DOWN WITH BORING.
ISSUE 62 · FEBRUARY 2022 · READDORK.COM
Bastille.
“LIVES UP TO ITS HYPE WITH FLYING COLOURS”
“A DEBUT ALBUM BURSTING WITH CHARACTER”
“A STELLAR DEBUT”
DIY
UNCUT
ROLLING STONE
THE TIMES
GIGWISE
“AN EXHILARATING RECORD”
MOJO ALBUM OF THE MONTH
THE OBSERVER
BBC RADIO 1 SOUND OF 2022 ARTIST
YARD ACT THE OVERLOAD DEBUT ALBUM OUT 21ST JANUARY
Index. Issue 62 | February 2022 | readdork.com | Down With Boring
WHAT'S ON THE STEREO?
Let's Eat Grandma Two Ribbons
The third album from the former Dork cover stars has sky high expectations attached to it from round these parts. Their last full-length felt like a glimpse of the near future. More of that shimmery brilliance would be very welcome indeed when it arrives this April.
Years & Years Night Call
We're not allowed to publish our review of Olly Alexander’s next pop extravaganza until it's actually out - a week after this issue hits the streets, so you're going to have to wait for our verdict. How will you cope?
spill tab Bonnie EP
A Top 10 EP of the Year in our hearts - if not our official list for 2021 because y'know, we didn't get it in time - spill tab's six-track effort 'Bonnie' has been on repeat in Dork HQ for many, many weeks now. Featuring top-tier collabs with Tommy Genesis, JAWNY and Gus Dapperton, singles 'PISTOLWHIP' and 'Anybody Else', plus new drop 'en quatre', it's proper fun and proper lovely.
EDITOR'S LETTER
NEW YEAR, NEW AMBITIONS. As 2022 gets properly going, we're
back to usher in all the fresh and exciting things we're looking forward to over the next twelve months. Yes, with a certain degree of trepidation - January's tour schedule has already descended into a string of high profile cancellations at the time of writing - but also with a lot of hope too. There's a lot of great stuff to come over the next year - from all the brilliant new acts we introduced you to in last month's Hype List, through to returning favourites ready to get Planet Pop back into a stable orbit once more. That includes this month's returning cover stars Bastille - back with a record that only seeks to push things forward into the dystopian near future via the medium of all out pop music. It's fair to say Dan Smith might simultaneously be one of the UK's most celebrated and yet seriously underrated talents. A production genius with an ear for where the Big Pop Parade will head next, we grabbed hold of him on an isolation mandated Zoom call to find out where it's all heading. Elsewhere this month, we're hitting tiny balls with The Wombats, appreciating the weird but wonderful world of Black Country, New Road, welcoming one of the best new bands on the planet, Yard Act, and so much more. And if you want something to get really excited about... keep your eyes peeled for our next issue, out 11th February. It's all about to go down. Enjoy!
Sprints
How Does The Story Go EP
The follow-up to debut EP 'Manifesto', on-point Dublin punks Sprints are back with a new effort this March featuring relatable and often tongue-incheek laments like "I wanna go home" in the title-track, and "who wants to be special anyway (me! fucking me!)" in 'Delia Smith'. It's a record of both furious empathy and much-needed comfort.
‘Editor’ @stephenackroyd
Band Index. The 1975 Abbie Ozard Alfie Templeman Alie Glass Alix Page alt-J APRE Ashnikko Aurora Baby Queen Bastille Black Country, New Road Bleachers Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard Cat Power Catcher Cavetown Chloe Moriondo CMAT Crows The Districts English Teacher Father John Misty Fickle Friends Fontaines D.C. Frankie Beddlestone Glass Animals Hippo Campus Horsegirl Jamie T L Devine Lauran Hibberd Let's Eat Grandma Los Bitchos MICHELLE Mitski MØ Moa Moa The Mysterines Nick Mono Orlando Weeks Palace Pale Waves Remi Wolf Sam Fender SASAMI Silverbacks The Smile Spector Spill Tab Sports Team Sprints Static Dress Thomas Headon Thyla Viia VLURE Warmduscher Wasuremono Wet Leg Willow Willow Kayne Wolf Alice The Wombats Yard Act Years & Years Youth Sector
07 54 07 36 21 17 50 55 51 15 24, 48 04 14 15 51 22 58 15 10, 17 17 50 22, 62 07, 17 15, 47 17 22 52 47 23 07 54 15 03, 17 47 12, 48 51 50 22 17 22 51 47 16 61 14 17 47 17 16 03 56 03 17 15 47 22 18, 47 17 50 16 61 49 16 40, 48 32, 46 03 17
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Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Contributing Editors Jamie Muir, Martyn Young Scribblers Alex Cabre, Connor Fenton, Dillon Eastoe, Edie McQueen, Finlay Holden, Jake Hawkes, Jamie MacMillan, Melissa Darragh, Neive McCarthy, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin Snappers Aysia Marotta, Callum Lloyd-Jones, Dillon Matthew, Frances Beach, James Brown, Jamie MacMillan, Rosie Foster, Oli Erskine, Patrick Gunning, Sarah Louise Bennett, Todd Fisher
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UNIT 10, 23 GRANGE ROAD, HASTINGS, TN34 2RL
All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of The Bunker Publishing Ltd. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which The Bunker Publishing Ltd holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Dork or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally.
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This Month. #62. FEBRUARY 2022.
Intro. 06 BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD After achieving a breakout success no one could have expected with their debut, experimental London mob Black Country, New Road are back with their second album.
10
CMAT'S KARAOKE MASTERCLASS
Learn from the stars, without having to shell out a couple of hundred quid a year.
12
15
MICHELLE
New York City-based collective MICHELLE are practically the very definition of A Lovely Time, with their debut showing off a bright take on sunny R&B, packed with harmonies and hooks aplenty. If any album is going to cheer up the grey days of early 2022, it's this one.
FICKLE FRIEND'S SELF HELP TIPS
With every new year comes a load of promises about eating vegetables or somesuch, but that's not all you can do to make yourself feel a little better. Natti from Fickle Friends clues us in on her best self-care tips ahead of the band's new album, 'Are We Gonna Be Alright?'.
15
16
NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS
Be honest, you've already broken your New Year's resolutions, haven't you? Figured. Still, maybe 'the bands' are doing better, huh? We asked a few of them what's on their list for 2022.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... FRED MACPHERSON, SPECTOR
You know what’s easier than following around your fave pop stars, day in, day out, to see what they’re up to right that minute? Asking them. Here’s what Fred Macpherson from Spector's day looks like.
17
BANGERS
The best of the latest new tracks.
Hype. 18
21
22
VLURE
Having just completed their first run of headline shows, Glaswegian five-piece VLURE have cemented themselves as a band that instil a true sense of vigour through their multi-faceted music.
ALIX PAGE
Newcomer Alix Page is making all the right noises in all the right places with her easy to love alt-pop. Just don't ruin any sacred bands for her, or else.
LIVE REPORT: ENGLISH TEACHER
Checking in from the frontlines with one of the UK's buzziest new bands.
23
HORSEGIRL
Is it a horse? Is it a girl? No, it's Chicago teen troupe Horsegirl! Can't fly, great at music. Probably a more useful super power, anyway.
Features. 24 BASTILLE
Over the past decade, Bastille have established themselves as one of the biggest bands, but with new album 'Give Me The Future' they're refusing to focus on the past.
32
YARD ACT
Breaking out of Yorkshire with their tonguein-cheek but absolutely spot-on social commentary, Elton John's favourite new band (yes, really) Yard Act are kicking off 2022 with the release of their debut album.
36 ALICE GLASS
Alice Glass has been through the ringer during
4. DORK
her time in the music biz, and now the former Crystal Castles icon is channelling all her experience into a solo debut.
40 THE WOMBATS
When we think of indie-pop powerhouses The Wombats - back with brand new album 'Fix Yourself, Not The World' - we think of, well, minigolf. Why? They're both tee-rific. (Sorry - Ed.)
Incoming. 46 REVIEWS
The new releases you need to hear - and some you definitely don't.
49 ARTIST'S GUIDE: WILLOW KAYNE
Pop's latest future icon has dropped a debut EP - we've asked her to run us through it.
Get Out. 52 52
LIVE
Catch up with live reports from Glass Animals, Sports Team, Ashnikko, L Devine and more.
DECENT EXPOSURE
The best live photography from Cavetown, Willow and Remi Wolf.
Backpage. 62
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS... ENGLISH TEACHER
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 Lily Fontaine of English Teacher would call her pet whale Dwayne.
ANT
THE BEATING HEART OF POP.
After achieving a breakout success no one could have expected with their debut, experimental London mob Black Country, New Road are back with their second album. WORDS: JAMIE MACMILLAN. PHOTOS: ROSIE FOSTER.
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MUS -IC C
harlie Wayne has his in the middle of telling "an incredibly boring head in his hands as the story." "I'm on an insanely boring vibe today," Black Country, New he says cheerfully as both of them break into Road drummer pleads giggles, "I've got loads of anecdotes, and his case after a lengthy none of them are going to be of any interest anecdote about bathrobes has derailed badly. whatsoever." He lives up to that fairly quickly "There was a time when I wasn't allowed to with a blow-by-blow description of the time do interviews, you know." Leaning back, he one of his family members realised they had suddenly punches the air triumphantly. "But Covid while in a car. Short version - they got now look at me. I'M BACK, BABY!" He's on it, he didn't believe them, he was wrong. a roll. "It's amazing, Ignoring the sense of actually, because a lot impending doom, we of people have said carry on and ask Tyler how that we are wonderful she's doing. "Mmmmm," storytellers. We've got a she answers with a smile, reputation for it." concentrating fully on her "They say that about chocolate bar. It's all going Isaac," interrupts well. bassist Tyler Hyde. It's all suitably chaotic "They've never said that for a band that have about you." exploded out of cult live Happy to have status throughout 2021 cleared that up, Dork with the release of their continues to dive into Mercury-nommed debut, the world of one of 'For The First Time'. A 2021's breakout bands riotous plunge across on the eve of a second multiple genres, dipping CHARLIE WAYNE triumphant record. between post-punk, jazz Chatting over Zoom and even klezmer (often in the week where London has become within the same song), it became one of the the capital city of Omicron, chaos reigns most discussed and divisive albums of the outside our collective windows. As we year on its way to smashing into the top five in wait for Tyler to join us and chat to Charlie the album charts. But the success didn't seem about which band member may have it at to ever really sink in with Charlie. "There's present, he begins to tell us about the time still a slight lack of tangibility about the whole that saxophonist Lewis got ill just before his thing for me," he explains. "Obviously being university dissertation. As Tyler joins us, he nominated for the Mercury and it charting quickly stops and happily explains that he is are very obvious markers for success. But we
"THERE WAS A TIME WHEN I WASN'T ALLOWED TO DO INTERVIEWS, YOU KNOW"
readdork.com 7.
We're not doing the cool shit that people haven't done all of the classic things that think we might do." a lot of bands do. We haven't toured the "We are a constant source of album extensively because we weren't disappointment to our tour manager," able to, and everything was done over nods Charlie with a giggle. "I think he does Zoom." We ignore the tragedy that here like hanging out with we are on Zoom one us, but there's a real year later, talking gap between what he about an album. considers to be a good With limited time and what we get time to tour due to a up to." variety of reasons (the We dig a little November dates were deeper for the dirt. rescheduled due to After all, with seven in illness), it has been, the band, surely one as with many artists of them is a trouble in the last couple of maker on the road? years, a strange road "Well, there was that through an album one time May tried to release year. "When smuggle a load of coke the first album came back into the country," out, we couldn't even he says deadpan. "But go to the pub for a pint that wasn't really to celebrate," he says. band-related. She's an "We went to London entrepreneur." Fields and had a CHARLIE WAYNE Forced into bottle of wine. And thinking on the spot then we came back about any tour trouble they have really here and had a big fire in my garden. And got into, he struggles to pick a moment. I fell asleep." "Unless it's trying to get access to a Alcohol, bands and fires in residential swimming pool or something," he says areas, always a sure recipe for success. "It thoughtfully. "And if we can't, then it's was so not rock and roll," laughs Tyler. obviously a shame, but we're not going to "And that isn't just because of Covid. Any idea people may have of us, well, we're just say anything about it." Half a minute later, inspiration strikes. not rock and roll. We love hanging with "There was one time when we were our friends, having a nice time being nice.
"WHEN THE FIRST ALBUM CAME OUT, WE COULDN'T EVEN GO TO THE PUB FOR A PINT TO CELEBRATE"
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playing in Austria," he says, "they put us up in a very nice hotel, clearly beyond our means." Optimistic about what shenanigans will ensue, we lean in. "We were all wearing our dressing gowns to go to the breakfast buffet…" "You're telling THIS story? It's terrible!" says Tyler, heightening our anticipation as he continues building towards a surely unstoppable climax. "So, we were wearing a dressing gown to go to the pool after. And then they told us we couldn't wear our dressing gowns. And so that was that." Disappointment reigns, our hopes of a salacious story dashed even as we fall in love with their wholesomeness a little bit more. Wild stories or not, the shows that they did play in 2021 were a resounding success - none more so than the huge set at Wide Awake Festival in September. Playing on a stage named after the legendary Windmill Brixton, a stage that Tyler points out was bigger than the entire venue it was named after, the band did start to see just what reaction they and their album was garnering as she remembers the feeling of a "mass of people watching". "Wide Awake was 100% a moment where I was like 'oh fucking hell'," says Charlie. "Because at a festival, you never really know what people think when you're not a well-known band and they're just milling around for the day. But here, people had come along to see us and our music, and they actually knew it as well.
Strange but awesome is how I would describe it." Seeing bands like Shame, PVA and black midi taking that stage and owning it, it was a real statement in how the scene that had coalesced around the Windmill had become something significant in its own right. "I think it was a real testament to the group of bands who came through the Windmill," agrees Charlie. "All having their moment in the sun, and all together. It felt really special; actually, it was a really, really great day." Days like this punctuated a breathless year for Black Country, New Road. And now, at year's end, a swift follow-up, 'Ants From Up There' is on the horizon. Early singles 'Concorde', 'Bread Song' and 'Chaos Space Marine' are indicative of a less frantic, more thoughtfully precise approach to songs this time round the thrilling abrasiveness of the debut replaced by an indie-folk feel that pulls gently and irresistibly at heartstrings throughout. Frontman and lyricist Isaac Wood sings rather than speak-shouts, making for a softer album all 'round. "I think it wasn't so conscious to make it gentler and more that it's just that that's what the songs were really," explains Charlie when we ask him if it was a deliberate move. "Except for 'Track X', those songs on the first album were written with the intention of being performed live," he explains. "And when you want to make an impression on a live scene, the easiest way of doing that is making quite abrasive music." "We're not punks or raging, angry kids," points out Tyler. "So the first album is us just figuring out what we're doing, using influences of what we used to listen to but not really knowing how to use them." Describing the process as like "mannequins being thrown together", she says now that the first record doesn't represent how they felt as people now or even at the time that it was recorded. "We're actually just quite nice, soft people," she adds, unnecessarily, to be honest. "So with this second album, it's who we are, and we know why and what we're doing." With the record largely written in isolation, it became more of a cathartic process and less about the future live performance. "There was literally no one to perform to whether we wanted to or not," says Charlie. "So when you're not playing to an audience, you're playing to the people in the room, and it becomes much more about the interplay between those people." That thought process becomes clear on tracks like the lengthy and beautiful 'Snow Globes', and the even lengthier long-term fan favourite 'Basketball Shoes', both of which begin with extended instrumental intros that last for longer than many singles do in total. There's a delicate yet epic atmosphere around these tracks that brings to mind one of alternative's biggest of hitters of the last couple of decades. Just make sure you compare them to the right era. "It depends what era of Arcade Fire they're talking about," grins Tyler when asked if they're flattered by the comparisons. "It has to be the early version, yeah." "We did invite that," says
Charlie honestly. "We knew we wanted to do something which was not dissimilar to Arcade Fire, but most people just thought we were joking. Having a touchpoint is important, and I think people registering that is a compliment for us." With Isaac not present for the interview, the air of mystery around the lyrics remains - there is a fragility and beauty threading through 'Ants From Up There', with references to Concorde dotted throughout. Not that the band themselves know all the details of what he is singing about. "We're his friends, and we're in very close proximity to him," says Charlie, "So we're able to kind of gauge what's going on without necessarily having to have a creative conversation about it. And sometimes these things are just better when you're able to receive them and make your own judgments rather than having it spelt out for you." As the pair talk about the trust and faith that resides between the entire group, it's easy to see that the years making music together have created a bond that is pretty unbreakable. It's clear that that bond and spirit is something that will carry them into 2022 and beyond, with full tours planned for the spring, including a huge London Roundhouse show in February. But with two very different records tonally, how are they planning on merging it all for the live show? "We've already kind of practised it on the last tour," states Tyler. "And we were incredibly pleasantly surprised at how nice and willing audiences were to listen to music that they
hadn't heard before." She puts a lot of it down to how much improvement many in the band have made in their playing over the intervening years. "I'm not talking about May, Georgia or Lewis; they've always been great. But I definitely feel that for the rest of us, our playing has gotten better." "Can I just say for the record," interjects Charlie sternly. "I've always thought I've been brilliant?" "We do get bored," carries on Tyler regardlessly. "So we've always changed up how we play the old material. And I'm sure there are going to be
people that are upset by that. But I think as long as we believe in it, I think they'll believe in us." With another huge year coming up, things may well continue to change in their world as they march onwards and upwards - hell, Charlie may even get some better stories under his belt. Just remember to lock away your hotel bathrobes when Black Country, New Road bring the most wholesome show to a town near you soon. P Black Country,
‘FYI’ FYI
New Road's album 'Ants From Up There' is out 4th February.
THIS IS HOW IT STARTS... The 1975 are back in the studio. Posting a video captioneed 'Part 5 Day 1', frontman Matty Healy confirmed the rumours the band had been writing a new record over lockdown via Instagram in the first week of January. Manager Jamie Oborne also posted a story featuring a white board with a message in Matty's handwriting reading "To do: 1. Make good record.', which is fair enough. What that means for that promised, teased and then ghosted Drive Like I Do release from last year, who knows - let's just try not to promise a release date before it's actually finished this time, guys? Safety wink emoji here.
"WE'RE NOT PUNKS OR RAGING, ANGRY KIDS; WE'RE ACTUALLY JUST QUITE NICE, SOFT PEOPLE"
MISTY'S BIG ADVENTURE
TYLER HYDE
A PRESENT FOR EVERYONE
Happy Birthday Alfie Templeman (19) Don't forget to celebrate the most wonderful time of the indie year, Dear Reader! → We all know 'The Big Holdays'. Christmas, obviously. Easter - even if you're not a religious type, we can't ignore those chocolate eggs. Halloween and Bonfire Night are fun. So many of them have become over commercialised, though. More about capitalism than standing for something, it's hard not to be cynical. That's why we're proposing a new ringed date on the calendar, 26th January - a truly significant day on Planet Pop. Why? It's Alfie Templeman's birthday! The day when the numerical parenthesis that always follows official communication on indie's young wonder swaps over, and Alfie Templeman (18) becomes Alfie Templeman (19). May the music industry never stop giving us a rolling update of his age after every first mention of his name.
