P R E S E N T S
12 | 05 | 19
PETE DOHERTY - O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN
VÖK
LAMBCHOP
21 | 04 | 19
29 | 04 | 19
- HOXTON BAR & KITCHEN
17 | 04 | 19
- EARTH HACKNEY
- EARTH HACKNEY
LAMB
04 | 05 | 19 - 05 | 05 | 19
DEAD CAN DANCE - EVENTIM APOLLO
30 | 04 | 19
01 | 05 | 19
SAINT LEONARD
LILY & MADELEINE
- OMEARA -
- THE LEXINGTON -
19 | 04 | 19
15 | 05 | 19
SLEAFORD MODS
SOAK
- OXFORD O2 ACADEMY2
- MARGATE DREAMLAND
17 | 05 | 19
20 | 04 | 19
SLEAFORD MODS
03 | 05 | 19
LEISURE
- BEXHILL DE LA WARR PAVILION
- OSLO -
08 | 05 | 19
08 | 05 | 19
dEUS
C DUNCAN
- ELECTRIC BALLROOM
- SCALA -
T I C K E T S AVA I L A B L E F R O M
SEETICKETS.COM - GIGANTIC.COM - STARGREEN.COM EVENTIM.CO.UK - TICKETMASTER.CO.UK - DICE.FM
SOAK
- ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL
P R E S E N T S
31 | 05 | 19
JACK SAVORETTI - SSE ARENA WEMBLEY
14 | 05 | 19
15 | 05 | 19
31 | 05 | 19
ROBERT FORSTER
WEAKENED FRIENDS
FILTHY FRIENDS
- UNION CHAPEL -
- SEBRIGHT ARMS -
- THE GARAGE -
21 | 07 | 19
GOMEZ - O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE
12 | 06 | 19
19 | 06 | 19
HATCHIE
THE SHEEPDOGS
- MOTH CLUB -
- THE GARAGE -
16 | 05 | 19
21 | 08 | 19
TOM WILLIAMS
EELS
- SCALA -
- EVENTIM APOLLO
24 | 06 | 19
JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN - EartH -
05 | 07 | 19
HANDS OFF GRETEL - SHACKLEWELL ARMS -
25 | 07 | 19
JENNY LEWIS - ELECTRIC BALLROOM
T I C K E T S AVA I L A B L E F R O M
SEETICKETS.COM - GIGANTIC.COM - STARGREEN.COM SSEARENA.CO.UK - TICKETMASTER.CO.UK - DICE.FM
Another month and, oddly, another time we welcome a previous cover star back onto our front page. I cannot forget the first time I saw Loyle Carner, at London Fields Brewery during Visions Festival, having become obsessed with ‘Tierney Terrace’ only a couple of weeks earlier. Completely blowing me away, I knew we had to get him on the cover as soon as possible. With the release of his second album, we’re so excited to have followed his path to becoming an ever-more thrilling and intriguing songwriter. Dive in deeper through his chat with Robin Murray. Elsewhere it almost feels like it’s festival season again, and I can tell you: we are not ready. Bring on the line-up announcements, bring on the anxiety-ridden excitement when it comes to working out plans - we’ll brace ourselves, I can feel it’ll be a good year.
TIERRA WHACK
STAFF ON REPEAT
the music we can’t stop listening to this month Jess: Kari Faux & Curren$y - In The Air Dave: ((( O ))) - Yuyu Loki: Wych Elm - 1983 Danny: Holly Herndon - Eternal Gemma: Tierra Whack - Wasteland Jack: Chiminyo - We'll Never Know Beth: Murlo - Ascension Katie: Karima F - Random Loop From Doepfer Site London in Stereo: 07
Academy Events present ACADEMY EVENTS BY ARRANGEMENT WITH CODA PRESENTS
Academy Events & CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH present
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
WEDNESDAY 17th APRIL 2019 O2 ACADEMY2 ISLINGTON LONDON AGES 14+
ATARI TEENAGE RIOT plus guests
KALLI MA
O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON LONDON 02.05.19 An Academy Events presentation by arrangement with Future Agency
THURSDAY 9th MAY 2019
O2 ACADEMY2 ISLINGTON, LONDON BALTAZAR-ROCK.COM
ACADEMY EVENTS & CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH. PRESENTS
presents
PLUS GUESTS
REV MAGNETIC
CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH. DJs
FRIDAY 17TH MAY 2019 O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON, LONDON
2019 FRIDAY 10th MAY 2019 O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON, LONDON FACEBOOK.COM/SHOWHAWKDUO
ACADEMY EVENTS by arrangement with UNITED TALENT AGENCY present
THURSDAY 16th MAY O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON LONDON
NEW ALBUM ‘FUTURE RUINS’ OUT NOW
SWERVEDRIVER.COM
presents
ACADEMY EVENTS by arrangement with SUPREME ENTERTAINMENT presents
plus special guests
plus special guests
IMPERIAL DAZE | HEAR Wednesday 22nd May 2019 O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON, LONDON
Sunday 9th June 2019 O2 ACADEMY2 ISLINGTON, LONDON
MANDODIAO.COM
TICKETMASTER.CO.UK ALL USUAL AGENTS
otownofficial.com
INTERVIEWS 24
REVIEWS
MARTHA
46
38
WHAT’S ON
GIRL UNIT
16
FEATURES 12
LIVE
82
LOYLE CARNER
30
20
ALBUM RELEASES
NEW SOUNDS
ON THE STEREO
EVENTS
56
GIGS OF THE MONTH
59
FULL APRIL LISTINGS Loyle Carner cover story: page 30
79
TALES FROM THE CITY 80
85
IN LONDON
THOUGHTS...
Editor: Jess Partridge jess@londoninstereo.co.uk
Deputy Editor: Dave Rowlinson dave@londoninstereo.co.uk
Online Editor: Beth Sheldrick beth@londoninstereo.co.uk
Sub-Editor: Loki Lillistone loki@londoninstereo.co.uk
Festival/Clubs Editor: Katie Thomas katie@londoninstereo.co.uk
New Sounds Editor: Gemma Samways
Staff Writers: Danny Wright, Jack Urwin
Advertising: sales@londoninstereo.co.uk
Photography: Loyle Carner cover story: Phil Sharp (philsharp-photo.com) The Hold Steady live: Lee Allen (leeallenphotography.com) Contributors: Caitlin Clark, Guia Cortassa, Geoff Cowart, Josie Gaitens, Thomas Hannan, Eki Igbinoba, Ross Jones, Tara Joshi, Jon Kean, Emma Madden, Robin Murray, George O’Brien, Kelly Ronaldson, Harriet Taylor, Lee Wakefield. londoninstereo.com
@londoninstereo
London in Stereo: 09
+200 acts
16 + 17 + 18 August 2019
Biddinghuizen | The Netherlands
www.lowlands.nl
Victoria Park London E3 24 May > 02 June
Sun 26 May Sun 26 May
JAMES BLAKE METRONOMY METRONOMY LOYLE CARNER MARIBOU MARIBOUSTATE STATE BEACH HOUSE Kamasi Washington > Beach House > Honne >
Kurt Vile > Princess Nokia > Ezra Collective > KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS > Toro y Moi > > Rina Sawayama ROSALIA YVES TUMOR > Bob Moses > Andrew Weatherall > Yves Tumor (Full band) > Joy Orbison > Baloji > Cuco > Moxie Presents On Loop > Octo Octa > Galcher Lustwerk > Paquita Gordon + MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED Tickets on sale now
OBONGJAYAR
KEDR LIVANSKIY photo Dmytrij Wulffius
TOP TEN: New Sounds Nico Casal - It's Fine But It Hurts The Claque - Hush Grace Ives - Mirror Leikeli47 - No Reload Cupcakke - Bird Box Queen Key - Can't Take It Kedr Livanskiy - Kiska Octo Octa - Bodies Meld Together Ouri - Trance Parent Nolan The Ninja - Oranges
YAEJI (photo: Micaiah Carter)
FOLLOW OUR SPOTIFY ‘ALL THOSE TRACKS OF THE WEEK’ PLAYLIST FOR ALWAYS-UPDATED NEW MUSIC
Obongjayar by Gemma Samways Two years on from his debut EP, we’re still no closer to having Steven Umoh sussed. Touching on blues and jazz, hip hop and Afrobeat, and offering up songs that range from sparse sound collages to urgent polemics, his output as Obongjayar varies so greatly that the only real unifying quality has been its excellence. You can get a sense of the Nigerian musician’s potential when you consider the calibre of his co-signs. At this early stage of his career, he’s already worked alongside Kamasi Washington, Warren Ellis and Giggs - as part of Richard Russell’s Mercury-nominated Everything Is Recorded project - provided guest vocals for Wiki and Kojey Radical, and collaborated with BadBadNotGood, KARI FAUX
Danny Brown’s producer Paul White, and Moses Boyd on his own material. It’s worth emphasising the versatility of his voice too. On 2018 ballad ‘Adjacent Heart’, it soars Sampha-like above gentle piano, on ‘Set Alight’ from 2017 EP, Bassey, his guttural bars are almost Gaika-esque, and on last year’s single ‘Never Change’ those soulful tones withstand comparisons to Moses Sumney. His latest track is ‘Frens’, a brilliant, Fela-influenced spiritual celebrating unconditional love. We’ve absolutely no idea what will follow next but we’re very happy to be kept guessing. @aobongjayar LISTEN TO: Frens
LIVE: Bussey Building, April 24th
