DIY, July / August 2024

SOFT PLAY

DIY

FOUNDING EDITOR

Emma Swann

MANAGING EDITOR

Sarah Jamieson

FEATURES EDITOR

Lisa Wright

DIGITAL EDITOR

Daisy Carter

DESIGN

Emma Swann

CONTRIBUTORS

Adam Davidson, Alex Rigotti, Bella Martin, Ben Tipple, Brad Sked, Christopher Connor, Ed Lawson, Ed Miles, Elvis Thirlwell, Emily Savage, Emma Wilkes, Emmanuel Onapa, Hazel Blacher, James Hickey, Jenn Five, Joe Goggins, Jonathan Dadds, Louisa Dixon, Matt Ganfeld, Neive McCarthy, Neve Dawson, Otis Robinson, Rhian Daly, Rhys Buchanan, Sadie Rycraft, Sarah Taylor, Sophie Flint Vázquez, Tom Morgan, Tyler Damara-Kelly.

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material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of DIY. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which DIY holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of DIY or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally.

Safe to say, very few of us had Fontaines DC’s recent transformation on our 2024 bingo cards, but Team DIY are here for it, and that’s why we’re thrilled to have the Irish band gracing our cover once again. Diving into the new neon-hued world of ‘Romance’, the band’s Grian Chatten welcomes us into his home to talk about the artistic reinvigoration that the quintet have gone through since 2022’s ‘Skinty Fia –pigeonhole them at your peril! Elsewhere this issue, we chat embracing fun and selfacceptance with Charly Bliss, talk resilience and identity with BERWYN, dive into Wunderhorse’s ‘frst proper’ record as a fully-fedged band, and head down to The Rutz to celebrate Kneecap’s explosive debut. Plus, we head to the most magical place on earth – aka Glastonbury – to bring you all the action from Worthy Farm! Dig into our bumper summer bonanza issue now…

Sarah Jamieson, Managing Editor

the code to listen to our July / August playlist now.

Let’s Go Glasto!

Record-breaking headliners! Stone cold pop legends! More special guests and secret sets than you can waggle a fag at! Glastonbury 2024 was another year to remember – and not just because Paul Mescal was spotted on site in his short shorts. Here are just a few of the stand-out musical moments from our time down on Worthy Farm…

Photos: Emma Swann.

FRIDAY

“Welcome to drag brunch! Why are you all awake?!” hollers Lynks, in a perfectly cheeky introduction to Glasto’s frst day proper. Taking to the Park Stage after the ftness antics of Joe Wicks, the bemasked icon offers up a very different kind of HIIT workout, swapping lunges and squats for outrageous outfts and perfectly coordinated routines with their dance group Lynks Shower Gel. Predictably in-your-face and on the nose, their set is a glorious way to start the day, with tracks from their debut ‘ABOMINATION’ packing in even more sass on stage.

Olivia Dean’s Pyramid Stage set may be early in the day, but it’s clear to see just how much it all means to the singer. “I’ve been dreaming about playing on this stage since I was eight years old so this is a really big moment for me,” she grins, in the middle of airing cuts from her 2023 debut ‘Messy’ to gorgeous effect. Whether through the more slow-paced love song of ‘UFO’ or in infectiously upbeat moments like ‘Ladies Room’ or ‘Dive’, she’s a performer that oozes charisma and confdence, but still bears an excitable streak. It’s ‘Carmen’, however, that stands out most today; with a photo of her grandmother stitched in the middle of the heart-shaped bodice she’s wearing, she dedicates the track to the woman herself, and others from the Windrush generation.

Having spent the spring supporting Olivia Rodrigo, Remi Wolf fnds her true people on the Woodsies stage: people who’ll give ‘Toro’’s saucy climax (in all versions of the word) the uproarious cheer it deserves. A performer in every sense, she serves up a cover of ‘Valerie’ and spends its musical break twirling joyously like a kid that’s had too many e-numbers; at other points, the tone gets far more PG-13, Wolf fully leaning into the cheekiness of her lyrics and dropping in a chorus of Shaggy’s ‘It Wasn’t Me’ for good measure. She’s part liberated child energy, part overtly horny adult

woman, and blessed with a truly world class vocal range.

Making history as the frst K-pop band to grace Glasto, SEVENTEEN’s crowd may be small but it’s dedicated. In the middle are a hardcore throng who relish the booking; on the edge, a lot of curious bystanders. If a Pyramidworthy festival set can be measured by the visual smorgasbord it presents, then they’re a 13-piece, highlychoreographed unit with a show that never bores. It’s tightly managed and practised like a pop spectacle but there’s a looseness and riffy edge that’s perhaps surprising to the uninitiated. If N-Sync tripled in number and upped the wholesome factor, you’d get somewhere close.

A machine engineered to pump out the perfect festival band still likely wouldn’t get close to the level of vibes that Confdence Man bring to an absolutely heaving Other Stage. Ridiculous in the best possible way, their balance of ironic party bangers and deadpan, silly choreo is like a one-band mash up of everything an afternoon crowd entering into drunken giddy evening territory needs. They do the robot, they douse themselves in water, they’re hot and stupid and brilliant. As ‘Cool’ states: “It’s the party of the year.” Then, straight after, Bombay Bicycle Club execute a glorious coup, bringing on Damon Albarn not only for collab track ‘Heaven’ but also a bit of Blur smash ‘Tender’, following a pro-Palestine, pro-voting speech that’s a fully-fedged Glastonbury Moment.

At this point, more than 20 years into a treasured career, LCD Soundsystem have pretty much done it all, but a spot this high up the Pyramid – warming up the Friday crowd for headliner Dua Lipa – marks their

biggest yet. It’s a fttingly slow and steady trajectory for a band whose breakthrough hit ‘Losing My Edge’ was a musing on getting old and irrelevant; served up today in its eight-minute, slow-building glory, it makes for perhaps the most gloriously weird banger to grace the stage all weekend, but such is the beauty of James Murphy and co’s canon. These are songs that disregard all the rules of conventional hit-making – they’re lengthy and elongated, with sprawling beginnings that gradually creep up the energy scale. But from an early ‘I Can Change’ through the squelching grit of ‘Tribulations’ to the ultimate festival euphoria of ‘All My Friends’, the band are masters of their craft – one imitated by many but perfected by few.

To say that Dua Lipa got the headlining memo is an understatement. Tonight is a masterclass in how to top a festival bill, and one of the most impressive pop displays that the Pyramid has seen in years. Kicking off with the darkly kinetic ‘Training Season’, her set moves deftly from massive hit to massive hit, with her full-blown choreography looking effortless and slick. And even though the set itself is perfectly executed (save for a moment during a cover of Tame Impala’s ‘The Less I Know The Better’, when her special guest Kevin Parker stumbles over the words to his own song), it’s still fused with a sense of gleeful Britishness. During ‘Levitating’ (which boasts the frst of several frework displays) there’s a glorious moment where lyrics “dance my arse off” appear in towering letters behind her, to further seal her reign as the UK’s premier pop icon.

For all that the spectacle is an outstanding watch, at times turning the packed Pyramid Field into its own massive club, the set is also proof that Dua can belt it out with the best of them: ‘Radical Optimism’ closing cut ‘Happy For You’ gets its frst live outing and shows off her brilliantly gutsy vocals, while her hair whips around in a full blown ‘80s rock moment. Capping off a set that’s sure to solidify her as modern pop royalty, those at Worthy Farm won’t be forgetting this performance for a long time to come.

In the weekend’s least surprising turn of events, there’s an absolutely heaving queue when Charli XCX takes to the far-too-small Levels stage for a late night Partygirl DJ spot. Most people can’t see anything and yet the entire feld dances like they’re front row. Though it’s a club set and not a live show, Charli knows how to make it a moment, and so we get Robyn appearing to deliver ‘With Every Heartbeat’ and ‘Dancing On My Own’, which is remixed live by Romy. In a just world, we’ll be painting the Pyramid ‘BRAT’ green next year for an XCX supremacy.

SATURDAY

Kneecap aren’t what you’d call a natural morning band, unless it’s the sort of morning where

you still haven’t been to bed since the night before. But the Irish trio are almost certainly the most fun you can have before your frst breakfast pint’s properly gone down. Móglaí Bap spends most of the set running in circles around the stage, topless, can of Red Stripe in hand, while his lyrical foil Mo Chara is impressively tight, lending a smattering of control to the chaos. The moshpit is full of balaclavaclad fans having a big one, while ‘Your Sniffer Dogs Are Shite’’s titular chant is projected in massive letters onto the back screen. It’s glorious madness but with a message, as fnal chants of ‘Free Palestine’ are backed by a closing screen bearing the statement as they leave the stage.

Last year, The Last Dinner Party drew reportedly the biggest morning set crowd at Woodsies in Glastonbury history. This year, the Other Stage feld is heaving but where, previously, the hype felt like exactly that – early buzz – these days (following debut album ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’) the quintet’s calibre is proven and undeniably on show. Frontwoman Abigail Morris has the stage presence of a festival-headlining superstar: like Florence Welch if she had an Adam Ant fxation. Within the set, meanwhile, they debut new track ‘Second Best’ which shows they’re not lacking in creative juices postalbum release. Opening with an operatic Queen-like multipart harmony, it’s theatrical and cheeky in all the

ways the quintet have come to be defned by.

For the last couple of weeks, the rumours of former Pyramid headliners Kasabian playing Saturday’s Woodsies secret set have been circulating so heavily bookies closed the bets. A couple of hours in advance, the slot was confrmed but even frontman Serge Pizzorno is visibly surprised at the sheer amount of fans that heard the last minute clarion call. With crowds spilling out the tent and flling the entire feld, the atmosphere is headliner level; every person in the room knows every word, and the band

CHARLI XCX

THE LAST DINNER PARTY

DAMON ALBARN

DUA LIPA

fully understand the assignment – constant hits and the largest 6pm vibes that Glastonbury has seen all weekend. Clad in a full fringed two-piece that looks something like a denim mop, Pizzorno helms the operation in a brilliantly ridiculous, celebratory way that should put to bed any lingering concerns that he would be up to the job. Last time Kasabian played here, he was a side man to Tom Meighan; this time he fully commands the mic like he’s been doing it his whole career. When a duo in the crowd let off a pair of fame-coloured fares during ‘Fire’, it’s the perfect set-piece for the lairiest secret set in recent memory.

“You’re witnessing greatness – and I don’t say that from a place of arrogance, I say that from a place of confdence,” declares Little Simz to the sea of people that pack out the Pyramid feld for her pre-headliner set, as she visibly soaks in the magnitude of the moment. With a slick background of towering screens and a band (including former indie boy Jack Penate) who look like trenchcoat-clad characters out of the Matrix, everything about Simz’ set gives maximum impact with seemingly minimal ingredients. From an opening ‘Sihouette’, to ‘Point and Kill’ where she brings out guest vocalist Obongjayar, to ‘Gorilla’, Simz oozes confdence and class. There’s a new song, ‘The Code’, added to the mix and a new projected teased – a tantalising carrot dangled from an artist who’s fully in her imperial phase.

out, they have a few – but perhaps not the ones you’d expect. Where many Pyramid headliners will hit up the biggest A listers in their little black books for a guest turn, Chris Martin and co take a classy approach, using the enormous platform (live-streamed globally for the frst time) to elevate a diverse series of smaller artists including Victoria Canal and Laura Mvula, with Little Simz also returning to the stage to sing on ‘We

Pray’. On BTS collab ‘My Universe’, the Pyramid is turned into a rainbow of colour with the K-pop band projected onto its top, but it’s as Coldplay return for an encore that we get a real piece of magic.

Setting a new record as they step out onstage for their ffth Glastonbury headline set, Coldplay have everything and nothing to prove. They’re one of the biggest bands in the world and this is far from their frst rodeo but equally, when you’re on round fve, what new tricks can you bring to the table? As it turns

Where the majority of the main set sees them putting on a technicolour light spectacular, complete with – at one point – surreal Monsters Inc-esque characters and costumes, they open the encore with a strippedback take on early track ‘Sparks’ before Martin turns the camera onto a series of audience members, making up impromptu songs for each. Then the camera pans to legendary Glasto founder Michael Eavis backstage, who receives his own song to enormous cheers. Then: “And here’s another legendary Michael,” and out comes actor Michael J. Fox with a guitar. Declaring the importance of Back to the Future in Coldplay’s own lore, it feels like a touching way of paying it back, giving the actor – who has openly spoken about the worsening condition of his Parkinson’s disease and is rarely seen in public – a

chance to soak up the crowd’s love, and giving the crowd more than a few damp eyes in return.

SUNDAY

Two years on and one debut album release later, Rachel Chinouriri’s return to Glastonbury is enough to make even the hardiest of attendees a little misty-eyed. Taking to the Other Stage in the post-lunchtime spot, her mix of excitement and nerves is clear from the off but the crowd are entirely behind her, with an early showing of ‘The Hills’ sounding glorious. It’s her rendition of ‘Robbed’ – dedicated both to her late niece who originally inspired the song, and those currently suffering in Gaza – that’s most stunning though, with Rachel herself welling up at the sheer emotion of the whole thing. It’s one of those perfectly candid moments that could only happen at Glasto, with the singer declaring that the crowd are helping to make her dreams come true.

Emerging to the sound of the Vengaboys before launching into the gnarliest thrashes the Other Stage has seen all weekend, SOFT PLAY embark on an immediate reminder that they operate on an axis all of their own – part vein-popping, moshing punk animals; part cheeky comedy double act. They bring out Bob Vylan for a roaring rendition of ‘One More Day Won’t Hurt’, and then recruit a back up group of musicians for a touching, throat-ripping run through ‘Everything and Nothing’, as the vocalist points out a fag in the audience that waves in memory of his friend Bailey, the subject of the track. Feral performers, silly boys, noisy fuckers, lovely lads – get yourself a band that can do it all.

When Glastonbury booked Shania Twain, they couldn’t have predicted the current country resurgence that’s elevated the set from simply this year’s Legends Slot into something surprisingly timely. The majority of the crowd’s energy is focused on a couple of massive hits rather than a real knowledge of Twain’s back catalogue; she starts with ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ and ends with ‘Man, I Feel Like A Woman’, with only a mid set ‘Still The One’ and ‘Come On Over’ really connecting with the peripheries. Yet with a set like this it’s about the atmosphere rather than an intimate awareness of the artist’s nuances, and as a sea of cowboy hats waggle gamely in the air, Shania’s done enough to cement her status in Glasto legend.

LITTLE SIMZ

COLDPLAY

RACHEL CHINOURIRI SOFT PLAY

Tell any grizzled old-school Glasto goer that Avril Lavigne would draw one of the biggest crowds of the weekend for her frst visit to Worthy Farm, and they’d probably scoff in your face, but they clearly wouldn’t appreciate the sheer unadulterated glee that her Other Stage set brings fans this evening. When she launches into technicolour hit ‘Girlfriend’, the outstretched crowd burst into giddy life alongside her. It’s unsurprisingly her older offerings that incite most chaos, with people screaming along to every word of ‘Complicated’ and ‘I’m With You’ while perched on shoulders, but for the full hour, the tightly-packed feld is so full that people can’t get in or out. Needless to say, her closing gambit of ‘Sk8r Boi’ provides the set’s pinnacle, with fans’ adrenaline palpable until its last moments.

If there’s one set this weekend that deserves more attention than it receives, it’s Janelle Monáe’s early evening turn on the Pyramid. Up against Avril, the turn out for Monáe is slim at best, but what she may lack in quantity she more than brings in quality. With multiple costume changes including a cape that turns her into a human fowerbed and, for ‘Pynk’, a pair of trousers made to resemble a massive vagina, we’re in a land of glorious maximalism. However, it’s Monáe herself – a perfect splice between Prince and Michael Jackson – that elevates the show into true superstar territory. Possessed with the kind of absolute confdence that very few can muster, she’s completely mesmerising. Kudos must also go to the most mic-drop stage exit of the festival. In her own words, “Janelle Monáe: out.”

fashion.

Rounding off the weekend and something of a divisive booking when it was announced several months back, despite SZA’s global megastar status, it’s to a notably thin crowd that Solána Imani Rowe emerges for Sunday night’s Pyramid headline set. The Gen Z, online fervour may not have translated to Glastonbury, but the genre-morphing singer has clearly pulled out all the stops to justify the slot – while tried-and-tested Saturday headliners Coldplay are an obvious pull and a safe pair of hands, SZA opts for something far more singular, turning the iconic stage into her own personal trippy fantasia. Never has the

Disney-like fairytale graphics introduce her, green Tinkerbell fairy wings add to the whimsy, while the entire stage is covered in dripping icy sculptures that rise up from the foor and hang from the ceiling, lit in ways that turn the scene into forests and fre. For such a huge American star, there’s real eccentricity at play here: why, for a start, does she spend a large portion of the set singing astride an enormous metal beetle? But just as tonight’s set showcases her sonic range, where the rocky ‘F2F’ sits happily alongside the sugary sass of turbohit ‘Kill Bill’, ‘Snooze’’s more traditional lilting R&B and a partial cover of Prince’s ‘Kiss’, the whole production is a window into a non-conforming mind. Though crowd numbers suggest the headline might not be one for the history books, SZA more than lives up to the billing, proving simultaneously that Glastonbury should keep pushing its booking choices forward while the crowd catches up. Lisa Wright, Sarah Jamieson

Catching up with… Gossip’s Beth Ditto

Ahead of their Saturday night Woodsies headline slot, we grabbed the riotous frontwoman for an inspiring, mildly chaotic stop-and-chat. Interview: Lisa Wright.

How are you feeling, being back with the being back with the band and getting ready for a massive Glastonbury show?

It’s the same show [at a festival like this], except you’re further apart. It makes me happy that we’re still doing this really rough, shitty, let’s-see-what-happens [sort of show]. It makes me think, if we can do it anyone can do it, because we are NOT the most pro and that’s what’s fun! Sometimes I think the more you learn and the better you get at your instrument, the worse it is. It depends on the group, but I think Gossip are one of those bands where you don’t come to see a light show or choreography; you might see me fall down or Nathan [Howdeshell] break a string.

How have you found it entering back into a world where you’re on magazine covers and opening yourself up to the internet’s commentators again?

Coming from a punk world, it’s never mattered to me. The bullshit where people think you’re fat, ugly, lazy – I don’t really care because of course you’ll think that and also, true! Fair enough! You can’t be everybody’s favourite band and some people will just hate you, but they’re not your friends. As long as your friends don’t hate you, you’re doing alright. They’re the people that matter. This is just music, it’s not surgery, we’re not saving lives.

What’s your advice to other artists going through similar situations?

Number One – never read about yourself, you don’t need the opinions of people that you don’t know. You can’t live, make art, perform, be around to make people happy and that’s the thing about coming from a punk scene that saved me: it gave me a flter to see the world through that wasn’t just TV beauty standards. It gave me the ability to build my own idea of what I wanted to be. So as long as I can look myself in the mirror and be like, ‘You did the best you could to be a decent fucking person’, who gives a shit?

What are the hopes for Gossip this time round?

I think it’s kind of amazing people are still asking you to do this shit when you’re 40! It’s fun to see what things have moved on your body. Would you lookie there, that’s a lot lower now… That’s a lot different than I remember it… I just think [to show] that it’s not the end of the world if people point and laugh at you. Look at all these perfect beautiful people, and people fucking tear them to shreds! So you can’t please people. I just hope that people have a good time, and I’m trying to learn from the youth – I’m in a listening phase right now, believe it or not.

Pyramid been used in such an immersive, worldbuilding

SZA

AVRIL LAVIGNE

Additional

photos: Anna Barclay, Henry Redcliffe, Matt Cardy and Anna Barclay, Cass Meyers.

JANELLE MONÁE

in deep HIGHER

DIY In Deep is our monthly, online-centric chance to dig into a longer profle on some of the most exciting artists in the world right now.

Catapulted into the spotlight with a BRITs win aged 20, Griff has spent the last few years ticking off bucket list achievement after bucket list achievement. Now, she’s fnally launching debut album ‘Vertigo’, and for the singerproducer, the only way is up. Words: Rhian Daly.

or Griff, Summer 2024 is turning out to be a season of childhood dreams coming true. The Saturday after we speak, the Hertfordshire-born musician and producer – real name Sarah Griffths – will open for her longtime musical hero, Taylor Swift, as part of the superstar’s Wembley Stadium Eras Tour run. “At this point, I feel fairly chilled about it,” she says calmly from her home two weeks before. “But it’s gonna be over in a heartbeat, so I just want to enjoy it.”

As big of a deal as the show may be, the 23-yearold has been here before. After a breakthrough in 2020 that snowballed into a BRITs Rising Star win in 2021, Griff became the support act du jour for some of pop’s biggest names. In the span of six months, she opened for Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay, joining the latter at their own Wembley shows in 2022. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m gonna be shitting my pants on the day, and the nerves never go, but it’s defnitely a nice reassurance to know that I’ve done Wembley with Coldplay,” she says. “I think I may be more excited because I know Swifties are just a good vibe. I feel like I’m performing to my own community, almost.”

Just under a month after her Eras performance, another monumental moment will arrive for Griff: the release of her debut album, ‘Vertigo’. The record has been a long time coming – fve years since her debut EP, ‘Mirror Talk’ – but is well worth the wait; a collection that highlights Griff’s knack for seemingly effortless pop hooks, lyrics that can make you laugh and cry, and songs that command you to take yourself to the middle of the dancefoor, no matter how heavy your heart.

Despite how accomplished and cohesive ‘Vertigo’ sounds now, writing it didn’t come easy for its creator. “A lot of the songs I was signed [to label Warner Music] off of were just songs I wrote without thinking about whether they were going to come out in the world,” Griff explains. “Then the mixtape [2021’s ‘One Foot In Front Of The Other’] was written during COVID, so [the album] was like the frst real time I had to write, and I knew that there was an expectation for it almost.”

Usually, the studio is where Griff feels most at home. “It’s almost like time doesn’t exist when you’re in the studio – you get so hyper-focused on building a song and writing a world that everything else disappears,” she says. But her concerns about making an album made the idea of stepping into a professional recording space feel like the opposite of that “exciting playground”. And so, instead, she got creative and went on a series of trips to Airbnbs around the country: “I just took myself away and told no one to talk to me, and I converted the living rooms and kitchens into studios.”

HIGHER and F

A breakthrough came with ‘Vertigo’’s title track – a glittering, gasping rush of pop brilliance that captures the dizzying feeling of everything around you spinning out of control. The musician wrote it while staying at Imogen Heap’s house, at a time when the pandemic was fnally subsiding and the reality of everything that had been building up around her was starting to hit. “I just felt a little bit out of my body in that sense, and I

couldn’t really write,” she says – a disorientating feeling for someone who usually exercises those creative muscles daily. “It was like, ‘Woah, I don’t really know what people want from me and what I’m supposed to be doing’.” However, once she tapped into what she was feeling, the lyrics began “pouring out”.

That song set the path for the rest of the album, which continues the story of Griff from ‘One Foot In Front Of The Other’. If that mixtape was about getting back up after losing your balance, then this record fnds her learning how to stay upright and steady in the eye of the storm. The raw, sparse ‘So Fast’ asks someone to stay by her side as a companion through the chaos, and the Mura Masa-produced ‘Cycles’ skips into more electronic territory as it begins to embrace the spiralling. ‘Tears For Fun’, meanwhile, continues to revel in the drama, twisting periods of gutwrenching heartbreak into crisp, chest-thumping euphoria.