Father John Misty has announced his new album. It's called ‘Chloë and The Next 20th Century’ (don't forget the umlaut! - Ed) and is set for release on 8th April. You can check out the first track from it - 'Funny Girl' - on readdork. com now. There’s also a limited-edition deluxe version of the record featuring bonus 7" singles – including a Lana Del Rey cover of album track ‘Buddy’s Rendezvous’.
IT'S T TIME! Jamie T‘s fifth album is “done” according to a tweet from mixing engineer Jag Jago. With a previous list of collaborators including the Maccabees, Jessie Ware and Ten Tonnes, Jago tweeted “Jamie T album 5. Done. Seriously looking forward to 2022!” The message has since been deleted, meaning it's almost certainly correct, right?
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CMAT’s Karaoke Masterclass
LEARN FROM THE STARS, WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY A COUPLE OF HUNDRED QUID A YEAR. WORDS: MARTYN YOUNG.
CMAT is good at a lot of things. One of the things that she's especially good at, though, is karaoke. She knows that karaoke is serious business, as Dork's own Jamie Muir can attest when he had the microphone ripped out of his hands as he butchered Robbie's rap in a version of Robbie and Kylie's 'Kids' by an angry CMAT. Don't get Robbie wrong when she's around. We thought it was only fair and proper that we gave CMAT an opportunity to run down her top 5 karaoke showpieces. Oh, in no particular order, she stresses
1. CATATONIA ROAD RAGE
"Because I can do the accent, and I like to think I can sing like Cerys. It will bring the house down." (We can confirm that she does an amazing impression of Cerys singing this song. Seriously, next time you see CMAT ask her to do it - Ed.)
2. SHERYL CROW - IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY
"The reason this goes down so well is because I will reenact the music video where she's walking and stomping back and forth. I think it's good to do the opposite of what you are, and I think because Sheryl does country rock music and she's cool, and people like her, means she's the opposite of me."
3. TAMMY WYNETTE - STAND BY YOUR MAN
"I will pull that out if there are old people because that will make them cry."
4. THE POGUES AND KIRSTY MACCOLL - FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK
"She's one of my number one inspirations. I feel like a Kirsty MacColl rip off artist at times because I just want to be her so badly. It's Christmas. I'm Irish, I'm ginger, I'm a Kirsty MacColl fan - game over. Get me on the mic. It's my national heritage. I also need someone who understands the role of Shane McGowan, which can be a difficult one. I try not to pick an Irishman as they'll play up the comedy of it, and this is serious business.
5. ANY SONG BY NATASHA BEDINGFIELD
"Maybe 'These Words''. People usually do 'Unwritten', but that's not what I'm here for. I'm here for the "Read some Byron, Shelley and Keats, recited over a hip-hop beat. I'm having trouble saying what I mean with dead poets and drum machines." I will be screaming those lyrics into someone's face saying, isn't this the funniest lyric you've heard in your life? I need to live my Natasha Bedingfield truth. And finally, what advice does CMAT have for anyone who might be a bit nervous attempting some karaoke? "Sambuca". P
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PHOTO: PATRICK GUNNING.
the new album
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that same 'HEATWAVE' 2.0 feel to it," affirms Charlie Kilgore. "Then we take you to all these different, very unusual, not stereotypical MICHELLE places throughout the middle of the album, but you have comfortable places to ground yourself in the knowledge of our previous music at the beginning and at the end. We start somewhere, and then we go on this massive journey and end up right where we started." here's strength in It's a journey that, as a listener, you numbers; that's a longfollow every step of the way. From the established fact. It's driving beats of 'POSE' to the mystical not often applied to a heights reached on 'LOOKING GLASS', it musical context, but for sparks with life through every track. More MICHELLE, it's part of the foundation considered than its earlier counterpart, they grew from. The six-piece collective's 'AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS' power lies in their multitude – it's their feels sliced from the root of MICHELLE. individual interests, and personalities "It was such a long process, and we wanted and abilities that has thus far propelled everything to be as tight as it could possibly MICHELLE from a pipedream to a career. be, so it feels less like a snapshot of a "It was just supposed to be a fun album," moment in time and more like a chronicle laughs Sofia D'Angelo. "And now it's our of us busting ass to do what we want to life!" do," Charlie remarks. "It's a much more As they approach the release of aspirational album in that we had to work their second album, 'AFTER DINNER really hard together to be able to make that WE TALK DREAMS', the collective is kind of music and be able to do things that transported from the heady, comingwere tight, and to have that restraint, we of-age set that their debut release needed to not just throw in a three-minute 'HEATWAVE' lingered in. Instead, picture outro after five two-minute songs. But I do this: a cosy kitchen, the think we're going to let it laughter of your best all hang out a little bit more friends, those spiralling next time." conversations that take "I think on 'HEATWAVE' you far beyond the realms we were kind of like 'fuck of the dinner table. it, here's a monologue' or 'AFTER DINNER WE 'this song is going to have TALK DREAMS' exists in way too many tracks' or that magical space. 'this one is a jazz ballad!'," "It feels pretty apt elaborates Julian Kaufman. considering we are all "It's definitely a less riskcreative individuals with taking album, but what you our respective creative get instead is something you aspirations," explains can genuinely love for the Layla Ku. "We do actually songs." talk about it at dinner Despite the serious, together and did talk about SOFIA D'ANGELO cautionary nature of their that abundantly during the approach to this release, writing of the album." it still feels like it's pushing at the edges "We're six different people with very of what they can do. The harmonies different dreams, and we were so blessed between the four female vocalists allows with this project that people actually their prowess to sit at the forefront of listened. There are elements of what the album, filled with unbridled angst people have dreamt, or what I have dreamt, such as on opener 'MESS U MADE', or in all of this, but it also looks very different elsewhere playfully bouncing and bold, as to what anybody thought. We're trying to on 'HAZARDS'. They're chameleon-like figure it out as we go," adds Emma Lee. in their ability to shift into different tones That conversational, daydream-like tone and sounds so effortlessly, and it makes and tentative reach towards the future fills the album's kaleidoscopic world that little the album to the brim. It's a step inside the bit brighter. world of MICHELLE. That vibrancy the collective bring is Of course, the sextet have never played perhaps why so much of their feedback it safe. While the album does conjure hinges upon their ability to bring light that intimate image, it also feels multiinto the life of their listeners. Oft equated dimensional. Each track flings you far and to musical sunshine, it's interesting how wide into a different, eclectic corner of even some of their less light-hearted the MICHELLE universe – it's a dizzying tracks are still deemed serotonin-boosting experience. "It took a lot of Zoom calls. and joyous. "I think it's interesting that Charlie and Julian grouped all the songs our music is widely received as uplifting we had written by genre – like 80s dance and feel-good," Sofia muses. "I've been track, left-field, things like that. Then we reflecting a lot on the music that we love picked our favourites from each genre; we and that we will listen to when we hang out definitely wanted to genre-bend like that," together, when we drive, when we're on recalls Jamee Lockard. the road. It's funny how we all are drawn "You start with 'MESS U MADE', which to music that makes us feel good, even if feels like a logical progression from what it's not typically mostly major chords. I was on 'HEATWAVE' already, and then think that's the power of art, to make you you end with 'MY FRIENDS' which has feel good even if it's not about explicit
New York City-based collective MICHELLE are practically the very definition of A Lovely Time, with their debut showing off a bright take on sunny R&B, packed with harmonies and hooks aplenty. If any album is going to cheer up the grey days of early 2022, it's this one.
T
"WE'RE ALL DRAWN TO MUSIC THAT MAKES US FEEL GOOD"
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THIS MUST BE MY
DR
REAM WORDS: NEIVE MCCARTHY. PHOTOS: AYSIA MAROTTA.
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positivity." It's definitely a reflection of how music, no matter how downtrodden or melancholic its contents, can be a source of happiness in dark times. Whether it offers some form of solidarity and catharsis in its lyrics or has a particular synth running through that is an instant mood-booster, music often has the capacity to lift you away from your troubles even if it reflects them too. "I think people's interpretations are always more powerful than what's actually going on in a song," declares Julian. It's this reason that arguably gives a piece of music the potential to lift us into a happier place. While a track ultimately belongs to the artist as long as it exists, once it is unleashed on the world, it takes on a new identity. It shifts into a different shape and meaning for every different listener, and in a way, they have as much ownership over it as the artist themselves. It is, essentially, the listeners who define the trajectory of a track. "The content of half of our anthology is sad," reflects Layla. "But the reception is that folks want to dance, so dance. Make out to 'FYO' if you need to!" It might seem a concept at odds with itself, but MICHELLE create what is effectively the epitome of the 'dance-cry' genre. They might grapple with problems at home, or a feverish obsession you can't shake, or the strenuous task of putting yourself first, but on 'AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS' it is the heavily danceable beats and shimmering, percussion-driven energy that captain the ship. It is steered by that impulse to reflect on your problems and use them as fuel in your fire – the very thing that makes you dance harder. "I think it was Matty Healy who said his ideal song was the dark poeticism of Leonard Cohen but the uplifting production of Whitney Houston," recites Sofia. "I botched that, but I think it rings true." That's not to say there aren't moments on the album that sonically match up with the expressive tenderness of MICHELLE's lyrics. 'SPACED OUT, PHASED OUT' sees the effervescence that permeates the album flicker slightly. It still has that distinctive MICHELLE energy, but its honest recollection of the darker times of pandemic-life strike a chord. If the rest of the album is relentlessly swirling around and non-stop conversation, 'SPACED OUT, PHASED OUT' serves as the moment to pause for fresh air. Ending on a voicemail from Charlie where concern and care is audibly laced into his voice, it's a moment of intimacy that feels like the collective are squeezing your hand in reassurance. "Working through all of this, me and Julian kept going over the album and doing a lot of fine detail work," reflects Charlie. "It felt like 'SPACED OUT, PHASED OUT' needed a very particular kind of personal touch that it didn't have. A voicemail on a song is a classic move. I found this voicemail I'd left for Layla in one of those times when the universe isn't being particularly kind. It was a monster hassle – I knew I had it somewhere, but I had to call the voicemail and enter the number and borrow my partner's phone and record it off of my phone then bump it onto my computer. It was a whole ordeal! I think it really worked in the end. That song felt so clearly from this one perspective, and I think it really benefited from being contextualised in that way of having the person outside, staring through the
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‘FYI’
IT'S ALRIGHT, JACK
It looks like Bleachers fans will be eating well in 2022. Though Jack Antonoff‘s troupe only released a fulllength last year in the form of ‘Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night’, the musical wizz has taken to Twitter to state “I am going to put out a Bleachers album this year”. No might. No want to. No ‘it’d be nice if’. Going to. That’s the extent of the information, but it’s good to have goals, isn’t it? Let’s see if he follows through on it.
BRIT OF ALRIGHT
window at this squalor and sadness." Jamee quickly chimes in: "The song was about being isolated in the pandemic and how difficult it was to make memories and how easy it was to reminisce and be nostalgic of different times. It was really comforting to have Charlie's voicemail on the end to be like 'hey, are you okay?'. Like he's just checking in on us at the end of the song." That's the charm of MICHELLE. The clear love, respect and adoration they have for one another is part and parcel of their music, and in turn, it offers that greater connection with their listeners too. The final track on the album, 'MY FRIENDS', captures that gorgeous relationship immaculately. It feels like an ode to how those closest to you shape you into who you are, and how beautiful that can be. Drawing the album to a close with a wistful trumpet and piano sequence that slowly fades into quiet, it stirs those moments of nostalgia and passion the album submerges itself in and brings them all to the surface. The album's ending exposes the vivid, technicolour emotions that make up the album for the world to see in full glory. "We tried having that trumpet moment as a separate song, but as soon as we tacked it onto the end of 'MY FRIENDS', we knew it had to end the album. We didn't even have to talk about it; we just had this psychic link of 'we can't go from this to another song, we need to leave them here'," Charlie shares. "We kept trying to cut the album short, and it needed
"FOLKS WANT TO DANCE, SO DANCE. MAKE OUT TO 'FYO' IF YOU NEED TO!" SOFIA D'ANGELO
to be left as it was. It had its own life; it was its own little organism that lived at the end of the album. It kind of is a call back to 'HEATWAVE' – it's one of the only moments where we stretch out and allow ourselves to have this for us as much as it is for everyone else." "It's a love letter to New York City, and holding you through that," Emma continues. "So that's a call back to 'HEATWAVE' too. There's some old vocal takes, but it's just an older version of self or us." Though they may return to that earlier, raw version of themselves they found on 'HEATWAVE', but it is evident that this is MICHELLE having grown and learnt about who they are and who they want to be. It's bathed in the kind of glow that can only come from time with your friends, putting the world to rights and meditating on what the future might hold. On 'AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS', Sofia, Jamee, Emma, Layla, Charlie and Julian effectively pull out a chair for you and ask that you join them at the dinner table – it's a chance to get lost in hypotheticals and who knows what's next. Whatever it may be, they'll conquer it at each other's sides. P
MICHELLE's new album 'AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS' is out 28th January.
The nominations for next year’s BRIT Awards have been announced, with Little Simz, Wolf Alice, Sam Fender, Self Esteem, Glass Animals, Griff and more all up for prizes. Simz and Fender will take on Adele, Ed Sheeran and Dave for both the Artist of the Year and Album of the Year awards, with Wolf Alice up against Coldplay, D-Block Europe, Little Mix and London Grammar for Best Group. Elsewhere, Self Esteem has got a first BRITs nod in the Best New Artist category, while Holly Humberstone has already been announced as the winner of the Rising Star award. The BRIT Awards 2022 ceremony will take place on Tuesday, 8th February at London’s O2 Arena.
SAM'S TOWN Sam Fender has announced details for a huge London show next year. The former Dork cover star will play the capital’s Finsbury Park on 15th July 2022 with a hand-pick support bill including Fontaines D.C., Declan McKenna, Beabadoobee and Goat Girl, with more to be announced. “I’m absolutely psyched to be playing Finsbury Park,” Sam exclaims. What a mad night this is going to be. Some huge artists have played there over the years, and it seems crazy that we will headline it next Summer. I’m bringing some friends along too, it’s gonna be wild. Cannot wait.”
TALKIN' 'BOUT A RESOLU -TION Be honest, you've already broken your New Year's resolutions, haven't you? Figured. Still, maybe 'the bands' are doing better, huh? We asked a few of them what's on their list for 2022. Warning, Thomas Headon is starting to worry us.
With every new year comes a load of promises about eating vegetables or somesuch, but that's not all you can do to make yourself feel a little better. Natti from Fickle Friends clues us in on her best self-care tips ahead of the band's new album, 'Are We Gonna Be Alright?'.
NATTI SHINER FROM
FICKLE FRIENDS' SELF-CARE TIPS.
O
h hi, hello! Now, Dork have asked me to share some self-care tips with you guys. It's been a rough couple of years, and S-C has never been more important! Before I begin, I might just forewarn you that these tips are by no means groundbreaking; I'm not going to share with you the meaning of life or show you how to reach Samadhi (haven't gone there myself yet…). However, if by reading this, you actually take a second for yourself, this little article has had the intended effect! Numero Uno: BREATHE. Yes, yes, it seems obvious. We need to breathe to live. We do it all day, every day. But what about deep, meditative breathing. The stuff that slows your heart rate down and pulls you back from the cliff's edge of a panic attack (speaking from experience). This is something that has honestly saved me in so many situations. Box breathing! You simply inhale for 4 counts, retain the breath up there for 4 counts, exhale for 4, hold the breath there for 4. And repeat….5 minutes is my recommendation… however, you can do this as long as feels right. Numero Dos: TAKE YOURSELF FOR BREAKFAST. I was chatting to my friend about this, because she is also is a big advocate for the solo breakfast date. There's something about making time to sit with your own thoughts in the morning. No rushing out the house with half a piece of toast hanging out of your mouth; coffee spilling down the sides of your keep cup as you run for the tube. I do my best thinking around 8-9am, so sitting outside a cafe chowing down on some avocado toast lovingly made by someone else is quite the healing experience. Numero Tres: GOOD THINGS. Every day,
no matter if you're in the BEST mood or feeling crappy, take a photo or write down one thing during that day that made you smile/ laugh or feel great. I do this to remind myself that there is beauty to be found in even the murkiest of days. For example, this week is mostly photos of Christmas lights in London, and sentences along the lines of "watching the sunrise over Piccadilly Circus" and "Ron Weasley's awkward love monologue in Deathly Hallows part 1". Numero Cuatro: GET YOUR HEART PUMPING. I know a lot of you might be like, exercise booooo gross, that's not selfcare! But it is! It's a must! And the great thing here is there is literally something for everyone. No, I am not suggesting you go and kill yourself at your local F45 (although, can be fun). I am merely saying, moving your body is good for your brain and your heart. Therefore, self-care. My faves include: yoga (lots to be had on YouTube that are free!), a nice long walk (headphones in, podcast/playlist on), jogging (picture Phoebe from Friends), having a bit of a boogie while doing household chores (yes I do this, and my Apple Watch says it counts), riding your bike to work or dinner or drinks or just for the sake of it, swimming (especially if it's in the sea or local wild swimming pond) and last of all, skating (all kinds, very fun - would recommend knee pads). There's obviously a lot more, but I could sense I was starting to lose you… Numero Cinco: START A CLUB. So I have this film club right, it's a virtual thing, very nerdy. I have a list of films I have never made the time to see, and this club has forced me to start working my way through them. If you're like me and struggle with structure but massively benefit from having it, this could be great for you. Every
Wednesday at 7pm my online pals and I (some IRL if I'm lucky) watch a movie together. It gives me something to look forward to every week; it also forces me to stay in and actually CHILL (something I also struggle with lol party animal. It's Covid's fault, please don't judge me). I think this idea could work for any group activity, you know, sewing club, book club - you name it. There's something about knowing I'll be doing that every Wednesday that makes me feel grounded. Numero Seis: EMPTY HEAD BEFORE BED. I love this one. Sometimes sleep can seem like an impossible task. Your mind is whirring. You start trying to count sheep, but your train of thought just leads back to the million and one things you haven't done that day that you needed to do, and the various items you need to order from Amazon Prime tomorrow…and then you realise it's 2am, and you start to panic even more because there's less and less time to actually get some rest. STOP. This was/is me a lot of the time. So I bought a book, journal, whatever. And every night before I attempt sleep, I write down everything in my head. Mostly complete nonsense. But the physical act of emptying everything that's in your head onto paper somehow alleviates that whirring feeling. And 9 times out of 10, you fall asleep instantly. Honestly, do it. And hey, maybe by the end of the year, you'll have a book deal. And last but definitely not least… NUMERO Siete: ANIMALS. If you have them, amazing. You will already know the healing properties of a hug with a good boi. If you don't…perhaps you have a friend or family member with a pet you can borrow/ visit. Either that or join borrow-my-doggy. P
LAURAN HIBBERD → "Apart from the classics 'actually use your gym membership', 'drink more water' - I think I just want to remember to stop and take everything in a little more. I forget to pause and celebrate the little things, and I've got a big year ahead. So I definitely want to make sure I'm mentally present and not always running ahead to the next thing." BABY QUEEN
vision!"
