Dork, August 2021

DOWN WITH BORING.

ISSUE 57 · AUGUST 2021 · READDORK.COM

Celebrating the return of live music with...

+

olivia dean jawny kawala frances forever + loads more of the best new music.

and the acts you have to see.

WWW.KAWALAOFFICIAL.COM

+ MASTER PEACE (UK ONLY)

RESCHEDULED 2021 TOUR DATES SUN 21 NOV - CORK - CYPRUS AVE MON 22 NOV - DUBLIN - THE ACADEMY WEDS 24 NOV – NEWCASTLE - ST DOM’S SOCIAL CLUB THURS 25 NOV - GLASGOW - KING TUT’S WAH WAH HUT SOLD OUT FRI 3 DEC – MANCHESTER – CLUB ACADEMY SUN 5 DEC – OXFORD - THE BULLINGDON MON 6 DEC - CARDIFF - THE GLOBE TUE 7 DEC - BRISTOL - THEKLA SOLD OUT WEDS 8 DEC – BIRMINGHAM - O2 INSTITUTE 2 SOLD OUT THURS 9 DEC – LIVERPOOL - ARTS CLUB MON 13 DEC - LONDON - O2 KENTISH TOWN FORUM LAST FEW TICKETS

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JULY 23

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Index Issue 57 | August 2021 | readdork.com | Down With Boring

Editor’s Letter All back to normal now, right?

No, I’m not too sure about that either - but regardless of such niceties as common sense and scientific logic, we all know the deal. A few days after this issue drops, it’s the grand reopening. Regulations become expectations, and live music can once again return.

So, with respect for others and a good degree of caution, we’re taking the opportunity to celebrate what we’ve all missed so much over the last

year-and-a-bit. This edition of Dork is dedicated to the promise all those gigs, tours and festivals we’ve held dear to pull us through, finally able to actually happen.

Fronted up by our 2020 Readers’ Band of the Year Sports Team - a gang who dropped one hell of an album then never got to give it the triumphant crowning it deserved - we’ll be running through fifty of the acts we can’t wait to see ASAP, if not

sooner. Truth be told, we could have listed a multitude more. Be careful out there, look out for each other - and we’ll see you ‘down the front’.

Stephen ‘Editor’ @stephenackroyd

Ø4 Intro 18 Hype 26 Features 58 Incoming Ø4.

Ø8.

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Sports Team Just over a year ago, Sports Team released their debut album and promptly shot to Number Two in the UK Official Albums Chart. Finally able to take it on the road for the victory lap it so deserves, we caught up with them to find out what comes next.

46.

5Ø.

Olivia Dean

Jawny

As she approaches the release her new EP ‘Growth’, London’s Olivia Dean reflects on a year in which she’s got to know herself a whole lot better.

Quirky pop maverick Jawny is following up last year’s standout ‘For Abby’ project with ‘The Story Of Hugo’. He doesn’t do boring.

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56.

Kawala

Creeper

Indie boys KAWALA are all about sunny vibes with their debut mixtape, ‘Paradise Heights’.

Time to break out the Factor 30.

Creeper don’t do anything by halves; their new EP is just as grand as you’d expect from rock’s most interesting band.

Lorde

With the most anticipated album of 2021 in tow, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor - that’s Lorde to you, Dear Reader - is back with a bang.

Dead Nature

From fronting Spring King to producing some of the hottest new bands around, Tarek Musa has little left to prove. With his debut album under new guise Dead Nature, he’s doing it anyway.

Ø9.

Aurora

10.

Samia

With a new megabop ‘Cure For Me’ just dropped, and the required TikTok buzz already going off, AURORA is back on a charge. We dropped her a line for a quick catch up.

After a breakthrough 2020 with debut album ‘The Baby’, Samia is back with a brandnew lockdown penned EP that promises a bridge to the future.

18.

Frances Forever

24.

Charli Adams

Frances Forever has earned their place leading this here Hype batch with ridiculously charming single ‘space girl’, and new EP ‘paranoia party’, which is front-to-back amazing.

Alabama newcomer Charli Adams isn’t afraid to get up close and personal, baring all on her coming-of-age debut album, ‘Bullseye’.

readdork.com

Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden

Associate Editor Ali Shutler Contributing Editors Jamie Muir, Martyn Young Scribblers Alex Brzezicka, Connor Fenton, Dillon Eastoe, Edie McQueen, Finlay Holden, Jake Hawkes, Jamie MacMillan, Jay Singh, Josh Williams, Jessica Goodman, Laurą Freyaldenhoven, Melissa Darragh, Mez Green, Neive McCarthy, Steven Loftin, Tyler Damara Kelly Snappers Amin Musa, Ariel Fish, Charlie Harris, Holly Whitaker, Ian Lanterman, Isak Okkenhaug, Lani Parrilla, Louis Butler, Luke Rogers, MK Sadler, Olivia LiFungula, Ophelia Mikkelson, Patrick Gunning, Percy Walker-Smith, Phoebe Fox, Sarah Louise Bennett, Sophia Matinazad

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The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Dork or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally.

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BACK!!!

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4. DORK

Dead Nature

From fronting former Dork cover stars Spring King to producing some of the hottest new bands around, Tarek Musa has little left to prove. With his debut album under new guise Dead Nature, he’s doing it anyway. p8

AURORA

Samia

With a new megabop ‘Cure For Me’ just dropped, and the required TikTok buzz already going off, AURORA is back on a charge. We dropped her a line for a quick catch up. p9

After a breakthrough 2020 with debut album ‘The Baby’, Samia is back with a brand-new lockdown penned EP that promises a bridge to the future. p10

With the most anticipated album of 2021 in tow, Ella Marija Lani YelichO’Connor that’s Lorde to you, Dear Reader - is back with a bang. Here’s everything we know about ‘Solar Power’.

Photos: Ophelia Mikkelson.

G

ood things come to those who wait, Dear Reader - and so it’s absolutely no shock at all that we’ve all got sky high hopes for Lorde’s third album.

So anticipated we’ve run out of much-es to give, we now know that, after years of expectation, the fateful full-length is imminent. In order to help you measure your hype appropriately, we’ve compiled all the important information you need in one place. We’re good like that.

IT’S CALLED ‘SOLAR POWER’ According to Lorde, the

title for LP3 has been set for a while now - the inspiration hitting her on a trip to Antarctica she took in 2019. “I actually decided on the album name right about that trip,” she revealed. “Just coming back... I thought: ‘This is what it is.’”

The album title fits - fronting up an album Lorde describes as “a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalising the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors.

“In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers,” she continues.

“I’ve learned to breathe readdork.com 5.

St. Vincent is going to tour her latest album next summer. The European leg of her ‘Daddy’s Home’ tour will arrive in the UK on 28th June, for nights in Edinburgh and London. You can also catch her at Madrid’s Mad Cool Festival and Lisbon’s NOS Alive Festival.

out, and tune in. This is what came through.” So there we go.

“There’s someone I want you to meet,” she went on to write in an email newsletter. “Her feet are bare at all times. She’s sexy, playful, feral, and free.

She’s a modern girl in a deadstock bikini, in touch with her past and her future, vibrating at the highest level when summer comes around. Her skin is glowing, her lovers are many. I’m completely obsessed with her, and soon you will be too. It’s my divine pleasure to be introducing you, at long last, to my third studio album, SOLAR POWER.” THE TITLE-TRACK IS REALLY VERY GOOD Lorde is good at comeback tracks - we know that from ‘Melodrama’’s hall of famer ‘Green Light’. ‘Solar Power’ is no different.

You can check out our full, detailed thoughts on the track to the right - but let’s just say it’s the sort of statement that demands a reaction. Divisive in the way all the best music is, it upset the apple cart on what we’ve expected from Ella’s music, but still seems quintessentially her.

Oh, and it features backing vocals from both Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo - she knows how to break the internet, huh?

‘THAT’ ARTWORK What, haven’t you seen a bottom before? You prudes.

It was shot by her “best mate Ophelia” who “took the cover photo, lying on the sand as I leapt over her, both of us laughing.” Next!

IT’LL BE OUT SOON, WITH A TWIST! Set for release on 20th August, the 12 track album will arrive without a CD version. While there’ll be your usual vinyl variants, there’s also a disc-less version described as a “music box”.

“It’ll be the same size and shape as a CD,” she explains, “and you can buy it where CDs live, but this is something totally different.

If you’re torn on which holdin-your-hands, flip-throughthe-pages thing to buy to best enjoy this album,

6. DORK

Hayden Thorpe has announced his second solo album. ‘Moondust For My Diamond’ is set to arrive on 15th October.

It’s a record concerned with “the meeting point between science and religion, the grand struggle for reality that shapes so much of our time,” he explains.

Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes have announced their new album.

‘Sticky’ is set for release on 15th October, featuring both the duo’s recent collab with Joe Talbot from IDLES, ‘My Town’, plus team-ups with Lynks, Cassyette and Bobby Gillespie.

Read more on p15

Lorde Solar Power Streaming now.

And on the 1455th day, the good Lorde created ‘Solar Power’. Lorde’s return – her first single in over four years(!) – is an outpouring of joy and hope, less when we need it most, but rather when we’re ready to relish in it.

Living out in New Zealand, Lorde’s been basking in that postlockdown optimism for some time now, long enough for her to cook up an equally optimistic summer banger just as the weather in the Northern hemisphere kicks up a notch and Real Life rears its head. ‘Solar Power’ isn’t a ‘we’re gonna get through this’ track, it’s a ‘chin up, the worst bit is over’ track (by worst bit we obviously mean the four-year drought between albums).

All that euphoria is delivered in a different package this time around, there’s not a synth in sight, just an acoustic guitar opening, perhaps signalling a far more ‘organic’ sound for this Lorde cycle. Now, this isn’t a boring acoustic guitar mind, it’s acoustic by way of – as you’ve probably heard – ‘Freedom 90’ by George Michael. There’s an A Tribe Called Quest reference in the verses, it’s got the swagger of ‘Walk On The Wild Side’, and it goes out with a bang with a gospel ending.

Lorde took a trip to Antarctica between releasing ‘Melodrama’ and writing this, so it’s wonderfully ironic that she signals her comeback with the lyrics “I hate the winter, can’t stand the cold”. She also went completely silent on social media, communicating with fans only via email, which makes sense of the “Can you reach me? No, you can’t!” line. Maybe there’s a connection to ‘Green Light’ in here somewhere?

Remember how her ex lied about loving the beach?

There’s the lyric of the year – “I’m kinda like a prettier Jesus” – which is not only very true but also a genius revision of her stage name. The video is pure Mother Earth cum Aphrodite summer goddess vibes, and it’s wonderful to know that the whole thing was created with her friends in New Zealand. The single also dropped on the day of this year’s solar eclipse, which isn’t a coincidence as she notes we should look to the natural calendar for release date clues. This is all very Scorpio of her.

Apparently, Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo did the backing vocals on this one, a lovely detail, and it sounds like it’s about to get REALLY Taylor Swift this cycle too. No, we don’t mean because she’s gone all authentic and Jack Antonoff is aboard for the ride, noooo, it’s because there’s a ‘comical amount of detail’ coming, according to her.

‘Solar Power’ confirms a few things we already knew about Lorde. She’s a sonic shapeshifter, sliding into any iteration of pop she fancies and making it fresh and utterly glorious.

She’s also clearly one of the most recognisable voices in pop and it’s solidified in this marked change from her electronic beginnings.

With all that being said, it’s good to have Lorde back isn’t it? ‘Solar Power’ is a warm hug from a friend you haven’t seen for years (extremely relatable analogy). It’s familiar and soft. It’s the windows down on a hot day and the cold waves on your feet.

Most of all, it’s a big tangy glass of orange juice when you’re really thirsty, and Lorde, my dear, we’ve been PARCHED. P

“I’m completely obsessed with her, and soon you will be too” LORDE honestly, I’d go for the music box. You’ll know more about this very soon.”

SHE’S OFF ON TOUR, TOO. Lorde’s already announced a bunch of live dates including a surprisingly intimate UK run for 2022.

Including a bunch of dates at London’s Roundhouse, she’ll then head off to Europe before pinging back for a final stand at Alexandra Palace. There’s a nice looking Glastonbury

2022 shaped hole too. It’d be rude not to, right?

WE’RE ALL RIGHT TO BE VERY EXCITED INDEED Lorde has never felt like an artist content to sit back and churn out the bops. There’s always been something more primal and urgent to her music. ‘Solar Power’, though, is already feeling like a record of magnitudes more importance. From hints of a wider, ecologically aware edge, to the winding,

emotive messages she’s been sending out to fans via her newsletter, it’s a record that feels as important to the artist as it does to her hungry fans.

Back working with superproducer Jack Antonoff, there’s no question that Lorde is firmly in the driving seat on where she heads next. No record in 2021 feels as anticipated as hers, and nobody else feels more set up to deliver on that promise. As the summer sun shines high, Lorde’s return already has the promise of something very special indeed. P Lorde’s new album ‘Solar Power’ is out 20th August.

BIG SHOT

Alfie’s a Brit of alright Our resident boy wonder Alfred Templeman Esq has scored an important Industry Type Slot with BBC Radio 1 ahead of his forthcoming and much-anticipated debut album.

GOOD STUFF 1.

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T

he music industry is well known for its shady backroom dealing, Dear Reader. You scratch our back, we’ll scratch yours - pass that brown paper envelope, will you? But occasionally even this most dastardly of cabals can do something Actually Quite Good. One such ‘scheme’ is BBC Radio 1’s ‘Brit List’ programme.

Effectively, every so often the station picks a few new British acts, and promises them upcoming support in order to help them reach more people. That includes radio playlist slots, live appearances at their in-house events, and even the odd appearance on Actual Bloody Television.

Their latest batch includes Dork’s favourite boy wonder, Alfie Templeman. Currently putting the finishing touches to his debut album, you can expect to see him ‘all over the shop’ at the back end of the year. Previous acts supported include Griff and Lewis Capaldi, so, y’know. Big. Nice work, Alf.

SAM FENDER Our good friend Sammy Fender is back with news of a brand new album - it’s called ‘Seventeen Going Under’ and is out on 8th October.

The title-track is streaming now, too.

WOLF ALICE Yep - finally, on the third attempt, Wolf Alice have their Number One album. ‘Blue Weekend’ topped the charts on release - something only topped by them finally getting a shot at headlining a huge UK festival at Latitude. Hurrah!

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AMERICAN TEETH Newcomer American Teeth is every bit part of the new wave of artists who are musically everything but with maximum attitude that vaguely inhabit the space previously taken up by ‘rock’. With feature spots from phem and DE’WAYNE, new track ‘Sick’ is exactly what it says on the tin. Recommended.

REMI WOLF OK, so Remi has a thing, that we can’t talk about yet (shhh, etc - Ed), and it’s very good.

Like REALLY very good. She’s over for live shows later this year - one sold out in 30 mins. We love her.

4.

Here’s some ‘stuff’ we’re ‘into’ this month.

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6.

HAIM Look, we’ll be honest. We haven’t heard this at The Time Of Press, but Haim - who are awesome - are about to drop a new track, ‘Cherry Flavored Stomach Ache’, which appears in new film ‘The Last Letter From Your Lover’. The title alone has us firmly signed up.

ROSÉ + OLIVIA = !!!

Rosé of BLACKPINK has apparently been photographed with Olivia Rodrigo, which is enough to have people (i.e. us) speculating (i.e. praying) that there may (i.e. will) be some sort of collaboration. OMGOMGOMG.

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COURTNEY BARNETT Courtney Barnett is back with news of her third album, ‘Things Take Time, Take Time’. The follow-up to 2018’s ‘Tell Me How You Really Feel’, the new full-length will arrive on 12th November. ‘Woo!’

BLOSSOMS Blossoms have ‘done’ a new beer in collaboration with Chicago-based brewery Goose Island. ‘SK BREW TAKE 2’ is the band’s second collaboration, proceeds from which will go to the Stagehand fund to support live crew affected by COVID-19.

CAROLINE POLACHEK Our Cazza has just dropped a brand new bop. It’s called ‘Bunny Is A Rider’, is produced by the Really Very Awesome Danny L Harle, and is Officially Awesome. readdork.com 7.

Pip Blom have announced details of their second album. Titled ‘Welcome Break’, the Dutch band’s new full-length marks the follow-up to 2019’s debut ‘Boat’, and will arrive on 8th October. The news comes alongside the first track from the album, ‘Keep It Together’.

Lucy Dacus has announced a new UK tour, in support of her new album ‘Home Video’. The UK leg kicks off on 18th March at Leeds Brudenell Social Club, and culminates the following week at London’s Kentish Town Forum, before continuing to Europe.

DEAD NATURE

“I’m trying to keep records a bit chaotic” From fronting former Dork cover stars Spring King to producing some of the hottest new bands around, Tarek Musa has little left to prove. With his debut album under new guise Dead Nature, he’s doing it anyway. Words: Melissa Darragh. Photo: Amin Musa.

“I

don’t think I could function without writing or working in music,” smiles Tarek Musa. The former Spring King frontman has remained somewhat in the background in recent years, showing his influence in the studio, working with the likes of Calva Louise and Valeras.

However, with the release of ‘Watch Me Break Apart’, he’s stepping out with a debut solo full-length under his Dead Nature moniker.

“Dead Nature was this huge rush of energy to just start something,” he explains.

“When [Spring King] parted ways in 2018, I had this month off where I just became super obsessed with music again…

The start of Dead Nature was basically inspired by this huge wave of absorbing new music and realising how much I had missed out on, and how much more there was to consume.”

After heading out on his own, a move to Liverpool, a re-established love of music, and an application to the PRS producers fund resulted in the opening of Musa Studios.

“Obviously, I was never gonna stop writing, and I was never gonna stop producing or mixing other artists.” From songwriting and production to releasing via his own Dead Nature Records, he has spent years accumulating his skills across the industry, and Dead Nature is truly a solo feat to showcase them all.

“It’s definitely an intense

8. DORK

challenge that I’ve set myself, but it’s because I enjoy it.

I enjoy writing music and producing for the sake of it and the sheer challenge of it… I’ve been in a band for six years, so I’ve fulfilled a certain way of writing music for that project, and now I’m trying to challenge myself to write in a completely new way.”

“It’s been really interesting working with people in quite a linear way,” he continues, “whereas in a band, you’re always toing and froing, and

know which way to go, and I was just trying to figure everything out in my head.”

On his creative process, he explains: “I definitely don’t go into the studio unless there’s something on my chest. The reason I’m writing in the first place is that I’m trying to express myself, and that’s generally because I’m feeling down, or I feel a bit lost or confused. Then the process of actually making the music improves my mental health and makes me feel better by

“I didn’t know which way to go; I was just trying to figure everything out” TAREK MUSA it’s kind of like a circle in my head. When it’s a solo project, you’re working with people, and it’s all coming out from this central place. So, it’s been interesting, and it’s also been rewarding to know that I can achieve what’s in my head on my own.”

“The whole idea around the record was about the year I had in 2019,” Tarek reflects. “I was trying to figure out what I was gonna do. I had just moved cities, I had left my old band. I was now in Liverpool - and I had no clue how to get going. It was quite an intense stop after being on the road for six years. It felt like I didn’t

the end of it.

“The best music is always written when you’re feeling something that isn’t right and isn’t connecting with who you are or who you should be, and that for me is when you need to capture the energy and make sure you grab onto that and just go with it for a while.”

“I’m trying to keep records a bit chaotic,” he laughs.

Having worked with many young artists over the past few years, he comments: “I don’t want to make records in slick studios; it doesn’t appeal to me. It’s more challenging to get artists to want to stay true to the sound that made

them popular in the first place because if artists have been made popular by music that they’ve created in their bedrooms, and then they’re being thrown by huge record labels into these studios, it doesn’t sound very good for some of them… I’m in the middle somewhere between the really DIY studios and the really slick studios, so I’m trying to juggle everything.”

On the impact of lockdowns and coronavirus on future music, he considers: “I’m looking forward to a lot of new music coming out and a lot of new bands who have started out during lockdown.

I think there’s going to be a huge wave of music that doesn’t necessarily fit in with what was most popular before lockdown. Like, post-punk was really doing the rounds before lockdown, and I personally feel like I can’t pursue any more post-punk. I need something different. There’s going to be a lot of new artists pushing slightly obscure genres into the mainstream, more so than ever.

“There’s a lot of great stuff coming out of this era where people have been writing at home or recording at home, and there’s a lot of confusion and frustration and interesting lyrics coming out of all of it.

I’m really optimistic for next year and what it’s gonna bring for new artists.” P Dead Nature’s debut album ‘Watch Me Break Apart’ is out now.

AURORA

“Nature keeps me very inspired because I love her, and also, she’s in pain” With a new megabop ‘Cure For Me’ just dropped, and the required TikTok buzz already going off, AURORA is back on a charge. We dropped her a line for a quick catch up.

Words: Alex Brzezicka.

Photo: Isak Okkenhaug.

A

urora has paid a few visits to the world of mainstream media so far. You might know her from the John Lewis Christmas advert, her feature on ‘Into The Unknown’ for Frozen II or, most recently, the ‘Runaway’ challenge where people would pose against a starry sky to the sound of her, now trending, song.

“I know for sure that ‘Runway’ can be a very good friend in times of need. It has been to me, and it’s always been nice for me to sing that on stage throughout my years of touring because it always brought me comfort,” she says.

Still, Aurora’s much more than your everyday social media sensation; she’s a soul-touching, 25-year-old Norwegian musician with an international cult following. Ever since the 2016 debut album ‘All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend’, like an empress, she’s been calling all the outcasts to join her queendom. It’s a sanctuary ruled by the laws of magic and build on the solid soils of equality. Who wouldn’t want in?

“I go very deep within myself when I write songs, and I feel like that place I go to could be a magical world. I’ve always felt like I want music to be a way for us to face ourselves and our emotions,” she shares. “I try to make sure that people can disappear into this other place, and it’s a bit better than this world. I feel like it’s important for us sometimes to dream ourselves away and just be safe for a little while before we go back to the real world.”

The real world can be a scary

place, especially if you feel like you don’t belong anywhere in particular. That’s why Aurora is making her grand comeback with ‘Cure For Me’, a new single that’s a playful spin on a very serious subject. “Inspiration for the song was mainly the countries where they can still do conversion therapy for gay people. I was just imagining how it must feel to be brought into place and be told that what you are is wrong and you need to be cured of it. Cured of your love. I thought how insanely helpless you must feel and how horrible it is and everything in the world that makes us believe that there’s something wrong with us,” she comments.

Aurora dug deep into society’s perverted psyche, trying to understand our tendency to undermine ourselves and question reality based on archaic views that never served us right.

‘Cure For Me’ is a declaration of independence from that cracked cycle. “It’s a celebration of everyone that’s been told that there’s something wrong with them. Nothing is wrong with us, and we should just embrace ourselves and let ourselves be. People attack people that are different so quickly. It’s a

celebration anthem to reassure yourself that you’re fine,” she confides.

Though the single came to life two years ago, in the midst of touring, the time to release it is now, when every day can feel like we’re on the verge of some new catastrophe. “It’s a very fun song, and it’s very playful because we need it. I think we need it, the playfulness,” Aurora says.

After spending what felt like a lifetime away, gracing international stages, Aurora felt a sense of relief finally being able to hide away in the cold cosiness of her Norwegian hometown. Surrounded by nature, closest family, books and art, she contemplated the meaning of broadly-defined existence and everyday hassles. “It made me thinking how much work we have to do, and it had also reminded me how strange this world is and how many things don’t really matter,” she says.