Kari Faux by Jess Partridge There's a real deluge (in the best way) of incredible rap and soul singers from the US at the moment. Kari Faux comes quickly to the top of the pack with her brand of introspective and brutally honest tracks. Listen to Faux’s new EP Cry 4 Help and you'll find she covers so much relatable ground: from relationships and friendships to the severe reality of abortion and sexual health, she pulls no punches. She’s a breath of fresh air and the strings on ‘Night Time’ have us weak the knees. With a promise of much more to come this year, we’re waiting on tenterhooks. LISTEN TO: Night Time @karifaux
@KARIFAUX London in Stereo: 13
KOKOKO! 4 Apr XOYO
OUMOU SANGARÉ 10 Apr EartH
FAR CASPIAN
11 Apr Shacklewell Arms
DAWN
16 Apr Jazz Cafe
ALICE PHOEBE LOU 17 Apr EartH
ANNA ST LOUIS / ELENA SETIEN 18 Apr The Lexington
TELEMAN 24 Apr EartH
VERA SOLA
24 Apr The Lexington
LONNIE HOLLEY
8 May St John at Bethnal Green
CHARLY BLISS
13 May The Garage
STONEFIELD
13 May The Lexington
BODY TYPE
15 May Moth Club
G FLIP
15 May The Garage
DRAHLA
15 May Studio 9294
POTTERY
16 May Sebright Arms
CHAI
17 May Moth Club
STRAND OF OAKS 27 May Omeara
RAYANA JAY
29 May Camden Assembly
MAYRA ANDRADE 30 May EartH
THURSTON MOORE’S GUITAR ENSEMBLE 31 May EartH
WIRE
1 June EartH
CASS MCCOMBS 6 June EartH
MATMOS
11 June Jazz Cafe
KEVIN MORBY
25 Apr St John on Bethnal Green
TRUDY AND THE ROMANCE
19 June O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
BARRIE
JACCO GARDNER’S SOMNUM
10 July Oval Space
ORA THE MOLECULE
LAURAN HIBBERD
25 July The Lexington
FIL BO RIVA
TOMBERLIN
5 Sept St Pancras Old Church
KIRAN LEONARD
OPEN MIKE EAGLE
20 Nov Roundhouse
ELLIS
FM-84
WILLIAM TYLER
26 Apr Moth Club 1 May The Waiting Room 1 May Oslo
6 May Paper Dress Vintage 8 May The Islington
21 May Oslo
22 May The Dome
23 May The Lexington 24 May The Lexington
COSMO SHELDRAKE ADULT MOM
GIA MARGARET ELDER ISLAND
24 May Islington Assembly Hall 26 May Electric Brixton
rockfeedback.com
POPPY AJUDHA
VC PINES
ETTA BOND
WED 03 APRIL
WED 03 APRIL
MON MON 10 08 SEPTEMBER APRIL
OMEARA VILLAGE UNDERGROUND
ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL
KALEEM TAYLOR
SAM GELLAITRY
GEKO
COMETHAZINE
THU 11 APRIL
FRI 12 APRIL
VILLAGE UNDERGROUND
+ GEO + ALBERT GOLD + DISCO DADDY (DJ SET)
THE LEXINGTON
XOYO
THE CLF ART CAFE, BUSSEY BUILDING
BILK
+ SAM WISE + MIRAA MAY
GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW TUE 12 APRIL
ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL
SUN 14 APRIL
DEVLIN
DJ SPINALL
CAITLYN SCARLETT
WED 17 APRIL
FRI 19 APRIL
10PM–3AM SUN 21 APRIL
MAX RAD
M HUNCHO
SHY MARTIN
INNER WAVE
THU 25 APRIL
WED 01 MAY
THU 02 MAY
TUE 07 MAY
CONNIE CONSTANCE
ROSS FROM FRIENDS
GIUNGLA
THE NUDE PARTY
WED 08 MAY
SAT 11 MAY
MON 13 MAY
THU 23 MAY
THU 11 APRIL
+ CHILDREN OF THE FUZZ
CAMDEN ASSEMBLY
CAMDEN ASSEMBLY
THE 100 CLUB
THE GARAGE
PRINTWORKS
EARTH, HACKNEY
PARTY OF YOUR DREAMS XOYO
LP @ THE CURTAIN HOTEL
THE OLD BLUE LAST
ELECTRIC BRIXTON
+ LOVEDAY
THU 25 APRIL
THE ISLINGTON
+ SPOORT
CAMDEN ASSEMBLY
SEBRIGHT ARMS
VISIT METROPOLISMUSIC.COM FOR TICKETS + TO SIGN UP FOR LATEST ANNOUNCEMENTS
new things happening soon that you just don’t want to miss out on
Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition
Gala Festival
A celebration of the world famous director, Stanley Kubrick is to hit London this month. After having toured the likes of the US & Japan this exhibit finally comes to the country he called home. The Design Museum hosts a collection of archival props, projections and interviews, that don’t just shine a light on Kubrick’s artistic works but also highlight his love of London. If that’s not enough for you and you’re thirsting for more then get to the BFI for their Kubrick season running throughout April and May. And if you haven’t had a chance to check out London’s new Design Museum yet, what better excuse do you need?
Bank holiday festival in Peckham? Don’t mind if we do. Gala is a feast of great music and a symphony of excellent food and drink. Returning for its fourth edition, the line-up of our dance favourites like Honey Dijon, Horse Meat Disco and Auntie Flo are a promise of a non-stop excellent day that will make us oh-so-thankful for the Monday off. Don’t miss out on tickets, they’re flying.
APRIL 26TH-SEPTEMBER 17TH. DESIGN MUSEUM, W8 6AG designmuseum.digitickets.co.uk / @DesignMuseum
MAY 26TH, PECKHAM RYE PARK thisisgala.co.uk // @GALA_Festival
Festival of Ideas Calling your event ‘Festival Of Ideas’ sets a pretty high bar: it gives the impression of fertile, inventive minds and fresh thoughts, and you know what, if anyone could live up to it, the Royal Academy could. This four-day foray into the unknown collects together a spectacular array of writers, artists and more to impart their knowledge, whilst providing workshops and lively debate around key subjects and exciting thoughts. So good, we’re giving you an early heads-up on this one. MAY 2ND-MAY 6TH. ROYAL ACADEMY W1J 0BD royalacademy.org.uk // @royalacademy
Record Store Day Sure, Record Store Day comes in for a little bit of grief sometimes – some understandable, some less so – but its part in the up-turn of vinyl sales, its capacity to tempt new customers into stores, and, honestly, the positive atmosphere it creates surely shouldn’t be underestimated. More importantly (as our own shelves will testify) every year sees some releases that are just too good to miss out on, so study the list, fill your Thermos, and join that queue. APRIL 13TH. VARIOUS RECORD STORES ACROSS LONDON recordstoreday.co.uk // @RSDUK
ROBYN’S BODY TALK, ON VINYL FOR RSD19
Hot Sauce Society’s Hot Sauce Festival
PECKHAM SAUCE CO’S BATCH ONE photo: Anne Tobin
FESTIVAL OF IDEAS Artistic director of the Young Vic: Kwame Kwei-Armah Friday 3 May
As our visits to beer, hot sauce and vinyl faves, Hop Burns & Black frequently demonstrate, fiery condiments are on the up. Their back shelf is stacked with all kinds of scarily-named sauces some of which we dare try, many of which we don’t. When they are good though (like our firm favourite, Peckham Sauce co), they can make the world a better place. London’s first ever hot sauce festival is bringing together 30+ independent hot sauce makers for one magic day in Peckham, where you can try the best of the best, fill up on Frank’s slathered wings and vegan curries, and cool off with craft beers and cocktails. APRIL 13th COPELAND PARK, SE15 3SN hotsaucesociety.co.uk // Insta: @hot_sauce_society London in Stereo: 17
with This month we welcome our new favourite radio station, foundation.fm, into our pages to talk us through who they are, what they do and, most importantly, what they’re listening to. LiS
INTRO
We are foundation.fm. An online community radio station who are putting females at the forefront! We wanted to create a space creatively and physically where presenters and DJs would feel safe, confident and excited to try out ideas, develop their broadcasting skills and play their favourite tunes, without judgement and fully supported by like-minded individuals. We want everyone to be able to listen to foundation.fm and hear someone who they identify with, at a time where representation matters more than ever. We launched in November 2018 and the response has been incredible. We are so excited for the future! Here are some of our favourite tracks from the last four months, which mark some big moments and special memories for us. Enjoy!
Find fountation.fm online and on air Monday to Friday, 10am-10pm @foundationfmradio
@foundation_fm
ROSALIA
MALAMENTE
Everything about Rosalia is VERY foundation.fm!
JAMES BLAKE
PEGGY GOU
WHERE’S THE CATCH
This was our first track of the week and a firm favourite across FFM staff and DJs.