→ "I've promised myself that I'll stand up for myself more and learn to say "no" more often. I'm a massive people pleaser, and it can be really detrimental to my
"Find a wife"" THOMAS HEADON
CHLOE MORIONDO → "I think next year I'm gonna just try and work on being nicer, to myself and other people. I think a lot more people would be less sad if they just talked really sillily and nicely to themselves, like once a day at least." TOM, BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD → "Not really a resolutions guy, and not because 'I have my life in order'. It's actually the opposite; I always just fuck them up and then end up hating myself, so I guess no resolutions is my resolution. I want to join a gym, though. Me and the guys want to get shredded for the album release, so everyone's super confused. Not sure if that will happen, though."
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PHOTOS: CALLUM LLOYD-JONES.
pretend I’ve listened to their Soundcloud link and talk about how much I love the third song. They’ll do the same, and then I’ll realise I don’t have a Soundcloud link. We’ll spend the next few hours chatting, trying to find the right power supply for a drum machine, and if we’re lucky, writing a song, or at least enough of one to fall out over on email later.
18:00
At this point, I either go home to tend to my child or to the pub. The decision often hangs in the balance and will go on to affect my life more than I’m currently aware.
19:00
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF...
Spector FRED MACPHERSON,
You know what’s easier than following around your fave pop stars, day in, day out, to see what they’re up to right that minute? Asking them. Here’s what Fred Macpherson from Spector's day looks like.
8:00
The older I get, the earlier I wake up. I can’t sleep in anymore. Something’s worrying me, and I can’t put my finger on it. Check to see if my girlfriend’s still next to me. She usually is on account of it being her house.
8:15
Go to the kitchen to make us a couple of Nescafé Gold Blend and Oatly Baristas. The more I make this coffee, the worse it gets. See if there’s a banana to eat or the remains of last
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night’s Gluten-Free Dr. Oetker Ristoranté, the oven pizza of kings.
9:00
Washed my hair yesterday, so I’ll skip a shower today. Not sure what my excuse will be tomorrow. Brush the pizza bits out of my teeth with Kingfisher Charcoal toothpaste. If you’re reading this, please send me some.
10:00
Check the group chats and send some cry laugh emojis to extremely unfunny memes. Check
my emails. Nothing of interest. Click the tracking on my Uniqlo order. Put a reminder in my iCal for the wool mix trousers arriving on Thursday.
10:30
Do some copy editing (my other aka only job) for an overly trustful startup. Half read some prototype packaging to make sure nothing’s misspelled or offensive. Usually fail on both counts.
11:30
Head to my studio
around the corner and get rid of yesterday’s crisp packets and empty Huel bottles. Text Austin from Swim Deep to ask if I can borrow a heater from his studio upstairs. If I’m lucky, I bump into one of Shame in the corridor and give them the “we’re both in a band” nod. I mean, I assume that’s the nod - they’re probably giving me the “is that my old geography teacher?” nod.
12:00
Around this time, someone will turn up to make music with me. I’ll
If I’ve successfully made it home, there’s a 15% chance I’ll have done so with ingredients for dinner. My girlfriend makes me promise it’s not a Gluten-Free Dr. Oetker I’m putting in the oven. I cross my fingers and tell her everything will be fine.
20:00
We argue over what to watch on Netflix/ Amazon/Disney+. Depending on when this is printed, we either settle on a terrible Christmas film or a terrible non-seasonal specific film.
23:00
One of us wakes up on the sofa to find the other in tears watching The Price of Fame on Channel 5.
23:30
We go to bed, hoping tomorrow will be different. Spector's album 'Now Or Whenever' is out now.
‘FYI’ WET WORK
Wet Leg – the most exciting new band on the planet – have announced the details of their debut album. The self-titled effort is set to land on 8th April 2022 via Domino, with the news coming alongside two brand new tracks, 'Too Late Now' and 'Oh No', both streaming now.
RIDIN' A WAVE It looks very much like we’re getting a new album from Pale Waves this year. Mostly because they’ve said on social media we’re quite clearly getting another album from Pale Waves this year. Though their second album ‘Who Am I?’ was only released at the start of 2021, the band were back in the studio by the end of the year working on a follow-up. Eagle-eyed fans may have noticed posts online back in September referring to the record, with Heather Baron-Gracie writing on Instagram a few weeks back that “Album 3 = done”. That’s since gone a step further, with the band revealing in their ‘Happy New Year’ post on Twitter that they’ll see us all in 2022 “with shows and a new album”. Ooo-errr.
WOLF ALICE'S TOUR IS OFF Wolf Alice have postponed their forthcoming UK tour dates due to the current rise in COVID cases. The band put a pause on their Glasgow and Dublin shows before Christmas, due to restrictions, but have now pulled the entire January tour. The band explain: “We are absolutely gutted to announce that we have decided to postpone our upcoming tour this January. As the Covid pandemic seems to be getting worse and with an overwhelming number of daily cases it feels like a particularly volatile time to go ahead with such a large tour. People’s safety and access to our concerts is of the utmost importance to us and we feel that is something we can’t ensure at these large indoor shows.” “We are already working to get rescheduled dates confirmed ASAP and will be making an announcement in the following weeks. All tickets will remain valid for re-scheduled shows and refunds are available if you’re unable to attend the new dates. We are sorry to do this but we feel like this is the responsible decision for the current climate of the pandemic.”
THE BEST NEW TRACKS TRACK OF THE MONTH
alt-J
Hard Drive Gold
Bold statement alert: alt-J's new single 'Hard Drive Gold' is their best in years. The trio have always hit hardest when playing in the centre of the catchy-fun-cheekyweird Venn diagram, and this is effortlessly and enthusiastically all of the above. "A slightly tongue-incheek song written at what we thought was the height of the cryptocurrency gold rush," in the words of Joe Newman, we're not even deducting points for having to read the word "crypto".
CMAT Lonely
Occasionally we an get so excited about what a brilliant pop star CMAT is (see page 10 - Ed), that we forget to mention what a world class musical talent she is. So let's put that straight, shall we? Latest new album cut 'Lonely' is that kind of great that skips straight through to timeless. Warm, smooth-assilk country with a twist of modern life, it's like sinking your spurs into a giant marshmallow. The best.
SASAMI Say It
SASAMI - formerly of Cherry Glazerr - probably didn't have dealing with indie bands in mind when she penned 'Say It', a "rage anthem dance track about spinning out because someone isn’t communicating with you", but it's obviously versatile because it applies to almost every afternoon at Dork HQ. "When I hear the song I see a hot femme with a mystical flamethrower engulfed in emotional blue flames throwing elbows alone in an industrial dance club in outer space," she adds.
Static Dress Di-sinTer
If you're told about a cool post-hardcore band that have genuine world class potential breaking through, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd better be booking your flights to the other side of the pond - but rejoice! The latest big hopes for the screamier side of the musical divide are from the far less geographically challenging Leeds. Static Dress are, in truth, a bit of an all round creative powerhouse - the kind of band who have thought of every angle, rather than just recorded some decent songs and shoved them out. Their first new material of 2022, 'DisinTer' is staggeringly good. Featuring Billboard-charting vocalist and producer King Yosef, it's a sign of a band on the brink of something massive.
Fontaines D.C.
Jackie Down The Line
There's something different about Fontaines D.C. as they approach album three. First taster 'Jackie Down The Line' might not be the full-throttle, full-volume band that captured our hearts on their debut, but nor is it the one that took the foot off the pedal ever so slightly for their second effort. Instead, Fontaines mark 3 seem darker and more complex. Cooler, even. Revelling in the gloomy depths of 80s indie while never losing touch with their post-punk roots, it's the kind of song which seems both effortlessly brilliant and brilliantly effortless. With sha-la-las and doo-doo-doos packed in for good measure, they look every inch a band at the height of their powers. Exciting stuff.
Father John Misty Funny Girl
The lead single from Father John Misty's new album, 'Funny Girl' is a rich, laidback crooner that feels like it's from an old-timey film where all the men wear suits and hats and smoke cigars.
The Smile
You Will Never Work In Television Again
In truth we weren't really expecting to be all that into the debut single from The Smile, the supergroup made up of Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, plus Sons of Kemet‘s Tom Skinner. But you know what? ‘You Will Never Work In Television Again’ is actually really compelling, in a scrappy, wouldn't-ordinarilyplay-to-more-than-200people kinda way.
Crows
Let's Eat Grandma
Slowly Separate
Happy New Year
Anyone who was a fan of the future perfect pop that made Let's Eat Grandma's last album so mind-bogglingly fantastic will rejoice at the arrival of 'Happy New Year'. A fizzing, euphoric take from forthcoming second album 'Two Ribbons', it's everything that set the duo out as the very cream of the crop on their last go around. The first great song of 2022? Quite possibly, but you'd expect nothing less.
Youth Sector Is Blood
The latest cut to arrive from Brighton art-rock five-piece Youth Sector's new EP ‘Adult Contemporary’ - out very soon indeed via Family Values - 'Is Blood' is social commentary delivered by the medium of razor-sharp indie brilliance. Even with the serious subject matter - patriotism rooted in prosperity built off the back of suffering, written during the BLM protests - it can’t help but get those toes tapping.
Warmduscher Fatso
By all rights, Warmduscher should be exactly the kind of act that doesn't always find their favour in the hallowed pages of this glorious magazine. With the stench of pretentious muso blokes hanging around, everything that surrounds them risks setting off the cringeometer. Even their names sound like characters Steven Toast would bemoan at volume (damn you, Clams Baker). So why is 'Fatso', the first taster of their new album, actually really good? Go figure.
It's been a minute since we've had any new material from London's Crows. A gold standard for a good time live, their recorded return comes in the form of 'Slowly Separate', a big brooding beast of a track based around the hand-to-mouth, paycheck-to-paycheck grind. Relatable, then. It's the first taster of a new album 'Beware Believers' due this April, released via Bad Vibrations.
The Mysterines Dangerous
“‘Dangerous’ is about those wild cycles that life sometimes traps you in," explains The Mysterines' Lia Metcalfe."The ones that seem desirable at first but quickly become very ‘dangerous’. Whether it be with people, places, relationships - the hardest part is always letting go.” That's the energy that runs through the Liverpudlians' latest single. Packed with tension and dark emotions, there's a defiance to it too. With debut album 'Reeling' due this March, it's another example of why they're a band to keep one eye fixed firmly on at all times.
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YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BEST NEW NAMES.
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V
LURE are wholly in their element when unleashing waves of sonic zeal onstage, and having been quietly shaping their upcoming debut EP, the five Scots have fully embraced the detour from their regular lives in a fivedate stint across the UK. "Now we're all very sore and tired," frontman Hamish Hutcheson admits. "We just realised how intense our show really is; we can't go out there and not give two hundred per cent for the full 45 minutes, regardless of how many people are there. The music is written in such a way that it has to be performed with that truth and rawness. We've only now realised how big a toll that takes." Just about stirring himself back to life, drummer Carlo Kriekaard agrees that a price is
paid but values the goods traded back in return. "It's a very taxing show but very rewarding as well," he adds. "We play each show as it's meant to be played; that's why it has such a big impact on us and the people that are there. It's a lifeaffirming thing." This dedication to putting themselves on the line is something deeply engrained within the identity of each individual member of VLURE, something Hamish claims spans back to their roots in suburban Glasgow. "In these places, you really have to prove yourself in terms of what you're trying to say; people are always going to be questioning it. You have to be strong and mentally aware to speak powerfully and be heard," he explains, linking this to the band's debut single. "Growing up in that environment
"THERE'S A LOT OF POWER IN VULNERABILITY" HAMISH HUTCHESON
shaped me as a lyricist; 'Shattered Faith' is a song that is about finding yourself, finding power in who you are and fighting back with that power." 'Shattered Faith' is the vicious song that brought the first impression of VLURE to the world, and it is one that was sat on for a while – from pre-COVID all the way through to an eventual lift on live music restrictions – in order
Having just completed their first run of headline shows, Glaswegian five-piece VLURE have cemented themselves as a band that instil a true sense of vigour through their multi-faceted music. The group are now looking towards their mountainous debut EP 'Euphoria' and the ambition that lies beyond. WORDS: FINLAY HOLDEN. PHOTO: OLI ERSKINE.
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to storm onto the scene, maximising the impact of this exhilarating dance track. "There's a lot of catharsis, release and rebellion in that, so to have it drop at the end of the 15 month period we had to endure was the right timing for it; it was the moment that it needed to be released," says guitarist Conor Goldie. While such a guttural punch to the senses alluded to a bold future for the band, they have since made clear that their volume and passion can be utilised in other fashions beyond rage. "You have to learn to be vulnerable, learn to trust others to not hurt you, and that you're not going to hurt them. Trust creates love. This song is about learning that and how it gives you a fuller life," Hamish says of the lyrical inspiration for their most recent single 'I Won't Run (From Love)', which radiates a softer energy while still fitting inside the VLURE sound spectrum. "It's quite a scary thing for a band like us to strip it back, tone it down and keep things simple, but there's a lot of power in vulnerability," Conor adds. "You don't have to be brash or angry to feel strong." As a crux of their discography to date, this reflective track documents not only personal lessons from the past but indeed mentalities moving forward – while the value of breaking down internal walls to allow others into your live is now appreciated, the fierce quintet are now learning to take this approach into their collective spirit. "There's a quote that goes
20. DORK
too," Hamish begins. "It was the first song something like: 'At first you have nothing we really worked on together, as a band, to give but yourself'. That rings true in from start to finish; we all put our own spin all forms of art. If you're putting yourself on it, and now it has a massive place in our on the line, you can't not get to where you heart. It was a real growth moment for us." want," Conor explains. Conor and Carlo are completely Doing so in a tight-knit group synchronised on this account, with the certainly makes things easier, and the former admitting: "We always finish with five musicians here prioritise honesty 'Euphoria' and are on the verge of tears and friendship as a prerequisite for the whole time we're playing it - that song effectively generating their hive mind is always complete catharsis. It's about where no singular voice dominates; there searching for meaning throughout our late is definitely not just one songwriter at teens and twenties in Glasgow. We search work here. "We all create individually for said deeper meaning and generate unique every time we play it. " ideas before anything is If it wasn't abundantly finalised," the guitarist clear already, VLURE continues. "We all bring thrive on the live stage, different things to the and they've already table, which makes seen some meaningful VLURE a more organic results. "Although being." we're still on quite a If the band is indeed small scale, knowing its own living and people care really hits breathing organism its home," Hamish admits purpose for inception sincerely. "You can't is as a vessel for raw understand it until it's emotion, and there is CONOR GOLDIE told to you. Just… never no greater example underestimate how good than 'Euphoria', the your music makes people self-designated favourite and set-closer, feel." which is also the title-track for their Artists relying so heavily on delivering aforementioned EP. a piercing performance could easily have "It's a coming of age song that we've all felt an uncomfortable disconnect while related to at some point in our lives and, releasing tunes from behind closed doors, because of the way that it was written, it and it seems VLURE may have fallen became a coming of age song for the band
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE BRASH OR ANGRY TO FEEL STRONG"
victim to not seeing the wood for the trees. Thankfully, any such notion has been put to bed for any who come into contact with songs this charged. "When we go onstage, we don't leave any part of us behind." Conor reinforces their dedication, but also the joy they have felt in wholly committing: "Five shows in a row was really emotionally intense, so that restores your faith in people wanting to connect with music." Walking a fine line between empowering and vulnerable, a choice has been made to settle for neither. Carlo clarifies that their goal is to "take you from one end to the other; we start with high intensity and then bring it down, release all this tension and create a whirlwind of emotion and expression. That's how we curated the set and our EP - trying to capture the whole spectrum of feeling." The immersion into dramatised feelings is what they want, and also what you should expect when you tune in. Conor and Carlo emphasise the desire for listeners to go into 'Euphoria' with "an open mind", and Hamish pronounces: "If people accept our honesty, they'll take something away from it." With this slightly extended statement of intent almost out of the way, getting back into the live space they feel so at home in once again becomes a priority for 2022. The overarching plan? "Send it." Sounds good to us. P VLURE's new EP
'Euphoria' is out now.
ALIX PAGE WORDS: SAM TAYLOR PHOTO: DILLON MATTHEW.
"IT TOOK A LOT OF NIGHTS WITH MY MOM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO WORK DISTROKID"
ALIX PAGE
Once I wrote 'Stripes', I felt like I figured out my direction and knew I wanted that to be the first song I put out. I got connected to my producer, Brett Kramer, through his wife Rachel, who was the director of the music program at my high school. I got really lucky; they're just good people. They've played a huge role in helping me develop my sound and providing support every step of the way. I went into the whole process pretty blindly, though. Again, the music world was uncharted territory in my family, so it just took a lot of nights with my mom trying to figure out how to work Distrokid and upload pictures to my Spotify profile. When did it feel like you started getting some success with it all? I feel like every new song I've put out gets some little achievement that one-ups the last one, and that's made me feel like I'm at least close to the right track. First, 'Stripes' got on Fresh Finds, and somehow, Jeremy Zucker and Chelsea Cutler found it and put it on their "World Of Brent" playlist. Then 'Frank' played on Zane Lowe, and we were like, okay, something's working, let's just keep doing it. For '25', the press from places like Coup De Main, Dork and Clash were huge and meant a lot to me because I've been following those for a while. It's all been fun little surprises, and I'm still in awe that I get to do this.
Newcomer Alix Page is making all the right noises in all the right places with her easy to love alt-pop. Just don't ruin any sacred bands for her, or else.
