Envision the brooding, melancholy of Daughter with a touch of the atmospheric intensity of The XX and the understated, melodic elegance of London Grammar, and London quintet Sloes will emerge. The band may be new to our ears but they feel like home. Their music is full of pleasant surprises but still it’s intensely comforting.
The musical vision of Manchester-born Adio Marchant (aka. Bipolar Sunshine) has spawned a sound that is not just genre-defying but uniting, with the euphoric highs of pop, emotional resonance of hip hop and uplifting spirit of a gospel choir. His voice is soulful, his lyrics are vibrant and his candour breathes meaning into every verse. […]
International and homegrown bands will collide at this year’s Live at Leeds festival. A music event in a metropolitan oasis that proves you don’t always need to grab your wellies and a tent to enjoy the festival season.
Brother/sister duo Lucy and Thom Southern’s blues rock is so tantalising that it’s almost criminal to stand still. Attitude drips from every lick, every riff, every sweet vocal turn. It’s always a satisfying proposition when Southern release a new track and their latest ‘Lone Driver’ is effortlessly cool.
We’ve been fans of the Liverpool alt-folk collective, Cavalry, for a while now. But since last year’s sudden arrival to the scene with their gorgeous début ‘Lament’, the band had taken a prolonged breather, leaving us high and dry, and craving for some new material to savour. But today marks a change. The quintet have […]
In the last six months, Palace have ridden a wave of overwhelming critical acclaim and fan support. Last October, they released their debut EP ‘Lost in the Night’, which garnered the attention of BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music and XFM. Following on from the huge success of their debut EP, Palace have unveiled their magnificent […]
We’ve come to the conclusion that with each new Mispers track you just have to throw caution to the wind, because each and every time The Mispers release a new track, they always defy our expectations and not just go one step ahead, but ten steps ahead of where they last left you. And their […]
Amy has a voice filled with enchantment and wisdom. Brought up as witness to the nightlife of her mum’s pubs and bars, Amy’s songs are riddled with anecdotes and wry humour based on the colourful characters she has met on her way. Her sound is reminiscent of a young Stevie Nicks with the glottal growl […]
Folk music takes on many forms, from heartbreaking personal stories to joyous tales of hope and wonder, but what makes folk music a genre that we can’t live without is the breadth of human emotion it conceals and evokes in its verses. No other genre can quite connect with a listener in the same way […]
The track had it’s premiere on BBC Radio 6Music last week. ‘Honest’ is a much bolder track than we’ve heard from McClair in the past, not only in the sense that it shows a real musical progression for him, but that McClair has become more confident. In a way, mirroring the sentiment of the song, McClair bares […]
As we’re nearing warmer climes, it seems like the perfect time to get out your sunnies and listen to the coastal indie dance sounds of Folkestone band, Native People. It’s been quite a whirlwind year for the foursome. After releasing their début single ‘Calm Forever’ last summer and playing a slurry of live shows, they’ve garnered […]
It can be difficult for artists to cut through what often seems like an invisible barrier, some triumph and some loiter at the edge. In the case of Billie Marten, its vehemently impossible to disavow the immediate connection you feel towards her. I can only describe it as a gravitating pull. It’s like the first […]
Girl Friend have been favourites of ours since we first glanced upon them in the dark halls of Manchester’s Ruby Lounge, many months prior to where we greet them now. The foursome have managed to not only dance our cares away with each passing poetic muse but in turn, they have found themselves merging deeper […]
Following on from 2013’s impeccable début EP ‘Contours’ Oxford’s Toliesel are back and on better form than ever. Taking their signature alt-country sound to the next level on ‘Wilderness Blues’. They crank up the volume and get a little rowdier, moving further into Crazy Horse territory.
Rising up from the ashen debris of a former love that did her wrong, Glasgow siren KLOË was born. After the emotional outpouring of her début single ‘Grip’, we meet a somewhat softer side to the singer on ‘Feel’.
The space-age sounds of Ted Zed will send you into a hallucinogenic daze fuelled by buzzing electronics and entrancing psychedelia. Zed’s retro-inspired alternative rock is heralded by many as visionary, and with tracks like ‘Believe’ and ‘I’m Gold’ no one is going to contest that.
Harper is a sweet contradiction – her music is both sensual and sensitive but it also hides a darkness that is ready to be uncaged at any time. Not unlike the symbolism encapsulated in the video for her new single ‘Animal’ which see’s a collision between light and dark forces.
From the roaring thunder of distortion and heart-piercing fuzz of début single ‘Whoever’, October Drift unforgettably barraged into our playlists and ran kicking and screaming into our hearts. The foursome have since completed their first UK tour and continue to race forward with heavy hearts and soaring atmospherics into what seems like a very bright future.
The Slow Reader Club’s darkly enrapturing sound is ambitiously bold and equally as rousing on ‘Cavalcade’. The Slow Readers Club treat us to a cinematic whirlpool of emotionally powerful and rhythmically intense collection of songs on the album. The goal is simple, to both render the listener dumbfounded in swathes of melancholy and to also […]
David Byrne wrote in his last book, how music is and always has been written with the performance space in mind. Largely, I agree. Looking back over time, we see chamber ensembles become orchestras; big bands become quartets; and of course the evolution of stadium rock. Away from our very own MEN arena however (yes.. […]