THAI SLOWDIE S LA
HAN JAN
We had a tiny tech issue the week of launch and this track was on repeat… We were peggygou.fm for a while!
layed k we p rst trac e lyrics are fi e th th This is .fm as e ndation 's for th on fou his one ve our T “ t c ha y perfe e th zy, cause e us cra ladies, ey driv en.” , and th m s s ie u b e a b y mad but the
BABEHEAVEN NOVEMBER
A new band we are really excited about that get a lot of love across the station and prove that Community Radio can support bands too ;)
London in Stereo: 21
APRE APRE
BAILEN
MOSA MOSA WILD WILD
SAM FENDER
BENJAMIN BENJAMIN FRANCIS FRANCIS LEFTWICH LEFTWICH
JAMES HERSEY
BÜLOW BÜLOW
DERMOT KENNEDY
CUB CUB SPORT SPORT
MATTHEW AND THE ATLAS
AMBER AMBER RUN RUN
LYRA LYRA TUE 16 APRIL
TALOS THU 16 MAY
NICK NICK MURPHY MURPHY FKA FKA CHET CHET FAKER FAKER
KEVIN GARRETT GARRETT KEVIN WED 24 APRIL
AMOS LEE FRI 17, SAT 18 & SUN 19 MAY
KYAN KYAN WED 24 APRIL
JESSE MAC MAC JESSE CORMACK CORMACK WED 22 MAY
WED WED33APRIL APRIL OMEARA OMEARA WED WED10 10APRIL APRIL THE THEWAITING WAITING ROOM ROOM
THU1111APRIL APRIL THU UNIONCHAPEL CHAPEL UNION
THU1111APRIL APRIL THU COURTYARD THEATRE THEATRE COURTYARD
DEAN LEWIS LEWIS DEAN
MON15 15&&TUE TUE 16 16 APRIL APRIL MON O2SHEPHERD’S SHEPHERD’S BUSH BUSH O2 EMPIRE EMPIRE
TUE 16 APRIL THOUSAND ISLAND ISLAND THOUSAND WED 24 APRIL OMEARA OMEARA
WED 24 APRIL BERMONDSEY SOCIAL SOCIAL BERMONDSEY CLUB CLUB
ROMAN LEWIS LEWIS ROMAN WED 24 APRIL
WED 24 APRIL THESLAUGHTERED SLAUGHTERED LAMB LAMB THE
J.S. ONDARA ONDARA J.S. MON 29 APRIL MON APRIL BUSH29 HALL BUSH HALL
LYVES LYVES MON 29 APRIL MON 29 APRIL OMEARA OMEARA
THU THU 2 MAY ST ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH MON MON 6 & TUE 7 MAY O2 O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE EMPIRE TUE 7 MAY TUE HOXTON SQUARE BAR & HOXTON KITCHEN KITCHEN
WED 8 MAY WED O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON O2
THU 16 MAY THU OMEARA OMEARA
THU 16 MAY ST STEPHEN’S STEPHEN’S CHURCH ST CHURCH
FRI 17, SAT 18 & SUN 19 MAY UNION CHAPEL CHAPEL UNION
WED 22 MAY THE WAITING WAITING ROOM THE ROOM
TORA TORA
MON 24 24 JUNE JUNE MON HOXTON SQUARE SQUAREBAR BAR&& HOXTON KITCHEN KITCHEN
CITADEL FESTIVAL FESTIVAL CITADEL SUN 14 14 JULY JULY SUN GUNNERSBURY PARK PARK GUNNERSBURY
NICK NICK MULVEY MULVEY
SUN SUN 18 18 AUGUST AUGUST REGENT’S REGENT’S PARK PARK OPEN OPENAIR AIR THEATRE THEATRE THU THU 17 17 OCTOBER OCTOBER SCALA SCALA SAT SAT 19 19 OCTOBER OCTOBER ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDHOUSE
TUE TUE 22 22 OCTOBER OCTOBER O2 O2 ACADEMY ACADEMY BRIXTON BRIXTON
HONEYBLOOD HONEYBLOOD THU 31 OCTOBER THU 31 OCTOBER ELECTRIC ELECTRIC BRIXTON BRIXTON
PICTURE PICTURE THIS THIS FRI 1 NOVEMBER FRI 1 NOVEMBER ROUNDHOUSE
ANGIE MCMAHON MCMAHON ROUNDHOUSE ANGIE TUE 28 28 MAY MAY FINK TUE FINK THE LEXINGTON LEXINGTON SAT THE SAT 16 16 NOVEMBER NOVEMBER ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDHOUSE ELOISE ELOISE WED 29 MAY WED 29 MAY MATTHEW THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB MATTHEW AND AND THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB THE THE20ATLAS ATLAS GEORGE OGILVIE OGILVIE WED NOVEMBER GEORGE WED 20 NOVEMBER FRI 31 MAY FRI 31 MAY OMEARA OMEARA
EARTH EARTH
MARTHAGUNN MARTHAGUNN TUE 30 APRIL
DIZZY DIZZY SUN 2 JUNE
LUNA BAY LUNA BAY THU 21 NOVEMBER
MAISIE PETERS PETERS MAISIE WED 1 MAY
BALCONY BALCONY THU 13 JUNE
THE THE15 PAPER PAPER KITES KITES SUN DECEMBER
TUE APRIL ROOM THE 30 WAITING THE WAITING ROOM WED 1 MAY SCALA SCALA
SUN 2 JUNE NOTTING HILL ARTS CLUB NOTTING HILL ARTS CLUB THU 13 JUNE SEBRIGHT ARMS SEBRIGHT ARMS
THU 21 NOVEMBER SCALA SCALA
SUN 15 DECEMBER ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL
APRE
BAILEN
MOSA WILD
SAM FENDER
BENJAMIN FRANCIS LEFTWICH
JAMES HERSEY
BÜLOW
DERMOT KENNEDY
WED 3 APRIL OMEARA WED 10 APRIL THE WAITING ROOM
THU 11 APRIL UNION CHAPEL
THU 11 APRIL COURTYARD THEATRE
DEAN LEWIS
THU 2 MAY ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH MON 6 & TUE 7 MAY O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE TUE 7 MAY HOXTON SQUARE BAR & KITCHEN
TORA
MON 24 JUNE HOXTON SQUARE BAR & KITCHEN
CITADEL FESTIVAL SUN 14 JULY GUNNERSBURY PARK
NICK MULVEY
SUN 18 AUGUST REGENT’S PARK AIR 2 3 . 0 4 .OPEN 19 THEATRE EXTRA DATE ADDED DUE TO DEMAND
24.04.19
WED 8 MAY O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON
O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH CUB SPORT LONDON
EMPIRE
THU 17 OCTOBER SCALA
MATTHEW AND THE ATLAS
AMBER RUN
LYRA
TALOS
NICK MURPHY FKA CHET FAKER
KEVIN GARRETT
AMOS LEE
KYAN
JESSE MAC CORMACK
MON 15 & TUE 16 APRIL O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE TUE 16 APRIL THOUSAND ISLAND WED 24 APRIL OMEARA
WED 24 APRIL BERMONDSEY SOCIAL CLUB
ROMAN LEWIS
WED 24 APRIL THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB
THU 16 MAY OMEARA
THU 16 MAY ST STEPHEN’S CHURCH FRI 17, SAT 18 & SUN 19 MAY UNION CHAPEL
TUE 28 MAY& SYLVESTER FERRIS THE LEXINGTON
MARTHAGUNN
DIZZY
WED 1 MAY SCALA
// FINK HOT DREAMS // IDER SAT 16 NOVEMBER
JASMINE THOMPSON //ROUNDHOUSE JORDAN MACKAMPA
GEORGE OGILVIE
MAISIE PETERS
THU 31 OCTOBER ELECTRIC BRIXTON
ROUNDHOUSE APRE // BALCONY // ELOISE
ANGIE MCMAHON
LYVES
TUE 30 APRIL THE WAITING ROOM
HONEYBLOOD
THIS SUPER EARLY PICTURE BIRD TICKETS FRI 1 NOVEMBER
ELOISE
MON 29 APRIL OMEARA
TUE 22 OCTOBER O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON
WED 22 MAY THE WAITING ROOM
J.S. ONDARA MON 29 APRIL BUSH HALL
SAT 19 OCTOBER ROUNDHOUSE
WED 29 MAY LAUREL // LION // MARSICANS // MARTHAGUNN MATTHEW AND THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB
THE//ATLAS MOSA WILD // OLIVIA RHYS LEWIS
FRI 31 MAY ROMAN OMEARA
WED 20 NOVEMBER
LEWIS // WINNIEEARTH RAEDER // YOKE LORE + MANY MORE TBA BAY + LUNA
SUN 2 JUNE NOTTING HILL ARTS CLUB
BALCONY
THU 13 JUNE SEBRIGHT ARMS
THU 21 NOVEMBER SCALA
BUSHSTOCK.CO.UK
THE PAPER KITES
SUN 15 DECEMBER ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL
MARTHA words: Danny Wright
“...when it comes to it, when asked - and sometimes when not asked we’re going to say how we feel...” t the exact time I call Daniel, Naomi and Nathan of Martha about their new record Love Keeps Kicking, the second meaningful vote on Brexit is taking place (with the speed at which events are unravelling, who knows what will have happened by the time you’re reading this: Trading deals with Belarus and Vatican City? A surplus of bendy bananas but no medicine?). The self-described four-piece straightedge, anarchist, DIY rockers from the north-eastern village of Pity Me are trying to make sense of the events of the last few years. “We had the new leader of UKIP come and visit our town last week,” Naomi says. “And we had to protest outside. Having to even do that, to oppose an openly fascist visitor to our town, is something you’d never imagine.”
