Dork, April 2020 by Dork

WASH YOUR HANDS

ISSUE 42 APRIL 2020 READDORK.COM

LIFE

EASY

THE 1975 ON TOUR! ARLO PARKS! THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO THE STROKES! SORRY! THE SOUND OF THE (DOWN) UNDERGROUND! LOADS MORE!

INDEX

** BAND INDEX ** BAND INDEX **

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April 2020 | readdork.com | Down With Boring

Ø4 Intro 28 Hype 34 Features

Ø4

ED’S LETTER

EASY LIFE

With three mixtapes behind them - including one that cracked the UK Album Chart top 10 - 2020 could well be Easy Life’s.

5Ø

Are you ready for a new favourite band? Sorry are low-key cult faves with an immense banger-ratio, and a stonking debut album to boot.

THE STROKES

As New York’s iconic New Rock Revolutionists prepare to drop their first album in an age, we give you a complete guide to The Strokes.

THE 1975

On the road in the lead up to ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’, The 1975 have another megabanger up their sleeves.

Ø9

MYSTERY JETS After a six month delay, Mystery Jets are finally dropping their new album, back on track and ready to go.

1Ø

ALL TIME LOW A short break, a seminal album anniversary and a couple of side-projects later, and All Time Low are back.

ANNA CALVI

With a little help from her friends, Anna is reworking her last album.

ARLO PARKS

Fresh off a slew of 2020 tips lists, Arlo Parks is already gaining fans in all the right places.

4Ø

‘EDITOR’ @STEPHENACKROYD

TONES & I

From unknown busker to chart topping global star, Toni Watson has had quite the rise.

ON THE DORK STEREO THIS MONTH... Sports!

“Fuck sorry,” starts Dream Wife’s big comeback single. We’re assuming they don’t mean the band. There’s nothing apologetic about the trio’s return. Big, bombastic and

Lewis Capaldi

Alex The Astronaut

Loose Fit

Alfie Templeman

Lottery Winners

cooler than you, it’s great to have them back.

PVRIS

Gimme A Minute The opening track on PVRIS forthcoming album - it proves that Lynn Gunn is firmly not fucking about. Taking the limelight

and demanding all eyes turn her way, it’s absolutely massive.

DRIVE LIKE I DO

Shoot Out At The University Fair Look, maybe we did all think, for about 30 glorious minutes, that pre-The 1975

emo lords Drive Like I Do might be about to emerge like a grungy butterfly from the cocoon of their more polished evolution (isn’t that a moth?! - Ed). But still - it was long enough to remember that this one is a proper classic that never was.

All Time Low

Loyle Carner

Angie McMahon

Mallrat

Anna Burch

Marika Hackman

Anna Calvi

Marlin’s Dreaming

Anna Meredith

Marsicans

Apre

Matt Maltese

Arlo Parks

Merk

Ashnikko

Milk Teeth

Azure Ryder

Moaning

Bad//Dreems

Moses Sumney

Banoffee

Mura Masa

Beabadoobee

Mystery Jets

Bessie Turner

Nasty Cherry

Best Coast

Navvy

Biffy Clyro

Nova Twins

10, 59

27, 61

Odd Morris

Orlando Weeks

Blossoms Bombay Bicycle Club Boniface

24, 27, 58

16, 60 59

Oscar Lang

24, 32

Cable Ties

Perfume Genius

Camp Cope

Phoebe Bridgers

Car Seat Headrest

Pigs x7

Celeste

Pip Blom

Christine and the Queens

Porridge Radio

Conan Gray

Pottery

Creeper

Princess Nokia

Deap Lips

PVRIS

Diet Cig

Retro Video Club

Disclosure

Rina Sawayama

DMA’s

Dream Wife Drive Like I Do

S tephen

DREAM WIFE

Let’s Eat Grandma

A. Swayze & The Ghosts

3, 12 63 27, 60

Royal Blood

Sampa The Great

Sea Girls

6, 23

Dua Lipa

Self Esteem

Duna Rats

Sinead O’Brien

Easy Life

Soccer Mommy

Emily Burns

Sorry

Empress Of

Spector

Fat White Family

Sports Team

Feet

St. Vincent

Fontaines D.C.

Stormzy

Gaygirl

Sundara Karma

Gengahr

Swim Deep

Georgia

Talk Show

Glass Animals

Tame Impala

Haim

The 1975

Halloweens

The Academic

Halsey

The Aces

Happyness

The Big Moon

The Chats

Harry Styles Hayley Williams

19 19, 27, 58 17 8 62 17 18, 59 27 4, 60 24 27 13, 27, 66 24, 46, 60, 66

The Hunna

The Lemon Twigs

Hinds

The Magic Gang

Hockey Dad

The Mysterines

Hotel Lux

The Orielles

Interpol

The Slow Readers Club

Jack River

The Snuts

Jessie Ware

The Strokes

Joe & The Shitboys

The Weeknd

Joy Crookes

The Wombats

Kim Petras

Tones & I

L Devine

Two Tribes

Lady Gaga

Vukovi

Lauran Hibberd

Waxahatchee

Hazel English

Lauv

24, 60

27, 58 24, 27, 50, 59

25,58

27, 61 33

64 12, 58

Wens

Lazarus Kane

Working Men’s Club

LCD Soundsystem

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Legss

You Me At Six

READDORK.COM

SORRY

In the first few months of a year, it’s totally normal for everyone to get a bit over-excited about new bands. Those names we’ve been nurturing for the past 18 months or so suddenly become impossibly exciting, as thoughts turn to a debut album, a big push and possible mainstream superstardom. Obviously, for most, it’s a dream that never fully realises. As a music scene, we’re very good at building up those that, in truth, we know might not quite have that magic ingredient to get them fully over the top. But that’s certainly not the case for this month’s cover stars. See, Easy Life haven’t released a first full-length yet, but they’ve still managed to crack the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart. Their most recent mixtape ‘Junk Food’ hit Number 7 on release back in January, and since then, the only way is up. Selling out Camden’s Roundhouse already, every signal is they’re set to be huge. Hell, they already sort of are. Still, while some things seem certain, at the time of press many other things do not. As festivals and shows come under threat around the globe due to the coronavirus outbreak, we should all take a moment to consider not just the health of those around us, but how we can best support the things we love. There could be a lot of upheaval in the coming months. Let’s stick it out together, eh?

58 Incoming 61 Festivals

100 gecs

INTRO THE BEATING HEART OF POP.

TAKE NOTES

LIVE REPORT The 1975 hit the road to preview their forthcoming album ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’, but one new bop is already ruling the roost. Words: Ali Shutler. Photo: Frances Beach, Sarah Louise Bennett.

O, ‘NOTES ON A Conditional Form’ (the fourth album from The 1975 and the second part of their ‘Music For Cars’ era that started with ‘A Brief Enquiry Into Online Relationships’) is probably being delayed. Again. Originally pencilled in for a February drop, the band’s current UK arena headline run was meant to coincide with the release. As it stands, the band have headed out with just five new songs to their name but still, this run gives us a bunch of clues as to where The 1975 are heading next. From the fury of ‘People’ through the nostalgic kiss of ‘Me and You Together Song’, via the ambient twitch of ‘Frail State Of Mind’, it’s already obvious that ‘Notes’ is set to be a scatter-gun affair. Tonight, at Bournemouth International Centre and later this week at London’s O2, the new songs drastically alter the feel of the set. While ‘A Brief Enquiry’ was a joyous celebration that wanted to reach more people and bring them into the family, tonight feels like a goodbye. There’s a sense of finality in the air. It’s now or never. It starts with ‘People’, a throwback to the days of thrashing it out in a garage while bundling together all of The 1975’s most unifying statements into one impossible-to-ignore rallying cry. It sees Matty Healy on the ground, screaming his heart out. “Stop fucking with the kids,” he demands, a much more on-thenose request than ‘I Like America And America Likes Me’s auto-tuned plea of, “would you please listen,”. ‘Sex’ swiftly follows, all visceral and snarling before the band head into the sunny side pop of ‘TooTimeTooTimeTooTime’. Mosh pits quickly change into dance routines but it’s the beaming ‘Me And You Together Song’ that gets people on shoulders. The song’s

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only been out for a couple of weeks but already every word is memorized and means something bigger than this moment. The songs from ‘Notes’ aren’t a drastic departure from anything The 1975 have done before but they’re an amplification of all the weird little corners the band inhabit. What’s the point in holding back now? The unreleased mega hit of ‘If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)’ sounds like Tears For Fears meets Dirty Dancing as the band toy with banjos, saxophones and television romance while ‘The Birthday Party’ is a warped trip of hypnotic adventure. Both indulge in the black mirror glare of love, lust and distraction. Elsewhere ‘Guys’ (another unreleased new ‘un) is an ode to friendship. “The moment that we started a band was the best thing that ever happened,” sings Matty as home movies from The 1975’s journey together play out behind him. It’s warm, loving and raises a glass to The 1975’s trip from Fall Out Boy covers band to culture-shaping, festival-headliners. “That song is for 16-year-old me,” explains Matty before introducing ‘Robbers’ as “for 16-year-old-you”. He knows how important The 1975 are to people. He doesn’t want to leave anything unsaid. If this run proves anything, it’s that the delay isn’t because The 1975 are running out of ideas. The new songs are the most daring the band have dared to dream, evocative, heartfelt and fearless. The arena run for ‘A Brief Inquiry’ was full of urgency as the band dashed towards a Reading & Leeds headline slot and were out to prove they could escape the shadow of ‘I Like It When You Sleep…’ Tonight is more assured, full of lingering gazes, sentimental grins and pauses to try and soak in just how far they’ve come, it feels like The 1975 are readying themselves to walk away, at least for a little while. P

BOURNEMOUTH INTERNATIONAL CENTRE, 19TH FEBRUARY 2020

INTRO

THE O2, LONDON, 21ST FEBRUARY 2020

NEW NEW NEW WITH ‘NOTES ON A CONDITIONAL FORM’ DELAYED, THE 1975 HAVE BEEN PLAYING UNRELEASED SONGS ON THE ROAD. HERE’S WHAT WE’VE HEARD.

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

Art.

IF YOU’RE TOO SHY (LET ME KNOW)

This is the banger. Since debuting at the first night of the tour, ‘If You’re Too Shy’ has spread like wildfire. A tooty, fruity bop packed with saxophone solos and hip shaking dance moves, it may well be the most 1975 song The 1975 have penned yet. Promised as next off the rank by Matty, by the time this magazine lands on the streets, the studio version could well be with us.

Art?

GUYS

Art!

Shameless smut.

The third of the three new songs, ‘Guys’ also got a first airing at the start of the tour. Another slower cut, it’s described by Matty as an ode to the rest of the band - claiming they’re ‘the best thing that ever happened’. Awwwww, bless. Isn’t that lovely? P The 1975’s “Notes on a Conditional Form’ will be released on 24th April. Probably. READDORK.COM

Dropped part way into the tour, as a song ‘The Birthday Party’ is a sort of soothing stream of conciousness. That’s only half the story, though. It’s the video that really sets the wacky cats amongst the wackier pop pigeons. Computer animated, packed with memes and more than a little unhinged, do try not to have nightmares. You can see some of what to expect to the left.

INTRO

ALL KILLER SANDWICH FILLER

WHAT DOES YOUR FAVOURITE POP STAR LIKE TO PUT IN THEIR SARNIE? THE BIG QUESTIONS, ANSWERED.

THIS MONTH...

DELUXE PARTY SANDWICH

by Oli Khan, Sea Girls

“So you know the joy of a simple sandwich? This is totally that. As a vegetarian, I haven’t known the basic pleasure of a ham and cheese sandwich for a long time now, and this is the closest I’ve gotten. There is an ingredient list, but, let’s be honest, the key ingredient is apathy. The more you care about this sandwich, the worse it will go.”

FLIPPIN’ GEC They sound like nothing else, but the 100 gecs hype train is hitting full steam ahead. As Charli XCX and more sign up for reworkings of their debut album, here’s everything you need to know about the craziest duo on the planet. Words: Martyn Young. Photo: Mikey Joyce.

00 GECS ARE DYLAN Brady and Laura Les and they’re absolutely mad in the best possible way. The duo met at a party in their home state of Missouri in 2012 and spent their first few years immersed in all manner of electronic weirdness at parties and club nights in the city’s electronic underground. In 2015 they started 100 gecs and they’ve been upsetting the system ever since with a mix of noise and pop and dance and rock and every genre and sound you can think of mixed into one exhilarating package. THEY HAVE AN ALBUM AND IT’S JAM-PACKED FULL OF BANGERS ‘1000 gecs’ is the name of their album that came out in 2019 and it is a short, sharp shock of aggression and riotous silliness

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that beats you about the head with sugar rush pop thrills and heavy noise ruptures until you’re firmly under the gecs spell. They know that it’s silly and outrageous and obnoxious, but you can see just how much fun they’re having, and it makes the album an infectious and gloriously exuberant experience. 10 songs, 23 minutes, a million ideas and a whole lot of fun.

THEY LIKE TO HAVE SILLY SONG TITLES ‘745 sticky’, ‘800 Db cloud’, “xXXi_ wud_nvrstøp_ÜXXx’, ‘gecgecgec’ ‘gec 2 Ü’, and the self-explanatory, ‘i need help immediately’. NOBODY KNOWS WHAT A GEC IS OR WHY THERE ARE 100 OF THEM Right now we know there is a band called 100 gecs but maybe that is only the beginning? Maybe the gecs are everywhere and will multiply and go forth and conquer the world of future pop? Their debut album is called ‘1000 gecs’ after all. The logic stacks up. The mystery of the gecs is one puzzle that we should all have fun unravelling. THEY HAVE LOTS OF FAMOUS FRIENDS, AND LOTS OF COOL PEOPLE ARE OBSESSED WITH THEM

If you want an example of how excited people are about 100 gecs then look no further than their new remix of ‘ringtone’ which features Rico Nasty, Kero Kero Bonito AND the queen of future pop herself, Charli XCX. ‘ringtone’ is gecs’ turbo banger. It’s playful and hugely melodic with just the right hint of weirdness and is the perfect example of how 100 gecs balance sweetness and light with subversive darkness. Once you hear this song it will be stuck in your head forever. THEY’VE GOT A FULL REMIX ALBUM ON THE WAY AND ARE HEADING TO THE UK They’ve not played many shows yet but witness reports from shows in America indicate their gigs are very much ‘a time’ and there are ‘scenes’. Their debut London show at Camden’s Underworld in June is sold out but you can catch them at Reading & Leeds this summer as well as a whole number of festivals across the world. THE ‘RINGTONE’ REMIX IS SET TO FEATURE ON A FORTHCOMING ALBUM TITLED ‘1000 GECS & THE TREE OF CLUES’. They’ve already confirmed appearances by super hip pop pal and PC Music producer A.G. Cook but who knows who else could pop up on this release so it’s worth keeping an eye on. Maybe they could rope in Brockhampton who they toured with last year? With gecs anything is possible. P

INGREDIENTS: + Sliced white bread - If you live in East London like me, hit up Percy Ingle for a cheap soft white bread, or any simple fresh white bread from a supermarket will do. + Quorn ham. + Sliced cheese - I use Gouda, but anything will do as long as it’s pre-sliced, I’m not gonna come and check. You can use any vegan slice you want instead. + Baby gem lettuce - It’s the cutest form of lettuce. + Mayo - This can be vegan mayo if you’re so inclined. + Smoked Paprika - This is key and why I felt the need to use the word ‘deluxe’ in the title. + Spreadable butter or suitable substitute. + A packet of crisps - Here’s a chance to make it your own, go crazy. INSTRUCTIONS 1. Play ‘Ready For More’ by Sea Girls. If it takes longer than this song then you’re doing it wrong. This isn’t a plug; it’s just purely for timing, plus making food in silence is very 2009. 2. Put some paprika and mayo into a pot and mix them together. I don’t know how much, just whatever tastes nice, this is an art, not a science. The beauty is you can just add more of either if it’s not right, there’s like zero pressure. 3. Put two slices of bread on a plate and butter them then spread your deluxe mayonnaise on it. 4. Whack a slice of cheese and two slices of Quorn Ham onto one of the bread slices. 5. Add a leaf of lettuce just right there on the top, a nice big crunchy one. 6. Put the other slice of bread on top (butter side down, don’t make a mess now) 7. Cut it in half. I’m not going to get into the rectangle or triangle debate, just use your judgement and try not to upset anyone. Serve with whatever crisps you want, I love a good baked Walkers - the more childish, the better though. 8. Eat while binge-watching The Office US on your partner’s Amazon Prime account. For a moment, the world seems alright. P

GRACE CARTER MARCH UK TOUR DERMOT KENNEDY MARCH/APRIL UK TOUR APRIL CHILDCARE 8ROUGH TRADE BRISTOL APRIL/MAY EMILY BURNS UK TOUR JOESEF APRIL/MAY UK TOUR KAWALA APRIL/MAY UK TOUR MAY ISAAC DUNBAR 12 CAMDEN ASSEMBLY LONDON MAY FRANKIE STEW & HARVEY GUNN 14 FABRIC LONDON HOCKEY DAD MAY UK TOUR KELE OKEREKE MAY UK TOUR L DEVINE MAY UK TOUR THE CHATS OCTOBER UK TOUR

INTRO

DECENT EXPOSURE ONE GREAT SHOT TO RULE THEM ALL

STORMZY

BRIT AWARDS 2020

Ah, ‘ver BRITs. While this year may have had a shortlist with far too many men and not enough not-men, there was still some good stuff going down. Dave’s performance of ‘Black’ was stunning, while Stormzy’s set - well, just look at it. Amazing.

INTRO

MYSTERY JETS “YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS” At the back end of last year, Mystery Jets were all prepped to drop their brand new album. Then they weren’t. Six months later and a band member down, they’re back on track and ready to go.

Words: Dillon Eastoe.

looking at those steps together that can be taken.” When they arrive at these venues in late April, they’ll come boasting their most powerful, cohesive collection of songs, their messages born on the streets of London over three years of attending protests and absorbing their sentiments. “Rather than writing from the outside looking in, as we did on ‘Curve of the Earth’,” Blaine says, quoting that album’s centrepiece, ‘Bubblegum’, “This was about being on the inside looking out.” With six songs already released as singles, there’s still plenty to delve into when the album is released. ‘Cenotaph’, with its haunting hook, “Every exit is an entrance somewhere else,” deals with the division riven by the UK’s 2016 vote on EU membership. “I don’t identify with this idea of nationality,” Blaine tells us, the conviction in his voice palpable. “I think nationality, like sexuality, is a human construct. It’s not real. This notion of nationality, I find, is actually so toxic. I wanted to find an expression of hope in that kind of post-referendum landscape that we’ve been living in for the last four years.” The euphoric melodies of ‘Watching

“I FEEL SO THANKFUL THAT WE’VE GOT A TEAM THAT PUTS OUR WELLBEING AND HEALTH FIRST”

READDORK.COM

N SEPTEMBER 2019, INDIE heroes Mystery Jets were two weeks out from releasing a career-defining sixth album, hot on the heels of sets at Glastonbury, Truck and Reading & Leeds over the summer and propelled by the power of lead single ‘Screwdriver’. That track took on the far right over a stomping riff and a call to “Fight them with love!” Fast forward six months and Blaine Harrison, bassist Jack Flanagan and drummer Kapil Trivedi have had to navigate a lengthy delay to the record’s release while Blaine recovered from an operation, as well as the departure of founding member Will Rees. All this against a backdrop of the Tories marching to a thumping majority in December and you’d forgive the band for being downbeat. “It was two weeks before the release, so it was pretty hairy,” Blaine reflects. “It had to happen. Unfortunately, we tried everything in our power to find a way of sticking to the original plan and putting the record out in September and going on tour in the autumn. It was actually our record label that said, it can wait. I suppose I just feel so thankful that we’ve got a team around us that puts our wellbeing and health first.” Did sitting on the album give the band any nagging doubts about it? Jack is unequivocal. “I stand by it, I’m really proud of it,” he affirms. “It’s actually nice because, by the time the process is over, you can barely listen to the songs anymore. [Now] we’ve had this long break from it, it’s nice to actually give it a bit of a rest from listening to it before we go into rehearsals because everything feels so fresh and new again.” Those performances will have to take place without founder and guitar maestro Will Rees, after he announced his departure last month having started the band with Blaine at the age of eight. “I think it’s quite a natural thing, it was never a case of growing apart,” Blaine explains. “We’ve been on this incredible, lifelong journey together making music under the band’s name, but obviously as well as [that], any musician also has a hunger to express themselves in their own right.” With the album finally set for release in April and a tour immediately to follow, the Jets will be using the run to continue their work with Attitude is Everything, raising awareness of accessibility issues in live music. “In two or three cases, there are venues which are in the process of going through the assessment,” Blaine explains, referring to Attitude is

Everything’s charter of best practice. “It’s about going to those venues and speaking to them and helping educate them. Rather than just say we will point-blank, not play your venue, it’s important to go there and show them what the requirements of a disabled artist or audience member are. A lot of the time I think there’s almost a preconception that a disabled artist is almost a mythical being.” Blaine’s enthusiasm for the work they’re doing is obvious even over a crackling phone line, and he stresses that accessibility isn’t just an issue for when someone arrives at 7pm for doors. “For someone with a disability, that journey of going out and seeing a show begins at home before they’ve even booked that ticket. Because they’re already questioning, will I be able to find someone to come with me? Do I need to buy two tickets? Will the taxi be able to drop me off in front of the venue? Will I be able to get into the venue? Will I be able to get served at the bar? All those questions are so important, and they need to be addressed right from the point of seeing an ad for a show or festival. That’s where that journey begins.” With small venues coming under increasing pressure from gentrification and strains on their revenue streams, Harrison says the fight for accessibility is inextricably linked. “Thekla [Bristol’s legendary floating venue] is a great example of somewhere that has been saved. It’s not the most accessible venue, you know? But it has been saved. It’s about working with venues and saying, ‘let’s look at some of the things that you can do’ rather than just saying, ‘we’re not going to play here’. It’s about

Yourself Slowly Disappear’ are rooted in tragedy, Blaine writing the song over the course of a day having heard about the disappearance of Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit. The band hope the song can encourage further dialogue around mental health, with the refrain “You can’t help feeling weird” reassuring us we aren’t alone. “We need to keep those conversations open because we’re all going to have times where someone in our circle, be it a friend, someone we work with, a family member, is going to suffer from mental health.” ‘Wrong Side of the Tracks’ closes the album with a tribute to the youth climate movement, “This hypocrisy in the way politicians and corporations have run the world for the last 30 years, it’s taken young people to point that out. I wanted to write a song about that. How I feel so much hope. Young people today have a huge journey ahead of them in terms of undoing a lot of the damage that previous generations have done before them. I wanted to write a song expressing that.” With the album having been informed by years of protest in the UK, is there a despondency seeing how far we are from tackling climate change, privatisation and the spectre of nationalism? “Protest is all we’ve got. It’s how we communicate togetherness, our compassion, our resilience. We’re now looking at a further five years of Tory leadership, so we need to keep that spirit alive. That’s one of the purposes of this record.” ‘History Has Its Eyes on You’ sums that sentiment up perfectly in verse. “Be kind and never quit, take pride and keep those fires lit.” P Mystery Jets’ album ‘A Billion Heartbeats’ is out 3rd April.

INTRO

HAT WOULD ALL Time Low do? It’s a question the band held close during the recording of their eighth outing, ‘Wake Up, Sunshine’. They’ve thrived embracing the cavalier, carefree attitude that comes with youth, but after nearly two decades together, what next? “You start to have that identity crisis where you either become R.L. Stein, writing another Goosebumps book; and you just end up churning them out and simply change some names of the characters,” singer and guitarist Alex Gaskarth muses, chuckling. “Not to say that there’s anything wrong with that. But it’s a very fine line to walk where you’re either regurgitating the same thing that you’ve done a million times, or you’re going completely off on a tangent at the cost of maybe alienating some of your fans. “We’ve built something up over 16 years, and there’s an expectation for what people want from this. It’s finding that space and meeting those expectations while also staying true to ourselves as artists and not just regurgitating another Goosebumps novel.” After the touring of 2017’s ‘Last Young Renegade’, which saw them explore different territories both sonically and conceptually, the good ship All Time Low needed to dock. “We should be clear about this, too: there was no, ‘Alright guys, it’s time for a break’,” drummer Rian Dawson dazzles with his Hollywood smile. “It was not a hiatus. It was more, ‘We don’t need to do anything this year, we’ve earned a vacation.” Just as Rian says, the time off wasn’t for any need to escape each other. The core of All Time Low, finished by guitarist Jack Barakat and bassist Zach Merrick, has always been the teenage bond that still runs as strong today; with the four of them sat around a bar table, at ease, and a clear air of ‘friends before band’ and smiles never wavering. “I remember Alex told me about Simple Creatures,” he motions to his bandmate. “We’ve been in the band for fifteen-plus years, and we’ve never really talked about side-projects at all. I remember the call, he’s like, ‘Hey, so I’ve been writing with Mark [Hoppus, from blink-182] a lot, and we’re thinking about doing this thing’. And it was just same with Jack [and WhoHurtYou, his band with singer/songwriter Kevin Fisher] - there was nothing but excitement. There was no resentment about it or anything like that. We were all very much in contact.” “It was really nice to have some time to ourselves,” Alex agrees. “You know, we all got to do various things; whether it was just spending some time at home with our families, which is always great and very welcome, or whether it was diving into new projects new endeavours. Jack started a new thing, and so did I. It was kind of a way to reset, get some headspace and clarity and just move away from All Time Low world for a minute. We’d been on tour for so long too.” “Fifteen years!” Rian laughs. “Everything just kind of fit into place in the discourse. There was zero contention, zero anxiety about that. No, ‘But what about All Time Low if you’re doing that, and you’re doing that?!’” He continues. “It was just like, ‘Okay, yeah, you guys flex that creative muscle that you need to, and then when we come back, we’ll be able to focus in on what we need to do next.” “It definitely refocuses you to take that year off and to be able to do whatever creative processes you want to do on your own maybe. And then it also just made me realise at least like ‘Fuck, I really miss it’ in a very good way,” Rian says. “It’s like coming back to school, except you like school, and you like everyone there, and you actually enjoy it!” Jack laughs.P Read more in the April issue of Upset. All Time Low’s album ‘Wake Up, Sunshine’ is out 3rd April.

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WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!

A short break, seminal album anniversary, and couple of side-projects on from their last album, and All Time Low are back with what they describe as a “career-defining” full-length, ‘Wake Up, Sunshine’. Oo-er. Words: Steven Loftin. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

New album March 27 READDORK.COM

INTRO

‘FYI’

PVRIS have announced they are dropping a brand new album, with Lynn Gunn stepping up to the limelight. Titled ‘Use Me’ and released on 1st May, she explains: “I allowed myself to support a narrative I thought I had to support of PVRIS being a band. I wanted to make everyone else happy and uphold an image I thought we had to. Growing up, I learned I don’t have to do that anymore. I’m finally allowing myself to take credit. I’ve got the full support and encouragement of my bandmates. PVRIS is a unit and very much a team, but the heart and soul of the vision and music always has sourced from me.”

Happyness have announced their new album, ‘Floatr’. Due on 1st May, the release is preceded by both new single ‘Seeing Eye Dog’, and a tour that’ll have the duo on the road throughout spring. The full-length documents both Ash Kenazi’s experience coming out, and a break-up for Johnny Allan. “’Floatr’ has helped us process some of the difficult stuff because everybody needs that,” Ash explains.

Empress Of - that’s Lorely Rodriguez to borings who denounce popstar names - is back! She’s brought a brand new single and news of a new album with her too. So generous. Titled ‘I’m Your Empress Of’, the full-length is due on 3rd April and is entirely self written and produced with the exception of two tracks. Clever sausage. The first song from the record - ‘Give Me Another Chance’ - comes alongside a video too, which you can check out on readdork.com now.

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SHE’S ON FIRE

Not afraid to take on the subjects close to home, a recently sober Waxahatchee’s latest album tackles addiction head on. With refreshed eyes, it’s quite probably her best work to date. Words: Charlotte Croft. Photo: Christopher Good.

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HE BIG themes on the album are addiction and codependency. I really jump around to different states of those two things, sometimes I’m deep in the throes, and sometimes I’m more recovered and reflective.” Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield is no stranger to baring her soul to sound and her fifth LP, ‘Saint Cloud’, is no exception. She was ‘Out in the Storm’ with her last record as she braved the emotional turbulence of a breakup, but is now looking up to the skies for change and possibility as she embarks on a new chapter, one of sobriety. Her raw return offers the affecting narrative of addiction, the havoc it can have on those closest to you, as well as the admirable journey of overcoming it. Lead single, ‘Fire’, beautifully depicts a truthful tale of selfacceptance, learning to love oneself after a period of shame afflicted by addiction. When explaining the inspiration behind the track, Katie reveals, “I wrote it while driving over the Mississippi River in Memphis, sun beaming on the water. It’s a mix of abstract poetic tricks and a super direct pep talk to myself. It’s the first song I’ve ever written without an instrument, I sort of just channelled it on a long beautiful drive through the deep south.” ‘Fire’ has a poignant stillness to it, a signifier of the contentment you feel once belief of a brighter future takes hold. Her powerful vocals break this stillness, the words cutting through with purpose as she exclaims ‘If I could love you unconditionally / I could iron out the edges of the darkest sky’, illustrating the feeling of self-worth we reach out for in our most trying times. The second track to arrive from the record, ‘Lilacs’, showcases the irrational and negative thoughts we sometimes entertain, a scenario we might know all too well at some point while in a relationship. Katie admits, ‘I get so angry, baby, at something you might say / I dream about an awful stranger, work my way through the day / I run it like a silent movie / I run it like a violent song / I run it like a voice compelling / So right it can’t be wrong’. The accessibility of her lyrics shines through once again as it’s a thought pattern we know all too well,

INTRO

“TO TELL THE STORY, YOU HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE DARKEST DARK”

NEW MUSIC!

ASHNIKKO Everything is starting to kick off for the rapperslash-singer with the rather noticeable barnet. Here’s what you need to know to ‘keep up’.

YES, THE HAIR. It’s very blue, it’s very big, it’s very there. Every pop star needs something to make them stand out - we just wouldn’t want to be dealing with that getting out of the shower every morning. SHE’S SORT OF ONE OF OUR OWN, BUT ALSO NOT 23-year-old and London based,

Ashnikko was born in North Carolina, US-of-A before spending the bulk of her teens in Estonia and Latvia. SHE’S BLOWING UP FROM TIKTOK Because of course she is - what doesn’t start on TikTok these days? Her track ‘STUPID’ was already going big before Miley Cyrus used it to introduce her new boyfriend Cody Simpson on the platform-du-jour. SHE’S JUST DROPPED A NEW TRACK It’s called ‘Tantrum’, and it’s streaming online now. This April, she’ll play three London shows, too. Big.

HERE COME OL’ SCRIBBLY FACES! Yep, Disclosure are ‘back’, with a brand new EP. Dancing shoes on, Dear Reader! Guy & Howard Lawrence - for it is they, etc etc - teased the new release by dropping a track a day across the course of a week. First up was title cut ‘Ectasy’, followed by ‘Tondo’, ‘Expressing What Matters’ and ‘Etran’. The full thing was then announced with final offering ‘Get Close’ on the Friday. Sneaky blighters. 2020 marks a decade since the duo dropped their debut single. We’re expecting more from them before the year is out. Keep ‘em peeled.

‘FYI’

the lilacs representing how we feed these all-consuming thoughts: ‘& the lilacs drank the water, & the lilacs die’. The positive reception of those relatable lyrics can be seen during Waxahatchee’s tour dates, as audiences fill up venues across the globe, but isn’t it hard to maintain this openness when performing live? “Once the songs are out in the world, and you’re singing them, every night they start to feel like they belong to everyone else, and it’s easy to compartmentalise,” Katie muses. “That’s why I find it important to really enjoy the moments before the record’s out - it’s still just mine for a little bit longer. Once it’s out, I’ll start my sorta quiet, secret love for the next batch of songs.” This tender transaction of songs and the meaning behind them shows the phrase ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ still heavily applies to music, as long as you’re willing to immerse yourself in the experience. ‘Can’t Do Much’ is a love song of codependent behaviour, alongside sounds leaning more towards the realm of Country/Americana. “Singing like that and using colours from that palette are really what drove the record,” Katie explains. That shift in style is also a result of a different approach sonically, one that is more stripped back to allow those vocals to shine through, as well as the poignancy of the lyrics. “I’d say the [creative] process was a lot slower [this time]. I really took my time writing the songs, and I started demoing with other players before they were fully formed, which in turn informed the lyrics. My vision was pretty clear as was my overall state of mind, which I think really bleeds into every aspect of the album - clarity is pretty key.” While the album dissects difficult subjects, the intention was to show personal growth, but with a happier outcome. “The big challenge on this album was expressing more positive feelings without sounding cheesy. That’s been a challenge I’ve stared down my entire life as a songwriter. I feel like I balanced it out by showing you how I got there, but I did find it really nice to sing about things like gratitude and self-love and those kinds of things.” “It’s a record about a very big shift toward the light, and to tell the story, you have to talk about the darkest dark.” As we approach spring, a season for change, ‘Saint Cloud’ comes as a reminder that those rays of sunshine we crave are coming and can soon be within your grasp; let the light that surrounds Waxahatchee lead you there. P ‘Waxahatchee’s album ‘Saint Cloud’ is out on 27th March.

IT’S PROBABLY ABOUT TIME WE MADE SURE WE WERE ALL UP TO SPEED WITH

SURPRISE!

CHRIS HAS A NEW EP! Queen of the jolly good dance, Christine and the Queens has dropped a surprise EP, ‘La vita nuova’. It comes alongside a very swish companion film of the same name. Shot at Paris’ Palais Garnier by Colin Solal Cardo with choreography from Ryan Heffington, you can check out both on readdork. com now. As if that wasn’t enough, the title track features none other than Caroline Polachek. Poptastic!

The Lemon Twigs have announced their third album, ‘Songs For The General Public’. Due for release on 1st May, the full-length was written, recorded and produced by Brian and Michael D’Addario at their Long Island home studio, Sonora Studios in Los Angeles and New York City’s Electric Lady. The first single ‘The One’ is out now, alongside a video directed by Michael Hili - check it out on readdork.com now.

Jessie Ware is back with news of her fourth studio album. ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ is due for release on 5th June via PMR/VIRGIN EMI, preceded by new single ‘Spotlight’. “It feels so amazing to be back making music, so much has happened recently,” she says. “Some crazy exciting things but I feel so happy to be back to my first love. Music was the first scene that truly embraced me!!

THE BIG MOON ARE THE UK AMBASSADORS FOR THIS YEAR’S RECORD STORE DAY

The quartet will record a live to vinyl release which will be available exclusively on Record Store Day itself, 18th April. The Big Moon are the UK ambassadors for this year’s Record Store Day. They take up the mantle from previous names including Slaves, Kate Tempest, Kate Nash, Izzy Bizu, Rag’n’Bone Man, and the Mighty Boosh. Obviously, right? Following up on their storming second album ‘Walking Like We Do’, which dropped back in January, and saw them take the cover of this here magazine, the quartet will record a live-to-vinyl release which will be available on Record Store Day itself, 18th April.

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INTRO

Words: Jenessa Williams.

THAT THERE

MOSES SUMNEY

IS GOING PLACES FAST, HUH? HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW...

NTERESTED IN SUMMAT strange yet beautiful? Allow us to introduce you to Moses Sumney. The first part of his new double record “græ” has just come out, and it’s ruddy marvellous. For those not up to speed, here’s what you need to know: MOSES HAS BEEN KNOCKING AROUND THESE HERE MUSICAL PARTS FOR A WHILE. Raised between California and Ghana, he honed his music writing skills as a creative writing student at UCLA. His poetic approach to lyrics is part of what made his 2017 debut ‘Aromanticism’ such a belter – we’re talking 10s across the board.

HIS VOCAL CORDS ARE UP THERE WITH THE BEST OF THEM. Seriously. Try out your own version of ‘Me in 20 Years’ in the shower, and see how hard you struggle – that otherworldly falsetto is not to be underestimated. HE’S COLLABORATED WITH SOLANGE AND SUFJAN STEVENS, EARNING HIM SOME SERIOUS INDIE CRED. Y’know, just in case he didn’t already have enough. Across “græ”, you’ll also hear spoken word from actors Ezra Miller and Michaela Coel, and instrumentation by Thundercat. Reckon he could squeeze us in on his next party guestlist? THE LOOK IS ON POINT. Every outfit, every video, every record sleeve – this is an artist who isn’t afraid to serve serious visuals. Start out with the music video to ‘Polly’, strangely cathartic in its simple vulnerability, and work up to ‘Virile’, which sees a shirtless, glittered Sumney giving it beans in a postapocalyptic abattoir. Serious. Pop star. Energy. HE SIMPLY REFUSES TO BE PIGEONHOLED. Dancing between jazz, alt-rock and folk, and all the while rejecting the norms of gender, Sumney wears his ‘multiplicity’ on his sleeve – you can hear all about it on ‘also also also and and and’. P

ANIMAL MAGIC LIVE REPORT

Glass Animals stage their comeback at London’s Village Underground.

Words: Jamie Muir. Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett.

HE ROAD Glass Animals have found themselves on has been filled with unexpected moments. Across two standout albums, they’ve subtly gone about becoming one of the UK’s biggest breakthrough bands across the globe. There have been late-night TV appearances, huge sell-out moments on both sides of the Atlantic, and storming festival slots. Their last album, ‘How To Be A Human Being’ was one of that year’s finest, a conceptual blending of styles that showed why Glass Animals are the ultimate pop cocktail. Hell, they were even the secondever act on this here mag

cover. Yet, at that moment of huge success came a life-threatening event, one that flipped the script on where things were destined to go and forced a pause on everything. Thankfully they’re back, and more than that - hungrier than ever. This is Glass Animals fully comfortable in being that band, and the queues streaming around London’s Village Underground tonight prove how missed they’ve been. Every part of tonight feels like it’s been drenched in pure palm tree, not just because of the replicas placed all over the venue, but the sensation of it all. That genre-crossing tropical flair that has flagged Glass Animals out from the rest is welcomed back with a newfound sense of purpose. A sound that can only be them, and a reminder from the very first note why their return is a vital one. Opener ‘Tokyo Drifting’ may welcome in their undeniable new chapter, but classics

and favourites ring loud and proud. ‘Life Itself’ illicits pogoing masses, ‘Poplar St’ melts into ‘The Other Side Of Paradise’ with a cinematic grandeur that immediately grips the room as epic silhouettes light large, while the slick ‘Black Mambo’ spots a band firmly on the pulse of things and building that kaleidoscope world around them. Frontman Dave Bayley is a loose-limbed master of ceremonies, a wide-eyed kid in a Skittles shop throwing shapes and feverishly giving himself to every joyous moment. The slick strains of ‘Hazey’ and chopping slices of ‘Cane Shuga’ finds him bounding from pillar to post across the stage, and when he goes through the crowd to lean on a palm tree at the back of the room to serenade Village Underground with ‘Gooey’, Glass Animals reach untouchable heights. What comes next still remains a question, but tonight gives some tantalising teases of what to expect. ‘Tangerine’ ripples with smooth Hawaiian Hotel vibes, while ‘Your Love (Deja Vu)’ sparks with 80s synths with a sprinkling of electro twitches. What it does lay out, is that freedom Glass Animals are clearly thriving with, taking the bones of what they did with ‘How To Be A Human Being’ a revelling in the moments of interaction and scale they now see in front of them. As a communal choir of voices join Dave to ‘Season 2 Episode 3’ it’s a sign of where Glass Animals sit. Not

BANGER!

GLASS ANIMALS

Your Love (Deja Vu)

Wavey Davey and co are not effing about as they charge head-first towards a much anticipated third album later this year, that’s for sure. ‘Your Love (Deja Vu)’ is a prime Glass Animals cut, all big vibes and boombastic bops. That rarest of things - a band that can be identified by even the smallest snippet of their signature sound alone - their return to the frontlines couldn’t have come soon enough.

needing to prove anything, but instead in their own actions forcing other bands to sit back and reflect on what they need to do to keep up. It’s that simple. Everyone should be taking notes. With beaming joy written across their faces, tonight means something for Glass Animals. It’s the knowing nod before things get truly wild and the welcome return in intimate settings that lights the fuse for what’s on the horizon. The moment where things get bigger than they could have ever dreamed of all those years ago. Now it makes perfect sense, and they’ve done this all by creating a sound and show unparalleled to anyone else. The devastating centrepiece that is ‘Agnes’ rounds out proceedings in an all-encompassing emotional release, before a jubilant run through Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’ and pineapplemodium taking over with ‘Pork Soda’. When the world could have thrown them into disarray, Glass Animals have instead done what they’ve always done. Embraced it, twisted it around and shot those fireworks right into the sky to light everything up around them. And what a sight it is. P

Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett.

OCTOBER 2020

09.04 | GORILLA | MANCHESTER 10.04 | BUSH HALL | LONDON

SU N SU N WED THU

18 25 28 29

metropolismusic.com | THISFEELING.CO.UK bangbangromeo.com

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A Metropolis Music & This Feeling presentation by arrangement with Solo

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HIGH RISK BEHAVIOUR THE DEBUT ALBUM FROM THE CHATS OUT

27 MAR ON BARGAIN BIN RECORDS

INTRO

“THESE ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE SONGS I’VE EVER WRITTEN”

MILKIN’ IT Line-up and label changes of the kind Milk Teeth have endured would kill most bands, but as leader Becky Blomfield explains, they’re back stronger than ever before. Words: Alexander Bradley. Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett.

ILK TEETH WERE left almost completely toothless after a wobbly few years, which resulted in singer Becky Blomfield as the sole survivor from their debut album. Just a few weeks before the release of ‘Vile Child’, back in January 2016, co-vocalist and guitarist Josh Bannister quit the band, the first of a spree of line-up changes in the coming years. Some departures were amicable, like drummer Oli Holbrook who left for a change of career just a few months ago, and after helping Becky navigate some of the band’s darkest days. But, guitarist Chris Webb’s sudden exit from the band left a cloud hanging over Milk Teeth. Whatever led to the end of his time in the band doesn’t get discussed, but it rocked them irrevocably. That summer of 2018 almost destroyed Milk Teeth with Becky admitting, “It was just myself and our drummer, Oli, at the time and I didn’t really know what we were going to do or if either of us had the mental energy

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to keep it going.” Lesser people and more established bands would have walked away. “As much as we found it incredibly hard, the situation we were in, there was a sense of ‘no, I haven’t done anything wrong, so why should I have to give up everything that I’ve spent the past five years working towards?’ “There was a stubbornness there and a determination to keep it going and be like ‘no, you don’t get to do this to me and to us and end the whole thing on your terms, I’m gonna keep it going on my terms’.” In the end, it was the simplest reasons that were the biggest motivation for Becky. “I love writing too much. I always had the songs. I just needed the confidence and support to get back out there.” That nightmare Becky has faced in the last few years has been twofold. While the line-up changes and instability within Milk Teeth are obvious, the loss of confidence, control and motivation in the band were also shaken loose, too. “It wasn’t that we didn’t have the material because I had written the

songs at that point, but it was more a lot of stressful stuff going on and ‘am I able to keep doing this? Am I able to be in public and tour and be in a studio right now?’ “I didn’t know if I had the headspace at that point to do that, but we got to a point where we found our feet again, found our confidence again and went and demoed four tracks out of 16 that I’d written for the record. And that demo stage was actually really cool because I think getting those four tracks back really got the excitement back.” Going back to the same studio that they had recorded both the ‘Be Nice’ and ‘Go Away’ EPs also gave Becky the chance to exercise a few demons and purposefully lay a marker of how she wants Milk Teeth to sound now. “I knew sonically what I wasn’t happy about with the EPs, and was definitely conscious of how I wanted it to be less produced; we all did. Less produced and more representative of how we sound live when we went into making this record.” What felt like an evolution at the time, was actually Becky losing her

control on how she wanted Milk Teeth to sound. From their frenetic debut, which felt like the un-bottling of 90s grungy teenage angst, the follow-up EPs had a gloss which wiped clean the grunge and left just a more straightforward rock sound. “I just felt like the EPs were sort of a runaway train where it was lots of boys saying ‘add more layers, add more this, add more that’, and I didn’t have much say or as much say as I would have liked at that point and it went down a hyper-commercial route with those songs,” she explains. “When we play those songs live, even now, they don’t sound anything like they do on the EPs; they’re gritty, and they’re raw and noisy, and I didn’t feel like they represented the live show that people came and watched with the way the production ended up on those songs.” Getting back into the studio and making their second album took a lot of motivation after the fall out of the band and its subsequent effects on Becky’s mental health too. Thankfully, Em Foster’s addition to the band proved to be the catalyst that got Milk Teeth (and Becky) back on track. The Nervus singer filled in on guitar when shit hit the fan in 2018 and became a permanent member of the band soon after. Her inclusion in the band had a direct impact on keeping Milk Teeth together and in the making of their second album. Em’s addition was a shift to a more collaborative relationship as, between herself and Becky, they understood how Milk Teeth should sound and how to create a natural progression from ‘Vile Child’. She joined with 16 demos for the album already pencilled in, but still added her own personal touches as she sped up opening track ‘Given Up’ from a “swung and slower” number which was reminiscent of Incubus’s ‘Drive’. She added the guitar parts to the second verse of ‘Better’ knowing Becky would dig that Pixies vibe she added. As a singer already, she also added as the dual vocals that have become a staple in all of Milk Teeth’s releases. But she also added something more important. “Mostly, she brought me a lot of confidence at a time when I had none. She definitely gave me a shove with getting those demos done at a time when I didn’t know if I could. And saying that I wasn’t shit on the days where I thought I was doing shit, or [when I wasn’t] in a good way. She kept morale up.” The result is the band’s second album. Eponymously titled, it is a definitive marker of who Milk Teeth are now as Becky explains. “It was very intentional to make a statement of ‘this is the band now, and this is what we sound like’. It’s not ‘forget the past’, but this is where we are at now. It’s almost like starting again really with all the changes.”

INTRO

‘FYI’

“ARE ALL OUR INTERVIEWS GOING TO BE ABOUT HARRY NOW?”

Yes, Swim Deep. Now you’re supporting your number one fan Styles-o, they almost certainly will be. We caught frontman Austin Williams to find out how ‘it’ came about.

HI OZZY, HOW’S IT GOING? UP TO ANYTHING FUN TODAY? Hello, I’m ill in bed. I think Cavan’s birthday party on Saturday has nearly written me off. He forgot that he’d drunkenly told half of Sports Team that it was 80s fancy dress. TBF, Henry didn’t look out of place at all. WE HEAR YOU’RE BEST BUDS WITH HARRY STYLES NOW, HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? I wish! It was incredible really, someone tweeted us a photo of him wearing our tee at a soundcheck, and then he asked us to play. I’m sure he knows how much it means to us, and also his fans are amazing, and they seem to dig our records. IT’S PRETTY NUTS THAT YOU’LL BE SUPPORTING HIM SOON, IS THIS SWIM DEEP’S FIRST BIG POP SHOW? HAVE YOU DONE OTHERS BEFORE? I reckon it is really. That’s why I love Swim Deep, we can get away with doing big pop stuff and then weird stuff. I do think it’s a good suit though; he wears big trousers, we also wear big trousers. HOW ARE YOU PLANNING TO WIN OVER HARRY’S FANS? Are all our interviews going to be about Harry now? I’m fine with that. His fans are great because they are a lot like our fans, except he has millions more... they’re loyal to the bone, and have a grassroots thing about them, they actively help you spread the word. We kinda got known off Twitter in 2012, and it was all due to fans who felt like online mates, spreading the word. I think we invented indie Twitter? IF YOU HAD AN UNLIMITED BUDGET TO PUT ON YOUR OWN MASSIVE GIG, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? I’d use all the budget to pay ourselves for once. I reckon it would be amazing to just have a

big superstar house band, and the singers rotate. Like Neil Young Crazy Horse style. Have me and Matty doing Kelly and Ozzy Osbourne’s version of ‘Changes’. WHEN WE LAST SPOKE, YOU SAID YOU WERE KEEN TO CRACK ON WITH NEW MATERIAL - ARE YOU GOING TO TRY ANY OF IT OUT ON THE UNSUSPECTING HARRY FANS? I’d love to! But I think I’d be outvoted. It’s a once in a lifetime chance to smash it, and I think we just gotta do what we know is gonna be great... ‘King City’ five times. HOW’S YOUR WRITING GOING AT THE MO, ARE YOU MAKING GOOD PROGRESS? I love it yeah, for me I’m writing what I feel represents me in a totally new way. Of course, it’s different to the last three albums, but it’s a lot more poppy. Big hooks and choruses and sounds more Swim Deep than ever. It’s warm and sounds like good nostalgia, without sounding dated. CAN YOU LET US IN ON WHAT YOUR PLANS ARE, OR ARE THEY TOP SECRET? IS THE AIM TO GET ANOTHER ALBUM OUT SOON? I don’t think we’re big enough for me to have to keep stuff top secret. I just wanna get good music out there for people to have for themselves, something to have that means a lot to you. Something that soundtracks you and your best mate being best mates. WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU GUYS GOT COMING UP, WILL YOU BE AT FESTIVALS AND STUFF? We’re going to be at Truck, Thursday night, be there. ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? Not really no x Swim Deep support Harry Styles at London’s O2 Arena on 23rd April, and play Truck on 30th July.

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Despite those changes, the core of out of body experience doing those Milk Teeth remains intact. She adds, choruses especially. The song, out “I don’t think I’ve changed or we’ve of everything we’ve done in our back changed in what we speak about and catalogue, is the one where you can what we care about; our morals are really connect the emotion and the still the same. feeling to what I’m singing and what “My political views are still the I’m saying which is really special. same, my openness about my own “It’s the song a lot of the album mental health is still the same, but I was formed around, and it’s such a just think that I have progressed as pivotal moment in my personal life, it a writer and these are the songs I’m definitely carries the most weight of most proud of to date that I’ve written. the record.” I hope that they’re accessible to a The track is empowered and defiant slightly broader audience and people and, coupled with ‘Transparent’, its that have grown up with us too.” the destruction and rebirth of both Segueing around the EPs this Becky Blomfield and Milk Teeth as one album is sonically the next step on in the same. from ‘Vile Child’. It’s an older head While becoming the front and on the same creative vibrancy that centre of Milk Teeth (and managing refuses to be stuck to one sound. the pressure which comes with that It’s confrontational with tracks like too), the album is about Becky putting ‘Destroyer’ but also vulnerable in the herself front and centre too. way lyrically the albums centres a lot “I’ve even had a few epiphany around finding and then harnessing moments in my personal life where self-worth. I’ve always been such a giver, and I’m Given the last few years, this not going to stop that, but I also need album’s lyrical content was always to think about myself a little bit more. going to come with more weight than I’m consciously trying to put myself any of their previous music. first more, as a rule, these days,” she “When I write, it always starts quite admits. a selfish process because I’m writing The transition in Becky’s outlook, to get out what is going on internally her struggles with her mental health with myself. So I don’t write thinking, in that time, her role within the band ‘is someone going to connect to this has resulted in an album brimming or not?’ It’s more, ‘I need to get this optimism, and the energy they have out and put this somewhere’. I hope for the future comes in abundance. that people are able to connect with “There were definitely points in these songs because I am baring all our career where it didn’t look like it of myself. [the album] was gonna come out,” she “I feel like these are the most keenly points out. But the fact it did is vulnerable songs I’ve ever written. such a deeply personal victory for her. They’re not as tongue in cheek as stuff While bursting with anticipation on the EPs, and there is less of a sense for the album’s release, Milk Teeth are of humour, they’re baring my soul also looking ahead to their UK tour more I guess.” which follows soon after. ‘Smoke’ was written during a “I’m so excited,” she beams. “I’m difficult time a few excited to have new years back while on sets. In all honesty, I tour with Creeper; mostly want to play surrounded by the new record live Snickers in her bunk and not too much of on the tour bus. the old stuff because ‘Medicine’ finds a I want to move onto deeper emotional this next bit. And, depth than before like I said, it’s my as the limits of favourite work to her relationship date, and I want to are tested. Closer enjoy playing these ‘Wanna Be’ unites songs live. her and former “The EPs drummer (but still represented a time The Hunna have good friend) Oli in in my life where none announced a brand new shared hardships of those people are album. Titled ‘I’d Rather Die while ‘Sharks’ around in the same Than Let You In’, there’s started life more way anymore, and no firm release date yet. delicately on the it was not a great However, there is a lead piano which you time for us, and I single - ‘Cover You’ - which can find if you trawl definitely want to features Blink-182 drummer far enough back on close the book on Travis Barker, and a new Instagram. that somewhat.” UK tour. But, it is ‘Better’ On par with her which anchors the cathartic writing album. As well as the experiences, having first song written for the chance to take the album, it’s the this album out live emotional centre will be another huge for it too as Becky’s step forward for the voice straining as new and improved she cries “I deserve Milk Teeth. St. Vincent has better” in the chorus They’ve been collaborated on a new line. through a lot in clothing collection. Working “Recording that making this album. alongside workout wear song, the vocals, was They were defeated, brand Outdoor Voices, the one of the weirdest bloodied and broken seven piece selection, titled experiences I’ve but they dusted had,” she starts. themselves down, STV,OV, is divided into three “It was the same learnt from it and still categories - form, function, at demo stage; it’s have plenty of teeth and focus. Apparently, the all this feeling that left to show. P Milk colours are inspired by St. I didn’t know would Teeth’s self-titled Vincent’s travels and are come out quite like album is out 27th designed with all skin tones that. It was like an March. in mind.

INTRO

TRACK X TRACK

YEAR ON FROM THEIR inaugural single for YALA! Records, cult fave ‘Fast and Loud’, and London foursome Talk Show are gearing up for another first - their debut EP, ‘These People’, due this spring via Council Records. A release that lead singer and guitarist Harrison Swann says was “mostly written whilst on public transport”, it’s inspired by modern living. STRESS With a lot of heart and a larger than life attitude, the track is led by honest and poetic lyrics. It is a fearless exploration into emotion, never shy or self-conscious. The persistent drive from the guitars, bass and drums supports this sentiment, making ‘Stress’ a total stomper worth breaking a sweat for down in the basement. Nicking Muhammad Ali’s phrase... “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”. ATOMICA ‘Atomica’ is our own twisted dance floor filler, largely inspired by electronica and rave culture. It’ll scramble your eggs for you while you dance about the kitchen. With lots of percussion, jagged guitar leads, and a bass line that could feel equally at home on an old 8-bit arcade game, this one’s a joy to play. We can’t wait for you to hear it. BANSHEE ‘Banshee’ is our attempt to show a more introspective side to our music and is a homage to 80s darkwave, which is a big part of Talk Show. ‘Banshee’ begins and closes with a building syncopated section, sending itself around in circles. Imagine if Julia Roberts never came back in Notting Hill… Sensitive souls beware. PETROLHEAD A brutal two-fingered salute to working in hospitality. Written for anyone who needs something to blast out on their daily return to work. ‘Petrolhead’ is big, loud and proud. So, tighten your laces, grab your big boy pants, and best leave your readers at home. Talk Show’s EP ‘These People’ is out 27th March.

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DORK

SET OUR HEARTS ON FIRE PERFUME GENIUS M IKE HADREAS - THAT’S Perfume Genius to you, thankyouverymuch - has announced the release of his fifth studio album. Titled ‘Set My Heart on Fire Immediately’, it’ll ‘drop’ on 15th May via Matador Records, ‘FYI’. We’ve already got the first single from the record. It’s called ‘Describe’ and, according to our Mike, “started as a really sombre ballad.”

“It was very minimal and very slow,” he explains, “and then it turned into this beast of a song. I started writing about when you are in such a dark place that you don’t even remember what goodness is or what anything feels like. And so, the idea was having someone describe that to you, because you forgot or can’t get to it.” So there we go. You can check ‘Describe’ out on readdork.com now.

PRINCESS NOKIA IS EVERYTHING

IND YOURSELF A PRINCESS who can do both - Destiny Frasqueri is back, and the New York rapper is firing on both cylinders with a surprise double album that speaks to a wide range of musical influences. First up is ‘Everything Sucks’, made in a week and chock-full of the angst that will appeal to fans of 2018’s emo-rap belter ‘A Girl Cried Red’. When Nokia describes it as a ‘brash, ruthless and insistent collection,’ they ain’t playing – among this record are some of their most honest introspections and biggest rap brags yet, using moody beats to tackle everything from a childhood in foster care to the empowering joy of stepping out in your finest outfit.

Words: Jenessa Williams.

TALK SHOW

have a new EP, ‘These People’, coming out. Here’s what they have to say about each of the tracks on it.

If you’re having a stinker of a week, it doesn’t come much better than ‘Gross’ crank up loud and be prepared to eff all of your haters. At the other end of the spectrum, we’ve got ‘Everything Is Beautiful’. Put together over two years and recorded partly in Nokia’s beloved Puerto Rico, it recalls Chance The Rapper and NoName in its sunny, soulful melodies and funny, staccato storytelling. ‘Green Eggs & Ham’ is fast becoming a staple on the Dork Stereo, while ‘Sugar Honey Ice Tea’ put the ass in brass with it’s hip-shaking chorus. Two full records on the same day without a compromise in quality? Your favourite simply doesn’t have the range. P

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HERE’S THE THING

OR: YES. WE’VE ASKED SPORTS TEAM’S ALEX RICE TO ‘DO’ US A ‘COLUMN’. WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN...? LIVE REPORT

Sports Team celebrated the announcement of their debut album by playing a gig in their local. It was about as laid back as you’d expect.

Words: Jake Hawkes. Photos: Jamie MacMillan.

URNS OUT, YOU MIGHT just bump into a surprising group of people en route to the Sports Team album launch – the band, sitting on a curb and gathered around guitarist / songwriter Rob’s mobile phone. They’re desperately trying to make out whether singer / troublemaker Alex is saying anything controversial on the Annie Mac show before their new single debuts (he manages ok, in case you were worried). We get a quick rundown of the situation in the pub, with guitarist Henry informing us that it’s “very busy and I’m quite scared.” On entrance, it’s clear why: the entire room is a wall of sweating Sports Team fans, peppered throughout with bemused regulars who are mainly there to watch the Chelsea match on TV. By the time the band take to the ‘stage’ (multiple wobbly tables scattered throughout the pub), it’s at bursting point, and the leaping mass of bodies threatens to put a hole in the floor. Every track played gets a frankly ludicrous response, with crowd surfing, table diving and drinks being thrown for the entirety of the set. Rice pours a beer on his head and seems to immediately regret it, Drummer Al takes a cymbal to the face but plays on through the blood – it’s chaos all round, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. P

Biffy Clyro have announced their new album, ‘A Celebration of Endings’, which is set to arrive on 15th May. “This is a very forward-looking album from a personal perspective and a societal perspective,” explains frontman Simon Neil. “The title is about seeing the joy in things changing, rather than the sadness. Change means progression and evolution. You can retain everything you loved before, but let’s lose the bad shit. It’s about trying to take back control.”

Spector are going to release a new compilation. ‘Non Fiction’ will feature material from the three EPs they released between 2017 and 2019, including the tracks ‘Half Life’, ‘Untitled In D’, ‘Fine Not Fine’ and more, alongside forthcoming single ‘When Did We Get So Normal?’. The record - available to pre-order now - will be released physically on 29th April, and features artwork from Matt de Jong.

HY AM I DOING this? Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this? I say yes to everything and writing this combined with a new management plan to book us 4 hours of rehearsal a day has dragged me away from the bohemian life I want to live. This house is a joke, it’s managed to become a horrid combination of squalid and a young professional dream where we have overnight oats in the fridge and Oli wakes me up with a star jump based workout routine. The road is quiet, but you only need one loud thing on a quiet road to make it a loud road for a second. Sometimes it is a cat. This wakes me up. I don’t know why we’re rehearsing anyway, it just takes away all the spirit from playing the song. Duncan Fletcher says if you’re in nick don’t net, all you’re going to do is play yourself out of form. Just go in and have a few off drives before the show and we’re golden. People don’t like us because we’re competent at playing the songs anyway. Still the best band going. I don’t really care how well the band does so long as it’s better than our peers. I think that’s fine, I think that’s true ambition. Gore Vidal says it’s not enough to see yourself succeed, you have to see your friends fail. I don’t think I really mean that though. 243 words. Been asked for 500. This is like school. I went to school in Holland for quite a while, we went on a school trip to Ameland. It’s got a very admirable system of water management, which feels topical given the floods and is well worth a look for anyone interested. They took us to Hollum, the most

"243 WORDS. BEEN ASKED FOR 500. THIS IS LIKE SCHOOL” populated village on the island, one day where me Chuck and Cristian Shearer jumped into the fountain in the town centre. They sent me home and made me write an apology letter, two sides of A4 - double spaced. It covered the importance of the rules for the maintenance of proper society. I will send you this essay if you want. Being in a band is better than being at school. I’ve often thought that it’s better to not think about where you’re going, what you’re doing or, to address Socrates’ point, to lead an examined life in any sense. With the team around me it’s actually a lot easier to succumb to being an entirely passive actor in your own life. Go on stage, do best frontman of a generation stuff, come off, filibuster interviews with long overdone anecdotes about Wembley and bands I don’t like. Anyway, don’t examine your life. Being in a band is genuinely the best thing in the world. Welcome to Sports Team: Behind the capers. It’s so dark. Down with boring etc. etc. P

READDORK.COM

PUB ROCK 101

‘FYI’

When you get a musician who has something to say, Dear Reader, you cherish them. And Sports Team’s soon-tobe-iconic frontman Alex Rice definitely has stuff to say. That’s why, after last month’s cover feature, we extended the invite to pen Dork a column on - well, whatever he fancied. This is what we got back. Bon appétit!

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HALSEY MANIA

Words: Al Shutler. Photos: Jasmine Safaeian

According to Halsey, she may never tour again. If this is her last London show - even if it’s just for a while - she’s going out with a bang.

ONIGHT MIGHT be Halsey’s last London show. While her first two albums dressed harsh reality, self-discovery and hopeful romance up as rolling fairytales or otherworldly adventure, 2020’s ‘Manic’ eats the distance. Set in the very real present, it loses none of the grand majesty in being vulnerable and the aching cinema is perhaps more powerful existing in this world. “I pride myself on being able to make mistakes, then write songs about them so you don’t have to make them,” she explains onstage at The O2 before adding, “It’s a hard job,” with a wink. After six years of being that trailblazing older sibling though, “I started realising I can’t do my job anymore ‘cos you guys are growing up faster than I am.” That’s why she’s taking a break from touring. “I decided that it’s my time to do some growing up, so I can write better music when I come back. Truth be told, as much fun as I’ve had watching you guys grow up, I

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DORK

want to grow up with you.” There’s an iron-laced sense of family lashing The O2 together. Tonight doesn’t dwell on goodbyes though, instead wanting to constantly push forward. From the opening, firework edged explosion of ‘Nightmare’, a fierce refusal to sit in silence and smile, to the proud, empowered hit of ‘Without Me’, Halsey is an artist always striving for more. The production is ever-shifting, hanging cubes of light become stairways and floating platforms, fire erupts from the floor, lasers create light tunnels and bursts of confetti and sparks pepper the show. Despite the scale, it never feels over-polished. It’s rehearsed (obviously) but every moment still comes from the gut and is led by the heart. The jagged edges glint before an arena of camera flashes. “There’s a lot we’re going to do tonight,” she promises. “We’re going to laugh, to cry, We’re going to get angry, get happy. We’re going to get to know each other a little better.” Halsey’s greatest power has always been her ability to make the biggest songs in music feel relatable and tonight, she could be speaking to the crowd one on one. She holds the spotlight for the duration, intense and throwing herself into every moment, but she’s never too far away. “In the

studio, I was thinking that it doesn’t matter how hard I try. This concert isn’t great unless you guys try too. I wrote this song so we could do it together,” she offers before ‘Clementine’ swiftly unites the room. For six years now, Halsey’s inspired and led. Unafraid to make mistakes, she’s a role model and friend. Not afraid to get vulnerable or give her audience their dues, “I would go to war over the fact that nobody loves you more than I do. The only people in the world who might love you more are my family. Because you guys gave me a chance at a second life, a life I don’t know I would have made the choice to keep before I met you. I promise you, I will not take this opportunity for granted. Without you, this is a world without me,” she creates a sanctuary where self-expression is celebrated. There are no secrets between her and her audience and building on that, tonight’s show is an emotional hurricane and a masterclass in spectacle. Never standing still, there are already whispers of where Halsey wants to go next, “I would love to do a whole album in the vein of ‘Nightmare’ and ‘Experiment On Me’,” she admitted hours before doors. But if this is Halsey last London show, at least for a little while, then she’s going away as the very best in the game.P

INCOMING!

HAIM TIME PART 3

POTTERY

Fresh off the back of some notable buzz last year with their debut EP ‘No. 1’, Pottery are back with a debut album described as a “celebration of rhythm and groove”. Well, Dear Reader - we like rhythm, and it’s always nice to have a bit of groove, so we’ve pinned them down for a catch up. Here it is.

DOES THE IDEA PRE-DATE STARTING THE ALBUM? TO WHAT EXTENT DID IT HELP SHAPE THE RECORD? I think it really wrapped the album up for us. Sometimes you’re left with a collection of songs, but we were able to turn it all into one piece. With a bit of hard work, I feel it all came together naturally.

HOW DID YOU FIND YOUR TIME WRITING AND RECORDING, WERE THERE ANY UNEXPECTED Words: Sam Taylor. CHALLENGES? We’re all best friends, and there’s nothing CONGRATS ON REACHING YOUR we like more than jamming. Writing music DEBUT ALBUM, WHAT AN EXCITING is just an extension of us having fun. TIME. HAS IT BEEN A LONG TIME IN THE There’s always a point in writing when WORKS? WHAT WAS YOUR STARTING there’s some struggle to turn an idea into POINT? a complete song, but I’d say 90% of what Thank you. It was definitely not as long we got just flowed out of us naturally. of a process as getting the EP out. About half of the LP was written and performed WHAT’S YOUR SONGWRITING live for a little over a year, so we are all PROCESS LIKE? excited to show the world that and move Sometimes it’s a riff someone brings, onto the next chapter of writing new stuff. sometimes it’s putting a melody onto a beat that’s fun, and others it’s an TELL US ABOUT YOUR BOBBY extension of a jam. There are a few that CONCEPT - HE’S YOU, BUT ALSO come from full demos, but most are just EVERYONE? WHAT’S THAT ABOUT. us working out our ideas in our jam space. Well, the concept came out more during If we get hyped on what we do then we the album art process. While doing the know others will feel the same. artwork and video stuff, I was feeling that David Lynch vibe. It’s really just IT SOUNDS LIKE THE RECORD DELVES INTO SOME VERY HEFTY SUBJECTS, trying to pass that feeling you get from a ARE ALL THE TOPICS YOU TOUCH reoccurring dream. A place you’ve been ON PERSONAL TO YOU IN SOME to all your life and know so well, though WAY? OR ARE THEY MORE EXTERNAL you’re not sure it’s real.

OBSERVATIONS? I think there’s a few that were pretty close to the guys, the stuff I wrote was again pushing the feeling of the album art. I think you can see the difference in everyone’s writing in the album. But for sure it’s all coming from the heart. HOW DID YOU APPROACH CURATING THE ALBUM’S TRACKLISTING? A lot of that credit goes out to John Schenke. I think it helped to have an outside opinion for that process. His ears were a little more fresh than ours by that point. Everyone had their notes on transitions between songs, but for sure, his input was key. HOW WOULD YOU MOST LIKE THE ALBUM TO MAKE LISTENERS FEEL? I’d like everyone to feel good, think we all would. We’re not trying to push a message or alter anyone’s mind, just sharing the music we like to make. Hopefully, we can inspire some people to pick up an instrument and make their own music. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? We’re still working on more music, we won’t stop, and we appreciate everyone that enjoys what we do, and that is giving us the opportunity to continue to do what we love. P Pottery’s album ‘Welcome to Bobby’s Motel’ is out 10th April.

Haim have announced that they’re dropping their third album Really Very Soon. The sisterly trio will deliver the record - titled ‘Women In Music Pt. III’, on 24th April via Polydor Records. Speaking about the record, Danielle from the band explains: “The name came to me in a dream and I woke up laughing so I told my sisters.” Alana adds, “I liked it because we are literally women in music and we always get written about that way, so it seemed cool to make it our own and control the narrative. It made me think about some of our experiences more.” And Este says, “I just thought it was funny, plus the initials are WIMP3. Wimp is a hilarious word.” ‘Women In Music Pt. III’ is produced by Danielle alongside longtime collaborators Ariel Rechsthaid and Rostam Batmanglij. It’s also got cover art by renowned director Paul Thomas Anderson. It’s nice when you’ve got talented mates, eh? Haim are set to headline Latitude this July. You can stream another new track from the album ‘The Steps’ online now.

“HOPEFULLY, WE CAN INSPIRE SOME PEOPLE TO PICK UP AN INSTRUMENT”

Haim have announced that they’re dropping their third album Really Very Soon.

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ANNA CALVI HAS BEEN GETTING A HAND FROM HER MATES FOR HER NEW REWORK RELEASE, ‘HUNTED’

Words: Tyler Damara Kelly. Photo: Maisie Cousins.

“

T’S INTERESTING THAT the success of a song isn’t just the melody, or the lyrics, or any of these things you would think is what makes a song, but [something else entirely]. When you perform it in a different way, it can completely change the mood,” says Anna Calvi as she reflects on the contrasts between her 2018 Mercury Prize-nominated album ‘Hunter’ and it’s denuded followup, ‘Hunted’. Inspired by having some breathing space between records, and in somewhat of a serendipitous way, Calvi found herself being drawn to the primitive origins of what has since become an entirely different kind of beast. ‘Hunted’ is all at once a quietly alluring dive into sensuality, and the intoxicating power that comes in reclamation of the self. Throughout the album, her voice contains a deliberate strength of address that radiates through the great expanse of the universe, almost as though she is seeking you out with her words. As with most introverted people, such a bold expulsion of energy often comes a desire to reign it all in, as is most natural and comfortable for the way that they inhabit the world. Calvi’s choice to release the demos of ‘Hunter’ didn’t exactly come from this kind of internal urge. “I came across these records that I’d done as soon as I had written the songs, and I liked the rawness and the vulnerability that they had. It felt very different from the album that I had fully recorded.” She continues, “’Hunter’ was very much a galvanising, strong record, but the whole idea of my record was that we are multifaceted and we don’t just have to be strong or vulnerable.” So what follows is a body of work that takes on a kind of clandestine form – unearthed from the confines of quiescence. While going through the demos, Calvi thought hard about the artists she was most inspired by, who would help elevate the magic within these recordings. “I just sent them the songs, I didn’t get them any instructions. I like the idea of being surprised just seeing what the artists would do with the material. That was the most exciting part – to not give them any instruction.” Enlisting help from the likes of Charlotte Gainsbourg, Julia Holter, Joe Talbot, and Courtney Barnett, ‘Hunted’ is an intimate take on the intensity that exudes

from Calvi’s creative outlet. Based on a paronomasia of opposites, there is a kind of equilibrium that permeates through the art. Speaking of the collaboration with Courtney Barnett, Calva reflects: “There’s something really interesting about how her voice changes the dynamic of this song. It was interesting as well because the first single I released in 2018 was ‘Don’t Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy’ and I like the symmetry of this being the first song to come out on ‘Hunted’.” Barnett’s contributions to the song itself are incredibly subtle, but help amplify the atmosphere with her husky voice adding a velveteen finish around Calvi’s. Something that she herself found a certain charm within, as it was her prerogative to capture an essence of purity. “I found that interesting – how the songs seem sadder and more vulnerable when there are less elements.” As someone who is outwardly quite introverted, there’s a raw energy that expels from her once she has a guitar in her hands.

ever gonna learn anything. The world needs introverts as much as they need extroverts. I guess I’m lucky in that I can express both. You know, when I’m on stage I’m not an introvert but in my daily life I don’t feel the need to be the centre of attention – that’s not what interests me in my daily life.” Channelling the colour red was a source of power throughout the album cycle, and Calvi intends to stick with it throughout ‘Hunted’, as she believes that red can be intimate as well as powerful. With a glimmer of a smile in her voice, she says with quiet assertion: “Red will always be my theme.” The main goal of continuing to release music and push herself is to get closer to a sense of encapsulating an idea. “Obviously it means a lot to me that people like it but I do have to be careful of that – I don’t want to go into the mindset of wanting to please people because I don’t think that makes for good work. So, although I do let part of myself enjoy those good things, I don’t let myself get carried away. It’s not what defines me.” She continues: “Just the idea of getting to some simple and honest truth in your songwriting. Where you feel like the song that I’ve written has completely encapsulated that need or that feeling that I had, that I wanted to express. Each time you write a song, you’re trying to get closer to that idea. The thing is, I think if you do it well, people do enjoy it because they understand what that feeling is and that’s what they connect with.” For a lot of people, there is a distinct pleasure in being able to listen to demos of their favourite songs, as it allows them to disassemble and reassemble the pieces in a way that provides them with a snapshot into the minds of their idols. In the attempt at capturing what it’s like to be prey and putting your most intimate moments out into the public, to allow your work to be devoured. There’s a sense of power that exudes from complete surrendering and succumbing to the elements and opinions of a multitude of people who are happy to pick out intricacies in a body of work, and twist them into something negative. The main element of it all for Calvi is that ‘Hunted’ feels like a “full circle of expressing the multifaceted nature of existence.” With no ulterior motives other than that, in her incredibly humble way; she adds: “I like the idea that it promotes introspection, I suppose.” P

“THE WORLD NEEDS INTROVERTS AS MUCH AS THEY NEED EXTROVERTS”

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“I find it important to express those sides – the strong and the vulnerable in music-making. It’s most interesting to work in opposites, and particularly for an album that’s about trying to be more fluid, and seeing the world in a more fluid way. It just felt like the right thing to write about and be inspired by.” Inspiration is a key topic of conversation that surrounds ‘Hunter’. Upon its release, a wider conversation was evolving about the fluidity of sexuality; gender; human nature; and the complexities that arise within those discussions. Where ‘Hunter’ is a very physical album and extroverted in its nature, ‘Hunted’ appeals more to the introverted quietude of the world. Presenting both sides of her personality in this way is something that Calvi has explored throughout touring the former, which she says allowed her to be “more free, and more wild” on stage. “I just think that extroverts are praised more than introverts but, you know, you have to stop and listen if you’re

INTRO

‘FYI’ Orlando Weeks has shared his debut solo single, ‘Safe In Sound’. The track was penned in 2018 as Orlando and his partner anticipated the birth of their son. “I was witness to this momentous event in our lives and didn’t want that to go unmarked in the work that I do,” he explains. “I found that writing was a way to anchor moments and cement feelings that we were sharing.” It’s a taster from the former Maccabees footman’s upcoming debut album, which will follow sometime this year - his first project since he wrote, illustrated and soundtracked alternative festive tale, The Gritterman.

Justin Young and Timothy Lanham from The Vaccines have released their debut Halloweens album. The news arrives alongside new tracks ‘My Baby Looks Good With Another’ and ‘Rock Bottom Rock’.Justin explains: “‘My Baby Looks Good With Another’ is a nod and a wink to the greed and selfishness of the never-contents... of wanting what we didn’t want when we had it - and of wanting what probably isn’t very good for us more than anything else.

KIM PETRAS BRINGS THE PARTY TO LONDON

Words: Ali Shutler. Photos: Frances Beach.

IM PETRAS IS A PARTY. IT might be Monday night but the mood inside London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire is sheer weekend as she brings her ‘Clarity’ tour to an end. But it’s going out with a bang. A show in six acts, Kim starts hard and goes harder as the opening bounce of ‘Clarity’ leans into the twitching call of ‘Got My Number’ through the beaming warp of ‘Meet The Parents’. With a lust for life and wanting to embrace every moment, ‘Blow’ It All lives for nights to remember while ‘I Don’t Want It All’ is all unashamed desire. Back to back airings of her Charli XCX collaborations ‘Unlock It’ and ‘Click’ bubble with authority, while also sending the room wild with bursts of euphoria. It’s a stark contrast to the pulsating dark disco of her ‘Turn Off The Light’ material but Kim’s a master of kaleidoscopic pop. While ‘There Will Be Blood’ and ‘Death By Sex’ glow under scarlet light, snarling and with just a hint of menace, ‘Icy’ twinkles with bright, high-hopes ambition. There’s a country-twinged cover of The Killers’ ‘Human’, new’un ‘Reminds Me’ is a swaying anthem of loss while the summery ‘Can’t Do Better’ is sugary sweet and taking no prisoners. The closing one-two of ‘Heart To Break’ and ‘Sweet Spot’ pick the room up and squeezes the very last of the energy from them. “Let’s live our best life,” she sings as the audience takes her words to heart. P

READDORK.COM

Car Seat Headrest have confirmed their new album, ‘Making A Door Less Open’. The followup to 2016’s ‘Teens Of Denial’ is set for release on 1st May via Matador Records, preceded by teaser-track ‘Can’t Cool Me Down’. The song is “the result of a fruitful “collaboration”,” a press release explains, “between Car Seat Headrest, led by Will Toledo, and 1 Trait Danger, a CSH electronic side project consisting of drummer Andrew Katz and Toledo’s alternative persona, Trait.” So there you go.

LIVE REPORT

INTRO

ON TOUR

DORK LIVE

THE LATEST SHOWS YOU NEED TO SEE.

COMING UP!

BONIFACE

STARTS: THE LOUISIANA IN BRISTOL ON 16TH MAY Micah Visser will be taking their stonking debut on tour, for headline shows in Bristol, Nottingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow and London.

THE CHATS

STARTS: THE O2 ACADEMY IN BRISTOL ON 18TH OCTOBER There are fewer facts more facty than the shorter and louder songs are, the better something The Chats will be demonstrating this October.

ARE YOU LISTENING?

HAYLEY WILLIAMS

L DEVINE

STARTS: THE MELKWEG MAX IN AMSTERDAM ON 13TH MAY

THIS MONTH

REC OMM END ED

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SEA GIRLS

Hello from the past, Dear Reader, where Hayley Williams’ debut solo tour with her Petals For Armor project has been announced, but tickets are yet to go on sale. There’s a very good chance that by the time you read this, they’ll have flown out faster than Tesco’s shelves of loo roll during a poorly managed pandemic. She’s cleaning up, you see. Not with the aforementioned 4-ply embossed with puppies, but with indie-pop tunes that are easily as fun as her band Paramore’s best. With the weirdness of alt-J, and a helping hand from some of her couldn’t-bebuzzier pals like Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus, it’s a very exciting time. She’ll be performing both at The Great Escape on 15th May, and a headliner at London’s Electric Ballroom the following day.

STARTS: THE O2 INSTITUTE IN BIRMINGHAM ON 16TH APRIL Sandwich connoisseurs Sea Girls are gearing up for a run that concludes with a super fancy show at the Roundhouse in London.

DORK

CREEPER

STARTS: THE WARDROBE IN LEEDS ON 12TH APRIL Spoiler alert: Creeper’s new album ‘Sex, Death & The Infinite Void’ (not out til 29th May) is a proper corker. Catch them while you can.

STARTS: RIVERSIDE IN NEWCASTLE ON 2ND MAY Despite L Devine’s insistence that we listen to boring people (??!!), she’s still one of our faves - and when it’s also the name of her new single, she can probably have a pass.

THE WEEKND

STARTS: THE O2 IN LONDON ON 11TH OCTOBER The Weeknd has already extended his upcoming UK tour multiple times. Currently he’s got four nights at The O2, and counting.

25TH APRIL 2020 VARIOUS VENUES, READING We’re heading to Berkshire for the annual one day fest in aid of Reading Mencap. Acts playing include Dream Wife, Self Esteem, Chappaqua Wrestling, Matt Maltese, Drug Store Romeos, and Talk Show. Not bad, eh? Grab tickets on readdork.com.

MORE SHOWS

TWO TRIBES

14TH APRIL 2020 MOTH CLUB, LONDON

TWO TRIBES

22ND APRIL 2020 VOODOO DADDY’S SHOWROOM, NORWICH

LIVE AT LEEDS

2ND MAY 2020 VARIOUS VENUES, LEEDS

BEST COAST

STARTS: THE GREAT ESCAPE IN BRIGHTON IN MAY Beth and Bobb’s new tune ‘Everything Has Changed’ is one of our faves on Dork Radio at the mo; fresh from a five-year break, they’re still The Best (Coast) (lol).

SORRY

STARTS: CLWB IFOR BACH IN CARDIFF ON 26TH APRIL Just announced, but also this month - what a way to make a living. Get yourself over to see Sorry airing out their debut album, ‘925’.

PORRIDGE RADIO

STARTS: THE WHITE HOTEL IN MANCHESTER ON 16TH OCTOBER Cult faves Porridge Radio’s new run includes their biggest headline show to date, at London’s Village Underground. Pass the golden syrup.

PEANESS

7TH MAY 2020 FACE BAR, READING

KENDAL CALLING

30TH JULY - 2ND AUGUST 2020 LOWTHER DEER PARK, LAKE DISTRICT

THE ACADEMIC + OSCAR LANG HARRY STYLES LAURAN HIBBERD STARTS: SOUP KITCHEN STARTS: BIRMINGHAM TH

STARTS: THE GUILD HALL IN DERRY ON 12TH APRIL Head along for buoyant indie tunes from The Academic - who have a new album ‘on the way’ - and new fave Lauran Hibberd.

IN MANCHESTER ON 20TH APRIL Lord of the bops etc, Oscar Lang is heading out on the road this April. He’s just dropped a brand new EP too - it’s all kicking off, eh?

ARENA ON 15 APRIL Our Harold will be bringing his granny pearls on the road, joined by King Princess, Joy Crookes and - yep - Swim Deep, who will support for the show at London’s O2.

BEABADOOBEE Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett. Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett.

LAUV

“It’s SOOO important to be making songs you like”

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With their debut album, Diet Cig gathered both plaudits and whole bunch of big toothy grins, such was their infectious energy. Now they’re back with a follow-up. We caught up with vocalist and guitarist Alex Luciano to ask more. ALEX! HELLO. HOW’S IT GOING? ARE YOU GUYS GOOD? It’s going great! We just announced our single ‘Thriving’ and our record two days ago, so we’re soooo stoked to be sharing stuff with the world! I’m also currently drinking a lovely cup of coffee in my PJs at home so truly thriving over here. WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN UP TO OF LATE, MOSTLY WORKING ON THE ALBUM? IS IT ALL DONE AND DUSTED? We’ve been working like crazy on this album! The record itself is DONE (yeehaw!) but there are always a million more things to do that go into it, so we’ve been busy. WHAT WAS YOUR MINDSET LIKE, AND WHAT IDEAS DID YOU HAVE GOING INTO THE RECORD? Our mindset going into it was really like WHEW we’ve been doing this for a minute, let’s take a second to step back and take a look. We toured a lot less in 2019 while writing it and it kind of gave us a second to reflect on what we had done so far, when before it always felt so GO GO GO. We just wanted to go into this without the stress and pressure of cranking something out for the sake of it, and really made a record we’re excited about. We allowed ourselves to take that deep breath and relax off the get-go and I think it really helped make the record so special. CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE FIRST TRACK YOU’RE RELEASING FROM IT? So ‘Thriving’ is the first track on the record and its

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also the first song we wrote specifically for the album (technically the makeup interlude came first, but we didn’t know it’d be on the record). It tackles the feeling of doing great without someone or something in your life but still hoping they notice you doing so. It’s the duality of the confident proclamation of “I’m thriving thanks for asking” and the desperation of “do you wonder about me?” that defines the song. It’s a campy ode to the front we all put up and what’s really lying beneath (and how that’s okay!!!) HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE ALBUM’S VIBE? I think the album’s vibe is a little more driving, emotional, and reflective. It’s got some upbeat bops but also some really emotional vignettes. It’s very dynamic and goes from one mood to the next pretty rapidly. DO YOU HAVE ANY FUN STORIES FROM YOUR TIME IN THE STUDIO? There’s an a cappella section of one of our songs (‘Broken Body’) and I just could not get the timing because we hadn’t recorded anything to a metronome. I had to grab this old school stopwatch and time the part, and keep watching for my time to cut off and it just felt like one of those Macgyver moments! WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST LESSON YOU LEARNT FROM YOUR DEBUT? It’s sooo important to be making songs you like because you have to play them over and over again for like a year and a half afterwards! We did that really well on the last record because I still love all those songs, and we really thought about that while making this record. We’re so excited to play these songs over and over! P Diet Cig’s album ‘Do You Wonder About Me?’ Is out 1st May.

Photo: Emily Dubin.

BANGERS

INTRO

THE BEST NEW TRACKS

TOP TEN The constantly shifting list of Dork's favourite albums of 2020 updated every month!

01. THE BIG MOON WALKING LIKE WE DO

Still sitting pretty at the top of our list, ‘Walking Like We Do’ remains absolutely bloody brilliant.

02. SPORTS TEAM

DEEP DOWN HAPPY *NEW*

27 Much anticipated, Sports Team’s debut delivers on all that promise and then some.

03. SOCCER MOMMY COLOR THEORY

THE MAGIC GANG

What Have You Got To Lose

Le Gang Magique - yes, that’s definitely the proper French, Dear Reader, shut up - continue their return with another strident slice of classic pop. ‘What Have You Got To Lose’ may start with a brooding bass line and a sense of post-post foreboding, but before long it’s exploded into the kind of mild euphoria the Brighton quartet specialise in. That new record, due in May, night be titled ‘Death of a Party’, but there’s no sign of any wallflowers round here.

PHOEBE BRIDGERS

Garden Song

It’s all going off for Phoebe Bridgers. With a slew of collabs - team ups with both The 1975 and Hayley Williams are on ‘the books’ - it’s important we don’t forget that she’s a vital and important voice in her own right too. Taking a break from being a Twitter ledge, ‘Garden Song’ is the first taster of a new album, expected to arrive later this year, and is nothing short of plain gorgeous. What a talent.

LADY GAGA

her debut album ‘Wake UP!’ comes into focus, it’s nice to remember why. A woozy marshmallow of a song, it’s the weary request for the arguments to end. Battle won.

Stupid Love

Stupid things about Gaga’s comeback single ‘Stupid Love’. Number one: it leaked ages back, but took forever to arrive officially. Number two: IT IS STUPIDLY AMAZING. The kind of megabanger we feared might be behind pop’s premier weird-in-a-good-way star, it’s big, camp and Voguing all the way to the chorus. Welcome back, your majesty. Your throne awaits.

RINA SAWAYAMA

If Gaga is pop’s returning ruler, Rina is the future heir to the throne. The third single to come from her forthcoming debut album, ‘XS’ follows where the previously fantastical ‘STFU!’ and ‘Commes de Garcons’ started - a gigantic, larger than life, super stylised bop that simply demands attention at every turn. Scarily good.

HAZEL ENGLISH

Combat

Hazel English may have been knocking around the hype lists for a while now, but as

Get the latest bangers at readdork.com or follow our Brand New Bangers playlist on Spotify. Check out all these tracks and more on Dork Radio now at readdork.com/ radio

THE ACES

04. GEORGIA SEEKING THRILLS

05. BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB

EVERYTHING HAS GONE WRONG

Daydream

The love letter left for a person left behind, The Aces return on top pop form. An aesthetic as sharp as its shimmering edges, ‘Daydream’ has bop written through it like a stick of seaside rock. All low summer sun and a promise to return with interest, it’s both heart-warming and perpetually on the front foot. There’s no moping here. Officially ace.

MARIKA HACKMAN

Blow (Rosa Let’s Eat Grandma Rework)

What was suppose to be a simple remix of a track from Marika’s most recent record becomes something much more in the hands of one half of the mighty Let’s Eat Grandma. Rosa deconstructs a song of already gloriously high standards and puts it back together as something truly special. A double threat.

Back in action, BBC’s comeback record might also be their best..

06. BONIFACE BONIFACE

07. SORRY 925 *NEW*

08. BLOSSOMS

FOOLISH LOVING SPACES

09. MURA MASA RYC

10. TAME IMPALA THE SLOW RUSH

READDORK.COM

ARLO PARKS

Fresh off a slew of 2020 tips lists, Arlo Parks is already gaining fans in all the right places.

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Words: Jenessa Williams. Photo: Charlie Cummings.

"THERE IS A LOT OF HOPE AND VIBRANCY IN OUR GENERATION"

VERY ARTIST CAN remember their first time. For some, it’s ten awkward minutes on stage at school, or in a hastily arranged set in a living room, with only mums and dads in attendance. For Arlo Parks, her very first headline show took place in Berlin, and it was absolutely everything she wanted it to be. “It was a really special moment. Everyone was so lovely; somebody bought me flowers… It was just perfect,” she enthuses, speaking to us on the phone the morning after. “It felt like such a listening crowd - during the songs, I could see people dancing and having fun, but when I read my poetry, people were completely sometimes feel both helpless and like it’s silent, which was so nice. People were your responsibility to clear up a mess that really attentive, and I love that.” already feels so far gone. I think that makes Parks is certainly worth paying attention a lot of people feel very anxious and down. to. Having wrapped up her A-Levels last But at the same time, I do think there is a year and temporarily shelved her plans to study English Literature in order to focus on lot of hope and vibrancy in our generation, people actively campaigning to instigate music, her steady stream of singles speaks positive change.” to her enthusiasm for soulful beat poetry Part of that positivity is a determination and Gen-Z angst, tapping into cool-R&B and bedroom indie along the way. Her 2019 to use her growing platform for good. “Anything that is to do with LGBTQ+ EP ‘Super Sad Generation’ pricked the ears representation and rights, that something of many an industry expert, landing her I’m always going to be passionate about,” spots on a hefty array of ‘Ones To Watch’ she explains. “I think it’s quite a recent lists, not to mention a nod of approval from thing for young artists to be so upfront a personal hero… about their sexuality, but it’s so important “I just saw that Hayley Williams shared for me as a young black queer woman to my song ‘George’ on her Instagram story speak up and be someone that other can – that is absolutely crazy,” she laughs. “To see and maybe realise that it’s okay for kids my age, she is an actual goddess, so them to be themselves. I just want to be it was so wild to see. It’s Paramore! God transparent - I want to able to have poetic Status!” and artistic license in my songs, and I don’t Having grown-up as something of an want to just spew out every single thought emo kid (“I loved My Chemical Romance, at once, but when I write, I definitely say and Good Charlotte – when you’re young, exactly what I think and feel.” and you’re feeling a Reflecting on the bit confused, having whirlwind that her life has someone shouting about become, Parks recognises their feelings feels really THE FACTS the power of a good network cathartic”), Parks has + From to keep her grounded. A keen grown tired of writers London, UK collaborator, her smooth assuming that she’s + For fans of vocal tones can be found just another miserable Joy Crookes on Easy Life’s ‘Sangria”, and teenager. + Check out old tourmate Loyle Carner “The ‘Super Sad ‘Eugene’ pitched in with his brother Generation’ thing, I think to direct the music video expect me to just be like + Social for Eugene, a gentle lament ‘there’s no hope’, but nah, @arloparks to watching the friend you that’s not what it means,” + See them live: secretly fancy fall in love with she reasons. “There are Supporting Easy Life somebody else. positives and negatives at the Roundhouse - as young people, you “Working with the Coyle-

APRIL 2020

DORK

Larner brothers was just the best - to have a director who is a musical artist themselves, it’s a very special thing,” she says. “The crew was quite big and a bit overwhelming, and it was my first time doing any acting, so it was really nice to have that familiar, calming presence. With ‘Sangria’, Murray [Easy Life’s Frontman] just reached out to me over Instagram. We’d been fans of each other, and were going around the same festival circuits but always just missing each other and never meeting. He sent me the demo and asked if I’d like to jump on it, and I just recorded it on my little mic at home. They’re such lovely boys – we got to play it live for BBC Sounds at Maida Vale, and then at the Roundhouse, it was all so nice. Always work with your friends, I’d say!” With her mates on speed dial and a jam-packed summer schedule mapped out far ahead of her (27 festivals and counting), the little matter of her debut solo album is still niggling in the back of Parks’ head, a single shot that she is determined to get absolutely perfect. “It’s definitely something I’m taking my time with, hopefully have it finished by the end of the year”, she says. “I’m a proper perfectionist - when I was back in London I was doing sessions every day, and there were some songs coming out of it that I was really proud of.” “I feel like there’s more variation in vocal delivery – there’s a bit more grit to certain songs in terms of how they sound. I’m delving into a few more different genres that I haven’t explored yet. But it’s all a big secret really…everyone will have to wait and see!” P

BESSIE TURNER

Suffolk singer/songwriter Bessie Turner has had ‘a bit of a year’. Sold out shows, buzzy support slots (Ed Sheeran?!), must-see festival sets (Live At Leeds, Dot To Dot), and the little matter of contracting sepsis, which nearly killed her. Now, she’s announced her biggest London headline show to date, at The Lexington on 18th May.

It sounds like you’ve had an eventful time with the sepsis ‘n all - are you ok now? Has it had much impact on your work? It’s been pretty fucking mental. I had sepsis on two occasions and spent three weeks in hospital in 2019. It doesn’t sound like much or very long, but the recovery periods of not being able to do anything apart from sit in bed in your own head felt like a lifetime. It’s still all being investigated now. It’s definitely made me braver. Has going through that changed your outlook on life? 100000% I’m a bit more hardened to it all. I’m better at being honest and putting myself first and raising my point if I disagree with something or someone. Life is brilliant and too short to spend it fucking around. What do you most enjoy writing about? You co-wrote with Justin from The Vaccines recently, right? I only really write about things personal and relative to me. It’s my outlet, and it’s mad that other people get something from it too. I wrote ‘Down 2’ with Justin and our friend Will the first (and only) time we got into a studio together, it came about really quickly and easily and was loads of fun. P READDORK.COM

29 29

Hi Bessie! How long have you been making music, what first got you into it? Years and years. I’ve been making up little tunes and songs since I was a child, but I’ve been taking it mildly seriously for a few years now. My mum always loved music and sang, my grandad played in jazz bands and my nan had a piano that me and my sister and cousin used to bash the life out of.

TWO TRIBES

HYPE NEWS

What’s happening in the world of new music.

London foursome Two Tribes are kicking off their summer with a bunch of April tour dates, including not one, but TWO shows with us here at Dork. “We’re excited that by the time people are reading this that our headline at Moth Club is finally announced,” say the band, when we hit them up to introduce themselves. “It’s the biggest show we’ve ever done; [we’re] shitting ourselves (in a good way).” Here’s more from Patrick Smith (vox, guitars) and Kim Engelhardt (bass). Photo: Alex Waespi.

Did you guys grow up in London, or did you move in from elsewhere? How did you get together? Kim: The two boys are Brits from Reading and North Wales, and me and Anna are Team EU, originally from Germany and Italy, so none of us are from London really, but that’s where we all met and started the band. The Shacklewell Arms is the central hub where we all first connected together (although Patrick and Al had played in bands together before). Can you remember the first song you wrote, has your songwriting developed much since then? Kim: There were a couple of songs and ideas already formed before we started the band, but the first song we wrote all together was our last single ‘Videodrone’. I can recall the

writing process quite vividly because it was the first time I added my own bassline and everyone else added their own parts, so everyone’s strengths really shone through. Since then, the band has evolved way beyond that. It’s exciting because it feels like the band is constantly moving, improving and changing while we are also developing quite a distinctive style. What are you working on at the mo? Do you have many songs waiting for release? Patrick: We’ve got a new single recorded and ready to release that we’ll be dropping ahead of the Moth Club show. It’s weird though, because by the time you’re about to release a track you’re already thinking ahead to the next one. We’ve got quite a lot of material now, but we’re trying to be selective about what to put out. Have you guys spent much time on the road yet, do you have a favourite story from your travels? Patrick: We haven’t actually been on tour before so we’re pretty excited to be heading to loads of new places. Kim: I can’t wait for all the ban(d) ter, 80s tunes in the car, or coach, or just to be on the right coach. Right, Pat? Patrick: I booked us a coach to get up [to a gig in Hull] from London but got the stations muddled up, so we missed our coach, then our train connection, and ended up turning a 4-5 hour journey into a 10 hour one. Wasn’t much fun. P

DORK LIVE

CATCH TWO TRIBES IN LONDON AND NORWICH THIS APRIL!

Friends Serene & Dork presents: Two Tribes will take place at the Moth Club in London on 14th April, while Anti Despair Machine & Dork presents: Two Tribes takes place at Norwich’s Voodoo Daddy’s on 22nd April.

Get tickets now at readdork.com/shows

APRIL 2020

DORK

South London bunch Gaygirl have announced their debut EP, ‘Pleasurehead’. Due for release on 24th April, the news arrives alongside lead single ‘Mikkel’. Bex Morrison (vocals, guitar) says of the song: “Mikkel compares the desperate feelings of confusion at the end of a relationship with a seemingly disastrous tea party amongst bad company.”

Hotel Lux have shared their nostalgic new tune, ‘Eddie’s Gaff’. A track about “wasting our lives away”, frontman Lewis Duffin explains: “A nostalgic tune about the early days in London. First year at uni and knocking about South with new pals. Simpler times.” It’s an early teaser, and the second single from, their upcoming debut EP ‘Barstool Preaching’, due for release on 24th April via Nice Swan Records.

Marsicans have announced their debut album, ‘Ursa Major’. The record’s due for release on 22nd May via Killing Moon, with the news arriving alongside their new single ‘Juliet’, plus details of an October headline tour.

APRE Fronted by co-vocalists Charlie and Jules, APRE’s associated press gubbins claims they’re as inspired by the lyricism of Pet Shop Boys and the ‘alternative indie’ of Foals. That’s basically the Dork template for something great, right? Right. More than enough reason for an introduction, then.

Words: Laura Freyaldenhoven.

“When you put yourself under any sort of pressure, it numbs creativity,” Jules explains, with Charlie taking this thought even further: “Half the skill of being a musician is to be able to block out all the crap and just do what you want to do to the best that you can. It’s about doing it for you and not doing it for anyone else.” They certainly are an insightful duo, these two, and it’s clear to see that they put an insane amount of love and dedication into their craft. Having met at uni and not, as they would like the world to believe, at a chess club – they’re not that cool – Jules and Charlie have been on quite the journey together but finding the APRE sound was less an intention and more an organic process. “Charlie and I played in quite a few different bands. Outside of that, I would go to his gran’s house where we would sit in the front room on his laptop and just write songs. But we never wrote songs with an agenda, it just sounded like what came out.” What came out, are beautifully diverse pop tracks sprinkled with electronic elements that impress not only with emotive songwriting, but their undeniable catchiness. Tracks like ‘Don’t You Feel Like Heaven’, ‘Everybody Loves You’ and ‘Come Down’ flow so effortlessly, it’s hard to imagine they didn’t take intricate planning to write. But that just wouldn’t be APRE. If the band had a motto or a rule to live by, it would most likely be keeping it simple. “It’s meant to be fun, isn’t it? It’s mental that this is our job. We walk around with a light-up sign with a word on it that doesn’t even make sense and dance around on stage singing ‘I’m all yours, yours, yours’ and everyone is cheering us on – it’s ridiculous and it’s fun, and we just want to keep it that way.” Assessing their current situation, Charlie and Jules are keeping their feet firmly on the ground. “We’re on the runway, we’ve not taken off, but we’re on the way. We’ve learned over the last year that we need to make it as easily digestible, especially to the young audience, what we are and at the end of the day, we’re just two lads that made some songs in my gran’s front room; we like playing music, and the live shows are alright.” Actually, they’re more than alright. APRE are ready for take-off, so take a seat and strap yourselves in. It won’t be long now until their infectious brand of wonky electronic indie-pop takes over international airwaves, and the world is all theirs, theirs, theirs. P

WENS

Described as ‘aesthetic-led pop for the euphoria generation’, LA’s Wens has a new EP called ‘Lemoncholy’. With top quality punage like that, you best bet she’s right up our street. Hi WENS! How’s it going? Are you having a good day? I was having a good day until I got to the airport. I’m flying back home to LA from NYC. I love it in New York. But I also can’t really complain, I’m just sitting in the terminal eating Shake Shack, ha. Your debut EP is fab, can you tell us a bit about ‘Lemoncholy’s inception? ‘Lemoncholy’ was written during a big phase of life for me. It was the weird transitional period from your late teens to your early 20s. I found this moment in time incredibly taxing emotionally but also the most rewarding in terms of the amount I feel I’ve grown. The songs mostly express the confusion, contradiction, and loneliness I felt during this time. What was it like growing up in LA? It sounds very high-pressure. I’d definitely say it was high pressure. You have a really high bar set from a young age as far as what you can achieve in life, and you’re given this blessing of being born where it all happens, but at the same time, it doesn’t necessarily make it easier for you. What does being a musician mean to you? It means becoming a soundtrack to people’s lives. It’s a huge deal to me. If I have one person tell me that my music has helped them, or has made them feel anything, I feel like I’ve succeeded. That’s the whole point of the job. Without music, I feel like life would be boring. What’s ‘the dream’, where you do hope your music will take you? Anywhere. Honestly. I have to remind myself how lucky I am every day. “The dream” I guess would be for as many people humanly possible to love my music. I’d also love to be able to take care of my family. And I guess a Grammy would be pretty cool too. P WENS’ debut EP ‘Lemoncholy’ is out 20th March.

READDORK.COM

NE ROUND-TRIP back to the future, please. With a uniquely retro, yet somehow modern sound, APRE are one of the most exciting bands in the current alt-pop sphere, and for good reason. Charlie and Jules are winning hearts by storm with big infectious sounds that follow a very clear vision: life should be more simple. Having supported the likes of Inhaler, Sam Fender and LANY, APRE are in the middle of their first-ever headline run. “It’s so much nicer. Not that support tours aren’t good, but you have to really work to win a crowd over,” Jules explains, and Charlie is quick to agree: “You definitely shit yourself a lot more because, especially when it’s a slightly older audience, they can be quite stiff, and there’s nothing worse than playing to a load of people who are very static.” But on a headline tour with a good portion of sold-out shows, that’s not something the two need to be worried about. “It’s been pretty mental having packed rooms everywhere. The last few gigs, it’s been very surreal to see the first few rows singing our songs back.” For those who have not yet had the pleasure, APRE gigs are a great place to come to completely get lost in their sound and the overall atmosphere. The band put a lot of emphasis on having a setlist that balances upbeat and more chilled out songs, so you’re quite literally riding the waves of emotion. “When I would go to a gig, I would watch 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and then I would just be bored,” Charlie explains. “Completely bored. So, I asked myself: Why am I bored? And it’s basically because the energy is constantly high, but when you’re high all the time you hit this flat line. It’s important to dip and go back down, so then you can go up again.” Talking to the band, there is a clear theme of taking things as they come. Especially when writing songs, they’re all about being in the moment. “What comes out, comes out. It depends on your mood. When you’re feeling shit you might make a happy song to help pull you out of the mood, but we’d never sit down with the intention of writing a down tune.”

"HALF THE SKILL OF BEING A MUSICIAN IS TO BE ABLE TO BLOCK OUT ALL THE CRAP"

HYPE NEWS

What’s happening in the world of new music.

Joe & The Shitboys will be in the house (in the house) this May for a handful of tour dates that’ll take them from Bournemouth (12th), to Leeds (16th), Glasgow (18th), Newcastle (19th), Birmingham (20th), and London (21st). Check out their new single ‘Life Is Great You Suck’, too.

Oscar Lang’s got a new EP out. ‘Overthunk’ features his recent single ‘Flowers’, alongside ‘Easy To Love’, ‘January Leaves’, ‘Feeling Like A Rose’, and ‘Applaud’. “[It’s] influenced by my previous indie-pop sound but mixed with some 60s folk and psychedelia,” he explains. “I wanted to write songs that were still strong even if you just played them on an acoustic guitar.” Find him at Live At Leeds and The Great Escape this spring.

FIRST ON

Working Men’s Club have announced their self-titled debut album. Due on 5th June via Heavenly Recordings, it’s billed as “equal parts Calder Valley restlessness and raw Sheffield steel”. Catch them at Live At Leeds, Hit The North, The Great Escape, Truck, Kendal Calling and beyond.

SINEAD O’BRIEN T

Post-punk poetry at its finest, Sinead O’Brien is the latest in a long line of best new things to come out of Ireland. Words: Tyler Damara Kelly. Photo: Zac Mahrouche.

"I COULDN’T IGNORE THE FEELING THAT I HAD FROM WRITING"

HERE ARE SOME PEOPLE in the world who have an insistent urge to reach for something more in their lives, which often develops into their ability to never be settled – so much that they can make a home for themselves wherever they go. Sinead O’Brien is one of these people thing that I was gonna do.” who has it ingrained in themselves to be It goes hand in hand that rebellion nomadic. spawns secrecy, and secrecy spawns the Part of this could be down to feeling like ability for creativity to flow. “I visited New she needed to escape the tiny confines of York with my dad – it was a very last-minute Limerick, Ireland, where she was enlisted in holiday – I think he had a business trip and a convent school; and part of it could just he decided to take me along, and I was be that the transient nature she has come just overwhelmed! My senses were just to possess is spawned from a conscious exploding when I came back. We had this decision. “I had this feeling of wanting to exam, and I just wrote all about New York; a get out and go somewhere bigger when completely emotional release and I just got I was a teenager.” After meeting her core slammed for it. Like, it was crushing. But I group of friends and still feeling some didn’t care because I knew that I couldn’t discomfort within their world, they chose ignore the feeling that I had from writing it to be the change that they wanted to see or the feeling the writing gave me,” recalls and began seeking out places that could Sinead of the moment she first realised that serve as a conduit for their self-expression. writing held importance for her. “We decided to make it our own in a way, After a period of time working in Paris, and needed to find these places and take Sinead found herself in London with them over. So, we found this old pub, and that familiar old itch that needed to be we started to inhabit it at the weekends and scratched, and subsequently went through form a club, a group, and then eventually a a phase of saying yes to everything. In bigger gang.” perfect symbiosis, this was the catalyst for Observing the way certain people can where she finds herself today. “The first make you feel, and how they impact your performance I did was a ‘yes’, and it was life, is something that is vital to Sinead. like, I just said yes, so I was putting a spike One of the most influential into the ground and then people in harnessing had to drag myself towards her creativity was her art it which I didn’t know how THE FACTS teacher who left nunhood at I was going to do, or why I + From the very end of Sinead’s last was doing it, or what I was Limerick, Ireland year at the school. “She was doing. I just got the things the one who encouraged + For fans of together I needed, I chose me to go to art school. Dry Cleaning, Do the pieces I wanted to She’d say, ‘look I’m going Nothing do and then grabbed my to help you out and do closest friend who played + Check out your portfolio now’ – kind guitar and told him what ‘Limbo’ of in secret because, you he’d be doing.” + Social know, in that school they’d Despite the @_SineadOBrien_ be handing out leaflets for overwhelming amount of Food Science and all of ideas that may jump out + See them live: these ridiculous things that to Sinead in her creative The Great Escape, I had no interest in. She process, it’s important that Green Man and loads helped me get this thing there is also a manner of more together, and I got quite passivity in realising these ambitious having this secret things. Understanding

ODD MORRIS

Hailing from Dublin, and sharing a rehearsal space with The Murder Capital and Fontaines DC, Odd Morris have been slowly trickling out postpunk-ish tracks inspired by literature and life over the past year or so. If you get a chance to see them this summer, make sure you do.

LAZARUS KANE

Sharing stages with the likes of

Working Men’s Club and Marika Hackman, and management with Squid, Lazarus Kane is oft touted as “enigmatic” and “quite the character”. It’s difficult to know quite what to make of Laz and his band... it’s certainly somethin’.

LEGSS

London’s Legss are an interesting bunch. Fresh off tour with pals Hotel Lux, they’ve released nearly as many books as they have tunes.

what they are, and allowing them to exist on their terms was at the heart of her intent in the upcoming EP. “We treated it like an album without saying the word album – even though it’s an EP in the sense that it’s a really closely connected body of work. They’re not four separate things, they’re very much a stream; they belong together.” That being said, it does take a little hindsight for the finished body of work to make sense. ‘Taking On Time’ is referenced multiple times in this instance as something that became a revelation. “These fragments and these things come out in their own particular order and then it’s my job to order them again. They make their own pictures like something is revealed afterwards.” Most notably, the lyrics ‘moving towards the world.’ Sinead continues, “I feel like that, but I didn’t know exactly why I was saying that at the time. It’s like a revelation of the self or feeling more like the self than before… Yeah, I was quite surprised to see that written because I knew what I meant, but I didn’t know that it meant that.” As her music captures the raw spirit of the CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City creativity hub, who would be a part of Sinead’s inner circle? The response requires no thought whatsoever. “It’s like I’ve been waiting forever to say this, it’s like a list of friends! Some of them are not yet my friends by the way…” Almost as a means of protest, with Whenyoung, Fontaines DC, Do Nothing, and Girl Band at her side Sinead intends to “change the sound of soccer, so it’s not like all these men with different voices [chanting in a way which shows] that no-one has practised doing a chorus together.” Putting on a small festival in a soccer stadium offers a kind of symmetry to her modus operandi of inhabiting spaces and making them her own. While only currently declaring that she is taking on time, it won’t be long before Sinead O’Brien is taking on the world. P

By which we mean one book, Good News Horse - packed with lyrics, monologues, illustrations and wry observations - and a handful of tunes, including EP ‘Writhing Comedy’, which is much the same in audio-form.

LOOSE FIT

Dork and Loose Fit, we’re basically the same. They describe themselves as a “moody critique of the absurd”, which is pm what we do, right?

Well, maybe not the moody bit. We also don’t run a fashion label, and as far as we know, Noel Fielding isn’t a fan. But critiquing the absurd? Spot on.

THE MYSTERINES Merseyside newcomers The Mysterines have not long set off on their first-ever headline tour. The pretty-much-soldout run kicked off with a buzzy night at the Bodega Social Club in Nottingham, and they were proper looking forward to it - as band-leader Lia Metcalfe explained when we hit her up the morning of. Because there’s nothing like getting up early to answer some nosy questions, right? Hi Lia, what are you up to today? It’s early morning, and we’ve just packed the van for the first date of our headline tour in Nottingham - it’s sold out so should be great.

How did the band form, you’ve recently had a line-up change haven’t you? I met George (bass) when we were both about 13, and we just started practising in the front room of my house with all my very, very early songs. None of them were any good at all, so I’m not sure what made him stick with me haha. The line up in the band has always been mainly George and me, but yes, recently we’ve brought in Callum (guitar) and Paul (drums) - the more the merrier, as they say. What’s been the highlight of your time with The Mysterines so far? I think for me personally it’s probably selling out our headline tour - I really didn’t expect that, and it’s good to see people actually like the music I’m writing, strong indication that we must be doing something right. Are you guys well-behaved on tour, or do you get up to shenanigans? We’re four teenagers/best mates in a band together, you do the maths. Have you ever accidentally left someone at a service station? No, actually we left them on purpose. P

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What first drew you to making music? I was always surrounded by music as a kid. Both my parents were pretty young when I came into the picture, so their love for going to gigs/festivals and listening to music was a prominent thing in their lives and therefore mine. I never really decided ‘this is what I’m going to do’ with music, it’s just something I’ve always done and everything else just fell into place.

eez -eh life Easy Life are a band on the rise. With three mixtapes behind them - one of which even cracked the UK Album Chart top 10 and a debut album on the horizon. 2020 could well be theirs. Words: Jamie Muir. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

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h READDORK.COM

HE STREETS OF CAMDEN GLITTER LIKE PROVERBIAL GOLD. That oh-so-

metropolitan glow that greets the end of a working shift and the start of an evening of endless possibilities. A concrete optimism, it’s the best part of the day. As North London bustles around them, Easy Life are nestled in a townhouse studio, taking a moment to reflect on a journey that continues to get even more ridiculous with each passing week. “It’s always funny when we do things like this,” opens vocalist Murray, sorting through his bags after a 24-hour whistlestop visit to the capital. “It’s funny because you end up reflecting on what was really, really exciting to you like two years ago, and now you think, ‘Fuck! We got gassed about that, and now we’re gassed about this!’ In two years, we’ll probably look back on this too…” “One thing I love is that there are so many new experiences and not really any routine,” bursts guitarist Lewis. “Like Murray is saying, the path we’re on at the minute, everything is like, ‘Wow, how are we going to top this?’ It’s the best feeling ever.” Like the shimmering lights of London around them, Easy Life are caught in a moment where the potential of what’s to come is palpable. Blending styles and sounds with effortless ease, their rise has felt fitting of the world around them - a cocktail for a generation that refuses to stick between the lines. They’re simply Easy Life; a label that’s starting to stick. “It’s nice to get a pat on the back,” smiles Murray, recognising how the past 18 months have taken Easy Life a rehearsal space in the heart of Leicester to travelling the world, eyed as one of the most exciting bands on the planet. “It feels good though, we’re having lots of fun.” “When you’re in the middle of it, you don’t really notice,” admits Lewis. “It doesn’t feel any different really, other than things like going to awards - day to day, it’s the same.” Their diary would suggest otherwise. While they’re attempting to take it in their stride, the list of achievements they’ve clocked up reads like an especially impressive resumé. Sold out headline tours? Rabid fans bellowing back every word? Tip list nominations? Awards? Prime festival slots? A mixtape so popular it landed them in the Top 10 of the Official Albums Chart? Check, check, and check again. It’s pretty clear; Easy Life are taking over. “When we’re playing live is when the whole thing is quite tangible,” pinpoints Murray, coming to terms with where he and his mates now find themselves. “You’re standing there, and the crowd are singing back to you, and it’s like, ‘Fuck, we actually have a few fans’. We started out just playing to our friends like all bands do, so it’s got a bit mental really. “That’s definitely when it feels like you’re doing something way bigger than yourselves.”

EASY LIFE’S JOURNEY BEGAN IN GLAMOROUS LEICESTER.

“None of us grew up in a particularly musical background, or had any idea really - we just liked doing it,” recalls Lewis. “It’s where we’re from, we never expected any of this.” The freedom to experiment and create without fear of overstepping boundaries is one of the band’s defining traits, one indelibly tattooed on everything they do.

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“IT’S LIKE, ‘FUCK, WE ACTUALLY HAVE A FEW FANS’”

Whether it’s reggae, dub, hip-hop, jazz, R&B, indie, pop, or whatever other genre you want to cook up, the way they mix it together never feels anything less than natural. Murray and Lewis, joined by Sam, Cass and Jordan, jump between instruments as easily as they skip through a wide spectrum of musical influences. Playing pub shows to mates, building their own studios by hand and crafting songs that would one day take them to something more, all while working away at day jobs in shops or food stands to pay the bills - the dream was always there. It’s not an unusual story, but for Easy Life, it came true. ‘Pockets’ arrived bright-eyed (and with a sausage dog in hand); a track that hits like a fist full of extra-strong mints all stuffed in your gob at once. Urgent, immediate and able to obliterate any thoughts of what came before, it introduced Easy Life in style. It was also the song that truly bonded them together in a way they’d never been before. “When you started writing the lyrics for things like ‘Pockets’, some of our really early work, it gave the song a whole new meaning,” muses Lewis, chatting to Murray. “Even though I have nothing to do with the lyrics at all, it embodies everything about us. Our whole lives, it means something to all of us”. On top of sultry beats, tooting trumpets and a never-less-thansuave vibe, it blazed a trail which Easy Life have followed to grander and grander stages. While their sound may ebb and flow, that deep emotional crux that sits at the centre of everything they do stays strong; a matter-of-fact mirror held up to the world around them. “That’s a big contributing factor as to why people have started turning up to our shows and listening to our music, because it’s not necessarily…” Murray pauses. “I just try to say things as they are. Things I’ve seen that I’m sure everyone else has seen, too.” Be it pointed statements on a planet under strain (‘Earth’), 21st-century celeb culture (‘Dead Celebrities’), longing for love (‘Sangria’) or a reminder to take a moment to appreciate the good things in life (‘Slow Motion’), even in the darkest moments Easy Life have a sense of optimism and better days ahead. All that, and shoutouts for Colin The Caterpillar cakes too (‘Houseplants’) - what more could you ask for? “A lot of the songs start as something that I’ve heard someone else say. They’ve said something, and I think, ahh - that’s a really interesting spin on those set of words,” explains Murray. “I don’t ever feel bad or worried about communicating. The production and depth in the music leaves me in a safe space to say anything I want, without it coming across as too cheesy.” “You’re so open in your music,” points out Lewis. “I’ve probably learnt more about Murray from what he talks about in his lyrics than anything else. He doesn’t talk about these things every day to me. Like, oh, he’s in love! Sorry, that was kinda…” “No, no, of course,” continues Murray. “Only because the music is so good, the backing is there. The lyrics are very obvious, and I like that. I have this idea that when I’m 70, if

I make it that long, that I can listen back and go, ‘What the fuck was I thinking?’” “I hate lyrics where it’s hard to put a meaning to something, where it’s quite vague,” admits Lewis. “I like that they’re direct. I think that all brought us closer together.” The importance of communication is something that Murray is more than aware of. It’s easy to see, too. “I’m pretty obsessed with idioms and dialects, coined phrases,” he details. “It’s especially clear in England, but I’ve been in London for a while, and ‘cockney’ is just brilliant. I find that so romantic and poetic - the ability to express yourself in so many different ways depending on where you are.” Murray stops before laughing. “Wow, that may be the most pretentious thing I’ve ever said! It is interesting, language is the most romantic thing in the world, the ability to communicate. Our inability to do that effectively as humans causes so much trouble. If we

could all communicate, then a lot of problems the world faces wouldn’t exist. You have to be vulnerable to communicate in that way, and music has an amazing ability to communicate an idea that everyone can then understand.” It’s just part of what’s led Easy Life to rise so far, so fast. In under a year, they went from a debut single to appearing on national TV. A slot on Later… with Jools Holland is the sort of occasion more often reserved for big-time festival headliners, as exclusive as they are gamechanging. As they whipped through ‘Nightmares’, Easy Life were beamed directly into homes up and down the land. “That was the first time that we all looked at each other and were like, ‘This is mental’,” recalls Murray. “That’s iconic. Some things you do in music change with the times and the culture. Something like Jools Holland is like… Jools Holland! We’ve gone on to do some great stuff, but that for

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IT STARTED WITH A MIX(TAPE) 38

Easy Life have already dropped three mixtapes. Here’s the lowdown.

CREATURE HABITS

After dropping their first single ‘Pockets’ on the influential Chess Club Records in November 2017, they signed to Island to drop their debut mixtape in April 2018.

SPACESHIPS

Following up on a run of singles - ‘Frank’, ‘Nightmares’ and ‘Temporary Love Part 1’ - as well as an appearance on Later... With Jools Holland, they then released their second mixtape ‘Spaceships’ in March 2019 ahead of a UK tour and a trip to SXSW.

JUNK FOOD

Though their third mixtape Junk Food was only seven tracks long, it still rode a wave to chart at Number 7 in the UK Album Charts on its release in early 2020. It’s no surprise, either. After riding high on the tips lists, it contained its fair share of bangers, including ‘Sangria’, featuring fellow buzz act Arlo Parks.

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me was something.” Not that they’ve stopped there. With newfound confidence, each mixtape they’ve released has been a signal of something fresh, exciting and new for the band. A fully immersive snapshot of five mates living life, embracing the experiences that come their way. From ‘Creature Habits’, ‘Spaceships’ and now ‘Junk Food’, they continue to surprise, even if by now it really should be no surprise at all. “We’ve put out three mixtapes plus a bunch of singles along the way, so there is a lot of music out there,” lays out Murray, thinking across a prolific run that has seen Easy Life continue to fill radio airwaves on a consistent basis. “Each mixtape encapsulates the time it was created - the three or four months where you’re working on each project. It really sounds like that time of your life. Obviously, music is a deeply personal thing - so it’s even more apparent for me - but if you listen to them, you can hear our development and where we are going in our sounds.” Each resulting offering has been fed by what came before. The experiences of travelling, engaging with the sights and sounds around them, aren’t unique influences for a band, but for Easy Life, it’s a process you can hear in every step. Murray and Lewis cackle between themselves as they recall stories from the road. “Me and Lew would never have gone to America if we didn’t get sent there,” Murray exclaims. “We never would have gone, it just would have been too hard to get there. Too expensive.” “One thing I can remember is going to a jazz night in New York,” Lewis begins to chat, stopping and bursting with a smile. “Ahhh, I just can’t believe how many different styles of music I’ve been exposed to from going to all these places. That sounds corny, but just general bits of information that I’d never have known, going to places and being like wow, this culture and these people live like this. I dunno, it’s just crazy.”

He turns to Murray, “lyrically too, you’re getting exposed to all these new experiences. Just the topics, they’re varied. You write songs about things that if you hadn’t have gone to certain places you might never have done that.”

INCREASINGLY, THE IMPACT OF EASY LIFE CAN’T BE DENIED. If ever any band had

their finger firmly on the pulse of the playlist generation, they’d be it. It’s something that Murray and Lewis are firmly aware of too, as they continue to pull in fresh, interesting new directions. “We’re still working out who we are,” explains Lewis. “That’s why we’ve released so much music and not done like an album yet because we don’t fully…” He pauses. “Actually, to be honest, I think we realise that there isn’t going to be a point where we go ‘this is what we sound like’. That’s great. If anything, that’s really exciting for us because we just write whatever we want. I think our audience accepts that. If we made a complete u-turn on our sound, people would still be into it because that’s what we’ve always done. Because Murray has such a distinctive voice, in his lyrics and his actual singing, we can do quite a lot. It’s all Easy Life.” “It’s just modern culture, isn’t it?” affirms Murray. “Nobody is defined by the one thing that they listen to because everyone listens to everything. Kids are just crazy, they’re into everything. When we were at school, you could see the kids that were into their particular thing. That kid is into that scene, or that kid definitely listens to that type of music. Whereas now, when I look into our audience, I have no idea what any of them fucking get up to because they’re into everything.” “I feel like we’re not at the very top of that spearhead, but we’re close to it. We’re saying it doesn’t matter, you can be experimental and into so many different things at once. You can be really honest and say what you think - about anything!”

“IT’S A CRAZY FUCKING TIME TO BE ALIVE. BANDS IN LIKE 10 YEARS ARE GOING TO BE FUCKING MENTAL” They talk emphatically about the latest Tyler, The Creator album as a shining example of this. Of ripping up the rulebook and welcoming in a new wave of artists where the overlapping of different genres is celebrated. “He goes to so many weird places,” gushes Lewis. “I think other styles of music are starting to be like - right, we’re bored of that, we want to do something different.” “It’s what music is all about,” Murray adds. “It’s a safe environment to try things out. As soon as music isn’t that, then it becomes boring and stale. Nobody’s going to listen to your shit anyway, so you might as well do something a bit wacky.” “It’s just a crazy fucking time to be alive,” he continues. “Bands in 10 years are going to be fucking mental. They’re going to be making such interesting stuff, because being

“YEAH WE ARE ALL BROKE, WHAT ARE WE DOING? WHY DO WE WANT TO BE IN A BAND?” sensation just repeats, you never get used to people turning up to the shows, especially when they get bigger. We lose our shit every time.”

WITH THREE MIXTAPES DOWN, ATTENTION INEVITABLY BEGINS TO TURN TO THAT FABLED DEBUT ALBUM. With Easy

Life, there’s a sense to expect the unexpected. Need an example? “Yeah,

the first tune on our album is quite the departure,” Murray slyly states, turning to Lewis as both light up with cheeky smiles like school kids trying not to laugh in assembly. “It’s kinda musical theatre, with a Romanian Orchestra that we recorded with. It’s the most free jazz shit, but it’s like… mate. When you hear it, you’ll know the track we’re talking about!” “You’ve got to be brave with your decisions because you don’t get any points for playing it safe,” Murray continues. “When you say, oh look you’re a four-piece indie band it’s like - great, I’ve heard loads of them, and I’ve heard loads of really good ones too so for you to interest me, you’re going to have to be absolutely fucking amazing. For us, it’s a bit of a cop-out because we can also interest people with these weird and brave choices. Like oh, they make this weird Romanian-style music…” he laughs. “But y’ know, the challenge is to package that up in a way that is easily digestible, and if you can do that, and switch people on to that idea, that’s when things become more than just another band. All of a sudden, you’re drawing people towards different cultures and different ideas that they wouldn’t have been exposed to previously.” They’re acutely aware of the importance that is put upon a debut full-length, but they’re in no way afraid of it. “It’s really not that big a deal. It’s a collection of music that we’ll probably find not that hard to put together, but it’s just… the debut album, isn’t it? That’s the only pressure, but at the same time we want it to be good.” “I don’t want to feel too pressured about it, but sometimes pressure’s a good thing because otherwise we’d just all be sat at home

doing nothing. There are so many great albums. Some in the last few years have been incredible. It’s a cool time for popular music, so hopefully, we can add to that. It definitely feels different to anything we’ve done before.” “It’s only intimidating because everyone seems to make a big deal about it,” lays out Lewis, “but when we release an album, we’ll probably have a mixtape out like two months later.” That’s Easy Life for you. A band forever living in the moment, finding reasons to be cheerful even when life is hard. “Bit of wisdom,” Murray laughs, pondering a philosophy that has inspired all five members of the band. “If you set out to do X, Y and Z in life it never happens anyway so there’s no point making too many plans, especially in this industry where things change every day. I just think that we’re out here trying to make interesting music and that’s all it really is about. If people want to pat us on the back and say well done, then that feels good too - but who cares? It’s nice to get recognised, but it’s not important for us to get recognised.” “We’re lucky that we’re in a position where we enjoy our work. There are so many people, and we’ve all got friends that you go and see - like old friends who are down and bummed out about stuff and what they’re doing. We’re so privileged to have something we’re so invested in that we love to do. We don’t forget that.” Lewis smiles. “Do you know what? This may sound so lame, but I find it so inspiring that the five of us are so into this, and so wanting to reach wherever we can. It’s lucky to have mates who are just like, ‘Right, what’s next?’ Everyone is ready for this.” The sound of anything and everything, that’s the beauty of Easy Life. Standing on the edge of something massive, eager to grasp it with both hands, that golden hour glow is going to last a lot longer yet. P Easy Life will play London’s Roundhouse on 26th March. Catch them at Live At Leeds, Kendal Calling, Truck and more this summer.

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pigeon-holed in the 21st century? People hate that.” Already stepping out onto stages and finding themselves drowned out by fans signing back every note, Easy Life’s star looks set to only shine brighter. “Every time, things get noticeably bigger,” Murray explains, “and we are shitting ourselves every step of the way. Playing to a 200 capacity venue for the first time is intimidating in itself, then playing to 600 people is like fuuuuckk. The

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41 Tones and I is a name that has taken over radio airwaves since unexpected smash ‘Dance Monkey’ flew to the Number 1 spot around the world, and stuck there for bloody ages. However quick it felt for, well, everyone - for Aussie popster Toni Watson her journey from the busking unknown was really somethin’ else. Words: Steven Loftin. READDORK.COM

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is my first body of work. I wanted to show them that I’m not just this artist.” When it does come to putting pen to paper, there’s only a couple of rules, which she explains; “I think that the only way the only way I can release a song is if I fully understand it, because releasing a song is pretty much like giving that advice to thousands.” And the other relates to never writing about love, or her success. “I don’t believe in writing about that.” There’s a sense that Tones is about making herself a figurehead - or at least a key player - given the good she’s trying to do, and even honing in on the new generations want to be better and evoke a positive change; on the EP’s opener she sings “We got to clean up this mess you made.” And it would seem the sincere and humble nature running through both Tones’ music, and demeanour hasn’t stopped since becoming a bonafide pop-star. She’s putting on a charity basketball matches in aide of the bush fires all out of her own pocket. She’s even going around schools in Australia in April, along with her support acts, for an anti-bullying tour. (Her support so passionate she shows Dork a tattoo on her right hand - ‘Stop Bullying’ - “so if I ever do a TV event, it’s like right there when I hold a microphone.”) With ‘Dance Monkey’, Tones ended up breaking records left, right and centre. With such powerful momentum happening at the beginning of her career, the next steps made themselves abundantly clear. “To be honest, I just thought to myself I don’t want to spend my life trying to live up to ‘Dance Monkey’ which isn’t even my favourite song in terms of heart, passion and soul! If at the end of this year I can look back and go I made a difference with my platform, then I’ll be just as proud as I was at the end of last year.” The experiences Tones has - and continues to - go through are why she’s receptive to her new position. “I want to be able to say that I’ve done things to make a difference because I was bullied so much and I still get bullied,” she explains. “I say ‘was’ because I’ve learned now, and I stay off social media. It just goes away as soon as you stay off it, so I don’t even think about it now, and it makes me feel like it’s all over. If I can learn anything from that, it’s to think twice before I talk about other people - even as a joke when you would

normally not even think about it, because you’re just being silly and like to try and teach people when they’re young, as well. So that’s what I want to do this year.” The crowd that is gathering below, waiting for the doors to open, are the ones Tones wants to reach out to and they’re the ones reaching back. Providing her with the knowledge that not only can she write a banger, but people are listening. Undoubtedly, the kids are coming, and Tones is leading the charge. P

It’s not just Tones & I kicking up a fuss. Find more talent from Down Under over the page. S READDORK.COM

ultimately the ones who make it. Along with cementing her bond with her friends, Tones has also had the opportunity to meet some her favourite artists, including Macklemore, who she’s looked up to for years. “He came and surprised me at my Seattle show last week,” she recalls excitedly. “Then he saw the show, and he liked it so much that he asked me to come back and go into the studio with him the next day. We’ve been working on some stuff, and now I do I dare say where we’re even friends,” she laughs. “I’ve got to meet other incredible people that inspire me. The best people that you meet are always people that work hard for themselves also as there’s no underlying hatred because they haven’t gotten to do something with their lives, so they don’t low-key want to bring you down.” Similarly to Macklemore, Tones’ ascent from unknown to the public eye was astronomically quick. However, her attention from radio stations didn’t go over so well with her fellow buskers, which has added to her caution. “A lot of the other buskers were like, ‘Oh, you’re taking the spots from us now you’re successful’. I’m like, ‘No just because you get played on the radio does not mean you just get money and you can live’. I still need to make money. I still want to connect with fans and have that face to face experience.” Tones pours herself into songs, but ‘Dance Monkey’ in particular is a runaway train that she recognises, “but it’s not my song anymore. It’s everyone else’s song. So I’ve just had to let it go and focus on new music.” On its beginnings she says; “I wrote a song for my friends when I was living in a hostel in my van. They loved that song, I love that song and what it did for us as backpackers. It went big all over the world. And now it’s something different to what it was.” “I don’t want someone to just hear my song on the radio and go, ‘I like the song’. This time last year, I hadn’t released a song,” she continues, “so I was trying to build a fan base based on genuine interactions with people that saw me playing music on the street. I’d just got to nine and a half thousand followers, and I said when I get to ten I’ll release a song. I ended up releasing a song on 1st March last year.” The song in question, ‘Johnny Run Away’ - an anthem of childhood defiance - holds the supportive side to Tones up high, but the fact that her second-ever release is the one that’s planted her flag in the rocky terrain of pop culture meant that her forward steps to her debut EP were decidedly curated. ‘The Kids Are Coming’ is a carefully handpicked batch of songs whose sole purpose is to show the world that Tones is a multifaceted artist, and not one resigned to the sounds of ‘Dance Monkey’. It’s also another stepping stone to ensuring the longevity of Tones & I, and more importantly, not losing the heart of Toni Watson. “I picked them purposely for different styles. Usually, people try and create a mood with a whole album, but I did the opposite. I wanted different things to show you - this

"I DON’T WANT TO SPEND MY WHOLE LIFE TRYING TO LIVVE UP TO ‘DANCE MONKEY’"

IDDEN AWAY HIGH above the rain-soaked streets a world away from her native Australia, Tones & I is sat in her dressing room. Below a rapidly growing queue of people is steadily buzzing louder and louder in anticipation for tonight’s sold-out show at London’s O2 Kentish Town Forum. Scenes like this are following Tones all around the globe after her supersize hit ‘Dance Monkey’ began racing its way to the top of every chart it could get its paws on. As you can imagine, this wasn’t a part of the plan. With two of her closest friends in tow, including in Dork’s chat, Tones & I, real name Toni Watson, is taking the world by storm, which given less than a year ago she was still busking is pretty damn remarkable. “I lived off coins a year ago,” she says. “It’s been overwhelming at times. I’ve had ups and downs, and now I’m more on a steady incline. Obviously going from being a street performer to being someone where the whole world not only knows your name but sometimes it can be a free for all for opinions.” Being slung into the spotlight overnight, the way Tones has, proves itself every time to be a double-edged sword. While it’s tricky to deal with a sudden spotlight, there is also the opportunity to experience new things and generally do good - which is what Tones really wants to do. The first part of ensuring the swell of eyes focused don’t drown her is to keep a reign on the things in life she enjoys. “The thing that I do for fun at the moment? I love basketball, but when you’re travelling around, you can’t always go and play basketball,” she chuckles. “So the thing I do most is hanging out with my friends. These are my two best friends that are with me.” She nods to her pals, Abbie and Kurt on the sofa next to her. “When I’m at home, it’s the exact same thing. I’ll be with my friends all the time, that’s probably the thing that I’ve always done that’s never changed.” Certainly, the stages are getting bigger at a rapid pace to boot, but Tones is entrenched in keeping herself grounded. When Kurt first saw Tones begin to perform, she was solely singing, but he’s watched her self-teach and grow into the performer today. Abbie met her - and first heard her sing - after their vans were parked next to each other in a hostel, and was to be privy to one of Tones’ earliest busking performances. “That was the first night that she actually busked in Byron,” Abbie recalls. “We were like, come on, let’s all just go together. We’ll go down, we’ll help you set your equipment up, and at least if nobody else stops then you’ve got five of your friends here that are gonna dance around the streets. And then about fifty people stopped on that first night.” Even when things are hectic, the three of them will take some time, watch a movie in bed together, laugh and remember that the world is what you make of it. When you start with nothing and find everything at your feet, the people around you are

ntinues to take While Tones & I co eâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just part of a over the world, sh ed with exciting music scene ramm w more acts from talent. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a fe ed to check out Down Under you ne t sooner. immediately, if no

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DUNE RATS Three albums deep, and Brisbane trio Dune Rats are still having a blast with their very own brand of raucous, anthemic skate-punk. . Words: Alex Bradley. Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett.

“T

their songs about smoking weed and drinking beers to almost every part of the world and found people just as willing to party. “When we went and played in Hong Kong, that was really weird. You go through like a fucking mechanics garage, up an elevator, through a commercial laundry and then a door and that’s where the show was. They kept it all on the down-low. But there were heaps of kids like us, and it was pretty sick to know anywhere in the world there are people like us.” Even in remote reaches of Penang, Malaysia, or on both their tours of South Africa, the trio have found folk with the same world view as them. And once they found that, all three of them quickly decided they’ll never give up on a life on the road. Whether people are listening are not, life in the van playing cards or dice, talking shit to one another and drinking a few beers is the goal for Danny, BC and Brett. “In the earlier years, no one had a house, and we’d all live on the road and try and go on tour as much [as possible]. It’s that happy place that would feel like a fishing trip. Drink beers in the car, have a laugh and play shows, so it’s still fucking super enjoyable,” says Brett. “It’s gonna last whether people tune in is another thing,” Danny continues. “We love bands like Cosmic Psychos where they’re like 55-year-old farmers and still playing shows and festivals. Whether as many people give a shit [remains to be seen], but they call it their fishing trip, and we see it like that. Old dudes probably go on fishing trips and jerk each other off in tents, but we just do it hotel rooms together!” he jokes. “We’ll be doing it until we’re silly old cunts and no one wants to hear it, but we’ll still be doing it.” P

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HE GENERAL attitude was if you don’t like it then fuck off,” beams BC Michaels, discussing how Dune Rats felt as their chart-topping album, ‘The Kids Will Know It’s Bullshit’ was released back in 2017. The sentiment remains the same for its follow-up, ‘Hurry Up And Wait’. They don’t care what you think about it. The Aussie trio have mastered that art of not giving a fuck and, despite scoring a domestic No. 1 in the album charts last time out, they didn’t feel any pressure in making the follow-up. Instead, they took a typically laid back, mellowed out, approach to the making of ‘Hurry Up And Wait’ and in turn crafted an album that both builds on its predecessor and takes strides into new territory too. After working with FIDLAR’s Zac Carper in the US on their second album, for their third, Dune Rats decided to switch it up and head back home to the sunshinedrenched Central Coast to the family farm of their good friend and Violent Soho guitarist James Tidswell. The band lived in the studio for a month, had BBQs, drank beers and occasionally hit golf balls at the ocean while carefully polishing this album to the point where it has become their masterpiece. “We wanted to do it like that,” explains bassist Brett Jansch. “At our own pace,

in our own time and not be worried about being on the clock or driving to a studio. It was sick for us to do it that way, and it was comfy for us taking the time to do it. I can’t imagine doing it in LA or somewhere where you have to commute every day and then can only be there for a certain amount of time.” Free from any restraints and with the opportunity to explore all the possibilities, Dunies turned ‘Hurry Up And Wait’ into more than just another punk record. From the summery sing-a-long of ‘No Plans’, the grungy anarchy of ‘Crazy’, the inclusion of US rapper K.Flay on ‘Stupid Is As Stupid Does’, the blissed-out ‘The Skids’ and the rampant and hilarious ‘If My Bong Could Talk’, they’ve stretched themselves in every direction. While the album’s eleven tracks boast a range of approaches and techniques, they all sound incredibly well-finessed, as Brett raves. “It’s cool to strive for a record that sounds loud and clean. It’s tasty to listen to and not too lo-fi, like a garage band. It’s rad to hear Dunies in this quality. It’s like getting a CD player when all you had was a record player in the 80s; it’s a lot better.” And it’s not only the sound that’s evolved on this album, with singer Danny Beus keen to state how important it is for the band to not write the same song a million times. BC adds: “It was conscious on this album not to just rest on gimmicks and drug references and make the songs speak for themselves and be good and not just have quick shock value gimmicky shit when you’ve heard the joke before. “We wanted to stretch ourselves in terms of songwriting and trying to make an album we could set our watches to and would like regardless of how it goes. If we are proud of the album, that’s the main thing. There would be nothing worse than trying to do an album you don’t like to try and appeal to people and it not working.” In the last few years, they have taken

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AZURE RYDER It’s early days for Azure Ryder,

but expect to be seeing the smallcoastal-town-down-the-roadfrom-Sydney resident’s name a lot more from here on. Newly signed to Island Records, she’s just dropped her debut single ‘Dizzy’, and it’s proper lovely.

MERK Here at Dork, we love a good

almost-portmanteau. Following in the footsteps of Mealy from The 1975, and Alice from Sports Team, Merk - aka New Zealander Mark Perkins - evidently is, too. The DIY pop-producer has just shared his new single ‘H.N.Y.B.’, and, we hear, could well be visiting our shores very soon indeed...

MARLIN’S DREAMING Making their start from a “cold,

damp flat” in Dunedin, New Zealand, psychedelic popsters Marlin’s Dreaming are currently working towards their third album, ‘Quotidian’, due in April.

HOCKEY DAD Growing up as next door

neighbours, Hockey Dad have worked their way up from their mum and dad’s garden shed to huge festival sets, a record deal with BMG, and being pals with, well, just about everyone in the Oz music scene. Keep an eye out for their new album, ‘Brain Candy’.

THE CHATS Beloved force-ofnature The Chats have a bit of a reputation. (It’s not for being chatty.) Words: Liam Konemann. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

OOK, YOU’VE seen the video. It’s been watched over a nine and a half million times on YouTube - everybody’s seen it. If you haven’t seen it directly then you’ve heard the song, blaring out of somebody else’s phone speakers as they show it to their mate in the back corner of the smoking area at the pub, or while waiting for the bus. A few years ago, it was bloody everywhere. Suddenly, everyone was on smoko. On the surface, The Chats’ track was an odd contender for a viral hit.

The ‘Smoko’ video was extremely low-budget and deeply, almost obnoxiously Australian, its lyrics assuming a familiarity with local slang and laid-back coastal behaviour. But ‘Smoko’ is catchy as hell. Anyone could tell you that. So it spread, kind of like an infection - a theme which, incidentally, the Chats have delved into a couple of times on their new album ‘High Risk Behaviour’. We’ll come back to that, though. The standard career path for Australian bands in their infancy tends to go like this; write a couple of songs, move to Melbourne. The Chats have not followed that trend. “We’re on the Sunny Coast,” says guitarist Josh Price. “Still at home.” The Sunny Coast, for the uninitiated, is Queensland’s Sunshine

Coast, the beachside setting for the ‘Smoko’ video and the source of much of the Chats’ power. While the band’s appeal has been broad, a lot of the themes that ‘High Risk Behaviour’ draws on are deeply regional. Though references like Ross River fever are widely applicable to Australia as a whole and the south pacific in general, there are also moments of hyper-specificity, like ‘4573’ - a song in honour of the Chats’ Peregian Beach postcode. For Queenslanders of a certain age, this local identification is fairly standard behaviour (Your fearless correspondent, for example, is a 4078). ‘4573’ conjures an image of a day in the life on the Sunshine Coast, with lyrics about drinking longnecks (that’s just a big beer bottle, to you Brits) in stifling humidity, backed

by a clattering drumbeat and guitars that sound warped, wriggling like heat waves rising off bitumen. The band also go deep on Queensland culture on ‘Billy Backwash’s Day’, which takes aim at a particular kind of regional lad behaviour. “They’re different sorts of lads, y’know? [They’re the] guys hanging out at the bus stop and beating up people for their money, just little rats about the town. They’re little kids trying to be cool, and it’s just not really cool,” Josh says. The character in ‘Billy Backwash’s Day’ embodies a bullying masculinity, and a deliberate closemindedness played off as bullish posturing with phrases like ‘You can’t call me a racist, ‘cause I discriminate them all the same.’ The Chats are good at this kind of casual evisceration. They layer

things up with humour, and the subject doesn’t notice the barb until it’s in them. There are a lot of characters on ‘High Risk Behaviour’. It’s an inarguably realist album, true to life in its descriptions and laissezfaire attitudes. Although, as Josh points out in relation to STI anthem ‘The Clap’, “60% of the album is written about actual things, and 40% of the album we’ve gone nuts with it.” Of course, you would say that, wouldn’t you? Infections and illnesses seem to be a preoccupation here, though. Aside from ‘The Clap’ there’s the snotty, tongue-in-cheek ‘Ross

River’, about a friend of the band who was struck down by the titular mosquitoborne fever. Ross River is kind of like the flu, or glandular fever, in that it can come with chronic fatigue and sometimes requires you to lie down at home a lot. Leaving no man behind, The Chats decided that the best way to cheer up their house-bound mate would be to write a song about his affliction. While it didn’t exactly solve his problems, it seems he did appreciate the attempt, at least. “He liked the song,” says Josh. “We actually get him up sometimes when he comes to a gig, and we tell everyone that he’s got

CABLE TIES Touring pals with the likes of Amyl & the Sniffers and Tropical Fuck Storm, Melbourne’s Cable Ties are champions of inclusivity and trying to right everyday wrongs, with a raft of defiant, impassioned punk tunes to boot. Their second album ‘Far Enough’ arrives via a newly-inked deal with cult indie faves, Merge Records.

Hi Jenny, tell us about your band then - have you been together long? What’ve you been up to so far? We’ve been together since 2015. That’s five years now. Good grief. We released our first album in 2017 and have got to do a bunch of amazing shit we never expected, like play our favourite music festival in Australia (Meredith) and tour the UK twice and Europe once and have a bloody rad time. How did you find your debut album release, was there a steep learning curve? We were really grateful and blown away by the response to our first album. We had the support of our great Aussie label Poison City and local community radio stations like RRR and PBS and all our mates in punk/ DIY bands which meant our that release was a really life-affirming and great time. What topics did the record

tackle? Do they follow through to your new album? The new album is rooted in the same core obsessions of the band that you can hear in the first album - a driving rhythm section, repetition, anxious and emotive guitar playing and defiant and passionate songwriting. Our new record has a bit less skittish post-punk and a bit more mid 70s hard rock/proto-punk. Conversely, it also has more nuance and dynamics across the journey. It’s more vulnerable and less self-assured lyrically. I’m no longer righteously angry, looking out and shouting at the world. I start looking at myself, and sometimes I don’t like what I see and need to work out how I’m going to improve. What was the process like putting this one together, did you come up against any unexpected challenges? We had a lot more time with this album. Our first album was recorded mostly over one weekend. This meant we had less time to make sure we got the ideal take and less time to expand on ideas and develop the songs. Our second album was recorded over several weekends and evenings mixing. We were also writing between recording sessions. This meant we had a lot of time to reflect and improve. There was one song that I rewrote the lyrics to twice and cried on the kitchen floor about once. It never made it on the album.

And you’ve recently signed with Merge, how did that come

"60% OF THE ALBUM IS WRITTEN ABOUT ACTUAL THINGS, AND 40% OF THE ALBUM WE’VE GONE NUTS WITH IT"

Ross River and it’s highly contagious, and you’re all fucked, you’re all gonna get it.” He laughs. In some ways, this friend was the Chats’ true patron. It turns out Ross River fever benefits us all. “We used to jam out of his shed. When he got Ross River, he had to stay home from work, and we used to come over and jam because he was at home and we didn’t have jobs,” Josh says. The Chats do a lot of work in unlikely places, it seems. ‘High Risk Behaviour’ was recorded in one, too. “We recorded it in a little industrial estate in Geelong with a guy named Billy from Anti Fade Records,” Josh explains. “We just live tracked everything, like three takes of the songs and pick the best one, sort of thing. It took us over a long period of time because we had lots of gigs and stuff in between.” He’s underplaying it, in standard laid-back Chats fashion. Some of those gigs were supporting the likes of Queens of the Stone Age and Iggy Pop throughout Australia. The big question on everyone’s mind, of course, is; did they get to meet Iggy Pop’s pet cockatoo, Biggy Pop? “No,” Josh laughs. “We didn’t get to meet Iggy Pop’s pet cockatoo, unfortunately.” What a letdown. Still, we suppose there is something to be said for going from jamming in a backyard shed on the Sunshine Coast to opening up for the arguably less exciting member of the Pop family on tour. Although as Josh points out, once you acclimatise, everything seems less overwhelming. ‘Normal’ is subjective. “You meet all these people like that, and you look up to them still, but at the end of the day they’re just people,” he says. Still, in some ways, the momentum they’ve picked up since ‘Smoko’ has turned into such a sweeping wave that The Chats haven’t had much time to get to grips with it. It could still seem a little unreal until recently. “It’s been a wild ride,” Josh says, “I guess we’ve come to the point now where we’ve realised that it’s actually happening.” “You sort of get like ‘all right, well, it’s happening. Let’s give it a go’.” With ‘High Risk Behaviour’, the Chats are taking a big swing. If the story so far is anything to go by, it’s set to pay off. P The Chats’ debut album ‘High Risk Behaviour’ is out 27th March.

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SAMPA THE GREAT Born in Zambia and moving to Australia in 2014, via the US, Sampa The Great recently became the first person to with the Australian Music prize twice. Last year’s album ‘The Return’ was Really Bloody Brilliant, too.

“THE SCENE IN MELBOURNE IS INCREDIBLE” about? We sent them our album in early 2019. They kept listening to it and decided they wanted to put it out and we were over the bloody moon!! We couldn’t have dreamed of a better label to be on. It sounds like you guys are super involved in the DIY music community, can you tell us a bit more about the events and projects you’ve taken on? The music community in Melbourne is super important to us. Community radio stations like RRR and PBS have been a big part of our lives. Nick (bass player) was the breakfast presenter on PBS for a couple of years. We often go into RRR at during their membership drive to play a live to air or have a chat on air. We put on a yearly event called The Cable Ties Ball with about seven of our favourite acts from across a bunch of the DIY punk and electronic music communities in Melbourne. Before Cable Ties, I was in a punk band called Wet Lips. We organised a yearly show called WETFEST with a bunch of incredible gender diverse, queer and feminist bands. Nick also puts on an event called Country Daze in a town called Castlemaine an hour and a half from Melbourne. Shauna also plays drums in Jackson Reid Briggs and the Heaters. Is the Aussie scene a supportive one when it comes to promoting each other’s music? Which bands do you spend the most APRIL 2020

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time with? The scene in Melbourne is incredible. We started this band so we could be a part of the thriving community of bands playing every night at the Old Bar or The Tote or someone’s backyard. All our mates are incredibly supportive and encouraging and always putting on interesting line-ups, creating zines and starting new projects. It’s such a creatively fertile place to live and create art, and we feel really lucky to get to be a part of it.

ALEX THE ASTRONAUT

Making a name for herself with breakthrough hit ‘Not Worth Hiding’ - a lovely song about embracing who you are which became an unofficial anthem of the Oz Same Sex Marriage referendum a few years back Alex The Astronaut is an act many hold close to their hearts.

Do you get many opportunities to travel, where’s the most exciting place you’ve been with the band so far? Yeah, we get to do heaps of great stuff! We’ve toured the UK twice and played some shows in France and Germany. We got to do a tour in Aotearoa (New Zealand) which was beautiful. And you’re coming over to the UK in April - have you spent much time over here? What are you most looking forward to experiencing on your trip? We’ve done a couple of tours in the UK and had a really great time. We met lots of awesome like-minded punks and rock dogs on our last tour with Tropical Fuck Storm, and we look forward to making heaps of new mates this time around. The food at your service stations is surprisingly good. We kinda look forward to eating it. Dunno if that’s a compliment to your servos or an indictment of ours. P

MALLRAT

Brisbane’s Mallrat explores the ins and outs of everyday living with a keen eye for pulling out universal mundanities via glitchy, everchanging, uber-cool pop. She’s not long performed at London’s Village Underground, too. Keep an eye on this one.

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DMA’S

Formed in Sydney, guitar-pop trio DMA’s may as well be renting an overpriced flat in London for all the time they’re spending in the UK, playing in support of their third album, ‘The Glow’. Catch them at Live At Leeds, Hit The North and loads more.

Adelaide fivesome Bad// Dreems have played more gigs in the UK over the past few months than much of our home-grown talent. Following a rollocking run with The Chats, a support slot with DMA’s, and a headline stint of their own it’s time to get acquainted.

BANOFFEE A. SWAYZE & THE GHOSTS

Hailing from Hobart in Tasmania, garage punks A. Swayze & The Ghosts have already put out early releases with the likes of Rough Trade and Ivy League. Make sure you catch them live, if you can.

Banoffee’s just-released debut album ‘Look At Us Now Dad’ is a who’s-who of cool pop names, featuring SOPHIE, Empress Of, Cupcakke and more. And more! “Each song uses human experience to talk about more complex concepts of addiction, obsession, heartbreak, and resurrection,” she explains.

“Beloved” isn’t really a strong enough word for cult faves Camp Cope. The Melbourne indie-punks are intent on tackling inequality and making the world a better place - plus, they’re ridiculously cool.

Is the Aussie music scene a supportive one? Who are you buds with? Of course. Our latest record was released through Wollongongbased label Farmer & the Owl, who have adopted us into their community. Everybody kind of knows everybody, but our buds include the Hockey Dad fellas, and of course The Chats... little shits. How has being from Adelaide influenced your music? Absolutely. Adelaide is somewhat isolated and perceived by the eastern states as a bit of a sub-city.

You guys have taken influence from a lot of vintage guitar acts from the 70s/80s, how did you get into those bands? I was a latecomer to good music. I grew up on a healthy dose of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and Queen. The rest was whatever the commercial radio stations played. My foray into edgy, vintage guitar music came when I met Alex (guitar) and got piss drunk with him after the Saturday night presentations at our local football club. Have you had much positive feedback from those bands you’re influenced by? We have actually, which is kind of crazy. Peter Garret from Midnight Oil has been a solid supporter of ours, and as previously mentioned, Robert Forster (Go-Betweens) has given us a lot of love over the years. The Avalanches have been cool to us as well... still waiting to hear back from Peter Perrett on whether he liked the last album though. C’mon Pete. P

NAVVY

Billed as FFO HRH Lorde, Navvy initially trained as an opera singer, and is one of New Zealand’s next big hopes for the pop star crown. Her second EP, ‘No Hard Feelings’, is out now.

ANGIE MCMAHON

You know what’s great? An unexpected cover. Like singersongwriter Angie McMahon’s take on ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’, for example. Proceeds went to combating the Oz wildfires, too.

JACK RIVER

Holly Rankin has been writing since she was just 5 or 6 years old. Imagine - we were still trying to get the letter ‘m’ right at that age. Her debut album ‘Sugar Mountain’ is an assured, no-holds-barred introduction unafraid to get real.

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CAMP COPE

Hi Ben, what’s been your biggest band highlight so far? Probably co-creating Fire Aid in Australia earlier this year with the likes of Pond, The Mark of Cain, and Hayley Mary. The town raised over 200k for our emergency services personnel and wildlife.

It kind of is, but it has a really interesting history steeped in murder folklore and an underbelly of conservatism that can stifle creatives at times. Our sound and lyrical content certainly draw from the dystopian nature of the country around us, and the world as a whole.

WORKIN’

9 Are you ready for a new favourite band? North London’s Sorry are low-key cult faves with an immense banger-ratio, and a stonking debut album. Words: Blaise Radley. Photos: Sam Hiscox.

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loads of electronic stuff,” says Asha. “We just listen to quite a lot of varied and different music, and we also make a lot of music at home on the computer.” There’s a pause before Louis picks up her line of thought: “That rocky side of things was ingrained in us from a young age, but me and Asha are both also interested in the production side of things. We were both making songs from an early age on FL Studio or Logic or Ableton.” When either Asha or Louis speak about the creative evolution their music has gone through, it’s always in shared terms. If technological doomsayers might paint digital interfaces as the death of making music face-to-face, for Sorry, it’s

that it sounds somewhat inorganic, Louis laughs. “It is quite unnatural.” Recorded over the past four years, ‘925’ sees this cut and paste approach fuse with their traditional four-person rock line-up. As to why some of these songs didn’t make it onto the 7” singles or mixtapes that the band dropped in the interim, Louis draws a line in the sand. “The mixtapes were less like the band side of things; they were collections of songs that me and Asha pulled from our computers. For the album, we wanted to mix the more live stuff — the older songs that we were playing as a band — with the mixtapes and the more demo-y side of things.” “It’s just a more solid body of work,” adds Asha. “They’re all songs we’ve

"EVERYONE WAS JUST FRIENDS IT WASN’T REALLY A SCENE" ASHA LORENZ

clearly a refreshingly collaborative tool, based right in the bedroom. “Me and Louis usually write it at home that we bring it in, otherwise we write it together,” explains Asha. “We usually decide first, ‘Oh we want to make this kind of song, this kind of genre.’” “A lot of the production stuff comes from happy mistakes,” Louis carries on. “Just trial and error stuff and then suddenly you get something cool out of it. It’s a weird way of making music because you can just kind of pick stuff up and move it around, and you’re constantly listening back to it, over and over. You end up with kind of a musical collage.” When we mention

thought about quite a lot.” While the 13 songs they’ve put together certainly sound like a grungy set of guitars and drums as strained through the fan of an overworked laptop, there are other moments of sound collage to be found throughout. Lead single ‘Right Around the Clock’ lifts the hook for Tears For Fears - ‘Mad World’ wholesale, recontextualising it in their tale of murky late-night lies and flirtations. “We just kind of wanted to write a Tears For Fears song, and then we just started using that lyric,” says Asha. “I think we just thought it was quite funny to mix it in.” Perhaps the zenith of this musical bubble and squeak is reached with

the album’s final track: a refix of their breakthrough single ‘Lies’. “We always thought that song could be more electronic, and I always kind of wanted to mess with it a bit,” says Louis. “We still wanted that live, anthem-y element but also to make it a bit weirder. We really like that song, so we wanted to put it on the album, but we didn’t want it to stick out so much. If we’d just used the old version, probably it would’ve sounded weird alongside the other songs. We just tried to bring it into the 2020s.” Their approach to sampling takes a more conceptual presence too, given how dreams permeate the record. “We wanted to write the record from a dreamer’s perspective,” says Louis. “There are different characters running through it, and there are different stylistic influences, but they’re all dreamlike. Some of the songs might be nightmares, then others are more heavenly.” Asha is a little more guarded in her interpretation: “All of the songs have got different characters which head through different phases. I don’t know how to explain it.” With Asha, you have to read between the lines to an extent, though she’s more upfront about the nuts and bolts aspect of crafting the album. “We co-produced it with James Dring. We did it half at home then brought it in. He was quite chill with that, so it was nice to work with him. We only did like two studio days for recording some drums and stuff, so most of it was done at home. We tried to get a good balance.” “Yeah, we went to record drums at a studio and just found that they didn’t have the same feel as when I recorded Lincoln playing drums in Asha’s bedroom,” continues Louis. “So we just ended up using the old demo drums because James was more into that. What we liked about him is that he’s just so humble and so down to work from demos, which I found a lot of producers were shy of. No ego involved. He was really easy to work with on that side.” There’s a modest simplicity to the way Louis and Asha discuss their music, but the kaleidoscopic nature of their bedroom grunge must have roots in their shared eclectic music tastes, right? “I actually don’t think we could all go to a gig together,” answers Louis. “Lincoln, our drummer, listens to a lot of crazy music. Lincoln, what do you listen to?” There’s a pause as someone yells over the hum of the van. “He says he listens to everything that’s got funk, mama... I don’t know, what gig could we all go to? Maybe a Shame gig, but only cause we were supporting them somewhere.” “We all listen to a lot of different music - maybe we could all go to the cinema together? What would we see, though? The Jungle Book or The Lion King, I think.” Live-action or original? “I actually haven’t seen any of the live-action ones yet. Maybe if they were showing the old ones? They’ve got to be somewhere.” Given the conveyor belt manner in which Sorry sift through their influences and stitch them together, it’s not surprising they’d only come together over some classic childhood cinema. P Sorry’s debut album ‘925’ is out 27th March.

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ORRY ARE A quiet, ambient grunge band. Or rather, they’re a quiet band who play grunge loudly, before feeding everything back into an ambient loop (it’s a lot less complicated than it sounds). Everything from their on-stage tendency to stand still, to their lack of inane patter between songs, and even the brevity of their press releases lends itself to this soft mystique. They’re born choppers and changers. When we sit down to interview Sorry, Asha and Louis (who share vocal and guitar duties) are in a van hightailing it across the country from Bath to Oxford, a relatively unusual couple of stops for a band on the cusp of releasing a hotly-anticipated debut album. “On this tour, we’ve just been playing the “lesser” towns of the UK. Smaller towns, I should say,” says Louis. “It’s good to get out to those places - all the people are super sweet. Tonight’s sold-out too, which is encouraging.” It seems fitting that a band with quieter impulses are enjoying venturing outside the usual major city tour circuit. That hotly-anticipated debut, ‘925’, follows a slew of singles and mixtapes, and a longstanding collaborative friendship. The songwriting partnership between Asha and Louis is clearly at the heart of the band, and they’ve been playing together for yonks. “Well we’ve known each from school, so about 12 years, and we started playing music together about seven years ago,” says Louis. We ask what’s held them together so long, and there’s a pause before Asha deadpans, “I don’t really know... We just kept playing together.” It wasn’t until bassist Campbell and drummer Lincoln joined that they became Sorry as you see them today, or almost - at first they were known as Fish. Following a direct dispute with fans of the ageing Scottish singer-songwriter of the same name, the band added a syllable and became Sorry, explains Louis. “When we chose that name, there was the whole “one word” trend... it was just funny and apt in a way - it’s a very English saying.” That tongue-in-cheek urge to selfdeprecate is threaded through their work, not least in a loose catalogue of the band’s work on Spotify, entitled ‘A sorry collection of Sorry songs, sorry.’ The band’s profile first began to rise amongst the loose cabal of South London bands (despite being based in the North themselves) who all played The Windmill in 2017, like Shame, HMLTD and Goat Girl, though Asha is quick to dismiss the notions of such a scene. “There was a small period of time where everyone was hanging out quite a lot, and playing shows together all the time, but I think it dispersed quite fast. There was definitely a feeling... it felt like something was happening, but everyone kind of does their own thing now. Everyone was just friends - it wasn’t really a scene.” Since then the band haven’t so much changed as remixed. “We definitely used to be a bit more rocky, but we’ve got our friend Marco who plays with us now, and he does

a complete guide to the strokes

NEW YORK CITY BOPS

As New York’s iconic New Rock Revolution cool kids drop their first album in an age - The New Abnormal here’s your comprehensive guide to the music of The Strokes.

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2001

THE MODERN AGE EP

Leading out a batch of acts that would go on to define a generation, Julian, Nick, Albert, Nikolai and Fab arrived to change a musical landscape more concerned with wallet chains and mosh pits than skinny jeans and good shoes. A shot in the arm to an indie scene on the back foot, they remain one of the most influential acts of their generation.

Words: Jamie MacMillan, Jamie Muir, Jenessa Williams, Liam Konemann, Martyn Young, Steven Loftin, Stephen Ackroyd.

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Photo: Patrick Gunning.

Over the next few pages, we’ll run you through the band’s discography to date, leading up to their latest, much anticipated fulllength ‘The New Abnormal’, which arrives this April.

Other bands may come and go, their peers fade away over time, but when it comes down to it, none of them are quite The Strokes.

Everything has to start somewhere, and for The Strokes, their storied buzz certainly finds an initial waypoint with their debut EP. ‘The Modern Age’ marks the place where everything turned up to eleven for the New Yorkers - cutting through a music scene almost entirely lacking in their effortless cool. Arriving first in the UK in the January of 2001, it kicked off a bidding war amongst labels like no other. Drawing comparisons to the Velvet Underground and television, the younger, quite probably hungrier versions of The Strokes felt like the real deal from the first step. Featuring versions of three songs - title cut ‘The Modern Age’, ‘Last Nite’ and ‘Barely Legal’ - that would go on to appear on debut album ‘Is This It’, this wasn’t some scratchy suggestion of potential to be found, but a statement of intent. But that flash-bang arrival to most doesn’t mean The Strokes were an overnight success. Julian, Fab and Nick had been messing around with music together since high-school age, playing together in a band called Just Pipe before Albert and Nikolai signed up. Yes, some of that initial fortitude did come from a famously privileged position - Hammond was a former Swiss boarding schoolmate of Julian’s who re-connected with the frontman after moving to New York and recognising the name of his father’s modelling agency - but the magic was undeniable. So the story goes, The Strokes played 100 shows with less than 100 people in attendence, all with no real recorded material to hand. Sure, they’d recorded a few demos, but nothing really captured their sound. They sent them out to labels, but all they got in return was rejection letters which Albert would frame and hang on his wall. The difference came when the quintet arrived at Gordon Raphael’s Transporterraum studio in New York’s East Village in the October of 2020. Downhearted but not throwing in the towel, the results of that session found their way to Rough Trade Records founder Geoff Travis, who, upon hearing the three tracks recorded, immediately made the band an offer and brought them to the UK. Those three songs were packaged as ‘The Modern Age’ EP, and the rest was history.P

2001

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

IS THIS IT

S ‘IS THIS IT’ REALLY still it after nearly two decades? From the album cover, with its image once deemed too ‘racy’ for some high street stores, to that hit of the opening seconds, iconic doesn’t seem a big enough word. The guitar style from twin threats Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr was like a bucket of ice in the face, Nikolai Fraiture’s bass seemed to sing and dance in all new directions. And then there’s the lazy drawl of one Julian Casablancas, a man who, even then, sounded like he’s been dragged into a studio while he was asleep. ‘Is This It’ seemed to instantly

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turn much of the established order of bands into dust. With Travis and the like atop the world of ‘indie’ (they headlined Reading the year of the album’s release, and even Glasto the year before), it was like a shockwave rushing through guitar music. Holding nothing back, it shifted the world’s attention back to New York. The album still almost seems to exist in that brief moment of light before darkness fell over it one September morning later that year. Looking back at ‘Is This It’ now is easy, as it still feels as fresh as the day it arrived. Anthems that were just ‘songs’ back then roll out in a procession. ‘The Modern Age’. ‘Someday’. ‘Hard To Explain’. And that’s all before you get to the REALLY big one. ‘Last Nite’ deserves to be enshrined, a few minutes of ridiculousness and fun that encapsulate everything good about music. These were songs that came to guide so much that followed over the following years. Most of all though, it reintroduced the long missing art of simply being cool. Whichever

The Strokes felt like a band leading a charge from one of the coolest cities on the planet - but they weren’t the only ones from The Big Apple making a noise in the 00s. Here’s three of the best. band member was your favourite, they felt like a real gang. People who you’d give a limb to hang out with. The personality that drips through the record came out in real life. This was a group of guys that looked effortlessly, ridiculously good and inspired countless bands to come - for better or worse. It was easy to spot that Pete and Carl were watching. And even a young Alex Turner was also feeling the effect. Wannabes and chancers sprang up everywhere, giving rise to the legendary “You’re not from New York City, you’re from Rotherham” put-down. If you need testament to just how good this record this then consider this. If ‘Is This It’ came out in 2020, magazines like us - and probably you too Dear Reader - would still absolutely lose our shit. It was, and is, one of those rare moments that define not just a year but an era. Forget all the breakups and breakdowns, supermodels, questionable fashion choices and dodgy gigs that came afterwards. This was, and always will be, It. P

YEAH YEAH YEAHS

Though The Strokes may be cool, it’s arguable that Yeah Yeah Yeahs have always been cooler. With a firebrand, impossibly iconic leader in Karen O, they arrived kicking and spitting with a self-titled EP in mid-2001, following it up with debut album ‘Fever To Tell’ in 2003. With talk of new material to come soon, they’re far from done yet too.

INTERPOL

Formed in 1997, Interpol had something a little different to their peers. Self-releasing EPs, they arrived in 2002 with a self-titled EP, and classic album ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’ later that year. Drawing comparisons with Joy Division, it went on to influence a whole generation of new bands.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

Though LCD’s big arrival would come later in the decade, their standout first single ‘Losing My Edge’ came in 2002. In truth, leader James Murphy’s contribution to New York’s cool as part of DFA Records is almost impossible to overestimate.

2006

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF EARTH

F 2003

OW DO YOU follow a record that lit a match under the entire indie scene? You set the whole Room On Fire. The Strokes second record may not be remembered quite as fondly as it’s predecessor, but it certainly proved they had sticking power doubling down on the tight, splicey guitars, but also proving their worth in the vocal booth, letting Casablancas’ croon wander into subtly evolving territories. Things could have been very different. Early sessions were lined up with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, scrapped after producing ’soulless’ results. The band turning back to favoured contributor Gordon Raphael, bashing out the entire record inside of three months. Things weren’t broke, so they definitely didn’t need to fix them. But still, the subtle breach of New York State boundaries can be heard throughout - ‘What Ever Happened’ has a snarly, British punk energy in

crashing urgency of ‘Juicebox’, and the flurry of ‘Razorblade’ have their sparkling qualities. With the atmospheric return last month of ‘At The Door’, the dawdling elements on ‘First Impressions…’ may even make more sense now. Still, its flurrying heart is where the strength lies. Undoubtedly the last album from the band to not find its back automatically against the wall, ‘First Impressions…’ came at a time when The Strokes magic was still fresh, even if it was met with a few ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’. These days it’s more legend than bubbling expectation, but unquestionably The Strokes were, and still are, a pivotal part of modern music. They shine brighter more than most copy-cats could dare to dream. P

it’s bratty, fed up lyrics, while the juxtaposition of bored vocals and California-inclined, synthy melodies of ‘12:51’ and ‘Automatic Stop’ gave the band a new sound palette to play with, setting the stage for Vampire Weekend’s pastel Afrobeat invasion. And then of course, there was ‘Reptilia’. If the sign of any timeless riff is that it can be chanted en masse in festival fields as if each note were a lyric, this song still passes the test, 17 years on. Alex Turner and Lightspeed Champion (now Blood Orange) were spotted dicking around with a cover of it at a gig in 2010; a search through YouTube reveals an infinite supply of covers that remix it as everything from an acoustic folk ditty to an EDM banger. From Circa Waves to Wallows to the next high school band looking for a song to cover in assembly, it’s effortless cool has become embedded in the canon of modern rock, a staple of any indiedisco playlist. As far as follow-ups go, it recognised the value in giving fans more of what they wanted, buying them a ticket to escape into outer space... P

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ROOM ON FIRE

IVE YEARS before the release of ‘First Impressions of Earth’, the spark of The Strokes initial explosion was waning, and all eyes were upon them. Their third outing had the monstrous job of not only proving a point but appeasing the fivepiece’s yearning growth. Almost a decade and a half on, the mechanical, muted bob of ‘You Only Live Once’ bursting to life with the promise of an evolved Strokes - still feels vibrant and confident. The sounds swarm to life, doing exactly what they say on the tin - seizing a moment they know will make a difference. Certainly, the first half weighs heftier than the second, but even the moments that follow the

2011

ANGLES

Y 2011, THE effect of being ‘The Strokes’ was clear. After touring, taking a hiatus from being indie icons for the first time, experimenting in their own world and then reconvening to try and pull together the pieces of a puzzle that took them to the very top it had been five years since ‘First Impressions of Earth’ landed. For a band who had released three albums in the same period of time before the break, it was a moment for perspective. To question, what are we meant to be doing now? Is the party over? Appropriately, is this it? It’s why - if you pick your narratives carefully ‘Angels’ may just be The Strokes most important album, or at least one of the most interesting. Born out of testing recording sessions, personal reckonings and outspoken disdain, it’s a spinning cauldron of the styles and sounds of each individual member, and the band’s most collaborative to date as a result. Any questions on whether The Strokes still had it were silenced with ‘Machu Picchu’ whipping up electronic bubbles around another prime singalong Strokes riff, while in ‘Under Cover Of Darkness’ they showcase how

they’re still writing the sort of festival-sized anthems that got them to the dance in the first place. That creativity is what makes ‘Angles’ a defining line in the sand of what could come next. The stuttering ‘You’re So Right’, the gleaming synths and beats of ‘Games’ and the heartbreak longing of ‘Call Me Back’ all slide together; ‘Life Is Simple In The Moonlight’ a shimmering favourite. From 70s rock, to 80s electronica and new wave through punk and pop, ‘Angles’ dabbles in all pies. And why not?! There’s a quote from famous lead singer, which involved his band going about ‘reapplying for the job of the best band in the world’. In 2011, it felt like The Strokes needed to do that. To prove that there was more to them than the wistful memories of glories past. It defeats the point though. The Strokes weren’t out to change the world, but rather change their own surroundings. By the time they were headlining Reading Festival in 2011, it felt like their job as a generation’s most influential band was earned back. Back on track, and pushing against their surroundings - ‘Angles’ is the album that gave them new life. Without it, The Strokes wouldn’t be here today. P

2016

FUTURE PRESENT PAST EP APRIL 2020

DORK

2013

COMEDOWN MACHINE

OMEDOWN Machine’ is definitely not The Strokes’ best album, c’mon we’re not mad, but it is certainly their strangest and most unique and it opened up a world of different possibilities for the iconic band. Everything about the album is low key, from the super minimalist artwork mimicking some prescribed medication to the album release in itself. The band were essentially dormant as they did absolutely no promotion, no live shows, no press interviews. It’s a testament to their enduring popularity that despite

HREE SHORT BURSTS of The Strokes at a time when things were a bit ‘up in the air’, ‘Future Past Present’ is both a bridging dose and a perfect reminder of the power the band still held. Their ability to craft succinct indie gems remains undiminished, each one seasoned with that touch of flavour that screams classic Strokes. The weakest, and most questionable, moment - that vocal effect on ‘Drag Queen’s’ crescendo - is also the most eyebrow-raising, but the rest is so deftly crafted and weird that you can almost forgive it. The weight of any Strokes release will always outdo its reality - that’s the curse of a bad spearheading the purported ‘last great scene’. But when you remove those thick lensed glasses and look beyond the wiles of time, The Strokes become a band bouncing around the pinball machine, pulling together the past present and future like a lightning bolt once more. P

their laissez-faire attitude they could still knock about a top 10 album with a strange and curious collection of distinctly un-Strokesy yet somehow very Strokesy songs. ‘Comedown Machine’ is a record that confounds on many levels. It begins with the genuinely funky and sprightly ‘Tap Out’ which features Julian Casablancas’ falsetto in glorious full flow. In the context of the same year 2013 that Julian provided a star turn on Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’, funky and peppy danceable cuts like this make perfect sense. A killer guitar solo chimes in to make this one of the best openers of the band’s career. ‘All The Time’ and ‘One Way Trigger’ provide the bangers here and they represent the sound of a band not striving for something beyond their reach but honing in on a satisfying and confident groove. The Strokes know they’re cool. They’ve always been cool. On ‘Comedown Machine’ they’re content to let their own brand of cool speak for itself. Then things take a turn for the weird. ‘80’s Comedown Machine’ is one of the band’s more idiosyncratic offerings but it’s also one of their best. An example of the album’s desire to expand their sonic palette, it’s dreamy and dubby and oddly beautiful in a way that The Strokes have never quite sounded before. Every song has constituent parts that you recognise and love from their previous albums but here they’re arranged and jumbled up in ways that represent a distinct difference from before but still retaining that effortless cool that defines the band. Of course, it’s not all good and on an album that doesn’t feel like a grand statement, more an exercise in having fun and trying something new, you’re going to get some stuff that doesn’t quite work, but seven years on the album feels remarkably fresh and vibrant. P

2020

THE NEW ABNORMAL 57

We’ll be honest, Dear Reader. Though it’s set for release on 10th April, at the ‘time’ of ‘press’, we’re yet to hear The Strokes’ latest full length. In the run up, though, the band hit the road for a whistlestop, last-minute tour of Europe. Dork’s resident Strokes aficionado Liam Konemann was there to take in the magic.

was revealed to be a hoax. We still don’t like to talk about it. No further questions, please.) Coming hot on the heels of the announcement for their new album ‘The New Abnormal’, such an intimate gig on our fair shores seemed like too much good news at once to really be true. And yet. When the Strokes swagger onstage, they’re greeted like returning heroes. After they were plagued by problems at last summer’s All Points East headline, the feeling was that both band and fans had been robbed of the celebration they deserved. As things kick off with ‘Someday’, though, it’s immediately UICK clear that tonight nobody is going to question: who be short-changed. They are laid back were the most but controlled, deftly walking their influential indie well-trodden path between studied band of the early cool and absolute chaos. The size 2000s? Never of the venue turns the atmosphere mind. It’s The Strokes. If you said it into a pressure cooker, with the raw was somebody else, Dear Reader, energy of songs like ‘Heart in a Cage’ we’re going to have to have a word. feeling even sharper than usual. Tonight, their set at the Roundhouse Nominally, the reason for this just serves to reinforce the fact that enormous underplay is to celebrate in their field, nobody comes close to the announcement of ‘The New matching The Strokes. Abnormal’, so something would be When this last-minute, minuscule- a little bit amiss if The Strokes didn’t by-Strokes-standards gig was play their new material. To that end, announced, we have to admit we we get airings of both ‘The Adults were sceptical. We haven’t yet Are Talking’ and ‘Bad Decisions’. Both forgotten the sting of the infamous songs are tight, but set alongside the Dingwalls Incident of Summer 2018. adrenaline of their earlier tracks - like (For those of you who have blocked the absolute bouncing banger that out the painful memory and need is ‘Take It Or Leave It’, in its first live a reminder, several intrepid Dork outing since 2017 - ‘The Adults Are reporters and a few hundred other Talking’ comes across as slightly hopefuls queued in a pub basement more understated. ‘Bad Decisions’, for hours, before the whole thing with its ‘Dancing With Myself’-style

melody, is a more natural live fit. While Julian Casablancas jokes that he hasn’t learnt the new songs just yet, though, there’s no danger of coming across as under-cooked. Tonight The Strokes could style out anything. Or just about, at least. The main set comes to an abrupt end with evergreen indie club night crowd-pleaser ‘Last Nite’, as Julian takes the song’s final line too literally and swans off-stage like a cabaret emcee bowing out. The band follow, with the exception of Albert Hammond Jr who turns around to quite clearly demand what the hell the rest of them are doing. Then he shrugs, tosses his plectrum into the crowd and mimes throwing his guitar after it, before he too disappears. Of course, there’s no question of that really being the end of things. The Strokes return for their encore with the blistering ‘Juicebox’, the thrumming bass riff pushing an already high-octane atmosphere into overdrive. It was meant to be the last song before the encore, Julian explains. “I think I freaked everyone out with my ‘I’m walking out that door’,” he drawls. “I was just acting out the last line.” They shred through ‘What Ever Happened’, and then race on into ‘Reptilia’ to bring things to a close. Its pleas to not be slowed down feel just as relevant as ever for a band that have out-run their peers. When The Strokes walk out the door for real, they go out on a well-deserved high. P

... AND THERE’S MORE

We’re not done yet. If you want more The Strokes flavoured drama, we polled out scribblers to work out a definitive Top 20 Strokes Tracks. As you can imagine, it was competitive. There was shouting. There were tears. Someone even threw a pair of well wornin Converse*. If you want to know the results, head to readdork.com now and prepare to argue. Alternatively, scan the code below into Spotify and listen yourself.

* This is a lie. No shoes were thrown in the making of this list. One writer was called ‘ridiculous’ though. No names mentioned. They know who they are. READDORK.COM

INCOMING THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE LATEST NEW RELEASES

SPORTS TEAM Deep Down Happy

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RECOMMENDED TAME IMPALA The Slow Rush

Kevin Parker’s latest is an assured and confident record full of contrasting sounds and styles. Walking on the surface of new waters with an untouchable confidence.

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PORTS TEAM ARE the greatest band in their own universe. A big statement for an us-against-theworld gang who specialise in them, it’s also more nuanced than it reads at a glance. In a scene where too many can appear bland and tasteless, Sports Team have long felt like a liberal pinch of firecracker seasoning - all swagger and gob, full of self-belief and no fear of ruffling feathers along the way. To some more beige souls, it may seem tiresome. To the rest, it’s a lightning rod that channels something electrifying - genuine, unabashed excitement. Because that’s what Sports Team command in their disciples. The antithesis of growing old and boring, there’s no doubt their highly-stylised, coach party indie-pop will leave those concerned with high art and even higher purpose thumbing their nose - but those voices don’t matter. Not here, where they’re pitted against a critical mass of youthful exuberance, happy to throw down with a band shot with adrenaline and ready for a good time. ‘Deep Down Happy’ is - first and foremost - an album soaked in teen spirit. That heady belief that everything is shiny and new, discovered for the first time, better than whatever came before. It’s nostalgia never lived, romanticised into a uniquely British world of bad roasts and bores down the local pub. It’s a hall of fame of indie icons past, cut up and sewn back together to make its own reanimated Frankenstein’s nonsense - a sassy, eye-rolling triple threat ready to cut through a sea of poseurs and has-beens. If you’re

willing to buy into the complete package, it’s nothing short of glorious. From the no-muckingabout-here-then explosion of ‘Lander’, Alex Rice drawls and muses over a crescendo that grabs hold and shakes for dear life. Skipping from character to character, often sarcastic, never entirely straight down the line, he’s part Jarvis Cocker, part 00s art-pop-provocateur Eddie Argos. But while Rice may find the limelight drawn his way, it’s the collective that provides the platform upon which he struts. Lyrically Sports Team may live in a world of perfect one-liners and faded vignettes, but musically they’re a welloiled machine. The swell of ‘Camel Crew’ or the woozy heat haze of ‘Long Hot Summer’ - where songwriter Rob Knaggs takes vocal duties - show a band with far more depth than the bombast alone might initially suggest. It’s when the brakes come off that Sports Team really excel. At first listen, ‘Here’s The Thing’ may sound like a joke - like a Reliant Robin driving down cobbled steps, it’s a song hanging on to believability by the skin of its teeth. And yet, once that initial ‘what the fuck’ subsides, it’s also riotously great fun. An earworm to end all others, imagine being dull enough to try to suppress that involuntary grin. Life’s far too short. With no shortage of confidence, Sports Team are the complete package. A band beyond just their music alone, there are no half measures here. When the battle lines are drawn, you’ll either be with them or against them. We know what side we’re on. You wouldn’t want to look boring, would you? Stephen Ackroyd

THE BEST ALBUMS YOU NEED TO CATCH UP WITH NOW

BONIFACE Boniface

A debut that’s more than befitting of a world more open and honest. Glowing electro-indie that hits somewhere between the 80s euphoria of M83 and the intricate delicacy of Blaenavon.

SOCCER MOMMY Color Theory

At ten tracks this is an expertly restrained follow-up that also shows something exciting and new — the sign of an artist taking the difficult second album in their stride.

LAUV ~how i’m feeling~

After dominating the airwaves with his playlist friendly top pop bops, Lauv’s new album shows all of the shimmer, but genuine depth too. A talent to believe in.

HINDS

The Prettiest Curse

eeeee Most albums find a band evolving, but usually that’s a quiet, gradual shift. A touch of something fresh here, a nod to new influences there. With third full-length ‘The Prettiest Curse’, the previously brilliantly ramshackle Hinds aren’t just progressing, they’re making lightspeed jumps. From opener ‘Good Bad Times’, what once was lo-fi yelps and infectious joy is high definition cool. Bigger, shinier but still impossibly fun, ‘Just Like Kids (Miau)’ marries the best of both worlds. It’s not that Hinds needed to change to survive, but now they have, they sound like a band positively thriving. Stephen Ackroyd

WAXAHATCHEE

Saint Cloud

eeeee Over the course of her career as Waxahatchee Katie Crutchfield has developed a strong and singular voice as one of alternative indie’s finest songwriters. She has a reputation built on tender and evocative storytelling tempered with a biting edge but on her fifth album ‘Saint Cloud’ she reaches a new level by stripping things back and delivering her finest set of songs yet. Born out of a period of new found sobriety and contentment the album is a reflective collection that avoids any of the heavy rocky hooks of her last two albums in favour of a beautifully considered and satisfying acoustic country sound that really brings out the best qualities in her voice and melodies. Songs like ‘The Eye’ and the countrified waltz of ‘Arkadelphia’ harken back to the sparse sounds of her debut and it’s almost as if things have come full circle in Katie Crutchfield’s journey. ‘Saint Cloud’ feels like a validation of a decade of supremely beautiful songwriting and is the work of someone newly at peace

ALL TIME LOW

Wake Up, Sunshine

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CONAN GRAY

Kid Krow

eeeee When you’re dealing with potential pop stars as a ‘magazine’ (hi, that’s us Ed), you’re often furnished with a sort of glam record of achievement; a list of ‘stuff’ someone has achieved in order to get to a certain point. Conan Gray’s is somewhat impressive. Apparently, songs from debut album ‘Kid Krow’ have been streamed over 500 million times before the album is even released. He’s sold out three headline tours, been co-signed by Billie Eilish, BTS, Halsey and The 1975, and even been named as “best dressed” at Grammy afterparties. Get him. But unlike so many, our Conan doesn’t just walk the stats-based walk. He delivers the goods too. Every inch the modern pop star, ‘Wish You Were Sober’ isn’t too cool for a massive hook, but still makes it sound achingly now regardless. ‘The Cut That Always Bleeds’

burns slow but strong, ‘Affluenza’ offers a woozy bounce, and closer ‘The Story’ plucks at the heartstrings with delicate ease. The complete package, a cheesier publication would probably include some awful pun about their being 50 shades of Conan Gray. Like him, we’re obviously far better than that. Stephen Ackroyd

TALK SHOW

These People EP

eeeee To say Talk Show are riding a wave of postpunk excitement would be to suggest they’re a band not in control of their own destiny - and there’s nothing submissive about debut EP ‘These People’. While the musical landscape around them might be primed for muscular bands, strong of will and big of heart, there’s more to the London four-piece than that. Just check out opening track ‘Stress’. Yes, it has a brooding cool to it, but it’s also absolutely bloody massive. Give it a while, and we’ll be saying that about Talk Show too. Stephen Ackroyd

riddled with a melodic tick-tock that does everything in its power to surge with reckless abandon. All Time Low are still banging on about the same things (love, heartbreak, wanting more, etc), but with cheeky guest spots from Blackbear and The Band Camino, we don’t mind at all. Steven Loftin

ANNA BURCH

If You’re Dreaming

eeeee Anna Burch’s second album, ‘If You’re Dreaming’ feels and sounds like the first rays of sunshine after a long icy winter. While her debut was jam-packed with strong indie-pop, fuzzy guitars and alt-rock influences, here intricate guitars and carefully crafted melodies give the record a warm, dreamy folk feel. On tracks like ‘So I Can See’ and ‘Tell Me What’s True’, Anna’s crisp vocals take the shape of fresh morning dew, and her striking songwriting makes for a transcending listening experience. Calm and comforting, ‘If You’re Dreaming’ feels like a mini-vacation for your brain. Laura Freyaldenhoven

DEAP LIPS

Deap Lips

eeeee The Flaming Lips and Deap Vally are both wickedly idiosyncratic, and their self-titled collaboration is a mind-melting journey down a desert storm whirlwind that leads to some kind of indiepop netherworld. ‘Shit Talkin’ sums up the entire project with the words: “we’re not ones for subtlety”. Packed full of sass and swagger, even down to the song titles; this is an album that none of us were expecting, but one we definitely all needed to hear. ‘One Thousand Sisters With Aluminium Foil Calculators’ conjures up imagery of a dreamy ice cavern of delight which serves as an interlude before becoming an amorphous entity of light on the cusp of supernova into a luminous disco number. There is a plethora of influences to be found here. ‘Wandering Witches’ is a trip-hop masterpiece, and ‘There Is Know Right There Is Know Wrong’ provides a sumptuous and slightly

THE SLOW READERS CLUB

The Joy of the Return

eeeee Fitting somewhere between the New York cool of Interpol, the yearning of The Smiths and the urgency of Joy Division, on their fourth outing The Slow Readers Club sound more determined than ever on their quest to plop their footsteps alongside all the other Manc giants without sounding paint-bynumbers of whoever came before. There’s an excellent balancing of howling (‘Jericho’), and slowpaced reflection (‘Zero’), blending into an album that wants you to know precisely who The Slow Readers Club are, and won’t stop until you’re pigeon-toeing, head down, on the dark indie-dancefloor. Steven Loftin

SORRY 925

eeeee It might feel like it has been a long time coming, but the longawaited debut from Sorry proves that it was well worth the wait. “I wanna get in your head, you just wanna get out of it” points out figurehead Asha at one point on the opening ‘Right Round The Clock’, and tbh both sentiments couldn’t feel truer. A woozy, twitchy treat from first note to last, this gripping listen is a record that repeatedly blurs the lines between dream and reality. Restless from the off, there’s an air of everything being ever so slightly off-kilter. Haunting at times, shifting into downright filthy riffs at others (‘Starstruck’

is an absolute killer), it makes for a distinctive sound that keeps all of the current crop of indie starlets at arms length. Experimental in its genre-shifting, ‘925’ is captivating. From the lofi ‘Heather’ to the glam rock stomp of ‘More’, each track ends up in a completely different postcode from where it begins. Saxophones squirl through the haze, what sounds like a distorted children’s choir drops in at one point, before jagged icecold electronic spears rip through ‘Ode To Boy’. The world that Sorry have created here is an addictive and satisfying one. No apologies, this is stunning stuff. Jamie MacMillan

erotic feel to synthesised sounds. The interlinking thing between all of these songs? The word ‘motherfucker’ which makes up for about 15% of the lyrical content that fleets between obscure, philosophical, and ironically basic all at the same time. Deap Lips have provided us with an insight into another realm of music that we didn’t know we needed, and it definitely fills a void. Tyler Damara Kelly

a sharp left, it feels wild, but never like you’re out of safe hands, which is the true beauty of postpunk - a heart that revels in being a bit ‘out-there’ but always wants to give you a piece of itself. Beneath the shimmering stars that blink through the low laying fog-shelf, you’ll feel at peace while knowing that life is still there to be lived, even when the darkest times can encroach upon you. Whether it’s hitting the ground running on opener ‘Ego’, or the dancing urgency of ‘Fall In Love’ - imagine The National decided to drink coffee instead of wine and played a bit fast and loose with more electronic sounds. The heart of ‘Uneasy Laughter’ lies in its threat to fall apart constantly, while safe in the sanctity of its dark city streets - there’s a loneliness, but when you’re in such good company, you don’t mind. Steven Loftin

MOANING

Uneasy Laughter

eeeee Looming through the illustrious night Moaning conjures on their debut, a jam-packed cityscape holds itself stoic while perpetrating a beauty that will stop you in your tracks. Whenever it takes

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with themselves and assured in the quality of their beautifully exquisite songs. Martyn Young

Pop-punk bangers amongst you, Dear Readers, rejoice - the genre’s resident purveyors are back once more and with them, they’re bringing a new arsenal of songs ready to inject a bit of sunshine. Now on their eighth (!!!) album, the heart of the four guys from Baltimore, Maryland is once more

MILK TEETH Milk Teeth

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PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS

Viscerals

eeeee On ‘Viscerals’, Pigsx7 have moved on from the blood-curdling hardcore that ruled their previous releases, deeper into sludge, doom and anything else you can think of in the realms of metal. They’ve become more eccentric and unforgiving, if that was even possible, with the record itself feeling like a precarious journey through uncharted territories (with the main stop being hell), as vocals boom and tribal chants bellow. This is your Pigsx7 initiation, and there’s no way out. The scope of music is cavernous, the thrashy and unrelenting ‘World Crust’ is built on

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While there’s often little significance in bands deciding to self-title a record, there’s something poignant in Milk Teeth’s decision to do so. Ending a four-year struggle with line-up changes, mental health battles and the weight of the world seemingly crashing down, Milk Teeth have finally found their natural formation. The weathering of Milk Teeth over the years is clear in the lyricism of this album. Partially, the record balances the ending of one toxic relationship with the emergence of the kind of love that lets you finally show your scars, but mostly it serves to document the recent past of Becky Blomfield. While Becky has always let her life experience seep into the band’s music, there’s no mystery in the lyrics on this album, some of the best moments are songs like ‘Dilute’ or ‘Medicine’ which flaunt clear messages and lay everything out onto record. Whether it’s ‘Flowers’, featuring some of the best punk vocal lines since Billie Joe Armstrong on ‘Insomniac, or ‘Better’ sounding like an unheard track circa Placebo’s debut, this Milk Teeth S/T is a 90s alt-rock classic with the very best of modern sensibilities. Ending is the line, “I’m not fine, but I want to be,” which sums up the entirety of the switching feelings of hopelessness, anger and contentedness that swing around the record. Milk Teeth have always been a cyclone of emotion, but this is the kind of album that can only come from a band who believed they had seen the end. Whether it gets the plaudits it deserves or not, ‘Milk Teeth’ is a seminal album for the modern brit-rock movement. Paris Fawcett

grooving garage rock undertones (Pigsx7 at their best), and prog tinges on the Goliath ‘Halloween Bolson’ add yet another dimension to the batshit world of this Geordie oddity. ‘Viscerals’ is fearless while also inducing fear at the same time. It’s not an easy listen by any means, but it’s an intelligent effort and heavy metal in its rawest and most ruthless form. Jasleen Dhindsa

THE SNUTS

Mixtape EP

eeeee As the name suggests, The Snuts’ new EP has a mixtape feel to it. Across five tracks plus three interludes, the band explore different spheres of sound. While opener ‘Fatboy Slim’ is a

dancefloor-ready anthem referencing Slim’s local haunt Brighton Beach, ‘Coffee & Cigarettes’ has more of a retro vibe to it with infectious bass-heavy rhythms that evoke an air of nostalgia for the good old days of garage rock. But, as the thrashing guitars and no-nonsense attitude of ‘Don’t You Forget It (Punk) [Demo]’ prove, The Snuts haven’t lost any of their indie rock roots. Undefeated champion on their EP, however, is

‘Boardwalk’ – a track that stands out because it is so completely and utterly different. Set in a stripped back, almost melancholic atmosphere accompanied by intricate guitars and a choir of angels, it shows a more delicate side to their songwriting and shines a spotlight on Jack’s uniquely raw vocals. Laura Freyaldenhoven

THE CHATS

High Risk Behaviour

eeeee If one thing becomes clear over the course of ‘High Risk Behaviour’, it’s that The Chats couldn’t give two shits. Thankfully, their brand of not-shitgiving is of the irreverent, tongue-wagging kind rather than any screwfaced seriousness. Their rollicking debut plays to their strengths, heralding the emergence of a new laidback punk spirit. Pitched somewhere between easy-going surfer exuberance and knuckle-bruising punk fist flailing, The Chats are perfectly personified by frontman Eamon Sandwith (handy that, eh?). His distinctive red mullet and characteristic jaunty snarl don’t see him so much as carry the album as shove it down his trousers and leg it out the shop. Over the course of just under 30 minutes, Eamon and his gawky cronies get their identities stolen buying drugs on the internet, commit the perfect crime of dining and dashing, and acquire mosquitoborne diseases—just your usual night on the piss. If it sounds boisterous, well, it is, but the band are as autobiographical as they are serious. That is, not very. The songs are largely under 2 minutes long, the distortion pedal is firmly pressed down, and the lyrics are frequently mundane and absurd in the same breath. Getting chlamydia never sounded so much fun. Blaise Radley

REVIEW ALL

Dork’s one mag mission to rate everything in the known universe. This month, anteaters!

GIANT ANTEATER

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A large lad with a small brain and a tail that it uses as a duvet when it sleeps – just lovely stuff all round, if we’re honest. A truly classic anteater.

SILKY ANTEATER

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Able to use its tail like another limb, which is nice. Also loves to climb around and is very small, so quite portable.

COLLARED ANTEATER

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Only so low down due to the strength of the competition, this is another excellent anteater. Loses points for releasing a terrible smell when aggravated, which is quite rude.

NORTHERN TAMANDUA

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Basically just the Collared Anteater without a fun name, and with a fur pattern that looks a bit like a knitted vest. Loses marks for lack of originality, but still good to have around.

RELEASE RADAR

These albums are arriving ‘very soon indeed’ THE 1975 Notes On A Conditional Form

It's shifted back to an April release date, but The 1975's second instalment in their 'Music For Cars' project is sure to be another mindbending experiment in modern music. Out 24th April.

HAYLEY WILLIAMS Petals For Armor

We've already heard a bunch of songs from Paramore leader Hayley Williams' debut solo effort, and they've cast aside any expectations. Raw, textured and brilliant, the rest should be pretty special. Out 8th May.

RINA SAWAYAMA Sawayama

Able to twist and turn on a stylistic sixpence, Rina's forthcoming full-length could be anything she wants. Out 17th April

FESTIVALS TAG HERE.

Self Esteem and Gruff Rhys are among several new acts for Sounds From The Other City. Also playing this year, are Beak>, Stealing Sheep, Harpoon, Grotbags, La Presidenta, Mali Hayes, WuLu, Cowtown, Housewives and loads more. A teamup with BBC Radio 3’s Unclassified programme will also the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra performing with Hatis Noit and cellist Abel Selaocoe at Peel Hall. Sounds From The Other City takes place on Chapel Street in Salford, on 2nd May.

ACCIO BANDS, LIVE AT LEEDS HAS MAGICKED UP SOME NEW NAMES The Magic Gang and Spector are among

AS CORONAVIRUS CLAIMS SXSW, WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR 2020’S FESTIVALS?

With March’s Stateside industry megabash cancelled due to the spread of COVID-19, this year’s big events are all under the microscope.

ESTIVAL SEASON 2020 IS currently suffering from what at best can be described as ‘a period of uncertainty’ due to the worldwide spread of coronavirus. A number of events have already been pulled - including, notably, SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Cancelled by the city of Austin, a statement from the annual industry bash explained they were “devastated to share this news” and “this is the first time in 34 years that the March event will not take place.” “We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation,” they continued. “We understand the gravity of the situation for all the creatives who utilise SXSW to accelerate their careers; for the global businesses; and for Austin and the hundreds of small businesses – venues, theatres, vendors, production companies, service industry staff, and other partners that rely so heavily on the increased business that SXSW attracts.”

It’s part of a larger issue that could spread wider across the festival season. As SXSW co-founder Nick Barbaro confirmed to The Austin Chronicle following the cancellation, the organisation lacks insurance cover for disease outbreaks. “We have a lot of insurance (terrorism, injury, property destruction, weather). However, bacterial infections, communicable diseases, viruses and pandemics are not covered.” Similar bans on events running into this summer could not only call into question the long term future of many festivals - who presumably will suffer the same insurance issues - but also much of the music culture that surrounds them, such is their importance. As other large events are either cancelled or put under pressure, bands and artists reconsider tour plans and even films are delayed until later in the year, at this stage it’s hard to be sure entirely sure where this year’s calendar will fall - or what the wider cultural fall out will be. P

IT’S ALL GOING ON FOR ALL POINTS EAST London festival All Points East has dropped new names every five minutes since our last issue came out. First, they announced that The Kooks and The Wombats will be heading up a day (30th May) with support from Tom Walker, Jake Bugg, Gang Of Youths, Gabrielle Aplin, The Lathums, Bloxx, and Lauran Hibberd. Then, it was that Bombay Bicycle Club are topping another of the bills (22nd May) following sets from Loyle Carner, Everything Everything, Nadine Shah, Lianne La Havas, Nilüfer Yanya, The Orielles and Gengahr. And then, finally, that Thom Yorke will perform on Massive Attack’s day, on the 24th. Phew.

Boardmasters has signed up 40+ new acts, including Blossoms, Hot Chip and Easy Life. Also new to the bill, are Maribou State, Kojey Radical, AKA Juan, Argh Kid, Brian Summers, Catalyst, Crawford, Crisis MC, Demonise, Designate & Apostle, DJ BORING, DJ Darko, DJ Smooth, Hot Blood, Jolla, and Joesef. Plus, Klimax, Lulah Francs, MC DET, Not The Beatles, Olivia Dean, ONO, Redlight, Shagrat, Starz & Deeza, Stray Beast, The Allergies, The Good Old Fashioned Lover Boys, The Menendez Brothers, The Mongolian Disco Show, The Tribe, Visionobi and WUH OH. Boardmasters will take place at Fistral Beach / Watergate Bay, Newquay, Cornwall from 5th-9th August, headlined by Kings of Leon, Skepta and The 1975.

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the latest names for Live At Leeds. The new announce also features The Coral, The Night Café, Gengahr, Halloweens, King Charles, Lewis Watson, Twisted Wheel, Red Rum Club, The Reytons, Gender Roles, VC Pines, Casey Lowry, Ruthie, and loads more. They join a bill that already includes the likes of DMA’s, Pale Waves, Easy Life, Ezra Furman, Shame, Mystery Jets, Ghostpoet, Fickle Friends, and Alfie Templeman. Catch them all performing across various venues in Leeds on 2nd May. Lovely stuff.

A new two-day festival is launching in London this summer. Presented by Communion Music, Tracks will take place in Flat Iron Square from 6th-7th June, with acts confirmed so far including Fat White Family, Flyte, Matt Maltese, Caro, IMOGEN, Palace, Shura, Another Sky, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, Phoebe Green, Chartreuse, Wunderhorse, GHUM, Louis Dunford, and Holly Humberstone. There will also be comedy from Rachel Parris, Ahir Shah, Bec Hill, Crybabies: Danger Brigade, and Pierre Novellie.

FESTIVAL PREVIEW

FESTIVALS

KENDAL CALLING

It’s time to start getting excited, Dear Reader. Assuming the whole thing isn’t cancelled due to a shortage of loo roll, festival season is fast approaching. Next up on the profile list? It’s Lake District favourite, Kendal Calling.

FESTIVAL FACT FILE S

Kendal Calling kendalcalling.com

Location: Lowther Deer Park, Lake District, UK Date: 30th July - 2nd August 2020 Tickets: £145 + bf

Q&A

Line-up: Foals, Stereophonics, Supergrass, Primal Scream, Blossoms, Craig David Presents Ts5, The Kooks, Dizzee Rascal, Johnny Marr, You Me At Six, DMA’s, Sundara Karma, Pale Waves, The Magic Gang, Scouting For Girls, 808 State, The Zutons, Easy Life, Sister Sledge, Elvana, Shaggy, Jade Bird, The Murder Capital, The K’s, Heather Small, Reef, Marika Hackman, Pulled Apart By Horses, The Lathums, The Academic, The Lancashire Hotpots, Craig Charles, Honeyblood, The Reytons, Tom Mcguire & The Brassholes, Lauran Hibberd, Emily Burns, James Holt, Liines, Phoebe Green, Lottery Winners, Ellysse Mason, Dirty Laces, Aaron Smith, The Illicits, The Hara, The Goa Express, Revivalry

SUNDARA KARMA Occasionally, when we send bands questions, their replies are full of emoji. Gotta brighten up those boring emails somehow, eh? [shrug emoji] [palm tree emoji] [hat emoji] Oscar! Hello, it’s been ages. How’s it going? It’s going well thanks. [tulip emoji] What are you guys up to at the mo? You supported Bombay Bicycle Club recently, right? How did that go?

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Pretttyyy good, [heart emoji] Bombay. I’ve been writing a lot, and the music has been coming super easy but my god the lyrics are taking foreverrrrrr. I’ve literally been sitting with some songs for a year and still can’t find a single suitable word. How have you found the year since you released ‘Ulfilas’ Alphabet’? Has it all gone as you’d hoped? Would you like the truthful answer or the interview answer? I’ll give you the interview answer; it’s been AMAZING, more than I could’ve imagined actually. And now you’re playing a bunch of festivals, are you going to crack out any new

“I WISH FESTIVALS WOULD TAKE MORE RISKS WITH THEIR LINEUPS INSTEAD OF GIVING THEIR SLOTS AWAY TO BORING HAS-BEENS“

material do you think? Yes, new music coming before the summer and then some very special announcements in the autumn. The music we’re about drop is some of our best stuff yet we’re stoked! [mushroom emoji, crescent moon emoji, butterfly emoji] What’s your favourite thing about festival season? Do you

enjoy all the travelling? Has it been a steep learning curve over the past few years? The grass always tends to be greener. When we were in a heavy touring cycle, I was a bit reluctant to stray from my daily routines, but since we’ve been staying low, I can’t wait to be playing again. Can’t really remember if it’s a steep

learning curve, maybe it’s more gradual, I’m not sure... Is there anyone you’re keen to see at Kendal Calling this year? Primal Scream and Dizzee Rascal!!! [crossed swords emoji] Are there any acts you’d really like to see step up to festival headline spots in 2021? I think we’d put on a really good show, but if not us then I’d like to see Tyler the Creator, Grimes, Perfume Genius, Weyes Blood... So many new and contemporary artists deserve it. I wish festivals would take more risks with their line-ups instead of giving their slots away to boring hasbeens. P

FESTIVALS Q&A

YOU ME AT SIX

Haven’t You Me At Six only just done an album? Time sure does fly. The fivesome are currently hard at work on a record we can only assume will be called ‘VII’, to be released at 7pm on 7th July. But don’t take our word for it (and not just because we made all that up) - here’s frontman Josh.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Picking out who to see at festivals where you actually want to see everyone is so hard. So, so hard. Thankfully, ‘the bands’ are more than happy to help. Some of our faves have pinpointed a handful of acts you really must see at this year’s Kendal Calling. Take it away, you lot. “Easy Life. Their music genuinely just makes me feel GOOD. And all we can ask for, in our current state, is music that makes us feel good, right? You can’t go to an Easy Life show and come away feeling anything less than euphoric.“ Emily Burns

“The Murder Capital. A meaningful performance which is incredibly organic and theatrical; twisting the norm of postpunk. Wonderful music from wonderful people.” FEET

“DMA’s. We really like their first two albums, and with their latest single it feels like they’ve added a new dimension to their sound. Also, The Academic. Played with them a couple years ago and they’re great live! Looking forward to seeing them.” Retro Video Club

“Supergrass. A bloody big influence of ours. Probably one of the greatest bands of all time. Gonna try and blag side stage for this with our main stage passes... Also, Shaggy. Can’t not love Shaggy, can you?” Lottery Winners

Are environmental issues something you feel strongly about? Are you working on any other green initiatives? I think anyone and everyone should feel strongly about the environment. On a personal level, I’m doing what I can to reduce my carbon footprint. On a basic level, I’m vegan and have been for the past five years. So I feel we all can do more. At this present moment, we as a band are exploring ways in making our merch and physical musical releases more sustainable and environmentally friendly. It feels like a lot of bands are trying to decrease their environmental impact at the moment, are there any acts you think are doing a particularly good job? As I said, anyone and everyone, regardless if involved in music or not, can do more by simply not doing anything at all. I’ve been impressed by The 1975’s endeavours. Have you written many new tracks since your last album? Are you planning to debut any new material at festivals this summer? We will have some music out this summer, that’s something I believe will be ready. However, the album isn’t ready yet. When it is, we’ll launch it. We want to get it right! You guys must be pretty good at travelling for festivals and stuff now, do you feel like you’re pros? What tips have you picked up along the way? Oh I mean you never know what you’re gonna come across on the circuit. But festivals can be problematic. Using the bathroom is always an issue! I always pack for any weather because you never know if it’s rain or sunshine! Do you ever go to festivals you’re not playing? Are you fans? Always fans of music. I haven’t been to one in a while purely to check out the line-up, but I usually end up riding with friends for a weekend or going to shows in London like APE or Community Festival as they are local to me. Saw Bring Me The Horizon last summer do great things at APE and always enjoy being around that. Is there anyone you’re especially looking forward to seeing at Kendal Calling this year? Foals will be great, and I’m interested in checking out The Kooks too as I saw them recently and thought they were good. What else have you lot got coming up? A bunch of festivals but mainly finishing off this new album!!! P

Dope Lemon, Pip Blom, and Matt Maltese have signed up for Dot to Dot. Also joining the bill, are Birthh, Liines, Navvy, Allman Brown, Sad Boys Club, Press Club, Bessie Turner, and more. The festival takes place in Manchester (Friday 22nd May), Bristol (Saturday 22nd May), and Nottingham (Sunday 24th May), and will this year be celebrating its 15th anniversary. The new names join headliners Easy Life (wahay!), Drug Store Romeos, Steam Down, Skinny Living, Alexandra Savior, Chartreuse, Gracey, Taylor Janzen, Pist Idiots, Aaron Smith, and Spacey Jane. Organiser and Director of Live at DHP Family, Dan Ealam says: “We can’t wait to celebrate the festival’s 15th birthday. There are plenty more acts to be announced as we build up to our birthday and some surprises, too.”

The final headliners for Mad Cool have been revealed. Royal Blood and Mumford & Sons join a bill that also includes Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, The Killers, Alt-J, Twenty One Pilots, Wolf Alice and more. Elsewhere on the bill you’ll find Sam Fender, Glass Animals, Sports Team, Sea Girls, Charli XCX, Foals, Phoebe Bridgers, Beabadoobee, Clairo, Haim and a whole bunch of others. Mad Cool takes place in Madrid from 8th-11th July.

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‘THE BANDS’ THINK YOU SHOULD GO SEE...

Hey Josh, what’ve you guys been up to lately? You’ve just released a single in aid of Australian bushfire victims, right? That must’ve been rewarding. Been busy in the studio. Yes, we did! Well, our main incentive was to do what we could for the voiceless, which is why we chose Wires as the charity. We have an opportunity with our music to do some good, so it really was a no brainer for us.

Anna Meredith and Blanck Mass are among the new names for End of the Road. Also new to the bill are Songhoy Blues, Makaya McCraven, Archie Bronson Outfit, Alice Boman, Sorry, Gwenno, Vagabon, William Doyle, PVA, John, Drug Store Romeos, Disq, and loads more. The latest batch of additions joins the likes of Pixies, King Krule, Angel Olsen, Big Thief and Bright Eyes, along with Little Simz, Richard Hawley, and Squid. End of the Road will take place at Larmer Tree Gardens from 3rd-6th September.

FESTIVALS

The first wave of acts for this year’s Neverworld is out. Heading up the bill are Travis and Groove Armada, followed by The Amazons, Maximo Park, The Magic Numbers, and Badly Drawn Boy. There will also be sets from Dork faves, Arlo Parks, L Devine, The Mysterines, Alfie Templeman, and Coach Party. Neverworld will take place from 30th July-1st August in Hever, Kent.

SLAM DUNK (DA PUNK) 64

That title nearly works, right? Give us a break, we could’ve tried to rhyme in ‘hunk’. Anyway, the news is there are lots more bands for punk fest Slam Dunk. Don’t look at us like that, Vukovi.

LAM DUNK HAS REVEALED this year’s stage splits, plus several new names. The latest batch of bands, are Counterparts, Blood Youth, Stand Atlantic, Wargasm, Static Dress, Vukovi (pictured), Yours Truly, With Confidence, Roam, Sleep On It, I Am The Avalanche, The Bottom Line, 30H!3, and DJ Jacky P. “It’s been a while Slam Dunk...,” Vukovi comment. “The Slam Dunk crowd is always bursting with energy. We are so ready for our sets” Stand Atlantic’s Bonnie Fraser adds: “We are so damn excited to be playing our favourite festival in the world. We can’t wait to bring some new songs baby - we’re gonna give ya everything we’ve got UK!”

OH MY GOD, IS IT JANUARY ALREADY?

Rockaway Beach are getting in early with their first names for 2021. The early-doors festival - which was this year topped by Fontaines DC, and saw such exploits as Team Dork

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And, Counterparts frontman Brendan Murphy chips in: “Slam Dunk is one of the best festivals we’ve ever been a part of, and we’re so stoked to do it again. If we got asked to fly across the world for 2 shows for any other festival, I’d be pissing myself laughing but for Slam Dunk, we’re there. Not only does the fest rock but we get to see some of our closest friends and some of our favourite bands as well. Literally cannot wait.” Other acts playing Slam Dunk this year include Sum 41, Don Broco, Bury Tomorrow, The Faim, Dance Gavin Dance, Young Guns, We Are The In Crowd and more. The event takes place on 23rd May in Leeds’ Temple Newsham Park, and 24th May at Hatfield Park. P

bowling with Team LIFE - will host sets from Fat White Family, Bis, The Futureheads, Gris-de-Lin, Imperial Wax, Italia 90, Lonely Tourist, Pom Poko, PVA, Sink Ya Teeth, and loads more still to come. The event will run from 8th-10th January at Butlin’s, Bognor Regis, with three days of music, film screenings, 2p machines, and towels made to look like crabs. True story.

Dua Lipa and The Strokes are among the first acts for this year’s Sziget. Calvin Harris will also play, along with Kings Of Leon, Major Lazer, Anna Calvi, A$Ap Rocky, Denzel Curry, Diplo, Fka Twigs, Foals, Jon Hopkins, Kaytranada, Khalid, Lewis Capaldi, Loyle Carner, Mabel, Mark Ronson, Sigrid, Stormzy and loads more. Sziget will take place from 5th11th August in Budapest, Hungary.

2000TREES HAS SIGNED UP SOME MORE NAMES Going 25 better than Matty Healy and co., 2000trees - held from 9th-11th July on Upcote Farm - has announced Nova Twins, Hotel Lux, and loads more. Also new to the summer event are Beach Slang, Spanish Love Songs, Demob Happy, The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, Hundredth, Airways, Together Pangea, The Virginmarys, Haggard Cat, and Fangclub. Plus, 68, Ditz, Stake, Static Dress, Erica Freas, Delair the Liar, S.T. Manville, Chloe Moriondo, Bent Knee, Giver, Harry Marshall, InTechnicolour, Grief Ritual, Superlove, Sapphire Blues, Lande Hekt, Katie Malco, and more. The latest batch of names join the likes of Creeper, Knocked Loose, The Amazons, The Get Up Kids, Boston Manor, Jimmy Eat World, Young Guns, Dinosaur Pile Up, Dream State, Counterfeit, Roam, Hot Milk, Vukovi, Nervus, Black Futures, Lauran Hibberd, Gloo, Cassels, The Winter Passing and Dream Nails.

Loads more names have joined the bill for Isle of Wight Festival. Heading up the latest additions are Black Eyed Peas, along with You Me At Six, All Saints, Natasha Bedingfield, Seasick Steve, James Vincent McMorrow, Joy Crookes, Maxïmo Park, Razorlight, and Ella Henderson. Isle of Wight Festival will take place from 11th-14th June.

Gengahr, Willie J Healey and Do Nothing will all perform at this year’s Ventnor Fringe. The Isle of Wight event, founded by local teenagers just over a decade ago, will run from 28th July - 2nd August, with a bill packed full of gigs, comedy and performances in unusual spaces - such as laundrette and an old Parisian bus.

THE (VERY) GREAT ESCAPE Over 100 new artists have been announced

for this year’s The Great Escape. The Brighton festival - which takes place from 13th-16th May - has revealed the likes of Fontaines D.C., Best Coast, Nasty Cherry, The Magic Gang, Alfie Templeman and Ashnikko. Other new names include Gang of Youths, Disq, Talk Show, Tim Burgess, Egyptian Blue, Dream Nails and loads more. PLUS! A bonus Hayley Williams, with her solo project Petal For Armor. Who’d have thought?

BEFORE YOU GO (TO READING & LEEDS) Lewis Capaldi leads a new list of acts playing

this year’s Reading & Leeds. Taking place from 28th-30th August, he joins headliners Stormzy, Liam Gallagher and Rage Against Machine on the bill, plus - deep breath - Run The Jewels, Two Door Cinema Club, All Time Low, Bloxx, Sam Fender, Rex Orange County, AJ Tracey, Declan McKenna, Wallows, Fontaines D.C., Sea Girls, Easy Life, Inhaler, Girl In Red, Sports Team, Creeper, and loads more. Other new acts appearing include the buzzy 100gecs, L Devine, Ms Banks, MoStack and Sofi Tukker.

CELESTE, TOVE LO AND MORE FOR LATITUDE Latitude has confirmed loads more acts,

including Celeste, Tove Lo, Rina Sawayama, and King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard. The new names also feature Snow Patrol (to perform Reworked Live), Mahalia, City And Colour, Banks, Purity Ring, Kate Tempest, Black Pumas, La Roux, Cate Le Bon, Ghetts, Stella Donnelly, Hinds, Confidence Man, Anna Meredith, The Beths, La Priest, Bad Sounds, Porridge Radio, Sorry, Men I Trust, Annabel Allum, and Marthagunn. Phew. Latitude takes place from 16th-19th June at Henham Park in Suffolk.

TRNSMT SIGNS UP BEA, DECLAN AND SPORTS TEAM TRNSMT has announced a new batch of names, including Beabadoobee, Sea Girls, Sports Team and Declan McKenna. Also new to the bill are AJ Tracey, Loyle Carner, Dermot Kennedy, Amy MacDonald, Jimmy Eat World, Joy Crookes, Georgia, Another Sky, The Ninth Wave, Joesef, Ash, The Murder Capital, Pip Blom, and The Mysterines. They join the likes of Lewis Capaldi, Liam Gallagher, Courteeners, Foals, Ian Brown, Rita Ora, Sam Fender, Blossoms, Little Simz, Aitch and more already confirmed. TRNSMT will run from 10th-12th July.

Bilbao BBK Live has booked in 54 new acts. New to the bill, are Fontaines D.C. - who’ve been teasing a new album ‘of late’ - Bicep, Blood Orange, Meute, Moses Sumney, Orville Peck, The Black Madonna, Carl Craig, Eris Drew, Palms Trax, Josey Rebelle, Call Super, Lena Willikens and more. They join the-already announced Kendrick Lamar, The Killers, Placebo, Pet Shop Boys, FKA twigs, and Bad Bunny to perform in Bilbao, Spain this from 9th-11th July.

Wilderness has signed up Loyle Carner, Foals, Supergrass and more. Also among the Oxfordshire festival’s first acts for 2020, are Kelis, BICEP live, Elder Island, David Rodigan & The Outlook Orchestra, Jayda G, Letters Live, Chefs Richard Corrigan, Skye Gyngell, Fergus Henderson, and Trevor Gulliver. In addition to the music acts, the event has also confirmed arts collaborations with Letters Live, Royal Albert Hall, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra, Intelligence Squared, Sunday Papers Live, Too Many Ts, and more. Wilderness will take place from 30th July–2nd August at Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire.

Leicester all-dayer Wide Eyed has signed up The Orielles, Squid and more. The new event - from the guys behind Handmade Festival - will take place on 16th May at the O2 Academy Leicester. Promoter Nik Sharpe says: “WIDE EYED is a new one-day festival to showcase some of the best new emerging bands we can’t stop listening to, so it’s a great chance to see them all at one event.” Also on the bill, are BEAK>, Happyness, Do Nothing, JOHN, Talk Show, Julie Bardo, Treeboy & Arc, Lazarus Kane and Girls in Sythesis.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ASKING THE USUAL STUFF IS SO BORING

THE BIG MOON

What’s in your fridge right now? We’ve just got back from tour, it’s a combo of non-perishables and stuff I’ve taken that was leftover from the rider. Currently, that’s four cans of Stella, a block of cheese, sauerkraut, mustard and some oat milk. Dinner is gonna be delicious. Can you dance? Please see our video for ‘Take a Piece’ (yes). How punk are you out of ten? 6.8.

What did you last dream about? It was actually quite scary and stressful, so I won’t go into it, but I think that’s just because I had hummus and tomatoes on toast just before I went to sleep.

What strength Nandos sauce Who’s your favourite pop star? do you order? Ariana Grande. I’m a vegetarian, but it used to be lemon and herb. Soz, What’s the best prank you’ve laaaame. But I do like spicier ever pulled on a bandmate? I don’t know if I ever have. I think food now. I always want people to be nice Do you often get recognised to each other. Maybe I need to when you’re shopping in lower my punk rating. Tesco? What’s your favourite midnight snack? Toast with hummus and tomatoes. Or toast with cheese and sauerkraut. Both give you freaky dreams, though. Have you ever had an imaginary friend? No, I think even as a child, I was

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No, but one time I was in a Tesco with Amber Bain, and we were talking about some people she was gonna do some work with and the guy behind us in the queue interrupted us to be like, “Sorry, are you like famous or something? Should I know who you are?” I responded sarcastically that she

Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler

Events Liam James Ward

Scribblers Alexander Bradley, Blaise Radley, Charlotte Croft, Dillon Eastoe, Jake Hawkes, Jamie MacMillan, Jasleen Dhindsa, Jenessa Williams, Laura Freyaldenhoven, Liam Konemann, Paris Fawcett, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin, Tyler Damara Kelly

too painfully self-aware to do something like that. It would have been a performance rather than actually believing in an imaginary friend. I’d write a lot of stories though when I was little which were basically re-workings of whatever I’d just read but with me as the main character. I would also like to imagine that one day I’d be a rock star and LOOK HOW THAT WORKED OUT! Have you ever sold your own CD or merch on eBay? Hahaaaa, no. But ask me again in ten years?

Editor Stephen Ackroyd

Contributing Editors Jamie Muir, Martyn Young

This month it’s CELIA ARCHER from...

Do you snore? I do! Not a lot. But defs sometimes. I think I might be the only band member that does actually. But other band members talk and walk in their sleep, so I’m not the MOST disruptive roommate.

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was Beyoncé, hoping he would realise he was being annoying and leave us alone, except he then went, “Oh my god, really?” For a full minute, he believed it, before he managed to make the links in his brain about where he might have heard the name Beyoncé before and which human being that name was attached to. I’ve never been more confused by a human. I’d like to stress that he was a grown man. And that was his response. To me suggesting that Amber Bain was Beyoncé. People are WEIRD. What was the last thing you broke? My boyfriend’s iPhone charger. After having broken/lost about ten of my own. But I am incredibly clumsy, so very soon it’ll be something else. What’s your biggest fear? That I would become deathly allergic to pasta. Which member of The Big Moon is the funniest? Me.

How many languages can you speak? One. What is your most treasured possession? The perfect pair of jeans I found in a yard sale in Atlanta when we were making the album. They’re so hard to find. If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose? THE OA SEASON THREEE PLEEEASSE NETFLIX I BEG YOU. What’s the most impressive thing you can cook? I once made profiteroles with choux pastry and creme patisserie that I was pretty proud of. Do you believe in aliens? Absolutely. Why are you like this? I’m a Gemini, babe. P The Big Moon’s album ‘Walking Like We Do’ is out now. They play Truck on 1st August, and tour the UK in October.

Snappers Alex Waespi, Charlie Cummings, Christopher Good, Emily Dubin, Frances Beach, Jamie MacMillan, Jasmine Safaeian, Luke Orlando, Maisie Cousins, Mikey Joyce, Ryan Johnston, Sam Hiscox, Sarah Louise Bennett, Zac Mahrouche Doodlers Russell Taysom PUBLISHED FROM

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