For the young musician, her rise has been somewhat intense and surreal. She was signed right out of high school and, when the world started picking up on her songs, put on an accelerated path to stardom. Unlike most pop stars, though, Griff experienced much of this via lockdown and enforced social distancing, making it feel even more unreal. “It didn’t feel very tangible,” she refects now. “It was a bit of a whirlwind – even with the BRITs, I didn’t realise we were at a stage where we’d be eligible for that. So when I look back at the start and the pandemic, it was just a bit of a fever dream.”

“SWIFTIES ARE JUST A GOOD VIBE. I FEEL LIKE I’M PERFORMING TO MY OWN COMMUNITY, ALMOST.”

Although she points out she’s no “child star,” there are times when she compares herself to her friends and can see experiences that she hasn’t had, like going to uni. “I don’t know if I ever think of it like I really missed out or feel like I didn’t do anything I really wanted to,” she assesses. “But I defnitely am aware that the last few years haven’t been maybe a conventional few years for someone at this stage of life…”

Read the full feature at diymag.com/griffvertigo

‘Vertigo’ is out 19th July via Warner. DIY

Hard Life

After a whirlwind year of legal battles and uncertainty over the band’s future, Hard Life (FKA Easy Life) return with their latest single, ‘Tears’.

Interview: Adam Davidson

Over the past 12 months, the band formerly known as Easy Life have experienced anything but the smooth sailing of their previous moniker. Following an unexpected challenge from easyGroup, Murray Matravers and co were dragged into a well-publicised legal battle and forced to change their name. Yet, despite the unfortunate circumstances, they’ve returned with a fresh start and a new era. Welcome (back) then, to Hard Life.

‘Tears’ is the band’s frst single since becoming Hard Life, does it feel liberating to have a clean slate?

It’s been a crazy few months with lots of ups and downs but, in hindsight, it feels great! What artist is afforded the luxury of starting again this late in their career? It really does feel like a clean slate and it’s rekindled the love of what I do. I was doing Easy Life for eight years and it was very familiar; I loved it but I almost took it for granted. Then all of a sudden, it was threatened to be taken away from us. So when we came back as Hard Life I realised how special and sacred it is to me because it could be over at any time. I’m ready to go and I’m inspired all the time which is rare because I can go through months of feeling fed up with music, but it hasn’t happened for a while.

Seeing how the fans rallied together must have really put everything in perspective too?

There were defnitely times over the last nine months where the band thought about not coming back. And every time, it was the fans that pulled us up and made us realise that we have to keep going. They have always been dedicated and loyal, but this was a test for all of us and they pulled through. We owe it to them.

And if there’s any silver lining, this has been great free advertising…

There’s so many silver linings. We’ve reached a whole new audience. I still get messages to this day saying,

? WHAT’S G GNIO NO TIW H . . .

‘I’ve never heard of your band but keep going and fght the power!’ It’s almost like we’re the underdogs and that’s how it felt like when we were frst making music. We were from Leicester and making alternative music which didn’t necessarily ft in a genre – it felt like we were paving our own way and it feels that way again.

Tell us more about the sample in ‘Tears’, and how your approach to songwriting has been changing?

With our old music, I was always very interested in sampling, but usually more drum breaks and individual sounds. A friend introduced me to Natalie Bergman, whose sample it is, and as soon as I heard this particular song I illegally downloaded it, sped it up, put it in Logic and it had to be a Hard Life song. I’ve since spoken to Natalie and cleared the song though, so it’s all above board!

There’s a great line that goes: “I drink plant-based milk, it’s a gateway drug / But there’s no use crying over oat milk.” What’s your lyrical process currently?

I’m always writing notes on my phone whether I’m on long journeys or if I’m bored. Some people doom scroll on social media; my equivalent is doom scrolling through my notes. It’s often a stream of consciousness and I let it fow. Although it’s not observational I try to make it a narrative. With ‘Tears’, the lyrics came straight away and it was like a little time capsule. Those are the best ones for me and they always feel the most raw and real.

And can we expect a debut Hard Life album any time soon?

One thing that this whole process has taught me is to not look too far in advance. I’m writing music and I don’t really know. I suppose there will be an album at some point, but I don’t know when that’ll be as it’s only recently that I’ve started going back to the studio and writing. I took a massive break from music because most of my day was full of boring legal stuff – now I’m just writing and seeing where it goes.

PIRATE HIGHLIGHT!

Pirate Studios is a community of 24-hour spaces that spans over 700 studios worldwide – so whether you’re a producer, vocalist, DJ, band member, dancer or podcaster – they’ve got you covered.

What’s more, every month, we at DIY will be shining a light on just a few of the ace artists who grace their studios as Pirate Ambassadors. Check them out below.

MEGAN WYN

Anglesey-born singer Megan Wyn is having a busy summer, and with a handful of festival sets already under her belt (she’s played Isle of Wight and Britfest already), and the gorgeous melodrama of her latest single ‘Waiting For Reason’, it’s little wonder as to why. The Pirate headline tour this September, too, so keep your eyes peeled for more from her.

ELEPHANT KIND

If big, danceable tunes are what you need to brighten up your summer, then look no further located to London and have now become regular users of Pirate Studios. Their recent buoyant single ‘Louder’ and the insatiably funky ‘Good Times’ are enough to add a little dose of heady optimism to anyone’s day.

“There were defnitely times over the last nine months where the band thought about not coming back.” – Murray Matravers

OH ROMANCE

Having already been featured on BBC Introducing

recent single ‘Tongued-tied’ – a self-declared “rock and roll summer anthem” – arrives as a barbed, slinking track that soon bursts into melodic life.

Like the sound of what Pirate Studios do? Head over to pirate.com now to book a studio and discover more.

FESTIVALS LONG HOT SUMMER

‘Tis the season! (For wellies, tinnies, and dancing until your feet hurt, that is). We’re well and truly in the thick of it now, and ready to get stuck into the best fests that Europe has to offer.

MAD COOL

10th – 14th July, Villaverde, Madrid

One of Spain’s hottest events – both in stature and actual temperature, with the city expected to reach a sweltering 36 degrees this month – this year’s Mad Cool is set to be another big one. Not only will there be huge performances from festival titans such as The Killers, Dua Lipa, Pearl Jam and Bring Me The Horizon, but the rest of the bill is equally as buzzy, with ace acts such as Ashnikko, Janelle Monáe, Jessie Ware and Nia Archives all bringing the party to the Villaverde district, too. That’s not even taking into account what’s sure to be an iconic performance from Avril Lavigne, fresh from her packed out set at Glasto last month…

Another brilliant artist making the trip to Spain for the occasion is Sophie Allison’s Soccer Mommy. hot on the heels of a series of shows in the UK – including sets at Glastonbury and Outbreak – and with her latest track ‘Lost’ now out in the world, we caught up with the singer ahead of her set…

Q&A

Soccer Mommy

Hello Sophie! You recently played a series of stripped back solo shows in the US during which you were debuting some new material; how did they go?

The shows in the US were really fun! It felt very special to be able to play new music for people in that context. I used to play all my shows alone back when I started and I could play new songs whenever I wrote them. It was all just really natural.

Was there a particular reason you decided to pursue that kind of performance?

The songs I’ve written over the past couple years are all very personal. I wanted the frst listen of these songs to feel like the demos –straightforward and raw. I think it was also a great way to connect with fans and share something a little early. Playing shows that way was honestly really refreshing and it just made me excited to share new music.

Most recently, you shared your new track

‘Lost’; can you tell us a little more about how that song came to life? Do you think it’ll be symbolic of where you go next?

‘Lost’ is a song that just kind of came out of me. It’s really inspiring when something feels true to you but also fresh. The production is defnitely more like the rest of the music I’ve been working on.

How do you approach moving away from a much more intimate show, such as your recent US dates, towards a much larger scale festival stage?

A solo performance and a big festival show feel totally different. I don’t think there’s really any cross over with how I want to present things. I play

songs differently when I do them solo vs with a band, so I had to kind of prepare a bit for those solo shows. I also had to learn a lot of old material for those.

You’ve also got a few more festival appearances coming up, including a slot at Madrid’s Mad Cool Festival. Is there anyone else on the bill you’re excited to watch? Do you have anything special up your sleeve for people who come check out your set?

I’m hoping I get to see Garbage, Sexyy Red and Dua Lipa would be fun too! I’m planning on playing some stuff from all three of my records and maybe my new single as well.

OPEN’ER

3rd – 6th July, Gdynia-Kosakowo Airport

Packing in more big names than you can shake a pierogi at, this year’s edition of Open’er really does live up to the hype. Alongside headliner turns from titans such as Foo Fighters, Dua Lipa and Doja Cat , the Polish festival is also set to become the latest outpost for ‘brat’ summer, with Charli XCX taking to the stage and even more ace acts such as Ice Spice, Fat Dog and Mabel appearing elsewhere on the bill.

A little newer than some of the other artists on the line-up – but no less exciting – we caught up with indie-pop’s Next Big Thing™ Nieve Ella, to get to know her a little better…

Q&A

Nieve Ella

You hail from the West Midlands – in terms of music, what was it like growing up there? Was there a good supply of venues in/near your hometown?

I grew up in a small village, so music wasn’t that accessible. I started going to gigs in Birmingham when I was around 16 – right before lockdown – so I got a small taste of what it was about. There are some really really great musicians and bands around – a lot of indie stuff. I feel like that was such an important time for me in terms of developing my music taste; both O2 venues in Brum hold very special memories for me. Who were some artists that inspired you when you were just starting out?

The main inspiration for me was Sam Fender. I went to his show in August 2021 – it was the frst gig I had been to since lockdown –and after that night I created the whole of my frst EP. Something just clicked while watching him… maybe it was the double pinter, who knows! I wrote a lot of those songs about someone I met that night in the line for Sam; if I hadn’t gone to that gig, I don’t think I’d

even be writing this.

At the moment, you’re in the studio working on new music! What can people expect from your upcoming releases? How would you say they compare to last year’s ‘Lifetime of Wanting’ EP?

Working on music is therapy to me, so whatever is going on in my life, I write about it. My life has changed a lot since ‘Lifetime of Wanting’, both career-wise and personal relationships-wise; it all feels a bit darker now, but in the brightest way. All I can say is that I’m very, very excited.

You’re playing a bunch of festival this summer, including Open’er; tell us your number one ‘must pack’ festival essential.

I always remember my camcorder, to capture as much as I can. Festivals are so special and each one is different – at the point I’m at in my career, I fnd that the stages we play vary in size, and it’s just so fun to experience that. It keeps me humble!

POHODA

11th – 13th July, Airport Trençin

Slovakia’s primary musical hub come summer time, the picturesque town of Trençin is once again set to play host to Pohoda, for what’s been crowned the European Festival Awards’ Best Medium Sized Festival (ooher). It’s little wonder it’s bagged that title, with this year’s line-up boasting huge names like former cover star James Blake, alongside DIY faves like Jockstrap, Royal Blood, SOFT PLAY and English Teacher

Also set to make his debut trip to Slovakia is LA Priest – aka Sam Eastgate, who plans to eke out his journey to the festival a little longer. We spoke to him ahead of appearance on its fnal day.

Q&A

LA Priest

Hello Sam! How are you doing and what have you been up to recently?

I’m good thanks, I’ve been back in France at the old house I recorded [his 2015 album] ‘Inji’ in.

I’m currently driving to Slovakia for Pohoda, but I found out I am playing on the last day so I’m staying in Italy a little bit longer for some more gelato.

Just a couple of weeks ago, you completed a tour of the UK; how were the shows, and what was it like getting to air some of your new material to audiences?

The shows felt a bit more easy going than in the past – which usually means I need to change everything and make it diffcult again, but I think I had a good balance because of those unfnished songs in the set. They

gave me that uncertainty that’s essential for a live show.

You’re gonna be changing things up and heading out to play at Pohoda shortly. Is this your frst time playing in Slovakia?

I’ve never been to Slovakia. I think festivals outside the UK are better because the security are generally party people themselves and aren’t on as much of a power trip.

How do you fnd yourself approaching festival slots?

Is there a particular way you prepare for those kinds of sets?

For festivals I play with energy – the crowd are fuelled by it so you’ve got to give all you can. I also think you’ve got to break a few invisible walls. Musically, you paint with a wider brush and emphasise whatever the lead instrument is at any moment.

Photos: Anna Pollack, Joseph Bird

Jr, Mollie McKay

NOS ALIVE

11th – 13th July, Passeio Marítimo de Algés, Lisbon

Does it get much better than strolling through the streets of Lisbon, nabbing a quick pastel de nata and heading to watch some of music’s biggest names? We think not, which is why this year’s NOS Alive is such an appealing prospect. Taking place in the dreamy confnes of the Portuguese capital, this year’s event will boast sets from big-hitters Dua Lipa, Pearl Jam, The Smashing Pumpkins and more.

Also heading towards the Med for a lil musical sojourn are longtime DIY faves Black Honey; we spoke to the band’s leader Izzy B Phillips about their new cover of ‘Wild Thing’, what she’s been up to recently and how they’re getting ready to take on festival season.

FLOW

9th – 11th August, Suvilahti, Helsinki

Q&A Black Honey

A couple of weeks ago, you shared your cover of ‘Wild Thing’, which was released for the new telly series My Lady Jane. Can you tell us a bit more about how that all came about?

‘Wild Thing’ was the frst cover we were asked to do where we were actually thinking, ‘Yeah, we would just enjoy making that’. Not like the 90,000,000,000 Christmas songs we get forced to pitch to supermarkets every Christmas. Also, our scene is set to a girl perving on a guy who turns into a horse so an obvious artistic choice really.

You’re always busy being creative! Have you got anything up your sleeve at the moment that you’re working on? Are you looking ahead to what comes next?

Yeah, I’m doing loads, I can’t tell you all that much right now but what I can say is that I love what I’m working on. I am writing a lot with other people too, still learning a lot. I had my frst pop song come out with Betta Lemme. I’ve been a gap year hoe: I went to Colombia then to stay with my mate in Austria for a bit. Oh, and I’m a tattoo artist now too; I love getting to know everyone and it’s crazy to me that I get to draw on people permanently. Sometimes I think I should pick a lane but then I think, ‘fuck that’.

One of Northern Europe’s most unforgettable weekends, Helsinki’s Flow isn’t just about the artists, it’s about the experience. Set to celebrate its 20th anniversary this year, the festival not only has a huge list of stars set to play across its three days ( Fred again.., RAYE , Pulp and Halsey to name but a few), but there’ll also be hypnotic sound sculptures and art exhibitions, talks on sustainability and creative technologies, and a host of immersive experiences to embrace.

Also taking the stage at the Finnish festival will be Finland-via-Mexico talent Joalin. Fresh from releasing her newest single ‘Without You’, we caught up with the singer to fnd out how she’s feeling ahead of her (sort of) hometown show…

Q&A

Joalin

What’s your earliest musical memory?

This one is hard to answer, music has always been there even before I have memory. I started dancing when I was three, and that continued until I was 16. I remember always feeling very connected to music, I’ve always loved and been intrigued by any genre of music.

How did you end up being inspired to start working on music?

I’ve always been super creative. I’ve also always had this weird big feeling inside that I need to be a performer or an artist. I fulflled that feeling through dance for a very long time until I moved to Finland and for the frst time met someone that asked me to try making music, then my life changed.

You’ve just released your new single ‘Without

You’. Can you tell us a little bit about what inspired the song, and what you wanted to explore with it?

I remember the day my producer played me the beat. It’s pretty close to how it sounds now. I heard it and immediately fell in love. It was summer last year and we were off to a party after our session so I wanted to bring that energy on to this song. Just young reckless summer thoughts.

How are you feeling ahead of it?

Yes I am! I just did a show last month in my hometown Turku and the energy was magical. I personally love Flow so I’m honoured to get to perform there. I’m also trying to ft some extra rehearsals prior to the show so I can add more dance to the set.

All of my art makes me happy and if I wanna do it all then why the fuck not. I have given up trying to explain my job to family at Christmas though…

You’re also playing a chunk of festivals this summer; what do you look forward to most about getting to play at bigger outdoor events?

I like the feral feeling of everyone en masse having fun. Music is the most human connection and we are all more fucked in the head than ever from being slurped through screens all day long.

How do you go about planning those kinds of shows? Do you have anything special planned?

It’s hard to plan the shows when you don’t know what you’re gonna be working with but one of my favourite things to do is to explore my weird, more masculine or dom side, after all I’m quite soft so it makes for a nuanced show.

You’re about to head to NOS Alive in Lisbon – how do you like getting to go out and play in Europe?

It’s a great treat, we love it. England is a soggy miserable country to be in right now and we have had a decent rest to reset and appreciate how lucky we are to play shows around the world.

ALL POINTS EAST

16th – 25th August, Victoria Park, London

Once again returning to East London’s Victoria Park comes All Points East, with an incredible, packed out bill across the fnal two weekends of August. Whether your bag is more modern hip hop (via Loyle Carner and KAYTRANADA) or emotive indie pop (with Mitski, Ethel Cain, Arlo Parks et al) or you simply fancy heading back to the ‘00s indie disco with LCD Soundsystem, there’s something for every taste across 2024’s programme.

If iconic anniversaries are more your thing, look no further than the event’s fnal show, which will see Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service perform their seminal 2003 records ‘Transatlanticism’ and ‘Give Up’ back-to-back. Having already taken the tour around the US, we refect with the outfts’ shared frontman Ben Gibbard about the two records, and look ahead to their show in the capital.

Q&A

Ben Gibbard

Has it been particularly emotional being transported back to 2003 every night on this tour?

Honestly, no more so than usual. There’s a Mitch Hedberg joke, and I’m paraphrasing, but it’s something like, ‘Why do people say, ‘Here’s a picture of me when I was younger’? Every picture of you is a picture of you when you were younger!’. And at a standard Death Cab show,

I’m playing stuff from the whole catalogue, and I’m always taken back to where I was when I wrote that particular song. I defnitely exist in that space for four minutes, and then I move on. I wouldn’t say it was emotionally rough.

Was there something about your life in 2002, 2003, the time you were writing these albums, that made it a particularly fertile

breeding ground for writing?

A big part of it was just being young and having really hit a creative stride at that point. ‘Transatlanticism’ was Death Cab’s third record, and I was starting to land in a place, musically and narratively, that felt unique to me, rather than me trying to emulate my heroes. There’s the old adage of having your whole life to write your frst record, and then your second comes together in the six months before you have to go back on tour, so really it’s the third album that’s the tough one, because you’re starting from scratch. It’s very rare any band’s third album is their best. When we made ours, ‘The Photo Album’, we were touring like crazy just to eke out a living, very much hand to mouth. And I never had time to write, and eventually, on Halloween 2001, we had this huge blowout fght on tour, and we nearly didn’t make it. We almost split up there and then.

Thankfully, we all came to our senses a few days later and determined that we were all burned out and needed a break. We couldn’t keep going at that pace. So, ‘Transatlanticism’ came together at a time when I had plenty of opportunity to write and create and be expressive, and explore new ideas. And it also meant that I had time to work on this fun little side project with Jimmy Tamborello.

Did the world around you at the time have any bearing on the albums?

There are certainly moments on these records that were kind of written in response to the times we were living through at that point, especially in the States. I wrote ‘Passenger Seat’ the week after 9/11, because I just wanted to

create something very earnest and simple and hark back to a more innocent time.

I’ve just been watching a Netfix documentary on the war on terror that has a lot of graphic footage from that day, and it was like, ‘Wow, I’m right back there, in that unbelievably traumatic time’. There are defnitely songs that were coming from a place of, ‘I just want to feel something other than absolute despair’, which is what we were all feeling at the time in America.

You’re playing All Points East with an incredible line-up of your peers, like The Decemberists and Sleater-Kinney, and some of your heroes, like Teenage Fanclub and Yo La Tengo. All of those bands are indie rock survivors, as are Death Cab – why do you think you’ve endured?

I’ve become a student over the years of the ways in which older bands start to fall off. There are obvious things, like literally hearing them become tired – they don’t want to play as fast any more, the acoustic guitars and the string sections come out. And if I can toot my own horn, I think I’ve always been good at listening to what my peers, my bandmates, my friends think, and they’re not afraid to tell me if something’s shit. And I’m in a better place with my ego, where I can accept that kind of constructive criticism. We’ve been doing this for 27 years, so you have to ask yourself: why are we making a new record? Because the world defnitely doesn’t need a new Death Cab record. The motivation, I think, is that I still think we have great work in us, even if I have to work harder to fnd the good stuff in among the ideas I throw away.

Photos: Harriet Brown, Tuomas

Vihavainen, Jimmy Fontaine, Autumn

De Wilde

NEU

New bands, new music.

“We want to be that festival band that lifts everyone up.”

– Oli Fox

Good Neighbours

Having landed one of the year’s biggest breakout tracks in ‘Home’, the London duo are proving that, when it comes to bright, summery indie bangers, everybody needs Good Neighbours

Words: Rhys Buchanan

Photo: Emma Swann

Viral fame can bring about its own unique set of challenges, but you’d be hard pressed to fnd two individuals handling the eye of the storm much better than Good Neighbours right now. “It’s like winning the lottery and then buying your frst shitty car basically,” laughs Oli Fox from a sun-soaked London beer garden.

It’s the night after the band’s sold out headline at Shoreditch’s Village Underground, and the pair – completed by Scott Verrill – are all smiles as they discuss the moment their track ‘Home’ became the year’s frst musical TikTok sensation back in January. Having since amassed an eye-watering 250 million streams within the space of a few months, Verrill describes it as “like a siren that went out around the world, and now we’re starting with some core fans who are eager enough to see what the next move is.”

It’s a humble attitude given you’ll struggle to complete a casual scroll on socials without hearing their serotonin-lifting anthem over travel videos or glorious summer montages at the moment. It’s not hard to see why it’s become a go-to choice either; with dancing keys and a catchy whistle segment, the ballad unlocks an effortless nostalgia for simpler times, drawing from late-noughties icons like Passion Pit, MGMT and Foster The People.

The track was born from a quiet writing retreat in Somerset. After uploading a chorus to the app, the pair soon found themselves needing to quickly fnish the song to meet the immediate demand. “We uploaded that part and didn’t think any more of it,” recalls Fox. “Then we went to this breakfast and, by the time we came out, it had hit 50,000 views. From the walk back to the car it had tripled again.” As soon as the pair returned to London, they made a beeline for their studios and had a mix sent for mastering late in the evening.

It wasn’t down to chance that the pair stumbled upon such a shamelessly feel-good sound, however. Having already worked collaboratively in their London studio as a writing and production partnership for other artists, the two musicians couldn’t help but notice a gap in the type of music people were making. “A lot of it was quite self-deprecating, ironic and sad,” explains Verrill. “We wanted to push for something joyous, big and reverb heavy.” Fox says it was all about cutting loose. “It was like, ‘OK, we’ve done our job for the day now, let’s be a bit naughty’.”

Though writing Good Neighbours songs has always been the pair’s outlet for creative fun, their follow-up single ‘Keep It Up’ was born from a diffcult time in Fox’s personal life. “I was working at this boujee coffee shop around the corner from our studio, I honestly just didn’t give a shit about it and they realised it pretty swiftly,” he explains. Though there’s no shortage of work for budding baristas in the Big Smoke, it still felt like a do or die moment. “I was so down in the dumps because I needed it to make my rent. Scott was in the studio so I went around to chat. He had the chords running and I was just like, pass me the mic. I was singing at the top of my lungs and it was so liberating.”

