack is unlikely to be making an
appearance in Beyoncé’s press quotes
any time soon. And yet… “I relate to
that horse more than any character in
media,” sighs Rebecca Lucy Taylor,
breaking into a signature raucous
chuckle and taking a sip of her 0%
Guinness.
For the musician, otherwise known – of course – as
Self Esteem, the tumultuous route to her current
celebrated standing has been well-documented:
a long and personally challenging stint in the indie
trenches as part of cult duo Slow Club, followed by
several years of graft and steely perseverance under
her current solo moniker that, for a good while, looked
as though it might be headed in the same direction
in terms of above-ground capital. Then, however,
came game-changing single ‘I Do This All The Time’
and the subsequent phenomenon of 2021 second
album ‘Prioritise Pleasure’. Through a combination
of superlative songwriting and an unwitting bullseye
into a culture beginning to universally wake up and
smell the bullshit, Self Esteem found herself the
poster woman for a generation of thirty-somethings
desperately seeking an alternative to the messaging
they’d always been fed.
Suddenly, Taylor was on the telly, on magazine covers,
at the top of a slew of end of year lists. ‘Prioritise
Pleasure’ finished the year nominated for both a BRIT
and the Mercury Prize, while Taylor soon landed the
leading role of Sally Bowles in the celebrated West
End production of Cabaret. After years of halfjokingly-with-a-large-undercurrent-of-truth
mocking
her own underdog narrative, the tables had begun to
turn. “It feels very, very… better,” she laughs, “to know
I can put something out and someone will give a fuck.
Straight away I’m on the cover, and that’s lovely. Will
I be playlisted? More likely than ever. But I still didn’t
WIN any of the big awards; I still don’t feel ‘rated’. So
I have to be clear and cool and fine in what I’m doing
and the rest is a bonus.”

I’m kind of
trying
to
sell
‘OK’.
Which
isn’t
what Polydor
R e c o r d s
wants me to
sell…”
Success for Self Esteem, it seems, has been just as much of a mental mindfuck as
persistently going under the radar was. ‘Prioritise Pleasure’ was made as a sort of
last hurrah to the idea of being a full-time musician (“I was looking at retraining to
be a keep fit teacher. I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore’”), but getting everything
she’d always dreamed of wasn’t quite the great unburdening she’d hoped for
either. “It’s been horrible. I was burnt out and really not well after ‘Prioritise
Pleasure’ at all, and I’m still processing it all; I feel like I wasn’t there for half of it,”
she explains. “I wasn’t looking after myself and really got in a tangle with boozing
again. I was binge eating, which is the first time that’s happened to me.”
And so, returning now with Album Three – the first time, it’s worth noting, in
a nearly 20-year career that Taylor has been signed to a major label with the
music world’s eyes truly awaiting her next move – the narrative is not just one of
‘girl done good’, as if it ever could be. Instead, Self Esteem’s third act is one of
reassessing those priorities, of finding pleasure in things previously lost. It’s the
narrative of ‘A Complicated Woman’.
When we sit down with Taylor today, she’s thinking about something that,
four years back in this same scenario, would have seemed a highly
unlikely topic of conversation: having a baby. She’s on the 0% because
she’s currently midway through trying to freeze her eggs – a “horrendous”
process of twice-daily hormone injections that she’s trying to fit in before
life becomes completely hectic once again. “The dog won’t leave me
alone so that’s lovely, but the rest of it’s shit,” she summarises. As with a lot of
things in the past few years, the decision reflects something of a smudging of
the hard lines she’d previously drawn in her thinking; it’s not that Self Esteem is
suddenly flying the flag for heteronormative two-point-four children families – far
from it – but she’s starting to at least allow certain ideas in.
“I still staunchly feel like if you don’t have a fucking baby you’re fine, and I still
might not and I won’t care. But I’m shocked at biology and how I feel,” she says.
“I’m eating a lot of humble pie.” Much as the internet memes will have you believe,
the trajectory from ‘00s asymmetric-fringed indie sleazer to mid-thirties wild
swimming lover of a cold plunge is something that the musician finds horribly
relatable. “As much as I kick back at the societal norms of it all, I have been every
single thing you think I’d be and now I am a bit of that,” she laughs. “I’ve got
candles coming out of my ears; I’ve got Aesop everywhere – and that was a goal!
But I’m kind of trying to sell ‘OK’. Which isn’t what Polydor Records wants me
to sell…” Another hoot of laughter. “But it’s the answer for me, at the moment. I
D 25

wanted – wanted, wanted, wanted – this version of a life that felt like I was an adult
and I was thriving, but actually what I want is very little.”
This dialling back came as a perhaps surprising result of ‘Prioritise Pleasure’’s
success. Where that record repeatedly traded in ideas of hunger and impatience
(both ‘I Do This All The Time’ and ‘Fucking Wizardry’’s lyrics put the terms front
and centre), the results soon left Taylor completely spent. “It was this weird
exchange of longing being replaced with it happening, but I was more unhappy
than ever,” she says. “I just couldn’t think. I hated doing it. A big opportunity would
come in and I’d be like, ‘NO!’ I just didn’t want to be perceived anymore, it was so
weird. So in my untangling of all that – it’s fucking basic but I was like, well why do
I do all of this in the first place?”
The answer comes quickly and brilliantly in the form of newly-released lead
single ‘Focus Is Power’ and its nostalgic, no frills video set in a community hall.
Singing in a circle with her touring band mates and a gospel choir, the set up is
meant to hark back to her formative years spent in dance classes at Rotherham’s
Monksbridge Community Centre; the first shot in the video is a photo of a young
Taylor in a red-fringed tap dancing outfit. “They have that smell and those
curtains,” she smiles of those innately familiar spaces. “There’s something
about the way that the hall would be the disco and probably where people got
vaccinated, and also where they vote, and Brownies and Guides and boxing club
and Zumba.
“I saw a Reiki person who knew nothing about me and just overwhelmingly saw
a girl in a bedroom with a guitar. Obviously it wouldn’t have been hard to Google
that, but it just stuck with me,” she continues. “I was like, fucking hell. You’ve
literally engineered your life to be exactly as you wanted it to be, so start enjoying
it. Do what that little girl would have wanted. The excitement I felt on those
opening nights doing Little Shop of Horrors at Wales High School… I wanted to hit
that again.”
At this pivotal point in her career, it feels simultaneously heartening, brave,
wholly in character and, you suspect, probably slightly frustrating in the
eyes of the money-men that Taylor has taken this path. In place of starry
guest spots that would best feed the social algorithm, ‘A Complicated
Woman’ features collaborations with a trio of firmly alternative female
vocalists – Nadine Shah, Moonchild Sanelly and Sue Tompkins of Life
Without Buildings – plus a sampled clip from drag queen Meatball on infinitely lip
sync-able highlight ‘69’: a ‘Vogue’ meets Nicola Coughlan’s ‘Shoes… More Shoes’
queer bop in which Taylor lists the comparable merits of different sex positions (“If
you beg, I will peg…”).
She is confident that the album will be received less well than its predecessor.
“I’m prepared for it to get fucking mixed reviews because it’s a lot,” she shrugs.
I was like,
f u c k i n g
hell. You’ve
l i t e r a l l y
engineered
your life to
be exactly as
you wanted it
to be, so start
enjoying it.”
26 D

“If I wanted to make more money I should have done
‘Here Come the Girls’ and 10 tracks of empowerment
and I’d have a flat. But I haven’t done that.” Instead,
‘A Complicated Woman’ is an album that takes
in rousing wranglings with social obligations and
the tricksy comfort blanket of booze (‘The Curse’),
throbbing beats that cast a withering gaze at
emotionally-stunted men (‘Mother’) and the heavy
snarl of ‘Lies’: a Shah-featuring ode to being let down
time and time again by the society that surrounds you.
“When you’re talking about this little girl that I’m trying
to connect to, she honestly had no idea that the world
would be like this,” Taylor says. “I’m dragging her
around with me, and it’s a fucking shocker for her.”
If Self Esteem as a project is intended as “the music
version of Boyhood” – a series of documented checkins
that slowly add up to a life – then Taylor at 38 is
a little older, a little wiser, and a lot more weary. “Oh,
I’m completely weary! I’m like, ‘Fuck this – personally
and politically!” she exclaims. “We’re getting nowhere.
I’m getting nowhere. I got where I wanted to and I feel
worse than ever, and then in the world we feel like
we’re making these big moves towards equality and
a quality of life for everybody and we’re not. So yeah,
I’m weary… aren’t you?!”
Shot throughout it all, however, is the dawning
awareness of the stuff that will truly save you: “‘People
not things’ is my new mantra,” she notes. It’s there
in the goosebump-worthy group vocals of ‘Focus Is
Power’ and the nostalgic comfort of ‘If It’s Not Now
It’s Soon’ (“Take it back to the beginning before your
skin did all its thickening / When you just wanted
to sing”), but it’s also in the entire way that Taylor is
choosing to go about enacting the Main Character
phase of her career. You would not, after all, find many
festival-headlining stars spending Christmas playing
Answer Smash on Richard Osman’s House of Games.
“It feels ludicrous to me to NOT do things like that,
it’s just so fun!” she grins. “My thing was always,
even when no one cared about it, that I’d perform like
Gaga at the Super Bowl at Camden Barfly – and I still
think that’s cool. Princess Nokia won’t go on anything
but she went on The Chase and I love that. I do have
meetings where I’m like, I’d love a great big chunk
of money from a makeup company, but you have to
play the game and do the highbrow thing. It’s smoke
and mirrors, and as much as I’d love to do that I can’t
because I find everything too stupid and funny!”
Another step along the path to realising the full
vision of Self Esteem as its own wonderfully
singular entity will come in April when Taylor
debuts her new live show for a four-night run at
London’s Duke of York’s Theatre. An attempt
to blur the worlds of music and the stage
and concoct her version of David Byrne’s American
Utopia, Taylor is unsurprisingly thrilled at the idea
of finally having the tools to elevate what’s become
an integral part of the Self Esteem experience. “At
the end of ‘Prioritise Pleasure’, we were still pushing
those little shitty steps up onto the stage that were
covered in muck,” she recalls. “I was headlining
Green Man and there was still just the four of us,
scuttling on. There’d be people on before us with full
production and then we were like, still in our Nasty Gal
turtlenecks.”
A return to the West End following her transformative
stint in Cabaret (“The warm ups, the way people cared
about if you were alright, the way it wasn’t up to me
to run the whole thing…”), the theatre stage feels like
a natural home for Taylor more now than ever. She’s
been auditioning for more acting roles and “would
love to have an Olivia Colman pivot”, but tied up in the
world of TV and film is, inevitably and depressingly, an
even more concentrated battle against increasingly
impossible expectations.
“The one thing I feel sad about is that I want to do
more acting and the acting auditions I get offered
are always ‘mate’ or ‘friend’, and it’s because I’m not
considered hot enough to be a romantic lead. Every
woman you ever see on screen – even if it’s about
a woman down the pit – everyone is unbelievably
beautiful and probably wasn’t born like that. Even the
cool motherfuckers are getting bits and bobs done,”
she considers. “I’d love to be a big actress, but I don’t
think that can happen until I’m out of the age bracket
of ‘Could I be the hot girly?’ No, because I’d need
a nose job. OK, well we’re back to square one. The
casting briefs I get, I’m literally considered rough, and
that’s not fair on me or the world. That’s why we’re
all ill because we don’t know what the world actually
looks like.
“I love that Sabrina Carpenter song [‘Espresso’] so
much but you can tell the industry’s like, ‘Oh thank
GOD! Thank god she’s hot and blonde and white and
tiny – AND good! Thank god!’” Taylor sighs. “You
feel like you’re making headway, but the industry still
wants what it wants.”
With ‘A Complicated Woman’, then, Rebecca Lucy
Taylor probably isn’t what the industry wants or even
what a lot of casual spectators might expect. On one
hand, she’s a 38-year-old pop star who’s decided to
use her big splashy major label debut to launch an
album with its artwork based on A Handmaid’s Tale,
its promo videos set in a local Sheffield hall, and its
music full of frustration, despair and “provocative,
sexy shit that’s just a bit too weird for any man to
enjoy”. On the other, she’s a public-anointed oracle
of 21st Century feminism who’s the first to admit she
still is a total work in progress, and who’s spent the
last few years in a state of prolonged anxiety. “I think
people think I’m this positive, confident, in my skin,
self esteem-filled thing. But it is on and off, up and
down, forever,” she asserts.
Where ‘Prioritise Pleasure’ felt genuinely radical
just four years ago, kick-starting conversations of
autonomy and expectation and introducing a new kind
of female solo star who could thrive away from the
tick boxes and create their own narrative, now those
ideas feel practically mainstream. Having shown the
industry a different way to break through the system,
this time around Self Esteem is showing the world a
different way to be a sustained success: one that’s
complex and messy, empathetic and angry, silly, sad
and funny all at the same time.
“In a way, I feel like this album’s gonna set me free to
make 20 more,” Taylor says. “If I came back with a
really concentrated, mass appeal pop record then I’m
trapped. Then that’s another decade of chasing some
huge global Charli xcx-style takeover. Hopefully my
music career will be long, but for now it’s: what have
I been doing for the last three years and what fucking
sense have I made out of it? And that’s the album.”
‘A Complicated Woman’ is out 25th April via
Polydor. D
As always, you can rely on our RLT
for a choice nugget of wisdomslash-ridiculousness.
ON RELATIONSHIPS…
“As much as it’s about meeting
somebody, I think more than anything
it’s about you being ready. And
that’ll hit you at 18 or 50 or any time
in between. I only just stand by
anything I say! I don’t know if I stand
by the things I said at the start of this
interview so how could I have found a
life partner?! I think it should be illegal
to be with anyone until you’re 40: you
should have to apply for a license to
me, personally, and I will decide.”
ON MOTHERHOOD…
“There’s a lad in Cabaret called Travis
who’s 22 and I just fell in love with
him but I didn’t want to shag him and
I could not figure it out. I would do
anything for that boy, and I think it
might be some maternal bollocks.”
ON BIOPICS…
“I’ve seen the Robbie Williams film
twice - it’s the best film ever. I’m like
a shitter, less successful Robbie.
Who would play me in my biopic?
Jigglypuff? I do look quite like
Jigglypuff.”
Styling: Alex Mullins Make up: Byron London Hair: Lauren Bell

I think people think
I’m this positive,
confident, in my
skin, self esteemfilled
thing. But it is
on and off, up and
down, forever.”