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outhern-California singer-songwriter Alix Page is working through the pains of growing up with a batch of early tunes that are both heartfelt and eminently relatable ("I think you might have ruined Radiohead," she sings in recent break-up missive 'Radiohead'). With a debut EP on the horizon, she fills us in on what drew her to music in the first place, and how the path to getting noticed started with the help of one of her high school teachers. Hi Alix! How are you doing? What are you up to? Hi! I'm doing well, prepping for finals in school. I had one class a little earlier today; now I have some downtime to pack and get ready for a flight tomorrow, and then I have two more classes and a rehearsal later today. It's weird on release days that feel so big and scary for me to just have a completely normal, boring day beforehand, but I'm getting used to it. What first sparked your interest in music? Did you
grow up in a musical household? It's honestly kind of a mystery. My grandma sang classical voice in pageants when she was young, and my mom did choir for a little bit in high school, but neither of them pursued it at all afterwards, and music wasn't really something anyone in my family leaned into. Weirdly though, I can't remember a time where I wasn't singing all the time. The first songs I remember listening to and loving were 'Since U Been Gone' by Kelly Clarkson and 'Defying Gravity' from Wicked. When did you begin writing songs of your own? What were they about? I wrote my first song sophomore year of high school. It was called 'Here Now', and it was about how I'd liked this guy for so long and when he finally admitted he liked me too, I questioned whether or not I still really wanted it. He was the first, like, painful crush I ever had. I was really sixteen years old, thinking I was gonna marry this guy that I never dated, hahaha. My next one was about Daisy, from The Great Gatsby, from her perspective. We were reading it in my English class that year, and I got a lot of inspiration from it. How did you approach getting your music 'out there'?
What do you do for fun? When I'm home, I just bother my cat a lot. I've gotten back into reading, which feels great. More time reading and less time on TikTok has been good for my brain lately. I love spending time with friends, of course. I love people who are super creative and have things they're excited to talk about. I bought beads a while ago and just started making necklaces for fun, something to keep my hands busy and keep me off my phone. I feel like a grandma typing this hahaha I've become a little bit of a homebody. You're about to release your debut EP; what can you tell us about it? How did it come together, and what's it about? It's four songs, all recorded this summer in Long Beach, California, with the greatest little team I could've asked for. I'm super proud of what we made and really curious to see which songs people gravitate to. Kind of hilariously, I went through two very different, very difficult breakups in 2020. I think they both hit harder than usual because of how isolated I already felt during quarantine and the number of hits I'd already taken that year. At the heart of it, 'Old News' is really just about growing up. Accepting those losses and learning that some things are meant to be temporary. Every song kind of asks a question to the person it's about, something I think came from me feeling like I didn't know what the hell I was doing/ feeling. I was looking to other people and writing these songs to get answers about what I should be feeling. Where do you hope the EP will take you? I just hope it opens up doors for me to meet new people and have more experience to share with people and write about. P readdork.com 21.
LIVE REPORT. ↓
ENGLISH TEACHER The Lexington, London. 2nd December 2021
FIRST ON. ↓
+ FRANKIE BEDDLESTONE, VIIA
MOA MOA → United by a love of "wonky, chonky pop"
- yes, that's what their press gubbins says - friends Dan Byrne, Connor James, Sophie Parkes, and Matt Taylor joined up with songwriter and producer James Ratcliffe to form moa moa - a collection designed to create diverse, magpie like treasures full of hooks and unpredictable swerves. They fit the brief, too - recent single 'Drive' is slightly weird but definitely wonderful. It's "a playful take on my apathy towards the idea that the world was suddenly going to be flipped on its head because we'd all sat around in our houses for a year", explains Ratcliffe. Worth checking out.
NICK MONO
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WORDS + PHOTOS: JAMIE MACMILLAN.
→ “Never been here before, quite like it” grins Lily Fontaine. She’s talking about The Lexington, but she could just as easily talk about her band taking the limelight that’s becoming rightfully theirs. With this headline slot sitting comfortably on them like a Christmas cracker party hat after a few buzz-making support cameos with bands like Sports Team and TV Priest, English Teacher are racing to the head of the class (look, we’re allowed one school ‘pun’ here alright?). Everything’s smelling all fresh and new on this particular line-up. Supports Viia and Frankie Beedlestone breeze on stage and smash it. The former with a devastating voice that can silence a room of jaded Londoners at a moments notice, while Frankie seems to be made entirely out of charisma and bops. It’d be no surprise to see both of these ‘doing very nicely actually, thank you very much’ by this time next year. But English Teacher are next level. From the moment they toss out the top-tier banger ‘R&B’ as first song, nothing about their set goes quite where you expect it, full of left turns and rapid dives into semi-math rock. ‘A55’ feels like its thundering down a canyon, while the avantspoken word of ‘Yorkshire Tapas’ eventually quietens the bar-talkers into some kind of reverence with the help of a cowbell (side note – big year for cowbells this isn’t it?). And then, it’s ‘Good Grief’ and they’re going out as strong as how they came in. Class dismissed, very much see you again soon we hope. (Yes, that’s two, we know). P
→ 19-year-old Londonder Nick Mono doesn't feel so much of an early tip as a pre-determined heralding of someone who may go on to be really quite big indeed. Dropping a series of tracks in 2021 that grabbed all the right eyes and ears, Nick was a music obsessive from an early age. Merging the iconic London sounds of Blur, King Krule and Jamie T with the alternative hip-hop that defines a generation, it's an intoxicating combination. Check out recent single 'Anywhere In The World' for a teaser.
CATCHER → Brooklyn post-punk is always an
acerbically winning formula, and so that proves with Catcher. We could go on about the music - which is great, check out 'Comparing Saviors and Friends' - but we're more interested about the way they recruited guitarists Jack Young and Christian Reech via Craigslist and "a connection via the band's shared Tinder". We have so many questions.
H
HORSEGIRL Is it a horse? Is it a girl? No, it's Chicago teen troupe Horsegirl! Can't fly, great at music. Probably a more useful super power, anyway.
WORDS: SAM TAYLOR. PHOTO: TODD FISHER.
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hicago teens Horsegirl - Penelope Lowenstein, Nora Cheng, and Gigi Reece - are putting their own spin on harmony-laden lo-fi with new single 'Billy'. Their first for Matador Records, it's the kind of instantly loveable racket that you can easily end up having on repeat all afternoon. With an album already in the bag, it's not daft to say they're likely to end up as one of the highlights of 2022. Hi guys, what are you up to today? Are you all good? Hello! We're good! Nora and Gigi are in New York in their first year of college. Penelope is in Chicago finishing up her senior year of high school. Gigi and Nora just saw LCD Soundsystem yesterday, and Penelope has a driving lesson this afternoon. Longdistance band things can be difficult, but we got to see each other in person a couple weekends ago. We drove around, ate Indian food, and watched the Woodstock 99 documentary.
"WE NAMED THE EP '... BEST OF HORSEGIRL' AS A JOKE SINCE WE HAD ONLY RELEASED THREE SONGS"
How did you lot meet and decide to form the band, then? Penelope and Nora met in a music program and realised they had some overlapping tastes. We started playing together, and when Gigi joined shortly thereafter, things started picking up more. We wrote a number of songs and slowly began to
play at open mics and DIY shows in Chicago. Can you remember the first song you wrote together? The first song we wrote was 'Sea Life Sandwich Boy'. We think its pretty good! Since it was our first time writing a song, and it took forever! Since then, our process has become much faster since we understand each other's creative intentions and how to express our own, and we can usually finish a new song in a few days. How has your sound developed since then? Our more recent sound has departed in some ways from the dreaminess of 'Ballroom Dance Scene' or the scatteredness of 'Forecast'. It's to the point. The more time we spend playing together, the more unified our vision becomes. We started Horsegirl as eager Sonic Youth fans, and have slowly found our own voice. Do you all have similar tastes in music? Yes! Being in a band together has in many ways been a collective exploration of music. Our tastes develop together over time, and we often go through various music phases together (like krautrock, Flying Nun Records, shoegaze) - these phases also influence our songwriting. Back when we consistently did our Spotify playlist Horsegirl Radio Hour, we would inadvertently put each other onto new things through whatever songs we chose to add to the playlist. You're all very young, how does that work with gigs? Have you played live much? Back when we were all in high school living in Chicago, all of our gigs were all-ages, youth organised, DIY shows. We loved playing these shows - they were how we met many of our close friends, and made us feel very connected to the scene of young bands in Chicago. In recent months, we have been playing
more professional shows, and over the summer, went on a small tour of the American midwest. We are excited to tour more soon! Have you all finished school and stuff now? What do you do outside of the band? Gigi and Nora are currently in their first year of college in New York, and Penelope is finishing off her senior year of high school. Beyond school, the three of us spend our weekends frequenting shows and cutting each other's hair. You've got an EP out, right? Tell us about it? We put out an EP called 'Ballroom Dance Scene etc. (Best of Horsegirl)' on Bandcamp a year ago. The EP is really just three separate singles packaged together on Bandcamp - we uploaded it before Horsegirl had gotten any recognition and named it '...Best of Horsegirl' as a joke since we had only released three songs. We were completely surprised and delighted when the EP began to gain traction. All three songs were home-recorded in various basements, and it still feels very special that they were heard by ears outside of Chicago. And what are you working on now? We recorded our debut album over the summer! We can't wait to share it! Where do you look for songwriting inspiration? Our peers in Chicago are a big source of inspiration for us. In our opinion, some of the most exciting new music is coming from young Chicago bands. Being in an environment where exciting music is being made all around us is very creatively stimulating. Additionally, we draw a lot of songwriting inspiration from older underground music scenes. We'll often all watch a documentary or read a book and become eager to take our writing in a new direction. P
readdork.com 23.
Black holes and revelations.
Over the past decade, Bastille have established themselves as one of the biggest bands, but with new album 'Give Me The Future' they're refusing to focus on the past. WORDS: MARTYN YOUNG. PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT. PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT: CARLA MUNDY. STYLIST: BRIGITTE KOVATS. STYLING ASSISTANT: VALERIANE VENANCE. GROOMING: TOM GILLING. GROOMING ASSISTANT: BEN GRACE.
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readdork.com 25.
WILL: SHIRT: COS. JACKET: STYLIST'S OWN.
'm not very good at selfanalysing," jokes Dan Smith as he reflects on Bastille's near ten years at the summit of mount pop as they have quietly and unassumingly become one of the absolute top tier bands in the UK, Europe, the world, the universe and the entire cosmos. They've done it by being resolutely Bastille. Constantly innovating and progressing their sound and approach, Bastille have always had the gift for those special little touches and flourishes that take pop to the next transcendent level. Indeed, if they hadn't already spent the last decade casually luxuriating in mount pop's rarified air, then they'd soon get there judging by one of Dan's myriad of newfound obsessions discovered during pandemic downtime. "I watched 14 Peaks [the scary insane mountain climbing documentary], and now I'm determined to become a fucking mountain climber," says Dan. "Not in the indoor climbing way. I want to strap on the spiky boots and get up K2 before I die." Like everything Bastille does, Dan is all in headfirst. Like all of us, Bastille have had a lot of time to reflect in the past two years. The period surrounding their second album, 'Doom Days', was one of frenzied activity and heightened emotions as they
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"Once we decided it was science fiction, it allowed everything to click into place"
- Dan Smith
dealt with big issues and big themes on their Brexit-busting, political call to arms channelled through the experience of one mind-altering night out. "We were all living through a strange time that felt apocalyptic both politically and socially," explains Dan. "We were also living on tour, which is this weird, suspended way of living. You're in a bit of a bubble travelling around the world, playing songs everywhere. It's like being in this house party and avoiding reality while the world outside is crumbling." In many ways, the image of the apocalypse as one nihilistic night out conjured up the feeling of no future, or a future not worth living which brings us to their new album 'Give Me The Future', where Bastille do an about-turn that's less apocalyptic dread than electronic dreamscape fantasy where anything
is possible. Politics, social constructs, perceived ideals - throw them all out the window because in Bastille's future paradise, anything goes, and there are no rules. Well, almost. Like all of Bastille's music so far, this album is framed and perfectly pitched with an innovative and thoughtful concept that defines the music. Similarly, Bastille know that a good concept is no good without some good tunes, and here they deliver their most engaging, vital and flat out brilliantly fun record. There was a lot of world-building going on as they pondered Bastille's creative future during the pandemic, but it all came back to one overriding principle. "There was a lot to explore and think about before remembering that we're making a pop album, and during a pandemic. I just wanted to make an album of fucking great songs that you could dance to and forget about that stuff," says Dan, before adding with a laugh in that self-deprecatingly endearing style: "Annoyingly, because we are us, I find it really hard to switch off the bit of my brain where I'm like, 'Just make it fun! And about dancing!' I just can't do that, so we ended up making these futuristic dance tunes about wanting to correct the wrongs of society." So, what does Bastille's vision of the future look like? The future imagined in the sprawling epics of Dan's beloved science fiction films like 1982's legendary Blade Runner has already been and
KYLE: TOP: BIANCA SAUNDERS.
WOODY: TOP: COS. JACKET: MARCELO BURLON. JEANS: LEVIS.
gone. We have surpassed almost every conceivable innovation and great leap forward. Although annoyingly still no one has invented teleportation. Longtime Bastille lovers will know Dan is a massive film fan. Film permeates almost all his work in some way. He really knows his stuff and how to tie it into a musically interesting concept. 'Give Me The Future' is perhaps the ultimate realisation of his cinematic vision. "Once we decided it was science fiction, it allowed everything to click into place, lyrically, sonically, mentally," says Dan of the album's eureka moment. "It's just really fun. The film geek in me gets to imagine creating a film universe. We lean into that. It helps all the people that we collaborate with get their head into what we're trying to do and hopefully bring some different perspectives and angles on it." The album's genesis, though, was different to the multi-layered concept it became. "I would be lying if I said we set out to make this album," explains Dan. "We started making quite a different
record; a much more sprawling album that was all about escapism. We've always been interested in escapism from the beginning, having songs like 'Icarus' 'Laura Palmer' and 'Pompeii' on our first album, which we made in a windowless basement where it was all about imagining yourself into real or fictional universes. I was really interested in the psychology of escaping and the
lives we can live within our heads, and the different versions of reality that can exist. The fact that we can daydream our way out of a situation." Dan's curiosity about the power of the mind to wander was further inspired by a stand-up comedy show he happened to chance upon in Edinburgh. "It was all about this particular comedian's coping mechanism for childhood trauma using a thing called maladaptive daydreaming, which was a thing I hadn't heard of properly. I read about it and was really interested in the human mind's ability to cope or not cope and avoid certain things that are happening now or happened in the past by taking us to other places," says Dan. From that spark, he knew they were onto something. "That was where the idea for the album started, and it became this big sprawling thing," he says excitedly. The album certainly goes deep into a lot of very modern malaises or inspirations, depending on your perspective. "Some of it was about technology, and some of it was about the human mind, and it was jumping back and forward in time," explains Dan. "It was only really going down the line with it and realising that it was definitely not just one body of work that we gravitated towards these futuristic songs. That was at the beginning of the pandemic, and we were living through lockdowns. Even
though there's a bunch of stuff there about our relationship with technology, obviously our relationship with technology on a day to day and minute to minute level has totally heightened in every way. That increased our interest." For a self-confessed sci-fi geek like Dan, creating this record's world was like having Christmas every day. He revelled in immersing himself in it. "It was really fun to fall down a science fiction black hole," he says. "I watched loads of sci-fi. I thought about what sci-fi is trying to do historically. The idea of people creating new fictional versions of the future that are trying to tell us something about our present is really fascinating. It's an interesting genre where there are all of these different versions of the future that exist. Loads of them that we've surpassed both in terms of time, we've lived beyond these almost imaginable versions of the future and loads of the tech we have now is way more advanced than technology in science fiction films of the past which in itself is interesting. We live in a time when the future seems slightly bleak and uncertain. There are quite a lot of people loudly voicing their desire for change and the fact that the future that we're on course to hit is not okay." A key point of the album is that it deals with themes like the increasing power and influence of technology in a sympathetic and non-judgemental way.
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"I would be lying if I said we set out to make this album"
- Dan Smith
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DAN: T-SHIRT: COS. JACKET: MARCELO BURLON. TROUSERS: BIANCA SAUNDERS. SHOES: VANS.
It's undeniable that there is joy to be found in losing yourself in an online world for many people. It's something Dan can very much relate to. "What we've tried to talk about is that people spend hours and hours of their day on their phones or playing video games because not only do people want a reason to be distracted, but because they're really fucking fun and really great," he says enthusiastically. "It can be totally nourishing, it can be communal, it can bring people together, it can be madly educational. It can be such a great beneficial experience on so many levels. Obviously, with anything that's really fun, you can take it too far where these things become completely intoxicating and addictive," Escapism in the form of the everyday is the theme here rather than the wild abandon of the previous album. "The idea of escaping reality can be healthy, up to a point. Like on 'Doom Days', it was looking at that on a micro-level when it comes to hedonism and drinking ourselves out of our brains. On this album, it's looking at this other thing that's much more applicable to nearly everybody. I think about the idea that most of us have our phones very close to hand at all times. I'm fascinated by the image of a person at home in their pants on the sofa with a VR headset on, and in their headset, they are a fucking space exploring superhero. It's an obvious image, but it speaks to all of us." There are songs on the album like 'Distorted Light Beam' and 'Give Me
The Future' that are about the idea of plugging in, and that could be literal or metaphorical," he continues. "We wouldn't fucking do it if it wasn't really fun and exhilarating and a bit addictive. We wouldn't spend hours and hours doing that stuff if it wasn't pretty amazing at points. It's about looking at ways of being and expressing yourself and asking why they are so tempting and so addictive and bad. I think about people that just want to sit with the headset on playing video games and chatting to their mates all the time. It's the modern-day equivalent of going to the park or something. Who's to say that's not anymore valid as a way of speaking to someone? Maybe that level of removal would allow loads of people who find it hard to express what they want. It's all very complex and nuanced, but I think that's the world that we live in, and it's really interesting."
Obviously, the internet and the online world are now inescapable, and today's kids are super smart and immersed in all manner of creative and exhilarating online subcultures. Dan himself is constantly inspired by Bastille's creative young fans, and he wonders if he would be any different if he came of cultural age in today's online social generation. "Maybe I'd be more of a nerd with access to all of the weird cinema of the world. I'd probably be even stranger, and I'd probably have an annoying podcast," he laughs. He ponders how the cultural environment Bastille find themselves in is vastly different from when they started in a distinctly positive way. "People now don't care about what's new; it's about what's new to them. We live in a time when monoculture has almost entirely disappeared. When something genuinely
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DAN: T-SHIRT: STYLIST'S OWN. JACKET BIANCA SAUNDERS: TROUSERS: PAUL SMITH: SOCKS + SHOES: BIRKENSTOCK. KYLE: TOP: STYLIST'S OWN: JACKET: LEVIS. SOCKS: FALKE. SHOES: NOVESTA. WILL: COAT: M.C. OVERALLS. JUMPER: COS. JEANS: LEVIS. SHOES: DR MARTEN'S. WOODY: TOP: BOILER ROOM. JACKET: STYLIST'S OWN. JEANS: BEN SHERMAN. SHOES: DR MARTENS.