He explains that a cocktail of emotional honesty and feel-good instrumentation set the blueprint for the whole project moving forward. “Scott’s productions are so bright and exuberant, it

shines this different light on the matter. We’ve got this lovely rub or realness, but this huge expansive sound that lets everyone know it’s OK.”

Although, from the outside, it might seem like Good Neighbours have come out of nowhere, the pair explain they’d been toiling as solo artists for years before their pathways fnally crossed. Verrill muses: “We spent so long in our previous musical lives working away, now we feel like we deserve these big moments and we’re able to take it in our stride a little bit more.”

With that in mind, it doesn’t necessarily feel like they’re shortcircuiting the system in heading straight for the bigger stages. “I don’t think either of us were really loving playing alone,” Fox says, looking back. “We both grew up playing in bands. I personally fell out of love with it massively, I didn’t know what music I wanted to make so I just took a step back and became a songwriter just because it meant a bit more creative freedom.”

After the bulk of their workload became Zoom sessions with artists overseas, the duo suddenly realised they had this time to burn themselves. “The whole project was born out of this spare energy that was always sitting between us that we’d never used,” explains Verrill. But those hard yards of working together resulted in a natural chemistry. “Those couple of years were really helpful. We both dabble on all instruments so we just jump in and out of each other’s places and it’s really fuid.”

Given the project was born from a place of fun and freedom, the band plan on keeping it that way, even as the pressures from their fans and the industry begin to grow. “Ultimately we started this project for us as a writing exercise and that’s where all the joy came from,” says Fox. “I don’t think that spark should ever go; as long as we keep the blinkers on in the best way possible then the magic will continue.”

Having largely processed their overnight rise via screen-based metrics and numbers so far, now the pair are relishing the thought of a packed festival season including milestone performances at Reading and Leeds. “Just playing on an outdoor stage feels so right for the music,” says Verrill. Fox nods: “Everyone’s takeaway from the shows we’ve done is that it should be on a bigger stage. It’s heartening to hear that because we want to be that festival band that lifts everyone up.”

Taking stock of their whirlwind six months, the band are trying to take it one day at a time. “We had no plans for the band, we just had a bunch of songs that we loved,” says Fox. “We didn’t have any expectations so we do feel blindsided in the best way possible.” Verrill says they’re thankful to have each other through such a dizzying time: “You celebrate all of the wins together, it feels like the perfect chemistry. Nothing has been overthought, we’re just making it up as we go which is better for our heads not to jump too far ahead; we’re just letting it happen and setting our own benchmarks. Right now, everything is this beautiful happy accident that just keeps working. Let’s just hope that continues and then we’ll be two very happy boys.” DIY

Sarah Kinsley

Meet the New York-based multi-hyphenate whose ambitious, emotive offerings are shaping a bold yet comforting sonic landscape.

Words: Sarah Jamieson.

Ask Sarah Kinsley to describe the feeling she’s trying to evoke on her forthcoming debut ‘Escaper’, and – much like the music she makes – her analogy is a beautiful one. “I went to the beach with some friends a few days ago and I was sitting in the sun for a while towards the end of the day,” she begins. “I had my eyes closed, and I feel like when I close my eyes, there’s just so much that happens. I think there’s something that you can latch onto when you see nothing; you hear a lot, or feel these sensations. I don’t know if there’s a word for this specifc feeling, but [it’s] just like feeling the sun on your eyes, and knowing what’s in front of you, but not seeing it necessarily.”

Born and raised in Connecticut before relocating to Singapore with her family during her early teenage years, the now New York-based multi-hyphenate has had a deep connection with music for most of her life. “Getting into music was not really my choice at the very beginning,” she laughs, calling in from NYC on one of the hottest days of the year so far. “I mean, I don’t know how much choice you can ascribe to a four-year-old kid playing an instrument!”

Encouraged by her parents to learn piano, she soon found herself immersed in the world of classical music and youth orchestras, but despite fostering a

passion for the genre, it wasn’t where her future lay. “I loved it so much,” she explains, “but it was always a big thing with different teachers that I was just way too emotional of a piano player. It was weird growing up in that world, because you had to have a perfect balance. If you’re too disciplined and technical, there are certain pieces of music that you just can’t really play, and if you’re too emotional, you can’t play anything because it’s like there’s almost too much feeling. I was always on that side of the equation.” Instead, after spending her teenage years digging into US radio and mainstream pop music during her Singapore school days, Sarah discovered an entirely different kind of sonic perfection, and was similarly captivated.

Returning to the US and enrolling at Columbia University to study music history and theory, she immersed herself in the New York campus’ art and music communities. “I was getting really into who else was part of the music scene, outside of the academic sense,“ she notes. “Going to shows in basements and whatever fraternities, going to watch jazz kids play – I was really leaning into that. The environment just felt way more open.” Invigorated to begin producing her own music, she soon found herself the centre of her frst viral TikTok storm, when a clip she made in response to the comment “women don’t produce

music” took on a life of its own. It wasn’t the last time her creative output would be picked up by the algorithm and make headlines either: her gorgeous 2021 single ‘The King’ has had almost 50 million Spotify streams since its release.

Now, with four EP releases in as many years under her belt, the musician’s attention is fnally turning to her debut full-length; an album that manages to distil her passions for pop and classical, and meld them together into a cohesive, grandiose soundscape that puts emotion at its very heart. “I think the title evokes exactly what I’m trying to get into,” she says of ‘Escaper’, “which is, in a sense, a word that can convey something grand, but also very terrifying.”

Much like the songs themselves, which teem with a familiar rush of emotion while also feeling fresh and liberating, the record’s titular themes feel comforting but intangible; a yin and yang, much like her musical life so far. “It’s a collection of a lot of songs about loss and about endings; kind of grief in a very, very big, encompassing way,” she tries to pinpoint. “Grief for a lot of different things and mourning things. But then on the fip side of that, there is also this kind of beginning. It’s like this moment in between those things that I’m trying to capture and that I feel like I’m moving towards.” DIY

“I think the title ‘Escaper’ can convey something grand, but also very terrifying.”

Photo: Dillon Matthew

Welly

Distilling indie’s most quintessentially English lineage into one wonky quintet.

From ‘80s oddballs XTC ‘Making Plans for Nigel’, to Damon Albarn singing about feeding the pigeons on ‘Parklife’, to Sports Team setting off for a trip down the ‘M5’, there’s an often parochial form of Englishness that unites decades of the country’s indie greats. Into that slipstream come Welly – a wonderfully wonky Brighton-based quintet whose lyrical muses include a man whose greatest joy in life is his lawnmower (recent single ‘Deere John’) and a Pulp-esque tale of posh kids going on their gap yah (‘Soak Up The Culture’). In a few short singles Welly, already, are giving it some.

LISTEN: Last year’s ‘Live In A Village Hall’ release gives a sense of the band’s onstage chutzpah.

SIMILAR

TO: Britpop’s charmingly eccentric new incarnation.

Koteri

Chloe Slater

Pop’s got a witty new voice of the people. “I’d love to live on Daddy’s money but I can’t… Your 24 hours aren’t the same as mine,” sings Manchester’s Chloe Slater on breakout TikTok hit ‘24 Hours’. It’s a succinct skewering of modern culture’s worst sides that’s symptomatic of the 21-year-old rising talent; ‘Death Trap’ is a deceptively peppy groan of despair aimed at nepo-babies and generation rent, while ‘Thomas Street’ sharply dissects the horrors of the wealth gap that lines London’s every corner. Delivered in a dry speak-sing, the result is like a 2024 Lily Allen, if she were working class, tired, but still more than capable of penning a banger.

LISTEN: Debut EP ‘You Can’t Put A Price On Fun’ is out now.

SIMILAR TO: Societal exhaustion but make it cute.

Pem

Expressions of haunting beauty from Bristol-based Emily Perry.

The unclassifable, multinational trio who have characterful creativity in spades.

They may only have three singles to their name, but the playful, highly-saturated world of Koteri is one that’s already well worth immersing yourself in. With nods to funk, hip hop, jazz and more, their sonic signature is one that’s less defned by genre, and more by mood –namely, a kicked-back sense of limitless possibility.

LISTEN: An infectious, groove-imbued standout, ‘Karnaby’ comes accompanied by a video which features (in no particular order) an astronaut, an OAP string section, and a dinosaur man watching a show.

What’s not to love?

SIMILAR TO: Feeling the sun warm your skin for the frst time in months.

Having carved out her intimate corner of the current folk resurgence, and supported the likes of The Last Dinner Party, mary in the junkyard, and The New Eves, Pem is a project that demands attention through delicacy, not drama. Her recently released sophomore EP ‘cloud work’ is as ethereal as its title suggests, using metaphors of memory and the natural world to express the intricacies of grief and growth.

LISTEN: Recent single ‘gut health’ – taken from the aforementioned EP – is tremulous, tender, and deeply touching.

SIMILAR TO: Her distinctive vocals carry the same emotional weight as singer-songwriter luminaries like Laura Marling or Joni Mitchell.

Soft Launch

The self-described “Irish boyband” who don’t take anything – much less themselves – too seriously.

In the age of social media, a soft launch is a canny tactic to hint at something you’re not *quite* 100% on, be it a new haircut, business venture, or relationship. But if this fve piece’s two singles to date are anything to go by, they’ve no need to be coy. Already surrounded by a fervour that sees their live shows packed with overlyexcitable adolescents, Soft Launch’s playful indie-pop evidently hits hard.

LISTEN: Debut single ‘Cartwheels’ has the same idiosyncratic charm that made early Declan McKenna such an irresistible proposition.

SIMILAR TO: See above.

Lola Kirke

The War On Drugs

Nils Frahm

THU 11TH JUL FRI 12TH JUL ROYAL ALBERT HALL

WED 21ST AUG 100 CLUB

Roar

TUE 10TH SEP SCALA

King Hannah

WED 25TH SEP RICH MIX

THU 11TH TO SUN 14TH JUL (6 SHOWS) BARBICAN CENTRE

THU 8TH AUG THE DOME

SUN 11TH AUG LAFAYETTE

MSPAINT Chanel Beads Nadia Reid The Magnetic Fields

TUE 27TH AUG MOTH CLUB

WED 28TH AUG YES, MANCHESTER

WED 28TH AUG CORSICA STUDIOS

SAT 31ST AUG SUN 1ST SEP BARBICAN CENTRE

WED 4TH SEP SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS

Wednesday

TUE 20TH AUG SCALA

Hello Mary SUUNS Kiasmos IAMDDB Zola Jesus Amanda Bergman Wu-Lu

5TH SEP WINDMILL BRIXTON

THU 12TH SEP NO90 HACKNEY WICK WED 18TH SEP TROXY FRI 20TH SEP HEAVEN TUE 24TH SEP GRAND JUNCTION FRI 20TH SEP OMEARA

WED 25TH SEP BUSH HALL

THU 26TH SEP ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL

Porches Sam Akpro Caroline Rose

WED 2ND OCT HEAVEN THU 3RD OCT CORSICA STUDIOS SAT 19TH OCT (MATINEE ADDED) MILTON COURT WITH LONDON CONTEMPORARY ORCHESTRA + RIVAL CONSOLES

TR/ST

Daniel Norgren mui zyu Discovery Zone & Freak Heat Waves

WED 23RD OCT EARTH HALL

John Francis Flynn

THU 31ST OCT KINGS PLACE FRI 1ST NOV CORSICA STUDIOS

MJ Lenderman & The Wind

Brigitte Calls Me Baby

Confronting big questions of artistic (im)mortality with an era-crossing sound that’s simultaneously familiar and fresh, Brigitte Calls Me Baby are heading back to the future.

Words: Daisy Carter.

Blockbuster thrillers, football, video games – all things that you might expect your average teenage boy to be into. Classic French flm stars? Not so much. But for Wes Leavins –lead vocalist of the Chicago-based fve-piece Brigitte Calls Me Baby – writing a letter to Brigitte Bardot for a high school assignment seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

“I would stay up late at night and watch the encore channels, and I thought her movies were compelling,” he says, explaining the origins of the pen-pal correspondence from which the band (completed by guitarists Jack Fluegel and Trevor Lynch, bassist Devin Wessels, and drummer Jeremy Benshish) took their name. “But she was also just such a star, and it made me gravitate to her.” He pauses, giving a small smile: “I mean, I had a bit of a crush on her too – that was part of it.”

Zooming in from across the pond sporting sunglasses, subtly quiffed hair, and a warm Texan drawl, Wes has an understated yet pervasive sense of temporal ambiguity about him – as if he’d be equally at home on the jukebox of a ‘50s diner as he would swinging a bunch of gladioli in ‘80s Manchester (or indeed working as a musician

on a modern flm set, as he did in 2022 for Baz Luhrmann’s recent Elvis biopic). It’s a timelessness that also imbues Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s output and, specifcally, their forthcoming debut album ‘The Future Is Our Way Out’: a project infuenced by notions of memory, nostalgia, and time’s unstoppable march onward.

“I wanna die in your four car garage / Turn out the lights and then send in the entourage / Tell them all it’s okay, I made my big escape,” Wes croons over the Johnny Marr jangle of LP centrepiece ‘I Wanna Die In The Suburbs’. Later, he sings of being united with a lover in the afterlife (‘You Are Only Made Of Dreams’), his distinctive vocals propelled along by a chugging, Strokes-esque guitar line. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve been hyper-aware of the passing of time,” he says. “I don’t know why that specifcally resonates with me. It freaks me out, and I’ve got a fear of missing out as well as a fear of dying.”

There is, perhaps more than most other bands, a truly symbiotic relationship between Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s linguistic and sonic world – a product, he explains, of “music that is infuenced by both contemporary and past things” being “the perfect vessel to communicate that fear”. “Music,” he continues, “like other art, is an opportunity to create

a moment in time that lasts forever. Yeah, sure, being famous sounds nice, but how do you achieve permenance? The desired result is having something that can speak for you after you can’t speak anymore, you know?” He sighs slightly, and smiles. “I know we’ll never get there.”

‘The Future Is Our Way Out’, then, is his way of preserving particular feelings as immutable sonic vignettes, bottling transient moments in a way that recalls the best of coming-of-age media: The Perks Of Being A Wallfower’s tunnel scene; The Breakfast Club’s end credits; his teenage favourite lyricist Alex Turner’s evocative turn of phrase. Though he’s hopeful that time will temper his existentialism, right now Wes still feels “that there’s so much left to do, and so much I want to do. And I always think about the fip side of that – maybe more than I should.”

Regardless of what’s to come, with Brigitte Calls Me Baby Wes has in many ways already fulflled his ambition of creating something enduring. Architecting moments of connection throughout the band’s live shows, it’s a reciprocal relationship that’s every bit as real as a physical record. “You give and they receive, and they give and you receive,” he says simply. “And because of that, you get this energy back that flls this void in your life.” DIY

“Music, like other art, is an opportunity to create a moment in time that lasts forever.” – Wes Leavins

Photo: Scarlet Page

20 SEPTEMBER

THE NEW ALBUM

New York, We Love You But…

New York’s The Dare – aka vocalist, songwriter and producer Harrison Patrick Smith – has confrmed that his debut album, ‘What’s Wrong With New York?’, will arrive on 6th September via Polydor.

The Buzz Feed

Featuring collaborations with Dylan Brady (100 gecs), Emile Haynie (Lana Del Rey, FKA twigs, Dua Lipa), Romil Hemnani (Brockhampton), Chris Greatti (Yves Tumor, Yeule), Isaac Eiger (of Strange Ranger) and more, the LP has been introduced via new single ‘Perfume’ – a hedonistic electroclash cut that perfectly epitomises his indie sleaze, party-starting sensibilities.

The album announcement comes hot on the heels of The Dare’s recent stint opening for Charli XCX at her frst shows of the ‘brat’ world tour (he also produced ‘Guess’, from that record’s deluxe edition), and he’s set to embark on his debut headline tour of North America this Autumn. Check out ‘Perfume’ and the album’s tracklisting over on diymag.com now.

Looking For Transparency

Alt-pop auteur Gia Ford has announced that her awaited debut album, ‘Transparent Things’, will hit shelves on 13th September via Chrysalis. She’s released a steady string of singles over the past few years (a number of which will be included on the LP), but the upcoming project will mark her frst collection of songs proper, and promises to be packed full of characters she has described as “outcasts,” who all have “unique ways of feeling on the periphery, somehow”.

Explaining more about the album’s concept, Gia has shared: “Thematically it has a mythical quality, stemming from the repeated references to creatures, ghosts and undefned spirits. It’s a world of its own, where the characters have more in common than I initially thought was possible.”

The frst taste of this new chapter has also been revealed in the form of lead single ‘Paint Me Like A Woman’, a soaring number that explores how mistreatment affects the song’s female subject. “It is a look inside her mind as she feels herself drifting away from who she really is; allowing her rage to weave itself into the fabric of her being,” Gia notes. “It’s a comment on how we hurt each other, how we change each other, and a question: who gets punished for this terrible nature we have all, to varying degrees, embodied?” Check out the track at diymag.com now.

Muscle Memory

METTE has unveiled her latest single ‘Muscle’ – a dancefoor-ready, beat-driven number that acts as a follow up to May’s ‘BET’, as well as her 2023 debut EP ‘METTENARRATIVE’.

The track was “made as an ode to the communions of self-love through my own movement practices of dance and pilates,” METTE has shared. “‘Muscle’ has become my go-to song for getting in the zone.”

Continuing, she comments: “Most importantly, ‘Muscle’ isn’t about aesthetic goals or physical gains. The song is a “how-to” guide for expressing the embodied state of confdence. ‘Muscle’ is rhythms and crowd vocals that were made to take in like an audible energy drink… I hope that this song will have someone changing their posture, rolling their shoulders back, running to a dance foor, fexing a thousand watt smile, and generating some self-assured body heat.” Listen to her newest single over on diymag.com

THE NEU PLAYLIST

Fancy discovering your new favourite artist? Dive into the cream of the new music crop below.

Juliet Ivy – 4 Foot 2

There’s no denying the beauty and fragility offered in the opening bars of ‘4 Foot 2’. It’s sunlit, dreamy, and softly low-key, leaning on gentle acoustic guitar and Juliet Ivy’s reliably intimate, whispery vocals. You may wonder if the world needs more songs in this vein, but this singer-songwriter from New York proves there is always room for honest, relatable music, bringing a distinct sense of renewed resolve and cathartic realisation to the table. Phil Taylor

Alessi Rose – CRUSH!

Delightfully unhinged alt-pop: Alessi Rose’s uncompromising pop vision couldn’t be clearer, and neither could her imminent ascent to stardom. The Derby-born newcomer is on the tip of everyone’s tongue when it comes to ones to watch in 2024, and her debut EP ‘rumination is ritual’ lives up to the buzz. Lifted from the avidly awaited project, her latest single ‘CRUSH!’ pairs cuttingly honest songwriting with twisting pop melodies, as she toys with the idea of role reversal on an all-consuming crush. “Think I’m living in his head / I think he can’t get enough!” the Londoner quips. Emily Savage

Dog Race – The Leader

Dog Race’s new single, ‘The Leader,’ continues to solidify their place in the alternative and art-goth scene with its unorthodox and somewhat spooky vocals – ones which tally with the track’s stunning, folk horror-inspired video, in which singer Katie Healy is buried alive. The song’s narrative, centred on a protagonist grappling with a fee to cross into the afterlife, showcases Dog Race’s talent for blending haunting storytelling with their distinctive, evocative music, and ‘The Leader’ acts as a seamless continuation of their output. Sadie Rycra

Esme Emerson – Fade Out

’Fade Out’, lifted from Esme Emerson’s recently released EP ‘Big Leap, No Faith, Small Chancer,’ is a standout alt-indie track with dreampop sensibilities. This British-Chinese sibling duo blends sugary sweetness with a touch of melancholy, and this cut comes accompanied by a music video rich in nostalgia, featuring the pair reliving childhood memories with their alien puppet friend. ‘Fade Out’ captivates with its ethereal sound and evocative visuals, making it a hugely memorable entry in their growing discography. Sadie Rycra

the Neu Playlist on Spotify:

Photos: Richard Kern, Melanie Lehmann

IN JUST FIVE YEARS, FONTAINES DC HAVE GONE FROM PROMISING POST-PUNK NEWCOMERS TO ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED, CONSISTENTLY EVOLVING BANDS OF THE DECADE. RESTLESS, CURIOUS, AND DISINTERESTED IN EVER TAKING THE PATH OFT-TRAVELLED, FOURTH ALBUM ‘ROMANCE’ FINDS THE IRISH QUINTET RESHAPING THEMSELVES AND CHALLENGING EVERYTHING THAT’S COME BEFORE.

WORDS: LISA WRIGHT PHOTOS: ED MILES

“TO MAKE PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THEY DON’T FUCKING KNOW WHO WE ARE FULLY IS A VERY IMPORTANT THING FOR ME.”

– GRIAN CHATTEN

he fat that Grian Chatten shares with his fancée is much like that of any other young couple trying to carve out a corner of London for themselves and turn an often hostile city into a home. Compact and curated with minimum clutter, you would never know that it was inhabited by one of modern music’s most lauded frontmen were it not for the BRIT Award for Best International Group that sits looking slightly out of place on a shelf – a signpost to a celebrity world that Chatten has spent the last fve years trying his best to be no part of.

Yet in the two years since ‘Skinty Fia’ – Fontaines DC’s chart-topping, award-winning third album; one that placed the Dublin-born quintet at a top tier level even the frontman couldn’t deny – Chatten has been doing some thinking vis-à-vis “the whole fucking rockstar thing”. “I realised that it could be used as a pastiche, almost like an instrument of its own that satirises the creative pursuit rather than just being a role that we inhabit,” he begins. “It made it feel like that whole world was something that could be inducted into our world. It’s not really in our list of ambitions to be a gigantic band, it’s just that I’m quite exhausted of running from the fact that we’re doing well.”

It’s part of the reason why, when Fontaines returned back in April with the visceral throb of ‘Starburster’ – a literal panic attack in sonic form (but more on that later), they emerged like unlikely fashion butterfies, having shed their former skin of brown coats and band T-shirts in favour of a bold new aesthetic that sits on the axis of nu metal and Camden alt-rave mecca Cyberdog. For someone who feels so uncomfortable with the trappings of fame that they profess to disliking being recognised while holding any of their possessions – “I don’t like people peering into my personal life through something that I have,” he shrugs – it’s a surprising move on the surface, but one that actually makes a lot of sense. On fourth album ‘Romance’, Fontaines DC are leaning into everything they’ve previously shunned, analysing it and playing with it, and ultimately using it to their own ends.

“It’s contextualised [this career] in a way that I can process. It’s like conducting a sluice through a chicken so it can enter my consciousness, you know?” Chatten laughs. “I can’t take it seriously but if I’m gonna take it at all I need to take it as a half-joke, which is what part of this record is.” But as well as toying with the notions of celebrity and fame, sending up the idea of being a big, successful band while also being exactly that, with the entire unexpectedly hi-f roll-out of ‘Romance’, Fontaines are also imparting an important message: pigeonhole them at your peril.

