DIY, February 2015 by DIY Magazine

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R U A R Y

GO OD VS EVIL WHAT’S ON THE DIY TEAM’S R ADAR?

Victoria Sinden Deputy Editor GOOD Festival season is back already, with DIY making a quick trip to Holland for Eurosonic. EVIL Having to think of an Evil every fucking month. ..............................

Louise Mason Art Director GOOD What I’ve just seen in the background in a photo of Drenge’s studio. EVIL 343 days until Christmas = blind panic. ..............................

Emma Swann Reviews Editor GOOD So many potentially brilliant albums teased already, and we’re mere days into the year. EVIL Nobody’s actually saying when we’ll get them! ..............................

Jamie Milton Online Editor GOOD Marika Hackman’s debut album is a winter warmer - a really special record. EVIL The realisation that I missed out on a Glastonbury ticket gets more harrowing by the day. ..............................

Sarah Jamieson News Editor GOOD The amount of music that’s set to be released this year is insane, and I cannot wait to delve into all these records! EVIL Those recipechanging fiends over at Creme Egg headquarters. Grrr! ..............................

El hunt Assistant Online Editor GOOD It’s settled once and for all: Sleater-Kinney want The L Word to return. Producers, take note. EVIL It’s 2015, and there’s still no sign of that elusive Rihanna album. What’s she playing at?!

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EDITOR’S LET TER So, you’ve got Sleater-Kinney on the cover of your magazine. In the (near) decade they’ve been away, Carrie Brownstein has made a nice sideline in comedy, with her pretty damn brilliant series Portlandia. One of the standout sketches from the show involves hipster artists ‘putting a bird on it’, to make their designs cooler. Look at the photo above. Yeah. We went there. Sorry Carrie. Stephen Ackroyd GOOD How many amazing new albums are out in the next few months? Bloody loads, that’s how many. EVIL The phrase ‘featuring Rita Ora’.

LISTENING POST What’s on the DIY stereo this month?

Courtney Barnett

Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit Take everything that’s great about ‘The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas’, multiply it by ten and you’ve landed yourself an amazing debut record from this Aussie star.

WHO SAID Tom Odell hates flying, so I’d chuck him out.

Find out on p.21

Death Cab For Cutie Kintsugi

Their last album with founding member Chris Walla, ‘Kintsugi’ is the sound of Death Cab opening new doors and beginning an exciting new chapter. 3

C O N T E N T S

NEWS GET EXCITED ABOUT...

Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Emma Swann News Editor Sarah Jamieson

6 PA L M A V I O L E T S 9 CHVRCHES 10 DRENGE 12 THE CRIBS 17 WOLF ALICE 18 GHOSTPOET 20 RAE MORRIS 22 THE DECEMBERISTS 2 4 # S TA N D F O R S O M E T H I N G

NEU 26 SHAMIR 28 THE MAGIC GANG 30 KERO KERO BONITO 32 ALEX

32 34

FEATURES 3 4 S L E AT E R - K I N N E Y

BUREY

56 73 60

42 PEACE

46 POND

5 0 FAT H E R J O H N M I S T Y 54 MENACE BEACH 5 6 PA N DA B E A R

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REVIEWS 60 ALBUMS 78 LIVE

Art Direction & Design Louise Mason Head Of Marketing & Events Jack Clothier Online Editor Jamie Milton Assistant Online Editor El Hunt Contributors: Ali Shutler, Ben Jolley, Chris Bunt, Chris Rickett, Danny Wright, Dan Owens, David Zammitt, Dominique Sisley, Euan Davidson, Henry Boon, Hugh Morris, Huw Baines, Huw Oliver, Kate Lismore, Laura Studarus, Liam McNeilly, Loren DiBlasi, Louis Haines, Matthew Davies, Natasha West, Ross Jones, Shefali Srivastava, Tim Foil, Tom Connick, Tom Walters, Will Moss, Will Richards Photographers Abi Dainton, Carolina Faruolo, Leah Henson, Mike Massaro, Phil Smithies, Sarah Louise Bennett, Sinead Grainger For DIY editorial info@diymag.com For DIY sales rupert@sonicdigital.co.uk lawrence@sonicdigital.co.uk bryony@sonicdigital.co.uk tel: +44 (0)20 76130555 DIY is published by Sonic Media Group. 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. 25p where sold. 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 Sonic Media Group 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.

ROUNDHOUSE RISING DISCOVER NEW MUSIC 18—22 FEBRUARY 2015 FEATURING:

GIRL BAND FTSE THE MAGIC GANG CHARLIE CUNNINGHAM ROUNDHOUSE RESIDENT ARTISTS

PRETTY VICIOUS TIM EXILE GWILYM GOLD OBJECT OBJECT + MANY MORE ACTS TBA

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

WWW.ROUNDHOUSE.ORG.UK #RISING2015

Palma Violets hit a wall with their second album, but things are ok now.

Chinese Zodiac, 2015 is going to be the Year of the Sheep. Sheep? Pf t, who needs sheep?! The nex t t welve months is all about the music. Want proof? Here’s ex actly which artists and albums you should be get ting excited about.

According to the

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“If people get this record, from this point on, it’s going to be so easy.” - Chilli Jesson

Pa lm a Violets Palma Violets are rediscovering their mojo for album number two.

wo summers ago, Palma Violets weren’t just tearing up the live circuit in a figurative sense, they were wreaking total havoc. Hosting stage invasions at Brixton’s Jamm and prompting nudity and mass crowdsurfing at festival tents all over the country, they were swept along in the riptide of their debut album. It was a record that captured the barelySellotaped-together chaos of the music that Palma Violets were making together at their Lambeth headquarters, 180; but it wasn’t a climate that allowed much time for writing the follow-up. After retreating to Wales to regroup, though, Palma Violets have found a new headspace. “I forgot how to write,” shrugs joint-frontman and unofficial head troublemaker Chilli Jesson, surveying Palma Violets’ new rehearsal space, tucked under a clanky railway track. The band freely admit that writing was the last thing on their mind for two years after getting signed by Rough Trade. “We didn’t even give a shit,” laughs Chilli. “I couldn’t even read a book, let alone write songs.” “We made a conscious decision after Reading [2013] to go and write in Wales,” he explains. Chilli Jesson’s first go on the drums. turns him into the new Phil Collins..

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“We met these two hippy folk, they’re very spiritual people. They sing a song on our album.” The peace and quiet of Monmouthshire was exactly what the band needed to approach a new album. “Coming back we really had to learn how to start again,” nods Sam Fryer, the front-of-stage counterpoint to Chilli. “This place in Wales was the perfect place to do it.” “We spent a lot more time on this one,” agrees drummer Will Doyle. “There was a lot more work and effort put into it. Last album when we got signed, it was a very quick thing. It was all happening so quickly, and we needed to capture that moment in time. We hadn’t been creative for a year and a half. When you tour, your mindset is: turn up, play a show. We had a week where we would fly to a different country every day. You forget what day it is, you’re on autopilot.”

of hyperbole. “It’ll be a record every six fucking months! I feel like we’ve got it!” he says, hitting a plastic bottle on the floor to add emphasis. Compared to their debut, this is a more considered record, and Palma Violets are proud of the outcome. “The first songs we’d written were pretty brainless,” asses Pete, bluntly. “You’re kind of like...” he shrugs, and makes a mumbling noise a little like a squirrel trapped in a box of packing foam. “Can you write that down in words?” “I’m very proud of this record,” finalises Chilli. “It’s taken a lot out of us, it’s not been easy. That’s important to know. I think a lot of bands will lie. It’s not all high-fives and that.” “There were a few high-fives!” protests Pete, holding out his hand in invitation. Chilli slaps it in return. “See!” says Will gleefully, “we’re all friends now!” DIY

Chilli shuffles in his seat with something to add. “We didn’t want to write a second record about what Will is talking about,” he says. “Touring and stuff, and feeling shit.” “When the curtain came down [on ‘180’],” continues Will, “we thought, right, what are we going to do? We want something we’re really proud of.” “Being in that barn in Wales, we had to take the time to rebuild our creative mojo,” says Sam, and Chilli is visibly amused. “Mojo! I like that!” he announces, taking a swig from his can. “Put it in big capitals as the fucking title,” he advises, “‘cos it’s true.” Palma Violets are by no means weirdly reformed new characters, but they do talk honestly about the difficulties involved in the process this time around, as well as how they’ve put their heads down for this album and grafted harder than ever before. They’re adamant though that despite having a little more structure, the core of the band is the same. “We wanted to keep it youthful, basically,” says Will. “This is depth!” shouts Chilli. Keyboardist Pete Mayhew gives a little whistle for effect; “it’s emotional.” “Not in an arrogant way...” Chilli goes on, “but its definitely ‘us’. It’s probably all in how shambolic it still is. However hard we try,” he adds, “we seem to still only just make it to the end of a song.”

There might not be any ballads about dead dogs on Palma Violets’ new album, but there are distinct moments where they’re not racing along at 150 mph. They even ended up in a unique new position when they started recording, with 16 or 17 demos to choose from. “It sounds like one of those records they made in the 70s, and you can hear the beautiful keyboards that sound like an orchestra,” says Sam.

Photos: Emma Swa

“Lots of bands try to make the giant leap between their first and second albums,” observes Will. “You know, we have progressed, we are adults! We’re still only 21.” “They make very dark records,” interjects Chilli. “ But it’s easy to write a minor song. I think the hardest thing is to write a major happy song.” The rest of Palma Violets burst into laughter. “No!” he continues, “I was thinking about this. I mean, writing a minor song about your dead dog or something... that’s easy!”

“We had the chance to make it better, that’s the thing,” says Pete, quietly. “We never changed.”

“If we can get away with this, we can get away with anything,” chuckles Chilli. “It’s music that we really like, and we know how to do it. If people get this record, from this point on, it’s going to be so easy,” he adds, perhaps teetering on the edge

With their first album, METZ made themselves known as one of the most exciting bands to emerge out of Canada in recent years. As for its follow-up, well, if it ain’t broke...

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Metz

There must be something in the Toronto water: the city seems to boast a particular talent for all things noisy. In fact, it was just two years ago that Sub Pop signees METZ blew many other acts out of the water with their debut, and now they’re applying that same technique to their second full-length offering. “I really do think it’s an evolution of the first record,” confirms the band’s frontman Alex Edkins. “People who were into that record will certainly be into this one and if they didn’t like it, well, they’ll probably hate this one. I don’t think that we did anything drastic, we just did what felt good to us. I think we’ve improved as musicians and as songwriters.”

Alabama Shakes

After the whirlwind success of debut album ‘Boys & Girls’, the Athens, Alabama four-piece teamed up with Blake Mills to help them perfect its follow-up.

ver the last four years, Alabama Shakes have stirred up quite a fervour. Having emerged from the small city of Athens, AL – sandwiched between Birmingham, AL and Nashville, TN – back in 2011, the four-piece have since wormed their way into hearts all over the world with their soulful-but-gritty bluesy rock. Nonetheless, the band weren’t going to rush out a second offering. “That was the most important thing to us,” agrees frontwoman Brittany Howard. “We could’ve just gotten together, written a bunch of stuff and put out a record a year ago but that’s not what I wanna do. I want to put out something that I’m really proud of, that means a lot to me.”

“I would never put out a record that didn’t excite me.” - Brittany Howard

The band were also keen that the follow-up to 2012’s ‘Boys & Girls’ made things exciting again. “We had been on the road for almost three years and it just got to this point where I was bored of the music and I wanted to find some place that was exciting to go,” Howard explains. “I needed that spark. With this record, I wanted to do what I wanted to do and, naturally, have what’s inside of me come out.” With authenticity high on the list of priorities, their second album sees Howard coming to terms with her place in the world. “I’ve had time to explore myself and time to reflect on what it is that got to me where I’ve found this so-called success, what it is that brought me here and how I feel about it. “In a lot of ways, it’s different to our first record: sonically it’s different and the themes and things I talk about are different, but the way that it’s alike with ‘Boys and Girls’ is that it’s very true to us, and it’s very true to the things that excite me. I would never put out a record that didn’t excite me, so in that way it’s the same.”

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“We wanted to make a record that was capable of holding back,” he continues, “and have some small amount of restraint. When in the studio, you’re definitely tempted to layer things over and over and make this huge sound, but we always want to keep it as something that the three of us can pull off and do justice to on stage.” It’s been thanks to their constantlyshifting scenery and life away from home, too, that Edkins found himself with inspiration for the lyrics. “It’s a pretty personal record,” he offers. “It’s sort of a relationship album, but it’s not a romantic relationship thing. Maybe the ending of a friendship, people’s relationships with society at large and their interactions with media. It’s kind of all over the place, but in a way, I feel that most of the songs deal with our interactions with each other and how we interact these days.”

The Maccabees

Title: TBC Expected: 2015 Confirming that recording for their new full-length was “due to start very soon” back in June last year, The Maccabees greeted the New Year by assuring their Twitter follows that a fourth record is on its way: “Next year we will be back on tour much more regularly and have our fourth album out…”

Brand New

Title: TBC Expected: 2015 During the past few years it was rumoured that a follow-up to Brand New’s 2010 record ‘Daisy’ might not come to light, so the news that they have entered the studio again is both unexpected and brilliant. The quartet are recording, as confirmed by their website: “Brand New is in the studio,” it reads. What the rest of their message - ‘Procrastinate! Pogolith Earth Sound Alliance 2015’ - means though, well, that’s anyone’s guess.

Chvrches In the wake of their debut album, Chvrches found themselves touring the world and playing shows for almost two years solidly. Now they’re setting their sights on a second offering: 2015 sees them open up the next chapter of their band, and they’re going in prepared.

“W

e’ve now done a lot of writing on the road,” claims the band’s Martin Doherty. The band finished touring about two weeks ago, and already he’s eager to start the motor up again. “I think, initially, we were reluctant to do it: we sort of wanted to protect the dynamic of ‘three people in a room at once’ idea, because that’s the way that the first album came about. “When you’ve been on tour as much as we have been in the past two years, you don’t really have a choice. You either create on the road or you don’t do anything and the idea of coming back after three years of doing absolutely nothing - and not even working those muscles creatively - is insane.” As it stands, the band started work on the follow-up to ‘The Bones of What You Believe’ in January, and they went in with plenty of elements to play with. “There’s between twenty five and thirty ideas; verse, chorus song structures or melodic ideas kicking around which will be really useful in the studio, but they’re not the be all and end all of the recording process.” The three-piece are also sure that

Marina & The Diamonds album number two isn’t going to be a major move away: it’ll be more of a progression. “It’s interesting,” Martin starts. “I mean, it’ll audibly be the same band. It’ll be the same writers, and the same songwriting styles, but as for how the songs are dressed, that’s never been as important to me. “That’s informed by what we’re listening to at the time, whether it’s old or new music or just the things that inspire us. A big part of the recording process is the few months before it when we’re just digesting as much music as possible and figuring out where you’re at in terms of where your tastes are at.” And having recently recorded two songs for other projects – ‘Get Away’ for the recent BBC Radio 1 Rescores: Drive and ‘Dead Air’ from the Lorde-curated soundtrack for the most recent The Hunger Games – they’ve also had the opportunity to warm themselves up before really shifting back into gear. “We had a couple of days to do each of those songs, because of the schedule. That was the first time we had all sat in a studio and written together for some time. There an element of relief because it was like, ‘Okay, we haven’t been on tour for two years and forgotten where we’re at!’ We can still work together in a really easy and exciting way.”

Title: ‘FROOT’ Expected: 6th April 2015 For her forthcoming new album, Marina’s beginning what she calls “a new musical and visual era” for herself. Currently in the midst of supplying fans with a track every few weeks - a FROOT of the Month, as she likes to call it - in the lead up to her third album’s release, 2015 looks like it’s going to be just peachy for Marina.

Radiohead

Title: TBC Expected: Late 2015 One of these days Radiohead are going to go down the traditional route and release a record the old-fashioned way, but chances are the follow-up to 2011’s ‘The King of Limbs’ is likely to opt for something ‘revolutionary’. After Thom Yorke’s BitTorrent obsession, he’s recently got into Bandcamp. What’s next, ReverbNation? Sessions have been taking place in Oxford since the end of 2014, with Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke exchanging ideas via email from this time last year. Expect this year’s #Breaktheinternet to come courtesy of Radiohead.

#Breakingtheinternet - . .Thom Yorke. 9

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FIDLAR

Title: TBC Expected: Late 2015 With shout-a-long choruses and incendiary riffs ahoy, the LA punks’ debut took 2013 by storm, ‘Cheap Beer’ a bona fide festival anthem. Having been working

on album two properly since last summer, it shouldn’t be much longer before there’s twice the songs to go nuts to.

Years & Years

Drenge

The most effort that drummer Rory Loveless has put into anything since school, it may have taken a while, but Drenge’s second album is set to be quite the treat.

The Loveless brothers prove you can’t make a . great record without tea and biscuits..

“W

e are pretty much 90% done,” reveals Drenge’s drummer Rory, the younger of the Loveless brothers. “There’s just some tinkering time to be had, as they call it on Scrapheap Challenge...” Things haven’t quite been the same since the duo released their self-titled debut. From unwillingly getting involved in political resignations to bumping into Kanye, it feels like Drenge have done it all over the past two years. All, that is, except give us some more music. In 2015, with their second album almost done, that’s set to change. That’s not the only thing, either. “Well,” Rory pauses. “I think we had a no ‘blood’ policy with the lyrics. I guess, because we’ve changed as people since we wrote those first songs nearly four years ago, we wanted to get away from that. Away from that teenage, angsty thing even though we are described as looking like we’re twelve. It’s more of a case of us wanting to address the present rather than try and recreate the first album.” Having released their last full-length in August 2013, Loveless claims that this record has taken up a huge chunk of their time since. “It’s probably the most effort I’ve put into anything since GCSE Art, and I got an A in that,” he laughs. “It did take a long while, and we’ve had a couple of practical set-backs here and there, but it’s all the better for the extra attention we’ve given to things. I guess we could’ve left things as they were but I think we could see where this album was going and we were getting really excited about it; we’re really proud of everything.” They’re also adding a different dynamic into the mix for their second effort: there’s going to be bass. “Yeah, we’ve been putting bass parts down,” he offers up, “just to fill out the songs, and we will be playing with a third live member next time we play a show.” It feels like a natural progression. “I didn’t feel like it was going stale,” he pauses, “but we were both wondering where it was gonna go next after the first album. There’s a specific dynamic to it and I don’t know how long I could’ve kept doing that, so we’ve expanded. I think the tunes are a lot more subtle. It’s been fun and interesting to do, because we’ve never done that before, but it came fairly easily and I think it sounds really cool.”

“It’s probably the most effort I’ve put into anything since GCSE Art.” - Rory Loveless

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Title: TBC Expected: May 2015 Fronting DIY’s Class of 2015, Years & Years have their heads screwed on about this album lark. Frontman Olly Alexander admitted that at this point they remain a “singles act”, with ‘Real’ and ‘Desire’ eyeing the charts without spelling out how a full-length might sound. Things we know: one of the more emotional numbers has a string section, with Olly naming the theme to be one of “unrequited love.”

Kanye West

Title: TBC Expected: June 2015 With the ‘Yeezus’ follow-up slated for a 2015 release, there’s every chance people will hear the whole thing in advance. According to Nicolas Jaar (who’s involved in the LP), Kanye has been dimming rooms and blowing speakers for special previews. Then there’s the tale recounted by Seth Rogen, where West distracted the actor from a family trip to play him new material coupled with improvised live rapping. Whoever gets to hear the new album first is in for a treat.

PJ Harvey

Title: TBC Expected: September 2015 PJ Harvey is choosing to record the bulk of her new album in a box, in front of the UK public. It’s happening two times a day for around a month, meaning plucky ticket-buyers could be fortunate enough to witness a eureka moment. This is a unique insight, a through-thelooking-glass treat like few others - it runs until midFebruary.

Almost, PJ Harvey.

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Photo: Patrick Stanton

The Cribs The Jarman brothers are back, this time with a ‘pop’ album that has Ric Ocasek behind the production desk. Three years since the release of ‘In The Belly of The Brazen Bull’, Gary, Ryan and Ross are itching to unleash their sixth record. Words: Ross Jones.

Title: ‘For All My Sisters’ Expected: 23rd March 2015 Tracks: ‘An Ivory Hand’, ‘Finally Free’, ‘Summer Of Chances’

“I’ve also been very frustrated by the fact that we’ve been away for so long.” - Gary Jarman

ary Jarman likes to pay attention to detail. With the recording for their upcoming sixth album now done, the band – completed by his brothers Ryan and Ross are preparing its final details. This, according to Gary, is where things start to get taxing for the Wakefield trio.

we started making the demos we thought, let’s just send them to Ric [Ocasek] and see if he’s available. We’ve always wanted to work with him and he’s kind of a difficult guy to pin down. It was great because he was available and was really into the tracks, so we spent a lot of time talking about them.”

“When you’re making the record you only have one thing to think about and you’re pretty consumed by it, you get a bit obsessive,” explains Gary, from his home in Portland, USA. “So to now have it, I’m defensive and precious about it. Everything has to be right. We’ve got to get the artwork right and we’ve got to have the right B-sides, everything that goes with it. We’ve always been idealistic like that.”

Famous for his work as frontman of The Cars and producing Weezer, Ric was able to provide the group with just what they needed. “We spent a lot of time getting the right performance and the right guitar sounds. Ric’s role was to say, ‘Let’s get this changed,’ ‘A guitar should sound like this,’ ‘That was a good take,’ and then listen to us sing. He was the guy who was a good arbiter.”

Their ethos has always been thorough, especially when it comes to their creative output: “People might think that’s not the case with us - historically our records have been rough around the edges - but that was how we wanted it to be. We didn’t want things to be too perfect, we were excited by what it was before and people might not see us as idealists for that reason.”

With the album now complete, Gary is understandably feeling a little nervy. “When it comes to the time of putting it out, you start to worry about it because it ceases to be yours, it’s open. Having said that, I’ve also been very frustrated by the fact that we’ve been away for so long. It really balances it out just how happy we are to be back and how ready we are.”