DAN: T-SHIRT: COS. SHIRT: 75 LONDON. TROUSERS: CARHARTT. SHOES. VANS. KYLE: TOP: ALPHA TAURI. JACKET: LEVIS. JEANS: EVISU. SHOES: DR MARTENS. WILL: SHIRT: ZARA. T-SHIRTS: BIANCA SAUNDERS. JEANS: LEVIS. SHOES: DR MARTENS. WOODY: TOP: COS. JACKE: STYLIST'S OWN. JEANS: LEVIS. SHOES: DR MARTENS.
cuts through, it's Squid Game or Billie Eilish or whatever. It's just harder to reach everybody, even though it's technically easier than ever to reach everyone. We all curate what we want to watch and listen to at any one time. All the old guard of radio stations that we'd all listen to or TV shows that would hit anyone across the country, there are still a couple of them, but generally, they've gone away. That's interesting and really challenging," he says thoughtfully. In the early days of Bastille, they were regularly dogged by the last tedious knockings of the ingrained monoculture that's now being swept away. "When we started as a band, I remember butting heads with a bunch of journalists who were pissed off at us for not defining ourselves as indie or pop or rock," he says. "At the time, we'd made an album that had all different kinds of production styles, and sonics and our music taste was
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all over the place, and I think you can hear that in the album, particularly if you take my voice off it. At the time, it annoyed people. Why are four guys from London making music that's different from song to song and doing things in a really DIY indie way, but it sounds like pop, so we can't trust them as having integrity, but at the same time, we know they wrote and produced everything themselves, and then they're making mixtapes which is weird because that's not what indie bands from London do? Most genre boundaries have now been knocked down." He cites new artists like Dork fave Griff as emblematic of a new generation of artists with different values and exciting fresh perspectives. "I look to someone like Griff who is just wildly impressive," he says. "She is obviously insanely talented, but also her ability to do everything by herself is really inspiring. I love the idea of someone existing in the upper echelons of pop who is like, 'actually fuck this, I'm going to go off and do this by myself because I can. I'm good enough, and I don't need to rely on other people'. I think that's brilliant. She's interesting and thoughtful and smart, and whenever I've met her or worked with her, I feel younger than her, and obviously, I'm a good 10 years older. There's a generation of pop stars who have grown up with the idea of living online. They know the importance of honesty and being open. That's amazing. People are talking about what matters to them and allowing people to feel represented and seen via whatever they're going through. That's an amazing step forward. Shifting the idea of what a pop star should look like or sound like is mega important as well." These values that Dan admires in new artists are shared in some of the methods that have kept Bastille enduring. They've been a big deal almost from the word go, but they've managed to stay fresh and exciting. Whether it's collaborations, mixtapes, interesting visual concepts, or grand schemes like their ambitious Re-Orchestrated project, Bastille really
know how to amplify their music and songs on a grand stage. "What keeps things interesting is the idea that there's obviously a lot of autobiography stitched into the songs, but our music has never relied on the happenings of our lives," explains Dan when he looks for a reason why they have remained so successful. "That's all in there, sometimes quite subtly and sometimes very obviously, but we've never relied on a cult of personality. We've never relied on our own egos or the idea of fame and us being characters that have an arc. We live our lives, and the music we create and the world we try to create around the albums has more to do with what's fascinating to us at the moment." What's really engaging the band right now is the overarching concept that ties together everything within the 'Give Me The Future' era. Taking some cues from their previous clever hype tactics, the band conceptually stepped things up a notch. "We've always enjoyed when the music is done, extending the world both for ourselves and trying to create something interesting for people to hear the songs in context," says Dan. "We did it with our second album when we made a big fictional dystopian media conglomerate to announce and surround everything around the songs and the tour. Living through the weird post-2016 times it was a way to let off steam and try and minimise through taking the piss out of the mad changing climate of the world and the news. "With this album, in relating to technology and how it's such a huge part of everyone's lives for better or worse, we thought it would be interesting to create a big tech company called Future Inc. It has this amazing new immersive technology called Futurescape which you put on your head, and it's basically the next logical step from VR, and it allows you to go into the inner verse within your brain and go anywhere, be anyone or do anything." Either worryingly or excitingly, the band's vision is eerily close to what
"Shifting the idea of what a pop star should look like or sound like is mega important"
- Dan Smith
potentially might happen in actual real life. "It's a hybridised version of VR and video games and your imagination and allowing for limitless possibilities which, to be honest, we don't feel that far from at the moment," reflects Dan. So, is the fictional Bastille tech overlords of Future Inc a benevolent socially conscious force for good, or are they an evil global empire? "No one will ever really know the true history or intentions of the big tech companies," answers Dan. "I cling on to the idea that maybe as well as just rampant capitalism, there was some kind of positive social intent in their aims and also probably quite a healthy dose of not having a fucking idea of what's happening or what's going on. We're all living through the consequences of that, so the idea with Futurescape was to nod to that and to have an arc throughout this campaign that jumped around in time. It started with this tech company that seemed to be very commercially driven but a quite positive escapist mechanism that allowed for distraction and communication. Over the course of the music videos, like we do in the 'Distorted Light Beam' video, we see how that taken on through time periods could become really destructive. The idea was, let's jump to way in the future to a time when people are so addicted to being in the innerverse because it's way more exciting and fun than real life because reality has been entirely neglected." Of course, all this conceptual, thoughtprovoking, and often playful and clever stuff would look rather silly if the music didn't cut the mustard. As ever, Bastille have got your back, though. This album has bangers. Perhaps the biggest Bastille
bangers yet. More overtly electronic and dancefloor centric than their previous albums, it's a headlong fevered rush through a vivid fantasy world. "There are so many versions of the future that exist in the history of film and literature that we can dip, pick and choose and make our own version of that," says Dan exuberantly. "That's what we wanted to use it to explore. It's a tool to escape." On tracks like single 'Thelma & Louise', you're wonderfully swept up by
the carefree escapist abandon of the two characters based on the famous 80s film while 'Club 57' sees the band imagining they could time travel to the club scene of 80s New York and party all night. Limitless futuristic possibilities in action. This song also notably contains the best example of whistling on record in the last 40 years. "I whistled on the demo, and then our friend Jack who works at the studio and is really good friends with Kyle is famed in the friendship group for being a top-notch whistler," laughs Dan. Shouts to the whistling maestro Jack. Elsewhere though, the band bring it down a touch for a heartbreaking moment that exemplifies the beautifully balanced emotional push and pull of the album from possibility to despair. 'No Bad Days' is about Dan's aunt in
Australia, who was one of the first people in the state to make the brave choice of choosing the recently legalised option of assisted dying. It's a real goosebumps moment that marks a creative peak for the band. As the band embrace their own future and move into 2022, Bastille have made some subtle but important changes. No longer working solely on their own, Dan brought some other people into the mix like top-notch songwriter Ryan Tedder, amazing vocalist Bim and actor and rapper Riz Ahmed who all contributed to the album. "It turned out to be the most collaborative album we've ever made," says Dan. "I wanted it to be a really communal record. We had set the challenge for me to let go a bit and enjoy bringing other people into the process in terms of co-writing and production. I think it's all the better for that. It's still very much us, and we made it predominantly at our place. I've thought and overthought every detail and every little bit. It was different, but that's what we set out to do: to do things differently and push ourselves to develop through throwing out our old ways of working as much as possible. That was the aim." 'Give Me The Future' represents something of a creative rebirth for Bastille, newly energised and ultra-vivid. They're a band who can do it all. They can make niche cult mixtapes, they can experiment with filmmakers, they can top the charts, and they can headline festivals. They do it all with an infectious passion and enthusiasm, constantly driving forward and constantly searching for a better future. P Bastille's album
'Give Me The Future' is out 4th February.
DAN: T-SHIRT: COS. JACKET: MARCELO BURLON. TROUSERS: BIANCA SAUNDERS. SHOES: VANS. KYLE: TOP: BIANCA SAUNDERS. TROUSERS: MIHARA YASUHIRO. SHOES: NOVESTA. WILL: SHIRT: COS. JACKET: MIHARA YASUHIRO. JEANS: LEVIS. SHOES: DR MARTENS. WOODY: SHIRT: MIHARA YASUHIRO. JEANS: LEVIS. SHOES: NOVESTA.
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Breaking out of Yorks hire with their tonguein-cheek but absolut ely spot-on social commentary, Elton Jo hn's favourite new ba nd (yes, really) Yard Act are kicking off 2022 wi th the release of their de but album. WORDS: ALE X CABRE. PHOTOS: JAM ES BROWN.
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ames Smith is knackered, and who can blame him? While every other band under the sun has had their plans consistently uprooted this past couple of years, his group Yard Act have been exclusively on the rise, and busy for it. Since dropping 'The Trapper's Pelts', their crunchy and pervasive debut single mere days into the very first Covid lockdown, praise has rolled in nonstop, from A-list radio slots to celebrity nods from Cillian Murphy and Elton John. More recently, the foursome landed a coveted spot on the BBC's Sound Of 2022 shortlist alongside fellow buzzy newcomers (and Dork faves) Wet Leg and Baby Queen. Not bad for the write-off year that was 2021. It's about 10pm when James answers the phone from the back of a tour van, not long after a trip to France left him with food poisoning. "I've been run pretty ragged," Overload' tackles big-ticket social issues he says, though from his chipper tone, you through James' stylised penmanship. couldn't tell. Sometimes it feels like the first draft of a The band grind life is one James is political manifesto, at others, a parodic soap accustomed to. In the not-too-distant past, opera. So, which is it? he co-helmed Leeds "I don't know if it's a outfit Post War Glamour protest record," James Girls around the same says, pausing thoughtfully. time as bassist Ryan "That's one way of looking Needham's tenure with at it. It has multiple scuzz-poppers Menace meanings; you can dig as Beach. When Ryan deep as you want. I'd say it's moved into James' spare a document of where I'm room in 2019, Yard Act at personally and, I think, was born. a snapshot of how I see the "At the time, it wasn't UK right now." intended to be what it's Social politics have become," James recalls. been the overriding theme "It was basically both in Yard Act's music thus of our side projects. A far. On 'Trapper's', James bit of escapism. A way trained his crosshairs on to drink some cans and uber-rich types over a pretend we were Guided crashing instrumental. JAMES SMITH By Voices." On 'Fixer Upper', he The rest of the story channelled a character is simple. The duo amassed a collection of called Graeme, a caricature of a new-money demos, tentatively dropping 'The Trapper's man complete with racist tendencies and Pelts' in April 2020 after realising the an old-school masculinity complex. 'The pandemic "wasn't going to be a two-week Overload' follows these threads outward, thing". Three more tracks followed, examining gentrification ('Payday'), cancel garnering a ton of hype for their heady culture ('The Incident') and class identity arrangements and James' wry lyrics that ('Quarantine the Sticks'). But despite James' satirise Britain today and the people who knack for prickly one-liners, the record populate it. As the country languished, Yard observes more than it judges, leaving blank Act, completed by guitarist Sam Shjipstone space for the listener to fill in themselves. and drummer Jay Russell, knuckled down to "My standpoint on writing up until craft a debut album. Enter 'The Overload'. now [has been] social observation. I don't Laced with comedy and authentic, think you can write about modern society informed opinion in equal measure, 'The without being political because politics
"I DON'T THINK YOU CAN WRITE ABOUT MODERN SOCIETY WITHOUT BEING POLITICAL"
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interferes so much in the fabric of daily life. You'd be hard-pressed to document a society without talking about how politics influences it. During the lockdowns when a lot of [the album] was written, I was closely following Black Lives Matter protests and what happened with George Floyd." Affairs
"I THINK IT'LL GET A LITTLE BIT WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER, BUT I DO HAVE GENUINE FAITH IN THE FUTURE"
closer to home weighed heavy on his mind, too. "The government were on the telly every day, and when you don't fuckin' trust 'em," he chuckles, "they're pretty much on your radar constantly." 'The Overload' wears its affiliations on its sleeve (let's just say, Tories, this probably isn't the album for you). But its intent isn't to preach, James explains.
"By default, it's political, but I mentioned the Taliban takeover for don't think I ever had any intention the last two months." Words pop off his to reinforce my own views through tongue like lines from a John Cooper my writing. I certainly had no Clarke poem. "For two weeks on end, it interest in reinforcing a listener's was all anyone cared about and then no views by telling them what they one's mentioned it since. You have to already agreed with, so I could gain be really fuckin' aware of how the news attention for money, I guess. 'Cuz works in that sense, I guess." JAMES SMITH there are bands that do that, and Musically, 'The Overload' takes the they make a living out of it, and it appeal of Yard Act's first tracks and makes their fanbase happy, and it probably makes them amps it up to eleven, drawing on Britpoppy influences really happy. I doubt myself constantly, and I don't know like Pulp and Elastica as much as their post-punk if what I think is right. Everyone always thinks they're predecessors, The Fall et al. At times, Yard Act cavort right, don't they? That's how humans work. I've never with choppy tempos ('Dead Horse', whose hip-shaking met a human who actively thinks that they are wrong. hook is even more contagious than Omicron, 'Payday', Because you wouldn't think something if you thought which tactfully jabs at gentrifiers and virtue-signallers it was wrong, you'd think summat else, that's how your over a bonkers concoction of bass and bongos) but they brain works. Sorry, I'm going off on a tangent here..." also dial down the smarm in favour of slow-burning More recently, he's stopped following the news in an sincerity: 'Tall Poppies' is a six-minute episode that attempt to quell the constant anxiety so many doomtraces one Average Joe's life from birth to death, not scrollers face from trying to stay updated. passing judgement in the way 2020's 'Fixer Upper' might "Knowledge as power and to have an educated view have, merely observing. Finding solace in the bigger of what's going on is a sensible thing to do. But it's a picture is 'The Overload''s optimistic aftertaste. very bleak thing to keep looking at. It's fine not to know "I think that's what [the album] is about, essentially, exactly what terrible thing has happened in the world on even though it uses the current state of the UK as a lot of this day at this moment. You don't achieve anything by jump-off points. ['Tall Poppies'] is about zooming out knowing it. and saying, y'know, don't get bogged down in the details "You have to remember that the news decides what of things you can't control. Look at the bigger picture, it wants to tell you," he continues. "It's not the whole realise how insignificant you are, and make the most of picture; it's what the news decided to tell you that day. I the moment you're in." don't know what's going on in Afghanistan now. No one's Glancing to the future, it's unlikely James will face a shortage of writing inspiration any time soon. He is, however, cautiously optimistic for the country and the people who inform so much of his creative output. "I'm beyond understanding how the world isn't at the fucking door of 10 Downing Street demanding he leaves." His vitriol for the current Prime Minister crackles down the phone line. "The more he got away with [last year], the more I was like, I don't know what more energy I can give to this. I didn't want to become defeated by it, but I was like, right now, I need to preserve my energy for when the revolution comes. "I think it'll get a little bit worse before it gets better, but I do have genuine faith in the future, in the youth of a lot of the world. You know, I'm not old, but I'm not young; I'm 31, and I kind of see myself as a skipped generation. It won't be my turn to rule the world in my future, but I'll have to support the generation below me when the time comes." He himself has a young child at home. "It feels like we're looking at our clocks waiting for a bunch of old fucking dinosaurs to die, and they're taking their time doing it. But I think the kids are alright. They're a lot more proactive than my generation were. And I am an optimist overall; I have always been. I wear a smirk on my face and make a joke out of everything as a defence mechanism, but I do genuinely think that people are okay when you get down to it. We still have a chance to change and adapt as the future unfolds. That's the great thing about the future: no one knows how it's gonna go, so you always have to believe in a better version of it." P Yard Act's album 'The Overload' is
out 21st January.
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HEART OF GLASS Alice Glass has been through the ringer during her time in the music biz, and now the former Crystal Castles icon is channelling all her experience into a solo debut. WORDS: MARTYN YOUNG.
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E
ven a decade and a half from her first introduction, Alice Glass might well still be one of the most iconic characters in music. Since she left Crystal Castles in 2014, she's kept a relatively low profile with a solo EP, sporadic single releases and a burgeoning career as a DJ. This slight step back from the alt-pop spotlight is understandable, though. After leaving the band, Alice revealed the abuse she experienced while in the group. That part of her life was traumatic and harrowing and inspired her creative and artistic rebirth as a fully-fledged solo star on her debut album 'PREY//IV'. Happy and creatively energised living in LA, re-emerging into the spotlight is an experience fraught with both excitement and trepidation. "I'm excited and nervous because this is the most personal piece of art that I've ever released," she explains. "I'm nervous about expressing myself for maybe the first time as an artist." The last six years have been a period of self-care and self-reflection for Alice. "It's been intense," she reflects. "When I started in that band, I left high school. It was like going from not having your frontal lobe developed to being an adult and being in a fucked up situation where you have to start from scratch. I'm lucky that I can pay for a psychiatrist. I've been doing a lot of self-help work. I've been medicated." Moving to LA and finding new friends and collaborators - like the producer Jupiter Io who she worked with on the album - was a catalyst for a new brighter period in her life. "I didn't really have a circle of people that I trusted, let alone have a group of artists that I trust. It's been another world to be in LA. Just to have peers and friends who are doing things that are really inspiring. Being able to trust other artists and feel comfortable and confident, like you belong. That's been really life-changing for me." The album she has created is a staggering achievement. Immensely powerful and with a pulsing dark heart, it's electro-pop full of hooks and memorable bangers, but with a starkly compelling emotional tension. The songs are predominately Alice's reflection on a bleak time in her life - at once both sad and invigorating but always vital. "I wanted to make sure it meant something to me," she reveals. "I've been writing music this whole time, but I've felt the pressure to have a record speak for my experience, rather than having songs and singles here and there that I was working
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on at the time. I wanted this record to be a statement." As she talked more about her experiences, she realised that putting these feelings and emotions into one body of work felt necessary. Frustratingly though, she still had to deal with extricating herself from her past. "I was dealing with things that just kept on happening," she explains. "It wasn't made, they're also still horrifyingly present like leaving the band, and that was it. It was today. "Young women are not going to be an intense hurricane of lawsuits and online predators in this cultural ecosystem," she harassment. There explains. "They've always was always seemingly been told that there are something that would put predators and prey, but me back in time and make you can choose to be a things harder. I had more predator, and you can to write about then. I think choose to stop whenever I started talking more you want, but you can't about what had happened, choose to stop being prey. and I started to get a lot For some people, that's of messages personally. how they'll always see I never really talked to you. You might not even a lot of survivors and realise that you're being people like me because preyed on." I was so isolated. It was The juxtaposition eye-opening to see that between dancefloor ALICE GLASS I wasn't alone and how ecstasy and crushing frequently it happens to emotion is at the heart all types of people who can find themselves of the record. "I really like writing melodies in shitty abusive relationships. Seeing how that seem like they're happy, but once you get common this is made me want to put the deeper and they get stuck in your head, it's record out more, and not just for my own actually pretty dark. I've always loved Jupiter's artistic reasons. I wanted to have something to production. He has an ability to make sounds comfort people with." sound really sad," she says. "I definitely like There's a tenderness and vulnerability sad music, but I don't listen to it all the time. I revealed in Alice's songs here, but the like to dance when I'm sad." experience of looking deep within herself "I don't know if I can honestly write happy turned out to be a cathartic experience. "It was music," she laughs. "I've been writing songs a bit of a coping mechanism where everything since I was a kid, and I don't think any of those hard and personal and embarrassing and were happy. I would love to be happy. I would painful is hidden away," she says. "All my like to be inspiring for a couple of people." favourite songs are about something more Perhaps the most danceable and personal. I always wanted to have music like exciting track on the album is also the most that. I felt like I was not going to really be able heartbreaking. "I didn't think I would ever to feel like I put myself out there. There's so release 'Fair Game'," she explains. "It was much to look to for inspiration from women almost like a therapeutic exercise. It was really and others who have gone through this in the hard to listen to it for a while. I didn't know if I music industry, but for me, they've always just ever wanted to put this one out at all because it been out of reach. I don't think I'm confident was so personal. There were things that were enough to be Tina Turner and come back hard to hear," she says of a brutally powerful better and glowing. I just want to express song that is essentially a litany of genuine how it is for me, and that's not necessarily insults that have been directed at her in the being a shining glorious phoenix. It's maybe music industry. "As time went on and I was something more human and relatable." getting more and more used to it, I'm happy The music industry she finds herself it's there. A lot of the songs on the record have coming back to in 2022 has made significant been painful and cathartic. steps towards more inclusivity and diversity Alice Glass revels in newfound creative and becoming a more caring and welcoming freedom for perhaps the first time in her environment, but there's still so much to do. musical lifetime. She returns in 2022 as a Alice recognises that things can be better now much-respected figurehead. An inspiration for for new artists, though. "The fact you don't a whole new generation of kids making futurehave to rely on a label now is a big thing," she facing alt-pop, from hyper pop bedroom stars says. "Any artist can start and not have to be to pioneering electronic producers to a new reliant on a label at all. Not having to deal generation of empowering frontwomen. "I with the weird business side, which I've never don't know what it is that I do, but I know that been good at. I feel like there's more empathy I like it," she muses. "That's all you have as an in general. The new generation of alternative artist." P Alice Glass's album 'PREY//IV' is out 16th February. girls have been really supportive, as well as my younger SoundCloud rap friends. It was a different situation for me because I was only talking to people I was working with - a lot of men older than me." The album's title - 'PREY//IV' - exemplifies the power imbalances that Alice has previously experienced. Unfortunately, no matter how many progressive steps have been
"THIS IS THE MOST PERSONAL PIECE OF ART THAT I'VE EVER RELEASED"
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I FIX I UP WORDS: ALEX CABRE. PHOTOS: SARAH LOUISE BENNETT.
