London In Stereo // Shygirl

BETH ROWLEY

RALFE BAND

ROE

London 01 | 12 | 19

London 29 | 01 | 20

London 26 | 02 | 20

Moth Club

Sebright Arms

The Waiting Room

SOEUR

SALVATION JAYNE

London 03 | 12 | 19

London 01 | 02 | 20

The Black Heart

Old Blue Last

FENNE LILY

HIBOU

London T 04 | 12OU | 19 SOLD

London 01 | 02 | 20

Sebright Arms

THE HOLD STEADY

Electric Ballroom

London 06 | 03 | 20 - 07 | 03 | 20

THE HOLD STEADY

Sebright Arms

Bush Hall

AMYL & THE SNIFFERS

GEIKE

KID KAPICHI

The Underworld

St Pancras Old Church

London T 05 | 12OU | 19 SOLD

London 05 | 02 | 20

SNOW PATROL

KANO

London 08 | 03 | 20

Moth club London 11 | 03 | 20

THE CAT EMPIRE

The Drumshed

O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

London T 05 | 12OU | 19 SOLD

London T OU 07 | 02 | 20 SOLD

London 12 | 03 | 20

AMYL & THE SNIFFERS

SETH LAKEMAN

JAMIE CULLUM

Royal Albert Hall

Studio 9294

London T - 07 LD T 06 | 12OU | 19 | 19 SOLD SO | 12OU

THE TELESCOPES Shacklewell Arms London 12 | 12 | 19

THE DISTRICTS Old Blue Last London 15 | 01 | 20

INME

Boston Music Rooms London 26 | 01 | 20

THE BELLRAYS Oslo

London 26 | 01 | 20

Southwark Cathedral

Palladium

London 12 | 02 | 20

London T 18 03OU | 20 SO|LD

THE MENZINGERS

JAMIE CULLUM

London 15 | 02 | 20

ASH

EVIL SCARECROW

London 27 | 03 | 20

London 16 | 02 | 20

Roundhouse

Palladium London 19 | 03 | 20

O2 Forum Kentish Town

Roundhouse

Electric Ballroom

SEASICK STEVE London 04 | 04 | 20

LANA DEL REY

AGNES OBEL

The O2

Eventim Apollo

London 25 | 02 | 20

DADDY LONG LEGS

London 09 | 04 | 20

Paper Dress Vintage London 25 | 02 | 20

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P R E S E N T S

OUT FRIDAYSO 06 LDDECEMBER EXTRA DATE ADDED DUE TO DEMAND

SAT 07 DECEMBER 2019

O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON LONDON

X

X

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH X-RAY

CELEBRATING THE 10th ANNIVERSARY OF

WEDNESDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2020

N IO CT TSED DU EEASGHTS O KL I PR C E H N R TJIUSOTR BOT + F

TO LOSE MY LIFE

O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE

SATURDAY 14 DECEMBER 2019

BRIXTON ELECTRIC LONDON

LONDON

RAZORLIGHTOFFICIAL.COM

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH PARADIGM AGENCY

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH PRIMARY TALENT INTERNATIONAL

Saturday 15 February 2020

Eventim Apollo London

by arrangement with Free Trade Agency

T I C K E T S AVA I L A B L E F R O M

SEETICKETS.COM - GIGANTIC.COM EVENTIM.CO.UK - TICKETMASTER.CO.UK - DICE.FM

BEST OF 2019

SHARON VAN ETTEN - REMIND ME TOMORROW

BON IVER - i,i

WHITNEY - FOREVER TURNED AROUND

ANGEL OLSEN - ALL MIRRORS

SHURA - FOREVHER

KEVIN MORBY - OH MY GOD

AVAILABLE FROM ALL GOOD RECORD SHOPS NOW!

welcome

KESHA

It's that time of year again! The unbearable album-list-saturated, Spotify-Wrappedsharing, 'my-opinion-is-better-than-yours' time of the year.

Mostly, I'm not a huge fan of these things, so our content is focused on celebrating: We’re celebrating the tracks we've really loved this year that might have been missed (though, let's face it, no-one missed 'Old Town Road'), and celebrating all the acts we're super excited about for 2020. Shygirl is absolutely killing it already and there's no way 2020 won't be huge year for her, I'm so excited to have her on the cover. You'll also find there's an eclectic mix of dance, pop, rap and lo-fi artists in there, head over to our Spotify and stick on the playlists to find the ones you're in to.

It's such a privilege to be able to share all these things we love, I just hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

See you in the new year, here's to a great one and Epstein didn’t kill himself.

STAFF ON REPEAT

the music we can’t stop listening to this month Jess: Kesha - Raising Hell Dave: Banoffee - Tennis Fan Loki: Mura Masa - Deal Wiv It (ft. slowthai) Danny: Joy Overmono - Bromley Gemma: Billie Eilish - Everything I Wanted Kezia: Sega Bodega - U Suck Katie: Jubilee - Disconnected Jack: Emily Yacina - Bleachers London in Stereo: 07

contents NEW SOUNDS 2020 13-43

WHAT’S ON

SHYGIRL

48

BEABADOOBEE

60

OTHA, CELESTE

GIGS OF THE MONTH

62

ARLO PARKS & MORE

EVENTS

FULL DECEMBER /

JANUARY LISTINGS

FEATURES 46

TRACKS OF THE YEAR 85

THOUGHTS...

REVIEWS 52

ALBUM RELEASES 80

LIVE

Shygirl cover story: page 14

Editor: Jess Partridge jess@instereomag.com

Deputy Editor: Dave Rowlinson dave@instereomag.com

Online Editor: Kezia Cochrane kezia@instereomag.com

Festival/Clubs Editor: Katie Thomas katie@instereomag.com

Sub-Editor: Loki Lillistone loki@instereomag.com

New Sounds Editor: Gemma Samways

Staff Writers: Danny Wright, Jack Urwin

Advertising: sales@londoninstereo.co.uk

Photography: Shygirl cover story: Jenn Five (jennfive.com) Contributors: Geoff Cowart, Georgia Evans, Rachel Finn, Thomas Hannan, Jon Kean, Charlotte Krol, Georgia Marsh, Stephanie Phillips, Ari Sawyer, Harriet Taylor, Lee Wakefield. londoninstereo.com

@londoninstereo

London in Stereo: 09

IN THE ROUND

23 JANUARY – 1 FEBRUARY 2020 JORGE DREXLER • BADLY DRAWN BOY ALICE RUSSELL • KOKOROKO JOHN GRANT • FATOUMATA DIAWARA ANAIS MITCHELL • BEVERLEY KNIGHT MORE ACTS TO BE ANNOUNCED INTIMATE SEATED SHOWS THAT PUT YOU CLOSER TO THE MUSIC

GOLDENVOICE, AMPLIFIRE, PARADIGM AND HEAVENLY/PIAS PRESENTS

LONDON 17 APRIL 2020 O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN

GOLDENVOICE.CO.UK • AXS.COM • DICE.FM • TICKETWEB.UK

PAROV STELAR

TENNIS SYSTEM + LAPYEAR + MORALE

+ SNEAKBO + AMBUSH + MS. BANKS + TINY BOOST

GIGGS

DONAE’O

WED 04 DECEMBER

THU 05 DECEMBER

FRI 06 DECEMBER

SUN 08 DECEMBER

HOUSE LANCEY FOUX OF PHARAOHS

SINEAD HARNETT PETROL GIRLS

+ CATCHING FLIES

O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON

PAPER DRESS VINTAGE

THE SSE ARENA, WEMBLEY

+ JAZ KARIS

TUE 17 DECEMBER

THU 16 JANUARY

O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON

O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE

THE MOWGLI’S

ANGELICA GARCIA MODEL MAN

SUN 08 DECEMBER

OSLO

VILLAGE UNDERGROUND

070 SHAKE MON 20 JANUARY

VILLAGE UNDERGROUND

CAITLYN SCARLETT

THU 30 JANUARY

WED 05 FEBRUARY

+ CAT BURNS SAT 08 FEBRUARY

MURA MASA

BERHANA

THE MARCUS KING BAND

THE ESTEVANS

THU 20 FEBRUARY

MON 24 FEBRUARY

TUE 25 FEBRUARY

THU 27 FEBRUARY

THE HUBBARDS

HOTEL LUX

FRANC MOODY DREAM IN COLOUR TOUR

TNGHT

THU 23 JANUARY

THE CAMDEN ASSEMBLY

R.Y.C WORLD TOUR 2020

ALEXANDRA PALACE

THU 27 FEBRUARY

THE WAITING ROOM

PAPER DRESS VINTAGE

VILLAGE UNDERGROUND

TUE 03 MARCH

THE WAITING ROOM

STUDIO 9294

ELECTRIC BALLROOM

THU 05 MARCH

O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE

THE GRACE

METROPOLIS MUSIC & THIS FEELING PRESENTS

THE CAMDEN ASSEMBLY

MON 16 MARCH

VILLAGE UNDERGROUND

VISIT METROPOLISMUSIC.COM FOR TICKETS + TO SIGN UP FOR LATEST ANNOUNCEMENTS

the 15 acts we think are going to rule the next 12 months

London in Stereo: 13

words: Emma Madden styling: Shygirl photography: Jenn Five

S hyg irl “Like Picasso had his blue period, this is my Shygirl period...”

round twenty years ago, Shygirl went to Woolworths to buy her first CD. After exchanging pocket money, she arrived home with Ultrabeat’s ‘Pretty Green Eyes’, the result of her natural predilection for club music, and the fact it spun on rotation on the music channel her parents regularly played. “They definitely weren’t into Eurotrash like I was,” she says.

While Woolworths, CDs and Ultrabeat have since become antique, after DJing under her chosen sobriquet, her pash for the club has been fully realised. Despite only having the same years of experience as Ultrabeat have had hits, she’s swiftly become one of the underground’s most in-demand singers and spitters. Her ability to cut and run alongside a beat with terse, imperious lyrics has attracted some of the scene’s very best, with the likes of Arca and SOPHIE hitting up Shy’s hotline.

London in Stereo: 15

“I’ve always been myself and I can’t change me...”

Her stage name is more aesthetic than it is descriptive. The sangfroid and effortlessly assertive way in which she delivers lines like “You feel that? That’s me bitches!” doesn’t come from practice, it comes from her core: “Even when I was bullied in primary school, I stood up for myself.”

Shy’s general erudition is immediately obvious (she was a studious kid, and her secondary school’s head girl), but it’s her emotional intelligence that’s most enviable.