Not that they think a People’s Vote will be the salve to save the country. “Nothing has changed structurally to change the conditions in which Brexit occurred,” explains Nathan. ”It's a much bigger problem than having another referendum. People will act against their own self-interest when they’re completely alienated and fucked off. They don't like being told that they're stupid because, although I think it was a bad, bad, bad decision, they made it in good faith.” “I think we’ll look back on this and see moments like Trump and Brexit as the wheels falling off capitalism.” But if all this makes it sound like listening to Martha would be a sombre lesson in class politics, you couldn’t be more wrong. Their music is an exhilarating mix of fuzzy, fizzy guitars and joyous harmonies, with songs that fuse pop and politics together. “But it would be such a nightmare if everyone was just political all the time - it would be so fucking horrible. But when it comes to it, when asked - and sometimes when not asked - we're going to say how we feel.” London in Stereo: 25
Naomi agrees: “Songwriting is definitely a platform for us to talk about things that we worry about and are passionate about.” And that’s the point. The politics in their songs is the politics of real life, the minutiae of actually living – of snooker halls and supermarkets – and having to put up with all of the shit that is flying at us at the moment. And this weaving of the political and the personal is where the “I think that kind of sums up Martha: alchemy in their songs occurs. “There’s a song reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings called ‘The Void’,” Daniel and also just being really into wrestling.” explains. “And on the surface, it’s about a couple of people who got involved in a ritual that has gone wrong, but I mean it wrestler, Rowdy Roddy Piper. “Jimmy (the can very much be read as about the growing fourth member of the band) had a dream rise of fascism.” about Maya Angelou and Roddy Piper and that became a line in the song,” Nathan “We wrote really collaboratively for this,” explains. “I think that kind of sums up says Naomi. “And Nathan is great at taking Martha: reading I Know Why the Caged Bird complex ideas and reflecting and Sings and also just being really into representing them through a story.” wrestling.” It makes Love Keeps Kicking, their third and I ask if they’re going to do any wrestling possibly best album, both break-up record tie-ins and play any shows. and an exploration of the world spiralling around us. The songs tell stories of the lives “Yeah, I mean I'm waiting for the call from of people trying to cope with it all: Vince McMahon… Actually he doesn't let his institutionalised children (‘Mini Was a workers unionise, so fuck him.” Preteen Arsonist’), and feminist sci-fi writers As we all continue to grapple with everything (‘Lucy Shone a Light On You: The Ballad of that’s going on in the world, it’s good to Lucy Connor Part II’ - a sequel to an early know there are some other weirdos here on demo from 2012). “There’s a bit of your side. intertextuality and some wanky, going-upyour-own-arsehole type stuff going on,” laughs Nathan. “But it’s fun and hopefully people who liked the demo will get a thrill from it.” And ‘Wrestlemania VIII’ is a song, Nathan says, “about finding other freaks that are like you and you can celebrate being weirdos with”. It features a line about iconic 90s
Love Keeps Kicking is released April 5th via Big Scary Monsters LIVE: The Garage, London, April 16th Exchange, Bristol, April 26th FESTIVALS: Truck, July 26th-July 28th End of the Road, August 29th-September 1st @MarthaDIY
@marthadiy
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THE OUT
12
DEBUT APRIL 2019
ON
ALBUM PARTISAN
DOGREL RECORDS
L oyle
Carner words: Robin Murray photography: Phil Sharp
oyle Carner is a figure of contentment. Relaxing on a couch, his broad smile belongs to someone with complete confidence in his artistry, someone who is relishing each passing day. But then, wouldn’t you be? Debut album Yesterday’s Gone was an overwhelming success, garnering BRIT and Mercury nominations alongside universal critical praise. Except sometime in 2017 he found himself with a pretty serious problem: crafting a sequel.
“ If nothing is
happening then I don’t exist. I ’ m writing in response. It ’ s like being a fisherman with no fish! ”
London in Stereo: 31
“I’m sorting things out,” he explains. “I’ve sorted my mum’s mortgage out, got a place of my own, fell in love. All these things are cool. But then… I’m still not completely happy. So, why? What else is happening?”
added, and a few removed. Rebel Kleff is largely absent from the new album, with the pair’s friendship evaporating amid the pressures of fame, and the responsibilities it brings.
It’s this question that forms the crux of his exceptional new album Not Waving, But Drowning. From the Stevie Smith reference in the title, to the final notes, it’s a nuanced, complex, charismatic record, one that answers to deeply held convictions about art and the way it should be made.
“It’s a long story but, like they say, you shouldn’t work with your friends,” he says with a sigh so heavy the floor seems to shake under him. “Before you know it: it sucks. Animosity.”
“Rap is the most important thing in my life,” he says, the smile stretching ever further. “It goes hip-hop, my mum and my missus – they’re all floating up there together! It’s everything to me.” “This is the purest form of rap,” Loyle continues. “I read this interview with Earl Sweatshirt who said rap is black expression – and it was but now I think it’s a colourless expression, a colour-full expression, it’s for everyone and everything. But it’s rhythm and poetry. So whatever rhythm I’m given, I can put poetry to it and then that is rap to me.” Locking himself away in the studio, Loyle Carner gathered a close-knit batch of collaborators. Kwes, Tom Misch, and Jordan Rakei helped refine his palette, with the process developing deep, trusting friendships. As he freely admits, Loyle is a little hungover today – he was actually at Jordan Rakei’s wedding reception the night before. “It was just making music for the sake of music,” he insists. “I wasn’t thinking about putting an album together. And then I just kind of fell into a pocket of this… atmosphere, that was present on a lot of the tunes. It wasn’t necessarily the sound, but they all follow the same pattern. It’s just the sense of getting a snapshot of time.” But snapshots can change. Yesterday’s Gone was adorned with a photo featuring Loyle surrounded by the people closest to him, people who helped that record exist; if taken today, though, a few faces would be
The lack of one central production voice, though, allows Not Waving, But Drowning to veer into some remarkable places. Jorja Smith’s vocal on ‘Loose Ends’ is sublime, while a last-minute session with Charlotte Day Wilson produces a moment of beautiful clarity. Each voice is chosen carefully, adding something vital to the project as a whole. “Maybe I just have a bit of an ear for what fits together,” he says. “It’s about trust. Some people look at it and go: oh here’s Loyle Carner with his second album using his feature cards. But they’re all friends of mine. And these songs would have been made either way.” “I got beats from some of my favourite producers of all time but they weren’t right,” he reveals. “It’s difficult to explain that. Maybe I’m in my head too much. But I’m not going to do it for the sake of it. Those tunes are there because I believe in them, because they mean something to me.” At every point, Loyle Carner was working quickly, removing the barriers between his emotions and his art. “Getting in, writing it, and recording it. And hating it, then listening to it a few times and thinking, actually, this is how I felt,” he explains. “Like, me and my missus had an argument and I went in and recorded my lines without a pop shield. You can hear in my voice that Kwes was looking at me like, are you OK? And I was like, nah, not really... but I had to finish the verse.” “It was about the importance of the first take, the importance of getting stuff out when it’s fresh,” he says. “That was a big
deal for me. Things are not perfect, the world isn’t perfect, music is not perfect. All the best things that come out are mistakes, I think.” Amid these mistakes comes a renewed sense of focus, however, something Loyle Carner attributes to his partner, and the love referenced so passionately on the new album. “She knows everything there is to know about me,” he laughs. “Genuinely everything!” “I’m famous for not finishing a verse before I record it,” he continues. “But she told me: you’re a wordsmith, you have to care about
your words. She was integral, the only reason I went back through it with a fine tooth-comb. Are there any words here that I need to change or make more of? And once I did that I had this attitude of: every word there, has to be there. No other word can fit its place.” Words are his currency and Loyle Carner spends them well. Not Waving, But Drowning delves even deeper than his debut, exploring identity, fatherhood, mental health and so much more. The difficulty, he admits, is finding where to draw the line. London in Stereo: 33
“ I’m
sorted.
Once I’ve got some kids and a dog… bruv, I’ve done it all! ”
“I guess I try not to say too many names, that’s the only thing,” he insists. “I get paid a stupid amount of money sometimes to make music about myself and how I feel and my release is my wage. There has to be a catch. And the catch is that people get to hear some shit about me. It is what it is, I guess. It’s like being a superhero. There has to be something wrong. It can’t just be perfect.” That’s the thing: if his life is perfect, Loyle Carner can’t create. “I used to get really upset with writer’s block but I realised that writer’s block is the nicest thing – for me – because it means that things are content, at the time.” “That’s the interesting thing: if nothing is happening then I don’t exist. I’m writing in
response. It’s like being a fisherman with no fish!” And things are pretty content right now. Loyle is able to meet his heroes – from discussing the power of words with Benjamin Zephaniah through to shooting a video with Yotam Ottolenghi. “It’s meeting people that I love,” he gushes with that ever-present smile. “I’m sorted. Once I’ve got some kids and a dog… bruv, I’ve done it all!” Not Waving But Drowning is released April 19th via AMF Records. FESTIVALS: Glastonbury, June 26th-30th. Lovebox, July 12th. NASS, July 13th. Latitude, July 19th. The Downs, August 31st. @LoyleCarner
@LoyleCarner
Tue 14 May, Royal Festival Hall
Actress x Stockhausen Sin {x} II The British electronic artist and his AI project, Young Paint, reimagine Stockhausen’s opera on the meaning of love, Welt-Parlament #SCGIGS
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“...I just felt like I had words: Lee Wakefield photography: David Carvahlo
start our conversation with a question that I suspect Phil Gamble, AKA Girl Unit, will be asked frequently around his debut album, Song Feel. Aside from the excellent remixed single ‘WYWD’ featuring Kelela that dropped last year, now the album’s intoxicating closer, this is his first release since 2012 - ‘Have you been putting the record together for a colossal seven years?’ “Sort of, yeah. I did a lot of work on side projects and remixes as well,” he admits. “So yeah, that was one part of it. But a lot of it was wanting to get better at producing, because it’s one thing to just make instrumental music, but to write with people and actually structure songs and do songwriting is a different thing altogether. I just wanted to take my time with everything. I wanted to take some time to make a lot of stuff and just see how it worked out and sounded, putting the album together. Rather than just necessarily making the twelve tracks, I made about fifty and took what I liked.”
a clean slate and I could do whatever I wanted...”