When we think of indie-pop powerhouses The Wombats back with brand new album 'Fix Yourself, Not The World' - we think of, well, mini-golf. Why? They're both tee-rific. (Sorry - Ed.)
W
hen we started The Wombats, we had a couple of summers where we played a lot of golf."
"Not mini-golf?" "No, not mini-golf." Perched on a sofa in their record label's London office, The Wombats' lead Matthew 'Murph' Murphy and drummer Dan Haggis have the sort of rapport you'd expect from bandmates of almost 20 years. That is, as we brush over this interview's adjoining photo shoot, the ability to pick up where each other leaves off, with a dryness that often segues into deadpan. "Even the best golfers on a mini-golf course could get beaten by a ten-yearold. It's a bit of a laugh," notes Dan, fully straight-faced. Completed by Tord Øverland Knudsen (today absent), the Liverpool-formed trio's fifth album 'Fix Yourself, Not the World' isn't all fun and games. It finds the band in
the throes of pandemic-induced anxiety, examining and re-examining their lives and relationships, unearthing more questions than answers. However, in true Wombats fashion, they lean into their collective angst, uncorking a bottle of technicolour pop-rock that provides at least a momentary escape from Covid blandness. The record predates the pandemic, but not by long, Murph explains, with around half of the songs written "pre any of this crap" in Los Angeles, 2019. When lockdown struck, and with the album yet to be recorded, current events began to seep in, marinading already anxious tracks in fresh paranoia. "It did play a big role, in certain songs more than others. 'Work Is Easy, Life Is Hard' and 'Everything I Love Is Going to Die', I'd say. I've never thought of it as a paranoid record, but obviously, I was stuck in my studio kind of freaking out for many, many weeks during the pandemic, so it has gotten in there somehow."
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"IT WAS DEFINITELY A COUPLE OF BUMPY MONTHS FOR ME, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO THE FUCK I WAS"
From the sinuous single 'Everything I Love...', one lyric sticks out as a particular sign of the times: "What a crazy pranged out year / And we spent most of it kissing teeth locked in a quarantine". "I don't know where that line came in," he ponders. "It was something I would always talk about with my wife – I DAN HAGGIS was like, are people gonna be writing pandemic songs now? What are we gonna do? I was trying to keep all that stuff very far away, but it kind of did it itself." The album had to be assembled remotely, with Murph in LA sending recordings back and forth to Dan and Tord in London, and producer Mark Crew helping piece the puzzle together. "He nearly had a breakdown by the end of it!" Dan laughs. Being thousands of miles apart detracted from the fun of recording, but in ways, their new method of working benefitted the album's punchy sound. "Getting to play in a room together, there is no feeling quite like it, and as a musician, that is obviously what you really love doing. But saying that, we very rarely record all three of us at the same time. It actually worked well sonically that Murph was in a different room, to have those different guitar sounds and vocals than he would have had otherwise. I think it made the album richer. And day-to-day, it was really nice waking up and getting a load of stuff sent over and being like, 'fuck, this is cool'. Hearing it all come together... there were lots of great moments in the studio where we were absolutely buzzing." An anxious jitter has always run through Wombats tunes, like in their now-ubiquitous festival bop 'Let's
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Dance to Joy Division', which revels in wide-eyed confusion about girls, boys, and all the rest. Although the Wombats who made 'Fix Yourself...' are far more worldly than their teenage selves, a similar uncertainty sits in the bones of its songs and even the title.
"Weirdly enough, art imitating life and vice versa," Dan starts, "when people have mentioned the title [they've asked] whether it was influenced by the pandemic. Last year we had less exterior stimulus going on with life in general so, doing lots of reading and thinking and therapy launched a lot of questions in my own mind. It was definitely a couple of bumpy months for me, trying to figure out who the fuck I was!" he laughs. "It's a weird one." A quote from the album's press release describes 'Fix Yourself...' as a 'self-help guide for the domesticated malcontent'. "We were definitely not a part of that, by the way. Although it is a good line," Murph chips in, though the statement rings true: the album's tracklist reads like chapter titles from a motivational book. 'People Don't Change People, Time Does', 'Work Is Hard, Life Is Easy', the rather self-explanatory 'Worry'. Less driven by literature clichés, Dan points instead to a shared interest in psychology as inspo for their navelgazing. "We're both inquisitive people in terms of how the human psyche works. Learning about why we act certain ways, why we do certain things and trying to figure out the essence of who you are and why you do things... I think we're both very interested in that." As for practising self-help, they both mention Wim Hof as an influence. Who, sorry? "He's a legend," grins Dan, visibly enthused. "He's this mad Dutch guy. He's called the Iceman; he holds all the world records for going underwater the longest in freezing conditions, and he's done a marathon in his boxers and no shoes in the Arctic." Murph chuckles loudly. "He is living proof of the power the mind can have over the body. You do these breathing things, freezing cold showers... Waking up our animal brain, almost. Because we all get docile. We like to wrap up
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warm in the cold or have air conditioning on [when it's hot], so we're sheltered from the elements and therefore missing a key component of being human. Shocking your system into life also helps regulate your brain and all the chemicals getting lobbed around." "It's amazing," Murph agrees. "If I do this elevenminute thing on YouTube once a day, that whole week I'm so much better regulated, I'm calmer, I think better. It's kind of crazy." "Having that with a bit of yoga and exercise and stuff thrown in..." "...green tea and a little CBD joint..." "Exactly!" Dan smiles. "Then you're off to the races."
here and there. It makes it feel more coherent." Rather than repeatedly drawing from a core group of influences, each Wombats album, and even each song, starts with a different spark, he continues. For 'Wildfire', it was the "jagged, dry" saxophones on David Byrne and St. Vincent's 2012 collaborative effort 'Love This Giant'. Elsewhere, hazy shimmers of David Bowie, Beck, and LCD Soundsystem came into the fold. Being more seasoned musicians than ever before, the band found the motivation to follow n support of 'Fix Yourself...' the band have a huge through on fresh ideas, tugging at tour slated for this year, including a date at London's threads leading in promising new O2 Arena with Sports Team and The Night Café in directions. tow. It's an impressive feat for the A sign that trio, who not that long ago often things are found themselves lumped in working is with the so-called 'landfill indie' "this very alive, rock scene of the late noughties. spontaneous When Dork last caught up with feeling", Murph, he credited the band's describes Dan. endurance on their unusual lyrics "It happens and melodies: "It has to be weird before you've otherwise I don't get off on it." even thought On this album, they push their about it. We already eclectic sound – a far ended up cry from the meat and potatoes keeping loads garage rock of their early work – of stuff from even deeper down sonic avenues. those early As well as shimmery demos that just electronica and Madchester felt like they psych that drift over 'Wildfire' did what they MATTHEW 'MURPH' and 'This Car Drives All by needed to do. MURPHY Itself ', regal brass sections The chorus of bubble up in places too, the result 'Ready for the of in-studio experiments for 'Ready for the High'. High' [uses an] OP-1, this cool "Murph was playing on this little 80s synth he's got," little synth thing that you can mess Dan recalls. "It was a sort of shitty midi trumpet sound. around with [which] straight away We were like, 'that's so cool! We've got to do that with sounds like air or something like real trumpets!' It put that thought in our minds when we that. Pushing yourself in different were writing in LA [so that] another song would come directions is fun, and this album along and even in the fact that the word 'brass' was feels fun to listen to. If you're floating around... it's like, oh, that could be cool. Across having fun in the studio, it usually an album, it's nice to have similar colours coming back translates to the listeners."
"We're not overthinking anything; we're just trying to make things we haven't made before," Murph adds. "It doesn't matter what instrument you grab. Just shove it in your face and blow." Closing off the album is 'Fix Yourself, Then the World', an almost interlude-like half-song whose crunchy guitar and pianos drift into comfortable obscurity, a soft landing after the rollercoaster eleven tracks before it. Noteworthy is its title, slightly different from the album's, with the aim of ending on a positive note, "after all the self-help and malcontent," Murph quips. "It feels like a nice round-off to the album. If you're really down and you have no energy for the world, then how can you be of any value to your spouse or kids or neighbours? It gives a little angle to the title of the album that otherwise wouldn't have been there." It was another one that came together organically using whatever instruments were lying around the studio, says Dan. "[Sometimes] it's more the situation of the room that leads the sounds. We'd had a little smoke, and we were noodling around having fun and zoning out. It's so nice; you just lose all track of time." At some point, someone suggested pressing record. "Then Murph started singing something on it, and we were like, are we really going to mess with this vibe? Are we going to dig into it and try to turn it into a full song with a verse and a chorus and all the rest of it? Because we could have done that, but it just felt like we'd captured something in that moment that almost says more than trying to write a song. Saying nah, let's just leave it like it is." P The Wombats' album 'Fix
Yourself, Not The World' is out now. Photography shot on location at Puttshack Bank, London.
I
"IT "IT DOESN'T DOESN'T MATTER MATTER WHAT WHAT INSTRUMENT INSTRUMENT YOU YOU GRAB. GRAB. JUST JUST SHOVE SHOVE IT IT IN IN YOUR YOUR FACE FACE AND AND BLOW" BLOW"
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ALL THE RELEASES YOU NEED TO KNOW (AND SOME YOU DEFINITELY DON'T)
WHAT DO THE SCORES MEAN? e Rubbish ee Not Great eee Fair eeee Good eeeee Amazing
Yard Act
THE OVERLOAD
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Out: 21st January 2022 → Yard Act have somehow managed to find themselves in the mythical category of "a guitar band that might actually be able to get big enough to make some money". On the BBC Sound of 2022 longlist, the FIFA soundtrack and even music's highest accolade: our very own Hype List, there's a lot of expectations riding on their debut album. In part, 'The Overload' is exactly what you'd expect from Yard Act. Musically it weaves between post-punk guitars and Streets-style electronic touches, providing the backdrop for frontman James Smith's acerbic stream-of-consciousness look at the state of modern Britain. It's punctuated throughout with witty observations and surreal imagery (his thoughts on growing lettuces in badly maintained roads on 'Payday' is a particular highlight) which elevate what could be a simple polemic into something far more enjoyable. So far, so Yard Act, but eleven variations on their breakout single 'Fixer Upper' would hardly be a worthwhile album. Luckily the band aren't afraid to push at the edges of their comfort zone. 'Rich' is more akin to a John Cooper Clarke poem than a guitar band banger, while 'Tall Poppies' is a strangely compelling and sympathetic six-minute portrait of a man who lives as the biggest fish in the small pond of his local village. When Yard Act first made themselves known, people could easily have slotted them in alongside the slew of postpunk bands making snarky comments about small-town life and shouting slogans about the rise of the right-wing in Britain. With 'The Overload', they've successfully proven that they're not in the business of hitting ineffectually at caricatures. Instead, they offer funhouse mirror images of believable and multidimensional characters who rub shoulders gleefully with lyrics about 'The National Front's new hairdo'. We hope the rest of 2022's musical output is as good as this album. JAKE HAWKES
46. DORK
Black Country, New Road
ANTS FROM UP THERE Out: 4th February 2022
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Thyla
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LET THE FESTIVITIES BEGIN
THYLA
Fickle Friends ARE WE GONNA BE ALRIGHT?
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Out: 4th February 2022 → Los Bitchos! have stampeded forth with their aptly named debut album ‘Let The Festivities Begin’, proving you don’t need vocals for an album packed with drama and primed for a stomping good time. Rhythmic and disco-friendly, the record defies you not to strap on your dancing shoes before the first song, ‘The Link is About to Die’, reaches its halfway mark. The songs are packed full of trills and thrills, sampling the flavours of a myriad of different musical cultures and mixing them all together for a wet and wild party. It takes you on a journey, whipping you out of office-based stupor and whirling you on an intoxicating, escapist trip; the post GCSE heathenistic, hedonistic interrailing trip of your dreams. This is one ride you definitely won’t want to miss. EDIE MCQUEEN
Out: 28th January 2021 → Brighton four-piece Thyla’s rousing variety of crunching guitar tunes has finally made its way into a ready-made batch. As promised, their self-titled debut is a hearttugging collision; emotional rapture for the ones ready to shake it off to the sound of a gigantic chorus. The Thyla formula for success crumbling bass, darting guitar lines and vocalist Millie Duthie’s howling vocals - has been building over those years and in one swift move, they’ve captured just what it feels like to be living and learning in a world so manic. ‘Breathe’ is a banger of reserved proportions, letting the melody roll in like a glistening tide, while cuts like ‘Kin’ dig their heels in, propelling Thyla forward as if Vin Diesel’s at the wheel. All in, Thyla’s debut is an ambitious grab at moving forward. STEVEN LOFTIN
→ Having teased their second album via single and EP releases, a true Fickle Friends anorak will be familiar with around half of this second record already. The Brighton popsters used their 'Weird Years' EPs as a way to keep creating and releasing during the monotony of 2020, reflected in lyrics of 'Write Me a Song', 'Alone' and side B highlight 'IRL', odes to making music and human connection. There's no messing around here, every track clocking in around the three-minute mark. Perhaps a product of its fragmented creation, 'Are We Gonna Be Alright' moves between their tried and true retro pop, funky experimentation and a few more straight-ahead rockers. The variety suits them, showing off new styles without ditching what got them here. DILLON EASTOE
Silverbacks
Hippo Campus
Palace
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ARCHIVE MATERIAL Out: 21st January 2022 → Since their 2020 debut, Irish indierockers Silverbacks have been carefully documenting every facet of the bizarre zeitgeist we've been enduring, transforming it into their second release, 'Archive Material'. 'Rolodex City', 'Central Tones' and 'Recycle Culture' see guitars erratically filling the sound space for an irresistible sense of chaos. One thing that remains throughout is Daniel O'Kelly sardonic postpunk vocals that flip between subjects like a wild revue of modern society. "The decline of western civilisation / I read it on the back of a t-shirt / I shared a fridge with another man." The flitting lyricism makes it impossible to lose interest, and Daniel's ability to switch from deadpan The Stranglers-esque vocals into impassioned yelling makes for a rich and varied art-rock record. CONNOR FENTON
LP3
Out: 4th February 2022 → Although the transformation observed across their past work documents Hippo Campus' journey of growing up and finding themselves, 'LP3' is the most fully realised and contemplative version of the band yet. Elaborate trains of thought are translated into consumable bops; shame, joy, bravery and fear are carefully examined under a harsh lyrical spotlight that openly crucifies an entire mind of inner thoughts in order to find comfort in the present. Subdued celebration can be found within the album's own journey and revelations, and a sense of cohesion only makes the liberating bliss of closer 'Understand' more euphoric. The context of Hippo Campus' wavering journey underpins this experience with a broader spirit of exploration - of self and sound. FINLAY HOLDEN
Out now
SHOALS
Out: 21st January 2022 → In the market for an album that feels akin to a cosy blanket in the bleak mid-winter? Look no further. It might seem paradoxical to suggest that 'Shoals' offers that sort of relieving comfort, considering much of it meditates on different forms of fear and anxiety. Yet, it washes over you like a wave of calm. Perhaps it's the validating way Palace write about their fears or the soothing sonic layers of each individual track – either way, 'Shoals' manages to offer consolation and tranquillity from beginning to end. Each guitar line bubbles with undiluted emotion, and their vocals remain as hazily gossamer-like as ever. Their previous releases have been stellar, but here, there's an impressive weight and profoundness that Palace haven't quite captured before. NEIVE MCCARTHY
RECOMMENDED RELEASES MAKE SURE YOU CHECK OUT THESE ALBUMS AND EPS.
Holly Humberstone
THE WALLS ARE WAY TOO THIN EP → Documenting a period of immense and intimate change, Holly uses this EP to paint a bleak canvas onto which your own doubts are unavoidably projected. Raw, broken and beautiful, it takes a powerful talent to embody such anxieties in an accessible and liberating form, but Holly Humberstone ticks all the boxes.
BEAUX
MEMORIES WRITTEN DOWN, SO I WON’T FORGET THEM EP → Occasionally euphoric, often bewitching, it’s equal parts Rex Orange County and Troye Sivan - real yet hyperrealistic. ‘Won’t You Take Me Far?’ fizzes like a sugary soft drink, while ‘Fall Forward’ is a breezy earworm that’s feel unseasonably upbeat. Whatever 2022 has in store for beaux, it’s sure to be big.
No Rome
IT’S ALL SMILES → While it might be a record that sits firmly within the vibey, smooth future pop bubble that No Rome has operated to this point, there’s much more to it than a template first set years ago. ‘It’s All Smiles’ does exactly what it says on the tin.