When it came to writing and recording for the new LP, the band had a clear idea. “I like to think that we’ve always been a pop band. When you look at bands from The Replacements, to Nirvana, to whoever, it’s always been pop music played by weirdos really. That’s my favourite music, and we’ve always aspired to be a pop band in a conventional sense.” From the first track previewed, ‘An Ivory Hand’, it’s obvious that their direction is a more pop-orientated one; the track a swaying, 80s guitar-led single that withholds the traditional Cribs-esque tone. “We’ve explored a lot of the things that we’ve done before. The influences pretty much remain the same, except I think that it is just a more fully realised version of what we intended to do.” The group had a producer in mind from early on. “When 12 diymag.com

Grimes

Title: TBC Expected: 2015 When Grimes first let slip that she was hoping to release the follow-up to ‘Visions’ in September last year, things went into overdrive. Since then, she’s supplied us with single ‘Go’ before scrapping her previous plans and starting her album all over again. Now she’s hoping to release it this year, with Lizzo joining her in the studio, opting for a more ‘irl’ style. “Guitar is just a whole new sonic world, melodically, rhythmically etc,” she’s stated. “Playing ‘irl’ music is my biggest inspiration really.”

Little Boots

Having built her name upon euphoric dancefloor pop anthems, Little Boots is using her forthcoming third album to mark a change in the tide.

ver the last six years, Little Boots has been on quite the musical journey. From topping the BBC Sound of poll at the start of her career, to forging her own path by establishing her own label, she’s got a fair bit of experience under her belt. Now she’s coming back with a new full-length, leading on from her recent ‘Business Pleasure’ EP. But, this time, she’s set herself some ground rules. “For me,” Victoria Hesketh begins, during a phone call just after the release of her four-track taster, “this is my third

album and I had gotten to the point where I just can’t keep writing the same song. I was feeling a bit Groundhog Day in songwriter world and as though I was writing the same songs over and over again. I needed to make a change. I decided to try and find really unusual, either upcoming or weird, producers to work with, like Com Truise, that people wouldn’t expect to produce pop songs. Then, the other thing I did was put off-limits any songs about love, dancing or being in a club or broken hearts - all those clichés. They’re only what everyone write songs about because everyone’s copying everyone else. There are so many other things to write about, they’re just go-to things. Once you turn that off and you’re like ‘No, you’re not allowed to go there’, you have to look around you and look in other places.” For the new record, she’s decided to cast aside the dancefloors and explore a little of the more formal side of her life; the business side, a topic she first touched upon last year when discussing the set-up of her own label. “I kinda realised that I’d had this whole journey and experience that I didn’t think people were interested in but I did a few things last year where I talked quite openly about how I’ve gotten to this point in my career and people were interested and the response was really big. I thought, ‘Hang on, maybe this isn’t such a crazy thing to write song about’. Everyone can relate to it in a way. It’s been cool, but I was a bit like, ‘Am I just insane, ranting about business over a Com Truise beat?’ but it bizarrely works! It’s very genuine though and I think that people can see that, I’m not making this up and it is where I’m at now.”

“It probably sounds quite romantic, compared to previous Errors records!” Simon Ward

music we had been listening to during our time off.”

Rested and reinvigorated, work soon began on fifth record ‘Lease of Life’, but the band set their sights on being distraction-free for the writing process. So they headed into the wilderness. “I think we always talked in the past about trying to write and record a record somewhere that’s not at home,” Ward offers.

Errors

With their last musical offering, Errors were ambitious: they unveiled two separate full-lengths within the same year. Now after taking some much-needed time off the trio are returning with a new record, but this time they found themselves heading to the wilderness to create it. Title: ‘Lease Of Life’ Expected: 23rd March 2015

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here was a big gap between starting this record and doing the last two,” explains Errors’ Simon Ward. “That was a lot of music to finish in a short amount of time and we had kind of run out of steam. After having that bit of time off, there were a lot of ideas about what we wanted to do and I think a lot of that was maybe down to the sort of

While working on their latest full-length, the trio relocated to the Hebridean island of Jura. “It was just for a change, and also just because I think we were under the impression that we might focus on it better and not have distractions, since in Glasgow it’s quite easy to get distracted. It’s really remote and it’s just a tiny wee island and you have to go to another island first to get there.” It wasn’t just the quietness of their temporary home that affected the writing of the album, it was the natural landscape too. Well, sort of. “I mean, for us, it just made sense,” he assures, of the juxtaposition between technology and nature. “I’m into both those things; I really like finding an old synthesiser and playing around with it, but I also really like going out hill-walking. They’re polar opposites but they’re both interests for us. I guess that sits quite nicely together, the idea of taking your synths out into the wilderness to write a record... It probably sounds quite romantic, compared to previous Errors records!” 13

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Unknown M o r ta l Orchestra Inspired by Daft Punk, the third album from Ruban Neilson’s Unknown Mortal Orchestra will be familiar, but different. It’s still going to sound fuzzy, just – in his own words – a bit less “like there’s a blanket over it.”

Title: TBC Expected: Late Spring / Early Summer

Photo: Euan Robertson

How exactly has this record come together? It’s definitely the longest I’ve spent working on an album and it’s involved for the last six months or so - just sitting in my basement at night, which is kinda how I made the last album. Earlier on, I did about five weeks with my brother [Kody Nielson] who flew in from New Zealand. Then, I went to New York for a week to work with our bass player, Jake Portrait. I brought everything that we’ve worked on into my basement and I’ve just been trying to finish it!

Prides

One of DIY’s Class of 2015, Prides are already looking ahead to releasing their debut album. Turns out the Glasgowbased trio have tried to use a good chunk of their own intuition when it comes to album number one. What did you want to explore with your debut record? Stewart Brock: I guess a bit of everything, without going too much like a compilation or something! We’ve always had quite a broad approach for what we’re trying to do and we’re always open to trying new things. It’s about trying to get as much of that across with it still being cohesive. Callum Wisecow: It’s hopefully a good record of songs that will translate live. Lewis Gardiner: We didn’t really think too much about it though. If we all think it’s good, we just think ‘Oh, well, that must be good then!’ How long have you been writing the album for now? Callum: The days have gone where a band go into a studio for three months and write an album, then go in for one to record. We’re continually writing so it’s maybe even an evolution from start to finish. Lewis: It’s not been a conscious thing, but some of the songs have ended up being written eighteen months apart.

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How do the old and new songs work together? Callum: Sometimes we’ll write a new song and we’ll be like, ‘Oh, that old song doesn’t sound like us anymore’ and we have to bring it altogether to sound the same. Stewart: I feel like they always pull each other up a little bit, especially when we write something new that we’re all excited about, it’s like, ‘Okay, what is it about that that’s working really well and how can we try to bring that in?’ I guess, like with anything, you’re constantly honing what you’re doing. We’re still writing now and I think we’ll be writing ’til the day it comes out because you never know what’s gonna come next. I hope it comes across well and it’s got lots of stuff, and I think it’s got some stuff that people might not expect so, we’ll see!

Did you have any particular ground that you wanted to cover? With the last album, I felt like it really needed to be a sequel to the first. Then for this third one, I had some ideas about working with producers and I met with a lot that I respect, but I ended up thinking that it might just be more fun if I spent the budget on fancy equipment and try to do a UMO record that sounds more hi-fi. I think the songwriting is pretty similar, the sound is still fuzzy, it just doesn’t sound like there’s a blanket over it. In a way I was encouraged by ‘Random Access Memories’, which sounded all sparkly and nice, but still connected to the way that old records used to sound. This was a bit of me doing my own version of that.

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Title: TBC Expected: Spring 2015 Tracks: ‘Estranged’, ‘Crystal Cascades’ and ‘Stage Knives’ For the new album, you’ve returned to work with Lewis Johns, who produced ‘Adrasteia’ last year. How’s it been? It’s been great. Coming in last year to do that track really gave us the taste for it again, and having spent the last year writing and developing new songs, it’s been amazing to work on a bigger project.

This next record is going to be your fourth: have you gone in with any clear intentions? Do you have anything specific you hope to explore? We got back from touring ‘Astraea’ last year and I guess what we wanted to do with this record was, over the past few years we’ve built a reputation of being very much a live band, and I wanted to close the gap between that and studio work, and write a record that had a lot of space in it to explore Having unleashed a standalone single back in different things in the studio. There are certain tracks on it that I’d say late 2014, Rolo Tomassi have recently returned were more studio tracks than they would be live tracks. We just wanted to to the studio to make a start on album number make something big and huge on record, then worry about how we might four. With their sights set on a release midway recreate it live later. Just to not worry about the through this year, the band’s James Spence has live side of it, and focus on developing songs and improving our songwriting. revealed they’re planning to make things big.

Rolo Tomassi

Would you say that was something you touched upon with last year’s single? Is it a hint as to what to expect for the full-length? Very much so. That track was written while we were doing the writing sessions for this record, and that was the first track we finished. That kinda stood out and - although it came from a very similar place - it didn’t really match, and was more suited to being put out as a standalone. It gave a bit of reference to what the rest of the album would sound like; the darker sound in general, the busy, heavy drums and the piano section at the end. That’s a lot of what we’ve done across this record.

for his instrumental talents, but his production credits too. “He’s such a fantastic producer and he really guides us through making the record at every step. While we’re writing a song, we’re already technically making the record. As soon as we start working on a song, it’s all being recorded for keeps. There’s not really any throwaway stuff.”

No Devotion

Having made their mark in 2014 with a handful of singles, No Devotion are planning to showcase their full talents this year and they’re playing for keeps. Title: TBC Expected: Late Spring / Early Summer

hen it comes to creating an album, there are many decisions bands need to make: who’s the best producer, where to record, what do they want to show to the world? For some artists though, the answers come easily. “The thing that’s really great about this band is that we have Stuart Richardson,” explains No Devotion’s frontman – and former Thursday / current United Nations vocalist – Geoff Rickly. He’s not just bigging up his bandmate

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Playing for keeps has some major advantages. Not only does it make the whole process a little bit quicker, it means that you can capture something special. “Sometimes when you’re making demos and stuff, there’s something magic about that first time you sing it or that first time playing it, but with Stu recording it as we’re doing it, you don’t have to lose that. You don’t have to go back into the studio and make a second version.” Having already given fans a taste of what’s to come in the form of their first singles ‘Stay’ and ‘10,000 Summers’, the album promises to cover much more ground and provide a few more glimpses into their collective influences. “There’s a lot more room to stretch out the record. There’s more peaks and valleys, and there’s way more upbeat stuff that we didn’t put on any of the first few tracks. Then there’s some really down-tempo, soundscape-esque, noisy and interesting stuff. All of us have a lot of different influences so there are parts that sound like A Place To Bury Strangers, and there are parts that sound like New Order. It’s gonna be a pretty diverse record.”

Björk

Title: ‘Vulnicura’ Expected: March 2015 Björk has less chance of settling down into a rhythm than UKIP has of winning the general election, and 2015’s readying itself for another game-changer. It’s already been confirmed that the Icelandic star’s worked with Arca and The Haxan Cloak, and last year she was spotted attending PC Music nights. One thing’s for sure - the next Björk album is going to sound like nothing else on the planet.

Laura Marling

wolf alice

Slowly but surely has been the name of Wolf Alice’s game on the Londoners’ debut, there’s just the small matter of some “terrible” song names to iron out. Wolf Alice could’ve released their debut album two years ago. 2013 saw both ‘Fluffy’ and ‘Bros’ see the light of day, after all, at which point the London quartet were already well on their way to being the toast of at least a handful of towns, notably packing out one of DIY’s ‘Hello 2013’ gigs at the Old Blue Last. But, as vocalist Ellie Rowsell explains, sometimes slowly but surely just works. “If we had put it out a year ago, or six months ago, it just wouldn’t have been as good,” she admits. “While that doesn’t really matter, as it could’ve been a snapshot of time or whatever, we needed to nurture our skills. We needed time; we haven’t been writing songs since we were thirteen or anything. We had something which had a spark, something that could be really good, but we needed to wait and it benefited us to wait.” The band have fourteen tracks to pick from on the as-yet-untitled album, recorded at Livingston Studios in Wood Green, North London with producer Mike Crossey (Arctic Monkeys, Blood Red Shoes), and, as an excited-looking Instagram post at the time showed, was completed just before Christmas. It will feature just two previously-released songs, both re-recorded. “There’s one song that’s an old song that everyone who’s heard of us will already know,” says Ellie, “and we’ve changed it a bit. I wonder what people will think. I know when we change a song and we release that, people, well, internet people always seem to get really angry. I’m not gonna say which song it is, because that’ll ruin it!” “I think people will be surprised,” she continues. “‘Moaning Lisa Smile’ was our last single, and it was really rocky, and while we’ve still got songs like that on the album, the majority isn’t quite like that.”

Title: ‘Short Movie’ Expected: 23rd March 2015 Laura Marling has always been great at simplistic brilliance, so it’s unsurprising that news of her new album came along all unassuming and took everyone by surprise. Granted, she first debuted a new track back in February last year which ironically doesn’t even appear on the new record - which should’ve dropped a hint that she was hard at work. Yet, when her fifth album ‘Short Movie’ was announced, it caused a flurry of excitement just in time for Christmas.

Courtney Barnett

Title: ‘Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit’ Expected: Spring 2015 “2015 we are releasing a new album,” posted the Australian singer-songwriter on Twitter last week, the ‘we’ in reference not to any of Courtney’s band mates, but the koala placed in her dungaree pocket. In between wowing live audiences on multiple hemispheres she’s been enlisting the likes of producer Burke Reid and The Drones’ Dan Luscombe on her first album proper, due in the first part of this year.

James Blake

Title: ‘Radio Silence’ Expected: April 2015 How does everyone’s favourite floppyfringed producer follow-up a Mercury Prize winner? By inviting the biggest names on the planet to help. Kanye West is involved in a record that, as of last November, was “seventy percent done.” Speaking about a Kanye collaboration, Blake told the Miami New Times: “We’ve done a few things, kind of help each other with our own music. I know there’s a specific song I would like him to be on.” Couple that with recent Chance the Rapper hook-ups and this is looking like being the producer’s most star-studded release date. 17

Death Cab For Cutie

Title: ‘Kintsugi’ Expected: 30th March 2015 Last September, co-founding member Chris Walla played his last show with Death Cab For Cutie. Though he’s still present on their forthcoming eighth studio album, this time it’s helmed by Rich Costey. A last roll of the dice for Ben Gibbard and co. after the mixed reception for 2011’s ‘Codes and Keys’? With their backs against the wall, there’s every chance of a triumphant return to form.

Joanna Newsom

Title: TBC Expected: Late 2015 It’s been almost five years since Joanna Newsom last released an album, but thankfully, having just appeared in the film Inherent Vice, she revealed in a recent interview with Dazed that she’ll be back playing music very soon. “I’m working on something new,” she confirmed.

Lana Del Rey

Title: ‘Honeymoon’ Expected: TBC It’s only five minutes since Lana released last year’s ‘Ultraviolence’, and already she’s most of the way there on a follow up. Speaking to Billboard recently she revealed that nine songs were already written. “It’s very different from the last one and similar to the first two,” she explained. “I’m kind of enjoying sinking into this more noirish feel for this one.” 18 diymag.com

Title: TBC Expected: Late 2015 With her debut full-length, Sky Ferreira solidified herself as one of the forerunners of glittering modern pop. Having since completed an epic run of tour dates - including shows with Miley Cyrus - the star is raring to go with album number two. Speaking to Billboard late last year, she revealed: “I think [the album] will be a little heavier - it’s going to be a blend of everything.”

Sky Ferreira

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Coming Soon…

The bands and artists that appear on our previous pages barely scratch the surface of what’s expected to emerge in 2015. Whether it’s the new and almost definitely top secret record from Adele, or the debut offerings from some of our new favourites like Tobias Jesso Jr. and God Damn, there’s set to be an endless stream of music pumping out of speakers over the next twelve months.

Ghostpoet

Guitar, bass, drums and a little help from his friends, Ghostpoet’s Obaro Ejimiwe seems to have found the perfect recipe for his third full-length. Title: ‘Shedding Skin’ Expected: 2nd March 2015 Tracks: ‘Off Peak Dreams’, ‘Yes, I Helped You Pack’, ‘The Pleasure In Pleather’ How has the whole process of making this new record been? I’ve enjoyed this process, it’s been good! I just decided to work with my mates basically and it was just a case of having a bit of fun really. Did you write some on the road? What were the next steps? It was kinda of a case of the demos being developed over time on tour, in sound checks. Then we spent two weeks fleshing out my demos in Red Bull Studios and then spent a couple of weeks recording it in two small separate studios. I took it all down to the basics because, for me, I wanted to make the record in the right kind of environment. And what kind of sound did you want to explore? For me, it’s a guitar record. I wanted to definitely have a guitar-led album and the elements were just drum, bass and guitars. That’s it and for me, it’s definitely much more of a natural, acoustic album. The musical direction was probably partly influenced just by touring and seeing other bands playing live, and seeing how their music is received by their audiences.v Elements like that were definitely in the back of my mind.

While Biffy Clyro are promising a “more aggressive” follow-up to their epic ‘Opposites’ and already have twenty songs apparently written, The Vaccines have been back in the studio since August last year. Kendrick Lamar has already been talking about his follow-up to ‘good kid, m.A.A.d city’, all whilst Chance The Rapper is busy leaking – and then deleting – his new material on the net. Our previous Class Of alumni AlunaGeorge, Swim Deep and Haim should all be gearing up once again this year, while the likes of Will Butler and Brandon Flowers will both be branching away from their other musical outputs (Arcade Fire and The Killers respectively) to go at things alone. Savages will undoubtedly return with a blistering effort, while The Dead Weather’s recent two-track single offerings are totting up to be quite the full-length. Electronic duos are back in force too, with both Beach House and Purity Ring returning to our ears. Meanwhile, Johnny Jewel has confirmed he’s been busy with a new Chromatics album, and all while Florence and the Machine are prepping their latest attack on the charts. Noel Gallagher is set to release a new record, which boasts a performance from Johnny Marr, this March, and Dan Deacon unveils his latest offering at the end of this month. Waxahatchee ‘s follow-up to ‘Cerulean Salt’ is due in April, while Frank Ocean has already unveiled the first track from his sophomore record. Then, Modest Mouse’s ‘Strangers To Ourselves’ will land seven years after their last record and Twin Shadow’s newest fulllength will arrive next month. DIIV, Django Django, Sufjan Stevens and Daughter are all putting finishing touches to material too and, most importantly, Run The Jewels are making an album full of cat noises... DIY

the new album includes ‘10/0’ and ‘pencil pusher’ out now cd / lp / download

Getting Closer SKIN ‘Skin’ is the song that I always wanted to have open the album because of the clock ticking at the beginning. I feel like it really represents the time that it’s taken for me to make this.

Photo: Mike Massaro 20

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UNGUARDED I went out to America to do a writing session; I think it was being away again; I realised that I just wanted to show people who I was.

UNDER THE SHADOWS This feels like the most mature song and the one closest to me figuring out who I am.

COLD I wrote ‘Cold’ with my friend Fryars. We had the idea of doing a proper classic duet – like Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood.

CLOSER ‘Closer’ has the weird balance of being fun, but it’s got a deep meaning. It’s about my relationship with my brother: us moving away from Blackpool and growing up.

DO YOU EVEN KNOW? I was feeling the pressures and that people weren’t really understanding what I wanted to do as an artist. I just wanted to say to people, ‘Do you even know what you’re talking about?’

FOR YOU ‘For You’ was one the first songs I ever wrote. I was quite confused about who ‘Rae Morris’ was. The reason I call myself Rae is down to my grandad: he was a singer too.

MORNE FORTUNE I’m really glad I put it on the album: it’s about how my parents got married in St. Lucia, on a hill called Morne Fortune.

LOVE AGAIN ‘Love Again’ was a song that came later, as I had come out of the other end of the feeling of falling in love for the first time. This song is me realising that it’s all a circle.

Famed tiny person Rae Morris. showcases her tour essential..

As Rae Morris gears up to release her debut album ‘Unguarded’, the Blackpudlian singer reveals some of the inspirations and innerworkings of each of its twelve tracks.

DON’T GO ‘Don’t Go’ is a song that I originally wrote for Skins, the TV show. Every time I play it, it takes on a new meaning.

THIS TIME It’s a proper piano ballad and it’s very uncomplicated. It’s about second chances. NOT KNOWING A lot of the songs I write deal with not really knowing answers to the questions that life puts forwards. It’s very accepting of everyone and everything. Rae Morris’s debut album ‘Unguarded’ will be released on 26th January via Atlantic Records. DIY

Do You Even

Know ? Rae may claim to be ‘Unguarded’ on her debut album, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t more dirt to be dug - with a little help from her friends. Do you want to go on a date with me? If so, where shall we go? - Grace Chatto, Clean Bandit I thought you’d never ask! I’d hire us a tandem and we’d cycle around London together on a bicycle made for two. I was wondering, did you used to enjoy fancy dress in days of old? If so, what was your favourite fancy dress get up? (Think mine was Buzz Lightyear xo) - George Ezra Fancy dress in Blackpool was pretty makeshift. I’d have matched your Buzz in my homemade Jessie costume on a good day. Most other days, I’d put on big high heels and dress as a secretary to practice for my future. I reckon we would have made good fancy dress buddies.

say your public persona differs from your private one? - Fryars I’d say I’m 18% less in control of my hyperactive and slightly outrageous extroverted side in my private life. 18% more in control when in public and around strangers. I think it’s for the best. You’ve seen the full 100% me so I guess you probably agree. Much has been made of your collaborations with various different artists over the last year but is there anyone else you’d really love to work with? - Jamie MacColl, Bombay Bicycle Club I guess up to now all the collaborations that have happened have come about organically. I would never want to force something to happen unnaturally. I would love to work with someone further from my world though. Collaborate with a poet like Kate Tempest maybe or a rap genius like Chance The Rapper. I’m excited to open the doors to new avenues a little.

