ER 2 018 EMB N OV COM RK. DDO REA
Maggie Rogers. Give a little.
Maggie Rogers. Strap line here.
November 2018 Issue 27
Ed’s letter.
Pop is the greatest musical art-form. Sorry, you Real Music Warriors, but that’s written loud and proud in the Dork rule book. This month, we’re living in giddy times for pop connoisseurs. From a new record from last month’s cover star MØ, to the long-awaited return of Queen of Scandopop Robyn, there’s more than our fair share of ice cold brilliance to grasp hold of. But the imminent release schedule isn’t the only place we’re finding great things. This month’s cover features the fast-rising Maggie Rogers - a fearsome talent who has just announced her debut album, set to arrive early in 2019. A true force of nature, she’s one to get very, very excited about, as the many people won over by her brilliant work to date will agree. There’ll be a couple of extra weeks between our next issues, with our end of year double to come on 23rd November. We’ve something special to show you. Ooo-errr!
S tephen
Editor / @stephenackroyd
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Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Contributing Editors Jamie Muir, Martyn Young Events Liam James Ward Scribblers Abigail Firth, Alex Cabre, Alex Thorp, Chris Taylor, Ciaran Steward, Dan Harrison, Dillon Eastoe, Dominic Allum, Jake Hawkes, Jamie MacMillan, Jasleen Dhindsa, Josh Williams, Liam Konemann, Sam Daly, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin Snappers Burak Cingi, Carsten Windhorst, Jennifer McCord, Chris Juarez, Rachel Juarez-Carr, Sarah Louise Bennett Doodlers Russell Taysom
Index. UPDATE 4 SUNDARA KARMA 6 PEACE 8 ALMA 8 THYLA 10 TOM WALKER 11 BLAENAVON 12 KING NUN 14 BANGERS 17 DORK READERS’ POLL 2018 HYPE 18 SAM FENDER 20 HOPSCOTCH TOUR 22 FONTAINES D.C. 23 BLOODY KNEES 23 SPRING KING FEATURES 24 MAGGIE ROGERS 30 LANY 32 PARCELS 34 KURT VILE ALBUM REVIEWS 36 BASEMENT 39 KURT VILE 40 MØ 43 KAGOULE 44 THE PRODIGY 44 MUSE GET OUT 46 END OF THE ROAD 2018 48 ARCTIC MONKEYS 49 ST. VINCENT 50 THE GUIDE BACK PAGE 54 YOU ME AT SIX
Cover photo: Jennifer McCord P U B L I S H E D F RO M
W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M U N I T 10, 23 G RA N G E RO A D, H A S T I N G S, T N34 2R L
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. Message sent with concern that will never be addressed.
On The Stereo 2019, yeah lads? Cheers.
Drenge Autonomy EP
Maggie Rogers Heard It In A Past Life
Arriving a little too late for review in last month’s issue, Drenge’s new EP is a) brilliant, and b) makes us even more eager to get that third full-length.
Given it’s still a good three months until our current cover star’s debut album arrives, we’re not going to be naughty and give you a hint at the review just yet. After all, these things tend 3
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to change at the last minute. But - BUT - from what we’ve heard, and we’ve heard a lot mate. Mate. Wow.
Sundara Karma ‘The new stuff’ Think you know what to expect from Sundara Karma? You really, really don’t. Flip ahead to page four and read
all about one of the most pleasing comebacks of 2019.
Shhhhhhh! A top secret new album Not to get all Indie Bullshit on you, but we’ve heard the new album by a Really Quite Big Band, set for release in Q2 2019, and it’s a bit of a surprise. Ooo-err.
If it’s not in here, it’s not happening. Or we forgot. One or the other.
Sundara Karma are back! Back!! Back!!!
Sundara Karma
They’re back, with brand new music and a revolutionised sound. Say hello to Sundara Karma 2.0. Words: Jamie Muir. Photos: Amber Pollack, Sarah Louise Bennett.
J
ust over a year ago, Sundara Karma were sat in the dressing rooms of Brixton Academy, getting ready to play their biggest headline show to date.
That night, they proceeded to rip through a mammoth set that celebrated a 2017 that saw them release their debut album, play across the globe, and then round it all off with a bloody big send-off. Sitting upstairs, they chatted through about a crazy year, their search for a tattooist to get some ink done before the show and joked about a ‘Marmite’ second album. A year on, and frontman Oscar Pollock laughs when thinking about it. “No, no, I don’t think this one is Marmite,” he laughs. “We’ll wait till the third one for that!”
After everything Sundara got up to, you’d warrant them a little bit of time to plan out what comes next and yet, less than a year later and after a summer of big-time festival shows, Oscar is getting ready to lead Reading’s finest back into a whole new chapter. “We wanted to get the album out this year! We were determined to do that, and then we talked to management, and they were like that’s probably unrealistic.” Yet, they could have - this isn’t a band leisurely rolling back into view to see what they could do next, Sundara Karma have always been more than that. Their blend of anthemic indie hooks, modern pop swagger and deep-diving lyrical spotlights all dressed in a glamsoaked sparkle has booted in the door when it comes to being a band in a modern generation.
“I don’t know if we had a very clear picture of what we wanted to do,” recalls Oscar, thinking back to where they were that night and if the future was even glinting in the back of their minds. “Well, I guess we did in a way, but the end result is always a bit different.” Where Sundara Karma are now as a band compared to where they were at the start of 2017 can be heard ringing out on the mesmerising ‘Illusions’, the opening salvo to a second album that promises to take the infectious heights of their debut and turn it into an adventurous and refreshing new beast. “We wanted to push ourselves,” notes Oscar. “The desire to do something more fulfilling was the big thing for me for this album, so that naturally meant expanding the corners of what we do.”
On ‘Illusions’ they do that and more. A seductive five-minute taste of the future that sounds as if David Bowie was transported back down to earth with a cosmic-disco swing - fluid and hypnotising in its power, it’s the sound of Sundara Karma stretching their peacock feathers for the world to see. Taking any sense of preconceptions and throwing them well and truly down the street. “I remember going through a period of writing for no particular artist - I wasn’t thinking about writing for our next album, it was just something that made me happy. Those songs started coming through with no real intention or end goal, and I think that’s why I like them.” What followed is a time that Oscar describes as “honestly, one of the best months of our lives,” toiling away after the band relocated to London. Working in the studio with a dream team of producers, they were able to tap into the knowledge of three defiant and creative names - in the form of Alex Robertshaw of Everything Everything, Tom Fuller and The Killers/Scissor Sisters/Madonna producer Stuart Price. It allowed them the freedom to truly explore everything they wanted to achieve, to take things above and beyond what they were able to pull into view on ‘Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect’ and evolve into a band gazing at the stars. “That month, it was better than Christmas,” exclaims Oscar. “We’ll look back on that period of recording in London, getting the train to and from the studios because we’d recently moved there. Just very relaxed. We’ve peaked,” Oscar cracks. The excitement within camp Sundara Karma zips out on every word Oscar speaks. He readily admits he’s 100% happier now compared to this time last year, and the album sits as a by-product of that happiness - though undeniably much more personal in every sense of the word. ‘Illusions’ is a prime example, a striking take on how the world can cloud and fill people’s minds with the sort
of sensory overload we’ve all witnessed lately. “The next record and ‘Illusions’ in particular is more honest than we’ve ever been,” details Oscar. “A lot of the subject matter is things I’ve been thinking over the year, and stuff I was kinda afraid to mention on the first record. Like a lot of existential crisis bullshit and metaphysical stuff. I kinda didn’t want to go there, but with this record, it just felt really right to talk about things like life and death, and what does it all mean? Why are we always so depressed when y’know, we should be as happy as we deserve to be? “There’s not really a love song on the album, and that’s definitely a reflection on my own life,” he laughs. With ‘Illusions’ lighting the starting gates for Sundara Karma’s bold new takeover, it’s clear that this is a band seething with energy. Promising the sort of second album that’ll make you recognise the scope and artistic flair they undeniably have, 2019 looks to be theirs for the taking. “We just wanted to make something that we were proud of,” Oscar notes. “Our favourite albums are pop albums yet incredibly layered, textured and ambitious. I think we’ve created what we would say is our closest attempt to the stuff that we love and listen to there. “We did an interview over the summer, and we were asked how we want this album to be perceived, and we were like, oh fuck. People will actually hear it! It’s okay; it’s not like we’ve made a Slipknot album or anything.” That’ll have to wait, till then Sundara Karma are on the cusp of something pretty dazzling - making that next step into something huge. After soundtracking youth and its ups and downs, their eyes are set on where we go from here. “You go through the motions of putting out your first album, and it feels you have to tick a lot of boxes to be successful, but it’s all kinda rubbish,” points out Oscar. “You just have to be yourselves, and that’s what we’ve realised - that’s the only difference in where we are today.” P 6
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Get a hobby
Shoot arrows with Harry from Peace Hawkeye, Robin Hood, Princess Merida. All pretty good with a bow and arrow, no? They have nothing on indie’s own Katniss Everdeen, Harry Koisser from Peace. Hi Harry. How did you get into archery, then?
Being a child in the Midlands before the invention of smartphones was very distressing, and I found the lion’s share of my escapism in the works of JRR Tolkien or CS Lewis. As a part of that, I had an inordinate interest in all kinds of elvish activities; archery being one of them.
What kit do you need?
I feel like most archery clubs, or places that serve archery will have everything you need to jump right in. I didn’t own a bow until I was taking it really seriously.
Have you taken part in any archery competitions?
Absolutely and I completely destroyed them. I was really, really, really good.
Did you find it tough to learn?
I found it quite hard and D OWN WI T H BO RI N G
frustrating at times, but eventually, I became invincible.
Has being good at archery ever come in handy IRL?
When the world is on fire, and the orcs are at the door, I should imagine my house will be a good place to be.
Have you ever worn tights and a green hat while doing it?
I actually attended a sweet 16 birthday party in said attire with a longbow and a quiver of arrows. Probably not very okay, but it was the 00s.
Who’s your favourite archer from ‘popular entertainment’?
Haldir, Marchwarden of Lothlorien.
What’s the smallest object you could hit from quite far away?
I could hit an iPhone 4 sideways balanced on an upside down pint glass from across any good beer garden.
Have you ever shot something off someone’s head?
No, come on have some respect.
Are you good at any other sports? Absolutely none whatsoever. P
Peace’s album ‘Kindness is The New Rock And Roll’ is out now. Catch them live at Birmingham’s O2 Institute (24th November) and Manchester’s O2 Ritz (25th).
ALMA: “I’m on this very very very big UK band’s album” The poptastic Finn is up to exciting things, but she’s not telling us exactly what just yet. ALMA is a pop genius. That’s not news, Dear Reader. The neon-haired Finn is part of the hottest squad on the planet. Touring with MØ, recording radio sessions with Dua Lipa and Charli XCX - she’s got mates in sparkly places. But there’s something on the horizon that’s possibly even more exciting than all of that. “I’m on this very very very big UK band’s album,” she tells Dork. Ooo-er! Ears firmly pricked, we demand to know more. “I can’t tell you the name,” she continues (boo! - Ed), “but they’re going to release it very soon, and I’m on it, so that’s very exciting. It’s super cool.” Another thing that’s sub-zero is her own debut full-length. “I’m gonna release that very soon,” she confirms. “Very, very soon. As soon as I can. The first single is coming, with a video and everything. It’s very, very new and I’m very excited and kind of scared about it. I think people are used to me always making dance music, but this isn’t dance music. This is something I’ve always wanted to do. It’s very powerful. It’s not that uptempo, but it’s something very real and close to me. But it is pop music.” P
Did you know? The Finnish for ‘massive pop banger’ is Massiivinen pop-banger!
Thyla Hey Millie, your new track ‘Candy’ is great. Do you often have dreams about your teeth falling out?
All four of us have had the dreaded teeth dream when you’re going about your imaginary day, and they just start falling out.
Are you guys into dream interpretation? Apparently dreaming about candy represents forbidden pleasures and your sensuality.
I can recall loads of times when we’ve discussed our dreams in length together. We think dreams are fascinating, like an extension of consciousness that you can’t unravel awake. The link between candy and forbidden pleasures makes sense; I was always trying to sneak into the sweet tin as a kid. Google reckons teeth dreams are related to stress; feelings of powerlessness and loss of control. Makes sense. It’s the obscure dreams that freak me out, the ones you’re reluctant to tell people about because you don’t want them to worry about you. I’m pretty sure everyone can
are anything but toothless with their new EP
relate!
What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?
When I was a kid, I used to have a recurring dream where I was trapped in an underground network of sand tunnels, and all the sand would be crumbling in and slowly closing off the routes. I’d start frantically trying to dig new ones to get out and then this thing that I can only describe as an invisible presence would appear behind me. Just before it got to me, the tunnel would flood with water and sweep it away, and I’d swim out into a boat harbour at night, and the moon would sing ‘The goodbye song’ from the TV show Bear in the Big Blue House. That one’s always weirded me out!
‘Candy’ is quite American isn’t it, is it easier to work into a song than ‘sweets’? Haha yeah, I suppose, although it’s a word that comes naturally to me as I was born in NYC and lived in the US till I was eight years old.
After playing our new music festival Etc. this summer, Thyla are gearing up for a new EP early in 2019 with a new single, ‘Candy’. We caught up with vocalist Millie Duthie to find out more. Photo: Patrick Gunning.
What can you tell us about the rest of the EP? There’s all sides of Thyla on there, we all have equal input in the songwriting process and in doing an EP we’ve had a chance to express that diversity as a collection of ideas.
Are you going to release any more singles from it? Yes! We’ll be releasing ‘Blue’ just before our London Headline debut on 28th November at The Shacklewell Arms. P
Thyla’s new EP is coming ‘soon’.
A day in the life of...
Tom Walker What does Tom Walker get up to on his average day? Well... this!
Top Tweeps What have your faves been up to on ‘social media’ this month? And why are we printing bits of ‘the internet’ on paper weeks after it happened?
7:00 The phone alarm goes off as I wake up in Paris. We played at a Virgin radio event the previous day, and now it’s time to get up and meet the crew to jump on a Eurostar back to London.
vocal coach Lorna and also get a change of clothes ready for the showcase; it’s pretty boring this part, to be honest.
17:30 I get back to the venue and
I have a song with a flute solo. Will Joseph Cook (@WillJosephCook) Sees a Wolf Alice video once and...
9:00 I bought myself a couple of
The new The 1975 single is the 1975iest The 1975 song since The 1975’s first album The 1975
10:30 As I get off the Eurostar, I’m greeted by Martin, my radio plugger who has a car waiting to take me over to a studio so we can spend the afternoon doing phone interviews for radio ahead of my upcoming UK tour.
Matty Healy (@Truman_Black) We’ll believe it when we hear it, Matthew. (Can we hear it?)
Biggest revelation of 2018 is that my brother pronounces Daniel bedingfield daniel beDINGfield Marika Hackman (@MarikaHackman) Ding ding ding! Believe victims. False reporting of sexual assault averages between 2-5%...meaning that NEARLY 100% of the time, if an assault is reported, it happened. Believe victims. We are with you, we are you, we stand with you. MUNA (@whereisMUNA)
snacks to get me through the next hour and a half on the Eurostar but fell asleep for the entire journey, so I woke to my uneaten snacks, and about 50 missed calls. Pretty standard that, these days.
11:00 We arrive and grab some food before the interviews begin and as much coffee as possible to keep my brain ticking. 14:50 Interviews are over, and it’s back in the car over to Spiritland near Kings Cross to start setting up for my media showcase that evening. I meet the rest of the band and crew who had driven back from Paris in the van that morning with all the gear.
15:30 I’m pulled outside by my
over to a hotel room to meet my 10
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17:50 I lose my phone ten mins before doors open, and the queue is forming outside. My manager is running around frantically trying to find it, and I’m starting to freak out.
Fresh from dropping new numbers ‘Venice Bitch’ and ‘Mariners Apartment Complex’, Lana Del Rey has confirmed her new album will be titled ‘Norman Fucking Rockwell’. Produced by Jack Antonoff (yeah, the hitmaker himself), it’s set to drop in 2019. “It’s kind of about this guy who is such a genius artist but he thinks he’s the shit and he knows it and he like won’t shut up talking about it,” she says of the title.
WHITE LIES ARE BACK WITH THEIR FIFTH RECORD, ‘FIVE’ White Lies have announced plans for a new album, and a UK tour. The band’s fifth full-length will be creatively titled ‘Five’, and arrives on 1st February 2019. Apparently it’s “a milestone record” and “marks our decade as a band, which has pushed us to expand our sound and reach new territory artistically - it marks the start of a new and exciting chapter for us.” So there we go. The tour starts on 31st January, with tickets on sale now.
18:00 Just as doors open I find
my phone in my backpack, nightmare! I spend my night speaking to loads of people. It was such an amazing night and I couldn’t believe how many people turned out for it, but I’m so sorry to those who were unable to get in, the venue was rammed. I played some new tunes off the album for the very first time and also performed a couple with my keys player George, which seemed to go down pretty well I reckon.
20:00 Post showcase I stuck
around for a couple of beers. My fiancé was also able to come along too. I don’t get to spend as much time with her as I would like.
manager who takes me to the back of a van, as the doors open I see the original hand painted picture of my album artwork. it’s massive! I couldn’t believe the detail that had gone into painting my face; it looked mint!
16:00 I’ve now jumped into a car
do a soundcheck before the doors open and go through the running order of the night with my team.
LANA FUCKING DEL REY IS DROPPING A NEW ALBUM NEXT YEAR
21:00 My manager bundles me into the back of my cab, and I’m on my way home, I have to be up at 6am to go to Germany, so that’s as rock n roll as it got today I’m afraid! P Tom Walker’s debut album ‘What a Time To Be Alive’ is out 25th January.
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IT’S TERRY CREWS AND MUSE VS HIGH SCHOOLERS AND MONSTERS IN THE BAND’S NEW VIDEO Terry Crews has a starring role in the latest video from rock’s biggest oddballs, Muse. ‘Pressure’, a five-ish-minute track from their new album ‘Simulation Theory’, features a high school dance soundtracked by ‘battle of the bands winners’ Muse, that goes awry when some furry mutants are let loose from the science lab and start attacking students and teachers. Terry to the rescue, Nine Nine!
What’s going on with Blaenavon? They’re off on a UK tour - but after that, Blaenavon have a second album to show us. Frontman Ben Gregory tells us more. Words: Jamie Macmillan. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.
“W
hat’s the new album about?”
ponders Ben Gregory momentarily, “Well, most of it is about misery, anxiety, struggling. Laziness. Boredom. Depression. Friendship.”