“It was important for me to not have the album be placed in a ‘Dogrel’-shaped box, and I think people are capable of doing that. People want so much for us to write ‘Boys in the Better Land’ over and over again that they’ll be like, ‘Oh, [new single] ‘Favourite’, that’s a bit like ‘Boys in the Better Land’’. So, with the visuals and everything, I just wanted to make sure that you couldn’t do that,” he says. “If you want to listen to that track over and over, you can. Just put it on loop on Spotify. So I think to keep people… not confused, but to make people feel like they don’t fucking know who we are fully is a very important thing for me. And that involves maybe disappointing people or freaking people out. I’m bored of being seen [as I was]. I’m not attracted to myself as a songwriter through those eyes, and in order for me to fnd what I’m doing exciting enough to fnish writing an album, I needed to change the way I viewed myself.”

Since laying down the gauntlet with debut LP ‘Dogrel’ in 2019, Fontaines DC have become synonymous with a very specifc identity: that of poetic post-punks eulogising their Irish homeland in varying ways, from the trenches of that frst album, to ‘A Hero’s Death’’s at-onceremoved view as relocated new Londoners, to ‘Skinty Fia’’s delve into the “mutated Irishness” that exists outside of the country itself. Though the sonic presentation has shifted and changed constantly within that time, the image of Fontaines has somewhat remained.

Chatten can still clearly see himself in the songs that made up their blistering breakthrough record. “Oh totally,” he says. “But I think if we didn’t change as a band in that period of time then I’d probably feel more distant from those songs because I’d feel resentful, like those were the songs that trapped me.” And so, determined to keep moving forward with the craft he’s spent a lifetime in thrall to, on ‘Romance’, he isn’t looking back at the place that raised him but around at the strange modern world he fnds himself in now: one where you can choose your own illusion, and decide how far to let it take hold.

“The idea of romance in this record is the human desire for context or delusion or fantasy in order to get by. The denial of reality, the suspension of disbelief, which everybody does. I think it’s just a question of how committed you are to that fantasy; how far down the yellow brick road are we gonna go together – us and all of you who are listening to us?” he questions. “We all walk around as if the world isn’t burning, as if people aren’t dying in the global south. You can wake up and choose reality or wake up and choose romance.”

On Fontaines’ latest, romance isn’t served up like a Richard Curtis flm or an Ed Sheeran lyric. It is not romance in the Hallmark sense of the word (although there is a lot of love to be found in the deep connections of ‘Here’s The Thing’ or the shoegaze sensuality of ‘Desire’). Instead, romance is in the eye of the beholder; in how you choose to view the world and your place within it. For his part, the vocalist decides that he spends about “60 or 70% of the year” choosing a more rose-tinted way of tripping through life, “and then when I spend more time at home with my partner, I really feel like taking on reality a bit more.

“I think I very quickly become institutionalised on the road,” he continues. “I’m not like Carlos [O’Connell, guitar] where he’ll go on tour and have all his clothes pressed and washed all the time. I’m two days in and I’m a fucking slob. And I have an immature idea of me just being fuid like water and fucking artistic or whatever, but in reality I’m probably just being completely lazy and allowing the world to blow through me instead of standing against it, which is what Carlos does.” But it’s all about how you look at it – one man’s free-spirited artiste is another man’s dirty little oik, we suggest. “That,” Chatten notes, “is incredibly close to the point.”

When Fontaines DC arrive a few days later for our cover shoot, there’s no mistaking which people in the room are the band. It’s partly, of course, down to their choice of attire: Chatten is sporting a jacket with a spectacled hood that covers half his face turning him into a bug; O’ Connell’s hair is neon pink and green; bassist Conor Deegan has a gold grill on his bottom set of teeth, while even their relatively sartorially tame members – guitarist Conor Curley and drummer Tom Coll – have a spikey jet-black dye job and a snakeskin shirt, respectively. Visuals aside, however, the camaraderie of a truly in-sync gang is palpable and something they’ve worked hard to achieve. Speaking to DIY around the time of ‘A Hero’s Death’, the frontman described the fall-out on their relationships of suddenly being thrust into the industry machine; “No one represented a friend. Everyone was a business partner who was fucking you up a bit.” But a few years on, they’ve learnt the tricks to keeping the good ship FDC on less troubled waters.

“I think we’ve done a lot of work on communication over the last while,” Chatten nods. “We had a fair bit of time off and we were able to become people away from each other again, so we had things to talk about for the frst fucking time. It wasn’t like, what can I possibly ask someone that I’ve seen every hour for a year? We grew lonely together on tour, but now we have enough of a three-dimensional personality within ourselves to interest each other again.”

It also takes a strong group of pals to make the bold sonic decisions the quintet have made on their fourth. Across ‘Romance’, creeping industrial prowls slither into life on the title track while ‘Here’s The Thing’ is cut through with

“IT FEELS, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A FEW YEARS, LIKE THE PACE HAS QUICKENED AND WE’VE GOT TO HANG ON AGAIN.”

– GRIAN CHATTEN

breathy panting; ‘Motorcycle Boy’ is woozy and disorientating, while ‘Death Kink’ is a full-on grunge belter. Each track feels bold and confdent and widescreen without losing any of the band’s nuance and specialness, emboldened by the production of James Ford (Blur, Arctic Monkeys, Foals) – a swerve from their established working relationship with Dan Carey that, in itself, points to the scale of the album.

“We had a lot of demos where we’d made these very grandiose tunes. A song like ‘In The Modern World’, the demo was already a very big-sounding song. It was supposed to feel like the end of the world, and I didn’t want it to feel like the end of the world written on an acoustic guitar so it made sense to make a record with somebody who’s able to make some bigsounding things for that reason,” Chatten explains.

Among these big-sounding ideas was a now wellpublicised embrace of some highly unexpected infuences – namely, nu metal titans, Korn. It began, the frontman explains, when they would play the US band in their dressing room to rev them up before a show. “I think we started half-joking about it and then we’d look at each other like, ‘This is actually fucking sick…’” he chuckles. “I was enthralled by Korn at a young age. They had an extremity to them. Even though they’re potentially ridiculous and very American, they were scary and excessive and I found it really interesting. It wasn’t something that necessarily stuck around in my creative DNA for a long time after that, but revisiting it has been fruitful.”

This month Chatten will turn 30, and the embrace of these quote-unquote “uncool” infuences feels like the sort of move synonymous with a time in your life when you start to care less about policing your own tastes. “Totally,” he nods, “and to follow that line of thinking one step further, maybe what could be considered uncool is a more interesting ingredient, and why can’t we recontextualise this thing in a way that’s more relatable in this day and age? A good way to upset people musically is to draw from sources that people might not think are cool…”

Though its nu metal-shaped origins might have raised a few eyebrows, there’s little question that ‘Starburster’, with its prickly swagger and strangled gasps, marked new and thrilling terrain upon its spring arrival. At Glastonbury, bathed in unsettling neon green light with a packed feld fercely inhaling deeply (surely the weekend’s most disorientating sing-along), they closed their Friday night Park Stage headline spot with the track: the climax of a huge career milestone that felt fttingly rooted in the band’s here and now rather than falling back to an old favourite.

It’s a visceral track for Chatten to perform. Written in the middle of a panic attack, its central sonic motif is a literal gasp for air from the middle of an internal storm that it took him a long time, he explains, to understand. “I only started getting panic attacks on tour a few years back, and they just felt like rage at frst. I didn’t realise they were panic attacks and I’d have to run off stage during soundchecks and lock myself in a room and try not to break stuff. It was just a feeling of overwhelm, and probably being burnt out and all those things,” he says. “You feel stifed and inert when you’re overwhelmed, like you’re frozen, and when I felt like that it used to manifest with me wanting to throw something. I’d hit myself in the head because I just wanted to instigate some sort of change, and I think that’s where the energy of the song came from. I needed a great ball of energy to move through me and I think the panic attack was that.”

‘Starburster’ came at the end of this period; shortly after, the frontman received an ADHD diagnosis and things have been calmer since then. But his willingness to put himself back in that place night after night on tour is testament to Chatten’s dedication to his craft. He’s a songwriter in the truest sense of the word – one who speaks of the process with a sense of reverence, like it’s a higher power that he has to channel and commune with. When he’s onto something good, he says, “I always feel like I’m breaking down to a song instead of building a song up, and that’s when I know if it’s right or not”. Even with the music world’s eyes on him, he’s managed to retain an impressive sense

“A GOOD WAY TO UPSET PEOPLE MUSICALLY IS TO DRAW FROM SOURCES THAT PEOPLE MIGHT NOT THINK ARE COOL.” – GRIAN CHATTEN

of purity with regards to his creativity, blocking out the outside noise and keeping it between him and the page.

“No one exists, there is no audience when I write,” he says. “I think this is a really good album, personally, and I think that’s the reason why it is: that we’re four records in and I still think what we’re doing is really good, it’s because of that [lack of outside interference]. I’m a man of simple pleasures and I just want to be able to disappear for those hours that the songs appear, and for it never to feel like I’m writing for someone else. And I think so far I’ve gotten away with it, and I’m relatively happy. I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to do, which is a very unique place to be in. I don’t really feel like I’ve worked a day of my life, in that sense.”

Yet, even though the making of ‘Romance’ involved shutting out the world, even Chatten can sense that, as the release gets nearer, ever-more people are swarming to Fontaines DC in their droves. “I do feel like the pace has quickened again recently in a manner in which it hasn’t since the frst record,” he accepts. “It feels, for the frst time in a few years, like we’ve got to hang on again.” The band have already ticked off a hefty portion of most artist’s career bucket lists: Number One album. Big awards show win. Massive festival slots and sold out tours, the next of which will see them play to 20,000 people over two nights at London’s Alexandra Palace. They’re objective metrics of success, but it feels genuine when Chatten says they’re not the things they measure it all by.

On the sweetly nostalgic video for ‘Favourite’, old grainy footage of the band as kids is cut together in an adorable montage that begs comparison to the fve successful adult men they stand as today. Those kids, we suggest, would surely be stoked to know what was ahead for them. “It’s really nice, and not to be ungrateful, but it’s weird when…” Chatten pauses. “There’s such a fantasy about what’s behind the curtain of this kind of world, and to now live on this side of the curtain, relatively speaking, I do miss that wonder sometimes. Especially when it comes to bands or artists or anyone that you really admired as a kid, and that door’s opened to some extent, and maybe they’re watching you side of stage. It’s nice but sometimes I miss [that innocence]. To know the secret of it, or to know that there is no secret. But there’ll always be a way to make things shine.”

And such is the romance of Fontaines DC. Even now, standing on the cusp of their most objectively largescale album – one with all the hallmarks of A Big Record that will likely send them into the uppermost tier of festival headlining bands, making them a rare success story in an alternative landscape that’s struggling to turn hopefuls into legitimate longlasting stars – they’re still looking at the world in the right way, fnding beauty and love and humour and ignoring all the other extraneous nonsense.

“I still don’t think that I fully know what’s happening because I don’t allow myself to know it. That’s why, whenever someone recognises me or takes their phone out on the street, it shatters the illusion for me that nothing’s happened. I’m so at odds with it, but now I’m just trying to relax and enjoy it. I know who I am. This is the entire gaff,” he says gesturing to the three rooms that comprise his fat, “and this is all I need. I don’t need to express to myself my own relative success in any way. I don’t hang out with famous people or go to Chiltern Firehouse – I hate that shit. I like walking anywhere I can get by foot; I like taking public transport, and not because I’m trying to stay humble but because I just like feeling like a part of the world. Maybe the crowds keep getting bigger, but I don’t know what else would really change? So I don’t think I’ll be under too much threat.”

‘Romance’ is out 23rd August via XL Recordings. DIY

A RECIPE FOR ‘ROMANCE’

Far away from the Irish poets of old, Grian Chatten’s infuences across Fontaines’ latest dig into unexpected corners of culture.

AKIRA (1988 FILM)

“In Akira, even at the end of the world with this great sense of industry and apocalypse, these characters are able to fall in love and think about other things on a day-to-day basis in order to get by. Their humanity still fnds a way to express itself, even in that very dystopian world. And that’s what I wanted the album to feel like – a small relatable expression of humanity in a dystopian world.”

LAND SICKNESS BY NICHOLAJ SCHULTZ (2023 BOOK)

“I think politics is personal. The climate change crisis is personal and that’s how we need to view it. Land Sickness is an expression of an individual’s experience as a person in the world of climate change, and the existential crisis that he experiences of how everything he does and touches is connected to the crisis. It’s inescapable, everything’s connected. And that feeling of connection to the desolation of the world as we know it is part of what charges our record.”

‘KORN’ BY KORN (1994 ALBUM)

“I think that Korn brought me further down a particular road musically and visually than many artists did [when I was young] – probably further than I was comfortable with. The frst record’s incredible. I think ‘Blind’ is an amazing tune, and ‘Shoots and Ladders’ is unreal to be playing the bagpipes in that setting, but also [have] a detuned, fve-string slap bass – it’s an interesting idea!”

“I was moving from a place where [people looked like me] to a place where nothing else matters but race.”

personal

Having battled for his rights as a British immigrant, BERWYN has lived through more struggle than most. On debut album proper ‘Who Am I’, he’s channelling it into a record of resilience that answers its title with strength and defance.

WORDS: EMMANUEL ONAPA.

“Ineed to register to vote today!” proclaims BERWYN, suddenly remembering his real-world duties in the middle of his music-world engagements. We’re seated in a rustic-chic restaurant located in Brixton a fortnight before the election, the aesthetic is vintage and the 28-yearold East Londoner is multi-tasking: eating a bowl of pasta as he discusses the serious dilemmas of British politics, the state of the music industry, culture and beyond.

“There’s so much going on in the world now that to even consider British politics [as a priority] seems selfsh,” he suggests. Yet, having moved from Trinidad as a child and experienced frst hand the impact of this country’s politics on immigrants, he’s more than conscious of the importance of this result. “I feel a kind of way about voting, and you can’t blame me,” he continues. “I think loads of people do. But because of the people I love and their best interests, that’s more incentive to go and protect their future and vote.”

There’s an overwhelming bleakness to the political landscape right now that BERWYN feels acutely. He’s eloquent in how mainstream media can fuel the fames of division, and his music speaks regularly to the ways in which he sees injustice populating the society around

him. “Mainstream media can’t be trusted on this side of the world,” he says with conviction. “In England, elitism and racism are like joint brothers and sisters, and once you start making money and wealth you start entering these grey areas of things. Keir Starmer and his colleagues are all unethical based on their worship of the currency.”

It’s clear that, to BERWYN, the political is personal, and it’s a stance that’s shown throughout his art. In recent years, the rapperproducer has established himself as one of the most politically captivating voices in our musical landscape. His debut mixtapes ‘DEMOTAPE/ VEGA’ (2020) and ‘TAPE 2/FOMALHAUT’ (2022) were met with critical acclaim for their honest and poetic portrayal of life on the fringes of British society, the former winning him a place on 2021’s Mercury Prize shortlist. And now, he’s embarking on the next phase of his life and career with the release of his debut album proper: ‘Who Am I’.

Throughout the album, BERWYN’s storytelling presents a poignant portrayal of a young man’s quest to discover himself amid personal challenges, while simultaneously confronting the societal and institutional pressures that weigh on his spirit and identity. “My debut album is a selfsh enterprise,” he emphasises. “[But] I fnd pleasure in that I can effortlessly provide to a numb world; that’s a skill of mine. Through

my in-depth refection, you’re forced into a point of refection – even if it wasn’t what you wanted. I refect on myself, you consider refection for yourself, and that’s what I hope to achieve with this project.”

Growing up in Trinidad, his home country was a place where music came alive through the blended fusion of calypso, soca, and steelpan rhythms. This cultural crucible was a starting point for BERWYN, where his music became dynamic, deep and alive with stories of resilience and celebration. “The island made me more passionate about my music,” he says. “It was a lot of absorbing all of the culture in a hyperextended way. I used to sit on my dad’s lap on the balcony and he would listen to all the Motown, soul and Trini records. Now [that wide range of sounds] seems so natural to me.”

When, at age nine, he moved from the sun-drenched streets of Trinidad to the gritty urban landscape of Romford, however, BERWYN was forced to confront the harsh realities of hostile racism – a jarring contrast to the vibrant, inclusive spirit of his homeland. “I was moving from a place where [people looked like me] to a place where nothing else matters but race,” he says. “It affected the way I viewed and interacted with the world, and also the way I write my music.”

His more than 7,000km journey from Trinidad to the UK wasn’t just a geographical and cultural shift, either – it also had a profound impact on his perspective on religion. “I was baptised into the Catholic Church. I had an extremely religious upbringing, incredibly spiritually-seeking,” he says. Moving into a new society that caused him so much struggle then had a knock-on effect on his

faith. On recent single ‘I AM BLACK’, he addresses each verse to a “Heavenly Father,” questioning the relentless diffculties put in his way and declaring at one point that “I’m losing my religion”. “It made me question at times,” BERWYN nods today. “It made me feel angry at times. It’s made me disappointed at times. But they’re all temporary emotions, and I wouldn’t be exploring the situation properly if I didn’t admit to these things.”

Given BERWYN’s past, it’s easy to see how his core beliefs might have been shaken, and why so much of this struggle permeates the tracks of ‘Who Am I’. On sucker-punch spoken word standout ‘Dear Immigration’, he directly speaks to his experience of trying to build a life having been denied the correct immigration papers to fully do so. How would you visit the doctors with the looming threat of deportation? How would you enrol into university? How would you sleep in peace? “How unstable it can be is extremely problematic,” he says. “Immigrants in this country deserve more sympathy. Public attitude as a whole lacks sympathy towards these people and I think that governments play pulling strings whenever they fnd it convenient – I wish it didn’t exist.”

The album is powerfully infused with themes of searching for belonging and navigating through diffcult times. ‘I’m Drowning’ delves into the opaque struggles of mental health and addiction, while ‘Without You’ expresses the profound sense of anguish experienced by those pushed to the fringes of society, its lyrics depict the feeling of running away from unresolved issues. Amid these

emotional depths, ‘NEIGHBOURS’ stands out as a tender portrayal of love and partnership; written in collaboration with Fred Again.., it was created in a quickfre morning session in the producer’s home. It all coalesces into a debut album that fnds BERWYN trying to convey a spirit of resilience and hope to the ears his music now falls on. “Faith and hope is my [message],” he says. “I’ve seen enough tears on the pavement to know what it is that I’m doing and the effect it has on people in real-time.” Nonetheless, he’s often met with criticism for his music being overwhelming. At the end of ‘Dear Immigration’, a clip plays out of what seems to be a record label employee expressing their doubts: “I mean it’s good, it’s powerful, but I’m not sure if we can send that BERWYN, I think we have to rewrite some of it…” For his part, he’s conscious of the mechanisms of the industry – “There is a level where I’m signed to a major label and I have to provide within the facets and facilities of the major label” –but even by including this snippet, it’s as though he’s chipping at the system from the inside.

It’s been a diffcult road to get to this point, and one that BERWYN wouldn’t repeat given the chance. “I would say no thank you! I’ll just do some normal work in fnance! But we’re here now…” he says. However, on ‘Who Am I’, BERWYN has not only managed to narrate his own story but also to empower others to make sense of theirs, turning his trials into umbrella anthems of strength and perseverance. “As arms start to link at my shows you see what connects these people,” he nods, “and that’s my brand.”

‘Who Am I’ is out now via Sony Music. DIY

“In England, elitism and racism are like joint brothers and sisters.”

ain’t it fun

Five years, a series of big life changes and a move across the world have all fuelled the new album from CHARLY BLISS, but ‘Forever’ sees them happier, healthier and more in love with the band than ever.

Words: Sarah Jamieson.

hen most bands start out, they probably don’t expect that their members will end up split 15,000km across the Pacifc Ocean. But such is the current, far-reaching geographical status of Charly Bliss. For the Brooklyn-formed quartet, things began to change back in 2019 following the release of their second album ‘Young Enough’. Arriving just two years after their breakthrough debut ‘Guppy’, the record saw the quartet trying on a new sound for size, pushing the boundaries of their grunge-around-the-edges pop into something slicker and bolder, juxtaposing the sometimes devastating nature of its lyrics. As ever, the release came with a slew of touring, with the band away from home for almost ten months out of that year’s twelve. But it was the cogs of their personal lives that had begun to turn in unexpected directions.

“It’s pretty funny looking back and thinking about how much we had planned versus what actually happened,” laughs vocalist Eva Hendricks, from her home in Brisbane, where she’s now based. “Sam [Hendricks, her brother and drummer] and his now-wife found out that they were going to have a baby when we were right in the middle of releasing, then when we were on tour, I met my now-fancé. Sam had his daughter on February 1st and I few to Australia on March 3rd 2020 thinking I was coming here for six weeks to just test out my relationship – to see if it was just a long distance thing or something real. Then, of course, things really started moving with the pandemic and I ended up being stuck here for a year and a half…”

As with many artists, Covid put a stop to Charly Bliss’ professional plans, but it also turned their personal worlds upside down. “Refecting upon how much has changed in the past fve years among the four of us and our personal lives is pretty wild. We were all apart for so much of that time, and we were writing [our new] record over Zoom,” Eva nods. But despite having to get to grips with an entirely new dynamic, the band – completed by guitarist Spencer Fox

I’ve been able to experience so much more joy by allowing myself more room to make mistakes.”

– Eva Hendricks

and bassist Dan Shure – soldiered on; now out the other side and with third album ‘Forever’ in their hands, Eva talks of the shift as having an actively positive impact, helping the four musicians to fnd their footing as individuals, and fnally fostering some semblance of stability and support.

“I think the reason we were able to make this album, and the reason I’m so in love with it, is because we were forced to be people outside of this band for a while,” she suggests. “When we were last writing, we were touring so much that I didn’t really have any strong friendships in New York or a crew that I felt had my back. When you’re leaving every two weeks because you’re about to go on tour again, what kind of community can you build or maintain around you? You’re always in fux and always in chaos, so having a home base and being forced to make friends again as someone in my late twenties was just such a shift. I had people that I saw for many weeks at a time for the frst time in my life since I was maybe 19, and I think that was really to my beneft, from both a writing perspective and a mental health perspective.”

it was upon this foundation that the group began to approach ‘Forever’ – a record that bubbles with nostalgia while also remembering that life is too short not to have fun. Written and recorded across various sessions that spanned around two years, the quartet were able to explore all manner of ideas without the pressure of a hard deadline, meaning that the album could continue to shift and develop naturally at every stage.

Eva’s own personal growth can also be felt within its lyrics. Where previously, her stories were often ultra self-aware and self-deprecating, within ‘Forever’, her lyrics offer up some grace for the not-so-fctional characters involved. “On ‘Guppy’, I was making fun of myself. Kind of like, ‘I’ll say this mean thing about myself before anyone else can’. Then on ‘Young Enough’, I think I was just so sad that you can hear that,” she notes. “I think this is the frst record where I feel okay with my shortcomings. I’m not any less aware of them, but I feel pretty okay about them.

“Another thing that’s such a relief is getting older. Of course you never fully escape [those feelings], but it gets easier, it gets so much less overwhelming and all-consuming,” she says. “I do think that I’ve been able to experience so much more joy by allowing myself more room to make mistakes and not think that it means something permanent about what kind of person that I am. There’s so much on this record that is about feeling in the messy middle of a lot of big questions in your life. I wrestle a lot with what it means to be in a band, and pursue the career we’ve chosen –are we a success? Are we a failure? Am I happy? Was I unhappy? Where do I land now? A lot of this album is about acceptance, and being willing to see things for how they are, and being okay with not always knowing the perfect answer. I think that there’s a joy in releasing yourself from trying to fnd that.”