Cradle to
Grave
She may have gained an early reputation for steely stares and military outerwear, but Heartworms’ Jojo Orme is far more than
meets the eye. On debut album ‘Glutton For Punishment’, she drops the guard and digs into the person behind the uniform.
A
graveyard, Jojo Orme observes, is the opposite of a
hospital: one is bustling, noisy, a place where life is
brought into the world; the other is peaceful - where
life ends, and we rest. We’re meandering around West
Norwood Cemetery after today’s shoot, the low winter
sun making the grey headstones glow, as we look
for any bearing our names. Far from being bleak, there’s something
inherently calming about the setting, the graves’ inscriptions a poignant
testament to the significance of memory not just in death, but in life too.
Jojo, as it happens, is no stranger to the subject. “I’m a very
sentimental person,” she explains later, as we bundle into a nearby
cafe to warm up. She asks if it’s OK to have some quotes to hand, just
in case, before placing a pair of beautifully bound notebooks - and a
dog-eared copy of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde - on the
table between us. “I find meaning behind anything that has a memory
connected to it, or an emotion connected to it that provokes a memory.
I’m obsessed with my youth and my past.”
For someone who first established their artistic identity via Glengarry
stagewear and a deep love of Spitfires (she even has a tattoo of the
aircraft), a preoccupation with history is hardly surprising. Indeed,
when the debut project from Heartworms - Jojo’s onstage moniker
and pseudo alter ego - arrived in 2023, it was received as a bugle call
unlike almost anything else around, and quickly amassed troops of
fascinated fans. Now, though, she’s readying for the arrival of her debut
album proper; a wide-reaching, deep-diving, remarkable exploration of
collective remembrance and personal ghosts.
B
ack in June last year, Jojo put out ‘Jacked’ - the very first track
to be shared from ‘Glutton For Punishment’. In its cinematic
accompanying video (directed by her closest collaborator, Gilbert
Trejo), she’s presented as a prisoner; a hostage who, when under
interrogation, proclaims: “As long as I can remember, I’ve been alone.
At first there were people… I was alone. Lonely. And then I saw that the
loneliness was them. And so I ran. And everywhere that I looked they
were there, consumed by my loneliness.”
As textual prefaces go, it’s a pretty powerful one. She shrugs and
gives a small smile. “Ever since I was a child, I’ve had so many people
around me, but I couldn’t communicate with them, and I always ended
up alone. I was always blamed for things; even at school, people used
to run away from me. I couldn’t find meaning or understanding through
people, and it made me feel more lonely trying to understand them or
communicate [with them].”
Words: Daisy Carter
Photos: Emma Swann
Heartworms, she explains, was born out of this isolation - part selfextension,
part personality unto itself - it represented a stronger, darker
force. “When I became Heartworms, it was such an escape for me
because I wasn’t enjoying who I was at the time, so it was a confidence
boost. It was this world that I could create with my own hands, and no
one could touch it.” Older, wiser, and truly stepping into “who [she] is as
Josephine”, Jojo now conceptualises her relationship with Heartworms
as something less aspirational, and more peer-like. “I can see her
growing and becoming something else,” she nods, “and I’m holding
her hand.” There are, we suggest, distinct echoes of Stevenson’s
Jekyll and Hyde, nodding to the Gothic novella. “I don’t know what the
ending is yet,” she laughs, but I do like the idea: the whole swapping of
personalities, and how Heartworms is darker; how sometimes I want to
run away from it and I can’t, but then I realise that’s because I enjoy it.”
Both as a consumer and creator of art, Jojo seems drawn towards
this complex darkness. Alongside Stevenson, she references Patti
Smith and Edgar Allan Poe; in her own work, she considers both
international warfare and internal conflict. It’s perhaps part of the
reason why Heartworms seems to have resonated so strongly - like
people’s morbid fascination with true crime, art such as hers allows
us to explore the shadowy, unsavoury side of human nature without
necessarily having to confront it within ourselves. “[Art] puts a film over
it that isn’t too exposing,” she affirms. “The painting or poem or song
is the film - the covering - that’s holding back the complete monster of
what’s behind the artwork, or within the recipient.” She laughs: “And
I’m not saying monster as in EVIL, but everyone has one inside them.”
N
owhere is this theory better proved than in the war room. As
Jojo says, “war can be very animalistic… and then outside of
that, it’s all uniform and decisions. People don’t realise from
the outside how bad it is from the inside.” In terms of how we as a
society relate to warfare, there is, perhaps, a similar sort of disconnect
at play: as with art, the distance of history, geography, or privilege acts
as a barrier, a degree of removal that allows us to use other people’s
actions as magnets in our own moral compass.
That, she says, is why remembrance is so significant. “I got invited to
the archives at RAF Hendon,” she shares, “and I thought, ‘Wow, all
these letters that we don’t know about, all these memories that have
been forgotten’. Working there is a reminder of what happened, of who
they were as people.” In zooming in on these details - these forgotten
footnotes of history - ‘Glutton For Punishment’ throws our general
collective complacency into sharp relief.
The album’s dual centrepieces are a case in point: ‘Warplane’ sets
bursts of choral vocals against a pounding electronic beat, echoing
the dichotomy between the delicate craftmanship of the titular aircraft,
and the intense ugliness of their purpose. “Oh look up there / We’ll be
free / Oh look up there / We’ll be fine,” chants the chorus, its forceful
optimism an eerie callback to ‘the old lie’ decried in Dulce et Decorum
Est. The haunting hook of ‘Extraordinary Wings’, meanwhile, declares
“I don’t wish murder / ‘Cos I got no right” - an apparently peaceable
phrase that assumes a more sinister edge in the track’s video, where
Jojo is cast as an Angel of Death accompanying a fallen fighter pilot
on his final journey. “Memories are there to remind us, and memories
are what make us,” she asserts. “It’s important to reflect, even if it is
uncomfortable.”
ith ‘Glutton For Punishment’, Jojo has crafted a nuanced,
sensitive time capsule of a record which marries matters
W of national memory with deeply personal ones, often using
the former as a means through which to interpret the latter. There’s a
childlikeness to the clipped vocal and ‘da da da’ refrain of ‘Mad Catch’,
while ‘Smugglers Adventure’ - a track about the push-pull of craving
independence yet yearning for parental affection - is built around a
centre point of almost playground-like chanting. “I’m very connected
30 D

“Heartworms was this world
that I could create with my
own hands, and no one could
touch it.”

to my childhood,” she acknowledges, explaining how her difficult
upbringing has contributed to her enduringly “childlike” worldview.
“There are a lot of people who have had trauma in the past and find it
hard to grow past it.”
Continuing, she recalls: “I got punched in the face when I was living
in the YMCA in Cheltenham, by a girl [who] I thought was my friend. It
happened so suddenly… and I can’t even explain how it made me feel.
As a person, I can’t hold something against someone; it was at a party,
and she was probably drinking too much, you know? But it made me
feel so small, so lonely… sometimes I still have dreams [about] it. I just
couldn’t trust anyone [after that]. It made me quiet, reserved; it’s like I
went back to being a child again.”
As well as restoring the confidence that was (quite literally) knocked
out of her as a teenager, Heartworms has also fostered something
of a community around Jojo - a
collection of fellow music lovers,
military history enthusiasts and
misfits, whose support proves
that she’s now far from alone. Has
having the project as an emotional
outlet, or a means through which
to process her experiences, helped
her feel better understood?
“Uh, no,” she says simply, then
gives a small laugh. “Not by the
people who know me, at all. By the strangers, yes; [there’s] something
about strangers who know you better through your music than people
who actually know you in real life that’s very weird. But they only know
you as Heartworms,” she holds out one hand, “and they only know you
as Josephine,” she gestures with the other.
“My family still don’t know me as either Heartworms or Josephine.”
(Although, she points out, her mum “understands [her] a lot better
now”). “No matter how honest I am, there’s never an interest in… what’s
behind my eyes. Does that make sense? If I’m talking to my family, it’s
just [them] spilling whatever’s happening in their lives, then going ‘oh,
how are you? How’s music?’.”
O
“I find meaning behind anything
that has a memory connected to
it. I’m obsessed with my youth and
my past.”
n first listen, ‘Glutton For Punishment’ is undeniably arresting - a
formidable opening statement that sees Jojo distil the enigmatic
essence of Heartworms while broadening the project’s musical
parameters to compellingly incorporate elements of dance (‘Mad
Catch’; ‘Warplane’) and pop (‘Celebrate’) with her EP’s post-punk roots.
(“There’s a way of making something catchy, but also beautiful,” she
grins). But it’s also a record that rewards repeat listens in spades, each
spin unravelling its spool of memories a little bit more. Lyrically, she
eulogises both personal innocence, and that of the “many souls unjustly
sacrificed in the name of war” (as the video for ‘Extraordinary Wings’
puts it).
Structurally, there’s a powerful circularity at play: the final verse of
opener proper ‘Just To Ask A Dance’ is echoed in the closing title track,
quietly reaffirming the idea that we just can’t escape what’s come
before - and, in some cases, nor should we try to. “The idea of the
bookend songs, the repetition of the start… that’s literally what my life
is.” But, we suggest, while the words are the same, the emotion has
changed - where ‘Just To Ask A Dance’ is brooding and confrontational,
‘Glutton For Punishment’ is softer, simpler, and the most vulnerable
she’s ever sounded. In other words,
the past might inform our present
selves, but it doesn’t completely
define them. “Yeah,” Jojo smiles,
“it is like a different light is shone
onto the memory towards the end.
Being able to be so much more
emotional… it’s like I was waiting to
save it for the album.”
As thoughts turn to bracing the
January chill once more, Jojo picks
up one of the beautifully bound books on the table between us, flicking
through it for a quote to leave us with. “This one is about time,” she
smiles, “from Goethe’s Faust: ‘What glitters, lives but for the moment;
what has real worth, survives for all posterity’.”
‘Glutton For Punishment’ is many things, but it’s certainly not glittery.
Make of that what you will…
‘Glutton For Punishment’ is out 7th February via Speedy
Wunderground. D

FEB
Clarissa Connelly
ICA
Wednesday 19 February Sold out
Anna B Savage
Union Chapel
Thursday 20 February
Dustin O’Halloran
Union Chapel
Monday 24 February
Fly The Nest
Cusk + Rabbitfoot
Below Stone Nest
Tuesday 25 February
MAR
MIKE
EartH Hall
Thursday 6 March
Nadia Reid
EartH Theatre
Monday 10 March
An evening with
Lola Kirke
Next Door Records Two
Wednesday 12 March
Machine Girl
Heaven
Wednesday 12 March
Thursday 13 March Sold out
The Weather Station
Islington Assembly Hall
Thursday 13 March
Arthur Jeffes
(Penguin Cafe)
Kings Place
Saturday 22 March
Fly The Nest
Special guests TBA
Below Stone Nest
Tuesday 25 February
Helena Deland Solo
St Matthias Church
Wednesday 26 March
Rachael Lavelle
St Pancras Old Church
Wednesday 26 March
Lambert
Kings Place
Thursday 27 March
APR
mark william lewis
ICA
Tuesday 1 April
Kassie Krut
Loki
Tuesday 1 April
Geordie Greep
Komedia, Bath
Friday 4 April
KOKO
Tuesday 15 April Sold out
Wednesday 16 April Sold out
Yoshika Colwell
MOTH Club
Tuesday 8 April
Man/Woman/
Chainsaw
Scala
Thursday 10 April
Porches
Heaven
Wednesday 16 April
Squid
Roundhouse
Saturday 26 April
MAY
Federico Albanese
Kings Place
Wednesday 7 May
Rose City Band
The Garage
Sunday 11 May
Bria Salmena
The Lexington
Tuesday 13 May
Circuit des Yeux
ICA
Wednesday 14 May
The Golden Dregs
100 Club
Tuesday 20 May
Vendredi sur Mer
XOYO
Thursday 22 May
Throwing Muses
Electric Ballroom
Tuesday 27 May
deary
MOTH Club
Tuesday 27 May
Lael Neale
Omeara
Wednesday 28 May
MJ Lenderman & The
Wind
Marble Factory, Bristol
Thursday 29 May
JUN
MJ Lenderman & The
Wind
Electric Ballroom, London
Wednesday 4 June Sold out
Destroyer
The Fleece, Bristol
Wednesday 11 June
Islington Assembly Hall, London
Thursday 12 June
Horsegirl
Scala, London
Friday 20 June
Band On The Wall, Manchester
Saturday 21 June
Thekla, Bristol
Thursday 26 June
JUL
Japanese Breakfast
O2 Academy Brixton
Thursday 3 July
AUG
RALLY Festival
Southwark Park
Saturday 23 August
SEP
Black Country,
New Road
Beacon Hall, Bristol
Monday 22 September
OCT
Black Country,
New Road
O2 Academy Brixton
Friday 31 October
London & Beyond
birdonthewire.net