→ Where to begin with a band like Black Country, New Road? Exploding out of cult status at the start of last year with ‘For The First Time’, a chaotic, postpost-post-everything not just punk rampage that crashed through genres like a skittering dog and gained itself a Mercury nomination in the process. But for everyone who fell adoringly at its feet, there were some who felt it was all ‘a bit much actually’. This swift follow-up somehow manages the neat trick of pleasing the lovers while showing everyone else a new side and a good time too. A much more understated and deliberately less abrasive record, ‘Ants From Up There’ is taken from an entirely different world influences-wise. Indie-folk with a huge slice of ‘EPIC’, huge choral moments that make you feel invincible, wildly and wonderfully overblown in places, someone needs to get (early) Arcade Fire on the phone and say their time is up. Still with a dry sense of humour (really, there can be no other reason for that stray ‘parp’ sixteen seconds into ‘Chaos Space Marine’), gone is the angsty railing and wailing, replaced instead
VLURE
EUPHORIA EP
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→ Matching the hype of their huge debut single 'Shattered Faith', VLURE continue to generate cascades of sonic intensity through their first EP, 'Euphoria'. A similarly momentous explosion of electro-infused, raging punk kicks off this new journey with the bottled chaos of their live shows, featuring demanding and distorted vocals that beg: "save me from this misery, take me to a better day." While modernising a sound birthed in decades past, a flair for the dramatic never hurts. 'Heartbeat' lives up to its title with a throbbing pulse underlying sounds truly out of time, swirling around an epicentre induced by warped
on tracks like ‘Concorde’ and ‘Bread Song’ with an exquisitely emotional and fragile sense of something that once soared hitting emotional trouble - one of many potential readings into Isaac Wood’s vague yet precise lyrics. The sound swirls and storms on the latter track, raising the pulse, goosebumps and maybe even a tear in the process. Where they once may have started tracks at 200mph and then put the foot down from there, this takes their sweet time and is all the more powerful for it. Finishing on a magnificent closing trio, the middle of which is album standout ‘Snowglobes’, a track that slowly builds over into an earth-crushing crescendo before retreating back into calmness. The fact that is then followed by long-time live fan favourite ‘Basketball Shoes’, finally making its recorded debut, is a stunning follow-up blow as it does the same thing again but in an even grander manner and for even longer. A phenomenal record, and excitingly, not just one for the already converted. ‘Ants From Up There’ will make everyone soar.JAMIE MACMILLAN riffs that indicate a desire to escape, with these heavily danceable hits crafted during lockdowns, the intent behind them is obvious. While a swelling soundscape and inflated intimidation build through 'The Storm', the last two tracks here offer another side to these elusive artisans, proving that their tension can result in a blissful release after all. Dynamic tones twist between downtrodden and uplifting, ultimately culminating in the expansive and fitting title-track, which offers one last indulgent journey into the unknown. Documenting a growth point for the Glaswegian fivepiece, the 'Euphoria' EP is a solid exploration of VLURE's substantial potential and glorifies their ability to summon living, breathing sources of suspension and ultimately liberation. FINLAY
HOLDEN
readdork.com 47.
MICHELLE
AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS
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Out: 28th January 2022 → First things first: ‘After Dinner We Talk Dreams' amazing album title. New Yorkers MICHELLE are pretty amazing allaround, though, and their debut is a dizzying melting pot of infectious grooves, stirring songwriting and a sonically diverse magpie quality that makes them super exciting and fresh. Songs like ‘Syncopate’s’ endearing 80s pop strut sit nicely next to some goosebump-inducing grand epics like the opening track ‘Mess U Made’ that highlight how MICHELLE can do it all. The trick here is making something that sounds loose-limbed and effortless but is actually richly detailed. It’s shot through with such infectious breezy fun that you can’t help but be charmed. Their debut album is a complete joy from start to finish. MARTYN YOUNG
Bastille
GIVE ME THE FUTURE
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Out: 4th February 2022 → The Future. Over recent years, more and more of pop's top table have found themselves musing on the direction of travel for a society increasingly locked into their screens, controlled by their bubbles, and further disconnected from the worlds around them. For most, that's come down to one reductive simplification: 'phones are probably bad' - but there's more to the rampant dystopia than just resigned grumpiness. Sometimes, when the world is on fire, the best thing to do is dance in the rubble. For Bastille, that latter route provides far more fertile ground. While their peers may bemoan the failings of a brand new world, fourth album 'Give Me The Future' embraces the possibilities of a limitless universe. The potential to be anyone in a dreamscape untethered from the day-to-day makes escapism the star of the show. Take 'No Bad Days' - a track that promises the hope that it says on the label; a world without disappointments of the real world. 'Distorted Light Beam' turns away from the mundane and dreams of something better, while 'Stay Awake' rides the waves with a promise that "freaks and geeks can rule the world". Embracing the full spectrum of pop, the influences are wide and varied. There's the discosamba pop of 'Back To The Future', New York theatrical
The Wombats
FIX YOURSELF, NOT THE WORLD
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bombast with 'Club 57' and big 80s pop hooks on 'Plug In…'. In musical terms, it's only one washer short of the kitchen sink - but what could so easily be disjointed and confused pulls together on the strength of its central theme. As channels skip and distractions blast out from every direction,
it's the shift of the digital sands underfoot that keep it grounded. 'Give Me The Future' isn't a record that's unaware that everything around it might be broken - it isn't even trying to hide from it. Instead, it's trying to find a route through the flames - more as a
coping mechanism than an optimistic ignorance. It's not judging where we're at; it's hoping that the dice fall for the better. In truth, though, 'Give Me The Future' can be summed up by both its centrepiece and final track. Closer 'Future Holds' plays the bright side,
exclaiming, "Who knows what the future holds? Doesn't matter if I got you". It's Riz Ahmed's more pessimistic contribution on spoken-word interlude 'Promises' that sits at the record's mid-point that says it best, though: "The world's burning, but fuck it." STEPHEN ACKROYD
→ Album number five for those lovable Wombats, and it seems like the dark days of the last couple of years have started to take their toll. Written and recorded in isolation, ‘Fix Yourself, Not The World’ is a record where the bangers are lurking around the corners, and the band are listening to too much Joy Division but forgetting to dance. The nicely frantic ‘You Flip Me Upside Down’ is a track that examines the moment cocaine parties are replaced by something, or someone, new; elsewhere, boredom and frustration stalk tracks like the cheerily-titled ‘Everything I Love Is Going To Die’ and ‘This Car Drives All By Itself’. They have captured the spirit of a period most will want to forget; let’s hope for sunnier times to come. JAMIE MACMILLAN
COMING SOON. ALBUMS TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS...
alt-J
THE DREAM Out: 11th February 2022
48. DORK
Charli XCX
CRASH Out: 18th March 2022
Let's Eat Grandma TWO RIBBONS Out: 8th April 2022
Wet Leg
WET LEG Out: 8th April 2022
ARTIST'S GUIDE.
WILLOW KAYNE
PLAYGROUND ANTICS EP Pop's latest future icon has dropped a debut EP - we've asked her to run us through it.
Opinion
of that.
I remember this was the track that made me settle on the theme for the EP. I had this Santigold sample in my head, and I took it to [producer] DANIO like, "we should do this". It all came together from there, really. The track has a really strong M.I.A. feel to me, which is great because she's a huge inspiration to me. We made the original version of the track at Wendy House Studios in like two hours, then we sat on it for months and months. It's probably about a year old now - I didn't even think this one would be a single at the time!
I Don't Wanna Know
This Is My Film
I've had to change the lyrics to this one because when I first wrote it, I'd just been signed, and I was revelling in the fact that I was doing all the things that so many people told me I'd never do. It's still confident and cheeky, but the lyrics to this one were a lot more intense before. It's still iconic, but it feels a lot more authentic than it did to be like, "I AM FUCKING WILLOW KAYNE". When I first met DANIO, this was one of the first things we did together, and I'd been put in a load of shitty R&B sessions. Not that the producers were shit, they just didn't know what to do with me. Then I met him, and we were on the same wavelength, and it just brought out this confidence in me to be who I finally wanted to be. Oh, and we made all of these in a shed.
This one was made completely out of spite! Honestly, it was a reaction to just not knowing what to do! My label had boosted a TikTok promoting 'Two Seater'. It wasn't a good TikTok, but for some reason, I was getting loads of messages, and Willow Kayne everyone in my hometown PLAYGROUND ANTICS EP was talking about it. I eeeee thought everyone was just Out: 1st February 2022 overreacting, then I was → The best in Oscar Scheller's garden pop music isn't on the phone to my mate built on the before a session, and he right beats or beeps. It isn't sent me the link to the even built on the quality of post. I read the first three the songwriting - or at least, comments but then just that's not the only criteria. did a massive scroll down, That phrase "the X factor" and it was all horrible! I've counts for something, after never had anything like all. When it comes down to that. being a genuine, triple-A I went back to Oscar, who grade threat, attitude is told me to take that feeling everything. and write about it. We then It can come in all shapes put a clip of the track on and sizes - from Adele's TikTok, and the reaction impossible not to love was great. The hate kept personality to Taylor's on coming, though. I just revenge served cold - that accept that's kind of what ability to cut through the noise is everything. And you get with TikTok now. The song pops off live, too; Willow Kayne has it. 'Playground Antics' might there were moshpits at ALT+LDN when I played it. only be six tracks long, but
Faces Change
each and every one drips with razor-sharp sass. 'This Is My Film' has skyscraper high main character energy, casting everyone else an extra in Willow's main feature. 'Jealous' socks the mean girls right on the nose, while opener 'Opinion' runs like 'M.I.A.' but sounds like nobody else. As an introductory statement it might be short, but that only makes it sweeter. Never dull, always bombastic, Willow Kayne is already a star. The world just needs to catch up. STEPHEN
This one's pretty different to the rest of the record; it's definitely the most mature track on there. I think it's my favourite. I made this the first time that me and [producer] Detonate ever met - the place we recorded it in definitely fit with the vibe. It's within this cold vault and it just worked perfectly for this Massive Attack kind of vibe. ACKROYD I didn't really go in thinking, "I'm going to make something trip-hoppy because of being close to Bristol". Usually, when I go into a session with someone for the first time, I'll get to know them a bit before; listen to their favourite music and get them to play me something they're proud of. We're both huge fans of Portishead and Massive Attack, so I think it came from there. The lyrics on this one fit so well, too - it's more real than the other tracks. This feels like more of a taster of where I'm going next with new music. Lyrically it's about growing together, and the moment you realise you're hanging out with the wrong people. I worked out that while I'm embarking on this new life and growing creatively and as a person, my old circle were just stuck in the same old cycle of doing things that weren't positive or contributing to their lives, so the song is about breaking out
Two Seater
When I first started speaking to DANIO, his manager sent me a pack of like, 50 beats, which had all different kinds of styles on there. There was this beat in there that apparently wasn't meant to be included but had somehow found its way there. Out of all 50, that was the beat I started working with for 'Two Seater'. I was recording at Wendy House Studios, and this was when COVID was in full swing, so it was only me and an engineer. I was working on it, and he turned around and said, "I don't know about this one; it's a bit weird". That's when I knew I had to carry on with it. I love the juxtaposition in the song - I really wanted to fuck around and fuse hip hop with some kind of Stone Roses-like chorus. One of the first things that really flattered me about the music was how many people spoke about me blurring genres in what I do. It got a lot of hate on TikTok initially, but that all changed as soon as it got on the FIFA Soundtrack, now people hit me up saying how much they love the song all the time!"
Jealous
I love 'Jealous'! Me and DANIO were just messing around when we did this… we weren't even making music! I tend to freak out in the studio because I put this pressure on myself that I have to make something amazing every time. But we do this thing where I'll have the mic, and he'll have the guitar, and we'll take a genre and improvise a song about a scenario we've made up, like '60's country about a woman named Margaret who lives on a farm'. So we did that, but we were doing a 70s punk track, kind of a Sniffin' Glue-era vibe and 'Jealous' came out of it. I couldn't ever get sick of that style - if I ever get writer's block, it's back to the 'Jealous' vibe. The song's aimed at mean girls who love to talk shit on anything you're doing. They also love to talk shit about you even though they've never met you, people saying, "Yeah Willow looks nice, but she's really a bitch". This song is really just a massive middle finger to all of that. P readdork.com 49.
of ‘Motordrome’ carries all the elements of someone finding their way out of the darkness. But there’s any early sign that isn’t lost with the thumping classic club MOTORDROME all beat of ‘Live To Survive’, a track that by its Out: 28th January end should come with its own glitter ball. eeeef With everything that’s gone on over the last couple of years, both personally and globally, it’s perhaps no surprise that everything → Following recent struggles with burnout isn’t shiny in MØ’s world - but the mood after a long tour, as well as battling anxiety throughout is one of battling and overcoming and recovery from a serious vocal injury, rather wallowing. Danish superstar MØ’s third record is, If ‘Cool To Cry’ dances giddily along the perhaps unsurprisingly, a more subdued tightrope between introspection and dive into her world-conquering brand of sadness, and the LDR-tinged ‘Youth Is Lost’ scandipop. With an album title taken from a hints at some dark days, then the second carnival trick, as well as a nod to her struggle half of the record is MØ’s path to the light with anxiety, it’s another pop record that and brighter territory. From the Hollywood follows the recent trend of popping the moment of ‘Brad Pitt’, and the unalloyed bangers (mostly) on the shelf in favour of a elation of ‘New Moon’, we are on our way to more downbeat vibe - but happily, one that the triumphant finale of ‘Punches’, where a bounces back fully in a second half full of new day finally dawns. A record that chooses elation. to fight back and stares down anything With all its talk of valleys of regret, getting in the way of her recovery. Perfect heartaches and mistakes, the early parts for these times, then. JAMIE MACMILLAN
MØ
The Districts GREAT AMERICAN PAINTING
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Out: 4th February 2022 → The Districts are a band who've always seemed to have an elevated sense of what’s going on, as if they’re privy to what this crazy thing called life is all about. Their fifth outing is no different, in fact, it seems to be all the more prescient. 'Great American Painting' is a hefty package brimming with powerful thoughts, wistful yearns and of course some tracks picking apart their home country’s foibles with their swelling brand of dreamy indie. Shimmering like a hot pavement on a summer day, the US trio are on the nose and equally as elusive in what they want to see but always voiced by that inimitable falsetto of Rob Grote. It’s another small masterpiece from the Pennsylvania band who are determined to do things their way. STEVEN LOFTIN
50. DORK
Wasuremono
APRE
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LET'S TALK PT.2
Out: 28th January 2022 → While most of us spent lockdown binging Netflix, Wiltshire quartet Wasuremono were working on new music. Their expansive new catalogue has come together in two parts, with the latter ‘Let’s Talk Pt. 2’ proving to be every bit as thoughtful and optimistic as its predecessor. From manic art-pop track ‘Don’t Stop’ to the dreamy ‘Fill Your Lungs’, it’s clear from start to finish that no matter what the band throw themselves at, they do not compromise. Stemming from experimentation, the album uses a wide range of textures to produce a full, warm sound. Full to the brim of catchy hooks and joyful harmonies, ‘Let’s Talk Pt. 2’ is yet another string to the bow of an exciting band at their very best. MELISSA DARRAGH
A001
Out: 1st February 2022 → On 'A001', the endlessly talented APRE are bringing the funk. Pioneers of perfect indiepop, on their nine-track mixtape, APRE craft a golden soundscape that feels drenched in glitter and pure magic. As soon as APRE press play on their latest instalment, the streamers and balloons come out: 'A001' is the most feel-good party of the year, and you've made the guest list. Congrats. Like any good party, the mixtape ebbs and flows with different vibes and moods – it's a rollercoaster of entertainment and different levels of fun. APRE leave you feeling rejuvenated and on a high with each movementinspiring pulse and beat. As their blowout draws to a close, it leaves a lasting memory of pure happiness and joy that'll undoubtedly be hard to replicate. NEIVE MCCARTHY
Aurora
Cat Power
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THE GODS WE CAN TOUCH
COVERS
Out: 21st January 2022 → Like the glimpse of spring on a balmy winter morning, Aurora offers up a bit of hope and promises to see you through. Toting her unique blend of Scandi-pop, the otherworldly essence that follows her has found itself a whole new level on ‘The Gods We Can Touch’. Be it indisputable ear-worms (‘Cure For Me’) or dramatic romantic exclamations (‘You Keep Me Crawling’), Aurora's heart is always leading the way. Clocking in at fifteen tracks, it’s an expansive return and one that demands attention and often rewards such. Changing and chopping can feel indecisive, but the last thing you can call Aurora is boring. She’s as exciting as she is intriguing, and after seeing the world through her eyes for an hour or so the world will indeed feel like a better place.
Out now
→ Cat Power’s latest instalment in her ongoing exploration into the beguiling world of covers is the aptly named ‘Covers’. Skimming over tracks from the likes of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Billie Holiday and Lana Del Rey, Chan Marshall applies her style with the deftness and grace of fingertips trailing in the water. Opening with a measured version of Frank Ocean’s ‘Bad Religion’, she brings a biblical greatness to the careful, studied calm of the original. From her dusky cover of Dead Man’s Bones’ ‘Pa Pa Power’ to the majesty of her steadfast vocals on The Pogues' ‘A Pair of Brown Eyes’, she deals with the songs she chooses with care and style. 'Covers' showcases a timely ability to slow down and take a moment for yourself.
STEVEN LOFTIN
EDIE MCQUEEN
Mitski
LAUREL HELL
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Out: 4th February 2022 → Not meaning to deal in understatements, but it's been a weird few years. A lot has happened since the release of 2018's 'Be The Cowboy' - the record that turned Mitski from cult fave to cover star concern. For the person behind the record, maybe not all of it has been as shiny and perfect as one might expect. Starting work on the tracks that would make up new full-length 'Laurel Hell' during or even before the period that saw her fame escalate so rapidly, this is a record in reaction to Mitski's experiences of the time and the music she was making. Songs that speak of - in her own words - "real relationships, not power struggles to be won or lost", they're honest, affecting and brilliant. Take centrepiece 'The Only Heartbreaker'. Quite possibly the most out-rightly obvious pop song in her catalogue to date, it's a track that understands that sometimes we're all going to be the bad guy. While the subject matters might sit in the grey areas, musically, 'Laurel Hell' often packs extra pep. 'Stay Soft', with its finger clicks and piano chords, feels like a warm and welcoming place, while 'Love Me More' soars with its increasingly desperate pleas flying high. With depth and intent matched to bright but deceptively complex 80s sheen, 'Laurel Hell' is a record that takes Mistki's existing talents and raises them to a whole new level. STEPHEN ACKROYD
Orlando Weeks Hop Up Out now
eeeef → Fresh from the new parental bliss-meetsparental anxieties of his solo debut ‘A Quickening’, Orlando Weeks has returned with a follow-up that leans much more heavily into the blissful side of his life. Like bathing in someone’s joy (happiness in liquid form, anyone?), ‘Hop Up’ is a gorgeous reflection on life and love. There’s no ‘laugh’ to go with it, but there is some jaunty whistling and a warm glow that surrounds instead. From the opening ‘Deep Down Way Out’ and the so-soft-it-could-be-amarshmallow ‘Look Who’s Talking Now’ on, this is a gorgeously gentle pop record that is as pretty as
falling in love. Much like on ‘A Quickening’, themes of being in love abound whether that’s as a husband or a father. It is, once again, refreshingly the work of an artist not chasing the musical shadows of his former band but rather forging his own new path. It’s the kind of mature pop that very few acts can pull off without sounding a bit ‘too’ mature (ie, dull), but this album smashes it. It may not have the bangers of old, but those days are gone for now. Instead, it basks in a peaceful reverie that is like swimming through velvet, and is a perfect balm for these dark winter nights. JAMIE
MACMILLAN
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THE BEST OF LIVE MUSIC STRAIGHT FROM THE FRONT.