It’s this open-hearted spirit that’s imbued within the album’s title. Even with the band now split across the world, the past fve years have brought them infnitely closer together. “The word ‘forever’ can mean so many different things to so many different people; it can be a really hopeful title, it can be a really scary word,” Eva adds. “I think we experienced all versions of what that means throughout making this record. It took forever to make,” she laughs, “and that was very frustrating. But I think because of that – and having made it out the other end – there is a sense among the four of us that we can do fucking anything. If we can make it through this and still love each other, and want to keep going, and believe this is the best thing we’ve ever made – which we really do –there’s this really hopeful sense of that word among the four of us. We are in this together forever; we have each other’s backs and nothing can stop us.”

‘Forever’ is out on 16th August via Lucky Number. DIY

Previously a solo project, Wunderhorse rode out with a debut that saw them immediately band and with a visceral second outing that plays by its own rules, the four-piece Words: Daisy Carter. Photos: Jenn Five.

immediately welcomed into the lauded annals of contemporary rock. Back as a full four-piece are proving that they’re far from one trick ponies.

ccording to Ancient Greek mythology, Midas was the King who had the god-given power to turn everything he touched to gold. But he’d failed to consider the realities of such a wish; in practice, it meant his food, drink, and even his own daughter were transformed into nothing more than lumps of metal. It’s apt, then, that it’s Midas’ name which titles Wunderhorse’s blistering second album – a record that thematically and sonically deals in notions of ambition, authenticity and fallibility, and, in doing so, prioritises a connection that may be imperfect, but is markedly human.

“I think a lot of music now is almost just like a soundtrack for the personal brand that people are selling,” muses Jacob Slater, frontman and founder of the Wunderhorse project. “A lot of energy is focused around presenting an image of yourself to the world that people can buy into. [The music] almost becomes a secondary thing, which I think is bullshit.” We’re sat in a Soho pub alongside guitarist Harry Fowler, drummer Jamie Staples, and bassist Pete Woodin, having toasted a round of four Cokes and a Guinness (the latter being Jacob’s) after wrapping on DIY’s nearby shoot. “We’re really trying to keep the music front and centre; that’s what we’ve spent our lives working on,” the vocalist continues. “We haven’t spent our lives working on, you know, marketing ourselves to a bunch of teenagers.”

Even a cursory glance over Wunderhorse’s online presence confrms as much. Their Twitter (or X) is strictly business only; their Instagram grid is dominated by live shots, not editorial (or, god forbid, selfes), and though they do have an account, you’re about as likely to catch them doing TikTok tour vlogs as you are pigs fying. In person, there’s nothing strikingly curated about them either – they selfconfessedly hate having their pictures taken, and the only sartorial clue as to their day job is Jamie’s custom Wunderhorse signet ring (“My brother got it for me,” he smiles, slightly sheepishly).

“I think what we’re trying to do is just present the band visually in the most honest way,” Pete says of their deliberately no-frills approach to social media. “A lot of the promo stuff is about pushing people to come to a live show: ‘There’s something happening – come and see it if you want’. I guess that’s a reconcilable way to play that game.” “We’ve got a lot of help ‘playing the game’ now too,” acknowledges

The vitality in our music comes when we’re playing balls to the wall without much regard for perfection.” – Jacob Slater

Jamie. “When we didn’t have [a management team]...” he trails off and laughs. “We basically weren’t doing it.” Harry, too, is in agreement with his bandmates: “You can do your best to make [the online presence] somewhat aligned with who you are or what you believe in, but it’s not the real thing. The music’s the real thing, at the end of the day.”

In an industry that sets increasingly great store in streaming fgures, follower numbers, and online clout, Wunderhorse’s sincere lack of interest in gimmicks or games means their music simply speaks for itself. 2022 debut ‘Cub’ – released when Wunderhorse was ostensibly a solo project of Jacob’s, rather than a band proper – arrived as a vital shot in the arm for British guitar music, and its near-instant connection with both fans and critics alike saw the outft rapidly mushroom from an intriguing new proposition to a need-toknow name capable of holding their own on tours with Pixies and Fontaines DC.

For Jacob, the music world was hardly alien – he’d already fronted the cult South London band Dead Pretties, who burned like a Roman candle before combusting in 2017. But, as he now explains, “I think I was a bit wet behind the ears doing ‘Cub’. I think it was just a collection of songs that I felt I had to exorcise out of myself. ‘Cub’ was fne… but if I could go back, I’d have made it sound a lot different. It was a bit overproduced for me, a bit polished.”

Having enlisted longtime friends Jamie, Pete, and Harry to complete Wunderhorse, the four set out to tour ‘Cub’ – a stint that would ultimately see them sell out venues across the UK and make their Glastonbury debut on the festival’s Woodsies Stage, alongside those aforementioned big-ticket support slots. While on the road, they quickly formed a natural chemistry; soon, it became evident that the boys weren’t just Jacob’s fellow performers, but rather his soon-to-be writing partners. “I think we started to elevate those songs up from the recordings, and that was probably the beginning of us becoming a band,” recalls Pete of the dynamic shift. “Then when [Jacob] brought ‘Arizona’ into the rehearsal room, we all just found our parts within the frst fve minutes. We all knew exactly what we were playing and it kind of fell into place.”

‘Midas’, then, feels in many ways like “the frst proper Wunderhorse record” – the inaugural statement from the band as a unit. And, true to their origins, it keeps their incendiary live energy frmly front and centre. “I think for all of us, that’s where the vitality in our music can be heard best – when we’re playing balls to the wall without much regard for perfection,” Jacob nods. And, to jump from one fable to another, this determinedly raw approach means that any whispers of the emperor’s new clothes are easily refuted; with ‘Midas’, Wunderhorse have nowhere to hide.

The album was recorded with Craig Silvey in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, at Pachyderm Studios – the very place that birthed PJ Harvey’s ‘Rid of Me’ and Nirvana’s ‘In Utero’. Indeed, the ghosts of early ’90s grunge/ alt-rock are palpable presences throughout ‘Midas’, their spirit

having been channelled, perhaps, when the band ended up not just recording but also writing “at least half” of the record on location there. “That [limited] time and space is when we realised suddenly what made us who we are as a band,” explains Jacob. “Giving yourself parameters to work within can actually make you more creative sometimes.”

The results of said parameters are ten tracks that simply haven’t had the opportunity to be overwrought and are, consequently, (almost) as raw on tape as they would be in the rehearsal room. ‘Arizona’ is structured around a midsection of biting riffs, yet lyrically recalls ‘60s musician Peter Sarstedt, its “Where do you go to my love?” refrain imbuing the track’s instrumental heft with a kind of bittersweet desperation. ‘Cathedrals’, too, casts beauty and destruction as two sides of the same coin, a stadium-sized testament to the allencompassing possession of romantic obsession.

Indeed, throughout the album, there’s a sense that the band never entirely trust anything – or anyone –to deliver on what’s promised. And in consistently muddying ‘Midas’’ emotional waters, they build a portfolio of strikingly nuanced personalities, between whom the key commonality is, Jacob says with a wry smile, that “they’re all broken”. There’s the title track’s eponymous fgure, sketched as “somebody who makes you feel powerless and small, like you’re a little chess piece on their board”. By track three, this outline gains another dimension – that of an manipulative puppet-master, pulling the strings of the industry that ‘Emily’’s narrator is so sick of; “This apple is crawling with worms,” Jacob decries on the latter, his sandpaper vocals softening slightly to a Kurt Cobain drawl.

Elsewhere, we meet the insidious smooth-talker of ‘Silver’, his cold self-acceptance almost the direct inverse of the Radiohead-like ‘Superman’’s protagonist, adrift and yearning to be recognised. “I hadn’t thought about it like that, but I like it,” Jacob muses when we put this to him. “I write the lyrics, but I think the music we make together informs what is then written. So it’s this amalgamation of all of us that creates this character, and I guess all of the songs are from [their] perspective. It’s like that record by The Who, ‘Quadrophenia’ – I don’t know how many sides this character has.”

It’s a multifaceted portrait that encodes a degree of trepidation towards relationships both personal and professional – the latter perhaps an unsurprising feeling given that, post-Dead Pretties, Jacob upped sticks and moved to Cornwall, away from the smoke and mirrors of the London music scene. Now, though, he’s found himself back in the capital, signed to a top management company with one acclaimed album under his belt and an imminent second on his hands. As a band, how do they reconcile Wunderhorse’s increasing participation in and their evident distaste for the industry circus?

“I think I’m all for ‘Midas’ and Wunderhorse being successful, defnitely,” Jacob says with a smile. “But I think I’m maybe slightly cynical about the world you have to exist in to achieve those goals. And it’s that cynicism, I think, that maybe keeps you safe.” Harry nods: “It’s quite important to make sure that the band doesn’t become your entire life. There are other things that we like to do with our time, things we enjoy where there are no…” he pauses, choosing his words, “expectations.”

But, while Wunderhorse doesn’t defne them as individuals, it does epitomise them as musicians, and the four aren’t yet so cynical as to feel disillusioned with their work; for all the noise around social media and digital communities (both pseudonecessary evils, in their view), playing live is still the lifeblood of it all. “There’s nothing to hide behind. It’s like, ‘You better be fucking good tonight’,” Jacob shrugs. “People pay for a fucking ticket. I want them to go home feeling like they’ve experienced something good; that they’ve seen a band at the height of their power, doing what they do best.” And that, as anyone who’s seen Wunderhorse live can attest, is exactly what they achieve.

‘Midas’ is out 30th August via Communion. DIY

Having created a genre-amorphous sound that’s seen her support both My Chemical Romance and Bryan Adams, pigeonhole CASSYETTE at your peril. And with debut ‘This World Fucking Sucks’, she’s making a strong case for a boundaryless new one.

Words: Tyler DamaraKelly.

Photos: Jenn Five.

When Cassyette calls in to today’s interview, she’s just returned home from a support tour with Bryan Adams. On paper, it’s an unlikely pairing; we’d wager the nans waiting for ‘Everything I Do’ might have raised more than an eyebrow at the peroxide blonde performer given the task of warming them up. But diving into debut album ‘This World Fucking Sucks’, it’s apparent that there’s no such thing as an unlikely pairing for the singer. Instead, she’s creating a world with no defned genres, in which there’s something for everyone.

Cassyette (real name Cassy Brooking) was born in Chelmsford, and grew up around Essex. Even though she would visit the infamous Sugar Hut on occasion, she also hung out with the emos, and immersed herself in the small local art scene where “everyone was a bit awkward, regardless of where you placed yourself”. Beginning her musical life as a DJ producing dance music, it was when she sidelined those early forays in favour of a return to her self-confessed ‘greebo’ roots, however, that things fully began to click into place.

The aim of the current Cassyette project is to foster a community that allows you to be the most authentic version of yourself. “It’s really important to not feel like you have to be someone else’s picture of you, or ft a narrative that someone else wants. I get it all the time,” she says of the confusion she’s faced from people for her nonconformist approach, which blends metal, punk, pop and more. Having blown up on TikTok after sharing covers of artists ranging from Billie Eilish to Ashnikko, 30 Seconds to Mars to WILLOW, Olivia Rodrigo, and an iconic screamo version of Lady Gaga’s ‘Paparazzi’, she’s always been an anomaly among a world that wants to put people in boxes. As such, she sees the social media platform as a doubleedged sword.

“One side of it has been really cool because you diversify the audience that you’re trying to get your music out to,” she explains. A downside, however, comes with people gatekeeping cultures and genres, penalising others for not completely immersing themselves in just one thing. “Someone like me who is just doing it to entertain them online is a nice gateway into other genres,” she suggests, referencing a video that she saw of two older girls calling out people younger than them who were “dressing like punks, but not aligning themselves with punk values.” Cassyette understood what they were trying to say, but she didn’t agree with the way they went about getting their point across.

“It was like they were forgetting that everyone has a journey into understanding what punk values are, and why we’ve chosen to align ourselves with these values in the frst place,” she says. “If people are being homophobic, racist, any of any of those kinds of things, of course they’re not welcome. But a young person trying on an outft as a gateway into

understanding what the politics are and understanding what their core values are? They need to be able to do that freely and happily.

“I still experience that as a person that makes music,” she continues. “I sit frmly in that lane and align myself with punk values, and I have done for a long time. So when people question my authenticity, I fnd it really sad. If you’re questioning my authenticity, then you’re obviously not fully aligning with what the core values of this scene are anyway.”

In recent years, Cassyette has been learning to care less about other people’s opinions, but self-belief hasn’t always come naturally for the musician. “I fucking hated being a teenager and trying to fnd the things I liked. I always worried about what people thought of me,” she says. “But I swear to God, the older I got – I think when I turned 28, that was the year when I just stopped caring.” In turn, she’s hoping to facilitate a space where young people can listen to her music and feel seen or heard in ways that they’re unable to in their daily lives. “If they don’t feel like they can speak about [their problems] online, maybe they can connect those things to a piece of music instead and feel like they’ve got something off their chest,” she meditates: “A problem shared might be a problem solved.”

“If you’re questioning my authenticity, then you’re obviously not fully aligning with what the core values of this scene are anyway.”

‘This World Fucking Sucks’ sees Cassyette battling through her addictions, while mourning the loss of her father who passed away suddenly in 2020, trying to pick up the pieces of a world that had been torn apart. ‘Four Leaf Clover’ fnds her reaching her breaking point, unable to continue down a path of selfdestruction. The power ballads of ‘When She Told Me’ and ‘Porcelain’, meanwhile, are Cassyette at her best – distilling her emotions and using her hoarse vocals to convey the pain she was in.

Yet, while the album is rooted in these emotive moments, another facet of the musician can be

“It’s really important to not feel like you have to fit a narrative that someone else wants.”

found in the cunty techno energy of ‘Sex Metal’ and ‘Degenerate Nation’. “Before this version of the Cassyette project, when I was DJing, I used to produce all my own music,” she reveals as to why she included the two curveball tracks. “This is my debut album, and I’m never gonna get another chance to do this, so it needed to be my blueprint: the full history of me as a person needs to be in this, and dance/ techno music is a whole area of my life.”

Throughout her genre forays, community has always been key – from the one she’s steadily building with her fanbase, to the regular fgures that she works with. She creates her music with a tiny team including musician Tylr Rydr, and alongside Rydr and WARGASM’s Sam Matlock, co-wrote her friend Bambie Thug’s celebrated Eurovision entry, ‘Doomsday Blue’.

“I think it’s the most beautifully berserk song ever,” she laughs, as she explains that the track is essentially four songs in one. “It was nice for that song to see the light of day, because objectively, it’s so chaotic. That wouldn’t be a radio song if it didn’t have that platform. It’s amazing to see something that is alt, and has been purposefully written to be chaotic, do so well on a commercial level.” Alongside Bambie, Cassyette praises Chappell Roan for the way that she’s providing safe space for queer people and “cultivating a beautiful space for her community”. “If you look at the way she’s done things, she provides escapism for young people, and I feel that’s what’s happening with my lot as well,” she says.

The internet may be a fucked-up place at the best of times, but it does have a way of bringing people together. Having previously shared stages with the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, Simple Plan and My Chemical Romance, TikTok might’ve also had a hand in Cassyette’s recent tour with new bestie Bryan Adams – who she’s been speaking to non-stop – after he saw a video of her singing ‘September Rain’ under a bridge. “That video didn’t even get that many views, and somehow he was one of them,” she laughs bewilderedly. “Thank fuck I made that video and put it up! It’s really nice when someone who you admire tells you they really like

something. He is one of the best songwriters to ever exist, and it’s really cool. Objectively, I would never have crossed us over.”

It’s a wholly unexpected high among a long list of them for the singer, however Cassyette has also had to navigate her fair share of personal lows over the past few years. While mourning the loss of her father, and in the middle of writing her debut album, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. “I’ve had extreme ups and downs forever but it got worse after then going through all of this traumatic stuff,” she says. “I got to the point where I was just completely desperate. The world around me was crumbling.”

Making the album became an attempt at trying to get things out that she wasn’t always able to say. “The reality of living with bipolar is that you’re not always in a stable mood,” she explains. “Some of the songs were written in mania, and you can hear it in ‘Ipecac’ and ‘Sugar Rush’. They were intense ups while ‘Four Leaf Clover’ was an intense down.” While she hasn’t spoken much about her diagnosis, Cassyette is now keen for people to understand that side of her – especially those who come at her for not having one specifc sound. “Try living with bipolar. You’re not one thing, you’re three things. You kind of get what you’re given on any day, and hopefully I’m not a moody bitch,” she laughs. “It’s not to justify myself – it’s for people to understand it. My art is always going to be a refection of me as a person.”

To fnish the album, she had to shut herself away and go off the grid for six months, but Cassyette is proud of making it through. For now, the world does suck just a tiny bit less. “There were moments that were really tough, and obviously the subject matter is very heavy. There was a lot of refection on top of daily life in my brain,” she refects. “Going through recovery and grieving at the same time felt like I bit off a lot all at once, but I’m really proud of the past few years because I didn’t think I was capable of that, and I proved myself wrong. It feels really nice to be able to silence the imposter syndrome for a second.”

‘This World Fucking Sucks’ is out 23rd August via 23 Recordings. DIY

“Living with bipolar, you’re not one thing, you’re three things. You kind of get what you’re given on any day.”

EZRA FURMAN

TUE 16 JUL & WED 17 JUL UNION CHAPEL

FUTURE ISLANDS X SOUTH FACING FESTIVAL SAT 27 JUL

CRYSTAL PALACE BOWL

LIFEGUARD SUN 28 JUL OSLO HACKNEY

JASMINE.4.T WED 31 JUL THE WAITING ROOM

ANNAHSTASIA WED 21 AUG THE OLD CHURCH

GEORGIE & JOE WED 21 AUG

NEXT DOOR RECORDS TWO

GIRL AND GIRL TUE 3 SEP

GEORGE TAVERN

JUNGLE THU 12 SEP THE O2

CAT CLYDE THU 12 SEP THE LEXINGTON

ISOBEL WALLER-BRIDGE SAT 14 SEP ICA

LAURA MISCH THU 19 SEP UNION CHAPEL

EBBB THU 19 SEP

CORSICA STUDIOS

COSMORAT THU 26 SEP ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH

ROSIE LOWE THU 26 SEP ICA

SAM EVIAN FRI 27 SEP LAFAYETTE

MARY IN THE JUNKYARD THU 3 OCT ICA

MOIN THU 17 OCT & FRI 18 OCT ICA

LANKUM SAT 26 OCT EVENTIM APOLLO

THE ORCHESTRA (FOR NOW) MON 4 NOV & MON 11 NOV ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH

GLASS ANIMALS THU 7 NOV THE O2

OKAY KAYA FRI 8 NOV VILLAGE UNDERGROUND

KABEAUSHÉ FRI 8 NOV CORSICA STUDIOS

IDER TUE 12 NOV HOXTON HALL

YAYA BEY MON 18 NOV LAFAYETTE

MILAN RING TUE 19 NOV FOLKLORE

W. H. LUNG THU 21 NOV ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL

KAI BOSCH FRI 22 NOV COURTYARD THEATRE

CLARA LA SAN WED 27 NOV CORSICA STUDIOS

GOAT GIRL THU 28 NOV HEAVEN

PALACE SAT 30 NOV EVENTIM APOLLO

ML BUCH SAT 30 NOV UNION CHAPEL

FROM THE RUTZ TO THE RABBLE

Government battles. Tabloid outrage. Conservative outcry. In their short time in the spotlight, Kneecap have whipped up their fair share of it all. Pranksters or heroic political rebels? The Irish trio are equally a bit of both. And on ‘Fine Art’, they’re painting hip hop a new shade of green, white and orange. Words: Matt Ganfield. Photos: Ed Miles.

‘FREE PALESTINE YOU FENIAN C*NTS’ reads the yellow slogan spray-painted onto the façade of Molly Bloom’s this evening. The unassuming Irish pub on Dalston’s Kingsland Road is hosting the release party for one of the year’s most talked-about debut albums, and if the profane graffti isn’t an implicit enough indication that you’ve reached your destination, the gargantuan queue snaking around the pub and down a nearby alley easily substantiates the intel.

Renamed The Rutz for the occasion, the traditional boozer has been transformed into a living, breathing lookbook of ‘Fine Art’: the inaugural LP from Belfast trio Kneecap. Every inch of the ceiling that isn’t taken up with Irish paraphernalia is adorned with the Palestinian fag. Aged regulars from the Emerald Isle are sat at tables, grinning as the trendies of London’s music scene clamber shoulder to shoulder on the sweaty, makeshift dancefoor, and a blow-up sex doll that looks suspiciously like the King is passed around overhead like a festival crowdsurfer. Backed by the genre-hopping heft of ‘Fine Art’ blasting through the PA system and the malty scent of Guinness being poured at a rate of knots, the tavern conveys its brief with the utmost commitment to the bit.

Brought to life for one night only, this pub has existed in the minds of Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Próvaí for some time now. Kneecap invented The Rutz as a conceptual home in which to set their debut album when they stepped into the studio with producer Toddla T in the summer of 2023. “That was my idea,” Chara interjects. “Naw, it was defnitely mine,” responds Bap, wagging his fnger. It’s the week prior to Kneecap’s hijacking of Molly Bloom’s and the three members are gathered in a bar booth a few miles more central. “When we met Toddla he was like, ‘Do you wanna do a collection of songs or do you wanna do a concept album which ties together cohesively?’” Chara continues. “And that option sounded like way better craic.”

The Rutz may not be the most lofty of album concepts, but it’s a tight one. Far from the theatrical grandeur of lunar casinos or blind pinball prodigies, The Rutz is art imitating life – or rather, lifestyle. Just as it is for a portion of working class society, the pub is a core component of the trio’s existence and – in symmetry with the content of

“Hip hop is a storytelling genre. It’s the ideal medium for oppressed communities.”

– DJ Próvaí

‘Fine Art’ itself – a sanctuary where obscenity, depravity and, crucially, humour exist under one roof. “The pub was the perfect place to set the album,” Bap explains. “‘Cause it can be the best place in the world or the worst place in the world, sometimes on the same day.”

“The pubs where we’re from aren’t like the ones you have here,” Chara notes, name-dropping The Duke of York – an establishment across the way from their London hotel that keeps a sizable picture of Prince Andrew on display. “It’s not even hung there ironically!” Bap protests. “Who the fuck are the people drinking in there? Are you not

embarrassed?!” “They’re drinking children’s tears,” DJ Próvai chimes in. “Or children’s cum,” Chara taps it home before pausing: “Actually, don’t write that…”

The most valuable contribution of The Rutz is in the way it provides a framework for everything else Kneecap pull together across their debut. Real radio newscasts discussing the trio’s controversial stunts play in the background of album interludes and, throughout, you can hear pints being poured as traditional Irish musicians play just within earshot. The 13-second ‘State Of Ya’, meanwhile, dialogues a patron who denies taking coke in the toilets despite the evidence being smeared over his face. The attention to scene-setting detail throughout the LP is bolstered by Kneecap’s resolve to rap in their native language, creating a tricolour brand of hip hop which stays true to the genre’s identity without betraying the geographical setting from which ‘Fine Art’ was born.

“If you go back even ten years ago in Ireland, a lot of people doing hip hop were using American accents and talking about gang-banging – things that weren’t ostensibly Irish,” says Chara. “We wanted our own authentic take, talking about things which are intrinsically Irish and making it our own: celebrating our culture and our history.” “You don’t wanna just copy another genre and shit on it, because there’s

“We’re not controversial strictly for the sake of it – we’re well-read and well-spoken.” – Móglaí Bap

context there,” Bap continues. The pair speak in a back-and-forth patter which mirrors Kneecap’s live performances, dovetailing one another’s points and sharing ideas in an almost telepathic fow. “We wanted to use hip hop to look introspectively, while showing respect to the genre.”