While
the stories told on
‘Cowards’ may dwell in the
murkier corners of morality,
with their third album SQUID are
instead focusing on cracks of
light within the darkness.
Words: Louis Griffin
“An album
about evil.” That’s how
Squid announced their new
record, ‘Cowards’ – nine
songs from the perspective
of “real and imagined
characters”. There’s just one problem with that
description: it forgets to mention just how delightful
these songs can be, even when they’re preoccupied
with such wicked subject matter.
Following 2023’s knotty, folklore-adjacent ‘O
Monolith’, the group’s third effort bears all the scope
and thrilling prowess of their previous work – Squid
are a band that delight in doing something the hard
way just because – but wears it so much more
lightly. Almost like pop art when sat next to the
dense tapestries of their last album, the songs are
shorter, the structures zip along, and it all feels like a
television blaring with its saturation turned to the max.
Instruments clang, ping and whoosh past, leaving you
not quite enough time to work out what it is you’ve
just heard before something else flashes into life.
“It’s probably the most fun I’ve had recording,” grins
drummer and vocalist Ollie Judge, as bassist Laurie
Nankivell nods alongside him. “We wrote our shortest
songs ever, [which] is quite tricky for us. It’s nice to
hear that it’s playful, because it does feel that way –
often we’re quite contrasting, being five people who
actively songwrite together. I think [on] this set of
songs especially, there’s contrast between the lyrics
and music.”
That’s not the only change of play. Marking a
departure from their longtime work with Dan Carey –
who was behind the desk for both previous albums,
and still features on additional instrumentation here
– this time around the band opted for Marta Salogni,
who has produced for acts as diverse as Björk,
black midi and Depeche Mode. “She has quite a
wide-ranging CV,” Ollie explains. “We’re interested
in the more experimental-leaning projects, but
she’s also [worked with] pop stars. That disregard
for genre – you’ve got to have no pretension at all.”
Guitarist Anton Pearson agrees: “It
was a complete vibe shift. Dan likes
things to be very condensed and high energy,
lots of ideas flying around, pursuing them
very quickly, whereas Marta was much more
considered, allowing things to take time.”
The band – completed by guitarist Louis Borlase, and
keyboardist Arthur Leadbetter – brought in several
other musicians this time around too – Clarissa
Connelly, Tony Njoku, Pozi’s Rosa Brook and others
can all be heard stepping in and out of the band’s
circle across the album. “We [had] predominantly
finished tracks,” explains Laurie, “but we’d [left] space
for other instruments, vocalists, a string quartet. It
was definitely the first album where we’ve gone in
and felt slightly more relaxed about individual parts.
I think we’ve all got better at allowing our darlings to
be killed.”
ll this joy - found via a new way of recording,
and via the creative community the band have
Abuilt around themselves - does feel in contrast
to the album’s murky subject material; songs here
touch on cannibalism, arson, murder, religion, and
insanity. At what point did Ollie realise that was the
direction this new material was headed in?
He thinks for a second. “Writing the music and writing
the lyrics kind of exist on separate planes. I think we
were writing three tunes at the same time, and they
were all inspired by evil characters. I was finding that
quite interesting so I just ran with it, really, [although]
I wish we’d picked the word ‘morality’ for the press
release. I think that’s more what it’s about, struggles
of morality on a sliding scale – from huge moral
decisions to more everyday decisions that everyone
has to make.”
Another difference with ‘Cowards’ is how discrete the
songs feel from one another – while past work has
often felt like an ongoing epic poem, here the material
feels more suited to an anthology series in the vein of
Black Mirror. “I think it’s really episodic,” Ollie nods,
“but it’s funny because whenever I’m writing lyrics, I
use characters as a lens to think about things I’ve felt
personally. Almost using [them] as hosts for my own
view of events, or how I’m feeling at that time.”
Where that feels particularly apt here is the context
of real-world evil against which the record is set.
“The songs aren’t so grounded in all these real things
that are going on right now, that are unspeakable
and horrible,” Ollie explains, “but a lot to do with
the guilt and the shame of feeling like you’re a bad
person, because you could be doing more. It’s all
kind of tied up in that. Even though the songs are
more fantastical, that same feeling still carries over
to the real life guilt and shame of wanting to do more,
but maybe not being able to do more. Feeling like
you’re too lazy to do more.” There’s a weighty silence,
before Louis adds: “It’s quite scary to feel like you’re
becoming apathetic.”
I
t’s hard to emphasise enough, though, that while
the album’s lyrical focus is unequivocally dark,
the music itself conveys a great deal of joy in the
artistic process. Squid really give the impression of
taking pride and delight in making music, and wanting
to make that act as transparent as possible. Take The
Library, for instance – an online shop of the band’s
second-hand books; literally selling off the record’s
literary influences. “I think it’s quite nice for people
to have a little window into things that have helped
inform the album,” Anton quips. “I don’t like bands
trying to give the mystique that everything they do
happens in an echo chamber. We’re not trying to
save the world with our music, but it’s a good way of
using our platform to point [to] people that are actually
intelligent in their fields.”
As ever, the band are cautious to sound too selfaggrandising.
“I never want it to come across as if
we’re trying to say in any way that we’re more literary
[than other bands],” Louis laughs, “but music and
creation doesn’t come out of nowhere, it comes from
everybody’s absorption of other people’s work. It’s
interesting with an album like this, to look through it
and think ‘there’s actually so much comedy in here,
don’t take this too seriously’. It’s an album that we had
fun making, there’s some difficult and chewy themes
lyrically, but look at the fun we’ve had becoming
inspired to make it.” Against a backdrop of “everyday
evil,” the solution Squid have settled upon is to delight
in everyday creation instead.
‘Cowards’ is out on 7th February via Warp. D
34 D

“
It’s quite scary to feel like you’re
becoming apathetic.”
- Louis Borlase
Photo: Harrison Fishman

Celestial

Bodies
After a period of serious health challenges, Nao is set to return
with ‘Jupiter’, her joyously confident fourth record that sees her
throw off the shackles and embrace the little things.
Words: Max Pilley
When listening to her fourth
studio album, Nao wants you to
look up at the moon – or, more
accurately, the searingly bright
star-like object in its periphery.
In astrology, Jupiter represents
expansion and growth and by naming her new record
after the solar system’s largest planet, she’s hoping
to give listeners a sense of the joyous, freshly selfconfident
music contained within.
“It’s just there, good fortune, growth and wisdom,
hovering right above us,” she says about bringing the
symbolism of one of the night sky’s brightest jewels to
her new work. “No matter who you are, where you are,
I love the idea that when people listen to this music
and look up, they will have a piece of that joy too. It’s
touchable.”
If Jupiter does indeed represent growth, then it
could not be more appropriate. The London-based
musician - officially known as Neo Jessica Joshua –
has never sounded more at ease in herself than on the
eleven tracks that make up ‘Jupiter’. From the vibrant,
fresh-air optimism of ‘Happy People’ to the sleek and
seductive R&B of ‘Poolside’ via the open-hearted
tinges of country on ‘30 Something’, the Grammy,
Mercury and BRIT Award nominee effortlessly glides
through musical styles, an artist in her full stride.
While Nao describes ‘Jupiter’ as a “sister album” to
her second record, 2018’s ‘Saturn’, it’s also somewhat
of a spiritual sequel; ‘Saturn’ emerged from the
dawn of an exceedingly challenging period in the
musician’s life, its title chosen to convey that planet’s
representation of life transition. “For me, going
through my late 20s into my 30s was a real hard time,
an emotional rollercoaster. I had a lot going on in my
life, which made things fall apart.”
It was during this period that Nao was diagnosed with
myalgic encephalomyelitis, better known as chronic
fatigue syndrome, a disabling autoimmune condition
that she says is “like having the flu, all the time”. Her
days were waylaid by brain fog, aching muscles
and joints and total exhaustion, all of which was
compounded by the fact that she became a mother
in 2020.
“When you have the flu, you can just about get
to the bathroom and then you get back to bed
immediately because that’s all you can do,” she
says. “And that’s what having chronic fatigue
syndrome feels like. Expect you look fine on the
outside, so no one understands it.”
I
f ‘Saturn’ documented Nao coming to terms
with the condition, then 2021’s ‘And Then Life
Was Beautiful’ was a marker on her return to
her true self. As she told DIY at the time, that album
was borne from a realisation that “happiness isn’t a
destination” but rather “just something that appears
momentarily throughout the day”. She now reflects
that she was roughly “halfway through the journey”
when that album was released, but now ‘Jupiter’ sees
her throw off those shackles for good.
As everyday moments of joy became more
commonplace – the simple benefits of nights out
with friends feeling more valuable than ever – she
knew that her next record would be one that would
seek to transfer her newfound inner wellbeing to her
audience. “I’m not saying that I’m in a constant state
of happiness now, because I don’t believe that exists,”
she says. “I believe it just sort of comes and goes for
a few minutes a day, or once a week, or whatever.
But I’m certainly in a much better place and actually I
didn’t realise how much confidence I’d lost during this
time of being away. I didn’t realise what being unwell
had taken from me. I thought it was just an illness and
a physical thing, but actually it had taken away a lot
of my confidence and it changed my body quite a lot
as well.”
As she began to feel stronger, all aspects of her life
seemed to improve. Motherhood became easier, and
discovering that she was pregnant with her second
child only two months into the writing process for
‘Jupiter’ gave her an additional lift, a boost of fuel to
her already revving engines.
She soon made the decision to relocate to Los
Angeles to record, as if to solidify this reinvigorated
confidence. The round-the-clock warm weather
“speeded up the healing process” and she set to work
with the album’s two key producers, Loxe and Stint.
“When we got there, I started to feel another 10%
better immediately, it just opened me up creatively,”
she reflects. “I just felt happier because I wasn’t
in pain, and I wasn’t struggling to do the basics. It
was the next step in my healing journey, and I was
probably about 80% recovered. I was like, ‘Fuck, I’m
going to do it, I’m going to get out of this’. There was
a real hopefulness, a heaviness was lifting from me, I
could feel it in real time.”
It is no coincidence, then, that the album rings
out with a message of hope. ‘Elevate’ bursts with
the irrepressible energy of someone who has just
mastered levitation, while ‘We All Win’ shares in the
joy of spreading positivity far and wide. As she sings
on ‘30 Something’, “I know that a good thing’s coming
“
There was a
real hopefulness, a
heaviness was lifting
from me, I could feel it
in real time.”

“
I just love so many
different types of music and I
don’t see why I should have to
adhere to one.”
if I let my worries slip away, not the same old thoughts on different
days”.
S
ince her emergence over a decade ago as a graduate of the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Nao has chalked up
an eye-watering list of musical collaborators – from Stormzy
and Lianne La Havas to Jarvis Cocker and Mura Masa – so it is
no surprise that ‘Jupiter’ is as musically diverse as it is. Afrobeat
rhythms, silky R&B, wonky pop melodies and dark electronic
ambience all coexist in Nao’s hands.
“I don’t have any rules,” she explains. “I just love so many different
types of music and I don’t see why I should have to adhere to one.
Albums can jump around and mine always have done, because I’m
just inspired by so much.”
She attributes this to being the youngest of a gaggle of siblings
that were all obsessed with music from across the map, from old
school UK garage to American R&B via Boyz II Men; nu-metal icons
Limp Bizkit also get a nod. Her flexibiity in the studio is a quality she
appreciates in collaborators, too. When working on ‘Happy People’,
she brought a densely percussive track by serpentwithfeet to the
table as a creative catalyst and with producers Loxe and Stint on
board, the three quickly found themselves experimenting with new
rhythms, landing on the fidgeting, syncopated backbone of that
album centrepiece.
Nao’s health issues prevented her from returning to the live arena
post-pandemic, with her last significant tour having been in
2019. A brief run of four intimate shows in late 2024, including an
acclaimed showing at the Hackney Round Chapel, served as a
test run, and while she admits to a certain amount of insecurity
about the challenge – she called the recent shows “a kick up the
arse” – 2025 looks to host a major return to the stage. With strings
of dates announced for the UK, Europe and North America, she
is being careful to manage the transition back into the touring
lifestyle. Days of recovery are planned into her schedule, but with
Nao seemingly firing on all cylinders and a high-octane new album
under her belt, her comeback shows have a sense of must-see
about them.
Above all, Nao wants ‘Jupiter’ to serve as a beacon of light and
hope to anyone who might need it. It was not long since an album
defined by the tenets of expansion and growth would have seemed
a faraway dream for Nao, and yet here she is.
She is reminded of a visit she received during a low period from a
fellow chronic fatigue syndrome sufferer who had fully recovered
and had cycled across London to visit her. “I was like, ‘Wow’. For
me, that was all I needed – that one person to say they had healed.
I was like, ‘I’m going to be that person as well’,” she nods. “That’s
where I’m at now, I’d say I’m healed from it. Recovery is very recent
and so I do feel it’s a bit fragile, but I’m out of the woods.
“If anyone reads this and they’ve experienced it, or if they know
someone with long COVID or an autoimmune condition that’s
similar, then hear this: if one person has healed from it, then there is
a way out.”
’Jupiter’ is out 21st February via Little Tokyo / Sony. D
Photos: Lillie Eiger

2025
27 FEB BRISTOL THE FLEECE
01 MAR OXFORD O 2 ACADEMY2
06 MAR LIVERPOOL ROUGH TRADE
07 MAR MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2
08 MAR BIRMINGHAM O 2 ACADEMY2
13 MAR NOTTINGHAM RESCUE ROOMS
14 MAR SOUTHAMPTON JOINERS
15 MAR BRIGHTON PATTERNS
20 MAR LEEDS BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB
21 MAR GLASGOW SLAY
22 MAR NEWCASTLE NORTHUMBRIA UNI
with support from
Arkayla
Rolla
Shale
Alright
Bottle Rockets
Ellis Murphy
The Slates
Lydons
UK ALBUM TOUR
SCRUFFOFTHENECK.COM
16 MAY
LONDON OMEARA
19 MAY
BRISTOL EXCHANGE
20 MAY
MANCHESTER DEAF INSTITUTE
23 MAY
GLASGOW GLAD CAFE
FELIPEBALDOMIR.COM

B L I N D
On third album
‘Blindness’, THE
MURDER CAPITAL
grapple with flawed
patriotism and
innate human error,
all while frontman
James McGovern is
determined to confront
– and even embrace –
his own blind spots.
Words: Rishi Shah
probably try to take some
tips from Leonard Cohen and
his years in the monastery,”
begins James McGovern, with a
“I’ll
slight smirk emerging out of the
deadpan. “Bring a monastic feel
to the tour, you know?” The Murder Capital’s frontman
is in a buoyant mood, gauging just how ready he feels to
launch himself into the band’s new era, tour – and a new
year. 2025: the year of ‘Blindness.’
Having experienced burnout following their mammoth
2023 touring run, the past year has been a reset for the
Dublin quintet in more ways than one. Now split across
Berlin, Letterkenny and London (where McGovern
himself lives) as well as the Irish capital, the outfit’s
ensuing studio time became more precious – and
“focused” – as they sought to break free from the tiring
process that had come to characterise their time touring
2023’s second album, ‘Gigi’s Recovery.’
“On ‘Gigi…’, we demoed everything multiple times.
Everything was looked at to a fine print,” he reflects.
“On ‘Blindness’, we just threw the phone down and
hit record… that changed the whole thing. Rather
than searching for the fruit at the bottom of the crate,
everything was sitting on top. Unbruised, unsqueezed
pieces of music.”
Always considered with his words, James’s metaphor is
spot on. Rampant opener ‘Moonshot’ is blistering from
the get-go, harkening back to the band’s post-punk
roots, while you can virtually feel the sweat of the live
room dripping throughout lead single ‘Can’t Pretend To
Know’. The hum of ‘Swallow’ is enough to bring lumps to
throats, while ‘The Fall’ contends with the small matter of
humanity’s tendency to curl up into a ball and deny the
inevitable: “I can’t be told / I can’t be dressed / I can’t be
held / I can’t be fed / I can’t be whipped.”
“Those lines [are] really an admittance. No matter how
much help you have – and I have been lucky enough to
have had a lot from my friends and family – you need to
make that final step yourself,” he says. “You can’t whip
someone to go to rehab or psychiatric care.
“Hopefully [we] can strip away the shame around
those things. When you look at all these horrible things
occurring around the world, unimaginable pain has
been going on for thousands of years. There’ll always be
struggles. Maybe this access to our inner selves is the
40 D