This approach resulted in Song Feel, a kaleidoscopic long player that manages to pay homage to the classic Night Slugs sound Gamble has pioneered for so long, while incorporating elements as varied as trap, jungle and soaring pop choruses. It’s the latter style that lends the album its stand-out moments, as tracks like ‘Stuck’ and ‘24 Hours’ dish out euphoria by the bucketload, propelled by crisp, unique Girl Unit instrumentals. “I think a lot of it was to do with the fact I hadn’t made music for a long time. I just felt
like I had a clean slate and I could do whatever I wanted,” he says of Song Feel’s genre-spanning tracklist. “I didn’t feel too tied to anything I’d done in the past, so I was really able to channel myself and just see what happened.” On that note, it would have been a far easier win to throw some club bangers together as expected and call it your debut, I consider. But a Girl Unit full-length was never going to be predictable. Gamble replies: “I still wanted it to sound like me and I never wanted to go too much in any one direction because, I mean, I’m not an expert in any one specific genre. The idea was London in Stereo: 39
“...I just want to create the setting, and I want them to tell their story in whatever way...” just to make the thing that I make and withdraw from it somewhat, but still not necessarily go so deep with it that it became disjointed. So it was a case of having to make everything sound like me, pull back a bit and medium across it, so that I never go too far in one direction.” On repeated listens, the significance of collaboration feels integral to Song Feel’s success, although Gamble perhaps didn’t set out to make a record with so many features. “I started making instrumentals and that was mostly what the album was going to be, and it wasn’t really until I started making certain tracks and meeting up with songwriters and singers that I was able to realise the potential of them being vocal tracks.” That potential was realised by an exhilarating array of talent, including collaborators he already had personal connections with (Rush Davis), to those he
drafted in through Bok Bok and other mutual friends (Brook Baili, Ms Boogie). His process was always the same, however. “I’ll always have a conversation with the collaborator. Every track starts with just getting to know the other person and, even if I do already know them, it’s still helpful to talk about whatever’s going on and helps to get the subject out. But, for the most part, I didn’t want to give too much direction in terms of lyrical content, purely because I just want to create the setting, and I want them to tell their story in whatever way.” The crucial connection between producer and collaborator may feel effortless to Gamble, but it elevates Song Feel into territory occupied by only the most sublime debut albums in electronic music. Well worth the seven-year wait, if you ask me. Song Feel is released April 5th via Night Slugs. @GIRLUNIT
@GIRLUNIT
26 LEAKE STREET APRIL 2019 2 6 L E A K E S T. L O N D O N S E1 7 N N W E D N E S DAYS 7 P M F R E E E N T RY
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SAT.07.SEP.19 THE FLAMING LIPS PERFORM THEIR MASTERPIECE ALBUM
The Soft Bulletin FEATURING
The Colorado Symphony Orchestra WITH CONDUCTOR
ANDRÉ DE RIDDER
THURSDAY MAY 26TH 2016 RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE ALL HUMANS ARE URGED TO ATTEND
SAT.23.NOV.19
photo: Joe Magowan
DAVE PSYCHODRAMA out now Neighbourhood Recordings
In 2016 we sat in Camden Assembly, where a queue was snaking around the venue and out the door. Everyone there to go see someone called ‘Dave’. We laughed at the simple name, and thought not much more of it. Turns out we were mugs. When ‘100M’s’ fizzed its way into our lives, we realised our mistake. The following EP, Game Over, boasting the searing ‘Question Time’, moved that on further: this was someone special, with something worth saying and saying it with equal amounts of eloquence and ire. Could that momentum be continued onto his debut album? Danny Wright got Tara Joshi and Eki Igbinoba together to find out... How long have you been a fan? Eki: I think it was 2015/2016 when he did his debut Fire in the Booth? I just remember being taken aback by his flow and his use of metaphors. He's so articulate in a non-intimidating, relatable way. And his song with J Hus… Tara: It was a little later for me - just after ‘Six Paths’ dropped, so end of 2016? It was definitely something about him being so quietly articulate that drew me in, and also doing things a little out there in terms of musicality? And I can't lie, the J Hus and Drake associations helped me pay attention, haha.
After all the singles and collaborations, did the album live up to expectations? Eki: I’m glad he took his time. Some UK rappers have built up a lot of hype and sadly haven't delivered. It was more conscious than I was expecting, and it’s going to really define him as a UK MC everyone should pay attention to. Tara: With Game Over he asserted himself as someone with very poetic, conscious ability, but you're right, I wasn't expecting the album to lean into that side as much, but I'm really glad he did. It's pretentious to say, but it's still relatively rare that consumers consider MCs as ‘artists’, but this is an album of artistry. Eki: Same. Blackness in UK music is still not as talked about as our US counterparts. As a black girl, having a prominent black man speak about loving yourself despite society setting you up for failure is a very important message. Dave and I are from the same part of Nigeria so, in terms of identity, I resonate with him a lot.
What did you make of the reaction to ‘Black’? Eki: Lol. I don’t expect anything more from the British public to be honest, but shout out to the Radio 1 DJs, white and black, defending him. Tara: Yeah that was very cool at least, good to see who the real allies are. But you know, they shouldn't have had to. A young black man expressing himself and, let's be real, not even being offensive, and people want to call him out? Bizarre. Eki: The reaction just proves we still have a long way to go, which is why it’s such an important song. Tara: Racism here is just a lot more insidious. But then it's like "oh lol, where did all these deportations come from!?" Eki: Shout out Amber Rudd! What do you think of the psychotherapist concept? Tara: It’s a really clever way of linking the themes. Eki: Mental health with music is such a key conversation right now, especially amongst men. I thought it was subtle but very effective. And I love when rappers do skits, it adds so much to the story. Tara: I can’t speak to the experience of a young British black man, but even just as a person of colour, I’m aware conversations about mental health are a lot more stigmatised, and with men that conversation has a long way to go – so it's so great that he's openly being ‘in conversation’ with a therapist. Eki: Exactly, like the album is his therapy session, and it creates a conversation. Within Nigerian culture we don't really talk about mental health, so I feel like this will inspire a conversation. Is there one track that stands out? Eki: ‘Streatham’ and ‘Screwface Capital’. ‘Streatham’ carefully explains what it’s like to be a young black boy in the ends, and this song is a nice little ‘fuck you’ to The Sun and The Daily Mail who demonise young black boys. Tara: ‘Screwface Capital’, yesss! Also ‘Location’ for that line about Indian girls! And ‘Lesley’ is something else. There are very few artists who could pull off 11-minute tracks that get so deep without losing interest. It's a credit to his incredible skills as a storyteller.