Having heard some of your demos I know that a lot of the production ideas come directly from you. Did you feel able to get your ideas across Hi Rae, we’re both from Blackpool, how much do you when it came to working think where you’re from influences your music? Did the in a bigger studio setting? Blackpool illuminations inspire you as a child? Also, have - Jamie MacColl, Bombay ever been on the Big One at the Pleasure Beach? - Years Bicycle Club & Years I did find it difficult at first in I actually wrote my entire album whilst sat on the Big One! those bigger studios to have Only kidding. Blackpool definitely influenced the way I the confidence to speak look at life. The bright lights made me want to go find out when I didn’t the rest of the bright lights in the world to look at. like something or thought it should If you were stuck on a plane with Fryars, Tom be different. Odell and James Bay and you needed to throw I didn’t know two of them out to survive who would you whether to trust dispense with and why? - Fryars my instinct, but Is it a crisis? Is the plane falling down? Either having the original way, instinctively my first thought was weight demos with a real balance and food supply so I think you’d have sense of the feel to be my first to go, mate! I know that Tom always helped. To infinity, and petan!. Odell hates flying anyway so I’d chuck him I’ve found that out to save him the torture. I have a good it’s much easier feeling that James would be a calm head for someone to in a crisis. Plus, we can compare our hair understand what lengths to pass the time. you’re trying to say with a song To what extent (as a percentage) would you

when you have a sketch of the production idea and general direction you want to go in. Are there any moments over the past four years you feel were essential to the creation of this album? - Sivu I’d say that Fryars, generally, introduced me to a way of working and a sound that shaped the whole sound of the album going forward. Then Ariel Rechtshaid put that vision into play and introduced me to some of the most incredible musicians. When Chris Dave came in to play drums on a song called ‘For You’, the penny kind of dropped and everything clicked into place. On a wider scale, leaving Blackpool and home helped me finish the album. I had to grow up at the end rather than just talking about the prospect of it all the time! I think currently my favourite track on the album is ‘This Time’. It’s a beauty, feels perhaps one of the most open lyrically what was your thought process behind the song? - Sivu I remember taking so long to pluck up the courage to play ‘This Time’ to anyone. I think I was scared about how much of a confessional it is. I was asking a question and considering second chances, whether I could step up to the challenge to fight for something and hold on to it. I guess in this song I realised that I wasn’t strong enough to do that. It’s hard writing about how rubbish you are yourself, haha! What’s the best moment of you career so far? - SOAK I’d say that my favourite moment so far was probably singing with Bombay Bicycle Club at Glastonbury last year. Playing a very small part in their big moment was a real honour and I’ll never forget that. I’m very thankful for the opportunity.

Game of nice tones: The Decemberists.

“Ti m e i s r el at i v e” It’s been four years since their last album, but The Decemberists have hardly been away. Words: Danny Wright.

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think the weirdest thing was seeing ourselves as Simpsons characters. The Simpsons universe is a pretty surreal and exciting place. And then we were on The Hunger Games soundtrack. I think back to that and think, ‘Oh, we were on that, weren’t we? I forgot’.” After making six albums of intellectual, polysyllabic alt-rock The Decemberists decided to take a break. They’d earned it: their last album ‘The King Is Dead’ had sat atop the US charts and they’d even been nominated for a Grammy. But, speaking to Colin Meloy, it’s clear that though the band may have been on hiatus for four years, he’s not exactly had his feet up. Their hectic schedule meant that, when it was time to start to piece together what would become new album ‘What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World’, for Meloy it felt like no time had passed at all. “Time is relative and as you get older you just experience it differently. Initially, going into the break, I was setting aside three or four years, which felt like an eternity, and now I’m like ‘Woah, what happened?’” Those four years had been set aside for Meloy to write ‘Wildwood Imperium’, the third of his best-selling fantasy adventure novels. Yet, instead of becoming an obstacle to his songwriting, dividing his time between writing the book and writing new Decemberists’ songs actually worked out – one acting as a holiday from the other. “They’re nice procrastination tools, one from the other.” The time away also gave him chance to reflect, and this

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coupled with having children and the events which he saw happening in the world around him, led to him writing his most personally-charged and inward looking songs. It was a change that had already been signalled by ‘The King Is Dead’. And ‘What A Terrible World…’ is a record that is more personal still. “With this one we let the songs dictate the shape of the record. Because I was working on them in my downtime between working on the book it meant I was writing songs in the same way I wrote them even before the band – as something that was fun to do and without a record in mind. I’m fairly prolific so over a four year period I amassed a lot of stuff so we had the luxury of “I’m fairly prolific so I just letting the bad ones go, amassed a lot of stuff.” knowing there would be more Colin Meloy to take their place.” Seven albums in, does he feel like they’re the same band, is he the same person? “I do. I look back at some of our older stuff and some funny, funny decisions were made along the way and I don’t know if I would make the same decisions now. So in some ways I’m sort of separate to that person writing those songs. But I can still see it; I can hear my voice in them.” The Decemberists’ new album ‘What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World’ is out now via Rough Trade Records. DIY

NEW BLOOD

his month, Mexican Summersigned musician Weyes Blood is set to play her first London headline show for DIY Presents at the Old Blue Last. Following the release of last year’s ‘The Innocents’, Natalie Mering will bring her haunting songwriting to the capital for a free entry show, on 21st February. Having recently been on a run of shows around the US, her dates have crossed over into the new year, giving her more than enough time to warm up for her forthcoming appearance. Everything on her debut points to an introverted but powerful routine, but live, her English folk-inspired tracks fledge out into even finer beings. Support is set to come from Wyldest, who you may have spotted opening the London leg of the DIY Presents Tour 2014 back in November. DIY

R I S I N G UP

ho doesn’t love indulging in a Saturday night packed full of great bands? DIY is teaming up with The Roundhouse in Camden as part of their annual five-day festival Roundhouse Rising. Joining forces with the likes of BBC Introducing, Coda and 13 Artists, who are all partners for this year’s edition of the event which is set to showcase some of 2015’s brightest new acts, DIY will be taking over the stage on Saturday 21st February. Bringing the weekend’s first slice of entertainment will be our incendiary Class of 2015 members Girl Band, who have already caused quite the stir on the live circuit, alongside new DIY favourites The Magic Gang. DIY

NEWS IN BRIEF

A FIRST NEW LIGHT After a rather quiet 2013, Edinburghborn and London-based Django Django’s have finally returned. The band have unveiled ‘First Light’, as taken from their forthcoming second record, and you can listen to it now on diymag.com.

THOSE AMERICAN BEAUTIES Fall Out Boy have announced details of a seven-date UK arena tour. Kicking off at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on 3rd October, the band will visit the likes of Aberdeen, Cardiff and Bournemouth before wrapping things up with a show at London’s Wembley Arena on the 11th October.

THAT DIDN’T TAKE YEARS & YEARS Years & Years have announced details of a new London headline show, a few days on from winning the BBC Sound of 2015. Last month’s DIY cover stars will take to Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 12th June, following a UK run beginning this month.

GOOD LORDE! Lorde recently attended the Golden Globes and, when chatting to MTV, offered up some words on the followup to debut ‘Pure Heroine’: “I have no timeline - I really don’t care. For me I have to kind of write a project lyrically before I attack it musically.

SOUTH BY SOUTH OOOH. SXSW - taking place from 17th - 22nd March - has announced a new batch of names. Amongst a huge list of additions, Ryn Weaver, Palma Violets, Best Coast and Marina and the Diamonds are the standouts, with a huge crop of British talent (over 60 new names) added to the bill. 23

The Dr. Martens #STANDFORSOMETHING Tour in association with DIY comes to a close with Don Broco and Tonight Alive taking over London and Newcastle.

Don Broco

Photos: Emma Swann

#STANDFORSOMETHING TOUR

lonely the brave

REPORT

DON BROCO + LONELY THE BRAVE LONDON, THE BLACK HEART

he finish line is in sight and we’re on the home straight: tonight is the London leg of the Dr. Martens #STANDFORSOMETHING Tour in association with DIY show number five of six - and it’s going to get a bit ridiculous. Arriving in the home of all things punk and pierced, Camden, tonight’s gig is hosted in the intimate environs of the Black Heart. Three-piece Sserpress get things off to a rowdy start. Somewhat grungy and at times thrashy, they’re a trio that can make much more of a satisfying racket than their tie-dye t-shirts and Hanson haircuts would imply. Next up, the room is rammed for main support Lonely The Brave. Having already become a live staple within the UK rock scene while having their debut album land at Number 14 in the charts, it’s no surprise that their set is anticipated. When they begin, it’s easy to understand why. A mix of soaring guitars and passionate vocals, they’re the perfect fistin-the-air, sing-your-voice-raw kind of band, and with a good chunk of the crowd tonight, that’s exactly how they spend their half hour slot. Running through cuts from ‘The Day’s War’, they’re slick but raw, with the intensity of their offerings shining through.

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Vocalist David Jakes may not be stood centre stage for their performance, but the songs possess all of the power you could wish for. By the time Don Broco hit the tiny stage, the crowd are already nicely sweaty. Bursting into a rendition of debut album cut ‘Yeah Man’ with charismatic gusto, the first track makes quite an impression, but it’s with second song ‘Thug Workout’ that things really get underway. All jarring guitars paired with Damiani’s lyric-spitting, it causes chaos at the front of the room, with energy levels soaring. The rest of their set follows in a similar vein. ‘Priorities’ and ‘Fancy Dress’ are obvious highlights - after all, who could dispute the skill of performing their trademark ‘walk’ dance move in such a tiny space? - and even new track ‘Money Power Fame’, which was first aired only a week or so ago, receives a warm welcome. The band themselves are the epitome of showmanship, and their fans love every minute of it. For a sweaty Friday night out, it’s a success all around.

REPORT tonight alive moose blood

TONIGHT ALIVE + MOOSE BLOOD NEWCASTLE, WAREHOUSE 34

ll good things must come to an end. With December finally rearing its head and Christmas scarily fast-approaching, the 2014 leg of the Dr. Martens #STANDFORSOMETHING Tour in association with DIY draws to a close, but with Australian firecrackers Tonight Alive doing the honours of gracing Newcastle this evening, there’s no risk of this last show being anything but explosive. First up to take on (the almost, sort-of near Byker Grove) Warehouse 34, Strummerville openers Mister Nothing blast through a set of guitary punk. With blue fairy lights draped around their primary microphone - it is nearly Christmas, after all – they’re a band who evidently have a clear vision and steely determination, it may just take a few more shows for them to perfect their stage presence. Next up are relative newcomers Moose Blood. Fresh from a lengthy UK tour, their time on the road is clearly paying off. While their intimate offerings feel personal and inviting, the gritty songs still resound well in a bigger room. They’ve even brought along a few fans of their own, proving that their schedule is paying off. Tinged with influences from contemporaries Seahaven and Balance and Composure, they’re an inviting act - boasting both intriguing and relatable lyrics it’s clear why they’ve already garnered such a dedicated fanbase - that are undoubtedly set for much bigger things. Tonight’s headliners however, are a completely different beast. Bursting into life amongst a flurry of intro music and dramatic lights, Australian five-piece Tonight Alive are all go. Darting around as though she’s the human version of the Speed bus, frontwoman Jenna McDougall boasts an endless supply of energy and flair, along with her head of shaggy sea-green hair. Dancing one second, clapping the next, there’s no slowing down: she’s constantly rallying her fans, dipping and diving towards them before launching herself off the stage, and all with the finest control and style. Blitzing through a twelve-song set of high octane anthems, the crowd’s voices are raised and there’s a spark of electricity in the air. Even the band’s more mid-paced offerings have McDougall waltzing across the stage, her vocals gleaming brightly against the intricate guitar lines. When it comes to putting on a show there’s no stopping this band, and as McDougall’s call-andreply chants for ‘What Are You So Scared Of?’ get louder with each line, it’s a safe bet that everyone’s going to walk away from tonight’s show tingling. DIY 25

NEU

Shamir Bursting out of the blue with 2015â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heaviest dose of originality, Shamir Bailey is anything but regular. Words: Jamie Milton. Photos: Phil Smithies

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his time last year, Shamir Bailey was a Las Vegas kid recording in New York for the first time, with the premise being that he’d head back home with his very first cassette. A few weeks before, he’d sent his demos to tape label GODMODE. A couple of songs would be recorded, this niche release would circulate, that would be that. But label head honcho Nick Sylvester had bigger ideas. Cut to 2015, we’re being told that Shamir is the ‘sound’ of the year, a breath of fresh air on top of an already exciting crop of pop. “I’ve still never released that tape!” says Shamir, one year on. “For the most part, I’ve had complete control over my whole life. I’ll see something, I’ll work hard at it, I’ll get it done. I had this feeling of not knowing what’s next but knowing that it would be relatively good. Not crazy and out of my hands, like this.” When things started turning Shamir’s way at 100mph - the response to his debut ‘Northtown’ EP was huge - he locked himself in his bedroom, and didn’t come out for a whole week. “The pressure sank in,” he claims. But since then, the course has been embraced with nothing but big, confident strides. A few months after those New York sessions, he’d signed a deal with XL. Aside from studio time, he was spending his hours interning at the label’s office. “I was still relatively unknown. I sat at the intern desk with all the other interns we were all normal. Eventually I started coming in and they were looking at me all crazy going, ‘Are… you signed?!’” ‘Northtown’ paved the way, but it wasn’t until 2014’s ‘On the Regular’ single that Shamir became more than a hyped-up newcomer. Here was the voice - and face - of 2015, a dynamic twist to the pop formula. On record, he’s already flipping the book, avoiding the everyday pigeonhole by backflipping from electro-house to acoustic balladry, with quick trips through R&B and funk territory in the process. His stage game resembles that of James Murphy, a live sound resembling the absorb-everything approach of LCD. But when it comes to a 2015 full-length, Bailey is promising a very different story.

“I made a checklist of all the types of music and genres that I wanted to cover in the album - and I ticked it off,” he says, neatly summing up this attitude into the slogan: “Everything for everyone”. “I got a knack for country music, I used to be in a punk band. I’m glad that it all ranges out and the people are hearing that,” he declares. Since things took off, he’s made the permanent move to NYC. Today he surrounds himself with a good crowd of creatives, citing Kitty Pryde and fellow XL-signing Låpsley as new friends. “Låpsley is my boo,” he beams. “We’ve been chatting it up on the internet a lot. We’re like the same person, same sense of humour. We’re in the same position too,” he says, referring to the all-eyes-on-2015 story that’s backing both musicians at the beginning of the year. Everything’s changed for Shamir in the past twelve months, but he’s taking on big responsibilities with enthusiasm and confidence ablaze. There’s no second guessing, no backtracking to be found here - ‘On the Regular’ onwards, he’s basically steamrolling his way into wild success. He says he hates computers, he calls himself “musically dyslexic” and he plays the guitar upside-down, but that’s not important when you consider the momentum he’s carrying. DIY

W H I C H WAY U P ?

Not many people get comparisons to Hendrix, but then again not many artists play guitar the wrong way round.

“I didn’t realise I was playing upside down until I was carrying my guitar down the road home, one day,” recalls Shamir. “This guy comes up to me and said, ‘Do you play?’ I was like, ‘Sort of’. He asked me to play something, I think he offered me five bucks. I played him something, sang me a song and the whole time he looked like he was in awe. I couldn’t even really sing then, so I wondered what he was tripping over. He was like, ‘You play upside down?’ I was like, ‘I do?!’. He said I played like a young Jimi Hendrix - and then he gave me ten bucks!” 27

neu

The hyped-up Brightonians are sticking to their own pace, following a set at DIY’s Hello 2015.

Brighton’s The Magic Gang closed proceedings on the opening night of DIY’s Hello 2015 gigs playing to a sea of flailing limbs and hyped-up punters. In the space of twelve months, the four-piece have gone from a niche concern, barely formed, into one of the UK’s brightest new hopes. Still, 2015 looks like being a year of small steps, rather than diving into a world of record deals and heavy-going tours. This month, they’re expected to release their new single. “We’re releasing it with people we know,” confirms bassist Angus Taylor. “They know what we want from it and what we’re about, whereas if a label comes along at such an early stage and they wanna push us in a direction, that can intervene. We just wanna write loads of great songs.”

Speaking backstage before their headline set, the band are taking stock of their exciting first year. “We’ve not been hiding anywhere, we just formed and we needed time to get any decent playing time,” says guitarist Kristian Smith, Taylor chiming in by confirming “we were so bad.” Much of the talk around The Magic Gang stems from their house-turned-studio by the coast, where they’ve produced other promising Brighton acts such as Our Girl, while forming various sideprojects, all of which are worth digging up. Together, they decided to start taking the band more seriously when “people were interested,” says frontman Jack Kaye. “Between all of us, there’s so much material and there’s various angles. It’s not all the same thing.” 2015 could easily spiral - one of their biggest aims is to land at this summer’s festivals, playing a couple of surrounding tours, but if this single takes off - as it ought to - there could be a completely different story. See them on DIY’s stage at Roundhouse Rising. Check out p23 for more information. DIY

The Mag i c G an g

Photo: Emma Swann

r e a dy n e w, s e l f - r e l e a s e d s i n g l e

28 diymag.com

M itski Catharsis in its harshest form, say hello to a great new songwriter. Mitski makes people cry. There’s no going around it. She also prompts feelings of elation, pure jubilation, anger and fear. You name it - at least one account of seeing her live will be led by an extreme emotion. On her debut full-length ‘bury me at makeout creek’ via Double Double Whammy, everything is permanently real. Days can be spent staring at the lyric sheet, not just hearing her primal scream reverberate about the place. Varying between woozy, ‘50s-nodding pop and harsh distortion, she throws so much into every song - sometimes sounding like she wants to bury emotions but there’s no getting around those inevitable tears. Listen: Album ‘bury me at makeout creek’ is out now. For Fans Of: The @sosadtoday Twitter account, playing rock songs at funerals.

neu NEU

REC OMMENDED

hon n e

Dan ny L Har l e

Vampires dressed as pop sensations, The Garden pack something sinister.

Smooth soul prospects worth believing in.

A taste of reality from the PC Music crew.

With all the theatricality of Christopher Biggins on a caffeine high, The Garden use pop as performance. Since last year’s SXSW, these twenty-year-old twins have fast become frightful new hopes. At a recent London show, limbs flailed like there was no tomorrow, punk mentality being twisted and contorted via milky synths and curious hooks. At once, The Garden make the simplest and also most complex form of pop, scattering gems within a big batch of tongue-in-cheek nonsense. Every so often they strike gold, going beyond the #fashion status they’ve arrived packing. Listen: Single ‘Surprise’ is out now. For Fans Of: The Drums if they swapped surfboards for weapons.

The line keeps getting bigger for smooth-toned artists, perfecting the art of spluttering and slick post-James Blake pop. There’s a difference to HONNE. Place this Lake District duo in any setting and they’d emerge with a pristine pop song. Hand them a cowbell and a couple of broken violas - they’d pen the next ‘Get Lucky’, most likely. Case in point is ‘Warm on a Cold Night’, a Frank Ocean-inspired beast that successfully soundtracked every steamed-up moment of intimacy before D’Angelo decided to turn up again. Listen: EP ‘Warm on a Cold Night’/’Baby Please’ is out now. For Fans Of: ‘Channel Orange’ with the lights off.

Th e G ar den

Danny L Harle is a big part of 2014’s foremost zeitgeist-flippers, PC Music, a label with both feet firmly planted in dark, twisted fantasy. He’ll take part in the label’s traditions, sure - for their livestreamed Halloween party, he donned a Hawaiian shirt and dished out #bangerz like a true pro - but he’s also penning the songs most likely to break through from a happy clique. Last year’s ‘In My Dreams’ was the most exceptional thing to come out of a hit-and-miss online club, a rare glimpse of truth from an otherwise confusing pack. Like Caribou, with a ticket to Ibiza and a stash of uppers. LISTEN Single ‘In My Dreams’ is out now. FOR FANS OF The Vengaboys, Lone.

THE

DNA OF KKB Their sound might come off as alien and mad at first, but here’s how to make sense of all things Kero Kero.

kero kero bonito Bubbling up with online hype is the first of several steps f o r t h i s b o n k e r s A n g l o - J a p a n e s e t r i o . W o r d s : K at e L i s m o r e

Kero Kero Bonito are a pop trio bearing few similarities. Gus, Jamie and Sarah make neu up the South London outfit, formed after connecting on an online forum for Japanese ex-pats living in the big smoke. “We really wanted to do something that was just not your average project,” says Gus, whose friends helped him put up an advert in Japanese. “Sarah was the best respondent!” he beams. “We were very fortunate - it was fate.” Listening to KKB’s output so far is a lot like being placed in your own vivid videogame, or an animated series. In their music, they combine a lifetime’s supply of pop culture references from the East and West, the only true running thread being a heady love of the internet. They’re keen however to state that geography’s a bigger inspiration than a life spent online. “It’s funny because there’s music that is much more ‘internet’ aesthetic than us. Y’know a lot more emoji references, a lot more manicure records or PC Music is more explicitly ‘internet’, but I think it chimes in with the international vibe of KKB,” says Gus, referring to a widespread batch of names who solely exist on the web. Kero Kero Bonito already have the potential to go way beyond cliquey online hype. The group’s latest track ‘Build It Up’ is a jumbling together of nostalgic brilliance. What initially strikes as a collection of nifty 30 diymag.com

arcade game samples in fact stems from scratch sounds that cleverly pastiche beloved childhood memories. Like everything they’ve produced to date, it sounds like little else on this mad old planet. Together, they describe Kero Kero Bonito as “International tanoshi sound.” Tanoshi, the - Japanese term for ‘fun’ - fits nicely with the group’s outlook on creating new music, also linking to Sarah Bonito’s easy-going interchange between English and Japanese when she sings and raps. Drawing on her upbringing overseas, combining both cultures came naturally to her. “I just draw from what my experiences are, because half of my life was spent in Japan, so in a way I’m Japanese. But living in England, I’ve got two cultures kind of inside of me and it’s just combining the two together and that’s what comes out,” she says. All nostalgia aside, KKB have an inventive, lively approach to pop music, adopting a universal tone and fully embracing the internet as a means for sharing and developing their music in a way which fits their far out personalities. A new record’s promised for 2015, following on last year’s ‘Intro Bonito’ mixtape, which served as a bonkers greetings message. “We really want to go over to Japan,” says Jamie, ticking one obvious box - but their ambitions go way beyond making a name for themselves online. That much is already clear. DIY

PC Music 2014’s go-to label twists the pop formula by instinct. Kero Kero Bonito steer just far away from A. G. Cook’s conception to form an identity of their own. Although they’ve picked up great remixes from PC alumni Danny L Harle and Kane West.

Ryan Hemsworth KKB recorded arguably their best song to date, ‘Flamingo’, for Hemmy’s Secret Songs project, an online hub of free downloads. This one formed part of a compilation devoted to everyone’s favourite colour - pink.