Self-reliance and self-ownership seem to be the central tenets of her life; she takes care to know herself before reaching out to know (or love) anyone else. “I’ve always had that feeling,” she says. “It’s more like finding the right words and being able to understand how you’ve always felt, and actually being able to talk about it – having a knowledge of what you’ve always been. I’ve always been myself and I can’t change me.”

She didn’t exactly find herself in her first club experiences. After years of attending house parties and underage drinking with friends on Blackheath’s green, she discovered the disappointment that many teenagers face on their eighteenth birthday – that clubbing and legal partying isn’t actually all it was chalked up to be. “I never really liked the standard clubbing scene because it was quite hetero, whether or not I was aware of that, it just was not my vibe.”

It wasn’t until she started studying at Bristol University that she found her “tribe”.

Switching between weekdays in lectures and weekends back in London, where she worked as a photographer’s assistant, she fell in with a group of creatives who were all “pushing for their passions”. Having been used to popularity at school, Shy admits to being “the type of person who easily assimilates”. Now she’s met her people, she no longer has to be so malleable. “When you find people you truly connect with, it’s such a nice feeling.”

She’s found that other queer people are more likely to share her values. “Knowing yourself, taking the time to find yourself; to feel different and to pursue that different-ness, is a quality that we really share between us in the community.” The bonds she’s made there have offered her and her friends a vital alternative to the heteropatriarchy outside their queer oasis.

“It’s not just friends. Most people in the community aren’t even in touch with their family because they’ve been disowned. So, our friendship group is a lot tighter because we rely on each other very differently. I am lucky enough that I come from a very liberal family, but I still have a feeling of otherness from my family. I think most people do.

People can’t grow up to be exactly like their parents. Finding people who you share the otherness with is really nice.”

London in Stereo: 17

“We are vulnerable. No matter what bravado you put on, you just are...”

For her, a couple of those people include producer and frequent Shygirl collaborator, Sega Bodega, as well as singer Coucou Chloe, both of whom belong to Shy’s Nuxxe Collective, which she describes as “an incubator for new talent and what we see and enjoy”.

The collective helped to launch her own music career, which she landed on almost by accident. Around two years ago, she began casually experimenting with Sega, taking vocal jabs to his beat as they created a “natural call and response” together. While music was never something she “thought of doing consciously”, now she feels as though her “creativity is finally in the right place”.

Music “feels like the real thing,” she says. “It almost feels therapeutic.”

Rather than recording under her own name – “which would come with its own set of implications and prejudices” – her persona has offered an empty space which she can fill with ideas and work. “Like Picasso had his blue period, this is my Shygirl period,” she explains.

That period – which is still only germinating – has exercised her most commanding side.

Across the EP and few singles she’s released so far, the listener is often positioned as the scumbag bro who Shygirl wants to fuck, but doesn’t give a fuck about. She calls out orders in deadpan, as though there’s no alternative to getting what she wants: Bend to her whims and (metaphorical) whip, or she’ll have no time for you. “I’m not out to waste my day,” she intones on ‘Gush’.

While Shy finds that “most people across the board find it hard to talk about sex”, sometimes even using it as a way to “justify their prejudice against queer people”, sex has offered Shy a handy metaphor to make sense of the power relations between her and others. “It’s helped me to discover what I am and am not comfortable with. Because we are vulnerable. No matter what bravado you put on, you just are,” she says.

Ultimately, she’s playing with everyone’s favourite subjects: sex and violence. But often, the two get confused. “The terminology is sexual, but actually, what im talking about isn’t sexual at all. I’ve pulled words that are used in drill songs, but because it’s me saying it, people just assume that I’m talking about sex.”

“Female artists get criticised for talking about sex, but it’s something we have difficulty talking about, so why wouldn’t we try to? It addresses a lot of shame. I’ve noticed that a lot of decisions people make are based around the shame people feel about themselves. Sex to me is the first thing I think you should use to be yourself.”

Until everyone else learns to catch up, Shy intends to just “keep putting out really good music” as she figures out plans for the forthcoming year. “I have so many ideas for how I keep wanting to introduce myself. I feel like every song is another introduction, another way of saying ‘hello, this is me’, because I’m still finding out so much about myself.”

BB @0800shygirl

@0800shygirl

Space 289, March 12th, 2020 London in Stereo: 19

LYVES MON 2 DECEMBER

AVI KAPLAN TUE 28 & WED 29 JANUARY

SCARYPOOLPARTY

DERMOT KENNEDY MON 2 & TUE 3 DECEMBER

DAUGHTER OF SWORDS WED 29 JANUARY

MARTHAGUNN

DUNE RATS WED 4 DECEMBER

BRUNO MAJOR WED 29 & THU 30 JANUARY EARTH

DERMOT KENNEDY

COREY HARPER TUE 10 DECEMBER

RICHARD FAIRLIE TUE 11 FEBRUARY

RATIONALE

HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER TUE 10 DECEMBER

ROMAN LEWIS FRI 14 FEBRUARY

JAKE ISAAC

SAM FENDER TUE 10 & WED 11 DECEMBER

FRIEDBERG THU 5 MARCH THE WAITING ROOM

LILLA VARGEN

THE PAPER KITES SUN 15 DECEMBER

MICHAEL KIWANUKA THU 5 MARCH

IDA MAE

OUTLYA MON 16 DECEMBER

PATRICK WATSON FRI 6 MARCH

SEA GIRLS

CORSICA STUDIOS

EVENTIM APOLLO

THE GARAGE

THE WAITING ROOM

VILLAGE UNDERGROUND

O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON

ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL

THE LEXINGTON

KOKO WED 22 JANUARY

THE WAITING ROOM

THE LONE BELLOW WED 22 & THU 23 JANUARY ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH

SARAH PROCTOR THU 23 JANUARY KANSAS SMITTY’S

THE TESKEY BROTHERS THU 23 JANUARY

O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE

OMEARA

ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH

THE WAITING ROOM

COURTYARD THEATRE

O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON

O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON

MOSA WILD WED 11 MARCH SCALA

HIGHLY SUSPECT WED 18 MARCH

ELECTRIC BALLROOM

SEAFRET WED 18 MARCH

O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE

ZIGGY ALBERTS SAT 21 MARCH ROUNDHOUSE

TUE 24 MARCH SCALA

THU 2 APRIL COURTYARD THEATRE

FRI 3 APRIL ALEXANDRA PALACE

THU 9 APRIL O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE

WED 15 APRIL BUSH HALL

WED 15 APRIL OMEARA

WED 22 APRIL BUSH HALL

THU 23 APRIL ROUNDHOUSE

LEIF VOLLEBEKK MON 27 & TUE 28 APRIL BUSH HALL

THE LONE BELLOW TUE 5 MAY EARTH

MICHAEL KIWANUKA FRI 27 NOVEMBER ALEXANDRA PALACE

SUMMER

@celeste

@celeste

O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, April 29th

Celeste words: Katie Thomas

photo: Mia Clark

istening to Celeste’s most recent single, ‘Strange’, you might notice her voice has an unfamiliar husk to its tone. It’s because she recorded the project in Los Angeles, whilst the air was heavy with the smoke from nearby wildfires. A poignant, piano-led ballad that was selected as Annie Mac’s ‘Hottest Record’ in early September, ‘Strange’ was inspired by the devastation of those fires, and the new, uncomfortable feeling of interacting with your ex as if they were a stranger.

Celeste Waite is 24 years old. Born in Los Angeles, the British/Jamaican singersongwriter lived there until she was three, before moving to Essex with her mum, and later settling in Brighton: a vibrant creative hub, where she still finds comfort in being beside the ocean. Waite grew up listening to a soundtrack of soul legends – Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, and a Billie Holiday record that would play on loop at the pub she worked at as a teenager. Classic soul inspires Celeste’s blueprint, from the depth of feeling to the raw, crackling sound of

the original recordings; she wants her music to feel honest and open, and her lyrics to thread together like timeless poetry.

In 2016, Celeste put out her first project, ‘Sirens’, a single she put up on YouTube which led to the release of The Milk & Honey EP via Lily Allen’s Bank Holiday Records in 2017. The following year, jazz-inflected ‘Both Sides of The Moon’ with Gotts Street Park, inspired, sonically, by Frank Ocean’s ‘Chanel’, would go on to be the opening track on her next EP. 2019 has seen Celeste go from strength to strength; she put out the Lately EP in March, supported Janelle Monáe and Neneh Cherry, played festival debuts at the likes of Glastonbury, Primavera Sound and Field Day, as well as selling out not one but two shows at Omeara (she added a third date on the end too). Celeste will see out the year going out on a European tour with Michael Kiwanuka.

With her dusty palette of soul and lyricism which is relatable, vulnerable and deeply confessional, Celeste is deep in her feelings, and, guaranteed, your heart will ache along with her.

London in Stereo: 23

Spring highlights

Image: Park Jiha © Cecil Park

Damon Albarn Vashti Bunyan Richard Dawson Deep Throat Choir Efterklang Arthur Jeffes Park Jiha King Creosote Daniel Pioro Karine Polwart Max Richter Ride These New Puritans Patrick Watson Andrew Weatherall mwyÇw äp {

TIRED AND SICK

@realotha

@realotha

e it big names Todd Terje, Röyksopp, Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas, or newer talent like Smerz and SASSY 009, what Norway doesn’t know about hook-heavy electronic music by this point probably isn’t worth learning. Now it’s time to add Otha to the list, because in the space of just over a year, the Norwegian singer/producer has established herself as one of the country’s most promising exports.

Working in collaboration with her Canadian partner, Tyler Johnson, Othalie Husøy makes hands-in-the-air dance-pop that’s as playful as it is disarmingly reflective. She cites Robyn’s album, Body Talk as a big influence, and you can certainly trace the thread back to the Swedish singer, not just in Husøy’s knack for irresistibly melancholic melodies but in her razor-sharp lyrical prowess.

Take, ‘Tired and Sick’, for example. Released in October, it’s a panic attack performed at 130odd BPM, and possesses pretty much all the year’s best soundbites. Scattered throughout the song, and subject to mantra-like repetition, deadpan refrains include, “‘Cause life is such a mess and this place makes me super stressed”, “I’m biting my nails more than before”, and most brilliantly - “We’ve got to clean up this shit, this place is packed with pricks.”