If Blaenavon’s debut ‘That’s Your Lot’ was a beautifully pitched exploration of vulnerability, then it appears that their long-awaited follow-up is more of the same. “It’s a really personal album for me,” he explains, “which is why I’ve found it so difficult to get it finished. These songs are a lot more direct and from the heart. It’s all stuff that I have been, and am, going through.” After a huge 2016 that included a high-profile support slot at The O2 for alt-J, Blaenavon seemed to slip off the radar this year. Hunkered down at a Manchester studio with Wolf Alice and Foals’ producer Catherine Marks, the boys have been busy crafting something special. 11
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“This time around, we focussed a bit more on the songwriting. It was a much more deliberate process,” Ben says. “It’s definitely more diverse than the first one. There’s some harder rock tunes, as well as some big old ballads.” The track that he is most excited about is one of those ballads, entitled ‘The Song’s Never Gonna Be The Same’. “It’s just the best thing I’ve written by quite some distance I think,” he explains, before also waxing lyrical about the title track (the name of which is still under wraps). “I think we had a bit more time to mess around and experiment on this record, and Catherine is full of ideas and really good with guitar sounds, obviously.” Describing it as a progression rather than revolution, a few songs have already been trialled at this summer’s festivals so those with keen ears will have already heard a few. “We wanted to keep it minimal because you don’t want to cram in too many, but
we’ll play maybe two or three on this tour too.” This upcoming October tour, which begins in St Albans before wrapping in their hometown of Guildford, is a chance to say goodbye to the ‘That’s Your Lot’ era. Still looking back at it fondly, (“There’s still a lot of truth in it I think” is how Ben proudly describes it), it may very well turn out to be the last time that some of the songs are played live - especially in venues as intimate as some on this tour. Support comes from Boniface, who caught Ben’s eye during The Great Escape earlier this year (“He was so sick!” is Ben’s verdict). And then, with a January support slot for The Wombats which takes in an appearance at Wembley Arena, and the new album set for release, Ben, Frank and Harris look set for a busy 2019 with more headline tours to come. As one chapter comes to an end for Blaenavon, another begins. Far from it being our lot, there’s plenty more to come. P Blaenavon are on
tour in the UK right now.
They went away, honed their voice and came back stronger than ever. With their latest EP, King Nun are ready to claim their throne. Theo Polyzoides tells us more. Words: Martyn Young. Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett.
“I Heavenly they come
t’s absolutely, phenomenally massive.”
Those are the words of Theo King Nun as he describes their debut EP, ‘I Have Love’. He’s right to describe it in such excitable terms: this is the release from King Nun that we’ve all been waiting for. It’s been around two years since the band exploded onto the scene riding the banger bus that is the Dirty Hit label and the band have forged a reputation as the excitable punk kids of the flourishing indie scene. Now though is when the real stuff starts as they release their first proper EP. For singer and guitarist Theo, it’s been a wild ride. “Initially, coming out with Dirty Hit there was a massive reaction immediately out of the gate, it was like, ‘Oh my god! People are listening to our stuff’. I don’t know what we were expecting, but it was definitely numbers that were microscopic. It all hit us at once, but since then it’s been unbelievable. It’s tough to process, but we’re really grateful.” King Nun have taken their time making this EP, but for Theo, it was
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“We love this music to death”
all part of their evolution. “What went into the EP initially was a reasonably strong idea of aesthetics,” begins the everexuberant singer. “A kind of tough love way of songwriting, where we ended up getting tested. The songs became so real and so significant so quickly; us as a band and the EP became completely symbiotic. It became absolutely what we’re about.” On the EP, the band have captured all the visceral, kinetic energy and pop hooks that have made them so thrilling. After a couple of years of relentless gigging and honing their craft King Nun are ready for the next level. “Intrinsically within our genre the performance is really important,” explains Theo. “You have to make sure that what you’re putting in matches what you’re putting out otherwise you’re just leaning on the genre and giving nothing back. “As to how it sounds, we have to thank the producers for that. We’ve worked with some beautiful, fantastic producers.
Predominantly we’ve worked with Jolyon Thomas, who’s done the two Slaves albums, and Rupert Lyddon and Jon Gilmore [he’s worked with The 1975, btw]. These three producers are sensational and have helped us out a lot.” “We love this music to death, so when we can do it and get it right it’s infinitely inspiring,” adds Theo. The EP itself finds King Nun broadening their approach lyrically while ramping up the heaviness and the hooks musically. “There’s one about family [‘Family Portrait’] that I think is very important,” reveals Theo. “It’s just a change in outlook that I feel that we had that’s a cornerstone. Also, it’s just a catchy melody, and I like the song. There’s another, which is the titletrack, that I feel encapsulates it.” It’s clear that it’s a special collection of songs for the band. “When we were writing it we said it was all going to be love songs, punk love songs,” reflects Theo on ‘I Have Love’. “They 13
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were all going to be kind of tragic and happy and violent in their execution. As we were doing it and real life was happening all the time, the way these songs and our lives were coinciding with each other and falling into each other that’s what that song represents to me. It feels like an absolute zeitgeist of our time working on it. “All of the lyrics were just cut up from other stuff. I don’t think I wrote a line on the song. Somehow, when I listen to it back, I’m like, ‘Ah, Jesus Christ! There is something in there that I can relate to’. I hope that other people find that as well. It’s a bit manic.” King Nun have been at the heart of an indie scene that is thriving and capturing a new audience. For Theo, it’s been a motivating experience. “I feel excited. For the first time in a long time there’s music coming out that isn’t just listenable for that week or that month,” he says. “There’s music coming out that’s sticking with me. Something’s cracked, and music is progressing like no other time that I’m aware of. I’m not going to pretend that I’m really clued in with modern music, but I love a lot of the new indie stuff, I love a lot of the new punk stuff that’s coming out. It feels very inspiring to have that going on and have serious inspirations in the modern day instead of looking back to the seventies.” So, now that the EP is done the next big question is what do King Nun have planned for their debut album? For now, Theo is remaining coy. “We’re moving towards it as opposed to it moving towards us. We’ve made some movements.” The pressure isn’t too much yet, but it’s obvious the album is looming in the background. “I feel like I have a red dot on my forehead,” says Theo. There is one word the singer will use when describing what we might expect from a King Nun album and that’s ‘Loads’. “Just loads. I think I can reveal that without getting a finger chopped off,” he laughs as he tries to avoid a telling off from his management for saying too much. At some point in the future though there’s definitely going to be a King Nun album, and it will have songs, and loads of King Nun. That’s good enough for us. Right now though as the band ride the wave of their debut EP and forthcoming headline tour, there’s a lot to look forward to as Theo delivers a promise to the fans who have eagerly awaited these moments: “You can expect more ferocity than you’ve seen from us before and everything you’ve come to expect.” P RE AD D O RK. CO M
RAT BOY IS RAISING MONEY FOR THE ALZHEIMER’S SOCIETY AND MIND IN HONOUR OF HIS MUM Rat Boy has announced he’s raising money for both the Alzheimer’s Society and MIND. “My mother has been suffering with dementia and psychosis for the last few years,” he explains, “and it’s such a heartbreaking illness.” His fundraising efforts will include a £5 guestlist for his upcoming tours, and selling merch donned with his mother’s paintings and drawings. Rat Boy is off on tour this November - find the dates on readdork.com now.
GORILLAZ ARE GOING TO RELEASE A NEW WATCH COLLECTION, JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS Gorillaz have collaborated with G-Shock for a limited edition collection of new watches Each one was designed for band members 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle and Russel Hobbs, and will be available later this year.
WOLF ALICE HAVE WON THE HYUNDAI MERCURY PRIZE WITH ‘VISIONS OF A LIFE’ Wolf Alice have won the Hyundai Mercury Music Prize. The band took home the prize for their album ‘Visions Of A Life’, beating out the likes of favourite Nadine Shah, Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen to the award, which acknowledges the outstanding British album of the year. The judging panel said: “From an incredibly broad list of remarkable music, Wolf Alice emerged as the overall winner due to their ability to deliver an album that combines the epic and intimate in equal measure.”
The best new tracks.
BLOOD RED SHOES’ ALBUM IS COMING IN JANUARY Blood Red Shoes have confirmed details for their new album, due out early next year. ‘Get Tragic’ is out on 25th January, preceded by new single ‘Mexican Dress’. “This song is about the lengths people will go to for attention,” says Laura Mary-Carter. “Whether it’s online or in real life - small hits of validation and the feeling of having all eyes on you have become our generation’s biggest drug problem.” The band will be touring the UK and Europe in January, too.
AVRIL LAVIGNE RETURNS AFTER FIVE YEARS AWAY
1. The 1975 Sincerity Is Scary
Woodland jazz-pop? Is that the vibe we’re getting from The 1975’s latest offering from their forthcoming hype monster, ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’? It’s toot time for indie pop’s buzz titans, as they slip and slide through a sort-of-argument set to a soundtrack that would have all the animals of Farthing Wood donning their smoking jackets. And there’s a gospel choir - because of course there is. Never change, boys.
2. The Japanese House Lilo
Finally, Amber Bain (for it is she, etc. - Ed) is back! Back!! Back!!! ‘Lilo’ has firmly ditched her mate Stitch in favour of an embrace from a track that’s got the warmth of a giant fireside marshmallow. With a debut album to follow - presumably - in 2019, she’s played the long game, but The Japanese House’s big moment is about to arrive.
3. Thyla Candy
We didn’t expect Thyla to
6. King Nun Family Portrait
have us reaching for the dental floss, but then to impose expectations on one of the most promising new bands on Planet Indie would be foolhardy at best. Rushing through the hole in the mainstream defences Wolf Alice’s Mercury Prize win is sure to create, they’re much more than just ones to watch.
If you were looking for the moment King Nun pressed pedal to the metal, you’re in luck. The third track to arrive from the four-piece’s new EP, it’s an indie banger WMD, blessed with a rebellious energy that sets them apart.
4. whenyoung Given Up
There’s something about whenyoung. They’re not a band that feel the urge to needlessly reinvent the rulebook, but in the same breath, they retain a tang of excitement that stands them apart from most of their peers. Expect those new year lists to come calling soon.
5. Oscar Runaway
Oscar is a pop chameleon of the highest calibre. Take us back a couple of years, and ‘Runaway’ isn’t the track we’d have expected, and yet in 2018, it makes perfect sense. Riding the zeitgeist, it’s a signpost to an artist who can pick the shiniest prizes and turn them into something all of his own.
S
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 - download the app for iPhone and Android.
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Everyone’s fave former tiewearer Avril Lavigne is back with a new single. ‘Head Above Water’ marks her first new music in five years, and centres on her struggles with Lyme Disease. “One night, I thought I was dying, and I had accepted that I was going to die,” she explains. “I felt like I was drowning. Under my breath, I prayed ‘God, please help to keep my head above the water’. In that moment, the song writing of this album began.” She’s also launched a t-shirt campaign that will raise money for the Avril Lavigne Foundation.
7. Indoor Pets Hi
The wait for Indoor Pets’ debut album has gone on so long; finally, though, the artists formerly known as Get Inuit are about to deliver - and if ‘Hi’ is any indicator, it could well have been worth it. Fully saturated with their trademark Sunny D, Weezeresque vibes, their pure pop potential is almost limitless.
8. St. Vincent Slow Slow Disco
If we had a pound for each version of ‘MASSEDUCTION’ standout ‘Slow Disco’ Annie Clark has blessed us with, we’d have enough to get a tub of the luxurious posh ice cream her latest cool-as-fuck take recalls - at least if it was on offer. Which it always is. The invoice is in the post.
D OWN WI T H BO RI N G
NOELY-G IS RELEASING A NEW BOOK Here’s another one for ya da’s Christmas list - Noel Gallagher has announced a new book. ‘Any Road Will Get Us There (If We Don’t Know Where We’re Going)’ arrives on 1st November, and covers behind-the-scenes goss from his recent touring with the High Flying Birds, as well as the making of his album ‘Who Built the Moon?’ Curated by Noel himself, it features words from Hamish MacBain and photos from Sharon Latham.
** POP EMERGENCY ** ** POP EMERGENCY ** POP EMERGENCY ** POP EMERGENCY ** POP EMERGENCY ** POP EMERGENCY ** POP EMERGENCY **
READERS’ POLL 2018
It’s that time again! As the end of the year comes round, we want to know what you’ve made of the last twelve months for the 2018 Dork Readers’ Poll. From the greatest band-slash-artist in the world today to your favourite album, banger or haircut, scribble down your choices then send them our way!
THE GREATEST BAND-SLASH-ARTIST IN THE WORLD TODAY
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
BANGER OF THE YEAR
BEST NEW BAND THAT HAVEN’T ‘DROPPED’ AN ALBUM YET
BEST LIVE BAND
BEST FESTIVAL
BEST HAIRCUT
BEST LYRIC
BEST COMEBACK
MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUM OF 2019
BEST VIDEO
BIGGEST SHOCK
SNAP A PHOTO OF YOUR COMPLETED FORM, THEN EMAIL IT TO READERSPOLL@READDORK.COM, OR TWEET IT TO @READDORK. FIND THE RESULTS IN OUR END OF YEAR DOUBLE ISSUE, OUT 23RD NOVEMBER 2018. ** POP EMERGENCY ** ** POP EMERGENCY ** POP EMERGENCY ** POP EMERGENCY ** POP EMERGENCY ** POP EMERGENCY ** POP EMERGENCY **
Hype. ESSENTIAL NEW MUSIC.
Everybody’s
talking Sam Fender might just be the buzziest boy on Planet Indie right now, but he’s not just about the hype - he’s got something important to say too.
about...
Words: Sam Daly.
Sam
Fender
Sam Fender
F
rom appearing all over 2018’s tips lists to recently being snapped up by Polydor Records (home to current Dork cover star Maggie Rogers, buzzy faves Troye Sivan, Years & Years and Haim, and megastars Take That), Tyneside’s Sam Fender has had a successful year.
Speaking to him now, mid-bag of the Netherlands’ version of Doritos and full of cold, it’s no surprise that he’s still pretty chirpy. Having just sold out his third London date at Omeara, how could you not still have a spring in your step? “It’s ridiculous!” he exclaims. “I didn’t think we’d sell out one… I’d have been buzzing with one. I’m completely overwhelmed.” It’s clear that this is completely true, too. It’s hard to miss the genuine surprise running through his voice. He’s an artist with only a handful of singles, yet masses of fans prepared to sell out a venue three times over. “It’s really good that people are latching on to it now, I’m really excited… I have a lot more stuff to come.” Ask Sam what his personal highlight of the year has been and he’ll tell you the tale of when the guy behind the counter in McDonald’s let him run wild with the Big Tasty sauce gun, always quick to make a joke and downplay his success, before honestly revealing that it’s “all of the stuff to do with playing to people who have actually come to see me, it really opens my eyes.” Touring is something Sam is no stranger to, with a few UK stints under his belt and another one on the way followed by a string of dates overseas, including Australia. It comes as a bit of a surprise that the UK leg of the tour is the part he’s most excited for. “Before, when we’ve done a UK tour, it’s been incredible, it’s been really special for the boys and me,” he enthuses. “I tour with my friends, like how Bruce Springsteen used to run his show.” He stops to explain how Springsteen is his idol; “I shamelessly compare myself to
The Facts + From North Shields, UK + For fans of Bastille, Sundara Karma + Check out ‘Play God’, ‘Dead Boys’ + Social @samfendermusic + See them live: Sam tours the UK from 29th October him,” he laughs. “We’ve worked our arses off, so to see that people from the UK were resonating with my stuff, it’s the greatest confidence boost for writing new stuff and lets us see that we’re not fucking idiots and that this is possible… we’re not stupid for not going to uni and doing that stuff to become a miserable teacher like my Dad,” he laughs. “So yeah, I’m excited to go and get a big dopamine rush off of that,” he adds. “There’s an EP coming halfway through or potentially just after; there’ll be new merch and videos as well. Lots of new stuff, I’m excited for people to see the vinyl for this too,” he reveals. “This will be the ‘Dead Boys’ EP, there are six tracks,” Sam tells us. “It’s a pretty hectic ride through the six tracks and then calms down with ‘Leave Fast’ at the end. I’m really proud of everyone who’s worked on it; it’s all of our original team from before we signed to Polydor. Our half-Geordie, halfCornish family.” This will be Sam’s debut body of work. Having released seven singles over the past 18 months, it’s been a fairly long time for coming for this EP. “We just had this formula of releasing singles; I have so much material, I didn’t quite know what to release first,” he explains. “I spent a lot of time grouping the material and trying to figure out where I wanted to go; I didn’t want to rush anything. I just took my time; there wasn’t any strategy to it. I’ve just been cruising through the year. “I’ve been really surprised actually. I’ve been blown away; I had no expectations with ‘Play God’ especially, but ‘Leave Fast’ and ‘Dead Boys’ were both a real surprise,” he says, noting that those two were the first releases with label support. ‘Leave Fast’ retained Sam’s raw lyrical focus with a bit more 19
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“We’re not fucking idiots, this is possible” of a melancholic feel. “[It] was this like this happens, it shakes the slow, brooding ballad-y song about whole town, so much so that it can being stuck in a small town, radio become a pandemic.” pluggers were telling me that it “They say suicide is almost might not do so well, because It’s a contagious in the fact that if bit slow,” Sam explains. you’ve been around it or had any “I’d accepted that, but I still experience of it, you’re more likely,” wanted to put it out, and then it he adds, before quickly changing went and did better than all the the subject back to his release. others,” he says, bemused. “Then “I never want to be preachy ‘Dead Boys’ went mental, it’s all go about it. I’m not on a crusade to at the moment.” make people talk about it, but I do Every now and again you hear a think it’s important that we do,” track that is a clear defining ‘step he states, adding: “I’m not being up’ in someone’s musical career. overly wanky with the words. I just ‘Dead Boys’ arguably is that for wanted to get the point across.” Sam. “It’s pretty obviously about Just how ‘Dead Boys’ is rooted male suicide… I don’t beat around in Sam’s own experience, the rest the bush, do I?” he asks, laughing. of the upcoming EP is set to be the “I’m not claiming to be an same. expert, it all just comes from “The album will be mixed,” he my own experience. I lost a very explains, “but this is more focused close friend a year ago, and my on stories that are closer to me. manager had a similar experience,” There is one song which is just a he explains, revealing “the rate bit of a rant about the state of the of suicide is super high in my world and the kids I see on a night hometown and it just really struck out in Newcastle, but then feeling a chord with me, how could it not?” helpless because you’re looking Usually full of quick-witted at the world and seeing that it’s jokes, this is perhaps the most a bit fucked but knowing you’re serious you’ll find this Geordie lad. not clever enough to do anything “I wrote a lot of songs at my about it. friend’s house. It was weird to “There’s a good narrative; they’re write a song about him and then quite in your face, it’s visceral and take it to people that we were close a bit nasty at times, which I was to and play it for them, release it quite excited to do. I’ve got some and have all these people open up space to do this before the album.” about people that they’ve lost,” he With his sights set on an album says, explaining already, he’s how it made planning for a There are many prizes him research summertime available in the world of everything a bit album release in more. 2019. music - from Brit awards “I was staggered “There are so to Mercurys, and even by how massive it many avenues the odd Grammy. But is; it’s the biggest that I’ve wanted for a certain generation killer of men to go down, and of digitally obsessed under the age I’ve reined myself footie fans, none of them of 30… it’s like in trying to find match getting a song 80-odd a week; I my sound, but I didn’t think it was think I’ve struck a on the FIFA soundtrack. balance and tied that bad.” Sam Fender has it all together… Sam then tells achieved this landmark hopefully, it’ll us that even in the in 2019’s edition - so is make sense. months of him he excited? “Once I’ve done releasing ‘Dead these shows here Boys’ there were “You have no idea,” Sam I’m going home, two brothers from enthuses. “It doesn’t and I’m going to his hometown matter if everything get in the studio that took their goes down the pan and and get the album lives, one after the everything fails from recorded, then other. now on. All my friends hopefully when “Newcastle’s from school are just that’s finished I’m quite small for a like, ‘Yeah, you’ve made going to tour like city. I live on the it’. I can’t wait to play as a psychopath,” he coast, and it’s got Newcastle and hear my says, laughing. “I’m more of a smalltune playing through gonna whip myself town vibe there, the speakers. I’m like the dancing everybody knows ridiculously excited.” monkey that I everybody, so am!” P when something RE AD D O RK. CO M
Hype.
The
Hopscotch tour powered by
Kawala Hey Dan and Jim. How did you come to start making music together? The two of us first kicked off playing together when we realised we both wanted to study music at uni. We decided to get together to see what we were both up to and something clicked. Four years on and we can’t get rid of each other.
We hear you’ve a new single on the way? The tour calls at... November 9 Bristol, Hy-Brasil Music Club 10 Birmingham, The Actress & Bishop 16 Manchester, Night People 17 Sheffield, Record Junkie 23 London, Camden Assembly 24 Brighton, Patterns
Apre
Hey Charlie and Jules, how long have you lot been making music for, then?
We’ve been making music for two and a half years but have only let it out the laptop since April this year.
Have you always wanted to be in a band?
Both of us always wanted to just write music, no matter what form it took. When we started writing, we thought about including other members, but it never seemed right. Tell us about your new EP, ‘Drum
Machines Killed Music’ - it began
We do indeed. We’re so unbelievably excited to get this new music out. The stuff we’ve been working on I’d say none of us have ever been more proud of and just can’t wait to see what people think!
What’s the best song you’ve written so far?
That’s so tough. We’d probably have to say the single we’re about to
as a dissertation title, right?
It began as [Charlie’s] dissertation title; it was an interesting way of looking at how music has developed over the last forty years and finding out that drum machines were such a key catalyst for all the music we love today. The EP is another small movement into the APRE world, introducing some new sounds and colours into the equation.
You’ve been likened to Foals a lot, are you fans?
Yeah big fans, they introduced to guitar music.
Have you spent much time on the road before?
We have done quite a few shows and love it, looking forward to spending some time doing it again on the Hopscotch tour in November. P 20
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Fresh from starting his brand new indie show on BBC Radio 1, Jack Saunders is taking his clubnight on the road for the Hopscotch Tour powered by Utilita this November, featuring three buzzy new indie bands - Kawala, Apre and Sun Silva. Because this sounds exactly like our kind of thing, Dork will be going along for the ride. To kick off, we thought we’d introduce you to the acts...
release. It’s the first time we’ve properly in-depth focused on the power of lyrics, and we’re well proud of these ones. We also tried to use our harmonies in a way we hadn’t before.
Are you creative in nonmusical ways too?
Great Escape which I doubt we could have enjoyed any more.
Is there anywhere on the tour you’re especially keen to visit on the tour?
Well, Jim actually grew up doing a bit of musical theatre so a potential future panto appearance could be on the cards.
Super excited to get back to Bristol as there was such a nice atmosphere there when we played Dot to Dot. Also, Sheffield as it’s the only city on the list we haven’t played.
Have you spent much time on the road before?
What else do you have going on at the mo?
Not loads, but the times we have, have been some of the best times. An acoustic tour in Holland was an experience and early summer we got to go round the UK for all the city take over festivals like
Hey Oscar, Charlie and Sam. Tell us about your band - where did you meet?
We met four years ago at the Royal Academy of Music. Even though we were studying to be classical players, we all love playing other kinds of music so about threeand-a-half years ago we started jamming together. It was pretty weird music at the beginning, a hybrid of lots of genres and mostly instrumental. We started properly writing about a year-and-a-half ago.
Having a song on the FIFA 19 soundtrack is a pretty big deal, are you lot into football?
We’ve just been working on the finishing touches for our next EP which will be out super soon. Other than that, we’re just trying to write and play live as much as possible and have a great time doing it! P
launch which was crazy and the biggest gig we’ve done so far. Right now we are writing a lot and working on demos, which is really fun.
Have you spent much time on the road before? No, we’ve never toured as a band before, so Hopscotch is going to be our first taste of it - really pumped!
Are you the sorts to get up to shenanigans while on tour, or are you well-behaved boys? Haha, we’ll find out I guess. None of us are too crazy, though. P
It’s crazy to be on FIFA, very surreal. Yeah, we are all into football, although we’re not the best players!
What else do you have going on at the mo? We supported Jungle last week at their album D OWN WI T H BO RI N G
Sun Silva
Hype.
They’re off on tour with Shame and ripping up the alternative airwaves - meet Ireland’s latest greatest export, Fontaines D.C. Words: Jake Hawkes
T
he South London scene has got pretty bloody big lately, what with Shame releasing one of the best albums of the year and all that. It’s actually got so big
that now it includes Dublin. Don’t believe us? How else do you explain Fontaines D.C., residing in Ireland’s capital but playing regular shows In London and supporting Shame on tour? Jokes about the relentless expansion of greater London aside, when we catch up with the band in Camden, they’re thoughtful about why exactly they are doing so well in the UK at the moment. “I think a lot of it comes from Steve Lamacq,” starts guitarist Carlos O’Connell. “He’s been a great champion of the band from the beginning, and we’ve done all sorts with him. We recorded a session for his show, did a takeover of a show in the summer… loads of stuff. “I think it also comes from us “It can be inconvenient in a as well, we wanted to get out of sense, but we just really love living Ireland with our music because in Dublin,” says Carlos. “We’re close a lot of bands do get stuck there, to our family and friends, and the so we put a lot of energy into the city is such a massive inspiration English crowd right from the start. for us. We take so much from the We were playing shows in London literary heritage we have in Ireland. very early on, and that’s where we I think we’d all say we were poets got involved with bands like Shame and we all love Yeats and Joyce and IDLES. We definitely aimed especially. We even reference to give England a lot of attention, James Joyce in ‘Boys in the Better because Ireland’s music scene Land’, because there’s such cryptic can start to feel quite small after a beauty in his novels.” while.” The music that the band have “I think there was a fear that put out so far is undeniably by focussing on England so much influenced by Irish we might lose culture, history the support back and heritage, and home, that maybe Fontaines D.C. are this is something the Irish crowd supporting Shame on that they’re keen would stop caring tour this month. You can to place front so much,” bassist catch them at... and centre going Conor Deegan forward. “Dublin interjects, “but it October is probably the doesn’t seem to 15 SWX, Bristol biggest theme on have happened 16 Pyramids, Portsmouth our upcoming at all. We played 17 Academy 1 , Leicester album,” Conor a couple of 18 The Leadmill, Sheffield says, without festivals there 20 LUU Stylus, Leeds hesitation. “It’s in the summer, 21 Tivoli Theatre, Dublin a very personal and the crowd 23 University, Newcastle and vulnerable was amazing, just 24 SWG3 , Glasgow record, but those incredible. It’s feelings are tied up beautiful playing 26 The Waterfront, with storytelling in Ireland, and we Norwich based around love that people are 27 Academy, Oxford our experiences still engaged with 28 O2 Insitute, in Dublin. us even though Birmingham Representing our we’re away all the 30 Forum, London home is something time.”
Fontaines D.C.
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The Facts + From Dublin, Ireland + For fans of Shame, IDLES + Check out ‘‘Chequeless Reckless’, ‘Liberty Belle’ + Social @fontainesdublin + See them live: In addition to the Shame tour, they also have some headliners in December
“At the end of the day, we’re a rock and roll band”
that’s very important to us.” Not that they’re the only band in Dublin making good music though, something they’re quick to point out. “There is definitely a scene back home,” Carlos starts, clearly enthusiastic. “There are still so many people that could break out of Ireland, and they’re all making unique music that deserves to be heard. One of our favourite bands collectively is Girl Band, who have influenced the whole scene so much, really making it so that people aren’t afraid to make very different kinds of music. “We’ve been really lucky because our manager Trev has helped us navigate through the pitfalls of the scene in a way that a lot of bands don’t manage to do. For example, there’s a massive EP culture in Ireland, and a lot of groups just get bogged down in releasing them, but they never have as much impact as when you release an actual fulllength album.” “That’s another reason why we came over to England so early
on,” he adds. “Trev said we had to do it early and make sure we didn’t get stuck in Ireland, and he was right, it’s really helped.” While conversations about the band’s scope may revolve around Ireland and England, their musical influences come from much further afield and aren’t as straightforward as they first appear. “A lot of people don’t realise that we’re massively into the Beach Boys,” laughs Carlos. “There’s a huge surf element to our tunes, especially in the way we approach things. We try to keep things unpredictable, but not too experimental. I guess at the end of the day we’re a rock and roll band; we’ve been tagged as post-punk and all that kind of stuff, which I get because a lot of the songs are quite dark and bass driven. But we started with rock and roll, and while it’s harder as an arrangement when it comes to songwriting, I think that’s where we’re gonna stay. Straight up rock and roll.” P
D OWN WI T H BO RI N G
So you wanna be a pop star?
Bloody Knees Being a pop star is a serious job. You can’t just walk through the door and get started. You need to have a proper interview first. This month’s applicants are Bloody Knees’ Sam Conway. The board will see you now. What can you tell us about yourself? Hello, my name is Sam, I’m from a small village outside of Cambridge called Papworth Everard. I sell shoes and play in a band called Bloody Knees.
Why do you want to be a pop star? Cos I’m a bit bored of selling shoes if I’m honest!
How would your bandmates describe you? Liability. Draining. Grumpy. Annoying. Incompetent. Team player.
What are your best and worst qualities?
New band news
Get more as it happens, every day at readdork.com
On the grapevine
Pints 0-4 I’m a lot of fun. Pints 4-8
In the know
Spring King
I’m an absolute nightmare.
What is your biggest failure?
A previous band of ours with a very similar line up won a competition to play a gig at the Cambridge Corn Exchange. During the gig, my bass stopped working, and I couldn’t work out what the problem was so I walked off the stage and watched the rest of the set on a screen in the dressing room while sobbing into my best friend’s arms. I was eighteen years old.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Have you ever seen our Oasis cover band, The Supersonics?
Where do you see yourself in five years? Still selling shoes and going around telling everybody, “This year’s our year, playing Old Blue this Friday, come down!”
What is your salary expectation? £50 and beers. P Bloody Knees’ EP ‘You Can Have It’ is out now; they headline The Underworld in London on 18th October
Pip Blom are coming to the UK
Following their ‘Paycheck’ EP, Pip Blom are coming over. The tour starts in Leeds on 14th November, before Edinburgh, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Brighton, London, Liverpool, Dublin, Leicester and Guildford.
There are always more bands - the biggest question is who do you listen to when it comes to recommendations? Obviously Dork, your new music bible, should be your first port of call, but there are others too. This month we ask three-quarters of recent Dork cover stars, Spring King. Tarek: There’s a guy called Benjamin Belinska from Glasgow
who I’m listening to a lot. He only has one track online, but I managed to get a couple more songs from him directly and what I’ve heard so far is really well arranged and performed. I can’t wait for him to release more stuff. The Honey Hahs are another band I’m intrigued by, three sisters aged 10,12 and 15, recently signed to Rough Trade. Their biggest tune to date is ‘Stop Him’, but their new album ‘Dear Someone, Happy
Amyl and the Sniffers have signed to Rough Trade
Aussies Amyl & The Sniffers have inked a deal with Rough Trade. “It’s sick, the label has a great history,” they explain. “Plus hopefully we’ll get first pressings of Sleaford Mods’ records.” 23
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Finn Wolfhard’s band Calpurnia have announced a UK date
Calpurnia have announced
a new London headliner: Finn Wolfhard and co. will perform at KOKO in Camden on 29th November. The band have not long released their six-track EP, ‘Scout’.
Something’ is a great listen!
James: Noname released a record called ‘Room 25’ recently and it’s just so amazingly complex, she’s an incredible rapper and the music behind her is second to none. Seriously, seriously recommend. The new Mac Miller record is also excellent (R.I.P), and I cannot stress how good the new season of Bojack Horseman is. Go and watch. Like, right now. Pete: Ed The Dog released his debut album ‘Shame’ a couple of months ago. It’s all self-recorded at home and has great energy and a sense of humour about it. We decided to take him and his band out on tour with us, and his show has been great. He also looks like Harry Potter, which can only be a good thing. P Spring King’s album ‘A Better Life’ is out now. Catch them live at London’s Forum (19th January) and Manchester’s O2 Ritz (26th).
Ten Tonnes is supporting his bro, George Ezra
Ten Tonnes has hit the road
with George Ezra. The UK leg will kick off on 8th November in Newcastle, going on to visit Liverpool, Hull, Glasgow and London. “Buzzing,” he says. “It’s gunna be sick. See you there.”
Maggie Rogers
GIVE A LITTLE Words: Jamie Muir. Photos: Jennifer McCord.
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She’s just announced her debut album ‘Heard It In A Past Life’ is coming next January - get ready for Maggie Rogers!
I
t’s November 2017, and Maggie Rogers is returning to Alaska. Across two shows, she will play some of the last nights of a transformative year, which started at one end of the catapult and ended far into the distance.
In Juneau, Alaska’s remote capital, Maggie takes an acoustic guitar and her old college friends for an adventure that strips away the booming sounds and screaming stages that had accompanied her for the last 18 months. The last time she was here though, things were very different. 19 years old, she’d recently finished her first year at college and was openly confused with a lot going on in life. The serene mountains and rocky grounds underneath were exactly the path she needed, walking out the worries, fears and questions floating around a new world and new chapter. There was New York, a city far removed from the mid-Atlantic charm of a childhood in Maryland, and one offering a wealth of vibrancy and culture that usually were hours away. There was the idea of what came next, trying to balance a love of writing and music to form a future where both could thrive. The song itself, ‘Alaska’, was born more out of a thank you note to the place that inspired her again, than anything else. Where Maggie found herself in November 2017 though, was just as important.
Almost a year later, it’s a scorching hot London day, and Maggie is celebrating the night before. Less than twelve hours
ago, she headlined her second show at KOKO in as many days, and understandably spirits are high. “These shows have been amazing,” she enthuses, taking brief moments to sip on coffee before bursting with stories and energy, as if the morning after is still riding that high of the previous evening. “I spent so much time feeling new on stage, that coming into it this time I was like - I’m going to nail it. I’m going to walk out on stage and be super in control and own it, and not feel overwhelmed and just be a pro. And then I got to these shows, and I was just…”. Maggie takes a breath. “I thought there would be a point where this would become normal and a piece of my personhood or ego; just a thing I do. It’s still fucking crazy.” That world of crazy was exactly what Maggie Rogers was learning to deal with on her return to Alaska. Coming in the midst of working on her album, her life had not only changed beyond compare over the year before but the months prior had been just as important in shaping who she’d become after it. Returning to Maryland after her ‘Now That The Light Is Fading’ EP, that question rung through once again. What comes
Maggie Rogers
next? “I think you have to be quiet to be loud, and I like needed that quiet time,” notes Maggie. “My life changed really, really quickly and I wasn’t ready for it. For a little while, I also didn’t know if I wanted it. All this shit happened, and I didn’t have time to understand or stop or think about what was going on and how it was affecting me. And then I got some time to figure out who I was, after all of this. “Y’know, after the storm what’s left? And then, what is it I wanted to say?”
A few days earlier, Maggie was sitting on Sunday Brunch. Y’know
the TV show with cooking and chat, and a pick’n’mix of guests: George and Larry Lamb at one end of the studio, Fuse ODG at the other. Let’s just say it’s as far away from Maryland as possible. Maggie laughs thinking about it; her laugh an infectious chuckle that pops out regularly. “Weird show, right?!” she cracks, but one moment really brought things home. As they clicked play on the now-infamous video of Pharrell digging an early version of ‘Alaska’, Maggie was transported right back to the person she was at that moment - and the road she’s been on ever since. “I got super emotional, like super emotional on live TV. I hadn’t seen it in a while, like I couldn’t even remember watching it - I saw it once, and then I never saw it again. I was like ‘that’s terrifying’,” she laughs. “I hadn’t seen it in effectively two years I guess, and I got really emotional because I was there watching this video of me, watching it on live TV with the stylists, camera crews, hair and make-up around and the weirdest part of it all was that it didn’t feel weird. I knew how to do it, and it was like, what happened?” Two years after that moment, Maggie was quite literally “watching myself as my life changed. It was really powerful and disorientating,” she admits. “When I think of that time…” Maggie pauses. “The girl in that video would go to school and all her friends were there. I was part of a community, and that transition out of college was a little bit weirder for me. It’s hard for a
lot of people, and a weird time no matter what but the hardest part of it all was being removed from my friends so quickly.” Suddenly, the world was calling, and the response was ‘Now That The Light Is Fading’, an EP that signalled a bold new direction for an artist who had been creating music since she was 17. Now, those raw folk melodies were wrapped in lush and glistening electronics and grooves the moment thousands first heard it they were hooked - and in the space of one year, Maggie was front and centre on festival main stages and headlining shows from Japan to Sweden, Canada to Australia. The apartment in New York that she had rented for a year while finishing university was only occupied for six weeks, and that sort of sharp jump had its effects. “I think,” Maggie considers, “I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t know how to grab the reins of what people’s expectations were of me. It’s up to you to confirm or deny them and especially at the beginning, it felt very much out 26
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of my control, and it was scary and overwhelming, but it was complicated. “As much as it was terrifying and all those things, it was also amazing and made me so happy to see all these people showing up. I was having these amazing shows, connecting to people and building this community - becoming a part of something bigger than myself.” “This record helped me understand this period in my life, where everything was changing, and I was scared a lot of the time,” Maggie continues. “I spent so much time stressing that year and feeling out of my comfort zone that maybe now I’m getting to the first space where I can start to celebrate it and own it.” To the world, Maggie Rogers is the costume-wearing pop torchbearer that dances in the face of darkness with the sort of tracks that feel like they’ve grown right out of the human soul. Its natural lights have fans openly crying with joy at her shows. Maggie feels like one of us, and as she sits pointing out dogs
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roaming nearby and wilfully opens up about the tough changes that have come into her life, that shines through more than anything. “Writing music, it’s being vulnerable for sport,” she notes. “Performing and being an artist it’s saying, ‘HERE I AM, I’M THE MESS’.”
‘Heard It In A Past Life’ is an album that could only come from Maggie Rogers. A record full of identity
that takes self-doubt and confusion (and the process of learning to deal with that) and celebrates simply being human. It’s an album that, if it had a physical home, would be Maryland - a retreat and a surrounding that both pushed and pulled Maggie back, and a place that allowed her to explore music and exactly what it could mean to her. “I don’t come from a musical family, so there wasn’t a huge amount of music about when growing up,” reflects Maggie. “My Mum made a point of playing it to me, she could tell I was really into
it, and there was something special in that. I also remember feeling this sense of urgency with it, like really, really feeling that this is exactly what I have to do in life.” Stories are the backbone to Maggie’s spirit. She would enter short story competitions and essay contests at school, crafting tales and turning thoughts and feelings into narrative forms. Music was there, but being based in a rural part of the country where going to the nearest show would take a two-hour drive
each way had its downsides. “There weren’t a lot of musicians about growing up, and as a woman, I always felt like I wasn’t allowed to play,” admits Maggie, thinking back to those times. “Like, even playing the banjo, I grew up playing the guitar, but when I got to high school there were like six guitar players and they were all dudes, so if everyone was playing I wouldn’t get to play. But, if I was the only one who played the banjo, then I would always have to play. So that was a big deal.” “I became a music producer, in a lot of ways, because I couldn’t play with the guys,” she reveals. “I put myself in a room, and there’s the technology which means I can play every instrument, so I did that.” Plugging into artists like Vampire Weekend, Bon Iver, Talking Heads, Nick Drake and more from that bustling indie world, the tales she had been crafting were opening up further. The decision to move to New York to study at NYU came from a moment of realisation; one of giving something she cares about so much the chance to fully be realised. “I said to myself, okay, I wanna find out if I’m capable of this. I’d always made quiet music and lived in the indie, so I wanted to challenge myself creatively - this is that time of life where if I don’t go for this now, I’m always going to wonder, what if? It was scary because if you go for it, you can fall hard.” The fact her parents, nonmusicians themselves, let her go to a college for music in the first place is something she holds as the key moment for where she is now. Maggie will admit that New York wasn’t this picturesque dream she
had for years before, but understood that if she was truly serious about being an artist and creating, then she needed to make that move. So it’s what she did. “When I moved to New York it was different,” she notes, thinking back to the friends and streets she called home. “There, I could go and see six, seven or eight shows a week and study everything going on. Slam poetry one night; hip-hop open mics another night. Going uptown to a Cuban restaurant to see a Latin band. It was so informative.” During her time in the city, she studied, made music, spent time working at Elle and even helped
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transcribe interviews for renowned journalist Lizzy Goodman for her New York tell-all Meet Me In The Bathroom. “I always get painted as this delicate nature girl, but I’ve lived in New York for five years - fuck off! I like nature but come on; I feel really comfortable in London. I’m not terrified of my hotel room!” When you meet Maggie Rogers, you understand why nothing is going to get in her way. Why New York was hers for the taking. “Thank God I have this job,” she cracks. “I don’t do well when people tell me what to do. I don’t take direction well, thank God - I would
Maggie Rogers have been a bad employee. I love efficiency; when things aren’t efficient, and someone is just lazy, it drives me mad. There’s a better way to do this. Wouldn’t go down well on my second day.”
After being everywhere so quickly, Maggie returned from the road in a daze. Going from
hanging out with mates in New York, to playing to thousands upon thousands in the space of a year was something she wasn’t prepared for. The world had changed, not just for Maggie but for those that were left behind, and time was very much needed. Moving back to her parents’ house for the first time since embarking on that journey into music and New York, she took two months off before starting to piece together where to go next. Now there’s an audience, now there’s a fanbase, and now there’s expectation - where would Maggie take this next important path in crafting a record for now? “When you’re at home, like none of my friends live there anymore,” details Maggie, recalling the days she spent away from the world. “There’s nobody around; it was sort of like the world stopped existing. I could have woken up, and you could tell me that nothing, none of it, had happened. That it all had been this weird dream - and I’d of just been like, yeah that sounds about right. “I needed time to get into writing mode. It takes me about six weeks to transition my brain into being vulnerable.” In the room where Maggie first started creating music all those years ago, ‘Heard It In A Past Life’ was born. Without intentionally planning it, Maggie was in her childhood bedroom with a studio set up, writing songs on the floor she trod for years, and that warmth and down-to-earth charm feeds through ten tracks of captivating pop that’ll sit on replay from the moment you hear it. That variety shown on ‘Now That The Light Is Fading’ is once again present, taking any expectations and ripping them apart for something fresh and essential. Tracks like ‘Overnight’ and ‘Give A Little’ are a mesmeric dream of singalong hooks whilst reaching straight for the heartstrings, while ‘Light On’ could sit as a long-lost ABBA ballad, ‘Say It’ a gem of a smooth jam and ‘Retrograde’ ripping through an indie bedrock of electro-drums and glitching kicks. The best records are ones that change and evolve on each track while maintaining that sense of identity and soul. ‘Heard It In A Past Life’ is undeniably that, and put simply, is one of the best pop records of the year ahead. “I made the record I wanted to
make, and I know I haven’t really given the label the radio smash they were looking for, but I told the story I wanted to. I took my time with it and did it in the way I wanted. This is what means the most, I feel strong in the statement I’m making musically,” explains Maggie, excitement written across her face. “I feel like I’ve spent the last week or two preparing myself, not for the worst but preparing myself for this to not be what it was on the EP, because I know you can’t repeat that and I know it’s going to feel different no matter what. “I’ve been working hard to remove expectation because realistically it’s almost irrelevant the reaction it gets because that’s not the work. Now that it’s finished, it doesn’t belong to me anymore. I’m in a weird state right now where it doesn’t belong to me, and it doesn’t belong to everyone, which makes me feel like I have this crazy secret!” Coming at such an important moment for Maggie, it was all about delivering an album that touches upon all of those fears while delivering an emphatic statement of an artist thriving with creativity. Personal but universal at the same time, it’s one that’ll connect as vital new chapter for Maggie. Nevermind teaming up with the likes of Greg Kurstin, Ricky Reed and Rostam too at various points to add to her vision. “They’re people whose music I’ve grown up loving, so to then be able to learn from them as people, as creators and as producers it was like going to grad school. To
show up every day and watch Rostam in LA… I grew up on Vampire Weekend - his work is such a foundational part of how I make sound, so to then be in a studio with him. You grow up thinking, ‘Oh, I bet we’d be friends’, and then I just called Rostam yesterday - it’s wild!” Maggie stops, taking a large sip of coffee. “I’ve been working for this for a long time, and I love music, and I love writing my music, and making my music, and making my albums. After I finished the record, I went through this two or three week period of mourning - I was sad because I’d woke up every morning for a year thinking very urgently about this thing, and for it to be done...” It already feels like Maggie wants that next moment to happen, getting back on the road and out to the stages that took her on such a ride before, but this time she’s ready for what’s to come. “I focused on performance for such a long time, and I think because of how quickly everything happened I felt this need to please and entertain. It was almost like I wanted to host people, y’know? Everyone came, and they were curious, and I wanted people to like me. And now, I feel like I’m starting to figure out what actually feels the best for me on the stage.”
Maggie Rogers in 2018 is excited, and now, is in control of what comes next. At
KOKO the night before, Maggie puts the microphone to one side and sings ‘Color Song’ a capella with a sold-out crowd - as everyone stops to watch a spinetingling moment roll out in front of their faces. It’s the perfect
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encapsulation of what comes next, and what makes Maggie Rogers special. Tapping into what life is in 2018, the struggles we all go through and the fact that it’s okay to be overwhelmed by what it can throw at you. Going after your dream, it’s what we all should be doing. If we give a little, then maybe just maybe, the world can be a pretty spectacular place. “I just want to keep doing things that feel like me, which the bigger stuff gets, the harder it gets because you never want to disappoint anyone, but you can never really be anything else than where you are,” Maggie states, finishing up her coffee. “It takes some pretty constant practice of checking in, learning and just really working hard to be present and make decisions, not from the person or the record I constructed but from where I am now and acknowledging, like it or not, I’m constantly changing. “It’s always been a bit of a brain game for me, because I spent so much time feeling new at this and feeling, not like an amateur but like, ‘Fuck, I don’t know what to do’.” Now Maggie has the world in the palm of her hand, an artist enjoying the time to simply be an artist. Watching the short film she made of her trip back to Alaska, there’s a line that sums up a purpose greater than most ever discover: “My job is to see the world and report back,” she says. “My job is to feel things fiercely, and my job is to be present.” As Maggie cracks another laugh as she strolls down Brick Lane to her next destination, it’s clear she’s doing much more than that. P
Maggie Rogers’ album ‘Heard It In A Past Life’ is out 18th January.
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LANY
Gotta Get Thru This Break ups are tough, right? LANY’s Paul Klein takes life’s shitty moments and turns them into solid gold bangers. Words: Abigail Firth.
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H
ave you ever accidentally made an album? Because you had your heart broken by another pop star? Course you haven’t. Know who has? Paul Klein.
(and LANY) – he’s the guy who helped produce both of The 1975’s LPs, Wolf Alice’s debut ‘My Love Is Cool’, and twenty one pilots’ ‘Blurryface’. It sounds like Paul really went through the ringer writing this record too. He describes January as the worst and best time of his life, using songwriting as a form He’s enjoying his second official of therapy when getting over his day of summer when we give first proper heartbreak. him a call. He hasn’t had a break “The plan was, I wanted to go because he’s been working so hard into 2018 trying anything and on LANY’s second record ‘Malibu everything, and you know, I Nights’ since January. The 4th, wanted to get in a room with specifically. certain songwriters and producers “Coming home from London on and just try, and that’s something 3rd January, I got off the plane I’d never really done before, and I and went into the studio on the wanted to give it a shot. 4th, that’s what happened,” he “And then my whole world was says. “The second song I wrote flipped upside down, and I just on 5th January, and it just kind found myself - it was a necessity of went on like that. And I’d write to fill up every second of my these songs, but we weren’t like free time. I didn’t wanna chill. I producing them or making them. couldn’t. I needed to put all of A lot of times they were shells of my emotions and my energy into songs, but the whole structure something, and I needed to write was there, the melody was there. songs about what I was going But then when we went into the through, and it was a form of studio, the first song we made therapy. Like the purest form of was ‘I Don’t Wanna Love You therapy ever. Like before I would Anymore’.” start a session, I would just talk to Where LANY’s debut was a whoever I was writing a song with minimal, airy, 16-track-long listen, for like two hours before we would ‘Malibu Nights’ is much shorter, even touch a note on the piano or brighter, and has so much more anything. It probably saved my feeling behind it. Like a load of life, and I dedicated myself to great pop records in recent years, that.” it’s pretty heavy lyrical themes So that’s what he did. Wrote are balanced out with massively some pop songs. And for the 45 danceable instrumentation. days that followed 4th January, “It is sonically, definitely that’s what he kept doing. brighter. Just like even “It was 51 days to be exact. I scientifically speaking it’s wrote the album in 45 days, but I brighter, I mean as far as all the didn’t realise it until the 45th day. equalisers we chose and the I picked my head sounds that we up. I would go in were working Paul’s top tip for every day except with everything Saturdays and is technically and getting shit done? Sundays because literally brighter. Bin your phone. nobody would “I knew that work with me on some of these If you’re keeping up those days, and songs are pretty with Paul on social I would finish a heavy, and I media, you’ll know that song, every single think it’s always Paul wasn’t actually day almost, and beautiful to on it for six months, send it to the boys. contrast things starting in January, I’d be like, ‘This in art and, so obviously. The posts is what we worked because the kept coming, but from on today, here’s subject matter friends posting via his the idea, here’s was a little dark, account. the skeleton’, it I wanted to do “You could’ve thrown would be a full everything we my phone into the trash song. I was so could to juxtapose can; it wouldn’t have focused, and we that with visuals made any difference,” he would finish a and with the says. “I didn’t wanna be song in 3-4 hours. sound.” on it, and I didn’t wanna “If I didn’t finish That’s look at it, and I knew, a song that day, I immediately looking back it was wanted to like not clear on the first incredibly insightful. It exist as a human two singles from was incredibly smart being. All I would the album, ‘Thru of me to do, but I did do is work my ass These Tears’ and ‘I it without ever really off all day then Don’t Wanna Love thinking, and it was I would just go You Anymore’. almost like my soul just home and drink The record was knew.” P myself to sleep, also produced then I would do by Mike Crossey
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“Some of these songs are pretty heavy” it all again the next day. It was tough.” The entire recording process of ‘Malibu Nights’ sounds like it was a bit bloody intense. After all, he wrote the album in 45 days, but it became a passion project for reasons outside of just loving making music. “There are people that write songs for a living and, uh, bro; this is on another level. I’d never seen anything like this, writing this quick in a day and just doing it over and over. It was the only thing in my life that mattered; it was the only thing. “When I got to the end – our whole 2018, like I have 2019 already scheduled, and I’m just saying that because I knew how much time I had to write and what time we started going to rehearsals. I knew what time we started to go on tour, so I knew that like, come this date, I had to be done writing, because then we’d be moving into production on whatever song we’d written. “But all that to say, I’ll never forget walking out of Conway, which is where I wrote a lot of the songs. It’s a recording studio off Melrose in LA, and I’d become like friends with the lady who sat at the desk, and the house engineers, and the grounds people. Everyone knew me, and I’d say goodbye, and I just cried my eyes out. I knew I’d just gone through such a fucking crazy season. “It was like, I knew what I’d gone through, and I knew that it was also over and I would probably never feel anything like that ever again, and a lot of me hopes I never feel like that again. I dunno, I just can’t explain it. But it was those 45 days that all those emotions were extremely raw and extremely honest, and I just decided to put all my energy into trying to put those into words, and I think I did it well, if I can say that.” If you’re wondering why the album is called ‘Malibu Nights’, it’s not because Paul is obsessed with cities (FYI, LANY stands for
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‘Los Angeles New York’), it’s just where he lives. “Every night I would drive back to Malibu after the session, and it would go one of two ways: you either drive home after being at work all day feeling on top of the world, can’t believe you just wrote that song, you’re like listening to that demo on repeat on the way home. “Or the other way is, you aren’t listening to it at all. You feel like the biggest failure in the world, and you just wanna drive your car straight into the ocean and just die, and that’s pretty much the only two emotions I felt after every single day. “I would always come back home to my bedroom in Malibu by myself, and I just thought Malibu nights was so indicative of the season that I went through, and it made the most sense to call it that. “There was a point where I was almost gonna call it ‘January’, because most of these songs were written in January, but I think as humans we’ve all had that time or that season or that month, whether it be January or August, where just nothing was working, you just couldn’t catch a break. We ultimately settled on ‘Malibu Nights’ because that’s a better representation.” As far as Paul is concerned, being able to turn his own experiences of heartbreak into songs that are #relatable for the masses is what makes what he does so special. “If I couldn’t take shit experiences and things that upset me or hurt and turn it into art, I would be a pretty lost person. I’m so happy that I have that outlet and ability and y’know, I’m one of seven billion people who have experienced some sort of hurt or disappointment in their lives, and I’m one in seven billion, but I think being able to articulate it in a way some people can’t is really helpful. It’s just kind of what I do as a human being, and as an artist.” P LANY’s album ‘Malibu
Nights’ is out now.
Parcels
Sealed. Berlin-based Australian five-piece Parcels will have you heading straight for the dancefloor. Words: Martyn Young.
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he success of a good party is not just about what happens on the night. There’s
planning, working out how you’re going to hit the perfect vibe, putting together a guestlist, buying ice and cups... It’s feelings like these that circulate Parcels’ dancefloor slaying debut album. The group have experienced a lot in their three years of existence, their immersive future funk sound a product of a band whose magpie tendencies have created a wonderful melting pot of styles. After forming at school back in Byron Bay in Australia, the fivepiece upped sticks and moved to Berlin prompting the beginning of a life-changing ride that has culminated in their self-titled album. For guitarist Jules Crommelin, it’s the realisation of several years’ development. “It’s the first time we’ve produced and released a body of work that we’re really proud of,” he begins. “The album is the perfect representation of us as a band right now.” The experience of Parcels is firmly rooted in the magic of the dancefloor. The ecstatic realisation of their groove-filled dreams though comes from a whole load of different influences and styles. With Parcels you get a bit of everything, from straight-up electro funk, to rock, to dreamy psychedelia, to chilled out folk. “We wanted to explore hints of music genres, all the genres that we were growing up listening to and stuff that we were inspired by,” explains Jules. These influences range from classic pop and disco visionaries like Beach Boys and Chic, soft rock legends in Steely Dan to
more contemporary icons like Daft Punk. (More on them later.) The record the band have created is firmly in keeping with the idea of making something transcendent like their musical heroes. “We’re inspired by the idea of making a journey through an album,” says Jules. “The experience of Parcels is like watching a film that has many different parts. That has lulls and high points. We like to bring that dynamic into our compositions.” Despite the disparate influences between the band members, there’s never any sense of conflict. There’s nobody shouting, “This needs more funk!’ or “This doesn’t rock enough!” “We somehow never argue,” says Jules. “We all have a mutual understanding of who does what. We all collaborate, and everyone respects each other.” The journey towards releasing the album was one of Parcels finding their feet and developing an inner confidence as musicians and writers. “The album started with ‘Be Myself’ which is a song I wrote in response to basically writing an album,” Jules laughs. “There was so much pressure that we put on ourselves that I sat down and tried to force myself to feel confident. It’s a song to us, in a way. “For the album, we recorded it in my bedroom. We’d come together and work on the arrangement and the production of everything. Once we had that we went to the studio. We had this idea from the very start that we wanted to produce the album ourselves.” Part of the inspiration for Parcels’ self-sufficiency came from a meeting with a legendary musical duo who also did things
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very much their own way. Parcels first met Daft Punk when the secretive pair of Thomas Bangalter and GuyManuel-De Homem-Chriso saw the newcomers play a show in Paris at the Les Baines bar. They were invited by the head of Parcels’ label Kitsune, but the robots were immediately taken by their infectious grooves and offered to work with them straight away. The result was 2017’s ‘Overnight’, a single that ramped up the buzz for Parcels to record levels. Now though, things are a bit different, and rather than resting on their impressive contact book, Parcels are striking out on their own. The band have always known where they wanted to go, and their experience working with Daft Punk encouraged them to take control themselves. “They taught us to follow our own path,” says Jules confidently. “We always had that vision since the start. They helped solidify our confidence in that vision. It was a mentorship in that way. We always wanted to produce ourselves. Parcels has always been that way; our sound is our production. “Also, we all just want to get better at our craft. It would be a shame to give that over to somebody else because we want to learn how to do it and get better. It just makes sense.” Having moved from Australia to Germany, the band found themselves making music that was informed by both the electro heartland of Berlin, and the heady party vibes of Byron Bay. “There’s a Tropicana vibe that we have which is a part of where we come from in Australia,” says Jules. “In a way, it makes sense for us to play with that theme. “Everyone’s always telling us,
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‘Oh, you come from the tropical part of Australia. Why did you move? Why did you go away?’ I guess we’re subconsciously putting that into our music.” Despite Australia being where Parcels initially met and formed, Berlin was the city that saw them find themselves. “We were only in Australia for six months as a band, but we’d known each other for many years,” reveals Jules. “As Parcels, we only played three shows in Australia. “When we came to Berlin that was when we really came together, and we started to work and rehearse every day. When we moved over it got to the serious point. We were on the other side of the world, and we’ve got to pay rent, and it was like, this is it. We’re not going back.” It was sink or swim for the band. As they began to seek out the sounds of Berlin and experience a whole different culture, the party vibe of Parcels came to life. Despite the experimental sounds and broad musical palette, everything went back to a strong pop core. “The one thing that ties everything together for us is making pop music,” concludes Jules. Bands can hope for a lot when they release their debut album. They can hope for instant fame and fortune, the ability to travel the world and live their megastar fantasies. For party starters like Parcels though, their ambitions are the same as for any lifechanging bash. “I hope it provokes general euphoria and happiness,” says Jules excitedly. “I think that’s the feeling you get when you listen to groovy music; euphoria and goosebumps on the skin.” P
Parcels’ self-titled debut album is out now.
“Daft Punk taught us to follow our own path”
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Kurt Vile
Usually when rock stars are bad influences it’s all drugs, alcohol and throwing TVs out of windows. Kurt Vile, however, is carving out his own naughty niche with dodgy parking advice‌ Words: Liam Konemann.
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n Philadelphia, Kurt Vile parks for free.
“If you know a loading zone and you know exactly what you want to do, you can be in and out in twenty minutes and often get away without having a ticket, you know?” he laughs. Kurt Vile laughs a lot. That beyond chill, ‘so laid back he’s practically horizontal’ persona of his is no rock star affectation. Kurt’s parking strategy has come up for discussion off the back of his track ‘Loading Zones’, the opening song on his upcoming seventh solo album ‘Bottle It In’. The song is about parking in loading zones, naturally, and about knowing your town so intuitively that you develop a kind of geographical shorthand. Kurt originally wrote it during sessions for previous album ‘b’lieve i’m goin down...’, but thinks the track needed time to grow into itself. “It’s classic rock-ish, but it’s got a sort of punk acoustic deliveryswagger,” he says. “It would’ve come off differently a couple of years ago, so it needed to grow into this sort of FM-rock, classicrock delivery mixed with a little psychedelia.” In conversation, like in his songs, Kurt Vile is not bound by the conventional rules of language. He throws adjectives and nouns all in together, using one in place of the other to create an entirely original turn of phrase. Sentences are abandoned midway in favour of something more accurate, or simply absorbed into the statement following behind. Having slipped out from underneath the rules of grammar, he manages to say exactly what he means, but not at all what you were expecting. It’s fluid, or maybe in transit, just like many of the tracks on ‘Bottle It In’. “I’m always writing songs, they accumulate. I travelled a lot for this record; I’d go into the studio straight from tour sometimes by myself, sometimes with a band,” Kurt says. “Go on trips in between or combine different things, like tour into the studio, into meeting my family, into travelling across the country and back into the studio. Combining all things, not compartmentalising as much, keeping it all like everyday
“It’s partly comedy, partly a love letter to my friends” life. It’s like waking up or something…” The record’s perpetual motion is underpinned by a slight neurosis, not from the claustrophobia that sometimes precedes the need to travel, but from the act of travelling itself. For a while there, Kurt was terrified of flying. “Forget the statistics, but just the fact that you’re literally up in the air so if anything went wrong you’re five miles high or whatever, and then people are like ‘well you know you’re more likely to die in a car’, and you’re like ‘well guess what, I’m used to being in a car!’” He laughs. “That very much explains the recording process too. Like ‘Hysteria’, I was on the way to LA to do a recording session, and I had the basic chords of ‘Hysteria’ written, and the first verse and those lines came pretty quick in the moment,” he says. As the name suggests, ‘Hysteria’ captures his fear of flying with woozy guitars, a glockenspiel ticking off the seconds as Kurt daydreams about being dropped off “somewhere on the side of a cloud”. These moments of fear, he has noted, are when you most want to tell the people you love that you love them in case it’s the last time you leave them behind. But, he says, the terror also heralds the arrival of possibility. “There’s another song that kind of captures the recording vibe-slash-mood, slight panic mode. I talk about being on the plane in ‘Cold Was the Wind’ as well. ‘On a plane, I’m drinkin’ red wine, cause like everybody else I’m afraid to die, did I mention I’m afraid of dying?’,” he quotes, laughing. “The plane is kind of scary, and it takes me a lot to get the hell out of my zone, to get out of my home and switch over. I’m
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getting better at it. But I think that those moments are kind of cool because also on the plane it’s a peak moment where you’re on the way to somewhere else, to some new beginning. “Usually the moments you’re the most stressed are because you can’t imagine what’s going to happen on the other side, but at the same time, there’s going to be something new that can be often rewarding. But you gotta work for it, you know?” While it seems like the record is preoccupied with movement and transition at every level, Kurt doesn’t think it’s necessarily about leaving places or mindsets behind. Not entirely, at least. “Another part of my music is staying somewhere like a temple, like a couch,” he says. “Sometimes it’s about when you get somewhere and finally just totally…” he trails off, one description mentally colliding with the next. “Whether it be the couch in my sunroom where my records are, or the beach, sometimes it’s the opposite, you know? Sometimes it’s about not wanting to move at all and having that luxury for a moment.” Songs like ‘Loading Zones’, his hometown ode, are points of permanence on an album in flux. The fingerpicked ‘Mutinies’ also has deep roots, with the first verse dating back to his teenage years. The song cropped up again during sessions for ‘b’lieve i’m goin down…’ then went back on the shelf, finally finding a home on the second half of this album. “One of my earliest best friends who I played music with, John Newman, I recorded a demo of that first verse on his four-track,” says Kurt. “He taught me how to fingerpick, and he died of cancer in our early twenties, so that was a chapter closed, and moving on. You know, I come back to songs
RE AD D O RK. CO M
often, and I kept coming back to that riff, and I added some more up to date lyrics like ‘the small computer in my hand explodin’’ you know, that’s life today...” The thought carries him away, and he riffs on it, following it down the rabbit hole. “Scrambled eggs for brains, spitting brains, look down to do a specific thing and do it from your phone, forget about it, you just forget what you’re doing. Things coming at every angle, you got news coming from your phone, like mandatory murder TV straight to the brain,” he muses. In some ways, ‘Bottle It In’ is cyclic, always heading home but taking the long way around. Like ‘Mutinies’, ‘One Trick Ponies’ is a tribute to his roots through a connection to his friends - this time with a sense of rolled-eyed affection. “Basically, at the start, it’s about friends, but it’s also comedic. I like to tell the same joke over and over again, and to certain types of personalities it annoys them more every time, and I like that, but to other people, it becomes a little funnier every time,” Kurt says. “It’s partly comedy, partly a love letter to my friends. Mainly I’m thinking about anyone in my life that is gone, or here but that I don’t talk to as much, or who’s dead, but it’s also just about life. Music.” In his own eyes, at least, Kurt is something of a one-trick pony himself. “Most of my songs are just a running gag of some sort, you know?” He says. It’s essential to the process. Without the humour, the fear and neurosis take over. Besides that, sometimes when people take themselves too seriously, it becomes a pantomime, making it difficult to take them seriously at all. It’s kind of unrealistic, Kurt says. “Life is both. Life is beautiful and terrifying and hilarious, and I always thought it was important. I can smell when some people take themselves too seriously,” he says. “And I take myself plenty seriously, but there’s humour in life, and I just love humour as a release, you know?” Despite its name, then, ‘Bottle It In’ might be more about letting it out. P Kurt Vile’s album
‘Bottle It In’ is out now.
Incoming. Your New Music Fridays, sorted.
12th October - 16th November 2018
Basement Beside Myself
The way we listen to music has changed. New bangers are constantly arriving ‘online’, we can stream any record we want on demand, and decades of past classics are available at the tap of a screen. That’s why we’ve changed up our reviews section. Split by each New Music Friday, Incoming is your guide to what to look out for, what to pre-save and pre-order, and what to skip. Think of it as your TV guide for music, yeah?
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Basement step up to fulfil the promise they’ve always buzzed with.
eeeee LABEL: WARNER BROS. RECORDS / FUELED BY RAMEN RELEASED: 12TH OCTOBER LISTEN TO: DISCONNECT, NEW COAST, RIGHT HERE
asement have always felt to be on the cusp of something special.
There’s a heartwarming sense of loyalty surrounding the band, who have continued to deliver across three studio albums that have each nudged open their door for ambition bit by bit. The band’s first album since signing to Fueled By Ramen, ‘Beside Myself’ is one that places their flag firmly in the ground. Every twist and turn is one that thrives with a band knowing exactly what they want to achieve, and going out and doing it. Catchy hooks abound, with the sort of anthems that’ll ring out loud and proud at shows all over the place (look no further than ‘Disconnect’ and ‘Keepsake’ for examples of that). Here, Basement are bursting with confidence, opening up the 36
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scars and fears shared by all and screaming at the world to sing back. It’s an album that sucks you in one of those records that shuts out anything else about and makes you live in its world. ‘New Coast’ may be one of the most emphatic tracks released this year, while ‘Nothing Left’ rattles and rips a new gear into things, ‘Slip Away’ swaggers like a US radio titan and in closer ‘Right Here’, they showcase the raw potency of a band capturing darkness in jaw-dropping fashion. Basement have the album they’ve always wanted, one that will take them to the biggest stages of their career so far. But ‘Beside Myself’ does more than that, and arguably stands as one of the defining rock albums of the entire year. This is where it starts, cusp no longer. P Jamie Muir
D OWN WI T H BO RI N G
Incoming 12th October 2018
Vocalist Andrew Fisher offers up a glimpse into the innerworkings of the band’s new record. Words: Steven Loftin.
Hey Andrew, how are you feeling for the record? Pretty excited! We’ve been working on it for a little while, so everyone’s just looking forward to showing people the album and being able to play the songs live. Everyone’s in good spirits.
we were doing was good, and to make sure that we were putting stuff out that we were proud of, but that’s healthy. We all put pressure on each other in a helpful, natural way, to make sure that we were doing the best we can for the five of us.
It’s also your first release with Fueled By Ramen, how does that feel?
You’re on album number four, what weight did that bring to the table?
Really good actually. We rereleased the last record [2016’s ‘Promise Everything’] with them, but this is the first that we’ve done start to finish, and they’ve been really, really great. They’re super supportive, and let us get on and do what we want to do. They’ve helped us in any way we’ve needed them to.
Did that add any pressure? No, honestly it was the complete opposite because we had so much more time and the general vibe from the label we were getting was just a lot of support. I felt personal pressure to make sure that what
There was no intent or statement. There wasn’t any reason for writing a record other than we were a band and we felt like we needed to be creative and put something out. We spent a lot more time on it because we wanted to put out a bunch of songs that felt good together, that we were proud of. Number four is weird; once you start putting out more than two records, you don’t just want to keep churning out music for the sake of it. We’re a band who love being a band, and one of my favourite things is writing and being able to be creative.
Incoming 12th October 2018
It feels like there’s an air of introspection and vulnerability that’s running through ‘Beside Myself’?
Yeah, absolutely. There wasn’t anything that I was aiming to do; it came out as whatever happens, happens, and in the moment I wasn’t focused on anything specific - there wasn’t anything I really wanted to talk about or say. Those kind of themes came out after the fact. I obviously knew what I was talking about when I was writing it but the kind of thread throughout - introspective thought, vulnerability, looking at yourself and trying to work out and make sense of what’s happening, those things came out afterwards when we were looking back through the songs. That’s where the title came from this idea of me looking at myself, or critiquing myself. Just talking about I’m feeling, or what I’m thinking.
Is that cathartic for you?
Absolutely, it’s always been like that; sitting down, having a guitar, and all of a sudden there’s a song. That in itself is a sense of catharsis, without even getting into it emotionally because you start with nothing and something comes out of it. That feeling of creation is awesome. Lyrically, thematically and emotionally, it’s really, really helpful, and really important to me. It’s something that I’ve done from a young age. Learning to write it was all writing stories, or, honestly to a point, writing songs, even before I could play the guitar properly, I was always fiddling around with words. It just feels
good to try and get them out. I think I use the band selfi shly for that because it’s a good emotional outlet and a way to kind of, not even deal with stuff, but to think about stuff, and talk about stuff, even if it’s to myself. Sometimes that’s what lyric writing is; it’s you talking to yourself, in a helpful way.
That definitely comes across in the first single, ‘Disconnect’.
I try not to be too obvious with stuff, but sometimes it depends on how I’m feeling and how it will come out. With that song, it’s very hard to appreciate what you have and what you’re doing, and sometimes the little everyday stuff gets in the way, and you start to lose whatever it is you’re feeling the appreciated for. Sometimes you need to check yourself. I am incredibly lucky, with the life that I lead, being able to be in a band, being able to live in America. I’ve got a great family. Everybody has their own stuff that they have to deal with, and everybody has their own levels of sadness, happiness, whatever it is, and sometimes you just need to check yourself and appreciate what you have. Trying not to lose the love that I have for being in a band because sometimes, that goes! But I do love it, and I am grateful that I get to do it every day.
You’ve also tried your hand at story songwriting with ‘Ultraviolet’, how was that?
That was a completely new venture for me because I have always admired songwriters that can write stories. It’s amazing; you can follow some songs from the start to the end and sometimes it’s harrowing with how cool it is. That’s the fi rst song that I’ve written about something that’s had nothing to do with me.
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“Sometimes you need to check yourself and appreciate what you have” It’s about the Westminster attack last year. My dad used to work in the city, [and] it’s just one of those things that really connected with me. It really hit me hard. I really struggled with it, because there’s a lot of conversation that happens at the moment around ownership of ‘things’, and whether people have the right to talk about them, and I was kind of struggling with whether I had the right to talk about something I’m not involved with. I really didn’t want to make a point about it. It’s not a political song, in any way, and it’s not for anyone, I just had an emotional connection to it, and I just started writing. I feel somewhat of a charlatan because I’ve never had that experience and I don’t want to undermine anyone that’s been involved in it and lost anyone… does that make sense?
Yeah, you want to be respectful with it. If I were looking at it from the outside with someone else doing it, I wouldn’t question it, but I think I’m very self-critical, now more so than ever. I’m hyperaware of how what I do can be perceived. When it’s just about me, I don’t care, I don’t care how someone takes it because I’m talking about myself, but because this is the fi rst time I’ve entered into a situation that I wasn’t directly involved in, there was a lot of apprehension. And I think that’s okay. I think with any kind of creative art; whether it’s music, or fi lm, or literature, I think people should be able to talk about thing that they’re not directly involved in, or have been involved in. P D OWN H BO RE ADWI D OTRK. CORIMN G
Photos: Frances Beach, Niall Lea
As long as people keep supporting it and we still feel enthused by it, I think we will still keep making it, and I’ll always be focused on being creative.
Connan Mockasin Jassbusters
RELEASED: 12THOCTOBER
eeeee Not one for taking the usual path, it has taken Connan Mockasin nearly five years to follow up last album ‘Caramel’. Returning with a concept record about a band of music teachers, surprisingly, that is perhaps the least strange element to the entire thing. Taken as a whole, it manages to squander much that was great about its predecessor, and drowns it all in a mess of pretentious waffle. Back to school please, Connan. P Jamie
MacMillan
Django Django
Winter’s Beach EP
RELEASED: 12TH OCTOBER
eeeee Recorded before the release of their latest album, ‘Marble Skies’, this six-track EP is a continuation of the sound carved out by its predecessor. ‘Winter’s Beach’ is the sound of Django Django thrashing between the shores of pop and downright weirdness. ‘Blue Hazy Highs’ is the closest Django Django have come to writing something Liam Gallagher could belt out, while ‘Flash Forward’ and its manic, wide-eyed EDM beat is the band’s most overtly dance-inspired track to date. P Alex Thorpe
John Grant Love Is Magic
RELEASED: 12TH OCTOBER
eeeee Since releasing his debut back in 2010, John Grant has been nominated for a BRIT, curated his own festival and even duetted with Kylie Minogue. Now on to his fourth album, the Michigan-born singer has returned to the innercomplexities of his bizarre mind, mixing his unique lyricism with an onslaught of synths that goes far beyond his trademark frequencies. An album that not only portrays basic feelings and emotions, but also retains Grant’s message that “in spite of it all, love is still magic.” P Dominic Allum
Parcels Parcels
RELEASED: 12TH OCTOBER
eeeee Daft Punk’s single ‘Get Lucky’ was sound of the summer 2013; it’s hard to refute that. Obviously Berlin via Byron Bay-based Parcels thought so too. They managed to get the robotic duo to produce their breakthrough single, ‘Overnight’, after all. With their hi-fi funk, it looked like they were set to sit somewhere between the yacht rock heavies and the disco stalwarts of the 70s. They even had the look to match; all surfer dude hair, finely groomed moustaches and plenty of cord flares. That ‘Random Access Memories’ stamp is all over Parcels. Nile Rodgers-inspired riffs brush up against their more obvious influences. And yet, there’s something quite charming, if transitory, about it. Lead single ‘Tieduprightnow’ feels like a natural progression from ‘Overnight’, with its funky, bumping bass and glitter ball sheened guitars. On ‘Lightenup’, riffs tumble over each other with a lazy playfulness. When paired with Jules Crommelin’s airy vocals and a surprise flute solo, the track feels beautifully breezy. In places, Parcels almost feels as though it’s come straight off the pop production line. Everything is just as it should be, nothing out of place and everything spit shined to perfection. At best, the result is something to loose yourself in. At worst, it edges on manufactured. Beyond the 8-minute epic ‘Everyroad’, it’s easy for Parcels to blend into one. It’s coolly beautiful and entertaining, like a cold margarita during an Ibiza sunset. But like that margarita, it’s fleeting and, once it’s over, it’s easy to let the moment just slip away. P Chris Taylor
The Big One
Kurt Vile
Bottle It In eeeee
LABEL: MATADOR RECORDS RELEASED: 12TH OCTOBER LISTEN TO: LOADING ZONES
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eloved by stoners and guitar enthusiasts everywhere, Kurt Vile has been peddling his own brand of singer-songwriterintrospective storyteller for years now. So long in fact that new album
‘Bottle it in’ is his 7th solo album (not including last year’s collaborative album with Courtney Barnett ‘Lotta Sea Lice’). So, what’s new? The answer, unfortunately, is “not very much”. Pretty much everyone knows what to expect from a Kurt Vile album at this point: rambling lyrics about everyday life coupled with impressiveyet-laidback guitar work. But the problem with ‘Bottle it In’ is that this is 39
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pretty much all you get, with no sense of growth or forward movement. Fans of Vile will find plenty to enjoy, with lead single ‘Loading Zones’ and the sprawling 10 and a half minute long title track being particular highlights, but neither explores any new territory, and you’re left with the feeling that they could have cropped up on either of his last two albums without anyone batting an eyelid. Other songs are more of a chore. Both ‘Bassackwards’ and ‘Check Baby’ start to grate before long, not helped by their runtime of 9 and 8 minutes, respectively. On ‘Bassackwards’, the weaker of the two, Vile sounds unfocussed and almost bored, even seeming to forget he’s being recorded at points. Maybe that’s supposed to be part of the charm, but it just sounds unfinished. Kurt Vile is an artist that operates clearly within one lane, and a violent swerve into nu-rave or dubstep wouldn’t exactly have worked very well. Having said that, there needs to be something new for an album to be interesting, and unfortunately, it’s this something that ‘Bottle it in’ is lacking. It’s still a good enough record, just don’t get too excited when you first hit play. P Jake Hawkes
RE AD D O RK. CO M
** PLUS ** Matthew Dear Bunny
His first album in six years, American producer / DJ / popbloke Matthew Dear hops to it with a new full-length that sees him team up with Tegan & Sara.