That strangeness is a motif often underlining her music as it was from another universe. A universe where you can run with the wolves and dance on the moon.

Entry fee is a small amount of child-like naivety and a strong desire to believe.

Asked what would she would

do wielding any magic power she wishes, Aurora says: “Go back in history and prevent the fact that Europe took all the resources from Africa. Just prevent all of the things that made the world as it is today. People are at war and starving because many, many years ago, other countries took everything they had, so they were left with nothing. If people can just stop being hungry for more when they more than enough or they have enough because so many people have nothing. It should be a simple thing to fix.

I don’t understand why some people need to have everything.”

As exciting it is to be one of the most interesting, and successful, voices on the alternative music scene, standing in the spotlight can be tiring after a while. That’s why, whenever in need of a recharge and a slight shift of perspective, Aurora confides in nature. She’s lucky enough to see mountains from her Bergan apartment. “Nature keeps me very inspired because I love her, and also, she’s in pain.

She’s given us so much, and she’s so diverse. Multi-diverse.

She’s beautiful, dangerous and sensitive. It’s very inspiring for me to think about Mother Earth and all of her powers. Her hardness and softness. It’s very spiritual and magical for me. Like music.”

While Aurora’s magic is sourced somewhere out-of-thisworld, she doesn’t want to keep it locked there. The goal has always been to share it with anyone who might need it as much as she does. Her tribe of daydreamers stays grounded to reality and ready to stand up against any inequalities and insensitivities of this era.

“I’m very inspired by people around me because people are going through so many things, and they all think that they’re alone when in reality there are so many people going through exactly the same. We can just speak about it, and we don’t.

That’s very fascinating to me how scared we are of opening up,” she shares. If Aurora says so, maybe we shouldn’t run away anymore.

Following her lead, let’s learn how to open our hearts to each other. Even if only a little bit. P Aurora will tour the UK from 27th March. readdork.com 9.

10. DORK

SAMIA

“I need another 10 years before I can write another 12-song record” After a breakthrough 2020 with debut album ‘The Baby’, Samia is back with a brandnew lockdown penned EP that promises a bridge to the future.

Words: Laura Freyaldenhoven.

Photo: Sophia Matinazad.

W

ith her debut album ‘The Baby’, New York singersongwriter Samia stepped onto the scene in summer 2020, introducing us to her world of confessional storytelling. A good year and a move to Nashville later, she returns with a handwoven basket of brand-new material: the ‘Scout’ EP – a stunning four-track record that builds a smooth transition out of the baby clothes and into a new era.

“Looking back, it’s sort of just me reflecting on the experiences that I wrote ‘The Baby’ about,” Samia explains.

“I wrote the whole thing in lockdown. It’s weird to put that out for me because ‘The Baby’ was such an intentional thing. I took so long working

on it and deciding exactly what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it, and this EP is just sort of like, ‘Here are the songs I wrote’.”

Whether intentional or not, what drives Samia’s art is a passion for poetry that seeps into her intimate lyricism.

Growing up a musical theatre kid and self-confessed “poetry nerd”, music was the only logical way forward.

Talking about her first steps into songwriting, she laughs: “When I found out you could sing your own poetry, that was the best day ever.”

Born out of a need to process and deal with, well, life, all of Samia’s songs are fuelled by personal experience. “I write cathartically,” she says, “it’s something I need to do for my own mental health.

It’s a personally rewarding experience to be able to write autobiographically, but I’m trying to get better at putting myself in somebody else’s shoes and writing from their perspective. It’s a good exercise.”

It’s also a daunting thing to do, putting your most intimate moments on display for other people to hear, be that autobiographically or through the guise of someone else’s story. This is why trust and understanding is a must-have in her songwriting sessions. “I’m pretty shy writing with new people,” she confesses. “So, it takes me a while to get to a place with

someone where I can feel totally honest writing with them.”

Diving deeper into her experience writing with other people, she adds: “I like to write for strangers with strangers more than I like writing for myself with strangers. Just because it’s more of a puzzle and it’s more of a trying to figure out how to Tetris words in a way that sounds good than it is about sharing your deepest darkest secrets and fears.”

meaningful monumental experience that I’ve had. I feel like I need another 10 years before I can write another 12-song record,” she jokes, “but it’s cool to have all of it out and introduce myself that way.”

Soulful ballad ‘Is There Something In The Movies’ captures the full extent of Samia’s vocal and lyrical prowess in their purest form. A masterful blend of gentle folk and something undeniably cinematic, it finds

“When I found out you could sing your own poetry, that was the best day ever” SAMIA Lucky for us, it doesn’t actually take hours and hours of band camp trust exercises to take a trip down memory lane and into some of Samia’s more vulnerable moments.

They’re neatly packed into ‘The Baby’’s sprawling frame.

As hard-hitting as they are relatable, the album’s themes range from body image issues and toxic relationships to the overwhelming uncertainties of growing up – all freshly cut from a garden of blooming trauma. “I pulled from experiences over the span of 10 to 15 years, so I feel like I’ve written about every

Samia airing her frustrations with the entertainment industry. “I just went through a bad heartbreak and felt really betrayed,” she says about the track. “There was a bitterness that became a theme in my life. I noticed that I was feeling frustrated with it a lot: growing up adjacent to the entertainment industry and resenting how it made people change.”

Growing up with two limelight natives for parents (actor Kathy Najimy (Sister Act, Hocus Pocus) and musician-comedian Dan Finnerty, because we know

you were wondering) in a household that gave her a front row seat to the rapid rise and fall of other people’s careers, Samia quickly learnt to be wary of success. “I feel lucky to have seen people achieve a version of success and then lose it and then get it again and then lose it again - put so much stake in it and tie it to their worth. It just really destroys people, and they feel so completely worthless without it. I grew up watching that from afar and promising myself I would never let that control my happiness.”

Though ever the realist, Samia doesn’t pretend to be immune to the lure of a certain lifestyle; she reminds herself every day to find joy in the little things. “I try to remember that the things that make me happy are going on walks with the people that I love, listening to music and going to Trader Joe’s and getting a coffee. That’s really the peak of my happiness.”

And making music, of course. There is no doubt that Samia has found her calling, but there is no telling where her musical journey might be taking her next. Not even Samia herself seems set on a sonic destination. “I have no idea what I want my sound to be,” she admits. “I change my mind every day. That’s maybe why I write from experience because it feels like the through-line in my music is my perspective.”

Without a trademark sound, Samia is free to roam and explore as she pleases.

The very quality that gave ‘The Baby’ its unique flair and eclectic charm. Seamlessly moving from bright and breezy to irresistibly defiant to utterly heartbreaking, it’s a debut record that is anything but one dimensional. Instead, it highlights all the different ways Samia excels at telling her story. “It’s always just been about the lyrics for me,” she says about her approach to songwriting. “And I’m so attracted to so many different genres and so many different sounds that I think it will always change.”

Talking about the different directions she could potentially take her sound, Samia gives us a little glimpse into the not-so-distant future. “I have a little band with three of my friends. I don’t know when that stuff is coming out, but that was a really fun quarantine project.”

And there’s more! “I made a whole [poetry] book last year, and I chickened out. I’m really scared to release it, but someday. I’m gonna give it another six months to a year and see if I can muster up the courage.”

An artist of many talents but, most importantly, a poet with a cause, Samia may well become one of the leading voices of her generation. P Samia’s EP ‘Scout’ is out 23rd July. readdork.com 11.

Honne have announced their new album, ‘Let’s Just Say The World Ended A Week From Now, What Would You Do?’. Due on 22nd October, the duo’s third record features guest spots from Khalid (‘Three Strikes’), Griff (‘Back On Top’), 88 Rising’s NIKI (‘Coming Home’) and more.

Amyl and the Sniffers have announced their second album, ‘Comfort To Me’.

The follow-up to their 2019 self-titled debut and written during lockdown, the full-length will be released on 10th September, preceded by new single ‘Guided by Angels’.

Self Esteem has announced her new album, ‘Prioritise Pleasure’, set for release on 22nd October. “[It’s] 13 songs of cleansing myself of the guilt and fear of being a woman who is ‘too much’ and replacing that very notion with a celebration of myself,” she explains. It’s - spoiler alert here - Really Very Good. More ‘soon’.

SKYLAR ASTIN

All vibes It’s an established fact that if someone gives us the chance to talk to an Actual Famous Person, we’ll grab it with both hands and run away giggling. Skylar Astin fits the bill. Best known for his starring roles in the likes of Pitch Perfect and Zoeys Extraordinary Playlist, he’s dropping a ‘vibey’ new single that’s really quite Tame Impala, hactually. Obviously, we had to find out more.

Words: Jessica Goodman. Photo: Ian Lanterman.

“I

use this term, ‘future band’,” Skylar states. “I want it to sound like we’re in a futuristic band.” He trails off, allowing a moment for the description he’s concocting to settle in. Then he shrugs. “I think that just means, like, synth,” he laughs. A star of stage, screen, and soundtracks, music and performance is in Skylar Astin’s blood. From awe-striking acapella in the Pitch Perfect franchise, to all-out musical numbers in Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, and more besides, the actor-slash-musician has already established himself as something of a household name.

“Apparently on Spotify I have almost a half a million listeners, just from the soundtracks that I’ve appeared on,” he marvels.

Already lauded as a singer and a performer, now he’s directing his talents towards breaking new ground – by writing and releasing music of his own. “My name is on it, and it’s just a little bit more me,” he portrays with a grin. “I’m not a vessel for someone else’s words. These are my own.”

The first taste of this new venture arrived in the form of ‘Without You’, a stratospheric pop bop with catchy chorus hooks and bouncing rhythms perfectly primed for over-emphatic dance moves. “This one is about the excitement of finding someone new and just wanting to dance with them and wanting to dive headfirst into that experience,” he conveys,

12. DORK

reflecting on writing his debut single. “It was really celebratory. It was just a fun, fun time.”

Fun seems to be a crucial ingredient in creativity for Skylar. Whether it’s enthusiasm in the writing process, the energy of the songs themselves, or even hopes for how people might feel as they listen, enjoyment and emotion is key. “It came from a real organic place,” he reflects of the writing process. “It was pure improv, like, eyes closed, ‘what does it feel like?’” Having built up a career performing as other characters, letting his own emotions take the driving seat proved to be an experience that was as freeing as it was fun to dive into.

Asked how the two compare, creating a character’s voice as an actor and finding his own voice as an artist, he’s quick to enthuse how closely related he finds them. “It’s completely symbiotic,” he states. “This would be just as rewarding as directing my own first film,” he adds, referring to the feeling he gets releasing his own music. “It’s just a little bit more me.” Writing and recording as himself, Skylar found new ways to give shape to what inspires him. “I love telling a story,” he expresses, “and I don’t only love telling the story lyrically, but I love building a song.”

Translating his emotions into melody and rhythm, Skylar Astin makes music that sounds as fresh as it feels familiar. “The feeling

inspires the melody which then inspires the lyrics, which then gets built out into a full song,” he explains of his writing process. “It could be emotional, if you really feel like you’re pouring your heart into something.

It could also feel cathartic, when you get to articulate something that you’re feeling through song.”

“Certain songs feel more like a love song. Certain songs feel more like an ‘fuck you’ song,” he shrugs, laughing. He doesn’t go into detail about any experiences that influence his writing, but the emotions these

childhood piano as a way to stay creative through the pandemic, it was the response to these videos that gave him the itch to create something entirely new. “I’m sure there will be people out there that expect this to be me and a piano, which is what they’re used to,” he shrugs. “It’s not a tremendous departure, but it’s an extension that I’m excited about.”

Having already accumulated a fanbase through his performances on stage and on screen, releasing his own records was a natural next step in

“I want it to sound like we’re in a futuristic band” SKYLAR ASTIN songs express – and the sense of connection they bring by doing that – are universal. “Whether you want to be cryptic about it, or direct about it, or celebratory about it, that’s kind of what I love about writing music,” Skylar distils.

Releasing his own songs might be a new venture for the actor-slash-musicianturned-songwriter, but writing music has long been something he’s turned to as a way of expressing himself.

“I’ve always kind of written my own songs, but kept them almost as a diary,” he describes. “They were very singer-songwriter-y and piano-based.” Recording cover songs on his

his musical evolution. With his debut single already released, from where Skylar stands right now, the possibilities are endless.

“It’s not like, ‘I’m not acting anymore, this is who I am, and I want people to call me Sky-with-a-money-sign-init now’ or something,” he laughs. “It’s just the same old me.”

“As artists, we want to be these creative forces,” he continues enthusiastically.

“I think the most exciting part about this is that I am wide open to wherever it takes me.” Hinting towards more song releases, more time spent writing, acoustic track renditions, the possibility of an EP or

an album, the potential for live shows, and finding his next role on camera, the message is abundantly clear: everything’s coming up $KY (sorry, not sorry – Ed).

On a more basic level, Skylar’s hopes for his creative endeavours – whatever direction they end up taking him in – are simple. “I just want people to feel lighter,” he conveys.

“Literally. That’s all. I just want people to feel as light as I felt when I was writing.”

He might not have his future set out in stone, but that just means the possibilities that lie ahead of him can shine all the brighter.

“I want [people] to smile and shake a little bit of the darkness from this past year-plus off,” he continues.

“If that means dancing around their living room, if that means making a dance challenge on TikTok, if that means making a comedy video, if it means being on the beach or being in your car, if it means being on a Kia commercial...” he trails off, eyes widening as the imagery practically takes shape before him. “I could really see this thing ripping and roaring through the hills,” he laughs.

All joking aside, his passion and drive (see what we did there? – ed) can only really spell out one conclusion. “I think the sky’s the limit,” he declares. If his first single is any clear indication, as he embarks on this new creative endeavour, Skylar Astin seems certain to soar. P Skylar Astin’s debut single ‘Without You’ is out now.

GLASS ANIMALS

Pretty nuts, huh?

G

lass Animals have released their own posh peanut butter.

The pots – boasted as being reusable and refillable, presumably like all jars are – are available for order now..

A collaboration with Jackpot Peanut Butter, £2 from each jar will go to Music Venue Trust, to help raise funds and support for grassroots music venues.

“I’ve been eating jackpot peanut butter for years,” says frontman Dave Bayley.

“There’s a jackpot stall in a market next to my house in Hackney, and I loved the look of the packaging to be honest…plus it had a quote from Gremlins on.

So, I picked up a tub. It was delicious. And that’s when I started reading the small print on the back. Each sale includes a donation to Music Venue Trust, the charity which looks after

grassroots music venues…i.e. the venues that gave us a shot in the early days when we had no idea what we were doing…the venues that need help to survive but do an extraordinary amount for music culture.

“And then I read further and saw that the tub can be brought back and refilled!!!

It wasn’t another single-use piece of plastic that was going to go sit in a landfill.

So, I refilled. And refilled. And eventually cut to three years, many refills, and 1,293 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches later, we turned up at our rehearsal space, and there sat four tubs of jackpot peanut butter with our names printed on and a small note saying to get in touch.

We got in touch. And this is the result. Glass Animals x Jackpot Peanut Butter.

Fancy grabbing a pot? Go to jackpotpeanutbutter.com to order. P

readdork.com 13.

COLUMN

LIFE LESSONS WITH MEZ GREEN FROM LIFE

I love them - they’re my best friends!

THIS MONTH...

Mez, dear boy, where are you heading?

Mez, dear boy, where are you heading? I’m heading back into venues to play music. I can smell it. I can see it. Live music is on the horizon. It’s urgent like the galloping white horses that crash with oceanic might on the shore. It’s coming like the wind’s aggression; forever listed on the Shipping Forecast. It’s hellbent and wet like the moisture that clings to venue walls. Live music is coming and there is nothing that will stop this wild animal because, now, this wildlife is raw.

Mez, dear boy, where are you heading? I’m amongst wildlife. I’m in the highlands tapping this extended note into my phone. I’m at the foot of Ben Nevis. The mountain is complete. The Isle of Skye has been trodden. The Isle of Mull is in my sight and then, for me, a good spank in Glasgow. I’m drenched in whiskey and bites and I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen wildlife; deer, stag, otters, eagles, puffins, jellyfish, seals, a ton-fuck of other birds, dragonflies, butterflies and midges the size of killer bees. I am wildlife like the pocket knife in the back of my jeans.

Mez, dear boy, where are you heading? I’m delirious. I’m at ease.

I’m heading towards a crossroad which forks in two wonderful directions. The dance floor and endless nights away and the arms and embrace of two people that are and always will be my tiny shaped world.

Mez, dear boy, where are you heading? I’m heading towards the next chapter. I’ll see you all there on page 6 and then back on page 4..

P Listen to Mez’s Sunday Lunch every second Sunday of the month on Dork Radio with Jake Hawkes.

Grab the podcast by searching DorkCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or other major platforms.

14. DORK

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF...

Baby Queen You know what’s easier than following around your fave up-andcoming indie-stroke-pop stars, day in, day out, to see what they’re up to? Asking them. Here’s what Baby Queen’s day looks like.

8.30AM (Okay, so disclaimer… I’m describing a day when I’m not on an early shoot because I don’t think anybody wants to know what kind of person I am at 5 in the morning.)

This is my least favourite part of the day… sigh.

Every morning as soon as I wake up, I do this thing called Morning Pages which is a practice I read about in a book called The Artist’s Way.

It’s essentially a written stream of consciousness.

You write three pages of whatever comes into your mind, and nobody ever sees it but you. It really helps me to find clarity and focus my mind on things that matter before I look at my telephone.

9:00AM Smoke a cigarette (gross). I do a boxing class every day. I feel like such a twat now

that I’ve written it down, but there you go. Exercise is not cool.

It’s actually quite lame and embarrassing, but I hate being depressed and my brain needs all the extra serotonin it can get. I usually have a cold shower afterwards because I like to make myself miserable, and then get on the phone with one of my managers and talk about god knows what for fifteen minutes.

10:00AM I actually have promised myself I’ll use the train more often, BUT I usually travel around in Ubers.

This is really weird, but if I’m travelling to East London from West London, I have to sit on the right side of the car, so I can look at the Thames the whole time.

London is the best place in the world. I love it as much as I did when I first arrived 5 years ago. The Drive TM is actually a very important part of my day. It’s the only time I’m alone and the only time I really get to listen to music properly. I go through all my suggested new release playlists daily because I hate missing things.

11:00AM I’ll arrive wherever I’m supposed to be that day.

Recently I’ve been doing a lot of shoots which are always dotted around London, an hour’s drive from home, but I’m back in the studio recording the first album for the next few weeks, which is a dream come true.

My studio is the safest place in the world, and my producer is like a big brother to me. Those days are always so wonderful and magical; I don’t even notice the time passing. Wherever I am, I usually get a chai latte with oat milk delivered. It’s my really awful bad habit, and If I told you I was working on it, I’d be lying!

11:30AM The day happens! If I’m not in the studio, it’s always a lot; it’s always a blur. I’m really loud and obnoxious on set, and I like to make people laugh, so it can be exhausting to be alive sometimes! I used to write music all through the night, but now, even if I’m spending the whole day writing lyrics by myself, I’m really big on working hours because I think it’s important to be able to

turn off. A lot can be done in a day… I don’t believe in writer’s block - I think it’s an excuse (sorry, guys)! Writing lyrics is the hardest of all my jobs. I’m such a perfectionist with my words; it’s physically painful.

6:00PM Around this time, I usually have a few meetings or interviews. The six o’clock window, LOL. It’s usually just talking to radio or people at my label, which suits me perfectly because I really, really, really like to talk.

7:00PM Me and my cousin Ben (who plays bass in my band) put on this playlist we’ve made called “undeniable bangers” and we play video games and watch YouTube videos called “try not to laugh” or “X Factor auditions gone horribly wrong.”

I’m serious. This actually happens every evening, even if I come home at midnight. Sometimes we watch a film, much to the chagrin of my crippling ADHD, but recently we’ve been into watching really good street musicians performing. I like being at home, but I’m getting coerced out of the house more and more frequently these days now that things have opened up slightly.

1:00AM I try to fall asleep, but this is when my brain wakes up. My greatest ideas come to me after midnight - it’s a curse, I swear! I journal every night. I write down everything I feel and everything I want to achieve the following day. I often read or write poetry before bed too. I’m actually writing a book about sadness at the moment and reading a really good Kae Tempest one.

3:00AM Goodnight!

Baby Queen’s EP ‘The Yearbook’ is out 3rd September.

Bangers.

THE BEST NEW TRACKS

Baby Dave

CHVRCHES

There aren’t many tracks that deserve a double-take for being so damn odd, but this one from Isaac Holman-from-Slaves’ debut solo project Baby Dave is one that warrants triple and quadruple takes, too.

Probably more. Quintuple takes? Sextuple takes? Look at us being smart with our fancy mathematical words.

Co-produced by Damon Albarn, it’s both a bit bleak but also proper hilarious and the very opposite of boring.

Is this the best single off CHVRCHES’ new album - ‘Screen Violence’, due 27th August - so far? Yes, there’s 100% chance it is, by our reckoning, and our maths is impeccable. It’s brilliantly ragey (get in there, Lauren), fighting back against fans making excuses for awful men doing awful things, contrasted against women being criticised and imposed on all the damn time. Exhausting. Also, it doesn’t feature an old man for some reason (sorry, Robbo Smith). Bonus.

Too Shy For Tennis

Bastille

Distorted Light Beam

Always keen to try new themes, Bastille’s new ‘un ‘Distorted Light Beam’ sees them experimenting with shiny, glitchy pop and colourful futuristic raincoats. “It’s a song about limitless possibilities,” Dan Smith explains, “which isn’t something any of us actually have in real life right now, so it’s been fun to explore that idea.” It’s the start of a new sci-fi-esque chapter for the foursome, one of challenging society, our use of technology, and what is and isn’t real.

beabadoobee He Gets Me So High

A cut from bea’s justdropped new EP ‘Our Extended Play’, written and produced with Matty Healy and George Daniel of The 1975, ‘He Gets Me So High’ is a lovely-and-loved-up tune obviously inspired by Mumm-ra’s 2007 indie-pop classic, ‘She’s Got You High’.

That was a song and a half, wasn’t it? There’s a small chance that tit-bit is a great big lie, but to be fair we’ve not got any evidence to the contrary, so...

Good Girls

Wet Leg

Chaise Longue

Best track of the month, hands down, no arguments, everyone else can go home.

Isle of Wight duo Wet Leg have recently inked a new record deal with Domino, and their debut single proper is obsessively good.

14/10 isn’t a high enough rating. It’s wonderfully rude too, with lyrics about big Ds (which they say means “degree” but obviously means “Dork”, right???), and buttering muffins. All our favourite things in one three-minute package.

Omar Apollo Go Away

George Moir

CMAT

Lo-fi pop connoisseur George Moir is a little bit like if Easy Life were smooshed together with Alfie Templeman, by which we mean immensely bop-able, ear-wormy and irresistibly charming. His latest, ‘Patio’, is a typically sunny one about holidays, lemonade, gelato and all that good stuff. We’ll go next summer, yeah?

CMAT is so damn wonderful.

She’s exceptionally good at pulling out everyday nonsense (in this case, insomnia) and making it seem not just less bad, but like a funny anecdote; an interesting life experience to share down the pub later that your pals will love you all the more for. We’re lowkey obsessed, honestly. It’s proper magic. If we had half her smarts or wit, doing this handful of Banger write-ups wouldn’t have taken nearly three bloody hours.