Otha’s output isn’t all misanthropic club bangers, though she’s consistently straighttalking. ‘I’m On Top’ contemplates the phenomenon of being too present in your own thoughts to achieve any sort of escapism, and features the killer couplet, “I dance like a queen and I dress like a dream / Oh look at me now, I’m not coming down.” Finally, debut single, ‘One Of The Girls’ is a slice of utopian techno, all dreamy harmonies, celestial synths and positive affirmations, including, “Let your thoughts run free, please don’t think about it.”

Three songs in and we’re already hooked: God only knows how besotted we’ll be this time next year.

OTHA

words: Gemma Samways

London in Stereo: 25

SOPHIE

@arloparks

@arloparks

Hoxton Hall, March 17th

Arlo Parks

ow many songs have you heard which take 19th century narcissistic words: Danny Wright romantic poet, Lord George Byron and re-imagine him as a modern day playboy who woos ladies by playing MF Doom?

We’re guessing probably not many. But Arlo Parks is no ordinary talent. The rising 19-year-old London poet, singer and producer has been on our radar since her exquisite breakthrough single 'Cola' which fizzed (sorry) with confessional, tender poetry, taking in mentions of Bacardi and Gerard Way. MF Doom and emo demigod Way are not just references but also influences, part of a list which includes King Krule, Erykah Badu, and Portishead, and also takes in figures from literature like Allen Ginsberg and Sylvia Plath. Her songs are all her own though, weaving together delicate downtempo grooves, acoustic guitars and gently swirling harmonies.

She’s self-deprecatingly described herself as “a black kid who can’t dance for shit, listens to emo music and currently has a crush photo: Charlie Cummings on some girl in my Spanish class.” But it’s a major understatement for someone who, by 18, had already written and self-produced an album’s worth of material. She’s now signed to Transgressive Records and her Super Sad Generation and Sophie EPs capture the lovelorn messiness, consumerism and existential angst of Generation Z in vivid detail (she talks of writing stories so complete “you could taste them”).

She’s spent the summer playing festivals - including four shows at Glastonbury - and supported Jordan Rakei and Loyle Carner, and it feels like the world is at her feet. The perceptiveness of her lyrics can make you forget that she’s only just starting out. But she has more new music out at the start of next year, a first headline tour coming up and an album pencilled in for the summer. It seems like she’s going to own 2020.

London in Stereo: 27

Beabadoobee words: Georgia Evans

“I just write music to kind of take stuff away from my brain...”

he may have only just finished school, but Beabadoobee is on her first world tour, supporting fellow Gen Z star Clairo across the States before heading over to the UK for a string of shows with her label, Dirty Hit. With her ever-changing hair colour, grunge aesthetic and affinity for the 90s, the 19-year-old (real name Bea Kristi) has carved out her own brand of bedroom pop on her most recent EP, Space Cadet.

“I love Pavement and Sonic Youth, that's kind of what I listened to a lot,” Bea says, as she discusses her early influences over the phone from Washington. “Growing up, it was a lot of The Cranberries, Suzanne Vega – who's incredible – and a lot of my mum's

music that she used to show me. And Keane.

I grew up on Keane and Maroon Five's first album, Songs About Jane,” she giggles while radiating a kind of slacker coolness reminiscent of her heroes.

Echoes of these can be heard in her uncomplicated, soothingly melodic chord structures, which glide between folk and punk influences. Therefore it comes as little surprise that she notes Green Day's Dookie as the first CD she ever bought. “I still bang out that album to this day,” she says. “It's just crazy, the chords are so powerful, and that's so sick. I guess I get inspired by that album a lot because all of mine are super simple, but you know, Billie Joe just finds an amazing way to carry it.”

London in Stereo: 31

I WISH I WAS STEPHEN MALKMUS @radvxz

@beabad00bee

The O2, February 21st & 22nd (supporting The 1975)

“ It’s sentimental, because it pulls hear tstr ings, b u t you can rock o ut to it...”

However, what really makes Bea’s music particularly gripping is her honest lyricism. Touching on themes of depression, anxiety and insomnia, it’s relatable, not just to Gen Z, but to anyone who has experienced those feelings. The response to this is why she chose to pursue music as a career.

“Seeing so many people relating to the things I say motivated me so much,” she says. “I just write music to kind of take stuff away from my brain.”

Particular moments of poignancy within her third EP, Space Cadet, derive from this candidness. One example being ‘Sun More Often’ with lines like, “In your head / You're scared / So just sing along / To the song / In your head.” Bea points out this track as embodying what she hopes to achieve within her music. “It’s sentimental, because it pulls heartstrings, but you can rock out to it,” she explains. “I wrote it when I was really sad and I was telling myself to go see the fucking sun more often, because I was depressed all the time.”

Nevertheless, there are flashes of defiance within the five-track collection.

The song ‘I Wish I Was Stephen Malkmus,’ is a direct homage to one of

her heroes, which champions owning your uniqueness. It was meeting the Pavement frontman at one of her shows (his children happen to be fans) that Bea recognises as a highlight of the past year. “He pulled out his hand and I just went in for a hug. I was like, ‘oh my god, you're amazing, I love your music,’” she chuckles.

This has not been the only encounter Bea has had with an idol, as she’s found a somewhat unlikely kinship with labelmate Matty Healy. Ever since they bonded over feeling ‘out of place’ at the London Fashion Awards, they now regularly hang out together, and she even steals his clothes. The best piece of advice he’s given her? “I literally have so many text messages,” she ponders. “But one time he told me to just always make music for myself and not for other people.

Having released what she refers to as her ‘favourite songs ever’ and embarked on a global tour moments after completing her A-Levels, Bea shows very few signs of slowing down.

“I'm currently writing an album and I'm obviously going to be touring a lot,” she says. “I can't say much, but basically new music and more shit is coming.”

London in Stereo: 33

CHRISTIAN LÖFFLER

MOONCHILD

TONY ALLEN + NUBIYAN TWIST

CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA

EARTH HALL, HACKNEY 28/11/19 ELECTRIC BRIXTON 29/11/19

SONGLINES 2019

EARTH HALL, HACKNEY 30/11/19

ROBERTO FONSECA

EARTH THEATRE, HACKNEY 01/12/19

HANNAH WILLIAMS & THE AFFIRMATIONS

SCALA 19/02/20

O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON 22/02/20

HOT 8 BRASS BAND

O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON 07/03/20

JON HOPKINS

ROYAL ALBERT HALL 18/03/20

WOVOKA GENTLE

OSLO, HACKNEY 04/12/19

THE JAZZ CAFE 18/03/20

CORSICA STUDIOS 05/12/19

EARTH HALL, HACKNEY 28/03/20

OSLO, HACKNEY 06/12/19

O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN 01/04/20

PARRA FOR CUVA

PANTHA DU PRINCE

AFRIQUOI

MEUTE

AVA

FATIMA

MOTH CLUB 10/12/19

CONGO NATTY + GENERAL LEVY ELECTRIC BRIXTON 13/12/19 BEAT HORIZON: MOS DEF + GOLDIE + GZA + THE PHARCYDE + RONI SIZE + MANY MORE O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON 18/01/20

BOARDS OF CANADA

INTERPRETED BY BRYON WALLEN EARTH THEATRE, HACKNEY 18/01/20

TALIB KWELI

ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL 30/01/20

JOE ARMON-JONES ELECTRIC BRIXTON 06/02/20

SLUM VILLAGE

WITH ABSTRACT ORCHESTRA ELECTRIC BRIXTON 07/02/20

THE JAZZ CAFE 02/04/20

LOWKEY

O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE 16/04/20

ROMEO ELVIS

ELECTRIC BRIXTON 17/04/20

SQUAREPUSHER ROUNDHOUSE 15/05/20

WAR

TROXY 22/05/20

THE FUNK & SOUL WEEKENDER

SISTER SLEDGE + EZRA COLLECTIVE GILLES PETERSON + CRAIG CHARLES + ROY AYERS + MANY MORE DREAMLAND MARGATE 29/05/20

P.P. ARNOLD

UNION CHAPEL 04/06/20

229.LONDON 229 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 5PN 19 NOVEMBER

06 DECEMBER

22 November

9 DECEMBER

22 NOVEMBER

12 DECEMBER

A THOUSAND HORSES Paddy James Mike Stern + Jeff Lorber Fusion Band 23 NOVEMBER

The Motans 25 NOVEMBER

BRAD HENSHAW 28 NOVEMBER

Orders ,T. Thomason, Lucy Grubb, Pearl Fish 29 NOVEMBER

UK Subs

HEART OF GOLD + BREATHER THE VAMPS 12 DECEMBER

Lisa Canny 13 DECEMBER

The Midnight Beast 13 DECEMBER

Pretty Vicious 14 DECEMBER

Mary Spender

Martin Stephenson & The Daintees

14 DECEMBER

29 NOVEMBER

15 DECEMBER

30 NOVEMBER

20 DECEMBER

30 NOVEMBER

21 DECEMBER

05 december

31 DECEMBER

Katy Hurt Sights & Sounds MAJK SPIRIT + PSH + STRAPO Megan O’Neill

LONDON CALLING The Chameleons Janet Kay & Carroll Thompson The Spitfires ‘1D-NYE’ The One Direction New Years Eve Party

Chlobocop NARCOTICS

@chlobocoppp

@chlobocoppp

Until relatively recently, Glasgow probably wouldn’t have been your go-to hub for the best new rap acts, but thanks to pioneering club nights like Peach and Tomboy, the underground is thriving. A regular at the former, Chlobocop - real name Chloe Boyd is leading the vanguard for Scotland’s second city, with a sound she’s billing as, “The tales of a red-hooded fairy navigating the trials and tribulations of life, psychedelically.”

Raised on a staple diet of Jay-Z, Kanye and Lil Kim, thanks to her hip hop-loving mother, and strongly influenced by the output of legendary New York label, Duck Down, Boyd has been spitting bars since school. Now 21, she’s established a distinct, almost jazz-trap aesthetic, characterised by woozy sonics and her brilliantly insouciant flow. From the Spanish guitarflecked groove of 2019 single, ‘Narcotics’ to breakout track, ‘999’ - from 2018’s promising Pay As You Go EP - there’s already plenty to dig into, and hopefully much more to come. Gemma Samways

Steam Down

KU Č KA DROWNING

@iamkucka

@iamkucka

I first took notice of KUČKA’s genius on Flume’s second album, Skin. Paired with Vince Staples on ‘Smoke & Retribution’, her sublime hook proved the perfect accompaniment.

Despite a quiet couple of years, comeback track ‘Drowning’, released on LuckyMe, more than made up for her absence. Ominous rumbles of bass trade blows with warm synths and KUČKA’s croon, while she unpicks the overwhelming homesickness that enveloped her after moving to Los Angeles. Amongst the cold electronics that form its sumptuous melody, KUČKA ensures, lyrically, there’s always a human heart beating at its core. Quite simply, it’s a formidable way to mark her return.

After collaborations with SOPHIE, A$AP Rocky and Cosmo’s Midnight, as well as high-profile support slots with the likes of Mount Kimbie and Mura Masa, 2020 is the year KUČKA finally steps out on her own.

Something tells us she’s going to do perfectly fine. Lee Wakefield FREE MY SKIN

@steamdown

@SteamDown_

Steam Down have been more of a mystery, an enigma, a rumour than a real band since their formation in 2017. Taking time to cultivate their sound, completely stun people with their weekly live shows and create a ground swell of real support, the excitement generated has been key to the success they’ve already achieved. From performing on Jools Holland to already having a huge London show on sale, we’ve no doubt that 2020 will deliver huge things for this energetic eight-piece.

Having grown through the UK Jazz scene, their unique and beguiling mix of Afrobeat, jazz and soul has seen them gain a multitude of fans outside these more niche scenes and connect with a mainstream audience looking for something thrillingly different. First official single, ‘Free My Skin’ is a wildly addictive casting-off of negative thoughts and anxieties, and if there’s a better way to start 2020 than with that, we don’t want to hear about it. Jess Partridge London in Stereo: 37

Beach Bunny

DREAM BOY @beachbunnymusic

BeachBunnyMusic

The CV of London-based DJ/producer/ label boss, Liam Wachs is something to marvel at. From his beginnings making “big dubstep stinkers” aged 16, to releasing music under various aliases and collaborative projects over the last six years, Wachs has since settled under the moniker Desert Sound Colony. The music’s been non-stop. His early work as Desert Sound Colony took the shape of an electro-psychedelic group (live instruments and session musicians), but it wasn’t until he dropped the band act and ventured out solo as a versatile dance producer that things jumped up a gear. Wachs had a prolific 2019 with three EPs (Beta Burner, Zenome Archetype and Cartographer). He’s laid his protean character bare: moving from eerie “rave in a drainpipe” techno in 2018 (Tickle Me Pink EP) to bouncy 2-step and 4/4 UK garage beats a year on. Celebrated sets at Berghain and his old teenage haunt, Fabric in 2019 foretell exciting things ahead. Charlotte Krol

Have you ever wondered what life would be like as a perfectly soundtracked John Hughes movie? An amalgamation of teenage angst, optimistic love, hopes for the future, and the deepest insecurities, accompanied by infectious, rockinfused power-pop that’ll definitely have you dancing along? Don’t worry, Beach Bunny have got you covered and they might just become your new favourite band in the process.

Beginning as a solo venture, Beach Bunny was born in the bedroom of frontwoman Lili Trifilio, delivering dreamy acoustic pop records by the name of Animalism and Pool Party. The project later expanded to a full band with the addition of Matt Henkels, Anthony Vaccaro and Jonathan Alvarado, and by 2018 their sound had progressed to a feel-good, alt-pop sensation. With the forthcoming release of their debut album, Honeymoon - the first of the band’s records to be released via Mom+Pop only good things can come for the Chicago four-piece. Ari Sawyer photo: Zoe Lower

Deser t Sound Colony CAN CAN WINGSPAN @desertsoundcolony

@DSColony

Our introduction to Christian Alexander, on the release of his Summer '17 project, was sweetly simple: "I made this over the span of a couple weeks recently in my bedroom when I was feeling low." So, yeah, you kinda know what you're getting here downtempo, lo-fi productions and disarmingly-straightforward heart-onsleeve lyrics, ruminating on the constant mess of life, love and loneliness.

But what sets this Preston native apart from so many of his peers is the wildly imaginative, yet subtle take on RnB snaking through his arrangements, recalling something closer to the glorious icy detachment of Frank Ocean, that Jai Paul fragility and maybe even Tyler, The Creator's calmer, more downbeat moments. His debut track, 'Going Thru' was the perfect first step, but it was the October release of 'Lemonade', with its fuller, more sophisticated, poppier production, that really got us paying attention, and eagerly anticipating his forthcoming Summer ‘19 collection.

Dave Rowlinson photo: Yassine Taha

Kelvyn Colt MILE AWAY Buzzer @wynne @kelvyncolt @KelvynColt

Christian Alexander LEMONADE

photo: Cosmo Webber

@christiaaanalexander

There’s not a lot Kelvyn Colt can’t do.

Unconcerned with the constraints of genre or geographical borders, the German- Nigerian rapper is destined to light up 2020 with his rapid-fire flow and infectious enthusiasm for crafting only the catchiest hooks.

Many of them arrivetd by the bucketload earlier this year, as Colt rode something of a hot streak, unleashing ‘Down Like Dah’, ‘WDWGFH’, ‘Savage’, ‘Bury Me Alive’ and most recently ‘Mile Away’. He pairs his unstoppable verses with cinematic visuals, often vast in scope and even creating a self-directed short film to stand alongside ‘Savage’, that traces Colt darting through Cuba in a tribute to classic noir flicks of old.

Having been announced as one of Forbes’ prestigious 30Under30 alumni, it’s fair to say all eyes are on Kelvyn Colt moving forward. Of course he’ll rise to the occasion, just like he has all his life. Lee Wakefield London in Stereo: 41

TSHA ME YOU

@TSHAMUSIC

@tsha909

Anyone looking to stave off more political gloom for 2020 need look no further than TSHA’s melodic, escapist electronic music. The London-based DJ/ producer makes the kind of globetrotting electronica that put fellow British visionaries Bonobo and Four Tet firmly on the map. In fact, Bonobo included her single, ‘Sacred’ on his 2019 fabric presents album. And TSHA’s recent cut, the propulsive ‘Me You’, takes cues from Four Tet’s ‘Lush’, with Indian santoor swapped for a mbira and Persian lutes. ‘Moon’, from her second EP, Moonlight (released November 2019), is a richly-textured, syncopated and euphoric beast of a track that makes you want to move to a desert island. Not much is known about the background of this self-taught talent, but an increasingly busy live schedule that’s already seen her play Printworks and The Warehouse Project, as well as host radio shows (Rinse FM, Worldwide FM), means we’re surely about to learn a whole lot more. Charlotte Krol

Lisa Morgenster n

Black Country, New Road SUNGLASSES

@BlackCountryNewRoad

It’ll take you less time to read this than it will to listen to a track by Black Country, New Road. It’ll take you much more time to work out what’s going on in a track by Black Country, New Road than it will to read this and listen to a track by them combined. To save you a few minutes, it definitely involves a scintillating free-for-all of sprechgesang poetry, postapocalyptic prog-jazz, with snippets of post-rock, post-punk, math-rock, darkwave and grunge. Amongst other things.

The Beat Generation meets Gen Z in a flurry of fragmented screenshots that depict modern life in all its stupefying absurdity.

Lead singer, Isaac Wood, bristles with middle-class, middle-Englander, post-millennial disaffection, with that voice you make when you’ve had a few and you ring an ex to ask why they dumped you, or when you’re just looking to start an argument with absolutely anyone about anything. Jon Kean ANSWERS

@LisaMorgensternSongs

@li_morgenstern

When you find out that German-Bulgarian artist, Lisa Morgenstern's background is in ballet and classical music, it makes perfect and obvious sense. Combining synths and classical piano influences - often drawing on the traditional voices of the Bulgarian part of her heritage - Morgenstern's compositions are elegant and moving pieces of music which feel at once both sweeping and intimate. To really add to the drama of her sound, her stunningly-expressive voice makes it feel like this musician has it all, allowing her to build on her already quite wonderful canon of work.

Having performed a commissioned piece with Berlin’s Bulgarian Voices choir at Berlin's Pop Kultur festival earlier this year, her performances are as unique and special as they promise to be, especially when spanning centuries of the history of music. With so much talent, it's impossible to know where she'll go next, so we really are excited to see what the next twelve months holds for Morgenstern. Jess Partridge London in Stereo: 43

WED.04.DEC.19

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WED.05.FEB.20

THU.20.FEB.20 SAT.14.DEC.19 SUN.08.DEC.19

FRI.21.FEB.20 TUE.10.DEC.19 MON.16.DEC.19

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the London in Stereo

Tracks of the Year

As Jess says in her Editor’s Letter, we don’t really do lists. We tell ourselves we try and look forwards, not backwards. That’s why we do New Sounds rather than summaries of the year. It sounds like a good thing to say, and it’s probably half-true. Also, we like to do a double issue at this time of the year to get some winter sleep in - if we did two, then god yes, we’d have lists. We’d have lists everywhere. We don’t have two issues, but we’re at peace with a tracks of the year top 40. A year dominated by a man in a cowboy hat and his country trap song. Honestly, seeing him play it at the Cardi B show this summer was just the best. Elsewhere, it’s been a truly glorious 365 days for music and this was a real tough list to pick. The week we get tired of that feeling when you hear a new song and it’s so good it reminds us why we do all this hard work is the week we stop. Ain’t happening, tbh.

Lil Nas X (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus) Old Town Road, Remix

Tierra Whack Only Child

Clairo Sofia

Dave Black

Normani Motivation

Self Esteem The Best

(photo: Joe Magowan)

(photo: Sam Massey)

(photo: Charlotte Patmore)

FOLLOW OUR SPOTIFY ‘ALL THOSE TRACKS OF THE WEEK’ PLAYLIST FOR ALWAYS-UPDATED NEW MUSIC

Mark Ronson - Late Night Feelings (feat. Lykke Li) Taylor Swift - Cruel Summer Stormzy - Vossi Bop Anna Of The North - Dream Girl Ariana Grande - Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored Muna - Number One Fan Stefflon Don - Phone Down (feat. Lil Baby) Caroline Polachek - So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings Faye Webster - Flowers (feat. Father) Banoffee - Tennis Fan (feat. Empress Of) Aldous Harding - The Barrel

LITTLE SIMZ (photo: Parri Thomas)

Kesha - Raising Hell Queen Key - Ratchett Georgia - About Work the Dancefloor Kano - Class of Deja (feat. D Double E & Ghetts) Jamila Woods - Zora The National - Lightyears Kedr Lavinskiy - Sky Kisses Little Simz - 101 FM Dua Lipa - Don’t Start Now Tyler, The Creator - Earfquake

BANOFFEE

CupcakKe - Bird Box Selena Gomez - Lose You To Love Me Sharon Van Etten - Seventeen Vegyn - Nauseous/Devilish (feat. JPEGMAFIA) Layfullstop - Cherries Jai Paul - Do You Love Her Now FKA Twigs - Cellophane AJ Tracey - Cat Pack Octo Octa - Need You Nico Casal - Ready to Talk Biig Piig - Roses and Gold Billie Eilish - Everything I Wanted

VEGYN

J Hus - Must Be London in Stereo: 47

new things happening soon that you just don’t want to miss out on

© 2019 Photo: Hugo Glenndinning

Chromotherapy Christmas: Wave Did you see Four Tet’s light show at this year’s Alexandra Palace shows? The instagram dreamscape had us completely enthralled. Well that light show was down to artists Squid Soup and this Christmas sees them breathing fresh life into the idea of Christmas lights.

