Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. Probably the most bizarre band name I've come across in recent months. It certainly stands out - Not that they require any additional theatrics when their music's this good. Returning with their latest single, Keen For Kick Ons?, the band deliver a huge guitar heavy anthem filled with twists and turns at each and every corner. Think, Tame Impala mixed with a heavy side helping of Temples. "Keen For Kick Ons? is about those fruitful days working at a pub", explains singer Jack McEwan. "I got fired for getting trollied at an open mic night trying to sing Queen. It seemed like a good premise for a track so I weaved in this narrative of a purple haired French girl who spoke in blotted English but wanted to head out after the bar closed. It's a mix of tour life and reminiscing about my days at Indi Bar, good times." Take a listen for yourselves below.
Live Dates 20 Feb–Thekla, Bristol 21 Feb–Brudenell Social Club, Leeds 22 Feb–The Cluny, Newcastle 23 Feb–YES, Manchester 25 Feb–The Bullingdon, Oxford 26 Feb–Green Door Store, Brighton 27 Feb–Dingwalls, London 28 Feb–The Loft, Southampton 09-11 May-The Great Escape, Brighton
Ahead of her highly anticipated debut album, 'Sucker Punch', Norwegian-based pop star Sigrid returns today with latest single Don't Feel Like Crying. A track that tackles a break-up (what good pop song doesn't), the single is perpetuated with her infectious big-room production and soaring pop-sensibilities. "There’s a certain grace to heartache", explains Sigrid, "A sort of…epic grace! I like good, heartfelt pop songs". Take a listen for yourselves below. The track is taken from her debut record ‘Sucker Punch’, which is due for release on 8th March. Catch her out on the road with both George Ezra and Maroon 5 over the coming months.
Unveiling a stunning live session to kick off the year, Denmark's all-round pop wunderkind Maximillian returns with a heartfelt rendition to his track, Hold On. Delivered in eager anticipation for new music that awaits keen fans, the clip sees the young artist charge up on emotion and fire his elevated vocals across a far-reaching, expansive backdrop of sweeping synths and minimalistic percussion. "I’ve written a song about the bigger picture." he explains. 'How life and family can fall apart and make you want to run away and leave everything behind. But it’s also about the little voice inside your head that tells you to do the right thing: to run back and hold on!" Take a listen/watch for yourselves below.
As Wild Nothing prepares for his forthcoming UK and EU tour from next month, he returns with his stunning new stand alone single, Blue Wings. The track follows on from the release of his fourth studio album, Indigo, which was released last year via Captured Tracks. "There were a number of songs that were kicking when I was finishing Indigo and ‘Blue Wings’ was very nearly included." he explains. "I had sent the album off to mastering, but the song didn't sit right with me and I decided, at the last possible moment, to leave it off the album. It's intentionally a very bittersweet sounding song. I asked Ben Talmi who did the string arrangements on ‘Shadow’ to help out with this very simple dissonant string part I was hearing in my head which is now my favorite element in the track. It's a song about walking through to the other side of crippling self-doubt with the help of someone you love. It's a reminder to myself not to let things spiral, hard as it may be at times." Take a listen for yourselves below.
Set to kick off his year in style, Santa Barbara based newcomer Grady unveils his new single Only One. Teaming up with Whethan on production, the track's silk smooth approach comes accompanied with a Peep Show style video as we see Grady tackle his hatred for being alone by filling it with other past times. Speaking on the release, Grady states:"me and him [Weathan] made Only One at a time when I was constantly having girls around cause I honestly just couldn’t stand being alone. It’s the theme music to casual hookup culture, where now more than ever there seems to be this mutual understanding where both parties involved would just rather only put their feet into relationships. And I’ve historically sucked with commitment and don’t have a shortage of memories to pull from so it came pretty naturally". Take a watch below.
In a life of mundane repetition, Doncaster-based outfit Guest Singer cry out for change in their debut, call to arms single, New Experience. Recently signed to Heist or Hit, the trio headed up by Jake Cope and comprising of Paul Burdett and France Lahmar deliver a soaring exploration of the modern day world, delving in to the darkest corners of Instagram influencers and the crutch they have on social media as a whole. “Do you live by the words on the backdrop, of a well shot holiday hotspot?” seems a fitting opening introduction. The new single is taken from the band's forthcoming EP due out later this year. Take a listen for yourselves below.
Live dates 15th February–Band On The Wall, Manchester 16th February–Yellow Arch Studios, Sheffield w/ Her's
The 1975 Cardiff Live Review, Motorpoint Arena 14/01/2019
Just over two years since they last played Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena, The 1975 returned with their biggest and most ambitious show to date in support of their recently released third studio album A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. Having promised fans a whole new and immersive experience, with a completely re-imagined set design, the band had big promises to fill, and they weren't ready to let any one down just yet. Following their most spectacular album campaign, through visually orgasmic posters, slogans and imagery, the Manchester-based outfit have continually pushed the boundaries and tonight they were ready to show everyone just how far they'd come.
It wasn't long before the fans got to experience it for themselves. From the twinkling piano keys of Love Theme, daintily echoing around the expansive hall, it would've been hard for anyone inside to have imagined just what lay in store as at 8:50pm sharp the blinding headlight's that had been lighting the room dimmed and they emerged to their eponymous self-titled single. It's easy to forget this is a song about oral sex of all things as the room erupted with screams.
The new album was released less than two months but that wasn't going to stop fans from singing back each and every word in perfect form to Give Yourself a Try and TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME, all amongst the glitchy imagery that flashed around the giant screens behind them. On times I was thankful that my ears were still a bit muffled from a cold I contracted last week to take the edge off the One Direction-level of teenage squealing.
Following She's American and UGH!, two previous album cuts, Matty donned a quick costume change to re-enact the music video for Sincerity is Scary, stepping out on to a treadmill as the New York City backdrop scrolled past. It's a surreal moment and for something that shouldn't work, does, so incredibly well. He seemed genuinely refreshed and at home, swaying about on stage pulling out your dads best dance routines, normally only reserved for the wedding party dance-floor whilst suitable drunk. This is a band at the height of their game and it showed as they controlled the crowd's every movement, Healy pointing his mic to the audience as they sang on command throughout.
Being one of the smaller venues on this tour it did mean the stage design
had been slightly scaled back from the previous night's in Belfast and
Glasgow, but that didn't seem to have any bearing on its impact.
Visually it remained beautiful. The band almost caged in by three giant
rectangle light features that harmonised with the music throughout. They've attempted to incorporate their visual elements from across their releases,
and pieced together, it's been realised in grandeur form. With backup dancers (Jaiy Twins), political messages deployed as an almost call to arms to the youth, and a plethora of old and new material alike, the vast open space in the arena almost make their past shows in small sweaty rooms feel like a forgotten memory. But that's far from the case. It's a common occurrence for band's of this size to build a barrier between themselves and fans, aside from the odd grunt and thanks, not uttering another word for the duration of their set. But not these guys. There was a real sense of utmost gratitude as Healy thanked and thanks again. The acknowledgements came often. They even left off any encore theatrics too, moving through the hits, straight in to the final quarter without exiting the stage.
There's a lot to say about people who can take a laugh at themselves too, and the band seem to have embraced this pretty well as The Sound's visuals flashed negative comments in a humouring way. "Do people really still make music like this?". "There's no danger in the music at all". "Terrible high pitched vocals over soulless robo beats".
Ending with Sex, they've shown once more they're probably still one of, if not the most important groups of our decade. Love them or loathe them, their music speaks to the masses and they're not quite done yet on their world dominating escapade. It's just the beginning.
The 1975played: Love Theme (intro) The 1975 (A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships version) Give Yourself a Try TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME She’s American UGH! Sincerity Is Scary It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You) Loving Someone The Ballad of Me and My Brain A Change of Heart Narcissist (No Rome cover with No Rome) How to Draw/ Petrichor An Encounter (Interlude) Robbers fallingforyou You I Like America & America Likes Me Somebody Else Girls I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)
Encore Love It If We Made It Be My Mistake Chocolate The Sound Sex
In all of its sprawling might, Another Sky's latest single Apple Tree serves as a testament to the band's cinematic approach to songwriting as thrashing guitars part way for emotive vocals and wide spanning melodies. Accompanied by a beautifully created video, animated by Dann Parry, the clip shows how despite ones torture can rise a promising future. Catrin of the band explains "Apple Tree' is the story of a boy I knew growing up who was bullied for talking to daffodils. I always admired him. The song celebrates feminine men, because I don’t believe being feminine is exclusive to being a woman. We spent some time last year on the Isle of Wight at Chale Abbey Studios. The song was written and recorded there".
February UK Tour 2019
1 Norwich Waterfront Studio
2 York Fulford Arms
3 Edinburgh Mash House
4 Glasgow Poetry Club SWG3
7 Dublin Whelans
10 Sheffield Cafe Totem
11 Manchester YES
12 Leicester Soundhouse
13 Birmingham Hare & Hounds
15 Nottingham Rock City
19 Oxford Bullingdon
20 Bristol Crofters Rights
21 Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
25 Southampton Heartbreakers
26 Brighton Komedia Studio Bar
27 Cambridge The Portland Arms
28 London Rich Mix