Prior to Kneecap’s inception, Irish-speaking rap was all but nonexistent. “Hip hop in Ireland was all Americanisms,” recounts Chara. “Then The Rubberbandits came along with lyrics that weren’t so braggadocious. They’d have tracks about why it’s superior to own a horse than a car; it’s comical and it’s Irish. Their songs would be ridiculous, but they were so clever and they backed it up well.” The Rubberbandits’ infuence is notable, but touchstones from just about every hip hop-adjacent genre over the past four decades have left fngerprints on ‘Fine Art’. The antagonistic frat-rap of Beastie Boys and Dead Prez’s lyrical back and forth are both present throughout Kneecap’s output, delivered on a bed of breakbeat and glossed with a sheen of traditional Irish folk. Flashes of Jamie T’s hooky, abrasive delivery also make themselves heard on tracks like ‘I’m Flush’, with the group even covering his enduring hit ‘Sheila’ for the BBC’s Live Lounge the day before we sit down.

“Hip hop is a storytelling genre,” Próvaí says. “You can talk about what’s happening around you in the present moment – socially or otherwise – and that’s why it’s the ideal medium for oppressed communities.” Unlike his chatty bandmates, Próvaí remains quietly attentive throughout, chiming in with an authoritative tone on a quality-over-quantity basis. He was a music and Irish language teacher in a secondary school before joining Kneecap. A sliding doors moment for the group saw him fred from his school by a panel of nuns who, upon his dismissal, presented Próvaí with a video of himself snorting white powder on stage and exposing the words BRITS OUT on his bare buttocks. Early attempts to lead this double life saw the DJ hiding his face with a balaclava in the colours of the Irish

fag; his identity slipped eventually, but the on-stage aesthetic survived.

This early furore was to set the tone for a long line of controversies, from commissioning a mural of a burning police Land Rover in West Belfast, to promoting their tour with a cartoon of then-DUP leader Arlene Foster strapped to a rocket on top of a bonfre alongside Boris Johnson. RTÉ, Ireland’s publicly owned broadcast company, pulled the group’s frst single ‘C.E.A.R.T.A’ (Irish for ‘rights’) from the airwaves, sparking a mass petition from fans and handing Kneecap far more publicity than a spin of the track might have offered. “We’re on

“You know things are heading in the right direction when you’re able to text a dealer in Irish and they respond.”

– Mo Chara

the radio fat-out now,” Bap laughs, before Chara continues: “It reached a point where they didn’t have a fucking choice!”

Earlier this year, taking umbrage with their outspoken stance against British occupation in the north of Ireland, a Tory MP vetoed a fnancial grant which was initially awarded to help fund the band’s American tour, inadvertently adding more fuel to the group’s publicity fre in the process. “£15,000 probably wouldn’t even do us that much good, it’s not that much money when you’re touring America,” Chara shrugs. “But now that it’s escalated into a court case, it’s become a national news story and given us publicity that money can’t buy.” The week after we speak, the band are granted High Court permission to formally take action, with a full hearing into claims of discrimination on grounds of nationality and political opinion set to take place in November. With legal proceedings still ongoing, Kneecap are limited to what they can say on the topic, but they’re prepared for an Erin Brockovich-style showdown.

Not content with riling up their detractors via one medium, the band have also turned their story into a feature-length flm. Having already scooped an Audience Award at New York’s prestigious Sundance Film Festival, the premiere saw the three band members arrive atop an armoured police van, holding green, white and orange fares aloft. Equipped with a few months of weekly acting lessons and working against both fnancial and time restraints, the resulting selftitled biopic makes for the most unlikely of instant classics. Written and directed by Rich Peppiatt, and featuring Michael Fassbender as Chara’s father, even the band themselves took some convincing that the project had legs.

“It took months of Rich chasing us,” Chara recalls. “We ignored him for ages. We were like, ‘Who the fuck is this fella? He’s full of shite!’” Encouraged by Fassbender’s seal of approval, Kneecap worked alongside Peppiatt, feeding the script with

anecdotes and memories. “You’re treading a fne line when doing a flm like this,” Bap says. “It can be cheesy, portraying drugs or the working class on screen.” “We had full say in things, which was great,” Chara continues. “I knew from reading the script that it could be fucking good, obviously Fassbender isn’t going into a flm that doesn’t have a decent script.”

Wrapped in just seven weeks, the crew would make up to 110 scene resets in a single day, as the ever-diminishing reserves of money dwindled and time ticked on. “You really depend on the good will of the crew hanging back to get days fnished, and the quality of the food on set was getting worse and worse as the money ran out,” Bap recalls before Chara quips: “Then Fassbender arrives on set and the caterers up their game…” It might seem like a jump from stage to screen, but the trio are quick to point out the natural thread. “Our live gigs are already an exaggerated version of ourselves, so we’ve essentially been acting for ages,” Chara reasons as a barman delivers him a fresh pint. “We’re drawing on our own experiences and we mean what we say, but at the end of the day it’s a fucking show.” “It’s a fucking show!” Bap mimics, theatrically.

The plaudits garnered by the flm – the frst Irishdialogue entry in Sundance’s history – mark the latest stride of many for the language’s visibility. We’re in the middle of a rapid growth period for the oppressed language and it’s a movement that Kneecap witnessed frst-hand before playing a signifcant role of their own. Belfast’s frst Irish language school, which both Chara and Bap attended as adolescents, opened in 1991 with a total of nine pupils; today, there are 8,000 pupils in IME (Irish-medium education) across Northern Ireland. “There was a lot of shame around [speaking] Irish previously. It was the language of poverty,” Próvaí says. “Going back a hundred years, there was a thing called the ’bata scóir’ in schools: students would wear a string around their necks and each time they spoke Irish, a wee notch would be made on the string and each notch would result in a beating at the end of the day. Our language was literally beaten out of use as a form of cultural oppression.”

Although a step in the right direction, teaching Irish in schools isn’t enough to make the language commonplace among a new generation. Slang terminology including drug references and swear words were yet to exist, and a language which can’t articulate the modern world is doomed to remain in the past. “There were words that we’d use between our friends when we were speaking in Irish,” Bap says of the contributions that Kneecap’s lyrics have made to the lexicon. “Words like ‘snaois’ [pronounced ‘sneesh’, meaning cocaine] just kind of stuck, then we realised the importance of including these words in our tunes and making Irish a living language among young people.”

“You know things are heading in the right direction when you’re able to text a dealer in Irish and they respond,” Chara laughs. “Now, you’re hearing tracks sung in Irish about fellas shagging fellas, which is exactly the kind of stuff that the language needs.”

“That’s the reality of language,” Bap adds. “And this is the kinda content that kids are going to listen to, whether that’s NWA, Eminem or Megan Thee Stallion.”

With the likes of Fontaines DC (“What a band!”) and CMAT (“She’s a legend, she’s killing it”) both making serious statements outside their homeland, and Cork-born actor Cillian Murphy recently picking up an Oscar, Irish culture more broadly is seeing its own global purple patch and there’s a belief within Kneecap that this isn’t merely serendipitous. “There’s a newfound freedom in Irishness nowadays. People who grew up Irish in the ‘80s didn’t have the same confdence in themselves that this generation do,” Próvaí says in the considered, teacherly tone that has never left him. “There isn’t that fear to put yourself out there and be artistic. Back in the day, this Irish creativity was introspective and written down quietly; that’s why there have always been great Irish authors.”

The trio’s lyrical touchstones of masturbation, plundering dole money and drug-fuelled benders might not be cut from the same literary cloth as Joyce or Beckett, but that’s the point. Kneecap are rebels with a cause: their subject matter riles up the nation’s conservative Catholic population in the same way that their calls for a united Ireland piss off the loyalist, Protestant community, forcing both sides to ask questions of themselves.

Despite how outspoken they’ve been on England’s negative contributions to history, however, Kneecap haven’t been surprised to see the British music press swooning over their antagonistic brand of hip hop. “We started getting noticed over here while already having a big enough platform to talk about our politics and our ideas,” Bap reasons. “Which gives people the opportunity to understand us a bit more – we’re not controversial strictly for the sake of it; we’re well-read and well-spoken.” “In our second language, no less!” Próvaí is keen to point out.

With overwhelmingly positive reviews for ‘Fine Art’ coming thick and fast, it isn’t inconceivable that Kneecap could see themselves nominated for a BRIT Award over the coming year; an accolade which would surely be a step too far for the outspoken Irish Republicans. “The fucking irony of that! I wouldn’t be allowed back in West Belfast,” Chara chokes on his pint, laughing at the notion. “Too fucking right we’d attend the ceremony though.” “I’d be up for it,” Próvaí affrms, smiling. “We could melt the award down and turn it into something useful.”

‘Fine Art’ is out now via Heavenly.

Kneecap play Mad Cool 2024 (10th - 13th July) where DIY is an offcial media partner. Visit diymag.com/festivals for more info. DIY

REVIEWS

This issue: SOFT PLAY, Fontaines DC, Glass Animals, Lava La Rue and more.

SOFT PLAY

HEAVY JELLY BMG

Opening a record that, were it not for some intense work on themselves as individuals, as a unit, and as a band presenting itself to the world, might never have been written, the brutal pummel of ‘All Things’ feels ftting. An acceptance that people will never be entirely ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but a complex myriad of a thousand thoughts and feelings, it’s also a perhaps unwitting observation on what SOFT PLAY themselves manage to distil over the course of fourth album ‘HEAVY JELLY’. Eleven tracks that condense everything brilliant about the returning Kent twopiece – singing drummer Isaac Holman and guitarist Laurie Vincent – in a manner that feels truly confdent in its own idiosyncratic skin, it’s an album that can sit a snarling shout from the middle of mental health issues (‘Isaac Is Typing…’) alongside a ridiculous ode to action hero ‘John Wick’ and a moving tribute to Isaac’s recently-passed friend Bailey (‘Everything and Nothing’) in a way that somehow makes complete sense.

Joining the dots are the pair at the centre, who lay themselves out on the record like open books. There are tracks here that could literally never come from the minds of any other band – take the gloriously madcap ‘Worms On Tarmac’ on which, over Laurie’s hard-as-nails, fzzing guitar lines, a character-accented Isaac frantically raps about the plight of invertebrates whose environment has been destroyed by us pesky humans. It’s loud and silly and strangely sweet, and exactly the sort of hyper-focused lens – peering at society and seeing the funny little details before wrapping them in circle-pit sized tunes – that makes SOFT PLAY such a unique proposition.

‘Punk’s Dead’ acted as their self-referencing return last year, turning the outraged comments after their name change from Slaves into one of the cleverest self-facing diss tracks around. Still, it marks a blistering highlight and a work of lyrical brilliance (“Johnny Rotten is turning in his bed / I was gonna say grave, but the fucker ain’t dead”), but throughout ‘HEAVY JELLY’ there are endless highlights that match that bar. ‘Act Violently’ is the most hardcore track the duo have penned to date, its vocals spat out with neck vein-popping speed and vitriol; ‘Bin Juice Disaster’ is a classic two-minute SOFT PLAY romp about a particularly leaky bin bag that you suspect will probably come backed by an equally ridiculous tale when it’s debuted live, while ‘Working Title’ is the grim underbelly of a night on the razz; an anti-’Brat’, if you will.

‘HEAVY JELLY’ ends with ‘Everything and Nothing’ – a mandolin and violin-centred track that’s sonically like nothing they’ve ever released before. Far from a strange ft, however, it feels like the perfect, emotive closer for a band who’ve come a long way to get here, but have made easily their best album yet by simply being themselves. Lisa Wright

LISTEN: ‘Isaac Is Typing…’

Truly confdent in its own idiosyncratic skin.

FONTAINES DC

Romance XL

One imagines there’s a fdgetiness at Fontaines DC’s core; that the very same second they’re put in a box, a pathological need to contradict both themselves and the putter-inner immediately ensues – an irl case of ‘whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m not’, if you will. Come out the gates with a fast-rising debut album packed with festival-ready bangers? Follow it by eschewing any semblance of immediacy, obviously. Now, having been lumped in with an ever-growing bandwagon of miserable men in dark colours channelling worldly frustrations into post-punk favoured song, the obvious move is to turn hypercolour. Most of ‘Romance’ does not, in fact, follow the wholly ‘90s baggy rave-up of blistering opening track ‘Starburster’, but that the outft would choose to share the most sonically provocative cut frst is as playful a move as

the song itself. And it’s that playfulness – a real sense of taking the art seriously but themselves not at all – that runs throughout the record, from the minute the opening title track begins to thaw from its gloomy, wholly Radiohead turn, to the jolly jangle of closer ‘Favourite’. The production is maximalist to the point where one wonders, if they’d asked producer James Ford for a kitchen sink, his only response would be: ‘How do we mic that up?’. The space allowed for sonic play lets the otherwise as-before songwriting breathe, less encumbered, perhaps, by how it might be perceived. On the ‘90s extravagance of ‘In The Modern World’, it’s provided by strings, coupled with boyband-esque backing vocals; there’s ghostly repetition and rollicking drums on ‘Motorcycle Boy’, while ‘Desire’ is pure shoegazey euphoria. ‘Here’s The Thing’ and ‘Death Kink’, even moreso, revel in their huge choruses – the latter a deliciously grungy cut. That Fontaines DC are accomplished, assured songwriters and musicians is well-established by now, but it’s such a joy to hear they are also (whisper it) quite fun. Emma Swann LISTEN: ‘Starburster’

A

playfulness

runs through the record

Photos: Jude Harrison, Ed Miles

Clairo Records

Three albums in, Clairo is still showing how she’s a master at distilling a specifc feeling into song. ‘Charm’ is the musical equivalent of a warm July evening spent with close friends, the group growing ever more confessional as the night passes. She captures the warm breeze, the fading light, the soft music that soundtracks the fowing drinks and laughter. Reaching for more live instrumentals, ‘Charm’ is humming with life. ‘Nomad’ gently stirs the album into being, spatial and lived in as it casts a dreamlike haze over the album. It’s both thought-provoking and bringing with it a sense of unwinding and loosening. Even when there is frustration, it is relayed with the intimacy of a friend and thus ushers in another level of ease. ‘Add Up My Love’ gorgeously plays with a myriad of different sounds to create its breezy tone. ‘Echo’ evokes the heat of summer in its delicious guitar riff, shades of psychedelia making for one of the album’s strongest tracks. ‘Pier 4’ is earnest and still, drawing the album to a conclusion that feels borderline meditative. Clairo shifts deftly between her various infuences but is unfailingly cohesive – her inimitably soft, airy vocals are the invisible string between each deviation. ‘Charm’ is a labyrinthine release. It is nestled with quirks that are buried deep. Echoes of laughter on ‘Second Nature’, a gorgeous fute section that closes ‘Thank You’, the warm, almost western synths that emerge in ‘Echo’. It begs to be listened to again and again, and to soundtrack warm nights spent ruminating or engaged in the kind of conversations that can only come late in the night. The intricacies of ‘Charm’ demand to be intimately known. Neive McCarthy

LISTEN: ‘Echo’

BURNS

Early Twenties

Since 93 / RCA

To get wilfully paradoxical for a second, there’s a sizeable chance that what’s caused Cat Burns – BRIT nominated long before this, her debut album – to stall in recreating the chart-bothering success of 2018 single ‘Go’, is also what’s most likely to win over listeners. When ‘Early Twenties’ is as its best is when Cat is at her most inside-thoughts-out-loud, marrying the specifcities of her internal struggles with conversely euphoric pop moments. ‘alone’ introduces the record with lyrical introversion and musical bombast. ‘people pleaser’ recalls Lily Allen’s earliest work while pairing the title track’s refrain with euphoric choral backing vocals. ‘this is what happens’ is a diary-like peek inside the neurodivergent brain (Cat has both ADHD and autism) that follows a skipping, almost jolly ‘00s indie beat. The deft use of dreamy classic ‘50s pop chords on ‘boy crazy’ underpin a letter to her younger self, yet to come out as queer: “This bit don’t last forever / I promise it gets so much better,” she sings. ‘jodie’, meanwhile, takes equally from The Beatles’ ‘Blackbird’ and ‘80s balladry to present a sweetly-delivered love song. And while it would take even the most experienced songwriter some going to maintain such consistency over 17 tracks such as here, the length of ‘Early Twenties’ contributes to the feeling that the record is trying to be more things to more people. The over-egged instrumentals of ‘happier without you’, ‘some things don’t last forever’, ‘live more & love more’, ‘low self esteem’ and especially ‘know that you’re not alone’ are an audibly obvious attempt to conjure community-via-song, however the results leave Cat’s message –plainly delivered and empathetic elsewhere on the record – entering cringe territory. Of course, a debut with such a title as this does imply an artist still trying things on for size, and there are certainly a handful of emotionally astute, smart indie pop gems to be found among it. Bella Martin LISTEN: ‘this is what happens’

GLASS ANIMALS

I Love You So F***ing Much Polydor

It’s almost impossible to comprehend, even now, just how much of a sleeper hit Glass Animals’ ‘Heat Waves’ was. Released in June 2020 ahead of the Oxford-formed band’s third album ‘Dreamland’, it took a record-breaking 59-week route to eventually top the US Billboard singles chart in early 2022. The song was technically ‘catalogue’ (an industry word for ‘old hat’, fact fans) at this point. Its prolonged success made for a double-edged sword for the outft: Album Four could wait – but it was going to have to follow THAT. As it goes, it’s doubtful Glass Animals could’ve pitched ‘I Love You So F***ing Much’ any better. As fush with confdence as an album from a chartdominating outft should be, opener ‘Show Pony’ does as its name suggests, entering the fray with gigantic production and a whip smart push-pull dynamic. It’s a record that fully embraces the concept of pop while simultaneously retaining the idiosyncrasies that gained the band its initial wonky indie-pop reputation. Take the bombastic ‘A Tear In Space (Airlock)’, on which Dave Bayley’s vocal hits new heights while also pronouncing “water” in a way that somehow belies both his American and British identities. Or ‘Creatures In Heaven’, during which he somehow manages to rhyme “making love”, “apartment” and “fake blood”. And while ostensibly less conceptual than previous records, Bayley isn’t afraid to leave in a few strange turns of phrase (‘White Roses’ with its unlikely “Let me dangle from you like a piece of meat”). That the record’s biggest curveballs are also its most conventional is ultimately ‘I Love You…’’s biggest triumph, however. ‘On The Run’ opens like a mashup of Pixies’ ‘Where Is My Mind’ and The Flamingos’ ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’, only to crash into a rollicking, earwormy chorus, while epic closer ‘Lost In the Ocean’ makes sweet use of ‘50s doo-wop backing vocals. If ‘neo-croon’ isn’t already a thing, Dave just invented it. It’s ‘Wonderful Nothing’ that’s the ultimate star, though. What will undoubtedly read like a mess on paper is, in fact, a deliciously dark banger, as a theatrical, choral introduction makes way for a trap beat and a bassline that’s as EDM as it is Muse’s ‘Supermassive Black Hole’. Ultimately, ‘I Love You So F***ing Much’ is as confdent, self-aware and ambitious as a record by a band who’d rocketed skyward last time around should be. Emma Swann LISTEN: ‘Wonderful Nothing’

LAVA LA RUE

Starface

Dirty Hit

God Said No

Warner

A sprawling, 17-track concept album about a queer alien who comes to earth, in the wrong hands ‘Starface’ could have been an exercise in overblown bombast. Few records, if we’re being honest, can clock in at such length and keep the standard up throughout; ‘Starface’, however, can. In only the frst third, we’re taken on an odyssey through warm, low-slung funk (‘Better’ ft Cuco), shimmering rap (‘Push n Shuv’), and a strain of transcendent psychedelia so Tame Impala-like that we had to genuinely check twice to make sure Kevin Parker wasn’t credited (‘Aerial Head’). A window into the multitudes of an artist who’s evidently brimming with them, it’s exactly what you want from a debut: a musical calling card that shows precisely who they are. A keen collaborator, the smart but disparate array of voices that the West Londoner enlists to pepper ‘Starface’ also keeps the record on its toes. Audrey Nuna’s warped vocals come in over grizzled riffs to give ‘Poison Cookie’ its dark underbelly; ‘Fluorescent / Beyond Space’ features her fellow NiNE8 Collective members and rapper Feux for a constantly-shifting piece that brings to mind the group spirit of Gorillaz, while closer ‘Celestial Destiny’ recruits bb sway for a more simple, sweet duet – a love-drenched fnale that avoids any whistles and bangs. That Lava La Rue has managed to tame such huge ambition into a long-in-themaking debut that’s inventive but accessible and never outstays its welcome is a feat not to be diminished. Lisa Wright LISTEN : ‘Aerial Head’  CAT

“I don’t see you anymore / But the words you left me are always in my ears / Always in my tears,” confesses Omar Apollo – who has the distinct ability to make frst-love wounds feel as open and feshy as the day they were made – over the soulful, swaying percussion of ‘Dispose of Me’. This, his second record, is no less smoothly lovelorn and unrequited, no less steeped in kaleidoscopic, opulent anti-pop-meets-R&B than his acclaimed debut, but it is undoubtedly more defned in its purpose, and more astute in its ability to touch beyond the boundaries of genre amid glittering heartbreak. Narratively, ‘God Said No’ puts Omar at the mercy of fate, but atop waves of transcendental R&B, dream pop and soul, it’s his own voice that becomes divine self-assurance in the face of abandonment. It’s meticulous in its direction, fitting through romantic and sonic states that reveal a willingness to suffer, and this simultaneous poetic and diaristic lucidity serves as a settling into the unexpected when it works against his heart. In contradiction, however, each track is beautifully light and bright – ranging from some of the most opulent and infatuated dream-pop of this year (see standout ‘Drifting’, with its MIKA-like chorus); to post-R&B comparative to the likes of Christine and the Queens’ latest (see the angelic closer ‘Glow’, an expected evolutionary step from the sci-f R&B of Omar’s 2023 EP) – culminating in an infatuating promise to persevere and make a transformative Sad Boy Summer from the affair. Supported by a surprise confessional from friend and actor Pedro Pascal, ‘God Said No’ is profound and romantic, decadent and suave, and as ever, Omar is at the helm. Otis Robinson LISTEN: ‘Drifting’

A window into their multitudes.

ALBUMS

LOS CAMPESINOS!

All Hell Heart Swells

As they close in on twenty years together, Los Campesinos! might never have had a record be as eagerly anticipated as ‘All Hell’, their seventh. In the seven years that have passed since their last full-length, ‘Sick Scenes’, the band’s fanbase has expanded to encompass not only the long-standing ultras, but a new generation, one too young to have formed a contemporaneous opinion on ‘Hold On Now, Youngster…’ but who helped fll London’s Troxy for the biggest show of the group’s career earlier this year. On ‘All Hell’, they ride the crest of this resurgence elegantly, leaning in both to some of their most formative inspirations and their new-found position as elder statespeople of British indie. After writers began to notice the undeniable infuence of the genre on the band’s work to date, Los Campesinos! have taken to describing themselves, in tongue-in-cheek fashion, as ‘Britain’s frst and only emo band’, and they’ve never worn it quite as avowedly on their sleeve as on this record, right from opener ‘The Coin-Op Guillotine’, with its melodic guitar lines and noisy, college rock breakdown. There are further such hints elsewhere – ‘The Order of the Seasons’ owes plenty to Sunny Day Real Estate. In the main, though, ‘All Hell’ is a refnement of the band’s established sound, characteristically boisterous in places and disarmingly gentle in others; soft, cooed backing vocals are part of the record’s calling card. Frontman Gareth Paisey retains his rapier wit, one that often belies the deeper pathos of songs like ‘Holy Smoke (2005)’, and his ability to work in a footballing metaphor remains unparalleled (“it’s been years since I played a high line”). Among the signature melancholy, there’s a sense of contentment to ‘All Hell’ – for a band once a byword for angst, that is a triumph in itself. Joe Goggins

LISTEN: ‘The Coin-Op Guillotine’

KING GIZZARD & THE

LIZARD WIZARD

Flight b741 (p)doom

Only three things are inevitable in life: death, taxes, and yet another album from tireless Aussie psych-lords King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Newest release ‘Flight b741’ is their 26th, and just as with every release from the six-piece is entirely unpredictable – after a broad arc of increasingly theatrical albums, ‘Flight b741’ instead charts a course back to their origins, with a series of no-nonsense riffs played with the gusto of classic rock and the energy of garage punk. There are some all-time moments for the band, like the T.Rex guitar line on ‘Field of Vision’, or the solid groove of ‘Antarctica’ that calls to mind ‘70s Rolling Stones, and through it all is a lively atmosphere, with the songs broken up by between-take chatter. The band still fnd space to push themselves, too, with drummer Michael Cavanagh’s lead vocal debut on the Deep Purple-inspired ‘Le Risque’, a choice that feels as if it could only be born from a fun environment. And that, above all else, is the guiding principle of this LP: perhaps not the album that will secure the band’s legacy, but one that reminds their cult following that the boys can play hard as well as work hard. James Hickey LISTEN: ‘Field Of Vision’

Columbia

Though much was understandably made of Serge Pizzorno’s swift promotion to frontman ahead of Kasabian’s 2022 album ‘The Alchemist’s Euphoria’, aside from the fact that the vocals had changed from one Leicester accent to another, not all that much was actually different. Their sole songwriter from day one, the creative brain that propelled the band into one of the UK’s lairiest and largest remained the same. On ‘Happenings’, however, Pizzorno has begun to audibly write for himself, and it’s with a wider, often weirder horizon that he approaches the band’s eighth. Of course, there are absolutely monstrous bangers of the sort that Kasabian have become titans of over the past two decades; it’s hard to think of another guitar band who can wrangle sheer hedonism in the way that ‘Call’ – a classic Kasabs offering – does when it drops. But across the rest of the album’s spectrum, the rest of ‘Happenings’ is rarely predictable. Highlight ‘Hell Of It’ goes from twitchy hip hop beats into a dubby breakdown, whereas ‘How Far Will You Go’ arrives as a relentless, sub-two-minute punk onslaught. ‘Passengers’ starts sparse before turning into what we’ll describe as ‘Imagine Dragons but not shit’, while the balearic sunshine vibes of ‘Coming Back To Me Good’ mark genuinely new terrain for the group. There are a couple of misses, particularly ‘G.O.A.T’’s obvious attempt at a sports montage soundtrack, but largely, ‘Happenings’ is full of impressively interesting choices. Free to indulge all the multitudes of his tastes, Pizzorno is managing, against many odds, to keep Kasabian moving forward. Lisa Wright LISTEN: ‘Hell Of It’

ORLANDO WEEKS

LOJA Fiction

Named after the Portuguese word for ‘store’, and titled in homage to the physical and mental creative space that moving to the country has given him, ‘LOJA’ is Orlando Weeks’ most fully realised solo album yet. PostMaccabees, there was initially a sense of the songwriter putting some distance between that chapter and this, but here we see something of a return to a more collaborative, band-oriented state; the LP’s Rhian Teasdale-featuring, driving lead single ‘Dig!’ features a bridge that’s markedly more Maccabees-adjacent than anything on previous outings ‘A Quickening’ or ‘Hop Up’, while Katy J Pearson and Tony Njoku also lend their voices to stunning effect on two of its 11 tracks (‘My Love Is (Daylight Saving)’ and opener ‘Longing’ respectively). And in leaning more heavily into a palette that pairs electronic foundations with the warmth and depth of sweeping cello (‘Wake Up’; ‘Sorry’) and undulating piano (‘Best Night’; ‘Please Hold’), Weeks lands on a winning combination of digital and organic that has one foot in each of his musical lives. Throughout, ‘LOJA’ is imbued with a sort of childlike wonder – one that’s bolstered by the purity of Weeks’ distinctive, goosebumpinducing falsetto – but there’s also a potent refectiveness that only age and experience can engender: “Dad would love the fsh here,” he sings wistfully on closer ‘Beautiful Place’. An album of understated yet undeniably potent beauty, ‘LOJA’ paints Orlando as one who, having moved to Lisbon, is having his time in the sun in more ways than one. Daisy Carter LISTEN: Good To See You

REMI WOLF Big Ideas EMI

“When it comes to making art, thinking is the devil,” says Remi Wolf, whose soulfully bizarro bedroom pop and buzzy, technicolour funk across debut record ‘Juno’ garnered critical acclaim. Unsurprisingly, then, follow-up ‘Big Ideas’ resists the cerebral even further, tumbling into glamorous imperfection and cacophonous garage-band pop that sits starkly against the corporate rigidity and rigmarole of modern pop. Celebratory horns and poking whistles on opener ‘Cinderella’ act as industry referees, calling Remi – pop’s most interesting and fearless batter – back to the pitch to stir things up again. The record’s singles, for the most part, are a rounded and suave blend of funk rock, but it’s the deep cuts that push Remi’s pop psychedelia to utter genius. At its most surreal, ‘Frog Rock’ is a noughties dirtbag blockbuster, while the three-track run through ghoulish Britpop on ‘Kangaroo’, to underwater electric guitar on ‘Pitiful’, to the sandwiching of Paramore-era punk between slices of reggae on ‘Wave’ is a mad spiral down a rabbit hole. It’s as if, amid industry suits and incessant touring, Remi has revisited and reinvented her drawing board completely. Yet, for all its oddity and rebellion, she always shines through with maniacal vocality, cathartic irony and reverie, a beaming and happy-go-lucky presence. She even manages to slip in a few glittering and zeitgeisty surprises – see the synthpoppy, feminine ‘Slay Bitch’, a feat of contemporary disco magic. But then, as she mumbles atop sex anthem ‘Toro’, it’s all just “magic and guitar” anyway; this is a record that stands up well against the high bar set by her debut in both scope and ambition. Her second, ‘Big Ideas’, does just what it says on the tin. Otis Robinson

LISTEN: ‘Frog Rock’

Maniacal vocality, cathartic irony and reverie.

Photo: Ragan Henderson

MALICE K

Avanti Jagjaguwar

“Now my baby says I’ve got a problem,” screeches Malice K on fraught ‘AVANTI’ opener ‘Halloween’. Laying claim to a tortured artistry right off the bat, on this debut album the NY based visual artist, songwriter and exDeathproof Inc. member captures the emotional tumult of a chaotic two years spent in active addiction and subsequent recovery. Where his frst two EPs were shaped by short and punchy genre-surfng vignettes, here Malice K settles into a more defned sound, marked by its stark old school simplicity and spiky, lo-f acoustic grit. Shambling down this well trodden sonic path of slackened ‘90s-esque indie strung together by an uncomplicated, bare-all lyricism, ultimately it is Alex Konschuh’s highly distinctive and vagarious vocal performance that sets it apart and leads the evocative charge. Ranging from anti-folk Beck-isms on ‘You’re My Girl’ and ‘Weed’, to grungy Cobain croaks on ‘Concrete Angel’ and breathy smoulders akin to Elliott Smith on slower, more acoustic numbers such as ‘Songs For My Baby’ and ‘Blue Monday’, this East Coast infuence – whether intentional or not – is pervasive, perhaps traceable back to his own Washington roots. There are, at times, drawn out moments of weltering, softer-edged cloyingness that can prove challenging, but both the unabashed rawness of the songwriting and the splintery contrasts on ‘AVANTI’ are where Malice K’s artistry really shines through. The shrieks; the harsh croaks; the soul-scraping laments. Though as a whole it might not be as indelible as its predecessors, Malice K is certainly an artist to keep your eye on. Hazel Blacher

LISTEN: ‘Concrete Angel’

1 Glassnote

Unlike your lads’ holidays, rising stars bby have made it out of the group chat. Since their debut single ‘hotline’ – and having formed just a year ago – bby have served music packed with a visceral energy, showering us with their infectious, raucous sound; this is indie seasoned with grunge and served with a side of trembling, enhanced bass. The recording followed a period of testing, during which fans visited intimate sessions at the outft’s sweaty East London HQ as the band’s lyrical and melodic message was honed down to these 13 tracks. ‘Breathe’ opens with a series of breathy, whispered vocals and a bass line akin to that of Tame Impala’s ‘Elephant’, whereas ‘Kill Me’ gleams with a polished, hip hop-inspired edge. In ‘u come near’ the all-too-familiar high felt by the close presence of a romantic crush is vocalised by Benjy Gibson as he croons longingly into the microphone, accompanied by needling guitars and Tom Parkin’s thrashing drums. Perfectly in line with the album’s release date, ‘We’ll Neva Die’ is prepped for the summer’s festival stages with its breezy, Circa Waves-esque melody and sunlit lyrics. Neve Dawson

LISTEN: ‘We’ll Neva Die’

PIXEY

Million

Dollar Baby Chess Club

In many ways, it’s hard to believe that this is Pixey’s debut album proper; the Scouse songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist has been a familiar face since 2019, having already got four shorter projects under her belt (the most recent being 2022’s ‘Dreams, Pains & Paper Planes’). As such, it might have been easy for her to cast ‘Million Dollar Baby’ in much the same mould, catering to her well-established base of ‘90s revivalist alt-pop fans. And don’t get us wrong, those sonics are still frmly in play – most notably on punchy pre-release single ‘The Thrill Of It’ – but there are also dynamic forays into fresh territory. The sun-blushed title track soars with ‘80s synths and and echoes of Baby Queen’s ‘Want Me’; the woozy psych-rock of ‘Damage’ backgrounds Pixey’s seamless move between sung and rapped vocal delivery; and the joyous horns of the Northern Soul-inspired ‘Bring Back The Beat’ act as an ode to her love of sampling. It doesn’t always quite hit: the shimmering effects and childlike chanting on ‘Best Friend’ end up overly saccharine, and ‘Oxygen’’s slightly cliche concept of being “forever young’’ is explored with more nuance (and thus effectiveness) on ‘The Thrill Of It’. By the time we reach the album’s affrming, widescreen closer ‘The War In My Mind’, the alt-pop polymath has pondered fame-chasing, self-worth, seizing the moment and more, concluding here that she’s on the right path (“Maybe I could be somebody / Someone I always dreamed of”). On this evidence, she’s not wrong. Daisy Carter LISTEN: ‘Bring Back The Beat’

CHARLY BLISS

Forever

Lucky Number

Since the release of their debut in 2017, Brooklyn four-piece

Charly Bliss have forged an atypical blend of power-pop, one that owes a debt to everything from early ‘90s grunge to bubblegum – largely through vocalist Eva Hendricks’ highly distinctive tone. ‘Forever’, their third studio album and frst since 2019, welcomes them all through the distorted, crashing guitars of ‘I Don’t Know Anything’, the unique balladry of ‘Easy To Love You’, and the anthemic pop builds of ‘Here Comes The Darkness’ and ‘Nineteen’, the latter an immediate sister to ‘Young Enough’s brilliant title track and in its soaring nostalgia, easily one of the best tracks the band have released. Much like their 2019 second record, ‘Forever’ is built on a fragile zeitgeist that embraces themes of love, vulnerability and youth, bounding between joy and a palpable urgency instilled by driving drum patterns over boundless melodies. It’s the next step in Charly Bliss’ compelling coming of age saga that continually embraces the retrospective to create something fresh, exciting and altogether different. With it, ‘Forever’ balances the frivolity of youth with its turbulent realities, all through the sun-kissed lens of the past and the band’s almighty guitar pop sound. Ben Tipple LISTEN: ‘Nineteen’

Hi Pixey! You’ve mentioned that the album deals with fnding that balance between the expectations of others and your own artistic expression. Can you expand on this a little bit?

The album is an arc of the last eight years, but written in a condensed amount of time. It represents my feelings about music, myself, and what it means to be an artist and a woman especially. It starts really strongly with ‘Man Power’ where I’m really taking ownership of my body and my brain. The Thrill of It’ explores that period where I got really sick and what that meant, and how it made me feel about being a young person in the world who was unable to do what everyone else was doing. I rarely write love songs but there’s a few of those on there. Things have changed a lot since I started making music and so the album delves into a lot of things I’ve learned: what it means to be successful and if it really even matters in the end.

The latest track from the record, ‘Bring Back the Beat’, feels kind of retro and futuristic at the same time. You worked with Jungle on this one but have mentioned Northern Soul as an infuence. What other

infuences can we expect to hear on the record?

A lot of sampling. I’ve had some issues with sampling in the past, trying to get things cleared as a smaller artist can be tricky. Moving into the album, I realised I needed to make them from scratch or use spliced ones and make them into something new. I was really inspired by TV Girl and The Go! Team, a lot of pop songs and synthesisers. Robyn was a huge inspiration for this album too, I think she has some really beautiful, introspective lyrics. I wanted to create something that touched on all the aspects of music I love without it feeling too all over the place.

Do you have a favourite track on the record?

‘Love Like Heaven’ is my favourite track. The beat was inspired by an old Ringo [Starr] beat – super Liverpool! It was my frst time recording just the tape alone and Rich [Turvey] gave me his studio for a week and showed me how to use his equipment. It was inspired a lot by walking down on the docks in Liverpool – I always just wanted a song that embodied that feeling. I wrote it for the city, not for a person, and I fnd it really emotional to sing.I sang it on the radio the other day and I almost couldn’t get through it.

Pixey talks taking infuence from samples, pop pioneers and her home city. Interview: Sarah Taylor

Photo: Marieke Macklon

Friday

Beyond the Music

ROLE MODEL

Kansas Anymore Interscope / Polydor

There’s much to love about pop’s ability to reference itself on a whim, and so there’s consequently much to love about this second album from Role Model, aka Tucker Pillsbury. For a start, take its title. A nod to the iconic Wizard of Oz line, its sentiment is refected by the record’s lyrical content, with Tucker himself feeling a fsh out of water while living in Los Angeles (see the lyrically claustrophobic ‘The Dinner’ in particular). Then when coupled with the singer’s choice of headwear on its sleeve, the phrase is equally indicative of the album’s sonic palette: slide guitars weaving in and out; a beautifully subtle use of banjo (the repetitive lick of ‘Oh Gemini’ particularly well done). For the most part, though, it’s a fun, emotive showcase of classically pop-rock songwriting, pleasantly self-aware in both sound and tone. A sonic warmth is created, whether via the double tracked vocal of ‘Frances’ meeting a softly-strummed banjo; the featherlight ‘So Far Gone’ featuring an understated guest spot from Lizzy McAlpine; or the breeziness of opener ‘Writing’s On The Wall’. ‘Slut Era Interlude’, meanwhile, may call itself an interlude, but the raw nature of the live recording only adds to the song’s emotional pull, both presenting Tucker’s vocal as fallible, and allowing the song’s explicit lyrical content to avoid sounding contrived. It’s back to those references and a knowing wink for the two high points, though: ‘Deeply Still In Love’ cribs so much from a certain group of leather jacket-clad New Yorkers in its style that bonus points can only be given for the literal Julian Casablancas “oh yeah” layered under its jangly guitars (better still, its sly blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Donna Lewis ‘I Love You Always Forever’ interpolation). And best of all ‘Superglue’, which is already onto a winner when its hyper-familiar ‘70s soft rock chord changes are contradicted by a wholly 2020s vocal recording, but as soon as one might begin to bring to mind another pop singer-songwriter looking to the decade taste forgot for his licks and kicks (Harry Styles, we mean Harry Styles, obviously), there’s surely a tongue frmly in cheek for his yelp of “Oh I need you babe,” buried in the mix. And it’s there, that a record ostensibly about heartbreak and homesickness can be so overwhelmingly fun, using both genre and trope in parallel ways with just the right level of self-awareness and humour along the way, that ‘Kansas Anymore’ succeeds. Bella Martin LISTEN: ‘Superglue’

WHO AM I Columbia

To make a list of the ways in which ‘WHO AM I’ triumphs may well fll an entire page, but it can perhaps be summarised as an impeccably delivered expression of BERWYN’s multitudes. First, for an artist who broke into mainstream consciousness via the often willingly arch Mercury Prize, it possesses the kind of huge pop moments that beg for A-list daytime radio play. The earwormy, sonically joyous repetition of the title throughout ‘I AM BLACK’ is entirely winning, while ‘WHO AM I’’s title track boasts a gigantic chorus that sounds as if it may have always existed. And still, both are emotionally raw: the former’s status as downright banger juxtaposed with its lyrics detailing racist experiences. The most intense moment comes undoubtedly with the gut-punch of a centrepiece, the impassioned, spoken-word ‘DEAR IMMIGRATION’, appearing as a letter to the concept itself: “You’re not even real / But you wanna make me feel like I’m the lie,” he says, among a detailed expression of his life experiences since arriving in Romford as a nine-year-old from Trinidad. In near-direct contrast, the poetry of following number ‘NEIGHBOURS’ is of the everyday: “I love you more than every street of Rizla I lick” could have come straight from the notebook of a certain Mike Skinner and is all the more effective for following something so profound. This isn’t the only masterstroke of the record’s sequencing either. ‘I’M DROWNING’ is by itself a smart piece of acoustic-driven guitar pop that makes clever use of well-worn chord patterns alongside contemporary vocal effects to produce something both classic and in keeping with the record as a whole, but that BERWYN’s tale of using alcohol as coping mechanism follows a series of songs about what causes the emotions in the frst place only makes it hit all the harder. A record that’s as skilled in pop immediacy as it is emotional expression; a lyrical gaze that looks as deeply inside as out; an artist who, on this debut album, can seemingly do just about anything. Ed Lawson LISTEN: ‘WHO AM I’

86TVS

86TVs

Parlophone

Transgressive

Colossal Congolese collective KOKOKO! have returned with a successor to their 2019 debut ‘Fongola’, and ‘BUTU’ is another turbo-charged rave riot. The Kinshasa-based outft’s second effort is a synth-driven assault on the senses; opener ‘Butu Ezo Ya’ comes in with an almost shamanic electro-crazed percussion, and from there, the frenzy barely ever lets up. ‘Motema Mabe’ and ‘Mokili’ continue in the same, glorious manner, while ‘Mokolo Likambu’ shows their ability to slow the pace a little, its wonky, droney sound firting with the futuristic. ‘Motoki’, meanwhile, firts with psych-funk, and ‘Elingi Biso Te’ sees the collective roam into the more tech-house realm. Despite clocking in at just under 52 minutes, never does ‘BUTU’ feel anything but relentlessly frenetic fun. From its breakneck bonkers energy, to the more slowed-down moments, this is absolutely one for the ravers. if there’s any justice, KOKOKO! will be conquering the dance foors across every corner of the planet. Brad Sked

LISTEN: ‘Motemba Mabe’

The Maccabees’ last shows at London’s Alexandra Palace in 2017 marked the end of an era, but also the beginning of a new one, with both Orlando Weeks’ solo efforts, and the emergence of 86TVs. Formed by ex-Maccabees Felix and Hugo White, their younger brother Will, and former Noisettes and Stereophonics member Jamie Morrison, 86TVs’ eponymous debut album demonstrates talent, self-assuredness, and remarkable prowess. Each track is stronger than the last: opener ‘Modern Life’ is a summer singalong belter, ‘Tambourine’ is a future festival staple in the making, and single ‘Worn Out Buildings’ meshes grandiose buildups with anthemic choruses to make a song that sounds as though it’s come straight from the soundtrack for a coming-of-age flm. With the band declaring no frontman, and instead choosing to let their voices come together to form one, each song celebrates the group’s collective experience, whether that be the White brothers’ confrontation with grief after losing their mother to MS as children or addressing their younger selves (‘Worn Out Buildings’). This coming together of voices works just as well during the album’s uninhibited highs as it does during its moments of introspection. While ‘Someone Else’s Dream’ is a joyous, carefree number that beckons roaring singalongs, ‘Dreaming’ is a ballad where their collective voices reinforce the heartbreak of its lyrics. Likewise, the cinematic ‘Spinning World’ merges the band’s velvety chorus of voices and Will’s contemplative songwriting with a soaring string arrangement, plucky guitars, and the tweeting of birds resulting in a gut-punch of an outro. 86TVs are clearly cut from the same cloth as The Maccabees, but a newfound succinctness and dynamism make for a forward-facing project. Sophie Flint Vázquez LISTEN: ‘Worn Out Buildings’

CASSYETTE

This World Fucking Sucks

23 Recordings

Titling your album ‘This World Fucking Sucks’ is a bold move, but knowing a little more about Cassyette’s backstory, you begin to understand its moniker more clearly. Releasing her debut after a slew of deeply personal struggles (the singer lost her father unexpectedly in 2020, and has grappled with addiction issues in the wake), the pain she’s felt over the past few years is very tangibly imbued within the record. It’s perhaps best distilled in the scorched ‘When She Told Me’ – a track which veers seamlessly from crunchy nu metal riffs to haunting vocals – with its devastating chorus refrain of “I can’t cry anymore”, as she sings of her reaction after being told of her father’s passing. For all the emotional toil at play here, though, it’s also an album that does absolute justice to her status as a new, genre-defying voice in rock. From the drum and bass drive of ‘Sex Metal’, through to the more bubblegum pop of ‘Sugar Rush’, via the refective epic of ‘Over It’, these fourteen tracks swerve through different iterations of the genre with confdence and ease. It’s the stripped back ‘Dear Sister’ that disarms most, with its tender message of appreciation and support (“I would take your pain so please just ask me for help / I hate to think you’re drowning and it’s all by yourself”), providing a gorgeous sparkle of light in the dark of the wider world. Sarah Jamieson LISTEN : ‘Dear Sister’

A new, genredefying voice in rock.

The New Album, Out Now

ALBUMS

 GRIFF

Vertigo

Warner Music

Griff is a pop craftsman: her debut mixtape, the self-produced ‘One Foot In Front Of The Other’, embraced full, crisp pop convention to turn its cliches sincere. Here, on the BRITs’ 2021 Rising Star’s debut album, ‘vertigo’, she makes a decent effort to sustain this brilliance. ‘Into The Walls’, with all its dreamy repetitious rumination, and the echoing heartbeats of its title track showcase a deft popular music songwriting ability that appeals to an easy listen, guided by a skillful hand. Its production is still huge: there’s the rollicking Scandipop scope of ‘Anything’, which at frst is vast and cinematic then punchy and preppy, and the almost-infuence of French experimentalist Oklou’s transcendental synthpop across ‘Pillow In Your Arms’, or even the glitchy, Mura Masaproduced ‘Cycles’ and the warming choir of Griffs that memorialise ‘Tears For Fun’. But where ‘One Foot In Front Of The Other’ saw her present a distilled version of herself, the 14-track ‘vertigo’ is at times spread a little thin. The grief-stricken puns of ‘Astronaut’ are certainly heart-wrenching if not a little rudimentary, and then, after affrming such a strong grip in grandiose pop hook making, the debut’s back end falls off a little too quietly, closing with an (at least intriguing) folktronic Imogen Heap-inspired ballad that does well to reassert Griff’s songwriting prowess, but leaves a pop shaped hole. Regardless, the sum of ‘vertigo’’s parts is triumphant in quality: there’s not a single corner left unpolished. Otis Robinson

LISTEN: ‘Anything’

Fear Life For A Lifetime Polydor

The consistent line that runs through ‘Fear Life For A Lifetime’ comes via STONE having one foot frmly in the pre-streaming era; sonically, the album seems to barely notice anything released beyond about 2005. The frst half of it sees the Merseysiders fnd a groove that, although far more polished than their presence on their ‘punkadonk’ EPs, really suits them: as the spoken-word opening title track introduces the record with equal homage to Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Sunscreen’ and Primal Scream’s ‘Loaded’. The post-Britpop indie that’s sometimes later-Oasis in style (‘My Thoughts Go’), other times early Robbie Williams (‘Roses’) meanwhile offers a confdent, punchy presence that’s more a continuation of their predecessors than in thrall. The jangly ‘Say It Out Loud’ and darker stream-of-consciousness ‘Train’, while differing in style, also impress, the latter’s social anxiety expressed as well musically as lyrically. But the record is let down somewhat by a patchy fnal few: the listed intoxicants of ‘Save Me’ creates what sounds like a fresher’s take on ‘Feel Good Hit

Of The Summer’; ‘Never Gonna Die’ is less indebted to Kasabian than a wholesale recreation of; and while the noodly Bloc Party-esque guitars that trickle along ‘Hotel’ are pleasant enough, the acoustic-led ‘Save Yourself’ then feels tacked on, the indie rock cliché of ending a record on a token slow number becoming perilously close to a box-ticking exercise. Still, when it’s good, it’s great, and ultimately for the most part continues to show the band as exciting still-newcomers. Louisa Dixon

LISTEN: ‘Roses’

Did you have a particular vision for the album going in?

Fin Power (vocals): We just went with the fow, didn’t we? We only recorded about 15 songs and only about 10 or 11 made it.

Alex Smith (drums): It’s funny as well because a lot of the themes of the album relate to growing up and some of the songs in the album were written when we were literal fucking kids.

Fin: We were like 19.

Did you ever end up reworking those songs to align better with where you are now? Or did you leave them to preserve that sense of innocence?

Fin: A bit of both, I think. Some of the stuff just never had its moment. There are songs that we’ve written and we were like ‘This is not coming until the album, this is going to be an album song.’

Alex: With how much more mature we are now, there are songs that Fin has written that I don’t think he would have fve or six years ago.

Fin: My soul wouldn’t have been captured the way it was.

Alex: There was a lot of pent-up energy that had probably been building up over a few years.

The record captures a very British coming-of-age experience but you went to record in Vermont with producer Rich Costey (Foo Fighters, Muse, Sam Fender).

What effect did being removed from the life you’re writing about have?

Alex: Being away from our lives, being on our own, gave us that sense of focus that really allowed us to produce what we produced.

Fin: I think we were recording with an element of nostalgia. We were going into bars being the only British guys. We were in a town called Brattleboro and there’s only two bars and everyone knew we were the British people in the band. It was almost nice to be on the opposite side of the spectrum recording an album because it gave us more perspective. We could look back on what we’ve written with more like pride and nostalgia and [awareness of] what we are, you know, because we were in such a different place.

Alex: We were recording and writing about all these different experiences in hindsight, so we had the absolute fucking perfect picture of what it was to us. We’ve sort of built this sonic world in our own heads and we had time to refect on it.

It’s a rather sprawling album and you’ve said before you’d hate to be put in a box. Why is it so important to you to have that free range over your sound?

Alex: I think the thing is, the industry standard is so centered around trying to fnd a genre for it. We just want to fucking play anywhere. I don’t want to have

to conform to any genre. As four musicians, we’re all from different worlds sonically and the amalgamation of that is STONE, basically.

Fin: I was saying this to Elliot, our guitarist, the other day. I was like, ‘We need to make a new genre of music called lockdown.’ We’re lockdown bands. When lockdown happened, we just experimented. We’re a genre of music, an era that has only existed since 2020, bands that started in late 2019 to late 2021 were called lockdown bands. It’s a great time to be a band from Liverpool – your local peers are also all doing really well for themselves. What’s in the water over there?

Fin: I was in a band with Callum from The Mysterines and when I grabbed Alex from another band, his bassist in that band is now in The Lathums. The whole scene’s been together at some point. But I know what exactly is in the water. About 73 years ago, a wizard came from the land of Nod, came down to Liverpool and was so infatuated with the sound of the accent that he put this spell into the reservoir that feeds Liverpool’s water. It was a spell of music, life and creativity that then was drunk by the mothers of Paul, John, Ringo and George. Then they gave birth to The Beatles, went to school, and breathed into the water which then spread across the pool and created amazing music for many years to come.

STONE’s Fin Power and Alex Smith dig into the makings of their sprawling debut album, ‘Fear Life For a Lifetime’ – and why there are so many hot new bands emerging from their home city of Liverpool… Interview: Emma Wilkes

Photo: Claudia Legge

ALBUMS

Buzz

88rising

‘Buzz’ may begin with a curveball, the opening one-two of the title track and ‘Too Much Of A Good Thing’ conspiring to suggest cut-and-paste bedroom pop, the latter an expertly-pitched post-Internet take on early Beck records to boot. But a curveball it stays: while the palette NIKI picks from isn’t at all one note – there are slacker rock guitar tones (‘Colossal Loss’), a subtle banjo (‘Magnets’) and even swooping, cinematic strings in use (‘NINE’) – for the most part, the Indonesian singer-songwriter’s third full-length is a delicately presented collection of quintessential singer-songwriter fare. Her vocals veer between a country twang (‘Did You Like Her In The Morning?’, ‘Strong Girl’) and a whisper (‘Paths’) via echoes of Phoebe Bridgers and Elliott Smith (‘Take Care’, ‘Tsunami’). And as those names suggest, it’s intimate and introspective – albeit with a (quietly) epic climax that while not bringing the album full-circle to its deceptively pop introduction, is defnitely a satisfying close. Bella Martin

LISTEN: ‘Did You Like Her In The Morning?’

EPS, ETC*

*anything they refuse to call an album.

CURRY

King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2 Loma Vista

As proved by his stage dive-laden headline set at last year’s Outbreak Festival, Floridian rapper Denzel Curry is among the most exhilarating MCs in the game right now. He’s got the work to match his stage presence too; a prolifc stream of excellence displaying artistic vision, curiosity and depth, infused into an endless parade of bass-heavy, futuristic bangers. Given his white-hot recent form, the back-to-basics mixtape ‘King Of The Mischievous South, Vol. 2’ feels like a bit of a sideways step.

Designed as a sequel to a 2012 tape, these 15 tracks see Denzel performing as a braggadocious alter ego Big Ultra. It fts the favour of the record, which is similarly bolshy and surface-level. The beats may occasionally be interchangeable, but several cuts stand out, such as the minimal speaker-blower ‘SKED’ and the menacing ‘Hit The Floor’. Each track features a guest spot, which helps provide their sometimes homogenous nature with personality, particularly during Project Pat’s charismatic verse on ‘SKED’, and TiaCorine’s quietly vicious ‘Hot One’ spot. Denzel drops in and out to tie it all together, as if he’s introducing you to his plethora of friends at a raucous party. And like all parties, ‘King Of The Mischievous South, Vol. 2’ journeys through highs and lows, but it’s never boring.

Tom Morgan LISTEN: ‘SKED’

METRONOMY

Posse EP Volume 2 Ninja Tune

COMING UP!

A handy lil’ list of albums worth getting excited for.

Now more of a solo effort for frontman Joe Mount, Metronomy return with Posse EP Volume 2, which sees the protagonist collaborating with artists across a range of genres to frequently thrilling effect. ‘Nice Town’, with Pan Amsterdam, blends hip hop, electronic and jazz in an intriguing way, while ‘With Balance’, with its guests of Naima Bock and Joshua Idehen, has more of an acoustic feel, recalling early Bon Iver before segueing more into spoken word territory. It might seem an awkward marriage at frst but it is ftting of the aims of the project, spotlighting artists from all backgrounds. It lends the EP an excitement factor, leading us to guess which direction it will head next. ‘Contact High’, featuring Miki and Faux Real, has more of an electronic and pop sheen to it, and is the most in keeping with Metronomy’s own back catalogue. The fve tracks on ‘Posse EP Volume 2’ offer fascinating glimpses at Joe Mount’s musical process with an amalgamation of genres and styles mixing in perfect synchronicity. While Metronomy as a studio project is on a hiatus, there is still plenty to love here. Christopher Connor LISTEN: ‘Contact High’ SOPHIE SOPHIE

The iconic producer’s fnal work is set for a posthumous release on 27th September.

ENUMCLAW

Home In Another Life

The Washington noiseniks’ second full-length is set to hit shelves on 30th August.

BRIGHT EYES

Five Dice, All Threes

The indie stalwarts’ tenth studio effort will feature guest spots from fellow icons including Cat Power and The National’s Matt Berninger. Out 20th September.

LAURA MARLING

Patterns In Repeat

After predicting her frstborn with 2020’s ‘Song For Our Daughter’ (!), it looks like Laura’s latest has her looking to tile her bathroom. Probably. Released 25th October.

Photos: Annie Lai, Giovanni Mourin

LIVE

The festival has frmly established its own identity.

ROCK IN RIO LISBOA

Parque Tejo, Lisbon

How do you celebrate a 20th birthday in style? Unlike those who observed their milestones in lockdown, Rock In Rio Lisboa went all out this year. With endless frework shows and colossal headliners, RIR Lisboa has proven why the festival has remained a juggernaut throughout two decades of operation. Though it’s technically a branch of the Rock In Rio family of festivals, which originated in its namesake Brazil, the Lisbon edition has frmly established its own identity against the gorgeous blue skies of Portugal.

Across two sold-out nights, the second weekend of RIR Lisboa saw over 160,000 swarm through the festival in their frst year at Parque Tejo. Situated right next to the Tagus River, the park offers ample space for even more stages, food stalls and rides than previously. There’s also a ferris wheel if you can’t get enough of Portugal’s stunning landscape, and a zipwire, where you can glide across the main stage and get a uniquely close-up view of its performers.

They say Portugal is the land of the three Fs: fado, Fatima, and futebol. RIR Lisboa paid its due reverence to the futebol by halting all music programming to air its Euros game against Turkey across all four stages. Watching the sheer mass of festival-goers celebrate Portugal’s three goals against Turkey provides a uniquely intimate and breathtaking portrayal of the country – and being able to celebrate the win with tens of thousands of Portuguese people feels even more special.

Dancing in the blazing heat after Portugal’s spectacular win was, therefore, even more jubilant, with RIR Lisboa offering a pick’n’mix of music for the Euros crowd. Younger attendees are treated to Leigh-Anne, who graces the stage to play a string of songs from her new EP ‘No Hard Feelings’. Her blend of garage and Afrobeats, paired with her smooth R&B vocal stylings, is warmly received by the swaying audience. For the parents who trekked to the festival to watch the Euros, a helping of James is ladled, with the ‘90s indie legends running through some of their greatest hits like ‘Laid’ and ‘Sometimes’ in a grand, majestic showing.

There’s also Ivete Sangalo, essentially the Ariana Grande of axè, a genre whose name comes from the Yoruba word for “soul, light, spirit or good vibrations”. Donning a high ponytail in a glittery jumpsuit, the Queen of Bahia absolutely brings the party to Lisbon with her eclectic mix of Latin pop and infectious charisma. One

of Brazil’s legendary performers, her set in Lisbon is a defnitive highlight of the day. Later in the day, special guest Macklemore graces the city to rep Seattle – and host a dance off against two festival-goers. Opening with ‘CHANT’ from his most recent album, 2023’s ‘Ben’, the rapper rotates through a number of instant classics like ‘Thrift Shop’ and ‘Can’t Hold Us’, before delivering a very affecting and sincere speech in honour of gay rights anthem ‘Same Love’ – a moment slightly marred by the sight of zipliners zooming across the stage.

But it’s the Jonas Brothers who close the night with a smorgasbord of covers, Disney-era tunes and their own solo material. It’s a display of shameless pop-rock pleasure as Nick swaggers on stage to sing ‘Jealous’, while Joe is equally as smoky performing ‘Cake By The Ocean’. But it’s really reunion song ‘Sucker’ that turns the crowd absolutely wild, fnishing their headline set on a deliriously high note.

The fnal day of RIR Lisboa similarly refuses to let up; Ne-Yo begins proceedings in the blazing heat with his gentlemanly charm. Playing a selection of his silky R&B classics, like ‘Closer’ and Sexy Love’, he expertly ramps up the energy towards his back-to-back dance bangers; with hits like ‘Play Hard’, ‘Time Of Our Lives’ and ‘Give Me Everything’, he displays an impressive range and solidifes his status as a festival mainstay. Even more excitingly, Camila Cabello premieres several tracks from her upcoming album ‘C, XOXO’ during her set this evening. With dancers in wolf masks, bicyclists fipping left-to-right on a ramp and a robotic camera dog, Cabello stuns Lisbon with a high-budget production and her endearing enthusiasm. And, even though there has been some scepticism towards her sudden (and perhaps ill-ftting) hyperpop rebrand, Cabello’s determined to commit to the bit, and does so with aplomb.

Finally, closing out the entire event, it’s time for Doja Cat to assume her reign as the current Queen of Pop – and what a thrilling re-coronation it is. The LA native has proven time and time again that she was born to be in the spotlight, and RIR Lisboa proves an incredible showcase of her talent. Perfectly at home among her ambitiously industrial staging, she unleashes a momentous rush of anger at the screeching climax of ‘Ain’t Shit’. Don’t underestimate her allure, either; watching her dance to ‘Agora Hills’ and ‘WYM’, Doja Cat’s headline set is confrmation that she’s a true star, both born to be in the spotlight and to raise the bar for pop performers everywhere. Alex Rigotti

JONAS BROTHERS

TAYLOR SWIFT Murrayfeld, Edinburgh

It’s not easy to fully convey the atmosphere in Edinburgh tonight. To describe the excitement around the frst UK shows of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour as anything short of pandemonium doesn’t quite do it justice. Across the city, the streets are swarming with fans; businesses are taking part in an ‘Edinburgh Taylored Taste Trail’, fogging their wares with a Swiftie spin; one of the Tram services bound for Murrayfeld tonight has been a given a Tortured Poets Department wrapping; even the penguins at Edinburgh Zoo are donning intricatelybeaded friendship bracelets for the occasion.

It’s little wonder as to why the Scottish capital is going all out. Not only has the Eras Tour been forecast to generate over £1 billion for the UK economy, but – with an attendance of over 73,000 fans tonight – the frst of this weekend’s shows doubles as the highest attendance at a Scottish concert ever. She’ll welcome almost a quarter of a million fans across her three-night stint here – and they’re just the ones lucky enough to have secured tickets in the frst place.

So, could a show with this much anticipation actually live up to the hype of being the highest grossing world tour of all time? In short, absolutely. Even after 96 dates across the US, South America and Asia – all of which have been spliced into thousands of clips shared across social media – and the release of an offcial concert flm last October, the show still somehow feels fresh and captivating; a shimmering but staggering beast that breathes new life with every city it rolls into.

First up tonight come Taylor’s Nashville peers Paramore, who – despite having what some would consider a tough job – seem positively gleeful to be here. Decked out in matching, monogrammed outfts – the backs of their jackets read Fine Print, the moniker that fans are speculating could be their new label – their set is a joy to watch, with the band’s Hayley Williams playfully ribbing the crowd’s singing efforts ahead of an explosive ‘That’s What You Get’. It’s the gorgeous ‘Ain’t It Fun’ that really captures hearts tonight, though, with the band funkily strutting down the stage’s runway in unison, during what is a giddily good run-through of their biggest hits.

And just like that, it’s time for the main event. By the time that Lady Gaga’s ‘Applause’ roars across the stadium’s sound system, the excitement reaches fever pitch (Swifties know what’s coming next), with fans barely able to contain themselves when an ornate clock appears on the stage’s giant

backdrop, counting down to midnight. The screams just get louder too when, from a furry of gorgeous, feathery plumes, Taylor Swift emerges in all her bejewelled glory – even after seeing it plastered across the internet for over a year now, her entrance is breathtaking all the same.

From then on, she offers up a masterclass in pop performance; effortlessly navigating the tour’s ambitious concept and sprawling stage set-up in a way that somehow feels both monumental and intimate all at the same time. In fact, it’s only her intro to ‘The Man’ – where she conducts a stadium-wide Mexican wave of screams – that things feel that little too overwrought. Otherwise, she barely misses a beat and, despite the colossal amount of work that’s very clearly gone in to the show’s choreography, somehow makes it look effortless.

For a show so huge in its scope – she performs 45 songs from ten albums over the set’s three and a half hour runtime –the balance is also remarkable. Each era is executed perfectly to best embody its personality, with Taylor stepping back into past versions of herself with ease. Whether through the ethereal Scandi cottage that emerges for her now-combined ‘folklore’ and ‘evermore’ section, the delightfully dark whip-snapping stature of ‘Reputation’ (unquestionably, one of the show’s standouts) or the monochrome melodrama served in support of latest album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ – the section comes brilliantly dubbed ‘Female Rage: The Musical’ – each new twist is thrilling and enchanting in equal measure. Even the scope of the production is outstanding: few stadium shows manage to captivate an entire audience but the staging, with its multiple risers and runways, works brilliantly.

And yet, even on a tour of this magnitude, it’s the tender and unexpected moments that linger longest: the teary grin transfxed to the young fan she hands her ‘22’ hat to is enough to have anyone well up at the sight; an unexpected in-crowd proposal during ‘Cardigan’ that’s highlighted by Taylor, when she’s actually able to see it with the sun still in the sky; the sure-to-be-viral-by-now moment in which her hand cramps midway through playing ‘Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve’, a timely reminder that – while the Eras Tour is truly otherworldly – the star is merely mortal. That’s the magic of the entire thing; for all this may be the biggest tour this world’s ever seen, when you’re actually in the room, it’s easy to forget the hype, the scale, the statistics, and instead be enraptured by the woman at the centre of it all. Sarah Jamieson

Photos: Afonso Batista, Hugo Moreira, Rita Seixas, Samuel Martins, TAS

Rights Management

DOJA CAT

LIVE BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS

Various venues, Ipswich

Photos: Jonathan Dadds

In only its second year, Brighten The Corners has already established itself as a jewel in the city festival calendar. Priding itself on bringing the best new bands from the UK and abroad to vibrate the city’s grassroots venues, an emphasis is placed too on fostering local creative communities. A free outdoor stage at the Cornhill – co-produced by young people from the Tune Up course – showcases exclusively local artists, whose sounds can be heard ringing all throughout the city centre. Enjoying a pint in the sun in the shadow of town hall is the perfect way to ease yourself into the weekend.

Kicking things off on the Friday within the medieval architecture of St. Stephen’s Church (winner of the Toilet of The Year award, the festival proudly boasts in their programme), are Cambridge spell-binders UGLY. Animating the wooden vaults above with

their enchanting blend of ecstatic vocal harmonies and spidery folk-rock, the band air a couple of cuts from their debut EP ‘Twice Around The Sun’, but most of the set previews unreleased material, which sounds as richly textured and ornate as the old. Then, we move from those pastoral charms to the cold shivers of Leeds’ HONESTY. Veiling their stage at The Baths is a projection screen strobing through a host of urban images, overlain by song lyrics like some kind of dystopian karaoke. As the band themselves remain anonymous, their music lives and breathes on their behalf; it’s an exquisite corpse of experimental trip-hop, R&B and electro-rock as broad and winding as the cities that are visualised.

A fttingly jubilant headline to the Friday night, within the grandiloquence of the Corn Exchange are Afrofuturists Ibibio Sound Machine. The levels of funk are off the charts as an array of glitter, sunglasses and smiles roll out kick-ass bass lines, horn blasts and triumphant melodies that the dancing masses holler back dutifully.

Onto Saturday and the crowd at The Baths are eagerly expectant for Man/Woman/Chainsaw’s set. With scarce recorded output to speak of – and excitement bred through word of mouth alone –their set does a good job of rising to the growing hype: violins soar and guitars wail across a ballsy, exuberant half an hour of unpredictable avant-punk glory. Bringing the vibes into calmer waters, there are queues outside the door for London alt indiefolk darlings Tapir!. Sadly forced to battle through myriad technical issues, St. Stephens nonetheless shimmers with a bucolic majesty as the band recite

precious cuts from their debut album, ‘The Pilgrim, Their God, and The King of My Decrepit Mountain’.

Swapping onto the main stage last minute after a ‘transport breakdown’ from Chartreuse are Nottingham’s Divorce, whose lilting, twanging brand of heartfelt, country tinged indie-rock feels suitably grand while echoing through the Corn Exchange Halls. Their epic ballads, passionate vocals and

squalling bottle-neck guitar slides leave the maudlin audience suitably touched and tear-swept.

Barging rudely in their wake, like a stampede of bulls in the land of China shops are punk-rockers Lambrini Girls. A thunderfuck of infernal bass fuzz, fearless crowd invasions, and wall-to-wall punk-rock thrills, the trio unleash an exhilarating, politically charged performance: addressing gay pride, sexual violence, Palestine, the police and the general election, it’s an inspiring call to action, and outrageous bloody fun.

A trip to The Smokehouse – a tiny 70 cap venue on the outskirts of the centre – offers one of the festival’s true delights, and it’s there where London risers Ebbb provide one of the weekend’s most bewildering and astonishing spectacles. In the most intimate of spaces, and at near-deafening volumes, the trio eclectically merge sweet vocal melodies and glitching electronics, with drums so violent and relentless that they might have Thor’s hammers striking them. Their names adorn many a festival bill this summer, and as the dedicated dancers in the crowd will likely now attest, they are well worth catching if you can.

“Have you been reaching climax with the joy of life? If not, there’s still time,” come Charlie Steen’s risible words of encouragement, in a ftting introduction to the weekend’s last hurrah. Somehow their frst gig in Ipswich, shame deliver a career-spanning set, featuring long-time favourites ‘Concrete’ and ‘One Rizla’ to cuts from last year’s ‘Food For Worms’ LP, plus some hints at album four. With a stage dive or three, and a maniac, front-fipping bass player, it’s an hour of gloriously defant indie-rock, of which they are still undisputed masters. Elvis Thirlwell

LAMBRINI GIRLS

SHAME

UGLY

DIVORCE

BEAVERTOWN FREQUENCIES

ODIE LEIGH FEEL

LIANG LAWRENCE

CHRIS JAMES FEEL IT

BAILE TRAMAT LULU

AMIE BLU

Trentemøller

The Kiffness

NewDad

Yot Club

King Hannah

Good Neighbours

Jane Weaver

Mothica

Holly Macve

Ibibio Sound Machine

Joep Beving

BODEGA

Suuns

Master Peace

Swim Deep

Eaves Wilder

Humane The Moon

swim school

Maria Chiara Argirò

Molly Payton

Pacifica

Monophonics

Somebody's Child

Bess Atwell

The Grogans

RVG

Divorce

Hannah Grae

Sam Akpro

Pale Blue Eyes

Kite

The Shivas

Des Rocs

Andrew Cushin

Hohnen Ford Porches

Sarah Julia

H31R

Asha Jefferies and many more