Any lines that have stayed with you? Eki: So many – I’d say ‘Black’ stands out the most. It doesn’t romanticise our trauma, it highlights it and proves we're still wonderful in spite of the shit we face. Those words mean a lot to me. I’m all for black artists promoting self-love. Tara: Solange-style "FUBU", which I can't fully relate to in the same way, but fully appreciate. Also on a much less serious note, if I had to pick one line "Girl from India, sweet as naani / Head so good, now I speak Gujarati," rendered me dead for a bit… Finally, how important an artist do you think he can be? Eki: He's 20 and has already put out such a strong body of work. He's intelligent and he knows what he wants, which for someone so young can only be inspiring. Tara: The scope of what he could evolve into when he’s already doing so much is hard to comprehend. I’m normally wary about talking about how ‘important’ an artist is, because a lot of the language around empowerment and protest has been wildly misused and turned meaningless – but I think he’s very, very important, in a sincere way. LIVE: O2 Academy, Bristol, April 26th O2 Academy Brixton, London, May 2nd & 3rd. @Santandave1
@santandave1 London in Stereo: 47
MARINA
LOVE + FEAR Atlantic Records April 26th
CRAIG FINN I NEED A NEW WAR Partisan Records April 26th Sure, it only takes 18 seconds of ‘Blankets’ to find ourselves at the race track, and not many more for things to get druggy... But, for all those generous nods to the Hold Steady’s beloved motifs, Craig Finn’s made a glorious solo record that sounds nothing like his regular band and, more so, doesn’t leave us kinda wishing it did. From the Northern soul horns, that kick as hard as Dexy’s ever did, on ‘Something To Hope For’, to the swoony waltz of ‘Indications’, I Need A New War oozes a rich, relaxed confidence that does everything you want from Finn, but repeatedly surprises and thrills. Of course there are tender studies of humans trying to get by, but this is the hungover slog when the partying ain’t so funny anymore, trying not to fall apart in big cities, and where “Anne Marie’s dancing while Shane gets pissed.” I Need A New War is poignant, potent and the best music Finn’s put his name to in years. Dave Rowlinson
One of the first gigs I ever went to was Marina & The Diamonds. I saved up my Saturday café job money and cried as she sang ‘I Am Not A Robot’ onstage in Birmingham. But as I have grown, so has Marina. Leaving behind the suffix ‘and The Diamonds’ along with her platinum-blonde hair and black eyeliner love hearts, just Marina has never been more herself. Boosted by previously-released singles ‘Superstar’ and ‘Baby’, her dual-concept album LOVE + FEAR holds our hand as we venture through a jungle of infatuation, confusion and growth. ‘Karma’ unpicks her ‘Heartbreaker’ persona alongside Latin-inspired guitars while ‘True’ lays bare the Welsh singer-songwriter in all her gooey electro-pop glory. Instead of pushing for new versions of an idolised self, Marina has taken a much-needed step backwards. Caitlin Clark
KORNÉL KOVÁCS
STOCKHOLM MARATHON Studio Barnhus // April 26th Does Studio Barnhus, the Stockholm label helmed by Axel Boman, Petter Nordkvist and Kornél Kovács, ever put out a bad release? Following on from the fantastic compilation released last year, the latter of the trio returns with an album that builds on their wonky-pop and offbeat house blueprint. Recorded in the aftermath of a break-up and a period of self-reflection, Stockholm Marathon is the epitome of bittersweet; ‘Ducks’ strikes a tone that’s both down-tempo as well as undeniably danceable while ‘Szombat’’s juddering push-and-pull mechanism feels like aching limbo between an ex-lover, while the chorus of ‘Marathon’: “I’m falling in love, such a mistake, you got me moving around, feeling so sick,” seems set to be a refrain repeated on dancefloors for years to come. Lee Wakefield
WEYES BLOOD TITANIC RISING Sub Pop April 5th Just as there was a time when it felt like all pop songs were written about drugs (then sex, then love, then crying in the club), soon there will come a day when all music will be about the end of the world. Natalie Mering, aka Weyes Blood’s third album Titanic Rising — an appropriately absurd and cinematic title, and nod to the James Cameron film which influenced it — is the ecocritical flagship for a world in which the iceberg has already melted. Retro-futuristic synths combine with classic, 70s songwriting in the same vein as Carole King; the overdubbed vocals of Karen Carpenter, the twists and turns of Laura Nyro, the stridency of Harry Nilsson, the heart of Judee Sill; the sound that’s come to be defined as ‘timeless’. It’s an impressive tapestry of influences which make themselves apparent from the album’s get-go, but they’re tinged with the pathos of deliberately-dated synths, and the understanding that no art can truly be timeless in a world that is soon to melt down to the size of a dewdrop. The composition on Titanic Rising rivals even the most ambitious and cerebral of today’s songwriters, but in a way that never seems impressive for the sake of being impressive. Instead, Mering lulls you towards her point of view with a soft insistence. It’s Mering’s quietness that convinces, and no more so than on the album’s standout track, ‘Movies’. Waves of synth swallow her memories of watching movies as a child, and her plea never to leave. It’s the sound of a ship capsized. Emma Madden London in Stereo: 49
SOAK
GRIM TOWN Rough Trade Records April 26th “A dystopia that I’ve created in my brain,” explains SOAK of her second album, Grim Town. “Me on the inside, processed into a pretend location.” Bridie Monds-Watson does possess an exceptional ability to transport the listener to a beautifully cold, movingly desolate place with her incredibly assured, thought-provoking and astute song-writing. Pair this with a beautifully unique vocal and intricate, diverse production and it’s a record of great depth and variety. ‘Deja Vu’ is an uplifting pop ditty wrapped in typical SOAK subtlety, ‘Knock Me Off My Feet’ recalls Wild Nothing with its gently-driving indie-pop hue, while lead single ‘Everybody Loves You’ is a stunning example of Monds-Watson’s melancholy balladry. SOAK has invited us all to Grim Town, but sonically it’s an entirely beautiful place to be. George O’Brien
DRUGDEALER RAW HONEY Mexican Summer April 19th It's not difficult to guess which is the road taken by the car we hear picking up speed at the very beginning of Drugdealer's Raw Honey. Michael Collins’ sophomore, described in his own words as a "new tapestry, one woven with the recycled fibers from thousands of tapestries that have colored our collective listening histories," stands from the start in direct lineage with George Harrison's All Things Must Pass – as the guitars on ‘Honey’ prove – with a wink to later Beatles’ piano sound (‘If You Don’t Know Now, You Never Will’) and a glimpse of America's vocals arrangement (‘Fools’). If the remedy to a ‘London Nightmare’ can only be a California dream, with Drugdealer we now know that it will be an Angeleno leading the sound of the next British Invasion. Guia Cortassa
VISIBLE CLOAKS, YOSHIO OJIMA & SATSUKI SHIBANO FRKWYS VOL. 15: SERENITATEM RVNG Intl // April 5th Bring your headphones to this FRKWYS party, as Portland’s digital duo Visible Cloaks team up with two Japanese veterans, producer Yoshio Ojima and pianist Satsuki Shibano. Close listening helps to absorb the tiny details that make this album’s pairing such an intriguing study in ambient music. On opener, ‘Toi’, it’s Ojima and Shibano that quickly establish themselves as the dominant force with their impressively quiet atmospheric pop. On the margins are the American pair who selectively jump in and out to run interference with their processed blips and gurgles. Over its eight tracks, the focus is largely on Shibano’s treated Laurie Anderson-esque vocals, as the album eventually settles into an ethereal drift. But I prefer these duos separately, rather than together. Four’s a crowd. Geoff Cowart
OTOBOKE BEAVER
IKETOMA HITS Damnably April 26th Due to their chimeric sound, personal aliases, and skewed Western press that assumes a band made up of women must be totalled as feminist, Kyoto’s Otoboke Beaver are righteously “punk as fuck” and still alluringly enigmatic. Six new songs present themselves on Iketoma Hits among tracks from Love Is Short and Bakuro Book EPs, most of which have been cleaned up for the occasion and feature new contributions from drummer Kahokiss. Yet the running order – far from betraying itself as a compilation – is extremely tight and makes for a wholly mind-blowing listen. If the eighteen-second and aptly titled ‘Mean’ makes you to question what this noise is yet draws you to listen further, you’re perhaps on the right track. Iketoma Hits, and it hits hard. Harriet Taylor
W.H. LUNG
INCIDENTAL MUSIC Melodic April 5th Blur sounds like a great name for a chain of opticians. Mumford & Sons could easily be undertakers. Oasis (allegedly) named themselves after a leisure pool in Swindon. W.H. Lung sounds like the purveyor of stationery and offal, and are named after their local Chinese supermarket. Any self-respecting supermarket plays incidental music. If supermarkets played as mesmeric, non-incidental music as the content of W.H. Lung’s Incidental Music, then arguably more people would go shopping. No more quick trolley-dashes, dodging the arguing families and the unpleasant chilled aisles. You’d definitely hang about. After merely two of the ten-minutes-plus of synth-pop/post-rock opener, ‘Simpatico People’, you’ve already had a warming dose of Kraftwerk, The Cure, Mogwai and Public Service Broadcasting. Well worth checking out. Jon Kean
TR/ST
THE DESTROYER - I Grouch/House Arrest April 19th In the five years since the release of Joyland, Ontario musician Robert Alfons, otherwise known as TR/ST, developed an unwavering appreciation for patience and perseverance. Taking a new approach towards writing and recording this album, Alfons sought absolute quiet to make sense of the inner workings of his mind, resulting in an enthralling two-part record. Opening the first instalment, the dark-wave influence of ‘Colossal’ sinks under the skin through a series of pounding, electrifying beats, before lead single ‘Gone’ moves towards a lighter anthemic sound, combining emotive vocals with a dizzying sense of longing. Tracks such as ‘Unbleached’ and ‘Bicep’ blend new-wave undertones with an electro-pop dance vibe, while ‘Control Me’ and ‘Wake With’ entrance with a series of dream-pop influences Kelly Ronaldson London in Stereo: 51
KEVIN MORBY OH MY GOD Dead Oceans April 26th Kevin Morby gets better with every record, and given that his last one – 2017’s City Music – was truly excellent, you know you’re in for a treat here. On Oh My God, Morby excels himself not by broadening his palette, but refining it. It’s the sparsest and most intimate of his albums, stripping back the instrumentation to allow more light to shine on his gorgeous half-sung, half-whispered vocals, and songwriting chops that are by this stage pretty much peerless. With its threadbare arrangement and mesmeric hand-clap percussion, lead single ‘No Halo’ is an early standout, but nothing quite prepares one for the epic ‘Piss River’, quite possibly the most wonderful and unnerving song he’s laid to tape to date. Just listen, at your earliest convenience. Thomas Hannan
JACKIE MENDOZA LUVHZ EP Luminelle Recordings April 26th
STEALING SHEEP BIG WOWS