Bo Em Another fascinating London newcomer, Calum Bowen collaborated with the group on last year’s ‘My Party’. At a Neu Presents show last summer, Sarah and Gus from KKB even joined him onstage for a rendition of the song.

Photos: Phil Smithies

l i v e r e p o r t

nao Corsica Studios, London

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The second half of 2014 gave hints of it, but here’s the confirmation: Nao’s well on track to becoming one of pop’s big names.

Before a sold out, celebratory Corsica Studios show - riding on the back of support slots on the Little Dragon tour - the London artist collaborated with William Arcane and Jai Paul’s brother, A. K. Paul, adding hype to already bubbling up pieces of future-leaning R&B. Promising but not fully belonging to one distinct sound, these songs posed a puzzle as much as a hypegaining introduction.

Setlist

• Intro • Good Girl • We Don’t Give A • In the morning • On & On • So Good • Adore • Your Kiss • Control • Back Porch • Wildfire (Little Dragon cover)

Seeing it all flesh out live makes the difference. Clearly, behind the scenes and beyond the initial stream of songs, she’s been perfecting the important stuff. A light show dazzles, the most regular sight being a solid line of silhouettes shifting in and out of focus. Nao leads a full band and backing singers from one crescendo to the other, the A. K. Paul-produced ‘So Good’ being the epitome of slick. The meticulousness of the show is almost disarming - it’s like witnessing a genuine star biding their time. Arena nights must have helped raise the game, but this already feels ready for the next step. The only flat note arrives in closer ‘Wildfire’, a cover of Little Dragon, which comes backed with countless “thank you”’s and seals off a successful 2014. In normal circumstances this’d be an ideal end, but Nao already has enough about her to save the gratitude and heartfelt goodbyes for when she’s truly jostling with the big guns. (Jamie Milton)

Alex Burey

T h i s S o u t h L o n d o n - b a s e d B R I T S c h o o l g r a d uat e m a k e s pat c h wo r k r ec o r d i n g s o f s a m p l e- h e av y s o u l .

Alex Burey’s been the talk of the town for some time. Back when he was in year 7 at school, his house became a de-facto studio neu for anyone into music. Kids several years above would flock to his bedroom to lay down a track, his dad bringing up cups of tea to music-inclined strangers. A lot’s changed since then Burey’s since graduated from the esteemed BRIT School, early home of Adele and King Krule to name a couple - but this teen remains on the edge of everyone’s lips. His early recordings, showcased in debut EP ‘Inside World’, operate on the fringes. There’s hints of Bonobo in ‘Unspoken’’s horn samples, and his softly-softly vocal carries a whimsical, soulful quality. Growing up, Burey’s music taste was slightly skewed. At fifteen, he was already starting his own production inspired by the work of Aphex Twin. A couple of years after that, he began the rock and ska phase that usually comes first in a youngster’s music absorption. Now he cites legends like Scott Walker and Lee Hazlewood - “some of his stuff reminds me of an old man pub, but some of it’s beautiful,” he says. A couple months on from his debut EP, he’s already detailing out his long-term plan. He wants to be making music well into his fifties, he claims. “So many artists nowadays - everyone’s in love with them for a year. Management and labels nowadays think about things as a one year project,” he says, his own intentions being the complete opposite. “Erykah Badu once

diymag.com

replied to kind comments by saying, ‘that’s nice of you, but it’s completely selfish, the reason I make music,’” he cites, linking this back to his own big ambition. The home studio of his early days remains a hub. These days he’ll take to something of a lock-in, recording in the dead hours of night right through to the next afternoon. On Burey’s big musical bucket list is his wish to form an electronic side project (“I’ve probably got more electronic songs than ones under my own name”) and avoiding the King Krule comparisons that crop up next to his first tracks (“I like his music a lot, but I don’t get how you could draw that from ‘Unspoken’”). With everything he details, Burey possesses a curious enthusiasm. He’ll go crazy talking about Mac DeMarco just as he will a producer like Kwes, a scattershot musical taste helping to form his more than promising first releases. It’s taken a while to get the solo run going. To begin with, Alex was touted by industry-types after he penned a song for a Sony-signed artist, but this wasn’t the route he wanted to take. “I started meeting people through that, and I didn’t want to be signed on the basis of being a writer for someone else. I don’t like the whole idea of sessions. Unless I know the person, it’s fucking scary,” he says. His own live band - which has only just started playing shows - formed three years back, but he’s held back on releasing his own material because, from electronic to ska to soul, his music taste keeps refreshing and mutating. As 2015 gets into full swing, he’s ready to showcase who he truly is. DIY

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BEECH COMA

In its short history, Beech Coma’s put out two compilations that read like a who’s who of exciting DIY talent. Mostly emerging from the UK, bands taking their first step on the Leeds via London-run project include Glasgow group Tuff Love and various The Magic Gang side projects, Abattoir Blues and Sulky Boy to name a couple. There’s plenty of room to progress and expand, but in true form this is a label that’s checking its own step, with standalone releases and live showcases forthcoming. We spoke to founder Harry Bainbridge about the Beech life. What made you decide to put out compilations of your favourite new acts, and why on cassette? Beech Coma originally started off as a blog that I updated pretty infrequently with small introductory pieces on bands and acts, mostly operating out of their bedrooms. The first release was meant to just be a physical version of the blog, bringing together ten or so acts that I wanted to reach a wider audience. A cassette compilation just seemed like a really accessible way of doing that. Is there any particular act that you were keen to get involved in the first place? I remember coming across Kristian Smith’s solo stuff for the first time a couple of years ago and being utterly blown away. The Magic Gang had just appeared and YRRS were still active too, and the fact that there were all these affiliated projects going on like Home School and Bayy really excited me. Is it important to find not just a batch of new bands, but some that stick together and share the same values / ideas? Yes! I think that all the bands I’ve worked with share an ethos of sorts. I think one of the things that shows this shared vibe is the way that even though they’re aware of the label’s limitations, they all still seem excited to be part of it. One of the best things is telling a band which other musicians are involved in a compilation and really feeling the enthusiasm to share in a small community. Being able to grow the label out of this growing community is something I’m very lucky for.

Whether it’s a first step on wax or an under the radar digital release, the beginning of 2015 draws up some treats from new artists. Circuiting soul, ghostly pop and incessantly catchy guitars, below we rundown some essential upcoming releases.

Jimmy Napes Give It Up

Already, Jimmy Napes has lent a hand to tracks featuring Disclosure and Nile Rodgers, so he’s not exactly a novice. With his debut EP - out 9th March - he turns attention to a solo run, with rich, waxed-up electronic pop being the game. Howard from Disclosure and MJ Cole share production credits on the release.

Liu Bei Goodness

Liu Bei are named after a Chinese Warlord, which already gives a hint towards their grandiose direction, the band often sounding embattled and gorgeously embracing all at once. On their debut EP - following the ‘Infatuation’ single - they back a title track with ‘Fields’, a headturning collaboration with Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell. It’s out now on Museumgoer Records.

Hooton Tennis Club Jasper / Standing Knees

Newly signed to Heavenly, Hooton Tennis Club are a bright-eyed bunch from Liverpool, coining clever guitar pop out of simple parts and a deadpan style of observation. Their debut 7” - out 23rd February - boasts production from Bill Ryder Jones (formerly of The Coral) and DIY premiered the woozy ‘Jasper’ right at the beginning of 2015.

34 diymag.com

Sleater-Kinney

are oft heralded as one of

the most important and well-loved bands of their generation. Throughout the nineties and noughties, they both their stripped down punk and their

blazed

a trail with

fearlessness

challenging social injustice. When the trio announced their reunion l ate l as t year, the internet went into meltdown:

back

the band are

w i t h a n e w a l b u m , a n d t h e y ’ r e a s f o r t h r i g h t a s e v e r . “T

frustration is still there

,” they explain.

h av e t o s p e a k u p.”

hat

“We

Words: El Hunt

“I

’m so self-conscious about birds!” exclaims Carrie Brownstein, suddenly. “There’s a dress I wanted to buy which had these little lovely birds on,” she qualifies, “and I was like, I just can’t. I ruined birds for my friends,” she sighs, with faux-regret, “and I’ve ruined birds for myself.”

Carrie Brownstein is notorious for many different outlets these days, from her parodies of pernickety feminist bookstore owners and chaffinchadorned designer goods on US sketch show Portlandia, to the now-disbanded Wild Flag. When she walks down the street these days, she most likely hears “put a bird on it!” almost as frequently as shouts of “Sleater-Kinney!” Her bandmate Corin Tucker, too, wields a fearsome stand-alone reputation; her tuned-down guitar and vocal barrage of wild, unleashed vibrato unlike anything else on planet Earth, let alone the universe. Drummer Janet Weiss meanwhile has forged a path as an untouchably immediate musician and a force of pure, pummelling nature; both on Sleater-Kinney records, and with her other bands, Quasi and Wild Flag. Today Corin Tucker snorts with derision when asked about that time Sleater-Kinney were proclaimed “America’s best rock band” by critic Greil Marcus. “Now we just want to be the greatest jazz band in America,” she laughs; “something to work towards on the next record,” archly quips Carrie in response. Likewise, Carrie is modest about the contribution to political dialogue that Sleater-Kinney made with albums like 2002’s ‘One Beat’, a record that arrived under the Bush administration and amid the grieving aftermath of 9/11. They’re more forthcoming about their ideological core feminism and social change; less so about their status as uncompromising flag bearers for the movement. Sleater-Kinney generally couldn’t give two hoots about being cornerstones of music past, or being remembered from eras long replaced by high street stores selling overpriced Beavis and Butthead t-shirts. They are a band that only exists in the present, and there is one word that Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker return to time and time again today. Relevancy.

“Now we

just want to be the gre atest ja zz band in America .” - Corin Tucker 36

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On Sleater-Kinney’s last record, in 2005, the band infamously called nostalgia a whore in their tirade against industry puppets and shameless imitators, ‘Entertain’. Their rhetoric might have softened a little ten years on - mainly through containing fewer cuss-words - but their stance remains firmly the same. “It’s not an interesting place to create from,” says Carrie, bluntly. “It’s a rabbit hole to go down a path where [nostalgia’s] a motivating factor, or to be in a place where you feel like the past is better. That’s a very diminished way of existing in the present tense. How can you work from there?” she asks. “How can you make something new if you think everything good has already happened?” It’s the logic behind why Sleater-Kinney aren’t just back blazing a trail on the reunion circuit, or slapping a greatest hits collection down on the counter. Far from it, they’re back with ‘No Cities To Love’; yet another Sleater-Kinney album that magically seizes on the precise moment

“The creature of the album is questioning , and very hungry.” Corin Tucker 38 diymag.com

it operates within, and creates an entire cracked sonic mirror out of the chaos. “Relevancy is a very important element to longevity,” explains Carrie. The decision to record together again was not one that the band took at all lightly. “It’s been percolating for a few years, and it took a while to carve out the time,” Carrie says. “It wasn’t on some kind of timeline - it could have taken years to write [‘No Cities To Love’]. You know, it had to be very intentional.” “Yeah,” nods Corin. “We wanted to come out with a new record. We worked on it until we had an album that had something new to say.” ‘No Cities To Love’ certainly has plenty of that, and then some. “I always think of Betty Davis - she’s a funk singer - and she has this song called ‘The Anti-Love Song’,” says Carrie, shedding light on the album title. “It is actually about love, but you put the word ‘no’ in front of it and you still think of all the everywheres and nowheres, and how you sit within a given space, how you relate to context and yourself, and the people you love,” she ponders. “When you tell someone there’s no cities to love, you think about all the cities that you do love. It’s more about claiming the things that you do love, because it forces you to, as a title. You’re like, no! That’s not true! “

Sleater-Kinney, are you even capable of making a bad album? Corin: We work really hard not to! Carrie: When I listen to our older stuff, all the albums have great moments but I think actually ‘No Cities To Love’ holds up as one of the better records. Also, the old records have like 13 or 14 songs! Why didn’t we just put out 11? Corin: Because of the CD! That was very ‘in’ in the 90s. Which moments do you look back on, and think ‘why did I do that?’ Carrie: Definitely ‘Pristina’ on [2000 album] ‘All Hands On The Bad One’. Corin: No, that’s on [2002’s] ‘One Beat’. Carrie: Oh shit! But yeah, we couldn’t let go of it. That’s such a silly song in the middle of the record. Are you perfectionists? Corin: No. I think we’re hard workers, and we’re driven, but I think we strive for excellence rather than perfection. There’s a lot of clumsiness and messiness and moments that are awkward that I think we’ve kept, that have given us a strangeness, or a sourness.

Unrest, worry, and barely tensioned anxiety continually threaten to topple over into anger on ‘No Cities To Love’, and it’s characterised by barbed, spiky guitar lines, While Sleater-Kinney’s last record ‘The Woods’ was vast, expansive and cavernous, there’s an almost claustrophobic tautness to its follow-up. “Expansion does not exist on this record,” agrees Carrie, “except in little moments. We wrote it in a very airless, soundproofed space,” she says, referring to her narrow basement space in Portland. “It has an airless quality to it, the playing, which I think has a buttoned up anxiety.” Buttoned-up anxiety is a fitting emotion to hold up next to an age that doesn’t really know what to do with itself. ‘No Cities To Love’ is concerned with striving to take back agency, and occupying a new shape in a world that keeps on blurring the boundaries and withholding the rulebook from all but the super-rich. “It’s a search for connection and it’s about understanding the power of relationships,” says Corin. “To me the creature of the album is questioning, and very hungry,” she adds. “I think it’s couched in a very aggressive form, though,” adds Carrie. “Even when the subject or scene isn’t angry, it’s very unforgiving. The guy who designed our album artwork was working on it, and listening to the songs, obviously,” she pauses, smiling. “His kid came into the room and said, ‘oh, you’re playing music by the crazy band!’” Back in 2005 Sleater-Kinney sang “reality is the new fiction,” and they may as well have been predicting the advent of social media. “Realness does have a tenuousness to it [now],” agrees Carrie. “It’s like there’s an invisibility if you don’t document. A lot of this record is about power, and a sense of finding yourself,” she adds. “If you feel a sense of other, or outsiderness, you try to find these shapes, or roles, to fill. That can be a very alienating process. Ideally the space that you find for yourself, the shape that you end up filling, is yourself. A couple of the songs are about that sense of being half-formed and blurry, and trying to find solidity of shape.”

“This is one of

our best records.” - Carrie Brownstein

One such moment is the anthemic declaration that “no outline will ever hold us” on ‘New Wave’, accompanied by the grisly notion of humans being raw materials; fodder for the churning capitalist meat machine. On the title track, Carrie sings about wanting to walk out to the edge of her own life, leaving her body behind as a souvenir. Bodies on this album are everywhere but never quite complete, missing limbs or existing as weird empty voids. On the first single ‘Bury Our Friends’ they’re “stitched-up and sewn”, while ‘Price Tag’ takes a different

â&#x20AC;&#x153;How can you make something new if you think every thing good has alre ady happened?â&#x20AC;? Carrie Brownstein

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tact; the voice of a mother who does everything she can to follow the rules and fit into the prescribed mould. Try as she might, she just can’t assume the right shape. There’s no way to win, even if you play the game to the letter. “She will never achieve what she’s trying to achieve,” explains Corin, expanding on ‘Price Tag’. “Even though you’ve followed all the rules, and done everything that you’re supposed to do, your job still won’t provide what you’re looking for. Corporations in America switch people’s hours - especially working moms’ - to be less than 40 hours a week. There were huge stores like Walmart doing it. The idea that having a strong labour voice is no longer necessary in America anymore…” she clearly pauses to emphasise, “is bullshit.” The solution being to break the rules and play by entirely new ones? “Absolutely,” answers Corin with total certainty. Sleater-Kinney don’t just treat rules with a vagrant disregard; they continually advocate changing them entirely. ‘No Cities To Love’ is no exception. George W. Bush might be a nightmarish figment of the near-past, but the so-called War On Terror is still raging, and across the Atlantic protesters are out lining the streets of Ferguson and New York, railing against police brutality. Inequality is still the currency of society, and despite the progress that has been made since SleaterKinney last made music together in 2005, their concerns remain every jot as relevant. Not only do they have something new to say on this album, they have something absolutely vital that needs to be heard. “There’s still such an unrealised existence in the United States,” says Corin. “It’s such an incredible dichotomy; this promised land, for certain people. Other people will never be able to achieve that. That frustration is still there, and the inequality. We have to speak up about it, because if we just let that kind of privilege exist with wealth in America, then as a country we’ve failed,” she says, “absolutely failed.” ‘No Cities To Love’ contains “an element of wanting to do something that isn’t binary or defined by a shape that is familiar,” adds Corin. “[Society’s] resurgence of negativity and violence has to do with this fear of huge shifts where the binary is starting to break down a little bit,” expands Carrie. “That’s very scary for some people. Hierarchy is very comforting for a lot of people. It benefits some, and completely degrades others. When iCloud was hacked, you know, those nude picture leaks, there was this idea that women’s bodies are just available and objectified and made into commodifications.” It’s another idea slam bang wallop at the centre of this record. It’s not an easy dialogue to start up, and progression will be slow, but, Carrie adds, “people are starting to speak up. I think that the collective voice of power from the feminine is scaring the shit out of a lot of people,” she says with a glint.

social progression, Sleater-Kinney’s parting goal is an unlikely one; to return to The Planet, a fictional venue in America’s unofficial Most Ludicrous Gay Soap Opera, The L Word. At the height of their success, touring ‘The Woods’, Sleater-Kinney played ‘Jumpers’ on the show., and they’d go back and do it again “in a heartbeat,” says Corin. “We’d open for a band at The Planet. Who wouldn’t?” she adds, with a barelymaintained poker face. She can’t keep her composure any longer, and howls with laughter. “Everything about that is so silly,” laughs Carrie. It all returns to Sleater-Kinney’s favourite word: relevancy. They might roll their eyes, but they remain one of the biggest rock bands in America, and they connect with everyone equally - even noughties teenagers watching episodes of atrocious TV programmes. Whether the person picking up ‘No Cities To Love’ is brand new and arriving to the band for the first time, or a die-hard from the very beginning, Sleater-Kinney “want people to see this album on its own terms, and hopefully it holds up.” “I think it’s one of our best records,” assesses Carrie, and she’s right. “I am very proud of the fact that we put out six great records, and then our first is kind of like ‘we’re here’,” she laughs. ‘No Cities To Love’ simply holding up is surely the understatement of the year, and it’s only just started. Sleater-Kinney’s new album ‘No Cities To Love’ is out now via Sub Pop. DIY

“I think it’s so incredibly important that more women are feeling free to speak out, and to say that it’s unacceptable,” says Corin. “There are new ideas and ways of re-defining our interactions with each other. The whole yes means yes campaign for colleges,” she continues, referencing sex education in schools, “it’s brilliant that we’re reinventing how we start to interact with each other. Let’s make it like a weird French play where people are like ‘Do you want to have sex with me?’” she laughs. “It’s obviously really funny and awkward, but let’s make these relationships that we have with each other very specific and observed, and very public. It will be awkward and we’ll laugh in 20 years, but re-examining that is important.” Besides their tongue in cheek quest to become the best jazz band in America, and their deadly serious pursuit of musical and

Ha p p

After a minor false start last summer, Peace’s second album has finally arrived. “We knew what we wanted to do this time,” frontman Harry Koisser tells Dominique Sisley. Photos: Emma Swann

p e

p l

t’s 10am, and Peace are discussing the secrets to their success. “Food has got a big part to play,” drummer Dom Boyce announces, with a serious look in his eyes. Frontman Harry Koisser nods in agreement. “I’m crippled with self-doubt before lunch. Straight after lunch I’ll do something good, and before it everything is shit…” he stops suddenly. “Maybe I’m a food addict?” The conversation that casually seesaws between these two is not necessarily what you’d expect from your run of the mill ‘indie’ band. Any signs of over-inflated egos are virtually undetectable – replaced instead by a refreshingly modest and mellow mindset. Not at all bad considering they’re in the middle of promoting they’re very hotly anticipated second album, ‘Happy People’. “From a writing perspective it feels a lot more real, more developed,” Harry says, fiddling absent-mindedly with his scarf. “We came out of recording and felt like it had a lot more intent. We knew what we wanted to do this time. The first album was more of an experiment.” Dom smirks slightly in response – “there was a lot of naivety in the first one.”

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“ I ’ v e a lway s lov ed p o p m u s i c . I wa n t ed ‘ Lo s t O n M e’ to

A LOLLIP OP THAT’D BEEN DROP P ED ON THE FLO OR.” sound like

- H A R RY KO I S S E R

Released in 2013 after four years of non-stop touring, ‘In Love’ was the album that brought Peace to national attention. With its swirling guitars, rough-hewn energy and guttural cries, it gave a gust of life to a genre that was grasping for it. They’ve been quick to shrug off the album’s success since, though – claiming repeatedly that it was all just a bit of blag. “It was a fucking blag!” Harry laughs. “I told the label that I’d written eight songs when I’d written three. Five songs from ‘In Love’ were written in eight days before the label wanted them in. It was a complete blag – like when you do your homework at the last minute.”

way that writing can feel really scary and wrong but you get a buzz off it…” He breaks off suddenly. “To be clear, I’m not a serial killer.” It’s not only the sound that’s changed for ‘Happy People’, either. They’ve ditched the lo-fi aesthetic of their music videos too, opting for something a little more slick and conceptual. Take ‘Lost on Me’ for example – crisp white outfits, synchronised dancing and an ending that sees them fall off the edge of a cliff. “We‘re not trying to be too cool with it,” Harry says with a shrug. “We just want to make good videos. I used to watch Kerrang! TV round my uncle’s house, and you just don’t see music videos like that anymore. You know the

“I feel li ke e very th i n g’s g ot When it comes to the songwriting, it’s Harry who’s in charge of the lyrics and the basic melodies, with the others adding their own flourishes in the later stages – and despite their carefree demeanour, there are still sharp flashes of red raw ambition. “I started out trying to write these insane songs that were just like fucking images. I’d be like, ‘I don’t care what they mean! I want them to be big and sad and gorgeous!’” Harry remembers, rolling his eyes in embarrassment. “Some of the songs on this record have no pretence, though. It used to be scary but now it’s just like, fuck it. Actually, I was shown this messed up film the other day about a serial killer who’s addicted to killing, and I feel a bit like him sometimes – in the

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a bit cool over the l ast few

Who’s a g u i ta r h e r o now years.

fo r yo u n g k i d s ? ” -

H a r ry Ko i s s e r

‘Basket Case’ video by Green Day? What happened to music videos like that?” Dom looks at him with a blank expression, but he carries on wistfully. “I feel like everything’s got a bit cool over the last few years. It’s all about the brand and the image. Who’s a guitar hero now for young kids? When I was younger you’d worship these guitar gods and you’d be like ‘Fuck, I want to pick up a guitar!’” It’s true that the recent trends in the music charts have not been that favourable to guitar-based indie, especially in the last couple of years. There are even concerns that the digital world will wipe it out completely – though this doesn’t seem to worry them in the slightest. “Everything goes round in

– I’m not ashamed about that at all. ‘Lost On Me’ was meant to sound plastic. I wanted it to sound like a lollipop that’d been dropped on the floor and had bits of dust and hair on it.” However, when asked if they plan on exploring this world further, he flicks his scarf again and shakes his head sharply. “We’re not a pop band, because we’re not put together and we don’t look like a pop band. We’re all just a little bit too ugly.” Either way, their fan base is still formidable and their success shows no sign of dwindling – which is good news considering all the work it took for them to get this far. After all the years of touring, it seems like they’re just about ready to get back to

Peace reveal what’s behind the curtain with their new album.

loops,” Harry says, philosophically. “You can only go so far, and a lot of on trend dance music now is getting a bit samey. I used to work in a techno club, I’m not anti-dance music, but now a lot of the stuff that I hear is not going anywhere.” Dom nods, and offers a similar relaxed response – “everyone has always bitched about music in any era, so nothing’s changed.” There has definitely been a shift in the sound they’re creating this time round, though. The ‘Lost On Me’ video even flirts a little with the ‘boy band’ idea – and it’s apparently not as abhorrent to them as you might initially think. “I’m embracing the pop format,” Harry admits. “I’ve always loved pop music

it again. So, do they feel wiser this time round? “I feel like I’ve always been wise – or in comparison I feel wise,” Dom says thoughtfully, causing Harry to bark with laughter. “Mate… wise? I don’t feel very wise at all! I’ll put my hands up and say that I don’t know anything, and I haven’t really learnt anything. I mean, we were never academics, were we?” He breaks off again with a confused look. “Wait. Is that a word?” Peace’s new album ‘Happy People’ will be released on 9th February via Columbia. DIY

Between Tame Impala and any number of other side-projects and solo efforts, the POND boys barely have time to catch their breath - but that hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t delayed the creation of their sixth album. Words: Huw Oliver. Photo: Tahlia Palmer

S pac e Oddity 46 diymag.com

hile The 1975 may well be the most hard-working touring act of 2014 (according to data from gig-listing site Songkick), the members of POND are probably its most productive recording artists. But there’s no sign of fatigue: ‘Man It Feels Like Space Again’, the band’s sixth album in as many years, is a gloriously bombastic psych-rock record that looks forward as much as it does back. Glance at Benny Montero’s colourful album art (which plays on Robert Crumb’s artwork for Big Brother & The Holding Company’s ‘Cheap Thrills’) and you’ll glean a goofy, cartoonish aesthetic with black humorous individual panels. It’s all emblematic, apparently, of their zingy, mysterious, vaguely trippy sound. “With every album, we’re trying to move towards something new that we haven’t done,” guitarist Joe Ryan explains. He’s not afraid to admit to a spot of unprofessional narcissism: “I’ve been listening to it a lot myself actually. I don’t know if the other boys have, but there are still moments that get me”. Drummer Jay Watson confirms his suspicions: “I went down to get a roll for breakfast this morning and I listened to the whole album in the park.” They pause, before Joe adds, “We’re really good at ending songs, aren’t we?” “I j u s t r e m e m b e r lo t s o f l at e He’s right. You can’t help but revel in the clattering n i g h t s … t h e o n l y cymbal-filled conclusion to ‘Heroic Shart’, a song whose gritty, echoing theatrics well suit its dirtily argotic title, not to mention the blow-out eight-minute epic ‘Man It day o f f w e h a d Feels Like Space Again’, whose title no band member

wa s -

o n e

Jay

S u n day.”

Wat s o n 47

can quite recall the inspiration behind. Similar levels of climactic pomp apply in the soapy, rap-like delivery at the end of ‘Outside Is The Right Side’, a caterwauling funk anthem so loosely structured it sounds like it might collapse at any moment. ‘Zond’, meanwhile, descends into a synthy, reverby garage jam that’ll be spun out for minutes longer in the live setting. Perhaps surprisingly, the band (or “the boys”, as they refer to each other) took a bit more care with recording this time around. They started by stripping their songs back and recording on tape. “I don’t know going analogue adds to the sound,” says Jay, “but it certainly makes you think about, that if you only have 16 tracks, what are the important things?” The result is a less cluttered album, finely arranged, immaculately produced and well synced. But don’t worry, they haven’t subbed off any of the flamboyant T. Rex-isms, be it the glammy riffing or the unbridled drum kicks, and they’ve lost none of the inherent jokiness. They say they tried to sound less like Lenny Kravitz on this record, but songs like ‘Zond’ still send a loveably cheesy melody ringing around your head. Having recorded all this in the back room of a “nice pub with very nice food” in Melbourne, Jay goes into unnecessarily great detail on their unhealthily compromised loo habits. “If you had to go to the toilet you had to go, ‘I’ll have a half a pint of this, and I’ll be back in a minute’.” So often they simply didn’t ‘go’. The remainder of this anecdote has been deleted out of politesse.

“I

d o n’ t

a b o u t my

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g i v i n g

b es t

P O N D.”

fe e l

ba d a ll

s o n g s -

J o e

Ryan

It’s becoming clear that POND are compulsive workaholics. As Joe explains, “We’re not very good at recording casually or sporadically. We don’t have much time so we’re just squeezing in recording during the time we have together.” And therein lies one of the key differences between Tame Impala, for whom head honcho Kevin Parker is the principal songwriter, and POND, which started out as a free-for-all jamming project; it’s an entirely collaborative affair. “I can tell you a few stories where I lose my cool,” continues Jay. “I just remember lots of late nights… I think the only day off we had was one Sunday. You get so caught up and bummed out with something, and then you sit back and grab a beer.” What with juggling life in both Tame and POND (along with many other side-projects), how do the band members decide which material to prioritise for POND? “I think it used to be harder to choose,” expands Jay, “especially when we started all that other stuff [like his own Gum material], but now it’s just whatever we’re working on at the time. Just before we did ‘Man It Feels Like Space Again’, Nick [Allbrook, POND frontman] did a solo album, so he wrote a little less for this album. But Joe and I had just done our solo albums, so we wrote a bit more for it.” “There’s no real way of knowing which way the songs are gonna go,” adds Joe. “But I don’t feel bad about giving all my best songs to POND.” To use a trite old cliche, with POND, the process is always very ‘organic’. At present, the band are rearranging songs to accompany their recent transformation from five-piece to four-piece (Joe jokes: “We’re gonna have to grow two extra arms each”). Otherwise, following their world tour, he says, “We haven’t really stopped making albums for like five years, so we might stop making albums just for a little bit now.” They should probably cool off a bit. POND’s new album ‘Man It Feels Like Space Again’ is out now via Caroline Records. DIY

“Sincerity is the secret ingredient” 50 diymag.com

“I thought I was making this cool, tough record about love.” Father John Misty

Untangling the person and the artist: it’s both simple and complicated. But one thing’s for sure, with his new Father John Misty record, Josh Tillman is opening up and baring everything. Words: Danny Wright

ho is Father John Misty? Who is Josh Tillman? The art of untangling the person and the artist has long been at the heart of understanding music. Where are the lines drawn and where do they blur? In some ways two men sit in front of me: there’s Josh Tillman, the singer songwriter who produced seven albums and drummed in Fleet Foxes, and there’s his louche Father John Misty alias, drinking and drugging his way through life. But as with many things, it’s clear the actual answer is both much simpler and much more complicated than that. “Father John Misty, as a name, is kind of a thought experiment,” he explains. “For me, I made all these albums under my own name, and at some point I realised that J Tillman had become this alter ego, this heightened persona that bore little resemblance to me and my experiences. And I found that alarmingly disconcerting. “Identity is really just an arbitrary construct so I’m sort of daring the listener to leave their ideas about Josh Tillman, the archetype of singer-songwriter, and to judge it based purely on the material itself. Because Father John Misty is a patently absurd name. It really has zero meaning. It’s nice phonetically and it’s hilarious on a matinee – it looks like a Christian puppet show is happening. But there is really only Josh Tillman. It’s a red herring if anything.” Well, that’s that cleared up then. Though that idea becomes even knottier after you’ve heard ‘I Love You, Honeybear’, his dazzling new album, which is so devastatingly personal it’s clear this is no character. On his debut album ‘Fear Fun’ there was the idea that he was playing with the concept of the singer-songwriter, but here there is no pretence at play. This is a man with his heart held out in front of him. What began as an album about the topic of love – and not wanting to be sentimental – became about him, a truly personal portrait of his love for his new wife, Emma, that was so intimate it left him feeling nervous about playing it for other people. “I thought I was making this cool, tough record about love, but by the time we were mixing I was like, ‘Dear Jesus, I’ve made a really vulnerable album about my fear and about my pettiness, jealousy and self-loathing and neediness’ and I play it for people and I just want to fall into the floor.”

Woe is me: Father John Misty.

“When I started this process the only guiding principle was ‘This can’t be sentimental’, so I was kind of approaching everything with a wink. But the soufflé just wouldn’t rise. I couldn’t figure out 51

what was missing. And at one point my wife Emma was like, ‘You just can’t be afraid to let these songs be beautiful’, and that really clicked.” So he let go of everything: crooning on ‘When You’re Smiling And Astride Me’ that “I’ve got nothing to hide from you. Kissing my brother in my dreams or finding Godknows in my jeans” and on the title track “I brought my mother’s depression, you’ve got your father’s scorn and a wayward aunt’s schizophrenia.” It makes for an album that is disconcertingly tender, brutal and moving. A touching tribute to a unique kind of love and a very personal telling of it. Indeed, it’s so personal to him that his wife is mentioned by name. But Emma was more than just mere muse. She was involved throughout the album, there at every stage, acting as his sounding board and maintaining the quality control when Josh was trying to piece it together. “We were kind of having some fights while I was making the album, because I’d be working on this stuff for 16 hours in the studio and then come home. I was working on ‘Chateau (Lobby #4)’ for months. It was killing me. I’d come home and play it to her and she can’t lie to me, she can’t tell me it’s great but I would lose it. ‘How dare you!’ The irony of me writing this love song about her and me getting pissed off at her about her opinion. “But she was right. And she’s my gold standard. If it works for her, it works for me. She deserves a producer credit.”

“I was approaching everything with a wink, but the soufflé just wouldn’t rise.” - Father John Misty

Emma was also responsible for the lead track, ‘Bored In the USA’, making it on to the album. “I wasn’t going to put it on but Emma said that’s a great song, she even encouraged me to finish writing it.” ‘Bored In the USA’ is an anomaly, both centrepiece and separate from the intimate confessional that makes up the rest of the record. It’s a wry opus on the modern romantic condition, complete with laughter track and accompanied by a full orchestra and played on Letterman (“I’m just glad it came off because it was a big logistical battle”). It’s a commentary about the modern age of relationships, performed with a raised eyebrow, but it does tie in with the themes of the record. “It just felt timely – I could have put it on the next album but maybe in a couple of years we’ll be living in the revolution. And there is something about the line ‘Oh good the stranger’s body’s still here, our arrangement hasn’t changed’, that does have a lot to do with the album thematically, basically treating other human beings as a consumer experience. The whole song is in this consumer language and I think we treat love that way. As something that you find or buy, not something you create.” And this idea is what most of the rest of the album rails against. Trying to find new ways to explore the idea of love. How difficult was this idea of dealing with the topic in a non-sentimental way, of avoiding cliche? He laughs. “Well, there are songs like ‘(Nothing Good Ever Happens At The Goddamn) Thirsty Crow’ that is basically all cliches strung together. But I think it goes back to the fact that I realised this was an album about myself as opposed to an album about love topically. In some respects it was like ‘Who are these songs for? Are they just irrelevant to anyone except me?’ Is it useful to people?’ Hopefully it is. “It would have been a challenge if I was trying to write love songs and that was the original hubris. ‘I’m going to write these love songs that don’t suck, and not contrived.’ That would have been really tough to do. But I find it very easy to write about myself in my own voice. That was what the whole ‘Fear Fun’ experiment was about and that’s what made this album exhilarating. Now I know what I’m doing, and I’m ready to exert just a little more pressure – to flex that muscle a little harder this time around. But this intimacy was just what was happening in my life at the time.”

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It’s this intimacy that brings the record together. Though the album resides in the singer-songwriter spectrum, the scope of this album ranges from the gospel folk of ‘Smiling and Astride Me’ through to the heavy rocking ‘Ideal Husband’. These disparate styles came about because of how the album was put together. “I was approaching every song like its own eco-sphere so it was hard to switch gears sometimes. There would be days when we were working on ‘Ideal Husband’ and then switch to ‘Smiling Astride Me’ and it would be like ‘What the fuck is this album?’ So the album felt very schizophrenic as we were working on it and I’m shocked it’s as cohesive as it is. But that was true of the last album as well. “Sincerity was the secret ingredient this time around. On ‘Fear Fun’ songs like ‘I’m Writing a Novel’ were about the futility of trying to be original so it had to have the most cartoon-ish, hackneyed rock’n’roll imitation and that’s very clever but there wasn’t space for that here.” And now, as his audience grows and the rooms he’s playing to become larger, how does he feel his artistic vision will shift with it? Does he feel pressure to play this very personal album to people who perhaps see him as something else, as the louche singer-songwriter? “That was what was terrifying about this album. Now my voice is reverberating this much louder, am I really going to fill it with my dirty underwear? That‘s what worries me – that I’d fill in the space with this sentimental crap. It’s easy for me to sing a song about hooking up in a graveyard and getting high. All that shit works in the rock paradigm. Singing about kissing your brother in your dreams. There’s no precedent for that so it was kind of scary.” It brings us back to the idea of Father John Misty; this ability to be the character rather than the man Josh Tillman. “Some nights the last thing I want to do is get up on stage and do the thing I have to do but I can’t sit on the floor and cry. I get up there and I sing. To have this mask is useful. You put a lot in by using your own name. I guess I use it selectively because if I go up on stage and you don’t want to it but you do it anyway they’ll say Josh Tillman is a fraud. I don’t know, I’ve already abused my own name enough for one lifetime.” Father John Misty’s new album ‘I Love You, Honeybear’ will be released on 9th February via Bella Union. DIY

Pick Out The Pieces

Packing an early contender for one of the albums

of 2015, Menace Beach are set for a big year.

Words: Dominique Sisley. Photo: Carolina Faruolo

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s bands go, Menace Beach are a very relaxed bunch. Often referred to as a sort of Leeds-based super group, they’re made up (or have been made up) of members from Hookworms, You Animals, Sky Larkin, Pulled Apart By Horses and Mansun – and were drawn together by friendship and mutual admiration. When asked more about the early days, lead singer Ryan Needham shakes his head in embarrassment. “I remember bumping into Nestor a couple of years before this and being like ‘I fucking love the drumming in Sky Larkin!’“ He brings his hands up to his face and laughs shamefully – “I was like a total fan boy. A drunk idiot.” With their previous bands’ sounds spanning across the worlds of punk, psych-rock, and grunge-pop, it’s been a pretty diverse gene pool to be formed from. Fortunately, Menace Beach seems to be the perfect point of convergence – and that’s no doubt down to the fact that, actually, they’re just really good mates. “We thought it would be fun to do something together,” Ryan explains. “We did one night from 10pm to 6am and just got pizza and pissed and recorded – and it was just really good fun.” Bassist Matt Spalding laughs and matches Ryan’s grin. “This wasn’t even supposed to be a gigging band, was it?” he remembers. “It was more about Ryan wanting to go into the studio and record these songs that he’d written – and then we just got offered a bunch of gigs.” And seeing as they have decades worth of experience between them, there’s a lot that they’ve learnt that will stand

“It’s definitely a positive record, but it came from a negative place.” Ryan Needham

them in good stead for gigging this time round. They begin to list the things they’ll avoid, talking over each other and groaning jokily at their past poor choices. “It’s quality rather than quantity,” Matt declares. “It’s better to be a bit picky over the shows you do. You can get in a rut if you keep doing loads of shit things – everyone gets depressed. We just don’t want that, we want everyone to have a great time.” Ryan carries on diplomatically – “A lot of bands just jump into gigs. It’s just about not doing those places where someone sends you an email and says ‘I really like your band’ and offers a gig in a Wetherspoons.” As for the music itself, it’s not exactly the sort of thing you’d ever expect to hear blaring from a ‘Spoons’ sound system. With its kaleidoscopic swirls of muddy guitar and fuzzy vocals, it often feels like a drunken love letter to the golden age of grunge. “Ryan had just started learning guitar at the beginning, so these songs that came out naturally had that kind of sound – that grungy indie rock slacker thing,” Matt explains. What about the constant comparisons they seem to be getting to the guitar rock of the 90s? Is it something they’re aware of? Ryan rolls his eyes slightly and shakes his head. “People were saying that about Wolf Alice too, but it’s just guitar songs! We’ve had so many different references. When we first came out Tame Impala were big, and people were saying we sounded like them – and we definitely don’t, at all.” Matt nods – “I don’t personally see a lot of the references, either. There’s never a point where we’re going, ‘this should sound like this.’ It’s just really organic.” It’s both Ryan and Liza who write the songs, and their upcoming debut album

‘Ratworld’ was the first chance they’ve really had to stretch their legs and see exactly what it was they were capable of. “I went through a weird thing a couple of years ago which ended up with me moving to Leeds, so there’s a lot in the album about me moving and leaving stuff behind and starting a new life in a new place,” Ryan says, shuffling awkwardly just talking about it. “It’s definitely a positive record, but it came from a negative place.” Negative or not, the process was undeniably intense. After getting home from work, Ryan would write solidly until 6 or 7 in the morning, churning out songs at breakneck pace. “There was just a time where every night at about four in the morning I was getting emails from Ryan saying ‘I’ve just written this song, I’m pissed, sorry’,” Matt laughs loudly. “He just came out with so many demos. We ended up staying up all night to record in the studio, too – we recorded tons and tons and tons. It was good to be able to craft this album out of just a load of madness.” Luckily, the end results show that all that manic work has paid off. ‘Ratworld’ is a record to get excited about, and Menace Beach should be getting set for a potentially explosive 2015. “It feels really insane to me to be putting a record out of songs that I’ve written with these guys. That’s pretty nuts,” Ryan smiles warmly. The other two nod in agreement with an air of quiet satisfaction. “I feel like since we’ve started we just haven’t really stopped,” Matt says. “We started recording the album before our last EP was out and it’s just been constant – but I’m already really looking forward to recording the next thing.” Menace Beach’s debut album ‘Ratworld’ is out now via Memphis Industries. DIY

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Noah Lennox is the same far out guy who’s been winning hearts and sharing vibes for the past decade, but his new Panda Bear record - one obsessed with change, death and dogs - flips the book. Words: Jamie Milton. Photos: Mike Massaro

rom each inherent meaning to every fragmented, millisecond sample, Noah Lennox knows his new Panda Bear record back to front. On the thirteen songs that make up ‘Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper’, each carries several purposes. There’s a reason they appear, and it’s not just because they sound cool in a sequence. If Lennox was given the choice to pick his own Mastermind topic, he’s likely opt with this album. But there’s one major detail he hasn’t quite grappled with yet. On a record that’s defined by heavy topics, deep introspection and a wider, celebratory perspective, it also concerns itself with

who let the dogs out?

one particular animal that appears to have boarded Noah’s ark - the dog. “I’m not totally sure what that means yet,” he says, and it’s about the only time when discussing his new full-length that the Animal Collective man hits something of a brick wall. “I feel like I might need a couple more years to work that out… ” If there’s one defining characteristic to ‘Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper’ - its title being a direct reference to dub music and names that package death as something lighthearted - it’s in how the whole saw-toothed thing bites. Just like a dog, it can either be a cuddly, attention-seeking antidote to sadness, or it’ll brutally bark in order to get its way. Lennox admits that one song specifically refers to the two sides of these curious canines. ‘Principe Real’ follows the life of a sheepdog, and it represents “the moral compass we have,” he says, the way in which we have nasty impulses but attempt to “herd” them. Listening to Panda Bear can sometimes feel 57

like being drowned by abstraction, loose ends that tie together to form something meaningful. But burrowed deep beneath, there’s a whole lot of thought bubbling up below the vibes. In one of several funny analogies that Lennox digs into, he compares his technique to leaving a “trail of breadcrumbs”, providing tiny chunks of info through his songs, ones barely visible to someone just passing by. “Maybe if somebody still gives a crap in ten years, they’ll wonder what this is about and do some detective work,” he says, referring again to ‘Principe Real’, the first song he’s ever written to take its title from a part of Lisbon, where he’s been living for over half a decade. And if there’s any one running thread that links his triumphant 2007 solo breakthrough ‘Person Pitch’ to this new release, it’s where they were created. Lisbon’s regal sense of chill is tailor-made for Lennox, the perfect match that showed itself up with ‘Person Pitch’’s gorgeous coat of colours. Follow-up ‘Tomboy’ was a more twisted, brutally barren form of expression, this latest record being a curious combination of the two. There was “no masterplan to make it happen,” he clarifies, but ‘... Grim Reaper’ is a “microcosm” of all that came before. “The first five or six songs on ‘Grim Reaper’ represent the ‘Person Pitch’ zone, stuff that’s a little more bubbly, hectic and crazy. Then there’s the two beatless pieces which represent the ‘Tomboy’ era, the limbo sound. And then the last three or four songs would be the ‘Grim Reaper’ album on its own. They feel more sober than the other two. It might be a bit of a reach, but I feel like I can make that connection.” For a project that’s always been about the voice it sports - one that floats over chaos like few others - again, lyrics and stories aren’t the crux. In a series of firsts, however, the new LP saw Lennox experimenting with the way he writes. Usually he’s an introspective kind of guy, but he says there’s a threshold to that way of writing where, if you speed past, it “forms into self-obsession and narcissism.” On ‘... Grim

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Reaper’ he’s wrestling with heavier topics than ever, particularly on ‘Tropic of Cancer’, which directly concerns itself with a member of Lennox’s family being diagnosed with cancer. “I felt like it might be a good time to look at things differently, to look at the big picture,” he says, so he used this song as a means of experimenting. Instead of wallowing or fighting against bad news, he matched the subject with a new purpose. “Even though the ‘Tropic of Cancer’ song starts personally, by the end of it I’m sort of just talking about disease in general, noticing how disease propagates itself to survive through time, just like every other being in the universe,” he begins, taking the big picture perspective to extremes. “I’m almost trying to be empathetic towards it. In the context, it’s like, ‘It’s just trying to survive like all of us. You shouldn’t be so mad about it!’” Noah Lennox - a guy so understanding he’ll even sympathise with a disease.

The Grim Reaper’s guided tour

Panda Bear’s new album is a rollercoaster, one riding through past works and new beginnings. Lennox gives a mini-guide to how the record flows. Tracks 1-5 ‘Sequential Circuits’ to ‘Butcher Baker Candlestick Maker’: “At the beginning of the album, I wanted to feel more rapid-fire. The first five songs represent the hectic dissolving of the identity.” Tracks 6-9 ‘Boys Latin’ to ‘Shadow of the Colossus’: “The beatless pieces are like a desert - your self-image isn’t what it used to be, but it’s not this new thing either.” Tracks 10-13 ‘Lonely Wanderer’ to ‘Acid Wash’: “The final part is the beginning of a new identity. They’re a mixture of the other two albums, in a way.”

A lot of the depth and meaning to Panda Bear’s music comes afterwards, not while he’s patching together these sample-heavy bursts of energy. On previous records, his default mode would be to “abstract things” or hide away from truths. “I was making things secret in a way that left room for a person to insert their own experience in there.” Lennox doesn’t hate a lot of things - not even disease! - but he has a big dislike for comfort zones. “I started to feel like I didn’t have anything more to offer with that process,” he says. “In general I like to put myself into an uncomfortable place. The results are more interesting. Sometimes it doesn’t work out - stuff just kind of sucks. But even when the stuff sucks, there’s something about it that’s exciting.”

“I felt l i ke i t might be a good t i m e to lo o k at t h i n g s d i f f e r e n t ly, to look at the big picture.” Noah Lennox Even though ‘... Grim Reaper’ acts as the closing of a trilogy, it opens more doors than it closes. ‘Selfish Gene’ dives into sharp heady synth pop - like Chromatics washed up on a desert island - and ‘Mr Noah’ is his finest attempt at making the beautiful sound brutal. Understating the record somewhat, Lennox says that “at least there’s something inherently interesting about reaching for something, even if you don’t hit the mark,” almost like he’s defending the distance between his solo works, sonically. 2011’s ‘Tomboy’ was chugged and charged on guitars - to some amusement, Lennox referred to it as his rock record - and on the follow-up, there isn’t a single riff or lick in plain sight. Big change is “a way of keeping the ball rolling,” he claims, and the mentality goes beyond his music and right through to moving to Lisbon. “The times in my life when I felt like I was forced to become a new person, developing a new sense of identity - the time just before that is often quite painful and chaotic. I was hoping the album would reflect these things.” Change is never far away for Panda Bear, and Lennox is even open to moving the family again, somewhere completely different to Portugal. “I feel like I could go pretty much anywhere,” he says, the picture of relaxation. “I’ve promised the lady that once the kids move out the house, I’ll go pretty much wherever she wants.” There’s just one thing that’s missing from his picture perfect set-up, back home. “I’m working on convincing my wife to get our family a dog,” he says, the furry friend that defines ‘... Grim Reaper’ appearing once more. “I think she saw her older sister get bitten by a dog when she was young, so she has a weird thing about them. But if you start with just a little guy, it’ll be fine,” he concludes, his brain ticking over into the next chapter. Panda Bear’s new album Panda Bear Meets ‘The Grim Reaper’ is out now via Domino. DIY

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS / ALL WE ARE / AQUALUNG / BELLE AND SEBASTIAN / BIFFY CLYRO / BOMBAY CRUSHED BEAKS / DAFT PUNK / DAN MANGAN / EMMY THE GREAT / ENTER SHIKARI / FALL OUT BOY / FATHER / JESSICA PRATT / JOEY BADA$$ / JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ / KODALINE / MARIKA HACKMAN / MARK RONSON / MEAT SHINIES / SLEATER-KINNEY / THE DECEMBERISTS / THE DISTRICTS / THE NATIONAL / THE SUBWAYS / THE WAVE

TRACKLIST

1. Sucker 2. Break The Rules 3. London Queen 4. Breaking Up 5. Gold Coins 6. Boom Clap 7. Doing It (feat. Rita Ora) 8. Body of My Own 9. Famous 10. Hanging Around 11. So Over You 12. Die Tonight 13. Caught In The Middle 14. Need Ur Luv

Charli XCX has found her voice.

he pop world might well be on form at the moment, chugging along like a well-run High School canteen of familiar, established faces. What it’s missing, though, is a shake-up. We want a Tai Frasier character dragging her satchel down the linoleum-floored corridor. That shake up might just have arrived with an almighty boom clap.

eeee

CHARLI XCX sucker

(atlantic)

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A giant heart shaped lollipop with the word ‘Sucker’ scrawled across covers Charli XCX’s second studio album of the same name. Bratty and right up in your face, this isn’t amiable pop music that quietly creeps around in the background while the day continues as usual, oh no. The manifesto surrounding ‘Sucker’ from the off seems clear enough. Stick this in your gob, suckers. You better like it, or else, fuck you. ‘Sucker’ is deliberately brash and direct, and without wanting to take anything away from her previous album, ‘True Romance’, or the whirlwind successes of charttopping sensations ‘Fancy’ or ‘I Love It’, this is the boldest thing that Charli XCX has ever put her name to. A healthy intake of French yé-yé pop, washed down with a bootleg slug of punk from the bottle is fuel a-plenty for a record, and refined vocal

Photo: Mike Massaro

BICYCLE CLUB / BRING ME THE HORIZON / CALIFORNIA X / CARL BARÂT AND THE JACKALS / CHARLI XCX / JOHN MISTY / FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND / GAZ COOMBES / H HAWKLINE / HANNI EL KHATIB / IBEYI / IDLEWILD WAVE / MENACE BEACH / MOURN / OK GO / PANDA BEAR / PEACE / POND / RAE MORRIS / RUN THE JEWELS / PICTURES / TITLE FIGHT / TROPICS / TRUST FUND / TWO GALLANTS / VIET CONG / YOU BLEW IT! / ZUN ZUN EGUI

gymnastics, refreshingly, barely get a look in. When Charli’s raw, fuzzy, walkman microphone-treated vocals are given free reign, it’s electric. “Your sex is so over,” snarls Charli, in one such moment on ‘Body Of My Own’. With lyrics that make mothers tut, and Siouxsie Sioux-esque pentatonics, it’s sexy on her own terms. Meanwhile, ‘I Need Your Love’ yelps unpolished over childish music-box melodies gone-wrong, and the strange, twisted sounds on ‘Gold Coins’ are turned into something that has Charli XCX ownership written all over it. The cocksure ‘Famous’ swaggers down the street blowing pink gum bubbles and flipping middle fingers. On these songs, Charli XCX is the pop star that you want to be best mates with, because she gives absolutely no shits when it comes to conformity. Some songs undoubtedly play on recognisable pop tropes,

with varying levels of success. ‘Breaking Up’ cheekily recycles pop-punk sentiments and gets away with it deliciously scot-free, because Charli’s distinctive, attitude-packed vocal transcends. ‘So Over You’ on the other hand, comes across as strangely unambitious Disney-rock, and the last minute decision to draft in a new guest for a UK version of ‘Doing It’ also seems downright bizarre. Rita Ora may be hugely successful and consistently chart-topping, but she somewhat blunts the edges of a previously rough-hewn piece of pop. The real appeal of ‘Sucker’ isn’t as a piece of radio pleasing chart-fodder, and it doesn’t need an endorsement stamp from a less exciting pop star to stand up. For all its instant appeal, this is for the most part an album that eschews pop convention. After years of being synonymous with the prefix ‘ft.’ Charli XCX has found her voice. (El Hunt) Listen: ‘Gold Coins’ 61

Possibly their finest work to date. eeeee SLEATER-KINNEY

No Cities To Love (Sub Pop)

Many reading this were undoubtedly still in short shorts when Sleater-Kinney last released an album. The ten years since 2005’s ’The Woods’ is a long time. In their absence, things changed - their melodic bite missed as countless contemporaries reformed, split and reformed again, often shrugging out new material as if some kind of reluctant contractual requirement. Other projects notably Wild Flag - sparked and shined, but even that brilliance wasn’t quite the same. But Sleater-Kinney, they couldn’t do a tired once round the block with the greatest hits in tow. In returning alone they’re making a statement that the best is yet to come. Spoiler alert: ’No Cities To Love’ proves it. Opener ‘Price Tag’ shares nothing with Jessie J’s superhit of the same name. No mucking about, Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker are straight back in tandem over Janet Weiss’ thumping beats, snarling in a way that still knows no equal. ‘Surface Envy’ and its refrain of the power of three is a straight up battle cry, ‘Bury Our Friends’ the adrenaline shot that first announced this was no comeback, but a reclaiming of the baton. Indeed, there’s more than a convincing argument that ‘No Cities To Love’ could be Sleater-Kinney’s finest work to date. Honed to their sharpest point, it’s certainly their most immediate. ‘A New Wave’, ‘Gimme Love’, ‘Fangless’ - the whole front end of the album is one rattling, acerbic roar. ‘Hey Darling’ turns the biographical sass to eleven (“You want to know where I’ve been for such a long time?”), ‘Fade’ rumbles and growls to a close. From front to back there’s not an ounce of flab - a perfectly toned muscle that sits out of time in the best possible way. Though some of their peers have waned on their long, drawn out returns, SleaterKinney have only grown stronger. Ten years away has made them more essential than ever. Nostalgia be damned. (Stephen Ackroyd) LISTEN: ‘A New Wave’

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eeee PANDA BEAR

Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper (Domino)

Panda Bear might be one faction of the notorious psychedelic gadabouts Animal Collective, but over the years he’s equally established himself as a solo artist. Over four albums Noah Lennox has bounded from bashed-up guitars to thick-hanging clouds of drone with the ease of a merry little toadstoolhopping Yoshi. His fifth solo effort ‘Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper’ guzzles down 90s hip-hop inspired drum programming, vocal auto-tune and cyclical loops. The result is more disconcerting than anything Lennox has done before, like a crunch corner yogurt with a split lid, or a tantalising ice-cold can of Rubicon with a busted ring-pull. All the while it feels like there’s a shady, fairly unthreatening ghost holding a scythe in the background and peering over the whole album’s shoulder like an tenacious commuter trying to share your copy of The Metro. The beast of this record might be Death, but he’s the kind of ghostly caricature who chuckles heartily at the unsettling lyrics of ‘Boys Latin’’s - “become an oaf again/ trip a lot, trip a lot” - and busts out an impromptu twostep to match the grooves of ‘Come To Your Senses’. True to title, Lennox is pursuing darker themes, but ‘Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper’ has a playful habit of being unwieldy and surprising. Life is not tangible or clear-cut, and neither is death. ‘Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper’ is dense, slippery, wily, and flung together effortlessly like a meticulously rehearsed sleight of hand. Boy, is it worth the legwork. (El Hunt) Listen: ‘Boys Latin’

Dense, wily and flung together effortlessly.

eee IBEYI

ibeyi (XL Recordings)

Naomi and Lisa-Kaindé Díaz have experienced an awful lot of pain for twins that are barely out of their teens. Aged just 11 their father, famous Cuban percussionist Miguel Díaz, passed away, grief compounded when their elder sister Yanira suffered a fatal stroke in 2013. It’s an incredible amount of anguish to deal with but on this self-titled debut Ibeyi confront their trauma head on. Throughout ‘Ibeyi’ there’s an overwhelming sense of unity, strength both in the familial and the spiritual. Much has been made of the balance that Ibeyi strike between their ancient foundations and their oh-so-modern production, but over the space of a full-length it leaves a desire for something more fulfilling musically: ‘Ibeyi’ as a whole piece doesn’t quite do justice to the conceptual potency that lies within it. Given time to develop, Ibeyi could and likely will prosper – but in current form it feels a little like offering a half-hearted hand on something more sacred. (Liam McNeilly) Listen: ‘Mama Says’

eee TITLE FIGHT

Hyperview (ANTI-records)

For anyone familiar with the previous output of Title Fight, the first track of their newest album ‘Hyperview’ is set to surprise. A woozy, swirling mist of guitars, ‘Murder Your Memory’ showcases a new side to the four-piece. Having previously gravitated towards punk and hardcore, the Kingston, PA quartet have never been afraid of dipping their toes into the shoegaze pond. With their ‘Hyperview’, they seem to have decided to go for a swim. From primary offering ‘Chlorine’ through into ‘Hypernight’, fuzz-laden vocals and enveloping guitars reign supreme. Throughout there’s control but a sense of freedom, passion but a sense of restraint. Anyone holding their breath for Title Fight to transform back into the angsty young men that produced their raw punk debut could be waiting a long time. While their move away from the genre isn’t quite absolute, this album proves that they possess enough confidence to do just about whatever they want. (Sarah Jamieson) Listen: ‘Hypernight’

Is it still Fall Out Boy? Undoubtedly.

eee FALL OUT BOY

American Beauty / American Psycho (Virgin EMI)

It’s been just over eighteen months since Fall Out Boy made their return with their fifth effort ‘Save Rock and Roll’ so admittedly, the fact that a sixth album is already landing in our laps is something of a surprise. After all, it’s not like they’ve not been busy. Workaholics though they must be, ‘American Beauty / American Psycho’ isn’t short of epicness. From the grand horn section that sounds the opening of ‘Irresistible’ through to the mad scientist genius of its title track, Fall Out Boy have no qualms with diving headfirst into stadium-sized pop rock. It’s ‘Novocaine’ however that will turn heads: another of their strange genrecrunching, darkly-tinged experiments, it’s all robotic noises and falsetto harmonies, not too dissimilar to the title track yet completely different at the same time. ‘Fourth of July’ is another bombastic pop track, exploding into life like Patrick Stump’s lyrical fireworks. At times the record may not hang together, but it makes up for that in its colour, its audacity, and its unabashed sense of pride at giving just about anything a go. Is it still Fall Out Boy? Undoubtedly. They’re just intent on finding a new path to tread. (Sarah Jamieson) Listen: ‘Novocaine’

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Q&A

As Fall Out Boy unleash ‘American Beauty / American Psycho’ into the world, the band’s Pete Wentz delves under the album’s surface. Has the past eighteen months been a particularly prolific time to be in Fall Out Boy? The way that people consume music and art is really comfortable for us now because it’s just 24 hours, all the time. I think one of the great things about hip hop and electronic music is that it’s so of the moment. It’s able to respond to culture right away. With rock bands, you have to demo and take all these years between records and stuff. We never really worked that way as a band so for us to have the ability to move quickly really helps our band. We’ve never been the kind of band that wants to overthink albums. In terms of the tracks previously released from the record, you’ve clearly not been afraid to try new things. How do those tracks fit alongside the record as a whole? If ‘…American Psycho’ is at one end of the spectrum, as far as something

we’ve never done before, and then ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’ is at the other end of the spectrum, the record lies in between that. That’s always how we’ve been as a band. I think we’re a band that tries to broaden what we think the terms of the band are on every record. There are some nods to popular culture on the album, but you’ve also dealt lyrically with some political themes. What made you want to explore those? I think that in listening to hip hop, the personal is political and the political is personal. Sometimes, when I wake up in the morning, I’m outraged at the way our world is and it affects me personally. I think that no one else can determine my level of rage but it’s not an overt thing. We’re not the kind of band that’s ever going to be that politically-driven. On this album, more than anything, I think we explore what the threshold is between what is domesticated and what’s wild. What is the point and where do you snap, and what is the moment when you stop being human? Then, why do we ignore the things that lead up to that? That falls into Ferguson or Eric Garner, or ISIS, any of it. What fundamentally is that that makes up that threshold?

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TWO GALLANTS We Are Undone (ATO)

‘We Are Undone’, Two Gallants’ fifth full-length shows off more than heartfelt wordplay and familiar vocal styles – there’s the garage-rock leanings of the title track and follow-up, the grungy ‘Incidental’, and the not-quite-early Radiohead freak out ‘Under The Season / The Age Nocturne’. Two Gallants’ rulebook may be dusty, weathered and wellworn, but there’s a familiarity to what they’re doing that can’t help but make ‘We Are Undone’ a thoroughly enjoyable listen. (Emma Swann) Listen: ‘Incidental’

eee

EMMY THE GREAT s (Bella Union)

On ‘S’, Emmy the Great’s first release since 2011’s ‘Virtue’, the Hong Kong-born Brooklyn-based artist is in a reflective mood. Recorded in varying cities around the world, EmmaLee Moss’ talent for storytelling never falters. As a taster for her imminent third album, Emmy has brilliantly positioned herself as a completely new artist, distancing herself from the ‘anti folk’ sound she once claimed with 2009 debut ‘First Love’. (Ben Jolley) Listen: ‘Swimming Pool’

eeee

AQUALUNG 10 futures (BMG Chrysalis)

‘10 Futures’ is a perfectly crafted enigmatic soundscape, a collaborative effort with the likes of Joel Compass, Lianne La Havas, Luke Sital-Singh and Prides. Each track showcases a different style, a fluent language that, native to some, may be completely foreign to others. Aqualung has been ingeniously invigorated. Each song has a different story and sound that goes harmoniously together; the future is well and truly bright for Matt Hales. (Natasha West) Listen: ‘Eggshells’

eeeee MENACE BEACH

Ratworld (Memphis Industries)

For Menace Beach, sometimes, things are just meant to be. If you read anything about Leeds’ latest and greatest, it’ll probably centre around their rotating cast of luminaries - a who’s who of their local music scene’s brightest The pop gems stars. The past records of core members Ryan Needham and Liza come thick and Violet won’t be too far away either fast. - their previous incarnations were always brilliant, and yet for one reason or other never quite broke through that final barrier. What seemed like a crime, now makes perfect sense - it was all leading to this. ‘Ratworld’ is that rarest of beasts - a debut album that’s got a backstory running deeper than all six seasons of Lost, but that still sounds like it’s delivered without any requirement for effort whatsoever. Take opener ‘Come On Give Up’, circling round the plug-hole it’s an unofficial national anthem for the can’t-be-fucked, but, like everything Menace Beach do, underneath the surface there’s far more to it than that. It’s not a one off either, they come thick and fast. ‘Elastic’, ‘Drop Outs’ and the frantic ‘Lowtalkin’’ make a front four that all comes in at under ten minutes yet has more to love than others find in a whole career, never mind a single album. The swirling, woozy ‘Blue Eye’ simply finds another way to be brilliant - Violet’s vocal putting goosebumps on goosebumps. We’re rarely as fair on British bands as we are on their Stateside contemporaries. If Menace Beach were from Brooklyn or Seattle the hype would be deafening. Just like a diamond, add a bit of time and a lot of pressure, and neither of those strongholds of slacker-rock have anything that would make ‘Ratworld’ shine any less in their shadow. (Stephen Ackroyd) Listen: ‘Come On Give Up’

eee

JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ Vestiges & Claws (Peacefrog Records)

Although many try, few acoustic singer-songwriters have the ability to comfort with voice and guitar alone like José González does. The Gothenburg-native’s Scandinavian home provides the backdrop for his aesthetic; a source of warmth in colder climes – cosier than a steaming cup of tea and an open hearth fire. His first album in seven years, ‘Vestiges & Claws’, is just as stuffed with cosiness. Its author’s warm voice and analogue aesthetic is sincerely loved, its lovers desiring nothing other than more of the same, and there is nothing wrong with that. (Will Moss) Listen: ‘Leaf Off/The Cave’

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ALL WE ARE All We Are (Double Six)

eeee POND

Man It Feels Like Space Again (Caroline Records)

Pond have always been cosmonauts, and with ‘Man It Feels Like Space Again’, the Tame Impala-affiliated band make their strongest case for extra-terrestrial gallivanting yet. Loud, flamboyant and packed to the nines with gaudy slapbass and galactic distortion at every cosmic lurch, their sixth album borders on peacocky. This is a record that deliberately runs close to that line at all times. On the title track, drums pound with faux-somber intent, and ‘Medicine Hat’ arrives in a guise of a tinny, yowling blues song set on the outer rings of Saturn. There’s even a song called ‘Heroic Shart’, for goodness sake - Pond are fully aware that without proper handling, proceedings could become a little... well, flatulent. Pond have taken a different tact for their sixth album. They follow through with their gaudy intentions perfectly, and like an outdated sci-fi film filled with dodgy costumes and flaky green-screen, ‘Man It Feels Like Space Again’ manifests itself in bold, kitschy, and psychedelic appeal from start to finish. (El Hunt) Listen: ‘Medicine Hat’

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JOEY BADA$$ B4.DA.$$ (Relentless Records)

The debut studio album from Joey Bada$$, aka NYC hip hop prodigy Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott, arrives accompanied by such a substantial side of hysteria that it can be difficult to untangle the bluster from the substance. In terms of sound, ‘B4.DA.$$’ which you’ll probably like to know is pronounced ‘Before Da Money’ - picks up where last year’s ‘Summer Knights’ tape left off, but while that release was a relative disappointment, it seems that the real stuff back was being held back for the first LP proper as Bada$$ jacks up the quality and sands off the rougher edges of a sound that has understandably still been in development. Featuring beats from a ridiculous roster of producers including DJ Premier, Hit-Boy and J Dilla as well as Bada$$’s pals in Brooklyn hip hop collective Pro Era, it’s a dense, layered ride. At over an hour long, it’s a collection which could do with a slightly more ruthless approach in the cutting room but that’s a minor nit-pick when the material is this strong. Make no mistake, Bada$$’s star is in the ascendancy. (David Zammitt) Listen: ‘Save The Children’ 66 diymag.com

“There is nothing like it when it strikes,” runs one of several unfalteringly pretty lines found on the debut album from Liverpool trio All We Are. The group consists of three musicians from diverse backgrounds, their roots spanning from Ireland to Norway, all the way to Brazil. Together, they unite on a strange kinship, Richard O’Flynn and Guro Gikling’s vocals delicately combining, Luis Santos’ spiralling, glasslike guitars doing the rest. And despite this being a patchwork debut that only occasionally finds its true rhythm, when things click, All We Are stand out as one of the UK’s most promising new acts. Their debut is a human record, detailing the most fragile aspects of an intimate relationship. Aspects come off slightly muddled: it’s almost as if by removing themselves of the initial psych wave that ‘Utmost Good’ pleasantly surfed, they sometimes wind up lost in a blank space. ‘Ebb/Flow’ hints at bigger things, but fails to go beyond chugged synth lines and light guitar plucks. ‘Honey’ especially doesn’t feel like it belongs on the record, its funk groove coming off misplaced. Still, for the most part All We Are edge towards a unified sound, one that combines Santos’ excellent guitar work with a higher conscience. Not since the simmering Rhye has a band announced themselves this capable of soundtracking intimacy, from ‘Feel Safe’’s chant of “I want you” to the bold next step, ‘I Wear You’. They’re not far off from cracking the formula. (Jamie Milton) Listen: ‘Keep Me Alive’

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FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND Chapter And Verse

(Distiller Records)

It’s been a long road for Funeral For A Friend: since emerging at the turn of the millennium they’ve solidified themselves as stalwarts of British post-hardcore. Following up 2013’s ‘Conduit’, the Welsh band are back with ‘Chapter and Verse’ and, after returning to their more aggressive roots with the last record, they’re even more wonderfully rough-around-the-edges this time around. With their most recent offerings, the band were heralded for their return to the melding together of metal and melodic hardcore but it’s on ‘Chapter and Verse’ that that rings most true. While ‘Stand By Me For The Millionth Time’ blasts into life with a guttural punch, ‘You’ve Got A Bad Case Of The Religions’ captures that same shot of adrenaline that punctuated so much of their early material. Considering that this record follows on from their recent reissue of debut EP ‘Between Order and Model’, it’s easy to spot some parallels, but the band still have the odd curveball up their sleeve. While live favourite ‘1%’, and ‘Inequality’ are probably the closest to singalongs, the latter comes quickly followed by a much more understated ‘Brother’, a raw acoustic-led track which shows the band at their most simple but effective. Granted, ‘Chapter and Verse’ isn’t rewriting the book, but it is yet more proof that Funeral For A Friend still possess that fire to keep making great records. (Sarah Jamieson) Listen: ‘You’ve Got A Bad Case Of The Religions’

eeee THE DISTRICTS

eee

Records)

If you need an idea on what a Hanni El Khatib record is like, it’s best to go straight to the source. “Songs for anybody who has ever been shot or hit by a train,” he calls it. With ‘Moonlight’, the Californian’s third release, it feels as if he’s still working within the confines of his own self-branding, which stops this from being the record it deserves to be. Testosterone, blood, sweat and pain courses through, but without a counterpoint it lacks the rawness that would make this a deeper listen. (Chris Bunt) Listen: ‘Melt Me’

HANNI EL KHATIB

A Flourish and a Spoil (Fat Possum

Sick of that suburban smell, The Districts are kids all grown up, plucky post-teens raised on first loves and any prohibited booze they can get their hands on. Their second album, ‘A Flourish and a Spoil’, exists to document the spiralling effect most people feel when they The Districts realise life can’t stay rosy for eternity. Frontman accept that life Robbie Grote neatly sums it up on ‘Chlorine’’s chorus - “It’s such a shame, nobody’s feeling it now. But goes on. it’s not that way anymore.” The Districts come to accept that life goes on. Instead of wallowing in their first life crises, where the mid-twenties beckon like an oncoming apocalypse, The Districts paint a different shade of melancholy. They might sing about how “this place became a junkyard,” but they do so within the confines of ‘Hounds’’ playful invention. Opener ‘4th & Roebling’ is a tightly-packed vacuum of frustration. John Congleton’s production excels almost every element, from thudding handclaps to clattering guitar lines. “I don’t know if I use my head the right way,” is one of the first lines Grote comes out with, and it’s a well-timed indication of what’s to follow. These guys still being young, this isn’t a perfectly poised letter to suburbia or a generation-defining farewell to youth. It’s as confused as the rest of us. What makes The Districts different to average folk, however, is that they rarely falter. ‘Bold’ and ‘Heavy Begs’ are slight missteps, but what follows is their best song to date, the epic ‘Young Blood’. In a journey of discovery, these affected types sound remarkably assured. (Jamie Milton) Listen: ‘Young Blood’

moonlight (Innovative Leisure)

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DAN MANGAN + BLACKSMITH Club Meds (City Slang)

Through roping in his touring pals officially this time (as ‘Blacksmith’), with ‘Club Meds’, Canadian troubadour Dan Mangan has produced an expansive and assured record. Strings, brass and even woodwind make an appearance alongside Mangan’s piano and – of course – acoustic guitar, and (mostly) combine with disconcerting ease; this is one dark album. (Emma Swann) Listen: ‘A Doll’s House Pavlovia’

CARL BARÂT AND THE JACKALS Let It Reign (Cooking Vinyl)

A predictable set of up-tempo punk thrashers, ‘Let It Reign’’s abrasiveness does little to deflect from its disappointing lack of ambition. Sadly, Carl Barât’s new album is as workaday as they come and little more innocuous than playing Russian roulette with a set of water pistols. Thank Heavens the Albion is back on the waves. (Dan Owens) Listen: ‘Beginning To See’

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YOU BLEW IT!

Pioneer of Nothing (Jade Tree)

Fire in their hearts The Districts.

Orlando rockers You Blew It! are flexing their industrious muscle in the form of EP, ‘Pioneer of Nothing’. It uses nearly all the same ingredients as much of their revered back catalogue, but refines the measures. Some genre movements don’t need to mature, remodel or move at all. Sometimes you’ve just got to keep doing what you’re doing. (Chris Rickett) Listen: ‘Lanai’

eeee FATHER JOHN MISTY

I Love You, Honeybear (Bella Union)

One could never accuse Josh Tillman of hiding behind his characters, all which have only served as the thinnest of alter egos for the freewheeling troubadour. But ‘I Love You, Honeybear’, his first as Father John Misty, serves as a proper coming out party, where ostensibly we hear directly from the man himself. Perhaps it’s because he’s unabashedly in love. It’s a fact that’s celebrated across the album’s eleven guitar-driven tracks, lines such as “You left a note in your perfect script / Stay as long as you want / and I haven’t left your bed since,” embellished by Spanish horns and Tillman sensuous vocal slurs. For all his determination to thumb his nose at convention, ‘I Love You, Honeybear’ finds Tillman falling face first into perhaps the most expected of musical tropes, the “mature” sophomore release. Thankfully, he’s on track to age with grace. (Laura Studarus) Listen: ‘Bored in the U.S.A’

ee ENTER SHIKARI

The Mindsweep (Ambush Reality/Hopeless Records)

For ‘The Mindsweep’ Enter Shikari have once again tried something new: self doubt. It’s not obvious from the hurried skirmish of album opener ‘The Appeal and The Mindsweep I’ nor does it present itself as the album closes in a hail of fury and nostalgia. Somewhere between those two expected bookends though, lies Enter Shikari as you’ve never heard them before. The band have made their mark with a hybrid theory of conflicting ideas but, unsure where they sit between Rage Against The Machine and Radiohead, it sometimes lacks conviction. ‘The Mindsweep’ swims in potential but every time Enter Shikari look like they’re about to break through that glass ceiling, they catch a glimpse of their own reflection and choke. Enter Shikari’s fear makes this perhaps their most exciting, yet frustrating album yet. (Ali Shutler) Listen: ‘Torn Apart’

eee BELLE AND SEBASTIAN Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance (Matador)

For all of the adjectives you could use to describe Glasgow sweethearts Belle and Sebastian, “daring” is the word that best sums up ‘Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance’. It’s a confusing beast. ‘The Everlasting Muse’ showcases the band’s musical prowess, as brass complements a Spanish guitar middleeight that’s classically B&S, with a time signature change thrown in. It should sound a mess, but instead it’s almost like a nod to early Beirut. That’s sandwiched between electronic-driven songs like ‘The Party Line’ and the staggering ‘Enter Sylvia Plath’, which is almost Eurovision-esque in its bounciness. Recorded with Ben H Allen (Bombay Bicycle Club, Animal Collective), it’s easy to see where the sound comes from; Murdoch’s recent protestations about wanting to be in Abba, mixed with Allen’s ability to record artists with strong melodic identities while harnessing a multi-textured, scattergun production technique. It’s ultimately these clashes of ideas that proves to be ‘Girls in Peacetime...’’s downfall, however. It lacks a coherent identity: exciting, but too all over the place to be one of their best. (Euan Davidson) Listen: ‘Enter Sylvia Plath’

Exciting, but ultimately all over the place.

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A brilliant, ageless album.

eeee MARK RONSON

Uptown Special (Columbia)

Setting out to create his own original versions of the funk and soul jams he played out in New York hip-hop clubs in the early noughties, in ‘Uptown Special’ Mark Ronson creates a backward-looking cosmic funk record, as quirky as it is bombastic. Cunningly enlisting Pulitzer prize-winning author Michael Chabon as chief lyricist, the hooks are unforgettable. And that holds whether we’re talking rapper-turned-actor Mystikal’s grubby gusts on ‘Feel Right’, Bruno Mars’ contagious imperative of “don’t believe me just watch”, new talent Keyone Star’s mellifluous hand in ‘I Can’t Lose’, or Jeff Bhasker’s miraculous foxiness in the urgent ‘In Case of Fire’. Recurrent guest appearances allow a cohesion that wasn’t present on previous albums, and it’s Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker who has the best turns. While disco guitar twangs and restless bass grooves cut up ‘Daffodils’ and reassociate Parker’s trademark fuzzy vocal with a fidgety form of funk, ‘Leaving Los Feliz’ is chilled-out Parker at his best, with slinky guitar lines shadowing his vocal in a particularly vintage chorus. In fact, you can imagine songs like this appearing on a fuzzy, sepia-tinged VHS recording of an Old Grey Whistle Test, with Bob Harris certainly mumbling something complimentary in the background. Rarely entering the realm of pastiche, in all, this makes for a brilliant, ageless album. (Huw Oliver) Listen: ‘In Case of Fire’

eeee DAFT PUNK Alive Box Set

It’s almost a teasing ‘what could have been’. As each year passes, the festival rumour mill dies down and Daft Punk remain a no-show, yet to fully realise their bonkers, sad robot disco-stomper ‘Random Access Memories’ album. What better way to tease those who’ve yet to see these French dance pioneers in the flesh than with a glossy, high-budget box set, complete with the most luscious, fan’s-eye-view photos and enough recorded material to soundtrack an entire festival on its own. Combining ‘Alive 1997’ with ‘Alive 2007’, this pairing of live albums is the most elaborate, high-budget representation of memories that are a little less randomly accessed. Footage hails from shows in Paris’ Bercy and Birmingham’s Que Club, arguably amounting to the best realisation yet of one of the world’s greatest - and most sought-after - live bands. (Jamie Milton)

Literate, catchy as hell indie pop.

eeee TRUST FUND

No One’s Coming For Us

(Turnstile)

Do It Yourself seems to be a term too easily bandied about (and we know a thing or two about DIY). But for Trust Fund (Ellis Jones) it’s an ethos and description which is not only central to his work but also accurately captures a lot of what is endearing about his music. His DIY philosophy – the record was self-recorded and mixed in his bedroom in Bristol – makes ‘No One’s Coming For Us’ all the more enticing and all the easier to fall in love with. There’s a transparency here which is what DIY does best – no layers of pretence to get through, no smoke and mirrors just a direct line into Jones’ heart and head. Over eleven songs he takes on that old-subject of relationships. It might not be a new topic but the self-deprecating, personal, funny and honest (on ‘Forevre’ he sings “They’re so boring and I can’t pretend”) lens he puts it through makes it feel intimate and startling. The ingredients of his previous releases are still there: there’s a hint of the oft-compared Elliott Smith, and ‘college rock’ like Waxahatchee. But it’s a debut which shows him a little bolder and more immediate than before. It’s a record of lovely melodies and yearning, scrappy falsetto vocals. First single ‘Cut Me Out’s’ brass reminds of Beulah as he sings “I am a fragile idiot,” and ‘Idk’ is the first song to feature text speak that might make you cry. All the way through he proves lo-fi doesn’t exclude being anthemic. It’s melancholy but glowing, full of fuzz and a beating heart; literate, catchy as hell indie pop. And who doesn’t like that? (Danny Wright) Listen: ‘Cut Me Out’

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No Trust Fund, we’re not trying to steal your cat!

eeee JESSICA PRATT

On Your Own Love Again (Drag

City)

Jessica Pratt has an ability to sound like she’s playing inches away and, with the same strokes, in an altogether different world. Her second LP comes off like a close friend and a portal to some tropical, parallel universe. ‘On Your Own Love Again’ soundtracks beautiful summer evenings on a continental balcony, songs like ‘Strange Melody’ and the tone-turning ‘Jacquelyn In The Background’ flicking an imaginative switch. It’s also even more stripped-back than its predecessor, four track recordings adding to the bedroom-penned charm. Still, there’s a pervading loneliness that etches into the conscience, the sense that all things simple and beautiful are gradually closing their doors. It’s best found in ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’, a ghostly, ominous contrast to everything that precedes. Here, Pratt’s latest effort gets taken to another level. Few arrive more capable at see-saw-ing emotions in one deft balancing act. (Jamie Milton) Listen: ‘Mama Says’

eeee PEACE

Happy People (Columbia)

Leaders of ‘Gen Strange’, an age where oddities are embraced quicker than a charming smile, on their second album Peace have morphed from giants-in-the-making to curious customers. There’s no doubting that ‘Happy People’ has every means of turning these festival staples into a far bigger deal, but in the same regard, we’re also witnessing a transformation. Harrison Koisser’s faux fur coats are getting dodgier, and Chock-full of with that, the songs he’s fronting are inhabiting their own, unorthodox space. invention and not to say this record isn’t built on hooks - big, gigantic songs. That’s bellowing monsters, to be exact - but without replacing ‘In Love’’s instant crush, Peace have managed to make ‘weird’ something to aspire to. Together, the four-piece dive headfirst into a world run by Bitcoins and creepy characters. It’s easy to get lost in the sheer freakshow charm of ‘Happy People’ without even getting to the biggest strength: the great, galloping choruses. There’s no obvious singalong like ‘California Daze’ - ‘Under The Moon’ comes close, drifting into swansong territory - with ‘World Pleasure’ and ‘Someday’ balancing anthem-factor up against something stranger. Those ‘90s nods of old are given a recharge, but a song like ‘Money’’s present-day frustration sounds affirmatively of its time. Truth of the matter is, Peace give the impression of a band who’ve been through the ringer. Like any group touring non-stop and becoming poster boys in a flash, at the very least something’s gone to their heads, even if ‘Happy People’ isn’t one giant ego wrestle. But despite the evident WTF factor, this remains a record chock-full of invention, a pursuit of the new and - most importantly - gigantic songs. (Jamie Milton) Listen: ‘Money’

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THE WAVE PICTURES

great Big Flamingo Burning Moon (Moshi Moshi)

For a band a decade and eight albums deep, working with the clearly influential Billy Childish has given The Wave Pictures, fittingly, a sense of childlike wonder and adventure that seeps out of every element of ‘Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon’, keeping things fresh when they could quite easily have become tired and worn. Woozy summer drives are when it’ll really find its feet. (Will Richards) Listen: ‘Fox Fur Pillow Case’

SHINIES

Nothing Like Something Happens Anywhere (Dirty Bingo)

The fuzzy, lo fi sound of ‘Nothing Like Something Happens Anywhere’, paired with the subject matter is a mismatch. This record is an ode to the working week, the malaise of the twenty-something, but lending these sentiments to a steady, hazy monotone just brings you down. Shinies are capable of writing great songs, but this album is not the showcase hoped for. (Louis Haines) Listen: ‘Plasticine’

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MEAT WAVE

Brother (Brace Yourself Records)

Meat Wave’s ‘Brother’ waits for no man. In its subtler moments well hidden among blasts of bold, powerful energy, it strikes that hard-to-find balance between strength and skill. It’s easy to find yourself addicted from the outset. Ride the wave now, and avoid getting left behind. (Loren DiBlasi) Listen: ‘Sham King’

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TROPICS

Rapture (Innovative Leisure)

Tropics’ ‘Rapture’ is a melancholy blend of electronic and piano driven music. Choosing his moments carefully, Chris Ward builds from the heavily chilled baseline of each track, lifting each song up using ricocheting drums and lilting melodies to give his emotional lyrics greater effect. ‘Rapture’ knits together like a soulful, if rather bleak break-up album. While each track is meticulously crafted, you can’t help but feel a sense of familiarity settle in the last half. Stand out tracks such as the minimal ‘Gloria’ and the heartfelt ‘Blame’ give listeners plenty to take in and enjoy. (Kate Lismore) Listen: ‘Gloria’ 71

eeee ZUN ZUN EGUI

Shackles’ Gift (Bella Union)

Zun Zun Egui’s second album ‘Shackles Gift’ arrives four years after 2011’s debut ‘Katang’. In that time, much has changed, both in terms of personnel and aesthetic: the band has grown from a loose collective into a truly formidable beast. ‘Shackles’ Gift’ is an album that immediately makes its prescence felt with the percussive throb of opener ‘Rigid One of 2015’s it’s a song that immediately introduces most welcome Man’. Zun Zun’s culturally diverse sound, mixing returns. electro, hard rock and African native music into one compelling cocktail. There’s a real sense of invigorating abandon in the music led by singer Kushal Gaya’s idiosyncratic voice. The album is the sound of Zun Zun, distilled, focused and honed to perfection. It’s shape shifting qualities are present throughout as it careers through all manner of experimental rock stylings. ‘Ruby’ is dark, dubby and deep, while ‘I Want You To Know’ is frenetic, fuzzy funk rock. You often get the feeling throughout this album that Zun Zun have kinship with a band like Hookworms who imbue their music with the same kind of distilled primal aggression. Indeed, you could possibly imagine the Leeds band coming up with something like this if they spent time recording in Mauritius, the birthplace of Zun Zun leader Kushal Gaya. Or, perhaps, you can’t as the Zun Zun Egui sound is blissfully unique. ’Shackles’ Gift’ is the album where they really step up and show what they can do. It’s a record of brilliant diversity that crosses easily between different musical cultures. When listening to a track like the sublime, epic closer ’City Thunder’ it’s an album that sounds necessary, important and captivating. An early contender for one of 2015’s most welcome returns. (Martyn Young) LISTEN: ‘I Want You To Know’

Moving on up

Bristol collective Zun Zun Egui’s new album, ‘Shackles’ Gift’ has a strong sense of purpose and ambition. “We really wanted to make a much more focused record,” guitarist and singer Kushal Gaya tells DIY’s Martyn Young. “Not only in terms of songwriting but also in terms of sound. I think we spent a lot of time figuring out who we wanted to work with, who we wanted the album to be mixed by, what kind of sound we wanted for the record and what sound we didn’t want to have in the record. There’s a lot of conscious choices that happened during that process. We didn’t want to rush anything and put out something that would be too similar to the first record. We just wanted to make a big leap.”

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IDLEWILD

.everything Ever Written

(self-released)

Idlewild’s first new album in five years is a reaffirmation of what makes them one of Scotland’s most enduring rock bands. ‘Everything Ever Written’ is indeed an apposite title for an album that encompasses numerous different takes on the band’s long established indie rock sound while also stretching out into the folksier pastures that singer Roddy Woomble has embarked upon since the band went on hiatus in 2009. ‘Everything Ever Written’ is an album in which all the constituent parts of Idlewild come together to make a satisfying whole. Singer Woomble’s voice has matured wonderfully with age in a way similar to oft-cited influence REM while guitarist Rod Jones also helms production duties. The Idlewild comeback may not see them scale the heights of their previous successes but this comeback album is certainly a heart-warming success. (Martyn Young) Listen: ‘Collect Yourself’

Photo: Mike Massaro

eeee MARIKA HACKMAN We Slept At Last (Dirty Hit)

There’s a distance to Marika Hackman’s delivery. Separated from folk’s traditions, instead of following a parade she’s more likely to be found building a house of her own in the darkest corner of the woods. A tiny, isolated space will do - all she needs is a box of matches for the fire, a notebook and her trusty guitar. Debut full-length ‘We Slept At Last’ follows years of gradual build-up and two promising EPs. What emerges is a first work defined as its own. Still barely into her twenties, Hackman’s found her own voice, sitting neatly outside of the norm. Part of ‘We Slept At Last’’s appeal stems from Hackman’s work with Charlie Andrew, producer for Alt-J’s first two records and the debut of Sivu, another bright hope who features here too, on ‘Skin’. It’s said to be Marika and Charlie’s ethos to never allow one song to sound remotely like the other, and that lends this debut a brilliant sense of adventure. ‘Open Wide’ ditches acoustic hums for grizzly electrics, overlapping guitar lines resembling Warpaint’s hushed dim. It’s here especially that Hackman casts her own spell, vocals diving one step further into the unknown. “What’s your favourite game to play, lying on your back all day?” she asks, daydreaming into the great beyond. Marika develops under the spotlight, each song adding further fuel to her progression. There’s little doubt that she’s not finished yet - ‘We Slept At Last’ gives hints of an artist who could go on for decades, so long as she continues to transport everyday souls into different worlds. (Jamie Milton) LISTEN: ‘Next Year’

Artattack

As part of her debut album, ‘We Slept At Last’, Marika Hackman has teamed up with photographer Glen Erler to host a special exhibition at Camden’s Cob Gallery. “The artwork’s always important to me with any record,” she explains. “I saw that image by Glen Erler - the girl on the bed, the cover art - and he’s been one of my favourite photographers for the last five years. I was like, ‘I’ve got to have that picture’. I hate naming things but as soon as I saw that, I knew to call the album ‘We Slept At Last’. It was the first thing that jumped out at me, it hit me right in the core. We got in contact with him, he was happy with us using it, and he suggested we work together to create the artwork for inside. Having the opportunity to work with someone I admire so much, I wanted to show everyone and make a feature out of it.”

Photo: Mike Massaro

eee OK GO

Hungry Ghosts (Paracadute)

OK Go. The video band. There’s no shaking it - since their reinvention for YouTube megastardom, the common preconception has been that music comes second to the viral potential of the visual accompaniment. Underneath it all, however, there remains a perfectly good pop band. Sure, the heights of their under appreciated brilliant debut aren’t hit, but with ‘The Writing’s On The Wall’, ‘Turn Up The Radio’ and ‘Another Set Of Issues’, there’s enough on ‘Hungry Ghosts’ to get them through to another wave of shareable gold. (Stephen Ackroyd) Listen: ‘Turn Up The Radio’

Rae Morris is taking centre stage.

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CRUSHED BEAKS Scatter (Matilda Records)

eeee RAE MORRIS

Unguarded (Atlantic)

Over the last twelve months, Rae Morris has been waiting in the wings. Occasionally stepping out for a collaboration or two, lending her vocals to the likes of Clean Bandit and Bombay Bicycle Club, hers is a voice that’s grown increasingly familiar as the year’s gone by. Now, as the Blackpudlian gears up to release her debut album, she’s taking centre stage. Unsurprisingly, one of the most impressive tools in Morris’ arsenal is those pipes. Smooth and subtle, big and bolshy, she can – and does – push her voice to its limits throughout the record’s twelve tracks. With her shiver-inducing vocals providing one of the more intimate moments during her simple, piano-led ‘Don’t Go’ before her warm, swooping ‘Unguarded’ envelopes the listener in a heady haze, it’s hard not to be completely drawn into Rae’s world. Later on in the record, there’s ‘Morne Fortune’, a last minute addition to the tracklisting laced with family ties which really seals the deal, ahead of ‘This Time’ which rises gracefully and proudly. This isn’t just an album of vocal acrobatics and piano parts though. From the swooning dance-orientated ‘Under The Shadows’ to the slinky beat-driven ‘Closer’, Morris is about so much more than just balladry. There’s the tinkering effects and synths that litter themselves across the album, while ‘Cold’ – a duet with longterm friend Fryars – offers up another dynamic to her talents and side to her lyrical narrative. ‘Do You Even Know?’ is an understated gem, that pulses deftly while opener ‘Skin’ feels additively satisfying. Admittedly, her debut has been a bit of a long time coming – with last minute changes delaying until the New Year - but with her songwriting already sounding accomplished and confident, it’s been time well spent. Now, all that’s left is for her to take her place in the spotlight. (Sarah Jamieson) Listen: ‘Don’t Go’

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Crushed Beaks’ debut album ‘Scatter’ is two years in the making. Starting out as an octopus-like band - in possession of eight limbs, a guitar and a drum kit - they recently recruited a bassist. Scott Bowley brings a new intensity. The unleashed mayhem of the band’s earliest demos isn’t exactly tamed, but it does sound less ramshackle and gritty. Despite ‘Scatter’’s unchanging pounding foundations, Crushed Beaks often find pockets of shimmering melodies, shifting gear effortlessly from dirgey verses to twinkling guitars time and time again. On ‘Scatter’, Crushed Beaks find a solid centre. (El Hunt) Listen: ‘Rising Sign’

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CALIFORNIA X

Nights In The Dark (Don Giovanni

Records)

Riffs have deceived us before, carrying under-powered choruses and papering over songwriting cracks. California X’s enjoyably scuzzy, bags-of-promise selftitled debut certainly leaned on them for support at times. Album two, ‘Nights In The Dark’, stands on its own two feet. Here, Lemmy Gurtowsky and his band - augmented by new faces in the form of drummer Cole Lanier and guitarist Zack Brower - have coupled the fuzzbox power of their first outing with a sharper sense of melody and a greater thirst for adventure, creating a record that’s equal parts sugar rush power-pop and low-end meandering. Given the brute force with which much of ‘Nights In The Dark’ is dispatched, it’s guided by a deft songwriting hand. You’ll come for the riffs, but stick around for the tunes. (Huw Baines) Listen: ‘Nights In The Dark’

Nobody turned up to The .Decemberists’ war reenactment.

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THE DECEMBERISTS What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World (Rough Trade)

The Decemberists are a fascinating band. On the face of it, a fairly normal American indie-rock band with a touch of folk to them. Catchy, melodic, decent. But delve deeper into the fivepiece’s six album-strong back catalogue and you’ll find a band with a depth and breadth few ever come close to. From eight-minute folklore operas about feuding mariners and three-part representations of an old Japanese story to a rich variety of musical styles and tones, they are full of off-the-cuff and out-of-the-ordinary surprises. Their seventh album, ‘What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World’, is a microcosm of that sentiment. On first listen it sounds dry. It sounds like the band have lost their charm, their idiosyncrasies and their ability to take the usual and twist it into their own. They’ve been so generous with unique and interesting music over the last 15 years, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if the well had run dry. But give the new record time and the subtleties that make The Decemberists such a valuable band eeee start to appear. There’s no doubt the GAZ COOMBES album lacks some of the invention Matador (Hot Fruit Recordings) and creativity the band used to Even those too young to experience it fresh and first boast – though there are hints of it – hand will forever picture Gaz Coombes as the guy with but their sound has been moving in the sideburns, sat in the middle of the bed with his a much more measured and settled Supergrass band mates, in the video for ‘Alright’. Even way for several albums now. And now, twenty years on and firmly in his late thirties, it’s it’s not to say this album doesn’t near impossible to ever imagine him any other way - but have its own qualities. There’s a perhaps ‘Matador’ is the record where things finally change. The jaunty, energetic reassuring energy to their music hints of Britpop cast aside, this is Gaz Coombes the adult man, writing adult songs, – from the immediately catchy and they’re really rather great. ‘Cavalry Captain’ to the engaging The hazy, spacey ‘Seven Walls’, the layered, organic glitches of ‘Oscillate’ and ‘To ‘Mistral’. It’s safe to assume, the The Wire’ - there’s a texture that at times echoes that other legendary Oxford band. longer you spend with this record ‘The English Ruse’ moves with the speed of one of Win Butler’s runaway trains, but and the deeper into it you sink, the at no point does ‘Matador’ feel anything other than completely natural. Instead, it’s greater it will grow. (Hugh Morris) maturity bringing new twists and ideas to the fore. Stand-out ‘The Girl That Fell To Listen: ‘Cavalry Captain’ Earth’ is a song that feels like Coombes could have delivered it at any point in the past two decades, but by leaving it until now it’s allowed to breathe. Confidence without bravado, an analogue man refusing to succumb to the throw away values of a digital age - it’s an evolution that’s worth celebrating. (Stephen Ackroyd) Listen: ‘Deeper’

The deeper you sink, the greater it grows.

Viet Cong stole Trust Fund’s other cat.

A fully realised vision of where they’re headed. eeee VIET CONG

Viet Cong (Jagjaguwar)

Viet Cong aren’t a band to be overshadowed. Featuring two former members of the highly appreciated rock band Women, the quartet could have succumbed to the pressure that a lot of bands do to deliver a project of equal or better quality than before. What these Calgary-based pals have done though is neither: they’ve packed their shit up, and accelerated off into the distance in an entirely different direction. If previous record ‘Cassette’ was the initial fuel to get them on their way, then ‘Viet Cong’ is the first full tank - a fully realised vision of exactly where they want this new journey to be heading. It’s ironic then that ‘Viet Cong’ is a record obsessed with ideas of self-direction, pointlessness, mortality, desperation and progress, taking all of its themes and applying layers of melancholy via frontman Matt Flegel’s stoic and sharp vocal delivery. ‘Pointless Experience’ brilliantly jumps between driving, head-banging riffs and crunchy synths, nailing the Viet Cong formula of combining a bleak, desolate atmosphere with an engaging knack for melody. The twists and turns throughout ‘Viet Cong’’s seven tracks are exciting and lively: the band are remoulding genre conventions and confirming that they’re not settling for anything other than pushing the boundaries. (Tom Walters) Listen: ‘Bunker Buster’

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Q&A

Viet Cong bassist/vocalist Matt Flegel talks through the band’s beginnings and how they rose from the ashes of Calgary gems Women. When did the project begin, in light of Women having to end? When Women ended, I had a lot of leftover ideas and suddenly I didn’t have an outlet for them at all. I recorded a couple of demos at Chad VanGaalen’s by myself, and one of the first things I did was ‘March of Progress’ which is one on the new record, in its very early form. From there, we were in tour somewhere in Germany... I was playing with Monty [guitarist Scott Munro ] in Chad’s band, and we’d drunkenly talked about doing something together and then when we got back we suddenly just did it. That cassette EP is basically us trying to figure out what we wanted to sound like. How did the record itself come together? I feel like the seven tracks that are on the record, they’re ones that I thought would go really well together. We knew what songs we were going to be going on the record before we went in and re-record them all. ‘Bunker Buster’ was one of the first ones that we wrote together with all four of us. I had a basic premise for a song, but that one we definitely built up with all four of us. Monty and I did a different take on it together where it didn’t have a chorus or a bridge or anything like that.

KODALINE

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Coming Up For Air (RCA Victor)

MOURN (Captured Tracks)

Kodaline make no bones about being a big-sounding band. They pen anthems for emotional souls, a call to arms for anyone experiencing heartbreak or at the very least, slight foot cramp. Where there’s a cause, there’s Kodaline, a band who put themselves on the map as an undeniably universal - if a bit wet - prospect with debut

There’s nothing fancy about ‘MOURN’ - no effects, no reverb and the pace is so steady it could almost have been recorded in one take. MOURN don’t fuck about, they turn up, play what they know and skulk off leaving behind a debut so raw it almost feels live. With influences stemming from PJ Harvey to surrealism, it’s as bizarre as it is honed. MOURN use intellect and talent beyond their years to muscle their way in amongst the grown-ups and blow them all out of the water. (Henry Boon) Listen: ‘Boys Are Cunts’

‘In a Perfect World’. Two years on and they’re a fully-fledged force, Irish charmers with big hits pouring out their sleeves. Their follow-up doesn’t hold back on the monster-track factor. With every opening second, in steps a chorus to make actual giants look timid in comparison. Not a single song passes without one final, bellowed out “woah-ooohoooh,” the sound of rowdy football fans gone soft. On ‘Unclear’, they master the balance between smart songwriting and unashamedly huge ambitions. Nothing on their debut gave hints of this exercise in restraint, which sadly only seems to strike the band in fleeting moments. Otherwise, it’s back to default mode: it sounds criminally dated. They’re close to earning their arena status. There are moments on ‘Coming Up For Air’ that lay claim to a genuine force, the kind who’ve earned their Chris Martinendorsed stripes. They’re yet to truly claim their own territory, though, and any attempts to reinvent the wheel fall flat with an almighty thud. (Jamie Milton) Listen: ‘Unclear’

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H HAWKLINE

In The Pink Of Condition

(Heavenly Recordings)

Melodic hauntologist Huw Evans’ third album has some of his finest wonky pop tunes so far. The earlier cut and paste collages have gone, but it’s still made of fun. Sad fun, but fun. Melodies take a sharabang to the seaside and return to smash up the B&B and nick all the carton’s of UHT. (Tim Foil) Listen: ‘Moons in my Mirror’

TEAM ME

Blind As Night (Propeller

Recordings)

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS transfixiation (Dead Oceans)

Over ten years and three albums, Brooklyn’s A Place To Bury Strangers have built up a quiet but firm reputation as masters of psych-y noise rock. ‘Transfixiation’ is the band’s first album with new drummer Robi Gonzalez, and his rhythm section partnership with Dion Lunadon is an immovable concrete for the album’s duration, recalling Joy Division, as well as the expected My Bloody Valentine comparisons, with its relentlessness. This ever-present, thudding section allows Oliver Ackermann’s guitar and vocals to dive and float around the forefront in every way possible, the former feeling like it could move mountains with its volume and creativity. The album’s highlight comes at its heart. ‘Deeper’ is a six-minute monster, with swirls and crashes of reverb-drowned guitar leading to a biblical finale more than worthy of cementing the band’s supposed title of “New York’s loudest band”. ‘We’ve Come So Far’ presents A Place To Bury Strangers’ tight, uniform side, reigning in the colossal scale of ‘Deeper’ to a frantic, bass-led ear-splitter. Unfortunately, despite A Place To Bury Strangers using experimentation to a point on their fourth full-length, the album all too often sinks into a noise rock blur, with not a hook in sight to emerge from above these reverb-saturated cuts. ‘Transfixiation’, named appropriately, demands a trance-like attention across its duration, but very little sticks once the ride is over. (Will Richards) Listen: ‘Deeper’

‘Blind as Night’, the second album from Norwegians Team Me is forced fun. From the chorus of what sounds like children joining in on backing vocals, or the delivery of lines like “and previous suicides don’t scare me” alongside the kind of forcibly euphoric melodies most at home on Glee – there’s a weird disconnect at the heart of the record that grates. (Emma Swann) Listen: ‘Man-Eating Machine’

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THE SUBWAYS

The Subways (YFE Records /

Cooking Vinyl)

“Everything I ever cared for is right here,” howls Billy Lunn at the opening of his band’s fourth album. It seems The Subways are taking the unspoken rule about self-titled albums as a vessel for reinvention to heart. Gone are the rock’n’roll pretenders and in their stead stands an energised and acrobatic band of hope. A collection of twelve bold and invigorating ideas, it’s a rough, two-fingered salute to expectation and sends a powerful message of self-belief. (Ali Shutler) Listen: ‘Good Times’

live bring me the horizon

wembley arena, london photos: sarah louise bennett

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he road to Wembley is paved with sleeping bags. A marker of how refreshingly cynicismfree Bring Me The Horizon’s fanbase are, the ever-controversial Sheffield metallers have had a queue snaking around Wembley Arena since the wee hours of the previous evening. Both the build-up to tonight and the high-pitched euphoria that greets the band’s arrival are far more akin to a One Direction show than a Black Sabbath one, but any smarminess towards that fact rightfully falls upon deaf ears once you enter Wembley’s hallowed hall. This is no token glance backward to metal’s arena-bothering heyday of the eighties – this is a fullthrottle celebration of its future, and the youth of the crowd is testament to this fact. ‘Shadow Moses’’ declaration that “we’re going nowhere” proves a fitting opener to proceedings, as twelve-and-ahalf thousand voices stake claim to the arena for the night. It’s not the first time that Bring Me have taken to this stage. Supporting Bullet For My Valentine within these walls four years ago was the first taster of what lay ahead, but it’s the thrill of headlining the cavernous stage – and the grin it paints on every member of the group - that defines this evening.

f i t t i n gy grandiose

The set leans heavily upon material from the band’s past two records, both of which have seen internet sentiment towards the band change from loathing to loving – petitions and thinkpieces abounded after both records were left off the shortlist for their respective years’ Mercury Prize. But they still hark back to their early days with a touching on-stage reunion with former guitarist Curtis Ward and subsequent blast through ‘Pray For Plagues’, the opening track from debut album ‘Count Your Blessings’ and a fan-favourite excluded from setlists for the past three years. The crowd-pleasing gesture is met with the biggest wall of death of the night, the chasm in the centre crowd eventually giving way to a bubbling, surging maelstrom of bodies and airborne discarded clothing. Tonight means as much to those on stage as it does to the lucky few whose night camped out in the cold has yielded a spot at that coveted barrier. After closing proceedings with the thunderous, electronica-led ‘Can You Feel My Heart?’ the five young Northerners linger on stage. There seems to be a reluctance to leave these walls behind, the group posing for photo after photo with the 12,500-strong throng behind them. Whether tonight will be their swansong or springboard remains to be seen, but either way it’s a fittingly grandiose marker for a group who have defined modern music without ever straying from their own fiercely defended path. Mercury noms - who needs ‘em? (Tom Connick)

BIFFY CYLRO Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow. photo: Sinéad Grainger

very story has a beginning and this one begins in Ayrshire, 1995 with a fifteen-year-old Simon Neil recruiting Ben Johnson and his twin brother James to start a band. They call themselves Screwfish, but between moving to Glasgow two years later and releasing their first single ‘Iname’ in 1999 the band change their name to Biffy Clyro. What follows is fifteen years of relentless touring, growing interest and brilliant music. Fifteen years of small victory following small victory leading us to this weekend. A glorious lap of honour with 86 songs over three nights to 6000 fans, a powerful bookend, the scrawled underline. From the curtain drop, celebratory stomp of ‘Joy.Discovery. Invention.’ through the crowdsurf-inducing scream of ‘Now The Action Is On Fire!’ to the end of the world shake of ‘There’s No Such Thing As A Jaggy Snake’, Biffy Clyro and the crowd

spend the weekend holding one another, arm in arm. Night one is doused in sentiment and poignancy, with each song twisted into an arms aloft sing along. Night two loses this tread lightly approach as both band and crowd loosen up and lose themselves to history, while the final night bounces between spectacle and quiet beauty with rampant disregard for emotional or physical consequences. It’s a weekend of standout moments. Biffy Clyro are a once in a generation band, and this weekend serves as a reminder of that fact. There’s devotion for their art and a love for this band that’s written in the smiles on faces, the crack of voices and the ink on their chests. “We are Biffy fucking Clyro!” cries Simon Neil, uniting band and crowd one final time, and forever more. (Ali Shutler)

fter a year and a half on the road, tonight marks the end of The National’s ‘Trouble Will Find Me’ tour. The band don’t make it a big deal, though there are a few more we-would-like-to-thanks than usual and lead singer Matt Berninger’s hair is noticeably longer – presumably he’s admirably loyal to his barber back home in the States. But otherwise it’s business as usual in front of a sold out O2 Arena.

THE NATIONAL

Tonight, they open with ‘Don’t Swallow the Cap’ – the stage’s backdrop and accompanying big screens displaying supporting and often mesmerising graphics and video throughout – before moving through much of their latest album and its predecessor ‘High Violet’. Everything is simple, yet so full. Every instrument, every player, is part of a whole, barely noticeable as an individual. It’s a lesson in perfect equilibrium and the chaotic joy that comes from its momentary lapse.

O2, London. Photo: Abi Dainton

They close with a frantic, angry ‘Mr November’, an operatic ‘Terrible Love’ and the now-usual unmic’d ‘Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks’, which allows a moment of sing-along release for an audience that have spent two hours fraught with emotional tension. But it’s not quite enough for them – as they channel out the arena, the crowd starts up a final verse of the track and, unsurprisingly, everyone joins in. (Hugh Morris) 80 diymag.com

RUN THE JEWELS Academy 2, Manchester. Photo: Leah Henson

iller Mike and El-P, known collectively as Run The Jewels, are on a serious roll, the highoctane duo easily taking the crown for rap album of the year and boasting a sold out tour. Launching straight into ‘Run The Jewels’, that fire is doused in petrol as both performers take their turns delivering killer verses, with effortless set-ups for the songs’ greatest hooks. It isn’t so much a pattern as a force of nature. Whether at their most sobering, or their most fun, Run The Jewels deliver every single time: from the dense wordplays and displays of skill, to the way they can make a room hang on every syllable. They’re such comfortable artists that they can even afford a joke on the crowd, with El-P pausing mid song to shout “ladies and gentlemen - Zack De La Rocha!” before the Rage Against The Machine’s frontman’s verse in ‘Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)’. It leads Killer Mike to protest “You’re an asshole for that!”, as El-P apologises - “I’ve been wanting to do that all tour.” By the time encore ‘Angel Duster’ draws to a close, there’s a sense that the whirlwind of Run The Jewels has given the audience as much as it can take. Latest album, the critically adored ‘Run The Jewels 2’ starts with Killer Mike shouting “Let’s go El-P!”, and once these two guys at the top of their game get going there is no stopping them. (Matthew Davies)

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB Earls Court, London. photo: Carolina Faruolo

ith a setlist that rifles through four albums’ worth of songs, Bombay Bicycle Club put all their incarnations on show, zigzagging between acoustic folk to straightforward indie-rock through to the more layered and complex sounds of their last two records, all with a little help from their friends. Guest collaborators Lucy Rose, Rae Morris and Liz Lawrence feature throughout like ethereal sirens, whilst Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame makes a surprise appearance first on ‘Rinse Me Down’ and then a rendition of ‘Wish You Were Here’ which is absolutely loved by the crowd. Elsewhere, a jazzy and festive brass section livens up mainstay ‘Always Like This’ and adds a party feel to the Bollywood-sampling ‘Feel’, which sees punters tripping the light fantastic with glee. The ‘Club are experts at quieter, hushed moments though, and a reverential version of ‘How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep’ sweeps across the venue with its warm beauty. It’s a shame then that the levels aren’t quite right and the gig is intermittently plagued by a sludgey sound which admittedly, works in the band’s favour at times - such as the chugging, distorted guitar work on ‘Evening/Morning’ - but makes the songs sound muffled and echoic at others. It doesn’t appear to dent anyone’s enjoyment of the night however, and high spirits are in abundance; ‘Luna’ and ‘Always Like This’ are sang back with love, and hearing thousands sing “I’m not whole, I’m not whole, ohh you waste it all” on the latter is enough to send a chill down your spine. Closing the encore on ‘Carry Me’, as frenzied and taut as the seizure-inducing light show that accompanies it, ends the night on a manic, carnivalesque vibe, paying, in frontman Jack Steadman’s own words, “a fitting tribute” to the end of an era in the wholly vibrant and unsentimental way the band do so well. Farewell, Earls Court. (Shefali Srivastava)

INDIE DREAMBOAT Of the Month

RICHARD O’FLYNN all we are

Full name: Richard O’Flynn Do you have any nicknames? Well, people call me Rich, does that count? Star sign: Pisces, the watery one. Do you have any pets? Not really, I had a fish when I was a kid. It had one eye and I called him Blackbeard. Favourite film? That’s a tough one…. There Will be Blood. I guess it’s not my favourite ever but I watched it recently and it’s up there. Favourite food? I love a good Thai green curry. Drink of choice at the bar? I’ll have a pint and a whiskey chaser please. I’ll get the next one. Favourite hair product? My hair rarely looks good. I just let it do its thing. Song you’d play to woo someone? It’s got to be Al Green, ‘Let’s Stay Together’. If you weren’t a pop star, what would you be doing now? Am I a pop star? Chatup line of choice? Hey, I’m a pop star now.

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