GLASS ANIMALS DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY Alexandra Palace, London. 19th November 2021
W
atching a progress bar fill may not be the sort of thing you'd expect at a packed Ally Pally gig, but Glass Animals have always been a band who've rallied against expectations. At one point, their chewy bubblegum approach to altindie-pop and everything in-between may have felt like too much of a shift to absorb, but the proof is in the pudding. After a standout 2021, if you ask for the biggest bands on the planet right now, it's hard to leave Glass Animals out of the conversation. Sold out shows from Alabama to Australia? Check. Chart-conquering bangers? Check. A fevered and loyal fan base? Check. It adds up to the sort of global success story that most bands dream of but few ever achieve. What makes it all the more special is that they've done it their way. Not trying to fit into an established box or trend, they've taken those cookie-cutter designs and thrown them out the window. The result is a band that thrives on defying expectations. Who revel in the unique and celebrate the different. Tonight at Alexandra Palace, Glass Animals pose the question of how you ever saw them at a venue smaller than this, and that sets the standard for just how much of a big deal they are. As that progress bar ticks to zero, their full production kicks in. Complete with a tropical pool set up with palm trees, neon signs, a cinematic screen behind them and even a diving board to boot - it's a 360 show that most festival headliners would dream of. It follows the tone of 'Dreamland' to a tee, an album bold with vision and eye-splitting
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PHOTOGRAPHY: Sarah Louise Bennett.
energy that still manages to capture modern of people. life in glorious pop perfection. 'Tangerine', As frontman Dave Bayley stands on 'Space Ghost Coast To Coast' and 'Hot stage, the sheer sense of occasion hits Sugar' pay tribute to an album of wonderful him. Yes, in America there's been those realisation. Packed from ridiculous festival topping front to back, the gathered moments (with much more SETLIST crowds believe in a band to come), but tonight feels that doesn't just serve up like vindication. When Life Itself the bangers (and they do) 'Your Love (Deja Vu)' sees I Don't Wanna Talk (I Just but creates a mood too. 'I the room move in unison, Wanna Dance) Don't Wanna Talk (I Just or when 'Pork Soda' and Tangerine Wanna Dance)' is greeted 'Gooey' see vast singalongs Black Mambo like a bonafide classic erupt - it means more. The (snippet) despite being out just a bassy refrains of 'Tokyo Hot Sugar matter of weeks. It's jawDrifting' and TikTok's own The Other Side of dropping in every sense 'Heat Waves' (a track he Paradise of the word, and unlike notes was written two Space Ghost Coast to any live show you've seen minutes down the road) Coast this year. punch on an encore that Waterfalls Coming Out Underneath all the plays with a stage show of Your Mouth stunning production and pure cinematic energy and meticulous moods remains yet still feels raw. His eyes It's All So Incredibly Loud a beating heart, one that genuinely overwhelmed Your Love (Déjà Vu) embraces the darkest as he looks out at what's Take a Slice moments and turns them in front of him, there's Gooey into technicolour. 'It's something special about Youth All So Incredibly Loud', tonight. Yes, they've played Pork Soda landing halfway during some bloody big shows, but Tokyo Drifting the night, is an allthis is the moment. Heat Waves encompassing moment of Glass Animals didn't wait clarity. For most bands in to fit, but instead created a big venue, it would drive the casual fans their own world and welcomed everyone away, but here it grips them closer. It's an in. It's more than just a band "doing well". astonishing skill, one that sees tears from They're making their own dreams now. people gathered around - both daggering "We'll never forget this" he implores, and and cathartic in equal measure. A band it's true. Glass Animals do things differently, defining their own place in the global pop and it's about time we all realise that. JAMIE pantheon. Glass Animals mean a lot to a lot MUIR
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REPORT
L DEVINE AND ABBIE OZARD CELEBRATE THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR Colours Hoxton, London. 14th December 2021 WORDS: Jamie Muir. PHOTOGRAPHY: Patrick Gunning.
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t’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, not payday or the summer holidays – we’re talking about the Dork’s Night Out Christmas Party, this year dropping into London’s Colours Hoxton. With two essential voices bringing the cheer, it’s the sort of night that not only soundtracks the end of an all-over-the-place 2021, but points to two artists destined for massive 2022s. Not too shabby with some mulled wine in hand. First up is Abbie Ozard, peeling back the raw emotions and heartfelt hits that have made her a bonafide favourite around these parts. It shows a jaw-dropping side to Abbie’s heart, taking the spiralling sounds of ‘TV Kween’ and ‘Pink Sky (Endless Summer)’ and showcasing their essential cores. Tales of dreaming, heartbreak and more shine bright – for a set that she herself admits is a unique one. Without a band to rip into every note, tonight feels like a glimpse into everything that makes Abbie Ozard so great. Whether it’s taking things back to early single ‘Crocodile Tears’ or bringing it right up to date with latest track ‘Grown’ – it’s a sign that the future is just waiting for Abbie Ozard to seize it. After a storming run across the UK, L Devine takes to the Colours Hoxton stage for a set bursting with community and togetherness – a special treat to celebrate with the fans who’ve been there at each step of her journey so far. From the moment ‘Girls Like Sex’ opens proceedings, the room is firmly in the palm of her hand – joking around, sharing stories and leading singalongs. It’s a reminder of the already rich catalogue of stone-cold bangers that Liv has built on her ride to the top. From ‘Like You Like That’, to ‘Boring People’ and ‘Can’t Be You’, she’s an artist with her finger firmly on the pulse of the biggest of pop moments. Effortlessly transforming the Dork’s Night Out Christmas Party into a disco ball of fun, a sizzling run ending with ‘Priorities’ (practically drowning out Liv on stage with such a vast singalong) and latest stormer ‘Die On The Dancefloor’ is only topped with an L Devine spin on ‘Santa Baby’, transforming the classic into a wooing ode for Mrs Claus herself. More than anything, it’s the perfect set to round out a year built on separation and reunions in equal measure. The line that weaves through the venue after as fans queue to meet Liv says it all. L Devine isn’t just going to the top but bringing everyone with her. Now that’s a Christmas prediction we can all get behind. P
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REPORT
ASHNIKKO SHOWS THAT BOLDER IS BETTER O2 Forum Kentish Town, London. 8th December 2021 WORDS: Ali Shutler. PHOTOGRAPHY: Frances Beach.
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wo years ago, Ashnikko announced a trio of shows at London’s Omeara in support of their ‘Hi, It’s Me’ EP. Over those three nights, they were set to play to just under 1,000 people before the global pandemic put a stop to those plans. Tonight, one mixtape and a handful of singles later, Ashnikko finally gets to play a headline show in her adopted hometown of London. Instead of the intimate confines of Omeara though, Ashnikko takes to the stage of The Forum, Kentish Town for the second of two sold-out shows at the venue. Yes, a lot has changed for the snarling art-pop star since she broke through via TikTok smash ‘Stupid’ and a Miley Cyrus co-sign but she hasn’t made herself smaller to appeal to the masses. Tonight’s show is a glorious showcase of the wicked, weird and wonderful world they’ve created. After her DJ Krystal Lake airs collaborative Lady Gaga remix ‘Plastic Doll’, Ashnikko takes to the stage and launches straight into the hammering club euphoria of ‘Tantrum’. The brash hip-hop swagger of ‘Stupid’ quickly follows before Ashnikko cut the music. “I know you got more energy in
you. I know you know the song,” she tells the crowd before launching into her signature laugh. “Let’s do it together.” A pair of smirking self-empowerment anthems (‘Deal With It’, which reworks Kelis’ iconic 1999 track ‘Caught Out There’, and ‘L8r Boi’, an updated version of the Avril Lavigne classic) take angsty nostalgia and repurpose it for 2021. The glitching swagger of ‘Toxic’ starts by hexing “every man who’s made me feel smaller, or made me compromise something that’s important to me – my art, my dignity” while the warped pop of ‘Invitation’ begins with a powerful speech. “My body, your body, are not invitations for abuse. I’ve got big titties and I’m still not asking for it.” Elsewhere in the set, she champions sexual liberation with the nursery-rhyme funk of ‘Drunk With My Friends’ and the gleeful ‘Slumber Party’ before getting vulnerable via the stripped-back ballad of ‘Panic Attacks In Paradise’. Introducing the poignant number, she encourages the crowd to take part in a self-love exercise (“Put your hand on your noggin and give yourself a hand hug. Tell yourself you’re doing the best that you can do because sometimes,
that’s the best that you can do) and explains how she uses self-deprecating humour as a coping mechanism, “but I’m trying to be nicer to myself”. There’s no time to dwell on that right now, though, as Ashnikko kicks into the thunderous nu-metal catharsis of ‘Cry’ and celebrates Halloween with her most recent annual holiday number, ‘Halloween IV: Innards’. “Christmas time to me has always been Halloween’s little sister,” they explain, flanked by giant tentacles. In fact, the closest we do get to a Xmas number is a story about the yuletide flavoured lubricant that inspired the line “that dick tastes like Yankee Candle” from closing rage-a-thon ‘Manners’. A swift one-two encore of ‘Maggots’ and ‘Daisy’ – both huge pop bangers with plenty of attitude – ends a gig that’s both emotional and energetic. Two years ago, Ashnikko struggled to find a way to blend her sense of humour with her desire to speak about gender equality and self-expression. Tonight is proof that she doesn’t need to pick a side, a genre or a style. One of the most daring pop stars around, tonight’s set shows that the bolder, the better. P readdork.com 55.
SPORTS TEAM MIGHT NOT BE THE UNDERDOGS ANYMORE O2 Academy Brixton, London. 25th November 2021
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PHOTOGRAPHY: Patrick Gunning.
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emember when Sports the first track even gets played. It Team optimistically wouldn’t be Sports Team without a booked London’s Scala bit of chaos, would it? for a show, despite By the end of the one-two having a combined social media punch of ‘Here it Comes Again’ following which amounted to less and ‘Going Soft’, Rice has stripped than the capacity of the venue? down to a vest and leather trousers, Remember when they did basically presumably to better facilitate the same thing for the Kentish Town bounding around stage and dancing Forum (and a certain unnamed Dork like he’s trying to pull a muscle. writer claimed they’d move house ‘Margate’ is up next, with the if the show sold out)? Remember band flexing the biggest show of when both of those gigs did sell out? their career by setting off confetti At this rate, we’ll be watching them cannons just three tracks into play Wembley within the year, but the set. A pause follows, with the for now, we’re along for the ride at seething masses grateful to catch their third successful gamble – yet their breath. Ever the charmer, Rice another sold-out show, this time at takes the opportunity to tell them Brixton Academy, for a band that that they’re “the greatest fans in the are fast outgrowing their underdog world”, although we don’t think he’s a reputation. very objective source for that. It’s a trajectory that opening New song ‘The Game’ gets an support act Courting will be hoping airing next, a whisper of album to imitate, not that they’d dream two received like an old favourite. of imitating anything else about At roughly this point, the venue Sports Team (ahem – Ed.) All jokes completely sells out of lager, just to aside, they’re on top form, balancing indicate the number of pints being bangers like ‘Grand National’ and thrown. CO2 cannons come into play, ‘Popshop!’ with wonky covers of too, in case anyone was under the Nicki Minaj’s ‘Starships’ and…the impression that Sports Team weren’t Friends theme tune? The crowd aiming for arena-level production leap around like they’re seeing this time around. the headline act, especially when The rest of the set is a whistlefrontman Sean Murphy-O’Neill stop tour of every instant classic the breaks out the cowbell. band have released, interspersed A little-known with a quick band called Wet rendition of The SETLIST Leg are up next, Wannadies’ ‘You & fresh off the back Me Song’. It’s not Here It Comes Again of their assumed all hit singles and Going Soft career highlight so pop covers, either, Margate far – a Dork cover with old favourite The Game feature. If they’re ‘Winter Nets’ given Happy (God's Own overwhelmed by an airing alongside Country) the size of the album slow burner The Races stage, the crowd, ‘Long Hot Summer’ M5 or the magazine (guitarist Rob Long Hot Summer cover, they don’t Knagg taking vocal Winter Nets show it. Instant duties on the latter, You & Me Song classics ‘Chaise while Rice lives (The Wannadies cover) Longue’ and out his guitar hero ‘Wet Dream’ of fantasies). Ski Lifts course get a huge After possibly Camel Crew response, but the the least Fishing rest of the set convincing exit of Stations of the Cross hits just as high a all time, they stroll Here's the Thing bar. Hype can be back on stage for Kutcher a killer for some an encore to an Stanton bands, but Wet almost biblical Leg are clearly response. Rice is worth all the attention they’re getting down in the crowd, Rob is standing and leave Sports Team with a hell of in front of the drumkit doing his an act to follow. best Hendrix impression, and even They seem to get the memo, keyboardist Ben Mack cracks a striding out to Abba’s ‘Mamma Mia’ smile. The house lights come on, while clad in more Fiorucci than you ‘Angels’ by Robbie plays, and 5000 can shake a stick at. Alex Rice, ever exhausted fans make their way the centre of attention, is wearing across the road for the official club what looks like a black cape and night afterparty. the kind of hat that Cruella De Ville But the real proof that Sports might wear if she was feeling extra Team have hit the big leagues? glamorous. With the budget blown Three separate people are selling on clothes, not much is left over bootleg t-shirts outside the venue for the fairy lights strung from the – now that’s fame, baby. JAKE ceiling, with half falling down before HAWKES readdork.com 57.
PHOTOS FROM THE FRONT LINES.
Cavetown's Roundhouse headliner is a genuinely lovely time Roundhouse, London. 11th December 2021 Dork fave Cavetown took to London’s Roundhouse last month for a much anticipated headline show. Former cover star Robbie took to the legendary London venue with support Sarah Keys, and delivered a show that was both brilliant and utterly charming. What a legend, eh? We headed behind the scenes to capture all the action, both onstage and off. cont PHOTOS: Sarah Louise Bennett
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THE BEST PHOTOS FROM THE FRONT.
↑ CAVETOWN (CONTINUED) 60. DORK
↙ WILLOW
Camden Electric Ballroom, London. 9th December 2021
If anyone had a great 2021, it was probably Willow. Ascending to the throne of a pop punk scene perhaps finally starting to wake up to voices beyond the same pale old dudes singing about escaping their dead end towns, her London stop-off could only be described as a coronation. God save the new rock queen. Photos: Frances Beach
↑ REMI WOLF
Oval Space, London. 12th October 2021
Remi Wolf is a right old giggle, Dear Reader - so much we know well. Perhaps more shocking is the news that, despite giving the impression she could light up a room with her Great Big Bops, that doesn't actually translate to the quality of illumination at London's Really Very Dark Oval Space. Still, what the show lacked in luminescence, it made up to with top drawer pop action. Some things you can rely on. Photos: Patrick Gunning readdork.com 61.
Any Other Questions? English Teacher. 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 Lily Fontaine of English Teacher would call her pet whale Dwayne. What was the first record you bought? I can't remember, but potentially 'Inside In/Inside Out' by The Kooks. If you could form a supergroup of your choice, who would be in it? Alex Turner, Doja Cat, Richard Dawson, Tyler The Creator, and Derren Brown. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten? I used to think the plastic on a Peperami was edible. If a genie granted you three wishes, what would you ask for? A tighter grasp of music theory. The ability to paint. To be taller. How tall are you? Either 5'2 or 5'3, I can't remember. What did you last dream about? I have a recurring dream about a beautiful, hidden beach opposite Hainault tube station. Definitely remember heading down there last night. What was your favourite subject at school? Surprisingly, not English - it was always a runner up to art for me. What's the most impressive thing you can cook? Brown Stew with rice and peas. Are any of your lyrics secretly rude? The bridge of one of our new songs is a poem I wrote about a man with an extra testicle. What is your most treasured possession? That is a secret. Do you have any hobbies? Photography is the only one I've been actively engaging with recently - I've been taking my little Olympus Trip point and shoot away with me
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while we've been travelling around for shows. If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose? Amy Winehouse. What is your earliest memory? The neighbour would leave bunches of their homegrown rhubarb on the doorstep of my first house; my first memory was seeing it lying there. Who's your favourite new band? Modern Woman are incredible. If you had a pet whale, what would you call it? Dwayne. What's the scariest thing you've ever done? Start a band. Do you believe in aliens? The diameter of the observable universe is around 93 billion lightyears. If you won the lottery, what would you spend the cash on? Family and friends, therapy and a breast reduction. What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you? Tripped, dropped my guitar and faceplanted the floor while walking on stage in year seven for the school talent show. I burst into tears. What's your worst habit? Not responding to messages; I am an introvert with an awful short term memory. Have you ever seen a ghost? My family is haunted by the ghost of a man in a hat. I've got photographic evidence. What was the last thing you broke? My phone - I dropped it down the toilet.
If you could have a superpower of your choosing, what would it be? Time travel. Have you ever been thrown out of somewhere? I got thrown out of a chemistry lesson once - I remember all the teachers who passed me on the corridor looking really confused because I was a good kid. If you weren't a musician, what would you be doing? Writing the text inside greetings cards. What's your favourite sandwich filling? Breakfast. What's your favourite smell? 5pm within 100m radius of China Garden on Albert Road in Colne.
If we gave you £10, what would you do with it? Probably pay my council tax. How punk are you out of ten? 69. Tell us a secret about yourself? My most prized possession is my blanket from when I was a baby.
the morning. If you had to be on a TV gameshow, which would you choose? Pointless would make my mum and stepdad proud because they watch it ritually every night while eating tea. For myself, I'd go for Only-Connect.
What do you always have in your refrigerator? Empty space. I don't like leaving the house, so I rarely do a big food shop.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character? I was raised by Cathy Cassidy novels, so I've probably fallen in love with more fictional people than real.
What's one thing you've always wanted to try? Having small tits.
What's the silliest thing you own? My music.
What's your breakfast of choice? Nothing; I don't have an appetite in
Why are you like this? Childhood trauma and having an artist for a mum. P
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