The Dodos Certainty Waves
The duo’s seventh album, ‘Certainty Waves’ is described by guitarist Meric Long as their “midlife crisis record”.
Tom Morello The Atlas Underground
Feat. the most ridic list of credits - Knife Party, Killer Mike, Portugal. The Man, Vic Mensa, Marcus Mumford (?!?!), Rise Against, K. Flay…
Atreyu In Our Wake
Tom Felton has a writing credit on ‘In Our Wake’. “At one beach session, Draco Malfoy showed up to hang out,” they explain.
Incoming 19th October 2018 Cloud Nothings
Last Building Burning RELEASED: 19TH OCTOBER
The Big One
MØ
Forever Neverland eeeee LABEL: CHESS CLUB / RCA VICTOR RELEASED: 19TH OCTOBER LISTEN TO: WAY DOWN, BLUR, MERCY, BEAUTIFUL WRECK
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aking her sweet time about it, Mø has at last returned with an album that lives up to her reputation as a pop star of rare genius. Now, at
** PLUS ** PLUS ** PLUS ** Will Oldham Songs Of Love And Horror
Peter Bjorn and John Darker Days
‘Songs of Love and Horror’ shares a title with Will’s new book of lyrics, and features solo acoustic renditions of songs from his Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Palace backcatalogues.
BP&J’s latest is a bit deep, referencing darkness, ‘what’s happening in the world right now’, relationship issues and the shadows of our own psyche. Oo-er.
Yoko Ono Warzone
Single Mothers Through A Wall
Following twenty albums over 50 years, Yoko Ono’s ‘Warzone’ is a stripped-back record billed as “strikingly different from any she has made previously”.
Canadian post-hardcore champs Single Mothers surprise-dropped this one digitally a few weeks back, but there’s a physical release on the way too.
Richard Ashcroft Natural Rebel
Papercuts Parallel Universe Blues
The former Verve frontman drops his fifth solo album this month. “This record has more guitar playing on it than the last,” he says.
Jason Quever is freshly signed to Slumberland Records for his sixth album; a record that sees him go in for some self-examination. 40
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the point in life where most in her field are looking back at their best days receding behind them, she is only just hitting her stride. In Forever Neverland, she has built not just a series of mighty tunes but an entire world for them to exist in. ‘Way Down’ is pure addiction, a huge banger of a tune about seeking a temporary escape from reality - themes that run through much here, that Peter Pan reference absolutely deliberate. It signposts the start of a startling run of tracks that include one (of many) album highlight in ‘Blur’. Built on the bones of a Pixies riff but transformed with a beat that will lay waste to clubs around the world, it is stunning in its execution. The first half of the album is full of them, monster anthems that take something recognisable and subvert it into something entirely new. It is quite frankly a banger-fest of ridiculous proportions, Charli XCX, Of Empress and Diplo popping up to the party at points just because they can. Painfully honest at times, Forever Neverland shows Mø with a complete lack of fear at leaving herself emotionally open. The sheer raw emotion that pours out of ‘Mercy’, facing up to her mistakes with no sign of self-pity, is a soulful phone-torches-in-theair moment waiting to happen. ‘If It’s Over’ is similarly empowering, while the tropical ‘Beautiful Wreck’ positions her as an outlaw with “I’m your Bonnie, you’re my Clyde”. Skipping vacuous notions of perfection to present herself as the real deal is perhaps the most subversive, interesting aspect of this sublime pop album. Wherever Neverland is, may she stay there forever. P Jamie MacMillan D OWN WI T H BO RI N G
eeeee There’s something about Cloud Nothings that always threatens to fall apart. Even when they’re going 100mph, there’s a reckoning about them. Recorded to explore a heaviness that frontman Dylan Baldi felt was missing from the band’s music, from the get-go ‘Last Building Burning’ is a whirlwind of noise. Rocketing guitars hook you in, while Dylan hollers over the top. It’s another release that sees Cloud Nothings finding the ceiling and trying to crash straight on through it. P Steven Loftin
Empress Of
Us
RELEASED: 19TH OCTOBER
eeeee Where Lorely Rodriguez’s last album – 2015’s ‘Me’ – focused on herself, ‘Us’ is more playful but remains as heartfelt as her debut. There’s so much fun in songs that shouldn’t be. ‘Timberlands’ has pretty ballad-y lyrics propped up by some 80s keyboards. Similar can be said of ‘I’ve Got Love’, although that plays out as a self-love anthem. Empress Of is entirely her own on ‘Us’. She notes she produced “about 70 percent” of the album, and it shows. No one else is really filling that gap between indie pop and experimental R&B. P Abigail Firth
How To Dress Well
The Anteroom
RELEASED: 19TH OCTOBER
eeeee Tom Krell has done a bit of everything in his recording career as How To Dress Well. From hazy electronic beginnings to a pop awakening on his last album ‘Care’, Krell has now returned to the lo-fi sound poetry that has always been the core of ‘The Anteroom’. The brightness of Krell’s most recent albums is largely eschewed here for a darker, gauzy hue. The album is intended as one long, continuous piece of music and as such it makes for an immersive but sometimes labyrinthine experience. P Martyn Young
Incoming 26th October 2018 Julia Holter
The Big One
Robyn Honey
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Aviary Took your bloody time, didn’t you? RATING TBC
LABEL: KONICHIWA/INTERSCOPE RELEASED: 26TH OCTOBER
n many ways, most of Planet Pop owes a debt of gratitude to Robyn. The template for so
much of what has dominated the more leftfield end of music’s shiniest sound was given its defining moment by the Swedish alpha-icon - in particular, her seminal 2010 album ‘Body Talk’. It’s not just that Scandopop vibe that runs right back to her fearsome talent - you’d be hard pressed to find a mainstream baiting track that doesn’t contain the smallest part of her DNA. She’s that special. Not only that, though - after defining that signature sound so perfectly, she then stepped back, leaving the limelight for others.
In the eight years since that last full-length, we’ve seen sparks of life and promises of more - including a goosebump-raising collaboration with Röyksopp. Whispers of new material haunted the corridors of power, the odd glimpse of something occasionally hinted at. Finally, though, it’s about to arrive and we couldn’t be more ready. From the bittersweet shimmer of ‘Missing U’ to the all-out Robynbanger of title track ‘Honey’, it seems like it’s been worth the painfully long wait. None of that ice cold brilliance has left her - if anything, it’s sharper than ever before. Just don’t keep us waiting eight years for the next one, eh?
RELEASED: 26TH OCTOBER
eeeee LA-based avant-garde musician Julia Holter has a thing for a very literary kind of history. For her fifth album, ‘Aviary’, we’re thrown about through time between the Middle Ages, the present day, and some Blade Runner-style dystopia. ‘Aviary’ is an album that needs fully digging into; immersing yourself in the atmosphere that Holter creates with lush arrangements and often baffling turns. Answers are never going to just come to you, if there even are any to begin with. ‘Aviary’ is well worth getting to know. P Chris Taylor
Laura Gibson
RELEASED: 26TH OCTOBER
eeeee ‘White Star Liner’ focuses on the story of the Titanic which is fitting considering much like the ship’s lifespan, the EP is a bit short. Opening track ‘The Unsinkable Ship’ feels, somewhat ironically, like the start of an epic journey. ‘C-D-Q’ (the repeated morse distress code of the Titanic) seems to accurately represent the chaos that surrounded the sinking, but overall there is a feeling by the end of ‘The Deep’ that there could have been more. P Josh Williams
The Ting Tings
The Black Light
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Part of the Oregon folk scene for over 15 years, Laura Gibson’s sixth album ‘Goners’ is delivered with stately confidence. Plaintive clarinets, sombre cello and gentle keys adorn her nimbly picked guitar. Inspired by 60s prog folk lyrical tics, women are wolves, men machines and everything else is a sharp object over forty minutes of solemn ruminations on the death of her father. A party record it ain’t, but for a cold evening spent staring into the embers of a dying fire, ‘Goners’ has got you covered. P Dillon Eastoe
The Ting Tings’ mainstream success peaked long ago with their megaselling debut ‘We Started Nothing’, which threw boring to the wind and incited infectious pop mania left, right and centre. That hasn’t stopped the Manc duo plugging away on three other albums in the past decade, but where its predecessors ‘Sounds From Nowheresville’ and ‘Super Critical’ made successful headway in grunge and disco territory, ‘The Black Light’’s sparsely furnished take on drum and bass is a tragic misfire. P Alex Cabré
RELEASED: 26TH OCTOBER
Paul Smith RELEASED: 26TH OCTOBER
eeeee Paul Smith’s latest sees another barrage of delicatelyconstructed songs mix a familiar vocal presence with a surprising array of aural backdrops. Those instantly recognisable North-East tones are delivered with a knowing drawl; his way with words is as a poet, and mastery of the English tongue shine throughout. It’s a bit rougher around the edges than Maxïmo Park’s back catalogue, yet this only adds to the character this iconic frontman can produce. P Ciaran Steward
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White Star Liner EP
Goners
Diagrams
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D OWN WI T H BO RI N G
RELEASED: 26TH OCTOBER
** PLUS ** Miya Folick Premonitions
Miya’s debut is a witty and generous ode to love, life and pop.
Nao Saturn
‘Saturn’ is something of a transitional album. “Saturn takes 29 years to orbit from when you’re born and it is the planet of blessings and growth. So by the time you’re around 29, something big happens in your life,” she says.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra IC-01 Hanoi
This is a bit of a noodly one, with nods to ‘jazz’, ‘krautrock’ and ‘the avant-garde’.
Kagoule
Hey, Cali from Kagoule!
Strange Entertainment
Recommend us some stuff...
Last good record you heard: You know when you hear something so good, and you just freeze up and do a subconscious micro headbang? Well, I got that from the last Pile record ‘A Hairshirt of Purpose’.
eeeee LABEL: ALCOPOP! RECORDS RELEASED: 26TH OCTOBER LISTEN TO: IT’S NOT MY DAY
K
agoule’s second full-length, ‘Strange Entertainment’ has been a long wait. Immediately from
Favourite ever book: Gene Wolfe - Series of the New Sun. It’s what our first record ‘Urth’ is named after, and it’s the book that shaped how I write and what I read to this day.
the space rock delivered on single ‘Egg Hunt’, it’s evident that the Nottingham bred trio are far removed from the 90s grunge influence of their 2015 debut, ‘Urth’. These three years have pushed Kagoule further into the realms of experimentation, where their songwriting is far more refined. ‘Strange Entertainment’ rides on systematic refrains and harmonies, to avant-garde punk that has pushed the boundaries of what it can explore. Although Kagoule have never been conformist, their debut seems considerably safe in comparison to the oddities explored on here.
TV show you couldn’t live without: Does anyone else have a strange obsession with Australian Border Force? Best purchase of this year: A bike lock. I’ve had my bike for three years. Or any of the things I’ve ever bought from IKEA. IKEA is heaven. IKEA is the path to enlightenment. Anything else you’d recommend: Cinnamon whirls?
P Jasleen Dhindsa
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Incoming 2nd November 2018
The Big One
The Prodigy No Tourists eeeee LABEL: BMG RELEASED: 2ND NOVEMBER LISTEN TO: BOOM BOOM TAP
S
ince their emergence during the peak of early90s rave culture, The Prodigy have stayed firmly within their own landscape and avoided chasing trends. Even
as the cultural stars aligned over ‘The Fat Of The Land’ as it crossed over into the mainstream, there was always a sense that the band would be happier returning to the underground. So it has proved with the few releases that have followed (this being only the fourth studio album in two decades), and this latest proves no exception. The opening ‘Need Some1’ sets the pace, all jagged rave riffs jostling for position with a Loleatta Holloway sample, before the synthpunk sounds of ‘Light Up The Sky’ crash through. Skull-cracking beats squelch and pound, those familiar sped-up vocals kick in. It manages to all sound exactly how you would expect a new album from The Prodigy in 2018 to sound, but thankfully it (mostly) avoids recycling old beats. As usual, there is a malevolent edge to much here - even more so on the title track,
built on top of a haunting horror movie-style motif that will have you casting a nervous eye over your shoulder. While the likes of the surging ‘Timebomb Zone’ or the pulsating ‘Boom Boom Tap’ threaten to explode, it isn’t until Ho99o9 arrive that the record really takes off. Their collaboration on ‘Fight Fire With Fire’ is one of the few moments where attitude and atmosphere really gel into something memorable. Sadly it isn’t replicated elsewhere, leaving instead a series of big beats in search of a big hook to hang from. Tourists might be banned, but there’s not much new for them to come and see anyway. P Jamie
MacMillan
9th November 2018
Muse
Simulation Theory RATING TBC LABEL: WARNER MUSIC UK RELEASED: 9THNOVEMBER
T
ruth is, not much of that turn of the millennium Muse that made spacerock seem almost acceptable remains. Instead, they’ve been
replaced by a conspiracy theory
** PLUS **
** PLUS **
Tenacious D Post-Apocalypto
Various Songs That Saved My Life
Post-Apocalypto is a new sixpart animated video series from Tenacious D, each episode of which features new music, culminating in this here album.
A new compilation from Hopeless Records that features covers by Against Me!, Taking Back Sunday and more, ‘Songs That Saved My Life’ raises money for Crisis Text Line, Hope For The Day, The Trevor Project, and To Write Love On Her Arms. Get involved.
wrapped in neon lights and tin foil - engorged by their own bombast to the point where they revel in their own tacky ridiculousness. With their latest full-length, ‘Simulation Theory’, they look set to hit eleven. It’s not just the tracks we’ve already heard - though they’re universally the sensual barrage that’s become the trio’s trademark - but the visuals around them too. From the ‘is that real?’ album cover, to the werewolves, pre-teen ideal of a supercar and Terry ‘Nine Nine’ Crews of the accompanying videos, Muse are a band without shame. Nobody can ever accuse them of failing to be true to themselves, eh?
Architects Holy Hell
RELEASED: 9TH NOVEMBER
Bill Ryder-Jones Yawn A wistful album that references everyday stories and guinea pigs, featuring guest vocals from The Orielles and Our Girl.
Dan Mangan More Or Less Dan’s new album sees him getting to grips with life after kids. “I knew how to keep racoons from tearing up my lawn, but not so much about youth culture,” he explains.
Jeff Goldblum The Capitol Studios Sessions The Jurassic Park legend has channelled his musical talent into a solo album. It’s a jazz record, mind, but let’s not hold that against him.
Hanson String Theory Pop trio Hanson show off what they’ve learnt in school. Probably.
eeeee When most bands say they’ve been through hell and back, they’re perfectly sincere in their words. For Architects, though, that pain is somewhat different. Following guitarist Tom Searle’s death from cancer in 2016, it feels like a whole scene has made a point of rallying ‘round one of their own, holding them up for the attention they deserve. From opener ‘Death is Not Defeat’, there’s no suggestion that Architects aren’t a band on a mission. Their time is undeniably now. P Stephen Ackroyd
16th November 2018
Coming up
J Mascis
Get excited about these albums coming soon!
Elastic Days
RELEASED: 9TH NOVEMBER
eeeee “I don’t peak too early, I don’t peak at all,” sings J. Mascis on opener ‘See You At The Movies’, and rarely has a line more accurately summed up an artist. Like autumn appearing quietly on the horizon, ‘Elastic Days’ carries a gentle, crisp and beautiful quality. It may set no new fires burning, but it’s instead a collection of expertly crafted lo-fi anthems packed with moments of exquisite beauty. An album to get you through the lowest of days and longest of nights. P Jamie MacMillan
Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers Bought To Rot
RELEASED: 9TH NOVEMBER
eeeee Laura Jane Grace’s debut solo(ish) record is a collection of some of her most diverse work to date. An impressive fourteen tracks long, ‘Bought To Rot’ takes the listener through the mind of Grace, exploring platonic love (‘The Friendship Song’), the complexities of romance (the guttural ‘Valeria Golina’) and everything in between for a record that is as humorous as it is heartbreaking. P Jasleen Dhindsa
whenyoung Given Up
RELEASED: 9TH NOVEMBER
eeeee A bit of attention can be a double edged sword for a new band. It doesn’t take a lot to send the hype machine calling, but once that bright light is shining they better get it right, else they find themselves on the indie landfill before they’ve even really started. whenyoung have nothing to worry about. ‘Given Up’ showcases two turbo bangers, one of the best covers in recent memory (their take on The Cranberries’ ‘Dreams’ is hall of fame stuff ) and a nice little cleanser to finish. Result. P
Stephen Ackroyd
23rd November Art Brut - Wham! Bang! Pow! Let’s Rock Out! The Wave Pictures - Look Inside Your Heart
30th November
The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships Clean Bandit - What Is Love? Jeff Tweedy - WARM
11th January
Bring Me the Horizon - amo
Mumford & Sons Delta
RATING TBC LABEL: ISLAND RECORDS RELEASED: 16TH NOVEMBER
R
eady your waistcoats, Dear Reader. Mumford and Sons are back with a brand new album. Titled ‘Delta’, the four pieces’
** PLUS **
follow up to 2015’s ‘Wilder Mind’ comes after what’s described as a “rich, prolific vein of form” resulting in a record that “loses none of that sense of scale, but couples it with an intimacy and jubilance”. Truth be told, we’ve yet to hear the record - it was still being mastered at the point this magazine went to print - but from the sounds of lead track ‘Guiding Light’, there’s at least a good helping of pure-bred Mumfords folk-rock hoe-down on offer. Ten years on since the band first formed, they’re set to support the release with a sixty date world tour, kicking off this November.
itoldyouiwouldeatyou Oh Dearism This sprawling indie-punk/emo/ experimental collective are onpoint with an album that tries its best to navigate the ups and downs of societal expectations and identity.
Michael Bublé Love Wait, this isn’t a Christmas album! Come on, Bubbles. No one needs to use this many emoji hearts. 45
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25th January
What Makes A Man EP
eeeee
1st February
RELEASED: 16TH NOVEMBER
Is Smashing Pumpkins without bassist D’arcy Wretzky still Smashing Pumpkins? Nice try, guys.
Maggie Rogers - Heard It In A Past Life Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow The Twilight Sad - IT WON/T BE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME Blood Red Shoes - Get Tragic Puppy - The Goat Say Anything - Oliver Appropriate Tom Walker - What A Time To Be Alive
Stereo Honey
Smashing Pumpkins Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun
18th January
Stereo Honey have been clocking up the plaudits on their road to what’s sure to be a huge 2019. Radio playlists, enough festival appearances for two full football teams to take a slot each and shows with queues around the block - the hype is real. So to include a track titled ‘Icarus’ on their new EP might strike some as a bit too close to home. There’s no need to be concerned with the risks of flying too close to their own stellar sun, though. Stereo Honey are the real deal. P
Stephen Ackroyd
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White Lies - 5
22nd February
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm Live
‘SOON’
The 1975 - Notes On A Conditional Form FIDLAR - TBC Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell
If it’s on stage, it’s in here.
Vampire Weekend remind everyone what they’ve been missing at End of the Road 2018 Plus! St Vincent, Julien Baker, Shame, Boy Azooga and more. Words: Dillon Eastoe. Photos: Burak Cingi, Chris Juarez, Rachel Juarez-Carr.
W
hen a massive band like Vampire Weekend drops off the radar, it can be easy to forget just how important their contribution to ‘the scene’ has been. Already this summer
we’ve seen Friendly Fires shake their hips through a triumphant return, even as they celebrate ten years of their debut LP. Performing in the UK for the first time since Reading & Leeds 2014, afrobeat-indie heroes Vampire Weekend are undoubtedly the star attraction at this year’s End of the Road. Vampy Weekend may have lost founding member and guitarist Rostam Batmanglij since their last appearance, but in his place, they’re supplemented
by four musicians including an extra drummer. Opening with a fitting ‘Holiday’, Ezra Koenig and co. immediately inspire joy as the field explodes into carefree abandon. Drawing liberally from all three albums, the New Yorkers revel in their return. From the giddy falsetto of ‘White Sky’ to the frantic ‘Cousins’, they have Larmer Tree eating out of the palm of their hands. ‘Diane Young’ still rips, a frenetic blast of YOLO energy that elicits frenzied dancing and everybody’s favourite singalong to that weird autotuned breakdown. There’s room for a Peter Gabriel homage in the middle of ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’, the snippet of ‘Solsbury Hill’ nodding to Gabriel’s cover of the VW song. Ezra apologises that the band don’t have any new songs to play tonight, but 46
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responding to a heckle from the front row, reveals that a new album is “done”, and that they’ll be playing songs from it next time they make the trip over the Atlantic. Songs from 2013’s ‘Modern Vampires of the City’ make the biggest impression. ‘Step’ and ‘Unbelievers’ taking their trademark afrobeat and slowing it down slightly into more considered airy anthems. No matter how much we all love Vampire Weekend’s parade of hits, there’s one moment everyone has been waiting for. Hot on the heels of ‘Cousins’ and ‘Diane Young’, ‘A-Punk’ is an eruption of chanting, bouncing, skanking and general glee as the band take a victory lap through their breakthrough hit. A few years away, this welcome back party is no more than this band deserve,
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with Ezra visibly moved by the reception afforded them by a UK audience who’ve been patiently waiting four years to see them again. Nestled in the Larmer Tree Gardens Estate near Dorset, this is the kind of festival you can bring your mum to, replete with wooded areas for artists to do pop up sets (sad song supergroup boygenius make their live debut on Friday sans Phoebe Bridgers), secluded yoga workshops and art installations. There are even band names for sale. If anyone fancies Wet Bap, Little Bishop or Totally Dog, you’ll have to move fast. Friday sees St Vincent bring her full band to the Woods Stage for a set that closely mirrors her triumphant evening at All Points East earlier in the summer. Rocking an orange latex suit that matches her custom-built guitar, Annie Clark is an artist totally in control as she wows the Wiltshire crowd with a set that is carried by tracks from her brilliant recent album ‘MASSEDUCTION’. Screaming Females lay waste to the Big Top tent early on Saturday, with a blistering set of hulking alt-rock. Bandleader Marissa Paternoster cuts an imposing figure, tightly curled over her guitar, hair over her eyes as her commanding vocals project to the back of the starry ceilinged tent. They dart between brooding grunge and turbocharged indie, with a dash of pixies punk thrown in for good measure. It’s a fairly mellow crowd at EotR, but they offer appreciative applause nonetheless. 47
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Boy Azooga’s Davey Newington has been having the time of his life this summer and is typically overjoyed to be back at EotR playing on the picturesque Garden Stage to a crowd who offer him lots of applause but maybe not quite the boisterous response he’s used to at his own gigs. Anyone who writes a Costellostyle song about cops on the beat in Cardiff’s Splott suburb gets our vote. A friend of the festival, Boy Azooga will surely be back. Julien Baker, up next, is a different affair. The Memphis singer glides through a spellbinding set that has the garden in a reverent silence. Alone but for a few contributions from violinist Camille Faulkner, Baker exudes an authority that belies her youth, making the Garden her sanctuary for an hour of looped guitar, heartwrenching guitar and raw confessionals. Baker’s live show might not seem the obvious fit for a festival, but it’s perfect for this one. Building on a superb debut with an assured follow-up and collaborating with some of our favourite artists left right and centre, JB is doing things her own way and smashing it in the process. Shame bring a couple of new songs with them for a riotous afternoon hour of power on the main stage. They’re in typically boisterous form, throwing themselves about the stage, into the crowd, into each other and their music. The brash postpunk of ‘Songs of Praise’ isn’t remarkable for its subtlety, but the absolute commitment this bunch have for their art is
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something special. Rounding out the festival, Plastic Mermaids are brilliant, bonkers and a perfect Sunday pick-me-up as they bring their steam-punk space-synths to the Woods Stage. Clad in tinsel capes and firing off sparklers and party poppers in place of pyro, they’re a captivating live act with a knack for a big beat and funky bassline. Closing out the Garden Stage, White Denim do what White Denim do. Dipping into their extensive back catalogue, they pull out bluesy guitars and T-Rex grooves that they’ve made their trademark. Idles are on a victory lap as they roll-out their self-released second album ‘Joy as an Act of Resistance’. They don’t know it at this point, but it’s headed for the Top 10. Combining politics, power and polemic, Idles are one of the most important bands in the country right now, and the anger they bring to End of the Road is just what’s needed. This weekend belonged to Vampire Weekend, though. In uncertain times there’s so much to be said for a band that for 90 minutes put smiles on faces, get a field dancing and banish the blues away. Closing their main set with the jubilant commune ‘Ya Hey’, they’ve considerably raised the hype for their upcoming album by reminding us just what we’ve been missing. A final gallop through fan favourite ‘Walcott’ caps one of the summer’s best comebacks. As the band themselves intone on ‘Diane Young’, “Baby, baby, baby, baby, right on time (time, time, time, time, time). P
Get Out.
Arctic Monkeys are unquestionable greats at London’s O2
A
rctic Monkeys have never been about following a trend. They’ve never been about catching up to what’s going on around them.
They’ve had their own path from the beginning. From the first time, Alex Turner muttered “don’t believe the hype”, through to ‘Humbug’ and its knock on the head to the world around it they’ve always been the first to point to where next, rather than asking for directions. With ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’, they served their most drastic transformation to date - one that had fans scratching their head and wondering what on earth was happening as Mr Turner & Co. led a triumphant wave of piano-led tinkery. Any doubts to their place at the very top have been squashed to bits this summer, with the album evolving and morphing into one of the year’s defining releases and a live show that’s taken them to new, new heights. They have become a band that rises above phases. Speaking of eras, The Lemon Twigs find themselves in a glorious combination of two. The 60s/70s knack of melody is as radiant live as it is on record, but the second mixer is something altogether more current. Shimmering and bursting from the first note, they take on The O2 as if its the playground down the street - squarely theirs and if you’re not on board then you need to get it. Flying legs, struggling swagger and a spit in your face drive - they win over a packed room waiting for ‘Brianstorm’ by never letting up. The glorious ‘These Words’ continues to ring big, and their presence across two albums now may make The Lemon Twigs one of the most exciting live acts going. There are bust-ups, smiles and hooks galore - tonight they’re ludicrously brilliant. When seen through the lens of ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’, the world of Arctic Monkeys feels timeless. Jumping across
Live + Amplified
New tours. New giggs.
Get more as it happens, every day at readdork.com
Words: Jamie Muir. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.
Dork is teaming up with Heavy Pop for top alldayer, Beat Connection
Beat Connection will take place on 24th November at South Street Arts Centre in Reading. The line-up is topped by Dork fave Matt Maltese, and there’s also buzzy newcomers Mush, Saltwater Sun and more.
Fickle Friends have a new headliner planned
Fickle Friends are touring the UK this autumn. The band are hitting the road on 18th October in Bristol, with the run also taking in London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire, Cambridge, Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham and Manchester. 48
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Orlando Weeks has a couple of Xmas shows
Orlando Weeks ‘from The Maccabees’ released his debut book The Gritterman last year, and he’s performing it live in concert at London’s Union Chapel (10th, 11th December) and Manchester’s Albert Hall (12th).
nearly 13 years with an effortless charm, every track fits into place as if where they find themselves tonight is where they’ve always wanted to be - giving new life to tracks and beaming with swagger. From the opening chords of ‘Four Out Of Five’, it’s a set that never lets up - the likes of ‘Crying Lightning’, ‘Knee Socks’ and ‘Don’t Sit Down Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair’ rubbing shoulders with ‘Teddy Picker’, ‘Dancing Shoes’ and ‘Arabella’ in the sort of fusion that thrives with bold showmanship. A glistening showbiz stage for a band that can make The O2 feel like a ballroom with the click of their fingers. As Alex Turner eyes the room around him, a Miles Kane-guesting ‘505’ explodes with fevered power, with the band firmly in control to do as they please - and they do so in such a spectacular fashion that the fact they may not play some big-time hits feels secondary. As they did with ‘Humbug’, this year they took the hit of constant questioning, of second-guessing whether they may have lost it and what this all means. Their response is shown tonight - an invitation to their front lounge of stylish excess that has everyone gulping down the champagne big time. Warm, peerless and unquestionable - this is where Arctic Monkeys thrive, and they’re simply just getting better and better. As Alex leads 20,000 people through the singalong refrains ‘Cornerstone’, oozes cool on ‘Science Fiction’ and rolls out the stomping beast that is ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ - their place is confirmed. A band who changed the music world with an all-time classic debut have refused to play by anyone else’s rules, and it’s why Arctic Monkeys aren’t just top of the pops right now - but arguably, are a band we’ll be talking about in 50 years time alongside some of the all-time greats. What they’re doing right now is nothing short of phenomenal. You’d be pretty foolish to question them ever again. P
Kaiser Chiefs are off on tour next year
Kaiser Chiefs have confirmed plans for a seventh album next year, with a full UK tour to support it. The band will head out on a twenty-one date UK run in January and February to preview the record, which sees them return to Polydor.
St. Vincent destroys and rebuilds ‘Masseduction’ at London’s Cadogan Hall
S
t. Vincent loves destruction almost as much as she adores creation.
Her live shows are a testament to this. For the launch of ‘Masseduction’ she took to London’s Brixton Academy for a one-person spectacle that toyed with space and storytelling. Her set at All Points East was a visceral, cinematic burst of colour and shape and tonight, as she takes to Cadogan Hall, it’s all change. Again. While previous shows in this chapter have asked questions about lonesome chairs, smeared lipstick, gender, power and just how many guitars can one person use in an hour, tonight is less about grand statements and welllit drama, instead peeling back the characters and bombast, it revels in real life sparks. Joined by pianist and very good friend, Thomas Bartlett, St. Vincent once again takes the expected, burns it down and crafts something sparkling from the ashes. Rather than simply stripping the songs down, this “Intimate Evening with…” sees the pair rebuild and reexamine. The opening ‘Hang On Me’ trembles with restraint, something St. Vincent has never really been concerned with before, while the dancing ‘Saviour’ is twisted with unseen menace. Hands in the piano, Thomas dials up the doom as the begging “please” goes on and on. That shadowland discovery is carried over for ‘Masseduction’ which spits and thrashes, letting words hang in the spotlight and amplifying the sadness, loneliness and mania throughout. Thomas and Annie met ten years ago in New York and would “sometimes play songs together, filled with tequila and feeling. I’m told we had some good great times,” she laughs before promising “This is one of those saloons. We’re going to feel how our feelings feel, all of us together.” There’s a tumbling, freeform to the evening. The whole thing
is funny and gut-wrenching, as only St. Vincent can be. The normal choreographed chaos is replaced by heartfelt sharing. Mistakes and forgotten words are poked at with glee, two friends gently ribbing each other onstage (“It’s an easy mistake to make. I’m not laughing at you, this is general existential absurdism”) while marvelous songs are exposed as something new and frightfully human. Turns out the melancholic ‘Smoking Section’ was originally inspired on a ferry from Finland to Poland, where she “dodged an uncomfortable situation where expectations were not made clear,” while ‘I Prefer Your Love’ came from a conversation Annie had with her little brother. “Sadly, we were dealing with the death of a beloved family dog. He said, ‘Annie how did Molly die?’ Fun fact, I was going to be named Molly. Anyway, I’m thinking to myself, how do I answer that. How do I talk about Life and death and how do I explain the whole cycle without scarring him. Before I could answer him he asked, ‘on the cross, like Jesus?’ The pair figure things out as they go along. ‘Los Ageless’ seems to flow through St. Vincent, surprising herself with ever pose, every step forward and every vocal snarl. Husky, heartbroken and infinite, she stands still as a statue as the song twinkles and fades. ,“I’m worried we played too many happy songs tonight. Are you guys sufficiently bummed out?” she asks before ‘Happy Birthday Johnny’ and ‘Slow Disco’ has never sounded more mournful or stood closer to the edge of destruction. An encore of ‘New York’ sees the pair take the last of the control in hand. “They’re going to sing it with us, one way or another,” Annie tells Thomas. “You’re going to fucking sing this song,” she promises with a grin. After everything she’s given tonight, Cadogan Hall isn’t going to refuse this last request. As for what’s next, that’s anybody’s guess. But we wouldn’t have it any other way. P 49
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Live + Amplified
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Get more as it happens, every day at readdork.com
Bastille have announced a new headline tour for January-March 2019
Bastille are going to head out on a European headline tour early next year. The Still Avoiding Tomorrow Tour, Part 1 will kick off on 27th January at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre, winding up on 10th March in Amsterdam. The UK leg features nights at Birmingham O2 Academy (29th January), Brighton Centre (1st February), Manchester O2 Victoria Warehouse (4th), Glasgow O2 Academy (6th) and London O2 Academy Brixton (9th). There are lots of gaps, so who knows - by the time you’re reading this, maybe there’ll be a few more? “We’ve spent most of this last year working on loads of new music and touring different versions of our songs so now we’re so excited to head back out and revisit more intimate rooms and play a bunch of new songs in the lead up to our new album,” says frontman Dan Smith.
The Japanese House is hitting the road for a November tour
Following on from her just-dropped new single ‘Lilo’ (out now via Dirty Hit), The Japanese House has announced a new tour. She’ll hit the road this November, with seven UK dates, including a night at Scala in London. The full run reads: Glasgow St. Likes (18th November), Newcastle O2 Academy (19th), London Scala (21st), Bristol Thekla (22nd), Leeds Brudenell Social Club (23rd), Birmingham O2 Institute (24th) and Manchester Gorilla (25th).
‘An Intimate Evening With...’ still feels larger than life Words: Ali Shutler. Photos: Carsten Windhorst.
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The Neighbourhood have booked a London show at Brixton Academy
The Neighbourhood have unveiled details of a London show. The band, who released their self-titled new album earlier this year, and are recently their ‘Ever Changing’ EP, will perform at Brixton Academy on 30th January. The date is part of a longer European tour, which will also see them play Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
The Guide. All the shows you need to see this month, and some you probably don’t. SWG3
Leeds, Phobophobes, Hyde Park Book Club
Liverpool, Sam Fender, Shipping Forecast
London, Frigs, Old Blue Last
London, Kurt Vile,
Shepherd’s Bush Empire Manchester, Stella Donnelly, Soup Kitchen Nottingham, Car Seat Headrest, Rock City
7th November Bristol, Sam Fender,
Thekla
Glasgow, Sigrid, O2 Academy
Leeds, Easy Life, Oporto Bar
Leeds, Neko Case,
Brudenell Social Club
Leeds, Parquet Courts,
.Estrons. S.
Church Leeds
London, Art Brut, Boston 1st November
Glasgow, Fatherson, Barrowland
Glasgow, Her’s, Great Eastern
Birmingham, Mutual
Glasgow, Insecure Men,
Birmingham, Tove
Leeds, Menace Beach,
Brighton, Eleanor
Leeds, Sam Fender,
Bristol, Bitch Falcon,
Liverpool, Bad Sounds,
Benefit, Hare & Hounds Styrke, O2 Institute
Friedberger, Hope & Ruin
Mother’s Ruin Cardiff, Rolo Tomassi, Clwb Ifor Bach Edinburgh, Bloxx, Sneaky Pete’s Glasgow, Connan Mockasin, Royal Concert Hall Hull, Black Grape, Welly Club Leeds, Club Kuru, Headrow House Leeds, Estrons, Belgrave Music Hall Leeds, Her’s, Brudenell Social Club London, Creeper, KOKO London, Hatchie, Electrowerkz London, Mt. Joy, Hoxton Bar & Grill Manchester, Insecure Men, YES Manchester, Kagoule, Eagle Inn Nottingham, Bad Sounds, Rescue Rooms Southampton, Yak, Heartbreakers
2nd November Brighton, Bitch Falcon,
Electric
Brighton, Yak, The Haunt Glasgow, Estrons, King Tut’s
CCA
Brudenell Social Club Church Leeds O2 Academy
Liverpool, Kagoule,
Heebie Jeebies London, Goat Girl, KOKO London, Hop Along, Oslo London, Tove Styrke, Heaven Manchester, Connan Mockasin, Dancehouse Theatre Norwich, Rolo Tomassi, Waterfront Sheffield, Club Kuru, Picture House Social Sheffield, John Grant, Octagon Centre
3rd November Brighton, Bad Sounds,
The Haunt Dublin, Parquet Courts, The Academy Leeds, Bloxx, Church Leeds London, Bitch Falcon, Boston Music Room London, Joe Goddard, XOYO London, Polica, ICA London, The Voidz, Village Underground Manchester, John Grant, Albert Hall Newcastle, Estrons, Think Tank? Sheffield, Sam Fender,
Leadmill
London, Halfnoise, Moth
Manchester, Halfnoise,
London, Kurt Vile, O2
Manchester,
London, Stella Donnelly,
Manchester, Sam
London, The
Omeara
4th November
Night & Day Cafe
Birmingham, Sigrid, O2
Academy Dublin, The Decemberists, Vicar Street Hull, Bloxx, The Polar Bear Leeds, Insecure Men, Brudenell Social Club Leeds, Mutual Benefit, Brudenell Social Club Leeds, Polica, Belgrave Music Hall Leeds, Saltwater Sun, The Library London, Childish Gambino, The O2 London, Lykke Li, O2 Academy Brixton London, The Voidz, Village Underground Manchester, Parquet Courts, O2 Ritz St. Albans, Bitch Falcon, The Horn
Phobophobes, YES Fender, Soup Kitchen
Newcastle, Parquet
Courts, Boiler Shop Nottingham, Bitch Falcon, Bodega Sheffield, Bloxx, Leadmill
6th November Brighton, The Voidz, Concorde 2 Cardiff, First Aid Kit, Motorpoint Arena Dublin, Natalie Prass, Workmans Club Glasgow, Halfnoise, King Tut’s Glasgow, Parquet Courts,
5th November Brighton, Kurt Vile, Concorde 2 Bristol, Natalie Press, The Fleece Cardiff, Car Seat Headrest, Tramshed Dublin, Polica, The Grand Social Dublin, Sigrid, Olympia Theatre Glasgow, The Decemberists, O2 Academy London, Chrome Sparks, Village Underground 50
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Music Room
London, Zola Jesus,
.Lykke Li. S .
D OWN WI T H BO RI N G
Club
Shepherd’s Bush Empire Omeara
Decemberists, Eventim Apollo London, Yak, Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club Manchester, Bloxx, Night People Manchester, Car Seat Headrest, Albert Hall Manchester, Estrons, Soup Kitchen Manchester, The Voidz, O2 Ritz Margate, Kagoule, Tom Thumb Theatre Milton Keynes, Bitch Falcon, Craufurd Arms Newcastle, Slaves, O2 Academy Sheffield, The Willows,
Greystones
8th November Brighton, Kagoule, The
Albert
Bristol, Estrons, The Louisiana Bristol, Kurt Vile, St Phillip’s Gate Bristol, The Decemberists, O2 Academy Glasgow, Slaves, Barrowland Leeds, First Aid Kit, O2 Academy Lincoln, Bitch Falcon, The Engine Shed Liverpool, Bloxx, Sound Food and Drink London, Car Seat Headrest, O2 Academy Brixton London, Natalie Press, Electric Brixton Manchester, Easy Life, Deaf Institute Manchester, Sigrid, Albert Hall Newcastle, George Ezra, O2 Academy Oxford, Saltwater Sub, The Jericho Portsmouth, Gruff Rhys, Wedgewood Rooms Southampton, The Willows, Hanger Farm Arts Centre 9th November Birmingham, Kurt Vile, The Crossing Bristol, Kawala, Hy-Brasil Music Club Glasgow, Easy Life, Broadcast Glasgow, Slaves, Barrowland Hove, Gruff Rhys, Old Market Leeds, Gengahr, Hyde Park Book Club
Liverpool, George Ezra,
Guild of Students London, New Order, Alexandra Palace London, Rolo Tomassi, Scala Manchester, Sigrid, Albert Hall Nottingham, Estrons, Bodega Nottingham, Sam Fender, Rock City Portsmouth, Kagoule, The Loft Stoke-on-Trent, Bloxx, The Sugarmill
10 November th
Barrow in Furness, Girli,
Barrow Library Birmingham, Kawala, Actress and Bishop Birmingham, Sam Fender, Castle & Falcon Bristol, Parquet Courts, SWX Cambridge, Happy Accidents, The Blue Moon Folkestone, Gruff Rhys, Quarterhouse Hull, George Ezra, Bonus Arena Leeds, The Decemberists, O2 Academy Leicester, Bitch Falcon, The Firebug Manchester, Kurt Vile, Albert Hall Nottingham, Easy Life, Bodega Nottingham, Slaves, Rock City
Southampton, Kagoule,
Wedgewood Rooms
Heartbreakers
11th November Birmingham, Parquet Courts, The Crossing
Bristol, Kagoule, Rough
Trade
Chester, Bitch Falcon,
Live Rooms Leeds, Kurt Vile, O2 Academy Newcastle, Tom Misch, O2 Academy Nottingham, Bloxx, Bodega Nottingham, The Decemberists, Rock City Oxford, Gruff Rhys, O2 Academy
12 November th
13th November Birmingham, Gruff Rhys,
Glee Club Glasgow, George Ezra, Barrowland Glasgow, Kurt Vile, SWG3 London, Sam Fender, Omeara London, Snail Mail, The Dome Manchester, Bitch Falcon, Night People Manchester, Happy Accidents, Gullivers Manchester, Hinds, Academy Manchester, King Nun, Jimmy’s Newport, Bloxx, Le Public Space
14 November th
Belfast, Slaves, Limelight Birmingham, TomMisch, O2 Academy
Bristol, Gruff Rhys, SWX Bristol, Happy Accidents,
Exchange Dublin, Courtney Barnett, Olympia Theatre Glasgow, George Ezra, Barrowland London, Parquet Courts, Roundhouse London, Sam Fender, Omeara London, Sigrid, O2 Academy Brixton Manchester, The Decemberists, Albert Hall Portsmouth, Hinds,
Birmingham, The Aces, Hare & Hounds
Brighton, Easy Life, Green Door Store
Bristol, Bloxx, Louisiana Cardiff, Hinds, Tramshed Exeter, Estrons, The Cavern
Glasgow, Bitch Falcon, The Garage Glasgow, Happy Accidents, Bar Bloc Leeds, Pip Blom, Hyde Park Book Club Liverpool, King Nun, Sound Food And Drink London, Courtney
Barnett, O2 Academy Brixton London, Interpol, Royal Albert Hall London, Trudy & The Romance, MOTH Club Manchester, Tom Misch, O2 Apollo Norwich, Kississippi, Waterfront Studio
15 November th
Southampton,
Kississippi, Joiners St. Albans, Milk Teeth, The Horn
16th November Birmingham, Kississippi, Sunflower Lounge
Birmingham, Milk Teeth,
Muthers Recording Studio
Brighton, Courtney Barnett, Dome
Belfast, Kurt Vile,
Brighton, Estrons, Green
Birmingham, Easy Life,
Glasgow, King Nun, The
Birmingham, Estrons,
Leeds, Gruff Rhys,
Bristol, Shame, SWX Edinburgh, Pip Blom,
Liverpool, Hinds, Arts
Limelight
Hare & Hounds Castle & Falcon
Sneaky Pete’s Glasgow, Gruff Rhys, SWG3 Glasgow, The Aces, King Tut’s Leeds, Florence + the Machine, First Direct Arena Leeds, Happy Accidents, Wharf Chambers London, George Ezra, Wembley Arena London, Interpol, Royal Albert Hall London,Tom Misch, O2 Academy Brixton Norwich, Slaves, UEA Oxford, Courtney Barnett, O2 Academy Plymouth, Bloxx, Underground Sheffield, King Nun, Cafe Totem
Door Store Garage
Church Club
Liverpool, Slaves, O2 Academy
London, Happy
Accidents, Boston Music Room London, Tom Misch, O2 Academy Brixton Manchester, Basement, Academy Manchester, Interpol, O2 Apollo Manchester, Kawala, Night People Newcastle, Pip Blow, Think Tank? Portsmouth, Shame, Pyramid Centre
17th November Birmingham, Hinds, The Mill
Birmingham, Metric, O2 Institute
Bournemouth, Christine
& The Queens, The BIC Brighton, Happy Accidents, Green Door Store Bristol, Middle Kids, The Louisiana Caernarfon, Estrons, Y Galeri Glasgow, Florence + the Machine, SSE Hydro Kawala, Sheffield, Record Junkee Leeds, Basement, University Union Leicester, Shame, O2 Academy Liverpool, Gruff Rhys, Arts Club Manchester, Hookworms, O2 Ritz Manchester, Pip Blom, Night & Day Cafe Newcastle, Easy Life, Think Tank? Newcastle, Sam Fender, University Students Union Southampton, Bloxx, Heartbreakers
18th November Brighton, Bloxx, Komedia Bristol, Haggard Cat,
Crofters Rights Cardiff, Courtney Barnett, University SU Glasgow, Basement, The Garage Glasgow, Metric, QMU Glasgow, Middle Kids,
Booking Now.
Boileroom
Hull, Hinds, The Welly
Club
London, Lola Kirke, Rough Trade East
London, Matt Maltese,
THE TWILIGHT SAD
EartH
Manchester Gorilla (27th February); London Electric Ballroom (28th); Glasgow Barrowland (2nd March)
London, The Twilight Sad,
ARCHITECTS
Nottingham, Violet,
Manchester O2 Victoria Warehouse (14th, 15th January); Glasgow O2 Academy (17th); Cardiff Motorpoint Arena (18th); London SSE Arena Wembley (19th)
WHITE LIES
Brighton Concorde 2 (31st January); Bristol SWX (1st February); Leeds O2 Academy (3rd); Newcastle Boiler Shop (4th); Glasgow Qmu (5th); Liverpool Olympia (7th); Manchester Albert Hall (8th); Nottingham Rock City (9th); Edinburgh Liquid Room (11th); Cambridge Junction (13th); London O2 Forum (14th); Birmingham O2 Institute (15th)
HOZIER
Manchester O2 Apollo (6th December); Glasgow O2 Academy (7th); Birmingham O2 Academy (9th); London Eventim Apollo (11th, 12th); Dublin 3Arena (14th); Dublin Olympia Theatre (15th, 16th, 17th); Belfast Ulster Hall (19th); Killarney Inec (20th)
VILLAGERS
London Roundhouse (28th February); Manchester Cathedral (1st March); Newcastle Upon Tyne Wylam Brewery (2nd)
WOLF ALICE
Manchester Victoria Warehouse (18th December); London O2 Academy Brixton (19th, 20th)
THE LEMON TWIGS
Manchester O2 Ritz (21st February); Glasgow Saint Lukes (22nd); Newcastle Upon Tyne Riverside (23rd); Leeds Stylus (25th); Birmingham O2 Institute2 (26th); London Roundhouse (27th)
Bush Hall
Manchester, Christine & the Queens, O2 Apollo
Manchester, Gently Tender, YES
Manchester, Sunflower Bean, Academy
Chameleon, Arts Cafe
Oxford, Shame, O2 Academy
28th November .Hinds. S . Stereo
Leeds, King Nun, Hyde
Park Book Club Manchester, The Aces, Soup Kitchen Nottingham, Kississippi, Bodega Sheffield, Shame, Leadmill
19th November Birmingham, Courtney Barnett, O2 Academy Birmingham, Pip Blom, Sunflower Lounge Birmingham, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, O2 Institute Bristol, The Aces, Louisiana Cardiff, Sunflower Bean, The Globe Dublin, Florence + the Machine, 3Arena Leeds, Slaves, O2 Academy & Underground London, Kagoule, MOTH Club London, Nervus, Boston Music Room Manchester, Kississippi, Gullivers Manchester, Metric, O2 Ritz Nottingham, King Nun, Bodega Oxford, Hinds, The Bullingdon 20th November Birmingham, Basement,
O2 Institute
Brighton, Ought, The
Haunt
Bristol, Slaves, O2 Academy
Cambridge, Hinds, Junction Cardiff, Pip Blom, Clwb Ifor Bach Dublin, Matt Maltese, The Workmans Club Glasgow, Courtney Barnett, O2 Academy Glasgow, Honne, Saint Luke’s Glasgow, Kississippi, The Hug & Pint Huddersfield, Nervus, The Parish Leeds, Shame, University Union Leeds, Sunflower Bean,
Church
London, Christine & The
Queens, Eventim Apollo London, Metric, O2 Forum London, The Aces, Dingwalls Manchester, Middle Kids, Deaf Institute Norwich, King Nun, Waterfront Oxford, Bloxx, The Bullingdon
21st November Belfast, The Coral,
Limelight Brighton, Pip Blom, The Albert Guildford, Bloxx, The Boileroom Leeds, Kississippi, Brudenell Social Club London, Christine & The Queens, Eventim Apollo London, Easy Life, MOTH Club London, Florence + the Machine, The O2 London, King Nun, Camden Assembly London, LUMP, The Garage London, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall Manchester, Matt Maltese, Band on the Wall Newcastle, Courtney Barnett, Northumbria Institute Newcastle, Middle Kids, Think Tank? Southampton, Basement, The 1865 Southampton, Hinds, Engine Rooms Southampton, Ought, Heartbreakers
22nd November Birmingham, Nervus, The
Flapper
Brighton, Unknown
Mortal Orchestra, Concorde 2 Bristol, Honne, SWX Bristol, King Nun, The Louisiana Cardiff, Slaves, Tramshed Glasgow, Clean Cut Kid, Stereo Leeds, Middle Kids, 52
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Brudenell Social Club
London, Honne, O2
Dryden Street Social London, Basement, O2 Forum London, Bloxx, The Borderline London, Florence + the Machine, The O2 London, Pip Blom, The Lexington London, Sunflower Bean, EartH Manchester, Ought, Gorilla Manchester, Shame, O2 Ritz
London, Hookworms, O2
Leicester, Easy Life,
23rd November Birmingham, Slaves, O2 Academy
Bristol, Basement, SWX Bristol, Easy Life, The Louisiana
Carmarthen, Estrons, The
Parrot
Glasgow, Christine & the
Queens, Royal Concert Hall Hastings, Bloxx, BlackmarketVIP Leeds, Clean Cut Kid, Wardrobe Leicester, Sunflower Bean, Dryden Street Social London, Kawala, Camden Assembly London, Kississippi, MOTH Club Manchester, Florence + the Machine, Arena Manchester, Honne, Academy Manchester, Nervus, Gullivers Newcastle, Shame, University Students Union Oxford, Ought, The Bullingdon Tunbridge Wells, Hinds, The Forum
24th November Edinburgh, Christine &
the Queens, Usher Hall Glasgow, Shame, SWG3 Leeds, Bring Me The Horizon, First Direct Arena Leicester, Hinds, Dryden Street Social Liverpool, Pip Blow, Shipping Forecast
D OWN WI T H BO RI N G
Academy Brixton Forum
London, Slaves, Alexandra Palace
Nottingham, Middle Kids, Bodega
Oxford, Easy Life, The Jericho
Southampton, Nervus, Joiners
25th November Brighton, Florence + the Machine, Brighton Centre Bristol, Nervus, Exchange Dublin, Pip Blom, Whelan’s Dublin, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Academy Glasgow, Bring Me The Horizon, SSE Hyrdo Leicester, Middle Kids, The Cookie Manchester, Peace, O2 Ritz Nottingham, Clean Cut Kid, Bodega Nottingham, Hinds, Rescue Rooms 26th November Birmingham, Christine & the Queens, O2 Academy Birmingham, Clean Cut Kid, Hare & Hounds Brighton, Matt Maltese, The Haunt Cardiff, Florence + the Machine, Motorpoint Arena Glasgow, Sunflower Bean, Art School Glasgow, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, SWG3 Leicester, Pip Blom, The Cookie London, Drahla, 100 Club London, Middle Kids, Village Underground Norwich, Shame, Waterfront 27th November Bristol, Clean Cut Kid, Exchange
Cardiff, Bring Me The
Horizon, Motorpoint Arena Guildford, Pip Blom,
Belfast, Blossoms, The Limelight Birmingham, Shame, O2 Institute Edinburgh, Drahla, Sneaky Pete’s Edinburgh, Hinds, The Caves Glasgow, Gently Tender, Broadcast Glasgow, Years & Years, SSE Hydro London, Clean Cut Kid, Omeara London, Thyla, Shacklewell Arms Manchester, Calpurnia, Academy Manchester, Christine & the Queens, O2 Apollo Portsmouth, Sunflower Bean, Wedgewood Rooms 29th November Bristol, Sunflower Bean, SWX
Edinburgh, The Twilight
Sad, Liquid Rooms Leeds, Hinds, Church London, Bring Me The Horizon, Alexandra Palace London, Calpurnia, KOKO London, The Orielles, Heaven Manchester, Years & Years, O2 Apollo Newcastle, Drahla, The Cluny Southampton, Matt Maltese, The Loft
30th November Birmingham, Years & Years, Birmingham Arena
Bristol, Gently Tender, The Crofters Rights
Bristol, Matt Maltese, Thekla
Cambridge, Sunflower
Bean, Junction Glasgow, Young Fathers, O2 Academy Liverpool, Clean Cut Kid, Arts Club London, Bring Me The Horizon, Alexandra Palace London, Shame, O2 Forum London, The Ninth Wave, Hoxton Bar & Grill London,Lola Kirke, The Lexington Southampton, The Orielles, The Loft York, Drahla, The Crescent
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? CHRIS MILLER FROM
You Me At Six Asking about the usual stuff is so boring. Why would you want to do that, when you could ask about winning the lottery and ghosts? What was the first record you bought? Offspring, ‘Americana’.
Do you have any hobbies? Skateboarding, mountain biking, running.
What’s your biggest accomplishment? Achieving a Number One album with the lads on ‘Cavalier Youth’!
If you won the lottery, what would you spend the cash on? We always talk about this between the band. We decided that we
(I guess?!).
would all get a couple of mil each and pay off our mortgages, then invest the rest in the band. That way we could take all the hassle out of touring by balling around on Private Jets!
What strength Nandos sauce do you order? Mango and lime, then coat it in medium and extra hot. It’s more potent that way!
How tall are you?
Do you believe in aliens?
5’10”.
Of course, I think it would be stupid to presume that we are the only ones in this giant universe.
What is your most treasured possession?
A guitar my dad bought me when I was travelling with the family in Canada.
What is the best present you’ve ever been given?
Probably a PlayStation 1. I played that thing to death.
If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose?
What’s your favourite smell?
Dinosaurs. Jurassic Park would be sweet without all the mishaps.
Have you ever seen a ghost?
Grass (both kinds) and when you first leave the house on a cold morning.
I thought I did, but it could have just been sleep paralysis. Something was walking across my vision, but I couldn’t move or do anything about it. It was pretty cool
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What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you? Falling over on stage and being that drunk guy that everyone talks about the next day.
D OWN WI T H BO RI N G
Who would play you in a movie of your life? Frank from Shameless.
How punk are you out of ten? 4.
What is your earliest memory?
Crawling along the floor trying to get to this awesome toy my mum said I was attached to.
If you were on Mastermind, what would your specialist subject be? Guitar or cars.
What’s your biggest fear?
I hate flying, but I have gotten better recently. That or being alone in the ocean with no land in sight.
Have you ever been thrown out of somewhere? A couple of times. It’s normally mob mentality. We can be terrible drunks sometimes. We get far too excited.
What have you got in your pockets right now?
Phone, cigarettes, wallet. The ageold combo! P
You Me At Six’s album ‘VI’ is out now.