Heavenly Recordings // April 19th Bands that should be infinitely bigger, part 426: Stealing Sheep. Seriously though, Emily Lansley, Luciana Mercer and Rebecca Hawley are responsible for some of the most progressive pop songs of the past decade, be it the psych-folk oddities on 2012’s Into The Diamond Sun or the Krautrock-inspired, drum machinedriven experimentation on 2015’s Not Real. The Liverpudlian trio’s third LP is better still, supercharging the sleek, synth-led palette of Not Real with steelpans, buoyant, full-kit percussion, and all manner of electronic whooshes and whizzes, like Delia Derbyshire down the indie disco. Be it ‘Show Love’’s digital dopamine rush, the cosmic tropicalia of ‘Girl’ or the raygun funk of ‘Back In Time’, Big Wows is full to the brim with bold, experimental pop music. Gemma Samways
Jackie Mendoza is a bilingual popexplorer, mining various traditional sources for more esoteric jewels that embody her penchant for expanding on less linear notions. Luv Hz, her debut EP, is a succinct introduction to Mendoza’s imagination, full of kaleidoscopic range that merges with surprising cohesiveness. Whether through the jarring, clanging industrialism of ‘Mundo Mias’, the atmospheric, Balearic release that runs through ‘Loco Flow’ or even the lo-fi bedroom twinkle of ‘Seahorse’, Mendoza’s fascination for immediacy melds the EP together into a pleasingly substantial whole. The one constant within the ever-transcending move through genres is Mendoza’s voice, at times considered and shrouded in vocal-affected mystery, at others sensual and flowing peacefully alongside the ebb and flow of the transitions. It’s a broad early entry from an increasingly interesting personality. Ross Jones
our selection of the best shows coming up this month
O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE
O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON
GZA (Wu-Tang Clan)
CRASHDIET
April 19th £26.60 adv // @o2sbe
Shepherd’s Bush
SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS
April 5th £21.35adv // @O2Islington
Angel
POM POKO
STEVE LAWSON + TOM HERBERT + MINUS PILOTS April 18th £7adv // @ServantJazz
Dalston Junction / Kingsland
THE LEXINGTON POM POKO April 10th £9.90adv // @thelexington
THESE NEW PURITANS
THE DOME
THE WAITING ROOM
THESE NEW PURITANS + VESSEL
ZOEY LILY
April 17th £15adv // @DomeTufnellPark
April 25th £6.50adv // @WaitingRoomN16
Tuffnell Park
THE CAMDEN ASSEMBLY
SUNKEN + JOSEPH EFI Chalk Farm / Camden Town
April 4th FREE // @shacklewell Arms
Dalston Junction / Kingsland
BRIXTON WINDMILL
BOSTON MUSIC ROOM RPWL April 2nd £17.50adv // @BostonMusicRoom
Dalston Junction / Kingsland
THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS
JEVON April 24th £8.80adv // @CamdenAssembly
Angel
WU-LU Tuffnell Park
April 25th £11adv // @WindmillBrixton
Brixton
MOTH CLUB
BUSH HALL
BARRIE
J.S ONDARA
April 26th £11adv // @Moth_Club
Hackney Central
YASIIN BAY
April 29th Shepherd’s Bush Market / Shepherd’s Bush £13adv // @Bushhallmusic
HOXTON SQUARE BAR & KITCHEN PUMA BLUE + BABEHEAVEN + MIINK April 28th £15adv // @HoxtonSquareBar
Old Street
PAPER DRESS VINTAGE MEADOWLARK April 10th £8adv // @paperdressed
Hackney Central
MEADOWLARK
O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN YASIIN BEY PERFORMS MOS DEF THE ECSTATIC + OCEAN WISDOM April 14th £34.50adv // @O2ForumKTown
Kentish Town
PHONOX ED BANGER RECORDS HOUSE PARTY: BUSY P + MYD April 18th £10adv // @phonox_london
JAZZ CAFE TENDER Brixton
XOYO
MARISSA NADLER + A.A. WILLIAMS Old Street / Liverpool Street
NOTTING HILL ARTS CLUB ALICHÈ + TOP CAT COLLECTIVE + HYPHEN + KINNOHA April 13th £6adv // @NHAClub
Camden Town
OSLO
DELE SOSIMI (LIVE) April 12th £10adv // @XOYO_London
April 25th £12.50adv // @TheJazzCafe
Notting Hill Gate
April 15th £14adv // @OsloHackney
Hackney Central
THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB LAPP April 25th £9adv // @slaughteredlam
Farringdon/ Old Street London in Stereo: 57
FULL APRIL LISTINGS
LONDON’S GIG GUIDE
Tuesday April 2nd
Your full listings guide to all the best shows happening across North, East, South and West London this month. Monday April 1st
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Wednesday April 3rd
Thursday April 4th
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS
Friday April 5th
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LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Saturday April 6th
Sunday April 7th
Monday April 8th
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS Wednesday April 10th
Tuesday April 9th
see londoninstereo.com/venues for up-to-date listings at all our favourite venues
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Thursday April 11th
Friday April 12th
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS
Saturday April 13th
find us on Spotify at London in Stereo to keep up with our weekly new music playlists
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Tuesday April 16th
Sunday April 14th
Monday April 15th
Wednesday April 17th
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS Thursday April 18th
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Friday April 19th
Saturday April 20th
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS
Tuesday April 23rd
Sunday April 21st
Wednesday April 24th Monday April 22nd
see londoninstereo.com/venues for up-to-date listings at all our favourite venues
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Thursday April 25th
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS
Friday April 26th
Saturday April 27th
see londoninstereo.com/venues for up-to-date listings at all our favourite venues
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Monday April 29th
Sunday April 28th
Tuesday April 30th
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS
visit londoninstereo.com/subscribe to get London in Stereo delivered every month
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Wednesday May 1st
Thursday May 2nd
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
MAY LISTINGS Friday May 3rd Saturday May 4th
Sunday April May 5th
find us on Spotify at London in Stereo to keep up with our weekly new music playlists
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Monday May 6th
Wednesday May 8th
Tuesday May 7th
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
KONRADSEN GRANT MOSES HIGHTOWER
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(SE)
(IS)
THURSDAY 25 TH APRIL 7.30 PM T H E L E X I N G T O N , L O N D O N , N1 9JB TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM BILLETTO AND DICE £5 MEMBERS / £8 NON-MEMBERS TWITTER.COM/JAJAJANORDIC
SOLD OU
SOLD OU
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SOLD OU
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“We approached the guest list window, and I gave the nice man with the list the names of my friends...”
by
Heather Woods Broderick
Over the years I’ve visited London more times than I can count. Being in London for several months when I was 16 was my first big city experience. I’ve been to see friends and family, see the sights, rest after a long trip, and play countless concerts over the years. I know pockets of London pretty well, and I always look forward to going back to my favorite places around the city. On my most recent trip through London, I was playing a sold-out show at Union Chapel with a songwriter named Alela Diane. I’ve played Union Chapel many times over the years and know my way around the surrounding area pretty well. After soundcheck I took a taxi to meet two friends who had taken the train up from Brighton for dinner at The Duke of Cambridge. We had a nice but quick dinner, trying to catch up on our lives in an unreasonably short amount of time. The rain had let up and we left the restaurant with enough time to walk back to Union Chapel. One of the friends I was with had a birthday the next day, and he was celebrating with a night out on the town accompanied by a little flask of homemade sloe gin. We all took a swig or two and chattered our way through the streets until
we reached the venue. There was quite a queue out front and I waited in line with them for fifteen minutes or so trying to extend our visit as long as possible. Our bags were searched, we passed security, and as we walked in my friend Matt remarked about how different the place looked than he remembered. My response was something like, ‘just wait until you get inside the chapel door, you’ll recognize it then - it’s beautiful.’ We approached the guest list window, and I gave the nice man with the list the names of my friends. He couldn't find them on the list and asked for that band they would be listed under. To my reply he kindly responded we were at the wrong show. I had confidently walked my friends to the show I was playing at the wrong venue, and I had been completely sure of my whereabouts the whole time. As you can imagine we all had a good laugh. I’d like to blame it on the sloe gin, but my head is in the clouds sometimes, and maybe I’m really still just a small town girl at heart. Heather Woods Broderick releases her new album, Invitation, April 19th via Western Vinyl @_H_W_B_
@heatherwoodsbroderick London in Stereo: 79
with
Rose Elinor Dougall
Why do you live in London? I was born in London, and despite spending my teenage years in Brighton, as soon as I finished school I knew that I wanted to get back to the city. I definitely bought into the romance of the place, which turned out to be real in some ways, and a massive let down in others. I live here for the culture really but also nowadays this is where most of my friends and the musicians I like to work with are. What are your go-to places to eat and drink? My favourite pubs are The Royal Oak on Columbia Road, or the Shakespeare in Stoke Newington, which has a great jukebox. The French House is probably the best pub in London, I hope it never closes. Food wise it’s too hard to choose as there are so many great places, but I recently had some delicious crab spaghetti at Lina Stores on Greek Street, which is one of my favourite things to eat.
Do you have any favourite outdoor spaces? I love Hampstead Heath even though I don’t get up there often enough. Some of my earliest memories were formed there. We’ve seen a few promises of spring, how do you like London at this time of year? Winter in London can feel interminable, so there is always a collective sense of relief and joy with the onset of spring which is really uplifting. I live pretty near Clissold Park in Stoke Newington, which is a lovely place to be when the weather warms up. It’s full of daffodils right now and the blossom is on the way. What’s the bit of London you live in got that the rest of London hasn’t? Abney Park Cemetery is just down the road so you get all kinds of birds, I even heard a tawny owl the other night!
What’s the best way to spend one great day here? Wake up without a hangover and get outside. Go for a nice walk on the Heath with someone you like who makes you laugh. Maybe go and have a fancy coffee. Head into town, go to a gallery, eat something delicious, get drunk somewhere full of interesting characters.
3 Step Guide
“Head into town, go to a gallery, eat something delicious, get drunk somewhere full of interesting characters.”
a tawny owl! WHERE? Abney Park Cemetery, N16 0LH
Do you have any favourite venues? Moth Club is where I go most often. It always sounds good and is a nice size and shape from both performer and the audience’s perspective. It’s a good place for dancing, too. Does living here influence your music? Definitely. It would be impossible for it not to. What’s the worst thing about London? I hate the way so many important cultural places in London are closing down. I hate the increasingly pervasive culture of ‘exclusivity’, that there are more and more establishments opening that are only meant for a select few. It saddens me that, like many of the people I know, I probably will have to leave in the next few years as it’s just so prohibitively expensive. Sometimes living in London feels like being in an unrequited love affair.
The Royal Oak WHERE? 73 Columbia Rd, E2 7RG
How would you advise someone to get the most out of living here? Be insanely rich? Failing that, I think having a supportive network of friends, and people whose work you respect, around you opens up the city in many ways, but protects you from its harshness, too. That can take a while, but I think always being open to new experiences, new people and new places is a good start. Rose Elinor Dougall release her new album, A New Illusion, April 5th via Vermillion Records. LIVE: Thousand Island, March 26th. Rough Trade East, April 6th (1pm). @RoseDougall
@roseelinordougall
Moth Club WHERE? Valette Street, E9 6NU London in Stereo: 81
Right here, right now, it’s Sunday evening in Hackney: The Hold Steady are blistering through ‘Massive Nights’, I’ve rarely felt more dead or more alive and there’s not a single thing wrong with this exact second. What feels like a minute ago or a lifetime ago (I forget which), but which was almost definitely around 3am, I left one of my favourite human’s Lisbon stag-do: Hurried goodbyes, packing, booking a cab to the airport, through security - every second of this ruthless efficiency wiped from my brain as any kind of discernible memory at pretty much exactly the time it happened... There’s a burger in my hand I don’t remember buying, but maybe that breakfast burger saved me. Either way it didn’t kill me. I must have got a plane because I got to England and I can’t do that without a plane. All this to see The Hold Steady who I’ve seen so many times before and will see so many times again and there’s not even an iota of regret in putting myself through this. Not when this exhausted, exalted joy means so much.
The Hold Steady make no sense as a band I love, but they just do this to you. They look and sound like no other act in my record collection but they make music that thumps me in the heart like no other band on the planet. It started in 2007 at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen, and I’ve barely missed a show since. Honestly, it started a bit before that when an old editor recommended Separation Sunday and I listened and didn’t get it until ‘Your Little Hoodrat Friend’ kicked in and I experienced what I’d call an epiphany if saying you’d had an epiphany wasn’t something you should never say. Really, it started a little bit after all that when I
convinced my friends they just had to see The Hold Steady and they did and, even given the churn of life with the kids and the jobs and the additional years that mean Monday morning ain’t a joke anymore, they are still here on a Sunday night in Hackney with shitty journeys to get home and real lives to live again tomorrow. The Hold Steady make no sense, but they just do this to you.
Tonight? Crazed by travel, an hours sleep, an untouched fish‘n’chips, a few Guinness and a few more shots of Cafe Patron – and in a venue this size – it feels gloriously inclusive, perfectly chaotic and just so good for a weary soul.
Countless shows in, we know how this works: we know we’ll be dead on our feet at the start, and down the front at the end. We know that the chorus of ‘Massive Nights’ is gonna leave our throats in tatters for days, and our hearts beating truer for weeks. We know that for a fleeting time ‘Stay Positive’ will seem like the only advice we ever needed and we know they’ll close with ‘Killer Parties’ and we know our eyes will tear up as we join in with Craig Finn’s affirmation that there is ‘So. Much. Joy’ at a Hold Steady show. Tonight’s as good as they ever are and maybe better cos the band is so damn sharp right now. Either way, it’s as good as they ever are – which is better than pretty much anyone else – and maybe better. I’ve rarely felt more dead or more alive. The Hold Steady, they just do this to you. London in Stereo: 83
04/19
Lanzarote
The MOTH Club Valette Street, London E8 Wednesday 3 April
QUAL Friday 5 April
THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS Monday 15 April
MELLAH Tuesday 16 April
BENNY SINGS Friday 26 April
BARRIE The Shacklewell Arms 71 Shacklewell Lane, London E8 Friday 5 April
FAZI Thursday 11 April
FAR CASPIAN Monday 15 April
CAVE Tuesday 16 April
HOOVERIII Tuesday 30 April
BEE BEE SEA
lanzaroteworks.com #lanzaroteworks
Programming
The Waiting Room 175 Stoke Newington High St, N16 Saturday 6 April
PASIPHAE Saturday 13 April
CHRISTOPH DE BABALON Tuesday 23 April
CAMERA Thursday 25 April
ZOEY LILY Saturday 27 April
KRYWALD & FARRER Studio9294 92 Wallis Road, London E9 5LN Saturday 13 April
BOTW 10TH BIRTHDAY: 404, BCNR Thursday 25 April
THE COATHANGERS Saturday 27 April
TEST PRESSING FESTIVAL: MOON DUO, APTBS, ANCIENT METHODS Friday 10 May
POST ISOLATION 10TH BIRTHDAY: CROATIAN AMOR
Look On The Brightside by Josie Gaitens I can clearly picture the first time I listened to The Killers. I was at a sleepover at my friend Megan’s house, feeling anxious and annoyed. It was the end of June, the end of our first high school year and Hot Fuss had just been released, dominating the radio waves and providing the constant soundtrack to a wet and unsatisfying summer. Everyone had the flu. Megan had been given the album for her birthday and played it incessantly that night, over and over till I eventually set up camp in the hallway outside her room indignantly, pretending to sleep and smarting with rage. Alex MacLeod threw up all over her sleeping bag and we got picked up early by our parents. A particularly inauspicious start to our first summer as teenagers. 15 years later we are grown - or growing - up. All my friends are having babies, buying houses, getting married. Last I heard Alex MacLeod is a potter somewhere down south. I have had the honour of DJing at several friends’ weddings and without fail, the song that makes everyone lose their shit on the dancefloor is ‘Mr Brightside’. I really mean everyone. No matter how highbrow or refined we
think our respective music tastes to be, ‘Mr Brightside’ is a song that defines and demarcates our generation. Born before or after a certain year and it’s... just a song. Depending on your musical preferences, it might be a good or bad one. But at this point, I couldn’t honestly tell you whether I love it or hate it. The emotions I feel when I hear it are far beyond that, layers of memories of house parties, school crushes, Kohl eyeliner and the acrid taste of Blossom Hill rosé. ‘Mr Brightside’ is a meme, in the truest sense. The millennial generation, who thought we perpetually belonged to some bright, technological future, have become a cliché, like our parents and their parents before them. Like Elvis, like flared jeans, like perms and beef stroganoff. The Killers are headlining Glastonbury and everyone is scornful, but I can promise you that when June rolls around the clips of the crowd singing along will go viral and you will probably watch a few seconds and smile wryly. The sharpest minds don’t define the music of a generation. Two million album sales do. Play ‘Mr Brightside’ in my retirement home lads, and let me rock in peace.
Josie is a freelance arts project coordinator, writer and creative. She was once erroneously referred to as the Queen of Scotland by a Malaysian newspaper and has been falsely using that title ever since. Find Josie on Twitter: @ampersandetand
London in Stereo: 85
TUESDAY 9TH APRIL THE GARAGE
FRIDAY 26TH APRIL UNION CHAPEL
THURSDAY 16TH MAY THE WAITING ROOM
THE XCERTS
RYAN BINGHAM
BLUE AMERICANS
THURSDAY 18TH APRIL SEBRIGHT ARMS
TUESDAY 30TH APRIL THE LEXINGTON
THURSDAY 16TH MAY CAMDEN ASSEMBLY
+ SUPPORT
+ CALEB ELLIOTT
+ SUPPORT
+ PARIS YOUTH FOUNDATION
+ SUPPORT
HEIR
NICOLE ATKINS
+ SUPPORT
DUTCHKID
TUESDAY 23RD APRIL THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB
TUESDAY 7TH MAY MOTH CLUB
SOLD OUT 18TH/ SOLD OUT 19TH MAY 17TH/ UNION CHAPEL
+ SUPPORT
+ SUPPORT
+ MUTLU
THURSDAY 25TH APRIL ELECTRIC BALLROOM
FRIDAY 10TH MAY THE UNDERWORLD
LOU STONE
JAWS
LOWLY
THE PICTUREBOOKS
+ HONEY LUNG Home of promoters Kilimanjaro Live
+ SUPPORT
AMOS LEE
FRIDAY 17TH MAY THE LEXINGTON
KING CHARLES + SUPPORT
FRIDAY 17TH MAY THE VICTORIA
28TH/ 29TH MAY OMEARA
TUESDAY 18TH JUNE VILLAGE UNDERGROUND
+ SUPPORT
+ SUPPORT
+ SUPPORT
TIA GOSTELOW
FATHERSON
OMAR APOLLO
FRIDAY 17TH MAY OMEARA
28TH/ 29TH MAY BERMONDSEY SOCIAL CLUB
+ SUPPORT
FAYE WEBSTER
TUESDAY 2ND JULY ELECTRIC BALLROOM
+ SUPPORT
NAHKO AND MEDICINE FOR THE PEOPLE
MONDAY 20TH MAY ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH
THURSDAY 30TH MAY HEAVEN
SATURDAY 13TH JULY KEW GARDENS
+ SUPPORT
+ SUPPORT
+ SLEEPER + DU BLONDE
FRIDAY 31ST MAY THE DOME
TUESDAY 26TH NOVEMBER VILLAGE UNDERGROUND
IS JUST HERE FOR THE SPICE GIRLS MINI SOLO TOUR
+ SUPPORT
WILD YOUTH
TYLER RAMSEY
YONAKA
THURSDAY 23RD MAY THE UNDERWORLD
THE WORD ALIVE
+ MAKE THEM SUFFER + OF VIRTUE + AVIANA
Home of promoters Kilimanjaro Live
SHAKEY GRAVES
GARBAGE
TUSKS
S.J.M. CONCERTS PRESENTS
THE BLINDERS 30 APRIL / SCALA
16 MAY / ELECTRIC BRIXTON
30 MAY / OSLO
27 AUG / ELECTRIC BALLROOM
30 SEPT / 1 OCT / 3 OCT / 4 OCT / 5 OCT PALLADIUM
PLUS QUEEN KWONG
19 NOV / ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL