Dork, March 2020 by Dork

This ship is unsinkable.

Issue 41 March 2020 readdork.com

All round to...

Sports

Team

‘s

20’s most chaotic Moving in with 20

new band.

RAE JEPSE N! MORE! GANG! THE ORIELL ES! CAVET OWN! CARLY CIRCA WAVES ! CONAN GRAY! THE MAGIC

CAGE THE ELEPHANT FEBRUARY UK TOUR SAINT PHNX FEBRUARY UK TOUR MARCH TORS 13 SCALA, LONDON MARCH GRACE CARTER UK TOUR MARCH PALACE UK TOUR SCARYPOOLPARTY MARCH UK TOUR / APRIL DERMOT KENNEDY MARCH UK TOUR JOESEF APRIL/MAY UK TOUR MAY JC STEWART 20 SCALA, LONDON MAY HOCKEY DAD UK TOUR MAY KAWALA UK TOUR L DEVINE MAY UK TOUR

INDEX

** BAND INDEX ** BAND INDEX **

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March 2020 | readdork.com | Down With Boring

Ø4 Intro 22 Hype 28 Features

1Ø

ED’S LETTER

SPORTS TEAM

Take cover, Dear Reader! Sports Team have a debut album to deliver, and they’re not doing it quietly.

Having broken the Gen-Z Internet, it’s time for Conan Gray to go IRL famous. Let us tell you a story…

4Ø

CIRCA WAVES

One album, two emotionfuelled parts, a plan to do big things. Circa Waves are back with a full-length with a difference.

How do you deal with a band like Sports Team? No, seriously - how? Regular readers of this parish will be all too familiar with our favourite bunch of indie troublemakers, but it was enough to have Team Dork choking on our postXmas brussels sprouts when we found ourselves caught in frontman Alex Rice’s crossfire in a Guardian interview (Alex, if we wanted ‘social shares’, we wouldn’t pick Shame to hype - just a tip, lad). Like, seriously, we thought we were mates? Still. We don’t hold grudges. We’ve still let them have the cover of this very issue, as they reveal their debut album is incoming imminently. You can’t clip a band’s wings and expect them to fly high. As we pop round their new gaff the day after they’ve got the keys, expect fireworks. Elsewhere this month, we’re getting sad happy with Circa Waves, discoing down with The Orielles, introducing the quite delightful Cavetown, and living in the fast (bowling) lane with LIFE. Enjoy!

S tephen

FICKLE FRIENDS

A band member down and a new album ‘on the way’, Natti gives us the rundown on what’s to come.

THE MAGIC GANG

Back in action with a swing-o-riffic new banger, obviously The Magic Gang are talking... flags?

DAY6

Doing things their own way, DAY6 prove that there's more than one way to cut the K-pop cake.

CAVETOWN

Robin Skinner is a big deal, but you might only about to find out.

THE ORIELLES The Orielles have never been a band to play by the rules, so obviously they’re up for touring in outer space. Why wouldn’t they?

6Ø

‘EDITOR’ @STEPHENACKROYD

LIFE

Taking a band bowling, at a Butlin’s? Yeah. That sounds like a Dork feature, doesn’t it?

P.S. please like and RT our tweets. #socialshares.

Liam Gallagher

Alfie Templeman

LIFE

Alice Glass

Lily Moore

Allie X

Little Dragon

Anna Calvi

Living Things

Another Sky

17 59, 60

Loose Fit

21 21

Au/Ra

Love Fame Tragedy

Bad Sounds

Low Hummer

Be Your Own Pet

Marika Hackman

Beach Bunny

Marina

Marsicans

20 27

Best Ex

Blossoms

21, 54

Matilda Mann

Bloxx

21, 61

Milk Teeth

Bombay Bicycle Club

21, 54

Mitski

Bon Iver

Muna

Boniface

21, 25, 48

Bright Eyes Bring Me The Horizon Brooke Bentham

My Chemical Romance

Carly Rae Jepsen

11 22

Celeste

Cherry Glazerr

Christine and the Queens

21 40

Circa Waves

Conan Gray

Courtney Love

Creeper

21, 54

DAY6

Declan McKenna

Diet Cig

Ditz

DMA's

Dream Wife

Drug Store Romeos

Dry Cleaning

Dua Lipa

Empress Of

Enter Shikari

3, 13

Eve Owen

Ezra Furman

Feet

Fickle Friends

FKA Twigs

Foals

Fontaines D.C.

Friedberg

Georgia

Ghostpoet

Girl In Red Green Day

14 16, 50

Grimes

Guest Singer

Haim

HANYA Hayley Williams Hazel English Hinds Inhaler Jack Garratt

Mush

BTS

Circa Waves

Mura Masa

24, 51

Cavetown

25 4, 51 27 6 19, 20, 53 9

50 8, 62

Mystery Jets

17, 57

NAAZ

Noisy

Nova Twins

50, 59

Orchards

Oscar Lang

Our Girl

Pale Waves

Peggy Sue

Penelope Isles

Phoebe Green

Pongo

Poppy

Porches

Pottery

PVA

Rina Sawayama

20, 51

Royal Blood

Sea Girls

21, 49

Self Esteem

Sfven

Sheafs

Sinead O'Brien

SKYND

SOAK

Soccer Mommy Sorry

14, 21, 49 20, 53, 54

Sports Team

3, 20, 28, 51

Stormzy

Summer Camp

Sunflower Bean

Supergrass

Surfbort

Tame Impala The 1975

21, 48 6, 51, 58

The Aubreys The Big Moon The Jesus & Mary Chain

14 9, 21 59

The Kills

The Kooks

The Long Blondes

The Magic Gang

The Mysterines

ON THE DORK STEREO THIS MONTH...

Jehnny Beth

The Naked and Famous

Jimothy Lacoste

The Orielles

Jockstrap

The Snuts

SPORTS TEAM

MILK TEETH

Joesef

The Streets

Jonathan Wilson

The Strokes

Ever since we took them to Brighton pier and made them break teeth on sticks of rock, we've had a soft spot for Milk Teeth. Frequent line-up changes and label shifts later, they're finally returning with their second album. It's really, really good.

Just Mustard

Thyla

Kaiser Chiefs

Tove Lo

Kali Uchis

Two Tribes

Kawala

Tyler The Creator

Kendrick Lamar

Vagabon

Kim Gordon

Vistas

L Devine

Warpaint

Waxahatchee

Wide Awake

Deep Down Happy Everything you ever thought you knew, Dear Reader, is... well... actually pretty damn accurate. The most concentrated, 100% proof version of 'Le Team Sportif' is incoming. Nothing will ever be the same again.

ENTER SHIKARI

Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible Well, well, well. Enter Shikari aren't mucking about with their new album, are they? Weird, sort of wonderful and definitely packed with stuff to say, it's certainly fascinating.

Milk Teeth

Lapsley Lauv

21, 51

Lawrence Rothman

Yakima

Lewis Capaldi

Your Smith

READDORK.COM

CONAN GRAY

48 Incoming 52 Festivals

1990s

INTRO

KEVIN!

THE BEATING HEART OF POP

The big one

You may have noticed, Dear Reader, that at various points during ‘Simmer’, our Hayley yelps (yes, yelps!) the name ‘Kevin!’. She claims it’s actually ‘give in’. But it isn’t. It’s Kevin. From Home Alone.

SIMMER DOWN Hayley Williams is going it solo, and she’s brought the bops with her. Photo: Lindsey Byrnes

EJOICE, DEAREST READER. those out on readdork.com now. Hayley ‘from Paramore’ Williams Speaking to BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac, Hayley is ‘dropping’ explained the album title is “part of a debut solo a lyric in ‘Simmer’. INCOMING! album this “A while ago, I went to this spring, and it’s cranial-sacral masseuse. Maybe a very, very, very exciting. lot of people might consider that a Arriving under the title ‘Petals kind of woo woo witch doctor but For Armor’, it’s out on 8th May. I’ll take any help I can get. I was “Some of my proudest moments laying on her table and I started as a lyricist happened while having these weirdly creepy visions HAYLEY writing ‘Petals For Armor’,” our of flowers growing out of me – and WILLIAMS Hazza explains. “I was able not in a beautiful way, it was very Petals For Armor I to get my hands a little dirtier painful and very grotesque but I than usual when it came to eeeee kind of realised in that moment instrumentation. I’m in a band There's nothing more there was a lot that was trying so with my favourite musicians so I exciting than not knowing hard to grow out of me and it was never really feel the need to step quite what to expect. When going to hurt to do it. the same-old-same-old into a role as a player when it “I think, for me, it’s somewhat is thrown from the table, comes to Paramore records. This of a mantra to try and stay soft in anything is possible. While project, however, benefited from a really, really hard world and feel Paramore ripped up and a little bit of musical naïveté and pain and let all of it come to you rewrote their rulebook on rawness and so I experimented and try and put out something that 2017's 'After Laughter', quite a bit more. I made this can redeem it all, even if it’s ugly at Hayley Williams' first steps with some of the closest people into the limelight on her first. The lyric is “wrap yourself in to me. Their respective talents own are something else petals for armor” cos I kept feeling entirely. really shine bright throughout like the way for me to protect The first five tracks from the record.” myself best is to be vulnerable and her 'Petals For Armor' The first tasters of the album be OK with having a lot of pain at album, compiled into an are already out, in the form of the certain times and also feeling a lot early-drop EP, set the stall 5-track ‘Petals For Armor I’ EP. of joy at certain times. for an artist who sits in It’s led by first single ‘Simmer’, “As long as I’m staying soft to a whole different sonic which is Really Very Good those things and I’m open to letting universe to the one from Indeed. Written alongside her those things in and out of me then I which she originated. Paramore bandmates Taylor York Lead single 'Simmer' is a actually can survive the world a lot textured, beating heart and touring bass-player Joey easier than if I stay hard and with of rage delivered through Howard, the former also took on my fists up all the time.” gritted teeth - controlled production duties. Truly a family Don’t worry though - this doesn’t but straining at the leash. affair. sound like the end for the day job. 'Leave It Alone' could be Elsewhere, there’s the “I do believe when it’s time for us an 'In Rainbows' Radiohead Portis-slash-Radiohead-y to make the next Paramore record cut, while 'Cinnamon' is ‘Leave It Alone’, stone cold bop there will be just as transparent both delightfully weird ‘Cinnamon’ and the really quite lyrics and hopefully really visceral and a stone cold bop. Of steamy ‘Sudden Desire’. You can course, Hayley isn't entirely feelings that come across,” Hayley on her own - the family of read our thoughts on it all in that muses. “I wouldn’t have had access collaborators she's built little box to the right. Spoiler; it’s to this stuff if we didn’t just pause around her hold her up impressive stuff. and get quiet for a minute.” P high - but the star power Hayley Williams’ new EP ‘Petals As well as the EP, there’s also is undeniable. As for the For Armor I’ is streaming now. a succession of swanky videos, rest of 'Petals For Armor'? Debut solo album ‘Petals For telling a weird, twisting, high Expect the unexpected. Armor’ is out on 8th May. concept story. You can check Stephen Ackroyd

MARCH 2020

DORK

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INTRO

TO THE MANOR BORN

Q+A

REBUILDING THE NAKED AND FAMOUS

'Rockers' Boston Manor have a brand new album coming out, 'FYI'. It's called 'Glue', and will be with us on 1st May. Before that, you can check out the first single 'Everything Is Ordinary' on readdork.com now.

T PEACHY KEEN

Sorry, Ditz have released a new single on what now?

THE 1975 HAVE ANNOUNCED A SUPER GREEN, SUPER HUGE LONDON SHOW

HE 1975 HAVE ANNOUNCED A huge outdoor London show for later this year. The band will put on their own one day event in Finsbury Park on 11th July, with a massive supporting cast including Charli XCX, Clairo, Pale Waves, Phoebe Bridgers, Beabadoobee, Cavetown and Deb Never. As well as a packed line-up, the show is set to be “the greenest Finsbury Park has ever seen”, according to a press release. A number of measures are being put in place to make it more environmentally sustainable, including: + For the first time ever in the UK, planned, traceable sustainably sourced HVO fuel from Europe will be used to power an entire event – bringing down the carbon footprint by 90% + It’ll be the first paperless show in Finsbury Park – all tickets will be digital + The 1975 sustainable merch range available at show – fans are encouraged to bring old The 1975 t shirts (or those of any other band) to be reprinted with new designs + Festival Republic will plant 1,975 trees throughout the surrounding boroughs of Haringey, Hackney and Islington in partnership with Trees for Cities + The 1975 have pledged to plant trees across the globe for every ticket sold through One Tree Planted initiative + Hybrid powered generators with solar arrays will be deployed, along with reducing generator sizes from extensive monitoring carried out in 2019 + Food vendors will operate a traffic light system highlighting the carbon footprint of each meal sold That's all nice, isn't it? Tickets are on sale 'now'. The 1975's new album 'Notes On A Conditional Form' is set for release on 24th April. P

MARCH 2020

DORK

BANGER!

They're not just announcing shows. The 1975 are also dropping new music too, including another cut from 'Notes On A Conditional Form'... THE 1975 Me & You Together Song

You wouldn’t blame The 1975 if they collapsed under the weight of their own hype. And yet the latest taster couldn’t be further from it. ‘Me & You Together Song’ is lovely. While ‘People’ was a wrecking ball, and ‘Fail State of Mind’ basked in the glow of street lights, here the focus is far more personal. “I’ve been in love with her for ages,” Matty Healy laments, winding a tale of not-quite-hidden feelings and an inability to get the words out. Less a song about true love, it’s more besotted with the idea - intense passions or mistyeyed memories of the one that got away. Domestic dreams and the everyday are romanticised into hazy future nostalgia, always just slightly out of reality’s grasp. Jangling guitars and 90s aesthetics reign supreme; the opening track on a thousand soppy teenage mixtapes yet to be made. When the temptation would be to go big, The 1975 have turned inwards. ‘Me & You Together Song’ aches with yearning, but never feels defeated Sometimes the most stressful situations bring out the best in all of us. Stephen Ackroyd

ODERN MUSIC requires bands to do some pretty out there things in order to cut through the noise, Like, you know, release cover versions of songs via mouldy old fruit. As "a shrewd nod to the transient nature of all things", new buzzsters Ditz' cover of Peaches 'Fuck The Pain Away' is only available via a time-sensitive download code printed on a decomposing peach, which is currently being livestreamed online from Alcopop! HQ, presumably because the Royal Mail don't deliver that sort of thing. “It’s such a classic," the band say. "Loud, proud, obnoxious and just plain funny. With 'Fuck The Pain Away', Peaches gave the masses some of punk’s sex positivity. You can’t tell me that pop music today would be the same without Peaches, even though it doesn’t have half of her wit. Basically we just did this cover so that Peaches would adult-adopt us."

GOOD TIME Hinds are back with a brand new album. Woo-andindeed-hoo!

INDS' NEW ALBUM 'THE Prettiest Curse' is coming this Spring. Due for release on 3rd April via Lucky Number, it'll be the group's third full-length following 2016 debut 'Leave Me Alone' and 2018's 'I Don't Run'. The news arrives alongside a video for 'Good Bad Times', of which Carlotta Cosials explains: "You know that part in the movies when two people on a relationship are living complete opposite realities? When one thinks everything is great and the other one is about to drown? 'Good Bad Times' is the struggle of communication, time difference, distance. Like the two sides of a coin. Two sides close together that can’t be separated, even though they seem to be completely different."

HE NAKED AND FAMOUS OF 2020 are rediscovering themselves. After a tumultuous period of personal ups and downs, line-up changes and fatigue, founding members A lisa Xayalith a nd T hom Powers have been intent on working through some of the baggage that comes from the ever-challenging trials of life, and ten-plus years in a band. ‘Recover’ - their new album, due this May - is a laser-pointed statement of intent. Largely autobiographical, it sees the pair embrace healing head-on, while taking their take in indie-pop to fresh new places. Hey guys, how are you? Alisa: So far, 2020 has felt exciting. We’ve both been working on music for The Naked and Famous for the past two years in tandem with various other projects; it’s exciting to see some of this work finally make its way out of the studio and into the world. How have you been since ‘Simple Forms’? Thom: Up and down - lots of soul searching. We needed to rebuild ourselves after that album. While we’ve been quiet publicly, we’ve been through a lot personally. As ‘Passive Me, Aggressive You’ turns 10, TNAF feels both like a new beginning, and a return to form. The world has almost certainly sped up, and we’re no longer young and naive, but grateful to still be here. What was your headspace like going into ‘Recover’? Thom: At first, we were at odds - on completely different pages. We finally hit our stride in the summer of 2018, when most of the new music and sonic-direction was established. The first song from this eureka-period was 'Recover'. It was an energising sonic palette and a mission statement for what this album was going to be about. How would you describe the record’s vibe? Alisa: [There's] a lot of optimism sewn throughout the songwriting, and it’s probably the most uplifting work we’ve done to date. I love how colourful these songs feel. P

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INTRO BTS HAVE DONE 'CONCEPT PHOTOS' FOR THEIR NEW ALBUM And the concept is 'a big hole in the floor'.

Mega-huge South Korean pop sensations BTS have just dropped their brand new album, 'MAP OF THE SOUL: 7' - a fact that cannot have escaped you, Dear Reader. Because they're a band who do nothing by anything less than oneand-a-halves, they've even done some 'concept photos' around the record. According to them, the theme is the swan's "desire for perfection". Or, alternatively, a great big hole in the floor. The meaning of art is what you find in it, right?

Behind the video

OLD ROMANTICS 8

My Chemical Romance being all extra in a career-spanning comeback video? Who would have guessed, eh? Here’s a bunch of the references you may have missed.

Unless you live under the proverbial rock - in which case, have a word with your estate agent, you shouldn’t be paying that much - you’ll have noticed the return of My Chemical Romance. The big old emo goths have returned, playing a comeback show at the end of last year. Now we’re into 2020, they’re announcing shows for the year ahead. But, when it came to revealing a new batch of US dates, they very much were not holding back. Instead, they dropped a 13 plus minute long video epic, featuring references spanning their ‘career’ to date. A band famed for their rich iconography and immersive universes, there’s a lot to draw on. Here’s just a few of the coolest spots.

↓ 00:10 See on that table there? That's Mikey's inhaler and glasses from the video to 'I'm Not Okay (I Promise). No really! This is the kind of thing you're gonna have to look out for, because there's LOADS of them.

↑ 01:36 That table full of photos has special significance. Featuring friends, family and pets who have passed away, there's Craig Aaronson, the A&R who signed the band to Warner Records, Frank's dogs Mama and Sweetpea, Gerard and his wife Lindsey's dog, Gerard and Mikey's grandma, Lauren Valencia, Ray's Dad and Frank's grandfather. ↓ 3:55 That ‘Starved To Death In the Land Of Plenty’ sign in the corner of the bar (in bottom left of the photo, 'FYI'), is the same one from the video to the band's chart topping generational anthem 'Welcome To The Black Parade'. Obv.

↑ 02:55 That keyring is for room 519. That translates as May 19th, the date of the band's last show before breaking up at Bamboozle Festival in 2012. The address for the Hotel Bella Muerte, meanwhile, is 61 Willet Street, NJ - the address of the band’s first practice space.

↑ 5:01 This couple at the front of the church resemble the cover art to 'Life On The Murder Scene'. The dance in this part of the video is also the same as the one in the video for 'Helena'.

Found more? Of course you have. There’s loads of them. You can find the full ‘a summoning...’ video on readdork.com now. My Chemical Romance hit the UK in June for a set at Cornwall's Eden Sessions, and three shows at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes (yes, Milton Keynes, don’t ask us - Ed). They’re already sold out, obviously. Feel the buzz.

MARCH 2020

DORK

ALL KILLER H FILLER SANDWIC What does your favourite pop star like to put in their sarnie? The big questions, answered. Journalism is important.

#1: BEST EX

"A ploughman s sandwich is my absolute favourite, with sharpest cheddar cheese you can buy, onions, pickle, tomato, and cucumber. No lettuce or anything else. Preferably on sourdough or some other crusty bread. Never ever ever ever white bread."

‘FYI’

Jack Garratt (remember him! - Ed) has returned with details of his second album, ‘Love, Death & Dancing’. Due to be released on 29th May, the 'news' follows lead single 'Time' - his first new music since 2016's 'Phase' LP. “I wrote this album as someone - and for anyone - who likes dancing but doesn’t necessarily want to go out on a Saturday," he explains. "It’s dance music for people who don’t want to go out. I think this is the first time I’ve felt proud of the songs I’ve made."

Track x Track

By which we mean their ace new single, obv. Words: Sam Taylor. Photo: Parri Thomas

NOTHER SKY ARE SET TO follow a bumper twelve months of touring, festivals and biting social commentary with another standout year. Leading the charge with new single 'Brave Face' - out now via Fiction Records - it's an assertive and thoughtful first step towards their debut album, due later this year. Vocalist Catrin Vincent tells us more. Hey Catrin, how's it going? Had a good first-few-weeks of the year? It's been intense, but good, thanks. Dropped lots of eggs. Drew the death card a few times, which means a big change is coming.

COMING"

is not. Tap on it, and it's hollow. Look under the shells: It's not there." I think there's an age every woman reconnects with their anger and we are met with a lot of resistance because of stupid ideas about what women and men should be. And it's a teaser from your debut, how exciting! How far along with the album are you? So close to finishing. More vocal takes dammit. They'll never end. We'll be updating the songs on Spotify after we've released it, I swear.

Tell us about your new song 'Brave Face', what's it about? The term 'brave face' was written for a friend, inspired by something an ex said to me about toughening up. I guess he felt I shouldn't ask for help because he'd been taught not to ask himself. When I started Have you figured out your ratio of older standing up for myself more, he told me material vs new for the tracklisting? I'd changed. It seemed like a big double I think it's exactly half and half! standard. So with this song, I Are there any new songs BANGER! wanted to question the that you're especially ANOTHER SKY meaning of a 'brave excited for? face'. Bravery isn't acting Brave Face The whole band are excited masculine; bravery is There's something about for a certain song about a multifaceted. I could Catrin Vincent's voice - an past life as a fish. It's super tell my friend was the ability to both sooth and relatable. opposite, scared that if soar that sets her about she wasn't a giving and from her peers. Coupled What else have you guys self-sacrificing person with the kinetic force of got coming up, lots of live 100% of the time, she the band around her, and dates? wouldn't be a kind Another Sky command We've got a UK tour in person anymore and she a quality that's equally April. Is it announced yet? might lose what made difficult to pin down. I don't even know. I don't her who she was. But in Anthemic but never actually know how much I'm my view, that was a way bloated, direct but never supposed to be telling you. for this guy to control obvious, those hairs-onher. end moments are never Is there anything else we I really love what Naomi too far away. 'Brave Face' should know? Alderman wrote in knows that well, drifting If this album doesn't do her book The Power, towards a chorus that stabs well, we're packing it in to "Gender is a shell game. deliberately but glides with follow our dreams of being What is a man? Whatever the grace of a champion receptionists and fireplace a woman isn't. What is ice skater. Stephen company representatives. a woman? What a man Ackroyd Finito. Goodbye. P

THYLA just dropped a really very awesome new EP, 'Everything at Once' - so we got them to explain what's behind it. See?

RIGHTON POST-PUNKS Thyla are starting 2020 as they mean to go on: with an EP of top-notch, self-assured tunes. Their second batch of material following on from last year's 'What’s On Your Mind?', 'Everything at Once' paves the way for what's bound to be a packed year. Here, band-leader Millie Duthie talks us through the release, track by track. "'Two Sense' is the coming together of a shared energy between the four of us that says, put the art first, stand up for own vision and right to self-determination, cut lose from dogmatic thinking, and make some short term sacrifices to stay true to who you are.

"'Lenox Hill' is a reminder to remember where you came from, so much can change in the pursuit of your dreams and it's easy to forget what drove you to follow them in the first place. Looking back on my life's journey has helped me learn so much about why I think and act the way I do and in the pursuit of character development and ambition that's been a real aid. "'December' was written when everything at home was falling apart. I had the fortune of growing up in a nuclear family but the wheels started falling off in recent years when my sister began struggling with problems of addiction and depression. You never think something like that will happen to you until it does and so there is no way of preparing for it. December lays all my feelings towards the situation bare; it's a desperate plea that I could never articulate in person, sometimes music is the only way I'm able to communicate. "'Everything' is one of our proudest musical moments as a band. We love the song and are most excited about it being out. It's our longest-standing live asset, but we never felt like we could do it justice in the studio until now! Special thanks to Josh (Hoagie) Harrison for bringing the record alive. We hope you love it as much as we do! Thyla's EP 'Everything At Once' is out now. READDORK.COM

The Big Moon have announced a headline tour for autumn. The foursome will take their wonderful second album 'Walking Like We Do' on the road from 21st October, for a run that includes a night at London's Forum. The new shows follow on from a packed spring-summer supporting the likes of Kaiser Chiefs, as well as festival sets at Tramlines, Truck and more.

ANOTHER SKY ARE PUTTING ON A 'BRAVE FACE' "BIG A CHANGE IS

Photo: Sapphire Needham

INTRO

FICKLE FRIENDS’ NEW BANGER IS PRETTY GREAT

ORK FAVES Fickle Friends know their way around a dancefloorready banger. Back with new music after a year of writing and reflection following a debut album that saw them secure a spot in the Top 10, the Brighton bunch have dropped new single, ‘Pretty Great’. “’Pretty Great’ came about after a long day of writing, starting ideas and not really loving anything we came up with,” Natti Shiner explains. “We called it quits around nine and opened some wine and listened to a couple Sheryl Crow songs. Jack just kinda started jamming on the guitar, and the words and melody literally fell out of my mouth. We wrote the song in like an hour and didn’t know if it was a joke or actually the best thing ever... in the morning we decided it was the latter.” Steeped in addictive synth-pop and packed full of charming, relatable lyrics worthy of their own teen coming-of-age flick, it’s an assured statement of intent for the upcoming year. Natti tells us more. HEY NATTI! HOW’S IT GOING? HAVING A GOOD 2020 SO FAR? Helloooo, my 2020 is off to a hectic start. I’m excited!

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A band member down and a new album ‘on the way’, Fickle Friends are firmly back! Back!! Back!!! Natti gives us the rundown on what’s to come. Words: Sam Taylor. Photo: Daniel A Harris

"THERE ARE A LOT OF SEXY MOMENTS ON THIS RECORD"

TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEW SONG, ‘PRETTY GREAT’ - WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Ah, sometimes when I’m feeling a bit heavy, I need to write a narrative song. Something I can dream up and imagine fully and isn’t really based on me but maybe something that happened to someone else, you know? So this one is about getting wasted at a party and waking up the next day with a faint glimmer of a memory. And that memory is of falling in love with the coolest person you can imagine. And you just hate yourself for getting so out of control because now you have no idea if it even happened, if they’re even real... or if you’ll ever see them again. DO YOU OFTEN WRITE SONGS IN ONLY AN HOUR, OR IS THIS ONE AN EXCEPTION TO THE NORM? Haha. Usually, we have spent an entire day writing with nothing to show for it. It’s normally after that when we open the bottle of whiskey,

and we take the pressure off that we write something fun and in under an hour. I don’t even have any voice memos from that night (I voice memo EVERYTHING), so we must have literally just rolled with the first thing we came up with. HOW’S THE ALBUM COMING ALONG? ARE YOU MAKING GOOD PROGRESS? Yeh. It’s kinda such a massive job that we are just tackling it small job at a time. It’s pretty chill since we are doing it ourselves at our studio in Brighton. I am literally so excited for you to hear it / worried everyone is gonna think we’ve lost our minds. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE ALBUM’S VIBE? Hm…. It’s sexy. There are a lot of sexy moments on this record. Like we’ve grown up and really began to feel ourselves, ha. Does that make sense? IT FEELS LIKE WITH THE LABEL SWITCH YOU GUYS ARE ABLE TO TAKE THE

REIGNS MORE WITH WHAT YOU’RE DOING NOW, ARE YOU ENJOYING HAVING MORE FREEDOM? It’s really lovely tbh. We are just free to do things our way again. It’s also kinda weird to get used to because we are like… what song shall we put out next etc… and we are the ones who decide. People chip in don’t get me wrong but the decision is very much in our hands. It’s nice to have that trust.

WHAT’S BAND LIFE LIKE AT THE MO, DAY TO DAY? It’s a whole lot of being up in the loft. We do that through the week. Finishing songs. Tracking vocals. Doing acoustic versions. Writing new songs. Then BANGER! the weekend is kinda a FICKLE FRIENDS free for all at the moment Pretty Great which is fun. I’ve actually Sometimes, 'the bands' just started my yoga write their own reviews. A lyric here, a title there that teacher training. I’m perfectly sums up what clearly allergic to days they're trying to achieve. off. 'Pretty Great' falls perfectly into that category. As album two comes around, Natti and co have lost none of their ability to deliver a winning bop, but this finds them back at the very top of their game. Drunken haze, chorus swears and earworm melody - what more could we ask for? 'Pretty Great' is... yeah... you got it. Stephen Ackroyd

ARE WE GOING TO SEE YOU AT MANY FESTIVALS THIS YEAR? I bloody hope so. ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? There are some proper bangers on the way. We are PSYCHED. P

LET'S BE FRIENDS Live Report Carly Rae Jepsen hits London, and she's brought the big pop bangers.

INTRO

LYRIC C O RNER "I

mean, you're sort of a dick sometim But someone es, out there is surely gonna love a dick. Uh, check, Queen Carly please" Rae 'Jeppo' Jepsen on he r ne track 'Let's Be w Friends'

Words: Ali Shutler. Photo: Frances Beach.

PENING WITH THE enchanted introduction of ‘No Drug Like Me’, Carly Rae Jepsen has a grin on her face that just won’t quit. And it’s easy to see why. Originally pencilled in for The Roundhouse but moved due to phenomenal demand, tonight we’re at London’s O2 Brixton Academy as her ‘Dedicated’ tour finally comes to town. Channelling the intimacy of her bedroom pop storytelling in this big ol’ space, Carly is the perfect ringleader. There’s a smirking dance routine during ‘E.MO.TION’s sparkling heartbeat while the invitation to ‘Run Away With Me’ is one that’s impossible to turn down. The opening riff demands an arena chant-along before the song kicks in proper. It already feels like the last song of the night, unifying and celebratory, as people lose themselves, and their inhibitions, in the glitz and heartfelt escape but Carly’s just getting started. ‘Dedicated’ has seen Carly fall in love with herself and tonight, she brings that message of selflove into the spotlight. Before the weird pop of ‘Julien’, she explains that, “when I met him, I thought he was the most beautiful man in the world. As of today, I have no feelings towards him. Don’t call me,” she winks as the disco ball makes light dance around the room. Elsewhere, the rattling empowerment of ‘Too Much’ sees Carly address all the times she’s been called “too emotional, too loud or too crazy. I’ve learnt to love those things about myself,” she promises. “There’s no such thing as too much, “ she encourages. Carly isn’t your usual pop star. ‘Call Me Maybe’, one of the biggest songs ever, gets played mid-set and, as always, ends with a shrug. She isn’t chasing anyone. ‘Now That I Found You’ is a love song written for her cats while ‘Fever’ is an ode to “heartbreak and theft”. Every manic moment of love and heartache is shared with a side of comfort and understanding. It’s a Party For One, and everyone is invited. P READDORK.COM

THINK THINK

INTRO

Ahoy there! The Magic Gang have returned! Their brand new single, ‘Think’ is a stone cold, sing-oriffic banger. We dropped them a line to find out more. Words: Sam Taylor.

OULD IT BE magic? Well, Dearest Reader, we’re delighted to tell you that, yes, it could - and indeed is! The Magic Gang are back! Back!! Back!!! And they’ve brought with them a top-of-the-bops banger that’s truly transformational. ‘Think’, see, is bags - nay, sacks - of fun. Rattling on at a pace, it’s packed with horns and swing-o-riffic attitude. As ‘Le Gang Magique’ prepare to deliver album two, it’s safe to say their form is officially more than fine. As with all Important Indie Pop Moments, we deemed it appropriate to check in with ‘the band’. This is what they had to say for themselves. Nepal’s national flag sounds interesting, huh? HEY GUS, HOW’S IT GOING? HOW’S THE NEW DECADE TREATING YOU? Hiya, it’s been busy so far! Nice to be back on the horse though. IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU GUYS HAVE A SUPER BUSY YEAR AHEAD, WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEW ALBUM? CAN YOU SHARE ANY DETAILS? The new record should be with you in the next few months, it’s a navigation of life as a 20 something at the turn of the decade. It took us nearly two years to get to releasing it, and we’re all really happy with how it turned out. WHAT’S THE CREATION TIMELINE BEEN LIKE, HAS IT BEEN A LONG

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TIME IN THE WORKS? We started writing it winter 2018 right up until last June. Think Kristian was still writing lyrics on the plane over to the studio. It’s always funny cramming nearly a years worth of writing into just under four weeks of recording. WAS PUTTING IT TOGETHER A VERY DIFFERENT PROCESS FROM DOING YOUR DEBUT? IT MUST’VE BEEN WEIRD STARTING FROM SCRATCH. Totally, you get years to write your debut and the second album you’ll get 12 months if you’re lucky. It was nice having those time restrictions though, we had the chance to

properly sit down and analyse what we had wanted to improve on our first record. DID YOU HAVE A MISSION STATEMENT GOING INTO IT? Just to write better lyrics mainly... We felt like melodically we’ve always been strong, but I think as we’ve matured, we started appreciating more lyrical based artists like Jonathon Richmond or Lou Reed and wanted to marry up those strong melodies with a new and improved lyrical ability. IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT THE NEW RECORD YOU THINK WILL

SURPRISE LONG-TIME FANS? Maybe some of the flavours we’ve drawn for. We’ve managed to include references to a wide range of influences on this record. HAVE YOU PUT MUCH THOUGHT INTO THE ARTWORK/AESTHETIC AROUND THE NEW RELEASE YET? Yeah for sure, more than last time around. We’ve been lucky enough to work with Matt De Jong on artwork this time around, he’s a real ideas man. WHAT’S YOUR NEW SINGLE ‘THINK’ ABOUT?

INTRO

HE'S A BAD SPY

Billie Eilish has 'done' the theme to the latest Bond flick, 'No Time To Die'. “To be able to score the theme song to a film that is part of such a legendary series is a huge honour,” she says. It's streaming online now.

‘FYI’ Enter Shikari have announced their new album, 'Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible'. Due for release on 17th April via their new label So Recordings, the record is preceded by lead single ‘{ The Dreamers Hotel }’, and a handful of release shows: Sheffield, Leadmill (10th April), Glasgow, St Lukes (19th), Liverpool, Invisible Wind Factory (20th), London, Subterania (22nd) and Bristol, SWX (23rd).

BANGER!

THE MAGIC GANG Think

It’s a reminder to oneself to check yourself. Don’t antagonise, keep yourself out of trouble. It’s a conflict with conflict. WILL YOU BE DEBUTING ANY MORE NEW MATERIAL ON THE BLOSSOMS TOUR? Maybe! We’ll definitely be playing ‘Think’, but if you’re lucky, we might drop another one in there. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? Nepal’s national flag is the only to boast more than four sides.. P The Magic Gang’s new single ‘Think’ is out now.

Second albums aren't easy business. There's expectation from the first, sure, but also a hard to shake demand to see something new. More of the same please, but also, in a completely different way, if you don't mind? If that's the brief, 'Think' suggests The Magic Gang have it nailed. With a harmonic swagger that could be no other band, the Brighton quartet arrive back on the scene with a dancing strut. Horns toot and hips sway with an abandon that suggests there's more than one trick left up their musical sleeves. Abracabanger? We'll get our coats. Stephen Ackroyd

BAD SOUNDS BANG AWAY Drums eh? We all love a good beat. With that 'in mind', we got Bad Sounds' Callum Merrett to put together a playlist of songs featuring great drums - from 60s legends The Who, to 60s legends the Kinks, all the way through to 60s legends The Beatles.

sampled a bunch of times (famously by the Beastie Boys on their 'License to Ill' album).

BLACK SABBATH

Children of the Grave Me and Ewan have been going through a bit of a Black Sabbath revival lately, so this one has had some heavy rotation. I used to like Sabbath as a kid, but I really have fallen in love with them now (the classic line up - I kinda check out when Ozzy leaves).

THE WHO Can't Explain

The version from their album' Live at Leeds' would be preferable for obvious reasons, but yes, big bad Keith was on fire with this track. I had the DVD 'the kids are alright' when I was growing up, and I remember thinking that all those falsetto vocals were very silly. Oh, how the tables have turned.

THE KINGSMAN Louie Louie

Possibly the best drums ever? We really tried hard to rip off these drums at the end of our song Banger.

THE BEATLES

Tomorrow Never Knows

All these songs fit together quite well don't they? I literally can't comprehend what it would have been like to be a kid in the 60s and hear something like this for the first time. It must have sounded like it came from outer space. I don't know if I've ever been mystified by a song like that. It seems like there's nothing really shocking in pop music at the minute (and I don't mean the personas or music videos of pop stars I mean in the music itself).

SMASHING PUMPKINS Geek USA

'Siamese Dream' is one of my favourite albums of all time (Top 5 without doubt). I heard an interview with Billy Corgan saying that he'd been trying his whole career to sound like Tony Iommi (from Black Sabbath) so that ties in quite nicely with the previous track don't you think? Oh and the drums.

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Song For The Dead

Youtube this for endless drummers attempting to play this like Dave Grohl did. Another favourite album of all time for me. I think sonically it's the first album that ever made question how you could make a band sound interesting purely by the way that you record the parts. It's heavily influenced the way I think about recording music. The drums on this track are all on one side except for the intro and outro. Normally a cardinal sin in my book, but somehow they made it ok. P

THE KINKS

All Day and All of the Night I reeeeally didn't want this to just be 60s pop/rock groups but turns out that era is a goldmine for epic drums.

LED ZEPPELIN When The Levee Breaks

There are a lot of stories about the recording of this track. Apparently, John Bonham set his kit up at the bottom of the stairwell of the house the band had rented to record 'Led Zeppelin IV', and that's why they sound so big. It sounds so good that it's been

SCAN THIS CODE IN SPOTIFY TO PLAY THE PLAYLIST

READDORK.COM

Låpsley has announced her second album, 'Through Water'. Set for release on 20th March via XL Recordings, it comes alongside a brand new single 'Womxn', which is streaming on readdork.com now. "It's written hypothetically from a place in the future that was much more positive", she explains. " I was 20 and in a pretty bad place when I wrote ‘Womxn’. It’s about having trust in the passage of time; about not knowing what to do right now but knowing that at some point you will know. And here we are in the future and I’m this stronger, more confident womxn, and I sing it and it’s my present.”

PLAYLIST

INTRO COURTNEY LOVE Mother

Floria Sigismondi, the director, wanted to provide clues about the ending of the film within the soundtrack. As in tradition with Henry James novel having an ambiguous ending that now to this day understand Courtney was the first session Yves Rothman and I did for the Turning. I wrote this song ‘Mother’ a few years ago, and when director Floria Sigismondi came to me about the soundtrack, I immediately thought of this song. The whole film is a surreal dream from the perspective of the mother character played by Jolie Richardson. She imagines the whole thing. So we needed a key track for the mother telling her fears and what is going on inside her head. A clue for the audience. Courtney came over, and we cut the song she didn’t change a lyric, it was my dream to work with her since I was nine years old I am a huge Hole fan, so this was a mindblowing experience for me. Yves, myself and our brother Bosh provide the band track and playing to Courtney singing was literally our goal since childhood. Hole was the second concert I ever saw.

MITSKI Cop Car

Track x Track

TURN TURN TURN That up there, Dear Reader, is Lawrence Rothman. Alongside sister Yves, has curated the soundtrack to ‘out now in the cinemas’ film The Turning. It’s got loads of our faves on there - from Soccer Mommy and Mitski to Girl In Red and Pale Waves - so we figured, “why not ask Lawro to tell us more about how it all came together?” Which we did. And he did. And here it is. Look at that.

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The turn of the screw was a seminal book for me when I was a teen so when Floria Sigismondi approached me to produce all new and original soundtrack for her film The Turning curated like the classic 90s soundtracks, was a dream come true. I had just started my new record label Kro Records with Yves Rothman and Justin Raisen. I had a compilation project in the works with multiple artists, so the timing was serendipitous. Floria Sigismondi wanted a soundtrack that was a nod to the 1990s, but singularly unique to the atmosphere and world I created in The Turning. Mitski was the second person I reached out to for the soundtrack back when she was on social media. I felt she could really nail the 90s thing as her music is genius and swims in so many eras. She was on tour at the time, so she created the recording with her long time producer. When we got it, Floria right away put it in a key scene that she was hoping it would work for and her intuition was spot on. Now playing on Dork Radio

SOCCER MOMMY Feed

The Turning takes place in the 1990s. Instead of using licensed 90s music, Floria and I wanted to create a soundtrack that was 90s-influenced mixing our favourite new artists and a few from the 90s era. Giving the film its own world and its own unique version of the 90s that only the film lives in. When Sophie from Soccer Mommy first sent the raw demo to ‘Feed’, it became the main character Kate’s (played by Mackenzie Davis) cassette mixtape jam on constant repeat. I met with Sophie at my studio, and we talked about the unravelling of the main character Kate, and she went back to her studio and came up with ‘Feed’. We mixed it to a track tape machine that I bought off Steve Albini that he used on albums from the 90s, along with mixing it through a neve board once owned by Willie Nelson.

GIRL IN RED Kate’s Not Here

This song came together like a fever dream. Marie from girl in red came through our studio in LA while she was

on tour. She had this song idea, and we knocked it out in a day then she took it back with her and added more things like bass in a hotel on tour. She is such an incredible producer that we really enjoyed co-producing this track with her. We ran her voice through an echo chamber that nat king cole used, and she sang through an old mic once owned by 1950s singer Jerry Lee Lewis. The title gives the viewer another clue about the film. ‘Kate’s Not Here’, because literally Kate does not exist.

LAWRENCE ROTHMAN (FEAT. PALE WAVES)

skindeepskyhighheartwide

I wrote this song in theme with the mother character painting what she could see in her head, her inner demons - dealing with the unravelling of her mental state and what exists in her diary, and what meaning of her paintings could ebb. I wanted it to be a duet and had Pale Waves in mind as I am a big fan of Heather’s voice. She came by for an afternoon an added an urgency that was breathtaking to the duet - I tracked her through a microphone that Sinead O’Connor had used in the early 90s on of her albums, as I wanted most of the gear to be of the era. Now playing on Dork Radio

EMPRESS OF Call Me

Yves, Lorely and I wrote this one afternoon while inspired by the Cocteau Twins. Producer Justin Raisen and I actually came up with a raw backing track that was the origins of this song back when we were working on my album 2017 ‘The Book Of Law’. I always loved the backing track. Floria wanted a Cranberries type of song for the movie, and I thought of this. Lorely is an incredible vocalist, and she wrote much of the vocal in 30 minutes.

VAGABON The Wild

This was one of my favourites. Laetitia Tamko who is Vagabon came over with a song idea and Yves, Laetitia and I set up as a three-piece and performed it pretty much all live in two takes. We were into doing a Pixies ‘Surfer Rosa’ era homage and tracked it to the tape machine Steve Albini used on Big Black and Jesus Lizard.

THE AUBREYS

Getting Better (Otherwise)

Finn’s character in the film (Miles) is a real musical kid and retreats to his bedroom a lot to dispense his grief and

INTRO sunset sound room were Prince mixed ‘Purple Rain’.

then erased it. Yves had backed it up, luckily.

WARPAINT

KALI UCHIS

Warpaint are literally the best band in the world. Their chemistry as players together is so fluid and witchy. They are like a band of sisters, they interact as if they are inside each others’ mind. This session they performed their song live in three takes at my studio in Laurel Canyon. Floria chose them early on as a band she really wanted as she has been following them since their inception in 2004. Yves and I mixed the track at sunset sound in the room Prince did ‘Purple Rain’.

Kali, Yves and I wrote this song early on in the process staying true to the 90s sounds, we created it all on 90s samplers asr-10 with these floppy disks. Every time we have to work on, we have to sync up these old samplers, it was madness.

The Brakes

confusion into music, and we wanted that represented on the soundtrack. Finn and his bandmate Malcolm came to my studio, and we had a chaotic eight-hour session where it all came together fast. Jay Reatard’s 90s band, The Reatards, were blasted in the studio during our session breaks, and a bit of that influence came into the recording. We worked up the song over the course of nine hours. We even used Krist Novoselic’s Gibson bass that he while touring Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ album. Finn played all the guitars and bass, while Malcolm played the drums. We tracked to my 8-track tape machine I bought off producer Steve Albini that he used on records in the early 90s.

CHERRY GLAZERR Womb

LAWRENCE ROTHMAN

Crust (neverreallyknewyou)

Floria wanted to reveal more about the film in the end credits, so I suggest you watch all the way through this track closes out the whole film. I wrote this alone while watching the movie, on a piano owned by Floria’s 94-year-old opera singer father, Domenico.

LAWRENCE ROTHMAN AND MUNA Judas Kiss

This was another early song. Yves wanted it to be a duet as he loves the sound of low and high voices like Leonard Cohen albums. We are big fans of Muna and thought of Katie right away as the perfect voice for the duet. I wrote this song one night when I was in a terrible place mentally and

ALICE GLASS Sleep It Off

Alice and Jupiter made this lovely track together.

DANI MILLER (OF SURFBORT) Ouroboros

Dani came by our studio, and we made this song over a day a session, we were literally dancing for nine hours straight. We actually made two songs the other one is coming out on a special edition of the soundtrack - that (shhh) has something from David Bowie on it. Did I say that? Haha.

ALISON MOSSHART (OF THE KILLS) I Don’t Know

This session was chaotic and beautiful. Alisson brought this song over, and we all performed live in 90s rock style to the 16 track tape machine. It was then mixed on board once owned by the band.

LIVING THINGS AND SUNFLOWER BEAN Take No Prisoners

This song plays in a pinnacle scene where Finn Wolfhard’s character Miles starts to break down. Living Things and Sunflower Bean performed this live together in the studio, it was crazy - two drummers, two bass players, three guitar players, all at once. It was so loud that we kept blowing up speakers while tracking it.

LAWRENCE ROTHMAN Crust

I created this song for end credits. As Floria wanted a slow, menacing track, I did it all analogue to tape and used Harry Houdini’s (the magician from the 40s) old organ for all the keyboard parts and kept cycling them through guitar pedals. Yves and I tracked this one night starting at midnight we thought we’d work an hour, that hour turned into six in the morning when we opened our door to the sounds of coyotes mauling some animal up here in the canyon, which is quite common.

KIM GORDON Silver

Kim is a such a true artist and poet, this song was created with her delivering her poetry on the mic and producer Justin Raisen and I building up a manic track around the vocals she gave us. She then came back over and played some guitar after things progressed on the song. She has this amazing looping pedal that creates this sound that feels like your body is being shredded apart. P 'The Turning (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)' is out now.

ORCHARDS

spill the beans on their imminent debut album

RIGHTON QUARTET Orchards excel in infectious alt-pop in a similar vein to Paramore, tackling personal topics like loss, mental health struggles, the environment and relationships via catchy hooks and charming melodies. They've been working their way towards a debut album for a while, and now it's finally here - 'Lovecore' will be released on 13th March through indie faves, Big Scary Monsters. Find out more about the new full-length from vocalist Lucy Evers. Congrats on announcing your debut album, has the record been a long time in the works? I mean, not to get emotional but it's been a lifetime in the making for all of us. It's the first album any of us have ever released throughout all of our musical endeavours. So, yeah it's been three years in the making but a lifetime really for us all. We're super proud of what we've created. What's 'Lovecore' about? How would you describe its vibe? Vibe was definitely a word we used a lot in the studio. We wanted to create a little pocket of summer. Something you could listen to any time of the year and feel upbeat and summery. That Vitamin D energy. What was your recording set up like? We recorded the album in two places. We tracked all the drums on a boat in London. How fancy. The rest we cooped ourselves up in a studio in the Essex countryside for a month. Long and intense days trying to create something we were all super proud of - I think we've done just that too. How did you decide which of your songs to include on it? We sort of just chose the ones that felt right, the ones that we felt worked together on one record, that represented us not only as a band but as musicians. In what ways is the record reflective of 2019/2020, do you think? I think people are looking deeper into songs now. Not just a blanket of how the song makes you feel, but what it means, who the band are, what they stand for. It all comes as one big parcel now and because of the internet, it means you can connect with each other on a different level. Not just music and the fan but as a community. I feel we stand really strongly for community. P READDORK.COM

This song dealt with those memories that sometimes come into your head when you were in the womb of your mother. Originally this was a song I sang, but I thought a woman’s voice would feel more haunting. Clem from Cherry Glazerr came over and brought the song to life, played some of the best guitar I have heard in years. Tuned low the strings were like rubber bands, and then Tabor Allen laid in this slow almost John Bonham drum beat that we slowed down on tape even more. We mixed this song at the legendary

“WARPAINT ARE LITERALLY THE BEST BAND IN THE WORLD”

The Turn

INTRO

DAY6 Meet the indie kings of K Town...

"OUR GOAL IN THE END IS JUST TO PUT OUT GOOD ENERGY"

Doing things their own way, DAY6 prove that there's more than one way to cut the K-pop cake. Words: Abigail Firth

F YOU THINK K-POP AND think all singing all dancing big budget with bells on, you’d be… well, you’d be right, but that’s not all the genre has to offer. Enter DAY6, the indie kings of K Town, who’ve always stood out among their label mates for writing and composing all of their own music, and favouring playing their instruments on stage over tightly choreographed dance routines. They’re signed to JYP, a Korean entertainment company, also home to Korea’s favourite girl group TWICE, multi-talented Wembley conquerors GOT7, and fast-rising young ‘ens Stray Kids and ITZY, meaning DAY6 get all the fun of the K-pop fair without losing their own artistic freedom. When Dork meets vocalist and guitarist Jae, and vocalist and bassist Young K – remaining members Sungjin (vocals/guitar), Wonpil (vocals/ keyboards), and Dowoon (drums) are getting ready for show time – it’s the day of their massive Brixton Academy show, about an hour before they go on, to be precise. Judging by our slot, they’re extremely busy boys. It’s not their first time over here, in fact it’s almost exactly a year since they last played London, previously packing out the Kentish Town Forum. “We’ve taken a step to become a little bit more live music orientated,” says Jae. “We focused on energy before, but we felt even more importance of getting the energy in our live show, especially with the ‘Gravity’ album, and we used the ‘Entropy’ album to kind of aid us in generating that energy. That’s definitely been our biggest evolution as a group since last time.” The Brixton show is part of their ‘Gravity’ world tour – although there’s been another full length (‘Entropy’) since, crikey K-pop moves fast – which means we’re not treated to many of the new songs live, but to be fair, we’re not sure they could fit them into the already two-hour long set. ‘Gravity’ and ‘Entropy’ make up the ‘Book Of Us’ series, an EP and album

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DORK

focused around being in a relationship. “The first one was ‘Gravity’, which was the beginning, and then ‘Entropy’ was anything beyond that,” Young K says of the record. “So anything beyond the beginning, any changes, good changes, bad changes, especially the title song, ‘Sweet Chaos’.” The song is definitely a representation of the whole record, if only metaphorically, as ‘Entropy’ weaves its way through every genre you could think of. ‘Sweet Chaos’ is the most pop punk they’ve ever gone (think old Fall Out Boy), ‘EMERGENCY’ is big retro bop complete with video game sounds and a horn section, ‘365247’ could’ve come straight off 5SOS’s ‘Youngblood’ album, ‘About Now’ is a lo-fi little bedroom pop ditty, and that’s only four of the tracks. The huge mix of genres is a result of the boys writing their own bits everywhere and bringing the songs together in the end to create the album. “We went into a song camp session, which is like, all of the members split up into different rooms with a bunch of songwriters, and so we came up with a lot of different songs, different genres, anything that we wanted to try, and that all added up being ‘Entropy’,” explains Young K. They’ve always experimented with different genres, namely on their ‘Every DAY6’ project, where they put out two songs every month in 2017. They’re just having fun with it and enjoying showing all of the different sides DAY6 have to offer. “I would say ‘Sweet Chaos’ is the one I’m most proud of writing,” says Young K, “because it’s the most recent title song, and it represents the most recent DAY6. That, and ‘Like A Flowing Wind’, ‘Mine’, I think a group favourite was ‘Not Fine’, and ‘How To Love’ from ‘Gravity’.” As the group’s primary songwriter, Young K wrote ‘Gravity’ in its entirety, and eight of the eleven songs on ‘Entropy’, with Jae and Wonpil chipping in for the other three. It’s pretty rare in K-pop for a group to get that much input in their own songs, with most

companies hiring teams to write behind the scenes, but it’s even sweeter that the boys would open up about their relationships in song too, especially considering dating is a bit of a taboo in K-pop. What can we say, it’s proper Real Music stuff, Dear Reader. As a company, JYP Entertainment seems to give its acts plenty of freedom and input in their music. Alongside DAY6, members of GOT7 and Stray Kids have been given the chance to produce their own tracks; knowing that the artists are given some independence and an opportunity to present themselves musically the way they’d want to be seen removes some of those ideas that K-pop is extremely regimented. That said, when we ask if they have a hand in the creation of the videos and concepts that are so vital in K-pop, we’re met with a straight “nope” from Jae, and hefty laugh. “Yeah we just focus on the music and let the company expand on it,” explains Young K. Fair enough, they’ve probably got plenty on. We were also curious as to whether they felt any pressure to go down the EDM/pop route, like many other groups, but it sounds like they’re pretty comfy doing their own thing. Plus, they still get to do fun things every now and again, like the music video for ‘EMERGENCY’, which they jokingly put a little dance routine together for, and being part of

a huge company has never negatively affected the group. “In the beginning, a lot of people didn’t know we were part of JYP, so they didn’t expect anything from us,” says Young K. “To them, we were just a band." Jae adds, “In our first year, we went around the Hongdae area and got in the band scene, and after we played live for a while, the dudes from JYP were like what’s up, and we joined them, but at the start no one really expected us to sound any particular way.” Since our chat, Jae has started releasing solo music under the name eaJ, working closely with 88 rising, an Asian-American collective of artists (Rich Brian, Joji, NIKI, ring any bells?) who he’s happy to big up. “There’s a lot of really good artists coming out,” he says. “88 has amazing toplines, a great vibe, they’re upping the standards for Asian representation.” So with Jae experimenting with solo stuff, what’s coming next for DAY6 after they wrap this world tour? He says, “To be honest, we’re not sure. We’re just tryna make our path, make our next title song for our next album, so whether we complete the ‘Book Of Us’ concept or whether we do something else, we’re not sure. All we can say is that we’re focused on the music.” P

F**king idiots of the month

GREEN DAY It must suck to have your attitudes get so

stuck in their dull and 'authentic' old ways. To think a lack of 'Swedish songwriters' and 'trap beats' somehow makes your tired old codger nonsense better. That's what Green Day have claimed on this poster advertising their new album. But sampling a Gary Glitter song, thus supporting and promoting an abuser, like they have on said record? That's well rock and roll. Absolute fucking morons.

INTRO ‹ OOOH, R’CANTONA Oh look. It’s ‘that there Liam Gallagher’ and former-footballer-’slash’-legend Eric Cantona. They’re both in Liam’s new video for ‘Once’, you see, despite the fact r’kid is a Man City fan, and Eric is a United icon. “I’m absolutely thrilled to have Eric Cantona, the last rock ‘n’ roll footballer, star in my video for ‘Once’,” said Liam. Eric, meanwhile, fibs: “When two Manchester legends meet. ‘Once’ is my song of the year.” Really, Eric Cantona exclusively listens to Simply Red. He’s not fooling us.

Q+A

FEET are ‘off’ on ‘tour’ with Inhaler, and working on new music. Time for a catch up? Go on then.

OLLOWING A YEAR IN which they released their debut album ‘What’s Inside Is More Than Just Ham’, and featured on Dork’s pages getting tattoos to celebrate their very own record label, Feet are continuing their adventures with more shows, more festivals, and (probably) lots more fun. Singer George Haverson gives us a band update Hello George! How’s it going? How are those new tattoos looking? All is good. Tattoos have settled in pretty well, we’ve tried to only wear sleeveless clothes to show people we are in a band and, in fact, have tattoos.

What have you guys been up to since we last spoke around the album? You’ve just done a Christmassy thing with a food truck, right? We went on our album release tour in the UK with a few European dates too. We also managed to put out a Christmas single touching on all the cheesy 80s Christmas song cliches. It’s titled ‘Vegetarian Christmas’, and it’s about the idea of a meat-free Christmas dinner (cheers Linda). It managed to trigger middle-aged Brexiteers who love pigs in blankets a little too much. We drove a food truck around London handing out vegetarian food and blasting out ‘Vegetarian Christmas’, we really have sold out. Are you going to be taking the album on the road a lot this year? Do you have much in the diary? We have some bigger shows in the works coming up this year, but album two is the current priority. We’ve settled into our lids now, so it was only a matter of time before we started writing new music. We’ll be debuting some new songs supporting Inhaler on their upcoming tour this Feb. Anything else we should know? New music is inbound, an exotic blend of crease pop and crease rock. We’ve been rinsing the likes of T. Rex, The Modern Lovers, The Stooges, ZZ Top etc. It’s a big year for our label Clapped Records, so keep your eyes and ears peeled for our Clapped Night shows and potential releases from our musical pals... P

UR DUA IS A VERY responsible adult, Dear Reader. Exhibit A: her brand new bop, ‘Physical’. The latest taster of new album ‘Future Nostalgia’, which is set to arrive this April, we can only assume it’s about being healthy and doing your exercises. Ms Lipa isn’t necessarily a conventional coach she wants us to do our star jumps and push ups in the dark, and maybe add some form of dance movement - what style is unclear - but she’s insistent on one aspect: she wants to get “physical”. Wait? It’s about...? Oh. Oh. Never mind. As you were, everyone. You can hear ‘Physical’ on all good (and bad) streaming services now. P

DOUBLE DECLAN Declan McKenna is back! Back!! Back!!! Photo: Jeff Hahn

EGULAR ATTENDEES OF this parish will be aware that we’re fans of Declan ‘boy wonder’ McKenna. So much so that he’s already graced the cover of this very magazine. Swanky. So, it with is a ta-and-indeed-a-dah that we announce he’s back! Back with a second album, which is set to arrive on 15th May. It’s called ‘Zeros’ and was recorded out in Nashville, USA - the home of country music. The news comes with a first track, ‘Beautiful Faces’, which is a birrova indie banger. Apparently, the song is about young people in ‘the modern world’ and how scary it can be. “I wanted it to be a big song,” Dec explains. “Scary big. It very much relates to now, but I wanted to reimagine social media in this future-sphere where it has become even more immersive so that we cannot see where it ends and we begin.” We’ll be honest, Dec, your futuresphere sounds a bit like last Tuesday. Anyone remember the password for Snapchat? P

Waxahatchee has announced her brand new album. 'Saint Cloud' was written immediately in the period following a decision to get sober. "I think all of my records are turbulent and emotional," she muses, "but this one feels like it has a little dose of enlightenment. It feels a little more calm and less reckless." It's set for release on 27th March.

Mystery Jets have re-announced their new album, which was postponed due to ill health. ‘A Billion Heartbeats’ originally due last year - will now be released on 3rd April, accompanied by a rescheduled tour that kicks off on 10th April. "This album wasn’t about making pointed opinions,” says Blaine Harrison. “It was about being a mirror for what’s going on, reflecting back the way people are feeling.”

BANGER!

Declan McKenna

Beautiful Faces

Our Deccy-wec may have schlopped over to Nashville, US-of-A to work on his second record, but while there he's clearly been sipping on a good old British brew. 'Beautiful Faces' is the kind of weird, wonderful pop fantasy that couldn't come from anywhere else. Blossoming from an already remarkable debut, there's a glint in Dec's eye. The chorus sings, sure, but underneath guitars cut against the grain, wailing and straining at their restraints. Borrowing magpie-like shiny silver spoons from across a rich heritage, there's everything from the sunny afternoons of The Kinks to the refusal to quite conform of Blur's Graham Coxon at the height of the band's 90s commercial success. Declan McKenna has always been top of his class. Graduation awaits. Stephen Ackroyd

Any post-tattoo regrets? No tattoo regrets here; if anything, we’ve got tattoo fever.

DUA’S GETTING PHYSICAL

‘FYI’

INTRO

‘FYI’

MESSAGE THE DORK HOTLINE!

Dearest Readers. Keeping up with the comings and goings amongst the movers-and-indeed-shakers of the 'music scene' is a big job. That's why we're asking for your help. We're setting up the Dork Hotline - a WhatsApp account where you can send us any goss, exclusives or general Dorkish nonsense you hear, see or read. Just add the number to your phone, and send us what you've got when appropriate. It may even make these very pages! Yes, we'll definitely regret this. MESSAGE US ON

+447897889162 BANGER!

KNOCK KNOCK 18

The Strokes have returned, with a brand new song and an album due this April. Just don't mention 'the suit', eh? Christ, Julian.

OH BLOODY HELL, BRIGHT EYES ARE BACK!

OH BLIMEY, DEAR Reader. Bright Eyes have officially returned, signing to new label Dead Oceans and announcing their first live shows in nearly a decade. After spending the first part of the year teasing, they've expanded on that with further shows, and news of their new label. Dead Oceans is also home to Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers' Better Oblivion Community Center project. Dead Oceans' co-founder Phil Waldorf says:: "Bright Eyes is not just a formative artist for me personally, but for countless people who work at Dead Oceans. To get to work with a band that is part of our own origin stories in falling in love with music is the rarest of privileges. We are thrilled to be part of another great chapter in Bright Eyes enduring legacy." So there we go. More soon, you'd expect!

HE STROKES ARE back in 'the saddle', with news of a sixth studio album a brand new track, and it's somewhat unexpected. Titled 'At The Door', the first taster of full-length 'The New Abnormal' is rather different to our usual Strokes' banger. Stripped right back, it's slow, swoony and relatively far removed from their iconic calling cards. You can read our thoughts in that box over there (on the right - Ed). 'The New Abnormal' is

THE STROKES At The Door

Remember, kids. Bet responsibly, or else you might end up wearing this awful clobber.

nine songs in length and is set to be with us on 10th April. By the time you read this, the NYC five-piece will have already hit the UK for a last minute show at Camden's Roundhouse. It's all very exciting. What is perhaps more questionable is Julian Casablancas' delightful new suit. Worn at the Bernie Sanders rally where they debuted the new song and revealed their album details, it's, um, quite something eh? The Strokes. Always the coolest, right? Right?! P

Whatever you expected from The Strokes, chances are it isn't 'At The Door'. To say the NYC quintet's new album is anticipated would be an underestimation of the highest order. Their last full-length proper was 2013's divisive 'Comeback Machine', with the oftunderrated 'Future Present Past EP' following in 2016. After a period back on the road, however, they've regrouped, reformed and returned with something all-together different. Spacey, sparse and drifting on stardust, 'At The Door' is as notable for it lacks as that which it contains. There's none of that iconic early 00s sound, while drummer Fab Moretti may well have his feet up enjoying a lovely cuppa. But, despite this, Julian Casablancas sounds like a man on the top of his form. Crooning like his life depends on it, it's a welcome reminder why he's still one of the greats. If this is 'The New Abnormal', it sounds pretty good to us. Stephen Ackroyd

FLOWER POWER

SINGER-SLASH-SONGWRITER-SLASHmulti-disciplinary-artist Jehnny Beth - best known from her work fronting up Savages has announced her debut solo album. It's called 'To Love Is To Live', and it's set to arrive on 8th May 2020. Recorded in Los Angeles, London and Paris, it includes collaborations with producers Flood, Atticus Ross and longtime 'co-creator' Johnny Hostile, as well as appearances from actual bloody actor Cillian Murphy, The xx's Romy Madley Croft and IDLES' Joe Talbot. So that's all very lovely, isn't it? There's already a new song from the album out there - 'Flower' - which you can stream online now. It's written about a pole dancer at Los Angeles strip club Jumbo's Clown Room. Yeah, we've all been there, right? Obv. P

Ezra Furman has released the soundtrack to Netflix series Sex Education. "Making music for a TV show was a new experience for me," Ezra explains. "As a fan of many a high school comedy, for example The Breakfast Club and 10 Things I Hate About You, I knew how fun the music can be."

Anna Calvi has teamed up with Courtney Barnett, IDLES' Joe Talbot and more for a reworking of her 2018 album, 'Hunter'. Charlotte Gainsbourg and Julia Holter have also taken part in the project, which is called 'Hunted' and due for release on 6th March.

Bon Iver are set to reissue their 'Blood Bank' EP in March. The four track EP is set to get a special 10th anniversary release on 27th March, featuring four new live recordings.

Little Dragon have announced a brand new studio album. Titled 'New Me, Same Us', it's entirely self-produced and recorded at their home-built Gothenburg studio, and is set to arrive on 27th March.

Ghostpoet has announced his new album, 'I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep'. Due out on 1st May, news of the follow-up to 2017's 'Dark Days + Canapés' arrives alongside new single 'Concrete Pony'.

ELIJAH HEWSON, INHALER

Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett.

INTRO

BANGERS THE BEST NEW TRACKS

Q+A

MARSICANS

on mediating in the face of disaster

ONGTIME DORK FAVES Marsicans just dropped a new single; ‘Can I Stay Here Forever (pt.II)’ is the very first taste from their upcoming debut album. The follow-up to a neverreleased-but-briefly-performed-live ‘pt.I’, the song tackles singer James Newbigging’s societal frustrations. “The UK has been a particularly divided place over the past few years and this song was born out of frustration with it all,” he says, explaining that he wants everyone to “stop treating other people as the enemy and just get on with actually solving the problems we’re facing.” A lofty hope for the year ahead perhaps, but we can all hope, right?

Hello James! Tell us about ‘Can I Stay Here Forever (pt. II)’. What’s it about? Was it a tough song to write? It’s kind of got a few phases. Another version of the song was written and recorded a few years ago but never came out for some reason. It was a love song, about being so happy and content that I didn’t want anything to change. Then a couple of years later, that lyric kept coming back to me. So we started messing about musically, hit record on a voice memo and then forgot about it. Just before we went to start the album sessions, we discovered the voice memo and immediately I knew what Part II was going to be about. Everyone seems like they’ve been constantly arguing for the past few years, but with closed ears/minds to what the other person has to say. It was born out of frustration at everything around us.

RINA SAWAYAMA

Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys)

On her last banger, 'STFU!', Rina Sawayama brought the riffs. On her latest, she's packed a big old box of bop. 'Comme De Garçons' is part Christine, part Dua, but definitively Rina. With a debut album on the books, one of pop's shiniest hidden gems won't be such a well-kept secret for long.

INHALER

We Have To Move On

We know. Don't mention Dad. But how exactly are we supposed to ignore Inhaler's heritage when they start throwing out bangers in the kind of class that Big Daddy Bono wishes he still could. At times, the resemblance in frontman Elijah Hewson's vocal is remarkable. The hype machine has it right for once: Inhaler are the real deal. MARCH 2020

DORK

L DEVINE

Boring People

Whisper it quietly, but L Devine is on the sort of run that makes superstars. Latest cut 'Boring People' has the kind of effortless cool that suggests she's more than capable of cutting out her own space in the technicolour dreamcoat of pop. One to watch.

MARSICANS Can I Stay Here Forever (pt.II)

Why can't we all just get along? That's the thinking behind Marscians latest track. It's because around half of us are absolute whoppers, lads. That stone cold logic aside, at least we can all be united by music. Group hug?

SPORTS TEAM Here's The Thing

If you're going to do a job, do it properly. That's the maxim Sports Team are sticking to

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

with the track that announces their debut album 'Deep Down Happy'. 'Here's The Thing' is a concentrated blast of indie pop personality, whistling, yelping and tumbling its way through a series of false promises and sideways glances. Destined to divide opinion, it's less Marmite and more a litmus test in the war against boring. One member of Team Dork even (accidentally) proclaimed it 'chaos and Dave'. "If you smile enough then everybody smiles," it proclaims. Say cheese!

SORRY More

Like Frankenstein's monster, reanimated and ambling out of the shadows, Sorry are almost impossible to stop. 'More' comes ahead of a debut album of genuine promise, and shows just why the expectations are set so high. Cut into a deep, driving groove, it's undeniably

With issues like climate change still receiving pushback, it’s difficult not to panic about where we’re all heading, don’t you think? Impossible. When you see what’s going on, you can’t help but daydream and imagine what it’s going to be like, and it’s fucking scary. Hasan Minhaj, the US comedian, recently joked about just letting one thing worry you this year. There’s so much going on it can crush you thinking about every single thing. Pick one main focus to worry/ act upon and see how you can help. Obviously don’t ignore the world around you, but don’t let every single problem be yours to deal with. I’m gonna be trying a bit of that this year. How's the album coming along? Is there much more to do? It's all finished recording-wise! We're just putting the vinyl together and making sure that when it's released, it can fly off into the sun. Then we'll shed a tear of pride as we watch it grow into a fine young album. P

INTRO ice cool. No apologies necessary.

Ask yr parents..

BLOXX

Coming Up Short

With debut album time coming round, Bloxx are a band ready for battle. 'Coming Up Short' might - by its title, anyway - suggest worries of not making the grade, but this is right up there with their very best. Indie disco's beware.

SEA GIRLS

Ready For More

It's nice when bands do us scribblers a favour. That's what Sea Girls are clearly up to, setting up a thousand 'Ready For More' zingers. With gigantic, arms aloft indie bangers like this, though, and the answer is equally predictable. Not so dark horses in the race for 2020's new band domination, expect Sea Girls to make their big play very soon indeed.

VISTAS

The Love You Give

CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS People, I've been sad

There's cool, there's ice cool, then there's Christine and the Queens. Back with a new track, 'People, I've been sad' pulls that perfect trick of being both a vibe and a bop in the same hair raising moment. Switching between French and English - but cutting though both tension and dry ice as she goes no matter what the language - it's another expected triumph.

OSCAR LANG Flowers

Following up on a debut EP of promise, Oscar Lang is a man finding his sound at a fair old rate. 'Flowers' possesses a timeless jangle - all melody and classic swagger. A budding talent, but already fully in bloom.

TOVE LO Bikini Porn Our Tove has a history for dropping bops of a hedonistic nature, but 'Bikini Porn' is up there with the very best. Bit chilly for that sort of attire, though. CELETSTE Stop This Flame Anointed as 2020's most likely, 'Stop This Flame' proves Celeste is capable of reaching the masses. DIET CIG Night Terrors Back! Back!! Back!!! Diet Cig are one of indie rock's most special secrets. 'Night Terrors' finds them sounding better than ever before. LOOSE FIT Pull The Lever For most of us, our first steps are awkward, unsteady affairs. For Loose Fit, it's an absolute banger. Show offs. CREEPER Annabelle British rock's most inventive troupe continue their resurrection with a song packed with drama. MARINA About Love Taken from the soundtrack to 'one of those Netflix films', Marina remains a pop powerhouse of the highest order. PORCHES Do U Wanna A slow burning crooner from the very top drawer, Porches is way more than a place to ask My Hermes to leave your package.

Anything more than 10 years old is ancient history. Let's Professor Dork teach you stuff. This month...

THE LOST BANDS OF THE 00s INDIE LANDFILL We'll be honest, Most Dearest of Readers - we do not always get it right in 'the music press'. Sometimes, we love a thing and you, the public, reject it cruelly. So sad. But sometimes you are WRONG, and we are RIGHT. While the period referred to in 'popular culture' as the Indie Landfill - a sort of dark late-00s slew of uninspiring bandwagon jumping bands following the wake of The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs and more - may have had its fair share of rubbish, some deserved much better. Here are three that deserve revisiting immediately, if not sooner. 1990S A band cool even when the decade they take their name from really, really wasn't - 1990s broke through in the wake of their scenemates Franz Ferdinand. The band they were formed from - Yummy Fur - even once included Franz drummer Paul Thompson. Debut album 'Cookies' has all number of bangers, including the rattling 'You're Supposed To Be My Friend'. THE LONG BLONDES Like most bands of their era, The Long Blondes felt impossibly exciting when they first arrived, dropping banger after banger on small indie labels like Angular. Signing to Rough Trade for their debut, Kate Jackson because a legitimate indie fashion icon. 'Once And Never Again' remains a bop. BE YOUR OWN PET Truthfully, Be Your Own Pet belong nowhere near any indie landfill. Rather, they found themselves buried by it through no fault of their own. Rambunctious garage punk rebellion, their debut self-titled album remains a lost classic.

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

01. THE BIG MOON WALKING LIKE WE DO

Album two for The Big Mood is nothing but a triumph.

02. SOCCER MOMMY COLOR THEORY *NEW*

Speaking of gigantic, arms aloft indie bangers - Vistas have the artform down to a tee. 'The Love You Give' is the latest taster of a debut album that promises many a chucked pint and flying bucket hat. Vocal melodies sure to come echoing back from enthusiastically tipsy live audiences abound. Vistas know exactly what they're doing.

LOVE FAME TRAGEDY Riding A Wave Most people would be happy with one band capable of delivering solid platinum bangers. Murph 'Murph' Murphy has two. Yet more evidence that, when it comes to the songs, he's one of our most underrated talents.

TOP TEN

A huge step up, 'Color Theory' has a palette of its very own.

03. GEORGIA SEEKING THRILLS

04. BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB

EVERYTHING HAS GONE WRONG

05. BONIFACE BONIFACE *NEW*

06. BLOSSOMS

FOOLISH LOVING SPACES

Want more? We've made a Best of the Indie Landfill playlist. You can scan it on Spotify below.

Scan to play:

A masterclass in indie bangers.

07. MURA MASA

NEED HELP? No, we're not registered medical professionals - but that doesn't mean we can't be of service in our own small way. We're preparing to open our very own playlist doctor's surgery, where we ask 'the bands' and 'our scribblers' to help you 'the reader' with your specifically themed playlist problems. Trying to find that perfect song to complete a party mix? Want the ideal song to tell someone special how you feel? Tweet us at @readdork with the #playlistdoctor and we'll do what we can. Always happy to help.

RYC

08. TAME IMPALA THE SLOW RUSH *NEW*

0. POPPY I DISAGREE

Metal plus pop equals awesome.

10. LAUV

~HOW Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;M FEELING~ *NEW* READDORK.COM

FIND MORE FRESH SOUNDS ONLINE NOW AT READDORK.COM/HYPE

CAVETOWN Robin Skinner is a big deal, but you might only just be about to find out. Words: Martyn Young.

FIRST ON

OU MIGHT think began as he saw himself exposed to you need to music from an early age. "I grew up have a big brash with very musical parents," he begins. and outlandish "It's been something that's been character and nurtured in my family, and they've a big ol' slice of always been super, super supportive ego to make it big online in the hyperof me doing music stuff. I did a bit of accelerated times of the modern classical training. I sang in a church internet age. For Robin Skinner, choir for a bit. I played a bit of violin though he's become something of a and a bit of recorder as a kid. When slow-burning internet sensation just I was 8, I decided I wanted to play through being himself and letting guitar because my dad played guitar his words, his music and his gentle and I thought he was cool. I got him to and endearing charm be a friendly teach me." welcoming presence always willing to Once Robbie mastered the guitar let people in the nurturing bosom of there was no stopping him as he the world of Cavetown. progressed on an independent path One look at the numbers shows of discovery as he self-taught himself you Robbie is officially a big deal. With how to write and record his own stuff, over 2.7 million monthly streams on firstly on Garageband and then on Spotify and a ginormous 1.17 million production tool Logic which he says subscribers to his long-established he studied at sixth form in school. YouTube channel, Robbie has Self-sufficiency and self-expression cultivated Cavetown into something have always been at the heart of of a phenomenon. He already has a Cavetown, and once he progressed much-loved catalogue from making Twenty of albums and songs One Pilots covers to online, but now he's releasing rich and THE FACTS ready to fully take off melodically detailed + From and plans to spread acoustic albums on Cambridge, UK his ethos of positivity Bandcamp, there was + For fans of on a global scale. no stopping him. It was girl in red, Robbie is a softly back in 2015 that the mxmtoon spoken gentle soul close bond between + Check out and speaks with a Robbie and the people ‘This Is Home’ considered clarity that slowly discovering + Social is in touch with the both him his music @CAVETOWN delicate tenderness of online began to form, + See them live: his melodic bedroom a relationship that is Robbie tours the pop. Indeed the still at the heart of UK from 21st-29th bedroom is where February everything he does. his musical dreams "It felt really organic,"

EVE OWEN

Eve Owen knows how to get our attention. It's somewhere around half way through the announcement that her debut album 'Don't Let The Ink Dry' - which is produced by The National's Aaron Dessner - is out on 8th May. “It’s got to do with impermanence versus permanence,” she says of the album's title. “I really like the idea that you can go through all these different changes in

he remembers proudly of those early online days. "I've been able to grow a community in a really wholesome way. It's helped me not to lose sight of what's important and the reason that I do this which is to make myself happy and to not forget how grateful I am of the people who come to my shows, support me and stream my music. I've got to know them over time. It's harder to keep up with them at this point, but I still feel that there's a connection there that's quite special." Cavetown's music deals with universal themes of the most primal human emotions, and does it in a charming, heartbreaking and, often, funny way. People easily gravitate to Robbie's songs, but there's nothing contrived at work here it's just the personality he is. "It's not really a conscious thing that I do to be vulnerable in my music," he explains. "I've never forced a song to try to connect. I've always just written about myself and what I'm feeling. It helps other people to hear what I have to say about things that maybe they're coming to terms with themselves. It also helps me to see that so many kids can relate to it; it's a two-way relationship." As his profile has become bigger, Robbie has added different touches to the Cavetown sound and now operates on a broader musical palette, incorporating electronics and live drums. He has a perceptive attention to detail and picks up on interesting stuff going on around him. "I'll take a chord progression or a phrase a songwriter has used or the sound of

your life, but the root of who you are will always stay the same.”

YAKIMA

With a debut EP, 'Go Virtually' imminent, Yakima are produced by Benji and Jonny from Happyness – both of which sing and play on the record too. Lead single 'It Helped' already made waves 'online' - all woozy melody and lovely things.

a certain drum machine," he says. "I'll try to play with that in my own way. I'll take my favourite things and try and put them together into something I'll like to listen to." It's this sort of diversity and magpie tendency that we can expect to hear more of on his album, due in spring. To go along with the album, there's going to be touring as well of course, and it's in this environment that Cavetown has really come to life. Robbie fondly remembers a show on his birthday in New York as a defining moment for Cavetown so far. "Touring has been an incredible experience!" he beams. "My manager came out on stage and surprised me with this vegan carrot cake, and everybody sang happy birthday. It was the first time I've felt happy to have a birthday. I was so stoked to be alive on that day." Next time he goes on tour, it's going to be with a full live band and full-scale production, a long way away from his parents' bedroom but still with the same ethos and compassion. The scale is a hundred per cent bigger, but in a way, everything and nothing has changed. Robbie looks back to his debut single 'This Is Home' and offers it as a perfect summation of what Cavetown was when he started and how it continues to provide a beacon for fellow gentle souls. "I've built a home for myself with my music and in turn a home for other people who feel lost and don't really know if they feel at home in their own bodies yet," he says wistfully. "That song is special to me, and it's stayed relevant to what I want to do with my music." P

JOCKSTRAP

Freshly signed to Warp Records, London based "alternative pop project" Jockstrap are made up of instigators Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye, and already dropped both a debut mini-album 'Love Is the Key to the City' in 2018, and a remix version a year later. Georgia, so it happens, also starred in the BAFTA winning Cornish film BAIT. A talented duo. Check out their latest track 'Acid'.

PVA

Forming at a house party two years ago, PVA are a "genrehopping passion project" made up of London musicians Ella Harris, Josh Baxter and Louis Satchell. They're already making waves in the capital, headlining the likes of Brixton Windmill, and have just dropped a single via Speedy Wunderground. It's called 'Divine Intervention', and it's streaming now.

Animal Magic

While music is his main love, there are lots of things that influence Robbie, and one of his major loves is animals. Fortunately, we too at Dork are animal lovers so of course, we had to ask Robbie if he could have any animals in his backing band which ones would they be, and what instruments would they play? "In Australia, we met a koala called Spoon, and because my drummer couldn't be there in Australia, we decided that Spoon would be my new stand-in drummer. So a koala would be on drums," he says. A strong start. "One of my favourite animals is a sloth so they'd be on some slow strings. They'd be on harp. They've got the fingers for it. I've always wanted some live strings on stage so we'd get a sloth for that," he continues. "I feel like I need a crazy animal to slap the bass. A bat on the bass would be good. Then we'd have like a choir of birds on backing vocals. Some nice pretty songbirds." So, there you go: Cavetown's animal band is complete, and maybe, just maybe, they'll all be coming to a venue near you soon.

"Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;VE BUILT A HOME FOR MYSELF WITH MY MUSIC"

SHEAFS

Sheffield bunch Sheafs are starting 2020 as they mean to go on: with an adrenaline shot of sharp-eyed punk in the form of new single, 'Total Vanity'. Confronting "our fascination and consumption in relation to self-image" head-on, it was produced by Dead Nature/ Spring King's Tarek Musa and Jonathan Hucks, and arrives as an early teaser from their upcoming EP 'Vox Pop'. Lawrence Feenstra (vocals) and Chris Goodacre (guitar) tell us more about their band.

Who are you all, and where did you meet? Whose idea was it to form a band? Chris: So there's myself, Lawrence, Charles (guitar), Charlie (drums) and Cal (bass). I think Lawrence and myself had the initial conversation about starting the band. We met through various means at Sheffield Hallam uni - there's a photo knocking about from a gritty club called Corp years before the band started, of Lawro and Charles. We hear you've been recording with Tarek from Spring King? Chris: We've done a few sessions with Tarek now, and he's the coolest bloke going, really fun to work with. Cheese toasties and Magnums were a regular sighting in the studio. We met him at a few festivals when we were both on the same line-up, and then we fired him an email asking if he was up for recording us. What's 'Total Vanity' about? Lawrence: The song is predominantly about our fascination and consumption in self-image and acknowledging the strain of that. Consequently, the song also proved to be quite a self-reflective process in finding a sound and style that was original. How representative is it of the rest of the EP? Chris: 'Total Vanity' strings together a few of the influences â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it kinda sits in-between tracks 'Thinking Out Loud' and 'Care Less' from a musical point of view. Vocally, Lawro's verses are killer, and it captures a theme that runs throughout the whole EP, vanity/ caring less/self esteem. P READDORK.COM

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Hey guys, how's it going? Sticking to your 2020 resolutions? Lawrence: Good, thanks. The resolutions have near enough all died a death as usual!

HYPE NEWS

What’s happening in the world of new music.

BROOKE BENTHAM It’s debut album time for Brooke Bentham. Recorded with producer Bill Ryder-Jones, ‘Everyday Nothing’ is a sprawling record penned during Brooke’s time immediately out of uni, the result of a period spent ruminating and figuring out what she wanted to do to fill her days. Brooke tells us more. Photo: Lauren Maccabee.

HELLO BROOKE! HOW ARE YOU? ENJOYING 2020 SO FAR? Hey, I’m alright, thank you! Yeah 2020, I can’t complain so far. WHAT ARE YOU UP TO AT THE MO? YOUR DEBUT ALBUM’S COMING SOON, RIGHT? Mmm yes, I’m just preparing to release that at the minute. We’ve got one more single then it’s the album! It’s a really weird place to be - I’m not sure how the album’s gonna do so I’m just kind of waiting for it to come out. WAS IT A CHALLENGING RECORD TO MAKE? In a way, yes. Considering it was just Bill and I (plus a few friends adding keys and drums here and there). It took a while for me to write all of the songs, I didn’t start out with a full album. We started with like three or four songs, and I wrote during the process. When I started writing it I didn’t really have much to write about, I was out of uni with loads of spare time, but I had nothing exciting MARCH 2020

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going on, so nothing to write about really. But it turns out you can write about doing nothing! I still don’t think the songs sound like they should go together in one record, but I quite like that. HOW DID YOU COME TO TEAM UP WITH BILL RYDER-JONES? I had a phone call with him, I didn’t really know of his work, but just as I was about to have the call, my housemate got dead excited. That intrigued me, and as soon as I was on the phone with him, I wanted to work with him. He seemed like a lovely guy. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE ‘EVERYDAY NOTHING’’S VIBE? Existential and heavy. I dunno, I think now I’ve had a bit of time to step back from it it’s kind of totally centred around me in that time of my life. I wanted it to sound heavy sonically, almost lazy as well though. I think it’s a record that sounds like it’s working itself out. ARE YOU GOING TO BE TAKING THE ALBUM ON THE ROAD A LOT THIS YEAR? DO YOU HAVE MUCH IN THE DIARY? We’ve got a headline tour booked in March and a couple of festivals. Hopefully, there’ll be more cause I love playing shows, but I also want to have finished my second album by the end of the year. I think it took me so long to write a debut that I’m now just like... I dunno; I’m on that train. I just wanna keep getting better P Brooke Bentham’s debut album ‘Everyday Nothing’ is out 28th February.

Drug Store Romeos have debuted a brand new single, 'Frame Of Reference'. “We were really into Spacemen 3’s ‘Big City’, Broadcast, and Algebra Suicide when making this song," the band explain. "It definitely has a dancier feel to our last single. We love dancing at our shows and felt that our set was lacking that." Check it out on readdork.com now.

Jimothy Lacoste has released his new single, 'Getting To Fly In The Sky'. It arrives ahead of both his upcoming as-yetunannounced debut album (due spring 2020), and an April headline tour. Listen on readdork.com.

The Mysterines have shared their new single, 'Love's Not Enough'. “It's a short reflection of just how destructive love can be, both mentally and physically,” says the band's Lia Metcalfe of the song. It's streaming on on readdork.com now.

Glasgow newcomer Joesef has announced a new sixdate UK headline tour. The stint will see him hit the road from 21st April with a night at the Thekla in Bristol, going on to play Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle, before culminating at London's Hoxton Hall. Find the dates in full on readdork.com now.

BONIFACE "SOMETIMES IT GETS HARD, BUT I REALLY WANT MY MUSIC TO BE SOMETHING REAL AND DIFFERENT"

Under their Boniface moniker, Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Micah Visser creates rich, melody-packed tunes dripping with vulnerability and warmth. They're proper lovely - a good bop, too - and right now, as you're reading this, there's a whole debut album full of them ready and waiting to take over your headphones. Micah tells us more. Photo: Ally Gonzalo.

WHICH ARTISTS MEANT MOST TO YOU GROWING UP? Love Bright Eyes, love Joni Mitchell, love Leonard Cohen. They were all important to me at different stages, and they've influenced my songwriting a lot. WHAT WAS IT LIKE SPENDING YOUR EARLY YEARS IN WINNIPEG, HOW HAS IT IMPACTED YOUR WORLDVIEW? Winnipeg is a really special place, but can also be a really hard place to be. We have a lot of urban sprawl, and it gets so cold. I think a lot of people feel trapped here and I have definitely felt that too. I do think there is a resilience here and growing up around that gave me a really strong affection and admiration for people just doing their best. I write about that a lot and think it's really beautiful. HOW DID YOU DEVELOP YOUR SOUND? HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN TRAVELLING DOWN THIS PATH? At first, I wrote this whispery acoustic stuff, which was a great way to hone my songwriting, but when I started playing shows with a band things changed. We had a few more uptempo tracks, and I

TELL US ABOUT YOUR DEBUT ALBUM, WHEN DID YOU BEGIN WORKING ON IT? I've been working on this record for so long. Some of the songs are over five years old. It truly is every experience I had growing up condensed into a 45-minute record. Going from just writing these songs to play them with my friends years ago to actually finishing it last summer has been a really long road. HOW DID YOU END UP FINISHING THE RECORD IN LONDON? IT'S A LONG WAY FROM CANADA. The band and I have been working out of the UK a lot. It's unconventional, but I love the scene, and I love the energy. Neil Comber did some mixes for me, and I loved his ear, so when the time came to finish the record I came to his studio with a bunch of tracks I'd recorded in my little home studio, and we finished them together. IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S AN INCREDIBLY PERSONAL RECORD, ARE YOU NERVOUS ABOUT LAYING YOURSELF BARE? Good question. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Sometimes it gets really hard, but I really want my music to be something real and different, and part of that is laying it all down. HOW DOES LISTENING BACK TO THE ALBUM MAKE YOU FEEL? I feel really at peace when I listen to it now. It was such a long process and one that was really hard on me sometimes, but when I listen to it I know, I didn't cut corners, didn't go halfway, didn't accept something I wasn't genuinely pumped on. Obviously, it's not perfect, but it is truly the best I could do at this point in my life, and that makes me feel content. DO YOU HAVE HIGH HOPES FOR 2020? I have high hopes, but I'm not taking anything for granted. I know how lucky I've been already to make this record. I want it to reach people because I think it can be a genuinely positive thing for them, but I'm just happy to have had some good times and hope there's more of that in 2020. P

HANYA

Brighton newcomers HANYA have just released a new EP, 'Sea Shoes'. Guitarist Heather Sheret introduces her band. Hey Heather, who are you all, and where did you meet? We started as a two-piece. Jack and I (drummer) met 10 years ago when I bumped into him on his way to work at Toys R Us (?!), followed by years of hanging out in his shed and playing Tony Hawk. We conscripted Dylan (bassist) after he kept working the same jobs as Jack, and Ben and I met when he was playing with his old band in Berlin five years ago. We're all longtime friends, so it's pretty damn nice. Are you guys pals with many other Brighton bands? Jack's girlfriend Maddie plays bass in Porridge Radio who are doing pretty cool things, and Ben has few other bands he plays with. We have a few Brighton band friends such as Ciel, Nancy, Yakul and Penelope Isles. Basically, everyone in Brighton is a musician, so it's hard not to mingle with the local riffraff. Have you always wanted to be a musician? Jack and I used to have this argument when we were 16 or so that I didn't want to be a musician because it's so competitive. I've always played music, but find it weird calling myself a musician when I work a regular job and still don't know proper theory, but yeah, I guess I have. What was the first record you ever properly loved? It depends what you mean by properly... you want the cool answer or the real answer? Cool answer: Grace Slick and the Great Society - Conspicuous Only In Its Absence Real Answer: Westlife - World Of Our Own What's been the highlight of your time in the band so far? Last year we became a fully-fledged four-piece, with my best friends in the whole damn world. So I'm feeling pretty lucky right now. Since then we've confirmed our first gig in the big U S of A at New Colossus Festival in New York this year. Waking up to that email was a killer feeling I hope I'll get again someday... Tell us a secret about yourself? Errrmmmm, I once got my head stuck in the window of my car for what felt like an hour (was probably about 10 minutes) at a petrol station in Bournemouth. P READDORK.COM

HEY MICAH, WHEN DID YOU FIRST REALISE YOU WANTED TO BE A MUSICIAN, DID YOU HAVE A MUSICAL UPBRINGING? No, it happened very accidentally. I've always loved making music, recording it, performing it, but never thought I'd be doing it this seriously. From playing violin as a kid, to recording songs in my bedroom in high school, to finishing up the Boniface record a few months ago, I've always had this compulsive need to figure out what makes music so powerful and do that. A blessing and a curse, maybe.

got hooked on the energy. Getting a crowd going and really going for something. Since then, I've mostly written songs that mean something to me, but will be fun to play and fun to hear live for the first time.

NOISY

It's probably safe to say you won't have heard a band like Noisy yet this year. Breaking out from Worthing's pubs and skateparks with a hybrid of hooks, beats and goodness-knows-whatelse, singer/rapper Cody, guitarist Connor and producer-guitarist Spencer have quickly become a must-see live concern.

LILY MOORE

London-based singersongwriter Lily Moore. has spent years working her way up from busking and tiny pubs to a support slot with George Ezra at the Royal Albert Hall, and, soon, a headliner of her own at London's buzzy Village Underground.

HEY LILY, HOW'S IT GOING? HAVING A GOOD 2020 SO FAR? Hello. Yeah, all good. Been actually quite quiet so far but I know it's gonna be a busy year. HOW DID YOU GET INTO MAKING MUSIC, THEN? I'm not too sure, really. I fell into it as it has always been around me since I was born. I got a cassette recorder for Christmas one year when I was really little maybe about 5 or 6, and I remember I would record all my little songs on it - so maybe I can say then! IS BEING A MUSICIAN LIVING UP TO THE HYPE SO FAR? Absolutely. Apart from touring is definitely far, far less glam then it gets made out to be. In reality, it's a lot of sitting in the back of a van and eating food from garages. But I do love it if I'm honest. HAS THERE BEEN MUCH OF A LEARNING CURVE, GOING PRO? I think I've just had to work harder, which is a good thing because I'm not very good at being bored.

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Photo: Eva Pentel.

WHAT'S YOUR SONGWRITING PROCESS LIKE? It depends really on who I'm working with. Some people are really good at production and playing instruments which I'm not so normally I leave that to someone else, and I can focus on the lyrics and the story I'm trying to tell. I like to have something on my mind or an idea though before writing a song - something I need to work out how I feel about or get off my chest. WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN? Just normal things a 21-year-old in London does! My friends are all still at uni so sometimes I go visit them in different cities and have a good little night out. Yeah, normal stuff really. By that, I mean the pub. I'm also obsessed with food, so maybe cooking as well. WHAT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO ACHIEVE DURING YOUR MUSIC CAREER? A couple of months ago I would've said playing the Royal Albert Hall, but I was a lucky lady and got to support George Ezra there back in September, so I'm not sure now. Maybe the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury if I had to say the best of the best. But overall I just want to be able to do this forever - that's the main goal. WHO DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST EXCITING BAND OR MUSICIAN AROUND RIGHT NOW? Husky Loops. P

HI CODY, WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTO WANTING TO MAKE MUSIC, THEN? My parents got me a guitar one Christmas, completely out of the blue. I thought it was rude not to give it a go. Since then, I was hooked really. Dad used to play a lot of music around the house; he had this mad sound system, so anything just sounded amazing. I remember finding his Prodigy Breathe single, falling in love with it and thinking, I want to be in a band one day. Then I met the lads. DO YOU HAVE MANY SONGS RECORDED AND READY TO GO? WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON RIGHT NOW? Honestly, we have about 50 tunes nearly ready to go. We've been writing non-stop over the past year. Just wanted to get a large catalogue of music down before putting ourselves out into the world. Right now we're finishing up the biggest tune I think we've written in a while, I'm gassed! WHAT DO YOU MOST ENJOY

WRITING ABOUT? Our everyday lives, man! I like to be really honest in my lyrics; there's usually a lot about the night before and songs about mates. Maybe one day I won't write so much about nightlife, but right now it's what's happening.

HOW DID YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU WANTED NOISY TO SOUND LIKE? It's evolved over time... from writing with guitars in loud rooms in bands when we were young, to now writing into a computer where the possibilities are endless. We needed to explore first to get to where we are now. For us, that meant writing pop music. At one point, we were writing tunes that sounded like Rihanna or something, but then we found our lane, and it instantly felt amazing. I remember being in Spencer's kitchen, he was playing a beat on his phone, and I started rapping over it. We quickly made it into a song, and it just felt right. 'So What' was written the day after. HOW'S WORTHING FOR UP-ANDCOMING BANDS? IS THERE MUCH GOING ON? Not enough, man, we need more venues! There's a sick new place called The Factory which is next door to our studio. Hopefully, it encourages more people to start making music and form a scene down here. MUSIC ASIDE, WHAT DO YOU GUYS DO FOR FUN? Sounds clichĂŠ but we just live for the weekend. Friday night is our vibe. P

Sfven, otherwise known as 22-year-old Jamie Clarke, is set for a breakout 2020. With heartfelt bedroom pop influenced by the likes of Bon Iver and Flume, he's not long dropped his new single 'Flowerbeds'. HEY JAMIE, HOW'S IT GOING? Hello Dork, it's going great thanks just had some toast. My 2020 has been very lovely so far, moved back home which is nice and just been gigging and writing really so no complaints… was having a lot of trouble finding some comfy socks in 2019 but finally managed to get some that are super comfy, so that's good. WHEN DID YOU FIRST REALISE YOU WANTED TO MAKE MUSIC, THEN? I don't think there was any lightbulb moment really… it's kinda been a more gradual thing. I've always played music and loved it, but I guess if I had to choose, I'd say when I started to find out about the production side of things is when I started to have a hoot. Just love the fact I can roll out of bed, sit at my desk and just arrange a whole piece of music… that's pretty cool.

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MO? At the minute a lot of stuff. I recently had some really bad writer's block, and I kid you not I sat down for 8 hours the other day and nothing happened, but I've managed to break out of that now. Mainly, I'm just writing new bits and trying to polish off old stuff, so between that and practising my colouring I'm pretty busy. WHAT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO ACHIEVE DURING YOUR MUSIC CAREER? I'd love to have a well-received debut album followed by a tour of the world, that is the dream. Also just go for a few more runs. WHO DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST EXCITING BAND OR MUSICIAN AROUND RIGHT NOW? I love Girl in Red. Think she's bloody wicked. I was lucky enough to catch her at her electric ballroom gig in London at the end of last year, and she's such a badass… as soon as she hits the stage, she's jumping around going mental, and it was just a lot of fun. She writes/produces all her stuff too so that's sick, respect. TELL US A SECRET ABOUT YOURSELF. I have weird toes. P

"I ACTUALLY JUST BOUGHT SOME CRAYONS FROM THE SUPERMARKET..." Incoming!

Incoming!

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT BEING A MUSICIAN? I had never fronted anything before this project cause I used to just play bass in the corner, but I love singing live and jumping around with my lovely band, The Mango Chutneys.

WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! IT'S HAZEL ENGLISH!

ARE YOU CREATIVE IN NONMUSICAL WAYS TOO? I actually just bought some crayons from the supermarket the other day and since then have started colouring and it's really fun. I love taking photos too, I'm not very good, but I like it.

AZEL ENGLISH WILL RELEASE her debut album this spring. 'Wake UP!' is due for release on 24th April via Marathon Artists.“Sometimes I feel like we’re just sleepwalking through our lives,” she says, explaining that she hopes 'Wake UP!' helps “make people become more aware and mindful.”

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN? Apart from music… my nan lives just up the road, so I like to go see her. She makes a lot of cakes. Love a couple of

FIRST ON

SFVEN

MATILDA MANN

Fresh out of Brit School, Matilda Mann has played alongside the likes of Dork fave Beabadoobee, sold out the launch show for her debut EP, and recorded with producer and artist-inhis-own-right Fryers. Not bad. That first collection 'It All Makes Sense' shows genuine promise too. One to watch.

GUEST SINGER

Signed to the really very good Heist or Hit, Doncasterbased trio Guest Singer just dropped their second EP 'Limbo Days'. Recent single 'Think Face' is inspired by the best of 80s synth-pop. “Essentially, it’s about the emotional effort of songwriting,” frontman Jake Cope says. Poor, tortured artists.

YOUR SMITH

Minneapolis native Your Smith (aka Caroline Smith) released a debut EP 'Bad Habit' via Neon Gold (HAIM, Christine and the Queens, etc) back in 2018. She's set to hit the UK later this year for The Great Escape. With the kind of pop pedigree that's 'right up Dork's street', she's more than worth keeping an eye on.

Pottery are going to release their debut album this April. The band's first fulllength, 'Welcome To Bobby’s Motel' is due on 10th April via Partisan Records. The band will play London's Brixton Windmill on. 26th February, plus more UK shows this June.

TWO TRIBES

London quartet Two Tribes have been buzzing around for a while now, but 2020 should see them extend their reach even further. Their live shows have had the right people whispering, while tracks like last year's 'Videodrone' - a track about digital identity in the real world - set a high bar.

READDORK.COM

AND HAVE YOU HAD A GOOD TIME OF IT SO FAR? Ye for sure. It was either be a musician or an astronaut, so I'm having a blast.

beers and some pool, that's a great time, or just taking the dog for a walk and catching some breeze, that's nice.

28 Rice to see you! To see you, Rice! (Ask your parents - Ed) MARCH 2020

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ALL ROUND TO

Frantic live shows, provocative interviews (ahem - Ed), and an ability to wind up all the right people; there's no band quite like Sports Team. With debut album 'Deep Down Happy' just announced, and an invite to pop round their new house on the day they move in, Dork heads South to check in with indie's newest noisy neighbours. Words: Jake Hawkes. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.

READDORK.COM

SPO RTS TEA M'S

Sports Team are a band on the rise. Don’t believe us? Visit their swish new house in South London. Well, the washing machine isn't plumbed in yet, there are boxes everywhere, and one of them doesn't have a bed, but it is moving day, so we'll cut them some slack. "Hey, look at this!" says guitarist Henry Young, dragging us down the hallway and pointing at a very new door. "That door wasn't there when we viewed the house, there was a second bathroom. The downstairs flat has made a land grab on our toilet." He grins and flicks the light switch next to the door. "We still control their lights, though, so they haven't won yet." We're shown round the rooms too, which vary from 'almost unpacked' to 'duvet with no covers on it and a pillow still in its plastic wrap' (we're looking at you, Ben). "Contractually it's a five-bed house with a conveniently sized sixth room," explains drummer Al Greenwood. "We'll be respecting the contract, but we might just have one friend stay over occasionally in the extra room, like, every single night." An annexed bathroom and a legally grey contract workaround – so far, so glamorous. A final look in the living room before we're whisked elsewhere to do the interview proper. "We've done a bit of decorating," says singer and resident loudmouth Alex Rice, gesturing at the two posters on the wall – one of Oasis, and one of... Sports Team. "That one isn't staying up, it's just for you," he insists, but we've got a feeling it might become a permanent fixture, they aren't exactly a band known for their modesty, after all. WE DECAMP TO A NEARBY PUB, mainly so the band can avoid unpacking for just a little bit longer. "It's our third time in here today," says Alex. "Gotta get a feel for your local, if this even is our local. This is why I wanted to live in West London, there's only ever one pub. Eliminates all this faff. You can get to too many places from South London, too, I'm overwhelmed by the choice." "Easy to get to central London though," Al chips in. "Get straight to Oxford Street, shop till you drop in Topman, then back home as quickly as possible – that's what London's all about." A few minutes later, we manage to wrestle the conversation away from the location of their house, and onto something almost as important – their upcoming debut album. "We all feel weirdly detached from it now, because

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE TERRIBLE HAIRCUTSâ&#x20AC;? ROB KNAGGS

Sports Team won't stop talking about their house. The way they're going on you'd think they built it all themselves.

we've heard all those songs so much during the recording process," begins Alex, before adding: "it's alright though, should get the Mercury, maybe a BAFTA... couple of BRIT Awards?" Modest expectations all round, then. "What was nice was finally getting the full mastered album through," says Al. "Because it was all this ramshackle stuff and then it finally fell into place, and it was like 'oh shit, we've made an album!'" "I think the hardest part for us was working out which old songs to put on there, actually," Alex cuts back in. "We wanted as much new stuff as possible, but I'm reliably informed that there are many technicalities in there about new vs old and presales and other stuff. Basically, the label just said 'better put some old ones on too'. We love the classics as well, and it is great to have a mix, but it's still as packed with new ones as we could make it. "What's also great is the room it gives you to breathe," he continues. "All of the live tracks are really visceral, you hear them, and you want to mosh to them, but on the album, you can also do these more 'manifesto' pieces that talk about things no-one else is talking about. Not every track has to be chasing the single, so we can get pretty weird with it all, and a lot of it is definitely a bit odd." "It's also a summing up of everything we've been doing since we started," adds guitarist and songwriter Rob Knaggs. "So it makes sense to have the older ones on there to kind of close the chapter on the last two years. We're always going to be using strange imagery and trying not to pick language that's overdone, but we're definitely ending one part of it all with this album. There are songs we've already got that we're thinking of putting on the next album, too, so it isn't like we're sat around waiting for the debut to be released." So all change for Sports Team going forward? "Not quite," Rob says with a laugh. "We're still the same band, and we'll all always have terrible haircuts. That's the one constant, a bad haircut." "The stuff that's really specific about us will always be there, too." Says Al. "The strange stuff in our songs that we're just drawn to because we find it fun and exciting, those symbols and characters that you wouldn't expect to hear. Everyone's talking about love and all the rest of it, and here we are in the corner talking about rhododendrons, and before you know it you've got a thousand teenagers chanting about them too. We're all about forcing you to reconsider stuff that doesn't necessarily play upon overdone tropes."

"That was 'Wonderwall'... and next up, 'Wonderwall'."

AS A BAND IN THEIR MIDtwenties (despite Alex's protests that he's 19 and has just had "a horrible accident"), there's the feeling that Sports Team have lost the fear of looking silly that a lot of younger acts have. They're happy to make fun of themselves and say outrageous things with the confidence that their audience will pick up on the wink and the wry smile that goes along with it. "It's so easy and safe to work on what's already been done and play up to what people expect the music to reflect," says Al. "But it just isn't that interesting. I just think at the moment all of the younger generations are so disenfranchised, nobody's happy with the way the world's going, and we want to look at how everyone experiences that day to day. Even if that does mean talking about suburbia and driving down the motorway."

"I think what a lot of people latch onto is this supposed irony to the lyrics, which often isn't there in the way they think it is," Alex adds. "We're very character-driven, and we talk about things some people don't, but our songs aren't mean." He stops for a minute, trying to find the right words, and for the first time, he doesn't sound like he's having a laugh. "There was a piece calling our trip to Margate a 'poverty safari', and I genuinely think that is the most offensive thing I've ever read about us. This alleged 'posh band make fun of Margate' narrative, which just isn't true in any way. We write in Margate, we record in Margate, our manager even lives there. We just wanted to go to the seaside with some fans and have a good time, there wasn't some arch narrative waiting to be pulled apart. "It hurt because we genuinely love the town, and the stuff they do at [record store / venue] Elsewhere

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is great – it was just trash journalism. If you hate our music, then that's fine, but that was a bit far. We're dickheads, but we aren't dickheads in the way that piece made us out to be. We're a real Breakfast Club bunch, and we're all left-wing Labour supporters, do your bloody research." He relaxes again, "I know that brought the mood down a bit, but we felt it probably needed addressing – what were we talking about? The fans! Love 'em, the rascals. I think we are very fan led. I know every band says that, but I genuinely believe it. We meet them a lot more, we speak to them a lot more, and they're absolutely horrible to us a lot more – genuinely foul a lot of the time. They might happen to like the band, but they do not like me or the music or the shows... or anything we do, actually." He laughs, before adding. "I mean that positively!" An obvious example of this 'positive' hatred is the vast number of Sports Team meme accounts, all pumping out obscure jokes and Photoshopped pictures of the band. They range from an account dedicated to Oli drinking pints to one focussing on the band's management and even a 'Sports Team Seniors' account ("I am almost 100% sure that one's a piss-take by a younger fan, rather than a genuine community," keyboardist Ben remarks). When we suggest that maybe a few of the accounts might be *ahem* curated by the band themselves, there's an immediate outcry. "I barely even do my own social media!" Alex protests. "We could put a picture up of you shaking hands with Alex

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right now, and by the end of the interview, I bet there would be a meme." Al offers by way of proof that none of the band are sat at home cranking out pictures on their off days. The photo is duly taken and uploaded to the band's story with zero context. "If nobody makes one this is going to be embarrassing," jokes Ben. "I might text my mum and ask her to put one up, just in case." THE PROPENSITY FOR CRUEL memes taps into another aspect of Sports Team's fanbase that set them apart from a lot of bands – the number of younger fans they attract. "Look, before I say anything else about this, I don't wanna patronise these kids. They come and see us because we're better than all the other bands," Alex starts, in what is surely set to be an extremely humble statement. "We put on a better live show, and we've got better songs. If I was 16 I'd be down the front of our gigs too, why wouldn't you be?" "Sweeping statements aside, I think a lot of what people want is a sense of identity, and that's something we can offer that a lot of bands can't. We've always known that guitar music isn't the most popular genre out there, and right from our first gig our mates absolutely did not want to go and see guitar music. We had to make it an event and make sure there's loads going on before and after – and to make sure that there are lots and lots of opportunities for people to drink, basically. Carnival + drinking = packed gig, in my experience at least. "I've got nothing against older fans either, but our fans do skew young, and bands like Fontaines and

Shame have fans who skew older, nothing wrong with that at all." He stops for a second, but, true to form, can't help having a quick dig in the ribs: "Having a young fanbase is better though, isn't it? I don't condemn the old..." "Not condemning the old probably isn't as complimentary as you mean it to be," Al cuts in, attempting to remove Alex's foot from his mouth. "I'm doing it with a wink and a smile, the oldies love it!" Alex protests, grinning. "Look, all I'm saying is that even though we do this kind of 'beardy craft ale dad' joke, we love all of our fans, we really do. But there is something special about looking at the front row and remembering when we were that age and attending gigs, and you've just got so much energy, and the bands mean something to you in a way that they just can't when you're a bit older." "I think all of the highlights from my teenage years are gigs," Al agrees. "Going to these little venues to see people who you thought were absolute legends but were probably sleeping in the van after and selling merch just like we are now. My week was just built around going to gigs on a Tuesday night, seeing everyone beforehand, it was all just the most exciting thing at the time." "I remember my first gigs making me feel like I was actually in an episode of Skins," Rob laughs. "We were all just jumping about all over the place, and the whole audience was people my age, that's what made it special. Although come to think of it, that was at Underage Festival, so it would've been a cause for concern if they weren't all my age. There were definitely

“HAVING A YOUNG FANBASE IS BETTER THOUGH, ISN'T IT? I DON'T CONDEMN THE OLD...” ALEX RICE

photo from, I've never seen it before, and suddenly there it is as a meme." "We're hoping for a lot of memes when we release our new video actually, only reason we're making it," jokes Rob. "It's real highconcept stuff. We turned around, and we said 'look, we're on a major label, we've finally made an album, let's do something big'. A proper 'Common People' moment. So we found this incredible group of professional cheer... champions? Cheer... people? [It's just 'cheerleaders' - Ed] And they agreed to do this video where

parents at other gigs, standing at the back with a carling or two. Not that it's a bad thing, the more the merrier – gotta shift those tickets somehow." "Hold that thought," Henry shouts. "The first meme is in! SO rapid, what a wonderful invention social media is. This particular delight is from 'Sportsteamspam'," he adds, passing the phone around the group. "It is a bit scary sometimes though," Oli says. "Not the memes, just the pictures they're based on. Sometimes I don't even know where they've got the original

they all mimic his ludicrous dance moves..." "Basically we'd just finished playing in Spain, and I've gone straight from the fucking airport to the rehearsals, and all these cheerleaders have turned up with these deeply offensive dance moves. I'm just standing there watching them like 'is this how you all see me?!' It was a real body blow. But there we are, anything to sell the album. Same reason we've got a mailing list, actually. Someone at the label said that the only way to sell an album was to have a good mailing list, so here we are, delivering content." "Worst thing is I had to write out a fucking cassoulet recipe for the mailing list," Ben complains. "Alex just sends me over this picture like 'oh can you write out this Rick Stein recipe please, but it's for band stuff so try to make it a bit edgy, a bit cool'. And then all it gets used for is an email." He shakes his head in mock disgust. "Woah, it wasn't just a Rick Stein recipe," corrects Alex. "It definitely had some personal tweaks, no copyright was infringed. Please do not sue us, Rick, we love you. We could do with more recipes though, for when we're on tour. We tend to eat a weird variety of things going from place to place." "Speaking of which, let me tell you about when Henry locked himself in the van," Al begins, to a groan from Henry. "We stopped at a petrol station that had about 50 flavours of Slushie, so obviously Henry's in there experimenting, high on rainbows and sugar. Back in the van, drive up to the next show and start the soundcheck, no problems. But Henry hasn't turned up, which is a bit worrying..." "We had some theories," Oli cuts in. "The leading one was that as he was wearing white jeans, he may well have had an 'accident' and had to go buy some new jeans on the quiet. The other theory was that we should go and check the nearby road to see if there had been any incidents, like with a family cat. We've looked everywhere, and we're thinking of calling the police, but then we all hear this high-pitched noise coming from the van, only just audible to human ears. We open the back doors of the van and there he is." "That's not the punchline!" Alex protests. "The best part of it is he was trouserless, and there was a soiled pair of jeans in the corner which he to this day claims were not his. The glamorous life of a touring band, that." Henry sinks a bit further in his chair and grins sheepishly – although no admission of guilt is forthcoming. We decide it's probably best not to

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NEED HELP? HERE'S...

AGONY ALEX

Let's be honest. If you've paid even the slightest attention over the past 18 months or so, you'll have noticed Alex Rice has some Big Opinions about... well... most things. So why not put that to work for the forces of good? We've dug out some classic Agony Aunt questions, to see if Sports Team's fearless leader can offer a hand. MY GIRLFRIEND IS TRYING TO CHANGE ME. SHE KEEPS TRYING TO DRESS ME UP IN CLOTHES SHE THINKS ARE COOL, BUT I FEEL LIKE AN IDIOT. SHE'S ALSO ALWAYS WANTED ME TO SHAVE MY BACK AND WORK OUT. I WONDER WHY SHE'S EVEN WITH ME. CAN YOU OFFER ANY ADVICE? Alex: I would just sort of fumble on with it for 20 years, 30 years. Easiest thing in the world, and if that avoids a moment of confrontation in the short term then just go along with it and ultimately just try and drag out the pain over as long as he possibly can. If this guy really is one of these 'under the bridge' types, and he is absolutely riddled with hair. Maybe meet halfway, shave half the back? I've got no chest hair at all, so he's a lucky man in so many ways. I think he'll be all right. I'M PREGNANT BY MY MARRIED LOVER AND I'M SURE WHAT TO DO. Alex: Married lover? Well, you've got to start thinking of names, or you can't progress really. Olga if it's a girl, or Deidre is a nice name you don't hear much any more. What about for the gent? Simon... Keith's died out a bit. Nigel or Gary, there weren't any Gary's last year apparently. So it's due a comeback. I'M TOO TIRED FOR SEX MOST NIGHTS AND IT'S STARTING TO CAUSE TENSION BETWEEN MY HUSBAND AND ME, AS HE ALWAYS SEEMS UP FOR IT. Alex: This is all about lifestyle changes, isn't it? Take up running, we all run together. Good strong vitamins too, I've got one of those vitamin D sprays. We all love Berocca, but it does make your piss bright orange, like in Kenan and Kel when Kel drinks too much orange soda and he's glowing - like that, but for your libido.

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“WEARING CLOTHES IS THE BARE MINIMUM YOU CAN ASK” ALEX RICE probe any further, in case the horrible truth comes pouring out. We frantically deflect to a less disgusting topic: the touring plans. "Plans for the future," Alex begins. "The road to Knebworth, what's our timeframe for that? We'll probably just keep doubling the venue capacity, so stop off at Ally Pally at some point, nip into The O2..." "Exact timings are important," Adds Rob. "I'd say a week between Ally Pally and The O2, then straight to Knebworth on the train and play that six hours later. Sounds feasible enough to us. Although we would have to get the BBC 6 Music dads on side, all the ones we've alienated. You tell a 16-year-old you're playing Knebworth and they'll just whack it into Google Maps, see how long it takes and not bother coming. We'll probably have to play the Milton Keynes Bowl instead, just become My Chemical Romance 2.0. MCR only have one good song anyway, don't they? 'Welcome to the Black Parade' is such

a banger that I'd sit through two hours just to see it, but that's all I'd be there for." "We'll basically be playing the gigs as soon as I've sorted my outfit for each one," says Alex. "I can't use the matador outfit again, so I'll have to improvise. There's definitely been a lot of crotch prominence in some of my choices, so I might reign that in. But it's all part of it, wearing clothes." He pauses, realising what he's said and adds: "Well wearing clothes is the bare minimum you can ask – I'm not intending to turn up to a gig without any clothes on, don't worry about that." On that bombshell, we decide to leave the band to their fizzy pop and re-enter the real world. Any last words? "We're the biggest band in the entire world," Alex says, smiling. "And please buy the album, it's very good, I promise," Rob adds. P Sports Team's debut album 'Deep Down Happy' is out 3rd April.

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Fade To Gray Having broken the Gen-Z Internet, it’s time for Conan Gray to go IRL famous. Let us tell you a story… Words: Jenessa Williams; Photos: Dillon Matthew

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when you don’t really understand F YOU’RE WILLING TO 10 thousand, you don’t understand scroll back to 2013, you can 100 thousand, or a million... It all watch a 14-year-old Conan just happened without me really Gray introduce himself to realising it. I was 17 when that the world. Swinging back happened, and since then, things and forth on a patio seat, he have gone very, very fast.” chats about vlogging, his desire to Fast is something that Conan share his photography and music. has come to be used to. Born to Just another suburban kid with an Irish father and a Japanese a camera, his follower count is mother who divorced when he languishing in the hundreds, made was three, his upbringing was up of mostly school friends and somewhat turbulent, moving him fellow lonely teenagers. from Texas to Hiroshima, to Florida, Fast-forward to 2020, and that back around various suburbs of subscriber button now reads as Texas, and then away to college 1.7m and rising. in LA for a year Going viral in before recognising 2017 with his ode that he was in to sleepy Middlea position to American living make music his (15-million-viewer main focus. The ‘Idle Town’), songs he writes Gray is living reflects this sense in something of instability of a whirlwind – steeped in – touring with nostalgia for what Panic! At The never really was, Disco, partying craving a sense at the Grammys, of familiarity. and preparing to Recent single release his first ‘The Story’ talks debut album, Kid about two friends Krow. running way from “I don’t think ‘evil parents’ to even now, to Oi! Conan! Describe your ‘have a better this day, I really album in three emoji. life’; fan favourites feel like this is JUST BECAUSE! ‘Crush Culture’ happening,” rolls it eyes at the he laughs. “I sickening power was 9 when I couples of high first posted on school, while YouTube, just “I would definitely say the black secretly wondering silly videos of heart emoji - a lot of the album when love might my geckos or my talks about the hard things that come with being in love. Being in happen for him day at school. love is really freaking scary! And too. They’re The first video it’s really painful. themes that will I posted of me relate to almost singing when I anybody in their was 12 was an confusing midoriginal song teens and beyond – pretty bold “Then I would say… goodness. – anybody who Conan! - and The one that is the angry guy feels like they don’t that’s definitely with the smoke coming out of his quite fit the mould. nostrils – I was listening back to when people the whole record the other day “I grew up all started to and was like, ‘Jesus Christ Conan, over the place, and care about my why are you so goddamn mad?’ I always felt like channel. I guess it’s healthy to get it out an outcast, like I “I literally though. didn’t belong in made ‘Idle Town’ any place, ever,” he in my bedroom explains. “People on Garage ask me about Band; it started being mixed-race blowing up, and “And then I would say, the embarrassed little monkey with a lot, but I couldn’t I kinda realised his hands over his eyes. I’m super really tell you what that it might nervous for people to hear all it’s like, because actually turn into these songs about things they it’s just what I’ve something. But might judge me for thinking, and always been. When I was still kind I’m also just a super shy person. I like to keep to myself, so I’m I was younger, of cool about pretty scared for people to get I really hated it - when you’re up in my business. I talk a lot that feeling, like a kid you don’t about the way I feel about my ‘what am I?’ You really understand life and missing my friends and spend so much that 10 thousand stuff like that, but also constantly wanting to spend some time of your childhood people is 10 alone. I’m just a shy kid. I think wondering how thousand those sum me up pretty well.” you can fit in with people. And

EMO-JI

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other people and put yourself in a box, but then the older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realised that I’m a human being, and there just isn’t room in that box. It used to bother me growing up, feeling like I had no sense of self or sense of home, but then I realised that I am my own home, and my own self. That’s all that really matters at the end of the day.” It’s easy to see why Gray’s star has ascended. Even over the phone, he is immediately likeable and earnest, emanating good ol’ fashioned Texan hospitality in his self-censorship of swears (“Oh shoot!”) and a never-ending flow of affection for his fans and friends – the people he says helped raise

him. He might be the current Prince of Sad Boy Pop, but he’s got a pretty good handle on the way his open-book emotions might help others in the same situation. “I didn’t come up with that ‘sad boy pop’ title myself, but I think it’s pretty accurate,” he laughs. “I’m definitely a sensitive little baby who writes a lot of songs about people that he never dated. But I love to embrace the fact that everyone feels sad every once in a while. I feel like not enough people recognise that it can be okay to be sad; you don’t always have to be constantly fixing your feelings or chasing happiness, you can just sit and reflect in your emotions for a while. I love writing about

sadness with pop music, because it’s so relatable – it’s always fun to hear a sad story told in a way that doesn’t completely bum you out. It makes it so much easier to deal with - I definitely have my moments where I’m super in my feelings, but every once in a while, I just want to dance.” Learning to balance his feels has led to some pretty special moments over the past two years. A string of consistent singles has given insight into his life that feels intimately personal – fans loves to guess who the object of his affections from tallying up his lyrics with his tweets, and although he insists they’ve never gotten it right (“It’s super awkward having to text the

"I didn’t come up with that ‘sad boy pop’ title myself, but I think it’s pretty accurate" person like ‘I’m so sorry everyone is tweeting you, the song is not about you’ – SO EMBARRASSING”), he accepts that the degree to which he’s let people into his life is the cross he has to bear to make music that he truly believes in. “On this album, I confess a lot of things that I’m not happy to admit,” he says. “I have a lot of feelings that I’m pretty ashamed of or am embarrassed about feeling, but I think people deserve to hear the

truth so they can know that that weird thing they’re feeling doesn’t just happen to them. The reason I started songwriting was that I so badly wanted to feel like somebody understood me.” “A lot of the singles have been these big pop songs, and there’s more of those on the album too, but there’s a lot that I say in the quieter songs that are things I’ve really only ever told to my best friends. It’s going to be weird to

say them out loud to the rest of the world. But I’m super close to my fans; I understand them, and they understand me, so I feel like my secrets are safe with them. Anyone who listens to the album, by the time you’re done, you basically know all my secrets. You’re basically qualified as one of my best friends! And I’m so excited to have 10 million best friends!” P Conan Gray’s album ‘Kid Krow’ is out 20th March.

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EMOTION

MBITION. It's been a word synonymous with Circa Waves. In every interview they've done with this here magazine, it's been a defining point that they're keen to underline. The continuous touring, writing and recording is all powered by that desire to reach bigger and bigger heights. Most importantly, they've not been

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afraid to admit it. As Kieran Shudall takes in an afternoon in Brussels amid yet another European tour, it's something he recognises. "I think we're more ambitious than ever," he mulls. "We're playing bigger and bigger venues in Europe and America, we're doing all these things. We still want to play higher up on festivals, want to headline festivals one day too, and I thinkâ&#x20AC;Ś" He pauses. "I think my ambition is probably more secure in what

we're doing now. We have the potential to do the things we really want to do, and I'm quietly confident in how much we're building and building." It's easy to see why. After emerging as a pillar of the indie world over the past decade and a go-to number if you want memories captured for summer freedom, the past 12 months have seen quite a bit going on. The release of 'What's It Like Over There?' signalled a bold new step for the band, welcoming

Many bands would put their feet up having scored yet another Top 10 album, but not Circa Waves. Back with a new album less than 12 months after their last, frontman Kieran Shudall and Co. are in the form of their lives. Words: Jamie Muir.

SICKNESS READDORK.COM

in a range of new influences and an unfiltered desire to experiment and evolve. Pianos? Yeah, why not. Big pop songs? Yeah, go on then. It was the signal to the next chapter in the lives of Circa Waves, and now, instead of waiting around, that journey continues with 'Sad Happy'. "I feel like we just sort of carried on from the last record. We've not really paused for a minute. We just wanted to carry on riding this wave," cracks Kieran "â&#x20AC;Ś to put it in an awful pun." He's not wrong, though. Less than a year on from releasing 'What's It Like Over There?', 'Sad Happy' welcome in the next stage of a band thriving in making the sort of mass singalong anthems that dominate big festival stages. It's an album born out of immediacy, a natural continuation of the momentum they'd opened in their third album and searing with hunger. Recorded in-between festivals over the summer, it comes during a huge year for the band, and Kieran himself. "Well, I was due to have a baby in September, and I knew I basically had the summer up until then to write as much stuff as possible before things really changed in my life. It sort of spurred me on to get everything done," he elaborates. "I was writing two or three songs every day, and before I knew it we had a load of tunes to make a new record - we weren't even aiming to make a new record, but we had so much that we just thought, fuck it, shall we just do another record? "I'm always writing, anyway! We don't have normal jobs, so if you're not writing, then all you're doing is drinking coffee and procrastinating. I need to write music to give myself some sort of purpose, something to achieve really." Darting between London recording sessions in the week before heading off for festivals at weekends, 'Sad Happy' is a dual side fizz of a meal. Banish any idea that because of its quick turnaround that it may not sound as full as Circa Waves records of years gone by. If anything, it stands as their most accomplished album to date - jumping between ideas and outfits at the drop of a dime. A fully realised snapshot of where Circa Waves are right now, it feels like everything has been building to this record. "Without that third record, I don't think we'd have made anything like we did with this album," admits Kieran. "We're not afraid to use any instruments now, on the last record it was like 'can we do a song with a piano on it?' or 'can we do a song with violins on it?' Now I don't even question it. We can do what we want." Entirely self-producing for the first time, that spirit of bouncing off each other and clicking both quickly and sharply sticks out across 'Sad Happy'. "I put a lot of pressure on myself there," admits Kieran, recalling tales of times dashing back to the studio and looking to nail each element of the

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“I'M PROBABLY THE HAPPIEST I'VE EVER BEEN, BUT WITH HAPPINESS COMES WORRY”

SIMPLY THE (CIRCA) FEST

sad and broken are a combination that capture the essence of the album it bears witness to - two sides of the same coin. Being sad and being happy aren't always too far apart, after all. "Ultimately, with any happiness or joy or contentment, there's always the fear that something bad will be round the corner. I think that's a very human thing to feel," lays out Kieran. "I would say the album as a whole is really positive. I've had one of the happiest years of my life! We've made a record, I've had a child, we've played loads of gigs - it was full of so much joy. I'm probably the happiest I've ever been, but with happiness comes worry. I worry about the future, the future for myself and my son and everyone and that anxiety has formed itself on the 'Sad' side of the record. "That was the message from the off. These two things, happiness and sadness, they sit so closely next to each other and you see it in society now more than ever," Kieran continues. "Look at social media - what's trending could be a video of some guys scoring a hat-trick and then just below that is wildfires. On an hourly basis, we're confronted by extreme joy and extreme sadness and the album highlights that I suppose." With 'Happy' already out in the world online in January, the completion of the album in full brings things full circle. "We wanted to release music in a new way" details Kieran, "like when you're on your fourth record, you don't want to be going through the motions. We wanted to do something that was interesting. It has been funny seeing people going 'so what is this - two albums or one of two sides?!' I like that, though. I like confusing people a bit and pushing the boundaries.

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new tracks they were creating. "I was definitely pulling my hair out at times and going a bit mental with the whole process. We made the decision to do it all ourselves, because even in the early stages I record things to a certain level. I still enjoy working with other producers, and I always want to go back to that at some point, but with this record, it felt like we could take the reigns. We're our harshest critics after all." Bristling with a warm gloss of classic pop melodies while ripping with a here-and-now power, 'Sad Happy' stretches its arms wide across the record's two distinct sides. The bouncing bop of 'Jacqueline' and sizzling kicks of 'Be Your Drug' and 'Call Your A full day festival in the heart of Liverpool, you say? Yep, that's Name' are mixed bang on the money. Circa Waves with a real taster are bringing the spritzers for a of styles. 'Wake big one across their hometown! Up Call' breathes With the likes of Spinn and with the ParisianPizzagirl dropping massive sets and ultimate indie DJs Zuzu and synth undertones The Mysterines, it's another date of Phoenix, the for the diary. grandstand "Originally we were putting a orchestral pulls of Liverpool show on, and I was like 'Love You More' - oh, wouldn't it be cool to put on a full day of Liverpool bands and are a sweeping then DJs at night too?" explains whirl of emotions Kieran. "We've got The Zanzibar while the boyish involved, which was the venue I crumples of the used to play in when growing up and bands like The Coral and The album's title track Zutons played in too. It's a really are a panoramic important place for me. delight and cuts "I hope other bands do stuff like like 'Hope There's this in the cities that they're from A Heaven' and as well so we can support these venues because they make all 'Birthday Cake' these big bands possible. I'm sick layer into new of cities not supporting these territories for small venues, it's really stupid. indie's finest "Also - I fucking love Liverpool party-starters. and just want to have a day full of amazing bands from the city to That duality, from have a good one haha!" the good and Circa Fest will take place on optimistic to the 4th April.

"But at the end of the day, it's music - so let's not take it too fucking seriously," he laughs. "It's just two sides of the same album!" In a current musical climate where new music, tracks and artists stream through at rapid pace, Circa Waves' continued creativity feels like a glimpse into what comes next for bands. A rich spark of inspiration and a band firmly in tune with the path they're heading down. "As Circa Waves we're not trying to reinvent the wheel; we're trying to perfect what it is that we do, which is essentially being an entertaining indie/guitar… whatever the fuck you want to call it!" bursts Kieran. "I just want to make music that helps people escape and hits them in all the right places. This fourth record, almost the sole purpose of it was escapism for people. I wanted to refine what Circa Waves was, and as a result, I think this is the most Circa Wavessounding album we've done." Refreshed. Energised. In the form of their career. Circa Waves are focused on a simple mission and that ticket to escape is a vital comfort right about now. "I just want to make great songs," says Kieran defiantly. "There will always be people who simply want to hear 'Young Chasers' over and over again, and there are always going to be people who want to hear something new and fresh moving forward, so we always just try to do what feels right. We try to make songs that we think are going to last a long time and if you can bend the idea of genres slightly, then that's even better." As new challenges present themselves and new experiences come to the fore, Kieran Shudall is taking it firmly in his stride. 'Sad Happy' sees Circa Waves bloom into a band with the abilities to cross into any field they wish and more importantly, shines with a happiness that comes from truly nailing it. Circa Waves seem never better than they are right now. Kieran cracks a smile in the bitter cold of Brussels in January. "I think back to when we were on the first or second record, and I was like 'oh yeah, I want to play to this many people and be a millionaire' and all this," he laughs. "The last time we spoke, I think I was trying to 'peacock' it a little bit. Now, we understand the game a bit more, and we make the best music we've ever done, and we play the best shows we can. That's pretty cool." Ambition. Struggling to keep up with Circa Waves since 2013. P Circa Waves' album 'Happy/Sad' is out now.

can't

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dance 45

disco

Another night, another town. With their second album, The Orielles are set to burn this psychedelic disco down. Words: Jasleen Dhindsa.

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HE ORIELLES have never been a band to play by the rules. Their new record ‘Disco Volador’ cements exactly that through even more peculiar sounds than on their debut record ‘Silver Dollar Moment’. The scope of music has shifted from shoegazey post-punk with psychedelic tinges, to full-on experimental disco and space rock funk. “It was more so just in keeping with what we have been listening to as a collective for a while now,” explains the band’s drummer Sid Dee Hand Halford on the new soundscape. “We’ve just tried to replicate something more in line with our tastes essentially, and listening to a wider taste of music has meant that the music we write ourselves has been more experimental than the last one for sure. “We’ve been listening to a lot of jazz, a lot more disco and dancey stuff. We want to verge away from being a typical indie guitar band, and we thought it was cooler to replicate a DJ set when we play live, in the sense that we want people to dance, we don’t want people to mosh necessarily or you to be stood still. The whole atmosphere of people dancing as a collective of people is something we’ve been more inspired by lately.” This hive-mind the band seek out in their shows is also reflected in their working environment too, returning to work with engineer Joel Patchett and producer Marta Salogni. “They impacted [the sound] massively, we’re so close to the two of them now that we’ve worked with them a few times, to the point where they understand the vibe and direction without us even having to say it. Particular Marta, she’s very on it with the vibe and sound, she’s got very similar interests to us, not just musically but politically, and with other creative stuff like film and literature. We share a lot when we are in the studio together, we tell each other to watch certain films or read certain books, and we bounce off each other in that way, and it helps to create this inspiring atmosphere. “Joel too, he lives in Manchester as well. We see him quite often, and we’ve stayed really good friends with him. At this point, he’s dead easy to work with and makes the whole atmosphere in the studio really pleasant, it doesn’t even feel like we’re working. It feels like we’re

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living in a weird student house together, cooking together after a session or watching weird stuff on TV at 3am after we’ve finished tracking.” Film has always been an integral part of The Orielles creative process - not only do they write music, but they have written screenplays, and reference directors like David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino as inspirations, and translating themes from movies into their music and lyrics. “We’ve all been into eastern European cinema recently, [specifically] this Russian director called Andrei Tarkovsky. He did a series of films which inspired a lot of lyrics on this most recent record, and his films are quite poetic and slow and quite mundane almost. We quite like that idea of making lyrics that are quite mundane with music that’s upbeat, [it’s this] weird juxtaposition that we’ve really enjoyed and been inspired by.” The Orielles have built a reputation being a weird and wonderful band, who conjure up colourful narratives with their off-the-wall music. The themes themselves come from entertaining, abstract and fictitious places, but have they ever thought about writing music that comes from a more sensitive and autobiographical place? “It’s a rare thing for us to do,” Sid admits, “We veer more towards writing fictional things, and Esme quite likes to almost take on a character when she writes a song.” Despite this, hints of the personal creep up on their new record, particularly on the sensitive and dreamy ‘Memoirs of Miso’, Miso being vocalist and bassist (and Sid’s sister) Esme’s stray cat her and her housemates looked after while she was at university. “[Esme] wrote it about her time living at university in this quite hectic house, and living with what were at the time strangers, and getting on in that weird atmosphere, but then also having the band there as a constant entity that she could go back to.” With music that sounds simultaneously retro and futuristic, and thematic references to a cat named after a Japanese soy seasoning and Soviet film directors - it’s safe to say that The Orielles are a band that embrace unconventionality with open arms. “Ultimately our aim is the please ourselves,” Sid laughs when discussing how different her band are to her peers in the

"WE WANT TO VERGE AWAY FROM BEING A TYPICAL INDIE GUITAR BAND" an indie album, [but with] the second one there are fewer boundaries and more scope for experimentation.” And experimentation is exactly what the band have done on this new record, and what could provide the grounds of experimental sounds more than an album heavily inspired by space. But why were they so influenced by the stars? “I’ve got a few answers for this, one being we kind of had this mantra where we wanted the theme for the record to be, a-side: bass to boogie, so a dancey a-side, and then the b-side: boogie to space, so more ambient and electronic stuff. When we were in the studio, loads of references came up. The first day happened to be a lunar eclipse, and then it was the anniversary of the moon landing, and then the anniversary of Brian Enos Apollo record coming out. So there were all these signs pointing to a spacey reference, so we rolled with it.” With ‘Disco Volador’ The Orielles prove that nothing is too far out of reach, not even worlds beyond this universe and galaxy. And as a relentless touring band, it’s only natural that a tour of space isn’t out of the question, but who would they bring with them? “We’d love to play with Stereolab, and I think aliens would really enjoy them, it would definitely go down well in space. There’s a band called Altın Gün who we all listen to quite a lot, they’re a band from The Netherlands, but they’re a Turkish folk psych inspired band, we love them so much we’re seeing them in Vienna! They’ve never played the UK before so we have to travel, but it would be fun to take them with us on a tour of space.” P The Orielles’ album ‘Disco Volador’ is out 28th February.

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alternative UK music scene. “We don’t step out saying, oh let’s write a song that’s going to get played on Radio 1 or one that’s going to make kids at shows go crazy. It’s definitely more of a personal thing, if we can make music that makes us feels good, we roll with that and hope other people like it too.” “More recently, we’ve been apprehensive about putting out some stuff because we’ve felt [it’s] totally going to throw people off or make them confused. It’s got to the point where we’re more concerned with writing music that we enjoy, so it’s not really a conscious thing to worry about what other people are thinking. So many bands nowadays have this mentality where they worry about writing songs that are over three minutes long, which means it’s not going to be played on the radio, fuck the radio!” As a band who stay well and truly to themselves, it’s interesting to reflect on what differences there are between their two albums. “I don’t want to sound cliche, but we’ve definitely we’ve matured [since the debut album]. When we wrote ‘Silver Dollar Moment’, it was a collective of songs where we had been writing from day one. ‘Disco Volador’ comes across as more of a thematic album, because [the songs] were all written at the same time.” She continues, “[The new album] is way more something that I’d listen to. It’s just way more in line with our tastes, like we’ve all come off as way better musicians, we’ve taken it way more seriously. There was less pressure in a sense too as the first time around is the first thing you’re showing to the world. There’s this pressure that people are always going to think of you as an indie band if you release

INCOMING THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE LATEST NEW RELEASES

TAME IMPALA The Slow Rush

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EVIN PARKER finds himself in fresh waters, both in terms of spirit and standing. With the indisputable greatness of ‘Currents’, he not only created Tame Impala’s greatest album but also a record that stands head and shoulders above the rest as arguably one of the defining records of the past decade. It’s taken Tame Impala across the globe as a powerhouse festival headliner, and arena-filling titan, all with an emphatic sound that has reconnected new generations with psychedelica in a way most didn’t think was even possible. So the question now goes “how do you follow that?”. It’s something ‘The Slow Rush’ wears in expectation but quickly dispenses of. As a next move on the Tame Impala chessboard, Kevin Parker has pulled out a bold one. Whereas ‘Currents’ was packed with synth-pop gems that unravelled in countless directions, ‘The Slow Rush’ feels like Kevin Parker bringing that magic down to earth with an assured and

confident record full of contrasting sounds and styles. The beauty is that they fit so effortlessly into each and every groove. ‘Is It True’ bounces pure disco-funk against the R&B builds and space-house heights of ‘Breathe Deeper’. The hands-in-the-air synth drive of ‘Instant Destiny’ catches the eye of the striding ‘Lost In Yesterday’ - the latter finding Kevin Parker embraced in the time of his life. Fully immersed in itself, its emotional core reverberates larger - a journey through time both in nostalgic smiles and jealous hope in its joys and despairs. Screaming at the world (‘It Might Be Time’), gazing into the future (‘One More Year’) and struggling with loss (‘Posthumous Forgiveness’) all play their undeniable part in an album that in Tame Impala’s greatest moment of success, stops for a second and looks within Kevin Parker. He finds himself in fresh new waters, but with ‘The Slow Rush’ Tame Impala are walking on the surface with an untouchable confidence. Jamie Muir

AN ASSURED AND CONFIDENT RECORD FULL OF CONTRASTING SOUNDS AND STYLES RECOMMENDED MURA MASA R.Y.C.

Fusing together an almost endless array of influences and genres, 'R.Y.C.' is the sound of an artist evolving from the beats and sounds of the past. Mura Masa has set the bar for the decade ahead. MARCH 2020

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THE BEST ALBUMS YOU NEED TO CATCH UP WITH NOW

THE BIG MOON Walking Like We Do

'Walking Like We Do' - the long-awaited second album from those loveable scamps The Big Moon, is really proper great. Already one of the albums of the year, and we're only just getting started.

GENGHAR Sanctuary

'Sanctuary' sees Gengahr explore further afield from their usual mild-yet-sweet dream pop. It's a monumental shift in the right direction - a record that's boldly more expansive and electrifyingly curious.

FRANCES QUINLAN Likewise

After seven years in underground indie rock darlings Hop Along, Frances Quinlan's debut solo album combines the best of human emotion. Like a knife, she cuts straight to the bone. A striking, impeccable voice.

BONIFACE Boniface

eeeee Life is an expansive network of moments that crib together. Boniface has crafted a debut album that brings them all vividly to life through the help of soaring bops and delicate jams, entrusting the emotional dissonance to the reaction the music demands. Something magical happens when these vignettes play out; the realism cuts through, no matter how stark or poignant, all backed by glowing electro-indie that hits somewhere nicely between the 80s euphoria of M83 and the intricate delicacy of Blaenavon. Given some of these tracks have been kicking about for a few years now, the additional members to the club have created a debut that’s more than befitting of a world more open and honest, and a killer soundtrack to boot. Steven Loftin

JONATHAN WILSON Dixie Blur

eeeee Strap on your cowboy hat, Dear Reader, because its time to head on down that Old Town Road. Taking his cues from elegant beast Father John Misty (no surprises here, given Jonathan has helped produce all of Misty’s albums), Jonathan Wilson croons of love and laments through his acoustic guitar, with a bit of intense, feels-likehe’s-staring-into-youreyes balladeer-ing. If country music isn’t your bag, then you won’t find much here other than a sad man and a guitar. However, if you’re into the storytelling, rootin’ and tootin’ sounds of pedal steels, and the metaphorical crackle of a campfire, then you’re in for a treat. There are

SOCCER MOMMY Color Theory few tracks that pick up the pace, ready for a hoe down (‘In Heaven Making Love’, ‘El Camino Real’), and you’ve got some that go all-in on the cacophony of a stadium ballad (‘Enemies’), but mostly, they’ve all got heart, which makes for a sincere, if long, listen. Steven Loftin

SUMMER CAMP Romantic Comedy

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SEA GIRLS

Under Exit Lights EP

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"It's so hard to find a song to put on when they're all about either falling in or falling out, and I just want to stay here in the middle dancing around in the shadows," declare Peggy

Sue in the mantra-like 'In The Shallows'. What the follow up to 2014's triumphant 'Choir of Echoes' does is capture the very essence of those aforementioned shadows, and make them look almost inviting. On 'Vices' Peggy Sue are taking your everyday clichés of love and heartbreak, and embracing them with open arms. Ruminations over why things ended ('In Dreams') are offset by distracting thoughts ('Remainder Blues') and make for a sense of reverie throughout ethereal fleeting between the sanguine and the sombre. The London-based duo may have taken a four-year hiatus from writing together to focus on, and find inspiration from, their other musical projects but you would never have guessed by the ease in which the songs flow. Whether conforming to the conventions of garage rock; slipping into the haziness of shoegaze; or tapping into the jazzier side of their wealthy back catalogue, Peggy Sue have a knack for making a variety of music which allows you to purge all kinds of emotions. Tyler Damara Kelly

Indie is an underrated beast. Sure, it can pack venues and send excited young kids scrambling for the merch table, but guitar bands don't necessarily get that same crack of the whip when it comes to becoming critical darlings. That's not something that should concern Sea Girls though. While

other new bands may be weirder or pushing more boundaries, they know how to push the buttons that - when push comes to shove - really matters. 'Ready For More' already sounds like a huge festival anthem. By the time 2020 closes up shop, expect them to be massive. Stephen Ackroyd

PEGGY SUE Vices

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eeeee When a band gets it right on their first album, it can set aside two different paths. There’s the path where the pressure gets too much and their attempts to “evolve” end up down the toilet. Then there’s the path where the flashes that shone on their first record are just an indicator for something even more dazzling. For The Orielles, that’s the one they’ve guided their motor down. More fluid and expressive, ‘Disco Volador’ dares to go where debut ‘Silver Dollar Moment’ wouldn’t. All jangling guitars, wistful skies shine bright throughout from a band continually adding depth of sound that makes you want to crack out the summer trunks and dive right on in. ‘Rapid i’ and its Ibiza piano lines swell into a shimmering diamond, while saxophones and riding waves collide into a mesmeric gift on ‘Memoirs Of Miso’. With a knack for heavenly harmonies throughout, the worlds of experimental and immediate combine. ‘Come Down On Jupiter’ and ‘Bobbi’s Second World’ (the latter already a famed live staple for the band) could be just as comfortable on the indie club dancefloor as it is plugged into bedroom sound systems. That sense of playful fun on ‘7th Dynamic Goo’ and ‘Space Samba (Disco Volador Theme)’ practically bursts into sunshine - a sense of innocence, hope and pure satisfaction that perfectly capture what The Orielles are doing differently. A bountiful next step for a band with a distinct voice, ‘Disco Volador’ is a record that shows the heart and soul of dancing into the sunrise. Jamie Muir

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OCCER Mommy may sound like the name of a super ironic snark rock band, but Sophie Allison’s music is anything but. Sincere, timely and unadorned, Allison crafts the sort of moody bedroom pop destined to soundtrack countless mornings spent staring through rainy window panes. Thanks to her dry humour, she comfortably has her cake and eats it. Thanks to her dry humour, she comfortably has her cake and eats it. If her 2018 breakthrough, ‘Clean’, showed a clear knack for catchy melodies and tautly-strung emotional autopsies, ‘Color Theory’ exhibits a developing degree of songwriting maturity. Sure, she may winkingly refer to herself as “The princess of screwing up” on ‘royal screw up’, but that’s just one of many apt metaphors for the self-doubt incurred by a toxic relationship. Even if the record is a slow burner at points, Allison consistently burns with an intensity. Regardless of her propensity for smouldering, ‘Bloodstream’ kicks the album off with a bang. Its raucous-yet-laid-back ‘90s slacker rock tone sends a clear message; everything is a little different, but the same. Certainly, there was nothing like the 7-minute

mini-epic ‘yellow is the color of my eyes’ on ‘Clean’, even if the tools she’s using are largely unchanged. What stands out is still Allison’s knack for crafting simple, wrenching compositions. As a lyricist, Allison is all limits and knots, each pithy observation pushing her one step closer to catharsis. Though there are some lovely poetic turns of phrase threaded through ‘Color Theory’, she lands her greatest shots when she’s incontestably blunt. The simple impact of the hook on ‘crawling in my skin’ which is (you guessed it) “Crawling in my skin” comes from the weight Allison’s strained vocal imbues it with. Thanks to her forthright honesty, it never feels forced. At ten tracks this is an explicitly restrained follow-up — the sign of an artist taking the difficult second album in their stride. The back half feels a little weaker than the first, but there’s a remarkable consistency that ensures all the component pieces are singing from the same hymn sheet. Though the emotions expressed might be broad, Allison’s unvarnished writing allows for moments of penetrating nuance. Her ability to laugh and cry at these reflections is what makes her such a charming talent. Blaise Radley

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As inevitable as a second act break-up in the movies before a kiss in the final scene, this feels like it was always going to happen. Summer Camp have permanently sounded like they were made for a classic 80s teen movie, ever since their debut ‘Welcome To Condale’ first ushered in their string of lush indie pop moments. As the married couple began to explore different paths professionally, (Elizabeth Sankey moving into film-making, Jeremy Warmsley exploring film soundtracks), it seems only natural that the band have

returned to the studio for this, a companion piece to Sankey’s 2019 documentary of the same name. True to its title, the record affectionately explores every classic romcom staple before gently massaging them into the real world. ‘The Ugly Truth’ has no time for fireworks or love at first sight but keeps the romance all the same, while ‘When Danny Met John’ explores the kind of love and infatuation that lingers for decades. With a keen eye for the little moments that become the bedrock of a relationship, tracks like ‘You Complete Me’ are bound for couples’ playlists the world over. It is definitely going to hit Cupid’s target. Jamie MacMillan

THE ORIELLES Disco Volador

NOVA TWINS Who Are The Girls?

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GRIMES

Miss Anthropocene

eeeee Art is subjective. Art is in the eye of the beholder. When it comes to art, there's no right or wrong. All these statements are both familiar and undeniably true, and yet in recent months and years, the story around

BEACH BUNNY Honeymoon

eeeee Some bands make it look so easy. With soaring hooks, direct tellings of love lived and lost, and a fizzing ability to pack these into threeminute dazzlers - Beach Bunny feel like a band about to mean a lot to many, many people. Across their debut album 'Honeymoon', the Chicago newbies punch with the sort of immediacy that directly reaches into universal emotion and sets them on a path for packed rooms and festival stages full of singalongs at every turn. Lead by the tales and tones of Lili Trifilio, each track on 'Honeymoon' feels like a raw story ripped from a teenage diary. 'Ms California' pours across seeing the one you love with someone else, 'Dream Boy' on letting yourself fall in love again, while

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Grimes has become so sensationalised and unexpected, that separating it from the music she produces feels increasingly difficult. With the noise of the celeb culture machine turned down a notch or two, 'Miss Anthropocene' shows an artist still pushing her boundaries wherever possible. Sometimes, it's in trademark ways - like with the breakbeats and ethereal sweeps of ' 4ÆM'. On others, it's in far less expected ones. Take 'Delete Forever' - a track

which builds around an acoustic guitar riff that could almost come from a rewrite of Oasis' 'Wonderwall'. On the surface, that may sound uncharacteristically conformist for Grimes, but in others it's a much braver decision than taking a hard left turn. Though the circus around her has at times threatened to overwhelm Grimes, when it's stripped back to just the art, she's still one of the very best. There's nothing subjective about that. Stephen Ackroyd

'Rearview' battles inadequacy in the eyes of another. Opening itself up for all the world to see, it's a defiant record that signals what Beach Bunny have captured so perfectly. Ripping heights tumble against swinging grooves on 'April', delicate piano keys ring true on 'Racetrack', and the fullthrottle drive of 'Cloud 9' takes things to new levels. Feverishly fun, stuck in your head in moments and full of glorious guitar-pop moments - 'Honeymoon' is a joyfully uplifting record that finds solace in heartbreak and hope. Jamie Muir

alluring, entrancing and captivating. Chock-full of glitchy bangers it's there tearing apart your expectations, layering beneath the flickering beats and dwindling tunes allegory and suspense to hook you in. 'Fresh Laundry' not actually about filling the washing machine up - but stands instead as an expression of longing for that thing that comforts you. It's mystical, but equally, as relatable nature that gives 'Cape God' a safe sanctity. Allie X is pop for the outsiders, pitching directly to those who see the box and not only think outside of it but are figuring out how to dismantle it and rebuild it into a circle. Through her evolution over the years, Allie has done just this to herself, resulting in the sincere melody monster before us now. Even dueting with Troye Sivan on 'Love Me Wrong' heads in an against-the-grain with its harmonious, hypnotic guitar lines lamenting like a Radiohead song. It's not until the last minute, or so it picks up, but finding that

ALLIE X Cape God

eeeee Hiding somewhere on the darker side of the dancefloor, Allie X's return, 'Cape God', is dramatically waving its arms about;

Sometimes when listening to something for the first time, you experience a neutrality of emotions. A thoughtprovoking moment that inspires the occasional smile, a simple nod of the head, or a little bit of stank face. With Nova Twins' debut, expect all of this dialled up to a thousand. 'Who Are The Girls?' is made up of ten songs with jaw-dropping break downs, searing riffs that make you tense up, and brazen lyrics that hit you in the chest. The past year has been a whirlwind for the DIY band – from a plethora of festival appearances to signing with Jason Aalon Butler's artist collective 333 Wreckords – and the album's release is a triumphant way of rounding it all up, before catapulting back out into the madness. 'Play Fair' serves as guttural garage punk, while 'Ivory Tower' is a melancholic blues number which contrasts against everything they've recorded so far. Remaining consistently fresh throughout, Amy Love's vocals fleet between psychotic baby doll and razorblade rasp which is complemented and amplified by Georgia South's complex assemblage of pedals that build up a mystifying bubble of tension and an echo chamber of hallucinatory noise. 'Taxi' conjures up similarities to Muse, and 'Undertaker' unleashes a complex amount of layers into the aural experience. The album climaxes in a thunderous battering of bass and screeching vocals that leaves you exhilarated and satisfied. It's been quite a wait for this album, but it's surpassed expectation. Tyler Damara Kelly

emotional hook, not from a lover but a parental perspective is a smart play that shows there's always more going on than meets the eye. In every thunderous dance beat, and popready melody that digs itself into your memory quicker than whatever's at number one right now ('Rings A Bell'), Allie X has gone and made an array of bangers that revel in the heart of exposing the heart of weirdness in all its hope and glory. Steven Loftin

MUSH 3D Routine

eeeee "I take my coffee with existential dread" squawks Dan Hyndman at one point, nicely wrapping up what it means to be a human being in *checks notes* 2020. One thing is for sure, with themes of angst, critiquing meal deal variations of just

GREEN DAY Father of All Motherfuckers

eeeee ‘Rock has lost its balls’ screams the press release for ‘Father Of All Motherfuckers’ (to give Green Day’s thirteenth record its full name), with a promise that the once-obnoxious but now nearly-but-not-quiterespectable punk brats were going back to their roots of just not giving a shit. The results however are frustratingly muddled and middling; the scuzzy production on the title-track and the rowdy ‘Fire, Ready, Aim’ call back to their

fighting to survive in a low-paid, no-hours gig economy, the debut record from Leeds-based Mush couldn't feel more perfectly timed. Dripping with the same British eccentricities that have powered the likes of Feet and Squid out of a crowded field of more traditional indie-pop revivalists, '3D Routine' is a record that just can't sit still. Whether it is getting its groove on in the opening 'Revising My Fee', or noodling down jazzy avenues on the title track, it always manages to dance just out of reach before it can be defined. There's a hint of a particularly grouchy Graham Coxon in Tyson's guitaring at points, a familiarly filthy buzz searing through the likes of 'No Signal In The Paddock'. Sure, Hyndman's distinctive vocals might prove to be divisive, and at times it's hard to know what the hell's going on. But even at its loosest, the album maintains its sense of fun and mischief, always somehow snapping back into some kind of focus

earliest days, and when they indulge their love of Ramones on the likes of ‘I Was A Teenage Teenager’, you can glimpse the album this could have been. But there's an elephant in the room. And when ‘Oh Yeah’ happens, that elephant doesn’t just appear but instead tramples everything in sight. Deliberately obnoxious or not, 2020 doesn’t need an ageing punk band to cover Gary Glitter. It just doesn’t. With the DNA of ‘Do You Want To Touch Me?’ running through the track, to say it's misguided is a major understatement. Green Day are swinging more desperately with each release, and while artists shouldn't be criticised for trying something new, sadly here there are far more misses than hits. Jamie MacMillan

LAUV ~how i’m feeling~

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CIRCA WAVES Sad Happy

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before it collapses entirely into chaos. As loose of limb as it is of lip, Mush have added some new layers to already familiar influences and come up with something tasty of their own accord. Jamie MacMillan

BROOKE BENTHAM Everyday Nothing

eeeee For every new artist, there's a fundamental burden that hangs on their shoulders in the run-up to their debut album, and it comes in the form of pressure – to live up to expectations; to have longevity; to always be inspired. In the case of Brooke Bentham, these feelings are a part of her everyday life. Having succumbed to a career in music and found that she was not experiencing the gratification that was romanticised in her youth.

As a result, her debut album is a stunningly ambivalent outlook on life and all of its mundane aspects. Bentham's knack for candid lyricism and sentimentality is captured in the album title 'Everyday Nothing', and what lies beneath is a distinctively magic expansion on everything she has done before. 'Blue Light' exudes an unexpectedly funky ambience; 'Control' is a complete shedding of skin with its scuzzy guitar being reminiscent of The Breeders, and 'Baby Lungs' is more akin to Nico and The Velvet Underground, but 'High' and 'Men I Don't Know' retain the soft, airy nature that we're all familiar with. Bentham exudes nothing but light throughout the bleakness of existence, and by having Bill Ryder-Jones at the helm of production, it's as though their two musical worlds that normally exist parallel to each other have somehow spun into the same trajectory to become something more, something heavenly. Tyler Damara Kelly

Or if he does, they'd be everyone else's big moments. He's not a singular talent either. There's the vibey ballad of 'Changes' - an affirming cut that keeps things simple but sounds absolutely massive - or the all-out bop 'Mean It'. 'Tattoos Together' shows an ability to find a hit in the places others wouldn't think to look, while those huge collabs with the likes of Troye Sivan and Anne Marie that already stacked up the play counts don't stick out in the slightest. Though they're great singles, they're surrounded by equally impressive company. Though the songs may often sound light and breezy, they've got an inherent understanding that modern life isn't always so easy. Introspective and selfaware, even in the most tempestuous situations, opportunity awaits. Dan Harrison

to rate everything in the known universe. RUBY MAGNUMS

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They're Magnums, but with pink ruby chocolate. Think the white chocolate variety, but with a fruity tang. It's an acquired taste, but highly recommended. The tropical house of ice creams.

THE TIKTAALIK

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The Devonian era half-fish, half-tetrapod that transitioned vertebrates from ocean to land. A true classic, and a happy looking chap.

TRANSFORMERS 3

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We've been so positive about Magnums and half-fish, halftetrapods we needed something objectively bad to bring the averages down. Transformers 3 is objectively bad. No, Barry, it's not even ironically fun. Fucksake, Barry.

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 mind-bending 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

SPORTS TEAM Deep Down Happy

Or, as we're already informally referring to it, 'Now That's What We Call Dork Vol. 1'. Out 3rd April

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The indie concept album. If there's a poisoned chalice for guitar bands, that point where they try something a bit different can often be it. Sometimes it works - take Foals' plan to drop two full albums in 2019 - but sometimes it ends up in a bloated mess. Thankfully for Circa Waves, they fall far more into the former camp than the latter. 'Sad Happy' is an album of two halves - one upbeat, one taking the opposite route. Putting

their best foot forward, there's little doubting the Liverpudlians' talents when it comes to the jaunty indie banger. Both opener 'Jacqueline' and follow-up 'Be Your Drug' rattle in with the momentum of a freight train. 'Move To San Francisco' bubbles along with a breezy disposition, while part one closer 'Love You More' is positively woozy. The more morose section, however, isn't always quite as downbeat as one might expect. Title track 'Sad Happy' is certainly wearier, but that doesn't mean it's not virtually glow in the dark, such is its inherent immediacy, while 'Wake Up Call' has tinges of Phoenix's intercontinental cool. An experiment, but one that pays off - Circa Waves have to be happy with that. Stephen Ackroyd

VERYTHING changes, right? There's no denying the fact that technology has changed the way we listen to music. While some artists stay stuck to the old established methods, others see opportunity. Streaming, social media, endless scrolling and cultural overload have opened fresh doors; and it's those that Lauv is striding through on his way to megastardom. In an era where everything is about 'the numbers', he's an artist who commands some figures way above any expectations. But there's more to him than just a few digits. It's not algorithms or playlist placements alone that makes ' ~how i’m feeling~' work. It's the fact that every opportunity is grasped with both hands. Lauv, see, doesn't really do deep cuts.

REVIEW ALL Dork’s one mag mission

FESTIVALS

Live Report Eurosonic is important. It doesn't

matter if it doesn't usually show up on your calendar, Dear Reader. When it comes to how the European festival 'scene' works, it's a vital cog in a big old machine. At the start of every year, the 'industry' decamps to Groningen for what could only be described as an intercontinental version of The Great Escape. With the buzziest bands from around Europe jetting in to dodge the hundreds of bicycles that dominate the streets, we donned our best clogs and hit the streets to find what is taking flight in 2020. Words: Ali Shutler; Photos: Bart Heemskerk, Jorn Baars, Tom van Huisstede

Just Mustard MARCH 2020

DORK

FESTIVALS

Alfie Templeman

READDORK.COM

AKING OVER THE DUTCH CITY OF Groningen, Eurosonic is a music festival in the same vein as The Great Escape. Attracting bookers from 390 festivals, the showcase is a chance for bands to fill in their summer schedules as they take over 39 venues in the city centre and you know us, we love a big ol’ sip of new music. We start our Wednesday in a church, with the buoyant summer vibes of Alfie Templeman. Chilled out but never boring, it shimmers with a feel-good smirk and promises to let the good times roll. By the end of the night, we’re in the basement of Huize Maas, having our minds blown by SKYND. Like Nine Inch Nails on ecstasy, their industrial rave tells stories of true crime as masked members stalk the stage and crowd. There’s one song where SKYND just pretends to be a machine gun and annoyingly, it’s catchier than it has any right to be. We should probably leave but we can’t pull ourselves away. Anyway long story short, Eurosonic is absolute chaos. Inhaler better get used to a certain sort of carnage. The room is absolutely heaving and they’re not on for another 45 minutes. By the time they take to the stage, there’s barely room to reach Inhaler into your pocket and take out your phone, so all eyes are on the Dublin rockers as they tear into a sharp, succinct set of their greatest so far. ‘Ice Cream Sundae’ swaggers with confidence, ‘My Honest Face’ is playful and charming while new ‘un ‘We Have To Move On’ roars with ambition, as hype turns to promise. The crowd for Sinead O’ Brien is just as packed and while her intense poetic wanderings aren’t as pints-in-air as Inhaler, she demands just as much attention with her powerful musings and cinematic escapes. It’s enchanting stuff. Dry Cleaning’s wonky indie is a mesmerising affair. Scrappy and gnarled, there’s a grit to their everyday tales but there’s also a smirking gleam in its polished delivery. Sorry lean into the fuzzy rage of their swirling storytelling. Pristine one moment, gargantuan and messy the next, it’s an ever-shifting set that refuses to settle down while Just Mustard’s haunted play is a masterclass in control. Always pushing forward, the slow-builds and strobe-lit attacks flirt with bedlam but never get lost within it. Elsewhere, The Snuts’ hypercharged indie-rock kicks down doors at The Barn and throws open the dancefloor while Friedberg’s scrappy sunshine feels like the start of something brilliant. Fresh from picking up her Music Moves Europe Talent Award, NAAZ delivers a giddy set of pop bangers. Full of heartbreak and joy, her set is an all-too-brief introduction to a superstar before the emo pop of Au/Ra plays with the light. Saving the best for last though, Pongo’s closing set at the Grand Theatre is an absolute riot. Taking Kuduro music into the present day in the same way that Rosalia reworked flamenco, Pongo’s music is a carnival celebration of belonging. Because it’s a festival that champions new music, a lot of the acts at Eurosonic are still finding themselves onstage but Pongo knows exactly who she is. Fearless and out for fun, it’s the sort of show that everyone should experience. Once it’s over, we come back to reality with a bump that isn’t helped by the guy playing Oasis covers at the pub around the corner. It doesn’t matter where you go, turns out there’s always one. P

FESTIVALS

STORMZY, SAM FENDER AND MORE FOR READING & LEEDS 2020 Rage Against The Machine, Rex Orange County, Girl In Red, Run The Jewels and more are also playing.

HE FIRST BIG BATCH OF ACTS has been announced for this year's Reading & Leeds Festival. Following the early self-announces of Liam Gallagher and Rage Against The Machine, last year's Glastonbury headliner Stormzy has been confirmed as the third bill-topper for 2020. He'll be joined on the Main Stage by the likes of Migos, Gerry Cinnamon, Courteeners, Run The Jewels, Two Door Cinema Club, Slowthai, All Time Low and Bloxx. Elsewhere, Sam Fender, Rex Orange County and AJ Tracey head up the BBC Radio 1 stage, with Declan McKenna, Wallows, Fontaines D.C., Sea Girls, Eas Life, Inhaler, Idles, Waterparks, Georgia and Joy Crookes also amongst the new names. Around the rest of the site you'll find Girl In Red, Sports Team, Creeper, Fever 333, Beabadoobee, Fickle Friends, Spector, Ashnikko, Denzel Curry and loads more. Reading & Leeds 2020 takes place between 28th and 30th August. Tickets are on sale now.

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB, SHAME, EASY LIFE, THE BIG MOON, SPORTS TEAM AND MORE ARE PLAYING TRUCK

RUCK HAS ANNOUNCED LOADS OF bands for 2020, including headliners Bombay Bicycle Club, The Kooks and Catfish and the Bottlemen. Also on the bill are Dork faves The Big Moon, Sports Team, Blossoms, Pale Waves, Shame, Fickle Friends, Sundara Karma, Easy Life, Swim Deep, and The Magic Gang. Truck will run from 30th July - 2nd August. Tickets are on sale now, visit truckfestival.com for more information.

MARCH 2020

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CODE ORANGE AND WHILE SHE SLEEPS ARE GOING TO PLAY THIS YEAR'S SLAM DUNK Slam Dunk has confirmed a few more bands. The new names include While She Sleeps, who will headline the Jägermeister stage, Code Orange (pictured), This Wild Life, Doll Skin, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, Spunge and A. Mat Welsh of While She Sleeps says: “Slam Dunk is one of the best festivals and we always have a great time there, both playing and just experiencing the event. We’re very excited to be playing this year for 2020. Incredible line-up, incredible bands. We’re so stoked to be returning.” The one-day event will be held in Leeds' Temple Newsam Park and Hatfield Park on 23rd and 24th May respectively. Tickets are on sale now.

CREEPER, THE AMAZONS, BOSTON MANOR AND MORE ARE PLAYING 2000TREES

000TREES HAVE announced a batch of new bands for this year's event. 42 new acts join the bill, including Creeper, Knocked Loose, The Amazons, The Get Up Kids, Boston Manor and loads more, who join the previously revealed Thursday night headliners Jimmy Eat World. Others joining the line-up include 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. Held between 9th and 11th July on Upcote Farm, near Cheltenham, tickets for 2000trees are on sale now.

A new batch of acts have been announced for Latitude 2020. King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, Tove Lo, Banks, Purity Ring, La Roux, Black Pumas, Stella Donnelly, Hinds, Confidence Man, Bad Sounds, Sorry and more all join the bill for the Suffolk event, taking place between 16th and 19th of July.

Royal Blood, Blossoms and Fontaines D.C. have joined the line-up for This Is Tomorrow. Also new to the bill, are recent Dork cover stars Inhaler, The Lathums, and The Snuts. These latest names join headliners Sam Fender and Gerry Cinnamon, as well as Circa Waves, L Devine, The Kooks and Tom Walker. The North East event will take place at Exhibition Park in Newcastle from 22nd-24th May. Tickets are on sale now.

LONG DIVISION HAS CONFIRMED A LOAD OF BANDS Long Division has announced a load of bands for their tenth-anniversary festival. Leading the names are Sunderland's The Futureheads, who've just celebrated the 15th anniversary of their debut album, as well as Beardyman, The Lovely Eggs, She Drew The Gun, Brix & The Extricated, and Lanterns On The Lake. There's also Beans On Toast, Allusinlove, Big Joanie, Hands Off Gretel, Too Many T’s, Look Mum No Computer, Hyde Park Brass, POZI, Mt Doubt, West Wickhams, Foundlings, Martha Hill, Low Hummer, Ruthie, Langkamer, Fonda 500, Lemon Drink, Tiger By The Tail, Life Model, Bunkerpop, Mt Misery, One Day, After School, The New Nostalgia, Macroscope, Jodie Nicholson, Samh, and HerTiltedMoon. Long Division will take place from 4th-7th June at various venues across Wakefield.

The first 55 acts for Dutch festival Lowlands are out. Leading the names are Stormzy, Bring Me The Horizon, Lewis Capaldi, Caribou, Fever 333, Sam Fender, Shame, Liam Gallagher, Angel Olsen, JPEGMAFIA, Rex Orange County, The Chemical Brothers, Foals, Georgia, Glass Animals, London Grammar, Yungblud and Michael Kiwanuka. Lowlands will take place from 21st–23rd August.

KENDRICK IN THE PARK

ENDRICK LAMAR IS COMING to London this summer to headline BST Hyde Park. Supported by James Blake, Brittany Howard and more to be announced, the event will take place on Sunday 5th July. The news marks the event's fourth announcement for 2020, with further bill-topping sets coming from Post Malone (2nd July), Little Mix (4th July), Pearl Jam (10th July) and Taylor Swift (11th July).

Liam Gallagher, Disclosure and Haim (pictured) are among the latest names for Rock Werchter. Also playing are Placebo, Michael Kiwanuka, Kacey Musgraves, Jorja Smith, Brittany Howard, Cigarettes After Sex, The Big Moon, Big Thief, Bicep Live, Jimmy Eat World, Archive, Tones And I, and Joost. The Belgian event will take place from 2nd-5th July.

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FESTIVALS

"WE HAVE A SOFT SPOT FOR LEEDS FROM THE KEWELL AND VIDUKA DAYS" the studio, we picked all our favourite songs and started nutting them out in more detail - it was recorded in Sydney, London and LA.

Preview

LIVE AT LEEDS

It’s time to start getting excited, Dear Reader. We’re just a few months out from the unofficial start of our summer festival season. That May Day Bank Holiday weekend means one thing Live at Leeds. Packed with (literally) hundreds of the best new bands on the planet, it sees one of the country’s most vibrant creative cities turned into a mecca of buzz, hype and awesome live music.

DMA’S THE HEADLINERS

T’S GRAND STATEMENT TIME, guys: come the end of 2020, there’ll be few bands who’ve had as successful a year as DMA’s. With their third album due to arrive in spring (24th April), billtopping festival sets already confirmed (hello, Live At Leeds), and a headliner at London’s Brixton Academy about to rear its head (6th March), they’ve a lot going on. Lead vocalist and drummer Tommy O’Dell tells us more.

HELLO TOMMY! HOW’S IT GOING? HOW WAS THE LIAM GALLAGHER TOUR? Yeah, the Liam tour was cool - played some great venues and got a chance to play some new stuff. IT MUST BE NUTS OPENING FOR SOMEONE LIKE HIM, WERE YOU FANS BEFOREHAND? HOW DID YOU LAND THE SUPPORT SLOT? MARCH 2020

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Yeah, I’ve been a fan for a long time, so to be on the same bill was great. He’s a cool down to earth guy which makes it even better. YOU GUYS HAVE A HUGE YEAR COMING UP: THERE’S THE ALBUM, FESTIVALS, A HEADLINER AT BRIXTON - ARE YOU READY FOR IT ALL? Yeah, we’ve just finished mixing the album and started sorting out the live set - we can’t wait to get back into it and play our new songs, as well as the old ones. TELL US ABOUT THE ALBUM, HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN IN THE WORKS FOR? WHERE DID YOU RECORD? We began working on the album pretty much straight after we finished ‘For Now’ - any ideas we had we tried to demo quickly, even if we were on the road. A few months out from going into

HOW DID YOU APPROACH CURATING THE TRACKLISTING? WHAT ARE THE SONGS ABOUT? Once the mixing was done, we just sat down and figured out the best flow of the album. The songs were written over a long period of time (some tunes were even written before ‘Hills End’ and ‘For Now’), but like most of our tunes they just express ideas and feelings of our everyday life and what it’s like to be in love, down, happy, sad and everything in between. It also draws on emotions you feel when you’re on the road touring. IN WHAT WAYS IS THE RECORD A STEP UP FOR YOU GUYS? Certainly in the production - we’ve tried to experiment with different sounds and ideas (production aspects) - lots of genres have been covered in this album, and I think it makes it an interesting album to listen to for that reason. Working with Stuart Price allowed us to do this in a really tasteful way. He’s sick. YOU’RE PLAYING LIVE AT LEEDS SOON, HAVE YOU HEADLINED A FESTIVAL BEFORE? Yeah, we have, a few festivals at home. It’s a great honour to be playing among so many other great acts - makes it a little more special to be closing the evening so we’ll do our best to put on a good show for everyone. ARE YOU GOING TO HANG AROUND AND CHECK OUT THE OTHER BANDS PLAYING? Hockey Dad, an Australian two-piece surf rock band, are pretty sick. I’ll try and see them - others should too! DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE VENUE OR SPOT TO PLAY IN LEEDS? We love Leeds - all the gigs have been great. It’s always been a city that has supported us from the very beginning. One of our first shows in Leeds was this festival, so to come back and headline is unreal. ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? Looking forward to when Leeds get promoted to the premier league - we have a soft spot for Leeds from the Kewell and Viduka days. P

Festival Fact File S Live At Leeds liveatleeds.com

Location: Leeds, UK Date: Saturday, 2nd May 2020. Tickets: £38 + bf Line-up: DMA’s, Pale Waves, East Life, Shame, Ezra Furman, Ghostpoet, Mystery Jets, Amber Run, Bad Sounds, Fickle Friends, Marika Hackman, Rhys Lewis, Self Esteem, Temples, tim Burgess, Working Men’s Club, Alfie Templeman, Brooke Bentham, Chinatown Slalom, Feet, Fling, James Smith, Hockey Dad, Jordan Mackampa, Kawala, Pom Poko, Ryan McMullan, The Illicits, The Pale White, The Wytches, W.H. Lung, Aaron Smith, Abbie Ozard, Alex Gough, Alfie Neale, Amber Van Day, Andrew Cushin, Angelica Garcia, Artio, Baba Ali, Bamily, Beachtape, Beauty School, Birthh, Brad Stank, Brooders, Chappaqua Wrestling, Charlotte, Chartreuse, Cheap Teeth, Coach Party, Conrad, Curtis Walsh, David Keenan, Dense, Devon, Do Nothing, Drug Store Romeos, Dylan, Elm, Emma Steinbakken, English Teacher, Eve Owen, Fever, George Cosby, Ghum, Gracey, Himalayas, Jake Whiskin, John, Josh Vine, Jonedream, Katy J Pearson, Keir Gibson, Leo Cosmos, Leodis, Lilla Vargen, Lio, Lola Young, Low Hummer, Mabes, Marie White, Matilda Mann, Maya Law, Mid City, Modernlove, Molly Payton, Nick Wilson, Noisy, Oscar Lang, On Video, Para Fiction, Patrick Martin, Petrie, Phoebe Green, Polly Money, Priestgate, Respons, Richard Fairlie, Sam Calver, Sfven, Skylights, Social Contract, Soda Blonde, Somebody’s Child, Spacey Jane, Spqr, Spyres, Talulah Ruby, Tamzene, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, The C33s, The Clockworks, The Goa Express, The Loose Cut, The Wha, Van Houten, Vaughan, Venus, Violet Skies, Walt Disco, Wargasm, Weird Milk, Wuh Oh, Wunderhorse, Your Smith, Zooni

FESTIVALS GETTING TO KNOW...

LOW HUMMER

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 Live at Leeds. Take it away, you lot. Blaine and I went to watch Ezra Furman play at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire about five years ago. It was the first time we saw The Big Moon - right before their first album dropped. We were wowed by the time they came off stage. When Ezra came on we thought we were only waiting to hear ‘restless year’. By the end of the set, we realised that he had a killer arsenal of songs underneath his floral skirt. Jack Flanagan, Mystery Jets

A Self Esteem set is something that I am so lucky to have witnessed disgustingly hungover at Glastonbury, and it fully cured me. The live performance is such a vibrant expression of emotion, vulnerability and everything it means to exist in the modern world with no filter or compromise. And the tunes, of course, are absolute belters. Phoebe Green

When Marika Hackman’s ‘We Slept At Last’ album came out I remember it being such a gorgeously balanced work in terms of writing and production. Always managed to miss her at festivals so will 100% make sure we catch her set. Kawala

Day - a festival I’ve been going to since I was a teenager, so being able to play that was a really ace moment for me too.

WHO ARE YOU ALL, AND WHAT DO YOU DO? WHERE DID YOU MEET? Daniel: I’d been in bands for years and wanted to do something a little different. I asked John (guitar) and Jack (bass) from my old bands to start something new with me, and asked Aimee and Steph to join too. Aimee is a country singer from Hull who I booked gigs for in our hometown, she’s so talented! Steph was a friend of a friend who seemed to have tickets for shows at every gig in Hull but barely ever showed up because she was too cool...

WHAT TOPICS DO YOU ENJOY WRITING ABOUT? Daniel: I’ve always struggled writing happy songs, I’m not sure it’s in me to write positive stuff! I write a bit like a diary entry, how I feel about things affecting me, or my outlook on things taking place politically and socially. Hopefully, people can relate to my babbling. Steph: We’ve all got different backgrounds and represent different tangents of similar influences - but we also seem to all have similar opinions of everything going on around us. Largely about being skint, sad and disillusioned. I think it’s often social observations that influence Dan’s writing, so I imagine our discussions reflect or even catalyse that. Still waiting for a song about crumpets though.

WHAT’S IT LIKE BEING A NEW BAND IN HULL, ARE THERE MANY OPPORTUNITIES? Daniel: Being in a new band in Hull is really exciting! There’s a lot of new stuff of varying styles in the city, but we all feel part of a collective scene looking to branch out. Hull’s an inclusive place, and has some amazing artists at the mo. From Life who have just released a killer second album, to Fever who are supporting Blossoms on tour next month. Bands closer to us are writing great songs, the likes of Autosuggestion, Priestgate, to name a couple. Steph: It’s really great! Everyone in bands in Hull are really supportive of each other - no matter what genre. There’s no hierarchy which is really nice, and makes for a great scene producing a lot of different music. We have a weekly night called The Sesh which puts on some incredible music, and is a must-play gig for anyone in and around Hull. WHAT’S THE MOST EXCITING THING YOU’VE DONE WITH LOW HUMMER SO FAR? Steph: Our Huw Stephens Presents show was so much fun, and our first gig in London too. Things are getting progressively more exciting as we go along and make new music. Humber Street Sesh is basically my Christmas

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE BAND’S VIBE? Steph: Five outcast Northerners spending half their time arguing over the best crumpet toppings and the other half making music. Probably something you’d find on an obscure foreign TV channel in your hotel room at 2am.

DO YOU HAVE A BIG 2020 PLANNED? WHAT ARE YOU UP TO? Daniel: We spent 2019 getting to grips with being a band, so we’re hopeful of playing live a lot more this year, along with releasing as much music as possible. Steph: We’ve got a fair few gigs lined up already, which is really exciting to think about. And like Dan said - a lot of music. A busy year, we hope! ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? Daniel: We have a new single called ‘The Real Thing’, a synth lead song courtesy of Steph which Aimee sings an amazing lead vocal on. P

Rejoice, Dearest Reader! Your favourite music mag (that’s us, ‘or else’ - Ed) will have a stage at this year’s Live At Leeds. If you want to join the fun, grab your tickets now, if not sooner, at liveatleeds.com. S READDORK.COM

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

Visiting Live At Leeds from nearby Hull this May are Dance To The Radio signings, Low Hummer. A band of multiinstrumentalists inspired by the likes of Pixies and The New Adelphi Club, they’re gearing up for a year of new music, and new gigs. Singer and guitarist Daniel and synth player Steph introduce their band. Photo: Shoot J Moore.

FESTIVALS

THE 1975, KINGS OF LEON AND SKEPTA ARE HEADLINING BOARDMASTERS

The 1975, Kings of Leon and Skepta have all been announced as headliners for Boardmasters 2020. 90+ acts have been revealed for the 40th anniversary of the festival, with other names including Sam Fender, Mura Masa, Loyle Carner, Mabel, Little Simz, Pale Waves and Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes. The 'surf and music' festival takes place at Fistral Beach / Watergate Bay in Newquay, Cornwall between 5th and 9th August. Other names on the bill include Palace, Bad Sounds, Feet, The Big Moon, Beabadoobee, Sports Team and Jade Bird.

A BUNCH OF NEW NAMES HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED FOR THIS YEAR'S FIELD DAY LINE-UP

A bunch of new names have been announced for this year's Field Day line-up. The London based festival has added the likes of Mount Kimbie, Floating Points, Maribou State, Ross From Friends and more to the bill, which will be topped by headlined Bicep. Field Day will return to its new site of North London's The Drumsheds for a second year, taking place on 11th July.

DREAM WIFE AND GIRL BAND ARE AMONG THE FIRST ACTS FOR GOLD SOUNDS FESTIVAL

Dream Wife and Girl Band are among the first acts for Gold Sounds Festival. The Leeds event will take place from 16th-17th May at the Brudenell Social Club, with Warmduscher, Matt Maltese, Lady Bird, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, PVA, Tiña, Treeboy & Arc, Far Caspian, Holodrum, Bull, Mealtime, Peaness, Strawberry Guy, and Joe & The Shitboys also on the bill. Day tickets are priced at £20, and weekend tickets £32.50. Visit goldsoundsfestival.com for more information.

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Faith No More and FKA Twigs (pictured) have joined the 50th edition of Roskilde Festival. They're among 32 new names, including Anderson .Paak, Kacey Musgraves, Anna Meredith, Girl In Red, Angel Olsen, Sampa The Great, Young Thug, Special Request, and Squid. Roskilde will take place from 27th June - 6th July.

Sheffield's Tramlines has signed up The Kooks, DMA's, Pale Waves and more. Headlining this year will be Ian Brown, Catfish and the Bottlemen, and Madness, with The Hives, The Fratellis, La Roux, Easy Life, The Snuts, The Pigeon Detectives, The Sherlocks, Twisted Wheel, Sister Sledge, The Big Moon, Lucy Spraggan, Sundara Karma, and The Magic Gang also set to play. The event will take place at Hillsborough Park from Friday 31st July to Sunday 2nd August.

Supergrass are going to headline this year's Splendour. Joining them at the Wollaton Park, Nottingham event will be James and Belinda Carlisle, with plenty more names still to be announced. Splendour takes place on 18th July.

A new festival is launching in Sunderland this summer. Hosted by Sunderland City Council, Lamplight Festival will take place from Saturday 8th - Sunday 9th August in the city centre’s Mowbray Park with sets from Kaiser Chiefs, Frankie and the Heartstrings, Deacon Blue, KT Tunstall, and Roddy Woomble.

FESTIVALS Live Report It’s early January, the Xmas decorations have just come down, and we’re still skint from buying all the prezzies. What on earth are we doing at a Butlin’s in Bognor for a festival? Well, Dear Reader, Rockaway Beach isn’t your average weekend. Words: Jake Hawkes, Jamie Muir, Liam Konemann. Photos: Jamie MacMillan, Josh Moore.

LIFE’S A BEACH T

HINK FESTIVAL season doesn’t start until May, Dear Reader? Think again. Butlin’s Bognor Regis is determined to wring out as much music as possible from the early days of 2020, and Rockaway Beach is here to entice the general public to do the same, slamming away any post-Xmas hangovers left standing. Start the year as you mean to go on, right? As far as glamorous festival locations go, an out of season holiday resort in January ranks in a field of its own; especially when it’s raining sideways, and you’ve got three hours to wander the 2p pushers until you can check-in for a weekend of adventure golf (we’ll keep quiet on who actually won out of Team Dork), pouring fizzy pop all over the bar (who, us?), sparkling gems and new faves. Rising from hotel rooms adorned with toy ships and snarky looking crabs, Rockaway Beach thrives in pacing itself from start to finish. Forget the mad dash between stages to see bands, here it’s all about strolling from one set, over to the arcade Pacman games, and then back for another. Rockaway Beach revels in its moments where acts pushing against the boundaries of genre take a step forward. Penelope Isles are illuminating on a Saturday afternoon, all wistful tones and unravelling panoramic swoons that rightly sees a packed room step away from the

(OR AT LEAST A FESTIVAL NEAR THE SEA)

air hockey tables to stand in wonder. Opening up a world of their own in their half-hour set, it’s nothing short of dazzling. Likewise, Nova Twins, taking to the festival’s Centre Stage venue (complete with bingo-style seating, another arcade and a gift shop) serve up a powerhouse set perfect for festival stages that in its all too short timeframe sees their blending of heavy riffs and Rage Against The Machine-style callouts win over a crowd eagerly awaiting the opportunity to slip into The Jesus And Mary Chain’s enchanting world. The latter feels like a real moment for an audience who’ve grown up with the cult favourites, pouring across their catalogue with ease and grabbing wide-eyed awe for tracks like ‘April Skies’ and ‘Just Like Honey’. Not content with releasing a barnstormer of a second album with The Big Moon a day earlier, Soph Nathan steps up with Our Girl to remind the Butlin’s faithful just how magical their debut album still sounds. Raw with emotion but incredibly tight as a band, it’s a crafted set that lures you in with no regret - taking things up a notch with a quickfire set that signals just how far the trio can go. On Friday night, SOAK’s in the spotlight with a set that raises the bar even higher. Slotted just before headliner John Cale, she plucks from ‘Before We Forgot How To Dream’ and latest LP ‘Grim Town’. Shimmering with hooks upon hooks, it’s the sort of show that signals an artist coming into their own - with peerless songwriting

and harmonies lodging in every festival-goers mind from the get-go. With form like this, SOAK could be a songwriter who continues to write stunning pop for decades to come, much like Self Esteem who flips Rockaway Beach on its head with a modern pop masterclass that sets itself apart. That’s how to make January seem pretty darn cracking. Before stepping up to take on Team Dork in a pretty serious bowling match (more of that later), LIFE prove themselves to be one of the most underrated live bands in the UK. Bursting with energy and in-yourface cracks, their set is stormed with emotion and feverish energy. Lead singer Mez is hitting every home run possible, dropping Jarvis Cocker dance moves and playing the conductor for the band to rip through each and every track. Razor-sharp, lighting smiles and welcoming a devoted response, their set ends on ‘Popular Music’ and Mez sitting atop someone’s shoulders before leaving through the crowd. Job done. On most weekends at Butlin’s, witnessing that would be the standout highlight you’d be chatting about on the long drive home. Yet closing the weekend is a band who despite taking ownership over 2019, feel like they’re on the cusp of even more. Enter Fontaines DC. Immediately transforming Butlin’s into a gripping sea of gritty importance, they produce the perfect way to close a weekend peeking into the alternative while being equal distance from a fairground and the

beach. Strobes spark as ‘Hurricane Laughter’ fills the room, ‘Dogrel’ as an album now taking on a life of its own after a mammoth 12 months of live shows and anticipation. They let the music do the talking. ‘Chequeless Reckless’, ‘Sha Sha Sha’ and ‘The Lotts’ weaving Dublin skies over Bognor Regis, while ‘Dublin City Sky’ and ‘Roy’s Tune’ silence Rockaway Beach with to-the-bone emotion in jaw-dropping fashion. Taking the time to debut two new songs (which suggest an even broader level to their sound), it’s the run of ‘Too Real’, ‘Liberty Belle’ and ‘Boys In The Better Land’ that really does the damage, triggering the biggest reactions of the entire weekend - and for good reason. A special band continuing to take new steps, they simply don’t need to do an encore. They’ve already captured the festival. Whether it’s the large ‘AHOY’ written across the bunk beds, the latenight singalongs in the one bar that becomes home for a weekend, or the constant bright lights and the sounds of pennies dropping into jackpot trays - Rockaway Beach is truly something. Ridiculous? Yes. Unique? Yeah. But we wouldn’t have it any other way. Is there a festival where you can eat four tonnes of ice cream, lose all your money on disturbing cartoon fighting games involving dumplings, AND catch a Mercury Prize-nominated band after witnessing a Princemeets-Bruce Springsteen tribute band? Turns out there is. P Find more photos from Rockaway Beach at readdork.com now. READDORK.COM

FESTIVALS Rockaway Beach 2020

...AND THEN YOU BOWL?! What can we do with a band at Butlin's? Yeah, you know what we're like. The standard sit down chat feels like a missed opportunity when there's a bowling lane on site. And so, Team Dork lay down the challenge to Life. One match. One interview. Legends all round.

ET IT NEVER BE SAID, DEAR Reader, that we don’t make the most of an opportunity here at Dork. After catching some walloping sets throughout the afternoon, one early evening down at Butlin’s, we found ourselves with a bit of time on our hands before dinner. What’s a mag to do? We’d already been for a walk down the seafront in gale-force winds and spent an hour or so losing nearly all of our sweets and ice cream money on the 2p machines. There was only one thing left to do: head for the bowling lanes. Now, although we probably would have had fun playing amongst ourselves, that wouldn’t exactly have been high stakes, would it? A competition was in order. A rumble, if you will. We needed an opposing team. Someone fierce, someone with drive and determination… someone full of life. Thankfully, they were on hand. Life, that is. As Team Dork swaggered into the saloon, Team Life were squared up and ready to go. Mark us down as ‘intimidated’. Things weren’t looking good for the ol’ Dorksters, as frontman Mez held forth on proper technique, and guitarist Mick disappeared for several minutes to return wearing an official bowling team shirt that he’d brought from home. Alarm bells were ringing. Had we been hustled? The ensuing battle will surely go down in music history, with Life’s Stew and Mick knocking out two strikes each and Dork’s own scribbler Jamie Muir surprising the fans with a hitherto unacknowledged bowling ability. The remainder of both teams engaged in a rapid race to the bottom of the scoreboard - and that’s all we’ll say about that. Names will not be mentioned here, to protect the guilty. While Team Dork put in a valiant, almost supernaturally graceful performance, ultimately Team Life smashed their way to victory. The final score? Life: 355. Dork: 352. Having been publicly shamed, we sat down for a quick chat to find out what 2020 holds in store for some of Hull’s finest. HELLO, LIFE. HOW ARE YOU FEELING AFTER YOUR BOWLING VICTORY?

MARCH 2020

DORK

Honestly, can't work out how Team Dork lost this one.... oh. Yeah. No. Never mind.

Lydia: We had peak fun. Stew: We were talking about it today, saying we’ve never been bowling together, and I don’t think any of us have bowled for maybe 10 - 15 years. So we was up for it and then Josh, our photographer, was like “You do realise I used to be part of a bowling team when I was a teenager, I had my own ball, I had it specially made. I was brilliant, so if you want to let me have a go, let me have a go.” Turns out, me and Mick smashed in two strikes, and Josh went in the gutter. Mick: Sorry, Josh.

‘THE HITS’

play again, man. Christmas is a healing period, so to come back and just play was great. WHAT HAS THE REACTION TO ‘A PICTURE OF GOOD HEALTH’ BEEN LIKE? Mez: We’re very humbled by the reaction to the album. We put a lot of effort into the album, we put a lot of our soul into the album and [it was great] to see it do so well at the end of the year. ‘THE FANS’ Stew got back on Friday from Australia, and we practised for the first time in four weeks, and one of our songs was still on the radio. It means a lot to us just to have that sort of blanket, that comfort, in terms of us writing and going forward.

of that crowd will be walking in not even considering that we’re on or knowing what to expect, and I think whether they like it or not, they’ll go away talking about it. Stew: They’ll know about it.

WHAT ELSE IS COMING IN 2020? Lydia [chanting]: Gigs gigs gigs, lots of gigs! Mick: World extinction. Australia’s burning, all the presidents are fucked, the prime ministers are fucked. Stew: We’re off to France, we’re off to America, we’re off around Europe again. We’re just gonna play like fuck. Write some new music. Keep promoting the last album which is still firing out. The response today has been amazing because we sold out of the merch that we brought. Everyone was singing along, people were getting us to sign records, so I think that says a lot about 2019 and the impact that it had. WHAT’S YOUR ARCADE SPECIALITY? Lydia: What about 2020, mate? What’s Mez: Probably like, air hockey. our vision? What’s the big vision? Stew: 2p machines, mate. Mick: 2020’s gonna be bigger and Lydia: There’s a machine where you put YOU’VE GOT SOME SHOWS WITH money in, and the 2ps come out every KAISER CHIEFS COMING UP. WHAT DO better innit. Stew: Flying cars. Slightly futuristic. time. You win every time. YOU THINK THE REACTION IS GOING Lydia: And just, like, eat the rich. Mick: That’s the best one. TO BE LIKE FROM THE AUDIENCE Mez: Yeah. Eat the rich. THERE? Mick: Unless we get rich. YOUR SET TODAY AT ROCKAWAY Mez: We don’t know. BEACH WAS YOUR FIRST GIG OF 2020. Mick: We’ll probably scare a few people, Thanks, Life. Congratulations on your but in a good way. I think as a live act, HOW WAS IT? we demand attention. Like, at least 50% win. We’re off to train for a rematch. P Mez: It was great to come back and

FESTIVALS

The Streets and Royal Blood are headlining Victorious festival. Also playing this year's event, are Nile Rodgers and Chic, Bombay Bicycle Club, Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Craig David’s TS5, Blossoms, The Fratellis, Feeder, La Roux, Jonny Marr, Miles Kane, DJ Fresh and Mystery Jets. Victorious Festival will take place from 28th–30th August in Southsea.

London all-dayer Wide Awake has made its second line-up announcement. The new names include Metronomy, BEAK>, Black Country, New Road, Squid, The Murder Capital and Charlotte Adigery, who will all perform at Brockwell Park on 5th June.

Foals, Supergrass, Blossoms, Easy Life, Pale Waves, Marika Hackman and loads more are all set to play.

ENDAL CALLING IS BACK WITH ITS FIRST announcement of 2020. Headlined by Foals, Stereophonics, Supergrass and Primal Scream, the event will host a bunch of Dork faves, including Blossoms, Pale Waves, Easy Life, Marika Hackman, The Magic Gang, Sundara Karma, and The Murder Capital. There's also Craig David’s TS5, The Kooks, Johnny Marr, Dizzee Rascal, You Me At Six, DMA’s, Sister Sledge, Jade Bird, The Zutons, Heather Small, Shaggy and loads more. Festival Director, Andy Smith comments: “This is it! This is our most staggering lineup yet, to celebrate our 15-year journey. We have been trying to get Foals on the bill for many years, and it’s long been a dream to have Supergrass and their very large back catalogue of hits joining us - the first album I ever bought! "But what would a birthday party be without old friends? We are happy campers indeed knowing that Stereophonics, Primal Scream and Dizzee Rascal will be joining us in the fields. The music is only part of the fun - this year more than any other we’re really ramping up immersive activities and games right across the park and very excited to be announcing a whole lineup of new areas, venues, activities and events over the coming months. Roll on summer!" This year's Kendal Calling will take place from 30th July - 2nd August at Lowther Deer Park in The Lake District. Visit kendalcalling.co.uk for more information.

TYLER THE CREATOR, SKEPTA AND LEWIS CAPALDI ARE AMONG THE ACTS PLAYING PARKLIFE Tyler The Creator, Skepta and Lewis Capaldi are among the acts topping the bill for Parklife 2020.Joining them at the event will be Khalid, Jorja Smith, Giggs, Anderson Paak, Robyn, Fatboy Slim, AJ Tracey, Charli XCX, Four Tet, Bicep (Live), KSI, Aitch, Hot Chip, Annie Mac, Mabel, Peggy Gou, Carl Cox, D-Block Europe, Jon Hopkins (DJ), Romy, Eric Prydz, Georgia, Floating Points (Live), Celeste and loads more. Parklife will take place from 13th-14th June at Heaton Park in Manchester.

A WHOPPING 100 ACTS HAVE JOINED THE LINEUP FOR THE GREAT ESCAPE

A whopping 100 acts have joined the line-up for The Great Escape. Leading the names are Dorian Electra, Ghostpoet, Arlo Parks, Hayley Mary, Bessie Turner, Kokoko!, AMA, Shygirl, and Strange Bones, as well as Abbie Ozard, Walt Disco, Matilda Mann, Far Caspian, Spacey Jane, Conjurer, Happyness, and SHVPES. They join previously announced acts, Sinead O’Brien, Master Peace, Do Nothing, Ayo Britain, Chlobocop, Phoebe Green, Sassy 009, House Of Pharaohs, Aaron Smith, John, Weird Milk, Boy Scouts, Sarathy Korwar, Sons Of Raphael and more. The Great Escape will take place from 13th-16th May 2020, across loads of venues in Brighton.

MICHAEL KIWANUKA, CARIBOU, MAC DEMARCO AND LITTLE DRAGON ARE ALL SET FOR GREEN MAN Green Man has announced the first details for this year's festival. With general sale tickets on sale now, the Welsh event will play host to the likes of Michael Kiwanuka, Caribou, Mac DeMarco and Little Dragon. There's also places on the bill for Goldfrapp, Thundercat, Agnes Obel, Parquet Courts, Ty Segall, Black Midi, Shame, Gruff Rhys, (Sandy) Alex G, Nadine Shah, The Murder Capital, Torres, Matt Maltese, The Orielles, Boy Azooga, Working Men's Club and loads more. Green Man 2020 runs from Thursday 20th to Sunday 23rd August in the Brecon Beacons, Wales.

BLOXX are

amongst the new announcements for Hit The North. Here's 'an interview'

WHOLE HEAP OF BANDS have just joined the bill for Hit The North. The North East's largest inner-city festival, it'll host some of Dork's fave up-and-comers. From DMA's, who are set to have a ridiculous year 'tbqh', to former Dork cover stars and purveyors of sparkly, retro dance-pop Fickle Friends, to the just-returned Magic Gang boys, and loads more - it's going to be a proper nice time. In amongst the new additions, you'll find another fave of ours in the form of Bloxx. Bandleader Fee Booth gives us a general bandy (and albumy) update. Hey Fee, how's it going? Hey! We are so good. The year's got off to a great start already. We've had some time off, so we're recharged. Are you guys in the studio much, is there new music on the way? We have actually only recently just completed our longest ever run in the studio. There is loads of new music on the way. It feels kinda like we've been in hiding forever, but it's been for good reason... trust us! How are you finding the process of putting together an album? I think writing this album was one of the best and most gratifying processes for both me and the guys. It took like two years, really. But good things come out of being patient and really taking time to perfect things. I'd hate to put out something we all really don't like. How's the new music sounding? Is it all very pop? Haha, it's not ALLL very pop. There are a few angry moments. Don't worry. We're still indie-rock dreamboats. P Hit the North will take place on 3rd May in Newcastle.

READDORK.COM

Bombay Bicycle Club, Royal Blood (Saturday headliner), Pale Waves and more are playing this summer's Y Not Festival. Also among the latest names, are Richard Ashcroft (Sunday headliner), Rag n Bone Man, Sundara Karma, The Futureheads, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Dream State, The Amazons, Jade Bird, Dream Wife, and SPINN. Y Not will take place from 24th-26th July at Pikehall, Derbyshire.

KENDAL CALLING IS BACK FOR 2020

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ASKING THE USUAL STUFF IS SO BORING

Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Contributing Editors Jamie Muir, Martyn Young

This month itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s...

Events Liam James Ward

What was the last thing you broke? A guitar string. And that, my friends, is called 'rock and roll'.

Scribblers Abigail Firth, Blaise Radley, Dan Harrison, Jake Hawkes, Jamie MacMillan, Jasleen Dhindsa, Jenessa Williams, Liam Konemann, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin, Tyler Damara Kelly

MARIKA HACKMAN

readdork.com

of good stuff in there. Which defunct band would you most like to reform? S Club 7, and not just half of them. The older I get, the more I'm realising there really ain't no party like an S Club party.

Who is your favourite member of One Direction? Harry. I don't really know what the others are up to these days, but Harry's got wide-leg trousers Tell us a secret about yourself? Has any fool actually fallen for and bags of class. this? What was the first record you If you could bring something bought? It was an Eminem CD, but I can't extinct back to life, what would you choose? remember which one, and I remember going to Woolworths Well, it's simply got to be the woolly mammoth. to buy it and thinking I was le shit. What's the most embarrassing What did you last dream about? thing that's ever happened to you? I had a horrible dream (let's call it a nightmare) that I was having I got caught swimming naked in sex with Adam Sandler on a pink my school pool by a teacher. It was incredibly awkward. leopard print bedspread. Who's your favourite new band? I've been going in hard on Caroline Polachek's album, and I think she's totally fabulous. What's your biggest fear? I love sharks, trust me I Google them all the time, but I get a really potent form of shark terror when I'm on flights. What is your most treasured possession? I would be very upset if my book collection happened to disappear. It's not fancy or anything, but it's taken me a while to build, and there's a lot

MARCH 2020

DORK

Have you ever seen a ghost? I haven't seen a ghost, but I'm pretty sure I've heard one rattling around. Also, I was once staying in this fucking creepy house (full disclosure it burnt down while we were there) and during a game of backgammon I rolled the dice, and one of them just stayed upright on its corner until I pushed it over. What's your favourite thing about being a musician? Getting to talk about myself all the time. Were you a rebel at school? Not at all apart from a brief bout

Snappers Ally Gonzalo, Bart Heemskerk, Corinne Cumming, Daniel A Harris, Dillon Matthew, Eva Pentel, Francis Beach, Jamie MacMillan, Jorn Baars, Josh Moore, Lauren Maccabee, Lindsey Byrnes, Parri Thomas, Patrick Gunning, Sapphire Needham, Sarah Louise Bennett, Shoot J Moore, Tom van Huisstede Doodlers Russell Taysom PUBLISHED FROM

of skinny dipping (see above).

Somewhere around the -6 mark

What have you got in your pockets right now? Bits of a tissue that went through the wash.

What is your earliest memory? Waking up in bed aged around 3 and being absolutely terrified. I have no idea why.

What's your fave TV show? I don't watch a heap of TV, but I got pretty obsessed with Game of Thrones.

Have you ever been thrown out of somewhere? I got kicked out of a cab once for having a very discreet and innocent kiss with Amber. The dude went nuts and accused us of having sex and was basically just being a bigoted asshole.

If you could have a superpower of your choosing, what would it be? Communicating with animals would be very cool. Although it would be such a shame if you found out your dog was a total dickhead. How punk are you out of ten?

If you weren't a musician, what would you be doing? I wouldn't even exist, honey, because without music I am nothing. P

WELCOMETOTHEBUNKER.COM UNIT 10, 23 GRANGE ROAD, HASTINGS, TN34 2RL

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

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30 JUL - 2 AUG 2020

LOWTHER DEER PARK

THE BEAUTIFUL LAKE DISTRICT

FRIDAY 31 JUL

SUPERGRASS • CRAIG DAVID

PRESENTS

DMA'S • JUNGLE [DJ SET] • SHAGGY • THE MAGIC GANG

TS5

DUB PHIZIX & STRATEGY • REEF • THE MURDER CAPITAL • JAGUAR SKILLS • THE REYTONS HONEYBLOOD • PULLED APART BY HORSES • HEATHER SMALL • PHEOBE GREEN • JAMES HOLT DIRTY LACES • SLAMBOREE • MASSIVE WAGONS • NOVA TWINS • BLACK FUTURES • FREEAR DJ SET MR WILSON’S SECOND LINERS • THE SHE STREET BAND • DELAGRAVE • SPRINGFIELD & MANY MORE

SATURDAY 01 AUG

STEREOPHONICS • BLOSSOMS

JOHNNY MARR • ANDY C • PALE WAVES • THE ZUTONS

EASY LIFE • SISTER SLEDGE • ELVANA • NORTH BASE • FLAVA D • LEVELZ • THE ACADEMIC THE K'S • DUB PISTOLS • PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS • THE LATHUMS • EMILY BURNS MR MOTIVATOR • TOM MCGUIRE & THE BRASSHOLES • ELLYSSE MASON • THE ILLICITS • TONN PIPER CHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULL • WARGASM • HANDS OFF GRETEL • FLYNT • PAINT & MANY MORE

SUNDAY 02 AUG

FOALS • THE KOOKS

YOU ME AT SIX • HANNAH WANTS • 808 STATE • BILL BAILEY

SCOUTING FOR GIRLS • JADE BIRD • DJ YODA: HISTORY OF GAMING • LAURAN HIBBERD • THE HARA JAGUAR • EMERALD • MARIKA HACKMAN • THE LANCASHIRE HOTPOTS • AARON SMITH • LIINES HACKTIVIST • EVIL SCARECROW • NOSEBLEED • RETRO VIDEO CLUB • BANDAOKE • BARRIOKE SKINNY LISTER • SONIC BOOM SIX • BRAND NEW FRIEND • PROWLES • NOVABLOOD & MANY MORE

THURSDAY 30 JUL - ADDITIONAL TICKET REQUIRED

PRIMAL SCREAM • DIZZEE RASCAL SUNDARA KARMA • CRAIG CHARLES

THE LOTTERY WINNERS • HOWLING RHYTHM & MORE

MULTI AWARD WINNING FESTIVAL - 4 DAYS - 15 STAGES DRIVE-IN CINEMA . VICTORIAN FUNFAIR . COMEDY . AWARD-WINNING REAL ALE FESTIVAL FEASTING HALL . XTRA MILE TAKEOVER co-CURATED BY FRANK TURNER AND THE RETURN OF LOST EDEN KENDAL CALLING GOES TO THE ARCADE: RETRO GAMES ARENA . HUMAN TABLE FOOTBALL & MUCH MORE EARLYBIRD TICKETS

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SECOND RELEASE

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THIRD RELEASE

ON SALE NOW!