Taking over Eccleston Yard with Chromotherapy Christmas’ Wave, they’ll be exploring the science of the powers of light and colour to balance energy in the body and mind. This interactive display will be made up of more than 200 individually suspended orbs each with a unique voice that create every changing harmonies as you wander through the installation.

Spend some time exploring the ways the light and sound interact with your energy and have a drink from the pop-up bar while you do.

OPEN NOW, ECCLESTON YARD, SW1W 9AZ

Dora Maar at the Tate Modern So much of the surrealist movement is dominated by male artists, but so much of the most interesting and forward thinking work was by female artists, and if you don’t believe us, the Tate is here to back us up with the first UK retrospective of photographer and artist Dora Maar. The exhibition brings together everything from her most important commissions to her documentation of Pablo Picasso’s working process, shedding light on the dynamic between the two prolific artists. Don’t miss this opportunity to dive into the wildly weird, fascinatingly inventive world of one of the pioneers of the surrealist movement.

OPEN NOW - MARCH 15TH, TATE MODERN tate.org.uk // @Tate

Patrick Staff: On Venus Brace yourself for one of the most affecting and confrontational exhibits the Serpentine has hosted to date.

Patrick Staff explores structural harm, corrosion and violence, manipulating and using structural intervention to make the Serpentine’s gallery spaces unrecognisable. Staff transcends mediums with fearless confidence, integrating notions of discipline, dissent, labour and the queer identity, confronting the viewer with difficult to digest, but incredible poignant work.

OPEN NOW. SERPENTINE GALLERY serpentinegalleries.org // @SerpentineUK

Roundhouse - In The Round To celebrate the New Year, new music and emerging talent, Roundhouse has been hosting its ‘In The Round’ series every January for the last four years. With the fifth edition just around the corner they’re going bigger and better than ever, presenting a series of intimate shows, using their iconic main space in an unusual and stunning set up to connect the audience and music in a brilliant new way. With special (as in, once in a life-time) performances from legends like Beverly Knight and one of our favourite boundary-pushing, genre-melding acts; Fatoumata Diawara, you cannot miss these shows. Make sure you get there early, all support acts will be young artists who use the Paul Hamlyn Roundhouse Studios, future headliners in the making.

JANUARY 24TH - FEBRUARY 1ST, ROUNDHOUSE, NW1 8EH roundhouse.org.uk // @RoundhouseLDN FATOUMATA DIAWARA

Signature Brew’s new brewery Signature Brew and music go hand in hand, so it’s no surprise that with the opening of their new huge (and successfully crowdfunded) brewery they’re supporting acts more than ever before, by introducing a new event space set to host some music.

Setting up on the glorious Walthamstow Beer Mile, they’ll be celebrating all kinds of brews and street food, and bringing them all together every weekend for a hoppy smelling, festive-sounding, fun time. Celebrate this independent new space and try some award-winning beer while you’re at it.

OPEN NOW Blackhorse Lane, E17 5QJ signaturebrew.co.uk @signaturebrew London in Stereo: 49

29 Nov

THE LOW ANTHEM Union Chapel 29 Nov

SOLD OUT

!!!

EartH 3 Dec

SARAH KLANG

The Lexington 3 and 4 Dec

CRUMB

The Dome 6 Dec

T SOLD OUBODEGA SEGA St Pancras Old Church

3 Feb

COLOSSAL SQUID The Lexington 5 Feb

ALGIERS

Village Underground 5 Feb

MODEL MAN

Studio 9294 7 Feb

STRAND OF OAKS Omeara 7 Feb

LONNIE HOLLEY

12 Dec

Omeara 11 Feb

SET 14 Jan

Village Underground 12 Feb

PEGGY SUE PURPLE PILGRIMS

Shacklewell Arms 18 Jan

SLAUGHTER BEACH, DOG The Lexington 28 Jan

SQUIRREL FLOWER

POLICA

JADE IMAGINE

The Waiting Room 14 and 15 Feb

SOLD OUT LOS CAMPESINOS! Islington Assembly Hall

20 Feb

LAURAN HIBBERD

The Islington 30 Jan

Camden Assembly 21 Feb

The Islington 2 Feb

EartH 4 Mar

STRAWBERRY GUY

MICHAEL HEAD & THE RED ELASTIC BAND

EartH

GENGAHR

THE ORIELLES

Electric Ballroom

5 Mar

MARIKA HACKMAN

O2 Forum Kentish Town

13 Mar

LOUIS COLE EartH 14 Mar

ONEFEST EartH 17 Mar

HARVEY CAUSON Electrowerkz 18 Mar

STONEFIELD Moth Club 4 Apr

MAYRA ANDRADE Electric Brixton 9 Apr

PEGGY SUE The Dome 16 Apr

DEVON WELSH Omeara 28 Apr

PHARMAKON

Studio 9294 26 and 27 May

SWANS EartH

UPCOMING LONDON SHOWS

rockfeedback.com

FAT WHITE FAMILY MON 2 - THURS 5 DECLD OUT (SANDY) ALEX GT OU WED 12 FEB EARTH HACKNEYth & 5th SO SOLD 4 EARTH HACKNEY HAYDEN THORPE TAYLOR SKYE TUES 3 DEC THURS 13 FEB CECIL SHARP HOUSE BERMONDSEY SOCIAL CLUB KIWI JR WED 29 JAN ROSIE LOWE THE WAITING ROOM WED 19 FEB EARTH HACKNEY GHUM THURS 30 JAN ISAAC DELUSION ELECTROWERKZ TUES 25 FEB OMEARA JFDR THURS 30 JAN ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH KENNETH WHALUM TUES 25 FEB SERVANT JAZZ DEVENDRA BANHART QUARTERS TUES 4 FEB O2 SHEPHERD’S SLEATER-KINNEY BUSH EMPIRE WED 26 FEB O2 ACADEMY IDER BRIXTON WED 5 FEB 2020 ELECTRIC BRIXTON WOLF PARADE WED 11 MAR ANNA MEREDITH TUFNELL PARK DOME WED 5 FEB 2020 EARTH HACKNEY JERKCURB THURS 12 MAR SOPHIE JAMIESON BUSSEY BUILDING WED 5 FEB CHATS PALACE GEORGIA THURS 12 MAR JAPANESE TELEVISION HEAVEN THURS 6 FEB DALSTON VICTORIA SHYGIRL THURS 12 MAR SINEAD O’BRIEN SPACE 289 THURS 6 FEB SET DALSTON

PARALLELLINESPROMOTIONS.COM

PETER IBBETSON THURS 19 MAR BERMONDSEY SOCIAL CLUB EGYPTIAN BLUE WED 25 MAR THE LEXINGTON LUKE DE-SCISCIO THUR 2 APR SET DALSTON ANDY SHAUF WED 8 APR O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE NURIA GRAHAM THUR 30 APR THE LEXINGTON PUBLIC PRACTICE TUES 5 MAY ELECTROWERKZ LISA MORGENSTERN WED 6 MAY SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS BAMBARA WED 20 MAY TUFNELL PARK DOME THE STROPPIES THURS 21 MAY OSLO HACKNEY THIS IS THE KIT THUR 1 APR 2021 ROYAL ALBERT HALL

GEORGIA SEEKING THRILLS January 10th Domino Georgia feels like she’s part of London in Stereo life for years, always delivering killer live shows and music we’ve adored. 2019 has felt like a real breakthrough though, culminating in an ecstatic sold-out show at Scala. Now with new album, Seeking Thrills, finally ready for release Danny Wright got Gemma Samways and Charlotte Krol round what might be a real table (it’s not) to talk all things Georgia.

It seems like we've been waiting ages for this album.

Gemma: Right! ‘Feel it’ came out in 2017!

Were you fans after the first record?

Charlotte: Yes, I was hooked on her after 'Nothing Solutions' came out. Which must have been 2014, 2015?

Gemma: To be honest, not hugely - I just couldn't click with the record. But then I remember catching her at The Great Escape a few years ago, performing an early hours set upstairs at Komedia, and she was brilliant.

Charlotte: I'm yet to see her live – everyone raves on about her.

She's amazing - such energy. Did hearing the singles make you think this record could be a great one?

Gemma: Definitely. I was obsessed with ‘Feel It’ when it came out and then ‘About Work The Dancefloor’ obviously blew up. It felt like she'd finally found her groove.

Charlotte: For sure. 'About Work The Dancefloor' was this huge, kinda alt-Robyn bop. And 'Feel It' is brilliant, angsty electro.

'Started Out' is also one of my favourites: so damn catchy!

An additional question: was ‘About Work The Dancefloor’ a worthy winner of PopJustice’s £20 prize?

Charlotte: Yes! Gemma: Definitely a worthy winner impressed she beat ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’ though.

Charlotte: Oh yeah, I forgot it beat The Best Pop Song of last year.

I’m glad we’re all agreed on that. Do you think the album lived up to those songs?

Gemma: I think it does in the sense it shows another dimension to her songwriting. It’s pretty brave how she’s front-loaded it with the singles.

Charlotte: This record isn't short of a banger. Even after those initial singles, you have the bombastic, dubby 'Ray Guns’ – which is reminiscent of M.I.A – 'The Thrill' and 'Honey Dripping Sky' serving as the closing bookenders (shout out to that delicious acid house playout on 'The Thrill’). And 'Never Let You Go', another single, is great.

Gemma: '24 Hours' is massive too.

Charlotte: It's frontloaded with big tunes, drops a little in the middle, and ends with some proper bouncy club-friendly tunes. It's a much more rounded, confident album overall than her self-titled record.

Confidence is the thing that jumps out at me. It feels like her live shows have shown her where she wanted to go…

Gemma: I agree.

Charlotte: Yeah, totally.

Gemma: Even the moments where she drops the pace can be startling.

‘Ultimate Sailor’ is beautiful (what is that name though?).

Charlotte: Haha, I thought the exact same thing about the song title. Also, the synths in that song remind me of Blade Runner.

Gemma: Yes! Definite Vangelis vibes.

So the worst question you can ask - if I forced you to give it a rating, what would it be?

Charlotte: If pressed, I'd give it a 7.5/10.

Gemma: Charlotte: I guess if I had to say what it's lacking, it's that some more leftfield experiments wouldn't have gone amiss.

Some of the songs blur a little into the others.

Are there any lyrics that jumped out at you? I love the ones in ‘Mellow’.

Charlotte: Yeah, they're brill! Is she saying "funkajello" (some kind of vodka jelly shot)? The lyrics paint such a vivid picture of a not-so-vivid-in-drunken-memory of a night out.

Gemma: Absolutely - the dubby bassline and the double-tracked vocals make you feel woozy.

That’s one thing I find really fascinating: it's an album about clubbing totally sober. She’s said, "I was going through quite a heavy period with drinking and other sorts of substance abuse.

Charlotte: Listening to it initially I’d assumed – e.g. with 'About Work The Dancefloor' – that it was all about wired-up hedonism (she was inspired to write it following a weekend bender in Berlin). And then I thought many of the other tracks were about drugs/drinking etc.

Gemma: Yeah it seems to be dealing with things that happened and she's since gone totally straight-edged and that's brought her clarity musically.

And last question: can you wait to see this live?

Charlotte: No! I bitterly regret missing her show in London recently.

Gemma: I'm very excited to see her live again. I think these songs are going to sound incredible.

To me, she's a live artist; that's where she really thrives. And with this album, she's given herself some really good ammo for those shows.

Anything else to add?

Gemma: Just that she's improved so much since the last album - if she can maintain that upward trajectory, the next album could be a 5-star record.

Charlotte: Definitely. She's a real talent. I’m very excited to hear more from her.

LIVE: Grethen, Berlin, February 22nd Thekla, Bristol, March 11th Heaven London, March 12th @_georgiauk @GeorgiaUK London in Stereo: 53

album reviews WIRE MIND HIVE Pinkflag January 24th

OMAR SOULEYMAN SHLON Mad Decent November 22nd Before civil war forced him to flee Syria in 2011, Omar Souleyman had already racked up more than 500 albums. The part-time wedding singer and former farmer developed a respected marriage of beats, digital tricks and love poetry that caused brides to blush. His fourth album in exile, Shlon, features Hasan Alo (double keyboards) and Azad Salih (saz), with lyrics from long-time collaborator Moussa Al Mardood.

Five of the six tracks are full of bleeps and plucked strings as they hurtle you towards the dancefloor. But the heart of the album is revealed on beautiful slowburner ‘Mawwal’. It’s a traditional song about a love that lasts forever and provides a necessary ballast to its head-first dance tunes. Here, Souleyman’s singing seems to revel in the time and space to create something fragile. Geoff Cowart

Ever forward thinking, Wire were post-punk before punk had even petered out in a pool of its own spittle. The pioneering spirit continues on Mind Hive, their umpteenth record in a back catalogue that contains no duffers.

As with most Wire albums on first listen, it’s a strange and at times uncomfortable experience. Bearing more similarities with industrial metal than their most revered, scratchy and melodic work, they masterfully channel foreboding doom with every rumble, clang and slap of their instruments. Even its jangliest turn, mid-LP highlight, ‘On the Beach’, seems in a rush to find shelter.

While “it’s another solid record from Wire” might not be a particularly remarkable thing to declare, the fact it’s their 16th in a row absolutely is. Thomas Hannan

FIELD MUSIC MAKING A NEW WORLD Memphis Industries January 10th From the buoyant pulse running through Making A New World, it is difficult to reconcile the album with the dark subject matter at its core. Born out of a project documenting the effects of the First World War for the Imperial War Museum, Field Music’s Making A New World is a 19-track-long walk through histories known and unknown.

The jaunty piano-led ‘Coffee or Wine’ tells of the anxiety felt coming home to a new world, while the sombre ballad, ‘A Change of Heir’ tackles the first gender reassignment surgery. Packed with ragged beats, jittery guitar riffs, and rippling funk bass, Making A New World balances historical documentation with creative exploration, giving you new ways to ponder over your history thesis on the dance floor.

Stephanie Phillips

HANNAH DIAMOND REFLECTIONS PC Music November 22nd Maybe it’s to be expected, but Hannah Diamond’s long-awaited debut album is, predictably, impossible to quit. After a heady first listen, I found myself craving the absolute joy only Reflections can provide, bouncy melodies rattling around my head for days after. To call it worth the (quite considerable) wait is an understatement.

We’re firmly in the demented nursery rhyme territory of PC Music here, with most tracks boasting the trademark glassy and fractured calling card, but it’s sleeker and more refined than anything we’ve heard from the imprint before.

Perfectly polished, it seems the label’s long-standing mission of creating a new kind of popstar have been fully realised on Reflections.

Lyrically, Hannah Diamond ponders love in all its forms, including new-found, devastating loss and ultimately moving on, but any crying in the club is quickly washed away by A. G. Cook’s flawless production, armed with delirious melodies that detonate with irresistible euphoria.

The dizzying closer, ‘Make Believe’ is a prime example, drifting at glacial pace before stabbing synths shatter the quiet and transport us to trance parties of the past. ‘Love Goes On’ finds Hannah contemplating going it alone (“Maybe I’m good on my own / could it be time to let go”) as the track builds to a pounding crescendo and crashes down around her, while ‘Concrete Angel’ is one of the most bonkers tracks of 2019, its furious final minute featuring a gleeful and grininducing happy hardcore breakdown. As pop perfection goes, Reflections surely lands somewhere close.

Lee Wakefield

KAMAAL WILLIAMS DJ-KICKS K7 December 6th Throwing his hat into the world's most famous mix series, London born-and-bred producer, Kamaal Williams provides a 21st-century take on the soulful sounds of years gone by in the 70th instalment of the DJ-Kicks series. Whether he's curating smooth, buttery jazz that's filled with slick sax and sensual percussive elements, confronting the keys a la Herbie Hancock or, like an acid blues Jekyll and Hyde, transfiguring into his electronic music alias, Henry Wu, Williams demonstrates an impeccable taste that shows few limits of genre and mood.

He scrapes the firmament on joyful, discoinflected occasions like 'Southern Freeez' by Freeez, tunnels into a smoky basement on a live recording of 'Snitches Brew' and slots in breakbeat-heavy garage with the inclusion of Japanese DJ Seiji's 'Buggin' Out'. In a tribute to his hometown's diverse underground scene, he presents a portrait of the sounds that rumble through the city. Georgia Marsh London in Stereo: 55

THE BIG MOON

WALKING LIKE WE DO Fiction Records January 10th There’s a new Moon. It’s still full. But we’re seeing it from a different, distant, philosophical perspective. Whereas 2017’s stellar giant leap, Love In The 4th Dimension was packed with stratospheric, rocketboosted, guitar-driven claims such as, “I’ll be formidable,” 2020 brings us the vulnerable, Earth-bound Walking Like We Do. Their debut showed them reaching up and scraping the sky.

In contrast, The Big Moon’s return orbits around everyday human flaws.

Track one, ‘It’s Easy Then’, tells of “Waiting for the piano to fall,” epitomising the realistic sense of self-doubt that Juliette Jackson’s lyrics convey throughout. It also symbolises the bold sonic innovation they’ve made: the keyboard has landed. Surely, if Neil Armstrong were alive today, he’d proudly plant a bloody big flag on this album. Jon Kean

TORRES

SILVER TONGUE Merge January 31st After two projects co-produced with Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey), the fourth album from Mackenzie Scott, aka Torres, sees her debut as sole producer. The follow-up to 2017’s Three Futures, in Silver Tongue Torres continues in her sumptuous pop, rock and electronic hybrid, musing on love and desire; finding it, chasing it, fighting for it, losing it, understanding it.

According to Merriam Webster, to be of “silver tongue” is to be “marked by convincing and eloquent expression”. Silver Tongue is convincing, and fervent. At times, the swirling guitar engulfs the lyricism, obscuring Scott’s impassioned, narrative vocal; muddling the eloquence.

The record is heavily textured: glittering synths meet driving percussion and punchy guitar, but for ‘Gracious Day’, a delicate, acoustic love song and one of the album’s stand-outs. “You moved in like a wave of quiet grace,” Torres sings — eloquence divine. Katie Thomas

MURA MASA R.Y.C Anchor Point / Polydor January 17th Mura Masa has teased a new sound since the release of the dazzling, ‘I Don’t Think I Can Do This Again’ featuring Clairo earlier this autumn, but this is far from what could’ve been expected. Facing that dreaded sophomore album, the 23-year-old producer has turned the clocks back with R.Y.C (Raw Youth Collage) to create a choppy collection of Britpop, new wave and 90s rave-inspired tracks.

This journey through adolescence is certain to divide long-term fans as moments like ‘Teenage Headache Dreams’, with Wolf Alice’s Ellie Roswell signify a turn away from hip-hop influences to vocally-distorted, indie crooning over heavy club beats. However, there are glimpses of brilliance, such as 'Deal Wiv It' which features slowthai channelling a Mike Skinner bravado, the joyously funky Georgia collaboration ‘Live Like We’re Dancing” and ‘Today’, an enticingly delicate ballad with Tirzah. Georgia Evans

HOLY FUCK DELETER

Holy EF Music January 17th High anxieties seem to have well and truly assimilated into the cultural zeitgeist of recent record releases, and even Holy Fuck’s fifth LP, Deleter cannot fully escape its ravages. From the start, on Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) collaboration, ‘Luxe’, we are met with mumbling vocal samples (“I’d like to scrap all of it / start over again”) that saturate the song with palpable ennui.

Deleter ultimately acknowledges murkier depths than previous Holy Fuck recordings – for instance, ‘San Sebastian’ that churns with Krautrock-like precision.

