May 2023

ON 'O MONOLITH', SQUID'S BOUNDARIES ARE LIMITLESS

HELLO MAY

Question!

This month’s cover stars might have come up with their very own Squid Game (not THAT one...), but what video game would Team DIY while away the hours with, given the option?

SARAH JAMIESON • Managing Editor

Having become quite the pro at buttonbashing (yes, I’m that person) on Tekken 2 back in the day, imagine the joy I felt when I discovered it was included in the Playstation Classic reboot. Needless to say, it’s still just as iconic in 2023 as it was in 1995 (oof) when I first played it.

EMMA SWANN • Founding E ditor

The not-exactly-legal copy of James Pond 2: Codename: Robocod we had for my Dad’s Amiga didn’t let us die, ever, meaning endless hours spent finding new worlds made of jelly, Penguin biscuits and flying bathtubs.

LISA WRIGHT • Features Editor

I bought my first ever games console last month as a 34-year-old woman and, after spending two hours trying to make a dragon jump around a corner, I can confirm that I am not a gamer.

LOUISE MASON • Art Director

If I record Taskmaster from TV onto a VHS tape does it count as a video game? Good. My favourite round is called 'Sausage or Finger' and I'm available to host Taskmaster at your child's birthday party anytime free of charge.

Editor's Letter

It might seem like barely two minutes have passed since we first got our teeth into ‘The Dial’ (“funky, weird-as-hell, intense, catchy,” we called it, all the way back in August 2018) but for the better part of five years now, Squid have worked to carve out a satisfyingly bizarre-but-delightful niche, contrasting serious muso moments with a more light-hearted, irreverent approach. On next month’s ‘O Monolith’ they push themselves even further, and we are incredibly excited to welcome them to the cover this month to learn more about this next chapter.

We also meet James Acaster’s Party Gator via diving into his new musical project Temps, Miya Folick talks us through the resilience and strength that flows through new album ‘ROACH’, and we welcome back longtime DIY faves Peace, who - about to play their first shows in four years - are as mindboggling and brilliant as we could’ve hoped…

Sarah Jamieson, Managing Editor

Listening Post

BULLY - LUCKY FOR YOU

Alicia Bognanno’s fourth sees her turn it up to eleven, with those well-worn layers of angst-fuelled noise joined by a steelier side: she’s more to-the-point than ever, and the record’s packed with guitar-heavy bangers.

DREAM WIFE - SOCIAL LUBRICATION

Surely kindred spirits of the above, Dream Wife’s third is a tad more disco dancefloor than Bully’s basement grunge, but the Wives’ gnarly side is back in full force with earworm choruses ahoy!

S CLUB 7 - BEST: THE GREATEST HITS OF S CLUB 7

Like for most, the passing of Paul Cattermole hit DIY HQ hard: there was something haunting seeing the decadesold image of the group on giant billboards at The O2 just days later. Here’s to the party like no other.

Squid’s crystal ball had very narcissistic tactics.

Contributors: Alex Rigotti, Bella Martin, Ben Tipple, Bridie Cummings, Burak Cingi, Ella Margolin, Ims Taylor, James Balmont, James Hickey, James Smurthwaite, Jamie MacMillan, Joe Goggins, Katie Macbeth, Matt Ganfield, Matthew Pywell, Max Pilley, Mia Smith, Nick Levine, Otis Robinson, Patrick Clarke, Rebecca Kesteven, Rhian Daly, Ross Carley, Tilly Foulkes, Will Richards. For

Five years since their last album, four since their most recent tour and over three since they uttered a peep to the world, Peace are back. Now stripped down to a duo - but with some truly mind-boggling plans up their sleeves - the Birmingham boys are stepping into a wild new dawn. Words: Lisa Wright.

Peace: at

“There are a thousand points of potential failure and we’re discovering each one as rehearsals go on.”

- Harry Koisser

I

away travelling deep into the musical mind forest and back again, excavating every possible idea and pushing it to its nth degree of potential.

t’s a brusque yet sunny spring afternoon when DIY are summoned to a strangely specific street near London’s Clerkenwell to meet with Harry and Sam Koisser for what will be their first interview as Peace this decade. In the time since the world last glimpsed the band, they’ve slimmed down to a duo following the departure of guitarist Doug Castle and drummer Dom Boyce, and re-emerged from what many may have fairly assumed was an indefinite hiatus with a surprise link to an entire new album, encrypted by a password sent to dedicated superfans.

You would guess, then, that the location of today’s summit might reveal yet more secrets: a crucial recording location, or a key to where exactly the beloved Birmingham indie stalwarts have been this entire time. But no. “I saw Mike D from the Beastie Boys here once, so this is always where I come in the hope that he’ll pop up again,” grins Harry, picking a pub table on the corner intersection of the street for maximum vantage.

As it transpires over the next hour of what is truly the most bonkers conversation that DIY has encountered since… well, probably the last time Peace were knocking about, this sense of utter commitment to the bit is more telling than any mere geographical location could possibly be. Peace 2.0 are a duo who have spent their time

Peace: at last

“I think we just adopted a bizarre philosophy coming out of the last record [2018’s ‘Kindness Is The New Rock and Roll’] that we’ll just pursue every avenue fully. If we do a studio session and spend a load of money and we don’t like it, we’ll bin it. Don’t compromise on anything,” says Harry. “You do so much that’s just fiscal, so what happens if you just… don’t. And you just deal with the outcome of that. The point we’re at in our career, you either go all-in or go and do something else. So I thought, if I just fuck off everything except for music then what will happen? And here we are!”

company. Embedded near the building, meanwhile, was a stone circle that would regularly play host to various mystical goings on. “On the first full moon of the year, I walked past the stone circle and there were three rams standing on the middle stone. I’ve seen some deeply satanic shit on that circle,” Harry says, shaking his head. “The more time we spent there, the more I started hearing these medieval sounds, and then we started tuning all the guitars into this medieval folk tuning. We had to put it into the record because it was just seeping into the environment.”

Perhaps! But we can’t.”Harry Koisser

The first decision made in the pursuit of total creative freedom was to ditch the noise of the big city and take root in the Somerset countryside. For the past few years Harry has been living in the rectory of an old church, deep in the wilds of Exmoor National Park, with Sam coming to stay for extended weeks and months. “I rented it directly from the Diocese of Bath and Wells,” the vocalist informs us. “I haven’t seen anyone in as long as I’ve been there. I don’t think I KNOW anyone, anymore…”

The pair describe the landscape of their new locale as “just hills and trees and streams”, with only a group of neighbourhood farmers to keep them

Ah yes, the record. Titled ‘Utopia’ and currently only available to stream via peaceforeverever.co.uk - a move, they explain, that is costing them in bandwidth what they would have earnt from regular streaming (“The more people listen, the more we pay,” deadpans Sam) - Peace’s fourth is indeed a more organic, spiritualsounding thing. Across its eight tracks, the sound of running water and twittering birds link dawn chorus-like introductions and moments that feel like that hazy netherworld time between night and morning at Glastonbury. The more you listen, however, the more that ‘Utopia’ still sounds like Peace by any other name - actual proper songs with the sense of melody and fun still intact. As Harry points out: “The whole medieval, feudal vibes, you’ve got to make sure there’s significant techno elements to counterbalance it…”

To get to this balance, the two brothers recount a series of experiments that

“If we could have thought of a better name than Peace, would we have done another band?

teeter constantly between the sublime and the ridiculous. Harry spent three months learning how to play the theremin before abandoning it almost entirely; Sam was gifted an “old-ass flute” for his birthday which he was then instructed to master (“A birthday present with an ulterior motive…” he notes); for a while, they explain, they “got deeply into drones”. “We started making these things that we called mouth drones where you just loop noises from your mouth and speed it up and slow it down,” Harry explains excitedly, as they recreate the sound like a pair of human didgeridoos.

Determined to do everything entirely by themselves and in the most authentic way possible, Harry and Sam mixed the album on two old desks from the ‘90s that were so broken “you had to beat them with your fists to get the reverb to work,” Sam recalls. And when it came to working out what to do with only half their original number left in the gang, they had some other ideas…

fter nearly a decade in the band and all knocking on the door of their thirties, Doug and Dom’s departure in mid2020 was an entirely amicable one. “When you go into another era of the band, it’s like going on an Arctic expedition; you’re there for five years and you hope to come back with all your crew intact without losing any men to the frost,” theorises Harry. “And then if you get a bit of time off then it’s like, ‘OK we’re going back out to explore - are you coming with?’ And [them leaving] was more a case of them going, ‘You know what? Being out in the blizzard and spending another decade of our lives in the tent together, losing toes… maybe not…’

Best friends from the beginning and with no dramatic bust-up to walk away from, the question then became how to work around the situation when “it felt wrong to just replace them.” “If we could have thought of a better name than Peace, would we have done another band? Perhaps! But we can’t,” Harry says. “So then we were like, ‘OK, well, what are we gonna do now?’ So we built a machine to replace them.”

Sorry… what?

“It’s a machine that uses a speaker cone, but it’s against the skin of a drum and you can fire bursts of sound into the drum and sequence those. So you essentially have a drum kit that can be programmed to play itself,” he explains. “We’ve developed all these buttons and triggers so we can command the machine and tell it what to do as we’re going, so there’s still a level of improvisation we can do. We experimented a lot and thought, is this ridiculous? But it sounds really good! It’s the furthest you can be from a backing track. There are a thousand points of potential failure and we’re discovering each one as rehearsals go on.”

Those rehearsals are currently underway for a pair of comeback shows in London and Birmingham at the end of this month, which will see Peace debut their new configuration and wares for the first time. Tickets for the 800-capacity shows sold out in seconds - an immediately warm and excited reception to their return that the Koisser brothers still seem slightly shocked by. “I’ve realised [the love] in the last few days and it’s actually been really moving,” the singer smiles. “We thought the website had

crashed because people were saying they couldn’t get tickets within a minute, and the ticket sellers were like, ‘No you’ve just sold all the tickets…’”

Beyond that, there’s a smattering of summer shows and an autumn tour in the works, and - crucially - a full roll-out for ‘Utopia’ that looks set to be like little else. There are plans for different versions of the album, reworked to best suit the format they’re being released on; a stripped back, eighttrack version for vinyl and then a full-blown, widescreen take for streaming. A few days after we speak, Harry emails DIY to update us on a deal the band are in the process of striking, to buy up all the remaining 1st generation iPod Shuffles and release the record via the once-ubiquitous white USB stick. “We’ve been in touch with CEX,” he tells us. “It’s a lot more expensive than we thought…”

In most ways, the entire project is the exact opposite of what any financial or industry advisor would ever suggest a band do in 2023. But that’s also precisely why Peace - now, as ever - are a breath of oh-so-welcome fresh air; a band who’ll always pick the path that yields the most technicolour results.

“In realistic terms, it is commercial suicide,” Harry laughs, with a comedy shrug. “But I figure, we’ve got to be pure to the things that we want to do and the outcome will at least be interesting. We’ve just got to do it because it’s… fun?” DIY

’Gram on the

These days, even yer gran is posting selfies on Instagram. Instagran, more like. Everyone has it now, including all our fave bands. Here’s a brief catchup on music’s finest phototaking action as of late.

Who knew Lizzo’s latest collaborator would be from a galaxy far, far away... @lizzobeeating

Vic knew Vienna was famous for its cakes, but this wasn’t quite what she expected when performing there @maneskinofficial

The newest member of Yard Act looks like a barrel of laughs. @yardactband

A“If we could have thought of a better name than Peace, would we have done another band? Perhaps! But we can’t.”

- Harry Koisser

Gearing up for a mammoth festival season including her long-overdue debut Glastonbury performance, Rina Sawayama is riding the crest of smash second album ‘Hold The Girl’ into her most dominant era yet.

Words: Nick Levine.

Queen Camp

OF THE

Photo: Burak Cingi.

– I’m there to work. I mean, I hope my tour manager has sorted me something other than a tent…" Rina Sawayama is talking, with flawless comic timing, about making her Glastonbury debut in two months’ time: another milestone moment for an artist whose career trajectory has been climbing skywards for well over half a decade now. Last September, her stellar, genreblending second album ‘Hold the Girl’ entered the UK Album Chart at Number Three, cementing her status as a Main Pop Girl with a unique musical vision. Lead single ‘This Hell’ saw her taking on anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment with a Shaniastyle country strut ("Let’s go girls!" Rina says with a wink at the start); ‘Catch Me in the Air’, a rocky tour-de-force about Rina’s "intense" relationship with her mother, was designed with The Corrs pitching to Gwen Stefani in mind.

As well as touring the album and talking about it a lot – Rina reckons she’s given "over a hundred interviews" during this era – the 32-year-old has somehow found time to promote her first film, John Wick: Chapter 4, which came out in March. She earned rave reviews for her performance in the bloody blockbuster as Akira, a formidable fighter who really holds her own next to Keanu Reeves’ ruthless assassin. "That [press cycle] felt easy because there was no pressure for me to really sell it," Rina says today. "John Wick has its fans, and it’s a great movie, so it came out and instantly went to Number One all over the world."

This brief pause is only possible because, contrary to rumours that gathered traction in January, Rina did not end up competing at the Eurovision Song Contest. Until newcomer Mae Muller was unveiled as the UK’s representative, Pop Twitter seemed convinced that Rina was very much in the running. "I mean, it was really interesting because we’d actually – maybe a couple months ago, well, like a while ago – been approached, but then we returned the call and then nothing happened," she says. "Basically, we didn’t get anything back. So in another universe, I might have been doing it but I didn’t actually hear [back]." Wait, that’s ridiculous! "Yeah, it was all go and then it kind of went quiet," she says. "But it actually worked out well because I really needed a break; I hadn’t really taken a proper break for three years. Honestly, it’s really good that that happened because I probably would have burnt out or something."

It’s easy to see why many fans wanted #RinaForEurovision – she’s a bold pop star with a big voice who can really put on a show. "I grew up watching Eurovision, I love Eurovision, I like to call it ‘straight camp’ because it’s so camp but it’s for straight people," she says. "So yeah, I feel very lucky and honoured that people were putting my name [out there]. I kind of played into it a little bit because I thought it was funny that this rumour kept getting bigger. But all the best to Mae: I’ll be tuning in and supporting."

With those Eurovision rumours cleared up, we dig a little further into Rina’s ‘straight camp’ concept. What else would she define in this way? "Oh, John Wick is very straight camp," she replies. "The whole series is inspired by Greek mythology and very melodramatic – I love it. There’s a lot of great things that are straight camp." Later, we suggest that Strictly Come Dancing - the BBC primetime show on which she performed ‘This Hell’ wearing a sparkly silver cowboy hat – also falls into this category. "Oh my God, Strictly is straight camp – 100 per cent!" she says. "I love that phrase, I’m using it all the time…"

Find the full festival guide at diymag. com/festivalguide23.

Still, Rina has been so busy that when DIY catches up with her in early April, she calculates that she’s spent just six nights in her own bed this year. Speaking from her South London home, she’s enjoying some much-needed calm before the storm of festival season. "It’s been so nice just clearing out my back garden and not engaging at all with anything," she says. She may be doing an interview on a supposed day off, but Rina is warm, witty and willing to talk about anything. She even continues our chat for a little longer than specified while making her way to an appointment. "I’m walking now so don’t worry if I sound out of breath!" she says with a laugh.

’Hold The Girl’ is out now via Dirty Hit. DIY

“Oh, I will not be tenting, babes

“We returned the call to Eurovision and then we didn't get anything back.”

”I think there’s something very primordial about moving and shaking it out on the dance floor.”

Words: Nick Levine.

While promoting her excellent new solo album ‘The Love Invention’, Alison Goldfrapp keeps getting called “iconic”, “pioneering” and “visionary.” They’re all terms that reflect the unique and highly influential music she has made as one half of Goldfrapp, the band she formed with composer Will Gregory nearly 25 years ago. In 2021, Adele revealed that she had “got very into” the shape-shifting synth-pop duo again during lockdown, but soon realised she could never “pull off what Alison is the absolute queen of.”

“Queen” - there’s another weighty word that’s often applied to Goldfrapp the person, who is sat today in her managers’ cosy, candle-scented office in North London. Does it feel weird having these slightly intangible compliments attached to you all the time? “Yeah, especially when I would seriously like some more record sales,” she replies dryly. We laugh because she’s being a bit facetious. “But I’m iconic, really?” Alison continues. “No, of course it’s lovely to be told that sort of thing - I’m not going to knock it. Wow. But you know, I’m still quite... I’m a very modest person, so when somebody says things like that, I get a bit blushed.”

‘The Love Invention’, Alison’s first solo album following seven with the duo that takes her name, adds a dazzling new chapter to her already dynamite discography. Co-produced with pop alchemist Richard X (Sugababes, Rachel Stevens) and alt-leaning electronic musician James Greenwood aka Ghost Culture, it’s a house and disco-influenced dance record that’s both heady and elegant. “I always want music to feel like it’s transported you to somewhere else,” she says, “but in this case, I also want it to make you move.”

She achieves both of these things on ‘NeverStop’, the album’s stunning second single, which she says is about “committing to connect with each other, nature and our surroundings”. Alison, who grew up in rural Hampshire, has always been fascinated by the beauty and darkness of the English countryside; this contradiction particularly informed 2008’s ‘Seventh Tree’, the folkiest album she made with Gregory. “You’re feeling mono but the waves are wild,” she sings on ‘NeverStop’. “It’s weird weather when you wanted mild - is a blue sky evergreen?”

Other tracks on the new record are lustier. “We’re caught in a wild affair / This is killin’ me ever so slowly,” she sighs on the pulsing ‘Fever’. Meanwhile, the acid house-inspired ‘So Hard So Hot’ seems to acknowledge that club culture is fundamentally about surrendering to the moment: “We should be here and now and love what we got,” she sings on the first verse. “I think there’s something very primordial about moving and shaking it out on the dance floor,” Alison says today. “It can take you away from the cerebral and release you. It can be really

sexy and really physical; it can just be so many things.”

Interestingly, Alison initially conceived ‘The Love Invention’ as an EP because “the thought of doing an album just felt a bit overwhelming”. However, when she presented five finished tracks to her label in April 2022, they were so impressed that they asked for a full record. “I was thinking they’d want it [completed] by the following year, but they said, ‘No, we’d like it by August,’” Goldfrapp recalls. “And I thought, ‘Oh my god, I’ve never written anything that fast’. But I knew James and Richard were really committed to the project, so I was like, ‘Yeah, OK, we can do it.’”

Did she hit the tight deadline? “Yeah, I mean, I freaked out,” she replies with a laugh. “But actually, it was kind of good for me because I do ponder and daydream a lot. Maybe too much sometimes. So even though I did get really stressed at times, it was really great in the end.” Plus, as her confidence grew, Alison says she realised that making her first solo album “was really no big deal, actually”.

Still, it’s impossible to blame her for feeling apprehensive about stepping out on her own after spending two decades collaborating so closely. Goldfrapp’s swooningly cinematic 2000 debut ‘Felt Mountain’ became a Mercury Prizeshortlisted sleeper hit, but the pair of electrostomping albums that followed - 2003’s ‘Black Cherry’ and 2005’s ‘Supernature’ - turned its figurehead into a pop star, albeit a leftfield and enigmatic one. The duo’s disco-glam hits from this era, ‘Strict Machine’ and ‘Ooh La La’, remain their most streamed songs.

They then made surprise segues into folktronica on 2008’s ‘Seventh Tree’ and bouncy ‘80s synth-pop on 2010’s ‘Head First’, before pinging between the more organic and electronic corners of their sound on their two most recent LPs, 2013’s ‘Tales of Us’ and 2017’s ‘Silver Eye’. Will never joined Alison on tour and has recently been busy scoring TV series including the Disney+ superhero show Extraordinary. Today, Alison speaks cautiously about the prospect of working with him again. “‘Never say never’ always applies,” she says, “but we’re now firmly focusing on our own creative journeys and have no current plans to create new music or perform as Goldfrapp.”

As our time comes to an end, DIY lightens the mood by asking if this pioneering pop visionary ever says yes to selfie requests from fans. “Generally yes, absolutely,” Alison replies. “Unless I feel I’ve been completely caught unawares with no makeup on and look like crap. In which case, I won’t.” Which, you have to admit, is quite an iconic response.

‘The Love Invention’ is out 12th May via Skint. DIY

AFTER MORE THAN TWO DECADES FRONTING THE BAND THAT TAKES HER NAME, ALISON GOLDFRAPP IS FINALLY RELEASING HER DEBUT SOLO ALBUM. THE VISIONARY VOCALIST LETS US INTO THE BOLD NEW WORLD OF ‘THE LOVE INVENTION’...

GRIAN CHATTEN THE SCORE

Not content with releasing three superlative albums in only just over three years at the helm of Fontaines DC, Grian Chatten’s prolific pen has been secretly scribbling away behind closed doors in pursuit of a debut solo project. Like with most side hustles of merit, ‘The Score’ takes fingerprints of the musician’s previous work - an innate understanding of old folk traditions; a poetic, lyrical touch at all turns - and puts them into new patterns that wouldn’t necessarily work for the band. Here, that translates to skittish, electronic, almost Radiohead-y beats set against Grian’s vocals, dialled down to their most hushed and cerebral. FDC are, we’re assured, all well and good; as a vehicle to showcase the vocalist’s more stripped-back side, ‘The Score’ hints at being a worthy addition to his canon. (Lisa Wright)

HAVE YOU HEARD?

MUNA One That Got Away

MUNA’s journey began with a DIY pop sound that could devastate the toughest of hearts, eventually hardening into assertive synthpop that took said devastation and manipulated it into boundless catharsis. Newest track ‘One That Got Away’ - the first new music since 2022’s self-titled third record, and performed for the first time at Coachella - is quintessential MUNA, and amalgamates their history. An illegitimate child of ‘About U’, ‘Saves the World’ and that third album, ‘One That Got Away’ encourages post-break-up confidence through the tried-and-tested MUNA soundscape and throwback Janet Jackson pop. In fitting anywhere within their discography, ‘One That Got Away’ solidifies MUNA as event music: highly anticipated, undeniably on brand and always absolutely massive. (Otis Robinson)

LAVA LA RUE Renegade

Make no bones about it, the chorus of ‘Renegade’ has every chance of being a Big Pop Moment this summer. With a similar chilled-out bounce to Glass Animals’ worldwide smash ‘Heat Waves’ - i.e. it might take a few listens, but once it’s lodged in that internal jukebox, there’s no letting go - Lava’s latest takes that smooth, blissed-out vibe and injects a smidgen of the everyday (quite literally: “Do you wanna go out? Do you wanna play? / We could do the same shit we did yesterday” goes its refrain) and has a wild guitar solo to boot.

(Bella Martin)

BETHANY COSENTINO It’s Fine

The first taste of her forthcoming solo debut, ‘It’s Fine’ arguably sees Bethany Cosentino at her most rich and satisfying so far. A distinct sonic departure from her work with Best Coast, her first solo track is a lilting yet breezy pop offering that’s sprinkled with a dash of country warmth; it’s little surprise to hear that Sheryl Crow is one of her big influences. The storytelling spirit of country is reflected in her lyrics, too; a more vivid tale of trying to move on from the past (“Imagine if I handled this shit like I used to / Imagine if everyone knew the truth the way that I do”), ‘It’s Fine’ feels like an apt introduction to her newest chapter.

(Sarah

Jamieson)

KILLER MIKE Don’t Let The Devil

We’ve got to know Killer Mike quite well in the decade that he and El-P have come to dominate speakers and stages worldwide as Run The Jewels, thanks to not only his on-stage persona, but off stage too, whether it’s as TV talk show host, political activist or even barbershop owner. Forthcoming solo album ‘Michael’ is, according to the rapper himself, the Logan to RTJ’s X-Men. Which would explain El-P’s cameo. But where their collective output fires fast, ‘Don’t Let The Devil’ centres on a suitably choral hook and looped beat that’s almost soothing, the Sunday to the “Sunday service” its lyrics reference.

(Bella Martin)

JUNE

STROMAE • STORMZY

SAM FENDER • THE 1975 • NATHANIEL RATELIFF

ZWANGERE GUY • COMPACT DISK DUMMIES

IGGY POP • CHARLOTTE DE WITTE • WARHAUS •

KING PRINCESS • ANNA CALVI • WEYES BLOOD

RÖYKSOPP • AURORA • RAYE • ASHNIKKO • GAYLE •

HOLLY HUMBERSTONE

PICTURE THIS • THE SNUTS • THE REYTONS • LIL LOTUS •

BODY TYPE • THE MARY WALLOPERS

NAS X • THE LUMINEERS • DERMOT KENNEDY •

INHALER • THE DRIVER ERA

ROSALÍA • CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS • PUSCIFER •

GABRIELS • AMENRA • THE TESKEY BROTHERS

R F S DU SOL • JACOB COLLIER • J.I.D • PORTLAND •

MEROL • PIP MILLETT

LOVEJOY • BILLY NOMATES • BABY QUEEN • NOVA TWINS •

DESTROY BOYS • ETHAN BORTNICK

It’s Friday night at Reading Festival 2008, and my mate and I are on our way to the Main Stage for a riotous double bill: Queens of the Stone Age followed by Rage Against the Machine. We push to the front, and it’s rammed. Josh Homme and co have ripped into ‘Go With The Flow’, and by the end of the song, I’ve lost both my £5 Brick Lane plimsolls and my mate, who’s been consumed by the crowd. But I’m having a blast. I mosh my way through both sets, waking up with bruised feet and a sore head the next day –knowing I’ve had one of the best gig experiences of my life.

This was the moment that confirmed to me that you do not need to be surrounded by mates to have a great time at a rock show - or any kind of concert, for that matter. And in 2023, it grieves me to no end when I see people on Twitter giving up tickets (or not buying them at all) because they feel they have no one to go with other than the hundreds and thousands of punters already attending. Put simply: there’s absolutely nothing wrong with having fun on your own. In fact, during these dark and dystopian times, I think we deserve to treat ourselves as much as we can.

I go to all kinds of gigs by myself, and there are all kinds of reasons why I do it. In this current economic climate, for one, my pals don’t always have disposable income to spend on things like concert tickets. At other times, my music taste can prove a bit too weird for some friends. And sometimes I might just feel spontaneous - no point trying to get a group together when the show starts in an hour.

I’ve never felt like I lost out by not having a wingman or wingwoman to nod along in the crowd with (though I do appreciate that the situation is different for women; I can’t speak for the female experience). For me, it’s just different when I’m by myself. I can have a drink if I want because I’m a grown up. Sometimes I’ll bump into someone that I know; sometimes I’ll just keep to myself, let my hair down, and get lost in the moment. Gig experiences are so fleeting; why would I let myself down by choosing to miss out? Bands don’t tour your favourite songs forever - in fact, many don’t last more than a few years. Some artists implode at the height of their prominence, while others, tragically, pass away. I saw Gil Scott-Heron on my own at Bestival in 2010 and he died six months later.

It’s not just the risk of missing out (ROMO?) that’s important. In the post-pandemic era, with so many people still working from home or otherwise feeling estranged, it’s important to step out and have positive engagements with the world. Doing things on your own is empowering. It’s liberating. It breeds confidence. Flying solo at a mood-altering show is as important to my wellbeing now (say, at Caroline Polachek’s Hammersmith Apollo gig earlier this year) as they were when I went to see Tame Impala by myself at the Ruby Lounge, Manchester in 2010.

Glastonbury 2023 beckons, and I know the group I’m going with won’t agree on everything on the line-up. But I do know who I want to see (Thundercat, Weyes Blood, Christine and the Queens…) and, frankly, I don’t care who comes with me. DIY

“Going to gigs on your own is empowering. It’s liberating. It breeds confidence.”

On The Record is a chance for DIY’s esteemed writers to wax lyrical about the subjects close to their hearts and populating your timelines. This month, James Balmont on the joys of watching music solo. Illustration: Felipe Soares.

11th - 13th May, Various venues, Brighton

Brighton’s bumper bonanza of buzz bands (that is partially beach-based, for those who appreciate taking alliteration a bit too far) returns this month for another week of frivolity. For those heading down to the South Coast it’ll be chaos - everyone else, expect social media feeds stuffed with images of infinite queues, shaky phone footage of live bands, and proclamations of ‘your new favourite band’. Those competing for that final accolade include The Last Dinner Party (those queues we mentioned…), cumgirl8, Mandy, Indiana, SPIDER, Nell Mescal and Prima Queen.

FESTIVALS FESTIVALS FESTIVALS The Great Escape

They’ve also made space for a few more familiar names to return, including Arlo Parks, Dream Wife, Sorry, Lime Garden and King Nun.

Benefits fit into both camps: frontman Kingsley Hall will be a familiar face to long-term DIY readers from previous projects, while the Teeside noiseniks have just released debut album, ‘Nails’.

Q&A BENEFITS

Hello Benefits! How does it feel to have debut album ‘NAILS’ out in the world?

It feels absolutely incredible to have our album out for people to hear! Not going to lie, we’re feeling genuinely life-affirming emotions. It’s been a difficult journey to get these songs from notepads and microphones in bedrooms and kitchens to being on a little vinyl disc for people to hear. It seemed that we hit obstacles at every turn. Let’s be honest, on the surface of it all we’re not the most marketable of propositions. We don’t stick to a single genre - nothing we do can get played on the radio, we combine blast beats with hip hop, scrapped guitars and feelgood choruses for noise, screaming and distortion. People weren’t exactly queueing up to help. We’re not exactly an overnight success.

You’re also in the midst of a hefty tour across the UK; how has it been getting to perform these songs live?

That we’re making connections with people everywhere we go feels

important. Knowing that the fury we feel is shared really helps. We’ve realised that this isn’t just a northern English thing, there is disdain up and down this land, but there’s also hope. People want to help each other, look out for each other, not be fuelled by hate.

You’ve got a handful of festivals to play too; how’re you feeling ahead of those? Are you looking forward to playing The Great Escape? We can’t wait to play The Great Escape. We’re untried as a festival band really so these gigs are exciting for us. We’re used to playing to people who know what we’re about, it’s going to be interesting to see what folk make of us who just happen to wander in due to a bit of hype.

Is there anyone else on the bill at The Great Escape you’ll be hoping to see live?

Far too many! Mandy, Indiana. Big Special. Scrounge. Mickey Callisto. Heartworms.

London Calling

19th

- 20th May, Paradiso, Amsterdam

With roots in celebrating the best British exports - dive deep enough into the event’s archives and you’ll find appearances from Placebo, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand and even Blur (!) - the geographical gaze of Amsterdam’s London Calling may have expanded, but they’re still dead set on showcasing acts worth dodging infinite bicycles for, from Heartworms, cumgirl8, Girl Scout and Blondshell, to Bully, VLURE and Enumclaw, who visit the Dutch capital as part of their current European jaunt.

Q&A ENUMCLAW

Hello Enumclaw! It’s been just over six months since your debut album was released; how did it feel getting it out into the world and sharing it with people?

Ladaniel Gipson, drums: It feels like years since all that happened sometimes. It's been sort of surreal actually, whenever I see people singing along at shows it reminds me that people are really paying attention and carrying it with them.

You’ve also been playing a whole host of live shows recently; what do you think is your favourite thing about playing live and being on the road?

It's the downtime when everyone in the van has a chance to really explore some of the cities we hit, we’ve met so many cool people.

You’re gonna be heading over to the UK and Europe for the first time - what are you most looking forward to about visiting this part of the world? Do you have anything on your bucket list to tick off over here?

Just going over there at all is wild to me, I’ve always wanted to step out to see what it’s like over the pond and now I'm able to do it all because of music. I still have friends and family who've never left home so it’s really humbling to be able to see the world in this context. Plus we’re playing in some pretty historical spots so I'm excited for that. And besides seeing all the major tourist landmarks, I’m really just excited to get a proper Guinness.

You’re playing at London Calling festival in Amsterdam later this month; how’re you looking forward to your visit? And why should people come and check you out?

I hear they have some special cafes that sound pretty fun... And I think people should come out to have fun and see real rock music played by some guys who are passionate about it and expect doom.

And just like that, we’re here again. At the start of festival season, ready to feast our senses on live music weekend after weekend… Before it’s time to grab those oversized backpacks, though, it’s to cities we head first,

whether to the basements of Brighton for The Great Escape, the rolling hills of South London and West Yorkshire for Wide Awake and Live at Leeds in the Park, or the iconic Paradiso in Amsterdam for London Calling.

FESTIVALS FESTIVALS FESTIVALS

Wide Awake

27th May, Brockwell Park, London

The South London alt-everything event returns for a third time with pop queen Caroline Polachek at the helm, topping a bill that features everything from mucky post-punk ( Viagra Boys, Warmduscher) to dancefloor fillers (Daniel Avery, Oneohtrix Point Never) and breezy guitars (Gretel Hänlyn, Blondshell ). Brooklyn quartet Model/Actriz will be in the middle of a trip supporting Gilla Band when they play Brockwell Park, with new album ‘Dogsbody’ in tow.

Live at Leeds in the Park

27th May, Temple Newsam, Leeds

Q&A MODEL/ACTRIZ Q&A CMAT

You released your debut album ‘Dogsbody’ a couple of months ago; how did it feel to get it out into the world?

Ruben: Surreal to have something so familiar and personal transform into something communal. [It’s] hard to put into words but it felt like I couldn’t breathe because I was being hugged so tight.

Cole: It felt like we were sending our child off to college, but in a way that I felt like a proud dad for the child my bandmates and I raised.

How did you want to build upon your previous EPs and singles?

Jack: I think there’s a both natural and premeditated thread that’s existed in the way and style that we’ve written, and I’ve found it interesting to see it unfold and show itself to us from afar now that ‘Dogsbody’ and the previous EPs are a little farther removed from us personally, now that we’re not living inside of the writing anymore. But ‘Dogsbody’ feels to us like a sharpened and more distilled version of the music we were trying to write back in 2016 or whenever. Still excited to see where it goes in the future.

You’ve also just got off a US tour - how were those shows?

Ruben: Really amazing and emotional to feel our energy reciprocated by people we’ve never met. It’s just crazy that people were out there singing along to songs that aren’t the “hits” and were present for the fuck-shit-up moments but also the intimate and soft moments.

You’ve got a whole host of UK and European shows coming up - what are you most looking forward to about the shows over on this side of the Atlantic?

Ruben: I’m excited to play music and meet people outside of our bubble.

You’ve also got a handful of festivals, such as Wide Awake in London; are you looking forward to playing festivals? Is there anyone you want to check out when you’re there?

Jack: Festivals are pretty alien to me so I’m a little nervous and excited to see how they play out for us. [We’re] hyped to see Arooj Aftab!

Hello CMAT! What’ve you been up to recently?

I’ve been making some new videos, I’m getting ready for some shows and I’m actually going to Leeds this evening! I’ve booked myself a little Leeds holiday because I’m going to see one of the last Yard Act shows on this album cycle at the Brudenell. Lolly Adefope is opening for them and I fucking love her, and I’m a big Yard Act fan but I’m an even bigger fan of Leeds. I have this weird infatuation with Leeds; every time I’ve ever played there, it’s been the best gig of the tour. That’s not me being a sycophant; I don’t say this about all the other places.

You’ve also just released new track ‘Whatever’s Inconvenient’. Can you tell us a bit about it?

It’s the first single from my forthcoming album and it’s a song about feeling like an insane person because you keep breaking up with people, being broken up with and you keep changing your mind so drastically about how you feel about people. It’s a song about that feeling of ‘Is there something wrong with me because I keep doing the worst possible things at the worst possible time in relationships?’.

You’re also about to get stuck back into festival season; what was it like to get your teeth stuck into playing festivals last summer?

I love festival season more than doing my own touring because I’m a masochist. You know, we played Primavera and we had a really bad time, and were warned ‘You’re gonna go play a rehearsal show in front of maybe five people…’ So, we were put in a bit of a shit position, but then 1500 people turned up! They were all wearing cowboy hats and waving Irish flags, and that made me feel really special. Then you play other festivals… We played Standon Calling last year and the 30 people there hated me. That’s what I love about festival season; it can be so inspiring and amazing, and the next day, so humbling.

One place where things won’t go awry (we’re sure!) will be Live at Leeds in the Park…

No, because they know how to do gigs in Leeds! Leeds is always a really, really good crowd and the music scene there is always unbelievably rich. I love Leeds!

“The day we write an album that’s expected is the day this band is dead.”

- Valentine Caulfield

Manchester’s darkly ecstatic new dancefloor innovators, invested in the social power of the club. Words: Tilly Foulkes.

Mandy,Indiana

Still sweating from their set at SXSW when they join DIY over Zoom, Manchester’s Mandy, Indiana are bracing themselves to drop one of the most uncompromising, exciting debuts of the year so far. Originally formed of founding members Valentine Caulfield and Scott Fair back in 2017, a decidedly un-Google-friendly first EP titled ‘...’ followed in 2021 before Simon Catling and Alex MacDougall were brought in to elevate their sound with the addition of synths and drums. The result is ‘i’ve seen a way’: an 11-track record that expands on the experimental dance they previously conquered and takes it into bold new realms.

An invigorating mixture of leftfield techno and noise fuzz, Mandy, Indiana make the type of dance music you’d imagine playing if there were any nightclubs in David Lynch’s Eraserhead. Inspired by dystopian sci-fi and everyday soundscapes, on their debut the band were determined to create something unforeseen and wholly original. “The aim was always gonna be to make something that didn't sound like anything else,” Caulfield explains. “We wanted to start a band that very specifically sounded like itself; something different and interesting, that would keep us on our toes. That’s why it took so long to put any music out! We approached it with the idea it would be more experimental than anything we’d done before. The day we write an album that’s expected is the day this band is dead.”

Their persistence in expanding their sonic possibilities led them to some strange places: notably, the Wookey Hole caves and an old crypt. Their goal was that the album would sound like “a collection of moments” and “noise from the world”. “Scott,” who produced the album, Valentine explains, “tried to think of spaces that would influence the way the music sounds, so we recorded some drum parts in the cave. It was very much informed by the songs themselves, it wasn't just like, ‘Let’s record in a cave, that’s a weird idea!’ It was more like, ‘This song is a cave song and this song is a crypt song’.”

The relationship between the feelings that sound can conjure up, and how they can be impacted by environment, space and everyday life is embedded within the album. The recording process didn’t stop in caves and crypts: there’s also bits from shopping malls, and the synths were taped in local nightclub SOUP. These everyday environments are distorted and spoiled, providing a horrified backdrop to Valentine’s restless depictions of beheading kings and sticking their heads on spears (‘2 Stripe’). Equal parts dystopian and hyperreal, it reflects the horrors of late-stage capitalism like a panic attack stuffed into a box - unruly, uneasy and bouncing around its suffocating cage.

The oppressive atmosphere of the album mirrors the band’s views on modern life. Between the UK’s cost of living crisis and the violent protests in France alone, Valentine notes that, “It’s hard not to look at the world and just see everything as lots of tension”. ‘i’ve seen a way’

sits inside this idea and examines the seemingly eternal bleakness of the world, but Valentine is keen to argue it’s not nihilistic.

“It’s a look at everything that’s not working in the world, which I think is a lot. But if there wasn’t any hope at all that we could make a better world for ourselves, then we wouldn’t be doing this. There'd be no point looking at these things and denouncing them if I didn't believe that we could change it,” he says. Simon continues: “I don’t know if it’s about having something as bright as hope upon the other end, but for me there definitely is a kind of resistance and a pushback against the darkness and some of the horror that some of the album’s more caustic elements evoke.”

Tension ricochets between the record’s lyrical gloominess and its industrial sound, but it’s also relieved by the persistent techno elements that pulsate beneath each track, recalling the longestablished history between club culture and communal resistance. “You only have to look at the history of dance music and where it’s come from to see it’s 100% intertwined with being a political and social movement,” Simon explains. “It’s a way of creating its own space [that’s] all about trying to break free from the constraints of everyday life and trying to find something different. Just the hours of club nights in themselves are somewhat of a stated act.”

“It's important to have spaces for people to come together and exorcise their demons in whatever way is available. I think clubbing and dancing is one of the last ways of diverting yourself from all of the issues,” Valentine agrees. “It’s not considered necessary, but I think that’s bullshit. When you try to preserve those spaces you also allow people to have a better quality of life.”

Fundamentally, it’s about community; about creating environments that bring people together instead of dividing them. With their debut, Mandy, Indiana want to positively contribute to this rich lineage and bend it to their own new shape.

“When you’re being put through these horrible conditions, you see a lot of community building. It's not gonna come from the top - it’s gonna come from the bottom,” Valentine affirms. “That’s something our music tries to do, too. It’s very much linked to dancefloor music and community catharsis. Change comes from people coming together, and as much as I like the idea of a revolution, it probably won’t be a big violent uprising, it’ll be more people organising amongst themselves and making their lives, and the lives of their neighbours, a little bit better. At the end of the day, I think that’s the best we can hope for.” DIY

Sir Chloe

With a debut album entitled ‘I Am The Dog’ landing this month, a recent photoshoot that finds her deadpanning the camera whilst wearing a baby goat around her neck like a scarf, and a series of new tracks called things like ‘Leash’, ‘Salivate’ and ‘Obsession’, it’s perhaps surprising to find a very chilled, unassuming presence on the other end of the Zoom when we chat to Sir Chloe’s central figure, Dana Foote. “I am myself on stage but I think it’s a different part of who I am - I’m not bringing that person when I’m having dinner with my friends,” she shrugs amicably.

Formed while studying in Vermont - “We didn’t have a college town; it was just 800 kids in the middle of the wilderness,” the vocalist notes - Sir Chloe’s first output was recorded as part of Dana’s thesis project. Writing a short set of original new music for the assignment, one of those first tracks - ‘Michelle’was later included on Sir Chloe’s 2020 ‘Party Favors’ EP; unlike most people’s homework, however, the track hit gold on the TikTok slipstream and, to date, has racked up nearly 200 million plays on Spotify.

“Once ‘Michelle’ got some attention then everything sped up, but it’s maintained that momentum so we’re all super grateful that we’re able to continue to do this,” Dana notes of the experience and its all-important following years. “There’s so much rubbernecking in this business; it’s so saturated now and it’s fantastic that,

maybe for the first time in history, musicians can curate their own audiences and make a voice for themselves, but it’s a lot of competition.”

‘I Am The Dog’, however, is the point where Sir Chloe elevate themselves even further above that competition. Nodding to the razor-sharp guitar skills of artists like St Vincent or Mitski, Sir Chloe’s wares are riffy but in distinctly unobvious ways - peppered with visceral imagery and a lusty aura. “It’s not very much about sex but I think it does come off that way!” Dana laughs. “A lot of this album is just about finding control in the chaos of the natural world and I think a lot of the lyrics just ended up being pretty pervy… My favourite film is Barbarella and I was watching that a lot. That’s a pretty pervy movie…”

The insatiable ‘00s indie soar of recent single ‘Hooves’, or ‘Salivate’, with its Pixies-like howl, might not be pervy on purpose but, says Dana, she did try some other tricks throughout the album. “I was originally trying to put the word ‘dog’ in every song, which I was not successful doing,” she notes. “But a lot of what is written is with playing live in mind; being fun to play on stage.”

This summer, the band will have some pretty big stages to fill too when they open up for Beck and Phoenix’s mammoth US roadshow (also featuring Weyes Blood, Japanese Breakfast and Jenny Lewis). Buoyed by the “permission to experiment and get weird and creative” that each new phase of the band is bringing, Dana might be leaving the goat at home but Sir Chloe clearly don’t need any tricks to win out. DIY

“I think a lot of the lyrics just ended up being pretty pervy…”

- Dana Foote

Full of insatiable, idiosyncratic riffs, debut LP ‘I Am The Dog’ is the sound of Dana Foote putting her best one forward. Words: Lisa Wright. Photo: Grant Spanier

LEITH ROSS

TENDER, INTROSPECTIVE INDIE-FOLK ABOUT QUEER YOUNG LOVE.

With just twelve words, Leith Ross managed to entrance the world into their breathtakingly intimate world: “You kissed me, just to kiss me - not to take me home”. The Canadian singer-songwriter has found themselves a part of the new TikTok vanguard of indie-folk artists such as Katie Gregson-MacLeod and quinnie. Now, Ross is steadily evolving their sound by accompanying their yearning lyricism with indie-rock crunches, their reedy voice shining like ripples on a moonlit lake.

LISTEN: Recently released ‘Music Box’ is wonderfully mystical and folkloric.

SIMILAR TO: If Phoebe Bridgers and Billie Eilish had a baby.

HEMLOCKE SPRINGS

NORTH CAROLINA CUT-AND-PASTE POP SUPERSTAR.

Bedroom pop is a term usually used to describe confessional singer-songwriters using minimal production and softening their vocals to barely beyond a whisper lest their co-habitants hear their innermost thoughts before they’re committed to tape. But for every neatly-written journal in pastel hues there’s a hot mess of a finsta where intrusive thoughts battle it out to stay hidden, and it’s from there Hemlocke Springs’ vivid pop storytelling seems to come. With a knack for a hook and an ear for ‘80s art-pop eccentricity, the internet’s already on board: next stop, the world.

LISTEN: The joyously immediate ‘girlfriend’ is the star of the show thus far.

SIMILAR TO: If Charli XCX and Sparks teamed up to soundtrack a coming-of-age teen flick.

MILITARIE GUN

THE LA QUINTET PACKING POP NOUS INTO HARDCORE PUNK. Born in the darkness of 2020 as a cathartic release for the band’s leader Ian Shelton, LA’s Militarie Gun may not have been born via the classic hardcore guise of live sets in dingy basements, but it’s this switch-up in formula - meticulously crafting their songs way before stepping on stage - that really makes them stand out. Blending together influences ranging from the likes of Fugazi to Green Day, Modest Mouse to The Jesus Lizard, they’re taking an eclectic, genre-spanning approach to punk for the present day, and it’s paying off.

Listen: Ahead of the release of LP ‘Life Under The Gun’ next month, get a taste via EP ‘All Roads Lead To The Gun’.

Similar to: The catchy melodies of ‘90s pop-punk mixed up with the aggression of hardcore.

RecNEUommended �

FEEBLE LITTLE HORSE

RISING PITTSBURGH QUARTET, PULLING FROM ACROSS THE ALT-GUITAR SPECTRUM.

Pay no mind to Pittsburgh four-piece feeble little horse’s chosen moniker: far from spindly sonic weaklings, new album ‘Girl With Fish’ is a trip through grunge, shoegaze, glitchy oddness and more. What unites their wares, however, is a sense of lo-fi scrappiness that keeps the whole thing warm and fuzzy - whether they’re cranking the speakers up to 11 or a little more neighbourfriendly.

LISTEN: ‘Girl With Fish’ is released 9th June via Saddle Creek.

SIMILAR TO: The softer yin to fellow equine-lovers Horsegirl’s yang.

LANA LUBANY

PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN SINGER BRINGING ARABIC POP TO THE MAINSTREAM.

Over the past decade, the Western pop world has had a long-overdue shake up in terms of its linguistic inclusivity, and Lana Lubany feels like the next big star to open up their creative culture to the wider world. Throughout her recent ‘THE HOLY LAND’ project, the singer’s bilingual English-Arabic pop has seen Lubany offering up shimmering gems that bring in Middle Eastern sounds to a Billie Eilish-like sense of pop intimacy. Turns out there’s more than one Lana in town these days.

LISTEN: Recent single ‘ON MY WAY’ is the final track taken from ‘THE HOLY LAND’.

SIMILAR TO: Rosalía’s colossal impact on the global clout of flamenco, but for Arabic music.

Digging deep and emerging with a debut EP that refuses to conform to any boxes, the Californian’s ambitions are as wide as the scope of their ideas.

Words: Ims Taylor.

Most musicians write about their feelings in some way. Whether exploring their struggles as a way to heal or sketching out scenes from their everyday world, life creeps in somehow. Very few musicians, however, are as frank about the way they write as California’s King Isis. Their debut EP ‘scales’ touches on relationships, humanity, disassociation, self, and much beyond; their lyricism, meanwhile, consists of self-described ‘shadow work’, a practice of delving into the hidden parts of oneself and attempting to process them.

Isis’ sound - currently occupying the sweet spot between grunge, pop, and rock - certainly lends itself to these darker emotional corners, and that’s something they’re hoping to push even further going forward. “I feel like it’s more palatable for songs to have a bright-sounding instrumental, and then dark lyrics. But that’s not the intention of how I write, to be accessible,” they explain. “In my head it all goes together, but an outside perspective might be like, ‘What the fuck is

going on?’”

KingIsis

Born from their internal explorations, ‘scales’ offers an immersive window into King Isis’ first steps. “Introspection ties it all together,” they explain, “but I wanted to showcase everything - a couple more acoustic tracks, some alternative, poppy, then R&B. It’s a good introduction to all the different sounds, and I feel like people are hearing ME.” But really, Isis’ debut is just the overture for what’s to come, and already they’re raring to move forwards. “The next project is already called ‘shed’,” they say. “I’ve gotten better at guitar, I’ve gotten better at writing, my chord choices… I’ve grown as a musician. So the next project is definitely more representative of where I am now.”

The way Isis speaks about their music is saturated with ambition. The drive to keep moving, and perhaps the discipline to keep growing, comes from their classical training and the resulting desire to break free from any structures that might confine them. “I started playing piano when I was really young, but the programme I was in was very strict and very rigid. So I stopped, I started playing guitar, and now I feel like I’m doing the opposite in my music – not being stuck in anything,” the explain. Though their ambitions are wide-ranging, Isis comes at everything with intention, be it to transform, hone in, or to discover themselves. As they summarise: “I write music to go through things.” DIY

"Being accessible is not the intention of how I write.”

Buzz Feed

TO EUROVISION, AND BEYOND

Ahead of her upcoming appearance at this month’s Eurovision Song Contest, Mae Muller has announced a new UK and Ireland tour for November 2023. Mae’s ‘I Wrote a Song’ recently became the first UK Eurovision entry to debut inside the Top 40 in the Singles Chart in its first week since 2011.

She’ll be heading out on the road this November for six shows. She’ll be making stops at Glasgow’s SWG3 (20th November), Manchester’s O2 Ritz (21st), London’s Roundhouse (23rd), Birmingham’s O2 Institute (24th), Leeds’ Beckett Student’s Union (25th) and Dublin’s Academy (27th). Tickets are on sale now.

‘I Wrote a Song’ is Mae’s first new music of 2023 and will be performed live at Eurovision in Liverpool this month.

SPARE RIBS

Rachel Chinouriri has shared a new single. ‘Ribs’ is the song is the follow-up to viral smash ‘Maybe I’m Lonely’ and was inspired by the combined experience of the alt-pop singer suffering a chest infection as she dealt with a crush on someone and finding commonality between the two.

She said: “I wrote ‘Ribs’ when I had a chest infection and a crush on someone and it was annoying me. So I combined my two annoyances and described my liking of someone as a chest infection that was hurting my ribs because I actually had achy ribs. I then went to the pub and had some of the best ribs I’ve eaten from the Staplow Oak Inn and it was quite fun to make. So basically fancying someone is a sickness which you can either cure or it can make you worse - in my case I never recovered.”

Rachel is also set to play at a handful of festivals this summer, including Y Not (28th - 30th July), where DIY is a media partner. Watch the video for ‘Ribs’ over at diymag.com.

LIFE IN THE TRENCHES

Chicago trio Lifeguard have shared details of a new double-EP release. Titled ‘Crowd Can Talk / Dressed in Trenches’, the project will be out on 7th July. The Chicago-based trio originally released ‘Crowd Can Talk’ in the summer of 2022 on the Chicago label Born Yesterday. ‘Dressed in Trenches’, meanwhile, will feature five new, previously unreleased songs.

Speaking about the inspiration for the two EPs, vocalist / guitarist Kai Slater has said: “More than old records – before that, before anything – we’re influenced by live shows and people around us.”

Drummer Isaac Lowenstein adds: “The inspiration comes from playing shows with people and having that mind-blown moment of seeing some friend play at Schubas or Book Club. It’s happening on these tiny little scales of seeing kids play live and [knowing] this is something new and interesting.”

Check out their new track ‘17-18 Lovesong’ on diymag.com now.

THE PLAYLIST

This month’s edition of our Neu playlist is brought to you as part of our paid media partnership with Spotify’s Our Generation playlist. Here, we’re highlighting a few of our Neu favourites from the current Our Generation playlist.

WALLICE - BEST FRIEND

Part heart-tugging, sepia-tinged sentimentality, part cathartic power chord pay-off, ‘Best Friend’ - the first track from forthcoming EP ‘Mr Big Shot’ - shows LA superstar-inwaiting Wallice to be a master of both. Perfectly capturing the nostalgia / sadness / fear trifecta of running into an ex-friend, it sets the situation against the sort of twinkling grunge-pop that’s begging for a Dawson’s Creek reboot to soundtrack.

MATILDA MANN - THE DAY THAT I MET YOU

Having spent the last few years building a reputation for creating tender but bold offerings, the most recent track to come from London singer-songwriter Matilda Mann seems to distil that description even further. ‘The Day That I Met You’ is a gorgeous, blurry-at-the-edges track which explores the fragile warmth of finally feeling seen - “And though I’m still battered and bruised / I forgave the world the day that I met you” - and revels in it wholly.

D4VD - SLEEP WELL

d4vd’s releases so far have reached streaming numbers that would make most wince with jealousy, and ‘Sleep Well’ single-handedly shows why. Pairing the kind of emotional ballad that would’ve fit right in on a ‘90s boyband record with jazz instrumentation and a smidgen of vinyl crackle, it sends that nostalgia back a few decades more and adds a vocal delivery that’s every bit as intimate as any fledgling SoundCloud upload. He may still be a teen, but this is like bedroom pop all grown up.

EZRA WILLIAMS - BLEED

Between guitars that are softly strummed yet show an occasional grungy tone, and Ezra Williams’ ability to convey angst in even their most hushed of voices, there’s magic. Like much of the Irish artist’s work, ‘Bleed’ tells a captivating story, specifically one of questioning whether a closeness is reciprocated or not: “You smell like a home / That you love and you know / Wish I knew what I smelled like with you”. Like their tale, it’s sweet on the surface, but never unaware of its darkness.

Want to stream our Neu playlist while you’re reading? Scan the code now and get listening.

All the buzziest new music happenings in one place.

N E U WaterFromYour

YourEyes

The Brooklyn cult duo are finally bringing their weird and warped electronica overground.

Words: Matt Ganfield.

ate Amos and Rachel Brown - the two members of Water From Your Eyes - are in California, having just played their tenth show in as many days. Friendly and engaging as they might be, the duo are visibly tired and the back of Rachel’s head is rested against a wall. “Just to be clear,” the vocalist clarifies, “the label aren’t forcing us to do all of these shows. We have the option to say no. We just don’t ‘cause we’re kinda dumb…”

The label in question is indie juggernaut Matador, who’ll be releasing the New York duo’s new album, ‘Everyone’s Crushed’, at the end of this month. Adding their own jaded chapter to the city’s dance-punk mythology, Water From Your Eyes’ debut for the label is a disorientating collage of endearing slacker pop, jarring electronica and kaleidoscopic world-building, seasoned with humour and anxiety in equal parts.

Water From Your Eyes may be a new name as far as the wider world is concerned, but Rachel and Nate have been releasing music together since 2016, regularly putting out tracks and performing in DIY spaces and venues in Brooklyn. Having already dated and broken up, weathered a period of substance abuse problems, and released several lofty concept records (2017’s ‘Feels A Lot Like’ is written from the viewpoint of a dog whose dad has died), it would appear that the duo have already crossed off many of the squares on the rock band bingo card before barely getting started.

“It does feel weird that people are taking notice now. But I think that it would feel weird regardless of whether we had already made ten albums or zero albums,” Rachel says of their recent recognition. “I don’t think we would’ve been able to do it any earlier, we were really immature.” Nate agrees: “If I was still on the same tip that I was a couple of years ago [in the midst of those substance issues], then I don’t think all of this touring would be on the cards.”

This fresh start may have sparked a gearshift in regards to their touring schedule, but both members are keen to remain present and engaged on stage regardless of how busy their diary looks. While, on record, Nate predominantly handles the compositions while Rachel heads the lyrics and vocal department, they’ve been bolstering their live set with guitar to keep this connection at the forefront. “We didn’t want to be solely an electronic project, where on live shows we essentially just play a backing track from the album while Rachel sings live vocals on top of it,” Nate explains. “Guitars give the show some fluidity and changeability.”

“We’re pretty confident with what we’re doing on the live side now,” Rachel confirms, underlining Water From Your Eyes’ readiness to move from cult circles into something more widely known. “We spent a solid amount of time playing every month in NYC; being in a scene with people who were doing weird things while we were still bad definitely helped.” DIY

"

It would feel weird that people were taking notice, regardless of whether we had made ten albums or zero albums.”

- Rachel Brown

WITH SOLD-OUT TOURS AND A TOP FIVE DEBUT ALBUM, SQUID TRANSCENDED THE POST-PUNK REVIVAL AND SECOND ALBUM ‘O MONOLITH’, THE IRRESISTIBLY

G R A N D D E S

WORDS: WILL RICHARDS. PICTURES: LOUISE MASON.

BECAME A UNIQUE POWERHOUSE. ON RESTLESS QUINTET ARE LOOKING TO THE NATURAL WORLD TO

CONTINUE THEIR EVOLUTION.

I G N S

Photo: Ella Margolin.

“WE JUST START ON A PATH EACH DAY,”

Squid’s

Arthur Leadbetter tells DIY of the band’s creative process, as if beginning a grand and triumphant story plucked from The Lord Of The Rings. “We come into the studio, and sometimes you get into the Squidmobile and it’s going really, really quickly, and you don’t know where it’s gonna go, and it’s really fun. Other times, it’s just chugging along in first gear, and you don’t really go anywhere. That’s the journey.”

To know how the multi-instrumentalist got to this brilliantly barmy story is to understand the delightful duality at the heart of Squid. A few moments earlier, he was singing the praises of the Fairlight, a little-used but hugely influential digital synthesiser and sampler created in 1979, that the band were able to get their hands on when recording their fantastic second album, ‘O Monolith’. Cut a few seconds forward, and we’re onto an analogy that seems more Scooby Doo than Serious Muso Band.

Across our conversation, the fivepiece – who were largely based in Bristol when making this album but are now scattered across the UK –veer without warning from discussing the introduction of complex rhythmic patterns, to their writing process, to how Arthur once lost a friend’s birth certificate while pissed at Boomtown. Though Squid take their work and their music hyper-seriously, nothing is too important to take the piss out of, and this meshing of high and low culture - with no compromise on either end - is what gives them such a unique voice. To prove the point, ‘O Monolith’ contains a song about Edgar Allen Poe. It’s followed immediately by one concerning the wedding of one of the Loose Women. The band evidently take equal delight in both.

The route to Squid’s anticipated second album has been one equally cut to their own mould. After forming in 2016, the then-Brighton band shared a number of slow-burn singles before solidifying their promise with 2018 track ‘The Dial’, shared as part of Speedy Wunderground’s hugely influential singles series. Soon after, ‘Houseplants’ followed, with its esoteric lyrics, yelped vocals and skittish post-punk instrumentals finding a home on the BBC Radio 6 Music playlist and in the more experimental corners of UK festival line-ups.

By the time they released debut album ‘Bright Green Field’ in May 2021, Squid had evolved several times over, shedding old skins as quickly as they could release music. As ‘The Dial’ began reaching a wider audience, it was already being phased out of their live sets, while fans still shout for ‘Houseplants’ at gigs now even though the band retired it three years ago. Even when ‘Bright Green Field’ went Top Five in the UK album charts, it emboldened Squid to evolve once again on its follow-up rather than feel beholden to the style that had given them success.

On ‘O Monolith’, they stretch their sonic remit further and wider, finding new, more expansive soundscapes and swerving away from the post-punk formula that they had become known for. While all the idiosyncrasies of the Squid we know remain, they emerge in more unusual shapes, via instrumentation that’s more intricate and often quieter. First single and album opener ‘Swing (In A Dream)’ is a swirling beast that packs plenty of punch, but doesn’t work towards a crescendo like ‘Bright Green Field’ opener ‘Narrator’, or rely on any formula they’ve already perfected. Instead, it feels deliciously new.

No version of Squid is ever the finished article, and the most exciting idea is always the next one, the band say. “When the oldest songs were written, we all had the mindset of, ‘Oh, this is a fun thing to do in the evenings, play some gigs and hang out’,” drummer and singer Ollie Judge reflects now. “I don’t think any of us thought we’d have to think about those songs in five years’ time, and whether or not we play them live.

“I THINK THIS ALBUM IS A REAL LOOK AT ENVIRONMENT, FROM THE CLIMATE TO YOUR IMMEDIATE SURROUNDINGS.” – LOUIS BORLASE

“You just grow out of some things, and I just don’t feel as connected to older songs,” he adds. “It’s like the Radiohead thing with ‘Creep’. I don’t think five middle-aged men really like playing that song anymore, and I can kind of get that now.”

True to this manifesto, Squid are perpetually one step ahead, with the next idea always being cooked up behind the scenes. This future-facing raison d’être was shown best the week ‘Bright Green Field’ was released, when the band began a socially distanced UK tour they dubbed ‘Fieldworks’, featuring workin-progress material from what would become ‘O Monolith’. “There’s no point just waiting for an album to come out and finishing that whole process before starting new things,” guitarist Louis Borlase says in a matter-of-fact tone. “You’ve got to be proactive, and to keep that creative momentum going and get ideas out while they’re still fresh.”

On the ‘Fieldworks’ tour, the band visited 17 towns across the UK, often playing two gigs in an evening, and treated the seated audiences to a peek inside their creative process. Sketches of songs now heard on ‘O Monolith’ were presented in instrumental form and workshopped in unusual and unique venues, often in towns off the beaten track of the toilet circuit. In London, they played two shows at the Silver Building in the Docklands, with the dystopian backdrop of the Greenwich cable car peering behind the makeshift stage. Halfway through, a Deliveroo driver tip-toed between the pub benches that made up the seating area with a family’s McDonald’s order.

Though seemingly opposed to their intricate, uncompromising work ethic and creative process, allowing others to peek into their work helped Squid find a new purpose with LP2. As lockdown started to lift, they headed back to the writing room.

Peter Gabriel’s Real World studio is a gear nerd’s paradise. Nestled in the Wiltshire countryside a few miles from Bath, the cavernous residential building has birthed albums by The 1975 and Björk, and even hosted Beyoncé. Its Big Room feels as shiny, glossy and awe-inspiring as its name would suggest. Squid’s journey with the hallowed hall, however, began on the other side of the property in a freezing shed that doubled as their writing room.

“It’s some sort of World War Two bunker that’s ice cold all year round,” Louis remembers, almost

shivering as he recalls the place that the band have chosen to work for a number of years now. “The room just sounds amazing though, and we feel really creative in that space.” With four of the five members living in Bristol at the time, and guitarist Anton Pearson in nearby Marlborough (“He couldn’t be seen dead in the same city with the other four of us!” multi-instrumentalist Laurie Nankivell laughs), the Real World writing room just down the road became their main hub as ‘O Monolith’ took shape.

Occasionally during writing sessions, Squid would take breaks and peek through the windows of the world-famous studios across the river to see which star was busy at work, making an acquaintance in Tom Jones at one point, as they giddily told DIY earlier this year. Other times, they would wander out into the blissful countryside that surrounds the studio, soaking up the deep and rich history and folklore of the area. Stonehenge isn’t far away, with the lesser-visited but equally historic stones at Avebury even nearer.

Eventually Squid graduated to Real World’s top table, entering the main studio with longtime collaborator Dan Carey, who’d helmed their debut at his comparatively tiny yet legendary studio in Streatham. “He’d just worked on the Foals record at Real World before us, so that was a good practice run for him,” Ollie laughs. “We quite often get Foals to do stuff before us just to check if it’s alright,” guitarist Anton Pearson quips.

Across a fortnight in the studio, the band stretched their creative process to new limits, finding new sonic terrain and working within self-imposed limitations to hone the sound of the record more effectively. “We came up with the approach of really trying to focus on woodwind instruments,” Louis remembers, with

COVER ME

The ‘O Monolith’ album cover and related artwork is a beautiful tapestry of human shapes. The band tell us how it came to be.

Louis: It’s by Oscar Torrans, and is a real tapestry. We haven't actually seen it in person yet, but I think it's a couple of metres by a couple of metres.

Ollie: His brother Rob is an illustrator as well, and he helped design the whole alphabet so people could have fun and write rude words in that font online. I went on holiday to Prague recently and there was a nursery that used the exact same font, and someone also sent us a tweet from the dentist and they use the exact same font there as well, so it's definitely not original…

Louis: We need to get five of them made for us. We haven't seen it yet, and don't know where it is or how to find it. But it's somewhere, and it's our album artwork!

Is this what they mean by ‘industry plant’?

these particular sounds offering “a suitable range of orchestration to allow the songs to develop, after their structures had been written into something that has more rhythmic complexity.”

Through complex and heavily debated decisions such as these, the band landed on a sonic palette for ‘O Monolith’ that pushes beyond the sounds presented on ‘Bright Green Field’, ensuring a feeling of reinvention and breaking rules that they previously imposed.

As with Ollie’s previous ‘Creep’ analogy, Radiohead prove a suitable parallel for the ethics of Squid, as well as many of the sonic hallmarks on their second album. The criss-crossing guitars on ‘Devil’s Den’ could easily find a home on ‘In Rainbows’, as could Ollie’s distinctly Yorke-ish drawl. Elsewhere, ‘After The Flash’ is a disconcerting avant-garde stomper while single ‘Undergrowth’ is snotty and funky in equal measure. While not revolutionising themselves beyond recognition, Squid’s evolution here feels deliberate, definitive and for good reason.

Ever the sonic scientists, Squid also used all the toys at their disposal in the playground of Real World. The most fascinating of these is the aforementioned Fairlight, which was used heavily by Kate Bush in the 1980s after she was introduced to it by Gabriel, who owns the version that Squid were given access to.

“It’s got a very, very distinctive sound, and is also very unwieldy to use,” Arthur – the instrument’s giddy main custodian – explains. “It’s like it’s from another planet, or from The Matrix. It’s just fascinating, really, when you look at it and think about how far technology has come, but how much we’ve potentially lost along the way as well. In going back to these old tools, you get some real character back into what you’re making.”

Intersecting with these unique and organic sounds are Ollie’s lyrics, which are as delightfully unusual as ever. In line with the “natural” sound the band had cultivated, Ollie set out to try and make a “lyrically spiritual” album, going on to get “really obsessed with old Japanese folktales about spirits and stuff like that.” It

led him down a path towards animism, which concerns the idea that inanimate objects contain living souls. “I found it interesting to think of very British objects, like green wheelie bins, and imagine what kind of spirits would live in them,” he laughs. On ‘Undergrowth’, he imagines dying and being reborn as a bedside table.

This kind of mundanity is given a lot of weight on ‘O Monolith’, largely because it was a welcome departure from the non-stop touring the band experienced in 2019. “I was longing for the green wheelie bins,” Ollie smiles. “Longing for recycling.” Meanwhile, contrasting with the domesticity of lockdown that’s reflected in the album, the environment around Real World is also key to the album’s lyrical identity.

“Being stuck in the UK for so long, I think it definitely made me think about my surroundings a little bit differently and enjoy going out for walks and stuff,” Ollie says. “I don’t think I’d ever really done that, and the pandemic helped me realise that the UK is actually such a beautiful place.” Despite its title, the singer describes ‘Bright Green Field’ as a “claustrophobic and city-led project,” and says it was “a nice difference to focus on more pastoral things” on its follow-up. Louis adds: “I think this album is a real look at environment, and the sliding scale of environment, from the climate to your immediate surroundings.”

As well as the more organic and natural instrumentation on show, this greener and more luscious feel to the album is

“I GOT A BIT OF IMPOSTOR SYNDROME, JUST SHOUTING ALL THE TIME.”

–OLLIE JUDGE

“WE QUITE OFTEN GET FOALS TO DO STUFF BEFORE US JUST TO CHECK IF IT’S ALRIGHT.”

ANTON PEARSON

SQUID GAME

For the band’s new single ‘Undergrowth’, Louis made a video game about his commute to work.

Louis: I thought it would be fun to trace the walk between where we started writing the album in Bristol, through the route home when I was living there, and to the neighbourhood that we’ve all lived in before. When you walk there, the hospital chimney incinerator is pretty much visible wherever you go, and though you can see it from everywhere, you never really go and stand underneath it. The second part is filmed in Hilly Field in London at the stone circle there. It’s funny, this artificial, megalithic structure that they’ve put in a park that is quite clearly not ancient.

transmitted by Ollie’s vocals, which have transformed somewhat radically since Squid’s debut. On ‘Houseplants’ and other early tracks, he developed a signature early singing style, a distinctive kind of yelp-y shout that fitted perfectly with the band’s fidgety punk. As the rest of the music evolved though, this type of vocal delivery felt stuck in the past for the drummer.

He explains: “I wanted to sing a bit more on the album, and then we started recording it and I did a pass at vocal takes and just did the classic kind of screaming and shouting as loud as I can. It just didn’t really feel right, and so I worked quite closely with Dan getting that right. It was really, really difficult. I found it really hard.

“I got a bit of impostor syndrome, just shouting all the time, and just got a bit bored of it,” he continues. “With the music being more melodic and softer at

times, it kind of suits that. I think as a whole package, it shows a bit of progression from the last one, which is what we’re always trying to do.”

Through this change in vocal style, Ollie’s lyrics come to the fore more than ever on ‘O Monolith’. Along with dissections of British folklore and contemplating furniture having feelings, he muses on police and protests (‘The Blades’), the climate crisis (‘Swing (In A Dream)’) and other weighty topics, once again balancing the serious and the comically obscene perfectly.

“We’re lucky that we can explore all these different avenues of our minds together, because we all have quite different tastes,” Arthur says of the five-piece’s unique chemistry heading into the future. Laurie interjects: “At its worst, it feels a bit like a local council meeting where you’re discussing something like parking, and you’re all kind of on the same page

but you can’t quite figure out how to implement the policy.”

…and at its best?

“A really great council meeting! You’re coming up with so many policies!” Anton adds, before each member of the band shouts in suggestions. “Tenminute towns! Cycling infrastructure! Destroying anti-homeless architecture!”

As dedicated to nonsense as they are creative perfection, Squid are one of the most endlessly fascinating bands in the modern UK landscape. On ‘O Monolith’, they’ve taken another huge, mystifying leap forwards. Who the hell knows what’s next.

’O Monolith’ is out 9th June via Warp. DIY

Fleshing out the deeply personal story she began with EP ‘2007’, on ‘ROACH’ Miya Folick is embracing the ugly beauty of life in all its facets.

Words: Alex Rigotti.

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

When she was young, Miya Folick was obsessed with perfection. “I was a super happy kid who would have really sudden, intense tantrums when I felt I had done something wrong,” she recalls. “I could cycle in and out of happiness and despair very quickly, but as I got older, those cycles got longer.”

The 33-year-old is speaking from a hotel room in North Carolina - a stop-off on her current support tour alongside American sister duo Aly & AJ. She’s discussing her second LP ‘ROACH’, a frank, upfront view into the cyclical tumult of the past few years. It’s a pattern that has followed her throughout her life, and one she doesn’t expect to go away anytime soon.

“I read my diary from when I was seven or eight, and I'd gotten a B on a test,” she continues. “I wrote: ‘I wish that I could just get C’s and not care, because I know that perfection doesn't matter, but I can't stop craving it.’”

Her addiction to perfection and “desire for instant gratification” started with school grades, but started to spiral into deeper territory. Looking back, her 2018 debut ‘Premonitions’ lived up to its title. There, Miya hinted at the hedonistic, self-destructive tendencies that ‘ROACH’ magnifies, with gritty indie rock riffs and her powerful, yelping voice.

She wrote ‘ROACH’ straight after ‘Premonitions’, primarily between 2019 and 2020, then divided the songs and released some as 2022 teaser EP ‘2007’; the full album story is set to arrive later this month. Opening track and Mitski co-write ‘Bad Thing’ starts with Miya waking up and regretting the night before - as many mornings might start for a twenty-something. Through the record, Miya is determined to celebrate life despite its challenges. On ‘2007’ she sings, “I don’t wanna be afraid of ageing or gaining weight / I want to take up space / I want to get up real early and stay up real late.”

“I still struggle with body dysmorphia in periods,” she explains. “It's not like I came to a place where I'm free and happy and always love my body and always feel like myself inside of it. But what I'm talking about in that lyric is that even with this feeling of body dysmorphia and wanting to shed my skin, I'm still wanting to celebrate being alive. A joyful life doesn't mean a life free from suffering.”

R‘OACH’, however, exposes a darker side to the musician’s life, unveiling the consequences of abusing drugs in typical fashion. On ‘Drugs or People’, she juxtaposes solemnity with humour, slyly crooning, “I’m done with playing games, I’m done with getting high / But you’ve gotta help me help myself ‘cause I’m a Gemini.” “As long as I was abusing drugs, I wasn't really able to have true, honest relationships with people,” she says. “That particular line to me expresses this feeling that I was having; I kept trying to do the right thing, but I would get enticed or attracted by something or somebody. And that line was just saying, ‘NO, like, I'm serious this time. Stay away’.”

It was shame that would keep Miya on this path of self-destruction, until she slowly began to realise that things had to change. On ‘Ordinary’, against wistful, sombre acoustic guitars, she admits, “I can’t have it all / And I wouldn’t want to”. “This perfectionism that I've been addicted to for my whole life has brought me no closer to happiness or connection with other people,” she says. “Really the only thing that I want is to have dedicated love with the people that I really care about. The only way to do that is to let go of this ego-driven perfectionism, because it's not worth it.”

The pandemic also forced Miya to reconsider her priorities. “I was thinking a lot about what happens if everything I worked for and dreamed for is just suddenly over,” she says. “Will I be okay with that? It would be a horrible disaster, but I would figure out a way to get through it.”

The perfect metaphor to encapsulate this philosophy, she decided, was the cockroach. “Cockroaches have two sides to them”, she explains. “There’s the cockroach that’s disgusting, hideous, scurries around in the darkness. And then there’s the other side that’s resilient, survives disasters and perseveres.

“To me, those are the two parts of myself that are the most present on the record: the Miya who did a bad thing and is the worst person in the world, scurrying around in the dark, and the Miya who’s resilient. Who doesn’t give up. Who will always choose life. That felt like the simplest, tidiest way of summing that up: ‘ROACH’. And I thought it would look cool on the album cover…”

Writing ‘ROACH’ has been a journey; while most of the experiences that Miya sings about occurred before she started writing, it wasn’t entirely behind her. “Looking back, I was still in the struggle much more than I am now,” she says. “I think now when I sing these songs, it does feel like looking back. But when I was working on them, writing and producing, it felt a little bit more like I was talking about my present life.”

Presently, Miya is in a much better place than before - in fact, it’s tempting to view her as completely healed given the eloquence and self-awareness with which she speaks. As she found out, however, self-awareness wasn’t enough on its own to change. “Self-aware people hurt themselves and other people all the time,” she notes. “Being able to explain how you’re feeling or why you did something doesn’t necessarily help you not do it the next time. You have to literally not do it.”

joyful

Folick’s Fundamentals

New to Miya’s work?

Why not start here.

Strange Darling

The title track of Miya’s 2015 debut EP serenades her lover over pillowy synths and trepidatious tom-toms, introducing listeners to Folick’s soft warbling voice.

Trouble Adjusting

Pivoting to a heavier indie-rock feel, Folick puts her pipes to the test on ‘Trouble Adjusting’ as she screams and wails about the difficulties of living alone.

Stop Talking

2018 saw Folick release her debut album ‘Premonitions’, and lead single ‘Stop Talking’ is a glorious ‘80s synth pop plea to ignore your shitty boyfriends. Iconic.

I Will Follow You Into The Dark

For the 2019 TV series Looking For Alaska, Folick transformed Death Cab For Cutie’s ‘I Will Follow You Into The Dark’ from its meandering guitar origins into a haunting piano ballad.

Oh God

When Folick released the ‘2007’ EP, she kick-started her story with ‘Oh God’, where she laments the repercussions of the twentysomething life: “I’m tired of saying, ‘Bless this mess’ / But I’m too in love with Los Angeles.”

It’s equally tempting to suggest that songwriting was healing and therapeutic for the singer, as many musicians routinely claim. For Miya, this wasn’t exactly the case. “It’s cathartic, but it’s not healing,” she clarifies. “What is more healing for me is how I am able to interact in a group, and more somatic forms of healing like singing - and also just the simple choices every day that we make to move forward.”

Though Miya is in a different place, she’s also careful to point out that her journey to self-acceptance on ‘ROACH’ is nowhere near linear and simplistic, but rather circular. “I’m still figuring it out because I still struggle,” she says. “I'll go through periods where I feel really great. I may stop doing the things that help me feel good because I think I don't need them anymore. And then suddenly I'm struggling again, and I look around me and I've realised that I have forgotten all my tools. I definitely don't think that I've reached any place where I can sit back. It's a cycle.”

‘ROACH’ therefore shouldn’t be read as a sensationalist cautionary tale; it’s also a personal revelation in realising the core of life. “Even if something seems like it's going to be a disaster, I know that I'll be able to get through it because I know that I want to live,” she says. “Giving into a disaster is antithetical to the idea of wanting to enjoy my life. And that doesn't mean necessarily wanting to have fun all the time, but wanting to experience life.”

‘ROACH’ is out 26th May via Nettwerk. DIY

A

life doesn't mean a life free from suffering.”

Baby

Steps

With their debut EP ‘Not the Baby’, Prima Queen are steadily developing a bond and a rawly honest sound that’s all their own.

Words: Max Pilley.

“Maybe we were just another mistake / But you were one I had to make,” sings Kristin McFadden in the chorus of ‘Back Row’, the opening track of Prima Queen’s debut EP ‘Not the Baby’. Immediately, we’re thrown into somewhat unfamiliar territory; where breakup songs traditionally adopt the perspective of the heartbroken, the vocalist is singing from a position of agency and control. The rest of the song adds nuance and layers, bringing notes of bittersweet anguish and regret, and achieving a level of emotional complexity that immediately establishes Prima Queen as a standout new voice.

The four tracks that comprise ‘Not the Baby’ as a whole, meanwhile, are bound by themes of shifting relationships, life transitions and the conflicted pains and growths associated therein. The songs are pulled from the duo’s real lives, and they skilfully mine personal details to reveal universal familiarities. “[Those themes ring] true for any person when you’re in your early twenties,” says Louise Macphail, the other half of the duo. “You do a lot of growing up in that time, and that was true for us too.”

Aside from a lyrical maturity beyond their years, ‘Not the Baby’ shows the ease with which Prima Queen are able to compose light, harmonic indie rock that swings with an infectious, almost country-tinged breeze. They might break your heart, but they’ll at least make sure you enjoy it.

The two first met in January 2016 when Kristin

took a semester-long break from her studies at home in Chicago to travel to London and enrol on the songwriting course that Louise was also attending. To say they were friends as soon as they met would not quite be correct; it happened a little before that. “I really wanted to make an all-female band,” says Louise. “I just hadn’t met anyone that it felt right to play with. I was on the course, and they said that Kristin was coming, and I saw a video of her and I was like, ‘Hmm, she’s going to be my best friend…’ And she was!”

The pair bonded quickly, playing and writing together in an early phase of what Kristin describes as “a lot of experimenting, trying to find our middle ground”. They would take train rides, sharing headphones as they played each other music recommendations. Louise was a devotee of Laura Marling, while Kristin felt more at home with Alanis Morissette; the exact meeting point would finally arrive in the form of Rilo Kiley’s ‘Portions for Foxes’.

“That was a lightbulb moment,” Louise remembers. “Before we met, I hadn’t really listened to much music that combined direct and honest storytelling and loud guitars, especially by women.”

The course ended and Kristin found herself having to return to the States to complete her degree, but it was the last thing she wanted. “I cried the whole plane ride home, I was heartbroken,” she says. Already, however, the two had developed their collaboration to the point where they were not about to let anything get in the way of a musical future together. “The band wasn’t really anything at the time, but we felt like it was the most important thing. We took it so seriously, even though we were just babies,” Kristin says. “We’d talk or text every day for over a year, working on new songs and sending them back and forth.”

Their connection and commitment to the cause survived their separation and when Kristin returned to London in 2018, Prima Queen were able to finally start moving through the gears. Writing sessions became passion projects, with the two bouncing ideas before giving each other homework to finish specific details before their next meeting.

These years spent writing and investing in their friendship have clearly stood them in good stead; listening to ‘Not the Baby’, you sense the sheer joy that the duo derive from piecing songs together. On ‘Dylan’, you can almost hear their smirk as they repeatedly smuggle the six-syllable “megalomaniac” seamlessly into a chorus while, for all the intensity of their subject matter, Prima Queen’s music is a shot of positive energy, charged with the excitement that their dream project is now becoming a reality.

In the last year alone, the band have shared stages with The Big Moon, Wet Leg, Sunflower Bean and Whitney and recently wrapped up their first SXSW. The release of ‘Not the Baby’ ought to be what is currently consuming them, but their enthusiasm clearly can’t be contained by the next hurdle alone. “We’re really excited about this EP and we’re proud of it,” says Kristin. “But at the same time, we can’t wait for what’s next. We’re always looking ahead. We’re ready for the album now!”

‘Not The Baby’ is out now via Big Indie. DIY

“The band wasn’t really anything at the beginning, but we felt like it was the most important thing.”Kristin McFadden

Words: Rhian Daly. Photos: Bridie Cummings.

ne October night in Edinburgh in 2018, Demob Happy had an “out-of-body experience.”

It was the final night of the Brighton-via-Newcastle band’s short run of dates supporting Jack White who, over the course of the previous four nights, had kept to himself. “He sustained himself as a very mysterious and enigmatic character throughout,” drummer Tom Armstrong says. “You don’t wanna go backstage and just find him investing in crypto.” At Usher Hall, though, things were different, and as a parting gift to the trio, he invited his support act on stage for an impromptu jam of The Dead Weather’s ‘Cut Like A Buffalo’.

“I just remember him shouting out chords at me, and I was like, ‘OK, alright, I’ll play that chord, Jack’,” guitarist Adam ‘Baz’ Godfrey recalls, recreating his shell-shocked manner from that night as he talks.

It wasn’t just the White Stripe who was sitting up and paying attention to Demob back then. Having been on a slow burn upward since releasing their debut EP in 2011, on their second album – 2018’s ‘Holy Doom’ – it felt like the band’s momentum was finally rising more sharply. In just under two years, they played countless festivals and completed 14 tours: their first US headline dates,

“I think it took us a while to think we could do anything other than just be musically aggressive.”

Matt Marcantonio

Rooted in the gnarly tangle of modern society but heading into intergalactic new sonic airspace, ‘Divine Machines’ is DEMOB HAPPY ’s most adventurous album yet.

Invaders

support slots with Royal Blood, The Amazons and more, as well as these shows with White. Even Aquaman himself was a convert to the Demob experience, with Jason Momoa spotted perusing the band’s vinyl at a US gig.

The trio might have confounded many over the years – too heavy to be strictly indie, but not quite hard-riffing enough for the rock and metal sect. But finally, their hard work was paying off and driving out the need to be categorised. “I’ve never had any doubt that the cream rises to the top,” smiles frontman Matt Marcantonio. “You’ve just got to get through a lot of shit together.”

After 20 months on the road, a pandemic-enforced break was a much-needed one for the band. “We were spreading ourselves too thin across the world,” Tom says breezily. But while the world has since had to rebuild itself following that pause, Demob Happy have managed to return feeling like they haven’t missed a beat.

Third album ‘Divine Machines’ picks up right where the band left off in early 2020, riding a wave of momentum to thrilling new heights. It’s grand and ambitious in its scope, packing in the classic Demob DNA – crunchy, grungy riffs and psychedelic flashes – alongside fresh sounds and ideas.

There are layers of spacey, sci-fi sonics, like the ominous sparkle of the intro to ‘Super-Fluid’ or the galactic instrumental of the title track. But alongside a healthy dose of dystopian atmospherics, there’s plenty of hope, too. ‘Tear It Down’ sees a future where nuance is king and misinformation is challenged, while ‘Muscular Reflex’ sings of self-acceptance. More than ever, the band’s output feels like a reflection of the world around us; one where, if you change your perspective, you can still find some beacons of light.

“It’s quite easy to live in the reality of the screen and what’s presented by the media,” Adam reasons. “But, humanto-human, there’s still a lot of kindness there.” “When we were in Joshua Tree a few weeks ago, I was trying to buy a coffee at the gas station, and I couldn’t get my card to work,” Tom offers as an example. “The dude behind the counter just pulled five bucks out of his pocket and bought my coffee for me.

I nearly cried and he said, ‘Just pass on the kindness, man’. He was just a person being kind to another person –a simple act.”

The record also contains important, conversation-starting songs that could, hopefully, lead us to a better future.

The piano-led ‘She’s As Happy As A Man Can Be’ is perhaps the most thought-provoking of these, capturing Matt’s feelings about some of the

byproducts of where he and his bandmates grew up. “It was thought of as a bit soppy to wear your heart on your sleeve almost,” Adam offers as an explanation, while Tom nods and points to the difficulties of “shaking off toxic masculinity”.

“You weren’t allowed to express certain sides of yourself,” Matt continues. “It feels odd to still be affected by those things, but you can’t really help it until you face them.”

Growing up in the same environment and having known each other for so long brought elements of that emotional restriction into the band, too. “I think it took us a while to think we could do anything other than just be aggressive,” he says. “That was the only level – aggression and expelling those demons and anger in music.”

As well as looking inwards, the album casts its gaze outward too – particularly (as on roaring, urgent closer ‘Hades, Baby’) in the direction of the one percent. Ironically, the track was recorded at Abbey Road as part of a session for Amazon Music.

“You joked about doing a dirty protest,” Tom grins at Adam as conversation turns to that day. “So you had a bottle and put it on top of the amp.”

“Not just randomly, of course,” Matt reassures us, “but a comment on Amazon workers having to piss in bottles. [That song is] literally about Jeff Bezos. These mega-rich megalomaniacs –who knows what their intentions are, but they’re not going to take any of that [money] with them when they die. What’s the point in amassing such wealth and doing nothing of any good with it?”

“Apparently, Bezos’ ex-wife can’t give her money away

Sci-Fi Sounds

‘Divine Machines’ brings out-ofthis-world new sounds into Demob’s musical make-up – but what inspired them?

Matt: I think I wanted to express something a bit broader and grander. Over the last few years – especially leading into 2020 – I’ve been listening to a lot of John Carpenter and stuff like that. A lot of ambient, enormous New Age soundscape stuff. Also, just getting into my synthesisers and getting my head around all the sounds I’ve liked over the years – this is how you make them, this is what it is.

quick enough before she just makes more.

That’s how rich she is from getting however much money she got from the divorce,” Adam says, shaking his head.

“It’s nuts.” “How much did they say it would cost to end third-world hunger?” Matt replies.

“About £3 billion or something? [A 2019 report claimed £5 billion could wipe out hunger in Africa] What are the chances she does?”

The former Mrs Bezos might not be about to reach into her pockets and lend a hand, but in their own way, Demob are doing their bit for our world. A key theme on ‘Divine Machines’ is the idea of inspiring change, and – despite all the bad things we’re told about our society – the band still believe in music’s power to connect and reroute the conversation.

“We’re encouraged to look at the world through the lens of pessimism,” Demob’s frontman says. “Because then we’re all sad and the system continues to work. But we’ve always tried to make genuine music we care deeply about, and have never compromised. Our hope is people will hear that, and it’ll inspire people to listen more deeply and, because of that, have a connection to art.

“People are always going to need music; they’re always going to need art,” he affirms. “The human consciousness is extremely adept at sifting through the bullshit.”

‘Divine Machines’ is out 26th May via Liberator Music. DIY

“It’s quite easy to live in the reality of the screen but, human-tohuman, there’s still a lot of kindness there.”

Adam Godfrey

LIFE THROUGH A LENS

Documenting the transition into her twenties with frankness and honesty, Hannah Jadagu is shedding a light on herself on debut album ‘Aperture’. Words: Matthew Pywell.

Hannah Jadagu is fast becoming a master of spinning plates. Currently attending university in New York and preparing for the upcoming release of her debut album ‘Aperture’, our chat today is sandwiched between classes; a balancing act the 20-year-old seems to be taking in her stride. Signed to Sub Pop off the back of impressive early SoundCloud releases, her debut EP ‘What Is Going On?’ was a texturally-rich experience recorded entirely on an iPhone 7. Now, ‘Aperture’ is set to build on the EP’s bedroom-pop aesthetics to deliver an experience that speaks of her personal and creative growth.

Much of the album tackles Hannah’s transition into young adolescence, such as her upbringing in Mesquite, Texas: the kind of place, she explains, where there are certain expectations of the people who grow up there. “There’s a lot of suburban fields, a lot of families and a lot of religion, so there’s this value that you’ve got to be with your family and then you’ve got to make your own family,” she says.

Growing up in a largely multicultural area, Hannah never felt like an outsider, but with the majority of people practising religion and leaning into faith, she eventually found herself questioning those ideals as she got older. “A lot of that happened for me in high school; around age 15 you start learning more things and you have a lot of questions about everything. When I started to discover new music and stuff like that, I was ready to think about what I wanted the next steps in life to be.”

That sense of questioning is seen on opener ‘Explanation’.

“Everyone is looking for an explanation / Put your faith and hope in something,” she sings, wrestling with the idea of religion as a way of adding meaning and purpose to our lives. How do you know what to and what not to believe in? It’s something Hannah readily admits that she doesn’t have the answers for, as she continually evaluates her relationship with faith.

She credits her older sister for paving the way when it came to leaving Mesquite for New York, but that isn’t the only reason she’s grateful for her sibling. The pair bonded over The Japanese House - one of Hannah’s first introductions to indie pop - with ‘Good At Falling’ becoming an obsession that still informs her work to date. You can feel its influence on ‘Letter To Myself’, a track that lovingly takes its time to guide you through a sonic odyssey on a wave of keys and crashes of synth.

“My older sister is a big influence and role model for me,” she smiles. “They were in New York before me, they were listening to cool music before me, and I think when you’re the youngest, [it helps when] you’ve got someone to show you the ropes and look after you a bit”.

From the R&B stylings of ‘Warning Sign’ to the synth-laden indie rock found on ‘What You Did’ that recalls Japanese Breakfast’s most bombastic work, we hear touchstones of some of indie’s current crop. On the colourfully melancholic ‘Shut Down’, we arrive at its destination via roads paved by Alex G and Clairo.

The latter pairing have been crucial reference points in Hannah’s journey. “I love them both so much, people will definitely hear Alex G [on the record]. And with Clairo, I love ‘Immunity’. Those two I think are great at honing in on this DIY spirit and, at the beginning, they were also in their rooms making stuff. I just admire them still keeping their musical identity, while bringing in other players to help make it even bigger,” she enthuses.

What makes ‘Aperture’ truly stand out amongst Hannah’s many contemporaries, however, is the sheer scale of her lyrical frankness. Testament to how crucial this period of growth has been, throughout the album we hear of the hardship of cutting yourself off from bad friends, pondering moments where relationships turned sour and feeling disconnected from everyone around you. “Act like it's best we make amends, but I don’t wanna talk to you again,” she declares on ‘What You Did’; “I think you might deserve this, left alone, no purpose,” goes ‘Scratch The Surface’.

All of these thoughts are delivered in their most unvarnished form, speaking to the sense of maturity that comes from figuring out how to communicate on your own terms. “I sometimes struggle with being a people pleaser,” Hannah says. “Something I’ve learnt recently, going into my twenties, is that not everyone is going to like you unfortunately. That’s something I’m starting to deal with and sometimes you’re just going to have to know when to walk away from a situation.”

Ultimately, ‘Aperture’ is a picture book; a selection of snapshots that capture plenty of blemishes, yet emphasise just how much our experiences shape who we are. “It definitely showcases me starting to deal with things that I had never addressed before in my life,” she nods.

“‘Aperture’ is an introduction to my world when I was 19 and now 20, and navigating that transition into young adulthood.”

It might sometimes be a rocky road, but with her debut album Hannah Jadagu is showing us that the growing pains are more than worth it in the long run.

‘Aperture’ is out 19th May via Sub Pop. DIY

“‘Aperture’ showcases me starting to deal with things that I had never addressed before in my life.”

serious fun

serious

Comedian James Acaster has made a record - but it’s no joke. Curating his favourite musicians under the project named Temps, ‘Party Gator Purgatory’ is the sound of a music nerd in his element. Words: Patrick Clarke.

“Whenever comedians or actors announce that they’re doing music, I always think, ‘Why would I ever want to hear music from YOU?! This is pointless! This is gonna be shit!’” declares James Acaster, in self-effacing form, as he joins today’s Zoom call to promote his debut album. “My gut instinct is that it’s never going to be good, so I appreciate it if anyone gives it the time of day.”

Despite the reservations of its creator, however, Acaster’s record ‘Party Gator Purgatory’ – on which he serves as the leader of a 40-strong musical collective called Temps – is not actually shit. It’s a swirling and multifaceted record that shifts woozily between grand psychedelic gloom, off-kilter jazz and magnetic left field hip hop. It’s good enough, in fact, to rise above the cynicism that many will inevitably share on the news that a panel show fixture is moving away from comedy and into ‘serious’ musicianship.

But then again, James’ history with music goes deep. He started playing drums at seven years old and formed a procession of bands as a teenager that got progressively stranger. “It started off as nu metal, then hardcore, then post hardcore, then eventually experimental jazz pop,” he recalls. After giving up drums to pursue stand-up comedy at 22, he nevertheless maintained an obsessive love of music. This reached a head when, in order to cope with a mental breakdown in 2017, he purchased hundreds of records released the previous year – convinced that it was the greatest twelve months in the history of music. The practice later formed the basis of a book, Perfect Sound Whatever, and podcast Perfect Sounds.

There was often a sense of silliness to his music career, even before he became a comedian. Band names

included The New Hardcore Skiffle Movement, The Capri-Sun Quartet and The Wow! Scenario (in which he performed under the pseudonym Sir William Strawberry). In one project, he formed a jam band with a didgeridoo player and a flautist – both thirty years his senior. In another, Pindrop, the band’s frontman would disregard their setlist at the start of every gig and instead start screaming and flipping people off. So too does Temps have something of a surrealist edge.

The project began life as a mockumentary pilot (later shelved due to the pandemic) in which James was to quit stand-up and become a self-important musician for whom The Party Gator – an enormous stuffed toy he won at a county fair as a child – would be his muse. The album maintains that loose concept, based around the death and resurrection of the toy. Its big, startled face, drawn in highlighter pen, is the album cover. The original gator was unceremoniously dumped in a skip by the school to which James donated it, and so for Temps’ music videos he dons a replica suit (so hot that he suffered heat stroke and labyrinthitis while filming).

“There’s always been something about that toy, but it’s already such a ludicrous figure that when I tried to make some comedy out of him it felt too on the nose,” James says. “But when I was making the

mockumentary, in real life I had to pick up my drumkit from my parents’ house and my friends wanted me to pick up the Party Gator from their house, so I thought I’d put them both in the mockumentary and improvise my way around it.”

Despite the whimsical aspect to the record, Temps is an entirely serious undertaking. Over lockdown, James got in touch with a number of his favourite musicians, many of whom he’d already spoken to or approached around his Perfect Sound project. One artist would contribute a vocal or instrumental remotely and then James would invite another who he thought might add to it in an interesting manner, smoothing the gaps in post-production with Chris Hamilton.

The result is a record of successive chain reactions. Each contributor was asked to stay loosely within the death / purgatory / resurrection theme, “which provided a lot of different viewpoints, different takes and life experiences that still belonged together,” James says. “The songs become a conversation.” For his own contribution, James improvised on the drums before anything else was recorded, from which he was able to extract various loops to be used as pieces for his collage. “I had to view all my drumming as just the same as anyone else’s contributions,” he says. “The one constant all the way through was

“IT FEELS INTENSELY PERSONAL. WAY MORE THAN WITH ANYTHING ELSE I’VE DONE .”

PERFECT COLLABORATORS WHATEVER

QUELLE CHRIS

I wasn’t setting out to make a rap album, but I knew that rapping would sound good on some of the instrumentals. He ended up being on eight songs, and I was bowled over by how much he gave. His lyrics were way more personal than I’ve heard him do in the past, and that really meant a lot to me. I also love the amount of characters he brings to his voice.

SEB ROCHFORD

He was the first person I collaborated with. Myself and Chris Hamilton who engineered the drumming were both so giddy on the day that Seb was coming in. It felt completely surreal. When I used to regularly play the drums I was always trying to drum like him, so to have him come in and play the drums over what I’ve done felt like Christmas.

XENIA RUBINOS

Her album ‘Black Terry Cat’ was one of the albums I got into when I was doing my 2016 project. There were a couple of passages on the album that I just immediately wanted to hear her on. I love how melodic she is; she’s got such an ear for melody but can also bring quite a big presence to a song. She can be quite bombastic when she wants to be.

SHAMIR

I’m a fan of all of Shamir’s stuff. His album ‘Hope’ is one of my favourites of all time. It was a really valuable experience working with him because before then I was saying to musicians, ‘Do whatever you like’. Shamir was like, ‘No, you need to tell me what you want’. It was helpful to realise that I need to work the way that these people want to work, I can’t just leave it. He was very patient with me.

that I was curating it and arranging it and producing it, not taking any of the credit when there were other musicians doing things that I couldn’t even wrap my head around. It was nice for it to be egoless.”

Having played the drums only a few times in the last twelve years, James once again embraced happenstance. “I knew I was gonna be rusty, but it would almost be worse to practise for ages because that would be over-thought and stale,” he says. Having laid down the lolloping rhythms that provide the album’s backbone, he also invited Seb Rochford, leader of experimental jazz outfit Polar Bear (“The best drummer in the world, an idol of mine”) to add flourishes over the top. The beats were then sent to Barcelona-based musicians Joana Gomila and Laia Vallès, who fleshed them out with synths and backing vocals, and then again to John Dietrich of Deerhoof.

“I asked him to just play some bass, but he put on more guitars, keys, basically just finished them as instrumentals. He was really, really into it, and that’s what made me think, actually let’s make this a full project. At first I still thought, ‘Let’s just put it on Bandcamp’, but the more artists that I worked with that said I should approach a label, the more I thought, you know, I’ve asked them to give me their time and their talents, I should respect how they want to put it out. Even if a bigger platform makes me feel more vulnerable.”

It's clear that James still feels that pang of exposure as ‘Party Gator Purgatory’ approaches release.

“It’s the longest I’ve ever worked on a project without people having heard it,” he says. “With a stand-up show, you’re performing it in front of people the moment you start writing it, because that’s the only way to hone it.” With the musical project having provided something of a crutch during lockdown, “it feels intensely personal. Way more than with anything else I’ve done. I spent every day working on this, walking around the streets near my house listening to whatever stage it was at.”

He's been thinking hard, too, about how to promote it, and where to draw the line between the rambling and charming comedy persona most know him for, and the serious, attentive, thoughtful music-lover on the other end of this Zoom

And you thought Deadmau5’s outfit was a bit much…

“I FELT LIKE A FAN, MORE THAN A PRODUCER .”

James waxes lyrical on the people who helped bring the Party Gator to life.

call. On The Jonathan Ross Show, back in 2021 before the project was even announced, he arrived dressed as the Party Gator, provided almost no context, and revelled in the bafflement of Ross and his fellow guests Tom Jones and Paloma Faith. For a follow-up, this time to actually promote the album, he wore a hand puppet Party Gator and explained the story of the record so matter-of-factly that it was more baffling still.

“I really can’t emphasise enough how much this is not a joke,” he told Ross. “I really didn’t understand that whole business about the gator,” said a baffled Prue Leith, also appearing that evening.

Whether in his comedy, his podcast work with Perfect Sounds and food-based interview show Off Menu, or a fledgling Hollywood acting career (he’ll take an as-yet-undisclosed role in the next instalment of the Ghostbusters franchise at the end of this year), James has always been particularly adept at shifting between different facets of his personality. “You decide how much you want to put yourself at the forefront, or slip into a certain persona,” he says. “If I’m sat on The Jonathan Ross Show, my audience is Saturday night, ITV, and they are not the target audience for this album; it would be stupid for me to attempt to sell it to those people as something that they might enjoy.

“But I also don’t want to sell this short. For me, the best way to do that was just to be confusing, to say exactly what I mean, but do it in persona; reiterate over and over again that yes, this is a serious project. I’ve just got an alligator puppet

on my hand.” He points out, too, that it was OK for humour to creep into the songs themselves. “There’s so many albums that aren’t comedy albums but still have a sense of humour – that’s part of being a person. As soon as you remove any sort of playfulness from an album, it becomes a very sterile experience. I didn’t want it to feel like a machine made this album.”

In releasing ‘Party Gator Purgatory’, James has pulled off something of a coup – a record that’s both serious and silly; a release that proves his chops as a proper producer, yet maintains the accessibility and charm that took him to fame in the first place. For all the different personas he’s employed across his career, the one that most comes across when he speaks about Temps is that of a straight-up lover of alternative music. Making the album “felt surreal”, he says. “Because I’m just a fan, getting a bunch of their favourite musicians together, and through some weird technology I’m able to reach inside the songs and change them somehow. I felt like a fan, more than a producer.”

A follow-up EP recorded with Blanck Mass is due in summer, and beyond that James says he’s already got another musical project in the works – entirely separate to Temps. “It’ll be completely different, it’d be difficult to try and replicate the way everyone was in lockdown, all able to give the time to this project,” he says. “Going forward, if inspiration hits for more music projects, I think each one will be a completely new project. A new title and a new sound.”

‘Party Gator Purgatory’ is out 19th May via Bella Union. DIY

“THERE’S SO MANY ALBUMS THAT AREN’T COMEDY ALBUMS BUT STILL HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOUR –THAT’S PART OF BEING A PERSON.”

Photo: Pooneh Ghana

 ARLO PARKS

My Soft Machine (Transgressive)

Arlo Parks has left the bedroom. Her Mercury Prize-winning debut ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’ punctuated a rapid rise to fame, with the likes of anxiety-filled ‘Black Dog’ perfectly capturing the ennui of lockdown and cementing the then London-based singer and songwriter as one of bedroom pop’s success stories. The record put Arlo on the map, its sound conjuring up images of the same four walls; a beautifully insular snapshot of a defining moment in time. It’s no surprise then that a move to Los Angeles, blossoming friendships with Lorde and album collaborator Phoebe Bridgers, and her relationship with Ashnikko would inspire a broader-reaching record, with second album ‘My Soft Machine’ firmly deconstructing those bricks.

The short, unapologetic opener ‘Bruiseless’ sets the scene for an uncharacteristically candid record that displays the same vulnerability that elevated her breakout tracks. “I wish that my eyes were still wide,” she states on the foreword, introducing a series of songs that sincerely touch on insecurity, anxiety, love, and lost innocence. Lyrically and thematically, Arlo embraces her LA home, not least in the grungy ‘Devotion’ or the glitterball disco of ‘Blades’ – the latter bringing up images of sun-kissed boardwalks.

’Puppy’ layers electronic glitches under Arlo’s soft tones, sandwiched amid the slower tempo of the record’s second half more in keeping with her debut. The shimmering guitar work of ‘Room (Red Wings)’ harks effortlessly to the West Coast, while closer ‘Ghost’ reinterprets key ‘90s musical references. It’s all pulled together by a confidence that - in comparison - was in a fledging state back in 2021. Following a moment away from the limelight and pivotal interactions with unexpected muses, Arlo emerges with a newfound directness, finding a sound and voice that fully represents the multifaceted complexities of the world outside the bedroom. (Ben Tipple) LISTEN: ‘Blades’

RYAN BEATTY

Calico (Elektra)

Since the release of 2018’s defining ‘Boy In Jeans’, Ryan Beatty has captured the complexities of queer love, landing a careful balance between the universal simplicity of love and the damage of internal and external criticism. “God is real, he was sleeping in my bed last night,” he delicately pored on the album’s almost-title track, a bold and unapologetic acceptance of his sexuality and an early example of the power of his words. On 2020’s ‘Dreaming Of David’, he paired this sensitivity with broader sounds, not least on the build from sultry tones to a drum and bass crescendo on fan favourite ‘Evergreen’.

Three years later, ‘Calico’ arrives with the more straightforward ‘Ribbons’, the opener presenting an altogether more direct affair, safer in its tones and its words. The rougher edges that underpin both previous records are replaced by subtle orchestrations, including work by collaborator extraordinaire Justin Vernon. Yet most of ‘Calico’ opts for a gentler, guitar-led sound, a step away from the excitement that bubbled through both ‘Boy In Jeans’ and ‘Dreaming Of David’.

Ryan still finds the magic in his lyrics (“It’s brave to be nothing to no one at all,” he sings on ‘Ribbons’), relying more heavily on the undeniable quality of his voice. The beauty of love in all its facets is laid bare across a series of more mellow tracks, often torn across the duality of affection. “Love will always last, love will always hold me down / What is it all about?” he sings on standout ‘Bruises Off The Peach’. At its core, ‘Calico’ continues to search for the answer for those left to find their own path through love. (Ben Tipple) LISTEN: ‘Bruises Off The Peach’

Fully representing the multifaceted complexities of the world outside.

An altogether more direct affair.

A transcendent display of a fragile soul.

LA PRIEST

Third albums are notoriously hard to execute – what balance does an artist strike between new, potentially alienating directions and wringing out the same old ideas? It’s a tightrope that LA Priest’s Sam Eastgate has managed to walk with precision on this new outing, replacing his signature synths with a style of guitar both familiar to him and unique to anything else. From the first notes of ‘On’, the woozy chords and melodies call to mind past collaborator Connan Mockasin, a fever dream of eerie calm. At a few well-placed moments, Sam breaks out concise numbers – ‘It’s You’ and ‘Neon’ both stand out – but that’s not really what this album is about. Where it breathes is in between these songs, where the guitars meander in ghostly meditations, where his voice fades away and what’s left behind is sparse and contemplative. ‘Star’ is the apex of this: in its absences are some of the deepest and most poignant moments of LA Priest’s discography. This album sometimes veers a little too close to jam-band territory, but its best ideas are transcendent displays of a fragile soul. (James Hickey) LISTEN: ‘Star’

 THE LEMON TWIGS

Everything Harmony (Captured Tracks)

The Lemon Twigs made themselves easy to pigeonhole when they first arrived on the scene in 2016, so much so that you might have missed how handsomely they’ve matured as songwriters in the interim. Debut ‘Do Hollywood’ announced them to the world as dewy-eyed ‘60s revivalists, while follow-up ‘Go to School’ made more of a wave for its conceptual nature than its musical content, and ‘Songs for the General Public’ lent so hard into classic rock that it almost became pastiche. This fourth record, though, offers immediate vulnerability in its sparse arrangements and, in doing so, highlights the intelligence and nuance with which brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario now mine their influences. There is a genuine timelessness to the thirteen tracks of ‘Everything Harmony. Many are lovelorn, particularly the standout ‘What Happens to a Heart’, which pairs swooning strings with soaring vocals to deliver the kind of breakup lament that any ‘60s pop star would have killed for. Elsewhere, they process the depths of depression with gorgeous melodic sensibility on ‘Every Day Is the Worst Day of My Life’, and nod to more recent inspirations on ‘What Were You Doing’, which is loose and jangly in its guitars. ‘Everything Harmony’ has the feel of a classic about it. Previously, comparisons to Simon and Garfunkel felt superficial; on this evidence, The Lemon Twigs are truly operating on that level. (Joe Goggins) LISTEN: ‘What Happens To A Heart’

 HANNAH JADAGU

Aperture (Sub Pop)

Somehow finding time to piece together ‘Aperture’ between graduating high school in Texas and moving to college in New York, Hannah Jadagu’s debut shows her as an artist in flux, intricately joining the dots between moving spaces and growing up.

Opener ‘Explanation’ is gorgeously ambient, a crescendo of tunnelling synths and swirling guitar peppered with her hazy harmonies. She’s a big fan of the vocoder – apparently an inspiration from the Black Eyed Peas.

‘Aperture’ is tender, a warm blanket sewn together with threads of faith and family. ‘Lose’ is a euphoric instrumental ode to her older sister; ‘Warning Sign’ a deceptively glittery track about being near breaking point. ‘Aperture’ stays true to its title, Hannah adjusting her lens with ease and darting nimbly between styles. The album bridges the gap between adolescence and adulthood; Hannah Jadagu jumps high between the two and lands firmly on her feet. (Mia Smith)

LISTEN: ‘Warning Sign’

 TEMPS

PARTY GATOR PURGATORY (Bella Union)

Comedians making music can admittedly be a bit of a mixed bag. After all, for every Tim Minchin’s Matilda, there’s Peter Kay’s Geraldine, and for every ‘Three Lions’ there’s a ‘Free Love Freeway’. Temps is James Acaster’s debut professional venture into swapping monologues for melodies and, as you might expect from a comedian who trades in whimsy and surrealism, this album is far from straightforward. After a mockumentary about him becoming a musician was canned due to COVID, he was left with only a handful of drum tracks and a newfound itch to scratch. Rather than let the tracks go to waste, he enlisted an ensemble of 40 of his favourite musicians and stitched together ‘Party Gator Purgatory’.

The one constant through the album is the jazz drumming of Polar Bear’s Seb Rochford but layered on top of this is a genre-melding hodgepodge sourced from James’ “DIY Gorillaz” that covers everything from hip hop to alt-rock to gospel. The album throws out traditional song structures (the repeated refrains of ‘Partygator R.I.P’ are the closest thing to a chorus across its 10 tracks), so the highlights come in moments rather than tracks. ‘Kept’ sees Xenia Rubinos return to her ‘Black Terry Cat’ sound as she riffs over a Jack White-adjacent guitar part. The trip hop beat in ‘at(moves)’ allows Wheelchair Sports Club’s verses to interweave with dexterous sax solos, and Shamir closes proceedings with a showstopping vocal performance on ‘slowreturn’.

Overall though, this album is a bewildering experience. Most tracks are clashing cacophonies as guests compete for space over whirlwind drumming. ‘Partygatorresurrection’, for example, opens with a crisp Open Mike Eagle rap but then continues with the phrase “a surprise birthday party” being repeated for 45 seconds before ending with dueling keyboard and guitar solos. As a whole, this ambitious project can be an oblique listen but Acaster’s enthusiastic delight in experimental, underground music is on full display. (James Smurthwaite) LISTEN: ‘slowreturn’

Fase Luna (Domino)

POHODA FESTIVAL

JAMIE XX CENTRAL CEE

WET LEG

SOFI TUKKER BEN HOWARD

ARCA

CAROLINE POLACHEK

AMELIE LENS

RICO NASTY

VIAGRA BOYS

SUZANNE VEGA

SLOWTHAI SHYGIRL

PERFUME GENIUS

SAMPA THE GREAT

6.– 8. 7. TRENČÍN AIRPORT

MULATU ASTATKE – DRY CLEANING – SHAME – AROOJ AFTAB – HAZEY – PETE & BAS

CHARLOTTE ADIGÉRY & BOLIS PUPUL – YARD ACT – MEZERG – ALINA PASH – PUSSY RIOT

MANDIDEXTROUS – BIGKLIT – VINTAGE TROUBLE – AMOR ELEFANTE – HERMETO PASCOAL

TATA BOJS – PVA – O. – PSYMON SPINE – LINIKER – MANDY, INDIANA – LEENALCHI

AVALANCHE KAITO – BLANCO TETA – ANGRUSORI – THE ORIELLES – MARGARITAS PODRIDAS

GROOVE& – CUMGIRL8 – KIMI DJABATÉ – NINA FARRINA – DAKH DAUGHTERS

ROZI PLAIN – DUO RUUT – RAGAPOP – ZEA – FALLGRAPP – AND MANY MORE

ALBUMS

 SBTRKT

The Rat Road (AWAL)

 ALISON GOLDFRAPP

The Love Invention (Skint / BMG)

Alison Goldfrapp’s name and voice are largely associated with the dancefloor-based hedonism of the mid-‘00s, her and collaborator Will Gregory’s glam-indebted electronic pop near-ubiquitous in their presence. The critical-if-not-commercially successful ‘Felt Mountain’ was shortlisted for the 2001 Mercury Prize before singles ‘Strict Machine’ and ‘Ooh La La’ - from 2003’s ‘Black Cherry’ and ‘Supernature’ (2005) respectively - dominated both airwaves and ad breaks. That it’s taken until 2023 for Alison’s first solo foray, then, might be suprising; that ‘The Love Invention’ offers a heady mix of pulsating beats, dancefloor-ready synths and the kind of pop choruses many a radio star would kill for less so (not least given that Richard X, the man behind Sugababes’ ‘Freak Like Me’ and Rachel Stevens’ ‘Some Girls’, was a collaborator). Opener ‘NeverStop’ heads straight for the club, taking cues from dance’s past while simultaneously making a claim for what a 2023 Kylie or Gaga reinvention might sound like. Similarly, ‘In Electric Blue’ pairs huge pop moments with a beat that’s straight from the sad disco school of Robyn, and the hypnotic loops of ‘Digging Deeper Now’ are reminiscent of Jamie xx’s clattering ‘Gosh’. It’s smartly conceived to boot: when the instrumentation all but cuts out during the chorus of ‘The Beat Divine’ to accentuate Alison’s lyrical delivery, it’s pure escapism. The LCD Soundsystem-like bubbling synths and all-out maximalism of ‘Gatto Gelato’ meanwhile only accentuate a potential depth in meaning of its refrain: “I like you.” With nods to chillout too (’Subterfuge’, closer ‘SloFlo’), ‘The Love Invention’ runs the gamut of immediate, dancefloor-ready electro-pop with style. (Bella Martin)

LISTEN: ‘In Electric Blue’

SBTRKT has returned after a six year absence with an album of epic proportions – 22 tracks across more than an hour. It’s also promised as his most adventurous album yet, a commentary on the music industry and social landscape heeding no sonic limits. It’s a surprise, then, when this turns out to be his slowest, emptiest record. There are good moments: ‘Demons’ has a creeping darkness to it that points at Mareaux, while ‘Days Go By’ seems more fleshed out in a Tame-Impalameets-The-Weeknd jaunt. But these moments are rare, with most of the record dedicated either to miniature interludes that feel unfinished or anonymous slow jams that blend into one another. That social commentary is light on substance too, with many of the lyrics being trite jabs at the system. This is an album with so little to say, and so much time to say it in, that it’s hard to finish. Perhaps if it had been pared down, and freed from the expectations of a triumphant return, it could have been more of a testament to the sublime producer that SBTRKT has proven himself to be in the past. (James Hickey) LISTEN: ‘Days Go By’

DEMOB HAPPY

Divine Machines (Liberator)

Steadily, over 10 years and two studio albums, Demob Happy have been polishing and cultivating their niche - metamorphosing their sonic fingerprint into a signature sound. On ‘Divine Machines’, there is a conscious, structured element to the trio’s songwriting, with just enough lemon-squeezed zest on top to make it uniquely engaging. Through rich power chords, multi-faceted vocal work, and a cohesion of riffs to both comfort and disrupt, ‘Divine Machines’ is a full-course meal of rock’n’roll. Take, for example ‘Voodoo Science’, which explodes into a burning and frenetic highspeed chase. Among the 11 carefully constructed tracks are moments of electric urgency, delicate piano, decadent guitar work, and a vocal range that always enhances the instrumentation instead of stealing the spotlight. While there is a parabolic sag through the middle of the record, ‘Divine Machines’ has enough octane to power on from start to finish. Not dissimilar to Arctic Monkeys refining their scrappy indie into slick stadium anthems, it’s the culmination of meticulous attention to detail 10 years in the making. Rather than innovating or charting new territory, Demob Happy have doubled down on their strengths: execution through simplification. (Sam Eeckhout) LISTEN: ‘Voodoo Science’

 WESTERMAN

An Inbuilt Fault (Partisan / Play It Again Sam)

A glance at the tracklisting or the artwork for Westerman’s second album should give you a sense of whether it’s for you: esoteric, unusual shapes and words that don’t offer meaning on an initial viewing matching the tone and timbre of the songs within. Opener ‘Give’ is the benchmark, with percussion that refuses to settle on a single rhythm, played under stormy and unresolved chords. These are hallmarks of the album, as are Westerman’s rich vocal harmonies, in the vein of Fleet Foxes, which provide contrasting lightness against the brooding jazz piano and trumpets. It’s only four songs in that ‘CSI: Petralona’ provides a firmer foundation, also being barer and more intense in its instrumentation. Similarly, the Paul Simon groove of ‘A Lens Turning’ is the lightest moment on the album, and even then finishes on intrigue rather than rest. The refusal to offer any safe ground to the listener is reminiscent of how Kate Bush or Joni Mitchell would hop genres; indeed, Westerman may be less accessible than either artist, but his latest is just as notable in its ambition. ‘An Inbuilt Fault’ is an acquired taste, but well worth the effort. (James Hickey) LISTEN: ‘Give’

Is it true you suffered with writer’s block after ‘Your Hero Is Not Dead’?

I think I got myself into a situation where I’d conflated two separate issues: one being songwriting, and the other being the commercial release of music. The first album came out during a strange time for everybody, but even before that, there’d been delays, and I think I conflated the bad experiences I had with the secondary part of making music with the actual process of writing songs. There was some emotional scar tissue there that I needed to get past.

Is that why you wrote a lot of ‘An Inbuilt Fault’ in Italy?

Actually, no. I was trying to get to Athens, where I live now, and I was moving there; I’d packed up all my instruments and decided I’d drive through Italy on the way, and spend a week with my dad, who lives there. A week turned into six months because of the pandemic. It was that last long lockdown over the winter of 2020 and 2021. I came out of it with plenty of ideas.

Was it difficult to open the songs up to other people afterwards? You worked with James Krivchenia from Big Thief…

No, I was very keen to take that leap, because I didn’t want it to be this precious, overly solipsistic thing. I wanted there to be a counterpoint, in the recording of the songs, to the way they were written, which was a very solitary thing; so I wanted the recording to be this communal thing, to have this living, breathing presentation.

Is that something that came out of some of the new nfluences on the record?

I think so, yeah. I was listening to a lot of free, improvisational stuff, a lot of Can, and I mean, improvisational jazz, that’s pretty much the sound of freedom, isn’t it? I think, with the situation I was in, I was probably looking for vehicles in the music to break out of my current reality. That’s where a lot of the choral stuff on the album came from, too: I was extremely drawn to the human voice, because I’d been so lacking in human interaction for so long. It’s definitely an album influenced by the experience of living through a strange moment.

The singer-songwriter tells Joe Goggins about opening up, travelling and finally overcoming writer’s block.

 ALEX LAHEY The Answer Is Always Yes (Liberation)

Through vivid storytelling and a series of brutally honest vignettes which paint her experiences growing up in a world not made for her, Alex Lahey’s third record, 'The Answer Is Always Yes’, delivers a youthful energy and buoyant wit not unlike the soundtrack of a coming-of-age film. Her signature flair for crafting dynamic, earworm melodies is demonstrated in force, yet there’s a sonic diversity that sets the album apart from its predecessors. Opener ‘Good Time’ is bright and humorous with a guitar-driven country pop melody, while ‘Congratulations’ is a grungier tongue-in-cheek number thanks to its Nirvana-esque guitars. And despite its slower, more melancholy feel, ‘The Sky is Melting’ tells a chaotic story of consuming too many weed gummies, while ‘Permanent’ is an acoustic song with a booming crescendo that sees Alex reflecting on the gentrification of her native Melbourne and the regression she felt moving back into her childhood home during the pandemic. ‘They Wouldn’t Let Me In’ is a particular stand out, mining the depths of her queer teenage years through menacing beatled instrumentals and quick-witted spoken word vocals, and the closing title track proves powerful, anthemic and cathartic – ending the album on an optimistic and feel-good note.

All in all, ‘The Answer Is Always Yes’ is a sardonic yet uplifting album that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Alex Lahey's songwriting has a real sincerity throughout, displaying her talent for diaristic storytelling as well as her use of humour. The result is a fun collection of melodically versatile songs, which celebrate the power that can be found in dwelling on the fringes. (Rebecca Kesteven) LISTEN:

‘They Wouldn't Let Me In’

ABSOLUTE (BEHIND THE) SCENES!

MANDY, INDIANA

i’ve seen a way (Fire Talk)

‘i’ve seen a way’ is Mandy, Indiana on their most adventurous sonic rampage yet. The album opens with laps of rushing water, the band punctuating their usual metallic noise with more organic sounds. The water fills every corner of the album’s soundscape, dribbling out into the pulsating ‘The Driving Rain (18)’. It runs through lo-fi recordings made deep in West Country caves, Gothic crypts; even into a field of Swiss cows, captured while drummer Alex Macdougall was hiking. Valentine Caufield’s chants pierce these calm moments, her frenetic native French considering everything from overthrowing fascists on ‘Peach Fuzz’ to twisted fairytale castles and queens on ‘2 stripe’. Though there’s a good chance we won’t understand what she’s saying, the band use the language to build their towering sonic texture. The album’s production is just as just as impressive as its sound – there are chaotic basslines, thumping experimental dance, lucid '80s synths; and in the most Mandy, Indiana fashion, screams recorded in a shopping centre in Bristol. ‘i’ve seen a way’ sees the band marching down their own path, and it's one worth following. (Mia Smith) LISTEN: ‘Peach Fuzz’

7EBRA Bird Hour (PNKSLM)

That ‘Bird Hour’ begins with a line delivered with such sweet sincerity that belies its angst (“Care more about / How I look than how I feel”) offers a window into 7ebra’s vibe from the off. Pairing folksy instrumentation - often sparse, largely revolving around minimalist, repetitive guitars - with grungy textures, the best moments here are when these combine with the existential nature of the duo’s lyrics and emotive vocals, which can turn from saccharine harmony to discordant contrast on a whim. Opener ’Secretly Bad’, the sullen ’Lean’ and expansive ‘Lighter Better’ are where this combines most pleasingly, the prickly guitar solo of the latter a deliciously unexpected counterpoint to the rest of the record. There are even hints of Wet Leg’s childishly sardonic naivety in ‘I Have A Lot To Say’: “I have a lot to say / Just not to your face / Your face really bugs me / I have to look away,” and the fade-out that ends ‘Wakey Wakey’ and the record entirely feels to be included with a wink. And yet, such is the difficulty of maintaining a limited palette over a full record. Its repetitions do become irritating - see ‘Born To Care’; the organ on ‘If I Ask Her’, the refrain of “Baby” on ‘I Like To Pretend’ and later, its cutesy organ. There’s a vibe here that 7ebra are more than adept at conveying, it could just do with a little more focus. (Bella Martin) LISTEN: ‘Lean’

OLIVIA JEAN

Raving Ghost (Third Man)

Though Detroit’s Olivia Jean might have frequented headlines most recently after marrying long-term mentor and Third Man label boss Jack White following an impromptu on-stage proposal last year, the musician’s canon of gothic garage rock is one that’s been building for over a decade now. ‘Raving Ghost’ - her third solo LP - acts as a comprehensive tour through the backwaters of ‘60s rock’n’roll (‘Fun’), melodrama (‘Ditch’), evil electric guitar incantations (‘Spider’) and prowling heavy psych on its title track. Every reference here is from at least 40 years ago (it is not hard to see what the newlyweds have in common), but across ‘Raving Ghost’ Jean treats the past like a delicious pick’n’mix from which to guzzle from. Don’t believe us? Just listen to ‘Orinoco Flow’, which takes Enya’s gauzy classic and reimagines it like a Runaways-style sassy anthem. Across its 11 tracks, ‘Raving Ghost’ finds impressive variety and fun: less a haunted relic of the past, and more a Halloweeny romp through it. (Lisa Wright) LISTEN: ‘I Need You’

In the studio with Alex Lahey as she records ‘The Answer Is Always Yes’.

I pulled apart my 12-string Rickenbacker to fix some electronics. Nothing got fixed but I did get this photo for my fellow nerds.

Late night vocal takes.

In the key of E at Oscar’s studio.

Sweet, kind John Castle and Clover in Coburg North.

My old studio in Brunswick that was above a metal venue. I wrote and recorded a bunch of shit here, including the entirety of ‘They Wouldn’t Let Me In’, under the watchful eye of Dolly Parton.

BROOKE COMBE

FEEL IT

HOLY MOLY & THE CRACKERS

SDF

FAVE

ALEXANDER STEWART

THE RUBENS

FEEL IT

STEPH STRINGS

NIKLAS PASCHBURG

ETHAN BORTNICK

LIME GARDEN

THE HEAVY HEAVY

OLD DIRTY BRASSTARDS:

BRITPOP ON BRASS

FEEL IT

THE COVASETTES

BLANCHE

KID BRUNSWICK

SOPHIE MAY

DESTIN CONRAD

FEEL IT

DESTIN CONRAD

THE SOUTH LONDON SOUL TRAIN

KYLE LIONHART

CLEOPATRICK

TINY HABITS

MNELIA

MIDLAKE BETH MCCARTHY

AMANDA SHIRES

FEEL

ALBUMS

 SIR CHLOE I Am The Dog (Atlantic)

Starting life as frontwoman Dana Foote’s university work and finding a mass audience via a viral TikTok moment, there’s much of Sir Chloe that’s decidedly 21st Century. Yet it’s the ‘90s to which most of debut ‘I Am The Dog’ looks: it’s grungy, it’s shoegazey, it’s weird. It’s not afraid to go off-piste. It’s full of guitar lines that are simultaneously super clean and gut-wrenching. Opening tracks ‘Should I’ and ‘Salivate’ are a bold introduction, offering up dirty riffs and slick hooks. Take a sharp right turn and ‘Center’ possesses a beautiful and gentle melody with a hint of surf-rock woven in. There’s another contrast in ‘Know Better’, a fantastic pop tune with both layers of cacophony and a hint of Wet Leg. Dana Foote’s vocals shine as the record progresses: ‘Obsession’ and title track ‘I Am The Dog’ feel warm and anthemic - the harmonies and piano switch-up on the latter a particular joy. Sir Chloe have perfectly grasped the entire concept of anticipation, building up and dropping out at the flick of a switch, never sticking to the status quo. A solid record. (Ross Carley) LISTEN:

‘Know Better’

 CHAIN OF FLOWERS

Never Ending Space (A L T E R)

 ISLAND OF LOVE Island of Love (Third Man)

There are three kinds of Marmite records. There’s the kind to garner extreme reactions either way, and then the distinctly mid, whereby it just exists. But this debut from Londoners Island of Love represents a third: there’s a distinctly specific group with which their part-jangle, part-punk indie rock will resonate and do so with utter finality. Think ‘90s slacker rock with a DIY punk aesthetic, or The Cribs at their least immediate via the kind of tempered sonic layering that circa-2010 breakthroughs Japandroids and Cloud Nothings were fond of, particularly on the riffs of ‘Never Understand’ or sluggish opener ‘Big Whale’ and the standout by far, the scrappy blast of energy that is ‘Fed Rock’. ‘Grow’ sounds like Pavement turned up to nine and showcases a cheekily chorus-friendly side (with added “wooh ooh oohs”) and an extended guitar solo that cuts through the haze –albeit a little too late. ‘I’ve Got The Secret’ shows up with a welcome scream to partially alleviate the tension. This record’s textures play to a very specific crowd, and to those not encircled within that Venn diagram, it can all feel as if it’s missing a final oomph. (Bella Martin)

LISTEN: ‘Fed Rock’

Art Attack

Guitarist and vocalist Karim Newble on his illustrated cover for ‘Island of Love’.

“While writing these songs, at no point was there a clear idea on what the visual should be. Coming from an extreme metal / hardcore background I’ve always paid my way drawing spiky things covered in blood and evil reapers. Island of Love artwork has always been a challenge for me because it forces me to think about the island as a real place, and what connotations come with it. Love to me represents more than just a warm cosy feeling, it’s taking a huge leap of faith; fighting against paranoia and insecurities and learning to share your life with people. I never wanted to display the island as a paradise, if an Island of Love exists it would be full of maniacs. In the foreground stands the band’s mascot, the monkey. He’s blissfully unaware of the world around him. Next to him stands a beautiful lady asking for a lighter, and behind them both looms a dark figure. The whole thing stands as a funny metaphor for paranoia and temptation. I wanted to try and stray from my usual style and pay homage to Michael Hurley on this one, however I did notice that the composition reads as a PG version of Snoop Dogg’s ‘Doggystyle’ as well.”

You might have been forgiven for wondering if we’d ever hear from this Welsh post-punk outfit again. They wore their influences on their sleeves on their lush self-titled LP in 2015 and then vanished. However, this long-awaited second record confirms they are alive, well, and still heavily indebted to the gothic indie rock stylings of the 1980s. They’ve never been coy about precisely where they take inspiration from - they are named, after all, after a Cure B-side. While the core palette remains similar to ‘Chain of Flowers’ on ‘Never Ending Space’ - rolling, tense percussion, brooding vocals from frontman Joshua Smith, and the kind of atmospheric chiming guitars that, in and of themselves, act as a musical byword for post-punk - they sought to expand it over two sessions in Hackney with Canadian punk stalwart Jonah Falco on production duties. He’s no stranger to helping punk outfits channel nervous energy into creative expansiveness, as somebody who has worked extensively with Fucked Up. Sure enough, Chain of Flowers broaden their horizons here, without ever barrelling wholesale into new territory - see the swells of brass introduced on ‘Praying Hands, Turtle Doves’, for instance, or the channeling of ambient forebears on the dreamy ‘Anomia’. The spoken word introduction to ‘Torcalon’ provides further evidence of progression, but while they do justice to their ‘80s heroes, they perhaps still lack the stylistic adventurousness of contemporaries like The Horrors or Preoccupations. (Joe Goggins)

LISTEN: ‘Anomia’

 MIYA FOLICK Roach

(Nettwerk)

Miya Folick’s 2018 debut ‘Premonitions’ doused a straightforward indie sound in colourful theatrics, a shift that retroactively, given the content of ‘Roach’, her long-awaited second record, looks a lot like escapism - but of what? In embracing buried insecurity Miya ditches happy-go-lucky pop perfectionism in favour of a bed of art-pop and calamitous, soft indie rock, where she scrawls in her journal until the scribbles make sense, and rolls around in relatable, guttural, tearful - and actually, incredibly liberating - self-loathing. Aside from its empowering frustration, its allure is in its profundity: as Miya seeks faith and direction on ‘Oh God’, builds a picture of shame and desperation on ‘Nothing To See’ and waxes lyrical on her indecisive existentialism on ‘2007’, she forges connection with her listeners. Like a hangover, ‘Roach’ lulls around in this contemplation in the dusky corners of a rough Sunday morning, yet it remains laced with a little intoxication: experimental production hides behind its corners, making ‘Roach’ a little more interesting. And elsewhere there exists moments where sunlight cracks through the drawn curtains: ‘So Clear’ is poppy fantasia that could well be a MUNA track, while pickme-up ‘Cartoon Clouds’ shakes away depression and soothes anxiety. Incredibly wise, Miya, with ‘Roach’, invites the listener to embrace untidy adulthood – namely, living as a woman in modernity – and push through whispering hungover epiphanies to (Otis Robinson) LISTEN: ‘So Clear’

Laced with a little intoxication.

EPS, ETC

 PRIMA QUEEN Not The Baby (Big Indie)

ComingUp

With just a scattering of releases so far, Prima Queen has thus far kept their cards close to their chest: vivid storytelling uniting songs that range from sparse rock to energetic country. Not much has changed on debut EP ‘Not The Baby’. 'Back Row' opens with beautiful harmonies over a driving backbeat, echoing Big Thief at their most insistent. By contrast, 'Crow' is withdrawn and vulnerable, using a broad palette of strings and trumpet to create a uniquely eerie atmosphere akin to Bon Iver. Given a project rather than a single, it seems the band are more willing to experiment with the range of their sound, although they still leave space for hook-led indie, best demonstrated on 'Dylan' and its cascading melodies. The joint lead vocals of Louise Macphail and Kristin McFadden are what shine throughout, and it's only in spite of this that ‘Not The Baby’ sometimes drifts into the pedestrian. But when Prima Queen are in their stride, they have so many moments to prove they can match great songwriting with bold choices. (James Hickey) LISTEN: ‘Dylan’

 LOLA YOUNG My Mind Wanders And Sometimes Leaves

Completely (Day One / Island)

In embracing established soul sensibilities from pop figures immemorial, Lola Young’s debut is remarkable in its ability to pull allure and anthem from emotional turmoil. At its best sits the sugary sweet ‘Revolve Around You’, ‘What Is It About Me’, a larger-than-life heartwrenching entry that screams Paloma Faith’s ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’, and ‘Chill Out’, undoubtedly a future hit. Its most unique moments include ‘Stream of Consciousness’ and viral TikTok track ‘Don’t Hate Me’, the former a street-wise musing on neuroses and the latter a plea for forgiveness from a dying relationship. It’s these more experimental tracks that end up the least memorable - or at least, in too little a quantity to have any larger impact. Homely and familiar in its sound for the most part, ‘My Mind Wanders…’ is a smooth ride of buttery emotional grandiosity and infectious London pop that sits somewhere between Paloma, Adele and Jess Glynne, with enough attitude and bravery to modernise these prevailing and reliable British tropes within soul-pop. (Otis Robinson) LISTEN: ‘Revolve Around You’

 LAMBRINI GIRLS

You’re Welcome (Big Scary Monsters)

A long-time staple of Brighton’s effervescent live scene, aiming (and succeeding) to build safe spaces at shows for those who feel like there isn’t room already, Lambrini Girls now offer debut EP ‘You’re Welcome’, a high energy barrage of noise that bursts with satire and fury. Vocalist Phoebe Lunny channels her anger when needed (the self-explanatorily-named ‘Terf Wars’), injects a hint of sarcasm when appropriate - “Hey mum, why don’t I have a boyfriend? Um… maybe it’s because I’m a lesbian,” she shouts on the record’s lead track, ‘Help Me, I’m Gay’ - and plays with toxic tropes in a manner closer to a stand-up comedian than punk singer. ‘White Van’ has her ramming the words of vehicular cat-callers back at them; ‘Boys in the Band’ highlights the conundrum of “separating art from the artist.” Here to make a difference, ‘You’re Welcome’ is a collection of songs destined to provide comfort to those who have ever felt invalidated or overlooked.

(Katie Macbeth) LISTEN: ‘White Van’

 BB SWAY How Will I Get There? (7476)

There’s a gorgeously warm sense of yearning and hope that rings throughout ‘How Will I Get There?’ - the latest from Hong Kongborn, London-based bb sway - that makes complete sense given the road on which it was written. Documenting the musician’s transition, opener ‘Everything You’ve Always Wanted’, with its angelic harmonies and cradling sense of care, is a genuinely moving thing; “Oh you know yourself, better than anyone else,” they sing. ‘To Be Honest With You’ brings in a more seductive, ‘60s lilt - all Bond melodrama and skittish percussion, while the EP’s title track is nostalgically inviting in the way that Willie J Healey does so well. It’s a dreamily old school approach to melody that runs throughout and comes to the fore acutely on closer ‘Leading Lady’, where finger-picked acoustic guitars and whistled sweetness leave little to hide behind. ‘How Will I Get There?’ shows an artist embracing their identity - personally and sonically - in ways that are hard not to love. (Lisa Wright)

LISTEN: ‘Everything You’ve Always Wanted’

 SPIDER Hell Or High Water (self-released)

‘HELL OR HIGH WATER’ might just be the perfect introductory statement. The fivetrack release shows SPIDER as an artist able to offer both huge pop moments and confessional balladry, presenting it all through a lens of gnarly guitars and delightfully clanging industrial noise: think the fearlessness of ‘70s punk experimentation; MIA had she grown up on Linkin Park and Nine Inch Nails instead of ‘80s hip hop. “Oooooh,” the Irish newcomer delivers with only the level of eye-rolling sarcasm someone raised fully online could call on, “Why are you so scared?” She knows the answer - she just wants the quiet part said out loud. From scratchy opener ‘AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL’ to the mid-noughties calling ‘FUCK EVERYONE FUCK EVERYTHING’, there’s the palpable sense of ambition, not least on the stellar ‘WHY WOULD I BOTHER’, with its crunchy, grunge-influenced guitars, begging for an epic festival tent moment, such is its scope. Better yet, though, the EP’s somewhat scrappy style owes itself to not chasing perfection: and if SPIDER is this great while not afraid to still be finding her feet, who knows what she’s capable of?

(Emma Swann) LISTEN: ‘WHY WOULD I BOTHER’

DO NOTHING - SNAKE SIDEWAYS

The Nottingham quartet’s long-awaited debut is set for release on 30th June.

GRIAN CHATTENCHAOS FOR THE FLY

The Fontaines DC frontman’s debut solo outing is set for release on 30th June.

KILLER MIKEMICHAEL

The Run The Jewels star, activist and TV host’s new solo record is out 16th June.

MAXIMO PARK . EVERYTHING EVERYTHING THE BIG MOON . THE BETHS . LIME CORDIALE

GENGAHR . PILLOW QUEENS

STAGE

CRAWLERS CMAT LÅPSLEY

BROOKE COMBE . PANIC SHACK

AFFLECKS PALACE . DEADLETTER . DOLORES FOREVER . ENOLA GAY

KINGFISHR . LOW HUMMER . MODERNLOVE. . OPUS KINK . PRIMA QUEEN

PSYMON SPINE . ROSE GRAY

LIVE PARAMORE

O2 Arena, London. Photos: Zachary Gray.

Only five years have passed but a lot has changed since Paramore last graced this stage back in 2018. Aside from the obvious, whether or not the band would ever actually return was up for question during an indefinite break that began later that same year. It’s that energy, though, that makes their return tonight - and the rest of their UK tour as a whole - so special.

With proceedings opened by Rozi Plain - “Rozi Plain is my new favourite artist in the world,” guitarist Taylor York told us in our cover feature earlier this year - and Bloc Party - one of the main named influences behind latest record ‘This Is Why’ - there’s already a sense that Paramore are taking the reins of who they are today in every sense, even before they themselves step on stage. And by the time they do, the atmosphere in the arena is at fever pitch: the opening one-two of 'This Is Why' numbers ‘You First’ and ‘The News’ are transformed into cathartic anthems, before the dizzying endorphin rush of early career cut ‘That’s What You Get’ kicks in and the room explodes.

Introductions to their wider band - guitarist Brian Robert Jones, keyboardist Logan MacKenzie, bassist Joey Howard and percussionist Joey Mullen - are made early on by ringleader Hayley Williams (“Hayley, Miss Williams, if ya naaaasty!” she drawls) and declarations of gratitude to their gathered “Paramore family” are said loudly and often. Quickly, the sense that Paramore have never been tighter as a unit - or more comfortable in their own skin - is abundantly clear. Even their stage set-up crackles with an intimate energy, more akin to a practice room than the backdrop for playing in front of 20,000 people.

This gang mentality even helps inform the setlist itself: swerving giddily through different eras, it’s peppered with both an outing from Hayley’s solo album (the haunting ‘Crystal Clear’) and a new track from drummer Zac Farro’s Halfnoise, which sees the band head into full-on jam mode, swapping instruments and bouncing around the stage to the psychedelic ‘60s-ish video montage. Throughout the tour, new tracks are added and moved around the setlist, giving the classic arena show formula a sense of refreshing, effervescent glee: tonight, longtime fan favourite ‘I Caught Myself’ reemerges, with a wink and nod from Hayley to their fans asking online. There’s little preciousness here, with fans from across their career - whether it’s their first time, or 30th seeing the band - getting an equal share of the joyful catharsis offered up.

Refreshing, effervescent, cathartic.

From Hayley’s infectious Debbie Harry-meets-Karen O energy during any ‘After Laughter’ tracks, through to the potent sonics of new album highlights ‘Crave’ and ‘This Is Why’ via the “reclaiming” of older tracks such as ‘The Only Exception’ and ‘Misery Business’, theirs is a show that manages to be playful and powerful in equal measure. Tonight Paramore prove that they may have been through a lot over their past twenty years as a band, but they - as a trio, a wider band, the collective Paramore family - are all the stronger for it. (Sarah

Jamieson)

ELTON JOHN

More than 60 years into one of the most storied careers in music history, there is little left to be said about Elton John that hasn’t already been said. Embarking on an elongated - and long-delayed - farewell tour as he brings his stage life to a close, the music on offer this evening is ingrained in the cultural fabric of society; even an outer space dweller probably knows ‘Rocket Man’ by now.

What sets this tour apart from the countless others that Elton has performed over the years, however, is the tangible sense of finality. Frequently standing up from his piano to walk the width of the stage and lap up the adoration, with a huge ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ sign topping the rainbow banner around its perimeter, the applause feels longer and louder than your average show. By the time he reaches a latter-set ‘I’m Still Standing’complete with a career-spanning and genuinely moving video montage - the reminder that you’re in the presence of a truly iconic one-off is impossible to miss. Where the enormous video screen helps to foster the atmosphere during moments such as these, the first portion of the set sees some more bizarre visual choices. A series of early videos played during ‘I Guess It’s Why They Call It The Blues’ and ‘Tiny Dancer’ come across like a Gap advert or a trailer for a completely unrelated film. It’s a wildly distracting choice considering you really don’t need any extra whistles and bangs to elevate some of the greatest

songs of all time, but thankfully they don’t last long. Far more entertaining, meanwhile, is Elton’s moving piano, which pootles across the stage on what we can only presume is a tiny train track. Coupled with the legend’s rhinestone-emblazoned tailcoat (which he later swaps for a pink satin kimono), it’s a cheeky bit of camp that feels entirely in keeping with his legacy - as well as allowing all sides of the audience to get a glimpse of the man up close.

There are moments of atmosphere-building scene setting throughout. Ahead of ‘Rocket Man’, the screen counts us down to launch; after ‘Candle in the Wind’ (the original Marilyn Monroe version), the stage is pumped with dry ice as stormy sound effects ring around the arena. During rollocking 1970 track ‘Take Me To The Pilot’, a video of red-soaked, animated zombies on a rampage amps up the energy. By the time Elton hits a final third of pure hit after hit, however, there’s nothing else needed to keep the crowd on their feet. ‘The Bitch is Back’, ‘Crocodile Rock’, ‘Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting’ - it might only be a Wednesday, but it’s still a knockout.

Returning for the encore with recent Dua Lipa collaboration ‘Cold Heart’, after which he professes his excitement at scoring a Number One single in his seventies, Elton concludes with a final ‘Your Song’ and, of course, ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’. His final trick? An inadvertently hilarious exit via a stairlift that slowly retreats into the back of the stage. Wildly entertaining, unexpected and a just a little bit silly - it’s the perfect way for Elton John to go. (Lisa

Wright)

O2 Arena, London. Photos: Ben Gibson.

Oozing with potential.

THE LAST DINNER PARTY

Hype, as we all know, can be a fickle mistress, and there’s no band on the receiving end of it right now more than this London quintet. Having built up a genuine word-of-mouth buzz based on a string of early live shows, in the past six months the machine around the band has become notably big, notably fast. Last week, after months of increasing anticipation, they finally dropped debut single ‘Nothing Matters’, the hubbub in indie circles akin to Rihanna’s R9 finally coming through.

Which is all to say that, headlining their first London show since the release at a sold out Camden Assembly tonight, there’s a lot of pressure on the group not to fuck it up. Sporting a leotard emblazoned with

‘When The Fuck Is The First Dinner Party?’, frontwoman Abigail Morris is a magnetically confident mistress of ceremonies, bending and twirling dramatically between her four bandmates spaced out evenly on the front line. Haters will undoubtedly point out that her between-song chat is as well-spoken and, let’s cut to the chase, posh as a formal elocution lesson. But the difference here is that The Last Dinner Party aren’t hiding their pedigree; theming the gig as ‘A Night At the Opera’, and with a vibe that’s Baudelaire-meets-Bridgerton, everything about the band is based in excess, lavishness, theatre.

Though the bare lights that greet opener ‘Burn Alive’ jar with the drama of the track (things are soon rectified and the rest of the set is buoyed by red and orange hues), it’s obvious from the off that, underneath the highbrow reference points, there are good old-fashioned hooks and melodies.

‘Beautiful Boy’ finds the band bathed in blue over tender harmonies that then explode into operatic drama; ‘Gjuha’ sees keyboard player Aurora Nishevci take the lead for a finger-picked song sung in Albanian; following track ‘Simmer’, by contrast is a glammy romp complete with unapologetic riffs and mosh pit potential.

Best of the lot is penultimate track ‘My Lady of Mercy’, which hops between syncopated Sparks-ian idiosyncrasies and a huge, heavy, gnarly rock opera of a chorus. It’s a genuinely original tune that sounds like little else around. They end with debut single ‘Nothing Matters’, currently celebrating its “one week anniversary” since release. You wouldn’t even get a paper gift for that length of relationship, and yet the front portion of the crowd are decked out in their finery, themed and throwing their arms around the band like longstanding loves.

The Last Dinner Party are still pleasingly ramshackle beneath the visible ambition. With expectation for them sky high, it’s hard to know whether these songs can ‘do a Wet Leg’ or if the buzz will backfire. But tonight’s set is undoubtedly oozing with potential: as long as they can keep their heads among the chaos, there’s no reason why this evening shouldn’t be the first big party of many.

(Lisa Wright)

MENT

While ostensibly a showcase for artists, there’s a decent argument to be made for MENT - now in its ninth year - to be a showcase for Ljubljana itself, from the Kino Šiška (a 1960s-built cinema turned arts venue) to the cluster of sweaty rooms at Metelkova (military barracks turned squat turned cultural centre).

First up at Kino Šiška’s cavernous Katedrala on Wednesday are Estonian duo Puulup. While there’s such a twinkle in the pair’s eyes when they tell us all their material is about cross-country skiing that it’s impossible to work out quite how truthful they’re being, they mix folk sounds – including the use of the talharpa - with the modern, looping and at one point almost rapping alongside the more placid textures.

Following them downstairs at Komuna, Latvians Nesen take all the intricate texturing that is by now a staple of postrock – the push and pull, build and release – and inject occasional jolts of techno-inspired synths and pummelling drums to mesmerising effect.

There’s already a group of fans huddled at the front for Croatian Fran Vasilić on Thursday evening at Katedrala, and it doesn’t take long to see why: take the spaced-out vibe of Mac DeMarco and infuse it with the pop sensibilities of Bleachers and you’d be somewhere in the vicinity, particularly on the immediate ‘Hypotheticals’. Next there’s something more familiar, as Wu-Lu bring an identifiably British sound to the now-packed room –despite a series of technical issues.

Heading into the city centre and the colourful hub of Metelkova, Dutch outfit Global Charming’s take on post-punk is more 2008 than 2018 – the bassline is funky, while keys add to their playful onstage vibe – but it’s all quite fun. Following them in Channel Zero are curiously-named Czech-Slovak trio, Sam Handwich. As synths fill Channel Zero’s tiny stage, it’s like watching three Fred again..’s (Fred again, again, again?).

While torrential downpours will later subdue Metelkova to festivalgoers hiding

under the site’s many curious sculptures, Friday begins at the seated Stara Mestna Elektrarna with Slovenians 3:rma. With a clear influence from ‘70s folk there’s also a hint of ‘50s Hollywood to the harmonies, the duo augmented to a trio on stage with an additional vocalist. It’s then a musical 180 at iamyank. Flanked by two live drummers, the Hungarian producer combines ambient and heavy with an intensity that belies the often understated noise: think HEALTH at their most ambient. Given that the interior of Cukrarna could be a Pet Shop Boys album sleeve or an entry in the Factory Records’ catalogue, you’d think it’d prove ideal for PVA’s hypnotic rhythms. Unfortunately, between the wide, shallow stage creating a gulf between Ella Harris and Josh Baxter, impossibly high ceiling and foyer-style nature of the space – things never really feel like they get going as they should.

The Club Gromka stage is so darkly lit for Italian outfit Lazzaretto that the band themselves are using iPhones to see what they’re doing - and what they’re doing is lulling the rain-soaked audience into a hypnotic, dream pop trance so effective that, when they shout, multiple people in the room are startled with a visible jolt. The quiet-loud dynamic isn’t quite as marked for Just Mustard across the courtyard at Gala Hala, meanwhile, though their lush soundscapes have a queue snaking out the door in the still-pouring rain. Inside, it’s probably business as usual for the Irish band, but the jam-packed room is instantly compelled.

The intention for events like this is discovery, and Estonian manna is the standout from the festival in this regard. She’s definitively post-Billie – see latest track ‘BRAND NEW’ for evidence of her dark pop, combining industrial beats and erratic vocal delivery. But with a fledgling identity that’s as much ‘00s nu-metal and (even if only because of the shirt and tie she’s sporting tonight) Avril Lavigne, too, there’s a spark; even on the tiny Channel Zero stage, manna has a presence that suggests there’s far more to come. (Emma Swann)

Camden Assembly, London. Photo: Jamie MacMillan.

Various venues, Ljubljana. Photos: Emma Swann.

WU-LU

VENUE: SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE

I don’t live too far and I’ve seen some of my favourite gigs there: Björk, Radiohead, Feist, Mark Ronson... There’s a little area in front of the main seats on the balcony that’s free-standing, but a lot of people don’t realise you can stand there. My sister and I have watched loads of gigs standing there; you get a great view and there’s a little ledge you can sit on if you need to.

OPENER: DAVID BOWIE

I’d like vintage Bowie to open because it’s quite nice going on a bit earlier and then he’s done for the night and he can just hang out and dance. In the ‘70s, he used to do this thing of being carried through the crowd in these amazing outfits, and that would be such a spectacle. Maybe it would be around the ‘Hunky Dory’ or ‘Aladdin Sane’ era, when he’s being really experimental. I want make-up and proper flamboyant outfits, and to see him being just super confident and inhabiting the stage.

HEADLINER: FLEETWOOD MAC

Sadly we don’t have Christine McVie with us anymore but this is my fantasy so she’s here. I saw Fleetwood Mac once and it was one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen so I want that again. I saw them at The O2 before but this is at Shepherd’s Bush so even better. Everybody loves ‘Rumours’ so that can be represented, but my personal favourite is ‘Tango In The Night’ so lots of that please.

DJS: SARA COX AND JO WHILEY

I watch a lot of gigs and sometimes you just wanna be able to dance without having to keep an eye on what’s going on. I want a real party set with ‘90s/’00s nostalgia - everything from Blur to Daft Punk to PJ Harvey and Garbage; an indie disco but with some dance and pop elements.

Sara Cox or Jo Whiley would be good at that and they could take turns. I just wanna dance because I don’t get enough wild abandon these days - it’s in short supply.

WHO ARE YOU GOING WITH?

Just all my friends and family; my brother lives around the corner from the venue. We can have some cocktails - maybe it’s margarita night so we can have a few of them to keep the energy up.

WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?

I’d make a bit more of an effort, maybe a cute vintage dress, but I won’t go fully out to town because I’m not performing. A comfortable, zip-up frock and a low heel that I can dance in - a ‘60s patent heel with a buckle maybe.

IS THERE AN AFTERPARTY?

If it’s a good night then you want to keep it going. We could hang out at the bar at the venue for a bit, but then after that we might as well come back here. My husband makes good cocktails and we’ve got a disco ball, laser machine, smoke machine, CD decks and all that so we can properly go for it if that’s the mood.

In my fantasy, the kids are sleeping really well so they don’t wake up when we’re chatting and putting on music - and I also want a lie-in where I don’t have to wake up until 10.30 or 11am.

ANY OTHER REQUESTS?

I’d like to realise when I’m watching the gig that I’m next to Tina Fey and her other half, and Paul Rudd and his other half, and we just get on like a house on fire. They come back and that’s how our friendship begins.

A once-in-a-lifetime dream gig, designed and curated this month by… pop legend

Sophie Ellis Bextor’s new album ‘HANA’ is out 2nd June via Cooking Vinyl. DIY

TEMPS

With support from Crosstown Doughnuts. Limited free tickets available via Dice