beginning of the end of those things, even if it takes a
couple of centuries.”
C
onfronting one’s personal truths head-on is
just one manner in which ‘Blindness’ exists
across the record. The frontman addresses
miscommunications in his own relationship via ‘Words
Lost Meaning’, while ‘Love Of Country’ tears down
a flawed patriotism, weaponised through right-wing
rhetoric (“Could you blame me for mistaking / Your
love of country for hate of man”). The track was first
released on Bandcamp, with 100% of the proceeds
going to Medical Aid For Palestine.
“It encapsulates a darker side of how blind humanity
can be,” James begins. “When I see people in the
comment sections saying, ‘Oh, you’re antisemites’, it’s
just a gross misrepresentation of the truth. Michael D.
Higgins, the Irish president, gave a great speech about
this – conflating criticism of [Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin] Netanyahu with antisemitism. People are
blind to that, because they’ve been fed a certain idea
of what Zionism is.”
“You can feel it now because of Palestine and
Lebanon, but it’s always been happening,” he
continues. “There’s active concentration camps in
China today. You can still get the anti-Irish sentiment
in London, which is totally insane. I’m laughing,
because it’s just so ridiculous – the whole idea of
patriotism to the point of ownership.”
A
n entire species, inherently blind to our
own blind spots – it can all become both
terrifying and overwhelming. But the
questions and self-reflection The Murder Capital
invoke across the album embrace these ideas that
have been “whirring around [their] subconscious.”
Nonetheless, there’s a power in accepting how much
you can realistically control along your own individual
path. “It’s important for all of us to go easy on
[ourselves],” he ponders. “We’re built to miss things,
in a way. We wouldn’t be able to focus so intensely
on things as human beings – and make these
incredible societal developments – if we weren’t
missing something at the same time.
“In past generations, people viewed their
development as something that comes to an
end, or at least that’s how it’s been fed in past generations.
My generation – and generations below – won’t buy into that.
There is no ceiling to what you can observe in yourself, your
community and in people around you. I think the day that you
think you’re ‘complete’ is, ironically, maybe the day that you’re
dying.”
Breaking free from the shackles of perfection they chased on
‘Gigi’s Recovery’, this time around, for The Murder Capital, it’s
about letting the music – and their minds – breathe at its own
pace.
Living between four different cities may seem like an antithesis
to productivity, but it’s just another representation of why the
FAITH
band, and its individuals, can exist however they need to. “When
we meet, we know we’re going to be working for [a certain]
amount of time,” James says. “You can get into a headspace. I
can’t think of anything wrong with it. I’ve got a place to stay in
Berlin [where drummer Diarmuid Brennan lives], if I want!”
With an enormous July homecoming at Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens
on the horizon, the wheels seem to keep on turning for The
Murder Capital, with the right mindset, and crucially, trust and
belief in their craft. “I guess you can use blindness as a tool for
good, as well,” James concludes, with a smile. “Pure delusion!
[We have] blind faith in the band, and what we want to express.
This exploration of our sound and what I want to write about, it’s
a never-ending trail of fairly tasty bread crumbs. I’m just going
to keep following it.”
‘Blindness’ is out 21st February via Human Season. D
“I think the day that you think you’re
‘complete’ is, ironically, maybe the
day that you’re dying.”
- James McGovern
Photos: Hugo Comte
D 41

Over the last three years, ANTONY SZMIEREK has become known as one of indie’s most
evocative and witty new voices. Now, with starry debut album ‘Service Station At The End Of
The Universe’, he’s sending us on a joyride through the cosmos and beyond.
Words: Sarah Jamieson
Photos: Ed Miles
t’s barely even lunchtime by the time we meet
Antony Szmierek, and he’s already got a freshlybaked,
bonkers anecdote up his sleeve. En route to
meet us by the canal at King’s Cross, the
Manchester multi-hyphenate stopped for a coffee in
a quiet nearby cafe. Only, instead, he was given a
lengthy guitar performance by its eccentric owner,
who – naturally – asked him to film it and Airdrop the
video to him before insisting on sharing a piece of
cake.
Apparently this isn’t all that rare an occurrence for Antony, and
really, it’s no big surprise. The kind of affable, easygoing human
you’d happily spill your life story to over a pint or two, it’s clear –
judging by both his earlier interaction and his ever-growing sea of
listeners – that people are naturally drawn to him.
Having first cut his teeth via spoken word and open mic nights
around his home city while balancing a day job as a teacher, it
was only in 2022 that he first garnered attention via intimately
whipsmart early single ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Fallacy’ – a track
that would throw open the doors to his witty observations on the
everyday thrum of life. Since then, he’s been thrust into a whirlwind
of change: performing on Later… with Jools Holland; being named
one of BBC 6 Music’s Artists of the Year in 2023; releasing two EPs,
‘Poems To Dance To’ and ‘Seasoning’; and leaving his previous
vocation behind to concentrate on music full-time.
“A year ago! One year ago,” Antony reflects today, thinking back to
December 2023 when he hung up his teaching cap. “That whole
year when I was still teaching – I did Jools Holland in that time, I
did Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds for the first time – that was
hard, that was when I really started to lose my mind. I was teaching
at a college in Salford, doing four days a week. The last day I went
in, I didn’t even realise it was my last day! I was fully split, living a
double life.”
Even now, officially twelve months in, you can tell it still hasn’t
quite sunk in. “It is a real album!” he quips at one point on his
impending full-length. “That’s a hard thing for me to… It’s hard
releasing something when you know it’s going to have an audience.
Watching publications saying ‘these are the records coming out at
the start of the year’, and mine’s one of them – and it’s got as good
a chance as any of them of being held by people, which is just
mad. It doesn’t quite feel real; maybe that’ll happen when I’m 80!”
hile the idea of his debut finally being shared with the
world might yet feel abstract, it is, in fact, just a few
short weeks until his ambitious but brilliant first
full-length hits the shelves. Named as a nod to
Douglas Adams’ Restaurant At The End Of The
Universe – the sequel to British sci-fi classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide
To The Galaxy, and a constant source of inspiration for Antony – it’s
an album that personifies his approach as a musician, digging
deep to find the beauty and joy in life’s mundanity, all while casting
it through an otherworldly lens.
“I read it when I was like 11 or 12, on a caravan holiday in Wales. I
was so taken by it,” he explains, on how Hitchhiker’s Guide… would
become both his entry point to science fiction, and a building block
for his own writing. “It’s so funny thinking back on it as a narrative
point of origin. [I’m] nowhere near the level of Douglas Adams, but
when you know that that’s when I started trying to write my own
stuff, you can kind of see it… The first page of The Hitchhiker’s
Guide to the Galaxy, and that bit at the beginning, the way it’s
grand – talking about the dissolution of the universe, [asking] ‘are
we real or are we not?’ – but in a really comedic way, almost with
this sardonic, British, wry humour? I think that’s just what all of the
songs are!” he laughs. “Even now that I try not to write like that, it
must just be a concrete block at the bottom of the wall that I can’t
get rid of. Reading that was big.”
A far cry from the slick, showy takes on the genre in American
culture, it’s actually the likes of Doctor Who and ‘90s cult comedy
show Red Dwarf (“Imagine me meeting fucking Craig Charles when
all this was first going on!”) that he cites as real inspirations. “All
that stuff where it looks like you could push a wall down and it’s not
real,” he grins. “The stuff that’s actually quite shit; that kitsch nature
of it, and the sort of underdog thing that we have as British people
– not quite the gloss of Americans. It seems to just naturally tie in
with where I was brought up and this underdog nature of being
from the North. I think it says a lot about British life; it’s like we’re
always reaching for something that’s slightly bigger than ourselves
and we never quite get there, then we laugh about it.”
While the backdrop to the record is, as its title offers, an
intergalactic service station dotted with the kind of evocative
details that would give The Jetsons a run for their money (take the
self-titled opener’s “mid life crisis convertible star cruiser” or the
kid riding a “coin operated meteorite”), the album’s heart is still
very much about its cast. Built from his idea of the record “being
an anthology, with these characters coming in and out”, each track
acts as a detailed but universal vignette of life and love, doubt and

I think it says a lot about
British life; we’re always
reaching for something that’s
slightly bigger than ourselves and
we never quite get there.

loss, that just happens to take place in a galaxy far,
far away.
“I think you don’t want it to be elitist,” Antony notes,
on his candid approach to lyricism, that comes partly
inspired by his own musical heroes – and fellow
Northerners – Jarvis Cocker and Alex Turner. “I’ve
got out of the habit of wanting to say clever words
and trying to make it all seem grandiose, or that I’m
dead smart because I know all these big words and
everything. You’re trying to distil huge concepts
that are probably quite wanky, but in a way where
everyone can get on board. That’s teaching, I guess,”
he nods. “I think I wouldn’t have been immune to
doing that if I’d done this earlier on. [When you’re
younger] you’re slightly more insecure, and a bit like,
‘this song needs to be clever or it needs to feel like
I’m well-read’,” he adds, nodding to the positives of
being in your mid-30s. “I think if you step away from
that, you’re gonna make better stuff. I’m not averse to
throwing in a huge word every now and again, but I’ll
still talk about Twixes.”
rom Angie’s Angels – and her tearful Maid of
Honour – through to the record’s loved-up
couple, (the Patron Saint of Withington and a
pound shop Geri Horner), the album is a deft
exploration of not just its characters’ interior
lives, but how they shift and coalesce with those
around them. Even Antony himself, as both narrator
and creator, has realised he’s now been drawn into
their orbit. “Even wearing this track jacket,” he
gestures to his outfit today, “and actually, my hair and
even the fucking moustache and everything. I
would’ve changed that maybe 6 or 8 months ago but
this is it! This is the first record!” he enthuses, happy
to blur the lines between reality and fiction for the
project.
“I’ve got this thing with the music videos; I’m not really
wearing stuff that I would wear. I want people to be
able to draw [the characters]. I see it all as these Top
Trumps cards. ‘Yoga Teacher’ is this garish green
tracksuit, then for ‘Angie’s Wedding’ it’s a really
bright red wedding suit. I would never wear that to a
wedding, but I dunno, it works, being these sort of
characters and I think I’ve maybe done that because
on stage, I’m so annoyingly myself!”
It’s true that with Antony, what you see is seemingly
what you get, which – in a way – makes the album’s
focus on its fictional cast all the more intriguing. Dig a
little deeper, though, and you will eventually find the
narrator’s voice replaced by his own. “The record’s
really sincere,” he says, “and that was something I
was really, really trying to do. ‘Sincerity Overdrive’ was
one of the first titles for it. [See what we did there? –
Ed] That was literally the mission statement, a working
title almost.
“But then I was like, how can it be this ‘sincerity
overdrive’ record if I haven’t said anything?” he says,
emphasis on himself. “It isn’t sincere if you’re doing it
through characters. I realised I needed to be there,”
he nods to the two tracks that are taken from his own
personal perspective, “as that would wrap it up; if I
admit these things about myself, then I’ve done it.
No one will think about it this deeply, but it had to be
within the confines of this narrative. I thought it was
quite funny – that dry humour of breaking the fourth
wall – just suddenly being like, ‘Oh, this one’s me now,
I’m also here with all of these people’.”
The resulting songs, ‘Restless Leg Syndrome’ and
‘Crashing Up’, are gorgeous and quietly devastating
in equal measure, but there’s more to the story of the
former – a track that taps into the existential dread
that so easily seeps in during the early hours after the
night before – than you might realise upon listening.
“’Crashing Up’ feels a bit more triumphant, as it ends
and I come through it, but ‘Restless Leg Syndrome’ is
just really fucking sad,” Antony admits. “I remember
the ideas coming to me, and [how] it resolves with this
I’m not averse to throwing in a huge word every now and again, but I’ll still
talk about Twixes.

‘Sincerity Overdrive’
was one of the first
titles for it. That was
literally the mission
statement.
person saying, ‘Just come back to bed’ and accepting
me for who I am, but there wasn’t anyone at that time.
There was no one. I felt really on my own and really
lonely. Writing that one was me admitting to myself
that all of this mad shit was happening but I didn’t
really have anyone. I wrote it after a big night out, I
had all my friends and I felt really loved by everybody,
but I was still going home and scratching myself to
death with my eczema on my own, with no one telling
me everything was gonna be OK.
“So, it ends with this fake person,” he notes, “I
resolved the song with this person who’s at home
and it’s fine, but they didn’t exist! To me, it’s more sad
because I kind of shy away from it, I don’t quite say
that. I’m a bit like, ‘Oh this is fine’, but it wasn’t. That
was a weird one to write down.”
An album that runs the gamut of human emotion –
from the minutiae to the mammoth – if ‘Service Station
At The End Of The Universe’ achieves anything, it’s
to remind us that life is fleeting, and we might never
understand what others are going through. But if its
mission statement was, indeed, to kick into ‘sincerity
overdrive’, then it’s only because of the vulnerability
and openness of its author that it actually hits the
mark.
With such a colourful collection of characters
appearing across the record, we couldn’t help but ask
Antony for a few more details on some of them…
The Patron Saint of Withington
“There’s a lyric book that will come out later in the year.
I’ve just finished working on it; it’s not just the lyrics and
there’s some short stories, and a poem from each of the
characters’ perspectives. He’s this kind of super hopeful,
normal guy. He’s got loads of potential but is trapped in the
world of Withington, maybe his upbringing. He’s almost the
Romeo on the record. He’s a version of loads of people I’ve
met before that I really admire and respect, just a sort of
everyday guy who’s a trier and is really hopeful.”
Pound Shop Geri Horner
“She hates that title in the poem; she’s offended that
anyone would even mention a pound shop near her. She’s
not actually ginger – her hair is dyed. I did think of all these
people!”
The Yoga Teacher
“He was a real guy, and I think he’s probably close to
finding out. There’s only one real guy that it could be in the
local area. Someone messaged me, like, ‘is it this guy?’
and I was like, ‘yeah, but don’t tell him!’.”
“I’m a bit worried about it,” Antony says candidly,
on the idea of performing the pair of more
autobiographical tracks live in his upcoming live
shows. “We’re gonna finish [the set] triumphantly with
a big tune, and then I think I’ll come back on my own
[for the encore], and I’ll probably destroy my fucking
self. I think doing [those songs] at home, in front of
all my friends, my family and my mum, that’s gonna
be super difficult,” he says honestly, before a familiar
glint appears in his eye. “But then, what’s the point
in doing it if you’re not giving everything? That’s the
point of the show, it’s the missing piece. I couldn’t
do ‘sincerity overdrive’ without pushing myself to the
limit there! I’ll cry on stage,” he nods, before catching
himself, “but probably not even at that bit – probably
during ‘Yoga Teacher’ for no reason. Too horny,
started crying!”
’Service Station At The End Of The Universe’ is
out 28th February via Mushroom Music / Virgin.
D

REVIEWS
This issue: Sam Fender, FKA twigs, Biig Piig, Olly Alexander and more.
SAM FENDER
People Watching
Polydor
An album that undoubtedly
firms up his position as one
of the great songwriters of
our time.
Sam Fender has had
a hell of a few years.
Granted, with the
release of his 2019
debut ‘Hypersonic
Missiles’, he rocketed
to the top of the charts, but the
fervour that would unfold in the
wake of its follow-up, 2021’s
‘Seventeen Going Under’ was still
hard to comprehend. Graduating
rapidly to festival headliner, and
bagging a slew of awards along
the way, his step up to a bonafide
stadium artist has been swift.
It’s little surprise as to why; on
‘Seventeen Going Under’ the
North Shields songsmith penned
a series of powerful, poignant
offerings that dug deep into the
heart of working class struggle,
with the kind of consideration and
compassion that only can only
ever come via real life experience.
It was stunning in its sentiments,
and along with some perfectlyplotted
meme moments along the
way (his hungover appearance
on BBC Breakfast still does the
rounds now), his reputation as the
ultimate man of the people was
solidified.
That’s why his next step is all the
more interesting. With a handful
of stadiums already booked and
on their way to selling out (this
year will mark his third, fourth
and fifth time filling his beloved
St. James’ Park), it’d be easy
to imagine Sam busting out ten
ready-made bangers for this third
record, but what he does instead
is so much more satisfying. While
led by its storming - but no less
devastating - lead single ‘People
Watching’ (its chorus’ anthemic
refrain of “Somebody’s baby’s
on the streets tonight” is up there
with ‘Dead Boys’ and ‘Spit Of You’
in terms of a lyrical trojan horse),
the album is, on the whole, much
more sedate than its predecessor.
Unafraid of delving into both the
personal and political - and, at
times, where the two very much
intertwine - ‘People Watching’ is
an album that burrows under the
skin of current society and refuses
to dress up its stark reality. Take
‘Chin Up’’s tale of the current
cost of living crisis (“The cold
permeates the neonatal baby /
Can’t heat the place for fucking
love nor money”) or the disastrous
impact of privatisation and
capitalism explored in ‘Crumbling
Empire’ (“My old man worked on
the rail yard / Getting his trade
on the electrical board / It got
privatised, the work degraded /
In this crumbling empire”); these
songs paint a vivid and all too real
picture of society in disarray.
But in among these portraits
of the “marred streets”, there’s
also a glimpse into the mind
of our narrator: a young man
struggling to find his place in
this new version of his world.
The twinkling ‘Wild Long Lie’
- a song that will seems all too
familiar for any expats heading
back to their hometown at
Christmas - showcases this best,
with Sam’s quiet realisation of “I
think I need to leave this town”
perhaps optimising the feelings
of displacement that fame can so
swiftly bestow.
Unsurprisingly, for an album that
feels so intimate, its music follows
suit. Having worked with The War
On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel,
there’s an almost filmic quality
to these tracks (especially in the
widescreen, Joni Mitchell-nodding
closer ‘Remember My Name’),
matching the observational nature
of their lyrics. Less adrenalinefuelled
than some of his previous
work, it’s also easy to sense the
fingerprints of his own musical
hero here too; while ‘Seventeen…’
could mirror Springsteen’s 1975
break-out ‘Born To Run’, this
feels closer to the darker, more
meditative moments of ‘Darkness
On The Edge Of Town’.
Is this the album that people
are expecting? Probably not,
but that doesn’t matter. Instead,
‘People Watching’ is a bleak but
astonishing rumination on our
current times, viewed through the
lens of Sam’s whirlwind past few
years - an album that undoubtedly
firms up his position as one of
the great songwriters of our time.
Sarah Jamieson
LISTEN: ‘Crumbling Empire’

FKA TWIGS
EUSEXUA
Young / Atlantic
cannot
describe, this
feeling deep
inside,” FKA
twigs glides on
“Words
the opening
title track of her third studio album proper,
‘EUSEXUA’, before establishing a deep-rooted
collective mantra: “Do you feel alone? You’re not
alone.” Together, these maxims lay out an album
intrinsically built on feeling, on shared experience,
and on femininity – the latter of which is laid bare
on the outlying pop embrace of ‘Girl Feels Good’,
an ode to womanhood that directly positions
the dangerous vulnerability of men against
understated female power. It’s a thread that runs
throughout ‘EUSEXUA’, too – a powerful audible
companion to unfiltered lust, yet one that plays
out with a considered acceptance of ephemeral
realities.
Fittingly, in a conversation with Imogen Heap,
FKA twigs recently described the soft edges
to her otherwise dark-club sounds as “the
pussy”, particularly when speaking to male
producers. The matter-of-fact way she utters
those words is mirrored in the album’s overt
sexuality, whether twigs is advocating to “fuck
who you want” on ‘Drums of Death’ or tackling
the self-consciousness and vulnerability of sex
on ‘Sticky’. Perhaps more than that, it reflects the
huge physicality of the album, one that writhes
and slides in only the way a body can on a dimly
lit dancefloor, euphoric and sweaty in both sound
and feeling. It offers escapism grounded in hard
truth, with production that lands somewhere
between Madonna’s defining ‘Ray Of Light’ and a
Berlin nightclub, its songs gliding from the slow,
sensual and experimental, towards pounding,
heady beats. It’s easy to see how ‘EUSEXUA’
is already being adopted by fans as something
far more than an album, the hazy underground
equivalent of BRAT summer with a massive
injection of purified sex. Ben Tipple
LISTEN: ‘Eusexua’
Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett, Jordan Hemingway
The hazy
underground
equivalent of
BRAT summer
with a massive
injection of
purified sex.
D 47

ALBUMS
ANTONY SZMIEREK
Service Station at the End of the Universe
Mushroom Music / Virgin
To understand Antony Szmierek look no
further than the title of his 2023 EP, ‘Poems
To Dance To’, an apt depiction of the
ex-English teacher’s rising blend of rhythmic
spoken word and dancefloor ready
production laying the backdrop for musings
ranging from personal relationships to
obscure places, and a poignant balance of
fantasy and heavy realism. The sci-fi
inspired title, a nod to Antony’s childhood favourite ‘A Hitchhiker’s
Guide to The Galaxy’ that also spurned his breakthrough track, lays
the path for references to home city landmarks, from the looming
Stockport pyramid to the North West’s right-of-passage pub crawl,
the Didsbury Dozen. It’s indicative of his outlook on his surroundings,
an ever-blurred line between the tangible and the intangible, and one
that will draw inevitable and not unjustified comparisons to the work
of Mike Skinner. It’s prominent in the interlude’s respite found in the
service station, a transient place that provides much needed
consistency to the protagonist. His understanding of place grounds
the otherwise lofty musings, not least the stunning stream of
consciousness rising out of highlight ‘Restless Leg Syndrome’. It’s
this stark contrast between the emotive and the physical that
underpins much of his writing, mirrored further in the record’s pairing
of poetry and inherently British genres ranging from acid house to
garage and beyond. ‘Service Station...’ glides through this constant
push and pull, a timeless portrayal of both the physical and
emotional connection to people and place; fundamentally British yet
beautifully universal. Ben Tipple
LISTEN: ‘Restless Leg Syndrome’
Fundamentally
British yet beautifully
universal.
OLLY ALEXANDER
Polari
Polydor
The debut solo record proper from Years & Years
frontman Olly Alexander is unsurprisingly another
queer tour-de-force, a continuation of his work on
2022’s ‘Night Call’, officially the sometime trio’s
final album. This loose concept record - its
namesake a 19th century code language used by
gay men - captures an ongoing pastiche of
clandestine homosexuality, channelled through an
‘80s Pet Shop Boys, synth-led aesthetic and the
crystalline electropop Years & Years made their own. The record
showcases vignettes of sexual tension, cruising, closeted ‘DL’ men,
yearning, ecstasy, and intimacy. But within the seedy underbelly of this
retro vision board (see the sleazy ‘Shadow of Love’), constant splashes of
Olly’s previous peppy, metallic alt-pop (the Danny L Harle-produced
‘Archangel’) amalgamate into a timeless, happy-go-lucky patchwork - a
dichotomy best represented by the crunchy synthpop-meets-saccharine
Steps-y dance of ‘Make Me A Man’. Aside from the overly-polished,
Scandipop-style ‘Dizzy’ (the single which doubled as the United Kingdom’s
2024 nil points Eurovision entry), what’s most interesting about ‘Polari’ is
that Olly’s penchant for alternative electronic maximalism - an approach
established by his former group - is thankfully not lost: see the avant-garde
chamber pop manifesto of its title track; the wiry, jittery ‘MYSM’, with its
kazoo-ish bridge; the cartoonish parody of ‘I Know’; or even the head-inthe-clouds
love ballad ‘Heal You’, which sits brightly above erratic guttural
synths. ‘Polari’ is a feat of punchy alt-pop that embraces the resilient and
immortal histories of the queer community, encapsulating Olly Alexander’s
alluring, informed artistry as a solo performer. Otis Robinson
LISTEN: ‘Make Me A Man’
Unsurprisingly, another
queer tour-de-force.
48 D

SQUID
Cowards
Warp
Flag bearers of the late 2010s post-punk
boom, a band who have thus far managed to
transcend the transience of trend and become
an increasingly timeless and global-facing
artistic voice, Squid’s third album sees the
outfit doubling down on what are now such
recognisably “Squid-like” sensibilities that it no
longer resembles anything else but them. That
is: irremediably deep-set anxieties about modern dystopia and a
sense of incipient apocalypse; Ollie Judge’s prophetic, baleful
moans; an angular, fingers-against-the-chalkboard production, so
close, edgy and organic it scratches against your vertebrae like
barbed wire. For a band who have rarely sounded far from the
tipping point of crippling dread, it now seems a natural move for
them to produce a record literally inspired by evil itself. Via tales of
murder and the occult - influenced by Manson, Murakami and the
like - much of ‘Cowards’ rumbles with the trauma and suspense of
a horror movie. (Take the insanely lusty intensity at the climax of
‘Blood on the Boulders’, or the bone-chilling strings of ‘Fieldworks
1’ to sample the prevailing mood). While in one sense, it’s the sound
of a band looking inwards, distilling their founding principles and
offering their most complete manifestation yet, it paradoxically
evidences how they are also growing beyond their own skin.
Swashbuckling violins, harpsichords and timpanis, and narratives
of Tokyo, New York, or Eastern Europe show us that, yes, Squid
have travelled the world, but they have also returned home with a
sense of self that’s stronger than ever, as sharp as a razor dripping
with freshly drawn blood. Elvis Thirlwell
LISTEN: ‘Blood on the Boulders’
ALT BLK ERA
Rave Immortal
Earache
ALT BLK ERA blur the lines with a fascinating
fusion of alt-rock, pop, drum’n’bass and more.
Formed by teenage sisters Nyrobi and Chaya,
the pair take up space unapologetically,
rejecting imposed norms while advocating for
inclusivity within alternative scenes. Dissolving
both musical and social constraints, they
harness a refreshingly boundless energy which
saturates their sound. Their debut album ‘Rave Immortal’ serves as
an open letter, a safe space to honour moments of vulnerability as
Nyrobi grapples with a hidden disability, while also revealing an
infallible strength nurtured through sisterhood and a celebratory
defiance as the duo allow themselves to bask in newfound
freedoms. Across ten tracks,, they express this in a multitude of
ways best summarised by the grunge-tinged hook of ‘Come On
Outside’: “Come on outside, you’ve gotta live before you die”.
Heaving with energy, the record takes courses through different
facets of exploring liberation from the hypnotic, fierce rave energy
of ‘Crashing Parties’ to the shadowy pop pulse of ‘Hunt You Down’
and the tauntingly hyper ‘Catch Me If You Can’. By the time you land
on closing title track ‘Rave Immortal’, there’s no coming up for
breath. ‘Rave Immortal’ is ultimately an indelible statement of “we
are here” from ALT BLK ERA, asserting their presence within
alternative music, while also honouring an unshakable bond
between two sisters and creatives. Kayla Sandiford
LISTEN: ‘Crashing Parties’
MIYA FOLICK
Erotica Veronica
Nettwerk
Returning for her third full-length outing, with
‘Erotica Veronica’ Miya Folick has delivered a
record that’s equal parts haunting, spectral
folk-pop and anthemic, guitar-drenched heft. A
cathartic sonic exorcism, it duels between the
melancholy and the empowering, showcasing
Miya’s ability to switch from tender and serene
to grungy power pop. Take the saccharine
opener ‘Erotica’, which serpentines between indie rock and folk; the
synthpop richness of ‘La Da Da’; or the impassioned war cry of ‘The
Fist’. Elsewhere, ‘Hypergiant’ offers delightful dream-pop, and
‘Love Wants Me Dead’ sees Miya pair a vocal roar with a gigantic,
classic rock guitar solo. This stylistic back-and-forth not only
prevents the record falling into monotony, but also serves to
highlight the depth and complexity of Miya’s songwriting. Most
crucially, at no point does the record sound anything other than
colossal. Brad Sked
LISTEN: ‘Love Wants Me Dead’
HEARTWORMS
Glutton For Punishment
Speedy Wunderground
When an album begins with 41 seconds of near silence - a track on which
little more than atmospheric rumblings and whipping wind is audible - it’s
evident that its author is out to execute something very specific indeed.
Taking cues from the warcraft and military garb she initially built her image
around, Josephine Orme (aka Heartworms) has crafted her debut with the
utmost precision - not a screw, not a stitch, not a note out of place. The
biblical nothingness of opener ‘In The Beginning’, then, serves as an
intentionally stark primer, a palette-cleansing carte blanche for Orme to
assert that, though 2023 EP ‘A Comforting Notion’ may have introduced
her as an artist, we ain’t seen nothing yet.
Where her previous project saw her pegged as a goth-rock poet in the vein of Joy Division or
The Cure, here she deftly dodges such easy categorisation, borrowing as much from techno (the
pummeling beat of ‘Warplane’), pop (the bright synth motif of ‘Celebrate’) and even classical (the
war-mongering drums of ‘Just To Ask A Dance’ have all the spine-tingling drama of Holst’s ‘Mars’
movement) as she does ‘80s post-punk. Thematically, war - perhaps unsurprisingly - looms large,
but it’s treated with a care and nuance that befits its complexity: whether in macro, international
terms (‘Extraordinary Wings’) or micro, interpersonal ones (‘Smugglers Adventure’), Orme
recognises that conflict exposes our capacity for both great cruelty, and great beauty. And never
is that more apparent than with ‘Glutton For Punishment’’s twinned, twisted bookends, where she
transposes ‘Just To Ask A Dance’’s driving central refrain into the whiplash-inducingly delicate title
track, creating a closer that’s at once arresting and incredibly vulnerable. An extraordinary debut
that proves Heartworms is a force to be reckoned with. Daisy Carter
LISTEN: ‘Warplane’
An extraordinary debut that
proves Heartworms is a force
to be reckoned with.
Photos: Ed Miles, Richie Talboy, Emma Swann

ALBUMS
BIIG PIIG
11:11
Sony
The slow disco rise of debut album opener
‘4AM’ sets the tone for Biig Piig’s
transformation from the experimental to a
fully-fledged sad-banger master, harnessing
both the euphoric waves of festival headlining
dancefloor fillers and the impassioned
nostalgia that has elevated the likes of Dua
Lipa and Jessie Ware over the past few years.
‘11:11’ amps up the genre-bending that
dominated 2023’s ‘Bubblegum’ mixtape with welcome newfound
consistency; the likes of ‘Decimal’ and ‘9-5’ bring the essence of East
London nightclubs to a whole new fanbase, as do the understated
‘Ponytail’ or the James Blake-esque underground beats of ‘I Keep
Losing Sleep’’s interlude. As insatiably catchy as it is disarming, the
album marries its two sides perfectly. ‘Stay Home’ and ‘One Way
Ticket’ hark back to Biig Piig’s guitar-led bedroom-pop days,
cementing its ability to take a journey through a night out, from
hedonistic disco pop to the inevitable comedown, and back to
welcome optimism. It’s bookended by perhaps the most telling
numbers - the first a shared resignation to loneliness, and the last a
glimmer of hope. “No, you’re not alone,” Biig Piig sings as ‘Better
Days’ fades to black, an end to a perfect whirlwind played out across a
single night. Ben Tipple
LISTEN: ‘Decimal’
A perfect whirlwind
played out across a
single night.
SHARON VAN ETTEN & THE ATTACHMENT THEORY
Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
Jagjaguwar
HORSEGIRL
Phonetics On And On
Matador
After six intensely personal solo albums, Sharon Van Etten has
apparently had enough of herself. If you were to take the title of her last
full-length literally, you’d have expected change this time around, and
sure enough, she’s opened up her songwriting process to include two
members of her live band from the ‘We’ve Been Going About This All
Wrong’ tour, bassist Devra Hoff and drummer Jorge Balbi. TEEN
singer Teeny Lieberson rounds out the line-up on multi-instrumental
duties.
The result on this first album to be credited to The Attachment Theory is not a dramatic
reinvention; in fact, those familiar with Sharon’s last two records will recognise the stormy,
synth-driven backbone of this record, a direction she first headed in on 2019’s ‘Remind
Me Tomorrow’ that has proved fruitful both in the studio and in terms of her ever-moreimposing
stage presence. The role of her new band is seemingly to steer her down one
consistent creative avenue; whereas on her previous two records, the rockier songs would
be broken up by slower, more reflective material, here she swings straight with the synthrock
bat.
They cut the record in London, and her British influences hang heavier than ever; Depeche
Mode are never far from the surface, while the outstanding ‘Southern Life’ channels
the earlier, more experimental output of Manchester bands like Happy Mondays and ‘A
Storm in Heaven’-era Verve. Devra’s terrific work, in particular, imbues the record with
urgent groove - ‘Trouble’ is a key case in point - and the songs are often anthemic in feel
and universal in their lyricism. You wonder whether this might have been the record to
elevate Sharon Van Etten to arena status in another era; it is that stylish, that confident. Joe
Goggins
LISTEN: ‘Southern Life’
It’s only natural that as we grow older and our tastes, cultural
references, and surroundings change, they inherently evolve our ideas
of how art and friendship can be embodied. In 2022, on debut
‘Versions Of Modern Performance’, Horsegirl were noisy, high school
art rockers; second time around, the Chicago trio of Nora Cheng,
Penelope Lowenstein and Gigi Reece present as life companions via a
charming, slacker-inspired indie pop record. As the instruments of first
track ‘Where’d You Go’ play on, its rolling drums and bright tonality
cement the fact that Horsegirl aren’t clinging to their Sonic Youth phase. The trio’s stylistic
approach is masterfully guided here by Cate Le Bon on production duties, who encouraged
the band to dabble with strings and gamelan instruments. Unsurprisingly, this achieves an
almost childlike soundscape, as on ‘Well I Know You’re Shy’ and closer ‘I Can’t Stand To
See You’ (which literally ends with the lyric “And it’s oh so plain to see / How often I think
sentimentally”). It’s also an album that balances upbeat tunes with slower, catchy melodies:
vocal murmurs and delicate harmonies are layered atop light acoustic strums as warm
bass tones ring out beneath, evoking traditional folk structures in songs like ‘Julie’,
‘Frontrunner’ and ‘Information Content’. While Horsegirl aren’t presenting groundbreaking
musical ideas, on this joyful second outing the band clearly aren’t shying away from new
sonic personas. Millie Temperton
LISTEN: ‘I Can’t Stand To See You’
CIRCA WAVES
Death & Love Pt. 1
PIAS
Ostensibly the product of a heart surgery-inducing health scare
experienced by frontman Kieran Shudall, Circa Waves’ sixth comes
accompanied by an implied mission statement of defiant, life-affirming
optimism. And, as their decade-long career demonstrates, this is
something they can do very well indeed. Here, ‘Like You Did Before’,
‘We Made It’, and ‘Le Bateau’ are prime contenders for such festival
staple status: a three-track run of rose-tinted, crowd-pleasing anthems
whose lyrics (“It took a long time to get here / But yeah we made it”;
“Tomorrow can wait for the sunrise”) will be situational solid gold to festival revellers and
romanticising, main character teen couples. You can practically feel the residue of airborne
pints landing on you as you listen.
Elsewhere, though, there’s not enough oomph to obscure the unshakable feeling that
the band have simply been here before (and more than once, at that). Opener ‘American
Dream’ unashamedly flogs the thematic dead horse that everything is better in the ol’ US
of A - a choice that, given the current climate, feels both uninspired and ill-judged. Then
there’s ‘Let’s Leave Together’ - a bouncy, too-twee number buoyed by jangly guitars and
actual whistling, which seemingly riffs off the lyrical idea used just two tracks prior (‘Le
Bateau’’s “It’s true / I only wanna leave with you”) to stretch a concept far too thin.
And while the album’s more introspective, emotional offerings (‘Blue Damselfly’, ‘Everything
Changed’) serve as satisfactory foils to the euphoria of its first half, you can’t help but wish
this contrast was heightened tenfold. Given its significant personal story - not to mention
its lofty title - ‘Death & Love Pt. 1’ could have been an opportunity for the band to explore
meatier topics of mortality and aging; instead, this feels like a frustratingly safe exercise in
walking well-trodden paths. The question is, do Circa Waves trade well in nostalgia, or have
they just never really evolved? Daisy Carter
LISTEN: ‘Like You Did Before’
Photo: Charlotte Patmore

ALBUMS
REBECCA BLACK
Salvation
self-released
Rebecca Black’s trajectory from
butt-of-the-joke meme to
hyperpop gay icon need not be
studied: anyone capable of
producing the awkward, campy
‘Friday’ should be able to enter the
same cabal that houses Dorian
Electra. And it makes sense that
Rebecca’s commitment to an idea persists as she
careens through this left-field terrain, where the wrong
moves are often the right ones. Leaning further into the
boldness of the hyperpop and EDM that has shaped
her adulthood, across ‘SALVATION’ - a no-skips
follow-up project to her 2023 debut (the compelling
pop cocktail ‘Let Her Burn’) - Rebecca makes louder
her assertion that she does, in fact, know how to
celebrate the end of a week. This record is huge, but
not obnoxiously so, because its version of a party is
compellingly torn apart into an industrial and emotional
experiment, as best seen on the queasy, drum’n’bass
melodrama of ‘Tears In My Pocket’ and the sickly
sweet hyperpop of ‘Sugar Water Cyanide’. And then, at
other times, it shakes the desire for difference,
becoming an undeniable clubby feat that proves her
brazen approach to becoming an IT-girl is working: it’s
hard to imagine anything more massive than the bridge
to ‘Do You Ever Think About Me?’; or the runway-ready
‘TRUST!’; or the moment of commerciality on ‘Twist
The Knife’, which amalgamates something like the
contemporary disco of Kylie Minogue with a spooky
Kim Petras. Far surpassing ‘Let Her Burn’ in scope,
quality, ambition and vision, ‘SALVATION’ proves
Rebecca Black’s got guts, and that it’s time she got her
flowers. Otis Robinson
LISTEN: ‘Do You Ever Think About Me?’
MANIC STREET PREACHERS
Critical Thinking
Columbia
If to suggest that Manic Street
Preachers suffered from the
strength of their own caricature –
angry young men with a message;
a still since unrivalled ability to
combine politics and pop for chart
success – is an exaggeration, then
at least the way that fifteenth
album ‘Critical Thinking’ starts goes some way towards
misdirecting the bulk of the trio’s latest. On its opener
and title track, Nicky Wire straddles a line between
sarcasm and menace to list a series of platitudes atop
a Franz Ferdinand-like strut, channelling a Black
Mirror-esque indie sleaze. But, as painfully timely as
Wire’s questioning where the titular skill has gone is,
‘Critical Thinking’’s vibe isn’t matched until endearingly
wonky closer ‘One Man Militia’ kicks in, its earworm of
a chorus offering a wide-eyed fist-pump moment
alongside snippets of self-awareness (“Even our
dreams are intellectual,” its chorus begins).
Sandwiched between these, however, are a series
of songs which straddle the line of comfortability.
‘My Brave Friend’ and ‘People Ruin Paintings’ in
particular make use of familiar chord patterns, while
‘Hiding In Plain Sight’ brings to mind ‘90s Britpop’s
wistful storytelling in its arrangement, and ‘Decline
& Fall’ evokes mid-era Pulp in its structure. Which is
to say, none of this is bad - in fact, it’s a collection of
classic pop/rock songwriting - but when introduced
with the kind of fanfare it is (and yes, compounded
by the band’s past work), it feels safe. It’s like riding
a picturesque model railway route after having been
suggested a rollercoaster, perhaps. Ed Lawson
LISTEN: ‘One Man Militia’
THE MURDER CAPITAL
Blindness
Human Season
Where The Murder Capital’s
debut, ‘When I Have Fears’
(2019), delivered poetic post-punk
melancholy, the follow-up, ‘Gigi’s
Recovery’ (2023), showcased
atmospheric introspection.
‘Blindness’ marks a bold step
forward, presenting a dynamic,
eclectic project brimming with self-confidence.
They haven’t entirely left their staple sound behind,
though, harking back on tracks like ‘Moonshine’,
‘Can’t Pretend To Know’, or ‘Death of a Giant’.
However, there are also moments of thrilling
departure. Take James McGovern’s gorgeous croon in
‘Born Into The Fight’, for example, or the bluesy groove
of ‘A Distant Life’. On closer ‘Trailing a Wing’, creaky
guitars and raspy vocals channel Nirvana-era spirit.
Perhaps the best example of this evolution is the Nick
Cave-esque ‘Love of Country’, where in six brilliant
minutes, the band dissect hatred and contemporary
Irish nationalism set atop searing guitars.
It may be their most concise offering to date, but it still
allows for lush moments of indulgence. For instance,
the full-bodied instrumental warm-up in ‘That Feeling’
begs to be played live, while the track’s ultimate
descent into an eruption of rage midway through
makes for a sensational shift. For the same reason, the
twists and turns in ‘Love of Country’ cement it as the
album’s highlight.
With ‘Blindness’, The Murder Capital have crafted an
album that feels both urgent and timeless. Simply put,
it’s nothing short of a triumph. Sophie Flint Vázquez
LISTEN: ‘Love Of Country’
NAO
Jupiter
Little Tokyo / Sony
While her 2021 album ‘And
Then Life Was Beautiful’
very much arrived in the
shadow of the COVID-19
crisis, Nao still managed
to conjure up a dose of
sensual light from the
within the darkness,
even in the middle of
facing her own tough circumstances.
Diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
ahead of its release, the Londoner soon made
the decision not to tour the record, in favour of
focusing on her own health and happiness; on its
follow-up, ‘Jupiter’, the impact of that decision very
much shows. Even the track titles of her fourth
album (‘Elevate’, ‘Happy People’, ‘Better Days’) nod
to the sense of joy and hope that radiates from the
heart of the album, while opener ‘Wildflowers’
sparkles with a serene, unfettered energy that
blends into the rest of its songs. From the funky,
overblown guitar solo of ‘Elevate’ through to the
delicious beats of ‘We All Win’, it’s also clear that
Nao is having a lot of fun musically, moving fluidly
through sonic styles and moods, digging into a
sound that feels wonderfully nostalgic and present all
at the same time. In astrology, Jupiter is usually said to
represent growth, healing and good fortune, and here,
Nao’s fourth more than lives up to its moniker. Sarah
Jamieson
LISTEN: ‘Light Years’
Wonderfully
nostalgic and
present all
at the same
time.
Photo: Lillie Eiger

TAKING PLACE 21-25 MAY 2025
AT CATTON HALL DERBYSHIRE
PAUL HEATON
PLUS MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED
+Performing on Thursday
=Performing on Wednesday
WITH SPECIAL GUEST
SINGER RIANNE DOWNEy
THE SISTERS OF MERCY . YARD ACT
LEFTFIELD . THE MARY WALLOPERS . ENGLISH TEACHER +
cmat . NOVA TWINS . LOTTERY WINNERS
ASH . EZRA FURMAN . FAT DOG + . NADINE SHAH
ANTONY SZMIEREK . MANNEQUIN PUSSY
KATY J PEARSON . DIVORCE . TERRORVISION
. ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION . BEANS ON TOAST . BESS ATWELL
DEADLETTER = . DREAM STATE . DU BLONDE . GIRLBAND! . GURRIERS
LIME GARDEN . MILLIE MANDERS AND THE SHUTUP
MOLOTOV JUKEBOX + . NED’S ATOMIC DUSTBIN . PHIL HARTNOLL (orbital)
SHONEN KNIFE . STEWART LEE . THE ALARM + . THE LOVELY EGGS
THE MEFFS + . THE SELECTER . THE VASELINES
THROWING MUSES . ZION TRAIN
. ANGELINE MORRISON . AUDIOWEB . BENTLEY RHYTHM ACE
CASTLE RAT + . CHRIS HAWKINS (BBC 6 MUSIC) DJ SET + . CLT DRP +
DAKKA SKANKS . EIGHTY EIGHT MILES +
GAZ BROOKFIELD AND THE COMPANY OF THIEVES . GETDOWN SERVICES
HEADSTICKS = . JESS SILK TRIO + . MAN/WOMAN/CHAINSAW . MERRY HELL
MIDNIGHT RODEO + . MIKI BERENYI TRIO . MUDDY SUMMERS & THE DFWS +
POPES OF CHILLITOWN . SLANEY BAY + . SLAY DUGGEE . STICK IN THE WHEEL =
THE BAR-STEWARD SONS OF VAL DOONICAN . THE BRANDY THIEVES +
THE DEEP BLUE . THE NONE . TRUPA TRUPA . UJAHM = . 3 DAFT MONKEYS
. ANTHRAX UK . ATTILA THE STOCKBROKER . BRIDGET . BLYTH POWER
CARA MEANS FRIEND . CARSICK . CHROME & ILLINSPIRED . CULTURE SHOCK
DISSIDENT NOIZE FACTORY . DUMBFOUNDUS . DYNAMITE & THE DINOSAURS
EAT YOUR OWN HEAD . HATTIE HATSTAR . GALLUS
JUNKOACTIVE WASTEMAN AND THE TIN CAN TWINS . KRIN . LACERTILIA
LAST TREE SQUAD . MERCURIUS RISING . MONKEYFIST . MR TEA AND THE MINIONS
NOGOODBOYO . P.A.I.N. . PAPA GUMBO . PETE BENTHAM AND THE DINNER LADIES
RUPCHA FARMS . SPLIT DOGS . THE MIGHTY FLUX . THE SCRIBES
THE SPORADICS . THE VEGETABLE COLLECTIVE
TURNER BROTHERS . TWAT UNION
. COMEDY: ANDREW BIRD . ANDREW O’NEILL
KATE SMURTHWAITE . SCOTT BENNETT
SEAN HEYDON . TONY LAW
SAT.24.05.25
SUN.25.05.25

ALBUMS
ALESSIA CARA
Love & Hyperbole
Def Jam
Alessia Cara’s fourth full-length record is
a celebration of artistic and personal
growth. Her emotionally literate
songwriting has been a hallmark since
her 2015 debut, with hit ‘Here’
introducing a lyrical eye for hidden
feelings, striking resonance among
wallflowers and introverts alike, and on
‘Love & Hyperbole’ we find Alessia at her most unguarded
and assured. Embracing the full spectrum of emotional
experience, it sees the Toronto-based musician on a journey
of self-fulfilment. From grappling with anxiety and isolation on
‘Outside’ to the euphoria of all-surrendering love on ‘(Isn’t It)
Obvious’, the 14-track record offers a captivating insight into
the evolution of Alessia’s thematic and sonic complexity.
Blending jazz-infused arrangements with her signature pop
sensibilities, frenzied horn sections and twinkling piano keys
combine to complement vivid imagery exploring previously
unchartered emotional territory. While ‘Get To You’ wrestles
with the futility of a failing relationship, ‘Garden’ and ‘Fire’
revel in the vibrant sparks of new beginnings. Placed against
a landscape of infectious basslines, sensual strings, and
irresistible hooks, the record is a lesson in timings, accepting
the past, and embracing an unwritten future. Emily Savage
LISTEN: ‘(Isn’t It) Obvious’
JOHN GLACIER
Like A Ribbon
Young
‘Like A Ribbon’ is an astonishingly
confident debut from John Glacier, the
Londoner’s sound showing itself as
all-encompassing. The record feels
otherworldly at times, the rotating arcade
synths of ‘Emotions’ creating a buoyant
atmosphere devoid of gravity; the lo-fi
guitar and scratchy vocals of ‘Satellites’
emitting an intimacy akin to listening to a personal voice note.
The anxiety-fuelled ‘Nevasure’ is contrasted wonderfully by
the euphoric glitchy rhythms of ‘Found’, providing a cathartic
release after the previous track’s panic. Highlight ‘Dancing In
The Rain’ has her stating “I’ll be dancing in the street, let them
think I’m insane,” weightless and breathless, unburdened by
worry or stress; by never leaning into trying too hard to sell an
emotion, John’s delivery is all the more effective. Executive
producer Kwes Darko provides the album with a sense of
floating character as infectious beats collide with John’s
casual-but-distinct vocal style, while guests including
Eartheater and Sampha enter the fray, but never steal the
spotlight. A masterclass in an emotional build and release,
‘Like A Ribbon’ is a fascinating release. Cameron Sinclair
Harris
LISTEN: ‘Dancing In The Rain’
HOPE TALA
Hope Handwritten
PMR
Hope Tala first made her name blending
R&B with neo soul and a sprinkle of
bossa nova, and her debut full-length
‘Hope Handwritten’ delivers more of the
same. Across its 16 tracks, Hope takes
listeners on a journey as she uses her
songs to explore themes of love,
heartache, and, well, hope. Bossa nova
inspired opener ‘Growing Pains’ takes on the passage of time
and personal growth within it, while ‘Lights Camera Action’,
with its upbeat R&B and groovy bassline, questions what’s
truly essential for a good time. Then there’s the summery
‘Thank Goodness’, on which Hope expresses her gratitude for
“dodging a bullet” after the end of a romantic entanglement
- a relatable track about trusting your gut when it comes to
matters of the heart. Another highlight comes with ‘Breaking
Isn’t What a Heart Is For’, in which Hope’s voice takes on a
breathy quality as she sighs: “I knew it might get messy /
When we both felt so intensely”. Full of heart and
introspective, candid lyricism, ‘Hope Handwritten’ is an
overall uplifting offering, an ode to navigating the joys and
messiness of falling in and out of love, and finding one’s inner
strength through the chaos. Ife Lawrence
LISTEN: ‘Breaking Isn’t What A Heart Is For’
L.S. DUNES
Violet
Fantasy
It’s little surprise, really, that LS Dunes - a band born during the uncertainty and
chaos of the pandemic - would end up making a debut preoccupied with a dark
sense of cynicism. With its successor, however, the band - or supergroup, if you will,
boasting members of My Chemical Romance, Circa Survive and Thursday, to name
a few - have approached things with a lighter but still profound touch. Instead
deciding to focus on the “magic in the world”, their second record ‘Violet’ arrives as
a more majestic (if still shadowy) offering that showcases their growth and evolution
as an outfit perfectly. Led by the unmistakable vocals of Anthony Green - whose
voice has helped define the sound of post-hardcore for well over two decades - there’s a mesmeric
quality to the likes of ‘Fatal Deluxe’ and the album’s title track, which darts between the serene and
scorched, while ‘Machines’ sees the band even lean towards Strokes-ish guitar lines, eschewing genre
boundaries in favour of experimentation. Even the revenge-laden ‘You Deserve To Be Haunted’ still
manages to feel euphoric in its crescendo, despite its morbid moniker. It’s the album’s closer
‘Forgiveness’ that cuts deepest though, its soaring chorus packing an intense punch, and concluding
what is a fresh, vital take on what post-hardcore can sound like in 2025. Sarah Jamieson
LISTEN: ‘Forgiveness’
MATILDA MANN
Roxwell
7476
Following five years on from her debut single, ‘Roxwell’ (named for the street on
which she grew up) finds Matilda Mann viewing the world through the lens of her
most formative life experiences. The lullaby-like ‘Only So Far Away’ is written from
the perspective of a young Matilda, capturing her excitement for the return of her
father from long work trips away; the folky, delicate ‘Tell Me That I’m Wrong’ and the
shattering ‘Common Sense’, meanwhile, respectively detail the beginning and end
of a romantic relationship. While retaining the tender warmth her name has been
built on thus far, Matilda also takes time to add variety to her musical mix, with the
sweet pop of ‘Meet Cute’ and the punchy ‘Say It Back’ offering power pop guitars and an insistent
backbeat. Overall, ‘Roxwell’ is a reflective time capsule of sorts, oozing sentimental value. Kyle
Roczniak
LISTEN: ‘Say It Back’
Photo: Emma Swann
54 D

ALBUMS
MALLRAT
Light hit my face like a straight right
Nettwerk
At the core of ‘Light hit my face like a straight right’ lies an elusive tension.
This follow-up to Mallrat’s 2022 debut ‘Butterfly Blue’ is, on the surface, a
collection of dance-inflected yet otherwise largely conventional singersongwriter
fare, taking cues from both the plaintive whisper stylistics of
bedroom pop production and the warped world of hyperpop. For the most
part, this leads to a result somewhere between unexceptional and
satisfactory; there’s nothing quite so present as to irritate, but the
combination of understated delivery and vocal effects can’t help but echo
the production discography of AG Cook, usually accompanied by the kind of immediate pop
hooks not found here (see ‘Defibrillator’ or ‘Ray of Light’). Similarly, the use of textures closer to
that of more traditional singer-songwriter styles, such as on ‘Pavement’ and the emo-lite ‘The
Worst Thing I Would Ever Do’, highlight an otherwise immaterial lyrical simplicity. And yet, when
the record does hit a stride, it’s also not where it is strongest. The former comes when the
musical marriage between dancefloor beats and Mallrat’s subdued delivery creates a bedroomas-club
mood: the infectious chorus of ‘Hocus Pocus’; the claustrophobic repetition of ‘Love
Songs / Heart Strings’; the subtle euphoria of ‘Hideaway’. They’re all still pastel-hued headphone
moments, but with scope for a personal silent disco. It’s closer ‘Horses’, however, that stands
out: both as the record’s strongest track, but also one which sits sonically at a right-angle to
what’s come before. As organic sounds surround a seemingly effects-free, more direct vocal, the
song’s emotion – with lyrical reference made to the singer’s late younger sister – is fully,
powerfully conveyed. Bella Martin
LISTEN: ‘Horses’
SAYA GRAY
SAYA
Dirty Hit
Having established herself via her trio of EPs - ‘19 MASTERS’ (2022),
‘QWERTY I’ (2023), and ‘QWERTY II’ (2024) - Saya Gray’s sound has
showcased a stunning blend of vivid, vulnerable songwriting and genreblending
production. Now, with full-length ‘SAYA’, she draws a definitive line
between her musical past and future. The album is deeply personal,
reflecting Saya’s transformative solo road trip across Japan following the end
of a troubled relationship. She combines sonic textures from folk, pop, and
the avant-garde with newfound emotional clarity while themes of personal
growth, heartbreak, grief, and vulnerability emerge. This is particularly evident in tracks like the
country-tinged ‘SHELL (OF A MAN)’ and the bass-driven ‘H.B.W’, which both showcase her
ability to blend raw emotion with intricate production. Ultimately, these elements exemplify
exactly what ‘SAYA’ is at its core: a vivid and vulnerable album, brimming with emotional depth,
occupying its own distinct lane. Gemma Cockrell
LISTEN: ‘SHELL (OF A MAN)’
MARTIN LUKE BROWN
man oh man!
AMK
Following both his 2023 debut album ‘damn,
look at the view’ and his work as part of indie
pop supergroup FIZZ (alongside Orla Garland,
dodie and Greta Isaac), ‘man oh man!’ sees
Martin Luke Brown finally slow down to reflect
and find peace in simple things. Described by
the Leicester-born, London-based artist as a
‘time capsule’, each track on the album was
written and recorded in one day, creating an open snapshot into his
everyday moments and life experiences, embracing the method’s
intentional messiness from the off. Single ‘hello!’ has echoes of Mac
DeMarco-style psych pop as it reflects on self-awareness, while the
rush of metropolitan life is matched by the sonic speed on ‘animal’,
and ‘chew u up’ combines jazz influences and lush vocal harmonies
to tell its story of romantic longing and gut-wrenching heartbreak.
The latter half of the record projects a more sombre tone, the songs’
lyrics acting almost as Martin’s personal journal: ‘losing me’ is a
piano-led tune that’s akin to a love child of Vashti Bunyan and Declan
McKenna, while ‘this love’s gonna go nowhere’ uses understated
vocal layers and similarly hushed percussion to create a melancholy
love letter. Recorded using exclusively analogue equipment with
longtime friend and producer Matt Zara, the relatively simple
arrangements combine to make a timeless record that showcases
Martin’s ability to create intimacy. Kyle Roczniak
LISTEN: ‘losing me’
EVERYONE SAYS HI
Everyone Says Hi
Chrysalis
Although this self-titled record is technically a
debut, given that the group’s main protagonist is
former Kaiser Chief Nick Hodgson (who
released a solo record, ‘Tell Your Friends’, in
2018) it’s actually almost a reintroduction; a
similar warmth emanates from the songs as its
pseudo predecessor, and the indebtedness to
classic pop songwriting that runs through
Hodgson’s work has now garnered a handful of big-name
songwriting collaborations.
Opener ‘Somebody Somewhere’ nods to the The Strokes’ softer
moments; ‘Brain Freeze’ takes in both ‘90s acid jazz and a psych-lite
guitar breakdown, while channelling Supergrass’ latter turn; ‘Only
One’ comes in like a recent Vaccines number; and ‘I Wish I Was In
New York’ seems right from the ‘70s soft-rock playbook, as both its
own title and the album’s sleeve suggests it might. Which is all to
say, ‘Everyone Says Hi’ is impeccably constructed and quietly lush –
although towards the latter half, it does threaten to straddle the line
between ‘quiet’ and ‘background music’. It’s likely one for those who
default to Matt Maltese’s soft croon, say, or gave repeat plays to The
Vaccines side-project Halloweens - either way, just don’t expect a
riot. Ed Lawson
LISTEN: ‘Brain Freeze’
PANDA BEAR
Sinister Gri
Domino
An artist firmly anchored in leftfield indie’s
vibrant echelons for two decades now, Panda
Bear’s solo work to date has largely rooted itself
in a sort of introversion. Sprawling and hypnotic,
it’s often so immersive at times to become
almost isolating. ‘Sinister Grift’, however,
presents itself in opposition to this, with a
breezy, lived-in warmth.
Using more straightforward structures and instrumentation here than
on 2019 predecessor ‘Buoys’, the record took shape in Lennox’s
Portugal-based home studio with fellow Animal Collective bandmate
Josh ‘Deakin’ Dibb, before enlisting further collaborators including
Spirit Of The Beehive’s Rivka Ravede and cult underground pop
figure Cindy Lee. The results tap into a rich well of emotion, with
optimistic opener ‘Praise’, the vaulting harmonies of ‘Just As Well’
and the solemn, reverberating ‘Left In The Cold’ doing this in
particular. Closer ‘Defense’ sits perfectly in context too, with its slow,
assured ascent. As an artist, Panda Bear’s penchant for innovation
has always seemed to conflate seamlessly with his distinctive
creative vision. On ‘Sinister Grift’, this takes a more accessible
form, showcasing the robustness of his songwriting and ultimately
cementing itself as a complete and vivid work. Hazel Blacher
LISTEN: ‘Just As Well’
Photo: Jennifer Cheng
56 D

EPS, ETC*
*anything they refuse to call an album.
CHALK
Conditions III
Nice Swan
’Conditions III’ neatly encapsulates Chalk’s aesthetic, from immersive,
contemporary cinematica through to ‘90s rave style beats. From an
ambient start, ‘Leipzig 87’ forms into a dark, thrumming loop that seems
to point toward certain euphoria. All is drenched with a sense of
foreboding, with scrapes of metallic industrial noise and a muttering
vocal, but the track itself never quite crashes into a climax: it’s a set-up
for the remainder of the record which comes to fruition in ‘Afraid’ - a
rowdy, non-stop, guitar-driven blast with roared vocals and overdriven beats. At the
centre of the EP lies the pulsating night-time electronica of ‘Tell Me’, infused with pounding synths and
ominous lyrics. The closer to these four dramatic tracks is ‘Pool Scene’: a rising, insistent riff and lyrical
motif (“without you I’ll never learn”) which swirl away to oblivion, taking with them the looping synths. The
impact of this all-too-brief foray into the vast and darkly beautiful Chalk universe will linger long after the
last pulse of sound has washed away. Phil Taylor
LISTEN: ‘Tell Me’
SHYGIRL
Club Shy Room 2
Because
Across this sequel EP to 2024’s ‘Club Shy’, Shygirl collects cutting room floor
tracks from sessions recorded in 2020 to revisit the industrial, experimental R&B
of her early days all while elaborating on ‘Club Shy’’s “unrelenting, rule-breaking
electronica”. Reanimated by a handful of her contemporaries - Saweetie,
Pinkpantheress and Jorja Smith, to name a few - these deep cuts brim with the
London alt-pop pioneer’s expected off-piste, cold-sweat vision for London’s
future clubbing. Screeches and sirens amalgamate into typical Shygirl horror
trap on ‘Immaculate (ft. Saweetie)’ where queasy, extraterrestrial grime carries
her nympho-android bars across ‘Flex (ft. BAMBII)’. Elsewhere, she pushes the
‘Club Shy’ experiment: opener ‘Je m’appelle’, conjures the buzzy electroclash keys of Peaches’ ‘Shake
Yer Dix’, a punk-y twist on the typical ‘Club Shy’ sound, while ‘Wifey Riddim (ft. Jorja Smith)’ is
hyperpop-tinged UK speed garage, a candy-floss hued utopia. “In the name of Shy we trust,” she
commands on submissive noughties-sci-fi Eurotrash air-puncher ‘F*Me’, and that we do: this clubby
alt-pop buffer - to satiate the wait for a second record - is as intoxicating as its predecessor. Otis
Robinson
LISTEN: ‘Wifey Riddim’
As intoxicating as its
predecessor.
COMING UP!
Your handy list of records worth getting excited for.
7th March
ANNIE DIRUSSO - Super Pedestrian
DIVORCE - Drive To Goldenhammer
ESME EMERSON - Applesauce
HAMILTON LEITHAUSER - This Side Of The Island
HOTWAX - Hot Shock
LADY GAGA - MAYHEM
MELIN MELYN - Mill On The Hill
SASAMI - Blood On The Silver Screen
SPIRITBOX - Tsunami Sea
14th March
BAMBARA - Birthmarks
CLEOPATRICK - Fake Moon
CLIPPING. - Dead Channel Sky
KEG - Fun’s Over
TWIN SHADOW - Georgie
21st March
BENEFITS - Constant Noise
GREENTEA PENG - TELL DEM IT’S SUNNY
JAPANESE BREAKFAST - For Melancholy Brunettes (&
Sad Women)
THE HORRORS - Night Life
WELLY - Big In The Suburbs
28th March
DEAFHEAVEN - Lonely People With Power
LUCY DACUS - Forever Is A Feeling
PERFUME GENIUS - Glory
SAM AKPRO - Evenfall
4th April
BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD - Forever Howlong
DJO - The Crux
MOMMA - Welcome to My Blue Sky
PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS - Death Hilarious
SCOWL - Are We All Angels
THE WATERBOYS - Life, Death and Dennis Hopper
11th April
GRANDMAS HOUSE - Anything For You
RÖYKSOPP - True Electric
THE DRIVER ERA - Obsession
18th April
JULIEN BAKER & TORRES - Send A Prayer My Way
TUNDE ADEBIMPE - Thee Black Boltz
25th April
EMPLOYED TO SERVE - Fallen Star
PRIMA QUEEN - The Prize
SELF ESTEEM - A Complicated Woman
SUNFLOWER BEAN - Mortal Primetime
VIAGRA BOYS - viagr aboys
2nd May
BLONDSHELL - If You Asked For A Picture
16th May
MISO EXTRA - Earcandy
MØ - Plæygirl
30th May
SHURA - I Got Too Sad For My Friends
Photos: Hendrik Schneider, Neil Krug
58 D

26 FEBRUARY 2025
sohocalling.com
ARTISTS
ADMT ALIEN CHICKS BLUAI CHLÖE’S CLUE
ESSENCE MARTINS FIG TAPE GIIFT KAI BOSCH
LLEO LOLA MOXOM LOUIS OLIVER
MONSTER FLORENCE PANIC OVER PUNCHBAG
REALLY GOOD TIME SAVANA FUNK THE MOLOTOVS
TOM ASPAUL WET IGUANAS + VERY SPECIAL GUESTS
VENUES
21SOHO THE 100 CLUB PHOENIX ARTS CLUB
THE LOWER THIRD THE FORGE THE SOCIAL

LIVE
An eclectic
celebration of
underground
European talent.
JACOB ALON
ESNS
Various venues,
Groningen
Photos: Emma Swann
We’ve heard of the phrase ‘come
hell or high water’, but this year a
whole host of international artists
overcame blankets of freezing fog
to make it to ESNS (Eurosonic
Noorderslag) 2025 – the Dutch
showcase festival whose community and heart makes
any such elemental challenges entirely worthwhile.
Raising the curtain on ESNS’ 39th iteration, the
European Festival Awards are an apt way to start
these jam-packed few days: honouring the events
and individuals that made 2024 a powerhouse year
in live music, the evening also looks ahead, with
performances from neo-soul duo MRCY, popstar-inwaiting
Alessi Rose, and German synth sensations
Zimmer90 proving that the lineups of tomorrow are in
more than capable hands.
And in terms of fail-safe festival perfection, you
need look no further than Manchester’s Antony
Szmierek. Giving a tongue-in-cheek nod to the
number of industry professionals present (“I don’t
care who you work for, I don’t care if you’re on a work
trip – put your hands up”), he works the Oosterport’s
amphitheatre-like stage like a seasoned pro, teasing
an initially slightly static crowd out of their shells until
there’s not a soul who’s not joyously two-stepping to
the grooving bassline of ‘Yoga Teacher’. The ability
to make an audience feel entirely at ease – with the
performance, with their peers, with themselves – is a
rare skill, but it’s one he has in abundance.
Ebbb, meanwhile, are captivating in an entirely
different way. Combining quasi-choral vocals with
bone-rattling live drums and immersive production –
topped off by a strobing light show fit for a rave – the
British trio deliver a set that is at once urgent and
strangely evangelical, proving themselves to be truly
one of the most interesting live acts the UK has to
offer.
But, as a cursory wander around Groningen will
demonstrate, ESNS is about far more than its billed
artists – more than its official venues, even. Bands
like Dutch outfit MATOYA can be found playing,
mannequin-style, in shoe shop windows, while the
winding corridors and back staircases of mammoth
pub De Drie Gezusters (the biggest boozer in Europe,
no less!) reward punters with vibrant pockets of local
talent.
Back on the beaten track, it’s Malaysian-born,
UK-based Chloe Qisha who emerges as the
festival’s most exciting pop newcomer, thanks to her

WOOMB
LUVCAT
magpie-like approach of collecting shiny, disparate
stylistic nods – her David Byrne-esque suit, say, or
her stomping cover of Lipps Inc.’s ‘Funkytown’ –
and combining them into one cohesive, winningly
confident package. Pulling as much from ‘80s new
wave and ‘00s pop-punk as she does contemporary
chart-toppers, she already has the air of a fullyformed
artist – one who, on this evidence, is well on
her way to something huge.
Grassroots venue VERA is perhaps the city’s most
storied stage, and ESNS 2025 offers up more than
a few contenders for the ticker-tape list of bands
plastered across the main room’s walls. Take
Bulgarian outfit Woomb, who emerge shrouded in
fog, the tendrils of their atmospheric shoegaze pulling
everything from eerie electronica to jangly guitars into
their enigmatic fold. Or Icelandic quartet Supersport!,
whose wares land somewhere between the harmonic
folk of fellow exclaimers Tapir! and the kind of peppy
indie-pop beloved by ‘00s sitcom soundtracks – a
bizarre proposition on paper, perhaps, but one the
VERA crowd embrace with open arms.
Walking into Groningen’s Stadsschouwburg (City
Theatre, to you and me), it quickly becomes apparent
that there’s no venue in the city better suited to
Luvcat. All plush red velvet and opulent details, the
building’s inherent drama provides the ideal backdrop
to her sultry tales of romance and rogues, which she
proceeds to regale with seemingly effortless charm
(despite the fact, we’re told, that her taxi from the
airport arrived not five minutes before).
Swapping the theatre’s expansive beauty for the
intimate confines of a Lutheran church, it’s Scottish
singer-songwriter Jacob Alon’s set that is, for us,
the festival’s standout. The friendly bartender telling
patrons to “have a nice service”; the mahogany
pulpit backgrounding the barely-raised stage; the
(obviously) stunning acoustics: everything conspires
to make this the perfect locale for Jacob’s hauntingly
beautiful offerings, their simultaneous deftness and
delicacy recalling Jeff Buckley, or Laura Marling at her
most raw. Interspersing their accounts of heartbreak
and queer acceptance with wit and warmth (“now
for a song about poppers”, they quip while tuning
their guitar by ear), Jacob performs with a reverence
that – ecclesiastical setting aside – feels genuinely
spiritual. It’s the kind of flagship artistic moment you
don’t come across often, but which ESNS – next year
celebrating its 40th anniversary – has built a welldeserved
reputation for fostering. Daisy Carter
CHLOE QISHA

THE BACK PAGE PRESENTS
FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY!
A DREAM GIG CURATED BY...
PHOEBE GREEN
VENUE: BLACKPOOL TOWER
BALLROOM
I was born in Blackpool, it’s an amazing venue,
I had to do it. We used to go to Blackpool Tower
quite a bit and we’d go to the circus, and I
went to a few gigs at the Tower Ballroom.
It’s just such a nice, unique venue.
SUPPORTS: CMAT, ST.
VINCENT, CHAPPELL
ROAN
I’ve put a lot of thought into this! I probably
wouldn’t have a specific headliner, but I’d have
a cabaret-style situation. For the afternoon/early
evening, I’d have drinks at sit-down tables. The
first person on would be CMAT, because I think she’s
amazing and such a great performer. She’d really set us
off on a good vibe. And then we’d have St. Vincent and
Chappell Roan – this is still just the afternoon into
evening, by the way.
HEADLINERS: YVES
TUMOR, TYLER, THE
CREATOR, LADY GAGA
By night-time, it’d
get a bit darker,
tables would get
moved, and
we’d have Yves
Tumor, Tyler,
The Creator,
and Lady
Gaga.
It’s a big
day – a
huge
day!
They’re all dressed as some kind of elevated version of
themselves – which I think is quite hard, considering the
characters I’ve chosen are already pretty elevated. But it’d
be like their personal style, mixed with Blackpool ballroom
glam. Sequins! It’d just be a very interactive, camp,
ridiculous event.
WHO ARE YOU GOING WITH?
I probably wouldn’t send out invites or anything like
that – I feel like the right people will turn up… it’d
take a special kind of person to attend. But I’d have
my own table with my family, my girlfriend, and my
friends. Then as soon as it got to the bit where we’re
moving the tables out of the way, mum and dad would
definitely go home, and I’d be left with my sisters and
my friends.
WHAT ARE YOU DRINKING?
This is such a dream concept, and I’ve heard it
before, because I never would’ve thought of
it myself: bring your own booze, but you
can take whatever you bring with you to
the bar and ask for a specialised drink.
As in, you can turn up with a bottle of
tequila and ask for a margarita at the
bar.
PRE-GIG ACTIVITY
When I used to go to Blackpool Tower,
there was this dinosaur ride that just kinda goes
around, but then there’s this giant T-Rex – in my
memory, it falls towards you, or lunges, or opens its mouth or something.
It’s quite jarring, but I loved it. So we’d go on that ride, and then if the circus
is on, that’d be amazing. As long as it’s not harming animals and is all
ethical…
IS THERE AN AFTERPARTY?
There’s quite a few rooms – obviously, it’s Blackpool Tower. In one room,
we’ll have karaoke. You’re not gonna believe this, but I’ve never done
karaoke. I know, I can’t believe it either! It’s such a ‘me’ thing. But now
I’ve put it off for so long, it’s like losing my virginity; I want to wait for the
right time. If I did have a karaoke song though, I think it’d be ‘Speechless’
by Lady Gaga. And then in another room, there’d be a DJ set from James
Blake, but all of the other acts are also allowed to jump in and out.
ANY ADDITIONAL EXTRAS?
Obviously, we’re in Blackpool – there are three different piers, so whatever
rides people want to go on, we’d do. I feel like it’d be quite a bad idea after
drinking to go on the waltzers, but if you have a strong stomach, I would say
we’d hit up the pier after the party for an all-nighter. That’d be amazing. I
wouldn’t advise swimming in the sea in Blackpool, but in an ideal world it’d
also be amazing to do a cold plunge in the morning.
Phoebe Green’s new EP ‘The Container’ is out 21st March. D
Photos: Sara Carpentieri, Frank LeBon, Thibaut Grevet
62 D

14 17 MAY 2025
BRIGHTON - UK
AARON ROWE · ALLIE SHERLOCK
ANGRY BLACKMEN · ARMLOCK
BISHOPSKIN · BLACK FONDU
BOLD LOVE · BRÒGEAL · CATTY
CHLOE QISHA · CHLOE SLATER
CLARA MANN · CLIFFORDS
CORTO.ALTO · CURTISY
DISGUSTING
SISTERS
DONNY BENÉT · DUG · EIVØR
ELLIE O'NEILL · ENJI
FLAWLESS
ISSUES
GEORGE BLOOMFIELD · GOODBYE
HARRY STRANGE · HOTWAX
HUNGRY · JD CLIFFE · JO HILL
JORDAN
ADETUNJI
KAICREWSADE · L E M F R E C K
LADYLIKE · LAUNDROMAT CHICKS
LUVCAT · LYNKS
MAN/WOMAN/CHAINSAW
MOIO · THE MOONLANDINGZ
MOUNT PALOMAR · NAMESBLISS
NAP EYES · NICK WARD · NO CIGAR
OREGLO · PARK NATIONAL · PEM
QUEEN CULT · RABBITFOOT
RAY BULL · ROUTE 500 · RUBII
SHORTSTRAW. · SILVER GORE
SIRENS OF LESBOS
SUNDAY (1994) · THE K'S
THE
KLITTENS
THE ORCHESTRA (FOR NOW)
THE PILL · TTSSFU
WESTSIDE COWBOY · WITCH POST
ZIMMER90
AND MANY MORE
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