Yet the tenacious, rhythmic loops of the band’s oft-colourful electronic rock sporadically cradle us from being swallowed into a total funk, instead lifting us up into the funk. ‘Ruby’ finally purges remnants of a forlorn decade, amping up into a final, blistering crescendo to greet the future afresh. Harriet Taylor

WOLF PARADE THIN MIND Sub Pop January 24th Montreal’s finest, Wolf Parade return with their first new material in three years. The tentrack record, Thin Mind, is the band’s fifth studio album, and the first since the departure of bassist and percussionist, Dante DeCaro - leaving Spencer Krug, Dan Boeckner and Arlen Thompson to continue touring and composing as a trio. That said, the transition has done nothing to tarnish the band’s musical prowess, and as they talk of losing ourselves to a digital world, Wolf Parade have never sounded better.

First single, ‘Against The Day’ subtly resembles Destroyer, combining unnerving basslines, industrial undertones, and a twist of light-hearted pop synths, while ‘Forest Green’ finds a perfect blend of explosive, guitar-led indie-pop, despite refusing to stray from the band’s post-punk roots. Ari Sawyer

SHITKID

DUO LIMBO/MELLAN HIMMEL Å HELVETE PNKSLM // January 24th ShitKid began as the weird genre-less solo project of Asa Söderqvist but soon became a full band, recruiting Lina Molarin Eriksson on their most recent album, Detention, which acted as both a concept album about the rollercoaster of high school life, and a pop-punk love letter of sorts to bands such as Green Day, Simple Plan and Good Charlotte.

Elements of that bratty ‘nobody gets me’ angst spill over into their latest record: “I need some fucking anger management!” they scream on the aptly titled ‘Anger MGMT’, while a spoken interlude called ‘Should I Get Some Beer Or What?’ sees the duo simply ask that question before ‘Eagles Over America’ commences, seeing the band name-checking classic American stereotypes (‘red white and blue’, ‘riding in a pick-up truck’, ‘checking into a motel’) over a heavy, chugging guitar line.

The result is a noisy, fun project, and although the results are a bit too eclectic and random to feel like a well-rounded album, you get the sense, with ShitKid, that’s the sort of thing they wanted you to expect. Rachel Finn London in Stereo: 57

3RD DECEMBER 31ST DECEMBER

4TH DECEMBER 6TH JANUARY

5TH DECEMBER 18TH JANUARY 12TH DECEMBER 22ND JANUARY 13TH DECEMBER 30TH JANUARY

14TH DECEMBER

17TH DECEMBER

18TH DECEMBER

20TH DECEMBER

1ST FEBRUARY

14TH FEBRUARY

15TH FEBRUARY

21ST & 22ND FEBRUARY

our selection of the best upcoming shows

O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE

O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON

RONNIE SPECTOR & THE RONETTES

BBMAK

December 19th £35.25adv // @o2sbe

December 12th £32adv // @O2Islington

Shepherd’s Bush

SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS

BOSTON MUSIC ROOM

RUTHIE December 16th £8adv // @ServantJazz

Angel

HONEY LUNG Dalston Junction / Kingsland

December 5th £8adv // @BostonMusicRoom

Tuffnell Park HONEY LUNG

CHYNNA

THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS

THE CAMDEN ASSEMBLY

CALVA LOUISE

CHYNNA December 16th £12adv // @CamdenAssembly

Chalk Farm / Camden Town

December 4th £8.50adv // @shacklewell Arms

Dalston Junction / Kingsland

COLOURS

THE WAITING ROOM

FRENCH79

KIWI JR January 29th Dalston Junction / Kingsland £8.50adv // @WaitingRoomN16

January 22nd £10adv // @ColoursHoxton

Old Street

WERKHAUS

THE DOME BEABADOOBEE + NO ROME + MORE

OSHANA + CHRISTIAN AB + ALIEN COMMUNICATIONS + CZN

December 20th £16adv // @DomeTufnellPark

December 7th £5adv // @werkhauslondon

Tuffnell Park

Liverpool Street

MOTH CLUB

BUSH HALL

BIG JOANIE

KEVIN DEVINE

January 23rd £11adv // @Moth_Club

Hackney Central

January 30th Shepherd’s Bush Market / Shepherd’s Bush £13adv // @Bushhallmusic KEVIN DEVINE

BIG JOANIE

O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN GHETTS December21st £27.25adv // @O2ForumKTown

Kentish Town

BARBICAN RIDE + PÊTR ALEKSÄNDER December 9th £28.50 // @BarbicanCentre

PAPER DRESS VINTAGE PENNY & THE POUNDS + SOUL SABRES + WEST ON SUNSET + ALL SOULED OUT December 14th £5adv // @paperdressed

Hackney Central

JAZZ CAFE DELE SOSIMI AFROBEAT ORCHESTRA January 24th £12.50adv // @TheJazzCafe

XOYO

OSLO

GASHI

AFRIQUOI

December 21st £19.50adv // @XOYO_London

Old Street / Liverpool Street

Barbican / Old Street

Camden Town

December 6th £19.50adv // @OsloHackney

Hackney Central

ROUNDHOUSE

THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB

APPARAT + TELEFON TEL AVIV

SIMONE FELICE

December 4th £27.50adv // @RoundhouseLDN

January 15th £22.50adv // @slaughteredlam

Camden Town

Farringdon/ Old Street London in Stereo: 61

FULL DECEMBER LISTINGS

LONDON’S GIG GUIDE Your full listings guide to all the best shows happening across

Monday December 2nd

North, East, South and West London for December and January.

visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email

LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo

Tuesday December 3rd

Wednesday December 4th

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FULL DECEMBER LISTINGS

Thursday December 5th

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Friday December 6th

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FULL DECEMBER LISTINGS

Saturday December 7th

Sunday December 8th

see londoninstereo.com/venues for up-to-date listings at all our favourite venues

LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo

Tuesday December 10th

Monday December 9th

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FULL DECEMBER LISTINGS

Thursday December 12th Wednesday December 11th

find us on Spotify at London in Stereo to keep up with our weekly new music playlists

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Friday December 13th

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FULL DECEMBER LISTINGS Saturday December 14th

Sunday December 15th

visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email

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Monday December 16th

Wednesday December 18th

Tuesday December 17th

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FULL DECEMBER LISTINGS

Friday December 20th

Thursday December 19th

see londoninstereo.com/venues for up-to-date listings at all our favourite venues

LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo

Saturday December 21st

Sunday December 22nd

Thursday December 26th

Friday December 27th

Saturday December 28th

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FULL DECEMBER LISTINGS

Monday December 30th

Tuesday December 31st

2019

see londoninstereo.com/venues for up-to-date listings at all our favourite venues

LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Wednesday January 1st

Friday January 10th

Thursday January 2nd

Friday January 3rd Saturday January 11th

Saturday January 4th

Sunday January 12th Monday January 6th Monday January 13th Wednesday January 8th

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FULL JANUARY LISTINGS Tuesday January 14th

Wednesday January 5th Saturday January 18th

Thursday January 16th

Sunday January 19th

Friday January 17th

see londoninstereo.com/venues for up-to-date listings at all our favourite venues

LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Monday January 20th

Tuesday January 21st

Friday January 24th

Wednesday January 22nd

Thursday January 23rd

Saturday January 25th

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FULL JANUARY LISTINGS Tuesday January 28th

Sunday January 26th

Wednesday January 29th Monday January 27th

find us on Spotify at London in Stereo to keep up with our weekly new music playlists

LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo

Friday January 31st Thursday January 30th

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live reviews

Pitchfork Paris Grand Halle de la Villette, Paris October 31st - November 2nd words: Dave Rowlinson photography: Alesha Hickmans

Paris has always fancied itself quite the city of the arts, but I’ve never been totally convinced. Sure, they can point to the Pompidou, Musée d'Orsay, the Louvre and a million other institutions that ooze class and sophistication but, honestly, is that enough?

For me, the thing that defines a city as being arty are the truly iconic happenings that could only exist in that time and place, and because of that time and place. Up until right now Paris has only been able to boast two of these moments. 1) That bit where Carrie, all sad after being treated shabbily by the Russian lad, runs to the party some fans were throwing for her but turns up to find them gone and a frankly surprising amount of spilled drinks. 2) That bit where Andy Sachs turns to the awful lad and says ‘Oh, you're not désolé at all.” But now Northampton’s finest, slowthai, has blessed this city with a third such moment. He’s divided a packed room full of French kids in two. He’s named one side ‘Team A’ and the other ‘Team B’ and got Team A to shout ‘fuck you’ and B to reply ‘You cunts’ over and over. Nobody asks if it’s art. We know it’s iconic.

Yes, we’re back in Paris, back at Pitchfork Paris and back at the Grand Halle de la Villette - a wonderfully ornate building that prescient Parisians built for us in 1860 just so we could utilise its dramatic appearance for guaranteed Insta gold.

Back to slowthai We’re only mildly surprised to turn up to find that this Thursday seems to be the official UK rap day. We’re not sad about this, although definitely slightly surprised to find that he’s either ferried over a mosh pit or his tales of UK discontent resonate just as hard out here in the 19th arrondissement. The huge crowd lap up every moment and ‘Drugdealer’ is absolute and wonderful mayhem. We watch all this from an elevated wine bar. It’s what slowthai would have wanted.

Pitchfork Paris has added two new stages this year, but the basic set-up works the same. The stage at one end finishes, the stage at the other end starts. Mura Masa starts and somehow slowthai is on stage with him. It’s all typically Mura Masa fun, but it’s probably a bit early in the day. In one of the new rooms (a small seated space downstairs) Kojey Radical has got everyone out those seats and brings out a chant I thought long extinct: Olly, olly olly... etc.

Flohio is incredible because of course Flohio is incredible. Flohio will rule the planet one day, and ‘Bands’ will be the planet’s anthem.

It’ll be a better place, to be honest. Skepta, much like slowthai, seems to have found a way to connect that transcends boring notions like language. The place goes off, the bridge we’re standing on gets quite wobbly from the crowd’s raucous reverberations. It ain’t safe on the bridge, etc.

slowthai

Day two at the festival is off to a glorious start, and that’s because of a burger from PNY. The food options this year are not huge, but are so much better than the last time we were here.

Seriously, that burger. Best New Music.