Patio

Lazarus Kane

2 Wrecked 2 Care

Milk At My Door

You might remember Lazarus Kane from Hype last year, back when it was a one-man project from Ben Jakes, chatting about dreaming of Squid, his pal Harrison Ford, and something or other about sheep. (Just go find it, we’re not your assistant, godsakeguys.) Returning as a six-piece band with ‘Milk At My Door’ and inspired by the ridiculousness of the pandemic and general state of the world, it’s all just as surreal and side-eye as you’d hope.

Walt Disco Selfish Lover

What a step up glam disco pioneers Walt Disco have made over the past year or so. It’s just ridiculous.

‘Selfish Lover’ - their first track on Lucky Number - is the latest in what’s now a pretty long line of great big campy party tunes, and if we hadn’t already used the word ‘obsessed’ in what feels like every one of these Banger write-ups (CMAT, help us), we’d be putting it in here, too.

Amyl & The Sniffers Guided By Angels

“The whole thing is a fight between by my desire to evolve and the fact that somehow I always end up sounding like a dumb cunt.”

Probably the most relatable descriptor for a new project we’ve had this month, there, from Amyl & The Sniffers’ Amy Taylor ahead of the Aussie punk band’s second album, due in September.

Lead single ‘Guided By Angels’ is a promising taste of what’s to come.

While most of us would do just about anything for a five minute break from our loved ones after the past year or so’s umpteen lockdowns (nothing personal guys, please don’t change the locks), breakout bedroom popster Omar Apollo is going in a different direction with his latest lovesick bop, ‘Go Away’, in which he opines about not seeing whoever-he’s-singing-about enough. Remember what that was like? Us neither. It arrives with the teaser that he’s currently finishing up a new album, too.

Declan McKenna My House

Declan McKenna is such an adorable sausage. His first new music since last year’s second album ‘Zeros’, ‘My House’ is an intimate, low-key bop inspired by reconnecting with his home life during downtime from touring, and appreciating his loved ones. It’s proper lovely, especially after all the bla of late. “I found a way to talk about love in a way that is fun but felt kind of real,” he says, adding: “Thankfully for my girlfriend it’s not set in an alternate reality dystopia or some stupid shit like that.”

readdork.com 15.

Top 10 MARTYN YOUNG’s

Everyone loves a good list, right? Well, Dear Reader, not compared to Dork’s Listmaster General Martyn Young you don’t. The thing about Martyn, you see, is he’s not swayed by your safe, sanitised opinions.

He’s living his best life, loving what he loves, unconcerned by your boring, identikit truths. Each month, we’ll give him a new musical category to rank, then you can send in your rage-filled missives about just how wrong he is. It’s all good fun.

PLEASE NOTE: All opinions are those of Martyn Young and in no way represent Dork as a whole. We’re very sorry.

THIS MONTH, IN HONOUR OF FORMER DORK COVER STARS AND ‘FRIENDS OF THE MAGAZINE’ WOLF ALICE SCORING THEIR FIRST CHART TOPPING FULL-LENGTH, IT’S...

THE TOP 10 UK NUMBER ONE ALBUMS

2. Beyoncé.

Lemonade It’s hard to overstate just how seismic an impact Beyoncé’s cultural and creative opus has had. Arriving with an earth-shattering shudder in 2016, out of the blue obvs, it sees Beyoncé reaching a new level of greatness with her most personal record. She has a hell of a lot to say, and you’re gonna listen to it all, soak it in and revel in her glory. Challenging, questioning, playful and full of fire and fury, it’s the sound of an era-defining artist taking a stand and slaying all the competition.

1. The 1975.

I like it when you sleep...

I like it when you put The 1975 at the top of the list because, of course, it’s Martyn Young’s Top 10 and The 1975 are the best band in the world and the album is so beautiful, and I’m very aware of it. Yes, The 1975’s defining masterpiece is taking its rightful place at the top of this list. Every album they’ve ever made has reached Number 1 so there’s a lot to choose from, but their second album occupies a very special place in the heart of everyone and encapsulates everything that is brilliant, creative and maddeningly infuriating about the band in one glorious neon package.

16. DORK

3. Oasis.

Definitely Maybe Yes, it’s them. The monolith. Depending on your perspective, either the albatross that holds back the music scene or the lightning rod for most of the great stuff that has emerged in the 27 years since it came out. There’s no denying, though, for better or worse, the sheer impact of this incendiary debut album.

Energy and vitality positively course through its 11 tracks. Of course, a lot of the lyrics are nonsense, but surely everyone wants to feel supersonic once in a while? And we can all agree it’s nice to spend a day out in the sunshiiiiiiiiiiinnnnneeeee.

4. Robbie Wiiliams.

7. Taylor Swift.

I’ve Been Expecting You Hell is gone, and heaven’s here; there’s nothing in this list for you to fear. Robbie is perhaps the ultimate pop star. With more than enough bangers to fit in his reportedly 27 toilets, Robbie has established his legacy as one of our much-loved pop heroes. This second album is the moment when it all really came together, and he cast aside the baggage of Britpop and let his personality shine through. Also, it contains one of the best-misheard lyrics of all time in ‘Strong’ where he says he “looks like Casper without the make-up”. Why would a ghost need make-up? Anyway, that’s a debate for another time. Great album.

Reputation Yes, let it be known that I am staying 100% that ‘REPUTATION’ IS TAYLOR SWIFT’S BEST ALBUM. Now, you might say I did something bad by making that statement, and I know the subject is a bit delicate, but I know that I’m right, and if you want to query me, you’ll have to chase my getaway car.

WTF? Okay, so we don’t all agree. Here’s some official challenges to this month’s list.

5. Kendrick Lamar.

To Pimp A Butterfly Is Kendrick Lamar’s magnum opus the greatest rap album of all time? Yes, yes it is. A modern classic that’s importance will reverberate for generations.

6. Amy Winehouse.

Back To Black Amy’s position as an icon of British music is secure for eternity, and her legacy lives on through her music, her spirit and her attitude.

‘Back To Black’ can be a hard listen knowing her tragic end, but through its heartbreak, you can also celebrate the work of a one-off. A true talent who captured everything in one classic album. A monument to her greatness.

Look. A couple of issues here, without even getting into what’s missing. Firstly, ‘Reputation’? Martyn, you’re not even trying. Unless you filed this list from under a bridge, you couldn’t make the attempt at trolling any more obvious. Yes, ok, there are some good songs on there - but the 7th best UK Number One of all time?

Even you don’t think that.

It’s not even close to Taylor’s best. Secondly, and read this carefully please - ‘i like this when you sleep...’, the best of all the albums ever to top the charts? I think it’s great too, but calm down, lad.

That’s just silly. I’ll give you Robbie though. That’s great.

Stephen Ackroyd, Editor Wolf Alice - can-do-nowrong, absolute bloody icons Wolf Alice - finally get their Number 1 with third album ‘Blue Weekend’, and they don’t even make it as a footnote here? How very dare you. Felicity Newton, writer Cast your mind back nearly twenty years. The Osbournes were on TV all the bloody time, teenagers mistakenly thought their dad’s ties weren’t an embarrassing af fashion accessory, and Avril Lavigne released her debut album, ‘Let Go’ - not just one of the best UK Number 1 albums, but one of the best debuts of all time. OF ALL TIME. Sam Taylor, writer Disagree? Email your own suggestions, or abuse to us at toptens@readdork.com.

We’ll include the best ones in next month’s issue.

8. Arctic Monkeys.

Whatever People Say I Am...

Before the long hair, before all the cannons and bright lights, before the LA accents and leather trousers came this perfect realisation of what it’s like to be young in 2006 in the north of England. Arctic Monkeys debut immediately established them as a cut above everyone else and leapfrogged them right to the top of indie’s table, where they have gorged themselves ever since.

9. Lady Gaga.

The Fame If only Sports Team had got that Number 1, then they might have been in this list, but alas, here we are, and their nemesis Gaga is lording it over them once again.

10. Madonna.

Like A Prayer The greatest song of ALL TIME is track one on this album. I don’t need to say anything more than that.

Cherish that thought.

readdork.com 17.

NEW ARTISTS. NEW MUSIC.

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Aussie Ruby Fields has announced her debut album - ‘Been Doin’ It For A Bit’ (she has, you know), set for release on 24th September - with new single ‘Song About A Boy’. It’s all quite intimate and singer-songwritery, but also very guitary, which is nice.

It’s all coming up NOISY; the Worthing trio are can be found soundtracking the new ad for FIFA 22 with their energetic new ‘un ‘Young Dumb’. That’s ahead of a support tour with YUNGBLUD, plus a headline run of their own.

Chess Club Records signee Pixey is encouraging listeners to start their own revolutions with her very-90s-indeed new tune, ‘Sunshine State’. The first taste of new music since her (5*, thank you very much) ‘Free To Live In Colour’ EP, it’s proper getout-in-the-sun-y.

Frances Forever

Frances Forever has earned their place leading this here Hype batch with ridiculously charming single ‘space girl’, and new EP ‘paranoia party’, which is front-to-back amazing.

Words: Martyn Young. Photo: Lani Parrilla.

T

his is shaping up to be a landmark year for Frances Forever.

Not only are they readying their second EP to follow the mega worldwide success of viral sensation ‘Space Girl’ and finally play shows in front of real actual human beings, they have also just graduated from college and are ready to take the leap from bedroom ukulele strumming student to bona fide alt-pop icon in the making.

For Frances, the past couple of years have been quite the journey.

“It’s been really interesting seeing where this takes me,” they begin on the day following their graduation.

School is quite literally out for summer, and, indeed, forever.

“I used to just write songs on one instrument like the ukulele or piano in my room and film YouTube videos. Then I met my producer in college, and they showed me this whole new world where you can have so many different instruments.

You can make these drums sound really human-sounding.

You can have an entire band, and then I made a band in college. Having more doors open with writing style has been really cool.”

The development and expansion of their writing style is immediately apparent in the leap between 2018’s homespun lo-fi debut EP ‘Pockets’ and the evocative soaring confidence of ‘Paranoia Party’, in which Frances’ songwriting reaches

5 things you need to know about Frances Forever...

Frances is really interested in make up.

They love thrift shopping and making up new outfits.

During the pandemic, they really wanted to see how a moustache looked on them. “I’m non-binary, so it’s interesting to explore things with gender.

The only thing holding me back was thinking I have to go outside and be judged by people.

Then I thought, wait, I’m wearing a mask, so no one is going to see this except for me, so sometimes I would go out with a secret moustache.”

They are big fan of Hayley Williams and her two most recent solo albums.

The best thing in their fridge is “100% hummus.”

new levels of excellence. “The difference between my first EP and the EP coming out now is that I was more experimental with all the sounds that I could use,” they explain. “’Paranoia Party’ is my favourite song that I’ve ever written,” they say of the title-track, which acts as a strong statement of intent.

Of course, there are now new levels of attention and anticipation surrounding Frances’ work following ‘Space Girls’’ explosion last year, which is currently at 800-million-plus streams and counting, helped by a version featuring long-time Dork fave Chloe Moriondo. “She’s super nice and incredibly creative.

She’s going to go really far,” says Frances.

The success of ‘Space Girl’ contrasted starkly with the situation in the world as everything shut down while Frances’ song blew up.

It makes for a disorienting experience. “It’s been strange,” Frances reflects. “I see the numbers, but it’s hard for me to put a face to the numbers. We’re in the middle of a pandemic. I’m sitting in my apartment and going to college. I have a normal life.

Every day people would be like, I love your song. That’s so odd but so cool. I feel like Hannah Montana!”

‘Paranoia Party’ is the first step to Frances’ climb to global success and acts as a significant step forward.

“I had to make a project to really show people what I can

do and what I want to do,” they explain. “My first EP was called ‘Pockets’ because it’s like pockets from my life from when I was 16 to 19. This is more like a full concept, me as an artist. This is what I’m saying, and this is what I’m about. A lot of my identity is in my music. It’s incredibly personal.”

The EP deals with big feelings in a brutally resonant way. There’s no mystery here, just pure feeling. “A lot of it is about mental health and being in the world when there are other people that feel exactly the same way as

around them, which is about more than just the music.

The coolest thing to come out of ‘Space Girl’s’ success is getting DMs and seeing people make their own art,” enthuses Frances. “’Space Girl’ has become something way bigger than me. It’s like an entire culture from the amount of art made from it. It’s the coolest thing ever to have added something to the world that impacts a lot of people.”

Frances really feels the music on a deep level. “It’s an emotional outlet for me and for everyone listening to the songs because everyone

“I had to make a project to really show people what I can do” FRANCES FOREVER you,” says Frances. “It’s about trying to find community and find a home while feeling that you don’t really have a place quite yet in the world. I want my music to be that place for the people that feel along and say, ‘Hey, I’m feeling the exact same thing that you’re feeling, let’s all sing about it together and cry’.”

Forging and nurturing those relationships with their community and the marginalised and underrepresented is central to Frances work. There’s a sense of a real movement coalescing

has felt that way and been through that,” they say. The desire to tackle universal feelings and emotions is forged from Frances’ earliest musical loves of Mitski and, in particular, Taylor Swift. “I grew up with a lot of Taylor Swift, and she encouraged me to start songwriting. She’s an incredible writer. My music taste has grown with her music.”

There’s an engaging natural quality to Frances’ songs. Nothing feels forced or calculated. There’s a raw intensity to their music

that cuts deep. When the inspiration strikes, the songs just pour out. “There was one time with the second verse of ‘Space Girl’ where it came to me in the middle of the cafeteria in my school,” laughs Frances. “I had a voice note where I was whispering and trying to get the melody out without seeming like a crazy person. I’ve written songs at 4 in the morning. It just happens when it happens. You have to turn on your voice notes, and it’s like, ‘Here we go!’”

Like many artists who have been on the rise during the pandemic, Frances hasn’t yet had the opportunity to properly play live and experience the thrills of being a proper working artist. “A part of me still thinks that everything is going to stop and everything’s going to go back to normal at some point,” they confess. Somehow we think that’s unlikely. Instead, Frances is setting their sights on realising their long-held ambitions. “I want to make an album,” they proclaim confidently. “I’d love to collaborate with some of my favourite artists and do a world tour. It’s been a goal since I was really little to travel the world and play to people.”

There’s an adoring audience waiting patiently to see Frances Forever in the flesh for the first time, and they’re finally ready to bring the paranoia party to the masses.

P Frances Forever’s EP ‘paranoia party’ is out now.

readdork.com 19.

L’objectif DELPHii Newcomer DELPHii that’s Angelene Holmes, if we’re being formal - is already making waves in the run up to her debut EP. Titled ‘Lilac’, the collection will be with us from 30th July, and follows a swell of support from ‘all the right places’ for the West Midlandsborn, Newcastle-based musician. Well worth keeping an eye on.

Mac Wetha

L’objectif are spinning post-punk and guitar-pop into something vital.

Words: Finlay Holden.

Photo: Holly Whitaker.

L

’objectif’s post-punk inspired tunes are a roar of excitement not to be missed.

An exciting four-piece from – despite what their name could suggest – Leeds, they consist of frontman Saul Kane, drummer Louis Bullock, plus recent additions Ezra Glennon on bass and Dan Richardson on guitar.

“Me and Louis started the band in Year 8; we were really small,” Saul reveals from his childhood bedroom.

“We met through school plays – he’s the only other person in my year who was doing it. Every rehearsal, we’d go into the music room and start playing instead. We didn’t know Ezra until like Year 10, and then we became best friends. Dan is Louis’ friend from nursery that he somehow had a connection with and could play guitar, so we knew we needed him.”

The group’s recruitment methods have somehow

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worked out, and it is hard to believe that the four young lads are all still in secondary education – balancing music releases while revising for A-Level mock exams seems no easy feat. “It isn’t that hard to balance, but it’s the fact that we’re all so excited about it,” Saul says. “We can’t really concentrate on schoolwork a lot of the time.”

Who can blame them?

After jamming around school for years, things have begun to really kick off for the band after Chess Club Records scouted them online. “Literally from just a Twitter thing, we had two weeks of chaos; we had no idea what was going on, and it was hard to make any decisions,” Saul recalls of the crucial moment. “Chess Club were the first proper label to express interest in us.”

With a sound that, so far, slots neatly into the rising movement of post-punk in the UK, it’s no surprise L’objectif were snapped up with haste. Acts like Black Country, New Road and Dry Cleaning have fleshed out this landscape over the past few years to both critical acclaim and surging popularity. “New bands coming through

with this post-punk sound started something of a chain reaction in other groups,” the teen observes. “They’re all inspired by bands like Pixies, New Order, Joy Division… It’s cool to see people drawing from bands of that style.”

Speaking of style, this is something the quartet are adamant about not cementing – not yet, anyway. With only a few of Saul’s penned tunes making their way to fans so far, experimentation is still at play, and the difference across even the few current tracks is noticeable enough to prevent any acclimatisation setting in.

“We want to establish early on that we’re not headed in just one direction,” he offers. “I’d never give in to that pressure and stick to one sound. We want things to have more of a cryptic feel, so people don’t know what’s coming next.”

One defining characteristic that seems consistent to this point is a distinct tone of… well, not pure pessimism, but not exactly optimism either.

“Yeah, everything I write about is pretty miserable; I don’t think I’ve written a happy song at all,” Saul

“We’re not headed in just one direction” SAUL KANE laughs in agreement. “To me, it’s always just something I wrote in my room; I get all the miserable stuff down and don’t think about people listening to it. I actually feel a bit disconnected sometimes when it’s finally out there.”

For a 17-year-old, the attention and stresses of even partial success must bring up some anxieties?

“It’s so strange; it’s never happened before with anything in my life. It’s at a level now that’s not too much to deal with; if it got bigger, it’d be something scary to think about… at least I’d be older then!”

Since L’objectif have only played a couple of socially-distanced shows so far, they “never really had a fanbase until suddenly this all happened – the only real way to build one apart from gigs is through releasing good songs and just hoping people like them.”

This only increases the quartet’s burning desire to get out there on the live stages, though. Playing

to a crowd has been a fundamental aspiration since the Year 8 days, but unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on your perspective - 13-yearolds are seldom allowed to even enter a venue. “We’ve never felt like a proper band; we always felt like kids playing music,” Saul admits.

With growing plans and ambitions, how do the four-piece actually define success? “Success is getting as far as you can go and be at a point where you could lose it all and still have achieved what you wanted.

A point where if you fall, it’s a tragic downfall, and if you succeed further, you’re a hero. That was on the spot too; that’s my English lit coming in!” Saul almost winks. Their five-track ‘Have It Your Way’ EP is sure to set L’objectif straight on that path to triumph. “It’s a statement of who we are,” he declares. “Whether it good or bad is up to you!” P L’objectif’s EP ‘Have It Your Way’ is out 20th July.

If we’re looking for potential flags on new artists to watch, there’s few better than being a member of the increasingly buzzy NiNE8 collective. Freshy signed to Dirty Hit, Mac Wetha has primarily acted as their resident producer, working with the likes of Biig Piig and Lava La Rue. Now, he’s reaching out on his own with EP ‘Make It Thru’ - and it’s really very good.

Aziya 21-year-old Londoner Aziya is a bit of a polymath. Posting a series of covers throughout last year, she’s already picked up attention from a few of her muses, including Grimes who reposted her version of ‘Oblivion’. It’s her original work that cuts through, though - as shown on debut EP ‘And So I Do Not Sink’. Check out previous offering ‘Heaven For Me’ if you want to get on board this hype train before it picks up terminal velocity.

Oscar Lang has put his debut album back a little bit; originally due in July, ‘Chew The Scenery’ will now arrive on 13th August. He’s shared a new single from it too, with internet-blasting pop-bop ‘21st Century Hobby’ out now.

Former Dork Hype List star Maisie Peters has announced she’s signed with Ed Sheeran‘s Gingerbread Man Records for the release of her debut album. Titled ‘You Signed Up For This’, her first full-length will arrive on 27th August.

Glitchy art-popsters Porij are going to release their debut EP ‘Baby Face’ on 17th September via Oat Gang Records. Featuring latest singles ‘Ego’ and ‘Nobody Scared’, it follows on from last year’s ‘Breakfast’ mixtape, and their recent-ish spot at SXSW’s online streaming whatsit.

Lime Garden

“I’m sorry, I ate some cheese,” opens ‘Surf N Turf’, one of scant few singles from Brighton geniuses Lime Garden. What’s not to love?

Words: Tyler Damara Kelly.

Photo: Percy Walker-Smith.

L

ime Garden are hard to define. With a sound that has top notes of St. Vincent, Dream Wife and David Bowie, and undertones of Black Honey, Dead Coast and Blondie, they present a bouquet of psychedelic surf rock that is infused with the essence of disco.

The Brighton-based quartet are equally as unable to put a finger on it and merely run with their gut

feelings when it comes to making music, preferring not to pigeonhole themselves so early on in their career.

“Our sound changes over time – even our three singles sound pretty different – and as we’re learning new things, it is constantly changing,” says drummer Annabel Whittle. In fact, the band don’t put any pressure on themselves to stick to just one sound. “We’ve never felt the need to be restricted by giving ourselves a genre. We just make music that we like listening to,” says vocalist Chloe Howard echoing her bandmate’s earlier sentiment, and noting that to pigeonhole yourselves so early on in your career could be limiting for the trajectory in which you are aiming for.

Where their 2020 debut single ‘Surf N Turf’ transported you a woozy world in which

you’re riding down West Palm Beach in a vintage Chevrolet towards the South Florida Fair, its follow-up ‘Fever’ was more direct in its existentialist contemplations that came in hues of space-age jazz. While it may be hard to pinpoint an exact reference from where Lime Garden’s sonic world has blossomed from, one thing is clear: it sounds like a group of friends who are simply having fun and putting their own stamp on a world in which music can be quite linear and uninspiring.

Having crossed paths via a Facebook group for the college that they were planning on attending when they left school, Chloe replied to a message that Annabel had posted, and the pair decided to meet up for a coffee at the Café Rouge in their local shopping

“We started it because it’s fun, and we’re roommates” CHLOE HOWARD

centre. “I remember the first thing Annabel said to me: ‘Wow, you’re such a tall lady’,” Chloe laughs before Annabel doubles down on her statement, inciting laughter from the rest of the band.

After scouting guitarist Leila Deeley at the same college, the trio eventually moved to Brighton and set their sights on making it as a band. They were, of course, missing a bassist until Annabel and Leila’s housemate Tippi Morgan came along. “Tippi is an absolute legend because she hadn’t even played bass before,” says Leila. Because

of her extensive music knowledge and the way that she instantly clicked with the group, they asked her to learn bass guitar, and within a few months she was a part of the line-up.

As a band who released their debut singles just a few months before the pandemic hit, do they feel any pressure in terms of trying to get their career started? On the contrary, it seems as though the lockdown has been somewhat of a blessing for Lime Garden. “We started it because it’s fun, and we’re roommates,” Chloe says.

“When things get serious, and you start working with other people, there’s a pressure on certain things, but the thing that we struggle with collectively is just making sure that it doesn’t become overwhelming and to keep it fun. There is [in the context of being a musician during the pandemic] an unavoidable pressure where there never used to be.”

By harnessing nonchalant vocal ambiguity and casting it amongst meticulously crafted incisive melodies, Lime Garden are drawing on their respective music consumption in order to create a sonic landscape that is unique to them. “We’ve always been very into keeping things a bit ambiguous and also letting people decide on their own versions of the song because it’s fun to hear,” Chloe elaborates. “It’s fun to think that when people listen to your music that they’re making a scenario in their head because that’s what I do when I listen to songs.”

This open, yet ambiguous, approach is unsurprising with the knowledge that one of her earliest musical memories, and one of the reasons that she picked up a guitar, was because of a girl in her school who would always play ‘Yellow Submarine’ by The Beatles – a band who are well known for their eclectic and often undefinable catalogue.

Lime Garden’s effortless foray into the world of music hasn’t gone unnoticed. The release of their latest single ‘Sick & Tired’ saw them sign with So Young Records, and they’ve already picked up a whole host of radio plays, a sold-out headline tour, and a support slot with Katy J Pearson; it’s undeniable that the band have flourished throughout what has been a confusing time for many. With their upcoming single ‘Pulp’ serving a slice of avant-funk and dizzying post-punk, it’s impossible to say what will come next from the band, but it’s safe to say that they’re going to be completely fine. The future’s bright, the future’s… lime? P

readdork.com 21.

Police Car Collective

It’s super early days for Liverpool duo Police Car Collective, but they’re picking up pace with their 80s-indebted pop bops.

Words: Finlay Holden.

P

olice Car Collective have been making waves as a secretive, mysterious group online, pumping out tunes with indie-pop, alt-rock, dreampop and shoegaze influences – their genre as elusive as their character.

“I grew up outside of Washington DC in a bunch of punk bands and emo bands,” starts frontman Frankie. “I did DIY basement tours and all that in high school, then moved over here right after I turned 18 and to try to figure out what I was going to do with my life - how I was going to make music work.”

Simon, who primarily performs bass, explains: “I’m from Bristol but moved up here to Liverpool for uni.

Through secondary school, I played in bands with my friends, basically trying to sound like The Smiths. I moved here, we met pretty soon after, and we clicked big time.”

For a duo who now adopt the motto ‘DELETE THE INTERNET’, it is a fun side-note that they actually wouldn’t exist without it – a duality somewhat plaguing the entirety of modern existence. In this specific case, the pair actually found each other through a double-date gone right; the guys clicked more with each other than their intended partners, and it’s these relationships that ultimately pushed forward. “Our band is us trying to figure out being on the internet, and what it means to exist on it, so it’s sort of ironic that we met through something that could only take place there,” Frankie reflects.

Following this odd meeting, Frankie shared pre-written material, which

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then morphed into what is now finally out in the world as the ‘1980’ EP. Following a surprise label signing after securing BBC Introducing radio play, the record was scrutinised and perfected before its official 2021 debut. “It’s been the longest EP campaign ever,” Simon laughs while also acknowledging their own fortune. “To everyone who asked how we did it – you’ve got to play the game. You have to constantly share music with people who may or may not catapult your career into space.”

In a combination of insane circumstances, the weaving roadmap of the last six months has only heightened a year that is already unlike anything anyone’s ever experienced before. Delays are to be

“We deserve to be stars” SIMON

expected in the current era, and for a self-described ‘collective’, you’d imagine this would be even more relevant. On this label – perhaps the only one that applies here – Frankie says that, “the idea of us being called a collective stemmed from the idea that I wanted to collaborate with as many people as possible. Anyone we work with, even just for five minutes, becomes a part of the project. It’s evolved so much and continues to, which is the beauty of it.”

Various artists of many talents have contributed towards the art produced here, and it certainly feels

like yet another sneaky method to divert the attention away from the individuals at the core of the project. “We’re constantly trying to find the most inventive way to not have the focus be on us, but then in a strange way, the focus becomes even more on us because it’s like, ‘who are these guys?’” Frankie contemplates.

Police Car Collective’s social media presence is evidence of this perspective, as a carefully curated collection of content cements a consistent aura of intrigue that perfectly matches their music. He

adds: “Social media has taken down all of the barriers between artists and the consumer. We like playing with that idea; how little information can you give out while still remaining engaging to people.”

The mystery radiates energy that leaves fans desperate to discover more detail. “It’s sexy, isn’t it?”

Simon smirks. “Things you can’t have, you want. You’ll try to find these details, and it keeps people on their toes.” Frankie chips in: “It’s fun, too - we can do anything we want. Tomorrow we could post the most absurd thing and get away with it because you don’t know anything about us, so you have no expectations.”

Moving on to new releases, we’ve been told to expect new music “relatively soon” – an ambiguous but exciting promise.

Frankie mentions a sincere admiration for David Bowie and the way he reinvented himself for each release, and expresses an inclination to follow a similar trajectory.

Will this approach work in the modern era? Frankie answers: “The internet loves to make you seem like one thing forever, it’s easier to digest, but that’s not how human beings work or how the world works. People are always growing and evolving, so it’s an absurd notion to assume that artists wouldn’t do the same thing.” Well spoken, as always.

Alongside this resilience and obvious artistic talent, we ask what other characteristics lay the foundations for this duo’s future success. “Having a god complex? We deserve to be stars,” Simon declares.

“When we first met that’s something we immediately bonded over, we’ve been walking around with the notion that we should be famous and if you have that attitude, it helps.” Frankie contributes: “people don’t want to come out and say they should be the biggest thing because it sounds quite arrogant. At the same time - if you don’t believe that, it’ll never be true.” P

Getting To Know...

Maple Glider

M

apel Glider is the project of Tori Zietsch – that’s pronounced like peach, but with a z, ‘FYI’. Signed to the currently so-hot-right-now Partisan Records, she’s got a new album out, ‘To Enjoy is the Only Thing’. It’s described in the associated press gubbins as “a striking set of vignettes from her life; growing up in a restrictive religious household, falling in and out of love, cross-country and international travel, longing, alienation, and more.” We’d describe her as Really Quite Good. Hope that helps.

What first sparked your interest in music?

When Nelly Furtado sang ‘I’m Like A Bird’.

Are you creative in nonmusical ways too?

I love scribbling, and smooshing paint in my hands, and squishing clay, and being messy with art things. I’m not tidy about it at all, and I don’t care about outcomes. I just like the action of playing.

What does being a musician mean to you?

I feel like the moment I started playing with music I became a musician. I find comfort in writing songs and performing music, and I love that I’ve found connection through it. Sharing and collaborating through music is a beautiful thing.

What themes do you most enjoy writing about? Your music always feels very personal.

I tend to write often about my different relationships with people - lovers, friends, family. I find it interesting to think about how all of my personal experiences have had an influence on how I’ve learned to connect with people in all of these different ways. I’m always striving to be better at communicating, and connecting – and I feel like writing about it brings me closer to that.

Is there anything else we should know?

I recommend watching videos of sugar gliders on the internet. P

24. DORK

Wings Of Desire - Chloe Little and James Taylor, formerly of INHEAVEN - have a new EP on the way; they’ll release ‘Amun-Ra’, named after the ancient Egyptian deity, on 13th August via WMD Recordings. It follows on from debut EP, ‘End Of An Age’.

Deb Never has announced a new EP, ‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone?’.

Due out on 23rd July, it features collaborations with longtime pals Kenny Beats and Michael Percy, as well as new team-ups, Jim-E Stack and Jam City.

Walthamstow singer-songwriter Elan Tamara has released a new single via Kwes’ label BOKKLE. “’Then You Say’ is about feeling unsure about the life choices and decisions someone you love is making, whilst trying to be there for them through thick and thin,” she explains.

Charli Adams

Alabama newcomer Charli Adams isn’t afraid to get up close and personal, baring all on her coming-of-age debut album, ‘Bullseye’.

Words: Laura Freyaldenhoven. Photo: Luke Rogers.

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etting to a place of unwavering confidence has been a long and sometimes painful process for Charli Adams; the past year, a time of self-reflection fuelled by the shedding of old beliefs and finding solace in a more liberating form of spirituality.

“I spent so many nights having panic attacks in my room whenever I was questioning religion,” she recalls. “I would go into fullbody panic attacks. I was like, ‘What is my life going to look like if I don’t believe in this? I am so afraid’. But it started to wear off the more I got confident in what I believed.”

As she began to sit with those thoughts, a different kind of logic started to seep in. There is no such thing as “hell” – a concept that would often freak her out as a growing teen (“What if Jesus came back and would send me straight to hell because I lied two days ago?”) - she concluded. Slowly but surely, she realised that those fearbased ideologies didn’t quite resonate anymore. “I don’t think I believe in a higher power that wants us to be that scared. We shouldn’t be that afraid,” she explains.

“Shame and guilt are useless emotions.”

These revelations

triggered an array of emotional responses, all of which Charli channelled into music, thinking no one would hear her immediate outpourings for a while as she had just wrapped up the ‘Bullseye’ EP. Little did she know that her new material would be so good, said EP would soon be followed by a full album. “The songs I wrote post-EP were the most honest. There was just so much happening in my life that I started writing songs about stuff that I wouldn’t have thought I would in the past.”

Devastatingly beautiful and strikingly intimate, ‘Bullseye’ is a mirror image of Charli’s emotional state at the time of writing. A turbulent rollercoaster that is reflected in themes of childhood trauma, abusive relationships (‘Cheer Captain’), Daddy issues (‘Bullseye’) and depression (‘Emo Lullaby’) - aka a busload of uncomfortable truths that Charli was finally airing out.

Talking about her music pre-pandemic induced breakdown, she reflects: “I was still just as honest. I was putting all of the details in.

I remember being scared of putting out some of the love songs that I was really honest in, but this time was the first time I was really

honest with myself because before, I was distracting myself with boy troubles, going out and bla bla bla…

But when the pandemic hit, it was self-reflection time, and that’s when I started to unpack.”

Fortunately, reflecting on the darker aspects of life has never been an issue for Charli. “I’ve never been afraid of thinking about death and the sorrows of life. As a kid, I was very, very curious. It’s always been a thing, but this year was the first time I was forced to stop moving and face those things. So, it wasn’t hard for me to dive into it. I’ve always been someone who’s like, ‘I’d rather feel all of these emotions than nothing at all’.”

An empath and notorious people pleaser (at least in the time before), Charli runs on emotions. It’s what fuels her interpersonal connections and her art.

“I’ve always taken other people’s emotions and tried to feel them so I could understand them my whole life,” she explains. “It’s the same with music, all the music that I love and that I listen to is because I feel some way when I listen to it.” It’s a quality that has long taken root in her own craft. Carried by pulsing beats and velvety vocals,

all of Charli’s songs pride themselves on being the kind of emotive that is nothing short of intoxicating.

Vulnerability, she says, is the most important thing.

“That’s why I fell in love with writing songs in the first place: because I was able to be dramatic about my life when I was trying to hold it together.”

Looking back on that

And then toxic relationships just fell away.”

Charli has changed, undoubtedly for the better, and it’s not just herself who has been sensing that difference. “A lot of people have noticed. I even had people from the past come back and being like, ‘You just seem so different now.’”

But, of course, it’s not always positive feedback she

“I’ve never been afraid of thinking about death and the sorrows of life” CHARLI ADAMS younger version of herself, even just a year ago, Charli can’t help but laugh. “I literally don’t recognise the person I was before. If we met, I would be like ‘Bitch.

You need help.” And she did. She started therapy and stopped running from all of the shit that kept holding her back. Sitting in front of us now is a Charli that is much more optimistic about the future. “I feel so much happier,” she beams. “I feel freer. I started working on myself and putting up boundaries. Those boundaries cleared up space for me because I was people-pleasing so much that I had no time for myself.

receives (when is it ever?).

“People from Alabama have been messaging my mom being like *scandalous whisper* ‘Is she okay?’ because I stopped giving a fuck. I’m saying how I feel online, on the internet, whereas people don’t necessarily do that where I’m from…”

Growing up in small-town Alabama, Charli always dreamed of getting out: she wanted to live in Paris, see the world, experience life to the fullest. So, at 17, she decided to pack up and leave, move to Nashville to pursue music. Six years later, it’s all about to come true.

Although Charli’s simple joy

is just writing songs and she would live a happy life solely writing for other people, writing and performing her own songs, being able to tell her story, is an important step for her. “My job as an artist is to be real,” she says, and it’s exactly that fierce commitment to vulnerability, to authenticity, that makes Charli such an impressive personality. Because it’s not just in her music, it’s in her every move. Charli Adams is always just being Charli.

Especially on her debut album that, as she describes it, is perfectly imperfect.

“It was created very unconventionally. It was pasted together from so many different eras and so many different producers because I was in this explorative mode at the time. It’s not one of those where I got to sit and really make it perfect, I guess, because some of the tracks are just the demos… It’s definitely not perfect, but it’s really special that that’s my intro to the world. Just me airing out and unpacking.”

Looking a little further into the future, she adds: “I’m excited for the next one to be from a peaceful place, but it feels pretty fitting to me to put out the first one this way.” P Charli Adams’ debut album ‘Bullseye’ is out now.

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It’s official! Live music is back!

Back! Andindeed-BACK!!!

After a year of rescheduled shows, cancelled festivals and cultural shut-down, live music is back.

As we prepare to take those first cautious steps back towards normality, there’s a whole world of exciting new bands, beloved old faves and lockdown legends who we can’t wait to see back on the stage again. Over the next few pages, we’ll run you through 50 of the names we’re desperate to catch ASAP, if not sooner - and there’s only one place we can start...

26. DORK

Just over a year ago, Sports Team released their debut album and promptly shot to Number Two in the UK Official Albums Chart. Finally able to take it on the road properly for the victory lap it so deserves, they’re already thinking about what’s next. Jake Hawkes trawls Soho with indie’s most chaotic frontman Alex Rice to find out more.

.

y come Here thein aga ... tt.

Photography:

Sarah Louise

Benne

M

ost interviews with bands are relatively simple affairs – you meet the band at a pub / café / venue, you speak to them all, then you go home and write it up. Well, Dear Reader, would it shock you to learn that our interview with the most chaotic band in indie didn’t quite pan out that way?

“I think it’s full up,” says Sports Team frontman Alex Rice, craning his neck to look through the window of The French House, a pub in Soho.

“That’s a shame; I’ve got some vouchers I wanted to use.

That’s why I picked it.” As he talks, he scans the street for an alternative venue, singing parts of ‘Golden Years’ by David Bowie under his breath as he does. So far, so normal.

The rest of the band are unable to make the interview, with guitarist Henry Young, songwriter / guitarist Rob Knaggs, and keyboardist Ben Mack all self-isolating in their Margate house as a precaution after contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19. Drummer Al

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COVER STORY

Greenwood and bassist Oli Dewdney are similarly absent (although whether that’s due to Covid or a reluctance to take part in any kind of plan arranged

by Alex Rice is never confirmed).

“Prepare to be bored by me over an entire evening,” Alex tells us before the interview.

Back in Soho, he goes door to door trying to find a pub with any space, at one point musing on whether a patisserie might serve him a pint and a pain aux raisin if he asks nicely enough.

A failed attempt to get into a members-only club brings us no closer to actually finding a venue to do the interview, but it does lead to some celeb spotting, as Alex jogs across the road to ask for a photo with Colin from Love Actually. “I know him more as Nick from [sitcom] My Family.” He says with a grin, before peering in the window of yet another pub with no spare tables.

Eventually, we end up in a basement bar which Alex confidently asserts is “part of real Soho,” adding: “Well, that’s what our manager Stu always says anyway.” Real Soho or not, it’s got a spare table, so we can finally sit down and begin the interview, just 45 minutes later than planned.

Seated around a circular table covered in the baise from a pool table (for some reason), Alex begins to wax lyrical just as the speaker above his head starts to blast out Louis Armstrong’s ‘What A Wonderful World’ at full volume.

“The big news is that our new hero is [Roxy Music frontman] Bryan Ferry,” he says, gesturing at his bright yellow shirt. “That’s why I’m dressed like this, channelling Ferry.

Seriously though, the new music is a genuine departure from the first album. We realised that whatever we try to do, it’s always going to have me singing in a bad voice, Oli playing the root notes on bass, Henry trying to riff his way out of anything and everything. So with that in mind, we decided to experiment a bit more and trust that those things will keep us sounding like Sports Team.”

These might sound like bold words from a band who are only one album in, but it’s typical

28. DORK

All aboard the non-stop service to Margate of the mentality Sports Team have always carried with them – forever pushing at the edge of their box and seeing how far the walls will move. Debut album ‘Deep Down Happy’ could easily have just been a repackaging of all the songs they’d released up until then, but instead opened with the off-kilter ‘Lander’, two and a half minutes of chaos with Rob on lead vocals instead of Alex.

“I do think it’s important to keep trying new stuff,” Alex says. “I don’t think the whole band would agree with me here; I think Oli would be happy not to rock the boat and just keep doing what we’re doing, because that’s what people like. But then we’d just be selling out the same venues forever and never getting anywhere new. Oli’s tried to quit the band about four times now anyway, and he’s still here, so I think we’re safe on that front no matter what we do.

“My view is that you just have to keep shooting for it and get it wrong a few times. What’s the worst that can happen, a bad album? So what! Make another one – it’s not exactly hard to make music.”

It’s in this spirit that the band decided to release ‘Plant Test’, a vinyl-only collection of demos that had been gathering dust down the back of the sofa.

Again, not the most conventional thing for a band to do off of the back of a surprisingly wellperforming debut, although Alex disagrees, of course. “Just put some music out; it doesn’t have to be a big deal!” he insists.

“We’re constantly jamming stuff when we’re together, and we have this backlog of hundreds of songs and half-songs, so why not release it into the world? A lot of people get so fixated on the idea of a difficult second album that they get paralysed and fuck it up.

“I think also, because the debut actually did better than our label were expecting, we’ve now become this sort of antique vase that everyone wants to overmanage in case it breaks.

After a cancellation last year and a delay to the initial date of 10 July this year, many feared (read: hoped) Sports Team’s annual jaunt to the seaside might never occur again. To put any doubts to bed, and to raise money for Stagehand Crew Relief Fund and the Music Venue Trust, they’ve instead announced their biggest trip yet – all held at Dreamland, Margate’s theme park / festival venue.

Joined by the likes of Bull, Courting, English Teacher, Los Bitchos and TV Priest, it promises to be the best way to spend an afternoon on the dodgems. Oh, and listen to some cracking bands.

As Alex Rice says: “I think this is going to be my Geldof moment.” His words, not ours.

‘Plant Test’ was sort of a way around that. We just wanted to release something which isn’t exactly polished, but I don’t think it’s bad either. It’s just where we’re at as a band, and what’s wrong with that?

“A few of those tracks are actually from the start of the pandemic,” he continues, in full storytelling mode. “So we went over to Cornwall for a few days to record ahead of SXSW, get a few tracks started and enjoy the sea air. Then lockdown happened, and suddenly we were stuck in the middle of nowhere with two options: do some kind

of Mad Max-style journey back to London and maybe eat slices of Oli’s dried thigh to keep us alive while we did so, or stay there for a few more weeks and do some more recording. It was a tight vote, but option two swung it in the end.”

Sounds idyllic, and at a time when most of the country were getting far more familiar with their living rooms than they’d like, it probably was. But Sports Team are a band that thrive on live music. Averaging “probably 150 shows a year,” before lockdown, they were suddenly a group with far more time on their hands than they were used to and, once back in London,

in a house they’d rented on the assumption that they’d never really be there.

“It was horrible,” Alex groans. “We just sat around for so, so long, feeling like social media managers. It was just messages from management telling us to get a post up, and that was basically it. We felt so disconnected from everything because we weren’t fulfilling the two functions of being in a band – releasing music and playing live. So again, that was partly why we did ‘Plant Test’, just to make us feel like a proper band again.

“Not that making music is actually enjoyable, though, don’t get me wrong on that. The only

SPORTS TEAM

“How are we going to secure two consecutive number ones? That’s the question you should be asking” You find out more in an interview if you don’t give your subject time to think. That’s what we’ve learned from watching the political big dogs on ‘the telly’, anyway. Time for some quickfire questioning.

What was the worst part of all sharing a house?

I don’t want to say – my mum will read this!

There was an interview where Kier Starmer just answered everything with: “I enjoyed my time at university.” That’s my line on the Sports Team house share.

What’s the biggest fruit or vegetable you could eat in one mouthful?

They’re such varied sizes.

You don’t want to be too conservative. I reckon you could get a really big carrot down you, in a quite undignified way. If you could stymie your gag reflex for long enough, maybe even a courgette?

t s r o w e h t ’s t a h “W a , n e p p a h n a c t tha at! h w o S ? m u lb a bad e– n o r e h t o n a e k Ma to d r a h ly t c a x e t o it’s n make music”

How are you going to clinch a Number 1 album this time round?

We got Number 1 last time, it was just disqualified.

So how are we going to secure two consecutive number ones? That’s the question you should be asking.

If you could be in any girl or boy band, which would it be?

Who did ‘Sound of the Underground’? Was that Girls Aloud? I’d be in Girls Aloud for sure.

Alex Rice

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Sports Team are wearing (l-r)...

Alex: Top: Adam Jones. Trousers: Beau Scarlett-Pitt. Shoes: Gucci Henry: Shirt: Gucci. Trousers: Cenci Vintage. Shoes: Clarks. Sunglasses: Own Ben: Jacket: Atika Vintage. T-Shirt: Levis. Jeans: Levis. Shoes: Own. Sunglasses: Own Al: Top: Adam Jones. Trousers: Cenci Vintage. Shoes: Stylist’s Own Oli: Top: Adam Jones. Trousers: Atika Vintage. Shoes: Clarks Rob: Top: Cenci Vintage. Trousers: Atika Vintage. Sunglasses: Own. Shoes: Clarks

30. DORK

“The bottom line is that our lives are really dull” Alex Rice

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COVER STORY

fun bit of being a band is playing live. We want to play the first night we’re allowed, we’ll be there at midnight hammering on the door. Honestly, we’re all so desperate to get up on stage again – this past year had made us feel like we’ve done nothing, and you just end up beating yourself up about that and losing so much of your identity.

“You try to pretend it isn’t true, but you do end up being defined by the fact that you play live. It’s the only thing in the world that I will never be cynical about, because something in your DNA just clicks when you walk out on stage, and you carry that with you for three or four days afterwards, so to not have that changes everything.

“Every interaction we had in the year before Covid was based on having been on stage that night, so your personality twists and you just become ‘Alex Rice, stage performer!’ So to have that stripped from you is so hard, because what do you replace it with? I guess I could try drinking or hard drugs, but I don’t know if they’d quite match playing live, and they cost money, rather than bringing it in. So to summarise: morbid time, everyone has hated it.”

The end of that dark period is imminent, but with the shifting goalposts of the lockdown roadmap, coupled with a complete disregard for live music from the Tory Government, it’s only just becoming clear exactly when live music will be able to properly return. “Those glimmers of hope, things like a festival on the horizon or a show coming up, you need that to get through,” Alex says, referencing the recent cancellation of Truck as an example of an unnecessary casualty. “These things just fill me with rage, because they’re so avoidable. All the Government has to do is underwrite festival insurance, then they could plan to go ahead without worrying about financial losses, and we’d all be in a field drinking a warm Carling come mid-July.

“And what pisses me off even more, is that Tory MPs seem happy to chuck money at sport, at F1, at the Royal Albert Hall – what’s a few hundred million for some ‘high culture’ like the Royal Albert Hall? – But they absolutely refuse to engage with music aside from the huge corporate interests; it’s just bizarre. We were lucky enough as a band to struggle through over the past year, but we weren’t eligible for grants, for furlough, for anything. I don’t

32. DORK

“I guess I could try drinking or hard drugs, but I don’t know if they’d quite match playing live” Alex Rice

Alex Rice’s red hot tips for bands to see ....... after lockdown...

Sorry They’re my favourite band, hands down.

Wet Leg They’re playing with us at Margate when that happens, and they’re great. (PSA: they’re not playing Margate anymore.

But they’re still great - Ed)

Lucia & the Best Boys They’re writing some amazing, ambitious music that also doesn’t sound like it wants to be post-punk, which seems to be a rarity these days.

Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard I really like their new song ‘New Age Millennial Magic’, even if it is basically Belle & Sebastian.

SPORTS TEAM

Wish you weren’t here?

We’ve all got holiday plans once lockdown ends, but where is global jet setting superstar Alex Rice most excited to visit?

Utrecht I think we basically lived there for a lot of the year before Covid – Café Dezaak is the place to go.

Glasgow The Lauriston in Glasgow is the greatest pub in the entire world.

New York Loads of posers, but with a bit of exoticism because I’m not from there. Here I condemn all posers, but in New York, they’re very charming.

Mexico City Sports Team are wearing (l-r)...

Al: Tracksuit: Adidas X Lotta Volkova, Top: Own. Shoes: Own Henry: Jacket: Gucci. Shirt: Cenci Vintage. Trousers: Cenci Vintage. Shoes: Adidas. Sunglasses: Own Oli: Shirt: Cenci Vintage. Trousers: Atika Vintage. Shoes: New Balance Rob: Shirt: Maharishi. Trousers: Maharishi. Shoes: Clarks. Sunglasses: Own Alex: Shirt: Ana Carolina Moreira. Trousers: Ana Carolina Moreira. Shoes: Cenci Vintage. Sunglasses: Gucci Ben: Top: Maharishi. Trousers: Maharishi. Shoes: Clarks. Sunglasses: Own

We’re due to do a three-night residency here, which is exciting. I imagine Oli will get kidnapped and get Stockholm syndrome because they don’t make him play bass and actually treat him with a bit of kindness.

think the appetite for live music has gone away, and I do think the industry will bounce back, but it’s been a pretty fucking close thing, to be honest with you.”

“Having said that, I do still think the appetite is there. In fact, it’s stronger, if anything.

And I also still think we’re the best live band in the world, I really, really do. You come to our shows and you see the people that go to them, it’s a young, vibrant, diverse crowd. The 5000 tickets we sell when we inevitably sell out Brixton will be a completely different 5000 to the ones a lot of other bands sell, and we’re better for that.

We haven’t had a chance to have that first album victory lap, but we’ll make up for it, I promise.”

Alex pauses to have a sip of his beer and enjoy the incredibly loud jazz music which is now filling the bar, before saying casually: “You know the thing I hate most about the music industry?” Do you hear that, readers? It’s the sound of the rest of the band sorely wishing they’d been around to change the subject when Alex says dangerous sentences like that.

“What I hate most is that it’s now this culturally established thing to be a musician; it’s just normal.

You get Sir Paul McCartney on the breakfast shows with no controversy at all.

“But alongside that, there’s this weird ‘true artist’ mentality that a lot of people have towards musicians, where they think these people see the world in some mysterious and unique way – which is absolute bollocks!

Bands are just like everyone else, and the sooner they start admitting that, the better. If Paul McCartney is up there saying he just enjoys making music and having a laugh, then god knows some band who can hardly fill a mid-sized pub should be able to do the same, instead of pretending they’re some genius and sucking all of the joy out of the whole process.

“And without the joy, what’s left?” He continues. “God knows there’s no money in any of it.

Which, on a serious note, is actually an issue. Access to being a musician is increasingly restricted, especially at the moment – Sports Team wouldn’t have made it if we were starting out now, we’d have all got other jobs instead, and that would have been the end of it. It is definitely not an equal access situation, and for bands, that’s getting worse. Bedroom pop seems to be thriving. Although I’m sure they’d also love to be playing live, playing live isn’t the core feature of what they do like it is with guitar music. This is a genre which is so viscerally about live performance, and that’s why people still like bands.

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nt “Independe ave h people who ar will f made it this s, not be the heroement this govern one which has d thing o absolutely n rt to suppo any of us” Alex Rice

34. DORK

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COVER STORY

“The bottom line is that our lives are really dull, everyone else’s lives are really dull, and the only thing that punctuates that is these tiny moments of intense community, intense experience and closeness to other people.

It’s such a part of who we all are that I think it’ll always find a way. A lot of venues are at risk, but the desire for gigs has increased. People want to go to shows far more than they did before, because they can’t at the moment. I have never wanted to go clubbing in my adult life, and right now, I would love to go clubbing. In a weird way, that heartens me. Independent people who are slippery and quick and have made it this far will help the industry bounce back. They’ll be the heroes, not this government which has done absolutely nothing to support any of us.”

All in all, a mixed picture for the future, but for Alex, it isn’t venues or infrastructure which provide hope; it’s the bands themselves. “Look at our bill for the Margate bus trip – it’s great, and it’s all new bands. I haven’t even met some of the bands because they weren’t really around in a big way before Covid, which is crazy. And undoubtedly at some point half of the people on that bill will surpass us in every conceivable way. I think it can be easy to paint too rosy a picture because there are a lot of bands who won’t have managed, and a lot of venues and festivals which won’t come back. But music’s still there, gigs are returning, and we’re ready to finally play a massive show at Brixton Academy and then book out a huge nightclub for the afterparty. So there’s that to look forward to at the very least.”

Interview done, we emerge from the gloom of the subterranean bar into the still bright street. “Shall we go for a final drink somewhere else?”

Alex asks, before escorting us into a place called Garlic & Shots, a heavy metal bar with the aesthetic of a mid-level brasserie that forgot to take down its Halloween decorations.

“I’ll have a garlic beer,” Alex tells the bartender, turning to us and adding: “Probably just the house beer, isn’t it? Can’t imagine it’s actually garlic flavoured.” A couple of minutes later, we’re sitting in the bar’s garden and watching him meticulously pick about three minced garlic cloves out of his drink while an Iron Maiden song plays out of tinny speakers above us. “Thanks for coming,” he says with a grin. “I think it all went quite well.” P

36. DORK

r “I have neveo wanted to g y clubbing in m ht g i r d n a , e f i l adult to e v o l d l u o w I now, go clubbeing” Alex Ric

CATCH SPORTS TEAM AT: Margate Dreamland (July 23), 110 Above Festival (August 13), Reading & Leeds (27,28), TRNSMT (September 1), Neighbourhood Weekender (5), Dot to Dot (25, 26), Liverpool O2 Academy (October 1), Manchester Academy (2), Glasgow SWG3 (26), Nottingham Rock City (November 17), Leeds University Stylus (18), Dublin Whelan’s (21), Bristol SWX (23), London O2 Academy Brixton (25)

2

Griff.

YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN FUTURE TOP POPSTER GRIFF ON THIS YEAR’S BRIT AWARDS, where she pretty much stole the show with a standout performance. She also picked up the 2021 ‘Rising Star’ award - much deserved on the basis of her Really Very Brilliant debut ‘mixtapenot-an-album’, ‘One Foot In Front Of The Other’.

CATCH THEM AT: Latitude (July 25), Boardmasters (August 14), TRNSMT (September 10), Dublin Academy Green Room (October 20), Glasgow King Tuts (22), Manchester Deaf Institute (23), Birmingham O2 Academy 3 (25), London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire (27)

3

Little Simz.

LITTLE SIMZ HAS ALWAYS BEEN GREAT, but the run she’s on as she builds to the release of September’s ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ is next level. By the time November and December around, expect her to be fighting off the end of year nods with a big stick.

CATCH THEM AT: Birmingham O2 Institute (November 25), Newcastle O2 Academy (27), Glasgow O2 Academy (28), Dublin The Academy (30), Bristol O2 Academy (December 2), Nottingham Rock City (6), Manchester Albert Hall (7), Norwich The Nick Rayns LCR UEA (8), Brighton Dome (10), Cardiff University Great Hall (12), Cambridge Corn Exchange (13), Liverpool O2 Academy (14), London O2 Academy Brixton (16)

4

f l o W . e c Ali

LIVE MUSIC SPECIAL

I

t’ll be no shock to anyone to discover that Wolf Alice’s ‘Blue Weekend’ is one of the front runners in Dork’s collective ‘best albums of 2021’ list. A stunning piece of work by a band who seem capable of delivering little else, it’s proof that even three records in, the quartet continue to evolve and develop in new and facinating ways. One thing that’s always been true of Wolf Alice, though, is their brilliance as a live band. With a headline appearance at this year’s Latitude (at last - Ed), main stage slots at Reading & Leeds, and a whole UK tour to follow in early 2022, there’ll be more than enough opportunities to see what might just currently be Britain’s Best Band in action.

CATCH THEM AT: Bournemouth O2 Academy (July 22), Latitude (23), Reading & Leeds (27, 29), Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom (January 5, 7, 8), Newcastle O2 City Hall (9), Norwich UEA (10), Manchester O2 Apollo (12, 13), Sheffield O2 Academy (14), Liverpool Uni Mountford Hall (15), London Eventim Apollo (18, 19), Southampton O2 Guildhall (22), Bexhill On Sea De La Warr Pavillion (23), Dublin Olympia Theatre (24, 25), Birmingham O2 Academy (27), Plymouth Pavilions (28), O2 Academy Bristol (30, 31)

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FEATURES

6

Twenty One Pilots.

LOADS OF BANDS WILL TRY AND MAKE OUT THEIR LIVE SHOWS ARE DIFFERENT, more exciting, must see events, only for them to end up being the same procession through the last record with a couple of hits thrown in for good measure. Not Twenty One Pilots, though. As part of the run around their latest album ‘Scaled And Icy’, they’re heading to various cities and playing the circuit - from the smallest, most intimate show to the big, arena date, all in the space of a week.

Now THAT’s different. London comes next June, ‘FYI’.

5

Alfie Templeman.

B

oy wonder Alfie Templeman has come a long way since live music departed us back in the early part of 2020. At one point recently, he was planning headline shows at London’s Camden Assembly. Now - just a few megabops later - he’s looking at Shepherd’s Bush, as part of a big 2022 run. We’re expecting he’ll have a debut album by then; one that might well make even those dates seem intimate.

38. DORK

CATCH THEM AT: Latitude (July 24), Tramlines (August 23), Reading & Leeds (28, 29), Neighbourhood Weekender (September 5), Newcastle The Cluny (March 2), Glasgow Saint Luke’s (3), Leeds Brudenell Social Club (4), Manchester Gorilla (5), Sheffield Leadmill (8), Nottingham Rescue Rooms (9), Birmingham O2 Institute2 (10), Bristol Thekla (11), Brighton Patterns (12), London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire (16), Dublin The Academy (18)

CATCH THEM AT: London Camden Assembly (June 21), London O2 Empire Shepherds Bush (22), London O2 Academy Brixton (23), London SSE Arena Wembley (25)

7

. s k r a P o l r A

FORMER DORK COVER STAR ARLO’S DEBUT ALBUM ALREADY GATHERED THE CRITICAL ACCLAIM FROM ALL THE RIGHT PLACES, so it’s no shock there’d be demand for live dates to follow. There’ll be no shortage of opportunities to see the poet-slash-pop-star over the coming months, with appearances at Latitude and All Points East, plus a lengthy headline run to follow.

CATCH THEM AT: Latitude (July 22), Liverpool Arts Club (August 3), Oxford O2 Academy (17), All Points East (28), Bristol Thekla (September 6), Leeds Belgrave Music Hall (7), Nottingham Rescue Rooms (8), London Village Underground (12, 13), Birmingham The Hare and Hounds (14), Manchester Gorilla (16), Brighton Chalk (17), Bristol SWX (November 1), London Shepherds Bush Empire (3, 4), Manchester Academy (9), Glasgow St Lukes (10), Edinburgh Liquidroom (11)

8

Haim.

OF ALL THE PANDEMIC’S MUSICAL TREATS, Haim’s ‘Women In Music Pt. III’ must be right up there. A standout record - quite probably their best to date - the sisters will bring their show to the UK this September for a rearranged arena run that’s sure to be the hottest party in town - even if it is late September.

CATCH THEM AT: Glasgow The SSE Hydro (September 23), Nottingham Motorpoint Arena (24), Cardiff Motorpoint Arena (25), Manchester O2 Victoria Warehouse (27, 28), London The O2 (30)

9 10 Phoebe Green.

1 1

LIVE MUSIC SPECIAL

s s a l G . s l a m Ani

FAST BECOMING ONE OF THE HOTTEST TALENTS ‘ABOUT’, Phoebe has a bunch of festivals lined up, as well as a very special Dork show later this year. Don’t miss her before she gets massive.

Find Phoebe Green at Truck, Tramlines and NBHD Festival, plus A Dork Night Out at London Camden Assembly (November 10)

S ea Girls.

THE LAST YEAR HAS SEEN FORMER DORK COVER STARS SEA GIRLS BREAK BIG TIME. Their debut album, ‘Open Up Your Head’, peaked at Number Three in the UK Official Albums Chart, crowning a fast rising ascent for a band who should thrive in the anthem-ready pit of live music. Come this October, they’ll get to see the pay off when they hit the road for a victory lap.

G

lass Animals most recent full-length ‘Dreamland’ has only further established them as one of wavey alt-pop’s most consistent yet brilliant forces.

Bouncing back from a difficult point to release a record in the middle of a pandemic, it’s testament to their lasting good time vibes that - for a while at least - they made even a world pausing disaster seem a little more bareable. Expect them to repeat the feat live as we make it to the other side.

CATCH THEM AT: Glasgow Barrowlands (November 8), Birmingham O2 Academy (10), Manchester O2 Victoria Warehouse (11), Brighton Centre (13), Portsmouth Guildhall (14), Nottingham Rock City (15), Leeds O2 Academy (17), Bristol O2 Academy (18), London Alexandra Palace (19), Sheffield O2 Academy (21), Edinburgh Usher Hall (22), Dublin Olympia Theatre (24, 25), Liverpool Mountford Hall (26)

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FEATURES

1 3 12 Wet Leg.

BEFORE THIS ISSUE, we’re not sure we’ve ever written about Wet Leg. Now, they’ve scored our Track of the Month over on page 15, and we’re recommending the as one of the must see live acts. If that doesn’t tell you just how exciting these newcomers are, nothing will.

Find Wet Leg at Latitude and Isle of Wight, plus on tour with Declan McKenna (September) and Willie J Healey (October).

16

Baby Queen.

AT THE START OF THE PANDEMIC, Bella Lathum hadn’t even dropped her debut single as Baby Queen, ‘Internet Religion’. Now, just over a year later, she’s preparing for a debut project ‘The Yearbook’, live dates aplenty, and has already scored her first Dork cover as part of our 2021 Hype List edition. Not bad, eh?

Find Baby Queen at London Omeara (November 9, 10).

15

My Chemical Eilish. Romance.

NOT GONNA LIE, bit disappointed second-album-Billie isn’t as weird as debut-album-Billie who’d put ink in her eyes and do bizarre things with spiders like balance them in her mouth (no thank you), but the mahoosive dates she’s got planned for next summer are bound to be a spectacle any which way. How many nights at The O2 is she up to now? Five?

Crazy stuff.

Find Billie Eilish on tour next June.

NO, My Chemical Romance haven’t rescheduled those cancelled 2020 UK dates at the time of press - but how on earth do you expect us to put together a list of acts we’re most excited to see live and not include them? The reunion we’ve all wanted to see is still on, just delayed a bit as we deal with a genuine, real life plague. Honestly, if we didn’t know better we’d wonder if it was all some kind of immersive theme for a secret new album.

Probably isn’t though. Probably.

Chloe Moriondo.

OH LOOK IT’S OUR FAVE, Chloe Moriondo. Over the past year or so she’s stepped up from being a fairly normal teenager - albeit one making ridiculously popular YouTube vids and bedroomy bops - to a pop star that makes us feel woefully under-styled. Her upcoming dates will see her pulling out her 5* debut album, ‘Blood Bunny’.

Find Chloe Moriondo on tour next March.

7 1 a P le aves.

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THEIR DEBUT WAS PRETTY 80S, but second album ‘Who Am I?’ - released back in February via Dirty Hit - saw Pale Waves embrace a more 90s-00s aesthetic which is going to be 110% brilliant in a live setting. Just don’t bring back lowrise jeans, for the love of god - we like to

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4 1 ll Bi ie

be able to bend over without our bums coming out thankyouverymuch.

Find Pale Waves at Neighbourhood Weekender and This Is Tomorrow, plus on tour next February and March.

IT’S REALLY WEIRD to think that Beabadoobee hasn’t been able to tour her excellent debut album ‘Fake It Flowers’ yet, the one that saw her start an online beef with The Vamps. Remember that?

Ages ago, wasn’t it. What a time it was, though.

CATCH THEM AT: Latitude (July 22), Reading & Leeds (August

28, 29), Manchester O2 Ritz (September 7), Leeds Beckett Student Union (9), Nottingham Rescue Rooms (10), Birmingham O2 Institute (11), Cambridge Junction (13), Leicester O2 Academy2 (14), London O2 Forum Kentish Town (23), Bristol SWX (24), Oxford O2 Academy (25), Dublin Academy 2 (28), Belfast Oh Yeah Music Centre (29)

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ne of the best up-andcoming bands around, poor old Courting haven’t had much chance to get out live yet, so their September tour is a must-see.

Frontman Sean Murphy-O’Neill tells us (a very little, we have naff all space here) more.

How have you been using the extra time in lieu of being able to play live for the past year and a half?

Writing a lot of new material, and talking a lot about where we want to go next and our battle plan to headline Glastonbury within the next 5 years.

Are there any festivals or venues you’re especially looking forward to playing?

Absolutely anywhere; I really look forward to the whole experience of being on the other side of a festival crowd. On the other side, our headline show at the O2 Academy is

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girl in red.

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Holly me.

Humberstone. Sha

THERE AREN’T MANY ACTS who can say they’ve been on the cover of Dork not once but twice, but we love girl in red rather a lot and all her songs are amazing, so what were we meant to do? We couldn’t just not put her on, that would have been ridiculous. And now she’s back playing live, too. Here’s a bit of trivia for you: the start date of next year’s European headline tour will mark the first year anniversary of her recent debut album, ‘if i could make it go quiet’. True fact.

Find girl in red on tour next April and May.

ANOTHER DORK COVER STAR (how do you think we compiled this list, hmm?), Holly Humberstone shows are coming fast and furious for the remainder of the year - she’s festival slots and headline dates all over the spot, including a big old stop at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London this November. Make sure you book in nice and early.

Find Holly Humberstone at Standon Calling, Latitude and All Points East, plus on tour this August, October and November.

WHERE DID YOU GO, SHAME? One minute they’re storming back into play with Very Good Indeed return single ‘Alphabet’ and one of the albums of the year (well, it came out in January and we’ve still several months of 2021 left, but we can probably call it now, right?) and the next they’ve all but disappeared.

See what not having live does? It’s such a shame (sorry). All that’s about to be rectified though, with a small smattering of summer festivals, and then a longer headline run of their own. Count us very enthusiastically in.

Find Shame at Latitude and Wide Awake, plus on tour this November.

going to be massive - we’ve planned so many little surprises.

Who are you most excited to see live yourself once you can?

All of the bands who are supporting us on tour.

CATCH THEM AT: Margate Dreamland (July 23), 110 Above (August 14), Glasgow The Poetry Club (September 14), Newcastle Think Tank? Underground (15), Leeds Oporto (16), Liverpool O2 Academy (17), Sheffield Foundry (18), Manchester YES Basement (20), Nottingham Bodega Social (21), Birmingham Hare & Hounds (23), Leicester The Cookie (24), Cambridge Portland Arms (25), Wolverton Craufurd Arms (26), Bristol Louisiana (27), Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach (28), London Camden Assembly (30), Are You Listening?

(October 9), Live At Leeds (16), Leeds Headrow House & Belgrave Music Hall (30)

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Remi Wolf.

REMI WOLF HAS MORE BANGERS than our Sunday tea, which is frequently just a bowl containing an entire pack of sausages. True fact, right there. Her 2020 EP ‘I’m Allergic To Dogs!’ has been the backbone of our bopping-around-thehouse-during-lockdown playlist. Remi’s one and only upcoming UK headline show is already sold out, obviously, but a lucky few will be able to catch her at London’s Moth Club this autumn, by which time - you never know - we might just have enough Remi bangers for Monday’s breakfast, too. Mmm, sausages.

Find Remi Wolf at London Moth Club (September 14).

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I

sle of Wight fourpiece Coach Party are launching back into live with a bang, and absolutely loads of shows. Steph Norris and Guy Page give us the lowdown - and tease some new material...

Coach Party.

Fingers crossed, full-capacity gigs will be back soon. How are you feeling about that?

Pumped!! Playing live is our favourite thing, and we’ve only been able to do it a few times as Coach Party. We’ve actually released more songs than we’ve done gigs, which feels wroooong.

How did you feel about all the livestreaming stuff?

It’s really nice to be able to fill your downtime with amazing bands doing little gigs on your Instagram feed. But, actually DOING it can be a serious amount of work, only for your efforts to end up in a social media black hole dominated

by Coldplay and clips from Friends.

Have you got any new tricks up your sleeve for the forthcoming live dates? Any new material we don’t know about?

There will definitely be new material as we get closer to our autumn/winter tour, which we can’t wait to play. But then we haven’t even toured our old ‘Party Food’ songs yet, so we can’t wait to play those either!

Who are you most excited to see live yourself once you

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can?

The first few gigs back are gonna have to make up for all the lost time, so we want some crazy shit... Limp Bizkit or something. Some friends of ours have started a band and we reaaaaally want to see them live. They’re called Spartak And Eugenie.

CATCH THEM AT: Leeds Hyde Park Book Club (September 29), Edinburgh Sneaky Pete’s (30), Glasgow Broadcast (October 1), Tynemouth Surf Cafe (2), Sheffield Sidney & Matilda (5), Liverpool The Shipping Forecast (6), Manchester The Deaf Institute (7), Stocktonon-Tees Georgian Theatre (8), Nottingham Bodega (9), Reading The Facebar (13), Cambridge The Portland Arms (14), Bedford Esquires (15), Birmingham The Sunflower Lounge (16), St Albans The Horn (20), Bristol Louisiana (21), Brighton Komedia Studio (22), Ipswich The Smokehouse (23), Oxford The Bullingdon (26), Guildford The Boileroom (27), London Omeara (28), Portsmouth Edge Of The Wedge (November 3), Tunbridge Wells The Forum (4), Southampton Heartbreakers (5), Isle of Wight Strings Bar & Venue (6)

Inhaler.

FRESH FROM THE COVER OF LAST MONTH’S ISSUE, Inhaler are already on a bit of a charge. Their debut album ‘It Won’t Always Be Like This’ should probably have scored a UK Number One by the time you’re reading this - and it’s easy to see why. The kind of anthemic indie that it’s thrives on the stage, once they can get back out on the road, expect that gathering momentum to build pace like a gigantic boulder thundering down the side of Hype Mountain.

Or something.

Find Inhaler at Neighbourhood Weekender and TRNSMT, plus on tour this September and October.

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Waterparks.

ROCK/ALT-POP/ WHATEVER’S most fun trio are coming over to the UK this autumn to tour their exceptionally good new album, ‘Greatest Hits’, and perform several sets for Leeds-Hatfield punk festival Slam Dunk. A good time, guaranteed.

Find Waterparks at Slam Dunk, plus on tour this August and September.

CMAT.

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WE LOVE CMAT. We love CMAT so much, you’re probably bored of reading just how much we love CMAT. And you can do that, by putting down your magazine and going to a show, where you can see CMAT live, and realise you love her just as much as we do. Genius, huh?

Find CMAT at Latitude, End of the Road and Live At Leeds, on tour with Declan McKenna (September), plus London Troubadour (November 9, 10) and London Omeara (April 8).

Lauran Hibberd.

YOUR FAVE SLACKERPOP CONNOISSEUR AND OURS, L-Hibs is at basically every festival this summer, and also on tour this October. Check out her new EP ‘Goober’ too, for back-to-back bops.

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Lorde.

BACK WITH A NEW ALBUM THIS AUGUST, Lorde is bringing her altpop brilliance to the UK next year for a relatively intimate run that takes in a trio of dates at Camden Roundhouse, before returning a little later for a bigger show at Ally Pally.

There’s also a Glastonbury 2022 shaped hole in her schedule - though maybe we’re not supposed to have noticed that yet.

Find Lorde on tour next May and June.

Find Lauran Hibberd at Tramlines, Standon Calling and 110 Above, plus on tour this October.

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Cavetown.

SUPER CUTE BEDROOM POP FRONTRUNNER Cavetown is about to head out on his biggest UK tour to date - including not just a homecoming show at The Junction in Cambridge, but also a big ‘un at London’s Roundhouse - in support of last year’s ‘Sleepyhead’.

Find Cavetown on tour this November and December.

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31 Yungblud.

Drug Store Romeos.

HAMPSHIRE TRIO DRUG STORE ROMEOS are at their most endearing live; it’s really something you have to experience for yourself.

RECENT-ISH DORK COVER STAR Yungblud has had to postpone so many shows over the past year that he’s probably never going to be able to stop touring; this is his life now - smelly buses, service station food, and a string of hotels that are probably far fancier than any we’ve stayed in before. It’s a hard life, eh?

Find Drug Store Romeos at End of the Road, Dot to Dot and Are You Listening?, plus on tour this August and November.

Find Yungblud at Reading & Leeds, plus on tour this August, September, October and November.

32 Run The Jewels.

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR IMPORTANT ALBUMS RELEASED OVER THE LAST YEAR AND A BIT, you’ll find few that hit the mark more than Run The Jewel’s ‘RTJ4’. A cultural movement far beyond the music contained within, it’s the kind of record that deserves to get its second wind once the live circuit reopens.

Though it’ll be two years old by the time they hit our shores, it’ll be no less vital than the day it arrived.

Find Run The Jewels on tour next June.

33 Rina Sawayama.

IT FEELS LIKE WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS TOUR FOR SO BLOODY LONG. One of the most interesting acts around - both for her inventiveness across debut album ‘SAWAYAMA’, and also her extracurriculars, which currently include her feature film acting debut in John Wick 4 (!!!) - Rina Sawayama will finally be heading out on her nearly-soldout UK tour this winter.

Find Rina Sawayama on tour this November.

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L Devine.

A

lt-pop singer-songwriter L Devine is taking her new project ‘Near Life Experience’ on the road.

How did you feel about all the live streaming stuff? Do you think it’ll stick around in some form now shows and festivals are returning?

I like doing livestreaming stuff, and I think even before lockdown, it was a really cool way to connect with fans. In some ways, it is a little more intimate, I suppose, because you actually get the chance to chat to fans and answer their questions. I’ll still do things like that, but I don’t think it’ll ever replace the feeling of a live show.

Have you played any sociallydistanced shows?

Yes, I did! I was lucky enough to play one of the Unity Arena gigs in Newcastle last year. It was a real tease of normality, but it was amazing.

Everyone was just so gagging for gigs and ready for it. I didn’t really mind the social distanced seating arrangements either. It felt like everyone had their own VIP pen, which suited my shows

quite nicely, I think, because I’m yet to release a song that is worthy of a mosh pit. But now that gigs are set to come back in full force, it might be time to write one!!

How have you been using all the extra time in lieu of being able to play live for the past year and a half?

I was mostly just finishing off my new project – ‘Near Life Experience’. But now that I’ve wrapped that, I’ve just been writing in the studio for the next project after that, which I’m already so excited about.

Who are you most excited to see live yourself once you can?

I’d love to see Lorde again now her new album is dropping! I really wanna see Doja Cat too.

CATCH THEM AT: Liverpool Arts Club (September 25), Newcastle Riverside (26), Glasgow Stereo (28), Edinburgh The Caves (29), Manchester Deaf Institute (October 1), Birmingham O2 Institute3 (2), Bristol Thekla (4), London Heaven (5), Brighton Chalk (6), Hull Central Library (17)

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Bree Runway.

WHAT A LEGEND. Bree Runway is always pushing, always looking for what’s interesting or exciting, and doesn’t she just always find it? Make sure you’re in on these two small London shows, she won’t be playing venues of this size for long.

Find Bree Runway at London Colours (September 27, 28).

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Sinead O’Brien.

SINEAD IS ONE of the coolest musicians we have on this here list, with a poetry-inspired take that will appeal to even the most ardent of poetry avoiders.

Find Sinead O’Brien at Manchester Psych Fest, Down at The Abbey and Wide Eyed, plus on tour this October.

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41

Easy Life.

NOW WITH A DEBUT album under their belts, purveyors of quirky pop earworms Easy Life are finally heading out on that long-promised headline tour, that now includes two nights at London’s Brixton Academy.

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Dry Cleaning.

WHO’D HAVE THOUGHT little old south London foursome Dry Cleaning would score a very-welldeserved Number 4 in the actual proper UK album charts with their excellent debut album, ‘New Long Leg’? Didn’t see that one coming at all. 2021 may have been a bit hit and miss so far, but that one week in April was one to remember. Early next year - almost a year after its release - they’re going to take it on the road for a run that includes a night at London’s Kentish Town Forum with PVA.

Find Dry Cleaning at Latitude, End of the Road and Manchester Psych Fest, plus on tour next February and March.

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Japanese Breakfast.

THE MUSICAL PROJECT OF MULTI-TALENTED MICHELLE ZAUNER, Japanese Breakfast is soon to bring her justreleased third album ‘Jubilee’ to the UK. “I’ve never wanted to rest on any laurels,” she says of the 5* record. “I wanted to push it as far as it could go, inviting more people in and pushing myself as a composer, a producer, and arranger.” She’ll take her storytelling magic on the road next March for a five-night run that includes headline shows in Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds and London.

Find Japanese Breakfast on tour next March.

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Find Easy Life at Reading & Leeds and Neighbourhood Weekender, plus on tour this November.

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ith new music on the way, Ross and Rocky Lynch - aka The Driver Era - are going to be ones to watch over the next year.

Hello Ross! What are you up to today?

Hi! I just played hockey earlier today, and we just did a bunch of liners for our new single ‘Heaven Angel’. I’m probably gonna nap after this.

Fingers crossed, full-capacity gigs will be back soon. How are you feeling about that?

Feeling good. Our tour starts in November, and we already have a bunch of sold-out shows, so we are pretty excited. Nothing beats the energy of a sold-out show!

How did you feel about all the

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Blossoms.

The Driver Era.

live streaming stuff? Do you think it’ll stick around in some form now shows and festivals are returning?

Yeah, I think the streaming shows are gonna stick around. Cause when Coachella sells out, you can still watch all the sets from home, and people love it! We haven’t done a livestreamed show yet (our team has been begging us to), but I think we will eventually.

It’s a brand new form of a show, and we’re really excited to get creative with the format.

Someday.

How have you been using all the extra time in lieu of being able to play live for the past year and a half?

We’ve been reading a lot.

Hanging a lot. I’ve been working pretty consistently since I was 15, so the pandemic was actually

a much-needed break for me.

It was nice to have an excuse to not do anything. Although I suppose we have an album coming out...

I’ve adventured quite a bit.

Been a few places. My sister got married. A whole bunch of stuff.

Life kept on.

Have you got any new tricks up your sleeve for the forthcoming live dates? Any new material we don’t know about?

We’ll play the new album. And honestly we also want to get some more music out after ‘Girlfriend’ to play as well. We’ll see if we get it all done.

CATCH THE LIVE: Glasgow Queen Margaret Union (January 21), Manchester O2 Ritz (22), London Shepherd’s Bush Empire (23)

BLOSSOMS WILL BE taking The Magic Gang out with them for a chunk of their AugustSeptember shows, before they themselves join The Killers for some dates next summer.

Find Blossoms at Tramlines, Boardmasters and Victorious, on tour this August and September, plus with The Killers (May, June).

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Yard Act.

LEEDS’ FINEST (AND FUNNIEST), Yard Act are on literally everyone’s fave new bands list, and not just because we’re gonna pretend you don’t exist if they’re not on yours.

Although y’know, we totally will.

Find Yard Act at Visions, End of the Road and Dot to Dot, plus on tour this September and next February and March.

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Dua Lipa.

Greentea Peng.

LET’S GET PHYSICAL, by going to your wallet, taking out your credit card, and purchasing Dua Lipa tickets. Then on the requisite date, heading to the train station, getting to whichever venue you’ve booked for, and enjoying a gig with Britain’s best pop star. That’s how the song goes, right?

WITH A DORK APPROVED DEBUT UNDER HER BELT, Greentea Peng has been picking up fans in all the right places. (i.e. here.)

Find Greentea Peng at Standon Calling, Latitude and MADE, plus on tour this November and December, and next March and April.

Find Dua Lipa on tour next April and May.

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Lucy Dacus.

WITH HER NEW ALBUM ‘HOME VIDEO’ JUST OUT, you might be excited to get out and do something other than sit at home and watch endless films. If so, you could do little better than grab tickets to Lucy Dacus’ March 2022 tour. Well worth a repeat viewing.

Find Lucy Dacus on tour next March.

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Walt Disco.

OVER TIME, glam indiepop-disco troupe Walt Disco seem to just get better and better. Even through lockdown they managed to provide standout live moments on the streaming circuit. ‘IRL’, they’re even better - which you can find out this autumn.

Find Walt Disco at TRNSMT and Dot to Dot, plus on tour this October and November,

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iDKHOW.

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e’ve just realised mere hours before ‘going to print’ - that we’ve forgotten to include The Magic Gang in our Top 50, who we love very much indeed, but evidently not enough to remember they exist. It’s ok though, because we’re here tipping their support band, The Goa Express, instead. That’s definitely fine, right? Catch the pair on tour together this October.

Hello you lot! What are you up to today?

Hey, hey! Watching the world go by. It’s pretty windy out, and the sun seems to have hidden itself.

Fingers crossed; full-capacity gigs will be back soon. How are you feeling about that?

We can’t wait and are fully intending to start where we left off, making the most of being young, naïve, and to a certain

extent, stupid.

How did you feel about all the live streaming stuff? Do you think it’ll stick around in some form now shows and festivals are returning?

Unless people just LOVE watching a band from the sofa, why should they? Although they might have kept things ticking over for some, they felt uncomfortable and disheartening: a poor alternative.

Have you played or attended any socially distanced shows?

We played two live shows over the last year and a half. Weird vibe, weird set-up. ‘Adapt and move with the times’. Yeah, right.

Have you got any new tricks up your sleeve for the forthcoming live dates? Any new material we don’t know about?

Lots and lots of fresh material,

ONE OF THE UNEXPECTED HIGLIGHTS OF 2020, iDKHOW’s debut album ‘Razzmatazz’ was all kinds of glorious fun.

They’ll be playing a couple of extra shows while they’re over for Reading & Leeds this summer. Definitely one to check out.

Find iDKHOW at Reading & Leeds, plus Glasgow SWG (August 27) and London O2 Forum (31).

which has been going down a treat amongst those who know us well. We’ve had a few tricks up our sleeves and have turned the last few Friday nights into big ‘uns.

Are there any festivals or venues you’re especially looking forward to playing?

At this stage, all of them, anything and anywhere.

CATCH THEM LIVE: Bedford Esquires (September 2), End of the Road (3), Manchester Psych Fest (4), Neighbourhood Weekender (5), Manchester Yes Basement (24), Dublin Eastbound (25), Carlisle Old Fire Station (October 7), Liverpool Arts Club (8), Cardiff Tramshed (10), Oxford O2 Academy (11), Southampton The 1865 (12), Margate Elsewhere (15), Norwich Waterfront (22), Stag and Dagger (November 13)

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Self Esteem.

REBECCA LUCY TAYLOR’S NEW ALBUM MAY NOT BE DUE UNTIL OCTOBER, but we can promise you, it’ll be making a good number of end of year lists. A glorious celebration of owning your own identity, the live show should be equally ace.

Find Self Esteem at Camp Bestival, Get Together and FestEvol, plus on tour this November.

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OLIVIA DEAN

As she approaches the release her new EP ‘Growth’, London’s Olivia Dean reflects on a year in which she’s got to know herself a whole lot better.

Words: Martyn Young. Photos: Olivia LiFungula.

“I

feel like things are a lot better than they were this time last year, so I can only be grateful,” says Olivia Dean, as she ponders a period in which she has made great emotional and musical strides.

Navigating her way through a stint of upheaval, uncertainty and isolation, she’s come out the other side with a greater understanding of her musical gift, deploying those innate talents to stunning effect on a new EP that looks set to reinforce her status as one of our brightest new songwriting talents.

“It’s been the most interesting year of my life,” she explains.

“Considering everything, I’m pretty proud of myself. The first half of the last 18 months had been pretty hard. I spent a lot of time by myself in my flat.” The requirement to lock yourself away and lock yourself down was challenging for an artist who thrives on the visceral power and thrill of live performance. “I see

myself as a live artist,” she affirms.

“That’s what makes things feel full circle for me. Getting out of the studio and playing the songs live. I definitely feel like I write songs to play them. I was left feeling quite confused about what I was doing and what was my purpose.”

Fortunately, though, things are now looking up. “I have my two shows at the Jazz Cafe, and it feels like things are coming back to some form of normality,” she smiles. “I’m getting on with it. I’ve been very lucky to get in the studio and write and finish off this project,” she says excitedly. “I get to go to the pub and hang out in the park when it hasn’t been raining like it has EVERY DAY for the last two weeks.” Ah, the good old British weather. Forever spoiling our plans.

Still, not even the weather can spoil where Olivia’s headed next.

The new music she has been working on provides something of a considered soundtrack to this most unusual year. “I’m really proud of this

project I’ve made,” she begins. “I see it as a time capsule of the last year.

It’s quite downtempo, but I think this last year has been like that. It feels like the natural way for it to sound.”

The EP is called ‘Growth’, and it radiates with all the soulful warmth and tender emotional resonance that pierces through all Olivia’s music.

“I’ve been singing since I was 8 years old,” she says of her formative musical years. “I always remember it being something that I wanted to do, but I didn’t start writing songs until I was 15 or 16.” When she did start writing, the songs she was creating became an outlet for feelings that she struggled to otherwise express.

The power of music became Olivia’s language. “I was thinking about why I started songwriting, and surprisingly, as a person, I’m not really good at talking about how I’m feeling,” she says. “Especially with the people closest to me in my life. It was an avenue for me to express myself and figure out what was going on in

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OLIVIA DEAN

my brain in a roundabout way rather than addressing it with the person.”

All that internal soul searching has fully manifested itself in a work that is full of depth and reflection. “The songs are some of the most intimate music I’ve ever written,” she reveals. “It’s really personal. I’m the most unsure and scared about how it will be received.”

Perhaps the most frightening thing about wondering how the stark emotional songs will be received is the absence of playing them live and feel the connection between audience and performer. “I haven’t had the chance to try them out as I had with my song ‘Echo’ from my last EP,” says Olivia. “I was playing that for a year before it even came out. I was confident it was good because I had the validation from people going to gigs and telling me I love that one. With this music, no one has heard it.”

That sort of validation is important to Olivia, and it has left a void in her musical life.

She tells a story of how she was organising a club night last year right before lockdown.

“I was putting on a gig, and I started this night called Out Out, and I wanted to make it a monthly night and get my mates to play, and I was

headlining the first night. I had just put out ‘Crosswords’, and everybody came down. Some people didn’t come because they were worried about this thing called Coronavirus, and I was like, ‘naaah, come down, it’s fine, don’t worry about it’.

I played the song that had only come out a week before, and it got to the chorus, and everybody started singing it. That was something that you see on live performances at Glastonbury, and just the people singing it back hit me.

I was like, ‘oh my god, people are connecting to this music’.

I’m holding on to that moment, hoping that something else like that will happen again.”

The importance of connection and both providing inspiration and comfort to people listening to the music is central to Olivia’s work.

“That’s the reason why I do it, really,” she says. “I want people to just feel understood when they listen to my music. That’s what made me fall in love with the artists who inspired me to make music, like Amy Winehouse, Lauryn Hill and Aretha Franklin. Their voices and the words that they used made me feel like a person.

It’s really easy, especially in the world today, to feel super disconnected and anxious and internally think I’m feeling all these things but wondering if

anyone else is feeling them.

I want to make people feel connected to each other.”

The songs that make up ‘Growth’ come from a subtly different place, both emotionally and sonically.

Despite having all this free time cooped up in her flat, Olivia didn’t put pressure on herself to constantly create.

“I don’t like to preplan too much. I don’t write too much. I don’t write a song every day,” she explains. “The best ones are the ones which I’m really emotionally connected to. I need to build up to them. In comparison to my previous projects, these songs are much more introspective. They’re more about my feelings about falling in love again, being quite reserved with that and having some growing to do. It’s about having some boundaries when falling in love. I hope I’ll look back as I do with most music and think, oh, I really learnt something. That was a period of learning. I’m still very much in this period. It’s all live thoughts.”

The EP finds Olivia working with different people for the first time, but the mood is more brevity and emphasising what isn’t there rather than throwing the kitchen sink for a big sound. The more considered and soft approach felt right.

“When I first started writing, it was just me on my piano,” she says. “That’s how this year has felt. It’s just been me and my piano. I didn’t really want to do too much to them. I just wanted to keep them as is and just let the songs speak.

It’s less produced and a really good stepping stone to my album that will come in the near future.”

The power of the songs very much comes from the emotion and the delivery. “They’re all super dramatic and kind of sad,” laughs Olivia. “I said to myself I wasn’t going to write sad music, but I think that’s what I’m good at.”

In many ways, the last year has been a year of reflection and discovery for Olivia as she processes how her music and artistry fits within a wider context. “Music is art that reflects the time you’re living in. Whether that’s a really personal thing in your immediate life or the bigger world, that’s the beautiful thing about music,” she says.

SOME FACTS ABOUT OLIVIA DEAN. She really likes roller skating. “I got some skates last year. I’m still learning, but I don’t have to have the kneepads or the arm pads, so I’m solid in my skating. That’s my thing at the moment.”

She’d love to perform at Glastonbury and would like to start her own label in the future to help young female artists.

If she had a choice to win an award, she’d like to win the Mercury Prize, but would take a Grammy or a Brit.

If she was having a car boot sale, she’d probably try and sell lots of shoes. “I’ve got a lot of fun shoes, so I feel people would be drawn in like magpies to all the colours going on there,” she says.

One thing she wouldn’t sell is her prized possession, which is a hat. It’s not just any old hat, though. “It’s a hat made up of the fabric of bus seats. I saw on Instagram that a friend of a friend was making these hats for her final art project. She’s called Cleo. She only made like 6, and every time I wear it, people are like, oh my god, is that the bus fabric?!!

And I’m like, yeah, it is. I can’t part with it, though!”

“It hasn’t been something I’ve experimented with yet, but it definitely is something I’ve been building myself up to do. It’s scary commenting on big issues. I find it funny that artists are expected to be really politically switched on, but I’m still learning and excited to start exploring.

Everything that happened with Black Lives Matter specifically has really affected me and my perspective on life, and that’s something I’m going to explore going forward.”

The events of 2020 and the Black Lives Matter movement have had a profound effect on Olivia. “I’m still working through those thoughts,” she explains .”I’m figuring out how I feel about being mixed race and Black, and that’s something I was still processing when Black Lives Matter hit, so I was like, woahh. It’s still quite emotional for me. Sometimes you have to process something and get out of the really emotional bit to write something about it. I think I’m getting there, and I hope I can offer an interesting insight. I don’t see myself as a political oracle. I’m just little old me.”

Olivia is certainly an artist who is measured and thinks deeply about her work and its effect. She wants her music to have a message as best encapsulated on ‘Growth’’s stunning lead track ‘Be My Own Boyfriend’. “I’ve got a lot of different sides to my personality,” she states.

“Sometimes, I can be very emotional and dramatic. Other times I’ve got my nothing really matters hat on. ‘Be My Own Boyfriend’ encapsulates my message, and the main thing I learnt from last year was all you can do is just try and be happy every day.

The main thing you can do to be happy is just getting comfortable with yourself and the inside of your brain.

I started therapy over the last 18 months, and it’s been the best thing I’ve done. I’ve learned so much about myself.

If you can be your own best friend, then you’re laughing.”

P Olivia Dean’s EP ‘Growth’ is out July 30th.

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FEATURES

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JAWNY

Quirky pop maverick Jawny is following up last year’s standout ‘For Abby’ project with ‘The Story Of Hugo’, one of the most inventive and fun-packed EPs you’ll hear all summer. He doesn’t do boring. Words: Martyn Young. Photos: Ariel Fish.

J

awny is a man with incredible levels of self-belief. In fact, his levels of self-confidence are so strong that the last time he spoke to Dork he managed to convince us that he was 6ft 9 tall. A giant of pop. Now, we suspect that might not be entirely accurate, but who cares? Jawny believes it, and that’s all that counts. He’s got good reason to be so confident, though. The man who formerly went under the name Johnny Utah and is now making earworm bedroom pop bangers for fun as Jawny has come on quite a way since he emerged from producer obscurity to bona fide alt-pop sensation, and he’s ready to show us just exactly what he can do on his latest project, ‘The Story Of Hugo’.

The confidence to (literally) big himself up hasn’t always come so easily to Jawny, though. Instead, his rise has been a gradual one as he tinkered around with his sound to find something that sticks. Rather than one sound, though, he found that everything sticks. Jawny’s vibe is an eclectic mashup of all sorts of vibrant stuff. “It’s always changing and evolving over time,” he says about his sonic approach down the line from sunny Los Angeles, California. “I feel like in the last year, I’ve come into my own where I’m finally comfortable with who I am,” he continues. “I know who I am as an artist, and I don’t feel I have to be anybody else. I don’t feel like I’m in a competition or fighting for a spot. I’m comfortable and confident in making the best kind of music that I want to make.” This newfound self-assurance is in stark contrast to an earlier period of doubt. “There were a couple of years back when it wasn’t like that,” he remembers. “I felt like I was clawing my way for a spot or constantly trying to be the best or prove that I belonged here. More recently, I’ve felt more comfortable in my skin and my shoes as an artist. That was a huge thing for me personally.”

It’s easy to get fixated on short term hype, but Jawny is determined to carve out his own legacy. “I want longevity,” he explains. “I want to be releasing music that people care about. I don’t want to be the hottest flavour of the month, then everyone forgets about me. I’d rather build a dedicated fanbase from people who genuinely care about what I do and still be going strong and providing for myself and my family.”

He cites artists who have followed their own distinct path and repeatedly bucked expectations like Beck and Tyler, The Creator. “I admire people who are experimental and diverse,” he says. “These are all people I try to base myself on in terms of how I can develop in 6 or 7 years rather than just now.”

That forward-thinking attitude is central to everything Jawny does. He’s not afraid

Adventures in food with Jawny Jawny really loves food. And he used to be a chef. Well, kind of.

“Before I got into music, I was a cook first. I worked everywhere.

I was a line cook, then worked up to sous chef, then was a store manager for a fried chicken shop,” he exclaims. “My drummer Donato started getting super into food a year and a half ago, and now he’s doing executive chef stuff.

Whenever we meet up to do shows, we all get in an Air BnB and try to make some crazy meals.”

to take risks and just settle for the easy path to success. “I never close a door to anything in my head,” he explains. “I did do that a little bit previously, though when I had a song called ‘Honey Pie’ just go cuckoo bananas at one point around the world. I did have a small period of time where I felt that I’d closed all these doors in my head and thought, well, this is what I have to be, I guess. This is what people like, and this is what people have resonated with.”

Shortly after ‘Honey Pie’’s gargantuan success, Jawny had a realisation that now defines his career. “I had a conversation with myself about how stupid that is,” he continues. “I need to keep all the doors open. If I want to make a country song, then make a country song. People are only going to enjoy your music if you also enjoy your music. If you try to sell them something that you’re not into, then no one is going to connect to it. That’s the beauty of music.

You can feel if the artist really means what they say. It’s the best way to compile everything and compile different genres, and not stick to the same thing. You need to

for Abby.”

‘Hugo’ contains some of Jawny’s best work yet, from the tropical pop bop of ‘Best Thing’ to the riotous punky thrash of ‘Take It Back’. His output sounds like it might be chaotic, but he really thinks about how it all works and how his stories weave together.

“I feel like I have to make everything make sense,” he says. “It’s something that I always want to remain self-aware of, so that I’m giving people the sense when they listen that thought went into this. This isn’t just some packaged bullshit that they’re feeding me. I hope that that shines through.”

There are lots of things that shine through when you speak to Jawny. His restless exuberance. His joy for the art of making music and creating concepts, and his desire to constantly experiment. He’s doing what he loves and having the time of his life doing it. “All I’ve ever wanted to be since I was a kid was an artist. I used to buy Green Day live DVDs, and the DVD of Good Charlotte live at Brixton Academy,” he laughs. “I used to live by them every day.

I would watch them over and over. When you turn 13, though, the world makes you become a realist, and you think only one in a million will get signed to a label and do that kind of stuff, so maybe you should have a more realistic goal, so you move off

So, what’s his speciality, then? “It’s something my boy Donato put me on, and he makes these crazy gourmet sandwiches. He would go to the Italian market and get all these crazy meats and cheeses and get a nutty roll and take chillies and put them in oil on the pan and simmer them for 30 minutes, and I’ll dunk bread in it.”

And what’s his top pizza tip? “You can’t go wrong with simple. It’s nice to have fresh mozzarella, some olive oil, a little bit of basil with garlic and just cook it like that.

There’s nothing you can fuck up.”

Sound pop star advice, there. But what if we want to push the boat out? “If you want to get crazy, start throwing on things that are unconventional. I have no issue with pineapples and bacon on pizza.

I think pineapples are great.” We hear you, Jawny, we hear you. Long live the pineapple pizza.

Ed’s note: the opinions of Martyn Young, the writer of this piece, do not represent those of Dork as a whole. Pineapple on pizza is NOT officially approved.

make whatever you want to make and not give yourself a glass ceiling.”

Jawny is a storyteller, and all his songs and projects are thematically linked in some way. This time ‘The Story Of Hugo’ immediately follows last year’s ‘For Abby’ EP. “That was a concept piece where you’re led to believe that a boy and a girl went through a really bad break up, and he’s making her some crummy mixtape to try to win her back,” he says about his previous release.

“When I was having conversations with myself about whether I want to go into full album mode right now, I felt like I still wanted to continue the narrative of the EP a little bit.

I didn’t want to write a whole album about it, but I felt like there were still some pieces of that universe to tackle. I didn’t want to finish the story, but I didn’t want to extend it.

The boy’s name in that story is Hugo, and if you listen to both EPs, it all ties in with each other, and it’s one through-line narrative.

Hugo is the dude who is making the mixtape

of it for a few years. From 13 to 20, I was just finding all the stuff in life that made me fucking miserable. I was like, why am I not doing the thing I always wanted to do?

When it happens, it’s so weird to look back and think this is all I ever wanted to do, and now I’m doing it. It freaks you out. It’s like a simulation glitch. Not a lot of people get that pleasure.”

This latest EP is a landmark moment in Jawny’s rise. A real statement of intent before he prepares to embark on the full album process. “The best thing was having the freedom in myself to just give true artistic expression,” he beams. “I wasn’t thinking about a song for a playlist or the radio or a song to get a hundred million streams. I wanted to make a tiny EP of songs that I like. If it gets a hundred million or a thousand streams, then whatever. I wanted to do this before I work on an album for many months at a time. It has my stamp of approval, and it shows a different side of me.” P Jawny’s EP ‘The Story of Hugo’ is out now.

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FEATURES

Indie boys KAWALA are all about sunny vibes with their debut mixtape, ‘Paradise Heights’. Time to break out the Factor 30.

Words: Steven Loftin.

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KAWALA

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FEATURES

an you hear that? It’s the sound of summer calling, and KAWALA are answering.

No, really. If you want to know what holding a delicious ice cream, sitting in the sun sizzling sounds like, then look no further. Burgeoning London five-piece KAWALA have you covered.

This the story of vocalist Jim Higson and guitaristvocalist Dan McCarthy growing up together, North Londoners through and through, unaware those salad days would lead to them embarking on a journey that’s taken them out into the wide world, going from strength to strength, and even a spot on the FIFA 21 soundtrack.

Flanked by the rest of the band - Dan Lee (guitar), Reeve Coulson (bass), and Ben Batten (drums) - KAWALA are all about seizing the day and not taking life too seriously.

Organised via WhatsApp groups, they’ve not long set off on their first UK tour out of lockdown, straight from the boot of their car.

Parked up on a bench in the blistering heat, it’s almost as if they’ve bestowed it upon Dork for our chat. Even if Jim is, erm, in a beanie. And multiple layers.

A couple of cold refreshments later (or hot coffee if you’re Jim, apparently), and they’re ready to knuckle down and dig into band life.

Writers of the kind of easy, breezy songs that require listening sunglasses thanks to their embracing, beaming sunlight, KAWALA are here to give this (fingers crossed) open season summer the perfect soundtrack. One ready to be filled with kicking back and relishing in that sweet smell of cut grass, the sound of annoying midges, and more importantly, hope with their mixtape ‘Paradise Heights’.

Certainly not an album, this is bits and bobs that have been kicking around the KAWALA sphere along with some lockdown garden writing. “It felt like a little line in the sand,” Dan explains. “We had this eureka

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moment where we didn’t realise we had this body of work ready to be released, and it was just there waiting for it. All we had to do was put the pieces of the puzzle together.”

Slotting those final perfectly curved edges into place, it all comes together to make for a rather lovely listen, which, in case you couldn’t tell, is all about sun, fun and chums.

Mentioning that they’ve previously been bogged down in wondering if what they’re doing is “cool enough”, this time it’s quite simply all about making “pop-happy music that is summery and fun.”

Indeed, none of this would’ve cropped up had the world kept turning back in 2020. Once things did stutter to a halt, the loss of a packed diary full of gigs, including supporting Bombay Bicycle Club and other dream moments, was, of course, “heartbreaking”. But ever the optimist Dan also notes that when one door closes, another opens. “What it has done is given us the chance to step back and think, what do we want to do? Would we be doing a TV show if we weren’t locked down?”

That’s right; they’ve even been creating their own sitcom.

Named after the mixtape, Paradise Heights is a zany peek into the world of these mates and those that orbit, along with a chance to get a peek at their upcoming tunes.

“This whole thing that we’ve created, it’s bigger than a TV show. It’s a concept. It’s a whole world. The whole thing is about wanting people to buy into it,” Dan readily explains.

Taking place in a fictional apartment, think Friends with a touch of surrealism for good measure, it’s on a purposeful set constructed for maximum chaos. So, the next step is to wait for the Netflix contract to roll in then? “Oh, yeah. And then we’ll sign our souls to the devil!” Dan affirms with a smirk. “Everyone was always riffing off each other’s weird ideas and funny concepts,” he continues on its origins. “And suddenly we’re in a position where we had come up with

the idea of making a kind of sitcom, and the label was happy to facilitate… we’ll probably just get sponsored by Gucci for the next one.”

KAWALA’s exuberant energy is indeed easy to buy into, especially when they go all-in on their ideas. Certainly, the music finds itself residing in a folk core while those summery sounds bloom and blossom from the spring into full-on vibes, but when they’re a band of mates, it’s hard for that energy to not be palpable.

Which is good. This is a world that craves more than just some lovely songs. It wants something bigger, something different.

“How do we stand out?

Honestly, it’s a constant thought process,” the guitarist explains on their place in the landscape. “We were the first people to go out and do a tour after lockdown one. We are constantly trying to come up with concepts that make our projects a bit different and boost your presence.”

Noting with a snooty air, for flavour: “It’s sad that you can’t just be completely musicfocused, like, ‘Oh, we’re such purists’.” Continuing, he says, “You can’t do that. So, coming up with some things like [the] TV show, or going on a park tour, things like that start getting traction, suddenly the press want to talk about you.

It’s all part of it, isn’t it? It’s kind of sad… not sad, it’s just part of it. And it’s fun! Because it means we get to make a TV show and go on tours.”

It does seem like KAWALA are ahead of the curve in riding these bubbling waves of attention spans and sugar-rush content. Brightly acknowledging this fact, Jim says: “If you don’t play the game, then you’re just gonna fall behind. It’s not something that we’re scared of because we do enjoy it.” With their TikTok fanbase now eclipsing all other mediums (63,000 for those counting), KAWALA are primed and ready to keep ducking and weaving whatever the world throws up next.

“Does it give you a constant

state of anxiety? Yes.” Dan adds, laughing. “The thing that drives you to carry on, it’s a double-edged sword, but it’s a double-edged sword that I’d gladly be stabbed by!”

KAWALA’s music certainly lives in its own universe; you can pop a track on and feel like you’re a thousand miles away from any concrete jungle.

Truthfully though, they come to life in a live environment. It’s where they flourish amidst their banter, or even wrong-doorsituations, such as they had on a visit to Glasgow. During the particularly intense and delicate, harmonising, acapellafeaturing moment of ‘Mighty River’, the pair’s faces lighting up at the memory as they explain: “Someone just walked in at the wrong moment, they’d obviously got the wrong room… and just goes ‘Fuck!’”

“I started laughing, and then you started laughing,” Jim nods to Dan. “And then the whole crowd just erupted into laughter.”

It’s gems like this that play into KAWALA’s personality.

They want to be free and easy, with Dan noting: “We want to it feel like if you’re turning up for one of our shows, you’re gonna get whatever turns up on the day.”

They’re looking forward to the rest of the year finally shifting into gear so they can begin catalysing these moments again. So far, diary entries include kicking off this year’s Latitude’s Main Stage and a tour later on, along with a visit to Kentish Town Forum, which it turns out is equidistant between Jim and Dan’s childhood homes, properly bringing their journey full circle. The year’s looking a bit more positive, and even when the heat’s hiding away in those winter months, KAWALA are promising to bring their brand of sunshine no matter the weather to keep that feeling alive.

So, what does paradise actually look like for KAWALA? For Jim, it’s best found in their song ‘Ticket To Ride’. “It kind of describes what paradise looks like for us because it’s all about travelling to paradise, you know, the sun’s out. Beautiful.”

As for Dan, it’s a little more physical. “Maybe it’s shifted, but paradise is absolutely being onstage somewhere for a silly amount of people and just being with your best buds having the best time in the sunshine.” See you in a field soon then, eh lads? P KAWALA’s mixtape ‘Paradise Heights’ is out 23rd July. Find their TV show on YouTube.

KAWALA

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FEATURES

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CREEPER

Creeper don’t do anything by halves; their new EP is just as grand as you’d expect from rock’s most interesting band.

Words: Josh Williams.

I

t’s been a funny old year, but for some, the unexpected turmoil has offered up the opportunity to see out some unfinished business.

Creeper’s new EP ‘American Noir’ sees the band revisit their 2020 album, ‘Sex, Death, and the Infinite Void’.

“We had a load of music that was leftover,” Will Gould explains. “When I was trying to work out where we went from our last album [2017’s ‘Eternity, In Your Arms’] to this one musically, it was a real nightmare of a transition because I didn’t quite know how to write the songs I wanted to write. Towards the end of ‘Eternity, In Your Arms’, we were playing with a bit more theatrical style of music and listened to loads of different music, so we were like, how do we write this stuff? How do we start? How we do get good at this?”

“It’s a different set of skills that goes into writing a Bruce Springsteen song as opposed to an Alkaline Trio song. They’re both challenging, but we’re much more trained in how to write punk songs. We wrote so many songs; there are so many more that aren’t on this EP. We were lucky enough to have about 60 songs we wrote for the album because we were trying to write something really nuanced, and that took a lot of trial and error.

“There were some we couldn’t lose. We ended up with a bunch of really good

songs that my girlfriend said were some of our best ones, but they never made the record! They’ve been sat in a folder on my phone like a graveyard where files live forever, never to see the light of day like some sort of purgatory. With our line-up change, coming out of a pandemic, and the relaunching of touring and hopefully the return to normal life, I felt like it was a good time to re-explore some of these and put out something to the world that serves a plan as well as our record coming out a year ago and we haven’t had the chance to tour it.

“I didn’t want to go in and make something completely new with a new set for it because I didn’t get a chance to do this one yet. Trying to do this was the right move as it was expanding on what we did; it tells the story after [album character] Roe’s passing at the end of the album, and as a band, it’s music we were really really proud of.”

The band re-examined all the material they had in reserve to see if they could piece together something new, and found they had a lot to play with. As Will points out, recent single ‘Midnight’ was written on the same day as album highlight ‘Thorns of Love’, but they still sound different. “It was always naturally going to be that way,” he considers, “because these were songs

written to originally get to somewhere. They were about the journey of the song. For example, the song ‘One Of Us’ I’m really proud of, but it’s one of the ones I regret not putting on the record itself. I was at a grand piano, and Ian [Miles] was on electric guitar, and we just wrote this bit and made that chorus really high and difficult to sing.

Then we’re like, okay, cool,

Void’ and put it on shuffle you’d be like, how do all these songs exist on the same record?”

Turning his attention to the title, Will reveals that ‘American Noir’ was originally meant for the album. “We met this really eccentric guy who had worked with Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears and stuff. He was really weird, and I loved him. I told him

“I’m just a punk rock chancer making it up as I go along” Will Gould let’s fuck around with this.

Let’s try and roughhouse something with samples to try and do this.

“These songs are experiments. For example, ‘America At Night’ is a grand, really dramatic lush song about living in America, and I think that one, in particular, would come on the last record if it was placed right. I think that if you’d jumbled up ‘Sex, Death, and the Infinite

the story of this record that we wanted to make, but we hadn’t really started working on it at that point, and he was like, okay, what’s it called? I was like, I don’t really know. I imagined it like a noir film, but it’s based in America, and he was like, ‘American Noir’!

“So it was a chance to reuse the working title like with how Star Wars was called Blue Harvest at first.

We felt like there was a

chance to reuse something that we felt close to, and the last record was a very dark period of our personal lives.

It’s a dark period in time, and obviously, look where we are now. In terms of its narrative, I think ‘American Noir’ was apt for the subject matter.”

Will also saw this EP as an opportunity for bandmate Hannah Greenwood to shine. “I went into a cocoon of trying to write songs for Hannah because we wrote ‘Crickets’ on ‘Eternity, In Your Arms’ for Hannah, and she was really reluctant at first to step up, and when she did, she was just fantastic.

She’s so good. She’s such a brilliant talent; you just can’t believe it when you see her perform.

“In the end, I wrote a bunch of stuff and recorded a load of it in LA, and I was like, well, we want to get Hannah out here. She started singing the songs, and it comes alive when she sings it. I’m not a classically trained singer; I’m just some weird punk rock chancer making it up as I go along, but she’s amazing.”

As for how Will feels about ‘Sex, Death, and the Infinite Void’ a year on, he says: “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. It’s the best thing I’ve been involved in, by a long shot. I’m really, really proud of that record.

It’s funny because the thing is, as creative people, we critique everything we do to ridiculous degrees. Usually,

you look back on it a year ago and think fucking hell, that’s awful!

“I’m just so proud of it. It’s such a good album.

I can remember every moment, where and when we were doing it, how I had to bend everything to fit into a narrative all the time, alongside all the tragedies in real life, like speaking to Ian when he was in a psychiatric hospital in the UK about what was going on with him and the conspiracy theory he was believing in, while I was in LA in an Uber. It’s all these different minutiae that go into this really textured piece, and then you listen to it, it’s the story of Roe and Annabelle and Calvary Falls, and it’s got the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra on it!

“It’s crazy how this stupid little punk band we started in Ian’s mum house has become this. I’m really proud of it. If I was a kid and that came out, I would really really enjoy it!

What I’m trying to say is, I feel like I haven’t picked it apart, and I don’t hate it as much as I hate some of the other things I’ve done. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I’m not sure. You get what I mean, though. It’s sometimes difficult to love stuff that you’ve done, but this is something that I’m very close to, and I feel is an accomplishment over the adversity in our lives.”

P Creeper’s EP ‘American Noir’ is out 30th July. readdork.com 57.

Incomi ALL THE RELEASES YOU NEED TO KNOW (AND SOME YOU DEFINITELY DON’T)

Clairo Sling

eeee Out: 16th July 2021.

C

laire Cottrill knows how to create a vibe. That’s the first thing that strikes after hitting play on her second full-length. A lush, lavish, opulent piece, it sees the 22-year-old Gen-Z breakthrough icon working with alt-pop’s go-to producer, Jack Antonoff. But while sometimes, elsewhere, it might feel like the Bleachers main man has at least one hand on the steering wheel, guiding his charge down well beaten, Springsteen-esque paths, there are no such fears here. ‘Sling’ is 100% Clairo.

While 2019’s breakthrough ‘Immunity’ felt an organic, textured affair, its follow up is bathed in a dreamy warmth - a welcoming embrace of a simpler, less stressful time.

Lyrically, lead track ‘Blouse’ may muse on the abuse of power by lecherous, creepy men, but musically, ‘Sling’ is a record that seems crafted from the earth around it.

A million miles from the always-on, screenburn culture that creeps through every nook and cranny, it’s a timeless charm that never demands but always enchants.

While others might have crumbled under the pressure, Clairo has flourished.

Even the presence of Lorde on backing vocals across several songs never threatens to steal her limelight. From the heart-swelling embers of ‘Just For Today...’ to the twinkling piano keys of ‘Little Changes’, wrapped attention is assured. Subtle but powerful, ‘Sling’ is an album born of love and care.

A slow-burner, sure, but one that will last the distance.

STEPHEN ACKROYD

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ing Recommended Releases MAKE SURE YOU CHECK OUT THESE ALBUMS.

LUMP Animal (Partisan/

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Two years after releasing their debut, duo Stephanie Jean and Chris Turpin are now fully ensconced in the Nashville scene, writing and recording ‘Click Click Domino’ in Tennessee under the tutelage of legendary producer Ethan Johns (Kings of Leon, The Vaccines). They certainly have a few famous friends; Greta van Fleet are along for a guitar solo on ‘Long Gone and Heartworn’ amongst a who’s who of local session musicians. Wheels are not being reinvented in this tribute to the American songbook, and the legacy of Dylan, Jack White and Allison Kraus are easy to pick out across the album, but the craft with which Ida Mae deliver their songs elevates them above mere pastiche.

Releasing their joint inner beasts once again, indiefolk royalty Laura Marling and Tunng’s Mike Lindsay have once again combined forces for ‘Animal’, their second record as LUMP. With an experimental debut that captured a potent sort of magic, it was always going to be hard to pull off the same trick twice - and yet, the pair may just have done it again. There’s a real sense of escapism from the opening ‘Bloom At Night’ onwards, another dive into their strange world where reality has shifted everso-slightly onto another plane. When the stars align and everything clicks into place as it does plenty and often, there is so much here to grab hold of. JAMIE

DILLON EASTOE

MACMILLAN

(Vow Road) Out: 16th July 2021

Wolf Alice Blue Weekend

(Dirty Hit) A near-perfect album arriving at the nearperfect time, Wolf Alice’s imperial phase has finally dawned. .

Inhaler It Won’t Always Be Like This

(Polydor) With a debut album that silences any remaining doubters, Inhaler might always be a band with a certain legacy, but they wear it well.

Ida Mae Click Click Domino

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Drug Store Romeos The world within our bedrooms (Fiction)

Griff One Foot In Front Of The Other (Warner)

A debut ‘mixtape’ (i.e. not an album - DO NOT CALL IT AN ALBUM) from one of Big Pop’s greatest hopes.

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FEET

Half Waif Mythopoetics (ANTI)

Wavves Hideaway (Fat Possum)

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In a somewhat solemn shade of alternative pop, Half Waif (Nandi Rose to her friends) presents a rich canvas of synth and piano tracks that are humbly boasting a musical complexity that’s matched only by the airy tones of their vocals. Spinning encapsulating tales about Alzheimer’s, loss, capitalist greed and personal struggles, ‘Mythopoetics’ is an elegantly honest exploration of what exactly is on Half Waif’s mind. An album that finds itself buzzing with electronic innovation of sound that sits beautifully in line with her previous releases, it’s an exhibition of reflection, providing listeners with a twelve track pause to contemplate the depths of our emotions and a peek into buried thoughts. CONNOR

Wavves plunge into the pools of their seventh album with an enormous splash.

‘Hideaway’ might give you the impression that they are seeking an escape and running, but the San Diego rockers are more aptly in pursuit of a calm and relief amidst chaos. It’s perhaps because of this, then, that the first few tracks on the album see them unleashing oodles of frenetic energy and ferocity – it’s a cathartic attempt to expel their barely contained fears and worry. While they begin by desperately searching for a respite amongst the whirling, unpredictable world around them, the latter half gives way into a giddiness amidst the madness and anxiety. As ‘Hideaway’ draws to a close, they find it and sink into its depths. NEIVE MCCARTHY

FENTON

Out: 16th July 2021

FEET Walking Machine EP (Nice

Walking Machine EP

Swan) Out: 6th August 2021

Arena

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Oli: From my memory, ‘Arena’ was birthed out of an atypical lockdown jam between me and Rains. Initially, it was a sombre moment, evocative of our pandemic pace of life. However, when George started chipping in with the lyrics, it was abundantly clear that the song could be much more than just a moody nod to better times.

Against the surreal backdrop of 2020, compounded by us parting with some of our team - this quickly became a time of both contemplation and anticipation. Throughout the writing process of Arena, we were toying with what we wanted to sound like as a band. Though I believe with the other songs, we took positive strides in terms of sound, with Arena, we found what we wanted to say as well. George’s lyrics weave between observation and humour, placing us more accurately on the serious spectrum than with previous releases. They also come from a place of despondency with being in a band and not knowing when the next show is coming. I guess you could say that this whole EP serves as a vehicle for us finding our place in the musical landscape. Arena, like the others, has been integral to that.

Peace & Quiet

Out now

Dreamy brilliance that bewitches from the very first spin.

Chrysalis) Out: 30th July 2021

Artist’s Guide

Harry: To say our work ethic on the writing process of this song was strong would be a colossal understatement. When we finally decided to get to work writing after two months of doing almost nothing since moving to London, one of the first ideas we ended up with was ‘Peace & Quiet’. I reckon we had the stabs in between the verses at the house and the rest of the song came in the rehearsal studio, and when I say the rest of the song, I mean literally one other chord. If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it. The backbone of the song, in my opinion, is in the vocal delivery and content, so the real work, we decided, would be in the production of the song and making it sound how we intended - which came when we record Walking Machine in October.

We were reasonably happy with this one from the get-go and opened with it during our tour support with Inhaler in February last year.

Library

Rains: ‘Library’ had been lurking in the ‘unfinished-FEET-song-bank’ for many a month before it finally clicked with us. We wanted to hammer home an approach we’ve had towards our newer songs: to make songs a lot less musically busy, giving space to the individual parts and emphasising the hooks. ‘Library’ is our entry into the ever-growing abyss of 3-chord garage rock

FEET have returned with both an eagerly anticipated EP and a fresh sense of coherence. Stepping forward with an aptly-titled ‘crease-pop’ sound, the four-piece match pop hooks and soft melodies with gritty delivery, and the result is a tighter act that maintain their ambitious sprawl.

Lead single ‘Peace & Quiet’ paves the way forward with a tune that is anything but; roaring instrumentals fuel the fire for George Haverson’s snarling vocal performance. Screeching guitars and wavering basslines provide the punch alongside breakdown sections that keep things dynamic.

‘Library’ then diverges from FEET’s usual sense of audacity. Rhythm guitar fills out the soundscape, and a deep, loud vocal backing absorbs the lead to generate timeless energy – this song could be from the 70s or 00s, but either way, it’s going on 2021’s summer playlists.

Often distinguished and understated, but never so much so it loses its edge, ‘Walking Machine’ hones in on the raucousness for a deliberately focused sound that leaves us keenly craving more. FINLAY HOLDEN songs, taking inspiration from the simplicity of bands such as The Ramones and Pixies, whose songs consist of simple and memorable melodies at their core disguised by a noisy and garage rock feel.

Busy Waiting

Ben: This is one of our moodiest tracks, somehow arising from George’s waiting on a slow-eating acquaintance and the British aggravation which comes with that.

This is the second incarnation of this song, the previous involving a choir-like chant shouting the chorus hook. Realising the song needed more character (and to be better), we injected aggression and tension in the form of turning Oli’s bass chorus up to 11 and built contrast in the pre-verses with Oli and I locking in in a sparse eighth note drone; hoping to give the full band sections more weight. Everything you hear on the recording is from a single take with everyone in the same room, even the vocal, which is super dry but remains apparent and spacious. It was hard to find the sweet spot when recording it, but when we got there, it felt like coming full circle to finish the EP. P FEET’s EP ‘Walking Machine’ is out 6th August. readdork.com 59.

Coming Soon

FIVE RELEASES YOU SHOULD START GETTING EXCITED ABOUT NOW

Lorde Solar Power Out:

Charli Adams

20th August 2021

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Bullseye (Ultra Records) Out: 13th August 2021

I

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t’s been clear since the release of her debut EP that Charli Adams is one to keep an eye on. With last year’s ‘Good at Being Young’, Charli introduced herself as a songwriting talent to be reckoned with: those six impeccably-penned songs perfectly captured a teenage spirit that everyone has pined for. Fast-forward to the present day and she’s released ‘Bullseye’, her sprawling first full-length that absolutely cements her star potential.

There’s something for everyone on ‘Bullseye’: the ‘80s-indebted ‘Remember Cloverland’ shines with an irresistible groove and synths so sleek they’d leave The 1975 in awe, while the Phoebe Bridgers–esque opening cut ‘Emo Lullaby’ is — well, exactly that. If you’re looking for grunge, she’s got you covered with ‘Cheer Captain’ or the titletrack, which amplifies her frustration to near-

deafening levels, and there’s almost always a trace of country in homage to her Alabama upbringing.

Charli flits between mood just as deftly as she does genre. She’s self-assured and empowered on ‘Joke’s On You (I Don’t Want To)’, brushing off sleazy guys at a bar with a breezy effortlessness, only to turn inwards and divulge her insecurities two tracks later on ‘Bother With Me’. These more sombre cuts are aided immensely by her emotive voice, raw, raspy and breathless as she tries to keep up with her feelings running away from her.

All in all, it’s fair to say that Charli has managed to hit the centre of the target with this one. ‘Bullseye’ is bold and bigger than life, covering all bases while still giving the impression that there’s even more to come — a perfect debut record. JAY SINGH

CHVRCHES Screen Violence Out: 27th August 2021 .

(Roadrunner) Out: 30th July 2021

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Hussy Hussy EP (Rock Hag) Out: 23rd July 2021

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eeee In just eight tracks, British duo IDER have created a pop album with such breadth of style that it plays like walking through the many rooms of a nightclub you aren’t cool enough to be in. ‘shame’ delivers magnificently as the band’s second album, seeing Megan Markwick and Lily Somerville taking control of the production process from farm to fork. We receive IDER in an unadulterated, undiluted form with more of their iconic harmonies and perpetual rhythm. Crafting pop soundscapes with enough layers to keep you coming back a thousand times is something IDER have already proven they are well versed in. The likes of ‘Cross Yourself’ and ‘Obsessed’ are no exception to this thanks to their use of entrancing programmed percussion and hidden slips of distorted vocals that seem to come from nowhere.

There isn’t a dull moment in sight. IDER have blessed us with a bounty of bangers in ‘shame’, proving that their creativity knows no bounds.

Dead Nature Watch Me Break Apart (Dead Nature Records) Out: 23rd July 2021

eeee Rejoice! Tarek Musa, he of very first Dork cover superstars Spring King, has returned to us with this, the debut proper for his solo project Dead Nature. A record that worries as much about internal anxieties as it does the huge universal worries that face everyone all over the globe, it is a supernaturally good record from the in-demand and very-super indie producer.

Of course, there’s no getting away from the fact that it sounds a lot like a Spring King record. Kicking off with the euphoric sounding title-track, the dials have been set firmly for ‘big’ and ‘bombastic’. There’s more than a hint of Arcade Fire in some of their epic moments, with a real cinematic sweep across the early moments in particular. It’s a banging record to remind you of why you fell in love with his music in the first place. He might have broken apart; now watch him build it up again.

JAMIE MACMILLAN

Little Simz Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

The Academic Community Spirit EP (Capitol Records)

.

Out now

Comprised of tracks left out from latest LP ‘Sex, Death and the Infinite Void’, Creeper offer up another big slab of their now-trademark stadium goth-rock on ‘American Noir’. Across five songs and three interludes, Will Gould and co. continue to ham it up with theatrical choruses that are more Meat Loaf than My Chem. Creeper are at their best when Gould and keyboardist Hannah Greenwood share out the vocal duties, and this is where they find space to delve further on ‘American Noir’. As good as the songs are, the theatre that make this band so vital is diminished without the buzz of hearing their fans belt the words back at shows.

When the curtain raises Creeper will have a stacked setlist at least. DILLON

Professional sad girl and galvanising one-woman-band Hussy takes ownership of her sound in a sweeping, meticulously crafted lo-fi indie record, fleshing out broad worlds with diminished guitars and well-balanced vocals which embody an urgent sense of desperation.

A sombre introduction explodes into a cathartic chorus on ‘I Tried’, Hussy’s magnum opus on this release. Whining, hearttugging instrumentals beg for attention before whirling into a storm of distress. An audible form of Xanax in alluring doses, the ‘Hussy’ EP sits you under a dark, brooding sky but searches for promise in gleaming stars as you do the same. This adoptive South Londoner stamps her presence onto a vibe already proven to entice.

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EASTOE

FINLAY HOLDEN

HOLDEN

60. DORK

Out: 6th August 2021

CONNOR FENTON

Out: 3rd September 2021

Creeper American Noir

IDER Shame (Self-released)

‘Community Spirit’ sees Irish boyband The Academic take another step forward by flexing their usual strong melodies and distinguished delivery with a more mature soundscape swarmed with warm and joyful fibres. The bright and loose tone is immediately established alongside the understated ‘Not Your Summer’, which boasts an indisputably catchy chorus, a staple manifestation of the group’s charming swagger. An omnipresent sweetness is carried forward by frontman Craig Fitzgerald’s control of production, upgrading the band’s existing facilities in indie-pop territory.

A few uncertain steps have nimbly found their footing in a mild-mannered contribution that soothes and cools underlying agitations. FINLAY

Baby Queen The Yearbook Out: 3rd September 2021

Jawny The Story of Hugo (Interscope/EMI .

Records) Out now

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Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure

Out: 22nd October 2021

Jawny’s latest release is something of a reset and also a blast off for the alt pop sensation as he throws himself into a great big melting pot of diverse sounds.

‘The Story Of Hugo’ follows on directly thematically from last year’s ‘For Abby’ EP as it carries on the tale of Hugo making mixtapes to try and catch Abby’s eye. It’s the sound of Jawny progressing as a songwriter in addition to his already tip top producer skills. Moving slightly beyond the bedroom he’s revelling in having space to experiment. Here, he has the freedom to go for all out punk assault or string backed orchestral grandiosity. Either way, it all sounds perfectly Jawny.

Musically things are switched up with a playful pop focus from tropical bops to full on pop punk bangers like the raucous ‘Take It Back’. Mirroring Jawny’s exuberant personality this EP is a brilliantly vibrant sonic explosion. MARTYN YOUNG

Torres Thirstier (Merge) Out: 30th July 2021

eeee Something’s snuck underneath Torres’ skin it would seem. Previously the songwriter’s output has erred on the sparse, acoustic side, opting for the human experience to be a bit more elegiac and subdued than rambunctious.

But that pesky little thing called love has wormed its way in and nudged Torres into a crunching, elevated state; a bit more wide-eyed and frantic.

It turns out this is all Rather Good. Where the previous iterations of Torres were adept at holding their heart on their sleeve, there’s

something about a distorted guitar, flittering electronica, or euphorically thick chorus that gives these tales of loves darkest and most joyous moments (and a bit of theological nihilism to boot (‘Keep The Devil Out’)) an added OOMPH. One that as easily gets you swaying on a dance floor, as it will cathartically flinging a pillow around your room.

Sitting underneath, there’s a continuous dark underlay that’s all embracing. The odd moments that do dig into Torres of old (‘Big Leap’) make for a lovely sorbet before the one of new cranks it up to crack on once more. Really, who needs brightness and loveliness when some grouchy synths, or a driving howl, or just some crunching guitars sound this good.

Torres’ new groove is indeed one to get behind.

STEVEN LOFTIN

Mr Jukes & Barney Artist The Locket (Mmm...

Records) Out: 6th August 2021

eeee After providing one of the standout moments on ‘God First’, the first solo project from Bombay Bicycle Club’s Jack Steadman, it seems like the logical next step for London rapper Barney Artist to join him for the whole thing this time round.

Collaborating over the entire record, ‘The Locket’ proves that lightning can strike twice as the pair continue to bring out the best in each other.

From the very first beats of the title-track on, ‘The Locket’ is the sound of

sunshine. It manages to feel steeped in nostalgia even as it ushers in this summer of juicy freedom we’re all hanging on for, tracks like ‘Blowin Steam (Open Up Your Mind)’ packed full of the sort of easy-going charm that acts like A Tribe Called Quest have perfected over the years. In the wrong hands it might feel dated, but not here - instead ‘The Locket’ is a real meeting of masterminds, Barney’s rhymes gelling perfectly with that polished production of Jack.

After the last couple of years, we’re owed a good time. This is a record that promises they will return, something that begs to be heard in packed parks with just the right amount of tins to hand and the smell of barbecues wafting lazily over the dusk air. Getting loaded to ‘The Locket’, that’s the dream right there. JAMIE

Lauran Hibberd Goober EP

‘Bleugh’ is the only sound that sums up my adult reaction to my pre-naive self. It’s about always being attracted to people who’ve nothing going on, nothing to offer you, yet it’s that hamster wheel you can’t quite jump off. You’ll probably find these people in bands called something like ‘broken cyclists’ or better yet in moody solo projects called something pretentious like ‘bora boring’. It’s my favourite track of mine, and I’ve been sitting on and incubating this girl for a while. It feels really good shouting ‘Bleugh’ btw, I recommend you try it out.

Old Nudes

Lauran Hibberd Goober EP (eOne) Out: 30th July 2021

eeee ‘Goober’ is an affectionate word for a fool, which avid watchers of Spongebob Squarepants will probably know already. This serves as a fitting title, then, for a five-track EP that continues to maintain a trademark façade of buffoonery, underselling Lauran’s smart lyricisms and charmingly fun slacker-pop tone with entertaining and somewhat scandalous stories from her aberrant life and vivid imagination.

The overarching sound continues to encapsulate the best elements of noughties pop-rock nostalgia, using Avril Lavigne as a clear influence in the best way possible. ‘How Am I Still Alive?’ in particular delivers perhaps her strongest track yet with screeching guitars and a roaring chorus, as well as verses swapping between Lauran and Lydia Night; this smart and fitting collaboration allows the pair to bounce off each other’s energy stunningly effectively on the inevitable lockdown song here.

Goofy rock choruses have been mastered at this point and consistently bring the vigour required, but fortunately, there’s also enough sonic variation to keep ‘Goober’ interesting as it unfolds – starting with an almost spoken-word banger (‘Bleugh’) and ending with a semi-ballad (‘You Never Looked So Cool’) certainly helps to bookend the experience.

As the artwork implies, Lauran Hibberd is still growing to full power and, if these bopping tunes are any indication, her next steps should be followed very closely. FINLAY HOLDEN

Once again, I’ve found a stupid way of hiding quite a serious issue…. when you’re with someone and then it’s over, that person goes from being your whole world to just being someone you walk past on the street and hate.

Then you realise things like ‘oh my god, that dude had a nude of me’. You just think of all these weird things that used to happen. It’s basically about how someone can be a massive part of your life for a while and then just vanish into nothing. It’s sad, but I cover it up so well, honestly!

(Warner Records) Out: 23rd July 2021

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MACMILLAN

Artist’s Guide

Bleugh

L Devine Near Life Experience: Part 1

now and whether I’d actually want to do those things. It’s a weird journey of my feelings, and how if Michael Cera actually DID turn up at my door, I’d be like – ‘dude, you’re married, go away.’

L Devine truly understands the power of transcendent pop and she realises it perfectly on her latest EP ‘Near Life Experience: Part 1’.

The collection acts as a primer for everything about L Devine and her electro pop vision. It contains the much loved bangers from last year ‘Naked Alone’ and ‘Don’t Say It’ but also feature 5 new tracks that find her pushing the boundaries of pop in different directions as she deals in glitchy electro escapism on ‘Off The Grid’ and tender reflection on the beautiful ‘Be In Her Bedroom’. This is top tier songwriting.

L Devine goes deeper into her psyche and emotions than ever before here and it really amplifies the resonance of her pristine songs as she pushes the boat out sonically and emotionally. There’s definitely much more to come from her but this EP is a significant step forward in her ascension to pop greatness. MARTYN YOUNG

Boy Bye

It’s a song about perspective; I think sometimes you can only think clearly about things once you’ve stepped away from them for a while.

I’m definitely one of those people that can’t tell what’s going on while I’m in it. Six months later, I’ll realise how weird it was, but at the time, I’m a bit oblivious. It’s about trying to reach that clarity faster, and laughing at your mistakes rather than thinking you’re an idiot.

Crush

It’s about when someone isn’t quite your bag, but you just want someone there, so you put up with them. It’s the opposite of ‘Boy Bye’ – it’s me being the bad guy, saying ‘I’m not into you, but you can stay around because I’m bored’.

You Never Looked So Cool

I started out as a folk artist, so I find it really easy to write sad, depressing songs; it comes very naturally to me.

How Am I Still Normally I’m trying really hard to be upbeat! A year Alive? ago, I fell down the stairs Over lockdown I’ve while holding my amp; it developed a bit of social super hurt, and I was on mad anxiety, as I think most drugs for the pain. I kept people have because we’ve spent so much time alone, so having weird dreams, and in one of them, I died and was when I go to talk to people, watching my own funeral. So it feels a bit weird now. The verses accentuate all of those morbid! I woke up and was relieved it had ended, and feelings, then the chorus is that’s where the song came me thinking of what I would be doing if I wasn’t here right from. Bit heavy, innit?

Pizzagirl Softcore Mourn

Chet Faker Hotel Surrender

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Liam Brown, aka Pizzagirl, is back with his second album, ‘Softcore Mourn’, a record that is equal parts derisive, absurd, and simply sad, swept along by buzzing synths and a 00s emo undercurrent. The opening and eponymous track has the feel of neon-lit urban landscapes and the soft blur of a nightlife timelapse, a trend folded throughout the rest of the tracks. It wouldn’t be out of place soundtracking montages in high school series like The OC or One Tree Hill, matching tripping dance beats with jaded vocals. The surreal, hyper-pop edge of ‘Bullet Train’ will leave you dizzy, vertigo whirling in your head, while the humour and sweetly-perfumed trauma interlaced in ‘Your Flat Earth Brother’ proves typical of an album that hides melancholy behind distorted guitars and biting lyricism.

It’s a memoir of the kind of sadness alluded to as a joke but never confronted headon, and as such, remains both charmingly and unnervingly human. EDIE MCQUEEN

‘Oh Me Oh My’ offers an ominous introduction to Chet Faker’s ‘Hotel Surrender’.

A haunting monologue musing the place of music and beyond collapses into an intoxicating jazzenthused cocktail of soulfully unrefined vocals, jangling pianos and dark strings.

It’s a permanent fixture on the menu for the rest of the album. That mellow pop that saw him become beloved to many on earlier releases still makes an appearance, yet the moody, lounge-jazz influences permeate ‘Hotel Surrender’ more than ever.

It’s a dizzying combination.

With those unrefined vocals and the all-encompassing sonic world Faker builds, it’s hard to pull yourself out.

He swoons and swindles his way into your heart, and by the final track, ‘In Too Far’, there’s an irony to the title that becomes all too amusing. As he croons ‘we wade too far’ repeatedly, you become all too aware of how you have indeed surrendered yourself to Faker’s charm.

(Heist or Hit) Out: 16th July 2021

(BMG) Out: 30th July 2021

NEIVE MCCARTHY

readdork.com 61.

Any Other Questions?

This month...

Walt Disco.

Yes, Dear Reader. We enjoy those ‘in depth’ interviews as much as anyone else. But - BUT we also enjoy the lighter side of music, too. We simply cannot go on any longer without knowing that Finlay from Walt Disco was once bribed with a Bob the Builder scooter. Here’s some off-topic questions to find out ‘more’.

What was the last thing you broke?

Jack: My partner’s french press; I said it was crushed in the basin.

Finlay: Five eggs simultaneously.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?

Jack: A wasp.

Finlay: Sriracha on a Maryland cookie, don’t knock it till you try it.

If you had a pet giraffe, what would you call it?

Jack: Geraldine.

Finlay: Paul Buchanan.

What strength Nandos sauce do you order?

Jack: Medium. Anything above you’re a cycle path, mate.

Finlay: Extra hot obviously, I’m not a baby!

What’s the most impressive thing you can cook?

Jack: A damn fine cheese toastie, with the MEDIUM Nando’s sauce, on a pan, not a machine. Vegan option available.

Finlay: I make a mean loaf of bread; the key is measuring nothing and viciously over seasoning it.

Have you ever won anything?

Jack: I’m usually more of the ‘taking part’ type, but I did come first in a skate jam when I was younger.

Finlay: Aside from every single game of Mario Kart I’ve ever played, no.

What is your earliest memory?

Jack: When I got stung in the

62. DORK

ear by a wasp in nursery and realised there was pain in the world, think that’s what they call your ‘primal scream’.

Finlay: Probably my nana purchasing me the slickest Bob the Builder scooter you’ve ever seen to distract from the fact I was about to have a brother that I would have to share that precious attention with.

What is your most treasured possession?

Jack: I don’t believe in worshipping materialistic things, but probably my Lambo.

Finlay: My Blue Nile ‘Downtown Lights’ 7”!

What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?

Jack: Once, I went on the caterpillar rollercoaster for cowardly babies at Camperdown Park and am yet to fully recover.

Finlay: Probably climbing a moderately sized hill; I don’t do heights!

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Jack: It’d take less time to tell you all my non-fictional crushes, in all honesty.

Finlay: Karen from Spongebob.

What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?

Jack: One time, I admitted in a magazine interview that I primarily fancy fictional characters.

Finlay: Shame isn’t something I am familiar with.

Have you ever seen a ghost?

Jack: One time, I dreamt that

a deceased relative visited me from the beyond the grave, but my 10-year-old brain made them a Star Wars Jedi ghost, robe and all.

Finlay: I haven’t! But my girlfriend keeps trying to buy creepy old dolls for our flat, so I’ll get back to you on that one.

What’s the naughtiest thing you did at school?

Jack: Took out the bathroom light with a bar of soap in P2.

My first and only taste of the school justice system.

Finlay: Nothing, I have always been a saint.

Have you ever fallen over onstage?

Jack: Being the drummer, that would be quite a feat. But I’ve smacked myself in the balls many times.

Finlay: Have I ever not?

If you could have a superpower of your choosing, what would it be?

Jack: Teleportation, simply the most useful superpower in the real world.

Finlay: Always knowing where I left that thing I was looking for.

What have you got in your pockets right now?

Jack: 1x vape pen (hell yeah); 1x wallet (empty); 2x mini rolls (saving them for later).

Finlay: A white chocolate snickers wrapper that I don’t recall eating, sounds delicious!

What’s your favourite type of weather?

Jack: ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’.

Finlay: Mild.

What did you last dream

about?

Jack: Probably being naked at some high society event, I’m naked in most of my dreams.

Finlay: Something about the world ending.

If we gave you £10, what would you spend it on?

Jack: Fallout 4 DLC. Finlay: Skyrim DLC. What is your favourite time of day?

Jack: Post-dinner evening.

Finlay: Breakfast time.

What do you always have in your refrigerator?

Jack: Crafties.

Finlay: Pickled red cabbage; it’s so addictive.

Have you got any secret tattoos?

Jack: Tennants logo on the

inside of my right nostril.

Finlay: I’ve got a really dodgy Bart Simpson on my thigh the size of a £2 coin.

How punk are you out of ten?

Jack: 11 *sunglasses emoji* Finlay: Probably a respectable 6, answering 10 wouldn’t be very punk, would it?

What’s your breakfast of choice?

Jack: A Bloody Mary, darling.

Finlay: Lasagne, breakfast is a societal construct.

If you had to be on a TV gameshow, which would you choose?

Jack: I would absolutely devastate on Catchphrase.

Finlay: Definitely not Countdown; I can’t spell for the life of me.

If a genie granted you three wishes, what would you ask for?

Jack: To redo the Star Wars sequel trilogy with only one director at the helm. I’d also like a Scottish Fold, and a big house in the Netherlands.

Finlay: A new Elder Scrolls game. An endless supply of pickled red cabbage.

Perhaps a new pair of funky spectacles?

Tell us a secret about yourself?

Jack: I’m a test tube child.

Does that make me a Powerpuff girl?

Finlay: I have none! Aside from my Bart Simpson tattoo. You won’t tell anyone, though, will you? P Walt Disco’s single ‘Selfish Lover’ is out now.