Desire’s gently thumping disco gets the actual music bit off to a suitably euphoric start, while Barrie do such dreamy indie-pop it almost doesn’t seem worth Belle & Sebastian turning up, but I bet they do. Barrie also cover ‘Lay All Your Love on Me’, so Barrie are in the good books. In the other new room - a greenhousey kinda vibe to the side of the main hall - Squid are playing ‘Houseplants’ which is what you want from Squid and all their chaos and structure and structure and chaos. Chromatics cover Bruce Springsteen and Kate Bush so Chromatics are in the good books. Erm, why did nobody (apart from everybody) tell me how good Weyes Blood are? They’re my surprise band of the weekend. Nobody else seems surprised.

What a song ‘Movies’ is! It’d be easy to be ‘meh’ about Belle & Sebastian in 2019, but we’re here for a good time, not a meh time and, bless ‘em, they play a nostalgia-filled set that briefly reminds of simpler, sweeter times. Plus. they finish on ’Judy...’ and ‘La Pastie...’. You’d think we’d be done but, no.

It’s off for a delirious night at the late parties, with HAAi and Afrodeutsche, until 6am.

Gonna need a lot of croissant tomorrow.

Had a lot of croissant. Been to the Musée Rodin to have a think. Been to le zoo du Jardin des Plantes to see the red pandas and have a cry. We’re back at the Grand Halle, eating pretty decent cheese toasties.

Look, here’s a thing, Caroline Polachek is so good live it’s a bit unfair on everyone else.

Hang her vocals in the Louvre! Up the front!

Hook her cover of The Corrs’ ‘Breathless’ into our veins. She brings Pang to such dramatic and bewitching life. It’s all quite a lot, actually.

Caroline, never shut up. And we have to go from this straight to Charli XCX? Let us breathe, Paris. Actually, nah, we’ll breathe another day. Charli has got confetti cannons going wild from the first song. We get ‘Vroom Vroom’, we get ‘Gone’ avec Christine and The Queens, we get some others that aren’t as good but such is Charli’s kinetic stage craft it almost doesn’t matter. Her energy and commitment drags the crowd along with her.

We don’t get ‘Boys’, but we do get ‘I Love It’, and how is that song still so fun after all these years? I don’t get the 1975. Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe it’s their fault. I don’t want it to be my fault. But....well, Charli and Chris and Caroline are all dancing together to them right near us. So it’s almost definitely my fault and on that bombshell Paris is done. Another chaotically fun and party time had at a festival that gets better every time we return.

Très bon, to be honest.

London in Stereo: 81

four from

Iceland Airwaves Reykjavík, Iceland. November 6th-9th words: Jess Partridge

It’s hardly a controversial opinion that Iceland is a really special place, like a truly nothing-on-this-planet-is-really-like-this place. But it really is.

Maybe it seems like an unlikely setting for a music festival that spans all genres, all levels and champions a surprising number of Icelandic artists (every other person in this country must be musically talented, I swear) but when you’re there, it all makes sense...

2

1

Reykjavik is a young, modern city - I’m not entirely sure what you expect, coming into the most densely populated part of Iceland (from the actually-quite-far-away airport in Keflavik) but Reykjavik is one of the most exciting, vibrant cities out there. Okay, ye,s the festival helps with that feeling, but round every corner there’s a great bar, interesting shop, brilliant art gallery (how does a city this size have so many great galleries? Not to mention the shops are so creative that they’re basically galleries in their own right). It just feels like an exciting place to be, a city challenging itself to push things forward and Airwaves is a large part of contributing to that.

3

Don’t underestimate the food - Iceland isn’t known for its delicious delicacies (just ask those who dared try shark) but there are a handful of affordable and amazing places to grab a bite these days. Between bands squeeze into Ramen Momo and make sure you have dumplings, head to Sægreifinn for some warming Lobster soup, or try the actual best pizza from Flatey (and a cocktail while you’re at it, trust me), the options aren’t endless but they’re damn good.

The Music is a wonderful mix - Iceland Airwaves is truly a curated festival, rather than adhering to a niche it’s the type of event that will allow you to see someone like Georgia completely smash it on a huge stage, follow it with the addictive Nordic pop of Otha, only to find you moments later propelled into an unbelievably moving performance from Gabriel Olafs in a Church next to a frozen lake. Most festivals say they have something for everyone but really, how many come good on that promise? Oh and yes, Eurovision performers Hatari played. Yes, it was just as wild as you’d think it would be.

4

It’s the perfect opportunity to see more - Going to Iceland Airwaves gives you the chance to see so much more than just music. Yes it’s in the city centre, but with no issues at all (there are seriously so many tour groups, or just hire a car) you can break out of its limits and explore the lava-covered land. Brave the freezing weather to see stunning waterfalls (there are so many it’s just ridiculous), jump into naturally warmed pools in the middle of nowhere or just dip your hand in the hot streams and marvel at the wonder of this magical country and all it has to offer.

London in Stereo: 83

dec feb = lanzaroteworks.com—@lnzrt MOTH CLUB Metz • Jimothy Lacoste • AVA • Steve Mason • Big Joanie • PECKHAM AUDIO Jacob Slater • Our Girl • Pregoblin • Push Baby • Yowl SHACKLEWELL ARMS Calva Louise • Neon Waltz • Mamuthones • The Telescopes • Doobie Fontaine THE WAITING ROOM John Southworth • Anew Day • Dutchkid • Corey Harper • Mai Kino STUDIO 9294 Palms Trax • Amyl & The Sniffers • Vanishing Twin • Jacques Greene • Model Man Hackney Dalston

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mothclub.co.uk

shacklewellarms.com

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@mothclub

@shacklewellarms

Stoke Newington / waitingroomn16.com / @waitingroomn16 Peckham Hackney

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peckhamaudio.co.uk

Wick

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studio9294.co.uk

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peckham_audio /

@studio_9294

WHAT MAKES A COMMUNITY?

by Melina Powell, shesaid.so What makes you feel you’re part of a community? Shared geographical location? Similar interests? Demographics? A group may be designated by any of these traits, but the power of collectives is in their purposeful ability to create change. I believe that there are two aspects to community which make it an invaluable resource: the impact it can have on an individual, and the benefits to society it can offer.

Altruism, selflessness, and the desire to give back to others can offer fulfillment in this egoistic and competitive world. Being a part of a community offers emotional support, the exchange of resources, skill-sharing and the comfort of knowing you are not alone. Communities also offer a place to air grievances and come up with solutions with a grassroots approach, which can impact public opinion and even legislation when efforts are well-organised.

Here in Berlin, 30% of the city’s three million inhabitants are immigrants, and therefore the need for community can be especially valuable to people of differing cultural backgrounds. Factor in complex bureaucratic requirements, a challenging

language and numerous other obstacles faced when moving to a new country, and this need becomes one of survival. A local group working to create social equity in the face of such issues is aequa, which provides gatherings, workshops and resources via reciprocity and collaboration.

One of the most important benefits of community is the empowerment of marginalised groups, particularly for queer/trans/non-binary individuals and people of color. Berlin’s House of Living Colors, a drag community celebrating QTBPOC performers, exemplifies this value. Though this city is known as a queer epicenter, it often fails to be intersectional for those who are not cis and white in appearance. Communities like HOLC encourage equality, fair payment, and safety as basic rights to all people regardless of their varying identities.

Sharing seems to be the commonality of community, along with empathy and compassion. If you’re not already part of one, consider the benefits of participating in groups outside of your circle of friends to both give and receive knowledge and care. Chances are, you will only benefit from doing so.

Melina Powell is a freelance project & event manager, currently working for Night Embassy Berlin by Jägermeister and shesaid.so, a global network of women in music. Become a member at: shesaid.so. This piece was originally published in Berlin in Stereo, the newest member of our family. More at: berlininstereo.com London in Stereo: 85

WED 04 DECEMBER THE UNDERWORLD

THU 05 DECEMBER DINGWALLS

+ WALKWAYS

+ LUZ

MEMPHIS MAY FIRE

WILD YOUTH

MON 09 DECEMBER CAMDEN ASSEMBLY

WED 11 DECEMBER THE WAITING ROOM

+ SOUND PICTURE SHOW + FOLLY GROUP

+ BAMILY

ON VIDEO

FRI 10 JANUARY BUSH HALL

SAT 07 DECEMBER THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS

NEON WALTZ

SAT 14 DECEMBER THE DOME

ABC DIALECT

KING KONG COMPANY

FRI 24 JANUARY O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON

THU 30 JANUARY SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS

MICHAEL MALARKEY

WHILE SHE SLEEPS

THU 30 JANUARY ELECTRIC BALLROOM

SAT 01 FEBRUARY ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL

TUE 04 FEBRUARY ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL

+ CARSON MCHONE

+ THE CREEPSHOW + MAID OF ACE

+ MICAH ERENBERG

SHOVELS & ROPE

+ EVERY TIME I DIE + VEIN

THE FELICE BROTHERS

PIETER DE GRAAF

ANTI-FLAG

THU 06 FEBRUARY HOXTON HALL

SMOKE FAIRIES

SAT 22 FEBRUARY MOTH CLUB

THE PRESSURE

SAT 29 FEBRUARY O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE

THU 13 FEBRUARY BOSTON MUSIC ROOM

SAT 15 FEBRUARY ALEXANDRA PALACE

KING NUN

FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES

THU 27 FEBRUARY ELECTRIC BRIXTON

FRI 28 FEBRUARY DINGWALLS

DUB FX

MON 02 MARCH ELECTRIC BALLROOM

+ HO99O9 + CLEOPATRICK

EMILY CAPELL

+ JOE SLATER + KATIE OWEN [DJ]

SAT 14 MARCH OMEARA

CAVETOWN

THE SHERLOCKS

DANI SYLVIA

WED 18 MARCH ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL

WED 18 MARCH CAMDEN ASSEMBLY

SAT 28 MARCH OSLO

+ HUNNY + CHLOE MORIONDO

PINEGROVE

+ BUCK MEEK / KATY J PEARSON

HEIR

SON LITTLE

S.J.M. CONCERTS PRESENTS

Bombay Bicycle Club

INHALER

PLUS

THE BIG MOON & LIZ LAWRENCE SUPPORTS TBA*

07 FEB & 08 FEB EXTRA DATE* ALEXANDRA PALACE

03 MAR / HEAVEN

20 FEB / HEAVEN

LD OUT 06SOMAR & 07 MAR EXTRA DATE ALEXANDRA PALACE

27 FEB / ROUNDHOUSE

23 APR ELECTRIC BALLROOM

PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING & BATTLES LD OUT & 04 MAY EXTRA DATE 02T &SO03 OLYMPIA

SO LD OU

13 MAY / O2 FORUM

17 JUL O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE